Toxic Holocaust: An Overdose of Death (Relapse)

An Overdose of Death, the third full-length and Relapse Records debut by Seattle's Toxic Holocaust, is a full-on assault of thrash-metal anthems and balls-to-the-wall punk-rock attitude. Recorded by Jack Endino (Nirvana, High On Fire), An Overdose… is equally appropriate for a futuristic bout of zombie slaying or to bring home with you to piss the hell out of your neighbors.

Led by Joel Grind, Toxic Holocaust has primarily been run as a one-man band since its inception in Baltimore in 1999. Grind chooses to hire out for touring musicians and session drummers rather than work with a full-time band due to disparities in lifestyle and musical vision.

Thankfully, he's found a kindred spirit in former Zeke drummer Donny Paycheck, who joins him for the first time on An Overdose of Death. Paycheck's face-peeling punk/metal drum style is a fitting complement to Grind's growling vocals and raging guitar riffs.

Fist-pumping sing-along choruses on tracks such as "War is Hell" (read: "War is fucking hell!") and "Feedback, Blood, and Distortion" add to the good time. Grind's lyrics on the aforementioned songs, as well as others on the album ("Nuke the Cross," anyone?), may be tongue-in-cheek, but the music is never presented in a way that is watered down or meant to be ironic.

It's aggressive, it's heavy, and most of all, it's fun.

- Jamie Ludwig

Toxic Holocaust: www.toxicholocaust.com
Relapse Records: www.relapse.com

Meanwhile, Mike Patton has kept busy with yet another project — scoring his first feature film, Crank 2: High Voltage (out April 17).  His soundtrack for A Perfect Place, a short film noir, was one of last year's best albums.

In an interview with BBC, Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys describes the group's next album, Tadlock's Glasses, as being a combination of live playing and obscure samples.  The album is expected to be out later this year.

Rapping virtuoso Doom — dropping the "MF" — has a new album, Born Like This, that will be out March 23 on Lex Records.

After a six-year hiatus, Anticon hip-hop duo Themselves (Doseone and Jel) has returned and will issue a third full-length album, CrownsDown, in August.

Definitive Jux rapper Cage has a new album, Depart From Me, that will be out June 30.  In the coming months, he'll also release a free EP, I Never Knew You, available through Def Jux and Adult Swim.

Mogwai has announced a new North American tour, running from April 20 to May 16.

Dinosaur Jr. has signed to Jagjaguwar and announced a five-week US tour that runs through April.  For these "intimate" shows, concertgoers will receive either a limited-edition 7" or a free digital download.

Atmosphere has announced a lengthy North American tour that runs from April 9 to May 22. The hip-hop duo gets great direct support from P.O.S. from April 9-24.

Psychedelic Cambodian pop-rock group Dengue Fever will provide musical accompaniment to the 1925 silent adaptation of The Lost World during the San Francisco International Film Festival on May 5.

Grizzly Bear's new album, Veckatimest, will be released May 26 on Warp.

One-man grind project Toxic Holocaust has announced a North American tour with Napalm Death that runs from early April to mid-May.

In an interview with Billboard, bassist Doug McCombs shared details on the upcoming album from jazzy post-rock instrumentalists Tortoise — its first full album of original material since 2004. Still untitled, the album will be released April 21 on Thrill Jockey and feature layers of synthesizers as well as "unconventional drumming and percussion."

The release date for the new Isis album, Wavering Radiant, has been set for May 5 via Ipecac.

Italian sludge-jazz trio Zu has announced the first of its dates for a world tour, which stretches from the end of January through April. Mike Patton (who sings on a pair of tracks from the band's great new album, Carboniferous) joins Zu to perform as the Zu / Mike Patton Quartet for a pair of dates in March.

More bands have been confirmed for the newest incarnation of Neurosis' three-day rock festival, Beyond the Pale at Roadburn 2009. The concerts, from April 23-25, will now include Grails, Earth, and Tribes of Neurot.

Get a free download of Busdriver's song about Obama, "Will He (Inaugural Tribute)," at his website.

Mastodon will debut a new track ("Divinations") from its upcoming album, Crack the Skye, on next week's installment of the BBC Radio 1's "Rock Show."

