The last time John Hoffman checked in with No Echo, the Weekend Nachos vocalist was promoting his 2024 horror fiction collection, Oil Spill. Today, the topic shifts back to music as the Chicago musician just announced the forthcoming release of Low Demon, the second LP from his doom/sludge outfit, Stomach.
Handling both vocals and drums in the project, John is joined by guitarist Adam Tomlinson (Sick/Tired, Sea of Shit) in Stomach. The pair previously also played together in the first incarnation of Weekend Nachos. Low Demon was recorded by John during the winter of 2024 at The Pit II in Geneva, Illinois, and mixed and mastered by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studios.
Low Demon also marks the addition of bassist Kirk Syrek (Sick/Tired, Exalted) to the Stomach lineup:
To dive deeper into the Stomach sound, John was kind enough to put together some of the prime influences that helped guide him on its sonic journey since starting the band back in 2022.
Thanks, John!
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Grief, Come to Grief (1994)
"If someone were to say that Stomach is merely copying this album and bringing nothing else to the table, not only would I agree but I’d take it as a compliment. Come to Grief is like the holy grail of sludge in my eyes."
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Grief, Dismal (1993)
"I got into this Grief stuff first, and it will always be just as special to me and the music I make. The bass tone on this material is absolutely unreal and I can’t believe a band was able to create something so bleak."
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Eyehategod, Take as Needed for Pain (1993)
"My introduction to sludge metal, and I think a lot of people could also say that. I take a lot of influence from the Sabbath-influenced riffs on this, you’ll hear them from time to time but really it’s just a stonery single note at the end of an otherwise hardcore-influenced riff. This is why I list Eyehategod as an influence and not Black Sabbath.
"I’ll also throw in the occasional mid-tempo fast part in a Stomach song which is a [Eyehategod guitarist] Jimmy Bower thing. [Eyehategod vocalist] Mike IX is only half as miserable as I am and I’ve never even done any drugs."
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Electric Wizard, Dopethrone (2000)
"I still can’t play guitar, but when I knew I had to sort of learn how, I went and bought the closest thing to Jus Oborn’s guitar that I could: an Epiphone SG. I probably could’ve found an inexpensive used G400 somewhere online but I was too lazy.
"I also use the Behringer Superfuzz for my guitar tone and that’s strictly so I can try to sound like this album. An absolute masterpiece from start to finish and more hateful than any punk band that’s ever existed."
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Cavity, Supercollider (1999)
"There’s other rawer and more bleak Cavity material but this album has so much influence on Stomach’s sound…I hope some people can hear it. Cavity is a perfect band to get into if you’re into '90s screamo or hardcore and want to dive into sludge territory because they were pretty adjacent to a lot of that stuff. Or maybe that’s just how I got into them [laughs]."
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Sunn O))), The Grimmrobe Demos (1999)
"Stomach was always meant to be all over the place, but Sunn O)))'s influence is undeniable. Just the fact that I have a few tracks with no drums is proof of that, but I also layer my guitars and even layer bass sometimes just to hopefully create that 'wall.' I’ve only seen Sunn O))) once but it was the most pure evil thing I’ve ever experienced."
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Earth, Extra-Capsular Extraction (1991)
"This EP changed the way I look at music, sound, ideas, writing, etc. I bought it right when it was first reissued on vinyl having never heard the band before…just wanted to check it out because I knew Kurt Cobain was friends with the singer.
"I remember sitting back in a chair and just letting the record teach me how shit is truly supposed to go. It was a great afternoon and I haven’t forgotten it since. See if you can pick out the riff I stole from this record on the 2nd track of our new album…shouldn’t be too hard."
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Nirvana, Bleach (1989)
"When I was in junior high in the early '90s, Nevermind and In Utero were not my favorite Nirvana albums, and my friends thought I was an idiot. Bleach was my favorite Nirvana album. Now, years later, I realize it was my friends who were fucking stupid, not me."
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Crossed Out, entire discography
"The reason I cannot make music without throwing in a fast part is because of Crossed Out. Even when I set out to do Stomach, I knew there’d be no way to resist having blasts here and there. I wasn’t sure how people would receive that, if they’d be confused by it, but it’s not my fault if so.
"The hatred in Dallas’ voice is absolutely unmatched - often imitated, never duplicated. But sometimes I give it my best shot."
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Charles Bronson, split with Ice Nine (1996)
"Similar to Crossed Out’s influence, I pretty much write every single song I’ve ever written with the intro to 'History in the Making' somewhere in my mind. This will likely never change for as long as I live."
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Low Demon will be released July 18th via Hibernation Release digitally and on both Black and very limited Red LP pressings (pre-order).
Tagged: our biggest influences, stomach, weekend nachos
