SATANIC BAT – TALES FROM THE SOUTHLAND…TALES FROM THE SEA (Oppressive Sound System Releases) Hailing from Pittsburgh, Satanic Bat takes classic heavy blues-rooted rock on a psychedelic, doom, acid and space rock joyride on their latest CD, Tales from the Southland…Tales from the Sea. Over the album's nine tracks, lead singer and drummer Steve Sobeck, guitarists Dave Warren and J.D. Howell, and bassist Jon Milliren explore musical territory first mapped out in the late 60's and early 70's by Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, Grand Funk Railroad and Hawkwind; carrying forth the torch from more recent stoner-rock adventurers like Clutch and Monster Magnet. Satanic Bat's sound is deep and heavy; a sludge of thick bass lines, battering-ram drum rhythms and gnashing, swarming guitar chords often filtered through various distortion and effects, and topped with Sobeck's hearty vocal howl. But the presentation is vibrant, as the aggressive arrangements and agitated performances prevent Satanic Bat's update of dinosaur rock from getting bogged down in quicksand. The songs range from the tough-rocking opener "Dead Dixie Driver," the rumbling "Human Genome Worry Doll" and escalating thunderstorm "White Gypsy/Dirty Talkin' Flower" to the Hendrix-flavored "Norse Sagas," to blues-informed exercises like "Great Things from Sand and Clay" and "Southern Rock Plantation." The album is punctuated with two instrumentals; the spacey guitar interlude "The Kraken Returns with Saturn," and the driving "Skull Bong Rock." Capping the adventure is the wild, 13-minute-plus "A Generation of Digital Drones vs. Jazzbot 6000," which devolves from its initial song plot into a seven-minute cacophony of improvisational guitar and bass pedal effect distortion sure to send fragile psyches teetering off the deep end. Recorded by Dennis Warner at Ground Control Studio and produced by the band with Mike Clement, Tales from the Southland… captures the dynamic of early 70's-era psychedelic heavy metal, sounding full but staying out of the mud and retaining a clear, sharp edge. Satanic Bat unleashes a head trip of an album with Tales from the Southland…Tales from the Sea, breathing new life into this brand of classic-flavored heavy rock while offering their own experimental and often fascinating slant to it. (The CD can be purchased through the group's website, www.satanicbat.org.)
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Release date: 1997-06-03
Manny Theiner, bastion (or bastARD, depending on who you ask) of Pittsburgh's volatile music scene, does reviews for City Paper and had this to say about Tales from the Southland, Tales from the Sea. Thanks a lot to Manny for the kind words and for offering us a lot of shows over the last few years. He's actually a pretty swell guy.
Satanic Bat Tales From the Southland, Tales From the Sea OSSR
In theory, stoner rock should have nearly matched the popularity of grunge. After all, grunge was a revival of '70s hard rock with an injection of punk spirit, and stoner rock is the continuation of its slower elements, as preached by such early '90s prophets as Kyuss and Monster Magnet. But the reality is that it was pulverized prematurely by nu-metal's ascent, and overall it's still an underground thing.
And that's just fine with Satanic Bat, the latest Pittsburgh band to seriously approach the stoner throne. Its new album, Tales From the Southland, Tales From the Sea, probably derives some inspiration from the stoner/doom giants below the Mason-Dixon: Buzzoven, Weedeater, Dixie Witch, Eyehategod. You'll like the Bat if you like those.
"Skull Bong Rock" (yes, you'll have song titles like that in this genre) has a sinewy twin-guitar line that hearkens back to the days of Skin Yard, and the epic "White Gypsy/Dirty Talkin' Flower" takes you on a long-distance journey whether you're smoking the "Sweet Leaf" or not. And "Digital Drones vs. Jazzbot 6000" makes it clear how much influence Hawkwind's space-rock still has on this generation's sonic experiments.
The aspect most clearly setting this band apart is that drummer Steve Sobeck (ex-Forced Under) is also the lead vocalist. When he emits a heavily reverbed rebel yell -- courtesy of production by Dennis Warner of Ground Control Studio -- Sobeck sounds like he means it, no mean feat while also anchoring a rhythm section that flows like molasses.
Naturally, if you're into the core icons of the stoner underground -- Orange Goblin, Electric Wizard, Spirit Caravan -- you'll want to add Satanic Bat to your pantheon. But random Pittsburgh hard-rock and metal fans should take note, too -- here's a local quartet that offers the same devil-sign-raising feeling in a local club that you'd otherwise only get once a year at Ozzfest.
PRESS FOR "Tales from the Southland...Tales from the Sea"
Current mood: quixotic
Category: Romance and Relationships
2 early reviews/press mentions for "Tales from the Southland..."
This one first from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Music Critic and Weekend Mag Editor Scott Mervis...(link)
This one is from our friend and all around good dude Jay on Hellride.com...(link)
Thank you to both of these fine gentleman for the kind words and to all of you who give a shit, for one reason or another. The record drops in 2 days.
