Weakling was an American

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

band from

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. The band never toured and released only one album, ''

Dead as Dreams ''Dead as Dreams'' is the only studio album by Weakling. It was recorded in 1998 and released in 2000, through the tUMULt record label, while the band itself ceased activity in 1999. The title of the album comes from a line in the movie ''Legen ...

'', recorded in 1998 and released on Tumult Records in 2000.

History

The name Weakling, according to founding member John Gossard, came from the title of a song by the band

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from their album ''

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''. Weakling was initially started by guitarist John Gossard and guitarist/drum programmer Robert Williams of Ubzub. The two ended up releasing an early version of "No One Can be Called As A Man While He'll Die" on a compilation tape Wintergrief released by Nahitfol Productions in 1996. Briefly, Gossard and Williams continued with Weakling adding Jim Mack on bass, and

Antoine Reuben Diavola Slough Feg (also known as The Lord Weird Slough Feg) is an American heavy metal band from Pennsylvania, formed in 1990 and currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Taking their name from the Celtic folklore-influenced comic book Sláin ...

on drums. Dissatisfied with the dedication of the members, Gossard left the band while the rest of the lineup continued on as Black Goat. The one idea contributed by Mack for the song "This Entire Fucking Battlefield" was later discovered to have been 'borrowed' from the Norwegian band Demonic's song "Nar Morket Faller". Prior to the release of the album, a few odd tales sprung up about the possible ways it could be distributed, including printing a single copy to be given to a single fan in

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or burying copies of the album in the ground and giving maps to fans who wanted to find them. Band leader John Gossard has since decried the spread of these stories as a publicity stunt pulled by the band's record label noting that the ideas were never intended to be more than a joke between the band members. Initially, Weakling was mainly noted for featuring guitarist Josh Smith of

The Fucking Champs The Fucking Champs are a three-piece rock band from San Francisco, California. They are known for their heavy metal sound, based largely around shifting time signatures, guitar harmonies, and plentiful rhythm. Most songs are instrumental. They ...

(fellow Champ Tim Green served as producer), but a recent reissue of their material has brought their work some more attention, and the album has been hailed in some circles, and by musicians including

Fenriz Gylve Fenris Nagell (born Leif Nagell; 28 November 1971), known professionally as Fenriz, is a Norwegian musician, part-time music journalist and online radio host (with the show "Radio Fenriz")

Darkthrone Darkthrone is a Norwegian extreme metal band from Kolbotn, Akershus. Formed in 1986 as a death metal band named Black Death, in 1991 Darkthrone embraced a black metal style influenced by Bathory and Celtic Frost and became one of the leadin ...

, as a masterpiece. Weakling's sound displays inspiration from the works of

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n bands like Bathory, Burzum and

, as one might imagine it filtered through the lens of '70s

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

: all five songs on the 76-minute album run at least 10 minutes in length and each is composed of at least 2 distinct sections. Gossard and bassist Sarah Weiner later played together in the similarly short-lived

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band The Gault (although Weiner was the drummer of that outfit); after that band's demise, Gossard went on to join established

funeral doom Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

outfit Asunder, and formed a second black metal band,

Dispirit Dispirit is an American black metal band from Oakland, California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the ...

, in the wake of Asunder's dissolution. Keyboardist Casey Ward currently plays drums in

The Husbands The Husbands are an all-female American garage punk band that formed in 2002 in San Francisco, California, United States. The band has gone on an international concert tour in the United States and at Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They have two album ...

. Drummer Sam Foster currently plays drums for

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

band Saros. Although Weakling has never officially announced a split, they broke up in 1999.

Members

*John Gossard: guitar and vocals *Josh Smith: guitar *Sarah Weiner: bass *Casey Ward: keyboards *Sam Foster (a.k.a. Little Sunshine): drums

Discography

;Albums *''

'' (2000) ;Demos *''Live Practice Demo'' (1998) *''Rehearsal Demo'' (1998)

References

{{Authority control American black metal musical groups American progressive metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1998 Musical groups disestablished in 1999 Tumult Records artists