Recently wrapping up six weeks of touring Cavalera Conspiracy and Death Angelcriss-crossed the USA on a long tour. Both bands brought the heavy to thrash fans across the country. Joining them on the tour was Corrosion of Conformity BLIND, on their first national tour ever, and Lody Kong. Lody Kong of course counts amongst its ranks Zyon and Igor Cavalera, sons of headliner Max. The young upstarts with the metal royalty in their bloodline don’t flinch in fear of tough crowds or early stage times. COC BLIND features Corrosion of Conformity drummer Reed Mullen and singer Karl Agell (King Hitter/Leadfoot) play songs of the Blind (Columbia) album. Many of these tracks haven’t been played in concert since the tour following the album in 1991. Death Angel is still touring behind The Dream Call For Blood (Nuclear Blast) and has a new concert DVD on the way soon. They are one of the best live bands in thrash or any other genre of metal. Lastly Cavalera Conspiracy takes the stage, Max and his brother Igor (MIXHELL), reunited and thrashing just as they are meant to do together. The set list on this night included songs from the two CC albums, obligatory Sepultura hits such as ‘Territory’ and ‘Biotech is Godzilla’, a tribal drum off with a little kid from the crowd, and even a Nailbomb jam. Shot at the Hawthorne Theater by Curtiss Dunlap Photography, this was quite the entertaining night of metal!
Cavalera Conspiracy, by Curtiss Dunlap Photography
Cavalera Conspiracy, by Curtiss Dunlap Photography
Cavalera Conspiracy, by Curtiss Dunlap Photography
Long-running West Virginia bred, instrumental stoner-rock missionaries Karma To Burn has just finally released their killer new album Arch Stanton (Faba Records) in the USA, after it was available overseas last summer. The tracks themselves are mini-epics of major proportions, and they cement everything you love about this groovin institution, yet pushes out their sound even more than before. To celebrate, the band has hit the road with like minded rockers Sierra on a tour that will see them criss-cross the US. Catching up with the band recently at Portland Oregon’s storied Hawthorne Theater, both bands were impressive. Even local opener Disenchanter caught our attention. Check out this photo set from the show courtesy of Curtiss Dunlap Photography. If you can’t make it out to a show, go pick up Arch Stanton, sit back, burn one and space out.
Los Angeles based instrumental post-rock maestro’s Barrows completed a west coast tour over the summer in support of their excellent new album Red Giant (Barrows Recordings). Drawing inspiration from the same pool that ISIS, Pelican, Rosetta and Russian Circles are immersed in, yet possess their own unique vision and style too. Pure artists who are unfettered by traditional expectations of what a band is supposed to be, they have a refreshing take on music that serves as a clear sign to creative longevity. Jarred Christenson caught up with Jim Leonard and Richy Epolito for a Q & A session to learn about all things Barrows.
How did you guys meet and get started playing music? Can you describe an early jam session and a current one to give us an idea of how things have changed (or not) since then?
Jim:Rich’s older brother Tom was one of my best friends in high school. I spent a lot of time hanging with Tom at the Epolito house and that’s how rich and I met. Rich’s guitars and drums were always lying around so It didn’t take long for us to start playing music together.
Richy: Jim and I have been writing and playing music together for a long time but the ideas behind Barrows started within the past 5 years. We understand and respect each others opinions equally which is highly important to us.
What was the genesis of the astral concept for Red Giant? Were there any particular books/ media/experiences that inspired it or that you consumed during the writing process to stay in that epic frame of mind? Did you binge watch a bunch of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos?
Richy: One night we were out partying with some friends and we ended up crashing at Jim’s place. When we were trying to fall asleep, the words Red Giant came to my mind and they sort of spilled out and it struck a chord with both of us. I like the idea of a star expanding to its largest state while also becoming low in density and then eventually expiring because of that imbalance. I think we can all agree Carl Sagan is a total badass, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who can rock a turtleneck as hard as he did.
Jim: Once we knew the title of the record, we began forming a linear story line for the album based on a Red Giant. The Red Giant explodes, which creates a ‘Black Hole’, which creates a ‘Wormhole’, and then ‘Beyond’ is where you end up at the end of the Wormhole. The opening track ‘Nebula’ is the space in which the Red Giant exists. I have never seen Cosmos, but Kubrick s 2001 definitely had a strong influence on the wormhole/beyond part of the concept for the record.
Barrows, by Curtiss Dunlap Photography
What order did you develop the songs in? Did you build the album out from the title track or did you write it sequentially from start to finish?
Jim: We figured out the title of the record, and then the story line for the record, and once that was set we began writing the music for the songs based on their titles.
Richy: The very first thing that came about was the beginning of ‘Nebula’. After that it was just a lot of bits and pieces and working on songs as they naturally flowed out of us.
That makes two concept albums for you. What appeals to you about albums that have a unifying theme?
Richy: I think we enjoy melding visuals in our heads with musical ideas. For us it sort of gives us a very specific focus to work off of. Its similar to writing a soundtrack for film in a lot of ways. We enjoy creating fiction, it is a very rewarding way to explore ourselves and our surroundings.
