Month: March 2021

Richie Kotzen has once again opened the door to a possible third album from THE WINERY DOGS. The guitarist/vocalist made his comments while speaking to Eonmusic about his new collaboration with IRON MAIDEN’s Adrian Smith, SMITH/KOTZEN, which is releasing its debut LP today (Friday, March 26) via BMG.

Speaking about THE WINERY DOGS’, last activity, which was a run of U.S. live dates dubbed “Who Let The Dogs Out”, Kotzen said: “We did a tour in 2019, and it was a nice time. We had a good time on the road, and we were talking about the idea of doing something again in the studio, the third record.”

According to Kotzen, the trio — which is rounded out by bassist Billy Shehan and drummer Mike Portnoy — was stopped in its tracks by COVID-19. “The pandemic hit, so now I just don’t know,” he said.

Richie continued: “I mean, everybody asks, and I’m very positive about the idea of doing it, but I just don’t know what’s going to happen now. You know, we have the situation where we still don’t really know when we can tour, and THE WINERY DOGS are an interesting situation; we’re not going to just phone it in.”

Going on to talk about the band’s creative process, the onetime POISON and MR. BIG guitarist said: “We have to be in a room together and write together, and now with Mike in Pennsylvania, and I live in California and Billy’s in Tennessee, it’s not the easiest thing, logistically, to bring it all together. We don’t want to send files back and forth, because that doesn’t really work for a band like us, you know? We need to be in the room.”

Despite this, Richie remains positive about the future for the band. “The only thing I can say is when we get into a position where the three of us can get in a room together and throw ideas around, that there will be a path at that point to a third album,” he confirmed, before concluding: “Right now I’m focused on SMITH/KOTZEN, and this record didn’t even come out yet, so, you know, one thing at a time. We’ll see.”

Read the entire interview at Eonmusic.

THE WINERY DOGS were founded in 2012 after Portnoy and Sheehan — who initially aimed to collaborate with former WHITESNAKE and BLUE MURDER guitarist John Sykes — reached out to Kotzen, who played with Sheehan in MR. BIG from 1997 to 2002. The group’s 2013 self-titled debut reached No. 27 on the Billboard 200 after selling more than 10,000 copies in the U.S. during its first week of availability. The initial sales of follow-up effort “Hot Streak” were even better, as the album debuted at No. 30 in late 2015 after shifting 13,000 equivalent album units in America during its first week of availability.

In January 2020, Portnoy told Sonic Perspectives that THE WINERY DOGS’ 2019 tour was done “just for the fun of it — just for no other reason than to play together again, because it had been a few years. I think it reignited our love for each other, and I think it showed us that there’s still so many fans out there that love this band,” he explained. “It reignited our desire to make another record, so I think as soon as we can, we will.”

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LAMB OF GOD has released a lyric video for “Hyperthermic/Accelerate”, which is part of the “Lamb Of God (Deluxe Version)”, due today (Friday, March 26) via Epic Records.

The set features the critically acclaimed 2020 release with two bonus tracks and a live version of the album, along with a DVD featuring the first of LAMB OF GOD’s two ultra-successful livestream events from the fall.

In addition to performing “Lamb Of God” in its entirety, the performance features an encore of four songs including “Ruin”, “Contractor”, “512” and the debut live performance of “The Death Of Us”, a new song the band wrote and recorded in quarantine for the “Bill & Ted Face The Music” movie and soundtrack. The DVD also includes a new director’s cut with bonus material. Digital copies will contain only Disc 1 and Disc 2. A separate vinyl edition of “Live From Richmond, VA” will also be available.

The first single from “Lamb Of God (Deluxe Version)”, “Ghost Shaped People”, has already received a response equal to the fervent reception the original release received last June, holding at No. 1 on the Metal Contraband metal radio chart for four weeks in a row.

