{"id":15534,"date":"2018-11-19T05:30:20","date_gmt":"2018-11-19T10:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=15534"},"modified":"2018-11-09T11:12:40","modified_gmt":"2018-11-09T16:12:40","slug":"carry-that-weight-the-heavy-mountain-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/19\/carry-that-weight-the-heavy-mountain-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Carry That Weight: The Heavy Mountain Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"For many years, Asheville, N.C. has been an important part of the thriving folk\/roots music scene. But in recent years the city has also become an incubator for many other musical styles. With a goal of supporting and spotlighting the regional scene for a particularly thunderous brand of rock, Asheville musician and nascent promoter Ray Worth has launched the Heavy Mountain Fest. Featuring ten bands, the metal festival took place September 1 at the Mothlight and September 2 at the Orange Peel.<\/p>\n

A heavy scene
\n<\/b>Ray Worth plays guitar and sings in a heavy rock band of his own, Bask. And he works at the Orange Peel. So he has a good perspective on the local music scene. He laughs when he says that he\u2019s put in \u201ceight or nine years of market research\u201d into the viability of a hard rock festival in Asheville.<\/p>\n

Worth notes that when he moved her a decade ago, heavy rock choices came in two flavors.\u201dYou saw local bands in 100-capacity rooms, or you could go see Megadeth at the Orange Peel,\u201d he says. But he says that there were no venues that booked hard rock for local audiences of 250 to 500 people. \u201cBut I\u2019ve seen this middle market for heavy music grow in Asheville.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watching venues like the Mothlight and the Grey Eagle thrive while booking artists that draw those size crowds, Worth felt it was time to mount a venture that would appeal specifically to the local interest in heavy rock.<\/p>\n

The Heavy Mountain Festival (stylized as HVY MTN) takes place in Asheville, but Worth hopes to attract fans from out of town as well. \u201cIt\u2019s structured to draw people from Charlotte, Knoxville, Johnson City and all around,\u201d he says. Worth made a point of crafting a lineup that showcases a wide array of heavy rock styles. The bill includes two local bands (Bask and Temptation\u2019s Wings, both profiled below) and two other North Carolina acts (Wilmington-based Toke, and Green Fiend from Charlotte).<\/p>\n

The two-night event also featured four bands from across the Southeast: Black Tusk (Savannah, Ga.), Inter Arma (Richmond, Va.), Young Widows (Louisville, Ky.) and Tampa-based Obituary. Saturday\u2019s headliner is popular metal trio High on Fire from Oakland, Calif.<\/p>\n

Worth believes Asheville is ready for a heavy metal festival of this scale. \u201cMore bands are being developed locally, and there\u2019s a strong sense of community among them,\u201d he says. \u201cA lot of metal fans are seeing that as well, and they\u2019re going out to shows. And that\u2019s making it all work.\u201d He describes the local audience for heavy rock as \u201can open-minded metal crowd scene\u201d that appreciates many different kinds of metal, from doom\/stoner to alternative to avant-garde.<\/p>\n

With the Heavy Mountain Festival, Worth seeks to introduce that scene to the wider community, and he\u2019s aiming to make the experience rewarding for the artists. \u201cIt\u2019s important that each one of the bands walks away from the festival saying, \u2018We want to do this next year,\u2019 he says. And he says that planning for a second Heavy Mountain will start \u201cthe morning after this one finishes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s intent to grow,\u201d he says. \u201cBut for this year, it\u2019s important to come out hard, come out quick, come out swinging.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Temptation’s Wings<\/p><\/div>\n

Into the maelstrom
\n<\/b>Taking its name from a song by doom\/stoner metal band Down, Temptation\u2019s Wings has carved out a distinctive niche for itself. With a sound that\u2019s equal parts theatricality and aggression, the band complements its instrumentation with lyrical and album-art aesthetics that might be termed comic book gothic, like one of Frank Frazetta\u2019s Molly Hatchet album covers come to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a pretty good description,\u201d says guitarist Micah Nix. \u201cWe\u2019re into fantasy stuff as opposed to lyrics about everyday life: Lord of the Rings<\/i> and Conan the Barbarian<\/i>, and we like Marvel superheroes; sort of comic book-ish storytelling.\u201d The band\u2019s lyrics about vikings and witches are set against hypnotic, bone-crushing riffs and a monstrously precise rhythm section.<\/p>\n

