This poster derived from the Avenger album artwork is by Brooke Kent. (www.brookekent.com)
Life on the road for a band is full of highs and lows. The unpredictable nature of the business of music interferes with the process of making art accessible to many. This is a sad reality for all touring bands, except for a precious few. Perspective is what you need to survive. You can look no further than the band TOTIMOSHI who has been around awhile, opened for some huge bands like THE MELVINS, MASTODON, NEUROSIS and ISIS and have a great new album out, Avenger (At A Loss). O’Brien club, just outside of Boston was less than full tonight which was kind of disappointing. The band however, appreciated those who did come out and didn’t let it affect them at all which was professional and cool. I was hoping to snag the split 7” the band has out with THE MELVINS, but alas they didn’t have it yet.
Darryl Sheppard is BLACKWOLFGOAT!
After hanging out a bit and chatting with some local scene folks, the bands started to play. The first band I caught was experimental noise-rock outfit LEAGUES. Fronted by the enchanting Deb Nicholson, the band ran through some obtuse songs that were high-minded, idealistic art pieces as much as they were songs. The crowd was digging it and the band seem to give that energy right back to the fans which was cool. Next up was solo guitar act BLACKWOLFGOAT. BLACKWOLFGOAT is the brainchild of guitarist Darryl Sheppard (MILLIGRAM/HACKMAN) who gets up there with just a guitar, an array of effects and one solitary amp. He crafts interesting rhythm and drone effects with his delay and sampling pedals and then plays beats, counter melodies and other riffs built on top of that foundation. The results are trippy and cool his choice of notes and licks is quite clever. Some of the loops become just insanely hypnotic over the course of time, sucking you in to the musical vortex. Bravo!
TOTIMOSHI rips it up live in Boston.
Finally it was time for TOTIMOSHI to hit the stage. They set up quickly and the fans that were in the house packed into the front for the headliners. The band readied for a musical war of the senses. Opening with the title track from their new album, they definitely set it off big time. Propulsive beats dropped from drummer Chris Fugitt like a thunderclap as Tony Aguilar’s guitar tone stabbed at our ears. The grooving jam just filled up the room and crushed. “The Seeing Eye” was next and was also really impressive. Between Aguilar’s fuzzed out riffs and singer/bassist Meg Castellanos thick as a brick basslines, the song is head-nodding good time. Aguilar is one of the more underrated front men rocking stages today. In addition to his terrific guitar skills, he is a fine singer and really connects with the crowd to put across his lyrical poetry. The stop-start riffs that end the song were lock-tight, showing what a veteran group with chops like these can do. Another Castellanos bass heavy track is “Calling All Curs” was next. A classic sounding funky instrumental, it is a jam full of swagger and bounce not unlike LED ZEPPELIN’s “The Crunge”. Fugitt in particular really killed and he was playing a cool looking see-through red drum kit that resonated throughout the tiny club. He also chips in some vocals here and there. Next up were “Ladron” and “Dance of Snakes”. “Ladron” begins as a trippy BLACK SABBATH or CREAM stoner jam, but quickly shifts in the verse to a semi-tone poem vibe. Later on it boils over into a full-fledged stomping rock anthem. “Dance of Snakes” is another husky rocker with a great breakdown and a super heavy ending. Just real music, delivered from the heart which is hard to come by these days. “Mainline” has a bit more in common with jazz music in terms of angular beats and phrasing, but winds up as a bluesy dirge. Aguilar’s passionate wail gives a feeling of imminent doom. As they sailed through the rest of the set with little stage banter, they chose to keep the focus on the music. “Viva Zapata” recalls some of the more interesting early SOUNDGARDEN songs when they were a lot more experimental. Aguilar in particular has a bit of Kim Thayil in his vibrato and chord voicings that really gets to me. “Gnat” was my favorite song of the set with its atmospheric build up all the way through to its rave-up ending. After robust versions of “The Fool” and “Opus” the band ran through an amazing cover version of “Are You Experienced”. Aguilar just slayed on the guitar solos and his whammy bar action is really admirable. They closed the triumphant set with “Waning Divine”, easily one of the best and hardest songs the band has ever written. It is equal parts ethereal, PINK FLOYD meditation and also a furious doom masterpiece all together. TOTIMOSHI is a band that really tries to create something special with their music so check em out if they come to your town.
In case you haven’t gathered this from my millions of random references in my reviews, I am originally from New York City. Thank you very much. I’m also very proud to rep all of my hometown bands from my preferred sub-genre of thrash, to good old NYHC and right on through to the current wave of death and black metal bands currently tearing up the scene (there is actually a scene again-huzzah!). So it was cool to get the debut EP by TIGER FLOWERS to review because I knew a few of those guys back in the day. Or should I say, my old band opened for JOHNNY CAGE IS A FAKE and MY BITTER END in NYC earlier in the last decade. Guys from those bands became TIGER FLOWERS, so named for the first African-American heavyweight boxing champion. Why is any of this relevant to the review? It’s not, but if learned anything from my time in corporate America, it’s the mantra of full disclosure at all times. The skinny is those bands were pretty cool back then, the one track I heard recently on a comp was really good and so the buzz I was hearing on this group seemed warranted.
Opening up with “Cuts” the band shows an immediate take no prisoners approach to song craft. After about a minute of lonely, angular guitar notes the track explodes into waves of dissonant, gut-wrenching tones. With a flair for the avant-garde and the extremely pissed vocals of front man Jesse Madre. Combining the best post-hardcore of CAVE IN and an almost grindcore sensibility of unbridled rage makes the song really powerful. “Last Horse” is another punishing song with many creative twists and turns. Similar to THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, you have a band deftly able to genre blend and bend discordant anti-melodies to their will. There is a lucid moment a third of the way through the track where it gets trippy and somber for a moment, showing the stripes of a band that has been around the block once or twice. Psychedelic guitar effects warp the reality of the song in a nod to BOTCH and take it to an unexpected plateau. When Madre implores “it’s do or die, it’s do or die” you don’t doubt his convictions for a second. “The Weight” has a familiar feeling to it with an urgent take on a jazzed out drum riff and another spastic chord progression from Dean. Will chimes in some excellent distorted bass punctuated by more great drumming. “Drag”, which is the song I already knew is just killer. Obtuse riffs and brutal beats full of cultivated sickness ring out. The song has several movements like a sick little symphony, changing stylistic directions many times. At about nine minutes long, it feels as grandiose as its intent to alarm and enlighten the listener all at once. This music is beautifully chaotic and fully unpretentious; made by guys that obviously love music and value artistry. I can’t wait for the full length.
We'll be following TIGER FLOWERS career with great interest.
Just like the Clive Barker book from which they take their name, Syracuse’s Engineer possess a hellbound heart, and seem damned intent on showing the whole world exactly how pissed they are here on their latest record, Crooked Voices.
Tearing apart souls in the most meticulous of ways, Engineer possess a refreshingly frills-less approach to the ear-scraping hardcore sounds initially made popular in the early 90s with bands like Coalesce, Deadguy and Botch. Crooked Voices is a complex, gnarly listen, chock full of mathematical riffs, hoarse-sounding vocals and song structures which batter ‘n blunt the listener repeatedly, and without mercy.
There’s also a slight stylistic nod to 90s noise-rock forebears Unsane and Jesus Lizard within Engineer’s crippling grooves, cemented within the band’s tight instrumental prowess and lethal execution. Brought together, all of these elements result in a fresh listen; a nice change of pace to today’s commercialized, heavily made up pop music which passes itself off as ‘extreme’ within the public consciousness.
No, Engineer’s racket is NOT easy listening in the slightest, providing instead a sickly sway of uncomfortably energetic math-core which peels flesh off bone and tears the soul apart.
