Sludge/Stoner Metallers APE VERMIN Announce RIDERS OF THE DAMNED TOUR With Stoner Rockers MEAN GREEN

Sludge/Stoner Metallers APE VERMIN will be embarking the Riders of the Damned tour this summer with Mean Green as direct support. 

5/17 Spartanburg, S.C - Ground Zero
5/19 Tampa, FL - Brass Mug
5/21 New Orleans, LA - The Goat
5/22 Houston, TX - Black Magic Social Club
5/23 Dallas, TX - Haltom Theatr
5/24 San Antonio, TX - Bonds Rock Bar
5/25 Laredo, TX - Cold Brew Rock Bar
5/26 Austin, TX - Valhalla
5/29 Tucson, AZ - The Rock
5/30 Phoenix, AZ - Blooze Bar
6/1 Richmond, CA - Baltic Kiss
6/2 Reno, NV - Alturus Bar
6/4 Salt Lake City, UT - International Bar
6/5 Casper, WY - The Gaslight Social
6/7 Ridgeway, CO - The Sherbino
6/8 Denver, CO - Hermans Hideaway
6/12 Asheville, N.C - The Odditorium

More Dates To Be Added

Links

Spotify
Bandcamp
Facebook
Instagram

Mean Green - Mean Green (Album Review)

Release Date: March 24th 2023. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Mean Green - Self-Titled: Tracklisting

1.Law 

2.Crow

3.Mean Green

4.Fiend

5.Last Bullet

6.Grease Monkey

7.The Deal 

Members

Jake Helms - Guitar, Vocals

Alex Wierback - Bass

James Matthews - Drums

Review

Mean Green are inspired by bands such as Weedeater, Bongzilla, SLEEP and Acid King. Perhaps leaning more into the Bongzilla/Weedeater school of thinking on their debut self titled album. The album sees Mean Green play a LOW & SLOW approach with many elements of Psych Rock and AMPLIFIER DISTORTED sounds. Their music also benefits from a lush supply of Doom/Stoner melodies and harsh Sludge Metal tones for the main bulk of the album.

The band is not trying to reinvent the wheel or WEEDIAN way of life for this album but perhaps proving what a dominant creative force they genuinely are in their own right.

The vocals are powered by Jake Helms powerful growls which remain clean despite the harshness and grizzled sounds throughout the album. The guitars are constantly heavy with a brutal BLACK SABBATH and SLEEP inspired groove. Equally melodic and beautifully destructive with Mean Green proving early on they have what it takes to write and play a CLASSIC SOUNDING STONER based groove.

The songs are powered by the MIGHTY WEED with songs such as Low, Crow and Mean Green setting the scene early on. The music is quite dark in places with a sense of realism but one that also allows the band to add a blackly comedic feeling to their lyrics. The music is quite intense especially when Mean Green start playing a more stripped back approach to their music. The atmosphere can be quite forceful with James Matthew’s intelligent drumming being a constant threat with his precise and hard-hitting style of playing. 

Alex Wierback’s bass guitar allows Mean Green to perhaps be spiritually connected to BLACK SABBATH on the later stages of the album. They live up to the classic Stoner Metal POWER TRIO formation when the more extended and progressive grooves appear on songs such as Fiend, Lost Bullet, Grease Monkey and the outstanding final track The Deal.

Listening to this album, Mean Green do sound and feel like they’re taking an OLD SCHOOL approach with their music especially with the more melodic parts of the album. The Sludgier moments perhaps allows Mean Green to play a heavier style of music that connects you more emotionally with the band with a WINDHAND and MONOLORD flow appearing when the band opt for a more hallucinogenic and psychedelic feel on the second half of the album.

The album also has a wonderfully claustrophobic environment which is perhaps down to the raw-sounding production values. The whole tone of the album is quite EERIE and DELICATE but offers a more engaging sound to engage listeners with. 

Mean Green’s debut album is first rate entertainment and will hopefully see the band build a loyal following within the WEEDIAN Underground Scene. I expect this album to be listed quite highly on a few Album Of The Year lists when the year is over. However, until then, immerse yourself with the potentially classic grooves from the mighty MEAN GREEN.

Words by Steve Howe.

Thanks to Desert Bloom PR for the promo

Mean Green Self-Titled will be available to buy now on DD from March 24th 2023. Physical Media is planned for release at a later date.

Links

Official | Instagram | BandCamp

An Interview With Doom/Stoner Metallers MEAN GREEN

Doom/Stoner Metallers MEAN GREEN upcoming debut album will no doubt please fans of BONGZILLA and WEEDEATER. As the band play a similar style of music but still standing on their own creative ground.

Though, MEAN Green are perhaps that little bit more aggressive and playing a more Psychedelic based sound in places.

I caught up with the band recently to discuss their formation and what to expect from the album.

Q: Hi guys. Thanks for doing the interview. How are things with you today?

A: Not too bad buddy, we just got together for practice and had a chance to answer your question together. 

Q:For folks not in the know, can you give a brief history of how the band came together and where it is today. 

A: We formed this band in early 2022, but we have been friends and playing together for a few years now. We finished recording our album recently and looking forward to releasing it soon.

Q: Can you advise if you’ve played or currently playing in other bands so folks can check out your other musical projects?. (Though I know that Alex, Jake and James played together previously in One Armed Jefferson who were a damn good Southern/Stoner Metal band).

A: Our drummer James plays in a tech-death band, Razorbeast. Alex used to play in the death metal band Warfist. I (Jake) used to play in various bluegrass and country projects but mostly as a stand in/session musician. I'm glad you mentioned OAJ, we didn’t think anyone had heard of that project.

