Anyone who has been following the doom scene for the past decade is familiar with Windhand. The staple doom band hailing from Richmond, Virginia has dropped banger after banger and released powerful record after powerful record. Vocalist Dorthia Cottrell has been busy this whole time, as she not only heads up the band but also plays as a solo artist. I caught up with my old friend about all things Windhand and how she’s been doing. Continue reading
GWAR’s Dr. Michael “Blothar” Bishop gave an independently organized TED Talk in Richmond, VA last week. Bishop, who teaches at University of Virginia, is best known in GWAR as the original Beefcake The Mighty, but has had other musical projects such as Kepone and Misery Brothers. The main topic of the talk was “How Was GWAR Was Representative Of The Culture of Richmond, Virginia”. You can see the video at this link or below:
Dr. Michael Bishop as Blothar of GWAR, photo by Meg Loyal Photography
GWAR is prepping their annual GWAR B-Q in Richmond this coming weekend. You can still get tickets for the event at this link: http://gwarbq.com/buy-tickets
Oh, Jesus. Richmond, Virginia has proved a fertile ground for the heavier end of metal over the last two or three years, but the cheesy 80s synth and tinny-sounding drums that overshadow Silaluk (6131), the début three-track EP from quartet Shadow Age, sadly give me all the wrong kind of chills.
Changing their name from Colony some months ago, their ethos has remained post-Punk yet the feel loses some of that intensity. The rapid bass of the opening title track underpins coldly mellow strings, while lacklustre yet melodic vocals, a cross between Barney Sumner and Morrissey, enforce the pervading Mancunian air. Sadly, save for the lead shimmers and slightly more urgent delivery of ‘A Portrait of a Young Man Drowning’, the first two tracks have more of the Indie / Pop of New Order than the angular, piercing swagger of forefathers Joy Division.
It’s the booming drums and Post-rock leadwork of the moody, balladic closer ‘Innocence’ that finally give this outing a bit of steel. The building swathes of pensive atmospherics take the listener into Shoegaze territory, that Smiths vocal link ever more apparent and lightly dusted over the emotive instrumentals which are evocative of the heady days when both U2 and The Sisters of Mercy were both capable of appealing to the harder rockers among us. The sound that Shadow Age are peddling is indeed an attractive one in many respects, but overall it’s missing a row of teeth which would generate real interest outside the NME readership.
6.0/10
PAUL QUINN