Greg Rogers

Greg Rogers
Background information
Birth Name	Greg Rogers
Occupation	Musician
Genres	Doom Metal, Stoner Metal
Instrument(s)	Drums
Years active	1990 - Present
Labels	Hellhound Records, Southern Lord Records, Man's Ruin Records, Rise Above Records, Columbia
Associated acts	The Obsessed, Goatsnake, Debris Inc., Sonic Medusa

Greg Rogers is a drummer based out of California. Active since the early 1990s he is best known as a recurring drummer for doom metal pioneers The Obsessed, alongside a founding member of the California doom metal band Goatsnake. In the early 1990s he performed on two albums for The Obsessed, followed by two with Goatsnake up until the band's hiatus in 2001. He would return to Goatsnake in 2010, leading up to the band's third album "Black Age Blues" in 2015. He was also a founding member of side project Sonic Medusa in 2009.

Biography

The Obsessed (1990 - 1995, 2012 - 2013)

• For more details, feel free to view the Riffipedia page on The Obsessed.

In 1990, Hellhound Records released The Obsessed, an album that The Obsessed had recorded in 1985, different from the intended Metal Blade album. This prompted Wino to leave Saint Vitus and reform The Obsessed with a new rhythm section consisting of Scott Reeder and Greg Rogers. The band was quickly signed to Hellhound Records and soon released Lunar Womb in 1991 with a sporadic handful of shows along with at least one string of European shows with this lineup. Scott Reeder later left to join Kyuss, whereupon he was replaced by Guy Pinhas. The band would tour throughout Europe in 1992 and 1993 with this newfound lineup.

The Obsessed - Documentary '94

Columbia Records (With publishing from Hellhound) signed them for their third and final album, The Church Within. Despite receiving rave reviews, a large amount of promotion on behalf of Columbia Records (including a 25-minute documentary on the history of The Obsessed) and heavy touring throughout the USA and Europe to support The Church Within, the album did not sell as well as expected. Sometime in 1995 the Obsessed disbanded, with Wino eventually leaving Southern California and moving back to Maryland. Eventually, Wino would form Shine (Whom would become Spirit Caravan) with Wretched vocalist Dave Sherman and Unorthodox/Iron Man drummer Gary Isom while Greg Rogers and Guy Pinhas would become the rhythm section for Goatsnake a year later.

In September 2011, Roadburn announced that The Church Within lineup (featuring Wino, Greg Rogers and Guy Pinhas) would be reuniting to perform at Roadburn Festival on 14 April 2012. Notably at the Roadburn Festival a double 10" edition reissue of The Church Within along with a live LP featuring a bonus 7" was released to honor their appearance at the festival. Alongside the Roadburn set, The Obsessed also performed at Hellfest that year surrounding a short European tour.

In 2013, The Obsessed would perform another string of reunion dates with Reid Raley (Rwake, Nachtmystium) taking Guy Pinhas' place. Along with a full set on May 23 in Los Angeles, The Obsessed would also perform at Maryland Deathfest, Scion RockFest and The Power of The Riff.

The Obsessed would re-form in 2016 albeit without Rogers on drums. Brian Costantino has since taken over as the band's new drummer since 2016.

Goatsnake (1996 - 2001, 2010 - Present)

• For more details, feel free to view the Riffipedia page on Goatsnake.

Goatsnake formed in 1996 when Greg Anderson expressed an interest with jamming with Guy Pinhas and Greg Rogers, both of whom were in The Obsessed, a band that at the time recently disbanded. Anderson would travel to Los Angeles to jam with them and not long after recruited Pete Stahl (Earthlings?, Scream!) as their vocalist.

Around 6 - 8 months after forming, Goatsnake would start recording material in 1997. In 1998, the band would release a 7" single entitled IV via Prosthetic Records, limited to 1000 copies. Not long after a second 7" would see release as Man of Light via Warpburner. The band also performed live in the West Coast, sharing the stage with the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, Fatso Jetson and Fugazi. The next year the band would release their debut album I on Man's Ruin Records and tour Europe for the first time, notably an appearance at Dynamo Festival and a handful of shows with Electric Wizard. By the end of 1999, Guy Pinhas left the band due to personal differences and was replaced by G. Stuart Dahlquist (Sunn O))), Burning Witch). Throughout 2000, the band would put out three releases: An EP entitled Dog Days on Southern Lord Records, a split with Burning Witch on Hydra Head Records and the bands second album Flower of Disease on Man's Ruin. The band toured the US and Europe in support of the record alongside Witch Mountain, Orange Goblin and Sunn O))).