“Lamb Of God”, the quintet’s first new album in five years, was met with universal acclaim upon release — not only among major rock journalists, but with all strata of metal fans around the world. But critics, media and the industry aside, perhaps the most telling statistic is the year-end U.S. Metal Radio chart, where the new album dominated at No. 1 by a massive margin (over 2,000 more spins than the album at No. 2). “Lamb Of God” spent nine weeks in the No. 1 spot and never left the top 10 since debuting on the chart in February. Metal Radio is the lifeblood of the U.S. metal world, largely staffed by college students and regional tastemakers, playing the music that they know their local metal fans want to hear.

“Lamb Of God” deluxe edition track listing:

Disc 1: “Lamb Of God” Original Album + 2 Bonus Tracks

01. Memento Mori
02. Checkmate
03. Gears
04. Reality Bath
05. New Colossal Hate
06. Resurrection Man
07. Poison Dream (feat. Jamey Jasta)
08. Routes (feat. Chuck Billy)
09. Bloodshot Eyes
10. On The Hook
11. Ghost Shaped People
12. Hyperthermic/Accelerate

Disc 2: “Lamb Of God – Live In Richmond, VA”

01. Memento Mori (Live)
02. Checkmate (Live)
03. Gears (Live)
04. Reality Bath (Live)
05. New Colossal Hate (Live)
06. Resurrection Man (Live)
07. Poison Dream (Live)
08. Routes (Live)
09. Bloodshot Eyes (Live)
10. On The Hook (Live)
11. Contractor (Live)
12. Ruin (Live)
13. The Death Of Us (Live)
14. 512

Disc 3: “Lamb Of God – Live In Richmond, VA” DVD

01. Memento Mori
02. Checkmate
03. Gears
04. Reality Bath
05. New Colossal Hate
06. Resurrection Man
07. Poison Dream
08. Routes
09. Bloodshot Eyes
10. On The Hook
11. Contractor
12. Ruin
13. The Death of Us
14. 512

Digital copies will contain only Disc 1 and Disc 2. A separate vinyl edition of “Lamb Of God – Live In Richmond, VA” will also be available.

“Lamb Of God – Live In Richmond, VA” vinyl track listing:

Side 1

01. Memento Mori
02. Checkmate
03. Gears
04. Reality Bath
05. New Colossal Hate

Side 2

01. Resurrection Man
02. Poison Dream
03. Routes
04. Bloodshot Eyes
05. On The Hook

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French progressive metallers GOJIRA have shared “Amazonia”, a brand-new single featured on their widely anticipated new album, “Fortitude”, which will be released April 30 via Roadrunner Records. “Amazonia” is available today on all streaming platforms and is accompanied by a Charles De Meyer-directed official music video shot in France as well as various locations in Brazil. De Meyer collaborated with multiple filmmakers (Vincent Moon, Hauxplay, Jennifer Kumiko Hayashi and Midia Ninja) to help bring an unfiltered look into the lives and struggle of the indigenous tribes there.

On “Amazonia”, GOJIRA takes aim at the crisis impacting the Amazon and its indigenous communities. A lush ripper interwoven with indigenous folk instruments and groove-metal rhythms, the soundscapes skew verdant, but the themes prove anything but idyllic. Vocalist / guitarist Joseph Duplantier surveys the endangered rainforest, concluding: “The greatest miracle / Is burning to the ground.” Proceeds from the song will benefit the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) who advocate for environmental and cultural rights of indigenous tribes in the Amazon who have suffered immensely – victims of deforestation, land loss, forced labor, violence, and harassment.

Launching alongside the song and video are two fundraising initiatives to help raise money for the indigenous-owned NGO APIB. Working with the social good-focused digital platform Propeller, GOJIRA is curating a month-long charitable campaign featuring an auction of one-of-a-kind items from the band and their friends. The auction launched today with a Joseph Duplantier signature guitar hand engraved by Duplantier with artwork celebrating Amazonian wildlife, in addition to a hand engraved Nash Guitars bass from METALLICA’s bass player Robert and his artist wife Chloe Trujillo, a signed exclusive photo print from LAMB OF GOD’s Randy Blythe, a limited-edition Rockhard SLAYER motorcycle helmet, and more. Each week new items will be added to the auction. To see the current auction listings, visit link text. Furthermore, GOJIRA has launched a limited-edition art print to benefit the APIB, where the first 500 fans who purchase the print will have their names added to the final design. The limited-edition prints are available today at this location.

