EPK – Vantablack Warship – Last of the Hardmouthed Poets (2023) (BAM & Co. Heavy)
Publicist – Jon Asher – jon[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
“Fans can expect more new music soon…in terms of the tracks on Last of the Hardmouthed Poets, it all came together organically but was mainly inspired by the writings of Beat Generation authors, and various life themes such as loss, perseverance, anti-racism and cherishing the important things in life.” – Vantablack Warship
For fans of Pantera, Cro-Mags, Exodus, Cancer Bats, Slayer
Band: Vantablack Warship
Album Title: Last of the Hardmouthed Poets
Release Date: April 28, 2023
Label: BAM & Co. Heavy
Distribution: BAM & Co. Heavy
Bamand.co | Facebook.com/VantablackWarship | Twitter.com/VANTABLACKWRSHP | Youtube.com/@vantablackwarship7199
Spotify | Vantablackwarship.bandcamp.com
Vinyl – https://boutique.boiteamusique.ca/qc/vantablack-warship/33280-vantablack-warship-last-of-the-hardmouthed-poets-lp-vinyle.html
CD – https://boutique.boiteamusique.ca/qc/vantablack-warship/33279-vantablack-warship-last-of-the-hardmouthed-poets-cd.html
Digital – https://bfan.link/last-of-the-hardmouthed-poets
Canadian Campus Radio Charts:
“I need an album like this to come along every now and again. An album to fire you up, get the blood pumping and a nice reminder that you’re not as old as your body feels.” – Smorg Magazine
“If you have never listened to VANTABLACK WARSHIP, I advise you to start with “Unplug The Drug”, which is really excellent. Don’t miss them on show, because with a release like this, it’s going to be brewing in a medium time!” – Metal Universe
“From the fiery crucible of Quebec’s metal scene, Vantablack Warship rises once more with their latest opus, “Last of the Hardmouthed Poets“. The ensemble, made up of stalwarts from an array of legendary bands including Les Ekorchés, Leprocy, Buffalo Theory Mtl, Arseniq33, and Ghoulunatics, have been fanning the flames of thrash, hardcore, and groove with unyielding tenacity.” – IDIOTEQ
““Last of the Hardmouthed Poets” is a record of condensed tracks and furious energy. Each title is a muscular cocktail” – Music Waves
“Last of the Hardmouthed Poets demonstrates a clear progress at all levels for the Montreal quintet and the starting spots in the leading squad of the most important bands in the current Quebec metal scene. Already a candidate for the metal album of the year in Quebec!” – Famille Rock
“It’s a menacing mix of explosive thrash and you can let it pummel your senses by hitting play” – Exclaim!
“Altogether, it’s a worthy successor to the metal records of the past and is worth checking out for fans of “dirty” metal. If you’re into dark metal and give this a listen, you’ll no doubt have a good time – and that’s most of what life’s about anyway, right?” – New Noise Magazine
“thrash, groove and gnarly vocals…it’s metal from start to finish and yet the overwhelming sense throughout is that this band’s attitude is punk to the core.” – Five Albums
“You won’t get many underground albums that are as heavy as this one! Great scores for great albums are well deserved. Go get this one ASAP!” – Grimm Gent
“Assurément un groupe québécois à suivre et à ne pas manquer lorsqu’ils se produiront en spectacle dans votre région. Croyez-moi sur parole, Vantablack Warship – le mini-album et le groupe – fera date dans l’histoire de notre métal. ” – Muzik Injection
“Vantablack Warship est à surveiller en 2018 et avec la sortie de ce premier album, il pourrait être l’une des grosses surprises au Québec cette année.” – Metal Universe
“Eight tracks of titanic metal that spans sub-genres. From the opening hardcore groove of Another Dead Rockstar to the fierce riffing & desperate screaming vocals of Black Tongue Bertha to the moshpit anthem of Blood on the Mat, Vantablack Warship spit corruptible venom with their in your face efforts.” – Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life
“If you want a hard-hitting album with more than one theme, lots of variety and even more headbanging, don’t forget to pick up Abrasive Pulmonic Speak.” – Canadian Beats
“The six songs are exactly what you would expect from a band in this genre, hard, ruthless, aggressive and this with a healthy dose of “f*ck the world and all in it” attitude…With this short record, Vantablack Warship shows they fit right into the current crossover scene and fans of bands like Municipal Waste or Suicidal Tendencies can surely appreciate this little piece of work.” – Lords of Metal
