Outlaw Order Are Not Eyehategod

BY Keith CarmanPublished Nov 23, 2008

"If I start a new band with some former band members why do I have to play a completely different style of music?” grumbles Outlaw Order vocalist Mike Williams. Sludge metal quintet Outlaw Order (abbreviation: OO%) are not Eyehategod (EHG). Drill that into your brain because Williams is getting sick of doing it. Formed with fellow EHG members Brian Patton and Gary Mader (guitars), drummer Joey LaCaze and bassist Justin Grisoli in 2003, OO% is a side project intended to occupy time while guitarist Jimmy Bower fulfils commitments with groove metal outfits Down and Corrosion Of Conformity.

"Why can’t I play the style of music that I invented?” he continues. "Jimmy and I invented the entire New Orleans scene, not to brag about it. If it wasn’t for Jimmy’s riffs and me screaming like an idiot... that’s what Eyehategod are. I don’t know why I’d have to play a different style of music. I want to play what I love and this is it.”

Working during Bower’s dalliances, the outfit has released two limited edition seven-inch EPs over the years and finally completed nine-track full-length Dragging Down The Enforcer. Unfortunately, despite blossoming into their own on Dragging Down, because OO% pulls from the same well of talent and influences as EHG, similarities abound; they are constantly cast off as — or expected to be — little more than Eyehategod clones.

"I don’t like people going, ‘Oh, it’s Eyehategod without Jimmy.’ It’s absurd to say that. I play and live this music every single day of my life. What am I supposed to do? If you’re a fan of what we do, you’ll understand it’s different but casual listeners don’t dig deep and listen. They don’t get it.”

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