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BENUMB
- Shocking The Senses
By Adam Wasylyk
There's a multitude of ways metal music can have an effect on the
listener. Some metal can cause a serious adrenaline rush, other
types can soothe the senses, while others can just put you to sleep
(although usually not on purpose). Grindcore music can be associated
with a swift blow to the back of the head by a 4X4, as one of its
main intention is to be fast, faster and the fastest. Benumb suit
this description exactly.
A grindcore invasion has happened over at the Relapse offices as
of late. Benumb being one of the finer examples, their musical prowess
is demonstrated on Soul of the Martyr, an album that holds not only
21 new tracks but also contains over a dozen tracks from various
7"'s and 8 live tracks. They've taken the proven formula of brutality
and insanity and let it loose with wanton fervor. A safe minimum
distance from ground zero is highly discouraged. Let Benumb fuck
you up.
From his home in California, vocalist Pete Ponitkoff gave me some
insight into his bastard child, first talking about how the band
arrived on Relapse in the first place. "That's a funny thing. We
played down in L.A. one time with Suppression, where one night due
to Bay Area politics they couldn't get any hardcore bands to play
with them. They wanted us to play with them so they gave us a call
and said 'Hey, we have a time slot for you down here in L.A for
you to play in,' and we're like 'We're there!'. What happened after
that was Jay from a band called Abstain watched us play that night
and I guess he's friends with Pellet [a Relapse crony - Adam], so
Pellet got a hold of us and from there we just started talking and
it ended up with us doing a 7" and then eventually this."
But was there any apprehension to signing to a label that's mostly
known for its death metal bands? Did they receive any slack for
the move?
"I thought it was just cool that they were bringing more hardcore
related bands into their entourage. As far as slack... yeah, here
and there. There are people (the new school of kids) that really
don't know what's going on. We usually hear the shit from those
who just don't know any better, they weren't in the scene 10 years
ago."
Benumb showcased their unyielding sound at this years' Milwaukee
Metal Fest with great success. Ponitkoff was blown away by the experience
and met all of his expectations and more. "Once I found out that
Hatebreed was going to be in the same time slot as us [for those
not in the know, there are three stages at this festival playing
concurrently - Adam], I thought "We're screwed!" (laughs) because
they're such a good band. But I was very happy that a good amount
of people showed up to watch us play. It totally surpassed all of
my expectations."
Fans of grindcore/crust know that California is what could be described
as a hotbed for this kind of music. Ponitkoff was only happy enough
to oblige me in giving an update on this underrated yet powerful
scene. "We have the basics around here like No Less, Capitalist
Casualties, Spazz... the big boys. Down in L.A we have Excruciating
Terror, Bad Acid Trip, Gasp. Also some smaller bands called Gray,
Athrenody. Also another band that recently broke up called Christian
Prohibition who were a truly incredible band. Also Chronic Disorder,
they're like more the metal tip if anything but still good. And
also Exhumed. It's pretty healthy out here."
Any reason WHY California out of anywhere else (like NYC?) should
be the spawning place for all of this raw talent?
"I'm gonna put this honestly but I'll sound as arrogant as hell
about this. I think it's far more open-minded compared to, I don't
want to say New York but to other places. As far as artist-type
atmospheres, I think [California] is more open to that. Also it
could deal with the state of mind, open thinking. People expressing
themselves better."
The last track on the album, entitled 'Live at Fiesta Grande 1997'
contains Benumb's 8 song set at this popular event. Getting into
detail on what this show is all about, Ponitkoff said "It's a two
day festival put on the first weekend of January by Chris Dodge
[owner of the Slap-A-Ham label - Adam] whose had a large part in
not only the California grindcore or "powerviolence" scene but the
world's as well. [Dodge] has had bands from all around the world
play the Fiesta Grande as well. It's a great event."
"This is how I honestly feel", concludes Ponitkoff on where Benumb
could venture next with their sound. "I would like to see us get
more brutal, I constantly seek a more brutal form. Whatever way
we do that I don't know. Perhaps more noise-oriented, or maybe just
faster!"
BRUCE DICKINSON - The Wedding of a Metal Legend...
By Alex Ristic
Summer's over and school's in, so who better to give
lessons in heavy metal might than legendary ex-Iron Maiden vocalist
Bruce Dickinson. There's no need to sign up with throngs of fans
at your local centre for higher learning. Just read what's below
and you'll get an eloquent crash course on mixing man with the divine,
through a Chemical Wedding.
The Chemical Wedding is Headmaster Dickinson's sixth solo record,
fifth since leaving Maiden, but many fans look upon it as only being
his second. Balls To Picasso and Skunkworks didn't have stable line-ups
or a major touring focus, however last years A+ album Accident Of
Birth changed all that. In came regular backing band Tribe Of Gypsies,
with Roy Z (guitar) Eddie Casillas (bass) Dave Ingraham (drums)
as well as former Maiden mate Adrian Smith (guitar). For many around
the world The Chemical Wedding represents only the second album
for the band that exists now, and the Headmaster conducts a history
lesson comparing the second albums of his past.
