Biography
Formed during the first years of the new millennium, Outlaw Order emerged as a side project tied to the New Orleans sludge-metal act Eyehategod. Michael Williams on vocals, Joe LaCaze behind the drums, and Gary Mader handling guitar (while holding down bass in Eyehategod) started the group while their Eyehategod bandmates Jimmy Bower and Brian Patton pursued separate endeavors. Bower worked with Phil Anselmo in Down and Superjoint Ritual, and Patton remained occupied with Soilent Green. Patton eventually joined Outlaw Order once a pair of serious tour-van wrecks left Soilent Green unable to continue. Former Eyehategod bassist Marc Shultz completed the initial roster, only to be succeeded shortly afterward by Justin Grisoli, the sole member of Outlaw Order who never performed with Eyehategod.
Outlaw Order’s music naturally overlaps with Eyehategod through Williams’s instantly recognizable yet mostly unintelligible vocals and Patton’s guitar style, which fuses blues, Southern rock, metal, and early-hardcore influences. Nevertheless, the band favors a more aggressive and faster-paced delivery, favoring concise tracks and steering clear of the slowest doom passages common to Eyehategod. Crime-related imagery and subject matter recur in both lyrics and visuals, reportedly reflecting the fact that every member has faced arrest and probation. Despite these distinctions, the connection to Eyehategod remains clear.
The quartet’s debut recording, the four-track 7-inch Legalize Crime, appeared on Southern Lord in 2003 and sold out rapidly. Regional performances around New Orleans followed in 2003 and 2004 until Hurricane Katrina interrupted activity in late summer 2005. Williams’s drug-related arrest and subsequent incarceration, among other Katrina-related setbacks, postponed work on a full-length album. Additional delays arose from Patton’s commitments to Soilent Green, which resurfaced to issue Confrontation in 2005 and Inevitable Collapse in the Presence of Conviction in 2008, while Eyehategod itself delivered the compilation Preaching the “End-Time” Message during the same period. Outlaw Order’s first album, Dragging Down the Enforcer, finally surfaced on Season of Mist in late 2008. Patton and Mader shared bass duties for the sessions; around the release date, Pat Bruders of Crowbar and Goatwhore joined on bass.
Outlaw Order’s music naturally overlaps with Eyehategod through Williams’s instantly recognizable yet mostly unintelligible vocals and Patton’s guitar style, which fuses blues, Southern rock, metal, and early-hardcore influences. Nevertheless, the band favors a more aggressive and faster-paced delivery, favoring concise tracks and steering clear of the slowest doom passages common to Eyehategod. Crime-related imagery and subject matter recur in both lyrics and visuals, reportedly reflecting the fact that every member has faced arrest and probation. Despite these distinctions, the connection to Eyehategod remains clear.
The quartet’s debut recording, the four-track 7-inch Legalize Crime, appeared on Southern Lord in 2003 and sold out rapidly. Regional performances around New Orleans followed in 2003 and 2004 until Hurricane Katrina interrupted activity in late summer 2005. Williams’s drug-related arrest and subsequent incarceration, among other Katrina-related setbacks, postponed work on a full-length album. Additional delays arose from Patton’s commitments to Soilent Green, which resurfaced to issue Confrontation in 2005 and Inevitable Collapse in the Presence of Conviction in 2008, while Eyehategod itself delivered the compilation Preaching the “End-Time” Message during the same period. Outlaw Order’s first album, Dragging Down the Enforcer, finally surfaced on Season of Mist in late 2008. Patton and Mader shared bass duties for the sessions; around the release date, Pat Bruders of Crowbar and Goatwhore joined on bass.
Albums