Coming out of the woodwork after being unheard for more than 20 years comes the pristine re-release of Vinegar Tom’s (VT) once lost album Volume 1 – and with it a Melbourne garage band that rocked the dive metal scene from the mid 90’s to the early 2000’s. Hailing from Melbourne’s Eastern Suburbs, VT featured a one-time line up of singer and frontman Blair Gowans with brothers Julian Boult on lead guitar, Damian Boult on drums and Damien Hartin on the bass.
Within Volume 1 is a revival of classic unbridled, confronting and sonically challenging metal, brutally laden with stiff riffs and eerie, pained vocalisations. In short – there is no metal style into which VT fits. Remarkably, the VT sound encapsulates all subgenres and none at the same time. With songs like Cellmate, Prick and F.Y.O. (F*** your opinion) – the lyrics are as captivating as the voice of alternative singer Blair Gowan’s aggrieved crooning and are just as socially relevant as they were 25 years ago – and seemingly ahead of its time.
Back as suddenly as they left in 2004, Vinegar Tom presents Volume 1 and the single Cell Mate.
