Brainoil is an American

doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (1934–2020), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitche ...

and

sludge Sludge (possibly , or some dialect related to slush) is a semi-solid slurry that can be produced from a range of industrial processes, from water treatment, wastewater treatment or on-site sanitation systems. It can be produced as a settled sus ...

metal band from

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. Brainoil members have been long-term contributors to the

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Wi ...

underground punk and metal music scene. Brainoil's musical style is sludge metal influenced by bands such as

Eyehategod Eyehategod (also abbreviated and referred to as EHG) is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana, who formed in 1988. They have become one of the better known bands to emerge from the NOLA metal scene. Their core lineup has r ...

Melvins Melvins (sometimes the Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Primarily a trio, they have also performed as a quartet, with eith ...

and

Dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

History

Early days

The band was originally formed in 1998 by Greg Wilkinson as a solo project called ''Mr.Brainoil'' with a Boss drum machine. Greg was joined by Nate in the summer of 2000. Greg and Nate continued to work on material throughout the summer of 2000 writing and recording a demo by the fall of 2000. Greg and Nate ditched the drum machine by the winter of 2000 and were joined by

Ira Harris Ira Harris (May 31, 1802December 2, 1875) was an American jurist and senator from New York. He was also a friend of Abraham Lincoln. Life Ira Harris was born in Charleston, New York on May 31, 1802. He grew up on a farm, and graduated from Unio ...

. Brainoil's first show was on March 3, 2001, at Mission Records in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

2001–2003

Brainoil entered the studio in early 2001 to record for a split CD with fellow Oakland sludge rockers Cruevo recorded by Noah Landis of

Neurosis Neurosis (: neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed. In recent history, the term has been used to refer to anxiety-related con ...

at Mr. Toad's studios in

. The CD was released by the end of 2002 as a 4-label split release between

Shifty Records Shifty Records was a South African anti-apartheid record label founded by Lloyd Ross and Ivan Kadey in 1982/1983, which existed for around ten years. History Lloyd Ross and Ivan Kadey founded Shifty records in 1983.) but Kontaktnätet a Swed ...

, Boredom Noise, Berserker and Unknown Controller. This release has since been lost to obscurity through a lack of repressing by any of the labels, and has become something of a collector's item in the

world. One of the songs from this recording session was released as a Split 7" with Seattle's

Iron Lung An iron lung is a type of negative pressure ventilator, a medical ventilator, mechanical respirator which encloses most of a person's body and varies the air pressure in the enclosed space to stimulate breathing. It assists breathing when Musc ...

on Greg Wilkinson's label, Boredom Noise (now defunct). Brainoil played extensively in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

and along the West coast during 2001–2003. Brainoil entered Polymorph Studios in March 2002 to record their debut LP with engineer Dan Rathbun. The LP was released as a self-titled LP in early 2003 by Matt Parillo of

on Life is Abuse Records. The LP received many positive reviews in the weeks and months following its release, often comparing the band's initial LP to Eyehategod, and described as "the best sludge album so far this year" in a review by Jeb Branin.

2004–2008

At the request and assistance of Uge from Throne Records in Spain, the band's self-titled LP was re-released in Europe on Throne Records in the winter of 2003. This version of the LP featured re-mastering and a re-arrangement of the songs on each side. The re-mastering boosted the high-end frequencies and increased the overall volume. To support the LP release, Brainoil toured

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

in March 2004 with fellow Throne Records label-mates

Moho Moho may refer to: Birds * ''Moho'' (genus), an extinct genus of birds in the family Mohoidae * The Hawaiian name of the Hawaiian rail, an extinct species * The Māori name of the North Island takahē, an extinct species * A local name for the o ...

. Upon their return from Europe, Brainoil continued to play, but with decreasing frequency in the

from late 2004–2006. Throughout 2005–2007 Ira Harris began an extensive touring schedule with Watch Them Die. Not wanting to continue Brainoil with any other drummer, Greg and Nate shifted focus to their other musical projects until the time was right to continue with Ira.

2009–2013

Brainoil began playing live shows regularly again in the San Francisco Bay Area by 2009 and appeared with bands such as

Ghoul In folklore, a ghoul (from , ') is a demon-like being or monstrous humanoid, often associated with graveyards and the consumption of human flesh. In the legends or tales in which they appear, a ghoul is far more ill-mannered and foul than go ...

