CROMULENCE ENGAGE: PRIZEHOG AHOY.

Like Harteis' noble wade into the complexity of emotion that accompanies a The Funeral And the Twilight listen, Prizehog have got just a couple too many dimensions happening to be dismissively pegged as "heavy," "loud," "sludge" or "weird." Prizehog are from Portland by way of San Francisco and also Santa Rosa, I think. They used to practice in some kind of ex-military bunker. Their full-length Re-unvent the Whool is chock-a-block with Simpsons references, beautiful synth, heftily bashed drums and riff after glorious riff. It takes a couple of listens to start to get what it's all about, it's got that kind of density of purpose. I think of the Residents as much as I think about the Melvins, and actually the pace is typically even a bit more Harvey Milk than even Melvins.

I think this quote from Aquarius Records is pretty dead-on:
"It's hard to know what else to say, other than repeat what we've always said, Prizehog should be adored, they should be worshipped the way Harvey Milk and Boris and the Melvins are, cuz maybe at one point, Prizehog were simply kids aping their heroes, aspiring to the sludge-y genius and twisted outsider metal of those other groups, but as hard as it may be for some folks to believe, Prizehog, might have outheavied, and outweirded, and outgeniused those masters, and become masters themselves, masters of fucking alien prog-doom, long haired, psych sludge, dirge-drone, damaged art pop. Fuck yeah."

TOTAL FEST PRE-BLAST, FRIDAY JUNE 6TH W. PRIZEHOG

That name, "Prizehog," in the context of Total Fest makes me think first of some kind of midwestern noise rock outfit, pretty male in the chromosomal department and also obsessed with a kind of 2010s version of David Yow's 1990s poetry/lyrics, mostly about the dark side of state and county fairs, and carnies and... I don't know. Maybe they tour with Animal Lover.

Not so. Coastal American Prizehog is none of the above, really. They're like a acid-damaged Melvins or a a more riffy Residents, actually. It's heavy-as-shit, and weird-as-fuck simultaneously, you know? For a lot of folks at Total Fest XII in 2013, they were the unknown, unexpected, and completely blown-away-by band.

Prizehog exists in their own realm. And it's a pretty stoney one. Not in the conventional "stoner rock" way either. More in a bizarre, soundtracky, diverse, melodic, down-tuned and sort of mystical vibe. It's friggin awesome. We can't stop listening to their recent "Re-Unvent The Whool" LP that Eolian Empire released. It's so great a record.

Prizehog

And, by chance and luck, you get a two-fer with Prizehog this year. Once in June, this Friday (June 6 at the ZACC, North 1st in Missoula) and once with everybody else at Total Fest in August.

Hefty metallions Shramana and Swamp Ritual, both from the flood-carved valleys of western Montana play to. This will be excellent.

SOOIE: PRIZEHOG

Photo by Gabe Wheeler.

Remember when we asked you how you felt about Hawkwind? If you don't, that's cool too.

Well, it seems like the best answer to the question is California's Prizehog. The trio of Rion, Zakk, and Veronica collage together some seriously heavy, skull crushing, psych-doom-space sludge from an admixture of shuddering drums, down-tuned guitar, effect drenched vocals, and Rothko-textured synth.

It's a thick mess of sounds that lingers in the space between manic and groove, stretching every note beyond its capacity, milking the sound of all its essence and letting it slowly decay. Their songs effortlessly churn through bombastic thunder, spacey (sometimes poppy) drones and amazingly catchy hooks. One solid epic after another. Hypnotizing and chugging, tangled and dark, Prizehog offers some killer, weirded out dirge that rumbles as much as it glides through an ever sprawling landscape.

Caught you yet?

If you need more adjective laden peaks to climb, just follow the "Goods" link on their website. I hate making comparisons, but when you have mentions of Harvey Milk, Melvins, Butthole Surfers, the Fucking Champs, Wildildlife, True Widow, and Codeine, you're doing something better than "right." You're doing something gorgeously sublime.

I dig abstract and experimental, and dig it even more when it pushes up against expectations. Too often, abstract forgets what it's doing and devolves into self-masturbatory clutter. Not here. Prizehog pairs their non-conventional song-writing with some awesomely dark and moody melodies. They're a hardworking trio who have been crushing California's Bay Area (and elsewhere) for close to seven years. Their self-released EP "Alive and Well" (2008) is out of print, but your internet prowess should serve you well. Check out their first full length, "Thought Nest" (2011 Saint Rose Records), here and their most recent EP, "A Talking To" (2012 Gravity Records, here. Like they say, "We play lots. We have for years now." It's about damn time we invited them to play Total Fest.