In The Groove

(TMC)
by Craig Regala

Well, well, well… TMC is about set to take fuckin’ over, huh? Putting out a couple CDs a month of primo-Iommi stomp/doom-zoom, filtered through the vibrations of those who carried the iron from the fire to brand rock’s ass with big chords, powerslug tempos, lurching rhythms, a fierce, post-death/black metal vicera and a total commitment to the gravel groove… it’s a pretty goddamn good modus operandi. This is the new six-lane highway to hecubus, folks. All those St. Vitus, Trouble, Kyuss, Cathedral, Count Raven, Crowbar, Eyehategod, and Obsessed records laid eggs that have been seeded by pure rock powerhogs who fight it out with with open ears. This ain’t no backsliding. Clutch and Core, early Monster Magnet, the Melvins, and plenty of heavy punk demolition units can claim proud papaship as much as those stellar SF Bay bands of yore – classic kick-ass bands and the greasey Suvvern spirit that C.O.C. and Down (this is the label that was born for them to record on) purvey.

This comp swings a huge horse dick of walloping smut that pulls from bands you may not recognize yet, but will if you have any interest in organic meta-spew. You wouldn’t be this far into this rant if you didn’t, right? The 63 minutes leans on the groove heavy gunk, per the title, that taps the part of heaviness (the truly musical part) that is rooted in Ozzy-era Sabbath and early Deep Purple/Budgie/Jeff Beck Group – cranked up, slammed out post-blues rock, post-boogie Fonkiness! That’s right, brothers and sisters, if a decent MC could cut/sample this stuff, they aren’t in the game. This isn’t a retro-trip either, it’s absorbed the salient nutrients listed in paragraph one and is removing missteps and lumbering gracefully into the third millenium. Personally, I’m really jazzed that Cleveland’s Red Giant is on this, the track from the CLE comp is cool and this wraps their space metal tightly in the über groove. Nice to see the fertile Cleveland area getting some recognition – howzabout Disengage on Vol. II, guys? The Names? Roachpowder, Nebula, Karma To Burn, Leadfoot (ex-COC), Roadsaw, sHeavy, Red Giant, Acid King (nice, slow, discomfortable screw of the BTO chestnut, “Not Fragile”), 60 Watt Shaman, Dripping Goss, Raging Slab, Bakerton Group (secret supergroup as yet unnamed for legal reasons?), Terra Firma, and Altamont (which contains a Melvin, D. Crover), leaning into a cool old Peter Green blues rocker. You know, the guy who wrote “Oh Well” and “The Green Manaleshi.”
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