I freely admit to being a total sucker for post-rock, so maybe you shouldn't really take my recommendation as being too impartial. But then you should put this vexing ethical quandary aside and check out Form and Fate's new album anyway. After all, it's the right thing to do.

Sol Invictus might actually qualify as post-metal, a spin-off of post-rock that retains the latter's quiet-to-loud dynamics and preference for long, epic instrumental tracks. But post-metal, like the name implies, is more metal. Whereas Form and Fate's previous album, The Form and Fate of Lakes, fits more neatly into the post-rock genre, Sol Invictus definitely does not. It's still got quieter, trippier passages that gradually build into towering monoliths of rock bliss, it's just that those towering monoliths are actually built more of metal than rock. ...

I talked to the band about the album, and I have to say this was one of the most entertaining interviews I've done in a long time. Enjoy.

Antonio: Our last album was about the moon and this time we were like "Fuck the Moon! Let's write an album about the Sun!"*

(*Our last album was not about the Moon.)

WTM: Where was it recorded? How'd that process go?

Russ: Sharkbite Studios, Oakland California. The process was like surfing on a melting stick of butter down an erupting volcano.

Jesse: Adam Myatt. Literally my favorite sound engineer.

Matt: Did I mention Billy Anderson mixed the album? Hey everybody, Billy Anderson (Melvins, Neurosis) mixed the album!

WTM: What would you say are some of the bigger influences on this album, musical and/or non-musical?

Russ: Earth and the sun, mostly. Our previous album was a big influence for me, or the urge to make a better one than before. Somehow "Heavy Metal" influenced us, so much so as the record is "heavy," or "heavier," so I am told.

Jesse: Time was a huge influence. Finding any time when all or even just a few of us were in the same area and available for more than a few hours seemed impossible for about three years. As a result, the recordings were done in short stints with long gaps in between sessions. As trying as the process was on our patience, those gaps ultimately benefited us as it gave us time to evaluate each section of the album and polish anything that felt incomplete.

I don't know if anyone in the band could agree on any specific musical influences. Russ won't take his Beach Boys comp tape out of his truck, Matt eats shit like ISIS for breakfast, Antonio will only listen to a band if its name includes the word "Lamb" or "Castration," Adam lives by some obscure Star Wars code that makes him to listen to Ewok Disco, and I listen to way too much of "Elmo's Song" and "There's a Party in My Tummy, So Yummy, So Yummy!"

Adam: Northern Lights, cannabis indica.

WTM: Were you trying to capture anything specifically, or different from past albums? How'd that work out?

Russ: We tried to make the album more cohesive than the last. As a drummer, I wanted my parts to be simpler, but the compositions for the drum parts to be more thoughtful than on "Of Lakes." I wanted to play less and have it be more meaningful. In fast songs I wanted to leave more space for the drums to sound nice and in slow songs I wanted it to sound heavier. Both results, I think, were achieved by just playing less.

Overall I'd say we knew we were writing a "heavier" record than "Of Lakes". The only real accusation I can make as to how that happened is that Matt (Guitar) listened to only ISIS for about a year and a half, and our bass player is a metal head. If it weren't for those two I think it would have sounded more like Dark Side of the Moon meets Houses of the Holy.

Jesse: I'll admit it — it's a lot easier to just play really fucking loud than to try to compose music that is quiet and still holds a listener's attention. That, and we wanted to write album where the songs were both more concise and more evocative. We mindfully wrote and re-wrote everything with the intent of pushing ourselves away from obvious song structures to find new ways to express ideas. And we just wanted to rock more.



WTM: What else is on the horizon for Form & Fate?

Russ: The million dollar question. I have tried many times to suggest some covers, to no avail. I would really like to attempt a cover of the 007 Thunder Ball theme, the Tom Jones one. We met a woman who claimed to be the female version of Paul Bruce Dickinson at a party, our CD listening party in fact, and I gave her our MySpace URL so I am expecting her to look us up the next time she needs a backing band... So Iron Maiden and other "old-skool" Metal might be on the horizon.

I also predict that we will release an EP containing no guitars. Don't ask me what instruments will take their place, because I don't know. I also predict that the Ghost of Carl Sagan will rise out of the grave and legalize marijuana on all planets of the solar system but Earth, to spur on a new generation of planetary and astrophysical scientists.

Antonio: MySpace is an apocalyptic wasteland. Why didn't you just tell her to wait in the rain until she died?

Matt: We're planning on touring Japan and Europe, by which we mean we plan on continuing to plan on that plan which will remain a plan about a plan for the planned future. Form & Fate World Tour — Plan On It!

WTM: Anything else you want to add?

Russ: Wolves are people, too.

You might recall we recently posted about the Guess the Fest contest, in which you could enter to win some baller ass prize packages for the Fun Fun Fun Fest, going down in Austin, TX on November 5th and 6th. Well, our friends at Transmission Entertainment have just released the following "leak" video to give you some hints about the lineup. Check it out: ...

You might recall we recently posted about the Guess the Fest contest, in which you could enter to win some baller ass prize packages for the Fun Fun Fun Fest, going down in Austin, TX on November 5th and 6th. Well, our friends at Transmission Entertainment have just released the following "leak" video to give you some hints about the lineup. Check it out:



Did you get that? Hope so, cuz you only have about a week left to go to GuessTheFest.com, enter your predictions as to who you think will be playing Fun Fun Fun Fest 6, and enter to win a most-expenses-paid trip to ATX for the fest.

If you don't win, there will be a limited number of discount tickets going on sale next week. Stay tuned...

If you haven't heard Bad Bibles yet, well, don't worry. You will soon.

