Grab Your Inhalers, Cough Are Coming To Take Your Breath Away

The scene may forever be changing, but according to doom experts Cough, Australia has a rich history with the genre. "Aus is the home of Buffalo, so I can see how the talent has continued to trickle down since the '70s," says guitarist Brandon Marcey. "Disembowelment in the '90s were an unholy beast, and when we toured in 2011 I was impressed.

"Band for band, the scene holds up as strong and sometimes stronger than many other places. Looking Glass are Australia's current best rock band, Marcus [De Pasquale] is a madman on the guitar and a true soul of rock'n'roll."

Any hints as to whether some of these local legends will be joining the parade come the end of the month? "Nah, I dunno what the hell is going on. Looking Glass, Whitehorse, Inverloch, Hydromedusa. Paul Mazziotta just playing drums every night would be cool to me."

Returning to the scene with Still They Pray after a five-year hiatus, Marcey's been keeping busy in the interim, "Working full-time as a carpenter and putting out music with my other project, Sinister Haze. Other members have families and others have their own thing," he tells. "Everybody's got their own thang."

Cough is returning to our shores in a double-header with label-mates Windhand, with whom they put out split 7" Reflection Of The Negative (2013) and share a member in Parker Chandler. It sounds like a tough gig but Marcey feels confident that the bassist and vocalist will be able to keep up the two-set-a-night pace ("If I had to play that slow for two hours I'd fall asleep," he jokes).

While the bands may be excited for the upcoming tour, Marcey admits he didn't exactly see it coming: "Years ago I would have found the idea of us not doing more [together] weird, but now we are all older and crotchety and hardly tour as it is." Marcey also says of the addition of a run in New Zealand this time around, "What am I expecting? Bangers and mash, spliffs, Coopers and heaps of laughs."