ill
Atlanta, Georgia, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
"...It therefore follows that Ill have made a hell of a great rock record – multi-faceted, innovative, heavy, groovy, melodic and eminently listenable. It will give them an excellent chance to rise above the horde of pretenders to the rock throne and to come to be considered in the same category as their influences. “Gotten Gains” is deserving of a status among the top echelon of rock." - Subba-Cultcha
"With one foot firmly planted in the '70s and the other one smashing the door through on 2012, ill sound like they mean business. They have fire in their bellies and balls in their...well, balls. Yes, the ghosts of Seattle are all over this album but ill give their influences a modern approach and it will be interesting to see if Soundgarden can match the competition when they return with a new album." - Uber Rock Magazine
"GOTTEN GAINS is as fine and inventive a debut album as you'll hear this year." - Metal Hammer Magazine
"Gotten Gains by ILL is a very rewarding effort that ticks all the right boxes in the blues, rock and soul categories. Well-written songs with catchy hooks make this album a true winner. I wouldn’t be surprised if Gotten Gains ends up in my year's best list. This is one hell of a record!" - This Is Not a Scene
A dog foaming from its muzzle is certainly a fitting cover for Ill’s second album, “Gotten Gains.” Opener “One Time” is a rabid little sucker, a mongrel gone wild. Ill play heavy rock bordering on stoner, even grazing grunge a little (of the early-90s Soundgarden variety). “There Are Worse Things Than Being Alone” is an amazing song that sounds a bit as though it’s making use of parts from Slint’s “Spiderland” sped up. The sad and quiet “Christine” makes effective use of eerie drones (perfectly kept low in the mix), piano and a sparse, fragile melody on guitar, while the Zeppelinesque drums keep a slow, but steady beat. The piano figures are somewhat reminiscent of various interludes from Nine Inch Nails’ “The Fragile.” The song concludes in an epic, massive way that makes your flesh crawl. It is probably the best piece on “Gotten Gains.” Ill smoothly pull it off to put a berserk uptempo track like “Castration” side by side with a dreamy piano-and-vocal piece such as “Gold and Opal.” Guitarist/vocalist Ryan Waters also plays for Sade, who are paid homage by the cover version of “Pearls,” the album closer. An earthy, gritty album. - ArtistXite
"This will reward the listener with soulful blues infused rock, touching Stoner along the way, though kicking out the sonic levels of Nine Inch Nails. All in all, a very satisfying release with some great solid rock tunes, complimented by the experimental part of ILL, I think this will grow into one of my favourite releases of 2012. A rewarding 8/10" - Planet Mosh
"ATLANTA-based band ill are an evocative fusion of grunge snippets, killer Hendrix-style licks and punk attitude. Opening track One Time storms right out with a screaming guitar solo and flavours of 90s Seattle, while A impresses with an up-tempo beat and vibrant chorus. On the flip side, the delicate vocal work on Christine and Gold & Opal ooze sentiment and angst. This mood continues with added aggression on Bitch before Castration restores the pace with some furious drum beats. As an album, Gotten Gains grows with every listen and will hit the spot for lovers of rock’s various subspecies, while others will be won over by the blend of noisy distortion and soulful grooves." - Soldier
"Atlanta-based trio ill draw on the hard, raunchy blues-metal of Black Sabbath and mix bleak themes with rollicking flair on their waggishly titled new album, Gotten Gains (Glassville). They reveal unexpected influences too; ill’s hearty-toned frontman/ guitarist Ryan Waters is also part of Sade’s touring band and includes a blustering cover of the diva’s early 1990s classic Pearls here. Gotten Gains is gung-ho but it mostly pays off." - Metro UK
"Ill - "Gold & Opal" - Ill mainman, Ryan Waters, might hold down a day job playing guitar for yuppie-soul queen Sade, but this Atlanta trio take the stoner rock formula and twist it into strange shapes. This opiated ballad comes on like Kyuss meeting Radiohead at a sparsely attended funeral". - Classic Rock Magazine
Discography
Down in Deep
Independent album release, July 23, 2009.
ill EP
Independent 3 song EP release, February 2, 2010.
Gotten Gains
Released on GlassVille Records, March 5, 2012
Photos
Bio
ill is a three-piece American rock band based in Atlanta, Georgia.
They started playing together in 2005 as part of a well-established Atlanta band that eventually signed to Universal Records in 2007.
Finding the major label experience creatively restrictive, the three musicians opted out in 2009 and started writing the songs that would soon establish, ill. They released their first independent album, Down in Deep later that summer.
Having spent much of the previous two years on the road, including a tour supporting one of their favorite live bands, Fishbone, ill immediately started booking shows up and down the eastern United States. As the live show progressed, it became apparent that a new album was in order that better captured the sound and the attitude of ill onstage. They started writing in the spring of 2010, during which time guitarist-vocalist, Ryan Waters got called to rejoin the legendary UK soul band, Sade to tour in support of their new album. Ryan started working with Sade in 2000 and was happy to be back, but also wanted to continue creating with ill.
The trio carried on writing and recording during breaks in Sade's schedule and, in the summer of 2011, completed an album entitled, Gotten Gains.
The album soon caught the attention of Dutch record label, Glassville Records and was released on March 4, 2012. The album includes a cover of the Sade classic, Pearls.
The members of ill, Damion Goodpaster (Synth, Piano, and Vocals), Marlon Patton (Drums), and Ryan Waters (Guitar and Vocals) describe their sound as, "Big blues riffs done with a punk attitude and very much rooted in soul. To us, the lines of classification between Ray Charles and Black Sabbath are very blurry".
Their recordings have drawn comparisons to such bands as Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age, The Black Keys and Stone Temple Pilots while the live show was described by one reviewer as "...a stripped down, Hendrix-inspired blues guitar power trio with the sonic ambition of Nine Inch Nails".
ill is looking forward to promoting, Gotten Gains with live shows throughout 2012.
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