“This is a call for unity” says Duplantier. “The music community can be powerful when united towards something meaningful like this. So many friends, great artists, bands have joined the movement without hesitation by donating instruments. This is a collective effort from so many people around us.”

The efforts continue GOJIRA’s career-long tradition of harnessing their music as a vehicle for environmental activism, not only surveying critical cases, but also catalyzing listeners to take action. “We don’t want to just release a song called ‘Amazonia’ — we want to do something on top of that,” Duplantier explains. “We feel a responsibility as artists to offer a way for people to take action.”

“Amazonia” follows the album’s lead single, “Born For One Thing”, which is arrived last month accompanied by a Charles De Meyer-directed official music video shot in France and Belgium. Both tracks are available as instant rat downloads with all pre-orders of “Fortitude” — GOJIRA’s first album in five years and the follow-up to 2016’s Grammy-nominated LP “Magma”.

Recorded and produced by Joseph Duplantier at Silver Cord Studio — GOJIRA’s Ridgewood, Queens, New York headquarters — and mixed by Andy Wallace (NIRVANA, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE), “Fortitude” is a collection of songs urging humanity to imagine a new world — and then make it happen. The band initially laid the foundation for “Fortitude” last year with the surprise release of the 2020 single “Another World”. NPR hailed the track as “an apocalyptic banger,” and Stereogum declared, “GOJIRA are one of this century’s most important underground metal institutions,” while “Fortitude” was Voted by fans as the #1 release on Revolver’s “Most Anticipated Albums of 2021.”

On “Magma”, GOJIRA found strength — and crossover success — through a singular commitment to self-reflection. The intensely personal record, penned in memory of the Duplantier brothers’ late mother, was a painful significant turning point for the French group. The album earned the band two Grammy nominations — “Best Metal Performance” and “Best Rock Album,” and upon release, “Magma” took the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Hard Rock Albums chart, a first for a French band. “Magma” also asserted itself as one of the most acclaimed albums of 2016, earning Metal Hammer’s coveted “Album Of The Year” title while also landing on Rolling Stone’s “Top 20 Metal Albums of 2016,” and Consequence Of Sounds’ “Top 50 Albums of 2016” / “Top 10 Metal Albums of 2016” lists.

GOJIRA’s widely anticipated tour dates supporting DEFTONES have been rescheduled for laer this year.

Photo credit: Gabrielle Duplantier

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Dutch death metal veterans PESTILENCE will release their ninth album titled “Exitivm” on June 25 via Agonia Records.

Back in 1986, in the small town of Enschede in the Netherlands, near the German border, a true metal phenomenon was born. More than three decades later, not only is PESTILENCE alive and well, but about to once again reaffirm its place in the extreme metal pantheon, with “Exitivm”, which is Latin for “total destruction.”

As controversial as he can be to some, nobody will ever deny the band’s undisputable driving force, Patrizio “Patrick” Mameli, and his constant ability to reinvent himself. Unlike most of the bands in the scene, PESTILENCE just keeps evolving. From the raging thrash leanings of their cult 1988 debut “Malleus Maleficarum” to the jazz-infused versatility of 1993’s “Spheres” or 2009’s “Resurrection Macabre” frontal assault, not to mention the fans’ favorite and Scott Burns-produced “Testimony Of The Ancients” from 1991, he never did the same record twice. No matter who playes with him on any PESTILENCE album, Mameli always gets the best out of the musicians he is working with. But first and foremost, the man has a one-of-a-kind vision, instantly recognizable style and yet always stretching musical boundaries. And it’s never more true than on “Exitivm”.

After a vast reissue campaign in between 2015 and 2018 and an acclaimed new album “Hadeon”, the band got seemingly stopped in their mission to conquer the death metal scene in early 2020, like everybody else, by the global pandemic, going as far as forcing some of the band’s “Hadeon” lineup members to drop the towel. But what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, and instead of letting that whole situation drag him down, Mameli chose to do the exact opposite and write the best and darkest album possible to date. And he just did that. With its ambitious lyrical concept about “global domination,” “induced mental illness,” “inner and outer demons” and malicious external entities, “Exitivm” is propelling the band one again to the forefront of the death metal movement with yet another original and brilliant artistic overhaul.

