(New Age Doom / Bandcamp)
The sun was already down as I entered The Biltmore Cabaret.
I was there supporting a friend’s band and feeling very much anti-social that night. Hanging in the back next to the sound booth…. The occasional head nod to the music. People-watching mostly. The crowd was great, they were enjoying the music, and I was enjoying their enjoyment.
My friend’s band, who had played just before, erupted a mosh-pit. A story for another article… and last on stage was New Age Doom. Here I was planning to dip in and out in a mere flash of support. But when my friends came off-stage they implored me to stay. This last band wouldn’t disappoint.
Let me paint you a picture. Recently I had travelled to Seattle to the epic and historical Paramount Theatre to see Earth and Sunn O))). What was this genre? Noise? Instrumentals? Rock? When I ask ye olde Google it described Earth as post-rock drone metal. Why am I educating you about this? Because it’s the only way for you to understand the full effect New Age Doom had on me.
Here’s a taste of Earth:
Ok, flash-forward to my tale at the Biltmore. These two members crossed the stage, hooked up to the audio, and slayed. The crowd had changed from the revelry mosh-pit to somewhat of a hypnotic trance. I was enthralled. Captivated. Tranced-out. New Age Doom sounded like Earth! This “small” up-and-coming band in front of me… playing for a crowd that was not as big as they deserved. I needed to talk to them.
I mean, me in anti-social mode… and breaking it because the music hit so good.. Takes a lot. I applaud you New Age Doom for your neuropathway changing beats, because they had effected a change in me that evening.
New Age Doom identifies as experimental-metal. They are a duo from Vancouver, BC consisting of drummer Eric J. Breitenbach and multi-instrumentalist Greg Valou. They previously worked in collaboration with popular dub and reggae musician, Lee “Scratch” Perry. Scratch broken-heartedly passed away after recording with New Age Doom as lead-vocalist in the album “Guide to the Universe” which was released in November 2021. Lee Perry was a key figure in the development of Jamaican music from the late 1960s forward. As written in an article by Jesse Locke, “Perry stripped songs to their skeletons and rewired Frankensteined remixes with deeply spaced-out electronic echoes.” Click here to read the full article, “He shaped the sound of internationally beloved artists such as Bob Marley and the Wailers, Junior Murvin, The Congos, and countless others.”
When New Age Doom began seeking vocalists, they decided to start at the top with their hero. After a mere email, Perry was on board.
“When you listen to his lyrics, it was almost like we fulfilled the prophecy” Valou says in the Music Works article, “You have to dream/ You have to know what you want/ You have to ask for it/ You have to step forward.” – New Age Doom.
I am thankful to experience the evening I did. It made my mind buzz, and the thoughts continue rolling into how these different musicians find this sound – like Earth. As my role on this planet is exploring how musicians work and how they find their sound, I was always left with the notion that “they must’ve been holding onto this one sound inside them their whole life. This one sound that represents who THEY are. How to express who THEY are to the rest of the world.”
But I am understanding that there is no one thing that fits ME in a box, or a brand, that would be the “only representation of myself to explain to the rest of the world.” I am a multitude of different things that come together as a whole. Instrumentalist Greg Valou, while not creating for New Age Doom, dabbles in Zimbabwean Afro-fusion, Arabic jazz-rock, and Balkan folk music. In New Age Doom he bows and strums a metallic hybrid instrument of guitar, bass, and harp strings. Drummer Eric J. Breitenbach pounds his beats into massive double bass drums, his locks of hair moving like rough water as it all beautifully coordinates into what is New Age Doom. They as musicians are a multitude of things that come together as a whole.
Music is meant to evoke something in its listener and represent something about its creator. My memory of this group did not encompass the whole of what they are. But it did what art is supposed to do, to spark.
(New Age Doom / Ingrid Valou)
Find out more about New Age Doom through the links below:
You can also find their music on Bandcamp, Spotify, and Youtube.
Written by Volante Matheson, Radio Arts & Entertainment at BCIT
Contact: vmatheson1@my.bcit.ca