Following countless years of personal hardships, studio disasters and times of music industry indecision, New Orleans’ own EYEHATEGOD, with much relief and excitement, are proud to announce the release of their brand new full-length! Assembled and financed entirely by the band along with US label partners, Housecore Records, the self-titled, eleven-track long player will be released on May 27th by Housecore Records in North America, May 26th by Century Media in Europe, Australia and New Zealand and May 21st by Daymare in Japan.
Already dubbed, “the record that EHG fans have been waiting for; a stomping and venomous set of eleven tracks that reignite the band’s amazing propensity for down-trodden, electric blues and with their late drummer LaCaze behind the kit,” by Vice Magazine mega music portal, Noisey, Eyehategod features vocals recorded and produced by Housecore president Philip H. Anselmo at his own Nodferatu’s Lair and serves as the band’s first proper release in over a decade. The domestic version will come in a CD digipack, while the LP will be housed in a gatefold jacket. The first pressing will be limited to 1600 copies and made available in the following color variations: black (600 copies), purple (300 copies), clear (400 copies), purple and grey (300 copies).
Comments vocalist Mike IX Williams, “I have to say I don’t believe we’ve lost nary a step in the creation of this album and we think these newer songs are a killer combination of classic EYEHATEGOD mixed along with our best production, mixing, engineering and songwriting in thirteen years. The main and total tragic break in the chain, was obviously last year’s death of our great friend and drummer Joey LaCaze. However, his original drum tracks made it onto the final master recordings and we’re fucking psyched about that… As for working with Housecore, it was a no-brainer. We’ve always been a family, and will always remain a family.”
Adds Housecore founder Philip H. Anselmo, “Being a part of the newEHG record is a dream come true. I’ve known, supported and loved the guys for almost as long as I’ve been playing music myself, and it is our pleasure here at The Housecore Records Compound to have ‘em aboard. And I gotta mention, having heard the new record, this is theEYEHATEGOD record every true fan has been waiting for…. Hail!”
As a band that helped create a genre as well as equate a city with a sound, EYEHATEGOD has always remained humble anytime words like “legend” were thrown around to describe them. The thing with legends is that they grow stronger in time and over the years, word of mouth has been kind to the band. EYEHATEGOD is bigger now than they ever have been in their twenty-five plus years as a band. Pretty impressive seeing as they haven’t released a full-length album in almost fifteen years. Most people who know the band have a story to tell or they heard a story about the guys. Whether it was them playing nothing but feedback to a bewildered White Zombie crowd during their opening stint for the arena metal band in the mid-nineties, being banned from a certain venue for attacking a promoter with a barstool or cleaning out entire small towns of their drug supply, these stories spread throughout the metal community over the years, usually through a game of one-up-manship, establishing them as one of the most notorious bands around.
Certainly not the first band to be surrounded by myth and lore,EYEHATEGOD’s staying and growing power ultimately comes from the music. No one riffs like Jimmy Bower and Brian Patton. Drummer Joey LaCaze grooved and held it together with numerous bass players throughout the years, doing so impeccably with Gary Mader over the past decade. Singer Mike IX Williams has always been able to encapsulate the ruins of life through his lyrics and vocal delivery. All combined, the music is the most genuine, distressing cacophony of sound around.
“Black Sabbath mixed with Black Flag with a little bit of Skynyrd and the element of blues thrown in there,” Bower once said of the band’s sound. In 2014 that style might sound somewhat commonplace. In 1988 it most definitely was not. The band’s second album, 1993’s Take As Needed For Pain is the pinnacle album that other bands of this genre to this day try to reach. Today, EYEHATEGOD sounds as fresh and innovative as ever. When the band released its first new track in over a decade, “New Orleans Is The New Vietnam,” it was clear that nothing about the band had changed. They were touring more than ever and used that time and energy to work on an album’s worth of songs. At the end of 2012 they were ready.
The recording process for Eyehategod started with producer Billy Anderson back in the fold (he recorded 1996’s Dopesick). The session saw both producer and band not quite on the same page and at the end, the album was unfinished. A few months later, the band reconvened at longtime friend Phil Anselmo’s home studio with producer Stephen Berrigan (Down). Both Anselmo and Berrigan helped draw out the missing pieces to one of underground metal’s most anticipated albums in years.
An unexpected tragedy occurred shortly upon returning home from a recent five-week European tour in the Fall of 2013: Joey LaCaze passed away due to respiratory failure. An outpouring of condolences and tributes spread online. Enough can’t be said of the loss felt by the band, family and friends. Fortunately, LaCaze’s drum tracks were captured by Anderson and appear on the album, creating the definitive tribute for the member of the band who encapsulated best just whatEYEHATEGOD was all about; seriously not taking yourself too seriously. New Orleans native, Aaron Hill (Mountain Of Wizard, Missing Monuments), took over for Joseph LaCaze without missing a beat, both figuratively and literally.
EYEHATEGOD:
10/02/2014 Summit Music Hall – Denver, CO
10/03/2014 Backbooth – Orlando, FL
10/04/2014 Churchill’s – Miami, FL
10/26/2014 Housecore Horror Film Fest @ Emo’s – Austin, TX
10/29/2014 El Corazon – Seattle, WA w/ Power Trip, Iron Reagan
10/30/2014 Bosonova Theater – Portland, OR w/ Power Trip, Iron Reagan
10/31/2014 Star Lite Lounge – Sacramento, CA w/ Power Trip, Iron Reagan
11/01/2014 Metro – Oakland, CA w/ Today Is The Day, Power Trip, Iron Reagan
11/02/2014 The Observatory – Santa Ana, CA w/ Today Is The Day, Power Trip, Iron Reagan
11/03/2014 Los globos – Los Angeles, CA w/ Power Trip, Iron Reagan
11/04/2014 Catalyst – Santa Cruz, CA w/ Power Trip, Iron Reagan
11/05/2014 The Garage – Ventura, CA w/ Power Trip, Iron Reagan
11/06/2014 Dive Bar – Las Vegas, NV w/ Today Is The Day
11/07/2014 Soda Bar – San Diego, CA w/ Today Is The Day
11/08/2014 Club Red – Phoenix, AZ w/ Today Is The Day
11/09/2014 Launch Pad – Albuquerque, NM w/ Today Is The Day
11/12/2014 The Riot Room – Kansas City, MO
11/13/2014 Hi Tone – Memphis, TN
11/15/2014 Cobra Lounge – Chicago, IL w/ Today Is The Day
11/16/2014 Smith’s Downtown – Mishawaka, IN w/ Today Is The Day
11/20/2014 Double Wide – Dallas, TX w/ Today Is The Day
11/21/2014 Fitzgerald’s – Houston, TX w/ Pig Destroyer, Today Is The Day
11/22/2014 One Eyed Jacks – New Orleans, LA w/ Pig Destroyer
EYEHATEGOD:
Mike IX Williams – vocals
Jimmy Bower – guitars
Brian Patton – guitars
Gary Mader – bass
Aaron Hill – drums
All photos by Dean Karr.
For all EYEHATEGOD coverage inquiries contact Liz Ciavarella-Brenner at: liz@earsplitcompound.com.
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