Black Mastiff – Loser Delusions (2019) (Grand Hand Records)
For fans of Deep Purple, Queens of the Stone Age, Black Keys, Kyuss
Release Date: October 18, 2019
Label: Grand Hand Records
Distribution: Grand Hand Records
Publicist / Media Relations – Jon Asher(@)ashermediarelations.com
Booking: blackmastiffband(@)gmail.com
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“This one rises above the ultra-crowded stoner rock genre with its seriously ’70s vibe, cool and lazy vocal delivery, warm production and adherence to the riff over everything else.” – Exclaim
“Black Mastiff is a power trio that creates their own version of stoner rock. They take a super heavy riff for a ride and explore a groove with a heavy rhythmic infra-structure and beautiful melodic vocals that bear the influence of the sounds of the desert.” – Coachella Valley Weekly
“I’m a fan of music….when you hear music that makes you feel….well, that’s what Black Mastiff did for me…they made me feel…… there was just something there. When music makes you feel anything, anything at all. Happy, sad, takes you back…I don’t care who it is. I don’t care if it’s Earth, Wind or Fire, Motley Crue, if it draws out deep emotion, I become a fan. I became a fan of Black Mastiff when Bruno Fevery and I caught their set….So much so, that I covered one of their songs on my new solo album.” – John Garcia-(KYUSS, Slo Burn, Vista Chino)
“I saw them in Edmonton, Canada. They have such a unique take on music and just when you think you know where it’s gonna go, they take it somewhere completely unexpected….some of their songs remind me of a modern version of The Doors whether they see it or not.” – John Garcia – (KYUSS, Slo Burn, Vista Chino)
Canadian Tour Dates:
October 10 – Lethbridge, AB – Owl Acoustic Lounge *
October 11 – Calgary, AB – The Palomino Smokehouse *
October 12 – Regina, SK – The German Club *
October 13 – Winnipeg, MB – The Handsome Daughter *
October 15 – Sudbury, ON – The Asylum *
October 16 – Ottawa, ON – House of Targ *
October 17 – Montreal, QC – Turbo Haus *
October 18 – Toronto, ON – Hard Luck *
October 19 – Windsor, ON – Dominion House *
October 20 – Hamilton, ON – This Ain’t Hollywood
October 21 – Sault Ste. Marie, ON – Six Two Oh!
October 22 – Kenora, ON – Bob’s Burgers
October 23 – Saskatoon – Black Cat Tavern
October 25 – Edmonton, AB – Temple *
October 26 – Red Deer, AB – The Vat *
* = w/ Chron Goblin
[Download Album Cover]
[Download Album Lyrics]
Album Title: Loser Delusions
Release Date: October 18, 2019
Label: Grand Hand Records
Distribution: Grand Hand Records
Track Listing:
1. Down By A sound (4:44)
2. Bike Club (4:33)
3. Machines (4:23)
4. A Tangle (4:33)
5. Other Kinds (3:46)
6. Star Base 77 (4:02)
7. Paddle (3:57)
8. Mind Vibe (4:30)
9. Spastic Rhythms (4:14)
10. Stranger (4:26)
Album Length: 43:13
Album Credits:
– All songs performed by: Black Mastiff
– All songs written by: Black Mastiff
– Produced by: Bobby Yiannakoulias and Clay Shea
– Recording Engineer: Nik Kozub at The Audio Department
– Mixing and Mastering: Greg Dawson at BWC Studios
– Album artwork: Bobby Yiannakoulias
– Member of SOCAN
– All content is MAPL CanConAlbum Band and Live Line Up:– Bobby Yiannakoulias – Guitar and lead vocals
– Clay Shea – Bass and Backing vocals
– Allan Harding – Drums and Backing vocalsDiscography:2010 – Self Titled EP
2012 – Pyramids LP
2014 – Black Mastiff/John Garcia Split 7” Napalm Records
2015 – Music Machine LP (Co-Produced by John Garcia) New Damage Records
2019 – Loser Delusion LPShared Stage with:Red Fang, The Sword, Boris, Vista Chino, Dead Meadow, Sparta, Here Lies Man, Cancer Bats
Tours and Festivals:
2018 – Okanagan Tattoo Festival – Kelowna
2017 – Up and Downtown Festival – Edmonton
2017 – 420 Music Festival – Calgary
2017 – Vantopia – Equity
2016 – Levitation – Vancouver
2015 – Riot Fest – TorontoMusic Placements:
2015 – The Smalls Documentary “Forever Is A Long Time” Film introduction has a live performance of the song “Damned” from the album “Music Machine”
L-R: | Allan Harding (Drums) | Bobby Yiannakoulias (Guitar and Vocals) | Clay Shea (Bass)