Mind you, as soon as you’re past the very cinematic introduction “In Omnibvs”, you’re instantly caught up by “Morbvs Propagationem” whose intense riffing will take back to the “Testimony” days. Except that their core sound has been revived, with now extra layers of ominous soundscapes ingeniously suggesting an atmosphere of suspence and horror, boosted by Mameli’s jazz-fusion impressive solo works and a renewed sense of urgency. This rejuvenation, with emphasis on “new musical landscapes but also sick and twisted riffs,” as stated by Mameli himself, is no accident, though. Not only has Mameli been extremely inspired by the turmoil humanity had to face since March 2020 but with a lineup once again, entirely based in the Netherlands and made up of only super-seasoned players — besides former DEW-SCENTED and CREEPMIME bassist Joost Van Der Graaf and BLEEDING GODS’ Rutger Van Noordenburg on lead guitar, former GOD DETHRONED drummer Michiel Van Der Plicht joined last year — PESTILENCE is more than ever a band where everybody feeds off of each other’s musical talent.

With the exception of the drums — tracked by Van Der Plicht himself at his home studio — “Exitivm” was recorded over a period of two months in between June and August 2020 at Pitchnote Productions. The album was produced, like all PESTILENCE albums, by Mameli and is co-produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Jory Hogeveen (SHINIGAMI and ANCIENT RITES).

“Exitivm” will be available in various formats, including supra-limited picture, pin-wheel, “firebreath” and clear vinyl versions. The cover artwork once again brought the band’s iconic sphere and was done by Michal “Xaay” Loranc, known for his various cover for NILE, GOD DETHERONED and EVOCATION and who previously worked on “Hadeon”.

“Exitivm” track listing:

01. In Omnibvs (Intro)
02. Morbvs Propagationem
03. Deificvs
04. Sempiternvs
05. Internicionem
06. Mortifervm
07. Dominatvi Svbmissa
08. Pericvlvm Externvm
09. Inficiat
10. Exitivm
11. Immortvos
12. Personatvs Mortem (Outro)

PESTILENCE lineup:

Patrizio Mameli – vocals, lead guitars
Rvtger Van Noordenbvrg – lead guitars
Joost Van Den Berg – bass
Michiel Van Der Plicht – drums

Last March, the band filmed its second-ever official video — three decades after “Land Of Tears” — for the song “Morbvs Propagationem”.

Photo credit: Marc Van Peski

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We are just a mere three months into the year, but 2021 truly is shaping up to be the year of the Bohab! Following the announcement of GWAR’s “Ragnarok” Rye and their brand new CBD line “Bud Of Gods,” your Lords and Masters have yet another surprise up their sleeve. May 28 will see the release of “The Disc With No Name”, via Pit Records. The EP is a limited-edition 12-inch picture disc. It is available for purchase at GWAR.net and indie retailers.

“The Disc With No Name” features unplugged versions of four GWAR classics, completely reimagined and rearranged with acoustic instruments.

The idea to release the EP came during last year’s quarantine following the band’s heart wrenching, emotional and ridiculous acoustic performance for The A.V. Club during their quarantine sessions. With this release, the band looks back wistfully on eons of murderous rock and roll and the lonesome time of the great Gwarantine of 2020.

Lead singer Blóthar The Berserker had this to say: “During the quarantine of 2020 I spent long, lonely days with my hand down my pants, hiding out in a fortress made entirely of rolls of toilet paper, drinking hand sanitizer and watching ‘1000-Lb Sisters’… which is business as usual for me. So I was relieved when I got the call to lay down some vocals on ‘The Disc With No Name’. We recorded this record over the telephone, which was fine with me, because I can’t stand to be in the same room as the other members of GWAR.”

