Weakling
|
|
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Extreme metal |
| founding | around 1998 |
| resolution | 1999 |
| Last occupation | |
| John Gossard | |
Electric guitar |
Josh Smith |
| Sarah Weiner | |
| Sam "Little Sunshine" Foster | |
| Casey Ward | |
Weakling (en .: 'weakling') was a short-lived American extreme metal band from San Francisco . It is considered to be an important and influential band of the subgenre in North America.
biography
The origins of Weakling, named after the Swans title of the same name , go back to John Gossard and the time in the mid-1990s. He previously played in small local metal bands that were "not very serious", so he wanted to make music that should be "emotionally more real".
From 1995, Gossard still had a drug problem at that time, he played with, among others, Jim Mack and Antoine Reuben from The Lord Weird Slough Feg in the group Black Goat (which did not exist under this name at the time), which was more like 80s Black / Thrash Metal was oriented. Most of the pieces written at this time and in this band constellation became Black Goat songs, which were also used for a self-titled album, released in 1997. However, one song ( This Entire Fucking Battlefield ) became a later Weakling title. 1996 is considered to be the actual birth of Weakling.
A short time later, while he was at the San Francisco State University studied, he moved with two roommates, one of them Josh Smith, both in the originating also from San Francisco " Indie - Metal ", played band The Fucking Champs together. There they happened to jam together , and right on the first occurrence, the ending to Disasters in the Sun was written. As a result, Gossard was “more inspired than it has been for years” and so a “real” band should be founded. While touring the Champs, Gossard became aware of drummer Sam "Little Sunshine" Foster from local band Sangre Amado and wanted him in the band, so he gave him some tapes of recordings he and Josh Smith had been working on; Foster agreed after about a month and a half. Josh Smith made contact with bassist Sara Weiner at the same time, although Gossard was initially skeptical because he didn't think that "a woman could play Black Metal". After an initial rehearsal, Gossard was retuned and they collaborated on new material, with Gossard writing much of the music. Keyboardist Casey Ward from garage rock band The Lies also joined the band by the end of 1998 , and in December the five-track album Dead as Dreams was recorded at the Louder Studios in San Francisco . The demo tapes "Rehearsal" and "Live Practice" had previously been released, on which earlier versions of the songs to be heard later on the album could be found.
The enthusiasm that all band members had for the project at that time was soon followed by disillusionment in 1999, which finally broke up the band. Mainly Josh Smith's interest in black metal waned, in addition, his other band The Fucking Champs with a new record deal and tours became more and more popular. John Gossard, who called him “definitely the best guitarist I've ever played with,” later said of him: “He discovers something new that interests him, then becomes obsessed and learns as much as possible about it for a short time Time and then just go on ”. Shortly before that, Sam Foster got out because, on the one hand, due to other band commitments and, on the other, due to his job as a bicycle messenger, he could no longer physically play for Weakling. Another reason for the band split up was the lack of interest from potential labels in the recordings: “When we recorded the album, we put in as much as we could. We were pretty proud. And nothing happened to it. "
Almost two years after the recordings and a year after the band split up, the album was finally released on the American independent label tUMULt, at which point Gossard was already far from the album and saw the release as rather unemotional. At least initially, the album was advertised as a “cult” in the typical black metal style and there were rumors that only a handful of copies were made that were buried worldwide and that only one map existed for the locations. However, this artificial atmosphere was created by the label owner and did not come from the band, so these ideas actually only circulated as a joke within the band. In retrospect, Gossard was rather embarrassed, also because it strengthened the idea that Weakling was just a fun side project of The Fucking Champs, as the content of both bands was clearly different.
During their rather short existence as a full band, Weakling played only a few concerts, including two appearances as opening act for Mayhem and Enslaved in San Francisco.
John Gossard now plays in the funeral doom / death metal band Asunder, Josh Smith left The Fucking Champs in 2006 and now plays in the garage band The Makes Nice, Sarah Weiner currently still plays in the neoclassical group Amber Asylum, Casey Ward in the garage punk band The Husbands and Sam Foster in the death metal band Saros.
