{"id":47786,"date":"2016-05-06T11:00:33","date_gmt":"2016-05-06T16:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.toiletovhell.com\/?p=47786"},"modified":"2016-05-06T10:39:55","modified_gmt":"2016-05-06T15:39:55","slug":"minor-fret-an-exercise-in-straight-sludge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/minor-fret-an-exercise-in-straight-sludge\/","title":{"rendered":"Minor Fret: An Exercise in Straight Sludge"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p>Today I want to discuss two artists on seemingly opposite ends of the musical spectrum and the one band that has tied them together. I believe it was my junior year of high school when I purchased <strong>Sleep<\/strong>&#8216;s <em>Holy Mountain<\/em> and not long after, <strong>Minor Threat<\/strong>&#8216;s <em>Complete Discography<\/em>. Both works widely celebrated as seminal pieces in two distinctly different subcultures, but in my mind there was only one subculture: good music.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Doom metal has always been present in my life. I have been listening to <strong>Black Sabbath<\/strong> for as long as I can remember. Hell, I have home videos of two year old Boss the Ross headbanging to <i>Paranoid. <\/i>I did\u00a0not realize Doom was its own distinct sub-genre, however, until listening to <em>Holy Mountain.<\/em>\u00a0The slowness and heaviness overwhelmed me; I felt like <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Giles_Corey\" target=\"_blank\">Giles Corey<\/a> at his time of death. &#8220;More weight!&#8221; I declared. And more weight I received. From this album I delved deeper and deeper into Doom and by proxy Sludge. <strong>Electric Wizard, Kyuss, Boris, Melvins, Saint Vitus, Crowbar<\/strong> and multiple other bands united under my banner of DOOM. <i>Holy Mountain <\/i>has been and will\u00a0always remain one of my go-to albums. The atmosphere entranced me. The depth intrigued me. The almighty RIFF absorbed me. I was one with the nothingness; I oozed into the walls of my bedroom and melted into oblivion. I drifted into deep space and rode the dragon towards the crimson\u00a0light. Despite the fact that\u00a0Sleep&#8217;s weedian lyrics are some of my favorite and I believe\u00a0<em>Dopesmoker\u00a0<\/em>is an epic of our times, as someone that did not partake in their sacred herb it was hard to connect with the lyrics past simple enjoyment.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  style=\"display: block; margin: 0px auto;\"  id=\"_ytid_44213\"  width=\"320\" height=\"240\"  data-origwidth=\"320\" data-origheight=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yLBF-b54sfA?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=1&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>At the same time, however, Punk and Hardcore were becoming more and more appealing to me (my music choices suffer from dissociative identity disorder at times, so just bare with me).<\/p>\n<p>Up until the Summer before my junior year\u00a0I was the &#8220;metal or death!&#8221; kid. If it wasn&#8217;t metal, few\u00a0bands notwithstanding, I didn&#8217;t want anything to do with it. Punk? It sucked for all I cared. Please excuse my naivet\u00e9, for I was young and dumb. One day I realized how truly ridiculous I was being and decided to take a leap of faith. That leap was <strong>Ramones<\/strong>&#8216; self titled album. My world was turned upside down. It was fast, aggressive and had nonsensical lyrics. I was sold. Fast forward to a month or so after I got <i>Holy Mountain,<\/i> and in my hands you find Minor Threat&#8217;s <i>Complete Discography. <\/i>I already listened to<strong> Black Flag<\/strong> and <strong>Bad Brains<\/strong> and adored them both, so it was the next logical step in my hardcore journey. From the opening chord and bass rumble on &#8220;Filler&#8221; I was floored for the next 45 minutes. Ian MacKaye&#8217;s primal shouts of lifestyle choices and being sick of people connected with me on a deep level.\u00a0It was\u00a0then that\u00a0I realized I was Straight Edge, but up until that time, didn&#8217;t know what to call myself (yes, the guy listening to Electric Wizard and Sleep was straight edge). However, while I was connecting with Minor Threat&#8217;s lyrics, I still enjoyed the churning heaviness of Sleep and Doom more so than the unbridled assault that was Hardcore.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  style=\"display: block; margin: 0px auto;\"  id=\"_ytid_17625\"  width=\"320\" height=\"240\"  data-origwidth=\"320\" data-origheight=\"240\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aCpwHYRAUyw?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=1&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>An Aside: I would like to take a moment here to clarify some things. Yes, I was Straight Edge. No, I was not one of the beer pouring, joint flicking, vegan STRAIGHTFUCKINGEDGE types. I was more of the, &#8220;This is my lifestyle choice, you can have yours, we can still be friends&#8221; type, the way it should be. Right now you are probably saying to yourself, &#8220;This dude talks about beer all the time. What gives?&#8221; That is because beer is delicious, and because of that I am no longer considered Straight Edge. That doesn&#8217;t stop me from enjoying some killer music though. Anyways, back to the article at hand and the point of all these words.