Gypsy Chief Goliath

A great interview on Canadian Musician Radio, with Al the Yeti Bones frontman of Canadian band Gypsy Chief Goliath. Conversation is all about how the band has been picking up worldwide accolades from all over, but how Canada still has yet to pick up on the insane amount of buzz surrounding this band. - Andrew King Editor of Canadian Musician

“New Machines Of The Night” by Gypsy Chief Goliath

Hard Rock/Blues Rock

Released October 08th 2013

Gypsy Chief Goliath is a very interesting breed, combining stoner rock, classic rock, blues rock, traditional heavy metal, and all that great old school stuff that Gypsy Chief Goliath seems to love as much as I do. So let’s just get this out of the way because it needs to be said; not much has changed since their debut. At all. For me, this is great, as they’ve brought out yet another meaty slab of catchy rock n’ roll, with better production and better sound mixing. But that aside, I wouldn’t argue if somebody were to call this lazy. Gypsy Chief Goliath has potential to be really big, and they only barely tap it here. As much as I love the super soulful hooks of ‘Got No Soul’ or the thick riffs of ‘St Covens Tavern’, I can’t help but imagine what the band could have accomplished if the band opted to make their sound heavier or focus their influences. That all aside, “New Machines Of The New Night” is a sheer joy nonetheless, infusing the lighter styles of rock into one super soulful and enjoyable nonetheless. And god damn, this singer is fucking GREAT.

Rating: 4/5 (Great!) - Bring On The Metal

In lieu of my usual pre-review banter, I’m just going to swoop in and dive right into this one with a skull in my hand (that’s a clever nod to the album art, just so you know I’m not a total psychopath). Gypsy Chief Goliath’s (GCG) latest album, New Machines of the Night, features 10 tracks and runs about 45 minutes; it’s a good length and there’s a fair amount of diversity in its composition. The songs are meaty, with most lasting between 4 and 6 minutes in length, normally I’m not a fan of longer songs, as I find the rhythm gets stale, but Gypsy Chief Goliath remedies this by changing up riffs, adding breakdowns, or giving a different intro and outro – and it works, for the most part. I never got bored while listening to a particular song, riff, or rhythm, which is a feat considering the length of these songs! Though I wasn’t a huge fan of the initial tracks, I’ve been at this long enough to know it’s a game of tastes, and about 10 minutes into the album there’s a tonal shift that I have to admit I was digging.
I’ll admit to being skeptical of the first few songs, the melody in “Uneasy Kings” failed to grab me, and I’m not too keen on the gothic sounds brought forward in “Are You Pulling Through”, but the album picked up for me 3 or 4 tracks deep. The harmonies introduced in “Dirt Meets Rust” and “Busting the Avenue” are fantastic, the way they clash with the vocals is stirring, it really does all come together. Standout tracks are “Got No Soul” and “St. Coven’s Tavern”, with the former being my favourite song on the album. If you want to get a good idea of the shift in tone and how New Machines of Night sounds, lend your ear to “White Owl” – which presumably inspired the cover, though it doesn’t feature any lasers… – it has a soft lead-in and picks up with strong chords and cascading rhythms about a minute in, it’s fantastic.

Though the album didn’t have the amount of laser beams the cover promised, it was a good time, and if you’re a fan of metal, deathmetal, hardcore, grindcore, metalcore, or laser-beam-shooting-owlcore, I’d definitely recommend it (Okay, maybe one of those genres was made up… Maybe one). The release party for New Machines of Night is October 12, 2013, so make sure to catch them live (I know I’ve done it!) and tell them how good they sound!
- cHurch House

Coming from Ontario Canada, Gypsy Chief Goliath certainly lives up to their name, at least the third word. On their second album, New Machines of the Night, the band delivers some heavy rock of herculean proportions. And if you're going to go big, then bring the mammoth riffage with not one, not two, but three guitars.
Gypsy Chief Goliath New Machines of the Night Band Photo
Gypsy Chief Goliath: lots of guitars.
But for GCG it's not simply heavy rock, even though the foundation comes from many of the members history in doom and stoner bands. This latter characteristic is lessened as the band goes after a more melodic rock groove. Then they mix things up, for a blues effect, by throwing in copious amounts of harmonica.
The harmonica line can be surprising and varied across this album. On Are You Pulling Me Through, one of the heaviest songs here merging heavy stoner rock with growling vocals, the harp is withering and spooky. Alternatively, on St. Covens Tavern and Got No Soul, it has the definite blues edge. These two songs also have more of that up tempo rock groove infecting their natural heavier sound. The strongest blues chord is struck in Secret Liaison especially in the first guitar line. Otherwise, in general, New Machines of the Night is purely an exercise in heaviness across the entire album. And if that's your thing, especially with a shot of blues harp, you'll likely dig this album. - Danger Dog Reviews

