by rudyards | December 24th, 2013
The Well (Austin, TX)
https://www.thewellband.com/
The Well are a power trio that have been exploring the darker side of the music spectrum through doom-laden sonic landscapes and haunting lyrics for the past two years. On the tail end of a former project guitarist Ian Graham turned to his past for inspiration, embracing his childhood passion for all things metal, all things dark. He was transported back by nostalgia to a time where his school desks were covered in pentagrams, his teachers glanced askance at his decision to read Aleister Crowley while his peers were force fed state-mandated curriculum designed to shape them into “functioning members of society”. Remembering the consistency, adventures spent laying in his bedroom, staring at a star-covered ceiling, with Black Sabbath blaring into his headphones, Ian began writing music even his angst ridden 10 year old self would approve of. Big riffs, walls of sound, slow, relentless, heavy. Teaming up with bassist Lisa Alley and drummer Jason Sullivan, the three spent months schlepping equipment to and from a local practice rental space, dialing in their sound. Their debut show came on July 4th, 2011, playing a metal-laden fest headed by Austin’s Stoner Metal mainstay, The Sword, and they haven’t stopped working since.
Their sound has been compared to everything from Electric Wizard, Wicked Lady, Sleep, Green and Wood, Saint Vitus, and of course, Black Sabbath, while managing to remain something entirely its own. One glaring innovation shines through in The Well’s vocal stylings, Ian and Lisa deliver their transcendent tales in unison so in sync that it is said to be difficult to tell whether there’s a single entity, or an entire chorus reciting each song. Supported by lyrical depth made capable from a lifetime of drawing poetic influence from the likes of Joyce, Pound, Yeats and Baudelaire, the vocals dance amongst the driving bass, war-mongering drums, and floating, merciless guitars, weaving a scene both desolate and hopeful, crushing and inspiring, unforgiving and consoling.
Based in Austin, TX, the band has worked with individuals at the top of the music industry. In the spring of 2012, they recorded their debut 7” at The Barbeque Shack with Tia Carerra’s Jason Morales. Following this self-released demo, The Well came back to the studio this fall, this time recording their first full-length LP. Produced by Mark Deutrom of the Melvins, Sunn O))), etc. and engineered at Ohm Recording Facility by Chico Jones.
Funeral Horse (Houston, TX)
https://funeralhorse.bandcamp.com/
“…what you mostly need to know about Funeral Horse and this album is that on the very first song they create an opus which could outdo a number of full length albums by other bands claiming to rock.” - Joshua Macala – Raised by Gypsies
“… the band I’m most interested to check out is newcomers Funeral Horse, which formed out of the ashes of the gone-too-soon Art Institute; they’re heavy and sludgy and slow as hell, dwelling somewhere in the realm of High on Fire or Sleep, and that’s no bad place to be.” - Jeremy Hart – Space City Rock
““We’re heavy and slow… so is our music”, this sayeth their facebook page. I can’t comment on the guys themselves, but their music certainly does live up to the claim. Funeral Horse currently have a new EP available for free download with tape copies (Tapes! Love it!) available shortly. They certainly live up to the hype. In fact, the first two words that spring to my mind listening to it are, indeed, “heavy” and “slow” – but not ponderously so. I can almost picture swathes of people with hair over their eyes, wearing black/tie-dyed clothes and nodding slowly to the beat like a crowd of metal zombies. With beer in their hands.” - Iain Purdie – Moshville Times
“There’s a cassette version of Savage Audio Demon available, which I would like to get his clammy paws on. This type of angling shows what kind of band Houston’s Funeral Horse is – vintage, loving those 70’s, and in bed with thick, rocked-up riffs, and vocals with plenty of ominous echo. The bluesy “Scatter My Ashes Over the Mississippi” is the pick of the bunch here (nice dynamics), but don’t leave “Invisible Hand of Revenge” out in the cold either. Rocking stuff.” - David E. Gehlke – Dead Rhetoric
Cursus (San Antonio, TX)
https://cursus.bandcamp.com/
Psychedelic occult doom metal from San Antonio
Cj Salem- guitar, vocals, samples
Sarah Ann- drums
