I hadn’t registered so much as a whisper of St Louis trio Wretched Empires…until I learned that vocalist Tom Ballard was also the frontman for UK Sludge-Doomers Allfather. THEN my ears pricked up. Debut EP Bloom (Independent Release) shows the new outfit to be of a Blackened persuasion, which is even more of a surprise upon realising that the other two members of the unit were formerly part of Alt-Indie sextet Redbait. Curious indeed…Continue reading
Social Media is not just crucial to keeping in touch with your fanbase, but actually helps with sales of albums and merch! Episode 86 of the Dumb and Dumbest Podcast is streaming right now!, and it’s about covers Twitter and Social Media Marketing with Allfather’s Tom Ballard. Tom and Allfather released a crushing new album last year, they equally crushed social media and made impressive sales for a band of their reputation. Dumb and Dumbest is a music industry podcast hosted by music executive Matt Bacon (Dropout Media, Ripple Music, Prophecy Productions) and Publicist Curtis Dewar (Dewar PR). Matt and Curtis chat with Tom and run through his bands’ wins, and how the steps you need to make your band more successful.Continue reading
We have a LOT of time for UK Sludgey Hardcore/Metal act Allfather. Not only is their new album And All Will Be Desolation (Rotting Throne) a beast of a record, they also possess an arsenal of MASSIVE riffs, and those riffs also kill fascists. It’s true, it’s damn true! Staunchly political, and marrying this to a love of underground HEAVY music, spearheading a campaign to share and promote their contemporaries and those they love and share ideals with online, it only made sense to ask vocalist Tom Ballard to talk us through some of his favourite EPs of 2018. Continue reading
A chimaera of Sludge, Metal, Doom and Hardcore, the Medway (UK) has disgorged a barrel of riffs and grooves from the febrile minds of AllFather, riff-mongers almighty.
As a teaser of what shall be, and to bridge the gap between their self-released digital EP No Gods, No Masters and 2016’s impending Bless The Earth With Fire, for which the band are currently seeking a suitable label home, Ghost Cult are pleased to exclusively stream ‘Blood Red Sunset’, the EP’s bonus track, and a reworking of AllFather’s first ever song.
AllFather 2015 Photo Credit: Pheobe Capon of Pheobe Capon Photography
Vocalist Tom affirms:
The power of the riff compels us, and G̶o̶d̶ Iommi guides our hand. Like chucking Conan the Barbarian and Godzilla into a bear-pit, only the best ideas come out, bloodied, but alive! AllFather take those bloodied ideas and battle-hardened riffs and deliver their own brand of metal. Whether taking the sadistic advocates of austerity and racism to task, or revelling in the way the sun glints off a raised battle axe, AllFather recognise that the world is a hard, cruel fucking place, and write songs big enough scare off the darkness.
With a bonus track this good, one can only guess the quality of the upcoming release:
https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/230522794
You can download the band’s earlier material on a pay-what-you-want basis via AllFather’s Bandcamp page but with the disclaimer that there is far, far, better to come…
AllFather play the following UK shows between now and the end of the year:
Nov 6: Lady Luck Bar – Canterbury, UK
Nov 13: The Red Lion – Gravesend, UK
Dec 11: Harp Restrung – Folkestone, UK