Not really much of a surprise that Argentinian riffly rockers Humo del Cairo would have a new video out, what with their new album, but what’s kind of “huh?”-inducing about the situation is that “Fuego de San Antonio” appeared on the first record — not the new one. Far be it from me to criticize (get it?), but it seems to make more sense to me to promote the newer release, which is appropriately called Vol. II, than the debut, righteous though it was.

But maybe that’s why I’ve never been in a killer Argentinian desert rock trio (that’s what’s been holding me back!). Either way, Humo del Cairo‘s video for “Fuego de San Antonio”– directed by Juan Pinnel — is available for viewing below. Hope you dig:

Humo del Cairo‘s Vol. II reportedly came out in October as was planned, though I can’t seem to find any info on how to obtain it. In the meantime, the band has made the new song “Tierra del Rey” available for streaming on Soundcloud, and you can hear it on this player:

When I worked at KB Toys store #1051 in Morris Plains, New Jersey, they used to call it “Green Friday,” and as I started there when I was just turned 16, that was how I came to know Black Friday, which is what most people in the US call the day after Thanksgiving — the busiest shopping day of the year and the “official” kickoff of the holiday retail season.

Black Friday takes its name not from the shadow that consumerism at large casts on American culture, but from the simple fact that it’s the day that moves most stores from the red into the black for the year. It’s when they start turning a profit. Seeing an opportunity to continue their mission of promoting independent music culture, the fine folks behind Record Store Day got involved this year, bolstering the event with special releases and other initiatives. I’d expect more of that kind of thing next year.

Late last month, when I was at Redscroll Records in Wallingford, Connecticut, on my apparently annual autumn pilgrimage, I was given a flyer for their Black Friday specials, and knowing that I was going to be in the state for the Thanksgiving holiday, kindly suggested to The Patient Mrs. that I might like to wake up early and hit up the sale, which was 25 percent off everything in stock except for turntables.

So it was. My alarm went off yesterday at 5:35AM, and when I walked into Redscroll at 6:02 or thereabouts, the place was already full. Outside, the sun was just starting to think about rising. As I suspected I might, I had the CD racks mostly to myself (at least as compares to vinyl — LPs are by far the priority for the shop), but it was easily the most crowded I’d ever seen it. People were friendly, though, making way for each other and handing off releases to other potential buyers. I used the 25 percent discount as an excuse to pick up a few odds and ends, most of which I’d already heard, but hadn’t gotten full copies of, and other discs I’d wanted to grab this year that I hadn’t gotten the chance.

For example, I long since own Sovereign by Neurosis, but a quarter off the price was enough for me to grab the 2011 reissue, and stuff like Candlemass‘ Ashes to Ashes live record and Place of Skulls‘ As a Dog Returns had just kind of slipped through the cracks in terms of getting a physical copy. I bought The Body & Braveyoung‘s Nothing Passes to include in the next podcast (no big surprise: it sounds totally fucked), and was hoping to nab The Atlas Moth‘s An Ache for the End for the same reason, but they were out of it, and I drowned my sorrows in some cheap George Carlin, Goblin and Free instead.

Now that I’ve heard the low-end centric mega-grooves of Saturnalia Temple‘s Aion of Drakon, I’m officially stoked to check them out at Roadburn next year. And because I haven’t been able to leave there without doing so the last couple times I’ve been, I picked up a Cable CD, this time the 2008 reissue of their first album, Variable Speed Drive, the original version of which I’ve been hunting on eBay for a bit with no real success.

It was just over $100 for 10 discs, which wasn’t bad and was enough to earn me a free Redscroll t-shirt that I’ll wear proudly. I went back to the motel and crashed out for a couple more hours before getting up and heading south back to Jersey to go to work, and after that, on the way further south to Maryland, I requested yet another stop from The Patient Mrs., this one to Vintage Vinyl, to pick up that Atlas Moth record and settle the matter once and for all. I also got a full copy of Invisible White by Ancestors. Both at full price, and neither with any regret.

