Reviews – Hellbilly Albums

From the London Celtic Punks website: “One of the best bands to wield a banjo IN THE WORLD Phantom Of The Black Hills soak in influences as varied as Country, Punk, Goth, Folk, Bluegrass with distorted vocals and mysterious mystique and a dark, very dark western music ethos resulting in great hellbilly albums. That Witch is their 6th studio album and they are accompanied by Mather Louth from renowned ‘Gothic Americana’ band Heathen Apostles.

To put it simply Phantom Of The Black Hills are fantastic!!

When I saw that their was a new Phantom Of The Black Hills album on the way I can admit to being pretty bloody excited. Even though I love music we receive so much here at London Celtic Punks Towers that it is hard sometimes to rally up enthusiasm for new releases but for That Witch I was even willing to pay (those that know me will know how incredible that is!). Luckily for my Scots /Yorkshire sensibilities I was incredibly lucky to receive a free download from Ratchet Blade Records and it’s not left my lugholes ever since!

That Witch had originally been planned for release in 2020 but with all the shit going on was delayed almost a year. For those wishing to pigeonhole the label’s most bandied about for the Phantom Of The Black Hills are ‘hellbilly’, ‘frontier-core’ or ‘doom country’ and all capture them pretty fairly squarely and imaginatively. Taking elements of Country, Folk, Punk, Psychobilly, Bluegrass and dark western music, while mixing traditional instruments like mandolin, banjo and fiddle but combining them with fiercely dark and angry polemic, crunching guitars, snarling distorted vocals, intense sound effects and cleverly used movie dialog this is one ‘country’ band you won’t see at the Grand Ole Opry! Shrouded in secrecy hiding themselves away from the glare of publicity the bandana’s they wear in their videos and photos are very careful not to give away any clue as to their identities so it’s kind of hard to tell you anymore about the band themselves! That Witch is their sixth album, the last being Scalped in 2017. That album was to first to feature guest vocals from the lovely Mather Louth on ‘Wild Witch Of The West’ (be sure to check out the brilliant video). She also doubles up as the lead singer of excellent fellow ‘Gothic Americana’ band Heathen Apostles and she guest vocals on pretty much the whole of That Witch giving the album that little extra special range.

That Witch begins in superb form with ‘Rising Son’ and The Phantom snarling his way through a song that takes the point of view of Native American’s and their resistance to the early settlers who sought to steal their land and force them onto special reservations.

“This ain’t Oklahoma

And I was here long before ya

Mistress Darkness has come

And when the night is done

I’m the rising son”

The song is a slow burner. A dark foreboding of what is to come building to a climax in the lyrics rather than the tune. Excellent fiddle throughout from El Gato is matched by Popeye on guitar, banjo and bass and Deacon on drums.

‘That Witch’ sees The Phantom and Mather dueling it out on vocals and it’s another dark slower song and I think it’s fair to say that while their albums have progressively darker the sound has mellowed somewhat though the heaviness of the music does mitigate that. You often think you’re listening to a much faster song than you actually are. We get a fast one next with the album’s lead single ‘Buck Knife’ and the tragic tale of a veteran of the Civil War suffering from PTSD. On returning to his home town he is shunned and the story climaxes in a orgy of deadly violence before ending with the kind of twist to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.

Heathen Apostles are one hell of a band in their own right and it is absolute genius to team her up with the Phantom Of the Black Hills. The perfect foil to The Phantom’s vocals her beautiful voice on ‘Lady Judas’ belies the story while we do see a lot less of the electric guitar like on next track ‘Moon Killer’ with vocals now dominating but it works a treat and the distorted vocals are still clear enough to understand every word and the various tales of  violence, drunkenness, debauchery and revenge.

‘Hunger’ is co-written by Mather Louth and the band and she leads here her voice soaring above the bands train-like rumble and that majestic fiddle.  The Phantom takes the rein back for ‘Road To Bleeding’. This is the kind of song that previously they would have slung hard and heavy electric guitar all over but now they treat more gently. ‘Sin & Sanctify’ is as close (still not that close really) as they come to a traditional Country song while the album continues to its violent conclusion with two of the album’s best songs ‘Wicked Storm’ and the storming ‘Attack’.

