DEATH WEDDLE

On Saturday, April 20th 2013, I found myself on a little road trip to Prescott, Az to check out my boys in Motive and The Chemical Clownz play a show at Scottie’s (formally Sundance’s), right off Whiskey Row in down town Prescott. I really enjoy road trips to see shows, and I especially like northern Arizona. I was lucky enough to be able to ride with my boys in Motive (or at least half of the band) to the gig and back.

As soon as we arrived at Scottie’s, Andy Luffey (Motive drummer) and I walked in the back door of the bar, then straight out the front door and up the stairs to Whiskey Row to find some grub before Motive was set to take the stage. After walking a short distance we stumbled upon a place called The Devil’s Pantry, so of course we had to eat there because, well…it’s  kind of obvious why. Even though I ordered a simple burger and fries, I noticed some “different” menu items. The one that stuck out the most was the chocolate covered bacon. Sounds interesting doesn’t it? After eating our food we headed back to the gig, but we would return later after the show to get some of that yummy chocolate covered bacon before we made the drive back to the concrete jungle known as Phoenix. I even got some beer-battered deep fried pickles. I must say that the bacon was pretty damn good!  I mean, duh – it’s chocolate and bacon. Why wouldn’t it kick ass? I noticed when we were walking back to Scottie’s that people were just standing out on the street and getting wasted — I mean shit faced! It was somewhat of a weird culture up there to me,  being me.

Now on with the show…

When we returned to Scottie’s, I noticed that there was not a sound board and FOH sound guy, so I went and investigated. The PA system only had 3 mics running through it for vocals. No cabinets were miked, so all the guitar and bass would be coming directly from the amps and cabs, not through the PA. I was asked to assist Motive in their sound check to get the levels correct – Rude T. would’ve been proud of me. Motive plays very loud, and after determining that the kick drum was buried in the mix, we decided to use one of the vocal mics to mic the kick drum. It worked out pretty well… as good as it was going to get anyway. It was kind of like an old school house party/practice studio type of sound, which doesn’t bother me at all because I’m used to that from all my years of watching my friends’ bands practice.

Motive – Bastard I Am HERE (Death Weddle is on one of the pics, so watch carefully)

Motive came out swinging with five songs in a row from their newest album, 2012′s I Am Today. They started out with one of my favorites, “Bastard I Am” (which was played on 98 KUPD’s Into The Pit by host and friend Marcus Meng). Next up was another one of my favorites “She Of No Light”, which tells a story of a man who’s with an evil-hearted she devil that ends up breaking his heart. Of course most of us guys can relate to that. By that time Motive had gotten the attention of the entire crowd in the bar, and after giving me a little love (and making fun of me), singer Billy Gonzales and Motive went right into the very percussive “Color Blind Rain”.

I want to take a moment to mention how tight Motive is as a band. With Luffey on drums, Julius Secody on bass, and Steve Buschart on guitar, they truly are a force to be reckoned with, live or otherwise. There is no doubt that Secody is my favorite local bassist ever. The guy’s crushing tone and style will split your head wide open. Steve Bushart’s guitar attack slices right through your ear drums like a butcher knife being swung by a psychopathic serial killer. In fact, Motive Steve is the most metal person I’ve ever met in my entire life, and is also one of my closest friends. Drummer Andy Luffey hits hard and plays fast. Not only does he have super fast feet, but he also has incredibly fast hands too. He is easily one of the best metal drummers in the Phoenix local scene. Billy Gonzales is the new guy in Motive, and I must say he has turned out to be a great addition to the family. He is a great front man for the band, and his dirty mid-ranged vocal style and high pitched screams compliment the music very well. Motive has an all around sound that is a cross between old school thrash and modern thrash that will groove you right out of your shoes!

MOTIVE!

The next song of the night from Motive was the title track “I Am Today”. This song has a lot of groove and punches you in the teeth from start to finish. “Lost On 89″ was next, and it is a song about a stretch of Highway 89 in northern Arizona where a lot of people have gotten into wrecks and lost their lives due to drunk driving. Motive then played an old school song called “Expose The Lies” from their debut cd Damned If You Do… Dead If you don’t, from 2000, and it then went right into the last song from the new album called “Burnt Flavor” which is about society’s demise. The last two songs of the night were “Hole Of Respect”, and probably their biggest hit “Lochness”, from 2003s Worn Down Dream (“Lochness” was originally released on Motive’s second cd, the first Motive Ep). Motive crushed Scottie’s and the entire crowd loved them! All of you people reading this need to check out Motive on Facebook and go see them play live so they can split your head wide fucking open! Because, well… that’s cool.