Pitch Black Records
2013

Faithful readers (all dozen or so of you) might recall that I just covered these guys back in August of this year. Their "Black Samurai" single grabbed hold of my inner groove thing and shook it about like a hungry dog attacking a juicy steak! That sweet soul sister of a single might have been a tad old, which you can read all about at the link below (should you desire), but it sounded fresh and amazing to my ears. It caused me to look for further material that I might have missed and I stumbled upon another one of their tracks on the compilation "Axis Of The Underground Vol.2 Compilation Album". The song on that comp. was "St. Covens Tavern" and it's included on this, the band's second studio album. Of course you can also find that single on Youtube and the compilation might very well still be floating around online as a digital download. But, why mess with all of that when you could just get the song with the new album? And yes, it is another cool slab of stone cold grooves from this Canadian bunch! How so? Well, the band is lead by vocalist/guitarist Al the Yeti Bones (The Mighty Nimbus, Georgian Skull and Mister Bones) and features not only a three guitar attack, but also rustic harmonica playing courtesy of Brodie Stevenson! Brodie gives the band a different, more blues-based, vibe then the bulk of stoner rock bands who can be seen and heard traveling up and down the dusty back-roads of America. Want more information though about what these guys roll out? Imagine this one folks: On a small dirt road somewhere in the middle of anywhere/nowhere U.S.A. classic rock and classic heavy metal converge at a three way stop with Black Sabbath. After exchanging some pleasantries and sharing a pint or two at the only bar for miles and miles the three set off some mysterious destination. At the end of their strange and bewildering trip they are confronted by the ghost of Phil Lynott who tells them, or rather commands them!, to morph their talents into the gnarliest rock band ever! Before leaving though Phil posses each and every member of this new super trooper act so that no groove will be left uncovered at the next part of their journey. That my friends and fiends is what Gypsy Chief Goliath (GCG) cooks up on their new album! And what's a main dish like that without some tasty side dishes? One of those tasty side dishes is the previously mention three guitars aspect of GCG. As these guys rock hard it helps matters that they are blessed with the skills of guitarists Dave Ljubanovich and Sean Hamilton. Three guitars makes for three times the fun. But, what happens when you also add Sean De Faria and Adam Saitti (bass and drums respectively) into the equation? The answer is simple folks. You end up with a must-own (and most certainly must-blast) collection of blues-based, rocking good times, stoner tunes that take everything you thought you knew about real, cold sweat and colder beer, rock and roll and gives it a much needed face lift! Rarely has stoner rock and roll ever sounded so alive and ready for the world as it does on "New Machines of the Night"! - Heavy Metal Time Machine

Pitch Black Records

https://www.facebook.com/GypsyChiefGoliath

GYPSY CHIEF GOLIATH is a Canadian band that falls under the category of stoner metal. Is this term correct? It surely is, but still it’s not enough or adequate to describe the depth, variety and pioneering nature of this endeavour.

“New Machines of the Night”, which happens to be their sophomore studio album, is beyond the stoner metal term… If you want to have a better understanding of their music bring to your mind an amalgam between stoner metal bands and THIN LIZZY, cause this is exactly how they sound! They also kinda brought to my mind SLOUGH FEG another special band with a unique sound. So, prepare to listen to top notch compositions with catchy tunes and sing along choruses that have references from hard rock, stoner, blues, rock ‘n’ roll and classic rock. The musicians that comprise the band are very talented and bonded and the three guitars make sure they deliver and create a really heavy and solid sound. The vocals are another element that makes GYPSY CHIEF GOLIATH stand out with their special hue and style. So, if you find all these elements and sounds interesting then believe me you’ll definitely love this band! Hail!
8/10 - Behind The Veil

I don't know if you remember but I already reviewed an album of this band, GYPSY CHIEF GOLIATH. In order to make your lives easier I will refer to them as G.C.G. When I first heard that the band is about to release a new album, I was a bit upset that this news piece just passed by without me knowing about it. Should I blame my editor for that? I wanted to but decided to shoot a flare gun from the roof top of my house for him to notice my plea. In reality I just sent him an e-mail and it took him less than 10 minutes to send me the new "New Machines Of The Night", which was quite an adventure, so how about me telling you about it?