The Phantom Of The Black Hills have come a long way since Ghosts and while their sound may not be quite as raucous as then they still are as powerful and heavy and perform even more dark western music than ever before. The teaming up with the beautiful Mather Louth adds a whole new dimension to the sound. It’s a dark world out there and the imagery The Phantom Of The Black Hills conjure up in the mind may not be a pleasant one but it’s an imaginative one filled with the ghosts of the wronged, deserted mines and villages, dust and dirt and the people who lived there and also the  best music the ‘old’ west can produce.”

“Scalped” Review in Uber Rock (UK)

As a sub-genre, the hellbilly genre seems to lie somewhere between bluegrass, country, NOLA-style doom and traditional rock ‘n’ roll. Most popularly brought to global attention by hellbilly albums by artists such as Hank Williams III, it is a musical style which can, at first, be difficult to understand and then digest. Take, for example, the reaction of her good self when she walked into the UR studio and first heard this particular opus blasting from our tower block sized speaker system: “what the fuck is that shit?” she demanded to know as I turned the mixer up another notch…

“That shit”, as herself so eloquently put it, is the fifth album from POTBH, a band who don’t believe in giving much away, from the bandanas across their faces in all their publicity photos to the paucity of information on both the press release which accompanied the CD and on their Facebook page: it doesn’t even say where they’re from – although the reference to “Black Hills” in their name should be a huge pointer… but, you never know and should never take anything for granted. For all we know, they are either a bunch of hicks from Nowhereville in North Dakota, or a bunch of rich college grads from Hollywood playing at being the former – although, I must admit, I sincerely doubt it!

Whatever the case, POTBH have produced an album that veers from out and country to the lunatic fringe industrialism of Ministry: this is probably understandable, as the only piece of information the band proffer about themselves is that their music would be the result of “Glenn Danzig and Al Jourgensen stayed up all night listening to old Porter Wagoner and Hank Sr. records and drinking homemade corn liquor”. Maybe a bit OTT – but, hey, what band doesn’t overhype themselves – but you get the picture…

My problem with ‘Scalped’ is that there are two songs which absolutely kick ass heavier than a size 11 New Rock to your tailbone. The first is opener ‘Wild Witch Of The West’, which pumps and thumps like a moonshine-fuelled culchie; driven by a snarly snare and characterized by a punked-up banjo, and featuring a lascivious guest vocal from Mather Louth, it sets a mood that almost immediately dissipates. Yes, ‘Raised On Fire’ is a suitable slice of fiddle-fuelled arson, ‘Dr Dealer’ is a leather-clad metallic monster, and ‘Torchy’ is cute in its amalgamation of metal and country grooves – but the album then, from the loud but unfulfilling abrasiveness of ‘Blow It Up’ onwards, slowly peters out until the bonus track of ‘The Reckoning’ drags it kicking and screaming back to life, with its Nick Cave-like Gothicism, hard-ass thrashy guitar riff, snarly snare-led percussive drive and spoken vocal.

Phantom Of The Black Hills – ‘Scalped’ (Ratchet Blade Records/Cockroach Media) By Mark Ashby Read the full review HERE.

Scalped – Peek-a-Boo Magazine Review

Their faces are shrouded in a sort of bandana with eyeholes, like a bad outlaw of an imaginary Western encapsulated into an a temporal dimension of aggro Americana.

Phantom of the Black Hills hail from South Dakota and have reached their fifth album showing an eversive attitude that reminiscent of The Clash. A track like “Raised On Fire”, for example, resembles a gift pack with “London Calling” inside.

A raspy, distorted voice is the backbone of each song conducting the traditional instruments (fiddle, banjo, and mandolin) to crash against a wall of guitars and drums, adding a roughness to the fiery climate.