The Chemical Clownz

The Chemical Clownz performed next for everybody’s enjoyment…and amusement. Now these guys – errrr…. I mean these clowns – aren’t just normal clowns; they are weed smoking, LSD loving psychopathic CLOWNZ! It’s fitting that they played a show on 4/20 to celebrate there favorite holiday (or regular day, or whatever). The Chemical Clownz consist of Warpo on vocals and guitar, Torcho on drums, Wizzo on guitar, and Wacko on bass, and they hail from Sedona, Arizona. I have actually been friends with Warpo for many years and have known him since he was in his band before The Clownz called Morcid, which fittingly enough is short for more acid… Told you they love the LSD!

I was asked by Warpo to assist him hang The Chemical Clownz curtain in front of the stage before they went on, and then I pulled it down when they started. Death Weddle is always willing to lend a helping hand to his friends!

So after the curtain came down and I cleared it off stage, The Clownz started their set. These guys are a punk rock/thrash metal band that is inspired by bands like Gwar, M.O.D., The Ramones, and Slayer. Kind of an odd mixture, but with their humorous songs and lyrics, and the fact that they look like killer clowns that will rip your head off, shit down your neck, and rape your headless corpse while under the influence of whatever mind altering substance they can get their hands on, it actually works very well for this band!

The first song of the night from The Chemical Clownz was “I’m Mad”, followed by the title track from their first cd “Obsessed With Your Big Boobies”. What a great song name! I mean, who doesn’t like big boobies? At that time Warpo gave me some serious love, and told the crowd that his bro Death Weddle was there from Phoenix to do a review of the show, and everybody needed to check out the Death Weddle blog. And, of course, they did need to. I want to say thanks to my bro Warpo for the love, respect, support and hospitality he showed myself and Motive on the night. Thanks again brother!

Next in the set were the songs “Highschool Groupies”, “The Parties In Your Mouth And Everybody’s Cumming”, “Issues That Need Tissues”, and “The Jason Sweetow Song” – which I think they should change the name to “The Jason Weddle Song”.

Jailbait Live Video HERE

Just sayin’.

It was right about that time that I happened to notice there was a midget girl (or “little person” or whatever) in the crowd, and I must say she was actually kind of hot for a midget (I mean “little person”, or whatever). She didn’t have those creepy little t-rex arms or anything. The next song up was “Smack Those Bitches”. I was kind of expecting or maybe hoping that she was going to be part of the show. Maybe she could jump on stage and strip down and take on a giant dildo of sorts, I dunno. I thought that would’ve went really well with The Clownz set, but to my disappointment she disappeared and I didn’t see her again.

(Hmmmm… maybe I didn’t need to get that in-depth as to what I was “hoping” for… Oh well.)

Anyway, the last song of the night from The Clownz was their new song called “I Don’t Pay For Sex, I Pay Them To Leave”, and it was awesome! Talk about writing truthful lyrics! Prescott loves The Chemical Clownz, and they put on a heavy and hilarious show,  so check these guys – errrr…… Clownz – out!

This public service announcement is brought to you by the one and only DEATH WEDDLE……

Hey, that’s me! \,,/

(This post edited, corrected, formatted, and peed on by Jaffo, as always.)

On the night of Friday, March 1st, 2013 I found myself at a popular north Phoenix venue to check out the return of my bros Altered Silence, along with Animus Complex – a newer up-and-coming band that I’ve heard lots of good things about. I would like to give a mention to the other bands on the bill that night, because unfortunately I missed them: Twisted Theorem, Failing To Fly, and Lustmord. Hopefully I can catch you guys in the future.

Let’s get right to it shall we?

Animus Complex is a cerebral progressive metal band to say the least. The bands lineup consists of Matt Turkington on vocals (formally of Wynterborne), Stephen Poff on bass (formally of Dresden, Cathexis, and Hypatia), Michael Ohlson on drums (formally of Motive, 12Ton Sledge, Dresden, Cathexis, and currently in Sargon and Burn Your Halo), and Jeremy Davis on guitar. I want to point out that this is the third band Poff and Ohlson have been in together, and those years of jamming are evident in how tight the Animus Complex rhythm section is. Likewise, the individual musicianship in this band is quite phenomenal, but I have to say that my favorite part about Animus is still the bass wizardry of Stephen Poff. I really like when a bassist plays with such skill and thought, and the songs have room enough to make his presence known. Animus Complex are bringing a new niche of metal to the Phoenix area, and to be honest it’s not a style I’m very familiar with. Their song writing is not typical by any means. Like I said, it is a “cerebral” type of composing that makes you think and bask in what you are hearing. The progressive evolution of metal has always given me a hard time because I find it difficult to wrap my primitive little brain around it, so I decided to ask a friend about it….

