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audiObelisk EXCLUSIVE: Hail!Hornet Premiere Track From New Album

Posted in audiObelisk on June 28th, 2011 by JJ Koczan

The Southern metal rogues’ gallery returns! Four years ago, the assemblage of doomed bastards known as Hail!Hornet made their debut in the form of a Dwell Records self-titled, and it was some of the dankest metal ever to rise from the muck. Now signed to Relapse, the four-piece of vocalist T-Roy Medlin (Sourvein; interview here), bassist “Dixie” Dave Collins (Weedeater; interview here), guitarist Vince Burke (Beaten Back to Pure) and drummer Erik Larson (The Might Could/ex-Alabama Thunderpussy; interview here) make an overdue return with their second album, Disperse the Curse, on July 19.

Recorded by Burke (who I guess I need to get on interviewing) in his own Sniper Studio, Disperse the Curse is a little more focused, more linear than was Hail!Hornet‘s first outing — all things relative — but it’s still dirty as hell tonally and topped off with Medlin‘s trademark throat-searing screams. It’s not all sludge, but those elements are definitely in there, and there’s no denying that when these guys kick into a groove, it’s absolutely brutal.

Relapse was kind enough to grant me permission to premiere the track “Unholy Foe” for streaming, so dig this:

Here is the Music Player. You need to installl flash player to show this cool thing!

Hail!Hornet‘s Disperse the Curse is out July 19, 2011, on Relapse Records, and is available for preorder through the label’s website. The cover art, which rules, is by Brian Mercer.

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Top Five of the First Half of 2011, #3: Red Fang, Murder the Mountains

Posted in Features on June 27th, 2011 by JJ Koczan

Try as I might, I can’t come up with an argument against Murder the Mountains, the Relapse Records debut from Portland, Oregon‘s Red Fang and their second album overall. The songs are diverse without being pretentious, rocking without being dumbed down and once they get into your head, you think you might lose your mind from how constantly you hear them. Maybe that’s an argument against, but if so, it should say something that the biggest complaint about an album is that it’s so catchy it’ll drive you nuts.

Red Fang‘s self-titled had a couple cool tracks and that one they did the beery video for, and that was fun, but with Murder the Mountains, they blew themselves right out of the water. Their choice of producer in Chris Funk of The Decemberists was a bold one, but it paid off huge in that Red Fang wound up making moves and arrangement choices that other bands of their scruffy ilk might not have thought of and/or done, and they were heavy enough to still make it work. The gruff vocals of guitarist Bryan Giles and the smoother approach of bassist Aaron Beam played off each other track by track — and often within the cuts themselves (see “Number Thirteen” or “Throw Up”) — and the material was so immediate that the songs couldn’t help but flow together.

They’ve gotten a fair amount of buzz thanks to high-profile touring, but one listen to Murder the Mountains will show that Red Fang have the songwriting to back up whatever hype might surround them, and best of all, that it’s the music, not the hype, that matters to the band. Rounded out by guitarist David Sullivan and drummer John Sherman, Red Fang proved that you don’t necessarily have to choose between being heavy and engaging with an audience. And all that’s wonderful, but most of all, Murder the Mountains is on this list because I can’t seem to stop listening to the fucking thing. With all of the quality releases that have come out this year, that should say something.

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On the Radar: Tenderizor

Posted in On the Radar on June 27th, 2011 by JJ Koczan

Metal’s a curious proposition these days. Too many bands, too many subgenres to keep track of — half of it’s emo in disguise and the rest is up its own ass with pseudo-progressive noodling. I’m old, I guess is what I’m trying to say. Nonetheless, when a band like Tenderizor comes along, there’s nothing else I can really call them but a metal band. The triple-guitar (also bass, drums, vocals, noise) Albuquerque five-piece released their debut LP, Touch the Sword, in March via Sick!Sick!Sick!, and there’s some thrash, some quirk, some tongue-in-cheek stuff, and even some Top Ramen chicanery, but as its heart, it’s metal all the way.