“It’s a hard hitting good time from start to end, no weak spots. It’s a mind bending cluster fuck to the tenth power. The vocals through out the album, so rich, yet so creative and they are their own thing. The melodies and mixing, everything has been extraordinary. It was more than a pleasure to listen to this!” – Taste of Khaos
“play a remarkably catchy brand of rocking deaththrash” – The Killchain Blog
“I’m very much digging it and hopefully there will be more coming from Vantablack Warship because I’ll be spinning this one over and over again.” – Thy Demons Be Scribblin
” Vantablack Warship wear their influences for all to see, there is, thankfully, no doubt that they have a sound that is all their own, or at least a sound made their own. Opening track You’ll Burn brings to mind Entombed’s 1993 classic Wolverine Blues, – as do all six tracks, in fact – but never to the point of plagiarism, and although Cancer Bats, Pantera and Slayer are all obvious influences too, there is no sense that you’re hearing a poor imitation, just a kick ass band with great taste in music.” – Morat 666
Band: Vantablack Warship
Album Title: Last of the Hardmouthed Poets
Release Date: April 28, 2023
Label: BAM & Co. Heavy
Distribution: BAM & Co. Heavy
Track Listing:
1 – Blacklisters Lament – 0:36
2 – We Shall Not Sleep – 3:14
3 – Hunting the Recruiter – 3:09
4 – 40 Acres – 3:19
5 – Choose Your Ride – 1:55
6 – Unplug the Drug – 2:11
7 – Laughing In Anger – 3:47
8 – Gone – 2:39
9 – Inside His Mind – 3:12
10 – Fameless – 2:19
11 – Above it All – 2:12
Album Length: 28:38
Album Recording Credits:
• All songs performed by: Vantablack Warship
• All songs written by: Vantablack Warship
• Produced by: Vantablack Warship
• Mixed by: Pat Knup
• Mastered by: Alberto De Icaza
• Member of SOCAN
• Music is Canadian Content (MAPL)
Album Band and Live Lineup:
Patrick Gordon – Guitar
Yannick “Pil” Pilon – Vocals
Thierry Hivon – Guitar
Kurt Clifford – Bass
Pierre Pitre – Drums
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Track by Track explained by Vantablack Warship singer Yannick “Pil” Pilon’s perspective.
WE SHALL NOT SLEEP
The 1st song of the album (after the intro!). Big catchy riff that along with the drums pound solid! The 2nd part of the song is a big heavy breakdown which I repeat until the end ”Find what you love and let it kill you…” I love it! It opens the album nicely. Basically, we say that nothing will stop us from doing what we want. No matter the obstacles, we found what we love until we die…! It’s our choice as the 1st video… to do with… you!
HUNTING THE RECRUITER
It’s the slowest song on the album with a heavy screeching riff. Worse, I took my voice out of Tom Araya! Crisse that she returns to the station. In this song, we put the listener in the shoes of a sexual predator tracker who decides to take action to finish the activities of the latter… We played it 3 times in show and it’s the song that has the best reactions to date.
40 ACRES
Our tribute to Slayer! From the first notes, put on your tuque, it’s pure trash! Pierre bludgeons his drum à la Lombardo and the guitars are surgical. The song refers to the promise made by the Union government during the Civil War to give freed African-American slaves 40 acres of farmland and a mule. A promise that ended badly… one of the many injustices suffered by African-Americans.
CHOOSE YOUR RIDE
The shortest song on the album, 1m.55 A real punch in the face! The bass is monstrous and the drum beat is haunting right through to the chorus which is powerful and fuckin’ catchy. It stays in your head! The message of the song is that you have to choose your own path in this crazy changing world. Not always in the right direction… According to Knup (the one who recorded and mixed the album), it’s the ”Hit” of the album! One of my top…
UNPLUG THE DRUG
Ho my god Becky! (early sampling). Song with a sick Groove! It contains my favorite guitar solo from the album. ”It’s time to turn the channel off, unplug the drug” that’s what we should do more often…the song is about shit that we are bombarded on our screens and that at a certain point, we have to ‘unplug’ ourselves to remain sane.
