Artist

We at Revolver are stoked to announced that our good friend Mistress Juliya has agreed to join us as our new online advice columnist. Read what she has to say about the new gig below. And, of course, send her your questions!

I've had the honor of talking to the biggest names in rock and metal the past eight years while hosting Uranium, Slave to the Metal, and, currently, Top Twenty Countdown on Fuse.

During the last year I've had the pleasure of meeting a lot of you at Rock on the Range and Mayhem Fest. I've realized that it would be awesome to speak to you all more often.

My friends at Revolver are kind enough to help me do just that. Starting today, I'll be answering your questions about bands, a darker lifestyle, love and relationships, or whatever's on your mind.

Email your questions to: AskJuliya@revolvermag.com

French black metallers Glorior Belli have just revealed the cover art and track listing (see below) for their new album The Great Southern Darkness, which will be released through Metal Blade on September 27, 2011.

Here's what the band has to say about the new release: "The Great Southern Darkness has been recorded over a few months period and is comprised of 11 tracks that magnify all the best elements of Glorior Belli in a twisted unique way again; a tremendous journey through dark deserts and evil swamps with Lucifer as a personal guide. It's also dangerously violent and fast, yet at the same time really dark with all the Americana/stoner/blues elements that we cherish. Though often warm and almost inviting, the allure of Glorior Belli's bidding is revealed by a vicious duplicity; you will find comfort here, but at an unspeakable toll. The production is clear yet just harsh enough to bring a warm, fuzzy and completely unique sound you won't find in any other modern recordings. So load up your haversack and hit the dusty road!"

The Great Southern Darkness Track Listing:
1. Dark Gnosis
2. Secret Ride To Rebellion
3. They Call Me Black Devil
4. Negative Incarnate
5. Bring Down The Cosmic Scheme
6. The Great Southern Darkness
7. The Foolhardy Venturer
8. Per Nox Regna
9. The Science Of Shifting
10. Chaos Manifested
11. Horns In My Pathway

Glorior Belli are:
Julien: Vocals + Guitar
Gionata: Drums
Davide: Bass
Bjørn: Guitar

Arkansas sludge metallers Rwake have just unveiled the cover art for their forthcoming album, Rest (Relapse). See that art below.

Rwake recorded Rest, which is their follow-up to 2007's Voices of Omens, at Engine Studios in Chicago, IL with noted engineer Sanford Parker. Rest will see its North American release on September 27th on CD, digital, as well as pressed on olive green and 180 gram black vinyl.

Pre-order options for the CD and vinyl can be found here.

Rwake recently saw the re-issue of their 2002 release Hell Is A Door To The Sun this past March. The long-out-of-print album has been re-mixed by Sanford Parker, re-mastered, and re-packaged to include new artwork, photography, and liner notes from the band. Hell Is a Door To The Sun is available now at this location and digitally via iTunes.

Rwake has confirmed a hometown show at Downtown Music Hall in Little Rock, AR for later this month. Additional tour plans will be announced soon.

For over 20 years, Phobia have been deploying crushing, anarchistic grindcore and lacerating eardrums across the globe. Since forming in 1990 in Orange County, CA, Phobia have released a multitude of singles and splits with such bands as the legendary Corrupted and Plutocracy, as well as several full-lengths on such labels as Slam-a-Ham, Crimes Against Humanity, Relapse, Willowtip and Deep Six to name a few.

MetalKult's buddy, and Tombs mainman, Mike Hill recently caught up with Phobia's vocalist and sole original remaining member Shane McLachlan to discuss the making of their latest record Unrelenting (Relapse Records) and what it takes to keep a "100% punk" band going for more than two decades.

MIKE HILL Phobia's new record, Unrelenting, is out on Relapse. Can you give me a run down on where you recorded it, who played on it and who did the artwork?
SHANE McLACHLAN It was record at Winter Skies in San Antonio, Texas, by Mike Garrison. We tracked and wrote there and Scott Hull [Pig Destroyer] did all the producing and mixing at his studio Visceral Sound. I played on it along with Dorian [Rainwater of Noisear], Bryan [Fajardo of Noisear, Kille the Client, Gridlink] and Steve [Burda]. As far as the artwork, I just wanted something old school, you know? Actually Relapse just handled that for me, and it came out exactly how I wanted it. We're all real happy about it.