So, KEN mode has a new record coming out, ‘Venerable’ on March 15th via Profound Lore. Obviously, you guys don’t fit the mold for a typical Profound Lore signing. What led to the partnership?
In 2009 Shane and I decided that we wanted to push our next record like we’d never pushed before. Our primary goal was to tour as much as possible for the entire album cycle, forgoing our regular jobs that had kept us tied down since graduating from university (and in Shane’s case, subsequent masters program). To attain such a goal, I knew we’d need to seek the services of an established label, as I knew it’d be simply too much to manage if we went the DIY route – which I had done for our last album ‘Mennonite’, after our previous label, Escape Artist, essentially ceased functioning. We reached out to old friends of ours and Profound Lore was actually a suggestion from Gordon Conrad, who ran Escape Artist Records.
Through that introduction, I would learn that Chris (Bruni) had always wanted to experiment with our kind of sound on his label, but just hadn’t taken that plunge yet. We discussed mutual goals and aspirations, and I guess the proof is in the pudding now.
Tell me about ‘Venerable’, what are the prime topics you focus on with this record? Also, you picked some pretty interesting art, is there a message you are trying to convey with the cover art?
The subject matter for ‘Venerable’, lyrically speaking, revolves a lot around social anxieties, self introspection, pushing your own personal boundaries, and dealing with the many obstacles life tends to throw at you. I’m not writing philosophical political research papers, so I always find the subject matter I cover is nothing particularly ground-breaking; but hopefully it’s relatable to some people.
From an all-encompassing perspective we thought the definition of the word ‘Venerable’ appropriately summed up the various themes that the album revolves around. Respect for those that came before you, those that tough it out; everything eventually tying into nature itself – which is where the artwork works together with the songs to create the overall theme of the work. This is why we wanted to collaborate with Julie Anne Mann, as her work is deeply inspired by nature, and her pieces really spoke to us in regards to how we wanted to visually represent the ideas we’d put together.
I know that Jesse has a bit of an MMA background, tell me about that? Have you ever had to kick anyone’s ass at a show?
I’ve been training muay thai for about four years now, along with dabbling in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu; though I’m a relative newb in that particular martial art. Shane and I have been rabid MMA fans for years thanks to the now defunct Pride FC, and it was actually fighters like Wanderlei Silva and Mirko ‘Crocop’ Filopovic that inspired me to finally suck it up and start training. I’m actually nursing a shin injury right now from taking a knee while throwing a left low kick; so I’ve been away from training for a few weeks at a time the past month, which has completely ruined my overall physical condition!
Haha, thankfully I’ve only ever had one physical altercation at one of our shows since beginning training: I was playing a show in my underwear in our hometown of Winnipeg, and a drunken attendant decided it was a good idea to get up on stage and try to remove my boxer briefs while we were playing. I pushed the fellow off and teep kicked him off the stage (about 6-7 feet back) all while continuing to play our song ‘Ahriman’. The fellow came and apologized after our set.
Speaking of shows, what kind of plans do you have for the year in regards to touring? Will you be at SXSW? How much new material will you be playing?
We are aiming to have KEN mode on the road as much as possible this year. Right now we are in the process of booking a two month run that includes stops at SXSW and dates with Black Breath, Khann, Ganon and Fuck the Facts. Since we’re training a new bassist for this tour, we’re working on a focused set that draws primarily from our ‘Venerable’ and ‘Mennonite’ albums.
We’d like to cover as much ground as possible in 2011; a trip to Europe is definitely in the cards, as we haven’t been out there since 2008 when ‘Mennonite’ was released.
KEN mode seems to be getting more attention with this release, what is it about ‘Venerable’ that has caught people’s attention? Do you think that the noise-rock scene is becoming more accepted these days?
I think it’s a result of the company we’ve kept in the making of this album. Profound Lore is definitely on a lot of people’s radar these days, and critically speaking, are really THE label to watch; and Kurt Ballou is undoubtedly one of the finest producers in aggressive music today, so I think by proxy our name is being taken more seriously for this album. I suppose the fact that we’ve been getting out on the road a lot more over the past two years also helps our cause.
