FLOODGATE “Penalty” endelig på CD

Metal Mind Productions proudly presents a re-release of the Floodgate album: "Penalty". This stoner rock band emerged in the mid 90's, when the music scene was preparing itself for the upcoming wave of nu-metal. The New Orleans-based quartet, however, offered a completely different musical stylistics. "Penalty", the band's first and so far only LP, delivers an hour of prime doom-sludge stoner rock, comparable to the best releases by Trouble, Down or Monster Magnet. It features 11 brilliantly arranged tracks, inspired by the Deep South traditions of stoner rock.  

One of the most valuable releases in the entire history of the genre in a new digipack edition, limited to numerated 2000 copies. Includes 3 bonus tracks: 2 demo & 1 previously unreleased track. This classic item, taken from the Roadrunner Records archives, digitally remastered using 24-Bit process and released on a golden disc, will be available on 10th September in Europe and 30th October in USA (via MVD).  

Floodgate
"Penalty (remastered)"
Label: Metal Mind Records
Cat. No.: MASS CD DG 1066
Barcode: 5907785030381
Format: CD Digipack (limited edition of 2000 numerated copies)
Genre:  stoner rock
Release date: 10.09.2007 Europe / 30.10.2007 USA  

Tracklist:
1. Shivering
2. Through My Days Into My Nights
3. Before The Line Divides
4. Those Days
5. Till My Soil
6. Whole
7. Second Guesser
8. Running With Sodden Legs
9. Imitation Salvation
10. Feel You Burn
11. Black With Sin  

bonus tracks:  
12. The Sublime and The Hollow (previously unreleased)
13. Those Days (demo)
14. Imitation Salvation (demo)  

Bio

The beginnings of the band reach out back to 1994, when former Exhorder singer/guitarist Kyle Thomas decided to form a completely new project, concentrating on different musical influences than his previous thrash metal group. With the addition of hiss brother Kevin on bass, Jimmy Bower (Down, Superjoint Ritual; also played in Crowbar and Corrosion of Conformity) on drums and Kevin Bond (Superjoint Ritual, Nuclear Crucifixion) on guitars, Kyle assembled the first line-up of his new band, which he called Penalty. The same year they recorded their first self-titled demo consisting of five tracks: "Those Days", "The Sublime and the Hollow", "Dead Field", "Dry Rivers Bleed" and "Imitation Salvation". In the meantime, Bond and Bower left the group to concentrate on their other project, however they were soon replaced by drummer Neil Montgomery and guitarist Steven Fisher. Two years later, in 1996, the band changes the name (for legal reasons) to Floodgate and releases its debut LP "Penalty" through Roadrunner Records. The album featured eleven brilliantly arranged tracks, inspired by the Deep South traditions of stoner rock, straight out of the slimy, 'gator-infested swamps of the Bayou. Although musically the record is a fine piece of craftsmanship, the true highlight of "Penalty" are Kyle Thomas' vocals. With a rough-edged, bluesy voice comparable to Eric Wagner (Trouble), Chris Goss (Masters of Reality) or even James Hetfield and Ozzy Osbourne, Thomas shows an excellent ear for vocal melody and makes every song into a stoner masterpiece. Unfortunately, the album did not get the deserved acclaim, as the music industry at that time was overflowing with numerous nu-metal acts. Roadrunner dropped Floodgate, but the band did not give up that easily. "We stopped working around 2002 until recently" – says Kyle Thomas – "so we weren't too terribly short lived. Longer than Exhorder actually! We were writing and had begun recording album number two when Roadrunner dropped us. Nu-metal was hot and we got swept under the rug as an afterthought after having been touted as the next big thing for the label. They just started claiming us in their history again. I'll always have a dagger in my heart because of the way that band ended. We were really just beginning to do our best work when it imploded."
Floodgate never officially split-up, however founder Kyle Thomas concentrated on various other projects since the release of "Penalty". For a short while he joined the legendary doom-metal band Trouble and recorded an album with them (later on the label was interested in the original line-up, so Thomas decided to step away), after that he formed a group Pitts Vs. Preps, where he played with Jimmy Bowers. In 2001 and 2003 Thomas did a few reunion gigs with Exhorder. Recently, he joined the ranks of stoner rock-metal group Alabama Thunderpussy and recorded an album "Open Fire" with them. As for Floodgate, the future seems full of hope, as Thomas himself promises: "We'll work again, and possibly record as well." During the wait stoner-rock enthusiasts have a chance to catch up with "Penalty" – one of the most valuable releases in the entire history of  the genre.