There are parallels to the band The Gault, founded in 1998, in which John Gossard and Sarah Weiner (as drummers) played. The band pursued a similar concept with regard to Doom Metal , so only one album was recorded here, which was released much later (2005) after the band split up.
music
Weakling's music is based on “classic” Norwegian Black Metal, comparable to bands like Emperor , Immortal , Burzum , Fleurety or Ved Buens Ende , but it is clearly progressive, partly avant-garde . So the music also shows Death Metal and Swans influences. The atmosphere is more psychedelic , less "cold", the attribute that is often given to Norwegian Black Metal. Post rock is sometimes used as a comparison, Weakling sounds like “ Godspeed You Black Emperor under satanic influence”. The individual songs are multi-layered and consist of at least two parts, the overall sound is described as epic, hypnotic, dense and emotional. Blastbeats are mainly used in the first part of Cut Their Grain and Place Fire Therein . The title track also features a feedback / drone part lasting several minutes. The singing rarely consists of an aggressive screech typical of the genre, but is clearly based on Varg Vikernes ( Burzum ) and is like a hysterical, desperate scream.
The lyrics to Dead as Dreams have not yet been published, for John Gossard they are secondary to the vocals that actually generate the emotions.
meaning
The American “gray metal” / crustcore band Ludicra traces its founding back to the inspiration of Weakling. The band is also cited as an influence for the American black metal band Wolves in the Throne Room , which has received a significant surge in popularity since 2006 , but which does not see itself as a Weakling similar or standing in its tradition. Other underground metal bands like Hammers of Misfortune or Withered call Weakling "unique" and "amazing" as well as "one of the best Black Metal acts America hatched" or "the best American Black Metal band ever" . J. Bennett from the American Decibel Magazine and Götz Kühnemund from Rock Hard describe the band as “legendary” and “US black metal legend”, respectively, to which Kühnemund appeals to himself with the “inhuman screams about furious, scary screams - beautiful melodies were enthroned ”, reminded of earlier Primordial albums, which on To the Nameless Dead, however, are“ hardly to be found ”. Fenriz from the Norwegian band Darkthrone is equally positive about Weakling's music:
“Well, Weaklings are a pretty unfamiliar masterpiece. The album at least makes me depressed, so I guess your take on Black Metal is a successful one. "
Discography
- 1998: Rehearsal (demo)
- 1998: Live Practice (Demo)
- 2000: Dead as Dreams CD / LP / MC
Web links
- Website about Weakling and Dead as Dreams of the label tUMULt
- Weakling at Allmusic (English)
- Weakling at Discogs (English)
References and comments
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Roberto Martinelli: Weakling . ( Memento of March 13, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) In: Maelstrom , No. 25.
- ↑ Aquarius Records: Search Results for Artist: Weakling ( Memento from December 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive ).
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j tUMULt {weakling - thoughts} ( Memento of the original from September 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ a b c Weakling . Dead As Dreams (2000) .
- ↑ a b c d Roberto Martinelli: Weakling - Dead as Dreams - CD - tUMULt Records - 2000 ( Memento from October 20, 2007 in the Internet Archive ). In: Maelstrom , No. 1.
- ↑ a b Robin Kasen: Weakling - Dead as Dreams .
- ↑ a b Graham: Weakling - Dead As Dreams ( Memento of the original from January 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ Cosmo Lee: Ludicra .
- ^ Jason Jordan, Wolves in the Throne Room - Black Metal on Their Own Terms - Ultimate Metal Forum .
- ↑ Fierce: HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE: Armchair Misanthropes .
- ↑ Oliver Schreyer: Interview with Withered (German / English) ( Memento from October 11, 2006 in the Internet Archive ).
- ^ Asunder ( Memento from August 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ).
- ↑ Götz Kühnemund : Free spirits! ( Memento of the original from June 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Rock Hard , No. 246.
