"WHAT THE FUCK" is right.
We'll have some news soon.
In the meantime check out MOSES (BTH side proj) www.myspace.com/moseskills
We're about to start playing again. John's been locked away writing the fuck out of some new stuff so check back soon for some new music. We've been out for a while now for reasons unknown even to us. Fuck it. What do you expect from a bunch of fuck-ups?
Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to write and tell us what a bunch of losers we are. We'll be back soon enough.
Big Fucking thanks to everyone who booked, fed, gave us a place to stay and got us drunk etc. on this last tour. We had a good trip even though we sweated piss every day and had to sell blood to get gas. Even bigger thanks to our new bass player Greg. He flew out here a couple weeks before tour, learned the set and just killed it live. Cool as fuck, even when he ran out of weed. We gotta raise the horns for Impaled. They rock n' roll all night, text message every day. Still not sure if Ross is a scientist or a doctor. One thing we do know, he's an Austin strippers dream date. See ya'll on the next danged ol' tour. GOODNIGHT MUSKOGEE!
With love,
The PL8
Blessing The Hogs - Twelve Gauge Solution
Goodfellow Records - 2005
There's always been a sort of mystique around noise metal/hardcore hybrid bands like Neurosis, Kiss It Goodbye, Playing Enemy, and Unsane (who are playing in Montreal in October). They don't tour regularly, they cannot be categorized and they are the opposite of fashionable. Kids who come to their shows with a key ring on their belt loop aren't doing so to look cool and important, but rather because they work twelve hours a day and need to keep their keys handy. A stereotype I admit, but my point is that people don't convince themselves to buy into this type of sound. It finds them, and they connect with it. As the aforementioned bands all figure with complete discographies in my record collection, Blessing The Hogs' newest offering “The Twelve Gauge Solution” will sit proud, and rightfully so, next to those bands' albums which influenced them.
Their songs are basically lessons in how to make the filthiest grooves intermingle with thrash parts in the most disorganized way possible. Somehow, like the disjointed music of the aforementioned bands always does, it all fits together. The Carrier boasts verses and two-part breakdowns which cut into one another without mercy. Manical vocals ranging from high to low enter songs are unexpected points as well, as the album's brooding opener Botched Messiah is example of; only well after a minute of the band settling into an ominous groove do the vocals arrive like a bat out of hell. Having seen them live with the late-great Season Of Fire in their only Montreal appearance thus far, even though they were touring for their rabid debut The Poisoning, proved to be one of those unexplainably crushing sets I just didn't expect nor did I forget. A welcome characteristic most of the songs share are song lengths hovering around four-minutes, but aside from that, each song shows a different approach to arranging parts and using tempo changes to brutalize the listener's ears.
San Francisco-based Blessing The Hogs have just released as unsettling a record as a band claiming some stake in this genre possibly can. The crystal-clear yet raw and loose production by guitarist/vocalist Billy Anderson (Neurosis, Mr. Bungle, Sick Of It All, High On Fire) lets the grooves take off and the drop-tuned riffs zigzag in and out of the songs unpredictably. Here, the instruments dictate the production, rather than vice versa as has become so common with labels and bands filled with paranoia about an album sounding even a touch human. Vocalist and primo lyricist Sean Ingram, having just reunited Coalesce (albeit under a new, as-of-yet undetermined name), does all vocals on the 4/4 paced, biting Hogle, in addition to Fazer, a somewhat abused version of the Quicksand classic, which is sure to turn some heads. An original noise metal album on Canada's best hard music label, Goodfellow. You can't go wrong with this one.
Date Added:
August 24th 2005
BLESSING THE HOGS album release date unleashed!
News vom 30-06-05 "Inhuman. Merciless. Uncompromising. San Francisco's heaviest return with their sophomore album, "The Twelve Gauge Solution". Often praised for their original and uneasily characterized sound, BLESSING THE HOGS forge a style of heavy music all their own.
Punishing vo-kills, rapid fire drums and dropped tuned fucking mayhem - all the key ingredients that BLESSING THE HOGS are known for - show up in spades this time around.
Featuring Billy Anderson (the studio wizard who has worked with the like of MELVINS, MR. BUNGLE, BRUTAL TRUTH, HIGH ON FIRE, FANTOMAS, KISS IT GOODBYE, NEUROSIS, EYEHATEGOD, UNSANE, SICK OF IT ALL and many more) in their lineup, BLESSING THE HOGS show no sign of relenting on their musical quest.
Recorded by Billy at Take Root Studios, San Francisco and Oakland's Shark Bite Studios, mixed at Trax East by Eric Rachel and mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music, "The Twelve Gauge Solution" features eleven new songs. Also included are two covers (Quicksand's "Fazer" and the Melvins' "Hogleg") featuring guest lead vocals by Sean Ingram (ex-COALESCE) that must be heard to be believed.
If the music itself wasn't enough, the CD has an enhanced portion for your computer. This contains the videogame Metal Man, the music video for "Let's Play Doctor. Kevorkian" plus assorted band photos and web links.
Mark down 2005 as The Year of the Hogs, because The Twelve Gauge Solution is near."
Release Date: 26 July 2005
"A sadistic cavalcade of blistering vocals and burning guitar exhaust. San Francisco audio terrorists with a penchant for slow torture vocals and rattling kick drum beats surrender all hope ye who enter -Powerslave
"Blessing the Hogs is a killer band from the Bay Area that combines the trademark bludgeoning metal of that region with the kind of grooving technical metalcore style that the mighty Coalesce nailed down before their unfortunate demise. The result is an incredibly brutal and unique sound, and with super producer/engineer Billy Anderson (Sleep, Neurosis, Eyehategod, High on Fire, Sourvein) in the ranks on guitar/vocals they won't ever have a problem getting quality production. This is a re-release of the BtH debut album; it contains 4 new tracks (2 covers) and, to my dismay, is missing 2 tracks from the original version. However, I'll get to that later. First I want to cover the new songs, as this will give the best indication of how the upcoming full-length for prosthetic/metal blade will sound. "The Poisoning" Billy Anderson is noted for producing the records of some of the heaviest bands out there-Neurosis,EYEHATEGOD,Sleep,Melvins,etc.-so it's no surprise that his own band (he plays guitar) is crushingly brutal. This record starts of as standard sludgecore, including covers of Crucifix and The Meatmen. It is at track 5, "Solvent Farmer", where Blessing the Hogs begins to shine. Fans of Bloodlet, and any of the bands Anderson has worked with, will punch themselves in the head with sheer delight at the bludgeoning they receive from these songs. Jesus Fucking Christ, this shit is HEAVY. Roared vocals spit venomously (what passages I can decipher make me long for a lyric sheet) over start-stop brutality and Bloodlet style sludge. Prescription painkillers are certainly in order, as this will have you bashing your head into the wall. Just make sure you wipe the blood up before it dries on your floral print wallpaper. And the hidden track full of movie samples will have you pissing yourself (as well as struggling to place the quotes)" ----Written By: Chris X /Goodfellow Recordings
