Since re-assembling Avengers-style in 2020, Black Spiders have continued to make a loud and compelling case for heavy guitar music from the sin city streets, with three chords and the truth – revelling in the glories of the genre, its sacred lore, with a top-shelf collection of riffs, a sly dash of humour, plus an iconic logo that sits alongside the best.
Released in May of this year, ‘Can’t Die, Won’t Die’, the bands fourth studio album, was unleashed to critical and fan acclaim by Spinefarm Records. It was a cocktail fans have come to expect – 42 minutes of back-street trouble, produced by regular studio compadre, Matt Elliss.
“Destroyer is a spanker off the new record and sets the tone nicely for the September tour dates,” says frontman Pete Spiby. “We can’t wait to get out there for some hot summer nights, pizza sandwiches and beer!”
The tour starts tonight at The Forum in Tunbridge Wells and winds up in Plymouth on September 25th with friends The Hot Damn! in support.
Full dates below. Don’t miss your chance for some proper rock n’ roll action!
Catch Black Spiders live at the following dates on their September tour.
Sheffield-based hard rockers Black Spiders are ready to catch us all in their biggest web yet. It’s a big sticky one called ‘Can’t Die, Won’t Die’, and it’s guaranteed to get the party swinging. (That’s enough spider references…or is it?).
If you’ve heard Black Spiders before then you know what to expect from this latest release and you won’t be disappointed. The band’s influences are obvious, and you can hear elements of them all here. Thin Lizzy, AC/DC, Kiss, and even a touch of grunge creeps into the band’s sound. The band are very capable musicians and put in some stellar performances here. Good production values also make the album a (mostly) enjoyable listen.
The album kicks off with a lengthy intro before we are thrown headfirst into ‘Hot Wheels’, a mid-paced head nodder with an annoyingly catchy chorus. Next up ‘Driving My Rooster’ (fnarr fnarr) is a full-on barnstormer with some Lizzyesque twin guitar motifs. ‘Destroyer’ is a shameless tribute to Kiss. Lead single ‘Alright, Alright, Alright’ (a nod to Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey’s famous catchphrase) is a fun romp with some chunky, stabbing riffage. ‘Traitor’s Walk’ is another straight-ahead rocker with more fine guitar work. The album does begin to trail off a little at this stage, ‘It Is What It Is’ drifts into generic hard rock territory. ‘Strange’ is another throw away track with no real hooks to speak of. The band do manage to pull it back with ‘Another Weekend’ which has a cool swaggering riff. ‘Make Me Bleed’ has an extremely catchy chorus and more chugging riffs.
The album closes with the oddly titled ‘A Rat Is a Rat’ and ‘End of The World’, both tracks are a bit dissapointing and just about get the band over the finish line. Black Spiders are hardly reinventing the wheel and ‘Can’t Die, Won’t Die’ certainly has its moments, and if you’re already a fan then you will enjoy what’s on offer here its a safe pair of hard rockin’ hands.
Black Spiders stay in their comfort zone and deliver what they always do – solid hard rock, Safe and sound and building to that killer record I know they have in them.
Since re-assembling Avengers-style (though probably more Suicide Squad!) in 2020, Black Spiders have continued to make a loud and compelling case for heavy guitar music from the sin city streets, with three chords and the truth – revelling in the glories of the genre, its sacred lore, with a top-shelf collection of riffs, a sly dash of humour, plus an iconic logo that sits alongside the best.
It’s a cocktail fans have come to expect from the unexpected and it’s there in double-measure on the UK outfit’s latest / fourth studio album, ‘Can’t Die, Won’t Die’ – 42 minutes of back-street trouble, produced by regular studio compadre, Matt Elliss, and set for worldwide release via Spinefarm May 12th, the band’s first campaign with the label.
As a taste of things to come, a shot before the pint, lead single / video ‘Hot Wheels’ is out now; it sees the band – led into action by frontman, Pete Spiby – in a variety of scenarios and settings, at one point surviving a close encounter with a rampant shark (sort of).
