Hank III releasing four new albums in September.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

From his website:

HANK3 CHARTS NEW TERRITORY
WITH FOUR-RECORD RELEASE DUE OUT SEPTEMBER 6
Expect Country, Doom-Rock and Speed Metal with Cattle Callin

LOS ANGELES, CA - THURSDAY, June 23, 2011 -- With his own new label, Hank3 Records, and the sense that he has thrown off the chains holding him back creatively, Shelton Hank Williams III, aka Hank3, is coming out swinging this year with the
release of four records on September 6 - that's right - FOUR.

The unprecedented launch, in a distribution partnership with Megaforce Records (MRI), features a broad range of music that bridges more than one head-thumping genre - a familiar theme that true Hank3 fans have embraced for years. Ghost to a
Ghost/Guttertown, a double-album set, is a straight-shooting country collection, flavored with Hank3's trademark hellbilly sound, and heavily weighted with Cajun influence (especially on Guttertown) and an ambient, lonesome mood - and a few very special
guests.

Two more releases are Attention Deficit Domination and 3 Bar Ranch Cattle Callin - intensely metal-driven records on which Hank3 plays all instruments. Attention Deficit Domination is a pressure-dropping, doom rock statement that has been anticipated by his hardcore fans for years, and Cattle Callin explores a new mind-bending "Cattle Core" sound, featuring Hank3's speed metal woven in and around actual cattle auctioneering.

All three projects were recorded at The Haunted Ranch, Hank3's home and studio that lies on the outskirts of Nashville - a fitting place since the town has never really known what to do with this grandson of the American icon. He finally parted ways with Curb
Records January 1.

"I have musical freedom. I'm able to say 'Here's my record' and I don't have to go through a million different channels just to put out a song," he says. "It's all me now."

Hank3 wrote the lion's share of the songs that appear on the 41-track Ghost to a Ghost. The players are Andy Gibson on steel guitar and banjo, who also aided in its recording, David McElfresh on fiddle and mandolin, Zach Shedd on standup bass, Daniel
Mason on banjo, super-picker Johnny Hiland on guitar, Billy Contreras on fiddle, and Rory Hoffman on accordion.

Guest appearances include the mythical Tom Waits on the haunted "Fadin Moon" from Guttertown and on the Ghost to a Ghost title track, Alan King of Hellstomper, Les Claypool of Primus fame and beyond, Dave Sherman, Troy Medlin and Hank3's dog,
Trooper.

Cuts such as "Guttertown," "Ridin The Wave," and "The Devil's Movin In" on Ghost to A Ghost, and "Goin to Guttertown," "The Low Line," and "I'll Save My Tears" on Guttertown highlight both the excellent musicianship on the records, and Hank3's
unmistakable, confident vocals.

Attention Deficit Domination allows the listener into Hank3's crunching, metal world of the heavy and the slow, complete with his renowned, fundamental percussion. The nine tracks hardly allow you to get up from the floor. With songs such as "I Feel Sacrificed" and the tormented "Livin Beyond Doom," Hank3 works a ground somewhere between devastation and high theatre.

"Both A.D.D. and Cattle Callin are very intense. It's very manic," Hank3 says. "It's hard to follow, even for the guys I play with. I'm playing everything on these two. It's very complex."

There are 23 tracks on Cattle Callin, featuring Hank3's driving, formidable guitar attack, with instrumentation build around the auctioneering and, in some cases, his own higherregister vocal treatment laid over the top. Metal fans will notice some tongue-in-cheek humor with titles such as "Heavy Cattle" and "Angus of Death." Also, fans of bluegrass will love the banjo-driven "Cattle Callin Lonesome Blues," featuring Mason.

"I was raised around it [cattle auctioneering] and it's pretty amazing how fast these guys are," Hank3 says. "Hip-hop has looped auctioneers. Bluegrass has messed around with it a little bit. This has never been done in the heavy metal world."

The September release of all three projects represents a new birth for Hank3, and he's happy to have the chance.

"Megaforce Records has helped me with my vision to do something that's never been done before," he says. "They're handling my distribution, and I wanted to flood the market and do everything different. I wanted to come out of the gate strong.

"I'm opening up the mind a little bit and bringing some different styles together."

[Paul Casey Frito Bandito Find all posts View Profile Close Paul Casey]

"We are M.O.D and we're on Megaforce!"

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

I have a feeling III went into his garage, smoked an ungodly amount of weed, hit record, and that's what we're getting.

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

I am curious about that country stuff. I'm over III's metal/doom/whatever shit. My favourites of his are his straight up country, and some of the harder stuff like Life of Sin, Hellbilly, things like that. I don't need to hear him screaming.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

I have a feeling III went into his garage, smoked an ungodly amount of weed, hit record, and that's what we're getting.

I think my feeling was right.

Listening to the 3 Bar Ranch Cattle Callin' album right now. It's a bunch of auctioneers selling cows overtop of some crazy speed metal riffing - the WHOLE album is like this. haha. I'm not sure if it's fucking awesome or fucking terrible. It's definitely different.

[Roderick Butthorn Find all posts View Profile Close Roderick]

That sounded like a great idea for a record until I actually heard it. Blech.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Some of the more traditional country stuff on the Ghost To A Ghost/Guttertown album is pretty good.