Vintage Vinyl in the evening was empty compared to Redscroll in the morning, which was troubling, since that’s pretty much the only shop in New Jersey where I can do something like stop in and pick up an Atlas Moth or an Ancestors CD and be confident that they’ll actually have such a thing. I know they had stocked some of the Record Store Day Black Friday special releases, but hopefully they come around to the sale stuff too, because god damn, I’d hate to lose that place as a resource.

In the meantime, a package showed up in the mail yesterday from All That is Heavy with a copy of Master Sleeps by Hills, which is jammier than I thought it would be, and the Rise Above reissue of Necromandus‘ Orexis of Death, which Tony “I Have Excellent Fucking Taste and Stone Axe is My Band to Prove It” Reed recommended a while back I make mine. Altogether, this probably represents the bulk of the music I’ll buy through the end of 2011, so it was good to send the year out with a bang. I should have plenty to keep me busy until January comes.

Boozy Toronto wah snailers Electric Magma have announced that their new, Scott Reeder-mixed album will be released on vinyl in the early part of next year. No new music from Canadian Samurai II yet, but if their SHoD performance this past August was anything to go by, fuzz can be expected to abound.

Here’s the latest, direct from the band:

Electric Magma celebrates 10th anniversary with first vinyl release; Scott Reeder to mix. A limited edition initial pressing will feature the artwork of legendary fantasy artist Ken Kelley (Kiss’ Destroyer and Love Gun album covers).

An anomaly in its own genre, Electric Magma has been sludging it out in the underground trenches for over ten years. Founding members Tim Reesor (guitars) and Tryg Smith (bass) along with new recruit Mario Lunardo (drums) are poised to unleash Canadian Samurai II in early 2012. This monumental release needed a monumental mind behind the board, and thus, Scott Reeder has been tapped to mix the album in Jan. 2012 at the Sanctuary in California.

Special guest, Justin Wagonner of Mr. Plow provides vocals on the title track.

Canadian Samurai II, the follow-up to Mudshovel (2009), is a continuation of the organic riff machine that is Electric Magma. It’s a natural progression of a band that has defined their own instrumental niche within the riff rock genre. The band is also proud of the term that is often coined when describing their music: Beer Rock. Plain and simple.

Mario Lunardo makes his recording debut with Electric Magma on Canadian Samurai II, and he has brought a whole new dynamic to the sound with his explosive drum style.

The man who would later become known as William the Conqueror set about earning his name in 1066, leading the Norman Conquest of England. Until his new moniker took its place, he was William the Bastard, and as England‘s first Norman king, he would struggle to keep his hold of power till the time of his death in 1088, quelling rebellions and continuously working to secure his position.

It’s the story of that struggle that seems to have interested Leeds instrumental post-doom trio Wiht (not to be confused with German stonerly heavyweights Wight) , who’ve given the title The Harrowing of the North to their self-released debut full-length in reference to William‘s quashing an uprising in Scotland shortly after assuming the throne in the late 1060s. Using historical documentation, Wiht craft a narrative through the album’s 20-minute titular cut entirely without the use of vocals, relying solely on the shifting mood of the song to act as emotional and functional descriptor.

That alone would be fascinating enough for me to want to hit the band up with Six Dumb Questions, but I was also eager to find out how “Orderic Vitalis,” the second and only other track on The Harrowing of the North, fit into the story, and how the idea came about to delve into England‘s rich imperial history of wars and kings. The band, who recorded The Harrowing of the North at Ghosttown Recording Studio, were happy to comply, with both guitarist Chris Wayper and bassist Joe Hall — the lineup is rounded out by drummer Rick Contini — offering explanation of the motives and circumstances behind the creation.

The Harrowing of the North was previously reviewed here, if you’d like to check it out, and please enjoy the following Six Dumb Questions:

1. Tell me how the band got together. Things seem to have worked out pretty quickly between when you started playing and when you did your first show between April-August, 2009. Did you know specifically the sound you guys wanted when you started playing?

Chris: All three of us have been good friends for as long as we can remember, we played in bands together when we were younger but then all went our separate ways musically. Myself and Joe spoke for a while about getting something together, something heavy and fuzzed out. We then contacted Rick (drummer) and it all got together pretty sharpish!! Our first rehearsal revolved around several riffs and a bottle of good dark rum!! We felt the best way to get our shit together would be to book some gigs and have something to aim towards, it worked and the gigs went down a treat! The first EP we kind of knew what we wanted to do, and we were all really happy with the way it came out.