After 25 years, founding member and multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey is leaving Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

The An Albatross Family Album, one of our favorite releases from 2008, is now available on (white) vinyl from the Eyeball Records webstore.

Long-form psychedelic collective Dark Meat, with its 17 members, has announced a string of concert dates that cover the West and the South. The group also has a pair of new 7" records for sale; one is a split with Long Legged Woman.

Ches Smith's Congs for Brums began a two-week European tour on Tuesday. Smith lends his percussion skills to Secret Chiefs 3, Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog, Trevor Dunn's Trio-Convulsant, and Xiu Xiu.

An interview with Italian prog-metal group Ephel Duath can be streamed here. In the twelve-minute clip, the group discusses its new album, Through My Dog's Eyes, which will be released on Earache next week (January 26). The band, essentially a duo, recently replaced long-time singer Luciano Lorusso George with Guillermo Gonzalez.

Experimental folk group Akron/Family (now a trio) has announced that a new album, Set 'em Wild, Set 'em Free, will be released on Dead Oceans on May 5.

Prog/math rockers Stinking Lizaveta have a new album, Sacrifice and Bliss, that will be released on March 31.

Theater director Richard Foreman is staging a presentation of Astronome, the second album from John Zorn's Moonchild quartet, to run at New York's Ontological-Hysteric Theater for two months, starting on February 5. The Moonchild quartet consists of Zorn, Mike Patton, Trevor Dunn, and Joey Baron.

The Jesus Lizard

With its first performances since 1999, pummeling mid-tempo rock icons The Jesus Lizard will briefly reunite to play at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Minehead, UK in May of 2009. The group's original lineup will be present and play a short series of additional dates that culminates in Chicago next November.

Idiosyncratic rapper Busdriver performs live with a jazz-crossover band called Kneebody tonight in Los Angeles. Pigeon John also performs and tickets are only $10, so don't miss it!

Instrumental violin-centered trio Dirty Three will perform its beautiful fan-favorite album Ocean Songs at All Tomorrow's Parties in New York in 2009.

Comprised of vocalist J. Bannon (Converge), Dwid Hellion (Integrity), and Stephen Kasner (Blood Fountains), Irons is billed as an artistic, nonlinear expression of melancholy through electronics, guitars, and vocals. The trio has announced the impending release of a split 12" with Pulling Teeth.

Minimalist folk group Phosphorescent has recorded a full-length covers collection of Willie Nelson tunes titled To Willie. The group will tour this winter and spring.

One-man grind project Toxic Holocaust will assemble in band form for January tour dates with 3 Inches of Blood and Early Man. Currently, Toxic Holocaust is touring with GWAR.

Andrew Bird's deluxe edition of Noble Beast, due out on January 20, is available to pre-order through Fat Possum Records. The deluxe edition includes a second disc, Useless Creatures, that includes new instrumental works.

Rhymesayers has posted the video for "The Truth," the single from Jake One's great new album, White Van Music, that features Freeway and Brother Ali.

Beginning today, you can download the Christmas single "Beam Mig Op, Jesus" by Danish rockabilly weirdos Powersolo via iTunes or Clicktrack.

Groove trio Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey is playing a New Year's Eve show in Tulsa in which the featured performers play the tunes of Prince, Lionel Richie, and Michael Jackson. Get down.

Ravish Momin

Thursday, October 30

GWAR, Toxic Holocaust @ House of Blues

What would a Halloween weekend be without GWAR? Chicago gets an early treat on Thursday as the satirical blood-and-guts metal band hits the House of Blues. One-man speed-metal outfit Toxic Holocaust opens with a high-intensity set of thrash riffs, push beats, and mini rock solos.

On an awesome side note, ALARM head honcho Chris Force once opened for GWAR with his punk/hardcore band No Way Out (not to be confused with multiple bands currently active with the same name).

Friday, October 31

Ravish Momin's Trio Tarana @ The Velvet Lounge

Compositional and inventive New York percussionist Ravish Momin spends Halloween in Chicago with his Trio Tarana, which joins him with violinist Sam Bardfeld and oud/saz player Brandon Terzic. The group's incredible sound is one of Indian rhythms, modern and traditional fusion, and big, complex beats that keep listeners' heads banging.