I walked out onto the patio during the end of Animus Complex’s set, and saw a pretty tipsy Matt Bond, former bassist of a little metal band called Fracture Point (some of you may have heard of them). I walked up to Matt and said something along the lines of, “hey can you explain Animus Complex to me?” He said, “Sure lets sit down and talk about it!” So we did. Matt then explained the cerebral flavor of this kind of metal, and some of the things he said challenged me to open up my peanut brain a little bit. Matt and I also talked about DeathWeddle.com, Fracture Point, and a new project that he is currently working on. I did not know it at the time, but Matt had been making sweet love to a bottle of Jameson, so our conversation went from discussing progressive music to lots of other stuff I don’t understand, and eventually meeting up back to the original subject. All joking aside, I really enjoyed that conversation. I learned a lot and received some very nice compliments on what Jaffo and I do with this little blog we have. So thanks again to our friend Matt Bond!

Oh, and all of you smart folk out there make sure you check out Animus Complex!

Next up was the triumphant return of Altered Silence with their new lineup. The core of the group still consists of founding members Tim Creiger on guitar, Lee Schipper on drums, and the one and only Rudy T. Reilly on bass. New to the band are Ryan Schwartz on guitar (formally of St. Madness), and James Oylen on vocals (formally of Staren Black, and currently in GrindHouse – The Zombie Experience). Altered Silence hit the stage and came out swinging. You can tell these guys were more than ready to make their comeback/debut to the stage. If you haven’t heard them, the musical direction of Altered Silence is pretty much straight-forward in-your-face groove metal, with some hints of melody – as displayed in songs like “Acid Reign”, “My Kult”, “Stitches”, and their newest song, “Bad Gravity”. The guys in Altered have their rock star stage presence down for sure. They get up there and throw down with the best of them, and are very entertaining to watch. With the addition of Schwartz on second guitar, with his tight rhythms and tasty leads, the band expectantly has an even heavier thickness and complexity. I think James Oylen is a really good front man, and I dug his vocal style. It’s nice to be able to understand vocals sometimes and not feel like you’ve just been yelled at for 30 minutes. For a meat head like me, Altered Silence’s style fits right into what I like, and we know exactly what we are going to get.

Speaking of meat heads, I really must say that when I watch him play bass on stage, I kind of imagine Rude T in a loincloth, barefoot, with a bone through his nose. This makes me giggle a bit. I could totally picture him at the local pub in Bedrock, pounding pints of Guiness and tossing back Jager Bombs with Barney Rubble. Kind of makes me giggle more.

RUDE T REILLY

But in all seriousness,  go check out Altered Silence or Rude T. will club you over the head and drag you by the feet into his cave… if he’s not puking from all that Jager!

(This public service announcement has been brought to you by Death Weddle.)

(Hey that’s me!)

ALTERED SILENCE!!!

DEATH WEDDLE \,,/

(Cut, corrected, edited, and added color by Jaffo, as always, dammit)

This AZ rock and metal scene is not without its little quirks, or ups and downs. In less than three months of being operational, we here at Death Weddle have gotten our share of complaints, hate mail, general ignorant shit-talking (apparently an attention ploy – we’ll see how THAT works out), and even a vague death threat from people who somehow feel we are some kind of threat to whatever they do (or don’t do). To Jason and I, it’s just funny. It means we’re getting attention, and more importantly, doing something right. We get much more positive feedback than negative, and for that we appreciate all you bad ass readers who appreciate us.

If you’re sticking to your guns and doing so with measured integrity, you will not please everyone, nor should that ever be your goal. It is simply impossible. So, we will settle with pleasing most of the people most of the time, and most importantly we will focus on pleasing ourselves. (err….yeah, I’ll leave that alone for now)

We do this because we like it, and we like how we do it, and we by no means are limiting our horizons, either. It could go anywhere at this point, because no one else is doing this blog thing quite like we are, and they simply can’t. They aren’t us. It’s personal.

