Wino - Punctuated Equilibrium

Scott 'Wino' Weinrich has been around since the dawn of doom metal, whether it be through his early work with The Obsessed or St. Vitus or his recently defunct Hidden Hand, but to the best of my knowledge this is his first solo record. Evidently the demise of HH prompted Wino to take the reins and maybe take advantage of whatever momentum he may have garnered through that Dave Grohl metal record appearance. He drafted in Jean Paul from Clutch and Jon Blank from the unfortunately named Rezin and set to saturating some tape and moving some air.

The fact that the stoner/doom idiom has bands called Rezin and covers like the one Punctuated Equilibrium  sports makes it easy to take shots at the hesher leanings. They wouldn't be all that unfounded. PE displays most of the Sabbath tendencies you'd expect, and the power trio format lets everybody stretch out. Wino and the boys do throw down. You need look no farther than Gods, Frauds, Neo-cons and Demagogues to find said rockage. If you'd like things a little slower and sludgier, check out Eyes Of The Flesh. J. Robbins captures every black-lunged note of Punctuated Equilibrium with his usual unobtrusive style, with an occasional stab of Electric Ladyland phasing to remind you what genre you're listening to. 

It'd be fun to hear this stuff live, but the new Shrinebuilder project looks to trump any chance of Wino touring behind this. The band features Al from Sleep, Scott Kelly from Neurosis. Dale from Melvins along with Wino and seems to be the new doom Golden Smog. Load those bongs and buy a fresh lighter, I see Doritos stock jumping through the roof with the advent of both Wino projects.

Keep track on all things Wino, including his predilection for ape hangers, here. Get Punctuated Equilibrium from the good folk of Southern Lord here. The Doritos are up to you.

R