Venomin James - Left Hand Man (Kultland Records)
By Chris Barnes
June 26, 2008

Upon first listen you'd think that that Venomin James were a band of hairy, big-bellied, PBR-fueled ne'er-do-wells from West Virginny that smoke a lot of weed and listen to a lot of Down, COC, ATP and a Kyuss album or three, content on spending their days collecting disability, smoking, drinking, playing music and possibly beating their wives for sport. I say this because Venomin James plays music that sounds like a lot of bands that are hairy, big-bellied, PBR-fueled ne'er-do-wells from West Virginny bands spending their days collecting disability, smoking, drinking and playing music and possibly beating their wives for sport. But I was wrong. They may spend their days collecting disability, smoking, drinking, playing music and possibly beating their wives for sport, but the band is from Ohio, at least two of them are clean cut and three of 'em look like they could use a sandwich, especially the guitar player.

Forty-two years of generating stereotypes and I lose every friggin' time.

Venomin James straddle the category abyss. I've read "Stoner Metal" a lot in my research. To tell you the truth I've been shying away from "Stoner Metal", especially when it's coupled with the term, "Southern Fried Riff" for awhile now. But I have to say that VJ do what they do very well… they cradle The Big Dumb Riff like it was Baby Jesus, and on some of these songs (I'm thinking of the dire "Abu Ghraib", the catchy bummer-metal of "Downer" ) VJ do what Down and COC haven't done in awhile and that is kick some ass. The band are also capable of building up quite a head of steam… the sublime Kyuss-esque-ness of "Feed The Flames" and "Undertow" are prime examples of tunes built on tension and momentum. "Undertow" starts with a Big Dumb Riff the size of Texas played with a single guitar at a slow to medium pace. Eleven seconds in, singer James serves up a big "Yeah!" the way Johnny Garcia used to and drummer Jared, guitar player Tom, low end messiah Erin and second guitarist Joe blasts into action, chugging like a runaway locomotive down a steep grade to oblivion. "Feed The Flames" follows a similar pattern, but ends with the band blasting away and singer James delivering "burn it all, burn it all, burn it all!" like a guy who has seen some serious shit and would like to burn that shit clean.

And seen some serious shit may be an understatement. This is the part where Venomin James gets a whole lot more interesting. Singer James (who sounds like the perfect amalgamation of John Garcia and frequent Hellride poster/current Argus and ex-Penance singer Butch Balich) served as a sergeant in the army in Iraq… at Abu Ghraib. While most of his venom is spewed in metaphor, it makes the lyrics to songs like "Abu Ghraib" and "Feed The Flames" all the more poignant and compelling. It's one thing to sing lyrics about war. It's a whole 'nother thing to sing lyrics about war having stared at the Beast directly in the eyes. What I mean is, singer James isn't bullshitting. He's seen shit that most people have never seen and that all people shouldn't have to see. Talk about street cred.

So while Venomin James break no new ground, they certainly beat the tar out of the ground they're on. They have my full respect and have shattered my pre-conceived notions like a fist to glass.

Link: Hellride Music review of "Left Hand Man"