“Wild Witch of the West” is a delicious ballad with special guest vocalist Mather Louth, member of Radio Noir and Heathen Apostles.

The highlights begin with “Dr. Dealer” that advances solemn, justifying the term ‘doom country’ often associated with the group. Harsh guitar and metronomic drums ensure thickness and atmosphere.

“Torchy” seems The Gun Club sharing an insane gig with the Country Gazette while the sinister bells of “Blow It Up” look back to Black Sabbath’s first album, tracing the coordinates of a ride on a heavy-punk carousel. “Chiva”, and “Jeckill and Hide” are two fine silverware pieces, dramatic, pressing and goth-tinged. The imagery of the band is purely Gothic Western, a dusty mosaic, made of abandoned mines and wandering ghosts, faded pictures of bandits and hanged men joined with a powerful anti-establishment soul.

One more time, Chopper Franklin (The Cramps, Heathen Apostles) is the man in the control room. As ever, he has a very specific and recognizable hand, amalgamating all the components of the dark roots universe (an ideal arc from hellbilly to deathrock) in one shot.

Somewhere, out there, a memory of the ’80s cowpunk spirit has survived thanks to Phantom of the Black Hills and hellbilly albums by similar groups. However, this time equipped with flamethrower and vitriol.

You can check out Scalped HERE.

Sergio MANGHINA

Phantom of the Black Hills – Moonshine Bright

Another great review of Moonshine Bright in the German magazine Ox Zine, pick up issue #118 for the review:

Name-dropping galore in the Press Release: this record was produced by the Cramps late bassist Chopper Franklin and the mastering was done by Geza X  (the former producer of the Dead Kennedys and Black Flag. Moonshine Bright is album number five for the masked Hellbilly / Doom-country band from the USA. The genre style comes from the band itself, they blend a lively mix of styles from Southern Rock, punk, Alternative Country and a B-movie atmosphere. All in all it’s difficult to categorize: it is powerful, fully instrumented (supplemented by the classic country instruments: banjo, mandolin and violin), gloomy, aggressive and melodic. Bluegrass fiends will love the fast mandolin and banjo sections the best, and inevitably the rapid playing of Split Lip Rayfield comes to mind. But the again the next moment is a distorted guitar and the sound kicks into gloomy Rob Zombie to realms. The whole thing is exciting and is expected to attract fans of 16 Horsepower, Hank Williams III, The Meat Purveyors (and rockabilly and bluegrass in general). 7 of 10 stars.

Christian Kruger
Ox Zine

Phantom of the Black Hills – Moonshine Bright

The new POTBH album Moonshine Bright received a 4 star review in the German magazine Dynamite:

The Black Hills are a mountain range in South Dakota, including Mount Rushmore with its four presidential heads. The Black Hills is also an area that is populated by rednecks and in which the illegal production of alcohol, the so-called moonshine, is still widespread even today. At the same there time is widespread scepticism of all government, and many see themselves as outlaws and the demand for stricter gun control laws in this area is not being heard. The Phantom of the Black Hills provide their new album “Moonshine Bright” as the appropriate soundtrack. Traditional country, blitzkrieg guitars and distorted vocals take on violin, banjo and mandolin. The result of this mixture are ten dark and wild, masterfully produced by Cramps Bassist Chopper Franklin, songs about the dark side of life. Great!

Phantom of the Black Hills – Moonshine Bright

James G. Carlson
The Examiner
4 of 5 stars:

Phantom of the Black Hills, one of the outlaw music scene’s favorite bands of renegade pickers, stummers, pluckers and bangers, is back with a new album on Ratchet Blade Records, Moonshine Bright. Continuing to terrorize the musical wagon trail of the current roots revival with their signature sound of doom country, frontier-core and hellbilly punk, Phantom of the Black Hills’ most recent collection of songs is as powerful and violent as the fiery blast of an old blunderbuss, with each deadly projectile hitting a different mark.