“It’s a party album from top to tail, everyone a banger! As usual there is something for everyone and maybe some surprises. We went all out, balls out on this record, each track is an ear worm…”
Noted for their unswerving dedication to the music, the middle finger (or two) and the rousing rock ‘n’ roll slogan (“EAT THUNDER, SHIT LIGHTNING!”),the Spiders are the perfect low-slung machine to raise a glass or clench a tattooed fist to, and ‘Can’t Die, Won’t Die’ – 12 new tracks including ‘Destroyer’ and ‘It Is What It Is’, all measured pace and power, and ‘Driving My Rooster’, a race towards the cliff edge – is sure to add more burnt tread to their tyres.
In support of their studio albums (the most recent of which hit the No. 7 spot on the UK Independent Albums chart), plus a fistful of EPs, Black Spiders have toured with a variety of rock’s most riff-hungry sons, the likes of Volbeat, Danzig, Airbourne and Monster Magnet, and appeared at all of the UK’s leading festivals, including Download, Sonisphere and Bloodstock.
Their plan is to spend much of 2023 out on the road, and it’s a strategy that is for once, going to plan. A full UK tour has been announced for September and pre-sale tickets will be available from Planet Rock on Wednesday March 15th at 10am, with general sale commencing Friday March 17th at 10am from here: https://planetrock.tourlink.to/blackspiders
Catch Black Spiders live at the following dates on their September tour.
The Hot Damn! to support on all dates.
Fri 15 Sep – The Forum, Tunbridge Wells
Sat 16 Sep – New Cross Inn, London
Sun 17 Sep – Moonshine, Portsmouth
Mon 18 Sep – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
Tue 19 Sep – The Warehouse, Leeds
Thu 21 Sep – Live Rooms, Chester
Fri 22 Sep – The Garage (Attic), Glasgow
Sat 23 Sep – Anarchy Brewery, Newcastle
Sun 24 Sep – The Patriot, Crumlin
Mon 25 Sep – The Junction, Plymouth
Black Spiders are also confirmed to play the following festivals with more to be added:
Black Spiders have always appreciated the level of support from their fans and had been discussing new ways to get their music out to people.
pic by Babz
The band have been recording material towards a new album, that they hope to release at some point in 2022 but have been looking at different ways they can release their music straight to their fans.
On the 1st of December, they relaunched their Patreon ‘fan club’ with what they are hoping is a new way of forward thinking.
All the tiers are priced differently, depending on what fans can afford with regards to supporting the band, the fans that sign up to the higher ‘tiers’ will now receive a link, every single month, to hear a BRAND-NEW Black Spiders song. And we’re not talking about unfinished mixes, or rehearsal room demo recordings. One fully mixed and studio recorded brand new track, every month, for as long as they subscribe.
They aren’t dismissing the idea of traditional album releases altogether, as they still intend to release physical albums for all the collectors and vinyl lovers out there, and the next album may contain some of the tracks they are releasing direct to the fan club.
As well as a brand-new song every month, there will also be a ‘making of’ video, discussing the writing and recording process and some studio footage of the band recording the song.
Their podcast ‘The Waffle’ will continue on a more regular schedule and they’ve also got big plans for next year to host an annual show, with reduced entry for fan club subscribers. All subscribers will also receive a discount code for Black Spiders merch store at Big Cartel, valid for all purchases as long as they remain a subscriber. There are also plans to throw in guestlist giveaways, free prize draws, and other content into the mix, as and when.
This is of course all on top of the content that is already included in the current Patreon set up – the making of the latest album, other live track giveaways, unheard song downloads, as well as a Fan Club only tee shirt exclusive patch.
Says guitarist Ozzy: “We’ve reached the point in our career, where we need to monetise our product. Our currency is music and if you want to encourage us to keep doing it, I encourage you to pay into our collection bucket and let your ears soak up the profit from your investment.”
“Since we got the band back together it’s been an incredibly creative time song writing wise,” continues bassist Adam Irwin. “We were all excited by the tunes and wanted to get new music out to fans as quickly as possible, without settling into the old routine of album/tour/album/tour/repeat. We’ve been heading into the studio every month to record, so I suggested we start giving a song away once a month to our biggest fans, the guys who sign up to our fan club on Patreon.”
