Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

[Squanch72]

Cabin fever is a serious problem. We were finally able to take the plastic film off windows and air out the house last night - it feels like a weight being lifted off of my shoulders. Even if I'm not outside, that fresh air coming in through the windows made all the difference. I'm getting my yearly bout of spring Mania - gotta get out and get the yard spruced up (now that the snow is mostly gone), get the garden ready to go, wash windows, spring cleaning indoors will probably happen this weekend as well. It's about goddamn time.

I have been 7.5 years in VA and this is the first year it happened to me here. The same is going on at my place. The ol' lady is buying stuff to help organize the house more and spring cleaning like mad and giving me work orders like all get out. Never heard my own name so much in my whole life LOL.

 

[Muddslide]

I effen hate cold, cold rain, and snow now. Spent 30 years in Northeast PA, and it just disgusts me now.

Yeah, for all the natural beauty and interesting history it has, I never meshed well with the Northeast / New England. Funny--it's where I always thought I'd end up when I was a kid. Then I got to experience it and after two Winters, sayonara!

I used to love rain storms, but storms just trigger migraines now.

Oh that is terrible, brother. Sorry to hear that.

I should probably move to the desert or back to the steady pressure in Florida but that is a weak theory I have that it will reduce the migraines.

Florida is one of only four US states I've never been to. My sister lives there. I hope to go some day. Wanna check out The Keys especially.

I lived in a very desert-y part of Texas for a while, and I have lived in the Arizona desert. I have gotten to where I love the desert! I never thought I would want to live in a desert region full time, but now it really appeals to me. Those big Western states...I could see moving back out to Arizona some day, or New Mexico. I'm next door to New Mexico now and get over there when I can.

We actually got a winter this year in Virginia and that shook me up. We have been getting calls from citizens where they are actually grumpy and usually they are laid back and nice. I said to the people in my office, you see what happens when you have winters, grumpiness, cabin fever is a bitch. The I-10 corridor is calling my name.

Yes, it can make people loopy or cranky or worse. Like I say, never paid much mind to it as a kid, now I can feel it in every aspect of my life. We are coming out of a pretty gray stretch which included quite a bit of ice and snow, but now the foliage is coming back, last two days have been perfect and I can tell my head and body are breathing a sigh of relief.

Incidentally, I lived in Roanoke, Virginia from 2005-2008. I thought it was a real nice town.

i would be perfectly fine if I never see snow again.

Right? It's great when you are a kid and are ice skating, snowboarding, sledding, having snowball fights, etc. But then when you grow up and YOU are the one that has to shovel walks, scrape car windows, drag the trash can to the curb in 4 feet of the stuff, drive through it, etc...it's just no kind of fun.

 

[Squanch72]

Never been to AZ, NM, or Texas. I went to Basic and Artillery school in Ft. Sill OK though. About as dry a climate as I ever saw. Really need to vacation out here and see how I feel. Florida is cool and strange at the same time. I would live there again. Lots of scumbag creepy criminals there though. I like Central to Northern Florida much better than the southern part.

 

[Boom762]

I look for instrumentals more and more as well. The cretins at work can't stand when I throw some classical "they call it opera" the radio. I try to tell them the LEAST important section of a song is it's lyrics. Theres a reason why certain movies and commercials cause people to tear up and it's rarely because of the lyrics. Like it was said up there ^, there's not really anything that hasn't been said in music already. Most of the stuff on the radio these days is about drugs/alcohol, sexual acts, telling someone you love them, or telling that same person you're breaking up with them. I tend to just ignore vocals in most songs so I can concentrate on what the musicians are playing and visualize what it looks like to watch them.

 

[Muddslide]

Never been to AZ, NM, or Texas. I went to Basic and Artillery school in Ft. Sill OK though. About as dry a climate as I ever saw.

Yeah, Oklahoma (where I happen to be right now) actually has a lot of diversity in landscape and climate. The central part is plains and grasslands, the Western part is more arid and some of it really is indistinguishable from the stereotypical NM/AZ desert...mesas, cactus, etc. The Eastern part is in the foothills of the Ozarks so it is far more hilly and green and lush. Plenty of parts of the state are flat and pretty stark and barren, but even in the middle of nowhere you won't go far without seeing a lot of trees (and cows.) Not a great state for culture, though, unless you are REALLY into college sports and modern country music crap. And the politicians here are a dangerous combo of complete ignoramus and bat---- crazy.