There have been some changes to the touring lineup of the band, can you elaborate on that?
We have been around for about 21 years, and in that amount of time there is bound to be some changes. We made some changes right before the Eyehategod tour because our original guitar player couldn't do it. We had had some issues with him for a while; he had other stuff going on and lacked the commitment that we needed. And if you know Phobia; that shit isn't going to stop us, you know? So we added our friend, Cece, who has helped the band tremendously: doing merch, driving, tour managing. She basically just kept the band's heads straight, and is an awesome person and kick-ass guitar player. We are tighter then we have ever been, so it was a good move. I figure we could of gotten numerous people we know to help out, but we wanted somebody that was like family to us. We also had Bryan's friend Clint play drums on that tour. I was really impressed by his drumming and the power he laid out. I wasn't sure in the beginning because Bryan is like the best drummer out there playing this type of music. But we really wanted to do the tour, I'm a huge fan of Eyehategod, so it just had to happen. And it went really well. We got a great response and had loads of fun.

Phobia has been active for over two decades. What keeps you moving forward?
I think we just still believe in what we do, we believe in the music, the ideals and idea that goes a long with it, you know? A lot of bands come in, talk their shit, preach their shit, and then they're gone. That's not what we're about. It's all about integrity to me. We just have it in our blood.

The lines between genres have blurred over the last several years. Do you see the band as a "punk" band or a "metal" band?
We're a punk band, 100%.

There seems to be more and more bands calling themselves "grindcore" or "powerviolence" over the last few years. In my opinion some are good, and some are just recycling old Napalm Death riffs. What is your take on this?
Well, yeah, that's pretty much how it works. We're always going to have our influences, you know? We have some old-school Napalm influence, and we are proud of it. You can't hide stuff like that. But bands should try and progress in other ways and find who they are. There are so many rad bands out there that kick ass, are grindcore and do it their own way. Phobia has a style, our influences show for sure, but still we have other shit going on as well. As for power violence, I never got into that shit. like, "where's the power?, and where's the violence?"

Phobia has done some touring recently, leading up to the release of Unrelenting. What are some of the highlights?
We did a kick-ass tour with our buddies Municipal Waste; that was a fucking blast. They're great guys that we've known for years and it was good to hit the road with them. We did a small tour up to the Central Illinois Metal Fest in Illinois, where we had Zach Gibson on drums. He's a fucking awesome drummer and we were stoked to jam with him. We also some Mexico dates, it's always good to be there: great people and crazy fuckers! Good times, man.

Are there any upcoming tours?
We are working on some dates for August. We have a good route planned: Midwest and East coast as of now. We also want to start working on a new record. I love to write, it's like my favorite thing to do.

You've relocated to Austin. How did that effect the productivity of the band?
It doesn't at all. I have always written most of the stuff anyways, and Bryan lives in Dallas. Dorian lives there as well, and he helps write Phobia stuff as well. CeCe lives in San Antonio, Texas, so that's been good. Calum lives in NYC...but like I said, Dorian, Bryan and I pretty much will be recording everything.

Has your relocation had a positive impact on your life?

Yes, it's been really awesome. I love Austin and always have. I've been here a lot and always had a great time. People are nice, there are lots of things to do. Being from Orange County, I love being around water, and it's all over here. I'm a lot mellower than I used to be. I miss my family and people I grew up with. But for me, this is the best place to be.

What's your take on the explosion of downloading music? Do you think it helps or hurts bands?
Well, it definitely hurts bands if people are doing it for free. I mean you can't avoid downloads, but I think it's wrong for people just to take it. You gotta support your bands. Bands depend on sales. With no sales, no label support or whatever they end up in debt, which is fucked!

Stock up on Slayer vinyl, Funko figures, shirts, mini guitars and more over at our shop.

Slayer singer-bassist Tom Araya is world-renowned as one of heavy metal's great frontmen, having evolved over the years from a seething, aggro headbanging maniac onstage to a charismatic father figure whose relaxed between-song banter entertainingly varies between the heartwarming and the totally bone-chilling. As much as his skills as a frontman, singer and serial-killer-obsessed lyricist are generally appreciated, his talents as a bass player tend to go overlooked. With that in mind, we asked him to pick his favorite four-stringers — find out who he spotlighted below.

Brooklyn-based experimental metal band Tombs just wrapped up a month-long North American tour in support of their latest record, Path of Totality (Relapse). Guitarist/vocalist Mike Hill kept a journal chronicling all of the action, and we'll be rolling it out in a few installments. In his fourth and final entry [read 1, 2 & 3], Hill encounters right neighborly Texans, long stretches of road and the brutal traffic of NYC.