After being in a synth rock band together for years — and receiving a fair amount of attention for it, too — the members of Bad Bibles decided to start over. New sound, new name, new band.

The result is a band with a style you're probably already familiar with, but when you listen to them you'll realize it's almost eerily familiar. As in, you don't really hear music like this any more. ...

If you haven't heard Bad Bibles yet, well, don't worry. You will soon.

After being in a synth rock band together for years — and receiving a fair amount of attention for it, too — the members of Bad Bibles decided to start over. New sound, new name, new band.

The result is a band with a style you're probably already familiar with, but when you listen to them you'll realize it's almost eerily familiar. As in, you don't really hear music like this any more.

It's unabashed guitar-driven rock. And I do mean rock. I hear lots of punk and hardcore in there, some At the Drive-In style post-punk musical experimentation, some Rollins Band even. But what strikes me most is that lead singer Phil Maves is an honest-to-god lead singer. No instruments are in his hand. There's no flagrant attempts to come off as some tortured virtuoso. Phil gets up there and owns the stage while he belts out the lyrics. I hate to use the word "refreshing" but, dammit... I guess I just did. There's no pretense, no affectation. Just rockin tunes.

That's why you really should do yourself a favor and go see Bad Bibles tonight at Cafe Du Nord. They play with Here Come the Saviours and Phantom Kicks. Bad Bibles will be recording the show because they plan for their first release to be a live EP. So, who knows, you might get to hear your own ecstatic applause on the very first Bad Bibles release.

I asked guitarist Dan and lead singer Phil just what the hell is wrong with them, anyway. Here's what they had to say.

WTM: What's the scoop on Bad Bibles' first release? I'm tired of waiting already!

Dan: We will be recording our Cafe du Nord show on July 13, and possibly the next one, for a live EP. You'll be the first to know when we have something recorded.

Phil: There's a studio demo currently floating around, but it's not a big statement or a proper release. The live EP will be official.

WTM: Self-releasing, label?

Dan: We would probably release this one ourselves in hope of attracting labels.

Phil: Or freeloaders.

WTM: You used to be in a band together called The Actors, and y'all were enjoying quite a bit of buzz. So why chuck it all and start over with Bad Bibles?

Dan: We figured out that The Actors' songs were too stylistically different from one another, which was confusing the audience. Streamlining our music into a single aesthetic has done wonders for us.

Phil: Here's an analogy that explains it: The Actors = Old Yeller; Bad Bibles = the shotgun.

WTM: Was it difficult to make the transition in the studio from the synthy music The Actors were making to the guitar-bass-drums formula of Bad Bibles?

Dan: Was the easiest thing I've ever done musically. I've always loved guitar rock since I was a lad, but never really played it before in a band, which is quite strange actually.

Phil: We knew The Actors were over when someone gave us a two word review: "Synth sandwich."

WTM: What about playing live? I mean, I've seen y'all live and you kill it. But was it challenging at all for y'all to switch it up so drastically?

Dan: The volume and power of a guitar-driven rock band makes it easy to perform. Plus, Frank from El Rio told our old band to drop the synths and play guitars, so we heeded his advice.

Phil: Thanks Frank.

WTM: My favorite thing about Bad Bibles is that you have a real, honest-to-god lead singer. Phil actually has "lead singer presence," too. Are there any lead singers that particularly inspire him?

Dan: Your favorite thing is Phil? Yikes. Sorry.

Phil: I'm influenced mainly by dead stand-up comedians: George Carlin, Rodney Dangerfield, Bono.

WTM: What's the future hold for Bad Bibles? Tours? More releases?

Dan: We will be playing more SF / Bay Area shows soon. We're hoping to play LA in September. We will continue to write too, so check out badbibles.com for updates.

Phil: Heroes of the block. Or blocked from being heroes.

WTM: Anything else you want our readers to know?

Dan: Keep your head in the clouds? Follow us on Twitter?

Phil: My father actually owns one of the Bluesmobiles that was used in "The Blues Brothers." He bought it at a Hollywood auction in Battle Mountain, Nevada. Sadly, all the pictures of me driving it were destroyed in a fire.

You must watch the new Silian Rail video for their track "Moth and Rust". The animation is really moving and fits the feeling and emotion of the song so well. Check it out:

MOTH AND RUST [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO] - SILIAN RAIL from John Christian Ferner Apalnes on Vimeo.

MOTH AND RUST [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO] - SILIAN RAIL from John Christian Ferner Apalnes on Vimeo.

This month we have sets from Paranoids and Excuses for Skipping. Both bands are among Wiretap Music's favorite local bands, and both happened to have been celebrating new releases. Paranoids just released a new 7" single for "The Wheel", and Excuses for Skipping released a new LP, Tonic for Hysteria (check out our review of Tonic for Hysteria and interview with the band, as well as our review of the album release party). ...

This month we have sets from Paranoids and Excuses for Skipping. Both bands are among Wiretap Music's favorite local bands, and both happened to have been celebrating new releases. Paranoids just released a new 7" single for "The Wheel", and Excuses for Skipping released a new LP, Tonic for Hysteria (check out our review of Tonic for Hysteria and interview with the band, as well as our review of the album release party).

We also have a couple tunes by Becky White, who played a benefit concert for Glen Cove that Wiretap Music co-presented with the Rainforest Action Network. Glen Cove is a Native American sacred site out by Vallejo, CA that is only being spared from the bulldozers because of a spiritual encampment that is physically blocking them from moving in. If you want to know more or find out how you can donate to or get involved with this most worthy cause, go to ProtectGlenCove.org.

Listen to the latest Bay Area Live on BTR or via the handy player below.

Paranoids