Throughout Moonshine Bright Phantom of the Black Hills lay down some mean distorted chords, plenty of pickin’ and strummin’, hillbilly fiddin’, strong drums, and gritty outlaw vocals. The opening song, which is also the title track, is as dirty and intoxicating and homegrown as the contents of the musical barrel in which it was distilled. “Hellbetties Risin’,” the first single from Moonshine Bright, is a raw cowpunk offering with male and female vocals, is as sharp as the edge of a boot knife. “In Hell” takes a lawbreaker anthem which rides like hell for the horizon, loot in hand, putting some distance between oneself and the hangman’s noose, yet knowing full well that when the times comes hell will be one’s ultimate destination. “The Storm is my Shelter” is about as close to traditional country music as Phantom of the Black Hills get, but it is still pretty far removed from the purist idea of the genre, which is decidedly a good thing. The closer, “A Life for an Eye,” is a little different from the rest of the album in that it is garagey roots rock and dark country punk hybrid.

Moonshine Bright by Phantom of the Black Hills is available from the Ratchet Blade Records webstore here.

by James G. Carlson
The Examiner

read the review online by clicking HERE

ReGen Magazine

Phantom of the Black Hills – Enemy!

Phantom of the Black Hills
Category: Country / Rock / Experimental
Album: Enemy!
ReGen Magazine
Stars: 3.5 of 4
Blurb: A delightfully scathing and exploratory mix of underground punk and industrial elements with a classic southern rock and country vibe.
There was once a time when country and southern rock was part of the counterculture, quick to espouse a sociopolitical viewpoint opposite to that of the status quo. While the mainstream sensibilities of the genre have overtime gravitated toward a less incendiary outlook, a band like Phantom of the Black Hills comes along to give the style a firm kick in the arse with a raucous sound and image that is sure to attract a more adventurous audience. Indeed, to even look at the band adorned in bandana masks and Stetson hats, brandishing bottles of booze, pistols, and their instruments, one could draw comparisons to some bluegrass derivation of Slipknot. Thankfully, Phantom of the Black Hills comes across as less comical, though the music is not devoid of anger and abrasion with a fair share of whimsy. “Battle Cry” begins the album with guns blazing, a whooshing electronic wind leading into the sound of fiddles and banjos meshing with the grittily distorted guitars, The Phantom shouting out his rebellious lyrics in a style immediately reminiscent of Chemlab’s Jared Louche. The rest of the album follows suit with a firmly anti-establishment vibe permeating throughout, with lyrics like “You think you’re fit to go to war? Can’t even figure out which way to point the sword” on the title track, “If it’s law don’t make it right” on “If Hell’s Where I Have to Be,” and the abundance of politically charged samples on “Evil Dove.” Other songs like “Bled for No Reason,” “Read My Bible,” and “One Per Sinner” also convey a lyrical predilection against war and hypocrisy, while the music maintains a steady rock pace from beginning to end, each instrument given its moment to shine. Produced by Chopper Franklin of the Cramps and mixed by Geza X, whose credits include the likes of Dead Kennedys and Black Flag, Phantom of the Black Hills’ third album is a surprisingly innovative album. Eschewing the clean cut conventions of modern country, Enemy! is raucous and rambunctious from start to finish; the product of a band firmly planted in its southern roots but with a gutturally mechanical vibe that should appeal to rivetheads, revealing an exploratory spirit that should appeal to more underground tastes.

Ox Magazine (Germany)

Finally, a band from that stands out from the musical pabulum: PHANTOM OF THE BLACK HILLS are in a separate category that really speaks for them. There are some musicians that go in a similar direction (Hellbilly or Doom Country) such as Hank III and ASSJACK, Hipbone Slim or in the broadest sense Bob Wayne. The CRAMPS have already proved in the Seventies what depth this kind of sound can have. You can hear the CRAMPS in the PHANTOM OF THE BLACK HILLS, which is probably because the album was produced by their ex-bassist Chopper Franklin and mixed by punk legend Geza X (DEAD KENNEDYS, BLACK FLAG etc.). The special feature is the Phantom’s especially brutal use of fiddle and banjo, which is reinforced by striking guitar riffs and very critical lyrics. Overall, the result is a brutal, varied album, suitable for both line dancing as well as the Pogo. (9 stars) Igor Eberhard, Ox-Fanzine, Germany

