ARTGOON

A words and images website, sometimes broadcasting authentic noise, and 100% better than your local butcher Based out of NE Texas.

[artgoon]

BB Sun consistently releases bangers like this for free and is slept on like a Chicago jail mat. Way too much. This particular track has a guest verse from the in-demand producer/sometimes rapper Nedarb Nagrom. Don't be dumb. Slap this immediately.

[artgoon]

GWAR releases their first album since the passing of long time vocalist Overuse Urungus, or known by his human name Dave Brockie. The thrash/death metal warpath they had set upon through their previous line of releases over the last decade gets a revamp leaning more towards a punk & classic rock. That's not to be said that there is not plenty of headbanging to be had here. If 'El Presidente' doesn't get your neck moving, horns and all, I'm worried for you. The unique wit and vocalist style of Urungus isn't present but Blothar the Berzerker aka Michael Bishop, a former bass playing Beefcake the Mighty during what some consider the band's hey-day, brings forth his own humor and tackles many topics that plague our society such as Trump, factory farming, and religion. The supporting cast of vocalists GWAR utilized in the 90s make a return here too and quite a few voices, including MC Chris, get to make their characters present. And right before the encore cover track of AC/DC's 'If You Want Blood (You've Got It)' which was almost seemingly designed for a GWAR live blood bath, we are presented with what may be the most epic track these Antarticans have ever recorded in 'Phantom Limb,' which acts as a beautiful tribute to lost bandmaster Brockie and shows how well this Blothar motherfucker can belt. GWAR eternal. Catch them on tour with Ghoul, He Is Legend, Doyle, and GWAR guitarist Brent Purgason's band U.S. Bastards. You won't regret it (unless you wore your favorite clothes.) 10/27 - New Haven, CT @ Toad's Place $ 10/28 - Worcester, MA @ Palladium $ 10/29 - Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero $ 10/31 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza $ 11/01 - Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom $ 11/02 - Louisville, KY @ Mercury Ballroom $ 11/03 - St. Louis, MO @ Pop's $ 11/04 - Sioux City, IA @ Hard Rock $ 11/05 - Lawrence, KS @ Granada $ 11/07 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue % 11/08 - Winnipeg, MB @ Pyramid % 11/09 - Saskatoon, SK @ Saskatoon Events Center % 11/10 - Edmonton, AB @ Union Hall % 11/11 - Calgary, AB @ The Palaces % 11/13 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore % 11/14 - Portland, OR @ Roseland % 11/15 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo % 11/17 - Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst % 11/18 - Las Vegas, NV @ Fremont Country Club % 11/19 - Sacramento, CA @ Ace Of Spades % 11/21 - San Diego, CA @ House Of Blues % 11/22 - Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda Theater % 11/23 - Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theater % 11/24 - Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater % 11/25 - Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall % 11/26 - Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theatre % 11/28 - Tulsa, OK @ Cain's Ballroom % 11/29 - Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Live % 11/30 - Houston, TX @ House Of Blues % 12/01 - San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theater % 12/02 - Baton Rouge, LA @ Varsity Theater % 12/03 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade % 12/05 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution % 12/06 - Tampa, FL @ The Ritz % 12/08 - Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue % 12/09 - Peoria, IL @ Limelight % 12/10 - Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall % # with Ghoul, U.S. Bastards $ with Ghoul, Doyle, U.S. Bastards % with Ghoul, He Is Legend, U.S. Bastards

[artgoon]

an interview with Cleric

Cleric is a Dallas based band that focuses on a Swedish Death Metal basis of ideas and takes you on a nightmarish trip to a cosmic hell lurking in the darkest depths of human imagination. The riffs are pretty badass too. I spoke with guitarist Chris Richardson the night before their show opening in Dallas at Club Dada for Eternal Champion, Sumerlands, & Venomous Maximus’ three date Tejas excursion. Brian: So I guess to get things started, who am I speaking with? Chris Richardson. I'm one of the guitarists for the band.

And you did vocals in the original incarnation of Cleric also right? I did, yes.

Was there any specific reason when you guys regrouped that you aimed for a different singer? Zac's a great fit. The main reason was that I didn't feel that I was able to physically do it anymore. Plus, I'd seen Zac doing vocals in Tyrannosorceress with John Schiller and Zach Jobin and felt he'd be a better fit for the band than what I was able to offer. It, in turn, freed me up to worry about writing riffs, working out leads, and wrecking neck with head banging.

I guess having 3 members of a previous band really helped have a cohesive vibe as well. Gratum Inferno is a very well put together debut. Do you consider the 2011 reboot of the band the actual beginning or were those first years a big part of the formative process? It was definitely part of the formative process. We bounced from being a straight up doom 3 piece to adding a second guitarist in Andrew Hawkins and moving into the old school death metal realm. I don't think we're out of that process yet, I feel that we're still developing our sound with each song we write and will probably try to do so until we say "enough" and ride off into the sunset.

I definitely pick up on a little doom influence so I see that. Almost everything I've read about you guys makes reference to the Sunlight Studios influence, which is made obvious by tracks with titles like "Left Hand Wrath," but I'm curious as to what other bands influence you guys aesthetically and sonically. I sense a lot of similarities with what labels like Profound Lore are doing. Deep attention to artwork and presentation and lyrics that go beyond your early 90s death metal gore. Oh man! Here's the fun part... So, the huge influence is, of course, the Swedish Death Metal sound brought about by Sunlight Studios. Morbid Angel and the Florida death metal scene are also influential. The Martin Van Drunen bands (Asphyx, Pestilence, Hail Of Bullets) are also up there in influence. A lot of the stuff that's currently being released by labels like Profound Lore and Dark Descent are current influences as well. But, yeah, Entombed, Grave, Unleashed, Bloodbath, Edge Of Sanity are heavy personal influences for me when I start to approach song writing these days.

What I love is that it's not re-hashed...it feels very modern and unique but with a nod to all the legends.  The guitar sound on the album almost gives it a crust-punk quality but then the Unleashed and more black metal-like tendencies take it to a whole different level. For a band that's relatively new, you guys have really created a signature sound that I think older death metal fans have been longing for. We do like to walk across in the crust punk realm from time to time. It adds variety and, at times, can up the intensity of a song. 

You mentioned song writing these days, you guys are in the midst of recording album no. 2 right? We are in the midst of recording a new album at this time and our current set is compromised of new material at the time. So when you catch us live these days it's all new material, maybe we'll occasionally throw in one song from Gratum Inferno just for the fun of it.

With bands like Venomous Maximus, Power Trip, Expander, & Eternal Champion, it seems like Texas is returning to a pretty damn good metal scene like the 80s and early 90s. Lots of bands really reaching out to the true metal heads' desires in music. Yeah, not to mention that Mammoth Grinder is entering the studio soon. Tyrannosorceress is about to release their album this year. We also have Baring Teeth and the grindcore bands Cognizant and Kaliya in Dallas that just rip your face off. We're seeing a good run of form in Texas right now for Metal in all sub-genres.

Oh yeah, can't wait for that Mammoth Grinder. Chris Ulsh is a beast. I had no idea Tyranasorceress was working on new music as well. T-Sorceress should have that album out this spring. It's done and ready to press, I believe. 

You’re actually a member of Kaliya also, if I'm not mistaken?  I am one of Kaliya's rotating bass player, yes. Hahaha, I wanted a change of pace from guitar and they were willing to work with my schedule and bring me on board. Good guys to work with.

I gather you guys are pretty close with Crawl and even did a clash set with them back when Full Of Hell & The Body came through. What was that like? That's a pretty unusual set-up 

We actually toured with Crawl in 2015 through the Midwest. Mike's sound is probably one of the most abrasive and nihilist things I've ever experienced. Just rattles your bones live.