Steelhouse Festival is excited to reveal the first elements of the line up to feature in 2022. And what a selection it is! With all bar one of these performers making their Steelhouse debut, there is a blend of freshness but also serious pedigree. This year the event will run 29th-31st of July and limited earlybird tickets are now available until midnight December 5th, after which they will go to full advance price for the weekend.
Without further delay, joining us at the top of the mountain will be: Original KISS guitar legend Ace Frehley, Orange Goblin, Diamond Head, H.E.A.T, Green Lung, Black Spiders, Anchor Lane and Ashen Reach. And of course there are more great names to be announced.
This line up offers the best of all possible worlds for lovers of classic rock and of Steelhouse. Ace Frehley is an undisputed icon of Rock, Diamond Head unrivalled as old school legends. Orange Goblin and Green Lung bring, in every sense, a burst of colour and verve – each pioneering their own way. Anchor Lane and Ashen Reach show once again that Steelhouse is always looking to provide meaningful support to the best new, exciting talent, whilst Black Spiders and H.E.A.T are making good on their commitment to return and play after not being able to do so this year.
Promoters Mikey and Max say, “It is with barely contained excitement that we can announce the one and only Spaceman, Ace Frehley will be flying in from Jendell to join us on the Mountain for Steelhouse 2022. Being co-founder and original lead guitarist of KISS as well as a Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame inductee, he is one of the most recognisable and influential players of all time…A true icon. Smoking guitars at the ready, we’re back!..Back in the Steelhouse Groove!”
2021, in the face of overwhelming odds, was a resounding success – marking as it did the 10th Steelhouse Festival. 2022 has a lot to live up to, but with this first announcement, we are well on the way to this being the best ever.
NEW SINGLE ‘STABBED IN THE BACK’ OUT FRIDAY NOVEMBER 12th
When Sheffield rock heroes Black Spiders announced their hiatus in 2017, no one in their right minds would have predicted that when the good times, big balls n’ riffs rockers did return, it would be in the middle of a global pandemic. But that is, of course, exactly what happened and in March of this year, Black Spiders unleashed their highly anticipated brand new self-titled album upon an eager, locked down, rock hungry audience.
Critically acclaimed and hungrily lapped up by the Black Spiders rock starved fans, the album put the band firmly back on the map of rock, the only piece missing from the jigsaw being the opportunity to take these pulsating new songs out onto the world’s stages where they belonged. With gigs scheduled to happen right after ‘Freedom Day’ in July, the band were scuppered once again and had to cancel the dates having fallen victim to the ‘ping-demic’. Thankfully, the Black Spiders were able to finally crank out their riffs at this year’s Bloodstock Festival for a triumphant set and are now primed to tour the UK in November and will be releasing a new single from the aforementioned album, the defiant ‘Stabbed In The Back’.
“Even before Julius Caesar made it popular, people have been getting ripped off, misrepresented, f**ked over and double-crossed, left, right and centre,” states guitarist and vocalist Pete Spiby. “It happens all the time and we are no strangers to this occurrence. You just have to find the strength to carry on and keep some dignity.”
“It’s been and continues to be such a strange time, so we’re still getting used to being out and about,” continues Pete. “We set out to tour this album this year and we are determined to honour that. We are already back in the studio, recording towards our next release, so we need to get out there and play these songs while we can!”
When Sheffield rock heroes Black Spiders announced their hiatus in 2017, no one in their right minds would have predicted that when the good times, big balls n’ riffs rockers did return, it would be in the middle of a global pandemic. But that is, of course, exactly what happened and in March of this year, Black Spiders unleashed their highly anticipated brand new self-titled album upon an eager, locked down, rock hungry audience. Yet, despite the album’s thirteen new kicking jams having been recorded in complete isolation, and with new drummer (Planet Rock DJ Wyatt Wendel) having never been in the same room as the rest of the band, it’s testament to the true majesty of their rock powers that ‘Black Spiders’ still manages to sound like five men in a hot and sweaty rehearsal room, tight and upfront and in each other’s faces, rocking the f**k out.
The only piece missing from the jigsaw, and it was a big piece, was the chance to take these new songs onto the stages they belonged and play them loud and direct to a rock music starved audience and thankfully, that time is finally here. Black Spiders have announced five UK shows to get back to doing what it is they do best, and to celebrate the special Record Store Day vinyl release of the album, due July 17th via Dark Riders Records.
