Today Is The Day, Lair Of The Minotaur preview
Lair Of The Minotaur, Today Is The Day
The Note, Chicago
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Chicago heavyweights Lair Of The Minotaur walk tall and swing a big, big, big — very fucking big — sword. Probably a good-sized axe too.
The group’s newest offering, War Metal Battle Master, is not for the faint of heart. No sir, it’s an unapologetically gory, violent collection of even more unapologetically savage, heavy sludgy thrash (if such thing can really exist) metal. PR-provided bios generally need to be taken with a grain of salt, but the band’s (Steve Rathbone, Donald James Barraca of 7000 Dying Snakes and Chris Wozniak; Pelican skinsman Larry Herweg was the original drummer) label, Southern Lord, really nailed – gashed? – it on the head by calling War Metal Battle Master “a concept album about solving conflicts with a big fucking axe.” Minotaur serve all their favorite topics (they only write songs about bloody Greek mythology) on the album: ripped flesh (“Doomtrooper”), decapitation (title track), amputation (“Slaughter The Bestial Legion”), and blood-swilling necro armies (“Horde Of Undead Vengeance”). Most importantly, though, Minotaur also serve up enough killer riffage to sustain all the carnage, which wasn’t true on 2006’s Ultimate Destroyer.
Headliners Today Is The Day have probably had more members than most bands have songs and albums – combined. If Wikipedia is right (and when isn’t it?) there have been something like 15 players since they released their debut EP, How To Win Friends And Influence People, in 1992. Undoubtedly, the two most famous TITD castoffs are Bill Kelliher and Brann Dailor, now one-half of Atlanta powerhouse Mastodon. The duo played with Steve Austin — TITD’s founder and one constant creative force — for one year (1999) and one album (In The Eyes Of God) where they earned writing credits on, you guessed it, one song (the hidden track at the end of the album). Austin has pretty much replaced/lost at least one member with each record (big ups to bassist Chris Debari who has hung in there since 2000!), the most recent being drummer Derek Roddy, who left due to financial conflicts with Austin. Roddy is replaced on this tour (supporting the April 15th reissues of early TITD albums Supernova and Today Is The Day) by one of Austin’s old drummers, Mike Rosswog, whose own band, Complete Failure, are also on the bill.
Mouth Of The Architect also play.
– Trevor Fisher
Click here to download Lair Of The Minotaur’s “Horde Of Undead Vengeance.”
Click here to download Today Is The Day’s “Mothers Ruin.”
Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly
