You can never keep a good Geordie down. Especially when talking about Brisbane’s Geordie Stafford. The guy has been fully entrenched in Brisbane’s hardcore and punk scene for many years, and his work with Dick Nasty and Teargas in particular have left indelible marks on the sonic landscape.
He is never not busy though. Over the course of the last few years he has been constantly churning out solo stuff under the moniker Golden Bats. He is up to his sixth EP – released back on Record Store Day on CD-R (as have all his EPs, and the very small run booklet containing them all sold out by 11am on the day). Admittedly it’s been a year or so since V came out – and VI is in the same vein, all snarling doom metal clamour, a one man maelstrom that draws from, plays with, bows down to and turns his back on all the basic tropes of metal. That drum machine (except for on opener ‘Mountain Eyes’) holds its own over much of the drumming you hear in other, more profile-laden acts – whether that’s an indictment, a technological miracle, or just plain cool, is up to you. But Stafford loves roaring with delay, gnashing with dirge-dripping delirium; slaying riff after riff. Golden Bats is his excuse to live in his perfect netherworld – and we should be thankful that he lets us in.
You can grab all six EPs for free download here. There are 15 copies of VI as CD-R left too – expect them to fly out the door.
