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THE TIMES-PICAYUNE LAGNIAPPE
FUNK BAND FORGES A BLACK SABBATH TRIBUTE
At first listen, the loose-limed, organic nouveau funk of Afroskull might seem diametrically opposed to the massive doom-and-gloom sludge-riffs of heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath.
But Afroskull guitarist Joe Scatassa is a longtime Sabbath fan; he is especially fond of hte band's classic "Paranoid" albulm. Last August, he and Afroskull bassist Bill Richards made a pilfrimage to Biloxi to see the original Sabbath line-up on its farewell tour. "It was incredible," Scatassa said. "our drummer didn't go, becuase he was skeptical; after the show, we were telling him how awsome it was. The band was ridiculously tight, which is shocking."
Given that perspective, it is no surprise that the influence of early Sabbath has crept into Afroskull's sound. "Their earlier stuff was more rooted in the blues the way Led Zeppelin was, except it was a lot heavier," Scatassa said. "It has a lot of single-note, unison riffs that we use in our music sometimes."
Thursday at the Mermaid Lounge, an expanded version of Afroskull - the core four musicians, a percussionist, four horns and a couple of guest vocalists - will pay tribute to Black Sabbath. After a set of their own music, they'll plunge headlong into the Sabbath catalong, focusing on the golden oldies documented on the greatest hit collection "We Sold Our Soul For Rock 'n Roll." Some Sabbath cuts will be rendered faithful to the original; others will be funked-up, Afroskull-style.
In its current incarnation, Afroskull has gigged around town for two years, but Scatassa, Richards and drummer Jason Isaac have performed together since high school in New York. They'll issue their first full-length Afroskull CD, "Monster For the Masses," in mid July. A live mini-CD released last year documented Afroskull's jamband tendencies; the forthcoming CD will feature some "insane funk stuff" with a 10-horn arrangement, Scatassa said, but will also showcase some of the heavier riffs in the Afroskull arsenal: "You'll definitely be able to pick out our Sabbath influences on the CD.
After a set of its own music, Afroskull pays tribute to Black Sabbath at the Mermaid Lounge on Thursday.
-Keith Spera, Music Writer