Q: How would you describe your own sound? My own words would be WEEDIAN and Massive. 

A: We agree with that. We’ve always aimed to get the thickest sound possible with only three members.

Q: Congrats on your debut album. Loved it from the very first listen. What can people expect to hear from this album?

A: A variety of sounds that encompass all of our music inspirations. From slow and trudging doom tracks, to amped up and full throttle sludge riffs.

Q: Was your debut album a hard experience to write and record for? 

A: The writing process was slightly hectic due to time constraints between arranging shows and being invited on a tour, considering that we had not written enough material to fill out a full set. However this allowed us to fine tune our songs in a live setting and on the road. When it came time to record, thanks to our talented studio engineer Reilly Appert, everything went very smoothly.

Q: What bands and artists influenced you when recording this album? 

A: Between all three of us it was a huge mix. I would say mainly Sleep, Weedeater, Monolord, Electric Wizard, Boris, and Windhand.

Q: What formats is the album being released upon and I’m seeing you’re releasing this album yourselves?

A: Yes we are doing an independent release. It will be released on bandcamp, spotify, pandora, and apple music.

Q:Are there plans to release this album on Physical Media?

A: We are planning a limited run on vinyl in addition to a CD release? 



Q: The artwork is freaking awesome. Who designed the artwork and how much input did you have into the overall design of this? 

A: Artwork was created in-house by James, our drummer. There was this really cool old race car on the side of the road by our practice spot and we decided it would be perfect for our album cover.

Q: What is the creative process or setup within the band? Do you all write the music together or do certain people within the band do that?

A: Most of it is written as a group during practices. Some songs and lyrics are written by each of us individually. We all wanted this project to have equal input from each of us.

Q:How did you get involved with music? Was it a particular album, group or artist that made you want to write and play your own music?

A: I (Jake) have been playing music my whole life as my dad was a professional country/ bluegrass musician. So music has always been a part of my life. It wasn't until Alex introduced me to Sleep that I realised I wanted to start playing heavy music.

Alex started playing music when he was pretty young, He didn’t start taking it seriously until he got into heavy music in 2017. That is when he decided he wanted to be a musician professionally and write his own music.

James started playing drums in middle school, starting his first band with members of his high school marching band. He continued to play in bands of his own, and as a session musician in college. After graduating, he decided to focus almost entirely on music, with Mean Green being his primary project.

Q:What is the current state of the Boone, North Carolina Rock/Metal scene? Do you perform gigs on a regular basis and do you have a local scene that you're actively involved with?

A: There is a small but tight metal scene in Boone, with the likes of Bongfoot, Hempire, Razorbeast, Goodwrench, and ourselves. We play on a pretty consistent basis but the main problem with Boone is the lack of suitable venues.

Q:Will you be performing any gigs to promote this album locally or further afield! 

A: We have a few gigs coming up (check our instagram for updates). Our album release show is on March 24th at The Odd in Asheville.

Q: Before you go, do you have any words of wisdom for your new and potential fans out there? 

A: Bring ear plugs, it's gonna be loud

Words by Steve Howe and MEAN Green. 

MEAN GREEN debut album will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from March 24th 2023.

Links

Official | Instagram | BandCamp

Boone North Carolina Doom Metal trio MEAN GREEN release debut S/T album!

Fresh out of the recording studio Mean Green are ready to share their debut self titled album with the world on March 24th, 2023.

Mean Green’s self-titled first release is a full length album consisting of songs written in their first year of the band's forming. Inspired by the likes of early Black Sabbath, Sleep, and Weedeater. Mean Green wrote this album to convey a stripped down and bare bones look at sludge, stoner, and doom metal. Relying heavily on tone and a slow moving freight train like tempo for most of their songs, they bring their own twist on common themes and ideas of the genre. With crushing guitar tone, wall shaking low end, bludgeoning percussion, and growling vocals this album is a first look into the roots and inspiration of Mean Green.

Mean Green is a 3-piece stoner doom band formed in early 2022 by Jacob Helms, Alex Wierback, and James Matthews who enjoy playing metal music as loud as possible and at a slower pace than most people are used to. Armed with much larger guitar and bass rigs than necessary for smaller venues, their tone and energy are a force to be reckoned with in the western North Carolina music community. From the start they knew they did not want to be just another cover band in their small college town of Boone North Carolina, they began writing their own music.

Each of them are experienced working musicians and have connections in the local music scene. They decided to go an unconventional route and immediately went on tour when they had enough original music to fill out a set. This allowed them to make more connections and friends in the growing metal scene around North Carolina. With the help of other bands and promoters they met along the way, they began performing in well known venues in Atlanta, Asheville, Raleigh and Johnson City spreading their take on doom metal to new cities. Their live performances bring an energy that is on par with stoner doom legends. Their slower songs would put people into fuzzed out trances while the fast paced songs are mosh worthy. This combination left something for everyone to enjoy whether it was a crushing doom breakdown or a mid tempo driving riff to groove to.

With no music officially released the band solely relied on word of mouth and self promotion for getting fans to their shows. They found with every show they play people want to hear more of them. Without an album for fans to listen to, they quickly got into the studio to record their debut in August of 2022 and planning their first release on March 24th, 2023. Mean Green is continually gaining traction in their musical career and is not going to stop anytime soon.

Mean Green S/T track list:

Law
Crow
Mean Green
Fiend
Last Bullet
Grease Monkey
The Deal

Mean Green is:

Jake Helms (Guitar, Vocals)
Alex Wierback (Bass)
James Matthews (Drums)

Links

Official | Instagram | BandCamp