By 2001, Dahlquist and Rogers had both left. Taking place on bass and drums leading up to a European tour with Queens of the Stone Age were Joey Castillo on drums and Ron Holzner on bass. Sometime after the band would go on a hiatus. The band would re-form in 2004 and 2005 though Rogers would not be involved with this first reunion.

Goatsnake were announced to reunite in 2010 at Roadburn Festival as one of the headlining acts, personally selected by Thomas Gabriel Fischer as one of the curated acts. It would be the first time the original lineup had performed together in over ten years. Also leading up to the reunion show Flower of Disease was finally reissued on CD and vinyl (Along with a I + Dog Days 2LP set) on Southern Lord Records. In an interview with Doomed & Stoned, Rogers would speak about how the reunion came about and originally intending to get Mike Dean on bass:

“	“Roadburn asked us to play a reunion show in 2010, so we did and we had a great time. We figured it’d be fun to play some more so we did a few U.S. shows in 2010 and some in Europe the following year. We sort of drifted off for a couple years, and in 2013 I was in Memphis playing a fest with The Obsessed and ran into Mike Dean from Corrosion of Conformity in the lobby of the hotel. He said “Y'all should get Goatsnake back together - I’ll play bass.” I hollered at Anderson when I got home and asked if he had any new stuff, and he did. And, as much as we’d all love to play with Mike Dean - he’s such a monster player and cool guy - his being on the other side of the country just wouldn’t work logistically, especially with writing and stuff. By the way, Mike, if you’re reading this, any time you wanna jam - holler!”	”
	— Greg Rogers, Doomed & Stoned

The band would keep performing after this special show throughout the next few years. The first string of shows were in 2010 on the West Coast along with an event Anderson curated entitled The Power of The Riff, featuring bands from the Southern Lord label at the time such as Corrosion of Conformity, Pelican, Black Breath and Nails to name a few. The band would tour Europe the next year including an appearance at Hellfest.

In 2014, Scott Renner was recruited as the bassist for the band as they performed a string of shows including Southwest Terror Fest. The band announced they were starting work on a third album. In 2015 the band would release Black Age Blues on Southern Lord, their first album in fifteen years. Attaining critical acclaim, The band would tour extensively in support of the record throughout Europe and the United States including appearances at SXSW, Psycho Festival, Maryland Deathfest, Temples Festival, Freak Valley Festival and Desertfest Belgium to name a few.

The band only performed once in 2016 at their second appearance at Hellfest, mainly due to the respective members being busy with other projects.

Other Bands

Rogers notably performed live with the drone/doom band Sunn O))) in 1998 in what was not only a rare instance of a live performance with drums, but also one of the band's first overall live appearances.

Rogers would occasionally perform live drums from the doom/punk side project known as Debris Inc., alongside Dave Chandler and Ron Holzner. He would perform on two tracks ("The Life And Times Of Claude And Elmo" and "Pain") on the band's only studio album, released in 2005 via Rise Above Records.

Rogers would also perform drums in a heavy metal band known as Sonic Medusa, releasing two extended plays between 2010 and 2015. Notably he performed with bassist Scott Renner, whom he'd suggest as the new bassist for Goatsnake for their reunion and third studio album.

Bands

• The Obsessed - Drums (1990 - 1995, 2012 - 2013)
• Goatsnake - Drums (1996 - 2001, 2010 - Present)
• Sunn O))) - Live Drums (1998)
• Debris Inc. - Live Drums (Unknown Time Period)
• Sonic Medusa - Drums (2010 - Present)

Discography

• The Obsessed - Lunar Womb (Studio Album) (1991, Hellhound Records)
• The Obsessed - The Church Within (Studio Album) (1994, Hellhound Records)
• The Obsessed - Incarnate (Compilation; Selected Tracks) (1999, Southern Lord Records)
• Goatsnake - I (Studio Album) (1999, Man's Ruin Records)
• Goatsnake - Goatsnake / Burning Witch (Split with Burning Witch) (2000, Hydra Head Records)
• Goatsnake - Dog Days (Extended Play) (2000, Southern Lord Records)
• Goatsnake - Flower of Disease (Studio Album) (2000, Man's Ruin Records)
• Debris Inc. - Debris Inc. (Studio Album; Drums on Tracks 8, 14) (2005, Rise Above Records)
• Sonic Medusa - The Sanctuary Sessions (Extended Play) (2010, Self-Released)
• Sonic Medusa - The Sunset Soundhouse Tapes (Extended Play) (2015, Self-Released)
• Goatsnake - Black Age Blues (Studio Album) (2015, Southern Lord Records)

External Links

• Rogers on Discogs
• Goatsnake on Southern Lord Records