Jim: As an instrumental band, sometimes it’s easier to know how a song should change and move forward when you have an idea as to what the song is about and how it relates to the rest of the songs on the record.
Barrows, by Curtiss Dunlap Photography
Let’s talk about the recording process. Red Giant has some fairly sprawling songs on it. Did you use any weird tricks for keeping things straight in the studio? Give parts nicknames?
Jim: We made very detailed demos for each song before we went into the studio. The final songs have the exact same composition and structure as our final demos. That helped keep things straight while in the studio.
Was the gear you used pretty similar to what you play on live, or did you pull out some extra tricks to get the sound you wanted?
Jim: Rich and I write and record as a two piece, but live we play as a four piece with our bandmates Brock Haltiwanger and Ryo Higuchi. Our sound is a bit different live because Brock and Ryo use their own gear.
Barrows, by Curtiss Dunlap Photography
Follow up question: your Instagram feed has a pic of a mic’d up bathroom stall. What’s that all about? (Please tell me that’s how you got the whooshing sound at the end of ‘Red Giant’)
Richy: Hahaha. The bathroom mic was a genius idea from our engineer Toshi Kasai. The basic idea was to create a chamber far away from the amp to catch sound. So what we did was place the amp about 15 feet from that bathroom and then put a microphone inside the bathroom. When the amp is played the sound travels 15 feet and is trapped in this like mini chamber and recorded by the microphone. It creates a natural reverb. Samples of that sound can be heard on the guitars at the beginning of ‘Nebula’ and at the beginning and end of ‘Beyond’. This technique helped convey the feeling of space.
Jim: That whooshing sound at the end of ‘Red Giant’ is the sound of the star exploding. For the initial drop we used a whammy pedal, and the swell that follows was created by double tracking analog delay pedal swells.
What do you feel like the high point of the recording process was for you? What was the low point?
Jim: We are not huge fans of recording in general our favorite thing is the process of making the songs and watching/hearing them come into form. I wouldn’t say there was any high or low points, it all just blended together. Toshi made our recording process super comfortable and relaxed which we appreciated a lot.
You guys are about to hit the road for a West Coast tour. What’s your touring rig look like? Do you have any special detours planned along the way? And what kind of entertainment are you bringing with you to stay sane on the road?
Jim: We are going to rent a van for this tour. We are playing a show every night we are on tour, so we don’t have time for any major detours, but we have good friends in almost every city we are stopping in so it will be good to catch up with them. As far as road entertainment, were just bringing a bunch of music.
Richy: Luckily I will have my pogs and Magic cards to make the drive go by faster.
Barrows, by Curtiss Dunlap Photography
What’s your approach to set list? Do you plan to pull out a cover?
Jim: We will be playing most of Red Giant, and a few songs off of Imprecari Island. We will definitely be playing ‘Pirates’ at every show. We have never worked on a cover before, maybe someday.
Corrosion of Conformity continues to mine away at our collective psyches, grooves crushing so hard as a power trio with their latest album IX (Candlelight). The band is out on the road supported by hardcore mainstays B’last, Brant Bjorkand The Low Desert Punk Band and Lord Dying; tearing up stage after stage, night after night. Ghost Cult’s Curtiss Dunlap caught this tour in Portland, OR, (minus B’last) at Dante’s. Check out his photos from the show:
The Know is a punk venue located in North Portland on a street populated with boutiques, food cart pods, and the odd carniceria. A curtain sections off a bar and some pinball machines from a low bare-bones stage in a room maybe twenty feet wide by forty long. A couple of what appear to be gold couch cushions are affixed (glued?) to the ceiling above the stage, and there’s a big ‘ol poster of a lightning storm on the right-hand wall, for atmosphere.
Barrows is a band from Los Angeles that plays epic instrumental post-rock with a narrative bent. They are out touring the West Coast on their latest LP, Red Giant (Barrows Recordings), a concept album that lays out the life and death of a star (Hubble Telescope kind, not Tom Cruise) in five spiraling songs. This was their second stop on the tour, third if you count their first date at home.
The night began with Portland locals The Sky Above and Earth Below playing a solid set of melodic screaming hardcore in the vein of Glassjaw or Shai Hulud. The three piece band set up on ground level in front of the stage (D.I.Y. pragmatism’s not dead!) and though no actual floor punching occurred surely we all floor punched in our hearts as they riffed in our midst.
After a brief sound check Barrows began their set on the red-lit stage with the atmospheric winds and clean swells of album opener, ‘Nebula.’ Drummer Richy Epolito and bassist Jim Leonard were joined by guitarists Brock Haltiwanger and Ryo Higuchi, and when they hit the huge flanging crashes that come near the end of the song it was apparent that the band is fully locked in and not prone to lose any power in their live presence.
Their formidable sound brought more people in from the bar, and Barrows ended up playing to a decent room for a Monday night. They moved through the bulk of Red Giant in a focused manner, pausing only a few times to switch basses, and bringing a tight intensity to the many transitions and builds in the material.
Leonard paused briefly to say hi to the crowd before announcing their last song of the night, ‘Pirates,’ the closing track from Barrows 2011 debut , Imprecari Island. Fifteen minutes later Barrows was packed up and ready to, as Saint Rollins once put it, “Get in the van.”
