Rock, metal, and punk have long inhabited separate record store sections. But record stores are on their way out, and perhaps so are those distinctions, thanks in part to Nate Newton. His bands Converge and Doomriders feast on knocking down barriers. Converge, in which he plays bass, come from hardcore punk, but add math rock's angularity and metal's chops. Doomriders, in which Newton sings and plays guitar, also come from hardcore, but add Thin Lizzy's guitar harmonies and Motörhead's high-octane grime. The combination of punk and the 1970s rock it kicked aside might seem odd. But forget the orthodox view of punk as the Ramones/Clash class of '77; Doomriders are really descendants of the Stooges and MC5.
Doomriders' debut, 2005's Black Thunder, wore its 70s influences overtly. It was also slightly tongue-in-cheek, talking about she-wolves and death marches with a wink. The irony level didn't reach that of, say, the Darkness-- Doomriders' live shows are too pummeling to be ironic-- but there was one. On Darkness Come Alive, it's gone. The title is apt, as Newton's demons now have both sonic and lyrical shape. While Gorham/Robertson harmonies still crop up, the songs focus more on lean, hard riffing. "Bear Witness" hugs the ground with a sport-tuned two-step, then shifts into a top fuel double-time. "Come Alive" is a violent, storm-tossed tribute to Danzig. Riffs are more metallic now ("Rotter" is half Slayer, half Motörhead), and moody interludes add gloom. Instead of simply bashing it out as before, drums now rumble and grind with shifting speeds. The resulting bombed-out feel is something that Doomriders can rightly call their own.
But for all the rock, metal, and punk in their mix, punk still commands the highest proportion. Newton's lyrics have gotten more personal; "Lions" is blunt and admonitory: "Don't let these fuckers grind you down/ Don't let these bastards kill your soul." That's as naked as the lyrics get. Newton isn't given to hardcore punk's typical sloganeering. But even when he waxes epic, asking that "Light of heaven/ Be my shelter/ Please watch over me," he's speaking from the heart. His happens to have brass knuckles with wings tattooed over it. Now skin and flesh, though, are of a piece with the wood and metal they wield.
