The Budos Band
VII Is the Sound of a Band at Full Power, Unleashed
By Robbie Rob Phillips ©2025
There are bands that evolve. Then there are bands that mutate — shedding skin, growing teeth, and returning heavier, stranger, and more dangerous than before.
The Budos Band didn't just mutate. They built a monster, and on BUDOS VII, it finally breaks the chains.
Dropping May 30th on Diamond West Records, VII is the record fans didn't just want — it's the one they feared. Heavier than anything they've done before. Dirtier. More alive. The first single, "Outlander," tears out of the speakers with a Zambian rock snarl, loaded with low-end fuzz, haunted horn lines, and percussion that stalks the beat like a killer in a Giallo film. It's not revival. It's a revelation.
The Budos Band has always sounded less like a band and more like the score to a gritty 1970s New York crime thriller — part The French Connection, part The Mack, all swagger and tension, blaring from a busted car stereo as the city burns around you. Now, it feels like they've written their mythology. And VII? It's the sacred text.
For twenty years, they've been impossible to pin down. Sure, the DNA runs through Afrobeat, soul, Ethiopian jazz, and deep psych. But none of those boxes hold.
“We're not Afrobeat, we're not Ethiopian jazz. We're not world music. We're not funk; we're not soul. We're not rock," says baritone saxophonist Jared Tankel.
"We're just an amalgam of all these different sounds, so things pop out in all directions when you listen."
That chaos is their signature. Their curse. Their gift.
Guitarist Thomas Brenneck, who also handles synths and harp (!), described it best:
"It's like how the Stones tried to play the blues and missed — and made something new. Everything The Budos tries to do, we do wrong… and it sounds like The Budos."
And somehow, that "wrong" hits harder than most bands' best.
Let's talk lineup — because this isn't a band. It's a goddamn rogue's gallery of groove assassins:
Brian Profilio – drums like a wrecking ball in a velvet glove. Dead-on. Unrelenting. The visual identity behind the album covers and merch, including the savage, surreal art of BUDOS VII.
Dan Foder – the anchor. He's a bassist who plays like he's dragging bodies across gravel.
Thomas Brenneck – guitar/synth/harp. Riff-slinger, sound-shaper, and the band's mad scientist.
Mike Deller – organ sorcerer. Think horror movie score meets voodoo séance.
Jared Tankel – baritone sax. His notes don't just rumble — they threaten.
Dave Guy – trumpet firestarter. Precision meets soul in a brass-knuckled punch.
Andrew Greene – trumpet. Sharp, bright, deadly. The blade to Guy's bomb.
Rich Terrana – percussion/synth. Texture, tension, and raw drive.
Ray Mason – trombone. The dark thunder rolled behind the lightning.
With this squad, VII doesn't just sound massive — it sounds mythic.
The band has been on a long and strange ride since their self-titled debut, The Budos Band (2005). II and III refined the soul and Afrobeat influence, Burnt Offering(2014) pushed them into dark territory, and Budos Band V (2019) hit like a crowbar to the ribs. Then came Long in the Tooth (2020) — a record that sounded like it was written from inside the eye of a dust storm. Tracks like "Gun Metal Grey" and "Haunted Sea" set the stage.
But between the LPs, there were detours — each one raw, live, or locked-in with intent.
The Budos Band EP (Daptone Records, 2009) gave a shot of pure instrumental adrenaline between albums.
The Shape of Mayhem to Come (Live, 2015) captured them in their natural element: loud, loose, and lethal.
Frontier’s Edge (Diamond West Records, 2023) pushed even further into unknown terrain — a six-track grindhouse reel of noir-funk, brass fury, and uncut Budos mysticism.
Now comes VII — not just the next chapter, but the full transformation.
The Budos don't perform; they invade. No frontman. No filter. No distractions.
Just pure, live wire force — horns screaming like war horns, drums shaking the floorboards, and the entire band working like a unit trained to demolish expectations.
In an era of auto-tuned dopamine hits and disposable playlist filler, The Budos Band is a chainsaw through the noise.
They don't give a damn about fitting in. They care about feelings. About weight. About making music that lives and dies in the space between the gut and the gods.
And BUDOS VII? It's the exorcism. It's the blast radius.
They're not here to save you.
They're here to bring the roof down and walk out through the fire.
You've been warned.
Essential Budos Band Tracks
New to The Budos Band? Start here:
"Up From the South" (The Budos Band, 2005) – The spark that lit the fire.
"Chicago Falcon" (II, 2007) – Dirty horns and danger in every note.
"Old Engine Oil" (V, 2019) – Thick, gritty doom-funk in full gear.
"Long in the Tooth" (Long in the Tooth, 2020) – Smoldering menace and psychedelic soul.
"Outlander" (VII, 2024) – Zambian fuzz, cinematic terror, and full-throttle Budos.