That’s another thing I loved about Gratum Inferno. The interludes are so unsettling and surreal. Can't recall many death metal albums that have a reoccurring cohesive element throughout like that. Oh, yeah, the samples... well, I'm not a big fan of dead space in a live setting. I feel it kills the mood for the live performance. So I whipped up samples to play in between songs during our set early on. When we went in to record Gratum we decided to drop them into the album to keep the soundscape as similar to the live setting as possible. It just so happens that it also made the album sound even more unsettling.

It definitely does leave an unsettling feel. Even from that synthy, eerie, crackling intro....you don't know what you're in for. Between the samples and the cover art, I get a very Lovecraftian feel from the album experience.

Man, that's an honor to hear that it's a Lovecraftian experience.

I was hoping you guys were fans. Obviously the Satanic overtones are there but I get the very cosmic, darkness of the abyss vibe from it all as well. So you guys definitely stay busy, haha. Lots of things to look forward to. I don't think we had any ambitions to create any major theme with that album. It really just unfolded the way that it did. 

And speaking of the cover art, dear God. What a masterpiece. Hahaha, yeah, Jason Barnett did us a solid with that artwork. It's an exceptional piece of work.

So will the new album be through Tofu Carnage? And do you see 2017 to be the year of the new album's release? Sounds like everyone stays pretty busy. We're not sure yet. We're keeping it open for offers far and wide right now. Realistically, we'll see the new album sometime in 2018. We're still in the stages of tracking right now and we're not wanting to rush it too much. I would love to get it out to the public this year, but it probably wont happen.

I guess while Cleric may seem relatively new you guys have your hands in the scene for a while now leaving a mark with members who were in bands including Steel Bearing Hand, Baring Teeth, and Man Is Mostly Water. I would say we have. I guess you could say that that has also influenced us as musicians and our song writing as well throughout the years too.

Alright, a few more questions and I'll let you get back to it man Outside of the previously stated musical influences, are there any film or literary influences you guys look to? Film influences? Man, that's a tough one. I guess horror movies mainly, throw in some John Carpenter and Alejandro Jodorowsky for good fun. For sample/ interlude influence I've pull from soundtracks for movies like Blade Runner, Alien, Tron, Beyond The Black Rainbow in the past. Literary influences I couldn't give you a point of reference. I know Zac is delving into reading about the occult and satanism, but I'm not certain of the literature he's reading these days. I can't speak for the other guys in the band, unfortunately. I'm on a history kick these days and I'm just focusing on World War I literary works at the moment, so that's not influencing much in regards to the band in that aspect.

And for a final question. Bit of a cliche, but I like to throw it in. Top 5 albums. Any genre. Ok, I'll just stick with the Death Metal genre. I'd need more than 5 to list additional genres, haha. So here we go:  1) Entombed: Left Hand Path  2) Grave: You'll Never See  3) Carcass: Heartwork  4) Unleashed: Where No Life Dwells  5) Bloodbath: Resurrection Through Carnage

Awesome choices man. Definitely shows the roots of Cleric. Well thanks for the time I appreciate the talk! Awesome. Thanks, man. We appreciate it as well.

Oh yeah, i meant to ask. Is this the first Cleric interview? I didn't come across anything else online. Haha, yeah. I think it is officially the first interview for the band. 

Hell yeah man. Glad we could pop the interview cherry! Listen to Cleric’s soul shaking album at https://clericdeath.bandcamp.com/

[artgoon]

ATTN: TEXAS FANS OF RIFFS AND METAL OF OLD

Eternal Champion (members of Power Trip & Iron Age) along with Sumerlands (featuring members of War Hungry, Magic Circle & Hour of 13) are doing some of their very first shows on a tour blessing Texas with their sound rooted in nostalgia with minds set in the future. Both of their debut releases garnered massive critical attention from people like Fenriz of Darkthrone to the damn near impossible to please crowd Encyclopedia Metallum. Fans of Mercyful Fate, early Ozzy Osbourne, Dio & Dio Sabbath, Helloween, Manowar, and other speed and power metal greats should not miss this.

Texan lords Venomous Maximus will also be bringing their horror tinged doom to open the entire tour, as well as sludgy early 90′s death metal torch-carriers of Cleric on the Dallas date and San Antonio’s metallic hardcore children in SnakeWay will be opening the Austin date. 

