By Greg Pratt

New Orleans sludge kings EYEHATEGOD are back with their fifth album, a self-titled disc that follows up 2000's underrated Confederacy Of Ruined Lives. For any other band, that would seem like a rather large gap between albums. But for the constantly black-cloud-covered guys in EHG, it's barely even worth bringing up. But, that is an entire decade and a half, so we had to ask vocalist Mike Williams for a quick summary of what the holdup was.

"Life gets in the way," he says. "We’re not the type of band that goes and says, 'Okay, let’s go sit in a room and write a record.' That may work for other bands, but I don’t understand it, really. How they could go, “Okay, we’re going to write a record, we’re going to go sit in a house somewhere, the whole band will live there for three weeks and write it and record it.' For me, it’s a process. Besides that, things just got in the way. Hurricane Katrina, of course; I’ve talked about that more than I care to. Drug problems, record label problems, legal problems, lots and lots and lots of things. We just take it as it comes; we’re not going to sit and rush anything."

What Williams doesn't mention is the death of longtime drummer Joey LaCaze, one of sludge's heaviest hitters and long the thundering powerhouse force propelling the band's music; LaCaze died in August of 2013 from respiratory failure. The drum tracks for the self-titled album had already been recorded, so the sound of the album is a bittersweet one indeed as listeners get to hear LaCaze one last time.

"He sounds better than ever, man," says Williams. "Sucks that it’s just the last time we’ll ever hear it. As far as new stuff goes; there’s old stuff floating around that we could release one day. But I was so glad that [these drum tracks] managed to be saved."

Particularly goosebump-raising is the ending of 'Worthless Rescue', where the other instruments fade out and all we are left with is LaCaze's relentless drumming.

"We did that on purpose, dragged it out like that," says Williams. "The whole record is a tribute to him. So little things like that make it even more special."

Eyehategod (the album) is filled with the band's usual sound: heavy sludge, sloppy and raw and drenched with feedback, Skynyrd riffs filtered through punk rock and doom sounds. However, it's one of the band's sharpest records as far as songwriting goes, especially on some of the more upbeat tunes. And even though it's got tons of the negative energy EHG are known for, the band's upbeat spirits come through, in a sort of hidden and difficult way.

"A lot of people are shocked at that," says Williams about the band being a bunch of guys who like to have a good time, "but we’re just human beings like everybody else, we’re not creatures or monsters from the swamp. It’s just part of being human. On stage you’ll see five of the stupidest dudes in the world acting completely moronic. We just like to joke around, and the weirder and stranger the humour the better to me."

The album is being released on Phil Anselmo's Housecore Records in North America (Daymare Recordings is releasing it in Japan, and the band's longtime (broken) home Century Media is releasing it for the rest of the world). Anselmo says he is thrilled to be involved with a band that he's been championing for a long time (anyone else remember Pantera's 'I'm Broken' video?).

"Being a part of the new Eyehategod record is a privilege, and honour, and is 100 percent purely a family thing," says Anselmo. "I've been a fan since the '89 demo, so to be a part of their best record, and being the prez of the label they chose is unbelievable. I fucking love them as a band, and as people."
"It’s awesome," says Williams about Anselmo's enthusiasm about the album. "Phil’s been a good friend of mine for a long, long time. And like you said, he’s always been a fan and always helped push us. It’s awesome to have anybody like the record, no matter who they are. But it’s always good to have somebody up high like that to say they love it and it’s our best album ever. It’s cool."

Up next for the band is touring, which is what they actually spend a lot of time doing, despite the occasional extended period between albums. Unfortunately for those of us up in the Great White North, the band has yet to break their spree of never playing up here (Williams confirms they've never played a Canadian show). They are looking to, but they just need some help making it happen.

"We can’t get in," he admits. "We can’t get over the border. Everybody has criminal records. We need somebody to help us do that. I’ve had a few people offer and it just falls through. I’d love to tour Canada. I’ve never been. It sucks. Now it’s just a massive problem. So if anybody’s reading this and wants to get in touch with us, do that, because we would love to play there. A lot of fans think it’s us being dicks, but why would we do that? I would love to play there. Tell them to blame your government."

Whether or not they manage to get in Canada, EYEHATEGOD have over time built up a legacy and a permanent place in metal history. The new album is indeed some of their finest work, and it just proves that EHG are untouchable sludge heroes.

"Stick 'em in whatever genre you want," says Housecore Records' Anselmo, "but if you feel so inclined to do such a thing, then put the fucking crown on their heads."