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doomedandstoned · 2 years

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Bloodshot: ‘Sins of the Father’ Track by Track

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

Maryland lays claim to one of the deepest and longest running heavy music scenes in America, with luminary acts like The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan, Clutch, Black Lung, Internal Void, Alms, Spiral Grave, Iron Man, Beelzefuzz, The Hidden Hand, Revelation, and Wretched among the most widely recognized.

The latest to grace the stage at The Maryland Doom Fest: BLOODSHOT. In their debut album, 'Sins of the Father' (2022), the Free State four-piece dish out a brutal plate made of solid heavy metal, served up with heaping helpings of thrash, sludge, and doom. This recording features Jared Winegardner on vocals, with Tom Stacey helming guitar, Joe Ruthvin on bass and J.B. Matson manning the drums. Savvy readers will recognize some of these guys from such storied bands as War Injun and Earthride.

The more you listen to the record, the more it grows on you, and there's some very good reasons for that. The songs are all very accessible with earthy vocals, catchy motifs, relatable lyrics, and atmosphere that ranges from raunchy to invigorating to sinister. Truly there is life in this blood, so let's explore the album one track at a time, shall we? I've asked frontman Jared Winegardner to give us some background for the journey, as well.

1. Faded Natives

Announcing its presence with three emphatic drum beats, this aggro opener launches a salvo of crunchy, thrash-laden riffage caught in a churning undertow. You'll also get the first of several guitar solos from Tom Stacey, which are a real highlight of the album.

"Faded Natives" references a live action play I saw with my kids called 'Tecumseh.' Chillicothe, Ohio is the area where I grew up and the play is performed there every year in an outside amphitheater, which I highly recommend going to see if you're ever in that area. It’s really not a particularly complicated song to figure out and shares some kinship with another one from a couple decades ago by Anthrax: "Indians." It just seems to get more and more true as time goes on that Native Americans are fading further and further from existence.

2. Visions of Yesterday

"Visions of Yesterday" skates the edges of punk and thrash, accompanied by an urgent heartbeat and a doomy underbelly. It's a shorter number, as fleeting perhaps as our own faded reminisces of days gone by.

This song is about growing older, losing people that you love one-by-one, and doing your best to hold onto their memory and keep them alive in spirit.

3. Zero Humility

A favorite of mine from the get-go, this one wears well with repeated listens. Sporting an undeniable swagger, before you know it you'll find yourself melting right into its groovy central riff. I find myself strongly identifying with its lyrical locus, as well. "Good luck with your sanity, if you're living with me."

"Zero Humility" was written a couple years before I was with the band. It's a good example of a technique I discovered years prior, when something would piss me off and I couldn’t get it out of my head, I would write it out. At the time I just saw it as poetry or sort of like a diary, this one is definitely about the past and during a period where it seemed like the main person in my life at the time was living just to make my life hell. No better way to describe that one.

4. Uncivil Warold

Speaking of engaging thematic content, here's a song that will resonate with anyone who's ever looked at the world's military conflicts with a squint eye. There's something horribly primitive about war at its core, a regression from those higher faculties of reason, diplomacy, and clever problem solving that would otherwise distinguish us as human beings. "Millions of people, thousands of kids, countless murders, millions are spent." The repeated triplet notes on guitar, bass, and drums mime artillery fire, while Bloodshot laments: "Always in battle, no end in sight, the last place an outsider will ever make right."

"Uncivil Warold" is purposely misspelled, because the second word is a combination of "war" and "world." Being in the military gives you a different view on things, and this one started as somewhat of a commentary on wars in the Middle East. As we came close to finishing it up, the Russia invasion of Ukraine started and it fits into the same sort of mindframe. It is mostly commentary on how there are unfortunately people that think it is our country's job to teach other countries how to behave or think, and it is almost always fruitless and very expensive both monetarily and in terms of lives.

5. Beaten Into Rebellion

The compositional style and singing inflection of this number reminds me of Prong's Tommy Victor. It's got one of those choruses you can easily give a hearty hellllll yeah..

Everyone has something that seems to constantly brow beat you until you rebel against it. "Beaten Into Rebellion" is one of those songs that was unintentionally one size fits all. I think the less I say about this the better, because it would shrink the possible size and scope of meaning to people.

6. Worn And Torn

Another dirty punk-thrash number, with a stinging solo and guitar tone that feels as misty as an October shower.

"Worn And Torn" was written prior to the band. It's me in the last year or so of my marriage trying to keep it together and continually searching for reasons or things to hold onto to keep trying. Songs like this I hope people hear and connect with and find some sort of solace, knowing that they are not the only ones feeling like this or in this position.

7. Inside The Outside

Jared's vocals here seem to tap into the rebellious spirit of Nirvana's Bleach. The chorus is addictive and I suspect you will find yourself sporadically singing it whilst folding your laundry.

"Inside The Outside" started with drummer JB's band War Injun. It was a rough demo where the vocalist was sort of just getting ideas, not really any words to it. Our version turned out much different than the original. The title was based on a meme during the plague, where you were allowed to go to a restaurant and eat as long as you were outside but inside a tent, and all the other just crazy things going on in that timeframe. Another one of those songs where hopefully people hear it and adapt it to their experiences or simply enjoy it because people tell us they really dig the groove and sound.

8. Sucking Chest Wound

"Fifteen years and nothing left to say..." This is probably my favorite track of the record. It's grungy as all get-out and has another great chorus. "...with the sunset I ride."

Sucking chest wound is a military term for being shot in the guts while air is coming in and out of the wound. JB was on the money with this one. Lyrics touch on the initial shock of my ex telling me she wanted a divorce and my reaction in the period following. I enjoy playing this one just because of the blues feel (and giving me a break from the harder vocals).

9. Fyre

As we near the album's finish, Bloodshot shift into a groove metal mode. I imagine this as a fitting companion to Lamb of God's "Walk With Me In Hell," chiefly for its dense, rainy guitars and mean vocal approach.

Another purposely misspelled word, because no one could outdo the version correctly spelled by Jimi Hendrix. I wrote this shortly before the band got together, it’s commentary on when all of the 2020 riots were going on and everything seemed to continue in the direction of anarchy in one way or another. This one is kind of humorous to me, because I wouldn’t be able to perform it in a theater as I think there’s still some sort of law where you’re not allowed to yell the word “fire” in a crowded theater!

10. Sins of the Father

"This ship is going down, because you wear the crown." Things draw to a close with the somber title track, a grim reminder of the power of influence we all wield with the younger generation. Vocals are a mix of clean and dirty, accompanied by a "Bury Me In Smoke" kind of marching rhythm and some punchy bass notes. The guitar once again shines, accenting the song with steely, rhythmic nu-metal touches.

"Sins of the Father" is our deepest and most layered song, and probably what a lot of bands would consider their "baby." It was a late entry into the setlist and we named our CD after it. Just like the layering instrumentally, it also layered with meaning. As a parent you want to do your best to not sew bad seeds into your children. Whether it be bad habits or behavior, you want to live your best so they don’t inherit the dumb things that were afflicted upon you as a child. When we started, my guitarist asked me if I wrote stupid lyrics about dragons and such. I replied, “There are plenty of real monsters in the world to write about; no need to write about mythical ones.”

Sins of the Father by Bloodshot sees its wide release on September 15th via Nervous Breakdown Records (pre-order here). Stick it on a playlist with Megadeth, Prong, Corrosion of Conformity, Helmet, and Meshuggah. This is the Doomed & Stoned world premiere.

Give ear...

LISTEN: · Bloodshot - 'Sins of the Father' (Nervous Breakdown Records)

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