ELEVEN IS ONE LOUDER: Rob Hoey (Limb) picks 5 artists & bands he loves that had a great impact on heavy music... Without using mountains of distortion (and in lots of cases, none)

By: Rob Hoey

As we (Limb) get ready to release our third album “Saboteurs of the Sun...” (available here) ...I thought I'd chat about some of our influences who didn't need modern distortion to get heavy. 

A lot of people who read this will already be very aware of these artists and in writing it I thought 'if I were to read this would I find this kind of thing patronising'? Then I realised that if I hadn't heard of some of these people I wouldn't be able to appreciate the music we have today, so here's to them... The scoundrels, cads, olden day punks who said 'fuck you, I won't do what you tell me' and started something that we can still see / feel today in the roots of all that is sonically heavy. 

So even if you've heard all these before, click the links and refresh your memory while we look back and take our hats off to the men and women who carved out the path we now tread! 

1 Screamin' Jay Hawkins (1929 - 2000)

If you like Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson, Ghost, Kiss or any other shock rockers then you have this man to thank! Before heading to tinkle the ivories, he would emerge from a coffin onstage and wore gold and leopard skin costumes and had voodoo stage props, such as his smoking skull on a stick (called Henry). Alongside all his stage antics he had scream (hence the nickname) that would give Noddy Holder a run for his money. 

Check Out – “I Put A Spell On You”

2 Jerry Lee Lewis (1935 - Present) 

The 'killer' as he is known (and nearly for very good reason, he tried to kill Elvis, look it up) is a controversial figure and no mistake. He is a wild and unbridled force of nature and pushed rock and roll to its limits at a time that America just wasn't ready for it. He once shot a gun to wake up tired party goers who couldn't keep up with him. Any live performance of his will give you a good indication of how energised he was. Also, he played piano like he'd made a deal with Lucifer himself. (you can still catch him live if you're in the states) 

Check Out – “Wild One” 

3 Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883)

Way before the metal zone pedal (or the DOD grunge for that matter) there were people who were determined to get tone henge blasting so had to be inventive. How I hear you cry? Load the bottom end of your orchestra with things like the 'octobass' a giant version of the double bass played with a bow that would make even SunnO))) smile (ok maybe not, too doom!). Richard Wagner was the king of heavy back in the day, those days being the middle of the 1800's. He was rattling the rafters way before Boris came along and showed us how to get a bass tone that would rattle your teeth straight down your neck! 

Check out – “Entrance Of The Gods Into Valhalla”

4 Sister Rosetta Tharpe (1915 - 1973)

So... A white Gibson LesPaul SG with three humbuckers sounds like something Zep or The Darkness might bust out on stage but long before all that came a gospel rock whirlwind in the shape of

Sister Rosetta Tharpe and man could she play. She cemented her place in rock and roll history when she embarked upon a European tour with Muddy Waters in 1963 (her UK debut was in Manchester) she noted as an influence by prominent British guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Keith Richards

Check Out – “Up Above My Head”

5 Lead Belly (1888 - 1949)

Here we have Lead Belly a ne'er do well, moonshine swilling multi instrumentalist who saw his fair share of hardship which lead him to sing about women, liquor, prison life, and racism. He was also known to write songs about people in the news, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler and Howard Hughes. You might know him best from Nirvana'scover of “My Girl (where did you sleep last night)”. They don't come much rougher round the edges than Lead Belly and if you scratch the surface of his prolific song library you'll find it paints a picture of man who lived hard and played harder. 

Check Out – “Black Girl (in the pines)”

Band info: facebook

TRACK PREMIERE: London heavyweights Limb debut "Wych Elm"

London heavyweights Limb set the controls for the heart of the sun with their third record on New Heavy Sounds.  “Saboteurs of the Sun” sees Limb hurl themselves skyward to discover new worlds within the riff–time continuum.  Building on their previous two records, which positioned the band in the thick of the UK heavy fuzz scene, the band now move beyond their sludge–doom origins to explore a cosmos of bubbling synthesizers, screaming organs, ecstatic choirs and galaxies of wild unidentified sounds, but feaer not the grooves, the power and the chops are all there in spades – helped by a masterful production from Russ Russell (Napalm Death, At the Gates, etc.)  “Saboteurs Of The Sun” will land on May 25^th and today you can get your first taste of the record  with an exclusive stream of the track “Wych Elm” below.  Preorders are being taken here

Singer Rob Hoey had the following to say about track:

"In 1943, a woman’s dead body was found stuffed inside the hollow trunk of a wych elm tree in the West Midlands. No-one knows who she was. Perhaps she was a Nazi spy, perhaps a local prostitute, perhaps the victim of an occult killing – after all, her severed hand was found elsewhere, consistent with the ‘Hand of Glory’ ritual. The mystery remains very much alive through the enigmatic reappearance of graffiti asking, “Who put Bella in the wych elm?” We still want to know."

Limb Live Rituals:

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Sat 19 May - London, Underdog Gallery

Fri 25 May - Bournemouth, The Anvil

Sat 26 May - Southampton, Firehouse

Sun 27 May - Cardiff, Tiny Rebel, Cardiff Psych and Noise Fest

Band info: facebook

TOUR NEWS: Desert Storm announce UK Tour dates in August with direct support from Limb

 

It probably doesn’t need to be said but I’ll say it again, Desert Storm are one of our favourite bands currently from the UK, their blend of blues based stoner jams has won them a whole range of fans and admirers within the scene. We originally reviewed their superb debut album “Forked Tongues” back in 2011and every subsequent release thereafter has been louder, heavier and more kick ass than the last, indeed their latest full length “Omniscient” was no different, a must have album. Plain and simple.  No strangers to the road, Desert Storm are set to head out on a 5 date UK tour sponsored by yours truly, in conjunction with Buried In Smokeand Sleeping Eye.  Adding further weight to these impending live rituals, Limb will act as direct support.  

Make no mistake this is a tour not to be missed.  You can catch them on the following dates

Wed 16^th Aug – London, The Black Heart

Thurs 17th Aug – Manchester, Rebellion

Fri 18^th Aug – Glasgow, Nice’N’ Sleazy

Sat 19^th Aug – Leicester, The Firebug

Sun 20^th Aug – Milton Keynes, The Crawford Arms

Limb: Facebook | BandCamp

Desert Storm: Facebook || BandCamp

TRACK PREMIERE: Limb cover Andrew WK's "Party Hard" to coincide with Euro Tour Dates

In their first release since the 2015 album ‘Terminal’ (review here) Limb have recorded a version of Andrew WK’s‘Party Hard’ and put their own twist on proceedings. In a light-hearted and momentary move away from their doom and stoner roots Limb have put together this track to advertise their upcoming dates which have been booked for mainland Europe but start with a one off show at Hard Rock Hell’s ‘Doom vs Stoner’ festival in Sheffield this weekend. You can check  out the track below and you can Catch them partying hard here…

Saturday 1 October – Hard Rock Hell, (w/ Orange Goblin, Conan, Vodun & more), Sheffield (UK)

Saturday 15 October – Beta2300, Copenhagen (DK)
Wednesday 19 October - Hafenklang, Hamburg (GER)
Thursday 20 October - Tiefgrund (w/ Fistula, Grime), Berlin (GER)
Friday 21 October - Dynamo (w/ Monolord, Earth Ship, Zaum, Bark), Eindhoven (NL)
Saturday 22 October – Into The Void Festival(W/ loads!), Leeuwarden (NL)

Band info: Facebook || BandCamp