6.18.2011        Dallas, TX       20:36

It's been a series of mishaps since yesterday. My Blackberry crapped out and I have no way of contacting anyone. When I went out the van, I noticed that we had a completely flat tire and a burned out headlight. Morgan helped me out by patching the tire for me and gave me a hand-pump. The concept was that I was going to pump enough air into the tire to drive it to a fuel station, fill the tire and drive over to Pep Boys to get the necessary repairs done. I started pumping; it was hard going. I was about halfway there when Morgan's neighbor came out and offered to pump the tire up with his air compressor. Props to good Texans! It took a few hours to get everything sorted out at Pep Boys. We were a few hours into the trip to Dallas when the directional signal popped out. You just can't win on some days.

Last night was killer. Austin never disappoints. Kill the Client played and totally crushed. This band called Skycrawler opened the show and I was blown away by them. It was a great night.

6.19.2011        Somewhere    23:00

We're in a Super 8 somewhere in Mississippi. We played at Euclid Records earlier today with Haarp; the whole thing was over with by about 20:00 so we hit the road. It's a long run to Nashville so the plan was to get a few hours in before we stopped. It's relatively early, so I'm hoping to get some rest, get an early start so we can get to Nashville. We ordered some pizza and now we're settled in.

Dallas was cool. I recognized one of the two people from our last show in Dallas. This time around, it was a much better scene. I'm starting to mix up Dallas and New Orleans in my head, I can't keep it straight. I guess it's too many miles in too few hours. It's about to get worse.

I feel myself shutting down for the night.

6.20.2011        Nashville, TN 17:45

I like it here. We're playing with our friends, Dawn at the Little Hamilton Collective. Jesse and Ivan were instrumental in setting up our first show in Nashville back on the Tombs / ASRA tour. We've played pretty much every show in Nashville together since then with the exception of the date on the Kylesa tour a couple of years ago.

We're going to leave after the set and start the long journey back to New York. This tour was short, I feel like we just started getting into the vibe and now it's over. We're only going to be home for a short period of time then it's back out on the road.

We hit a Starbucks before loading today; I got online to check if there was any news from McCash; nothing so far. My phone is dead so I don't know if anyone had been trying to get in touch with me.

6.21.2011        Brooklyn, NY            19:20

We drove though the night, 18 hours to get back. We had the bonus of hitting the NY/NJ traffic during the final hours of our journey.  Welcome home. Carson and I switched off; we logged in a few hundred hours each and took turns driving. It was brutal.

Coming back, even from a short tour is strange. It's like fast-forwarding into the future. I wish I was still out there, the apartment doesn't seem like a friendly place right now. I feel more comfortable with the constant motion of the road and the challenge of playing each night. There's very little here, it's like the volume on life has been turned down and I'm just killing the hours before leaving again. Things feel different, but at the same time there is predictability, a repetitiveness that feels like an icy hand around my throat. Maybe I just need to get some sleep.

The show was good last night. Dawn were awesome, every time I see them they sound a little different, they evolve, try out new ideas. This band called Black Majesty played that totally crushed. I was talking to the guys from the band afterward and they said that they're going to change their name because another band called Black Majesty exists already.

It's quiet here. It's the first time in a few weeks that I'm alone and don't have anything to do.

Chris "Slacks" Krovatin is the author of two young adult novels, Heavy Metal & You and Venomous. He is currently working on multiple new writing projects, as well as new material with his local New York metal band Flaming Tusk. He is a freelance writer for Revolver and generally comes off as a good-natured pain in everyone's collective ass.

Nothing is more metal than time. Time defines us, shapes us, gives us the basis for everything we have. Without time, there is no past to smile or shake our heads at, no future to grasp for or fear, and no now in which we can be (deep, Chris). The time in which humanity has existed is a double-edged sword—on the one hand, so many epic events have taken place in the 50,000-odd years that we've ruled this globe; on the other, our entire existence is a blink of an eye in the universal scale. But it's safe to say that during the Human Age, many things have happened that have been pretty fucking metal. Blood has been spilled, lives have been won and lost, and riffs have been chugged. Awesome.