I do think noise rock is becoming a little more accepted these days, though lately I’ve questioned if this is a good or bad thing. Even when noise rock was at its height, there were a few REALLY great bands, and a whole lot of mediocre, one-dimensional bands flooding the scene. I guess this isn’t really terribly surprising, as it happens in every genre, but I guess I just really haven’t seen a lot of creativity in this new wave yet. I like to think we’re trying something different with noise rock and that’s why we’ve never truly fit in. I will always quote a review that Monochrom did of our first record when I get asked about KEN mode and its relation to the noise rock scene as a whole: “Maybe too much noise-rock for the metal crowd and maybe too much metal for the noise-rock fans and definitely too much of everything for the pissy-pants hardcore-kids, but hey, what a great record.” Indeed.
Personally, what is your favorite song on the new record?
From a listening perspective, I honestly can say that I don’t have a favorite – I’m proud of the unit as a whole. From a playing perspective, I think I enjoy ‘Never Was’ the most. Shane wants me to add ‘Book of Muscle’ for him, as he loves the TAD feel he brought out in the drums and loves playing the song because of it.
How did you team up with Therese Lanz? How will she be splitting her time between KEN mode and Mares of Thrace?
Thérèse has been a close friend of the band for several years and when it came up that we would be in need of a bassist who can tour more than our resident bassist, Chad Tremblay, could offer, she tried her hand at it. Now Shane and I are breaking down her self esteem and building her back up as a bass playing monster.
We’re taking things one tour at a time with Thérèse. She’s on board for these first two months we’re doing, but how KEN mode and Mares of Thrace are juggled from there is yet to be seen. I know MoT are planning to hit the road in the summer, but nothing is fleshed out just yet…if there’s a conflict, we have a few long time collaborators that may be able to help – ala Chad and Jahmeel Russell, who toured on our ‘Reprisal’ record and recorded ‘Mennonite’ with us.
What is your biggest goal for KEN mode during the upcoming cycle surrounding ‘Venerable’?
To be honest, we just want to be on tour enough that we can hopefully pay our rent. We want to see how far we can push this, if total world domination is the result, we won’t turn it down.
KEN mode seems to have a wide variety of influences ranging from noise rock to hardcore to post rock to prog, etc. I’m curious what you are currently listening to these days. Are there any bands that you recommend fans to check out?
I tend to utilize the shuffle function on my iPod a lot while I work my office job…reminds me how rad my taste in music is EVERY day!
I’ve actually been keeping it kind of oldschool in my van lately: Melvins mix cd, Unsane mix cd, Today is the Day.
Over the past six months I’ve been listening to a few local bands quite a bit, from past and present: Kittens (who’ve always been a huge inspiration), Under Pressure (who I feel is the most underappreciated hardcore band of the last decade), and Electro Quarterstaff (who have a new record “Aykroyd” coming out sometime this year). Besides that, it’s been some classic favourite bands like the Jesus Lizard and a lot of the darker hardcore and black metal that’s been “cool” the past few years like Celeste, Deathspell Omega, The Secret, Early Graves, Cursed, etc.
KEN MODE have become one of my favorite bands these days. Their brand of unrelenting noise rock inspired by traditional hardcore has hit a nerve with me and is one of the coolest blends of metal I’ve heard recently. That being said, the guys (and girl) have premiered a new song over at Revolver called “A Wicked Pike” which is much more on the noisy side of things and I fucking love it!
Check it out here and check the guys out on tour on the dates below!