Release Party @ Smiling Moose with Lo-Pan and Rebreather (2 of the best fucking bands in the country) is this Saturday October 27. Admission? Free. Booze? Cheap. Rock? A plenty.
NEW RECORD, NEW SONGS, SOME SHOWS, ETC.
Current mood: thirsty
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Hi Ya'll - more on the new record and some other bullshit...
Four new songs have been posted to our MyWaste site, they are: Norse Sagas Southern Rock Plantation Human Genome Worry Doll A Generation of Digital Drones vs. Jazzbot 6000
All are from the new full length Satanic Bat record entitled TALES FROM THE SOUTHLAND, TALES FROM THE SEA. The record is being pressed as we speak, and will be officially available from Oppressive Sound System around Halloween. We'll tell you how to get one as soon as we figure that out. The songs we posted are edited for length and awesome-osity, The full versions are on the record. Hope you enjoy...
Here is a look at the front and back cover of the record:
Pretty cool, eh? The CD release is a digipak so it's looks real perty. We'll definitely have copies at our record release show on Oct 27 and hopefully a few for the Altoona show on Oct 19.
Speaking of shows... Friday 10/19 - Aldo's Altoona, PA w/ The Flame Sky Saturday 10/27 - Smiling Moose, Pgh, PA w/ Lo Pan and Rebreather Saturday 11/2 - Bourbon Street, Columbus, OH w/ Lo Pan
SATANIC BAT: THE ALBUM
Current mood: accomplished
Category: Music
The long-awaited (by us) full length Satanic Bat record is in the proverbial can. We just finished mastering at Precision Audio Works in Pittsburgh, and our dude is putting the finishing touches on the awesome artwork as we speak.
As some of you know, we've been working on this monstrosity for months, saying it was coming out in May, then June, then July, then finally not saying anything at all. A lot of fits-n-starts, but the fucking thing is finally done. It will be released by Oppressive Sound System Releases sometime in October. This time for realzz.
We'll share more details ASAP, like the title, actual release date, where you can get it, etc.
For now, though, here's the track list:
i.) dead dixie driver ii.) norse sagas iii.) human genome worry doll iv.) great things from sand & clay v.) the kraken returns with saturn vi.) southern rock plantation vii.) skull bong rock viii.) white gypsy / dirty talkin' flower ix.) a generation of digital drones vs. jazzbot 6000
Some titles are familiar, but all the songs have been re-recorded and many are different versions than what you might have heard before. We have been likening the record to an eclectic book of strange tall tales and bizarre oddball stories.
deadly easter / new record / updates
Current mood: crushed
Category: Religion and Philosophy
Movement I - (Transmission of the Bat)
To start things off we would like to let all the folks of New Jersey know that the Bat performed in Jersey City for a Halloween performance with The Bennies, World Famous Crawl Space Brothers and the Villians. It was all captured and edited by the Mission. It will air on local NJ comcast cable this easter weekend. Check them out for more info: http://www.myspace.com/bizalienprod
The bat is working with OSSR to bring you a full length recording. The process of demoing has been well underway for some time. We will be selecting 45-50 mins. of sweet licks to put down for you to enjoy. Recording should occur in the mid month of April. You should be able to obtain one in June or there abouts; granted all of the laws of druid and wiccan principle keep our celestial atmosphere in tact.
Movement III - (transitioning into the plane of human existence)
What does this shit even mean? Well it means that we are slowing down on the show end and gearing up to record. It also means that in a cpl of months we will be gearing back up hard with some out - of - town shows and more merch for all of you lovelies across the country.
TODAY!! -- FRIDAY THE 13TH OF OCTOBER -- is the official release date of Satanic Bat's 4-song long-playing EP, "CHRONIC NIGHT OWL".
Black Sabbath released their first record on Friday the 13th of February, 1970. Almost 37 years later, bands around the world are STILL ripping them off. We are proud to uphold this fine Rock-N-Roll tradition.
Get a CD mailed for 5 bucks (shipping & fondling incl.) or grab one at our shows for 3 bucks.
Speaking of our shows...
TOMORROW -- SATURDAY 10/14:
DubEMC and Oppressive Sound System presents...
A Manny Theiner production...
THE WAYWARD~ADMIRAL BROWNING~SATANIC BAT~OH NO DRACULA
...Oh yeah and we have T-shirts in all sizes. 2 kinds. 10 bucks at the shows, 12 bucks in the mail. Please help us get rich off selling T-shirts, cause it's clearly no longer about the music, y'know? Satanic Bat Tampons and Coffins will be available soon...
If you want one, tell a grown-up to let us know and we'll work out the details...Thanks a bunch to Dan and Shannon Rugh of Commonwealth Press for making great products and being kewl kidzzz.
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