LAUGHING IN ANGER
The song is divided into 2 parts. The 1st is rather metal with a twist of swing when I shout “Somewhere, sometime, you’ll be reborn” The 2nd part embarks on a Hardcore/Punk trip, a crossover song! Pat and Thierry exchange solos, typical of 80s trash bands, really cool. The song is inspired by the spontaneous prose technique used in Jack Kerouac’s Dr.Sax and is about breaking free from frustrating situations and having the last word and/or laughing… Huh!… We are able to play to the nerds!
INSIDE HIS MIND
Fuckin’ death riff! I really like my vocals on this song. When the choruses arrive it opens up so much! We added sharp and dissonant guitars to have a bit of a Black metal feeling! The song is in a way a reflection on a suicidal person, silence, and secrecy. We don’t provide answers, only questions…
GONE Moi pis Pat we think that if there is a song from the album that could go to CHOM, it’s her! It wasn’t our original intention, but it’s our radio-friendly song. The bridge is very eye-catching. It’s a look at the 1st strict confinement that we had. We pushed the reflection if this one had been extended forever! Looks like Vantablack trying to make a System of a Down tune…!
FAMELESS
I love the beginning of the tune, the guitar with a less loud ca-cane sound and when the band embarks it rocks! The chorus with the dissonant guitar is really cool (a nod to old Meshuggah!). The bridge (breakdown) is really too cool in the song. It makes you feel like headbanging until your head drops… It’s about the fact that there are so many bands who want to become ”rich n famous” who are ready to do anything whatever they forget the basics… write good songs!
ABOVE IT ALL
The song that ends the album, is N.Y. Hardcore style! We wanted to do something different by bringing a clean vocal during the verses. Circle pit, Mosh pit, trash zone, pit, etc… it’s the perfect tune for that! I love Thierry’s guitar solo, it’s captivating! We wanted to image Yin and Yang through the deadly sins and what could be the opposite. We end up saying that we are above all this shit… I’m above, all of your bullshit, I’m above it all
L-R – Pat Gordon – Guitars, Pierre Pitre – Drums, Yannick “Pil” Pilon – Vocals, Thierry Hivon – Guitars, Kurt Clifford – Bass
Photo Credit – Photo: Michel Beaudin
Following their 2018 sophomore album, “Abrasive Pulmonic Speak”, which was welcomed with rave reviews, Montreal, Canada’s Vantablack Warship is back with a hard-hitting, head-banging masterpiece. “Last of the Hardmouthed Poets” offers 10 tracks of titanic metal for fans of all genres. The album title is a homage to the blacklisted authors of yesteryear and reminds us not to take for granted freedom of speech and freedom of thought.
This highly anticipated return of Vantablack Warship will be released on vinyl and CD through BAM & Co. Heavy. Following this debut single, fans can expect a number of lyric videos to be released over the coming months to showcase the album, designed by artists from all around the world. A local listening party is slated on Saturday, April 22nd at Boite à Musique (2000 Rue Notre Dame E, bureau 201) at 11AM local time, fans who purchase the album will also receive a free beer! The band will also be performing shows across Québec and Ontario including April 22nd in Gatineau at the Minotaure with B.A.R.F., May 6th for the 40th anniversary of the Foufounes Electriques, and June 2nd with Demonstöne in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and more to be announced shortly in Alma and St-Casimir, Québec.
Vantablack Warship’s name is a nod to the mighty Black Sabbath and their riff-driven power chord assault is recommended for fans of Pantera, Cro-Mags, and Exodus.
“Last of the Hardmouthed Poets” is due out on April 28, 2023, via BAM & Co. Heavy.
Discography:
2023 – Last of the Hardmouthed Poets
2018 – Abrasive Pulmonic Speak
2015 – Self-Titled
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