Joe: THotN was nothing like what we expected, due to adding/changing/breaking down and swapping parts around, it turned into something completely different… So I guess we have changed drastically from the way we initially wanted Wiht to sound, but still keeping the slow and heavy side to it alive and healthy.

2. What was it about the story of William the Conqueror that inspired you to take it on for The Harrowing of the North? Many bands write about the histories of their homelands, but with such a rich well to draw from, were there other stories that competed with this one?

Joe: I guess due to the fact that we were all brought up in Yorkshire, this is the tale that had the most relevance to us, and with it being a morbid and cruel subject it fits the overall feel of the band quite well. The first EP was loosely based around this concept also, just not to the degree THotN is.

I think Neil Edward, the artist who did the cover, did an absolute sterling job at replicating this into drawing for us as well.

There are tones of other tales and stories we would love to write about, maybe in the future we will explore further subjects such as British/Northern myths and tales, tales concerning Christianity, Scandinavian myths/Sagas, folklore etc. The possibilities here are endless….

3. How did the process of writing the album work? Were the movements of the song “William the Conqueror” written separately, or did you know ahead of time how you wanted them all to work together?

Chris: We had written “Orderic Vitalis” long before we started writing “The Harrowing of the North.” “Orderic” was written just after we released the s/t EP and represented a change in direction. We then began to think about recording the next record and set about writing the next song “The Harrowing of the North.” This took about a year!! The song initially was written in sections then was drawn together before entering the studio. With the help of Ross [Halden] from Ghost Town Studios in Leeds, the song manifested itself into something we never could have imagined!! Ross is a genius, he’d probably hate being called that but it’s true!! He really helped us see our ambition of developing and creating this “concept” piece. So, I guess the writing process was done in the studio and practice room. As we were writing the parts to “The Harrowing of the North” I think we began to develop a sense of what this could turn into but the theme and concept for the record developed with the songwriting process

4. At what point did you realize you wanted Wiht to be completely instrumental? Working with such a specific theme and narrative, was there ever any temptation to take on a singer or have one of the three of you take on the role yourselves?

Chris: Singers are a pain in the arse!!! Nah… I guess as the band developed the need for a singer declined. We thought of the idea at the start and it’s probably fair to say some of the earlier tracks may have benefited in some cases from a singer. Personally, the greatest compliments from the reviews so far of The Harrowing of the North is the universal acceptance we don’t need or lose out from not having a singer on this record. Now, I think, we have developed a dynamic that means we write songs with no singing in mind, the need for vocals is replaced by a need for more riffs! The concept of The Harrowing of the North also lends itself well to our instrumental style. Having a concept and no vocals can allow the listener to imagine their own narrative without someone wailing over the top!

Joe: It’s all about the riff!

5. How does “Orderic Vitalis” relate to the concept of the album, or does it? Will subsequent releases also keep to historical themes, or do you see a change in the songwriting process in the future of the band?

Chris:  “Orderic Vitalis” pays homage to the outspoken chronicler of William the Conqueror.  A loyal subject, he was outraged and sickened with the unrelenting fury and cruelty William showed during the raids. He basically deserved his own song, not many people would of spoken so ill of the king! Orderic was also there at the time of William’s death, he claims William’s remorse of the raids and regret of the massacres he inflicted. The quote on the inside of The Harrowing of the North and on the back of our s/t EP are quotes from Orderic Vitalis in his epic writings Historia Ecclesiastica. It felt right to make this a separate track, an opus to Orderic and a vindication of William the Bastard!

The songwriting process is a pretty natural occurrence, I can’t see that changing. In regards to whether we continue with a theme or concept, I don’t know. They are pretty tough to write and to also make relevant to the listener, especially without vocals and I guess we hit something special with The Harrowing of the North, it may be foolish to try and repeat it!