"There are some parallels," says the Prof., who really does have
a degree in Modern History. "In the case of Samson, Shock Tactics
was a great record and it got totally screwed by record company
screw-ups and management screw-ups and everything. It was a big
disappointment that the record never got what should have happened
to it. I n the case of Maiden, obviously we didn't have any record
screw-ups and the management was brilliant, so we went from Number
Of The Beast, which is a great record, and followed up with Piece
Of Mind which finished the job. We went sky high in America and
then Number Of The Beast pulled up really rapidly in sales."
This could bode well for Dickinson and his fellow metal scholars
as they embark on their second campaign for musical enlightenment.
Indeed, Piece Of Mind, as Dickinson states, put Iron Maiden over
the top in North America, could Chemical... do the same?
"I may be in a sort of similar situation. Accident Of Birth is approaching
100,000 sold copies in America which is amazing in today's metal
market. That would translate into 300,000 in the 80's. I just get
the impression, I think, that "The Tower" (killer third track on
Chemical... where all the characters are derived from Tarot cards)
could really do it at radio. If we do radio and we have the right
tour next year, we could have this thing at a quarter of a million
records in America."
It's going to need more than radio airplay to turn heavy metal lead
into certified gold, isn't it Headmaster Bruce?
"We've got to do a tour. That's the life blood. I mean we did a
six week club tour on the last album. I know that people said 'You've
played to people that already own the album' and I'm like 'Yeah,
but they talk to other people.' For every one of those people, they
probably told other people, and maybe they're like 'Well I'm not
going to buy it just yet." And maybe those people will buy this
record because it's new and then they'll go and re-visit Accident...
and find out how good that record is. I'm more than happy to take
this gradually. At the same time, the reactions on this record are
so fucking amazing, worldwide. The last time I had a record like
this was Number Of The Beast."
Switching to science, Dickinson talks about the differences between
Accident... and Chemical... Both albums have the signature sound
that the band has now developed, heavy melody with kick-ass rhythm
and of course powerful vocals, but there's a change in attitude,
focus and outlook. Here's his theory of evolution.
"This is a very harsh record. It's a very dark record. The only
bits of light that appear on this record are on "The Alchemist,"
"Jerusalem," and a bit of "Chemical Wedding." I get this kind of
melancholy happiness there from Chemical Wedding. That's what I
got from it when I was recording it. Cheerful melancholy. Other
than that it's pretty black. Really it's an evolution from the last
record. We realized we stumbled on something on the last album that
was the key to unlocking this album. And after this album, we do
seem to have something here. I think we've delved into something.
Obviously my singing style is solely, fairly characteristic, that's
a big help to begin with."
Sticking with science, the lesson switches over to chemistry. The
base of Chemical..., in the beginning, was strictly based on alchemy,
the occult science of turning lead into gold, or in the language
of alchemists, says Dickinson, the union of man with the divine.
But chemistry quickly turns into English Literature as Dickinson
didn't want to put his students (OK, fans) to sleep, so he delved
deeper into the subject and came up with William Blake, an Eighteenth
century poet who based many of his compositions on alchemy.
"When I was referring to alchemy, which is what the album started
as being about, his name kept cropping up as a poet who's poetry
and his artwork very often reflected alchemical beliefs and philosophies.
So I said 'Well, I'll have a dig around for some of his poetry.'
What I found was this amazing grab bag of ideas and almost like
a kindred spirit in some ways. In fact, it's interesting that one
of his biographies that I'm reading at the moment goes on about
the links between William Blake and modern day rock music and Sci-Fi.
Like the Doors were really into him and there's a whole bunch of
authors from Terry Pratchet to all kinds of other people who were
influenced by Blake."
It's time to learn a little about religion now as Dickinson talks
about another of his tracks "Killing Floor," which is actually his
first direct reference to Lucifer since the halcyon days of Maiden's
Number Of The Beast sixteen years ago.
"It was one of those strange things on "Killing Floor" when me and
Adrian (Smith, guitar) were writing it, I just came up with this
big chant and it sounded so great. I was like 'You know what? I
don't care that we actually say the word 'Satan,' it just sounds
great. And we had a scream in the studio cause we had a bunch of
friends of mine come in and be Satan's Killing Choir. They're all
chanting 'Satan' over and over again and we're double tracking it,
and it was just really funny. We were all falling around laughing
as we were doing it going 'Oh my God, we're going to get into so
much trouble for this. Oh my God if Tipper Gore gets in to the White
House...".
For the future, Dickinson and his entourage will be touring Europe
until the new year with a quick jaunt to the Orient before they
head to these shores, but that's not definite yet. While touring
for Accident... the band only did club gigs, and now want to play
bigger venues, but realize that's not possible without a package
tour. There are a few offers right now, and Dickinson assures that
when the right one comes up the band will be on the first plane
over. Until then, fans, we mean pupils, will just have to get their
education from the television like everyone else in the form of
a video for "Killing Floor" which Dickinson describes as 'The seven
deadly sins that all take place in Satan's restaurant.'