Which brings us to one of my favorite bands in town. They are much like DeathWeddle.com – well, only in the way I’ve described above. They are doing something no other band in town is doing, creating and then dominating their own niche, and they’re doing so with calculation and confidence – and might I say – a lot of skill. They are well liked by pretty much anyone I talk to, including musicians from much heavier, more conventional metal bands, and a solid following of other fans as well. In that respect, they are one of those bands who defy the norm and are not limited by genre. They have a little bit of something for everyone, and yet obviously do what they do entirely for themselves – with that stated integrity – and that makes them as original and authentic as they come.

The band I speak of, of course, is VEX.

On January 26th, 2013, Weddle and I went to The Hollywood Alley in Mesa to see VEX. They played with The Pleasure Victims, Fred Green and Daughters of Fission, and while I dug each of the other bands for various reasons, I will not spend much time covering them here today, as this a dedicated VEX review, dammit.

First, a little about the venue. I had been to The Hollywood Alley once a while back to see The Dames. I liked it then, and liked it this visit as well. It’s intimate, and the sound is clear and smacks of quality and proficient engineering. Weddle had never been there before. He was immediately impressed and really liked the place, mostly because of the layout, but even more for the history in the form of band stickers everywhere – on the walls in the venue itself, and all over the walls in the bathroom. That’s my favorite place to see band names – when I’m taking a squirt in the urinal, or dropping a stack of knowledge in a stall. That’s where I saw a Frequis sticker, if I remember correctly. Weddle discovered a Grum sticker while he peed, and had to come get me to show me. He ended up inspired enough to write a From The Vault article about them because of it. Oh, the inspiration we find while relieving ourselves.

Well thankfully, we were able to watch the VEX set without having to relieve ourselves. Now – as I mentioned in the beginning of this entry, a great band with integrity might not only work hard to do something unique in the scene, without expecting to please everyone, but they just might do it so well they please a LOT of people. That approach can likely alienate more fans than gain them. In the case of VEX, it is the latter, and I can tell you why. I will get to that in a minute.

Weddle, on the other hand, just didn’t get it. He tried. He stayed and watched the entire set, but simply…didn’t get it. And that’s fine. He a metal kid that likes his metal served with brutality, groove, and a more straight-forward delivery. Because he digs bands like (sic)monic and Virulent, VEX singer D.L. and I really expected him to be won over with a live show, but nope. It just didn’t speak to Jason. And that’s okay. I thought D.L. was going to cry, but he sucked it up and handled it like a champ.

So needless to say, I was handed the duty and pleasure of handling this review, because I am a pretty big Vex fan, myself.

VEX @ Hollywood Alley

VEX was founded by D.L. (vocals and Theremin), Jodiah (guitar and vocals), Adam (bass and cello), and Keith (drums and percussion) in Apache Junction (this can neither be confirmed or denied by the band) over two years ago, but consider the addition of Keith the true beginning of the band. Their website is vexband.com, and while fairly (appropriately?) sparse, from there one can access all of their shit – facebook, reverbnation, etc. Interestingly, in the last couple of years being a “working” band, they have recorded and released a mere three songs (“Handbook for the Powerless”, “Relative”, and “Dogma Dance” – all recorded and engineered with Byron at Villain Recording), and have handed out short, burned demo CDs in the past – but that’s about it. Live, on the other hand, they are well known for putting on a SHOW, and that night at Hollywood Alley, they played a full seven tunes, including two new ones, and they did not disappoint.

VEX has an eclectic sound, mixing a variety of influences, which each member will either argue with you about, or fully appreciate the comparison. For example, D.L. doesn’t always like the Tool references he hears about, but admits he does dig the genre-hopping ability Tool obviously has as well. Also – the members of Tool were always big on being very vague about members and information released about the band, even dishing out misinformation just to throw the fans off a bit. Likewise VEX seems to enjoy doing the same. Make the music and performances speak for themselves, some say, which they certainly do. You may hear some more familiarity with some of their sound and styles, including Jane’s Addiction, and some more obscure styles as well. I like to say they are a heavy, psychedelic, somewhat progressive alternative metal band for the modern listener. You can definitely hear the Tool-type riffing, time sigs, and percussive work by the musicians, and that is something I appreciate fully. I appreciate it even more when I can’t say VEX actually sounds like any of the bands you might consider them similar to. They take their winning pieces and apply them with virtuoso and force, and are confident performers as a whole and put together a tight, adventurous sound all their own.

D.L.

