Tear Drinker – “A taste of whats to come”
So Tear Drinker refers to people who drink from the Black Seas and it has something to do with Stephen King, whoever that is, and a show called The Outsiders.
That’s all I got.
Now, Beer Drinker- I do know a lot more from experience and that might be the name of my show if I ever get one.
But Tear Drinker the band? Well, they use the tags- metal, doom, hardcore, thrash and Boston.
And though I agree with nearly all of these tags, I feel Tear Drinker in no way sounds like the seventies rock band Boston.
This is another one of Dan Reineman’s numerous musical projects. He seems to start up projects like I go through cases of beer.
And Tear Drinker, I feel, is a great mixed cocktail of industrial, metal, hardcore and punk. That goes great with its’ chaser of power, passion, intensity, expressiveness and guts.
Let’s head up to the bar and order a few of their songs:
With a few, heavy guitar chords answered with a tommy gun like drum roll, “Wolves Will Feast” pauses and then erupts with a scream plus a one hit to the beat rhythm in a guitar backed wailing onslaught. A definite doom metal vibe hangs over the proceedings with vocals bleating bleak and angry lyrics. “Here we go again, with the bastard man, running his mouth. We all want you out of our lives.”
We then move onto a headbanging metal part where the venom doesn’t dissipate. “Couldn’t leave it alone, now the wolves smell blood… Now, it’s time to pay the price. We’ll rip you apart and no one will care. Pray to your God, no one will ever fucking hear.”
This tune combines industrial, metal and hardcore to create an awesome, aural delight for your ears.
“Fin.” comes bashing out with a staccato, eighth note rhythm much like what The Velvet Underground were known for, before some slashing guitars come crashing in along with some emotionally, exasperated vocals. “I’m a burnt up match, endlessly smoldering. Walking on broken glass, I fall on my knees. The shards dig in, I see stars. Light that was, fading gone. Starless skies, emptiness inside.”
This may all be true but this song burns bright and strong and great in my mind.
“1312” starts with a moderate, chopping beat and a wicked guitar lick sounding like something that tastes sour in your mouth, but whets your appetite for more. Then the music blends together in a sort of audio sensory blur, pauses a step, and then we’re jettisoned into a harrowing, hardcore, headlong rush.
This song is like a gun to your head, a knife to your throat in its power and fierceness. It’s similar to a film that gives you horror thrills or a piece of art that overwhelms you, which both of these things this song amply gives you.
“Devil You Know” begins with a solid, rock beat and chuggin’, fuzzin’ power chords that wouldn’t be out of place on a Motley Crue record, which is a compliment coming from me. But I guess, there’s a more industrial, sludge feel to this song and when the lyrics arrive we’re definitely hearing something different.
“Tar black soul, losing control. Bloody knuckles, broken bones…getting stranger, losing touch. On a reality, doesn’t matter much.”
This song ebbs and flows with a headbanging rhtyhm and a full on, pressing hardcore thrust that merges perfectly in the end.
So all this music is great by Tear Drinker- full of integrity and emotion and passion. But what might be even greater is that Dan, the singer man, recently revealed on Facebook that his guilty pleasure is The Spice Girls.
In the mid nineties, I was the bass player in the house band for the Sunday night blues jam at the Midway Cafe. And on my bass, I had cut out the front cover of The Spice Girls in a Rolling Stone issue and taped it on the front of my bass just below the strings.
I also collected some Spice Girls paraphernalia at the time, some I still have.
As great as I think this release by Tear Drinker is, and it certainly meets the criteria of the music we cover-
(I still think this band sounds nothing like Boston).
In no way do they reach the heights, the anointed realms, the majestically grand, artistic pinnacles that The Spice Girls reached.
But then, I guess, no one else will ever succeed in doing so.
And this makes me want to cry!
But I’d rather drink my beers instead of my tears.
(Slimedog)