Temptation\u2019s Wings came together a decade ago, coalescing around the lineup of Nix plus drummer Jason Gardner and bassist Chad Barnwell. Earlier this year the group added Ryan Fox on bass; Barnwell moved over to guitar. The group released a pair of EPs\u20142011\u2019s WarMallet<\/i> and Legends of the Tusk<\/i> in 2013\u2014and debuted a full-length album, Skulthor Ebonblade<\/i> in 2017. \u201cThat was designed as a concept album,\u201d says Gardner. A live album recorded at the Grey Eagle, Savage Tales<\/i>, will see official release in September.<\/p>\n

Gardner speaks for the whole band when he enthuses about playing the inaugural Heavy Mountain Festival. \u201cWe\u2019re pretty stoked about it,\u201d he says. \u201cNo other local band except for Bask will be able to say they played it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Bask<\/p><\/div>\n

Rambling beyond
\n<\/b>Asheville-based Bask defies easy categorization. Though the musicians \u2013 guitarist Worth plus Scott Middleton (drums), bassist Jesse Van Note and Zeb Camp (guitar) \u2013 didn\u2019t set out with a particular style in mind, the group\u2019s music is a hybrid of psychedelia, melodic Southern rock and Americana, with a rafter-shaking bottom end. \u201cWe never put ourselves in a box,\u201d says Worth. \u201cWe just draw on where we grew up. Most of us were born and raised in the South; it\u2019s in our blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Formed five years ago, the quartet quickly made a name for itself, touring Europe multiple times. \u201cOur first show there was in Poland,\u201d Worth recalls. That show was a huge success. \u201cIt just blew our minds, and it set the tone for the whole month over there.\u201d<\/p>\n

To date, Bask has released two albums. 2014\u2019s American Hollow<\/i> established the band\u2019s effective combination of mountain music themes (with titles like \u201cLand of the Sky\u201d and \u201cHigh Mountain Pass\u201d) and a sweeping, cinematic ambience. Released in 2017, Ramble Beyond<\/i> is an even more successful effort, melding nuance and thunder, while maintaining an Appalachian feel (the cover art is a nod to the legendary Brown Mountain Lights phenomenon).<\/p>\n

In both cases, the band wrote and recorded the music, delivering a finished product to the label. Worth chuckles when he recalls the reaction Bask got when bringing the American Hollow<\/i> tapes to the record company. \u201cWhoa. These dudes have only played, like, two shows and they already have a record?\u201d<\/p>\n

Both albums were created with vinyl releases in mind. \u201cEverything was designed to be enjoyed and listened to on a record player,\u201d Worth says. \u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s 20 minutes on each side of both records.\u201d Bask is pursuing a record deal for its next release, and that will be available on vinyl as well.<\/p>\n

Worth says that Bask focuses on shifting dynamics. He explains: \u201cBring it down, make it sound a little like the Allman Brothers. And then step it up and sound like [Scandinavian metal heroes] Opeth.\u201d But he notes that those influences are only obvious in hindsight. \u201cWe don\u2019t say, \u2018This is what it\u2019s going to be like.\u2019 It\u2019s just how we write songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t do a lot of screaming,\u201d Worth says with a chuckle. \u201cJust a lot of clean vocals and melodies.\u201d He says that the band\u2019s music appeals to \u201copen-minded metal head guys \u2026 and their girlfriends.\u201d<\/p>\n

No banjo duels
\n<\/b>Heavy Mountain brings top-quality metal bands to Asheville, and aims to show visiting concertgoers that there\u2019s more going on in the Asheville scene than just Americana and jam bands. Worth laughs as he recalls some of the reactions his band gets when touring outside Western N.C. \u201c\u2018How long is your set: three and half hours?\u2019 Or, \u2018You\u2019re from Asheville? Where\u2019s your banjo?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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