On top of this, Black Spiders will also release a new single ‘Give Em What They Want’, taken from the album and launched into the stratosphere with a stomping, hook-laden infectious groove.
“You’d think that after almost 2 years of what we’ve all been through, there was a chance to start again at a year zero for the human race, but no, same s**t, different year, an aptly titled song for the times,” states singer/guitarist Pete Spiby. “However, we’ve been waiting SO long to do a gig and can’t wait to play the new album live and melt some faces…. thank f**k!”
Catch Black Spiders live at the following dates in July 2021
Wednesday 21st July 2021 – Chester Live Rooms
Thursday 22nd July 2021 – Leeds Key Club
Friday 23rd July 2021 – Southampton Joiners
Saturday 24th July 2021 – Milton Keynes Craufurd Arms
Sunday 25th July 2021 – Steelhouse Festival Ebbw Vale
Back around a decade or so ago those trusted and true Sons Of The North, otherwise known as Black Spiders, really could do wrong. Seamlessly blending low slung Desert Rock riffs with effortlessly cool hooks all wrapped up in live shows packed full of punk rock energy, they were the band the website I wrote for at the time (Uber Rock) had been waiting for, and to top it all off they then went and released an absolute stonker of a debut album in 2011’s ‘Sons Of The North’. This folks really was a band that ate thunder and shit lightning.
Somewhere down the line though, after recording their Pledge funded second album ‘This Savage Land’ and taking that record out on the road, by the time I caught up with them again at Hellfest in France in the summer of 2013, something just didn’t feel right, and whilst the band still turned in an amazing live show if you’d asked me if they looked like they had enjoyed it…I’d probably have had to say “no!”
Black Spiders carried on for a further four years after that (releasing just the ‘Rat Mansion’ EP via digital platforms after the ‘Savage’ campaign ended) before they eventually called it a day in 2017 via a couple of emotionally and sonically charged farewell shows.
With frontman/guitarist Pete ‘Spider’ Spiby then going on to record and release his eclectic and expansive solo outing ‘Failed Magician’ (a double album no less) in 2018 and then undertake a well-received tour with MC50 to support it’s release, if you’d have told me then that Black Spiders would soon be back together and releasing album number three in the midst of a global pandemic, I’d probably have asked you for some of what you’d been smoking.
But that’s exactly what I’ve got here folks, thirteen brand new tracks from four of the original Spiders (Spiby being joined once again by guitarists Andrew ‘Ozzy’ Lister and Mark ‘Dark Shark’ Thomas plus bassist Adam ‘The Fox’ Irwin) complete with new drummer Wyatt Wendel (yup he of Planet Rock radio fame) making this (alongside the awesome debut album from The Limit) perhaps one of the most welcome surprises 2021 has yet to deliver.
With new boy Wendel immediately taking front of stage via his colossal drum sound on the intro to lead single ‘Fly In The Soup’ the thing that immediately knocks me off my feet is that Black Spiders have never sounded more like the Black Spiders of those early days, and any fears of the band writing disparately might make it something of a miss match of styles and ideas can immediately be thrown out the window.
Case in point is up next, with ‘Stabbed In The Back’, a proper three-minute banger if ever there was one and a tune that wouldn’t have been out of place on an early QOTSA album if the truth be told.
Likewise, ‘Give Em What They Want’ pays a similar kind of Hommage with Spiby delivering some of his finest and perhaps most understated vocals to date and is truly fabulous stuff, whilst for those of you who might like the idea of your Black Spiders being cut through with just a touch of Australian rock please do make sure to check out the band’s retelling of the Easybeats’ ‘Good Times’, which has much more in common with the INXS/Jimmy Barnes’ version included on the Lost Boys soundtrack than the ‘60s original. Yup it’s basically a cover of a cover but it actually fits in well with the overall tone of the album, no worries.
For those of you longing for some of the more straight-ahead Black Spiders doom-laden riffage, there’s plenty for you to get stuck into too with the likes of ‘Death Comes Creepin’, ‘Down To The River’ and ‘Wizard Shall Not Kill Wizard’ all three delivering total low-end satisfaction whilst also allowing the band themselves breathing space to take in their total awesomeness.
