Friday, July 2, 2010

Weekend Nachos - Bleed EP and Interview w/ Snyder


Welcome in with open arms the latest crushing release from Chicago's Weekend Nachos. A two song devastator of mammoth proportions, served up on a platter of black wax capable of making your turntable spontaneously combust. The brutal four piece stray from their oft-utilized blazing fast, super short song formula, penning two tracks which clock in at over thirteen minutes total.

Igniting with the title track "Bleed," Weekend Nachos ominously grinds their way into a slow, brooding riff before Snyder's vocals burst from the speakers, dripping with grit and rage. The methodical heaviness of the song is so epic it almost reaches a level of ridiculousness, but I'd be lying if I tried to deny how much head banging I did the first ten times through. After about two and a half minutes, they pick up the pace a little, chugging along with fuzzy distortion, super thick bass lines, and thumping percussion. While the walls in your house begin to shake as if a space shuttle is about to land in your backyard, they explode into another sludgy, destructive riff just before the five minute mark, which carries out the song to its final gasp.

Flip this monster over, and the B side continues the madness with "Observer." A seven minute opus which consistently returns to the opening pounding, lumbering riff, causing you to think the record might be skipping. If it's even possible, the vocals sound as harsh and vicious as they've ever been, possibly one upping the venomous style used in "Bleed." An ideal soundtrack for smashing your worst enemies' car with a sledgehammer, Weekend Nachos establish themselves as one of their heavier bands in Chicago with the Bleed EP.

This record might disappoint some people searching for more lightning fast forty second songs, but it's exciting to see bands try something different once in a while. It's even more impressive when they pull it off as well as Weekend Nachos did with Bleed. The title track is a little more listenable than "Observer," but I sincerely doubt the band cares about something like that. Snyder was nice enough to answer a few questions about the new record, so check it out, and if you like the download, please BUY THE RECORD. It's $8, people.

Play it Loud: How was the experience recording the new EP, Bleed?

Snyder: It was great, I love recording with W.N. because our guitar player, Andy, has his own studio and he's really good at what he does. There's a specific sound that we always get that I'm not sure we could get anywhere else. Recording is always a good time cuz we always order food and just chill in between the serious stuff. It's a comfortable and fun environment. As for the actual recording, that's awesome too because we get new and heavier sounds every time we go back in to the studio. It's pretty fun coming up with new ideas on the spot, too.

PIL: What inspired the band to write such lengthy songs?

S: When we got asked to do an EP for Relapse, the idea of doing another 7" with a bunch of our regular length songs on it just didn't appeal to me, I wanted to do something different. Not different as in no one's ever done it before, but different as in WE had never done it before. So writing a long song for side A, and a long song for side B seemed like a great idea to us and I knew that we'd come up with some heavy, epic sounding shit. The actual song "Bleed" is a total masterpiece of heaviness, in my opinion.

PIL: Is there a central theme or idea behind the record?

S: Our themes don't really ever change because all I ever want to express is negativity and hatred for everything, because that's how I feel most of the time. It's a good way to get it out through this band. We have songs about other stuff, obviously, but this EP is definitely what anyone would expect from us. Lyrically, at least.

PIL: What is going on with that insert photo?

S: Brian likes to be abused, sexually. He always said his dream would be to get it from his bandmates. We figured we'd strip him down and torture him as a belated birthday present, since 2 out of 3 of us completely forgot to wish him a happy birthday a few months ago. He was so fucking stoked! That picture captures the 4 of us just after it happened.

PIL: Should people expect more of this type of material from Weekend Nachos in the future?

S: Musically, no one should expect anything except more heaviness in different ways. The next full-length we're working on will be different than Bleed, Unforgivable, Punish & Destroy, Torture, etc. but it will have the same elements that make us Weekend Nachos.



Download
Relapse Records
Weekend Nachos