Recently, Gazelle Amber Valentine of Jucifer answered a few questions of mine:

Since you guys have been founded as a band, you’ve been on tour with pretty much no real breaks from what I understand. Is this kind of how you planned on working as a band?

From the beginning everything we did was always structured towards playing more shows in more places. So getting rid of home ties as soon as we could made sense for us. We never wanted to do anything else as much as we wanted to play music, so we always worked to do it as much as possible.

We were around for a few years before we hit the road full time, although we always got out as much as we could… but it gets easier to stay booked on the road once you’ve been touring for awhile! We’ve lived completely in our tour vehicle for a decade now.

How many vehicles have you killed while on the road? Any amazing vehicular deaths you can remember?

We’ve never killed any that didn’t get brought back to life, one way or another. We’ve been careful and we’ve been lucky! We have had some crazy breakdowns though. Especially the ones since we’ve lived in our vehicle… because when your house breaks down, and you need it to get to your next show, it’s the scariest shit ever.

You’re pioneers in the sludge/doom duo style of band. Does it piss you off at all to see others doing what you’ve been doing?

Only when they do it without crediting us as an influence — and we know we’ve been one, because they played their first shows opening for us, or their duo formed after they saw us a bunch of times, or their three or four piece band opened for us and later became a two piece using a bunch of amps (!). Or when people talk to us about new bands as if we’d been influenced by them. Or when people heap praises on new bands for doing “innovative” things that we did years before.

As an underground band it’s understandable that lots of people don’t know our history. But to be in that kind of a band where you know you’re not gonna ever make money, and you’re fine with that, but what you expect to earn is just reputation, credit for what you’ve accomplished — and then to not be given that credit — really sucks. And sucks more when that credit isn’t given by bands that spawned on your ideas, bands that came about specifically because you exist.

It’s interesting because I have no animosity at all for certain bands that might share surface traits with us… because those certain bands aren’t ripping us off, just doing their own thing in a similar context. But some of the bands cropping up in our wake seem to have almost nothing of their own to add.

Personally I could never bite on somebody else’s ideas that hard, but I guess I’m the exception. It’s weird to me that anyone would wanna miss the opportunity to be creative and instead, jumps on something somebody else is already doing. Especially copying a band like us… shit, if you’re gonna be unoriginal, why not do a style that’s more lucrative! LOL

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Genre: Drone Metal
Label: Black Drone

Here we go. This is the kind of drone metal I’m into. This is the second disc that came from Black Drone unexpectedly, and it’s fucking great.
Not the most original in idea, but in execution Bring Me the Head of Orion are definitely a standout act. They are kind Sunn clO)))nes, but that’s okay with me. Sunn O))) kick ass, and in an area of metal that of recent date has seen a major influx of similar bands, to be able to stand out in a huge crowd is a big thing.
If you’re into crushing guitars, intense bass, and a distinct lack of percussion, all wrapped up in 20+ minute long compositions, I would definitely recommend checking out BMtHoO.
7.5 out of 10.

Bring Me the Head of Orion on MySpace.

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Genre: Doom, Drone, Sludge, Stoner
Label: Nomadic Fortress

So fucking wow. Not even done the first SONG and I’m thinking I know what this monster is going to get rated.
Then it gets even better.
Slow and heavy riffs that pay as much homage to Black Sabbath and Sunn O))) as to The Clash or The Sex Pistols (in spirit, not style), this is some seriously wicked awesome doomed out sludge. Something to smoke to, that’s for damn sure, and I think I’m going to try sleeping to it. It’s kind of relaxing in a violent sort of way.
Favorite song is definitely “Contempt”, with “Work Will Make Us Free” and “Hiroshima” following close behind.
After hearing hearing Throned in Blood I feel sorry for other doom and sludge bands. They’re going to have to step up their game to keep up with Amber and Edgar now. And fuck this is going to rule live. Earplugs might actually be an option for me if they make it to Edmonton again. But probably not because hearing aids are cool.
Just remember folks, April 6, 2010 this nuclear bomb of doom will drop on us. Grab it while it’s hot hot hot.
9.5 out of 10

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