KEN Mode on tour: Mar 11 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Latitude 44 w/Sleeping In Gethsemane
Mar 12 – Denver, CO @ Blast-O-Mat w/SMD Mar 14 – Dallas, TX @ TBA Mar 15 – San Antonio, TX @ the 1011 w/Lo Pan
Mar 16-18 – Austin (SXSW)
Mar 19 – Austin – Profound Lore SXSW Showcase w/Slough Feg, Castevet, Grayceon, Wolvhammer & Bruce Lamont
Mar 20 – Kansas City, MO @ Scion Lab
Mar 21 – Champaign IL @ Dan Aykroyd’s House
Mar 22 – Windsor, ON @ Coah & Horses
Mar 23 – Hamilton, ON @ Casbah w/Vilipend
Mar 24 – Toronto, ON @ the Garrison w/Vilipend
Mar 25 – Ottawa, ON @ Cafe Dekcuf w/Alaskan
Mar 26 – Quebec City, QC @ Le Scanner w/Mountains Unfold
Mar 27 – Montreal, QC @ Katacombes
Mar 28 – Sherbrooke, QC @ Bar Le Magog
Mar 29 – Burlington, VT @ 242 Main w/Engineer
Mar 30 – Boston, MA @ O’Brians Pub w/Engineer
Mar 31 – Syracuse, NY @ TBA w/Engineer
Apr 1 – Long Island, NY @ Ethical Humanist Society
Apr 2 – NYC, NY @ Webster Hall w/Black Breath
Apr 3 – Brick, NJ @ Bricktown Moose Lodge w/Black Breath
Apr 4 – Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter w/Black Breath Apr 5 – Greensboro, NC @ TBA w/Khann
Apr 6 – Savannah, GA @TBA w/Khann
Apr 7 – Gainesville, FL @ TBA w/Khann Apr 8 – Tampa, FL @ Transitions Art Gallery w/Khann
Apr 9 – Orlando, FL @ Will’s Pub w/Khann
Apr 10 – Tallahassee, FL @ The Farside w/Khann Apr 11 – Hattiesburg, MS @ TBA w/Ganon Apr 12 – Birmingham, AL @ The Firehouse w/Ganon Apr 13 – Atlanta, GA @ TBA w/Ganon Apr 14 – Chattanooga, TN @ JJ’s Bohemia w/Ganon Apr 15 – Akron, OH @ TBA w/Ganon Apr 16 – Rochester, NY @ Monty’s Krown w/Sulaco Apr 17 – Columbus, OH @ TBA
Apr 18 – Detroit, MI @ TBA w/Ganon
w/Fuck the Facts
Apr 19 – Buffalo, NY @ The Funeral Home
Apr 21 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Melody Inn
Apr 22 – Chicago, IL @ the Mutiny
Apr 23 -Minneapolis, MN @ TBA (venue change)
Apr 24 – Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium
Apr 26 – Boise, ID @ The Shredder
Apr 27 – Portland, OR @ Rotture
Apr 28 – Seattle, WA @ The Comet
Apr 29 – Victoria, BC @ Logan’s Pub
Apr 30 – Vancouver, BC @ Funky Winkerbean’s
May 1 – Kamloops, BC @ Pogue Mahone
May 2 – Edmonton, AB @ Filthy McNasty’s
May 3 – Calgary, AB @ the New Black (all-ages) and Dickens Pub (18+)
May 4 – Saskatoon, SK @ Amigos
May 5 – Prince Albert, SK @ PA Arts Center
May 6 – Regina, SK @ O’Hanlon’s Pub
May 7 – Winnipeg, MB @ the Royal Albert (hometown record release) w/Withdrawal
We’ve been saying for a while that everyone needs to get stoked about KEN MODE. This new record that they have inked with Profound Lore for even made it into my #2 Most Anticipated of 2011 spot and the time is almost upon us. That’s right, March 15th sees ‘Venerable’ hit stores in all of its glory and I couldn’t be more excited. Now, KEN Mode is giving fans another taste of ‘Venerable’ with the song “Book of Muscle” which they just premiered over at Brooklyn Vegan last night.
This song is much more noisy-hardcore whereas the other songs we’ve heard so far have been AmRep inspired noise rock with metal elements. This song makes me want to hit the gym, man. Turn this on and bang out a couple reps of 500lbs power lifts!