Photo Credit –A.Kalinowski
Edmonton’s Black Mastiff (Bob Yiannakoulias, Clay Shea, Allan Harding) is a band built around lifelong friendship and having fun, a vibe they’ve extended to both their porous, heavy, and vigorous live performance, and their recordings: their first album Pyramids noted for “ris[ing] above the ultra-crowded stoner rock genre with its cool and lazy vocal delivery, warm production and adherence to the riff over everything else” (Greg Pratt Exclaim Magazine, 2012). Also elevating the band’s sound is their continued blending of expected and unexpected influences—everything from 70s metal to Stevie Wonder. When I write guitar riffs I usually imagine Stevie Wonder is singing the notes, says singer Yiannakoulias. If I can hear his voice in my notes then I’m keeping it. So is Stevie Wonder stoner rock!? Sure why not.
With their third full-length album Loser Delusions (Fall 2019), keeping it together became a literal priority. During the four years since their well-received Music Machine (New Damage Records, 2015), recorded and beautifully produced at Thunder Underground Studio in the desert of Palm Springs with John Garcia (Kyuss, Vista Chino), the trio had to change their perception of how a band operates. Already Renaissance men and entrepreneurs in other life ventures, when facing unforeseen challenges the band sharpened their production and business know-how by starting their own label, Grand Hand, with tour mates Chron Goblin. When drummer Allan moved to Vancouver, they decided to see how distance apart could add to, rather than take away from, their creative process and sound. The result is a determined continuation of what they do best, with a voyaging out into new sonic territory.
With Loser Delusions, one still hears Black Mastiff’s signature groove: sly, moody, leaning into a blizzard of distortion. Again, the comradely instrumentation contrasts nicely with Yiannakoulias’s singular, yearning, existential vocals that speak to his listener in clouded lonely confessions, through half-glimpsed, elemental psychic-scapes of uncertain sky, rising rivers and darkness “looking for something that does not exist yet.” But the musical and lyrical theme of artistic searching for new experience is heightened on Loser Delusion, the tone more awake, the touch more urgent: we all need a rest, getting through this mess Yiannakoulias sings on the first track “Down By a Sound”.
With the freedom of independent time, there was more pre-production consideration—most notably, the conscious addition of quiet, fast and loud songs to their mid-tempo repertoire. There’s also the inclusion of curious electronic intros, big undulating walls of layered guitar that rise up excitedly around base tracks, and engulf the syth sounds borrowed from recording agent Nik Kozub (The Audio Department, Edmonton). Physical distance between members has also contributed to the albums big sound. Sometimes, says Yiannakoulias, there are elements, like in the end of the song “Stranger” [the last track], that sound like… the size of the gap between us. Complementing this experimental phase was the blast of getting things done: music files flew back and forth across provinces—bass and guitar parts worked on by Shea and Yiannakoulias in Edmonton fired off to Vancouver to be filled in by Harding who later completed his parts on ten songs in record time, pushing his masterful drum skills to the max.
Loser Delusions, a pun on the Guns ‘n Roses infamous album, suggests humour is integral to the serious reach for creative betterment that brings exciting rewards but also lures one into a business that is tricky at best. Hope the station knows that I’ve arrived: its lyrics grapple ambiguously with questions of authenticity, but Black Mastiff is a band mature enough musically and professionally to harness illusion while also confronting the ego’s delusions. As they say: We try not to take ourselves too seriously but that doesn’t mean we aren’t seriously working.
Bio by Thea Bowering