Cannabis Corpse Cannabis Corpse is a cannabis-themed death metal band. Cannabis Corpse formed in Richmond, Virginia in 2006 under the Forcefield label. Since then, Cannabis Corpse has released six LPs and two EPs. The band features members of Municipal Wast ...

Deviated Instinct Deviated Instinct are an English extreme metal band formed in Norwich in 1984. They are considered pioneers of both crust punk and death metal. Their first EP, ''Welcome to the Orgy'', was released by Peaceville Records, which released the majo ...

Buzzoven Buzzoven (typeset Buzzov•en) is an American sludge metal band from Salisbury, North Carolina, formed in 1990. The band was known for being one of the founders of the sludge genre along with Louisiana's Eyehategod and Acid Bath, and also for t ...

Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (1934–2020), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitche ...

, Saviours, Lecherous Gaze, Rorschach and

Dropdead Dropdead is an American hardcore punk band based in Providence, Rhode Island. They have been active in the punk scene since 1991, having been formed in January of that year. The band's songs are generally short and very fast-paced, with few las ...

. In August 2011 Brainoil released their self-produced and recorded 2nd full-length LP ''Death of This Dry Deason ''through the 20 Buck Spin label. The release was covered in the press by the

East Bay Express The ''East Bay Express'' is an Oakland-based weekly newspaper serving the Berkeley, Oakland and East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is distributed throughout Alameda County and parts of Contra Costa County every Wednesday. Th ...

, ''

Decibel Magazine ''Decibel'' is a monthly heavy metal magazine published by the Philadelphia-based Red Flag Media since September 2004. It is currently the only monthly metal music magazine published in North America. Its sections include Upfront, Features, Revi ...

'' and reviewed online extensively. A video for the song "Gravity is a Relic" was released shortly thereafter. The band posted an internet-only release of oddities and obscurities in September 2011 Brainoil toured the east coast of the United States with Lecherous Gaze in September–October 2013.

Members

* Greg Wilkinson –

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

* Nathan Smith –

Guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and vocals * Ira Harris –

Drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Discography

EP

*''Brain/Lung Split'' 7" with Iron Lung Boredom Noise (2001)

LPs

*''Brainoil'' LP Life Is Abuse (2003) *''Brainoil'' LP Gatefold Repress Throne Records (2003) * ''Death of this Dry Season'' LP 20 Buck Spin (2011) * ''Singularity to Extinxtion'' LP

Tankcrimes Tankcrimes is an independent punk rock and heavy metal record label owned by Scotty Heath and operated from his garage in Oakland, California. Tankcrimes currently has over 100 releases. Tankcrimes Day is officially February 1 and is intended to ...

(2018)

CDs

*"Split CD with Cruevo" split label release between Berserker, Unknown Controller, Boredom Noise and Shifty (2001)

Downloads

* ''Brainoil oddities, obscurities and releases mix #1 ''(2011)

Associated projects

* Ira Harris played in the punk band Grimple from

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

during the 1990s. Ira also played and toured extensively with Watch Them Die. * Greg Wilkinson currently plays in Autopsy (as of 2021), Deathgrave, and Shrinkwrap Killers. He has also played with the bands Laudanum and I Will Kill You Fucker. * Nathan Smith played in the crust punk band

Destroy Destroy may refer to: * ''Destroy'' (album), a 2004 album by Ektomorf * Destroy!, a Minneapolis Crust punk band * '' Destroy!!'', a comic book by Scott McCloud See also * Destroyer (disambiguation) * Destruction (disambiguation) * Destroy 2 ...

from

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

during the 1990s, and Stormcrow from 2005-2009.

Recording projects

Greg and Nate recorded and produced the ''

Born/Dead Born/Dead is a hardcore punk band formed in late 2000 in Oakland, California, consisting of Bill Jackson playing drums, Wyatt Culbertson (both formerly of Chemical Imbalance) playing bass and splitting vocal duties with guitarist Will Kinser. Wil ...

'' split LP with Consume in 2003. Greg Wilkinson has recorded and produced many

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

, and experimental bands at EarHammer Studios in Oakland, CA.

References

External links

Official websiteBrainoil photo gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brainoil (Band) Musical groups from Oakland, California American doom metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2000 Musical trios from California American sludge metal musical groups