Local hard-riff rock band to team up with Ian Blurton for debut album
“As far as we’re concerned if a band can’t track beds off the floor it ain’t worth recording.”
For their debut album, Saskatoon’s Black Hell Oil didn’t have to stray too far from home. But they did have some help. The band started in 2013 after Breaker Breaker and Cease and Desist both called it a day, and within three weeks of forming Black Hell Oil hit the studio to record with Toronto’s Ian Blurton, who produced and tracked with the group at lead singer and guitarist Chad Mason’s own Sinewave Studios.
“Ian just happened to be in Saskatoon at the time to play with the Junior Pantherz at Mosofest 2012 Saskatoon so we seized the opportunity to work with him,” says Mason.
“We’re actually sending the tracking back with Ian this week to be Blurtonized and mixed in Toronto. Once the songs are finished they will be put out on vinyl along with our new recordings that we’ve being producing ourselves over the past few months.”
Taking the crunch and crackle of a workhorse tube amp and running it to within inches of blowing up, Black Hell Oil take their cues from vintage stoner metal rock riffs and give them a good pounding. But while the sound is rooted in sludge there is also an element of groove amidst the bludgeoning rhythms.
While there is no word on a release date for the new album, Mason expects that the band will be playing several more shows in the foreseeable future.
“The plan obviously is to get out and tour this summer promoting our live shows and recordings and try to pick up a few fans along the way. That’s what it’s all about isn’t it?”
– Black Hell Oil take the stage tonight, Friday, Jan. 3, at Amigos along with Shooting Guns and Ian Blurton’s Public Animal.