This is a legendary metal tour that somehow didn’t exist in the 70s or 80s and I would not miss the opportunity to see such a cheap, incredible experience. Dates, tickets, and shit you need: Dallas, Houston, Austin

[artgoon]

i wish it was still snowing.

A mixfile by Dog Shoes. The sting of the sun sets in on the front of my face as soon as I exit the front door. It's the beginning of February and I recall just two years ago being troubled by a snow storm of a size that menaced our town. It wasn't a bad storm but the citizens of Paris aren't accustomed to any unusual weather and as you become an adult and have to deal with the burden of snowfall, snow loses it's glamour. I still would've taken that over this heat. I was ill prepared for the blast of sitting heat as I emerged from the air conditioned inside of my home. Black Sabbath's Never Say Die album played loudy. I stretched and I yawned and I contemplated the destruction of this entire Earth we call home and about the void waiting to be filled. I went inside and continued to play Skyrim.

[artgoon]

on dizzi slick’s “lil traphouse ep”

Somewhere in between the coldest depths of RZA & 4th Disciple beats, the threatening evil lo-fi murk of early Three 6 Mafia, the melodic criminal mindset of prime No Limit and Cash Money, and the meditative collaged work of Lil B resides Dizzi Slick and his newest release, Lil Traphouse EP.

Part of the internet-bred UDF cult some might call "a rap group", Dizzi Slick rhymes in a murmur about Fox News' worst nightmares. Fellow UDF member BB Sun provides his gothic trap backdrops as a scenery apt for the struggle, desperation, loneliness, and temptation presented by Dizzi Slick in his portrayal of the world through Lil Traphouse's eyes.

The production is heavy without being loaded or overbearing and highlights Dizzi Slick's susurrant words that illustrate a concrete graveyard plagued with ghosts of the past & present that echoes with the lowest rumbles of bass. BB Sun aka Bolo Nef aka Young Druggy Bone has always been a unique producer who utilizes reverb, bizarro mixtape drops, and airy synthesizers for a truly memorable sound and should produce much much more as his previous instrumentals make evident in original solo and group work along with reenvisioned remixes to a variety of genres showcasing the mind-frame the work is produced from.

Dizzi Slick's first album, Free Dizzi Slick (released at a time where the title explained his living situation), contained his specific street mentality combined with a sense of dark wit and overtones on a very modern canvas produced by notable shared UDF/Thraxxhouse affiliates such as Nedarb Nagrom, Trowa Barton, and Coolidge Sledge.

BB Sun has rapped on and produced several albums under the UDF branding and numerous pseudonyms on albums like Sol Invictus, Gimme, and U DIE FIRST (an album worth a discussion of it's own) all of which are innovative forays into based psychedelic subterranean cosmic stories. His music is such that embodies the fringe mindset of today's outcast society.

The Lil Traphouse EP comes across like a modern Soundcloud version of a punk 12 inch. A short trip to another world. Cohesive and eerie from beginning to end, it reveals its merits more and more with each listen. And we can only hope Dizzi Slick and BB Sun (aka Take Money Billionaires) both continue to create and reveal more rare exhibits like this to us over time.

- b.

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[frankocean]

I read in the paper that my brothers are being thrown from rooftops blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs for violating sharia law. I heard the crowds stone these fallen men if they move after they hit the ground. I heard it’s in the name of God. I heard my pastor speak for God too, quoting scripture from his book. Words like abomination popped off my skin like hot grease as he went on to describe a lake of fire that God wanted me in. I heard on the news that the aftermath of a hate crime left piles of bodies on a dance floor this month. I heard the gunman feigned dead among all the people he killed. I heard the news say he was one of us. I was six years old when I heard my dad call our transgender waitress a faggot as he dragged me out a neighborhood diner saying we wouldn’t be served because she was dirty. That was the last afternoon I saw my father and the first time I heard that word, I think, although it wouldn’t shock me if it wasn’t. Many hate us and wish we didn’t exist. Many are annoyed by our wanting to be married like everyone else or use the correct restroom like everyone else. Many don’t see anything wrong with passing down the same old values that send thousands of kids into suicidal depression each year. So we say pride and we express love for who and what we are. Because who else will in earnest? I daydream on the idea that maybe all this barbarism and all these transgressions against ourselves is an equal and opposite reaction to something better happening in this world, some great swelling wave of openness and wakefulness out here. Reality by comparison looks grey, as in neither black nor white but also bleak. We are all God’s children, I heard. I left my siblings out of it and spoke with my maker directly and I think he sounds a lot like myself. If I being myself were more awesome at being detached from my own story in a way I being myself never could be. I wanna know what others hear, I’m scared to know but I wanna know what everyone hears when they talk to God. Do the insane hear the voice distorted? Do the indoctrinated hear another voice entirely?