“The Disc With No Name” track listing:

Side A:

01. Fuck This Place
02. Gonna Kill You

Side B:

01. I’ll Be Your Monster
02. The Road Behind

Dave Brockie, who fronted GWAR under the name Oderus Urungus, was found dead in his home in Richmond, Virginia in March 2014. According to Virginia’s State Medical Examiner’s Office, he died from acute heroin toxicity by accidental means.

Brockie was last remaining original member of GWAR, which was founded 37 years ago. He was 50 years old.

The satirical metal band earned a following for its macabre, over-the-top costumes, offensive lyrics and graphic, gore-soaked shows, in which the bandmembers performed as the descendants of alien warriors who arrived on Earth to enslave and slaughter the human race.

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Transatlantic progressive metal outfit MONUMENTS has used the break from touring to work on new material and has released a new song called “Deadnest”.

Guitarist Olly Steele states about the song: “Our last release ‘Animus’ focused on pop/melody so I wanted to contrast this with darker, lower, aggressive and abrasive moments for ‘Deadnest’. Maintaining energy and momentum throughout was definitely a goal. I tried to keep myself in the headspace of a young hungry kid with a lot to prove which I believe is reflected in the technicality of the song. It has a major/minor feel, playing with happy and uplifting passages but also sad sounds that paint despair and take away any hope.”

He continued: “It was inspired by a level in a video game — a nasty dark place that had no light and is completely jagged and uninhabitable, yet many creatures still called this place home. I found that real life has many parallels with this — sometimes the place where you are meant to feel safe doesn’t provide that for you at all. Another example is with fear, anxiety and paranoia — these things inhabit you, sometimes physically, but always mentally.

“How can you escape your own mind and how can you fight something that is internal? The lyrical concepts perfectly aligned, and ‘Deadnest’ was born.”

“Deadnest” is the second MONUMENTS release featuring Andy Cizek on vocals and Mike Malyan returning on drums.

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“Hardware”, the third solo album from ZZ TOP frontman Billy Gibbons, has wrapped recording and post-production and is set for release June 4 by Concord Records. The album was recorded at Escape Studio in California’s high desert, near Palm Springs, and was produced by Gibbons along with Matt Sorum and Mike Fiorentino, with engineer Chad Shlosser providing additional production. The album’s release is preceded by the release of the single “West Coast Junkie”. The video for the track was filmed near Joshua Tree, a stone’s throw from the studio.

Sorum, veteran of GUNS ‘N’ ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER and THE CULT, also serves as “Hardware”‘s drummer and was joined in the album’s core band by guitarist Austin Hanks. The same Gibbons-Sorum-Hanks aggregation recorded “The Big Bad Blues”, Gibbons’s earlier solo effort for Concord and winner of the Blues Foundation’s Blues Music Award.

In contrast to “The Big Bad Blues” and “Perfectamundo”, Gibbons’s debut solo album, almost all of the “Hardware” repertoire is original and rock-oriented with eleven of the album’s twelve songs written by Gibbons, Sorum, Fiorentino and Shlosser. The sole exception is “Hey Baby, Que Paso”, originally recorded by the TEXAS TORNADOS. The album’s title is a tribute to legendary recording engineer the late Joe Hardy who worked with Gibbons and ZZ TOP dating back to the mid-1980s. Sonically, the album was influenced by the high desert circumstance of its recording. Says Gibbons: “The desert settings, replete with shifting sands, cacti and rattlesnakes makes for the kind of backdrop that lends an element of intrigue reflected in the sounds created out there.”

“Stackin’ Bones”, one of the album’s standouts, features a guest appearance by LARKIN POE, with whom Gibbons has been familiar and friendly for quite a while. He initially met them through the good offices of Tyler Bryant, husband of LARKIN POE’s Megan Lovell; he had toured extensively with ZZ TOP in the past. LARKIN POE also shared a bill with Billy at New York’s “Love Rocks NYC” benefit in 2019 and the “Hardware” collaboration grew from there.

While a truly broad spectrum of approaches is notable on the album’s hard driving tracks there is, to be sure, no mistaking the remarkable tone and growling vocals that are hallmarks of Billy Gibbons’s artistry. Elements of traditional hard rock, neo-metal, country rock, new wave, blues and even surf music make “Hardware” difficult to categorize and it would be a fool’s game to do so. In fact, “Desert High”, the album’s last track, is a spoken-word piece accompanied by a sinewy guitar that evokes the legend Graham Parsons, whose death 48 years ago took place very close to where “Hardware” was recorded.

