Crib Notes

Chad Radford:  There’s a singular sense of humor to what you do. I have seen the Torche T-shirts that look like the old skin head, staraight edge shirts that say “not so straight” next to the picture of the shaven-headed hardcore guy who looks like he’s about to swallow the microphone. That’s hilarious.
Steve Brooks:  We’re genius…

That’s a pretty macho scene. Have those shirts come back to bite you?
No, not at all. I don’t think that people really got the joke when we first made the shirts, but people started to get it once we stopped taking them on tour with us. People at the merch table started saying where’s your  not so straight shirt, those things are hilarious!’

It’s cleverly disguised like a real straight edge T-shirt. If you’re not paying attention you think it’s just another dumb ass Strife T-shirt, or something like that.

Yep. The Harvey Milk shirts on this tour are hilarious, too. There’s one with the Wicked Witch taking a dump on a toilet, eating a hamburger and reading the paper, and the headlines says ‘the Mc Rib is back.’ I thought that one was pretty awesome. There’s another one that and then there’s another one with a bunch of ticks doing beer bongs.

Torche “Healer” mp3

Harvey Milk and Torche play the Earl on Fri., July 31. $12 (adv.) $15 (dos). 9 p.m. 488 Flat Shoals Road. 404-522-3950.

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NOT SO STRAIGHT: Torche

When it comes to metal, humor is a strange thing. Unless you’re Spinal Tap, jokes make awkward bunkmates with so much aggressive behavior, but Athens’ sludge rockers Harvey Milk and the thunderously uplifting trio Torche (Atlanta/Miami) balance fiery songs with laconic humor that dovetails nicely with their respective sounds. But neither one of them are what you would call a typical metal band.

Torche’s guitarist/vocalist Steve Brooks doesn’t even like using the term “metal” when talking about his band’s sprawling, post-rock numbers. “Metal is just something different altogether, although it is the gayest music around,” he says before offering up a laundry list of what makes metal so gay: sweaty men wearing leather and long-hair, beating each other up and bro’ing down in the pit. “It’s very gay,” he adds.

Continue reading “Metal, the gayest music in town”

(Photo by Lauren Roero)

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Atlanta/Miami-based not-so-doom-laden stoner metal act Torche released its debut video for “Across The Shields,” just in time to promote their forthcoming North American and European tours with Kylesa, Coalesce and Harvey Milk.

A statement from the band reads:

This would, literally, be our ‘hot’ new video for “Across The Shields,” filmed last August on a day off from summer tour with Boris. David “Mr. Ham ‘n Eggs” Kleiler (Pelican, Early Man, Yo La Tango, Helium) stood safely behind the camera and ‘directed’ us suffering in the scorching heat. We’re still convinced that we almost lost Steve from the temp in his Bear suit. This clip is one of two videos (the other is coming soon!) we did for tracks from our last full length, Meanderthal, and which are also found on the recent 12″+DVD. Both were shot in a single day on the grounds of some secluded compound in the mountains of the Angeles National Forest. Lynne Hassell killed it on the furry suits… they’re so good that we can’t stop trying to cuddle ourselves…. instead we’ve got ‘em safely stored now at Hydra Headquarters so that we’ll have something to donate when the Rock and Roll Hall Fame comes knocking.

“Across The Shields” mp3

Click below to read tour dates.

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Mastodon brought the Scion Rock Fest to a crashing finale on Saturday night. Scott Kelley from Neurosis made a cameo at the end of their set tearing through “Aqua Dementia” from Leviathan, “Crack the Skye” from their forthcoming full-length and “Crystal Skull” from Blood Mountain; which was preceded by an announcement from guitarist Brent Hinds that the cops were there to shut everything down.

Indeed they played slightly beyond 11 o’clock, but the show ended without incident.

In Purgatory inside the club, Zoroaster brought their set to a close with a noisy cluster of feedback and chaos after technical difficulties inspired bass player /vocalist Brent Anderson to kick over his entire bass rig. At some point during the melee a drum cymbal stand was propelled upward like a rocket and stabbed drummer Dan Scanlan in the roof of his mouth (which was pretty hardcore).  Afterward he looked dazed, but appeared to be no worse for the wear as he smoked cigarettes and recalled the story. At a metal festival of such caliber there’s bound to be some carnage.

Speaking of carnage, Norwegian black metal band 1349 wrapped up their set across the hall in Hell, shortly after the Zoroaster incident. Rumor had it that they had adorned their stage with severed pig heads mounted on spikes. If they were there the crowd had devoured them before I made my way into the room. At the end, vocalist Ravn lurched at the crowd in full corpse paint and blood stained hands, slapping high fives and grunting a ghastly war cry.

This was the real deal on all fronts. After stellar performances from Neurosis, Wolves in the Throne Room, Boris, Kylesa, Torche and so many others there was a feeling of wasted annihilation in the air, as though Cloverfield had paid a visit to the Masquerade Music Park and left a massive footprint in the dark red mud that stained so many shoes and pant legs of concert goers who filed out with ringing ears and a touch of whiplash.

(Photo by Chad Radford)

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Apocalyptic Visions’ singer/guitarist Sam Cuadra, is one of the artists featured in CL’s cover story this week, Damn Hipsters:  The quest for validation may be Atlanta’s only vice.

With 30 of the world’s most formidable metal bands descending upon Atlanta this weekend, it’s worthy to note that several bands, including including Apocalyptic Visions are locals. Zoroaster, Withered, Apocalyptic Visions and Torche and Mastodon all call Atlanta home. Harvey Milk are Athens Natives and both Baroness and Kylesa hail from Savannah.

It’s needless to say that Georgia is well represented at The Scion Rock Fest. The following list offers just a taste of the sights and sounds to behold this weekend.

Apocalyptic Visions “Move and Appear”
Zoroaster “Spirit Molecule”
Zoroaster “White Dwarf”

Click below to see more videos.

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The flier don’t lie. The Scion Rock Fest at the Masquerade’s outdoor Music Park on Sat., Feb. 28th is going to be a free, ticketed show and the line-up is truly astounding.

There’s a lot of clamor clogging up the blog world right now from people who are wondering where they can get tickets. Criminal Records and Decatur CD both have them for sure. A more comprehensive list of where to get tickets will be made a available at LambGoat.com on Thurs., Jan. 22.

Earlier this afternoon I was waiting in line at Criminal Records when a couple of kids asked about tickets. The clerk said that they are limited to two per customer and the recipients had to leave their e-mail address on file with them…

The Masquerade is located at 695 North Ave. 404-577-8178. Doors open at noon and close at midnight.

***Update***

According to Criminal Records’ weekly newsletter:

Go to the Scion Rock Fest website and give them your e-mail address (yep, that’s the catch!). And then, Scion will send you a confirmation e-mail on 1/28 (or some date thereabouts). You print out that e-mail and bring it in for your tickets. For reals.

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