[artgoon]

Cant Noize 4 Mad Boyz (A BIRP! Mixtape)

Loud, aggressive, doused in gasoline, and dropped in the mud. Here's an aural assault for your midweek stress-out. Get the meds out. I hear Drumpf's coming back to Texas next week to dredge up the blood-faced, skin heads from the banks of the Red down to the Rio Grande. Guns galore and more. This is the bumper sticker, scream at a black kid just to tell it how it is revolution. American Democracy is a

failed institution

. Just put on some music and move to it. It's still okay. Deep breaths.

Let’s really make America rage again.

[artgoon]

A country legend has died today, May 17, 2016

Guy Clark was born in Monahan, Texas on November 6, 1941.

He helped create the outlaw and progressive country genres, and his music has been covered by country artists of all styles, many making it to the top of the charts at the time.

He and his wife were, as the Tennessean calls them “ringleaders in a Nashville roots music circus,” which included many other historic names.

Clark is perhaps best known for Desperados Waiting On A Train which was widely covered by others including The Highwaymen, but notably featured Emmylou Harris on his own version of the song.

[frankocean]

i'm not even gonna say rest in peace because it’s bigger than death. i never met the man (i was too nervous the one time i saw him) and i never saw him play live, regrettably. i only know the legends I’ve heard from folks and what i’ve heard and seen from his deep catalog of propellant, fearless, virtuosic work. my assessment is that he learned early on how little value to assign to someone else’s opinion of you.. an infectious sentiment that seemed soaked into his clothes, his hair, his walk, his guitar and his primal scream. he wrote my favorite song of all time, ‘when you were mine’. it’s a simple song with a simple melody that makes you wish you thought of it first, even though you never would have - a flirtatious brand of genius that feels approachable.  he was a straight black man who played his first televised set in bikini bottoms and knee high heeled boots, epic. he made me feel more comfortable with how i identify sexually simply by his display of freedom from and irreverence for obviously archaic ideas like gender conformity etc. he moved me to be more daring and intuitive with my own work by his demonstration - his denial of the prevailing model...his fight for his intellectual property - ‘slave’ written across the forehead, name changed to a symbol... an all out rebellion against exploitation. A vanguard and genius by every metric I know of who affected many in a way that will outrun oblivion for a long while. I’m proud to be a Prince fan(stan) for life.

[artgoon]

From the ashes of what once was and could have been, then cut short, now reborn to breathe again, Ellery James has returned to fill the hole that was left in my chest after the break up of WU LYF in late 2012. 

Beneath The Concrete is the forth track released from Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing, the forthcoming LP by his new band LUH. It’s release follows Unites, I&I, and Lost Under Heaven. 

Read Pitchfork’s interview with Ellery James Roberts and Ebony Hoorn.

Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing is out May 6 on Mute. Pre-order it on iTunes now. 

[artgoon]

Shamelessly playing this like it’s the hottest shit I ever heard, because it really kind of is...

[artgoon]

We won tickets to see Allan and Denzel Curry in Dallas next month thanks to Tunespeak. The show is April 22, 2016 and it’s just $17, so cop that shit.

And not to mention we’ll be seeing David Cross and Power Trip the very next day, both of those will be put on by Parade of Flesh.