And it’s not usually the kind of thing I’d cover here — well, maybe; the title track is kind of riffy in its verses — but they share vocalist/bassist/noisemaker Steve Hammond with fellow New Mexican weirdos Leeches of Lore, and if, like me, you dug the heavier elements that showed up on their recent Attack the Future full-length, then the Slayer-meets-Metallica thrashing nonsense of “The Gilded Knight” should be just the thing to kick your Monday afternoon in the ass. The vinyl is limited to 500 copies, and they’re selling it at their Bandcamp page, along with a download.

In the meantime, they’ve made four of the total eight tracks available for streaming, and here they are:

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Monkey3, Beyond the Black Sky: Space is Deep, the Desert is Endless

Posted in Reviews on June 27th, 2011 by JJ Koczan

Marking a decade of existence in 2011 after one of their most successful years yet – 2010 found them appearing at both Roadburn and Hellfest – Swiss psychedelonauts Monkey3 follow-up 2009’s covers EP, Undercover, with their third full-length, Beyond the Black Sky. Released via Stickman Records with art by Malleus, the eight-track LP runs just over 42 minutes, and on it, the four-piece Lausanne band delves into a range of atmospheres, keeping their instrumental songs memorable and grounded with a foundation of heavy riffs. The vibe is vaguely stoner, but there’s more going on with Monkey3 (either written thusly or Monkey 3 with a space between the name and number; I’ve seen it both ways) than simple riff-driven instrumentality, and where an act like Karma to Burn has clearly had some influence, Beyond the Black Sky pulls from synth-inclusive space rock and heavy jamming, resulting in a feel generally more atmospheric, as they show in the low underlying rumble of the short “Tuco the Ugly.” These are songs, and they’re accessible on that level, but each piece also has a character of its own and a progression playing out.

For that alone, that Monkey3 manage to achieve that balance, Beyond the Black Sky is a win. They open the album with “Camhell,” which finds guitar and synth affecting a repetitive hypnosis while drummer Walter (first names only, all around) keeps the build moving. And it is a build. The song peaks once, drops down, and peaks again in its six-plus minutes, ending at a noodling guitar apex that cuts off as though the low-end effects that open “One Zero Zero One” are a wall the band has just pushed you into. “One Zero Zero One” – which doesn’t actually translate from binary to anything in text – is more patient all around, guitarist Boris and keyboardist dB working well together as the former offers a memorable rhythm line in the song’s final moments. That interplay between the guitar and keyboards runs throughout Beyond the Black Sky, lending the record as a whole a progressive air, but Monkey3, despite being a heavy psychedelic band given to lengthy jams like that in Side A-highlight “Black Maiden” (8:52), are never fully lost in self-indulgence. The structure of “Black Maiden” isn’t so different from “Camhell” or that which shows up later on closer “Through the Desert” (another high point of the record), but through diversity in their riffing style and complexity of the parts they’re playing, Monkey3 avoid sounding samey or repetitive where they’re not meaning to be. “Black Maiden” brings bassist Picasso and dB for hits and ringouts during a lengthy midsection of mostly guitar and synth, and it works tremendously well setting up the build of the song’s latter half.

“Tuco the Ugly” is more of an interlude at 2:13; a well-placed comedown from “Black Maiden” that provides afterthought to the breadth of that track while also closing out the first half of the record, but more interesting about it is how it plays next to “K.I,” which follows. Where “Tuco the Ugly” relies on acoustic guitar and a foreboding Western ambience perhaps inspired by their take on the theme from Once Upon a Time in the West from Undercover, “K.I” is practically industrial, with Boris’ start-stop riffing, the mechanical-sounding rhythms behind and wash of synth. Since both cuts are the only ones on Beyond the Black Sky under three minutes, and since they’re paired right next to each other, one can’t help but compare them, and though I’m more partial personally to the relaxed, open-country style of “Tuco the Ugly,” there’s no denying that “K.I” grooves and leads well into the organ-ic “Motorcycle Broer,” which finds Picasso at his most present yet, mix-wise, and Boris moving the guitars into atmospheric volume swells when not playing up straightforward rock riffing or – as later in the track – busting out the best solo on Beyond the Black Sky.

