Rise Above Records have been on-fire lately with their releases. The one thing that I’ve noticed about the label is that it has a certain old-school element to go along with the music. On May 19th, Beastmaker releases their latest offering entitled “Inside The Skull” via Rise Above Records! This record is definitely bound to get ingrained inside the listener’s skull.
Out of Fresno, California, Beastmaker is composed of Trevor Church on guitars/vocals, Andres Alejandro Saldate on drums, and John Tucker on bass. They have combined their love and obsession for horror films, in which their studio is riddled with horror film memorabilia, with their love for doom metal to create Beastmaker. They have also enlisted the guitar assistance of Johanna of Lucifer and Nate from Salem’s Pot on bass to provide a little extra thunder, while sprinkling some extra doom, and serious riffage to “Inside The Skull”.
The album’s opener “Evil One” is an obvious homage to their two biggest influences that they draw from, the doom metal sounds of Black Sabbath with the lyrical content of Danzig. The rhythm section is extremely powerful, for a trio, there is a huge wall of sludge and doom, with elements of classic British heavy metal within Beastmaker. Beastmaker is not afraid to experiment with different tempos and tones throughout the record. Case in point, “Now Howls The Beast” sounds like a bad nightmarish acid trip as the track trudges along as the listener gets deeper into the wall of sound that is Beastmaker. The guitar riffs pay homage to Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath in “Nature of the Damned”, and the sludge and heavy guitar tones with catchy riffs and hooks are evident in “Psychic Visions”. Homage is even paid to legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock in “Night Bird”.
Beastmaker produced and created “Inside the Skull” themselves. They know no limitations when it comes to their wall of sound. The wall of sound sounds murky, sludgy, and doom and gloom in some parts, and in some parts, a kaliedoscope of colors is purveyed as the listener travels through the wall of sound that is Beastmaker. The samples in “Of God’s Creation” and the title track enhance the storytelling, while paying homage to their ever growing obsession of horror films. This album deserves a solid 4.5/5 star rating for its originality and creativity, especially for bringing back the classic metal/doom metal sound that brought metal to the forefront in the first place!
Here is the track listing to “Inside The Skull” by Beastmaker below:
- “Evil One”
- “Heaven To Hell”
- “Now Howls The Beast”
- “Of God’s Creation”
- “Give Me A Sign”
- “Nature of the Damned”
- “Psychic Visions”
- “Inside The Skull”
- “Night Bird”
- “Sick Sick Demon”
Last week, Beastmaker released the music video to “Evil One”. Check it out below!
Beastmaker is currently providing direct support for Zakk Wylde’s Black Sabbath tribute band called “Zakk Sabbath”. Check out the tour dates below!
Zakk Sabbath w/Beastmaker:
5/20: Philadelphia, PA @ Voltage Theatre*
5/21: Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter*
5/22: Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall*
5/23: Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
5/24: New Orleans, LA @ Siberia Nola*
5/25: Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live Studio
5/26: Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Bar N’ Grill
5/28: St. Louis, MO @ Fubar
5/30: Nashville, TN @ Exit/In
5/31: Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
6/2: Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
6/3: Indianapolis, IN @ Black Circle Brewing*
6/4: Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater
6/6: Spokane, WA @ The Pin
6/7: Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
6/8: Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
6/10: San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
6/17: Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theater
*Denotes Headline Show
Check out Beastmaker on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Beastmaker