Billy sums up the album’s ecumenical construct: “We holed up in the desert for a few weeks in the heat of the summer and that in itself was pretty intense. To let off steam we just ‘let it rock’ and that’s what Hardware is really all about. For the most part, it’s a raging rocker but always mindful of the desert’s implicit mystery.”

“Hardware” track listing:

01. My Lucky Card
02. She’s On Fire
03. More-More-More
04. Shuffle, Step & Slide
05. Vagabond Man
06. Spanish Fly
07. West Coast Junkie
08. Stackin’ Bones (featuring LARKIN POE)
09. I Was A Highway
10. S-G-L-M-B-B-R
11. Hey Baby, Que Paso
12. Desert High

Photo credit: Blain Clausen

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Wolfgang Van Halen has released two new songs, “Don’t Back Down” and “Think It Over”, from his solo band, MAMMOTH WVH. Both tracks will appear on MAMMOTH WVH’s self-titled debut album, due on June 11 via Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records.

MAMMOTH WVH’s first single, “Distance”, recently reached No. 1 on the MediaBase and BDS Active Rock Radio charts. The song is a tribute to Wolfgang’s father, legendary VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen. The track was not originally intended to be on MAMMOTH WVH’s debut album, but due to the overwhelming response to its accompanying video, which has been viewed over four million times on YouTube, it has been added as a bonus track. All of Wolfgang’s proceeds from “Distance” are being donated to Mr. Holland’s Opus.

“The response to ‘Distance’ has been incredibly overwhelming,” Wolfgang said. “The immense support from everyone at radio who played the song and all of the fans who called requesting it has been more than I could have imagined. Thank you to everyone who helped me get my first No. 1 song. I wish Pop was here to see it.”

Writing all of the songs and performing all of the instrumentation and vocals for the debut album, Wolfgang Van Halen set out to establish his own musical identity. From the rocking opening guitar riff on album opener “Mr. Ed” to the driving bass and drums on album closer “Stone”, “Mammoth WVH” showcases the various musical influences that have inspired Wolfgang. Songs like “Resolve”, “The Big Picture” and “Think It Over” are all sonically different from each other but unique to what MAMMOTH WVH is. The current single “Distance” — written as a tribute to Wolfgang’s father and guitar icon Eddie Van Halen — is another side of “Mammoth WVH” and is currently No. 3 at Active Rock Radio. The emotional video has been viewed four million times on YouTube. The song was not originally intended to be on the debut album, but due to the overwhelming response, it has been added as a bonus track. All of Wolfgang’s proceeds from “Distance” are being donated to Mr. Holland’s Opus.

“Mammoth WVH” track listing:

01. Mr. Ed
02. Horribly Right
03. Epiphany
04. Don’t Back Down
05. Resolve
06. You’ll Be The One
07. Mammoth
08. Circles
09. The Big Picture
10. Think It Over
11. You’re To Blame
12. Feel
13. Stone
14. Distance (bonus track)

“Distance” is an open letter to Wolfgang’s father, declaring “no matter what the distance is, I will be with you.” The video for the song is created from a collection of family home movies through the years and offers an inside look in to one of music’s most notable personalities. Chronicling the family through the years, the video ends with a touching voicemail left from Eddie to his son.

Last November, Wolfgang confirmed that he asked his father for permission to use the MAMMOTH WVH band name for his solo project. MAMMOTH WVH is a nod to family history — Eddie and Alex Van Halen’s band was called MAMMOTH when singer David Lee Roth first joined it in 1974.

Photo by Travis Shinn

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BEARTOOTH will release its fourth studio album, “Below”, on June 25 via Red Bull Records. The official Wyatt Clough-directed music video for the LP’s latest single, “The Past Is Dead”, can be seen below.

BEARTOOTH frontman Caleb Shomo commented: “‘Below’ is by far my favorite album I’ve made to date. It covers the dark side of dealing with mental strain during the last year. I gave it all I had — musically and lyrically. Is it too dark? Possibly, but it was as honest as I could be about how I felt. I hope everyone is ready to strap in for a wild ride of headbanging and rocking.”

Regarding “The Past Is Dead”, Caleb said: “‘The Past Is Dead’ was one of the first songs written for the album. The video is meant to depict the beginning of the journey to the deepest and darkest parts of my mind, which was the fuel used to make ‘Below’.”

“The Past Is Dead” follows the release of “Devastation”, which will also appear on “Below”.

“Below” track listing:

01. Below
02. Devastation
03. The Past Is Dead
04. Fed Up
05. Dominate
06. No Return
07. Phantom Pain
08. Skin
09. Hell Of It
10. I Wont Give It Up
11. The Answer
12. The Last Riff

Last July, Shomo told “Mosh Talks With Beez” about the writing and recording sessions for “Below”: “I worked on a lot of this album on the road — a whole lot of this record. We honestly could not have been luckier with the way our record cycle laid out.

“The ‘Disease’ tour in Europe was our last tour of the cycle, and that finished on March 6th, I believe. And then the next week, everything got shut down. So we already planned to kind of take most of this year off. We planned on not taking it all off, like we’re probably gonna have to.

“I’d already worked on a ton of the record, just writing out on the road; I brought a studio rig out there. And that was great.

“When it first started, the whole lockdown thing, I just kind of emotionally shut down for a month,” he continued. “But then I just kind of caught a second wind, and I’ve just been ripping through songs. It’s pretty cool.”

Asked if the BEARTOOTH songwriting “formula” is still present in the band’s new material, Caleb said: “I think that something about the BEARTOOTH sound is sort of that formula. BEARTOOTH has a song structure — it’s the classic pop structure of intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, out. But with this one, I’ve just been trying to amp up everything. ‘Cause with the last record, I really wanted to go for that super-raw, live-rock-and-roll-in-the-old-school-studio and old-school-console sound, and it was rad, and I loved doing it. And it was proving to myself that I can make a real record without computers — well, [without] heavily relying on computers. But I don’t know… I just kind of realized, like, you know what? That’s what I learned as a producer. I came up in the era of mixing in the box and recording in the box, which means using plug-ins and emulations and things like that. I’ve just been kind of using that to try and push it a little further. The formula is still there, but I don’t think it’s in a bad way. I think it’s the formula people want from a BEARTOOTH record.

“This one is just jacked,” he explained. “Everything is amped up to 11. I am so, so pumped. Obviously, this is what you wanna think when you’re making a record, but damn, this is the best one yet. Not even close. This is the heaviest record. This is my best work — the most proud I’ve been of these songs. It’s wild. It’s some heavy-duty shit.”

Speaking about the musical direction of the new BEARTOOTH songs, Shomo said: “The easiest way I’ve been trying to explain this record to people without giving too much away is if ‘Disease’ was AC/DC, this record is BLACK SABBATH. It’s a lot more influenced in dark stoner rock, heavy power groove. Obviously, there’s still a lot of fast [stuff] and some punk rock and all that, but I’ve really been exploring with the stoner metal side of guitars and guitar tones and doing different tunings and lots of fuzz and chaos and layering the fuck out of my guitar tracks.

“The whole point, for me, of this mix and the sonics of this record is as big and loud and fucking sonically devastating as I can possibly get it,” he said. “So on a breakdown, for example, where on ‘Disease’ it would just be left guitar, right guitar, bass down the middle, this is literally… That little clip I posted [on Instagram ] is I think eight guitars, three bass tracks. Just experimenting — just doing dumb stoner shit and just trying my fucking best. Yeah, that’s the goal — is just sonic devastation, for sure.”

BEARTOOTH’s latest release was the folk- and country music-inspired “The Blackbird Session” EP, which came out in September 2019.

The band’s third album, “Disease”, was released in September 2018 via Red Bull Records. The disc was recorded at BlackBird studio in Franklin, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz (DEFTONES, KORN, FOO FIGHTERS).

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