Cory Graves
Mike Scaccia Gets A Tribute and Pantera (Sorta) Reunites.
Back in March, ex-Pantera bassist Rex Brown and singer Phil Anselmo vied for attention momentarily when they, respectively, released an autobiography and publicly lobbied for a full-on Pantera reunion with Zakk Wylde filling the Dimebag role.
It's an idea that drummer Vinnie Paul has continually quashed, stating repeatedly that he'd never trample the band's legacy by taking part in a reunion that didn't include his now-deceased brother.
That being the case, Anselmo and Brown's most recent decision to join Anthrax onstage last week at the Revolver magazine's Golden Gods awards ceremony for a cover of Pantera's “Walk” should probably be considered some sort of line being drawn in the proverbial sand.
Similarly, the guys in Rigor Mortis know extremely well what it's like to lose a bandmate. Sadly, back in December, the band lost legendary thrash guitarist Mike Scaccia to a sudden cardiac arrest onstage at Fort Worth's Rail Club. Fortunately, though, his surviving bandmates are decent judges about what constitutes as a tasteful tribute. Last week, Bruce Corbitt, and Casey Orr (who also play together in Warbeast) started rehearsing with Harden Harrison and Mike Taylor for an upcoming Mike Scaccia birthday/tribute show on June 14 at Trees, in which they'll perform as The Scaccianators. Also on the bill for this tribute show: Warbeast; Rotting Corpse, the very first Texas thrash metal band; Hammer Witch, who'll be performing for the first time in 20 years; and the legendary Goatwhore.
Oh, and speaking of Revolver magazine: The publication recently hosted an exclusive stream of the newest album from Kansas noise rockers Texas Instruments. We mention this because the album was recorded at Denton studio Civil Recordings, who we've been told has seen a flood of activity as of late. The studios' Michael Briggs tells White Noise that he's recently been working on albums with Bitch Teeth, Cat People, Elesh Norn, Genius Party, Special Guest, The Half Truths, Losing, Enthusiast and Varsity Cheerleader. The final two on that list, we've discovered, share quite a lot in common: For starters, both are pop punk acts from Denton that feature Matt Jones; they also both released free six-song EPs via their BandCamp pages in the past week.
Briggs isn't the only producer who has been busy, though. Longtime studio vet Salim Nourallah has decided that he's at the point in his career where he's ready to begin molding the young minds of Dallas' next generation of local musicians. Next month, he'll begin hosting “Rock Camp” sessions in which he and former Smiling at the Ceiling guitarist Colin Currans-Sheehan will use their years of combined experience to help groups of 8 to 12-year-olds write and record songs at his Pleasantry Lane studio. Later in the month, Nourallah and his Travoltas bandmate Paul Slavens will also host a songwriting workshop for the kiddos.
And, in yet more recording news, it seems that former Chomsky guitarist Glen Reynolds has just released the latest album under his hip-hop-leaning alter ego, Grey. Lest you think this project was meant as some sort of joke, consider the fact that the effort was mixed by none other than J. Rhodes who has previously worked with Rhymefest, Talib Kweli, and The Game. Reynolds has also spent significant time working with local hip-hop production guru Symbolyc One in recent years.
Also in the studio at the moment? Denton indie-folk outfit Senor Fin, who expect their upcoming EP to be released by the end of July. Same goes for Dallas emcee -topic, whose #BeGoodAndDoWell should surface sometime around November.
Got a tip for White Noise? Email us!