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Frydee Gomer Pyle

Posted in Bootleg Theater on June 24th, 2011 by JJ Koczan

This song is pretty grunged-out, but still good stuff. Like if Alice in Chains were a krautrock-obsessed Dutch stoner band, which I think would do them a couple favors at this point. In any case, I stumbled on Gomer Pyle‘s “Math Again,” and it’s heavy and riffy and that’s alright by me.

The Patient Mrs. is in Connecticut for the weekend and I am not. Tonight I finished a month-long process of logging CDs and taking albums off my two racks and putting them into storage containers and then “away.” It was kind of a sad thing. I had to take out some good stuff, but stuff I don’t really listen to at this point. A bummer, but at least it’s done. That and beer and the ballgame have pretty much been the course of the evening, so no complaints.

Among the sundry goals I have for the next couple days is picking a theme, making and posting a new podcast. Hopefully I’ll get that sorted out tomorrow and up and running by Sunday, but if not, this coming week definitely. Also on Monday, I’m headed out to see Blackwolfgoat at Lit Lounge. I’ve never seen Darryl play in-person before, so it should be a good time. I hope to come out of it with a better understanding of what the project is about and a couple decent pictures. If I wind up with either, I’ll post about it.

Other stuff too this week, like a review of the new Monkey3 album and if I’m lucky a premiere of a new song by a certain Southern stoner-death supergroup who shall not yet be named. We’ll also continue with the Top Five of the First Half of 2011 countdown, and, because time goes ridiculously fast in these 30-day months, the June numbers and a wrap of the month. It’s also about time I went on an interview binge to get a couple in the can, so if there’s anyone you want to see a Q&A with (other than YOB, which is obvious), let me know.

In the meantime though, have a great and safe weekend. See you on the forum and back here on Monday. If you’re in NYC and free Monday night, you should come see Blackwolfgoat too. Here’s the flier for the show:

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Dark Castle Interview with Stevie Floyd: The Ritual of Renewal

Posted in Features on June 24th, 2011 by JJ Koczan

Four years later, I remember getting Dark Castle‘s Flight of the Pegasus demo in the mail after hitting them up via MySpace to review it. The disc was a labeled CDR that came packaged between two taped-together pieces of cardboard. Its front cover was a sticker by guitarist/lead vocalist Stevie Floyd with the band’s logo on top and the name of the EP below. And the music was a live-recorded half-hour that boasted a Led Zeppelin cover and raw sounds that only gave the faintest hint of what was to come.

And when Dark Castle released Spirited Migration on At a Loss in 2009, the Floridian duo outdid themselves in terms of growth over the course of their time together. Floyd and drummer, sampler and vocalist Rob Shaffer arrived with a coherent vision of what they wanted their band to be, incorporating influences from world music and managing to balance the varying elements in their approach in such a way as to maximize both the aural brutality and atmospheric weight.

They toured hard for Spirited Migration, and that work is evident in their 2011 Profound Lore label debut, Surrender to all Life Beyond Form. It’s a record densely-packed with turns and musical twists — this second doomed to the point of cruelty and the next embroiled in ritualistic chanting or industrial beats — but what’s most staggering about it is Dark Castle has managed to take all of these things and turn them into one coherent statement of purpose. Teamed with Sanford Parker and seamlessly incorporating guest appearances from next-gen-heavy luminaries such as Nate Hall (U.S. Christmas), Mike Scheidt (YOB) and Blake Judd (Nachtmystium), Floyd and Shaffer proved able to maintain consistency in the face of a devastating creative scope.