For me though its when ‘Black Spiders’ throw me a slight curveball that I get really excited about them being back again, like on the slow-burning ‘Rock N Roll’ where Spiby once again shines, delivering a vocal that has me thinking I might not have been the only one listening to Vinnie Dombroski and Sponge back in the nineties. Meanwhile in album closer ‘Crooked Black Wings’ there’s enough old school metal on offer to have every available drinking horn raised worldwide once we can all get back to some sort of normality and go see live music once again.
So, if the prospect of listening to an album designed to make you smile from ear to ear sounds appealing, why not click on the link below and pre-order your copy of ‘Black Spiders’. You most certainly will not regret it!
It was a total shock to me to be honest. I for one was missing being in a band but hadn’t said anything to anyone else. Then I received a message from Pete asking whether I’d be up for getting Spiders back together. I said I was, but only if everyone else was too. To my double surprise, the messages came in one after the other from the other guys, so we were on. Obviously, it didn’t pan out with Tiger Si which was a real shame.
Was there a plan when the band got back together for a new album?
As soon as we’d decided to give it another go it was business as usual, which with us means; album, tour, repeat.
How did the record come about?
When I say it was business as usual it soon became apparent that our usual way of working wasn’t going to be possible. One factor was Tomo didn’t live in the UK anymore so we needed to find a new way of doing things. This was initially Pete and I meeting up and going through ideas we had and that Irwin and Tomo had emailed through. It was going well and then COVID happened. It didn’t take long for us too realise that we could carry on writing the way we had been apart from the meeting up part. Soon we had more songs than we’d ever had as a band going into a studio to record an album. As soon as the restrictions allowed it we went into the studio and laid down the first three tracks. At that point I’d never even met Wyatt.
With liver performances being such a big part of the band was it difficult to plan a new record knowing you wouldn’t be able to hit the road?
It didn’t really affect the planning part it’s just been really strange to finish an album and not have any gigs to play. I hope it hasn’t damaged us too much, I do worry that being away means we’ve been forgotten about some what. Usually we’d make a statement through doing gigs, without that I feel we’re a bit like Samson after a scalping.
What about live streaming this release show was that a tough decision to make? again it’s such a weird time did the lockdowns afford you the time to get the songs to a point where you were super happy with them and not be rushed which might have happened if you’d book shows and a tighter deadline?
We’re not doing a live stream show, it’s just a virtual release party. Personally, I hate all this Zoom stuff, I’ve not had one good experience with it as I can’t seem to engage the same way I do when people are in the room. I’m sure it’ll be fine though as long as I don’t have to say anything.
We’ve never really had deadlines as we’ve never had a label telling us what to do. That’s good and bad at the same time because it means we also don’t have a label telling us what to do. We have to find our own way and make our own timetable. Or not. With these songs, we didn’t overthink them and that meant the process has been fast for us but not rushed.
Tell us about the new record? What songs are on it and how were they written did you do anything differently this time? I guess, trying to be positive what excited you about writing and recording the new record?
There are thirteen tracks on the new album. One of them is a cover which is something we’ve never done on an album before. At first, I was against it but I’m trying to be more open-minded and less “blinkered” in the way I see the band.
The writing process was very different, as I suggested earlier. I think it helped us to bring our ideas into focus more. There’s been less compromise and with that the ideas are more direct. I think it’s as good as anything we’ve ever done before at the very least. It really is an album of the 21st century, even though it doesn’t sound like 21st-century music. We wrote it all via email, playing guitars and singing into computers, playing along to an electric drum kit. Who would have thought technology would actually be helpful!
Recording the album was a great experience, from the first day when I met Wyatt for the first time, heard him play and thought to myself “we’re going to be alright”. As well as that it meant we could get out of the house and have some sort of feeling of normality, all be it socially distanced. We had this new mindset where positivity ruled. In the past it was just the opposite; if one person didn’t like something, it was gone. Matt our producer said he’d never worked with such a negative band before and I for one was determined to turn that on its head. I’d been one of the main culprits for the closed-minded approach and I wanted to change that and enjoy it, especially after not having it in my life for a few years.
