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 tr ...

band from

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. The band never toured and released only one album, '' Dead as Dreams'', 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 Swans 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 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

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

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 (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 black metal band hailing from Kolbotn, Akershus. Formed in 1986 as a death metal band named Black Death, in 1991, Darkthrone transitioned to a black metal style influenced by Bathory (band), Bathory and Celtic Frost and ...

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

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

n bands like Bathory,

Burzum Burzum (; ) is a Norwegian music project founded by former Mayhem member Varg Vikernes in 1991. Although Burzum never played live performances, it became a staple of the early Norwegian black metal scene and is considered one of the most infl ...

and

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

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

: 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 Funeral doom is a subgenre of death-doom with heavy influence from Dirge, funeral dirge music. Low-Guitar tunings, tuned Electric guitar, guitars, death growls, instruments that emulate pipe organ sounds and ponderous pace are typical traits of t ...

outfit Asunder, and formed a second black metal band, Dispirit, in the wake of Asunder's dissolution. Keyboardist Casey Ward currently plays drums in The Husbands. Drummer Sam Foster currently plays drums for

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, 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 death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

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 *'' Dead as Dreams'' (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