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Metal meltdown
WERS gives up its Nasty Habits; plus Unearth, 7L & Eso, and Distinguished Members
BY CHRIS RUCKER

Emerson College’s student radio station, WERS, flipped the bird to two decades of Boston heavy metal last month when it cancelled its revered weekly metal show Nasty Habits. WERS program and music director Lee Doerr told CMJ that declining ratings and poor fundraising results had brought the ax down, and that NH would be replaced by far lighter fare. "Some research we did indicated a huge interest for soul and R&B."

"I just did some ‘research,’ and it shows the need for regime change next semester," counters Mark Thompson, a former host of Nasty Habits who now operates Hydra Head Recordings’ underground-metal empire. The cancellation "sucks for the local scene as much as it does for the metal community at large. That show had everyone from Metallica to Shadows Fall in the studio over the years. I think WERS is gonna need to put a sign up at the station alerting the staff to beware of teens and ex-cons in Suffocation shirts throwing shit at them. John Krochune and I did that show over 10 years ago, and to this day I meet people who worshipped Nasty. I guess being an influential show for over 20 years doesn’t hold much weight to a staff that was primarily in diapers when it premiered."

Nasty Habits had impressive range: the final show, on June 12, spanned Decrepit Birth, Metallica, the Red Chord, Black Sabbath, Cannibal Corpse, Cave In, Exhorder, Death, Bathory, and Bolt Thrower. The final song played was Carcass’s "Regurgitation." The program bolstered the careers of countless local, national, and international groups; in-studio performances by Killswitch Engage, Dillinger Escape Plan, Poison the Well, All That Remains, God Forbid and many more were compiled on the Nasty Habits: Live on WERS CD. I’ll second Thompson’s summation of the show’s demise: "It’s a sad fucking day, that’s for sure."

Unearth were also on the Nasty Habits CD, from back when they were still sowing their oats on Fort Lauderdale’s Eulogy Records. With their The Oncoming Storm out on Metal Blade and the band blowing up on the "Sounds of the Underground" tour, Eulogy has announced a December release for Our Days of Eulogy, which unites the group’s first two EPs for the label (Endless and Above the Fall of Man) and adds five live tracks.

Also getting the reissue treatment are 7L & Esoteric, whose Moment of Rarities (Babygrande) drops on July 26. The 15-track CD compiles 7L & Eso’s recorded output from the early ’90s through 2000 and adds a slew of lost-and-found tracks — "Raw, gritty stuff that might have been over people’s heads at the time," as Esoteric puts it.

When in need, they stay for free: the little-known Boston indie-rock band Distinguished Members vaulted into CMJ’s top-added charts last month with their debut CD, Hiding the Keep. They’ve also been popping up with sweet New York City gigs, like the official Faint/Bright Eyes afterparty at the Tribeca Grand back in May. How do they do it? Tony Fant, father to singer/guitarist Glen Fant, is an owner (and executive vice-president) of the Tribeca Grand and Soho Grand hotels. In fact, one way to get Hiding the Keep is to stay at the Tribeca or the Soho: there’s a copy in every room. If you can’t check in there, check in with the band July 14 at the Middle East.

Chris Rucker hosts New England Product | WFNX 101.7 FM | Sundays 9-10 pm.


Issue Date: July 8 - 14, 2005
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