What would you get if you’ll put together name of the character from Dostoevsky novel, Sabbath doom and gloom vibe, one guitarist, one bassist and one female drummer? The answer is Philadelphia’s Stinking Lizaveta, whose sound is as unique as their name.
Built on a foundation of blues, jazz and metal, the band is equally inspired by Sabbath, latter-day Black Flag and bands like Sonic Youth and Slint. Plus, their music is entirely instrumental, which also earned them comparisons with some of the bands on SST Records labels roster.
SL includes brothers Alexi and Yanni Papadopoulos and a drummer named Cheshire Augusta and their debut was 1994 “Refinery / Crooked Teeth” 7-inch, which came out on Tolotta label. This was followed by two full-lengths – 1996 “Hopelessness And Shame” and 1997 “Slaughterhouse” (both of which came out on Compulsiv label).
“Slaughterhouse” was described by Aquarius Records catalog as “Meditative virtuoso impassioned metal/jazz explosive bliss”, while “Hopelessness And Shame”, according to them, was a required listening for fans of Gone, AC/DC, Fucking Champs, Don Caballero and Melvins.
Stinking Lizaveta kicked off the new millennium with the release of 2001 “|||”, followed by 2004 “Caught Between Worlds” and 2007 “Scream Of The Iron Iconoclast”. The band’s latest album (as of 2010) is “Sacrifice And Bliss”, which came out in 2009.
All Music Guide did a negative review of “Caught Between Worlds” album in which they pointed out that “The fourth album by Philadelphia-based instrumental stoner-metal- jazz-core trio Stinking Lizaveta bears an unfortunate resemblance to those records that SST starting putting out in the latter half of the ’80s, when the quality control department was apparently too stoned out of its mind to notice that a whole lot of really boring albums of vaguely bluesy quasi-metal noodling were slipping into the stores unbidden, basically unwanted and for the most part, unloved.”
AMG, however, reserved kinder words for a follow-up to “Caught” – 2007 “Scream Of The Iron Iconoclast”. AMG pointed out that “On their fifth release overall, 2007’s Scream of the Iron Iconoclast, the group has once again hooked up with producer Steve Albini, and the result is undeniably mighty hard rock that is bound to attract both stoner and doom metal fans.”
Band Members:
Yanni Papadopoulos
Cheshire Agusta
Alexi Papadopoulos
Discography:
Refinery / Crooked Teeth 7″ (Tolotta, 1994)
…Hopelessness And Shame CD (Compulsiv, 1996)
Slaughterhouse CD (Compulsiv, 1997)
Stinking Lizaveta / Regulator Watts Split 7″ (French Lick, 1998)
III CD (Tolotta, 2001)
Caught Between Worlds CD (Monotreme, 2004)
Scream Of The Iron Iconoclast CD (At A Loss, 2007)
Sacrifice And Bliss CD (Monotreme + At A Loss, 2009)
Compilation Tracks:
“Situation” on Untitled (Carbon 14 Magazine, 1997)
“Tenuous” on Rebirth Of The Heavy (The Music Cartel, 2002)
“Day Of Dust” on Emissions From The Monolith (Maduro, 2003)
“Stop Laughing” on 21st Release Hits Omnibus (Wäntage USA, 2003)
“I Denounce The Government” on Ox-Compilation #69 (Ox Fanzine, 2005)
“Out Of Breath” on Monotreme Records Sampler (Monotreme, 2006)
“Matilda Mother” on Like Black Holes In The Sky: The Tribute To Syd Barrett (Dwell, 2008)
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