Catch-up: Bridgebuilder says goodbye, Throne of Lies, Shramana has a record and Total Combined Weight

Ok. I have a lot of material but I don't really need all of the fluff. Let's get down to business, shall we?

1) Bridgebuilder
Bridgebuilder was a band. That's a weird thing to say, given that David Johnson, sole proprietor, has called every incarnation of his personal writing by that name. It's had a different line-up quite a few times, being a lovely blend of many genres. The most persistent sound that was made by the group was a post-hardcore/artsy noise rock that often bordered on metal. At times it was heavier, at times it involved taping keys down on a keyboard, modulating feedback and banging on sheet metal with a hammer. David Johnson now plays bass with Shramana, Bjorn plays with Memo to Maury and Matt plays D&D with me on Wednesdays. Here's the title track to the last BB EP being played as their last song at the VFW.

2) Throne of Lies
Holy black metal, Batman! It's been since. . .forever that a town like Missoula gets lucky enough to have a band like Throne of Lies. . .exist. Yes, it's black metal, but one could go so far as to call it blackened death metal, but I think of it as deathened-black metal. That makes sense, right? These dudes listen to Amon Amarth. Like, a lot. It's pretty apparent. I can't get enough of it. In my ear holes. They'll be around awhile. Go see them the first chance you get. Here they are performing at Zombie Tools without their singer as he was in fuckin' AFRICA.















3) Shramana
Shramana is my band, so I'm not comfortable talking about the quality of our music, etc. I'm proud of a lot of the music I write and our execution of it. We released two full length albums on June 16th and are available on our website. This is a new track, the first time we played it live. See if you can spot the multiple errors! We're playing August 4th at Zoo City Apparel with Same Sex Dictator, August 15th with JERCS at the VFW, August 18th at the Lab with TIGON and Bone Dance, September 4th at the Lab for TOTALEVICTIONFEST and more to come. Stay tuned.

4) Total Combined Weight

Some 30somethings in Missoula who liked heavy music said, "Fuck it, let's start a band." It's chronicled by their bassist quite well here . Actually, you should just read that article, it explains the band much better than I could. However, I'll say that there's something to be said for a band that combines pop sensibilities into punk without becoming a pop-punk band. I enjoy their music and apparently so do a lot of other people, that's why they had a residency at the VFW several months back. The night with the best turnout saw a night of covers, with every band playing a cover set tailored to their tastes. TCW weighed in the heaviest and played Minor Threat's discography, start to finish (the finish seemed a little hazy), including Out of Step twice. They are currently on hiatus while members enjoy the beginnings of fatherhood.

There's plenty more good music to see, what with TotalFest XI just around the corner, the Melvins are coming to town and Korpiklaani coming to Billings, I'll get as much as I can up here. In the meanwhile, I'll try to get my album reviews for my playlist adds for KBGA up here ASAP as well as the Dirty Flannel playlist. I'll be on air from 6-8pm tonight playing Melvins Lite's Freak Puke, Mares of Thrace and the New Baroness.