Florida is cool and strange at the same time. I would live there again. Lots of scumbag creepy criminals there though. I like Central to Northern Florida much better than the southern part.

It seems like an interesting state. I've heard people say the Northern half is more like the Deep South, similar to Georgia in landscape and culture, and the Southern half has more of an island feel, with some influence from Cuba and The Bahamas, etc. My sis loves it. She's at Ft. Walton Beach. I'll get down there someday.

Man, this thread is SO metal now.

 

[Corey Y]

I keep vaguely trying to reignite my desire to do vocals and write lyrics, but I've also gravitated heavily towards instrumental music in recent years. There are some bands that I pay attention to the lyrics and find myself really interested, but not that many anymore.

 

[Korladis]

Oh man, don't get me started on metalheads. Every time I go to a metal show I fell like I'm on some retardfest.

Yeah... I mean, I'd been pretty much exclusively part of the black metal scene through my teenage years, so for the last decade and a half, I've only really been to black metal and doom metal shows. At mixed shows, like with metalcore bands, I can recall thinking "damn, why is everyone acting like a stupid *******?" Then I joined this facebook group week or so ago... and it's been pretty interesting to see just how much the level of stupid macho ******** varies with subgenre. Not that black metal is perfect... it is probably by far the most pretentious of the subgenres... but it doesn't have death metal's and metalcore's tendencies towards ridiculous machismo crap.

Speaking of studio

That, right there, is a picture of happiness.

My wife was browsing facebook a while back and someone was posting stuff about hating "girlfriend metal" (meaning stoner metal, doom, etc). I guess the joke is that's what girlfriends of "true" metalheads listen to. I said that it was more like the guys that listen to that stuff actually have girlfriends. Which isn't surprising, especially considering the glut of bands that write ****** songs about committing acts of violence/rape/mutilation toward women.

Gee Mr. Cannibal Corpse fan, can't imagine why you can't get a lady - maybe crank up "****ed with a Knife" or "She was asking for it" a little louder....

Lol, yeah. Basically. I was never really into death metal, because of the vocals mainly, and the lack of epic riffs, but I used to be kinda impressed by how offensive the song titles were. Then eventually I kinda realized that poopie that's just adding to the mountain of ******** that, in this case women, have to put up with in our society, is kinda hackneyed and cheap, and not really rebellious in any true sense at all. Like it's not really rebellion to pick on people that society already treats poorly, even if you're doing it in a way that offends large segments of society.

I thought it was awesome when I was 14, was over by the time I was 15. It's just adolescent ******** - someone got dumped once and now hates women. Grow up and get over it. You can write gore grind songs and not have them be all about killing women.

Seriously. There was a recent kerfluffle on that facebook group I mentioned because one of the bands on a local fest is named "Cemetery Rapist," and one dude actually called them out on having a stupid, poopy name.

Lol^

Never listened to CC in my life before, these names are hilarious. I assume it's all for shock value (totally broot$ to a 14 year old as mbelue said), not a serious interest in the things they write about. That said I doubt I'll miss anything if I continue not to listen.

I never listened to anything heavy until I found this actually. I think black sabbath and nirvana were my heaviest until I was 22

They are kinda funny... kinda... until you realize that quite a few of the fans don't see them as funny because of how over the top stupid and offensive they are, but rather because of the actual content of the lyrics.

Never was a fan of CC, though, mostly due to sound. I also kinda blame them for all the death metal bands that followed and totally copied their vocal style.

+10000000000 to this. I just don't want to listen to 95% of these new bands because I already own albums from other bands that already did the same thing and sound exactly the same. The latest one I heard was Ruby the Hatchet....I have like 2 or 3 other bands in my collection that Ruby The Hatchet just copied. Why would I bother with Ruby the Hatchet? I'll just listen to what I already have. Even the guitar tones are unoriginal, especially the solos. You gotta give me something new.

Brings me back to what we were talking about earlier with the glut of retro bands.