6. Any other plans or closing words you want to mention?

Chris & Joe: Yeah… we’ve started writing for the next record, sounding different from the last but that’s not to say it will change too much! We’re aiming for a vinyl release of The Harrowing of the North… you heard it here first!! Hopefully February/March 2012. Got some great shows lined up too, London, Edinburgh, Leeds, Oxford; check our Facebook page for them. Big shout out to the Leeds scene too, there are some truly great bands kicking around, most notably Wizard’s Beard, Tree of Sores, Khuda and A Forest of Stars. Also some mates from around the UK you MUST check out, (if you haven’t already): Undersmile, Conan, Slabdragger and Haar.

See you around!!

Wiht on Thee Facebooks

Wiht’s BigCartel store

Yesterday I woke up in Jersey. Last night I went to bed in Connecticut. Tonight I’m going to sleep in Maryland after waking up in Connecticut and subsequently having to report to work in Jersey. Nothing like the holidays, my friends, and nothing to do but have a little “Wine Cooler Blowout” with The J.J. Paradise Players Club.

This is the title-track from their 2001 album, and if user names are anything to go by, it was uploaded to YouTube by the forum’s very own dong ytown about two years ago, so a late thanks for that. The band, whose name was later shortened to just Players Club and who were fronted by Dave Curran (Unsane, now Pigs), is unfortunately defunct, but they were killer right up to the end with the last EP, Coextinction, which by I’m sure no small coincidence is the name of the label in which Curran is now partnered with James Paradise (also Players Club and Pigs), Andrew Schneidor (Pigs) and Chris Spencer (Unsane). It’s one big noise rock family: just the way it should be.

Because I’m so far behind (somehow it’s like I lost a whole day this week — can you imagine?), I’ll be posting tomorrow. The plan is to have my Six Dumb Questions interview with Wiht up in the afternoon, and some news about Electric Magma‘s new vinyl, and a Buried Treasure post about my own Black Friday adventures early this morning. I would have loved to have gotten all that stuff up today — as was my initial plan — but between travel time and a busted computer at work, it just wasn’t in the cards. So onto tomorrow’s to-do list it all goes.

Still, for the sake of habit, it seemed appropriate to wrap up the week. I talked to Ken-E Bones of Negative Reaction today for an interview that will be posted sometime in the coming weeks, and on Monday I’m slated to have a chat with former Trouble vocalist Eric Wagner about his new project Blackfinger, leaving his longtime bandmates behind, etc., so that will be fun. I’ll also have that Elder interview that I’ve now been unable to post for two weeks in a row, or so help me it’s right in the river I go.

There’ll also be the usual insane amount of reviews and news postings, whathaveyou and so forth, so stay tuned for good stuff yet to come. By the end of the week we’ll wrap the month and give the numbers (I haven’t looked yet), and I’m sure we’ll find room in there to sneak some music up as well.

If you’re in the US, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, and wherever you are, I wish you a fantastic and safe weekend, as always. See you on the forum and back here tomorrow.

They veer stylistically to either side of the designation, but there’s little question that Connecticut four-piece VRSA are metal at their roots. Progressive metal, more precisely, and their Galaxia full-length released through their own Last Bastion Records proves adventurous in that regard without tipping the balance of heaviness versus indulgence. As the band’s name (interpreted, one assumes, from “Ursa,” as in Ursa Major and Minor), album title and artwork would lead you to believe, space is a central theme for VRSA, and that holds true for extended opener “Meteorite” as well, which sets up much of the musical breadth of Galaxia, though more than a few surprises still remain throughout “My Fingers Feel Like Razorblades,” “Saturnalia” and “Mona Lisa’s Eye.” VRSA’s prior self-release, Old Man Gray may have touched upon similar stylistic nuances, but even if it did, it took more songs to do it (11 as opposed to four), and as VRSA’s sound is based so much on progressive musical thought, it’s easy to imagine some of that has played out on the scale of the band itself as well. In either case, the rhythm section of bassist Jesse van Note and drummer John that do such distinguished work tying these songs together has already been replaced with Cheech on bass (also of Curse the Son) and Kevin on drums. How that shift will affect VRSA’s scope is impossible to speculate, but it’s worth noting that on Galaxia, the four-piece of van Note, John, rhythm guitarist/ engineer/vocalist Josh and lead guitarist Andrius make a cohesive sound out of a wide range of elements, and even though they veer into somewhat technically-minded areas, they do so without losing sense of the song at hand.