Opening with melting steel guitars is "Uneasy King" kicking in the low tuned chords from hell, it takes only a moment to understand what just hit you as the punch come from Al "The Yeti" Bones, harnessing the vocals with an immense low register vocals that goes 100% with the guitar. On top of all that the song is very catchy. No doubt this is a start to be desired by many bands of the genre.

"Are You Pulling Through" reminds that G.C.G. is in its core a Southern meets Stoner band with that fine addition of the harmonica. However the guitars are amazing as well, tuned again alongside The Yeti’s vocals performing another catchy chorus. Later on I noticed that this song is actually an intro, or a presentation of a future hitter in the image of "Dirt Meets Rust", a more Doomish in style that reminded me that G.C.G. can deliver on all sorts of Stoner Metal aspects.

Maybe, just maybe, the best song on the album is "St. Covens Tavern". What an amazing experience adding a Folkish type rhythm and excellent guitaring skills for a classic in the making. However if "St. Covens Tavern" is the strongest of them all within this album, no doubt that "Got No Soul" is maybe the song of the year, a mix of Stoner meets Southern Rock engulfing The Yeti’s top notch vocal performance, and a shred of harmonica. I just couldn’t stop listening to this number, already at my sixth time.

Believe me when I say that there are no weak songs or points on this album. "New Machines Of The Night" is what makes this album a masterpiece of 70s classic Rock, entangled with Stoner Metal, a dash of Sludge and adding to the mix elements of melody and 90s Grunge for good measure. Infusing these ingredients together can create havoc, a little fishy at times, yet, at least this time around, it could be reckoned as the surprise of the year or should I say best album?

You must excuse as another listening session with this one is clicking than keep on writing stuff. You should join me, the more the merrier.

10/10 Masterpiece - Metal Temple

Whether smouldering incandescently on the senses or burning them with blazes of blues soaked melodic rapaciousness, New Machines of the Night is one furnace of an album, a rigorous force which seizes senses and passions taking them on a goliath ride of heavyweight rock and metal fusion. Building on from their acclaimed debut, Canadians Gypsy Chief Goliath explore imagination and heart with ten slabs of scintillating and bruising rock ‘n’ roll. Classed as a stoner metal band, the Ontario sextet bring so much more to their presence and sound, the new album a magnetic fury of southern and classic rock with stoner and blues rock additives as well as melodic and heavy metal predation. It is a distinct and singular temptation to Gypsy Chief Goliath and in the Pitch Black Records released New Machines of the Night, a triumph at its invigorating potent best.

With songs sculpted by the three guitar assault and enterprise of Al the Yeti Bones, Dave Ljubanovich, and Sean Hamilton, the album is an adventurous and twisting flame of scorching invention and irresistible intrigue. Driven by the rhythmic framing and coring of drummer Adam Saitti and bassist Sean De Faria it is equally impacting with their enslaving spine of commanding persuasion and when you add the outstanding vocals of Al the Yeti Bones, who whether growling or offering a cleaner suasion coats the songs in an extra blaze of passion and energy to compliment the already fierce potency of the songs, the result is one of the best albums of this year. It does not end there though as with the harmonica sultriness of Brodie Stevenson teases the ear and boiling extra ardour, New Machines of the Night becomes an ever greater release combining themes of despair and dark shadows in a presentation which at times finds a feel good factor which has body and soul on their feet with jubilation.

The album stomps in with almost intimidation as opener Uneasy Kings raps the ear with measured beats and sonic spears of guitar cover_600x600strikes, a beckoning which wraps teasingly around the ear inviting thoughts and imagination into its seductive embrace. With the throaty predacious charm of the bass the platform for the excellent vocals to parade the narrative, the track is soon a shady yet dazzling companion, grooves and a sure swagger leading submission by the hand through scenery of Pantera like provocation within a vintage Thin Lizzy bred temptation. It is a striking start and the portent of things to come, certainly with that Lynott and co lilt coming to plenty of the offerings and an overwhelming perpetual contagious presence unveiled.

The following Are you Pulling Through also takes little time in gripping the ear and emotions, its starting stroll of feisty riffs and thumping rhythms aligned to a sirenesque call from the harmonica It soon evolves into an addiction causing growl of downtuned intensive bass and guitar which forges a dark stoner Down like ravishment with doom whispers and melodic acts of delicious discord. Easily continuing the impressive stance and power of the album with the blues furnace of Dirt Meets Rust matching the early heights with its blues swamp of enterprise and adventure the album is already in control of attention and appetite. With a fuller clean delivery to the vocals merged perfectly into his scowling gruffness, Al grabs as much of the attention as the fire spawned sounds. Thoughts of Bad Company make glimpses within the earlier part of the song though its heavier Sabbath suggesting latter portion shows the rich craft and diversity within the songwriting and album.