Like I said then... I don't like most of them because most of them just sound like the less exciting parts of old Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Zeppelin records to me. I shaging love Black Sabbath, but I'm not going to pretend that every single second of every record they put out in the 70s is brilliant. There are parts that I'm kinda "meh" about, even if most of the records consist mainly of parts that I'm more "this is shaging awesome!" about. Most of the retro-ish bands sound like those "meh" parts to me, with some "this is kinda cool I guess" mixed in.

And a lot of them have endless solos... like they thought that the solos were the important part of Sabbath records. Tony Iommi is a brilliant guitarist, but I've really always thought of him as primarily a rhythm player and songwriter, not a lead guitarist. He has a couple solos that are really good, but most are decent because the song he wrote that he's playing them to is awesome. A lot of the retro-ish bands are just doing what sounds to me like fairly unoriginal pentatonic/blues lead guitar over songs not nearly as awesome as Sabbath ones.

Also the bass tones are not nearly as ganky and gross as Geezer's tone, and so that really takes the energy out of the stuff they're doing. Sounds too friendly.

There are a few bands that get it totally right. Like Sleep on Holy Mountain (that album is totally Sabbath rip-off stuff... but they do it so shaging well that I love it... I wouldn't consider either Volume 1 or Dopesmoker to be all that similar to Sabbath, even if the influence is still obvious). They get all the parts right. Knowing that the core draw of Sabbath's style was the heavy but super catchy riff. The ganky, nasty bass tone. Having the guitar solo be supported by something super rad underneath it.

Anyone know of any place that can do a small run of 7 inch vinyl? Pirates Press will only do 500 min. I'm thinking 100-250.

We're working on the new album but we may release a single if we can find someplace to do it for a good price. Also going to start our own record label just so we can say we are on a label

Have you tried contacting the Czech Republic factory directly?

Speaking of Pirates Press, I think Abstracter just did their vinyl through them. The special graphic discs sold out in a couple days. There are none left.

I'll chime in: I like it when bands give me a taste of something familiar as long as it's not a wholesale ripoff and there's a bit of a new spin on it. That's what we try to do in MDT. It's damn near impossible to come up with something "new," IMO. I'm generally not interested in new...I guess that's my older, crotchety side coming out now.

Yeah, I think that's why I like Yob so much. The kinds of riffs they use are familiar, but they've tweaked stuff enough that they sound like themselves, and do a couple things that I don't usually hear people in the genre do. Same with Bongripper. Like their stuff clearly has Sabbath influence, but they only really sound like themselves.

Have any of you heard of the Sunn Magna 415? Its apparently pretty rare. A month or so ago I found one in a local music shop. First thing I thought was, that is too many 15" speakers for a cab that small. Seems as though its a design that shouldn't work, yet still manages to work. I am wondering if it is worth picking up.

That's the one with the angled baffles, right? I've always wondered how the shag that worked.

Being original just for the sake of being original doesn't really work anymore, at least in rock/metal because it really all has been done before, more or less. But I do look for bands who add their own character and personality to the music which then gives it originality.

Someone once told me they can hear our humour in our songs without needing lyrics/vocals. To me that's exactly the kind of reaction I look for.

True, setting out to sound entirely different than anything else will sometimes lead to suck. In Catapult we just write the riffs that come to us. Sometimes just our weird instrumentation makes it sound more distinct than it otherwise would be, though.

I also lived in Portland, Oregon from 2009 - 2014 and it is gray and rains a little almost every day from around October to March.

I live in the bay area, in California... and given our current drought, that description of Portland weather sounds so beautiful as to be a dream or nearly to bring me to tears.

I can't stand the people who are like "Yay, spring is here!" right now, here. Because I'm like "You dumb *****, what's to get excited about when we didn't shaging have winter?"

 

[Squanch72]

Yeah, Oklahoma (where I happen to be right now) actually has a lot of diversity in landscape and climate. The central part is plains and grasslands, the Western part is more arid and some of it really is indistinguishable from the stereotypical NM/AZ desert...mesas, cactus, etc. The Eastern part is in the foothills of the Ozarks so it is far more hilly and green and lush. Plenty of parts of the state are flat and pretty stark and barren, but even in the middle of nowhere you won't go far without seeing a lot of trees (and cows.) Not a great state for culture, though, unless you are REALLY into college sports and modern country music crap. And the politicians here are a dangerous combo of complete ignoramus and bat---- crazy.