But yeah, I'm not feeling the auctioneer speed metal thing. It was cool for about two minutes.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

From his website:

The king of Hellbilly, Mr. Hank3 himself, is pleased to announce a triple-threat of new releases, hitting stores October 1, 2013. Hank3 will release a brand new DOUBLE country album, entitled Brothers of the 4x4, and a single punk album, entitled A Fiendish Threat, with his new project “3”. Brothers of the 4x4 and A Fiendish Threat will both be available as double LP vinyl versions.

Recording in his own home and releasing music on his own label, the Megaforce distributed Hank3 Records, allowed Williams complete creative control during the four month period it took to make both records.

Besides living the songs subject matter first, Hank3 sang and played both guitar and drums on the records. As if pulling triple duty wasn't enough, he engineered, produced, mixed and mastered all the tunes as well. Not bad for someone who in his own words is dyslexic and has ADD, according to Hank3 “my mind is all over the place”. But even a man talented and driven enough to do (count 'em) seven jobs at once has his limits, so Hank3 has once again assembled a top-notch ensemble of pickers and pluckers for Brothers Of The 4x4 and A Fiendish Threat.

The required stand-up bass holds the low end down at the deft hands of Zach Shedd, with David McElfresh and Billy Contreras whipping razor sharp bows across the fiddle. Daniel Mason handles banjo, with a special guest appearance on "Possum In A Tree" by former National Old-Time Banjo Champion Leroy Troy working his banjo in the old school clawhammer style, while Andy Gibson wrings the sweetest of notes out his stand up steel guitar. Finally, long-time collaborator and fellow multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Johnny Hiland rips his chicken pickin' guitar to feathers and shreds.

Hank3's latest country record is just that- country, and the realness of it shines throughout the record like moonlight hitting a mason jar of corn liquor- it ain't always the smoothest, and it doesn't come wrapped in a fancy package, but it's 100% pure whoop-ass in a bottle that gets the job done quicker and better and reminds you of where you originally came from once you figure out what just hit you. On "Outdoor Plan" he sings of fishing and hunting as a way of life, and it's a fact that more than one deer and turkey has met its maker at the end of Hank3's gun's barrel. The title track, "Brothers of the 4x4" celebrates the wide open full throttle love of off roadin' and rootin' in a four wheel drive - the cover of the record shows Williams mud bogging in a custom 4x4, and it's not some redneck rental - that's his ride. And because life ain't always happy, when the heartbreak and hard times cracks through the sonic celebration on songs like "Loners 4 Life" and "Ain't Broken Down", it's because Hank3 is well acquainted with the darker side of life, and not as some tourist. The album is a rich and gritty sounding mixture of sadness, pride, hope- in other words, it's a great country record.

With Brothers of the 4x4 and A Fiendish Threat set for release October 1st, Williams is ready to hit the road, and when he hits the road, he hits it much harder than most. Hank3 shows are legendary for their length and intensity, averaging three hours a night, starting with a country set and ending with whatever his latest musical experiment happens to be. For this touring cycle, fans will get to taste the hardcore punk horror rock of A Fiendish Threat, a rippingly fast blast of sounds reminiscent of The Misfits, Minor Threat, 7 Seconds, The Ramones and other punk rock greats that are as much a part of Hank 3's musical identity as his country roots. But A Fiendish Threat, like all of the man's musical output, is anything but a formulaic, by-the-numbers rehash of what has been previously done by others. Stand up bass, fiddle, and banjo are not exactly standard instruments in punk rock, but they are on this record, riding beneath 3's howling distorted vocals. Perhaps this is the birth of rebelcore punk? Whatever you want to call it, Williams has left his own touch on the genre, even utilizing a bizarrely beautiful Hula-music-on-acid sounding Hawaiian guitar at times. Some of the songs can make the listener feel like someone dropped LSD in their cheap draft beer at a CBGB matinee show headlined by a ghoulish Hawaiian punk band. A Fiendish Threat is yet another of Williams already numerous signature sounds, and he's excited to put it in front of the audience for the first time. "You know when you do a new record, you just want to play it for all your friends. That's what I'm excited for with this punk record, I get use a voice that doesn't get used that often, and pay respects to some of my influences at the same time. Doing this record made feel like I was growing stronger- it took some of the years off me, to tell you the truth. Playing it makes me feel young again," he laughs, "How long I will be able to pull it off all depends on the voice, man.”

With these dual releases, Brothers Of The 4x4 and A Fiendish Threat added to his already huge and varied arsenal of music, Hank3 will be raising all sorts of hell on stage while the fans raise their glasses in the audience once again, and you can bet your last dollar a damn good time will be had by all. The man goes full throttle all the time, every time, as anyone who has ever been to one of his innumerable shows will attest.

Listen to Brothers of the 4x4 and A Fiendish Threat, go to a show, and find out for yourself. Just remember the next day, after a few aspirins, a dinner at your own table, and a sleep in your own bed, that Hank3 will be down the road doing his thing again, and for that rebel, “doing the best I can” means something a little different than it does for the average man.

Hank3's biography was recently penned by none other than heavy metal renaissance man and self-proclaimed redneck Randy Blythe of Lamb of God. Who better than a backwoods brother from another mother to conjure up a personal summary of Hank3's recent successes and future plans?

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

Well, glad to hear that we're going to get some more country out of the man. He's really very talented, and following Straight To Hell was never gonna be easy, but that whole Ghost/Guttertown thing just sounded like a kid with his parents away for the weekend....overdone. Hope this one gets him back on track. I like his punk stuff as well, but the metal thing, not so much.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Covers.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]