Away in the mountains from her new home in the Pacific Northwest, when I talked to Floyd for the interview that follows, she was working on several art projects, including a Dark Castle shirt and finalizing the cover art for the new YOB record. Nonetheless, she took time out to discuss the breadth of Surrender to all Life Beyond Form, working closely with Parker in the studio, some of the musical concepts behind the writing for the album and a lot more. Her passion and existential connection to her work shone through in her honesty and openness regarding these processes, and I hope you get a sense of that reading.

Full 3,750-word Q&A is after the jump. Please enjoy.

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This is the 2,000th Post on The Obelisk

Posted in The Numbers on June 24th, 2011 by JJ Koczan

I’m not a sentimental person by nature, not the type to look back and say “remember when?” — except perhaps in cases of bitching — but I just wanted to take a second and mark this as the 2,000th entry I’ve done on The Obelisk. Pretty sure I had no idea on January 31, 2009, when I put up the first test post what was going to happen 1,999 posts later. Hard to remember what I was feeling, other than pissed at being recently-laid-off, but yeah, here we are.

Thanks as always to everyone for reading. I know some of you have been with it since the beginning, and if that’s you, or even if you just stumbled on this site while Googling to find out what happened to StonerRock.com, found this post, and aren’t ever coming back, it’s appreciated. Obviously more in the case of the former than the latter, but whatever. There have been days where this site has been my only reason for getting out of bed. Here’s to the next couple thousand posts to come.

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Whocares, Out of My Mind/Holy Water: Gillan & Iommi Collaboration is Born Again

Posted in Reviews on June 24th, 2011 by JJ Koczan

One of the things I like best about Whocares is the fact that you can almost imagine the conversation where the formidable personnel involved were sitting around in the studio, deciding what to name the project, and someone finally said, “Who the hell cares what we call it?” and it stuck. It’s a valid point, since no matter what name they gave it, it’s the names Tony Iommi and Ian Gillan that were going to draw eyes to the debut Whocares charity CD single (when was the last time you saw one of those? In a full jewel case, no less!), Out of My Mind/Holy Water (Armoury). The band, centered around the Black Sabbath guitarist and Deep Purple vocalist, was put together to benefit an Armenian music school. The story goes that Gillan — whose history in Armenia going back more than 20 years to the aftermath of the 1988 earthquake there is chronicled in an included documentary video – and Iommi were in Armenia to receive medals from the prime minister for the work they did and the money they gave helping rebuild after that quake, saw the school, and decided to help out some more. What it rounds out to is the first time Iommi and Gillan have paired on new studio material since Black Sabbath’s underrated 1983 offering, Born Again.

That alone has drawn eyes and hears to Whocares and the Out of My Mind/Holy Water single, but the fact that the guitarist and singer – two figures whose influence over hard rock and metal simply can’t be measured – are joined by the likes of drummer Nicko McBrain of Iron Maiden, former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted and ex-Deep Purple organ master Jon Lord is even more fodder for the salivary glands. The above, as well as guitarist Mikko “Linde” Lindström of HIM (also Iommi’s son in law), comprise the Whocares lineup for “Out of My Mind,” the focus track from the single and the song for which a video was made that’s also included here. On the somewhat less star-studded, “Holy Water,” Iommi and Gillan are joined by guitarists Steve Morse (Deep Purple) and Michael Lee Jackson (a Deep Purple backup and Gillan solo guitarist), bassist Rodney Appleby and Hammond player Jesse O’Brien (both also of Gillan’s band), and drummer Randy Clarke. “Holy Water” also has a duduk contribution from Arshak Sahakyan and a key intro Ara Gevorgyan, for that Armenian flavor. It’s essentially two different bands led by Iommi and Gillan, one mega-supergroup and one regular old supergroup, operating under the same moniker to benefit an Armenian music school. Sure, they probably could have cut a check and been done with it, but one assumes (at least hopes) this was more fun.

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