Gozu + Holy Grove

HOLY GROVERemember when heavy rock bands wrote songs? In the early ‘70s, Grand Funk, Bang, and Deep Purple brought hooks and choruses to seriously weighty tunes. In 2015, Portland, Oregon’s Holy Grove walks in the long footsteps of tradition, pitting soulful vocals, searing guitar solos, and swinging grooves into its own Bic-flicking dinosaur stomp.After wowing NW audiences for several years, the band is now ready to unveil its self-titled debut—seven songs of blazing riffs, and cloud-piercing wails, with enough rhythmic heft to satisfy today’s doom-hungry audience. Vidal’s lyrics of myth and fantasy coast on a massive flying carpet of guitar riffs, kept aloft by a pounding pulverizing rhythm section. Holy Grove is far more than a toe-dipped-in-the magic spring, but a patiently crafted statement of intent produced by the band with major love and assistance from master “engine-ear” Billy Anderson (Sleep, Melvins, etc).Holy Grove is: Andrea Vidal, Gregg Emley, Trent Jacobs, and Ryan NorthropGOZUGozu first appeared on the scene in 2009 with the release of their seven track EP. Consisting of members of bands such as Wargasm and Clouds. Gozu lay down the rock but also bring soul on songs such as the human-empowerment anthem “Rise Up” and D.A.R.E.-baiting “Meth Cowboy.” Fronted by Marc Gaffney, aka Gaff, who has the pipes Chris Cornell used to possess before he started modeling men’s cologne, Gozu plays the sort of music tailor-made to be blasted out on radio airwaves nationwide, ala early Queens of the Stone Age. It’s the kind of music that pulls up alongside you while you’re walking down the street minding your own business, demands that you “get in the f@*ing car,” proceeds to drive 90 mph down the wrong side of the highway, and then drops you off miles from home at some abandoned rest stop. Small Stone Records snapped up Gozu in 2009 and they released their critically acclaimed album "Locust Season." Gozu spent the next year touring the Northeast with bands like St. Vitus, Pallbearer, Fu Manchu, Helmet, Mos Generator, Elder, Lo Pan, Church of Misery and Storm of Light. Following the success of Locust Season in 2010, Gozu returned to Mad Oak Studios and The Bridge Sound and Stage in 2013 to record their second full length album "The Fury of a Patient Man." Fury sees Gozu still driven by Gaff’s melted butter melodies and Doug’s ultra-thick riffs, but the scope has expanded, and whether it’s the 24-minute deconstructed jam of “The Ceaseless Thunder Of Surf” or the High on Fire-style gallop of “Charles Bronson Pinchot,” the band have opened up new musical avenues. Joined by bassist Joe Grotto (Motherboar). The Fury of a Patient Man rages, but Gozu remain in total control and the album is stronger for it, the band proving yet again that those who cry about the death of rock and roll simply aren't paying close enough attention.2014 Gozu embarked on their first European tour playing the Holy Grail of festivals Roadburn and Dessert Fest with Church of Misery and Kvelertak. Gozu also added Warhorse (Southern Lord) drummer Mike Hubbard to the mix. In 2015, Gozu signed to Ripple Music and headed into Wild Arctic Studio with engineer Dean Baltulonis (Primative Weapons, Publicist U.K.) and recorded their third Album, “Revival”. This was the quickest and smoothest album the quartet had recorded. This marks the first recording with Grotto and Hubbard solidifying a rhythm section that truly grooves and lets the thickness settles in rather nicely. With a European tour being booked in September of 2016 and a slew of shows this summer, the band seems to be riding a nice high and doing things on their own terms, which is how those four like to ride, on their own sunset, filled with riffs and melodic rays of light.