Momin was born in India, but his multi-cultural influence extends beyond his homeland and his residence; his style touches upon elements of African and East Asian music, and his percussive endowments include a list of instruments a mile long. For this Velvet Lounge performance, the Trio Tarana is joined by Chicago heavies Tatsu Aoki (bass, shamisen), Greg Ward (alto sax), and Doug Rosenberg (woodwinds).

Halloween parties

Halloween falls on a Friday this year, so we'll be hitting up some parties. Now if only we could decide on some costumes. (Björk? The Tron guy? A sexy laser beam?)

Saturday, November 1

Graveface Records Day of the Dead showcase @ The Abbey Pub
w/ Black Moth Super Rainbow, Dreamend, Hospital Ships, and Kid Dakota

Promoting its upcoming Drippers EP, Black Moth Super Rainbow brings its synth-heavy, effect-laden psych hop back to Chicago for the second annual Graveface Day of the Dead showcase. Labelmates Dreamend, Hospital Ships, and Kid Dakota round out the show with pretty pop/rock creations. Costumes are encouraged!

Sunday, November 2

Zü, Yakuza, The Rempis Percussion Quartet @ The Empty Bottle

Italian art/noise/jazz/punk trio Zü spends the first of two nights in Chicago at the Empty Bottle, possibly the city's most fitting venue for the group's weird mélange. Zü's collaborators range from Hamid Drake to Mike Patton to Dälek, and it gets a few interesting openers here: jazz-metal locals Yakuza and free-jazz mainstays The Rempis Percussion Quartet.

Sleeping

As daylight savings time ends, we'll be getting an extra hour of sleep. Though this should be rather universal for regions that practice DST, this is especially important for music editor Jamie Ludwig, who is known to run on 3-4 hours of sleep per night. Unfortunately, this also means that it will soon be dark at 5 p.m. Bogus!

Recorded with Jack Endino and featuring Zeke's Donny Paycheck on drums, the album is one of the most fun thrash records we've heard in a long time with its infectious riffs and tongue-in-cheek post-apocalyptic worldview. An Overdose of Death also shares its title with a 1940 Agatha Christie novel (coincidence? We think not).

ALARM caught up with Grind during a recent tour to discuss playing it solo and the makings of the new record.

What made you decide to only hire out musicians as needed, rather than have full-time band members? What are some pros and cons?

Basically, I did it out of necessity. Where I was living at the time in Maryland, there were virtually no musicians with the same dedication and into the same music as I was. So in order to really do what I wanted, I had to do it myself.

The pros are definitely having complete control over music, art, etc. The cons would be trying to find session musicians for live shows, and recording everything by myself isn't that easy either. It's hard to work a tape machine while you are trying to get a good take at the same time.

Tell us about the new record. How do you feel that it differs from Hell on Earth and Reaper's Grave? Does anything in particular inspire your evil/humorous lyrics?

I think that I have really stepped it up on this record, song-writing wise. I mean, it's still the same to-the-point speed metal as always, but I think that the songs are better thought-out this time around. Lots of things inspire my lyrics: movies, war documentaries, books. I like over-the-top imagery and topics.

How did you end up working with Zeke drummer Donny Paycheck on An Overdose of Death? Is he a drummer that you had wanted to work with for a while?

I moved to Seattle, and my manager also manages Zeke. He recommended Donny to me because Zeke wasn't really all that active, and Donny had been wanting to do something musically again. Donny fit in perfect with what I wanted to do. It really shows on this record.

As a well-traveled touring musician, do you see many differences between how American audiences view metal versus in other parts of the world?

Sure. In other parts of the world, metal is life for the fans. It's amazing! They eat, sleep, and breathe it. In America, there are pockets of diehards, but it's everywhere in places like Europe and South America.

How might someone prepare for life in a post-apocalyptic war zone? What precautions might they need to take? Sunscreen?

Ha…I guess you better stock up on food and fuel and get a blue heeler dog while you're at it.

– Jamie Ludwig

Toxic Holocaust: www.toxicthrashmetal.com
Relapse Records: www.relapse.com