Lizard Skynard is a new heavy metal band featuring Erik “The Lizardman” Sprague (vocals), Mossy Vaughn (guitars), Russell Gillespie (bass), Johnny Baker (drums), and Erik Vaughn (keyboards). The sound of the band has been described as “... slithering... lunging hardcore, heavily drenched in psychedelic feedback and effects” (Teeth of the Divine), “... heavy .... loud ... freaked out beyond conception” (Wormwood Chronicles) and as “... five guys creating very serious, well orchestrated noise as if their lives depended on each second” (Sock Monkey Sound).
In a recent interview, Erik “The Lizardman” Sprague described the sound of Lizard Skynard as “eccentric and heavy.” Knowing Sprague from his “Lizardman” transformation, his side-show stunts, the movie Modify, his book Once More Through the Modified Looking Glass , and his recent immortalization in the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! “odditorium,” I really had no idea what to expect from Lizard Skynard. From the opening track, "Criticism", a thirty-nine second shotgun blast that has Sprague screaming obscenities at Anderson Cooper, you immediately understand that neither Sprague nor Lizard Skynard are messing around.
Violence and the Threat of Violence
With a musical landscape that can only be described as dark, eerie, and tighter than the button on Rita MacNeil’s pants, Sprague delivers spoken-word poems that are thought provoking and genuinely entertaining. "Ocean Electric" poses the question “do you believe in God?” with the barrel of a loaded gun pressed against your temple: “are you sure?” The repetition here, as on tracks like "Bell & Syndrome", “no treatment, no cure,” are hypnotic and produce a surrealistic landscape that make the listener feel like they’re sinking into madness – uneasy and agitated with no definable cause. Here Mossy and the boys lead you deep into some strange wilderness of sound and leave you for dead. There is violence, or the threat of violence, lurking beneath these songs like a caged animal, ready to break free and rip your throat out!
The track "Normal", a commentary on discrimination and senseless violence, recounts the story of a police officer who awakens to a “normal sunrise,” eats a “normal breakfast,” and then comes unhinged after spilling coffee on his hand while filling his thermos. He knocks the thermos to the ground and shoots it. When his car won’t start, he pumps eleven bullets into it, with the resulting explosion destroying his home. He enters his neighbor’s house and finds him watching a television network that endorses views different from his own, so he shoots him because he’s “a deviant” and not “normal.” The track ends with the execution of the police officer and his wondering “with me gone, who will keep things normal?”
One of the most interesting songs on the CD is "Space Eels", which recounts the story of an impending invasion of “space eels” from Venus. The narrator, who is “insane and homeless,” does a great job painting a bleak picture of humans, gathering like cattle on “street corners” and “highway underpasses”, adding extra layers of “scavenged tinfoil” to the insides of their hats to hide their thoughts, while others “chew it” in hopes to “internalize its protective properties.” But, as the narrator bleakly renounces, he doesn’t care if the Venusians know what he’s thinking because “they were going to destroy us all anyway.” The commentary here on the human will to endure is genius, as the narrator, in the face of extinction, carries around a cardboard sign that says “smile,” because the eels “wouldn’t attack a smiling face.”
Lizard Skynard Live: Inside the Vomitorium
In a recent interview with undergroundmetal.com, guitarist Mossy Vaughn commented on a typical Lizard Skynard live show. According to Vaughn, there’s an element of surprise and uncertainty to every performance because nobody is ever sure what frontman Sprague is going to do. Sprague, tattooed head to toe in green scales, with body modifications that include elongated earlobes, four teeth filed into fangs, and subdermal implants of ten Teflon horns (five above each eye), draws from his extensive side-show repertoire to produce a unique live experience.
Vaughn continued by saying that Lizard Skynard has yet to do a live show that doesn’t involve an audience member puking. Recounting the band’s first live performance, Vaughn said that “[Sprague] did this thing called the gavage, where he sticks a tube through his nose and down into his stomach. He sucks out all this liquid and he forces it back into the cup and then drinks it. The first night he did it, someone lost it completely right there at the front of the stage. It seems that at every show, we’ve had somebody do that.”
Hard and Heavy: Metal at its Finest!
While Erik “The Lizardman” Sprague may draw crowds because of his appearance, his side-show stunts, or by the outrageous rumors which surround the band, these are secondary to the music of Lizard Syknard, which is superb! Mossy Vaughn, Russell Gillespie, Johnny Baker, and Erik Vaughn are accomplished musicians responsible for the tight, unrelenting rhythm section behind Erik “The Lizardman” Sprague’s unique lyrics and style.
Lizard Skynard is heavy metal at its finest – hard and heavy, with a backbone and beat that’ll shake the fillings loose from your teeth!
More information about the band, their touring schedule, and CD ordering are available at lizardskynardband.com. Here you can also listen to selected tracks from the CD.
