by Black Bubblegum

They say that the clothes make the man, but in the music world, the drummer makes the band. That's the only way to explain the string of successes that have followed Dave Witte since he first sat behind the kit as a member of the influential yet under-appreciated Human Remains. Since then, Witte has played with some of the greatest bands in the heavy underground, laying the back beat to names as powerful as Municipal Waste, Discordance Axis, Anodyne, Black Army Jacket, Melt Banana, and we can't forget about Burnt By The Sun.

Burnt By The Sun recently released their swansong, Heart of Darkness, via Relapse Records. In celebration of this last LP, the band will embark on final tour of Europe in October with only one US date scheduled: October 2nd at Cake Shop with Tombs, Black Anvil, Bloodhorse, and Torchbearer. Considering the band members' current undertakings, it isn't out the question to say that this could be their last show for a very very long time.

With that as a primer, I fired some questions at Dave Witte about Municipal Waste, the end of Burnt By The Sun, and the possiblity of him returning to the kit for Human Remains, Discordance Axis or Black Army Jacket. The conversation is below....

Continue reading "an interview w/ Dave Witte (of Burnt by the Sun, Municipal Waste, Human Remains, Black Army Jacket...)"

photos by Jason Walker, words by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Pollution - "Tiny Black Burns" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Unearthly Trance - "Diseased" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Defeatist - "Isolation Tactics" (MP3)

Unearthly Trance

Call me greedy, but when I recently posted the Show No Mercy/BV-BBG lineup of Keelhaul, Minsk, and STATS, followed by that lonely "+1 TBA"... I got a little sad. Why just one? Luckily, Brandon Stosuy & I (we came up with the lineup together) were on the same page, so that +1 TBA is now +2, AND we are proud to announce the addition of Unearthly Trance and Defeatist to the August 2nd lineup at Public Assembly!

Defeatist, which contains members of the much lamented Anodyne (with Mike Hill of Tombs), recently dropped Sharp Blade Sinks Deep Into Dull Minds on Willowtip. The LP is actually a compilation of previously released EPs and splits that will have to sate us while we await the arrival of Sixth Extinction, featuring 19 new tracks recorded by Colin Marston. The band is scheduled to take on the destructive Texas duo of Mammoth Grinder (who we profiled here) and Hatred Surge (who I loved at SXSW) on July 17th at The Charleston.

Unearthly Trance recently played the BV-BBG bash at Europa, and are scheduled to take on Lit Lounge on Monday (7/13) with the mighty Harpoon, one of two dates for Harpoon (they headline The Charleston on 7/14). Full Unearthly Trance & Harpoon dates are below.

In possibly related news, Pollution, a band that may or may not contain members of Unearthly Trance and/or Villains, has been added to the kick-ass Harvey Milk/Torche shindig at Music Hall of Williamsburg on July 26. Tickets are still available. The band is also scheduled to play Don Pedro's on Saturday (7/11) with The Choke and Bukkake Boys. Pollution dropped the nasty.DNA cassette, which will reportedly surface on LP via Feast of Tentacles. Check out "Tiny Black Burns" from that release above. Feast of Tentacles is responsible for the recent 2LP of another fave, Cough.

More pics and some thoughts on Unearthly Trance, Cough, Howl, Javelina, Doomriders, Sourvein, and Clouds at the BV-BBG at Europa on 6/14, as well as tour dates for Pollution and Harpoon are below....

Continue reading "bands added to BBG Show No Mercy show (@ Pub Assembly), more pics from the BBG show @ Europa (Northside Fest)"

interview by Black Bubblegum, photos by Toby Tenenbaum

DOWNLOAD: Tombs - "Gossamer" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: King Generator - "Tell Me Why" (M4A)
DOWNLOAD: King Generator - "Plagues" (M4A)
DOWNLOAD: Tombs - "Course Of Empire" (M4A)
DOWNLOAD: Tombs - "Darker Than Your Nights" (M4A)
DOWNLOAD: Versoma - "Symbols & Abbreviations" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Versoma - "The Black Train" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sino Basila - "Draconian" (MP3)

Recently I was talking to a record label owner about Tombs which quickly moved to a discussion about Tombs frontman Mike Hill. The label owner responded:
"He's a lifer."
It's evident by Hill's years slugging away in the metal underground, his many projects, recordings, and his label Black Box Recordings that Hill most definitely IS.

Mike Hill came up as a member of Anodyne, the noise-hardcore band formed in the fertile scene of Boston in the 1990s, a scene that also gave birth to Converge, Isis, Disrupt, Grief, and countless others. Over the course of eight years, two cities (Boston & NYC), two LPs, two EPs, and three 7-inches, Anodyne toured the world until finally dissolving in 2005. Hill's next project, the short-lived Versoma with Jamie Getz of Lickgoldensky, was a sharp left turn from Anodyne, but nonetheless lead to the critically-lauded EP, Life During Wartime. Jamie Getz went on to form Gods & Queens.

Outside from his time on stage, Mike Hill also stayed involved behind the scenes as owner of Black Box Recordings and as an engineer/producer. With Brian McTernan (Battery), Mike Hill co-founded Salad Days Studios which lead to a string of production/engineering work in multiple studios for a veritiable who's who of the hardcore underground including Isis, Premonitions of War, American Nightmare, Hot Cross, Burnt By The Sun, Lickgoldensky, and many others. As Anodyne came to a close, Mike Hill kicked off his Black Box Recordings imprint with The First Four Years: Discography Vol 1, a compilation of Anodyne's recorded output, eventually releasing records by Engineer, ASRA, The Wayward, and a retrospective by the late, great Black Army Jacket.

Which brings us to Tombs, Mike Hill's latest undertaking with Andrew Hernandez (ex-ASRA) and Carson James, who are readying their second LP and Relapse debut entitled Winter Hours. A tour de force of jaw-clenching hardcore, frosty black metal, and swirling shoegaze psychedelia, Winter Hours is one of the few records to stand head and shoulders above the pack in this young new year. We sat down to talk with Mike Hill about the new record, his collaboration with Dave Witte (Discordance Axis, Municipal Waste, others) as King Generator, his time in Versoma, and who he feels is a truly unsung band from the heavy underground.

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Winter Hours is very powerful... not just in a "killer riffs" sense, but more importantly, in an emotive sense. That said, do you care to share your thought process on or where you were (emotionally/personally/spiritually) when you were writing "Merrimack"? Seems to me to be a very cathartic track.

It's about choosing the wrong path with someone and completely destroying something that could have been beautiful. Basically, the character in the song gave into selfishness, ego and immaturity and ended up alone at the end of it; it's similar to gambling, thinking that you can achieve more than you need and losing it all.

continued below...

Continue reading "an interview with Mike Hill of Tombs"