Busting the Avenue is another impossibly infectious bait of magnetic acidic invention, guitars conjuring a web of unpredictability and smouldering enticement which with the sinews of the rhythms and carnal snarl of the bass swings in comparisons from Clutch and Corrosion of Conformity to Motorhead. From one pinnacle the album provides another, and it’s loftiest in the brilliant wonderfully persuasive form of St. Covens Tavern. The song is glorious, immediately whisking feet and passion on a mesmeric dance of again Thin Lizzy seeped imagination. But it is only a teaser as riffs suddenly show their carnivorous side, barbarous tones springing infectiously from their strings whilst the rhythms equally harden their stance. It is when the folk metal like taunting enters with a whisper of Gaelic folk reminding of Horslips that the track becomes rock manna. It is rapture breeding raptor of a song, a treat which preys on all the weaknesses of the passions to feed all their wants in a multi-flavour insatiable metallic waltz. Not only best song on New Machines of the Night, it is one of those treasures which takes classic status.

The sizzling melodic pyre that is Got no Soul makes a strong rival with its southern blues coating of the ears, harmonica and keys aural alchemy within the cast of guitar and bass passion whilst both Secret Liaison and White Owl provide a slower - Ring Master Magazine

There are people in this world who love music and then, there are people who LOVE music. The latter type of music lover is the sort of person who gets the tingles in their spine when they hear a riff, or connect so deeply with a lyric or song that it feels like a religious experience. To these people, music is a sacred thing, something so pure and beautiful, something so full of worth a monetary value could never be attached. I happen to be one these people. From as far back as I can remember I’ve been surrounded with music. I’ve probably spent years of my life listening to music. It’s almost to the point that I’m listening to some sort of incarnation of music from the moment I wake up till the moment I fall asleep. With that said, music is something I hold very dear to my heart. It’s more than art, it’s more than sound, it’s something that transcends the senses and allows me to enter a realm of emotion – good or bad. It makes me feel things that nothing else in this world could. So, if you’re still with me, why must I say all of this as an introduction to an album review? Well, every so often a band comes round that pens a body of music so full of grit, emotion, tenacity and pure excellence that it reminds me why I love it so much, and why I’ve dedicated so much of my time, money and effort to it. Gypsy Chief Goliath (GCG) is one such band that makes all of that toil mean something. They re-enforce why I feel so strongly about music. Their sophomore album is a ride through musical bliss that with the right set of ears you too can understand.

If you’ve never heard this band of Canucks, then imagine the sounds of 70’s classic rock, meeting stoner metal and then been doused with sludgy goodness, while adding in elements of melody and 90’s-esque grunge for good measure. GCG is quite the obtuse mixture of influence, but the band executes it expertly. At times you will be treated to gruff, sludgy and stoner-y vocal styling and then, it’ll take a one-eighty and go completely clean. This also applies to the guitar work. At times you’ll be immersed in stoner-y goodness and then be treated to clean melodic guitar riffing. It’s almost as if the elements are in constant battle for the limelight and in their wake they create a sound-scape that is not only unique and interesting but, it incites emotion. As I’ve mentioned above, music can have feeling. It can move you, it can upset you, it can soothe you and in this case you can feel the emotion of a hardworking band purveying their troubled feelings. The best example of this is, “This White Owl”. It’s got the above mixture of elements and it stirs the emotions deeply. It makes me feel the struggle; that down-trotted feeling. It’s magical. This is testament to their artistic abilities and their love of the craft.

Getting more concrete, the album is a roller coaster ride of tempo and riffing alike. The clean guitars, the distorted guitars, and the melodic work is all so varied and interesting. Besides the emotional side of the album it’s all tied together very well. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and will never feel compelled to skip a track. It’s a very engaging listen. It’s just so many things in one package while not feeling overwhelming. The sign of true talent.

Overall, this album will appeal to quite the audience. It will appeal to the stoner fans; appease the sludge maniacs while intriguing the retro rock fans as well. This album is an opus from a band that is setting out to prove themselves and separate them from the hordes that populate the scene. I feel as if this is just the beginning for a band that feels so real and honest. Truly, do yourself a favour, and listen to this album. It will reaffirm your love for music and once again show you that music truly is the most beautiful thing in the world. This album may just change your life.

9.5/10
- Axis of Metal