And on this one, the bagpipes go up to 11. Rising of the Doom!, the third full-length from Ulster county, New York, The Templars of Doom. The music here is very similar in style to the band’s previous two releases. Primitive, low-fi, DIY, punk rock, almost Oi, smashing headfirst into a bagpipe band. While this may not be everyone’s cuppa tea, I think it’s great. I love the two versions of O’Donnell Abu – one bagpipe and one punk’n’bagpipe. The album is currently available digitally from Bandcamp, the two previous albums made it to vinyl so hopefully, Rising of the Doom!, does too.
Rising of the Doom! is the third album from Kingston, NY Bagpipe Punk Rockers, The Templars of Doom. A review will follow shortly but in the meantime here is Will Ye No Come Back Again from the album.
#1 Hi Mike, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. First off, can you give me some background on the band (history of the band, where are you from, when did you get together, who’s in the band, influences, where did the band name come from, etc.)?
Hi John, Thanks for reaching out and letting us spew! We’re from Ulster County NY, the New Paltz area. Bruynswick, NY specifically, but that’s a speck on the road. I live out by the Shawangunk Ridge, a kinda well known spot for hiking, rock climbing, and rattle snakes.
Our guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter is Rory Quinn, he is a fantastic multi-instrumentalist musician and master recording engineer. He records music for a living, doing live sound, recordings, and teaching digital studio and more. He’s whiz on guitar and does all our recording now, he’s teaching me. I started out recording the band -our first LP and parts of the second album- on my ADAT, that’s digital info on an analog tape, and I’ve recently switched over to a laptop. His brother Falco Sparvarious recently joined us on drums. He’s a young drummer with a lot of good energy and vibes that he brings to the band. For reasons I’d rather not get into, we had to part ways with our drummer on the first two albums. It was really hard, but the rest of us as a band reached a point where we had to go our separate ways. We wish Eric well.
Here is a case of keeping it all in the family. The Wild Irish Roses are the family band of head Templar of Doom, Michael X. Rose with his wife and five of the family’s eight kids (God bless ‘em) ranging in age from early twenties to early teens. The music is rooted in the Irish ballad tradition format mixed with bagpipes and a wee bit of a punk edge and a Velvet Underground cover just to keep it subversive.
Neck – Every Day’s St Patrick’s Day The Skels – Have A Drink Ya Bastards Black 47 – Green Suede Shoes The Muckers – Let’s All Go To The Bar BibleCodeSundays – Drinking All Day Sons Of O’Flaherty – Dead and Gone The Rumjacks – An Irish Pub song The Mahones – Shakespeare Road Big Bad Bollocks – Guinness Bodh’aktan – Black Velvet Band Featuring Paddy Moloney Charm City Saints – Dicey Riley Bill Grogan’s Goat – The Galway Races Jackdaw – Come out you Black And Tans The Pourmen – Too Old To Die Young Murshee Durkin – The Pogues & Whiskey The Woods Band – Finnegan’s Wake Irish Whispa – Bold O’Donohue Pat Chessell – The Mother-in-Law Greenland Whalefishers – Joe’s Town The Tossers – St Patrick’s Day Sharky Doyles – Everybody’s Irish Kilkenny Knights – Dance! The Gobshites – Alcohol Horslips – The High Reel Horslips – Dearg Doom Kilmaine Saints – Foggy Dew The Bucks – Psycho Ceiled In Claremorris Blood Or Whiskey – Follow Me up to Carlow-Holt’s Way The Peelers – A1A FLA The Electrics – Seventeen Bottles Of Porter Sir Reg – Stereotypical Drunken Feckin’ Irish Song The Templars Of Doom – Mamma Weer All Crazee Now
Hovels of the Holy is the 2nd full length release by Ulster county NY’s Templars of Doom. Similar in style to the bands debut, which I believe, I described as old school punk with kilts and bagpipes (and if I didn’t, I should have). The album itself is a mix of originals, including the stand out Tattooed Covered Hag and H-Block Escape, traditional and rebel songs as well as inspired covers of the Ramones, Chinese Rock and Slade’s, Mamma Weer All Crazee Now. Very enjoyable. The album is available on CD and vinyl (and I really love the album sleeve as painted by band basses Michael X Rose)
There is a demented genius to the The Templars of Doom. Raising from the ashes of Alternative Ulster, the Ulster county, New York, four piece play unapologetic raw PUNK rock overlaid with highland pipes. There is nothing subtle on Bring Me the Head of John the Baptist, it’s the musical equivalent of been hit with a caber. Check out the The Oliver Cromwell Twist if you don’t believe me. Not for everyone but I like it a lot.
Shite'n'Onions 