Sadly, things have not always been so killer. At certain crossroads in history, humanity has randomly decided to become an obnoxious bitch-fest full of poor fashion choices and ridiculous etiquette. Assholes have dictated what is cool, and many times that involved wearing slacks. And if you've just bought your first time machine (or you're borrowing Dad's for prom), you don't want to accidentally end up landing during a time period where Whist is considered a bloodsport. So here, Mrs. Frizzle, is my list of the Six Most and Least Metal Times In Human History.*

The Six Most Metal Times In History:

1) The Roman Empire (Approx. 27 BC – 476 AD) During the longest societal reign in all of history, the Caesars owned most of the world, building themselves an era of knowledge, industry, and pure insanity the likes of which the world has never seen, until maybe now (and guess what happened to Rome?!).

2) The Black Death (Approx. 1345 – 1400 AD) Killing approximately 450 million people (fuck!), the greatest period of disease known to man brought our race to its knees, with people turning to torture, self-mutilation, and religious mania as a cure. And you know why? Because of fleas. It's always the small ones that get you.

3) The French Revolution (1789 – 1799 AD) Sometimes the rich get way too rich, and they eat swan and sturgeon at every meal. And sometimes the poor get way too poor and eat mud and die. And sometimes the universe sorts itself out with fire, violence, and a little device called the Guillotine. History is balance.

4) World War II (1939 – 1945 AD) With approximately 70-million casualties behind it, the Second World War reinvented our understanding or corruption, genocide, and hatred. It also introduced the world to one of its greatest villain, an apocalyptic racist who sent droves of mad dog soldiers into heights of depravity hereto unknown. So, yeah...

5) The Industrialization of Birmingham, England (1770 – 1860 AD) While less outwardly brutal than the other examples in this list, there are six words that make this time in England historically metal: Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Napalm Death. Oh yeah, you heard.

6) The Apocalypse What do you mean it hasn't happened yet? Dude, look out your window. Ride the bus sometime. We're soaking in it!

The Six Least Metal Times In History:

1) The Victorian Era (1837 AD – 1901 AD) Oh man, you know England needs? Less sexuality! And what if we all lived by an overly rigid code of morals and ethics that led us to believe our reputations were far more important than our happiness? Being a human being never felt so terribly unnatural.

2) The Renaissance (Approx. 1400 AD – 1600 AD) Look, after the plague and the Middle Ages, the Renaissance must've been awesome—it just wasn't terribly metal. There's art and science and hope everywhere…I'm just not seeing it.

3) The Enlightenment (Approx. 1650 AD – 1789 AD) Sure, this era did see the snake of religion being stomped by the boot of thought, but this entire social and philosophical discovery lacked any drama. I mean, come on, gravity? I'm supposed to get excited because we discovered gravity? Bring on Napoleon, that irrational little fucker!

4) America In The 1950s 1950s American society was a world of economic oversaturation and witch hunt-style hatred of anything different. How bad was it? The responses to it were the Civil Rights Movement and the Hippie Era. You can't use that many primary colors all the time without a serious backlash.

5) The Ages Of Discovery (15^th Century AD – 17^th Century AD) At last, we've made contact with much of the globe! Look—Africa! Asia! The New World! What should we do first…oh, I know! Murder! Slavery! Smallpox! Thank God we showed up to your little country!

6) The Late 1990s When "metal" was a dirty word. When a band needed a rapper of some kind to get big. Dark ages? You have no idea.

*The author would like to acknowledge that the Most Metal Time In Inhuman History was, is, and ever shall be the Age Of Dinosaurs. Anyone who says otherwise is a fucking Communist.

Brooklyn-based experimental metal band Tombs just wrapped up a month-long North American tour in support of their latest record, Path of Totality (Relapse). Guitarist/vocalist Mike Hill kept a journal chronicling all of the action, and we'll be rolling it out in a few installments. In his third  entry [read 1 & 2], Hill talks about propaganda, war vets and beating the Texas heat.

6.15.2011        Oklahoma City, OK 19:48

It was a long haul today; about eight hours on the road.  This is the familiar route for us: St. Louis, OKC, Denton and Austin. This is the part of the country where you start seeing the signs about Jesus and all the Christian propaganda.

Last night was small, but I'll take it over not playing. St. Louis is a hard-won town but I feel like we're making progress there; you have to keep coming back. The one cool thing is the sound man is always on point; I don't remember his name, but he's the singer in Everything Went Black. I just got news that their guitarist died a couple of months ago. They're such young guys and it's heavy to deal with death at an age where you should feel indestructible.

I got an update from McCash. It doesn't look good. Our friend is still alive but no one is expecting him to pull out of it. I wish I could be there with those guys. I keep thinking about the last time I saw him out in Indy; I wish I had a chance to talk to him. It's likely that I will never see him alive again. It's such a hard trip. I keep thinking that this will turn around.