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Years went by, and I always listened to each of the aforementioned genres\/albums in different frames of mind. <i>Dopesmoker <\/i>doesn&#8217;t quite mesh with <i>Out of Step<\/i>, ideologically or musically. Then one day when I was scouring our beloved Bandcamp I came across an EP entitled<i>\u00a0Four <\/i>by a group called <strong>Minor Fret<\/strong>. The name is what grabbed my attention, but then I saw the artwork, then the tracklist. &#8220;Cool,\u00a0 a Minor Threat cover band.&#8221; I stabbed play, and a thick, crushing, wall of sound hit me square in the face. What had I discovered? It wasn&#8217;t natural and most certainly not your normal cover band. This was the sound of Minor Threat raised in the swamps of Louisiana, filtered through a Melvins and Electric Wizard brand of Sludge. I could not control my excitement. The next ten minutes enthralled me with such wonder that I can hardly explain it. One of my most adored hardcore bands was being torn apart, slowed down and revamped with a new sound that I absolutely loved.<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"400\" height=\"100\" src=\"http:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/v=2\/album=2361814717\/size=venti\/bgcol=0a0a0a\/linkcol=ffffff\/\" style=\"position:relative;display:block;width:400px;height:100px;\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Musically this EP, in my opinion, is perfection. Rob Lovell, guitar\/bass\/drums, blurs the line between Hardcore and Sludge effortlessly. His attack on his instruments has the ferocity of Hardcore; he is slamming the drums with heavy hands and pounding out guitar and bass lines with hammer-like downstrokes. At the same time he is utilizing intricate nuances and variations that are found in Doom and Sludge. Listen to the main riff of &#8220;Straight Edge;&#8221; he replaces Lyle Preslar&#8217;s frantic chord attack with <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Matt_Pike\" target=\"_blank\">Matt Pike<\/a>&#8216;s slow string bending chords that really let the music sink into your skin. On top of the slow, pulsing music Aaron Edge delivers a praise-worthy vocal performance. He shouts Ian MacKaye&#8217;s lyrics with the animosity of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mike_Williams_(singer)\" target=\"_blank\">Mike Williams<\/a>, and his conviction helps in driving the point home. This EP really is a stepping stone (get it?) for both Straight Edge and Sludge. Straight Edge usually has a &#8220;fast and loud, in your face&#8221; approach while Sludge&#8217;s lyrical content is normally fueled by self anguish. The dichotomy has been broken, and now the two sides stand as one in this 10 minute excursion.<\/p>\n<p>This is one of my favorite releases, period. It truly crosses boundaries that I never thought possible and ties together two of my favorite genres. The positive mental attitude that is Minor Threat meets the eternal RIFF that is Sleep, a match made perfectly for me.<\/p>\n<p><em>Four<\/em> could very well be a on- time occurrence, but personally I would not mind a continuation of Minor Fret. In the ten minute run time of Minor Threat&#8217;s<i> EP<\/i>,\u00a0 they only covered four of the eight songs, almost a tease. My hopes are for a full cover of the EP and possibly an <i>Out of Step<\/i> cover album. Perhaps even a thirty minute hardcore-infused <i>Dopesmoker <\/i>can be in the works later down the road. But that could be asking for too much.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/0004294984_10.jpg?ssl=1\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-47800\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-47800\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/0004294984_10-300x300.jpg?resize=300%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"0004294984_10\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/0004294984_10.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/0004294984_10.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/0004294984_10.jpg?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/0004294984_10.jpg?w=1000&amp;ssl=1 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Purchase the album digitally on <a href=\"https:\/\/minorfret.bandcamp.com\/\">Bandcamp<\/a> or physically from <a href=\"http:\/\/holymountainprinting.bigcartel.com\/category\/minor-fret\">Holy Mountain Printing<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Photos <a href=\"https:\/\/minorfret.bandcamp.com\/\">via<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today I want to discuss two artists on seemingly opposite ends of the musical spectrum and the one band that has tied them together. I believe it was my junior year of high school when I purchased Sleep&#8216;s Holy Mountain and not long after, Minor Threat&#8216;s Complete Discography. Both works widely celebrated as seminal pieces in two distinctly different subcultures, but in my mind there was only one subculture: good music.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":47796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Sleep, Minor Threat, and the common thread that ties them together: Minor Fret","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,724,403],"tags":[208,293,7361,1863,152,1581,4085],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/a1004745280_10-e1462363579825.jpg?fit=814%2C502&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47786"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toiletovhell.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}