Weedeater

Weedeater aren’t kidding around. They get drunk, they get high (whoops, secret’s out), they get arrested, they shoot off their toes. They are in some ways the unflinchingly badass rock ’n’ roll band you’ve always wanted but knew you’d be a little afraid of if it ever materialized. One listen to Dixie Dave Collins’ voice, thick with resin and smoke and hard living, and you’ll realize your fear instincts are still sharp—dude is kind of terrifying. And the sound they make, seemingly ripped from the center of the earth and thrown smoldering all over your person, is precisely the kind of heavy metal your mother didn’t want you listening to. In other words, Weedeater’s kind of perfect.

Weedeater began over a decade ago, just as Collins’ sludge metal cult heroes Buzzov*en were growling their last. 2001 saw the release of Weedeater’s debut, …And Justice For Ya’ll, a harsh toke of doom metal scuzz and Southern rock fury carried by Collins’ bottom-of-the-swamp bass and the demon-beckoner buried in his throat. Sixteen Tons—heavier than even the name would suggest—followed in 2003, but Weedeater hit the back burner for a spell while Collins put in some time with the comparatively stoney fuzz-metal mainstays Bongzilla; this is a man with clearly defined interests.

In 2007, the band sign to highly respected forward-looking metal label Southern Lord, issuing the Steve Albini-recorded God Luck and Good Speed, perhaps their most brutal (but unquestionably their most memorable) offering yet. Another Albini-helmed record is apparently in the works for 2010, but don’t hold your breath; you’ll need those lungs for something else, and besides, these dudes are not always the fastest movers. Gee, wonder why? —Paul Thompson