Chris, Pelican's soundman, was at the show last night. We were hanging outside of the venue when this confrontation broke out with some of the guys working at the venue and this lone, drunk dude. I don't know all of the details but it was basically just a shoving match, no one really wanted to fight. The drunk guy agreed to chill out and everyone dispersed. He spotted us and came over. He was probably about 25 years old, short haired and drunk. He said that he's living in a homeless shelter until his disability kicks in. He's a vet. He kept talking about how he wanted to fight and get beat up. At one point he was talking about "letting the blackness in."

It made me think how lightweight most of our experiences are and how none of us have really dealt with anything as intense as being in combat. This is what the government does for kids who put their bodies on the line. They get discharged into the great nowhere, back to their hometowns. I'd like to think things will turn out okay for him but I know that most likely he'll continue to drink himself into numbness and probably end up on the street or dead.

Doors are opening shortly. Carson and I hit Size Records next door. That's the drill when we're in OKC. Unfortunately, Jim, the owner wasn't there. Hopefully he shows up later, I was looking forward to hanging out. He usually works the door at the shows, but he wasn't there during load-out.  For the last year or so, we've been seeing that guy every four months or so, so I feel like we're friends at this point. The last few times, we played here, he re-opened the store when the show cleared out for a late-night record buying session. This time around  I picked up an original copy of the first St.Vitus record, Scorpions Tokyo Tapes and the AC/DC box set Bonfire, all reasonably priced.

6.16.2011        Denton, TX     19:30

It was a quick run down here from OKC. We did a live recording for this site called Violitionist. It went well. We loaded into this dude's house, set up our gear and went for it. Afterward, we did a short interview. When we loaded in, one of his neighbors rolled up and asked how long we're be playing because the last time, it was really loud. These kind of "live in the studio" situations always feel a little stale to me, but usually we get a decent recording out of it. We've been on tour for a while so I think we're tight.

The show last night was pretty much what all of our OKC shows are like. A small but cool group of people that have seen us play several times. At this point, we're getting to know everyone by sight, if not by name. I dig that. Unfortunately, there was no Jim last night. I had been looking forward to kicking it with him, but he was M.I.A.

6.17.2011        Denton, TX     09:21

I just hit the complimentary breakfast downstairs.  They had a waffle iron shaped like the state of Texas, the coffee was serviceable.

A Storm of Light drops off after tonight. We continue on our own for a few more days and then we're home for a while before heading out to Europe with The Secret. It was a short tour, but I'll take it any day over staying home. There were definitely some good shows on this tour, but there were also some less than great shows. I don't want to say that they were bad because, even at the worst, kids showed up to see the bands. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes when it comes to booking a tour that the bands don't see; maybe it's because I've spent years booking my own bands that I can empathize with the obstacles that booking agents run into when setting up a tour. Some nights are just nights to get from place to place without a day off.

Last night was kind of slow, but Bryan at Rubber Gloves is cool and he digs the band. A few kids showed up and we played for them. Brent and Mike from Violitionist were there. Either way, we were in Denton to play a show and we played the show.

It' 100? F today in Austin.

Austin, TX      20:40

We did an in-store at Waterloo records earlier today. It's hot, like a blast furnace. The air is dry and intense, I can feel all of the moisture leaving my body. It makes me feel like a lightweight, I wish there was some way I could have prepared for this. The short in-store set went well, a handful of people showed up and we kicked the first four songs of our set. I remembered the tiny stage from the first time we played there at SXSW a few years ago. After our set, we did this quick video thing where we had to decipher these death / black metal logos.

Ron met us at Waterloo and we drove to Red 7 for load-in before hitting Serrano's, our go-to Mexican restaurant in Austin. Our tire looked a little low, like there might be a slow leak. I'm dug in now, waiting it out until we play. This is a great music city, people down here love music. Every bar has some kind of stage and there are always bands playing. I like it here, but the intensity of the heat is kind of daunting sad to say.

When we were loading out of Waterloo they were playing the new record on the store system. I didn't recognize it at first. I don't think I've listened to the record since the mastering session back in January. The material feels old to me at this point, we recorded it back in December of last year and now it's finally available. It's been a long process, writing, recording, all of the intermittent decisions that have to be made along the way about artwork and production. It's behind us now and I want to get on to the next thing.

Brooklyn-based experimental metal band Tombs just wrapped up a month-long North American tour in support of their latest record, Path of Totality (Relapse). Guitarist/vocalist Mike Hill kept a journal chronicling all of the action, and we'll be rolling it out in a few installments. In his second entry, Hill talks about the futility of drug abuse, shitheel border cops and heavy metal hamburgers. [Read his first blog here.]

6.11.2011        Toronto, ON   19:20

The show last night in Montreal was killer. We played well and everyone was really cool. The stage had a strange layout, it seemed like it was an afterthought. Later on I learned that the venue was formerly a Goth Dance Club; much of the décor remained.  It's the third show of the tour and we feel locked in. It was the first time that I had a chance to watch A Storm of Light play. It's good being out on the road with Domenic, he's got a monstrous bass sound. In general they sounded pretty massive last night.

The venue is above a Mexican restaurant. I don't think I've ever had Mexican Food in Canada. I'm about to find out if it's any good because we just got our meal buy-outs and will be heading down to eat dinner in a while.

6.12.2011        Hamtramck, MI         21:35

McCash called me while we were en route from Toronto to tell me that a good friend of ours is basically on his death bed. He didn't have all of the details, but the whole thing was grave and there wasn't much hope.  About two weeks ago he was taken into the ICU and has been slowly deteriorating. I was told that his kidneys were in the process of failing. McCash is on tour with Gates of Slumber and they're heading back to Indiana to see him. My understanding of the situation is that he isn't expected to live.

He had been on a downward spiral for quite a while. Months would pass and I'd only see him when he was rolling through town on tour or when I would be in Indianapolis with the band. Each time, he seemed to be slipping away. At the time, I suppose I was blind or in denial. I didn't want to believe that something was wrong. I feel a little sick thinking about this. What a waste. What's truly pathetic is the whole romantic bullshit trip that people build around drug use. There's nothing cool or romantic about wasting your life with drugs, you don't go out like some dark, misunderstood anti-hero, you just die and break the hearts of everyone that loves you.

I'm sitting in the van. It's cool outside, it's like summer decided to skip this part of the country. It makes me wish for Autumn, the greatest season.  It won't last: in a few days we'll be in Texas where it's averaging 100? F and then we'll feel the pain. I want the challenge of delivering the set under those conditions. After the show in Toronto, we drove out of the city looking for a motel. We must have hit up at least four places before we found a vacancy.  We were exhausted, I just wanted to shut my eyes and slip away. The place was one of the more Spartan motels that we'd stayed in. There were two beds, a sink and a microwave oven. The room smelled like cigarettes. Ironically, the bathroom was in great condition.

When I woke up this morning, I checked my Blackberry and saw that [Anal Cunt's] Seth Putnam had died of a heart attack. I can't say that I was surprised to hear of him dying at such a young age, he was someone who made no qualms about his drug use over the years. Nonetheless, he was a human being and I'm sure he had family and friends that are heart-broken over his death. I'm sure the internet is alive with shit-talking today, but I don't have the stomach to check any of it out.

Ah yes, the internet and all of the cowards who post bullshit and leave clever comments. Technology has given rise to generation of bored weaklings. I'm not one of Putnam's friends, I don't particularly like Anal Cunt, but I just hope that people can have a little discipline and refrain from bashing the guy, even if it's for the sake of his family. It's weak.

We crossed the border back into the states. The border guard was a bored shitheel with a bad attitude. The last time we crossed at that particular entry point, the guard was totally cool. This time, he was trying to find any reason to give us a hard time. In light of the news I got earlier, I wasn't in the mood. I know he was doing his job, but I find it hard to believe that these guys don't make it personal sometimes. Maybe his boring, completely unfulfilled existence motivates him to ramp up the cop vibe.

Tonight is going to be a long night. I can't stop thinking about the news I got earlier. There are five bands on the bill. I want to play hard and bail, get some sleep in a motel room bed and get an early start tomorrow. There was a modest turnout last night but everyone that showed up was cool. The whole thing had to be over early because of a retro-DJ night that they had scheduled. It was still light out when we played. The house sound engineer was awesome, took her job seriously and did a great job mixing us.

A highpoint of the night was meeting Chris Gramlich in person and watching his band Vilipend play. We had been acquainted for several years via email and phone conversations but had never actually met. We did an interview during the Anodyne years. I feel fortunate that I'm still out here doing this stuff. It's hard out here, grinding it out on the road playing small shows and not making a lot of money but it's the only way to roll for me. I don't want to live a life where I don't have any good stories to tell.

