As most of you may or may not know, I get press release emails pretty much every day all day long.  Some of them I respond to most I don’t because they don’t really fit into the category of what I cover here in the blog.  But today was different.  Today was something that I jumped on immediately.

In 1992 I was a mere 20 years old and I went to Lollapalooza in Minneapolis.  The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Ice Cube, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and my idols MINISTRY all were apart of the second annual trip across this great nation of ours.  Well one thing that stood out to me the most during that day was The Jim Rose Side Show Circus.  You had interesting people like The Amazing Mr. Lifto and a cast of others including Rose himself.  I became a fan and oddly enough (well odd for most of you readers but not odd for the people that know me) I started following them and watching there shows and that is where I got introduced to the Lizardman.

The press release says it all:

A doctoral candidate in Philosophy, Erik Sprague / The Lizardman is interesting way beyond his obviously-compelling surface.  Sprague has undergone approximately 700 hours of tattoo work, his body is inked in scales which are about 70 percent green.  He has made modifications to his tongue (split in two) and his teeth (filed to points) and has large gauge holes in his ears.  The word FREAK emblazoned upon his chest is a profession and philosophy for Sprague, evidenced by his fronting the experimental rock combo, LIZARD SKYNARD

At the bottom of the email was the words, contact us to get a copy of the album for review and possibly an interview.  I JUMPED!  I really want to talk to Eric and ask him about his art, his philosophies and his very public life.  His album sounds exactly like something I want to hear too.

Musically, the quintet gel to create a diverse soundscape comparable to the progressive Metal sounds of their contemporaries Mastodon, Baroness and Clutch, to the more obscure, esoteric electronic- Industrial styles of early Nine Inch Nails and Ministry.

That is all win for me.  Mastodon and Baroness are producing some of the most incredible heavy music to date and you all know how I feel about Nine Inch Nails and Ministry, my alter isn’t big enough.    Then through on top of that… the production team:

The new self-titled album, featuring standout tracks such as “Normal”, “Ocean Electric” and “Space Eels”, was recorded at Electrical Audio studios with Greg Norman ( Russian Circles, Pelican, Neurosis, Shellac) and mastered at Chicago Mastering with Jason Ward ( Big Black, Jesus Lizard, Deerhunter)

This album has the potential to be something really special.  I’ve seen Lizardman in several interviews and most recently in the film Modify about body modification and I’m always impressed by him!  If you you’re like me and would like to hear the Lizardman sing check out the links below.

Lizardman.com

Myspace

Facebook

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