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UBER ROCK (UK)

Phantom Of The Black Hills – ‘Enemy’ (Ratchet Blade Records)
CD Reviews
Written by Gaz E

You remember how it was when you were a rock kid buying albums with your pocket money, selecting which ones were gonna go home with you purely on their cover art, generally finding out that they sucked all kinds of arse? Well, as the years have gone by, it usually works the other way: I look at an album cover now, sigh, and think of how much time I will waste listening to what lies inside and then trying to write something worthwhile about it, sometimes finding an unlikely gem.

Kinda happened that way with ‘Enemy’, the third album from the mysterious Phantom of the Black Hills.

Masked figures being lynched on the front cover, masked men holding banjos and big fucking knives on the back – this was going to be one of those 45 minutes that I wasn’t going to get back in a hurry, I guessed……but I guessed wrong.

With no clue as to who is actually behind the masks – I’d guess that the band is made up of the members of various other bands but I couldn’t (be arsed to) find out who on the ol’ interweb – I had no clue what to expect when I slipped the disc into my death deck; another of those ‘comedic’ stabs at a country album by someone who should know better was at the top of my list. Thankfully I was wrong again, way wrong.

‘Battle Cry’ opens the album and does exactly what it says on the tin. The Phantom is described as a hellbilly/doom country band and that’s exactly what I got….and a fine example of that curious genre chimera at that. There’s a whiff of the more cinematic moments of Rob Zombie’s newer solo material about the vocals, some Al Jourgensen too, before you remember that Al actually turned in his own attempt at this genre around a year ago; that album by Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters a bit of a mess, truth be told. ‘Enemy’ blows it away, sharp, rather than shit, shooter style.

The follow-up to the hellbilly albums 2010′s ‘Born To Gun’ album, itself following 2009′s ‘Ghosts’, ‘Enemy’ was produced by Cramps bassist Chopper Franklin and mixed by legendary punk producer Geza X (Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, The Germs), having me thinking once again that these mystery men are players in more than just the doom countryside. But I digress, it mattering little anyway – this is a great album; filthy of tongue, keenly-produced, and hugely impressive.

The album’s dirty dozen tracks fly by, making a mockery of its running time. From the aforementioned opener to ‘Read My Bible’, the album’s closing track, The Phantom and his bad pack mix traditional country instruments – the banjo, fiddle and mandolin, the secretive press release informing me, pushed more to the front than on the album’s predecessors – with distorted guitar and vocals, this album seemingly leaning more heavily on samples and loops: many prime examples of hard-hitting, controversial dialogue permeating the raw, rusty sounds of the record. “Violence is as American as apple pie” – yes, that’s a quote that we’ve heard many times before but here…it just seems right, a tight fit.

Whoever they really are, Phantom of the Black Hills cuts the throat of convention and bleeds out an album cooler than the blade of their frontman’s impressive weapon. The penultimate song on the album is ‘Call Your Bluff’ – sums it up really.

Read the review on the UBER ROCK site by clicking HERE

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The New Edition (Sweden)

Phantom Of The Black Hills – ENEMY!
Ratchet Blade Records Wow. After 2 great hellbilly albums that sound like nothing I’ve heard before (doom country), along comes the third album that sounds a little different because the country influences has moved forward some in the overall sound. The big difference is that banjo, mandolin and fiddle take more space and I really like that. The mean sounding guitar and the hard driving bass are still there and they make this bands still sound like one of a kind.
All that along with lyrics that could have been written by an angry Hank Williams if he still was alive today, and with vocals that for some reason reminds me of Hasil Adkins, they have an unbeatable mixture. With this they have a formula that no other band has come close to finding. If this album gets some wide circulation my guess is that there will be other bands trying this formula.
It´s an album that is hard, brutal and beautiful at the same time, a rock´n´roll answer for the Sam Peckinpah movie The Wild Bunch. Buy buy buy.