No other vocalist in Phoenix sounds like D.L., nor does any front man perform quite like he does either. I’m not sure they could. He is a singer – you know, that sings notes – and he is a full-on artistic performer. From aggressive gravely power on and up to some impressive high-register ranging melody with some pretty insane but accomplished vibrato (easily reminiscent of Jane’s singer Perry Farrell), over some killer rolling guitar rhythms and a tight drum and bass riffs, he certainly brings it. Usually wearing some extravagant outfit seemingly thrown together with almost no forethought, you can however be assured he actually puts a lot of thought and planning in his appearance and wardrobe, and will likely give you some awesome explanation for donning each piece of attire for that particular show. Not sure if I believe any of it though – could be total bullshit. He’s just that bright. An integral part of the live performance is not only the calculated weirdness and  flamboyance of D.L.’s display and the proficiency of his fellow musicians, but an almost organically (dare I say…spiritual?) active method of his delivery, with a constant dose of humor. For example, after the churning and brilliant opening tune, introducing the force that is VEX to the crowd of both existing and brand-new fans, D.L. announced without missing a beat, “Good evening! We are VEX, and we enjoy giving hand jobs to men, and long walks on the beach…Just kidding, we hate the beach.”

Reminded me a bit of the quip on their FB page: “We enjoy Satanism and Chinese Checkers. JUST KIDDING!!!…We hate Chinese Checkers.”

But, as D.L. and the guys will always say, VEX is about the music first, and I will confirm this claim. It truly is some articulate, often aurally open and flowing, often brash and guitar heavy, and often something else completely. Yes, there will be comparisons to other bands from the 90s on, but they are so much more than that. For example, Adam plays a electric cello (with marked skill, I might add) on at least one of their songs. A personal highlight of mine as well is when D.L. breaks out the theremin. For those who don’t know what that is, here’s a blurb from Wikipedia:

“The theremin /ˈθɛrəmɪn/, originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvoxis an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after the westernized-name of its Russian inventor, Léon Theremin, who patented the device in 1928. The controlling section usually consists of two metal antennas which sense the position of the player’s hands and control oscillators for frequency with one hand, and amplitude (volume) with the other, so it can be played without being touched. The electric signals from the theremin are amplified and sent to a loudspeaker.”

All that is fine and good, but you have to see a theremin in action to fully appreciate the uniqueness of such a device [instrument]. The skillful manipulation of a theremin results in a bunch of R2D2 style pitch squeals and builds and dives, and D.L. manages to make it a full-on lead part over some cool atmospheric instrumental sections from the rest of the band. Prior to VEX, I think the only other person I’ve seen use one live was folk guitar looper/instrumental genius Keller Williams, who’s music is nothing like VEX in the least. And this makes it an even cooler an addition to this eclectic group here in the Phoenix scene.

D.L. and the theremin

Their set list on that Saturday included seven songs, including two brand-new tunes as well: “Handbook for the Powerless”, “Glory Hole”, “Dogma Dance”, “Succedaneum”(new), “Alchemical Burn”, “Definition of Insanity”(new), and  ”Subterfuge”. Keith, Jodiah, and Adam bring a glowing and powerfully rhythmic instrumentation behind these songs, and the band, as a whole, is a tight unit so capable and delivering their music with a staunch confidence, and I’m not convinced these songs could be performed quite the same way without the presence of each and every one of these musical individuals. They have found a perfect combination and membership to kick out their brand of tunes, and it’s hard not to appreciate that completely. You know – if you dig their kind of thing, of course. They are a musician’s band with plenty of surprises, who can still entertain even the most non-musician listener. This is why I believe they will do well here and beyond – they will keep most aficionados of heavy music interested, the math music geeks as well, all while remaining interesting and hooky enough for the less artistic fans out there. Quite the powerful combination.

Adam

Jodiah

Keith

To explain the varied fan-base of VEX in the scene, we had members from Howitzer, Frequis, Phoenix & Dragon, and Pelvic Meatloaf at the show that night. In my opinion, they are really hard not to like. I am not alone in this by any means, my friends.

For more photos from the Hollywood Alley show (and to see more as they are added) please click HERE.

VEX are having a big CD release show at Joe’s Grotto coming up in April, with guests Frequis, Element A440, Bear Ghost, and possibly Phoenix and Dragon on the bill, so watch for it. They are one of THE bands to see here in this current scene.

And I must add at this point that D.L. gave DeathWeddle.com what was probably our best compliment yet, comparing our work to how it felt as a kid to buy and read the newest metal mags he’d buy from the Supermarket each month. Thanks man!

With love and respect,

JAFFO \m/

(all photos taken the night of the show, and used by permission by Jaffo and Seven Bear Photography, dammit.)