The venue is in a rough area. There are a lot of unfriendly faces around.

6.13.2011        Chicago, IL    18:40

The show last night was small but I'll take it and move on to the next one. It's a straight line, a relentless forward-moving machine. I can't let nights like that get me down because even though the show was small, people showed up and wanted to see bands play. Nonetheless, it's rough but we did our best. Why the hell else would I be in Hamtramck, MI, but to blast out a set. Beast in the Field and Year of the Pig both played. We shared the stage with them on our last show in Detroit that we did on the way back from the Kylesa tour. It was good seeing those guys again, they're both solid bands.

We hit Kuma's Corner, the famous Heavy Metal Burger Joint and waiting about 45 minutes for a table. I have to admit that it was worth the wait. We sat outside and kicked back. I got the Neurosis burger vegetarian-style. I'm not a vegetarian, but I didn't want to be too brutal on my stomach. We'd been talking about going to this place for nearly two years.

This is our first time playing in Chicago. All of our other shows have been canceled due either to entire tours being canceled (Mayhem, Enslaved), white-out blizzards (Pelican) or the absurd radius clauses that some larger tour inflict on the support bands. Chicago is such a great city, with a lot of great bands, it's a travesty that until now, we haven't successfully done any shows here. We're early, sitting in the van, parked outside of the venue. The place is locked up. I checked out this bookstore / record store called The Bucket of Blood. There was an interesting selection of mainly science fiction, fantasy, serial killer books and a few random records and CDs. I scored Almuric by Robert E. Howard and Abarat by Clive Barker. Both titles were $3 a piece!!

A Storm of Light are parked around the corner. We're all dug in, waiting to load in.

6.14.2011        St. Louis, MO            20:15

We're back at the Fubar tonight. We're doing the familiar St. Louis, OKC, Denton, Austin run that we seem to do on every tour. We loaded in and I'm kicking back with a cup of coffee, waiting. I can see why band guys do drugs: to deal with the boredom. I guess that's why there's a 34 year old guy on his death bed now. Rock 'n' Roll.

Andrew and I drove out to a coffee place a few miles away from the venue. We both commented on how we haven't ever ventured out past the The Fubar.  Someone had chipped away sections of the sidewalk and planted mint. The whole area was permeated by this pleasant, fresh mint smell.

Last night in Chicago was great. We played hard and the vibe at the show was cool. I'm relieved that we successfully played out first Chicago date. It was cool to catch up with some friends. I'm glad that wer were able to hang out with the half of Pelican that still lives in Chicago. We ended up crashing with Will. It brought me back to the tour we did a couple of years ago with Pelican and Wolves in the Throne Room. That was a great tour. We were fortunate that year, shortly after that tour wrapped up we were on the road with Isis and Pelican. I always think fondly about that time. It was probably the easiest, no-attitude touring situations that I've ever been part of where everyone was cool to each other and we all hung out and helped each other.

Brooklyn-based experimental metal band Tombs just wrapped up a month-long North American tour in support of their latest record, Path of Totality (Relapse). Guitarist/vocalist Mike Hill kept a journal chronicling all of the action, and we'll be rolling it out in a few installments. In his first entry, Hill talks about the subjectivity of memories, male savagery, the protocols of entering Canada and advises how not to be "c*nty" fan.

6.8.2011 Allston, MA 18:45
We left New York this morning at 11:30 and as the city receded in my rear-view mirror, I felt myself slowly unclench. I always get uptight during the days leading up to a tour; the night before is especially bad. I always feel like I'm leaving something behind. Preparation: I run down all of my checklists and things rigorously but that doesn't seem to help.

We arrived in Allston before 15:00 and went directly to Le's, one of my favorite Vietnamese restaurants to get some chow and kill time. I used to hit this place regularly when I lived in Boston, back then it was called Pho Pasteur. It's pretty much identical—the interior, the menu, the quality of the food—except for the name. There's even a lot of the same lifer waitstaff working there. It was somehow comforting—so many things change at such an accelerating rate that the familiar things sort of smooth out the rough edges.

We're all loaded in now and I'm sitting at a Starbucks two blocks from Great Scott, the venue we're playing at tonight. The AC is cranked and I'm sitting alone at a table. The heat is brutal outside and the air is thick to the point where you can almost taste it. A few college-aged kids are hanging around in small groups working on their laptops. Some completely middle-of-the-road music is being played over the sound system. I can't quite make out what song it is, but it sounds so familiar…

Starbucks is a funny place. It's one of the few places, along with Denny's and Ruby Tuesday, that I seek out on the road. Familiarity is the constant. The days pass so quickly when you're out here that places like these are calming.

Tonight should be cool. Blacktail is playing as well and I'm looking forward to seeing them. They don't play very often so this is a real event for me. I've known most of the members of the band for nearly two decades of my life. Mike and Thos were part of the first full Anodyne lineup. There are two other bands playing that I don't know anything about.

Path of Totality, our new record, came out yesterday. I'm stoked that people can actually pick up a copy but for me the record seems like history. We recorded it back in December, mastered it in January and it's been on ice until yesterday.

I have the lid off of my cup of coffee so it will cool down to a reasonable temperature. A thin, oily film has developed on the surface; you can see a subtle rainbow pattern against the blackness. It's making me think about the Rainbow song, "Man on the Silver Mountain."

6.9.2011 New York, NY 20:40
I've been doing a lot of press. Interviews and conversations with people all blur together. The heat is unbearable today; summer is like a hammer. Outside, it feels like I can't get enough oxygen into my body. The heat is inescapable. Maybe I should have trained harder before this tour. I have a cold; what kind of an asshole gets a cold in the summer? It's fucking with my voice. I can take the discomfort, but I'm bummed out that it might compromise my ability to play as hard as I want.

A Storm of Light is playing. I'm sitting in the little room next to the stage waiting to play. Last night in Boston was cool; the best part of the night, aside from playing, was seeing Blacktail kick it. What a great band. It's always great watching Thos play drums. I thought about how we used to play together back in the late 90's writing material that would become the songs on the Anodyne record Silent Wars. I was working at the Newbury Comics warehouse, had just been dumped by my girlfriend and wanted to spend long hours away from the apartment I shared with five other guys. Time flies on broken wings; we remember things, even times that might not have been such great times, and the amber filters come on line and the past becomes subjective, an interpretation.

I'm glad last night's set is behind us. We played well, but we haven't clicked into tour mode. It won't be until the third of fourth show that the set becomes ingrained into our subconscious. That's the greatest feeling ever, when you get on stage, plug in and execute, the playing is part of an extinct. We rehearse a lot, so we're always in shape, but there's that certain, intangible thing that happens from driving ling hours all day and launching into the set.

I want to play and hit the road. We're leaving after load-out tonight to eat up some of the miles on the trek up to Montreal.

6.10.2011 Montreal, QC 21:30
We made it into the country without any problems. The whole border crossing thing only took about 15 minutes, it was a no stress situation which hasn't always been the case. Back when Anodyne used to cross into Canada, before all of the terrorism paranoia we would do what most other bands did: we'd show up armed with a fake letter saying that we were going to record at some studio in Montreal. Looking back, I don't know how it worked, but somehow it did. These days, all of your paperwork has to be in order and you need a passport. It's a lot harder to get into the country, I've heard of a lot of people being denied due to old misdemeanors and other technicalities.

Earlier on, I observed a supreme example of cunty-ness. This kid rolled up to the merch table wanting to haggle over the price of an LP and a shirt. He offered Carson $35.00 for something that cost $40.00. For the record, we aren't opposed to cutting deals if someone says something like,"I only have $35.00 on me can you work with me." Once he agreed to sell him the shirt and the record for the reduced price, the kid gave him $40.00 and asked for change. That's cunty. It's insulting. I wanted to tell the kid if he wanted his change he'd have to take it off of me. There's always someone out there who wants to somehow get one over on you.

It's only 5 bucks. I should grow up and get over it.

There's a lot happening on in the city tonight; there's a big Formula 1 event going on, some of the streets around the venue are closed down and there are droves of drunk people wandering around. We're close to the famed red light area of town. Some of the more dedicated sex workers were out. I walked by a woman wearing next to nothing standing at the entrance of a dark stairway leading upstairs. She had these hard, vacant eyes. There was a sinister vibe. She was an expert on the male savage, the relentless need to shoot loads and avoid responsibility.

Earlier on, we met up with our long-time friend Mark Holmes. He's been living up here for a few months and knew where to get decent chow. We hit up this vegetarian spot and kicked back for a while. It was a long journey getting here so it was great to unwind with some good food.

Montreal is the closest thing to a European city that you can get in North America, except for maybe Quebec. People are speaking French all around us and unlike most parts of Canada, you truly feel like a stranger here.