It seems like an interesting state. I've heard people say the Northern half is more like the Deep South, similar to Georgia in landscape and culture, and the Southern half has more of an island feel, with some influence from Cuba and The Bahamas, etc. My sis loves it. She's at Ft. Walton Beach. I'll get down there someday.

Man, this thread is SO metal now.

Oh she is in the Panhandle, I would love to live there, yeah that is still a southern state there. East Coast is New England, West Coast is Midwest. West Palm beach on down is the Caribbean.
I wish I was able to spend some time traveling in OK while there, it was pretty. I had never seen flat country like that. We would ask the Drill Sergeant are we ever going to that mountain over there and he would say you effen retards that mountain is so far away from here. Weather changed in one day more than I liked though and would kill my head now. We were in the field and tents pitched on snow but in the afternoon we had to take our field coats off to fire the cannons. I can't even imagine the barometric pressure changes that go on there.

Not metal, old man RAWK!

 

[Korladis]

I look for instrumentals more and more as well. The cretins at work can't stand when I throw some classical "they call it opera" the radio. I try to tell them the LEAST important section of a song is it's lyrics. Theres a reason why certain movies and commercials cause people to tear up and it's rarely because of the lyrics. Like it was said up there ^, there's not really anything that hasn't been said in music already. Most of the stuff on the radio these days is about drugs/alcohol, sexual acts, telling someone you love them, or telling that same person you're breaking up with them. I tend to just ignore vocals in most songs so I can concentrate on what the musicians are playing and visualize what it looks like to watch them.

Can't stand classical? Morons.

And yeah... sounds and shifts in chords and chord structures are what really pull on the emotions with music. Really good lyrics at the right spots can boost the effect, but they don't matter as much as people think they do.

"How can you get into it since you can't understand the lyrics?" (either because the lyrics are screamed or because, in our genre, vocals aren't as up front as in some other ones) people ask. To which, I just think "shut the shag up, moron, I saw you listening to Gangnam Style, which, since your ass doesn't know Korean, I know you're not into for its lyrics." Not that I dislike Gangnam Style, or anything, as I approve of more fully aware goofiness in music, but you can't criticize one genre for having difficult/impossible-to-understand lyrics while giving another a free pass.

Plus, as you say, most subjects have already been sung about. To me the vocals are another instrument.

Yeah, Oklahoma (where I happen to be right now) actually has a lot of diversity in landscape and climate. The central part is plains and grasslands, the Western part is more arid and some of it really is indistinguishable from the stereotypical NM/AZ desert...mesas, cactus, etc. The Eastern part is in the foothills of the Ozarks so it is far more hilly and green and lush. Plenty of parts of the state are flat and pretty stark and barren, but even in the middle of nowhere you won't go far without seeing a lot of trees (and cows.) Not a great state for culture, though, unless you are REALLY into college sports and modern country music crap. And the politicians here are a dangerous combo of complete ignoramus and bat---- crazy.



It seems like an interesting state. I've heard people say the Northern half is more like the Deep South, similar to Georgia in landscape and culture, and the Southern half has more of an island feel, with some influence from Cuba and The Bahamas, etc. My sis loves it. She's at Ft. Walton Beach. I'll get down there someday.

Man, this thread is SO metal now.

Florida would be a terrible state for me to live in. One, I don't like either the deep south culture or the... Miami one, I guess, very much (sorry southern dudes... just not for me)... secondly, I despise heat and humidity (specifically the combo... cold and humidity is fine, dry heat is not something I'm overly fond of, but I can deal with it). Lastly, and this is kidna weird... I think I may have some slight agoraphobic tendencies. I don't like flat regions. I get a bit anxious if I'm in them for too long. Maybe it's the fact that I grew up in a place with very, very short horizons (the Bay Area has mountains on all sides... from the part of the east bay I live in, the only directions that have long horizons are a tiny gap to the west, and a corridor to the south). I don't know why this is.