What songs should fans look for on the record? ‘Good Times’ looks like you guys had a blast making it especially the video? It sounds fresh and the energy levels of the song are excellent, were any other covers considered?
My favourites are ‘Wizard Shall Not Kill Wizard’, ‘Free Ride’, and ‘Stabbed In The Back’ but I like all the songs if I’m honest. I love my band, it has all the bits in it of all the bands I love.
Good Times was Pete’s suggestion. At first, I was against it, but keeping the new positive direction in mind I said yes and quickly realised that it was a real “good times” song (sorry) and fitted into the Black Spiders songbook really easily. The video was fun, at first I recorded my bits pretty straight, in jeans and a T-shirt, then I saw a rough edit and Tomo’s outfit. I instantly thought “this needs a fur coat.”
I could be wrong as my memory is terrible, but I don’t think there were any other covers on the table.
What would you say is the main thing new band members bring to an established lineup? Is the approach to making the new album very different from when you recorded ‘Sons Of The North’? Does it seem like over a decade since you did that album?
That’s a tough question to answer, as I’m writing this we still haven’t been in a practice room with Wyatt. That being said, he’s a big character. He has to be to fill Tigers shoes.
A band is the result of the people who are in it. It’s not going to be the same without Si but you have to embrace the differences and run with them. I’m sure Wyatt will bring his own thing to the band, at this point the only thing I can tell you is that he’s an incredibly thorough and hard worker.
Recording this album and Sons couldn’t be more different. As I said earlier the outlook of the band was very different back then, but there were obvious things like T being in Spain and Si not being there.
It doesn’t not feel like a decade since we made SOTN, it feels longer. A lot has happened since 2011.
You play a tonne of festivals but sadly it looks like a lot of festivals are coming just a little early what with the vaccines and hopefully a return to some kind of normal where we can all get back inside venues. What do you miss about live shows and any particularly fond memories?
I miss that feeling that we might just have won some people over, that someone believes that I mean it, that they can see I’m still trying to bang my head harder than I should.
There are so many memories, when we headlined the Jager stage at Sonisphere has been in my head a lot lately, that was a really good “Fuck You..”
Going back to the new album there are some influences that come through but there is quite a diverse bunch of influences I heard from Sabbath to cheap trick and some commercial tones like ‘Fly In The Soup’ would that be fair but remaining really cohesive and the album has a really good flow to it, is it a difficult process picking what stays and what doesn’t make the cut and giving away non-album tracks as a pre-sale is a really cool touch was there a lot more material written and recorded?
Choosing the album is always tough. It was more difficult this time as we had so many songs to chose from. With the new mindset I’ve been talking about I felt it was important to have nothing compromised or diluted when it came to the final cut. We needed a pure vision and in that case, you need a dictatorship. This wasn’t popular in the band but in my opinion I think it paid off.
Finally, I wish you all the success with the new record and I’m sure fans old and new will love it.
That’s really kind of you to say. Thanks for taking an interest.
Buyers will also receive the non-album instant-grat track ‘Tunnel Of Love’
“We knew the new album had to be special. We’ve been away for a while. The first album was a straight shot, the second on the rocks, with this new one we had to kick down the brewery doors!” Pete Spiby
Back in June of 2017, Sheffield rock beasts Black Spiders waved goodbye to an army of loyal fans with some sonically charged shows at London’s House Of Vans and Sheffield’s Corporation before retreating into the shadows to lick their wounds and shed their skins.
And then, in November of 2020, with the world in the grips of the Coronavirus pandemic and after a long year of very little fun and even less rocking, from out of the silhouettes they returned with ‘Fly In The Soup’, the first new Black Spiders music in six years. And it felt good. Just under four-minutes of prime riff-crammed rock action, a stadium filler waiting to happen, and exactly the feel-good shot in the arm the world needed, while we await that other vaccine.
The seeds of the Black Spider return were actually planted last summer, when singer and guitarist Pete Spiby began taking to guitarist Ozzy Lister to start writing new material and before they knew it, they had amassed the best part of 40 songs in a very short period of time which they honed and whittled down to album contenders, ready to hit the studio. And then the pandemic hit.
