Axehandle "Pulp"

Axehandle
Axehandle
CDR
(self-released, 2003)

In honor of today being National Metal Day, or something, I will be featuring one of my favorite lesser-known metallic ensembles. On a side note, why the Hell is 11-11-11 a metal day? All I can think is because the numbers add up to 6, as in 666, the number of the beastie. But, if that's the reasoning, then today should be International Patrick McGoohan Day. Hmph.

Math time!

Don't'cha' love Venn Diagrams?

I do! Or, I should say, I did when I was a wee schoolboy. I think. That was a while ago.

Anyhow . . .

My friend Elizabeth, whom I've mentioned before, informed me sometime in the late '80s that she'd seen God. As it turned out, she meant she'd seen Avail play in Richmond, Virginia (an hour away) the night before. Embarrassed as I am to admit this, I have to admit I've never heard them. I've heard plenty of positive stuff about them, however, and Elizabeth generally has excellent taste. One day, I will check them out. I promise.

What does this have to do with anything?

Well, Richmond musician Erik Larson first made a name for himself as Avail's drummer, Erik Larson (see above diagram). Yes, I wrote that intentionally. I don't think he was playing with Avail when Elizabeth saw them, but that is beside the point, dammit. He went on to play guitar in the stoner metal band Alabama Thunderpussy, who were also from Richmond, which is not now, and has never been, in Alabama. Unless someone has been lying to me.

'Round about 2003, three fifths of ATP started the side project Axehandle (see above diagram). They toured a bit and released one album, the eponymously-titled Axehandle. They originally released it themselves as a professionally duplicated CDR, and I bought a copy when I saw them that year. Their setup was rather unique, I must add. The aforementioned Erik sang and played rhythm drums, ATP drummer Big Shirley (AKA Bryan Cox) played lead drums, and ATP guitarist Ryan Lake stood behind them, playing a single guitar (a Les Paul, if I remember correctly) through two massive Marshall stacks. It was awesome, so I bought their CDR. The CDR also turned out to be awesome, and Small Stone Records apparently agreed, as they did a proper release on regular, regulation CD the following year. I've chosen to use the cover from the CDR version above, though, as I bought it first, and I like it better than the new cover down here. A lot better, actually.

Tragically, Axehandle never released anything else. Tragically 2 (The Electric Boogaloo), they never released their horrific cover of Phil Collins' I Don't Care Anymore. Seriously, it was menacing as Hell when they performed it at that show. Lyrically, it fit right in with their other anger-and-psychosis-and-violence drenched material; it was a good fit percussively, as well.

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BTW, I saw Brass Castle for the first time that same night. They rapidly became my favorite local band, amidst a ton of great local bands, and will most definitely be featured here at some point.

Slow Horse "Wicked Game"

Slow Horse Slow Horse CD (Freebird Records, 1999)

What a long, strange week it's been, eh? I got stuck on the write-up for the next piece I'd chosen, and hit a mental roadblock. More like smashed into it and declared totaled by my insurance company. So, I finally decided to ditch it, and go with something else. I featured a song from Slow Horse's eponymous, doomtastic debut album a while back, and Devil Dick, of the awesome blog The Devil's Music, requested I post their cover of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game,", from that same album. So, without further ado, here 'tis.

Slow Horse "When Are You Coming Home?"

Uh, oh! You either don't have the Flash plug-in installed, or you have it disabled.
Otherwise, there'd be a cute lil' streaming audio player on the left, rather than this message.

Slow Horse
Slow Horse
CD
(Freebird Records, 1999)

I saw these guys play with German stoner metallers Calamus here in the ATL many years ago (they kicked butt, btw). Maybe I was just too excited to see Calamus again, or maybe they had an off night; either way, I thought Slow Horse kinda . . . stunk. Somehow, at a later date, I still ended up buying their second album, which has the same title as the one featured today, but different artwork (there are boobies, if you look closely and that's your thing) and songs (shocker, huh?). I wonder who's the bigger inspiration? Peter Gabriel or George Foreman?

Today's jukebox selection (almost) shares a title with one of my favorite Galaxie 500 songs, When Will You Come Home. Lyrically, well, they're both downersville, though this song is about finality, rather than temporary separation. Musically, this song's a bit heavier.

:-D

After the release of their second album, vocalist-slash-guitarist Dan Bukszpan gained an iel and became a published author, with the release of The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal. In addition, we even worked for the same corporation for a bit, though our desks were probably around 1,000 miles apart.

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Sadly, I have not been able to find a good link for Calamus. They released three albums, a couple of EPs and a couple of split 7"s records, one with Slow Horse (each covering a song by the other) and one with Duster69. The latter is on vinyl so heavy, my turntable thinks it's an LP!