Jan Falk

New Edition

 

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PoDunk Radio

Phantom of the Black Hills – Enemy – Ratchet Blade RecordsOkay, so they’ve spent 2 years working on it. That’s a helluva long time to work on an album. Was it worth the wait? You bet your fur covered asshole it was! The guitars are as hard and brutal as ever, the banjos, mandolins, and fiddles have become much more prominent players in this album compared to the previous two; Ghosts – 2009, and Born to Gun – 2010.

The first two albums must’ve been dress rehearsals for this release. it’s like the Phantom & the boys (Popeye, Doc Helliday, & Deacon) picked up new quills dipped in blood to pen this new album. Lyrically more dark and intense than the previous two releases Enemy is filled with musical imagery or war, lust, death, and hell. Produced by Chopper Franklin [Bassist, the Cramps] and mixed by the legend himself Geza X [Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, The Germs, The Mau Maus]. For me this was a much anticipated release. From “Battle Cry” through to the closing track “Read My Bible” I get the impression this album has James Dickey grinning in his grave. The arrangement of the music is flawless, the lyrics are controversial as ever and I fucking love this album, just hope they don’t take two more years for the next one…. or maybe the wait will once again be well worth it.

Read the Review at PoDunk Radio HERE

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Rodentia Magazine

Phantom of the Black Hills
Ghosts
Ratchet Blade Records

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.

Bluegrass banjo plucking behind the aggressive, nearly punk vocals dominate the album. The quality of the balance between the zero-twang vocals, top notch banjo playing, and Gun Club style punk meets country percussion cannot be understated. A misstep in any of these areas could have pushed the sound into one genre or another, but the album perfectly straddles the border between punk and country.

Sampling of women’s warnings, sermon’s, and what is presumed to be movie or radio blurbs are found throughout and are yet another risky addition that proved to be done perfectly. The samples add a mystique and vintage atmosphere to the album that would be lacking without. This is pushed to the limit on “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They”; a four minute galloping sound collage that Fatboy Slim and Satan would have made in the 1800’s.

“Ghosts” manages to avoid the biggest pitfall of albums in the Gothic Americana genre: pretentiousness. All too often, even established artists (yeah, we are talking about -), push the nostalgic or demonic angle too hard and it comes off as forced and fake.

“Ghosts” is by far not only one of the best albums of 2009, but is definitely Required Rodentia.

Eddie Obituary
Rodentia Magazine

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Wolves Hollow magazine

Phantom of the Black Hills
“Ghosts” cd
RBR 712

What do you get when you cross the rougher side of Hank Williams III with Samhain’s classic debut “Initium”? You get “Ghosts”, the first album from the black as pitch two-man cowpunk nightmare known as Phantom Of The Black Hills. Consisting of members the Phantom and Popeye, POTBH is all venom, misery, blood and dust. A devil’s concoction of country music instrumentation (banjo, steel guitar and fiddle) and punk rock rage and song structures, “Ghosts” is one of the most ambitious and original records I’ve heard in some time, coming across like the bizarre lost soundtrack to the film There Will Be Blood, and it succeeds on every level. 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 Stephens
Wolves Hollow

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NY Waste Magazine

Phantom of the Black Hills
Born To Gun
Ratchet Blade Records

Hailing from the depths of Hades comes the Phantom of the Black Hills. Hillbilly, banjo pickin’ madness from your darkest nightmares.  Mysterious masked men dressed like bandits stirring up timely images of train robbin’ outlaws dancing with saloon girls. One of my favorite tracks is the cacophonic frenzy called “Whorehouse” which indulges in sexy porn samples among other naughty things. Upright bass and evil lyrics hidden behind executioner style masked men. “Born To Gun” is a stunning, unique, sinister medley of Hellbilly, country and bluegrass with an unhealthy dose of industrial noise thrown in for proper measure. True Grit inspired by highwaymen and outlaws. Make rock and roll rebellious again, check it out.

Karol Kaos – NY Waste