Phantom of the Black Hills – Enemy
Description
Phantom of the Black Hills is definitely one of the most innovative bands in the hellbilly/doom country genre. They mix traditional country instruments with searing guitars, distorted vocals, intense sound effects and movie dialog. Their songs are brutal missiles that blatantly encourage all to live a life of full freedom and protest the wrongs and hypocrisies of an oppressive society.
“Few albums take me by such a complete surprise as the debut by Phantom of the Black Hills’ “Ghosts”. From the first sounds of a fiddle decompose into a thuddingly dreadful banjo pluck on “Confessions of a Barn Burner” we know that there is an evil journey ahead of us. “Ghosts” manages to avoid the biggest pitfall of albums in the Gothic Americana genre: pretentiousness. All too often, even established artists, push the nostalgic or demonic angle too hard and it comes off as forced and fake. Phantom of the Black Hills avoid this and have created a simply fantastic album. “Ghosts” is by far not only one of the best albums of 2009, but is definitely Required Rodentia.” Rodentia Magazine
“If Glenn Danzig and Al Jourgensen stayed up all night listening to old Porter Wagoner and Hank Sr. records and drinking homemade corn liquor, then decided to make an album together, it still wouldn’t come close to the bleak, inventive darkness of this eleven-track hatework. Can’t recommend it enough.” Jon Steffens – Wolves Hollow Magazine
“The first two albums must’ve been dress rehearsals for this release. Lyrically more dark and intense than the previous two releases, ENEMY! is filled with musical imagery of war, lust, death, and hell.. The arrangement of the music is flawless, the lyrics are controversial as ever and I f**king love this album” Jacks Insanity – PoDunk Radio
Phantom of the Black Hills – Relentless Hellbilly Music
PHANTOM OF THE BLACK HILLS
Written by:
When it comes to the music of South Dakota’s doom country and hellbilly punk desperadoes Phantom of the Black Hills, two worlds couldn’t collide more violently, with plenty of bluegrass banjo pickin’, backwoods mandolin and upright bass thumpin’, together with loud punk guitar, hard-hitting drums and dirty, snarling vocals. This definitely isn’t your grandpappy’s country music, that’s for sure. And let me tell you, these fellas don’t look like the strummers and singers your grandpappy watched at the Grand Ole Opry or Louisana Hayride; instead, with cowboy hats pulled down over menacing outlaw masks, button-down shirts with suspenders, jeans and leather boots, these bandits look better suited to rob a stage coach or hold up a bank than lay down their hellfire songs.
Speaking of Phantom of the Black Hills’ songs, they pretty much go down like burning swigs of old Appalachian hooch; but they also make you want to move your legs a bit, like the twitching limbs of a condemned man danging from the gallows. On all albums — Ghosts, Born to Gun, ENEMY!, Moonshine Bright and Scalped — it quickly becomes clear that their songs are much more mechanical than organic, with loops and sampling, and with a lot more distortion than twang. Even more than that, their songs amount to a soundtrack for unleashing one’s inner sinner and going forth into a night of transgression, where one loses oneself in drunkenness, violence and hellbilly debauchery, at the end of which one very well might have ruined one’s chances at heaven.
Phantom of the Black Hills is a loose and ever-changing assemblage of evildoers and musicians, with but two anonymous core members. These modern-day outlaws are the sort who pick buckshot out of their meals, guzzle firewater, hide out in seedy saloons and gambling shacks and brothels, hoot n’ holler and fire their six-guns at the moon. They’ve got the devil in ’em, and it shows in each and every song they write and play.
Phantom of the Black Hills are one of the most innovative bands you will ever hear that has a banjo! This isn’t the Country music of Nashville or the Grand Ole Opry instead its angry polemic over bluegrass banjo, mandolin and upright bass mashed together with raucous punk guitar, blistering drums and dirty, snarling distorted vocals with extreme sound effects and movie dialogue samples. They are one of my favourite bands so I thought I’d attempt to convert a few of you lot too.
The Black Hills are a mountain range in South Dakota famous for the Mount Rushmore memorial of the four presidential heads of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln carved into the granite. It’s also an area where large populations of Scots and Scots-Irish settled which may explain the areas fondness for moonshine. Production of illegal alcohol that is still widespread today. Another possible by-product of the Celtic on the local population is widespread mistrust of all government. Many see themselves as outlaws and in the Black Hills you are unlikely to find a Vegan coffee shop or demand for stricter gun control laws. Phantom Of The Black Hills are a band that shy away from publicity. From the bandana’s that hide their faces in their videos and photos to their Web-Site and Facebook page that are very careful not to give away any clue as to their identities. We can only hope they are the real deal and not a bunch of music school rich kids!
The musical worlds of Phantom of the Black Hills couldn’t be more different. In the Celtic-Punk scene we are used to bands fiddling with traditional music and adding, sometimes taking away, things to come up with something fresh. Country And Western though sometimes seems so staid and set in its ways its hard to imagine a band doing to it what say the Dropkick Murphys have done with Irish music. That was until the Phantom Of The Black Hills rode into town. With their cowboy hats pulled down over their eyes and frightening outlaw masks they look more like they have come to relieve you of the gold in your purse. Violence, drunkenness, debauchery abound in these tales of South Dakota’s doom country and hellbilly punk outlaws.
Relatively unheard of over this side of the pond I thought it only fair to share my good fortune with you. They have released five albums, the links to hear each one are included as well as one of their amazing videos from each album. You can buy all together from the Bandcamp site for a reduced rate just check there and the link is at the bottom. This is surefire music to go to hell for.
Whoever said the devil had all the best tunes must have heard the Phantom Of The Black Hills.