Not only that, but KEN MODE has revealed some awesome touring plans. The guys will be down at SXSW and touring hardcore throughout the month of March! Including a stop here in NYC with an equally awesome band known as BLACK BREATH! This is seriously going to be one of the heaviest shows to hit NYC in a while and I couldn’t be more stoked about it!
Check out the song above and get ready for a nasty year of music and touring thanks to KEN MODE!
KEN MODE – 2011 TOUR DATES
Fri Mar 11 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Latitude 44 w/Sleeping In Gethsemane
Weds Mar 16 – 19 – Austin, TX SXSW
Sun Mar 20 – Kansas City, MO @ Scion Lab
Mon Mar 21 – Champaign IL @ Dan Aykroyd’s House
Tues Mar 22 – Windsor, ON @ Coah & Horses
Wed Mar 23 – Hamilton, ON @ Casbah w/Vilipend
Thurs Mar 24 – Toronto, ON @ the Garrison w/Vilipend
Fri Mar 25 – Ottawa, ON @ Cafe Dekcuf w/Alaskan
Sat Mar 26 – Quebec City, QC @ Le Scanner
Sun Mar 27 – Montreal, QC @ Katacombes
Mon Mar 28 – Sherbrooke, QC @ Bar Le Magog
Tues Mar 29 – Burlington, VT @ 242 Main
Wed Mar 30 – Boston, MA @ O’Brians Pub
Fri Apr 1 – Long Island, NY @ Ethical Humanist Society
Sat Apr 2 – NYC, NY @ Webster Hall w/Black Breath
The mighty Canadian wrecking crew known as KEN MODE is a bit closer to unveiling my #2 most anticipated album of the year, ‘Venerable’ (due out March 15 via Profound Lore). Now, the band has premiered an awesome new track called “Batholith” over at Noisecreep and I couldn’t be more excited. The song is the perfect summation of KEN MODE – noise rock yet with an aggressive hardcore delivery. This is a song that should easily win over fans of CONVERGE and I highly recommend you go check it out right now!
KEN MODE is apparently gearing up for a heavy amount of touring as well. I’ve already seen that they will be launching an attack on SXSW and have a trek planned with fellow Canadian bruisers FUCK THE FACTS so I’m interested to see what comes next.
Either way, KEN MODE is a beastly band and I hope you dig them as much as I do!
Last week I featured KEN MODE on our site when they premiered a new track over at Invisible Oranges and we got an overwhelming response of readers emailing saying how much they loved the new song. In case you missed that post, I urge you to check out this awesome band! An underground phenomenon for a long time, now the band has inked with Profound Lore and will be releasing ‘Venerable’ in March.
This is certainly a release that I’m extremely excited about and will probably wind up on my ‘most anticipated’ list! For now, check out this sick video for the song “Extending Common Courtesy Throughout the Evening” which was shot in 2008 from the album ‘Mennonite’.
KEN MODE is a fucking gnarly noise rock band hailing from Canada. If you like old AmRep sounding craziness, then you’ll have a lot of fun with this band. They’ve been around the block for a bit but have now inked a deal with Profound Lore Records for the release of their forthcoming ‘Venerable’, which will be released on March 15.
Now, our pal Cosmo Lee has unveiled an exclusive new track from that album on his Invisible Oranges blog. “Obeying the Iron Will” is the track and boy is it fiery! Now, check out the awesomeness that is “the people behind ‘Venerable’”:
1 – Produced by Kurt Ballou (CONVERGE) who also plays on one song.
2 – KEN MODE logo created by Aaron Turner (ISIS)
3 – Artwork done by Julie Ann Mann (back cover pictured above)
Now with icons of the underground like Kurt Fuckin’ Ballou and Aaron Fuckin’ Turner backing up what KEN MODE is doing, I urge you to get over to Invisible Oranges and check out this song!
Then, if you’re so inclined, you can listen, download, etc the last two KEN MODE albums here!