No more formal instructions. Class is now out, but the headmaster
would like to make a final request of all his students.
"I am in fact only five feet, seven inches tall. People always come
up to me and go 'Jesus, you look so much taller on stage.' So for
the record, nobody needs to tell me that now."
CROWBAR - The Odd Fellows of the Swamp
By Paul Schwarz
Crowbar are a band who over their near 10 year career
span have become noted for two of their attributes. The low tuned,
snail paced and crushingly heavy music they produce and the way
that this style appears to be mimicked in the physical constitution
of the bands members.
However with their new album Odd Fellows Rest, Crowbar have adapted
their songwriting and branched out in ways which will make such
narrow assessments of their talents impossible to justify any longer.
What have Crowbar added? Well, it's melody and atmosphere. These
are not things we have never seen bands expand their sound with,
but all the same Crowbar have done it very well and in a way which
has manipulated, rather than replaced, their previous leanings and
thus makes Odd Fellows Rest as heavy as any past Crowbar record
though in different ways.
When I talked to Todd Strange, during their Eastern U.S. tour with
Soilent Green and EYEHATEGOD, his thoughts on the songwriting were
similar to mine. "I think it has gotten a little bit more melodic.
The new stuff is more from our hearts, more of a reflection of what
we all listen to. I think it has all been a progression, it has
all led up to this. It is just one of those things. It was just
time to do something else, something different but still trying
to keep the same Crowbar edge and all that. But you notice Kirk's
doin' mostly singin' on this album, we've gone away from all the
real angry, aggressive shouting vocals." But why the change, could
it be related to the addition of former Acid Bath axeman Sammy Pierre-Duet?
"Honestly the album was (already) written, we wrote one song with
Sammy which was "Beyond the Black Horizon", but most of everything
else was written before he even got in the band. Having Sammy in
the band has given us a whole new breath of fresh air towards what
we wanna do. Now we've got somebody who was a fan of the band for
ever and to have him in there... he understands what we're trying
to do, what the whole approach to Crowbar is."
What doesn't seem to have changed is Kirk Windstien's penning of
direct and depressive lyrics of astounding profundity. Why do Crowbar
lyrics have that quality of reality and directness which sets them
apart from many other bands'? "It's just real stuff that people
can relate to. Everyone gets depressed over some chick or something
and goes out and gets totally loaded and then regrets it the next
two or three days because their sick."
So would Todd agree that Crowbar do not produce "happy" music? He
responds, "Our music definitely leans towards the more negative
sides of life. It's kinda what a lot of people hush up, they think
'Hey, I'm too much of a man to feel that way.' But everybody feels
it whether you can come out and say it or whether you can't."
One of the things about Odd Fellows Rest's melodic qualities is
that it makes the album more accessible to a wider audience. The
albums first full song "Planets Collide" is particularly catchy
in this way. "It's one of those songs which kinda sticks in your
head after it's finished playing." A new thing for Crowbar but as
Strange points out, "AC/DC has been doing it for years." and Strange
evidently hopes for some similar success, though he doesn't crave
it.
Talking in-depth about why Crowbar hasn't done well successfully
with past records, he comments, "Well in the States we were with
a crummy record company and it kinda hurt us. That happened with
the last few albums, but with Mayhem/Fierce we've finally got people
working their asses off for us which is important."
Success aside, Crowbar have created a great album. This is a band
who work as a team, there is no "songwriter" or "songwriting duo"
in this band. "No, all the music is written in the practice room
with everybody there. Nobody comes in and says 'Hey, I got a song'.
We write as we go. It usually takes us a week to write a song. Then
we'll play it for a while and make changes to it or whatever."
He adds, "As long as we can stay true to ourselves, wake up and
look ourselves in the mirror. Believe me we wouldn't just do one
thing to give us popularity. After 10 years I think we'd have done
it by now." Indeed. Todd is aware of what is the case and what more
needs to be done. "Everybody in the industry knows who Crowbar is,
we have to get the people who buy the records to know who Crowbar
is."
So what's next? "We're out on this tour for another 4 weeks. Then
home for 9 days then another tour: 14 shows in 14 days. After that
we hope to go over to Europe. We're gonna try to do it end of November
beginning of December, about 5 weeks in that time frame. We'd love
to play with a bigger band because at this point the more people
we can play to the better off it is. We might tour with Iron Monkey
(as support)"
So as I bring the results of my short chat to a close I leave you
with Todd's thoughts on success and playing music in Crowbar. "Here
in the States, hopefully it'll happen. It's one of those things,
I've learned over the years I can't count on it. I play music 'cause
I enjoy it and if I get popular where I make a lot of money doin'
it then so be it, and if I didn't, at least I can say I made a good
effort."
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