“It’s certainly been a strange process, in unfamiliar territory,” explains Pete. “We started to look at how we could do it given the restrictions and not only that, but we had to replace our original drummer too. More obstacles throw in our way to smash through. We found a way. For us and probably most other bands, we would usually take a riff or song idea to a rehearsal and thrash it out ‘till we either had something or it ended up in the song graveyard! This time around we couldn’t do that, so myself, Ozzy and on occasion Adam Irwin (bass player) started to send ideas back and forth until we had something to work with in GarageBand. We got to a point where we had enough song ideas with basic structure to go into a studio proper, at a convenient time, to put something down. It was at this point when we had to look for a new drummer.”
With former drummer ‘Tiger’ Si Atkinson unavailable to play, with a week or two of grooming, the band took a chance on Planet Rock DJ Wyatt Wendel to occupy the drum stool. Without having played with him, and in some cases, never having met him, they demoed some of the songs through the wonders of modern technology and once they got into the studio (Axis Studios in Doncaster) with producer and engineer Matt Elliss, who had recorded both previous Black Spiders albums, the music came together thick and fast.
“I’ve never joined or worked with a band in this way EVER,” laughs Wyatt. “2020 certainly made it surreal. One minute I’m making some online drum videos for a radio station and then Pete pops up and asks if I’m busy. In the second minute I’m asked if I’d like to record some tracks. The third minute I agree. Soon after I’m in a studio recording tracks I’ve only heard demos of, having NEVER met the band or rehearsed, and it was all done on a wing and a prayer. In a weird twist of fate none of this would have happened without the pandemic of 2020! Funny how things can work out….”
“A Pete/Ozzy writing session at the beginning of the year had produced some promising results, but it felt like barriers were popping up everywhere,” explains bassist Adam Irwin. “We started talking about how we could use technology such as GarageBand to help, and slowly but surely the song writing gathered pace. We could sketch out ideas on the iPad, send them out to everyone else who could then add their own parts, suggest changes etc. Confidence grew, as did our newfound editing and recording skills. It was time to hook up with our old producer Matt Elliss and try these new songs out in the studio.
“Heading into the studio to record songs we’d written but never played together, with a drummer that we’d never met, is one of the stranger experiences I’ve had while being in a band. Thankfully, Wyatt has turned out to be an excellent addition, who despite his faults (loud, southern) has fit right into the band dynamic. I feel like I’m already starting to get a feel for his playing style despite the fact we’ve still not actually played together, and I can’t wait until the moment when we can start playing live again. Covid has made life really tough for so many of us in our industry. And yet, this new way of song writing has been liberating, this is the most consistent and prolific we’ve ever been, and I am immensely proud of this album.”
And they have every right to be. Against all of the odds, Black Spiders have crafted an album that features thirteen tracks of high-energy, feel-good rock n’roll contrasted by demonic doom that despite the disjointed, isolated way it was recorded (even second guitarist Mark Thomas, in lockdown in Spain, recorded his parts remotely), sounds like a band, firing on all cylinders, sweating it out in a dark and dank practice space with lyrics that perfectly document these insane times we are living through.
“We had to dig down deep to pull out some gems and what would we want from Black Spiders,” questions Pete. “Probably not just your regular boys adventure stories, so I looked at themes for the songs, in the bands that I held dear and what was relevant to my and our lives, as a lot had gone on personally for us all, over the time we have been away. Sabbath had all the answers I needed…war, vengeance, mental health, death, conservation & climate change, where are we from? Relationships, friendships, our flaws. Where are we going? Alien life and Mother Earth – some of which made the record.”
Kicking off with the aforementioned ‘Fly In The Soup’ single, this third self-titled long-player wastes no time in grabbing you by the scruff of the neck and dragging you through an album where good times, hooks and riffs are not in short supply, but the doom-drenched likes of ‘Wizard Shall Not Kill Wizard’ and the psychedelic groove of album closer ‘Crooked Black Wings’ give us an album of many moods and dynamics and a reason to be cheerful in 2021.
And why does the album have no title?
“It wasn’t hard picking a title for the album, as we decided that the focus should be on the band, not the album title, so we decided not to have one. It was the easiest thing of the whole process. Let the music do the talking….
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