Chris Hakius of Sleep played drums the way elephants march through a swamp. It's slow, it's sludgy and it's fucking heavy as hell. This whole album is just one huge piece of Stoner metal magic. One of the things that defines his drumming on Volume One is the way he seems to play off the guitar more than the bass. Little guitar licks will be accented with ride bells or tom shots, and while he never seems to play something steady and rhythmic, there is this underlying feeling that he's just trudging through the muck with the rest of them.
It's heavy handed, drum pummeling goodness, and It's something I wish I could have seen live, even once. Drummers like this occupy a completely different realm than the usual rock or jazz guys, they play to parts rather than rhythms, and in Stoner metal when it works, it works great. Sleep put out great albums long after they broke up (Dopesmoker is something of a relic) but Volume One is where they really came into their sound, while making a lasting impact on the genre.
After Sleep disbanded Hakius took to the skins for Om until 2008. Sadly, he hasn't really been playing much since. When Sleep reunited for 2009's All Tomorrows Parties Hakius was there, but for 2010 Jason Roeder of Neurosis has taken his position. I can only hope he'll pop up in some band soon, guys like him don't come along too often.
My new instrumental band will be playing a few select dates to introduce ourselves to the public and to launch Acadian Embassy, a label my roommate, Halifax is Burning host Trevor Murphy and I have started from our house. They are as follows :
I would definitely call Bon Jovi a guilty pleasure of mine.
If I felt the least bit guilty.
You see, the 11 year old me wasn't really into Tortoise or Converge, he was into Bon Jovi, a lot. I even had limited edition 10 inch japanese singles, UK imports, everything. If it had to do with the Bonj, I had to have it. The funny thing is, when I look back, everything I did was a reaction to most things that my older/cooler best friend Andre was doing. He was into metal and played the drums, I wanted to be into metal and play the drums. Only difference was that he was always a step ahead of me. I was into Bon Jovi and he was into Metallica and Pantera. When I got around to them, he was into Sepultura and Slayer. Once I caught up, he was listening to Malevolent Creation and Cannibal Corpse and Death, and so forth.
When I eventually copied him and got a drum kit, We would go to each others house and just play drums all day. We had a ghetto blaster that could go loud enough, so we'd put on CD's and just take turns playing along. His band of choice was Metallica. Mine was, you guessed it, Bon Jovi.
The thing is, I'm not so convinced that its a bad thing that I grew up mimicking Tico Torres. He's pulled off some bad ass shit in his career. On Keep The Faith there is a 9 minute song called Dry County, and Tico just kills it the whole time. And don't get me started on Lay Your Hands On Me, that song is brilliant, the perfect rock song, Queen could have written it.
Now, my obsession with Bon Jovi didn't carry over into the post-Crush country music period (but I will say that not a lot of bands could have made such a successful transition from Metal to Country). The last album I bought was One Wild Night Live, and even that was more for my obsession with keeping catalogues complete, instead of a desire to actually hear it.
I was also older and my tastes sort of shot in a different direction, but i'll never turn my back on my roots. Bon Jovis music and Tico Torres' drumming are as much a part of me as some of the first friends I've had or the first books I've read. C'mon, all seriousness aside, Who wouldn't be inspired by this guy.
He looks like if John Malkovich and Fabio had a lovechild that could rock out on the drums while providing crisp, smooth back up vocals. He was definitely the total package. I mean look at those chimes.
Slippery When Wet might not be my favorite Bonj record, but it has all the hits, and that's where Tico is at his best. The guy knew how to play heavy handed, thick patterns that weren't too busy, because there needed to be room for all the other guys. Bon Jovi songs are so well structured it blows my mind. Tico had a way of playing a pattern through the verses, then shifting it just slightly for the chorus, but making it fee like something new altogether. He does it on Without Love, and it keeps that song from getting repetitive. On I'd Die For You He keeps things straight, then breaks into a Springsteen-esque snare beat, with the kick drum catching every bass note. Towards the end he starts doing some really interesting ride bell stuff, never holding up on his hard playing. I think what I like most about it is that a lot of eighties rock guys started to lighten up on their playing. Better microphones meant they didn't have to hit as hard to be heard. Not Tico though, he always beat the fuck out of his drums, and I like that.
My favorite song on this record is definitely Raise Your Hands. It's one of those eighties anthems that will just always be great. They also used it in Spaceballs, which is pretty epic.
I knew it was going to happen eventually, I was bound to write about Bon Jovi sometime soon. I guess going home this last weekend and playing a show to all the people that used to come to shows when I was a kid got me all nostalgic. Like old influences an friends, you should never forget where you came from, and what part it's played in your life.
There, now it's totally fine for you to admit you love Bon Jovi too.
I've been fairly busy debuting a new band and retiring an old one, so I haven't had much time to post stuff. If anyone is interested, HERE is a review and videos of two sets I played on Thursday, one with my new band and one with my old.
And here are some videos of The last Establishment show from The Red Knight in Yarmouth, courtesy of Lynn Hemeon of Yarmouthbands.com
Tonight at The Paragon, the first band I started when I moved to Halifax, The Establishment, will be releasing our second full length album. The CD's are of limited supply, so if you want one, get it fast. It sounds great and the CD's look pretty snazzy.
See?
Also, after a show tomorrow night in Yarmouth, we will be going on long hiatus. I've never properly retired a band before, and I'm pretty sad/excited about it.
You can read a review on Noiseography, and download a track from the album HERE.
You can read an interview with me in The Coast, talking about the band and the album, HERE.
You can check out the Facebook group for the show HERE, and talk about the show HERE.
I will also be debuting a new Instrumental band I play in, called Kuato. We will be on first.
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