I keep vaguely trying to reignite my desire to do vocals and write lyrics, but I've also gravitated heavily towards instrumental music in recent years. There are some bands that I pay attention to the lyrics and find myself really interested, but not that many anymore.

Just do like Al Cisneros and have like a paragraph or two of lyrics for an hour long song. Hold out each syllable for hella long.

 

[mc_muench]

Have any of you heard of the Sunn Magna 415? Its apparently pretty rare. A month or so ago I found one in a local music shop. First thing I thought was, that is too many 15" speakers for a cab that small. Seems as though its a design that shouldn't work, yet still manages to work. I am wondering if it is worth picking up.

Dont expect massive lows from it, not enough internal space for all those 15s, but its a 415 with the foot print the size of an 215. Whats not to like. Id say totally worth it if it isnt at overprice sunn price. I wouldnt pay more than 400 for one.

 

[Lazarus.Bird]

i would be perfectly fine if I never see snow again.

So, you want to be snowblind? I'll see myself out.

 

[dukeorock]

Giving this a test drive today

 

[Squanch72]

Giving this a test drive todayView attachment 575592

Goodness man, better create a spreadsheet to remember your settings!

 

[Boom762]

Not that I dislike Gangnam Style, or anything, as I approve of more fully aware goofiness in music, but you can't criticize one genre for having difficult/impossible-to-understand lyrics while giving another a free pass.

One superb example of everyone liking a song and not being able to understand what the lyrics are is every Pearl Jam song

 

[Kaa]

I gotta say, the older I get the less I want to listen to newer music that even has vocals. Maybe I'm just getting crotchety. But I'll hear some new band and be bobbing along digging it, then the vocals/lyrics come in and--to my mind--are just distracting, tedious, insipid or otherwise annoying.

This isn't always true. I like vox on what I've heard of Ufomammut, Lent0, some Sword stuff, but I am always on the lookout for seriously heavy bands w/o singers.

I got turned on to Earthless not long ago and need to check them out more. Anyone rate that band? Definitely more on the psych/jam side of things. Definite stoners; not so much doomy though.

I rate them awesome.

 

[Muddslide]

So, you want to be snowblind? I'll see myself out.

Snowblind! That is my absolute favorite Sabbath track!

 

[The_Janitor]

Giving this a test drive todayView attachment 575592

Jesus. Picking up where Genz left off with the "most-knobs-ever" product plan? Looks awesome.

...I have to keep reminding myself that I have an SVT at home. This morning I was looking at the new Ampeg SCDR pedal and thinking "that might make a good OD, plus the DI is probably good, maybe I should get one... OH YEAH - SVT in the basement."

A good problem to have I suppose.

 

[Turkeypills]

Dont expect massive lows from it, not enough internal space for all those 15s, but its a 415 with the foot print the size of an 215. Whats not to like. Id say totally worth it if it isnt at overprice sunn price. I wouldnt pay more than 400 for one.

I think it was marked at like $500. The owner is buddies with my guitarist and set he would shoot me a deal. Who knows if it is even there still. Maybe I will have to go investigate it more thoroughly.

 

[Korladis]

One superb example of everyone liking a song and not being able to understand what the lyrics are is every Pearl Jam song

Yeah. Like anyone could actually understand what Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley, and Eddie Vedder were saying.

Jesus. Picking up where Genz left off with the "most-knobs-ever" product plan? Looks awesome.

...I have to keep reminding myself that I have an SVT at home. This morning I was looking at the new Ampeg SCDR pedal and thinking "that might make a good OD, plus the DI is probably good, maybe I should get one... OH YEAH - SVT in the basement."

A good problem to have I suppose.

I think it's two identical preamps, isn't it? The Mesa, I mean.

 

[dukeorock]

Jesus. Picking up where Genz left off with the "most-knobs-ever" product plan? Looks awesome.

...I have to keep reminding myself that I have an SVT at home. This morning I was looking at the new Ampeg SCDR pedal and thinking "that might make a good OD, plus the DI is probably good, maybe I should get one... OH YEAH - SVT in the basement."

A good problem to have I suppose.

Very good problem! This Mesa looks more complicated than it is. It's a two channel pre, so that's just two rows of the same thing