Album Review: 13 by Premonition 13

Amid all the acclaim that has deservedly seen him canonized as the patron saint of American doom metal, Scott "Wino" Weinrich has arguably never been busier than at the ripe young age of 50 (more like 80 in drug years), which sees him juggling solo albums, recordings with supergroup Shrinebuilder, and even performing reunion shows by ‘80s doom icons Saint Vitus. So the creation of yet another original power trio -- this time named Premonition 13 and featuring old personal friend Jim Karow on guitar, Matthew Clark on drums, and no evident bass player -- clearly begs two questions: namely, how does Wino find the time? And where does he find the inspiration? Well, in the case of Premonition 13's debut full-length, 13, the answer to these questions would appear to be a far from romantic "in the rehearsal space" (apologies to anyone who was hoping to hear "at the crossroads"), given the obviously jam-birthed looseness displayed by most of these tracks. Furthermore, apart from a few atypical detours into forceful heavy rock ("Hard to Say," "Deranged Rock ‘n' Roller," the Hidden Hand-reminiscent "Clay Pigeons"), 13 is dominated and defined by a series of stoned-out, psychedelic doom jams -- the nine-minute introduction of "B.

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Listening to Premonition 13's debut album, 13, without knowing about Scott “Wino” Weinrich’s career trajectory is kinda like trying to find your way through a hot-boxed house of mirrors; it's confusing, odd and unrelenting. Wino is a living legend in the stoner/doom-metal circuit, having fronted such legendary heshers as Saint Vitus, the Obsessed and, more recently, Spirit Caravan and the Hidden Hand. The difference between Premonition 13 and all of those previous Wino acts is fairly minor, and perhaps even indistinguishable to anyone who isn’t an utter expert.

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