When New Jersey scene veteran Dan Lorenzo (Hades, Non-Fiction) was looking for musicians for his new project, Overkill’s Bobby Blitz gave him the idea of knocking on John Kelly‘s (Danzig, Type O Negative) door, because – according to Blitz – “he would fit your riffs perfectly“. Blitz was right and Lorenzo and Kelly, who had never worked together before, formed PATRIARCHS IN BLACK.
The duo makes no secret of where the musical heart of this collaboration beats – to put it in Kelly’s words: “All roads lead to Black Sabbath!” So on these nine groovy songs there are many dragging riffs, with which homage is paid to the forefathers of doom, on the one hand – and on the other hand such a snotty-rock charm that would also make the album a perfect soundtrack for a remake of “Easy Rider”.
For “Reach For The Scars”, the duo recruited a whole host of guest musicians who each put their own stamp on the songs. On this album, Karl Agell (COC), Dewey Bragg (Kill Devil Hill), Rob Traynor (Black Water Rising), John Kosco (Dropbox), Eric J. Morgan (A Pale Horse Named Death) and Dave Neabore (Dog Eat Dog), among others, give each song a unique authenticity that makes the overall result an entertaining and varied pleasure.
Their debut album, Reach For The Scars, will be released via MDD Records on July 1st but this week Dave Griffiths sat down with the band for a chat.
You can take a listen to the full interview below: