Hands of doom, etc.

Shameless plug time, and why not? My band STATS, formerly Stay Fucked, returns to the stage this coming Friday, 5/31, playing The Charleston in the company of our esteemed colleagues Yukon, Maw and Liturgy. This marks the end of a partially untintentional four-month hiatus resulting from major wrist/hand wear 'n' tear sustained by our bassist, A.V. Gedrich, on a recent tour with the mighty Extra Life. If we're to trust the man himself, he's homing in on full strength, and in tribute I offer you this video of him in action with Archaeopteryx, performing his suitelike original composition "You Want Prefilled Healthcare Product on This Internet." Unbiased I'll never not be, but neither are you likely to find a more sustained instance of freedom in discipline or a more striking example of un-B.S. heavy-metal futurism:



*****

And check out the Times's Ben Ratliff reviewing Thrones/Ocrilim--Liturgy also played, for the record, and would've only given more credence to his argument on behalf of the one-man avant-metal powerhouse--the show I would've been at, had I not been at this insane powwow, which I'll be reviewing for The Wire. Enjoyed all sets, but Rammellzee (at left) in particular peeled back my scalp and visited my skull--I recognized this dude's name from Stranger than Paradise and knew a tad about him, but was largely unprepared for the Gothic Futurist onslaught. Kudos to Ratliff for making the DBA scene; have never been much of a Thrones fan, but he makes a good case for Preston, and I love that he's been so attentive to Mick Barr in recent years.