Chosen by Monk

The Uber Rock Approved stampHalloween and Samhain may be slowly fading in the rear view mirror, and another hijacked pagan festival starting to loom on the horizon, but the devil is still up to his mischief here at ÜRHQ, as our latest sonic selection proves…

Serving taboo lyrics over heavy blues-infected grooves, this North Carolingian duo of Von Bury (formerly of southern goths Lovesucker and occult rockers Bloody Hammers) and Mike McGuinness (ex-Face The World) pull from sources as diverse as ZZ Top, Killing Joke, Kyuss and The Melvins to serve up a heady cocktail of grooves that are sure to satisfy doom, stoner, and psych rock fans alike.

Throwing his (tarot) cards on the table, Von Bury told me a bit more about the band’s upcoming debut album, due for release at the end of this month and of which this is a suitably satiating taster:

‘Rags To Rage’ is a continuation of our first [EP] release, in that the subject matter is all thought-provoking. As for a lot of music, we want the lyrics to be literal but also open to the listener’s interpretation. Sticking with the theme and ideas of voodoo, witchcraft, the occult and other oddities, we want to take the listeners on a dark and ominous journey into a place they don’t normally think about.

Shedding some more dark light on the choice of single, Von Bury added:

We wanted to have a song on the album (last track specifically) that we wouldn’t really play live as there are organ sounds and whatnot that we can’t replicate live. I wanted a closer on the record in the vein of ‘No Quarter’, something that has a completely different vibe from the rest of the album.

  • ‘Rags To Rage’ will be released on 29 November.