The keyword, then, is “balance” the whole way through, and that idea comes through Josh’s performance as well as the most prominent figure in the band and the one who started VRSA through experimentations at his Last Bastion Studio. His vocals range from well-mixed background metal screaming to melodic croons, and are layered but natural in their arrangements so that the other players in the band could easily take on the response roles in a live setting. “Meteorite” is the longest cut on Galaxia at 11:13 (immediate points for it being the opener) and stands itself out thanks to a chugging central riff and more strummed chorus that offset angular turns with smooth rhythmic execution. Van Note and John are fluid in following and expanding on the main riff, and three minutes into the song, Andrius embarks on one of Galaxia’s many impressive solos. Rather than putting on a clinic, though, in typical prog fashion, VRSA work well to bring the performances together as one complex whole, and that comes through in the mix of “Meteorite,” which highlights the individuals while celebrating what they do as a contribution to a larger idea. Josh and Andrius work well together on guitar, and that’s no less true in the long break section underscored by low-mixed sampled speech (Carl Sagan is credited in the liner notes with “spoken words,” obviously sampled, but I believe that’s referring to “Mona Lisa’s Eye”) than in the heavier crunch of the chorus riff to which VRSA eventually return, using a tinny digital compression that sounds a bit like a low-bitrate mp3 as one of several effects on the guitars and bass, on which van Note shines to end the track and lead directly into “My Fingers Feel Like Razorblades.” A volume and cymbal swell serves for easy transition, and though the song is among Galaxia’s most progressive stretches, Josh keeps his vocals mostly on the harsher side, breaking from screams and growls only for a throaty chorus.

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Any update from Conan counts as news you can use… if you want to listen to something so heavy it opens a crack in the earth’s crust that swallows humanity whole. I was already stoked beyond compare to see the mega-bashers at Roadburn next year, but now it seems I’ve got a new record to look forward to as well. Add it to the 2012 list! More news and more destruction to come.

For now, though, here’s the latest:

Conan – the über-heavy doom titans – are sharpening their axes and preparing to head back to the studio. The formidable trio will enter Foel Studio, Mid-Wales next week to begin tracking for their second album, with producer Chris Fielding once again at the helm. The tracks will be released in spring 2012 via Burning World Records.

Conan vocalist Jon Davis had the following to say: “We’ve been writing these songs for a while now, and we are really happy with how they are sounding. We’re all looking forward to heading back to Foel, and working with Chris again — we are definitely in safe hands there. 2012 is shaping up nicely for us, and we can’t wait to get stuck in.”

The riff-heavy, monolithic beast that is Conan recently announced their debut mainland European show; playing the Voivod-curated event at Roadburn 2012 on Friday 13th April. Jon adds:  “We are honoured to have been asked to play Roadburn, of course. It is a high point in the festival calendar, and the lineup for 2012 is amazing — we’re so happy to be part of it.” Their mainland voyage will continue for a further week after Roadburn.

Details of these additional shows will be available in the coming weeks.

A little while back, I reviewed a Sulatron Records split between German heavy psych jammers Electric Moon and similarly-minded French act Glowsun. The first comment received with the review was a request for a full-stream, and, well, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

But I figured instead of doing the split on its own, might as well go all out and tackle something truly massive, like Electric Moon‘s Flaming Lake full-length, released earlier this year also on Sulatron. The four tracks are a bit like staring into the raw nebular elements of creation — just extended jams, recorded live by guitarist Dave “Sula Bassana” Schmidt. Everything is unpolished, everything sounds made up on the spot. It’s fantastically spontaneous and freaked way the hell out.

Joined by drummer Alex and bassist Komet Lulu (also Philipp of Daturana on drums for closer “Burning Battenberg”), Bassana leads Electric Moon through these four massive jams, leaving structures open but a clear direction ahead, so that although immersive, the jams are also intricate-feeling, and hold up whether you want to rake your mind over each groove or let it wash over you.

And with just under 80 minutes of material, Flaming Lake provides plenty of wash. Or maybe I should take the ‘s’ out of that and just have it read “wah.” Either way, get ready for some ultra-spaced psychedelics and weighted instrumental exploration, courtesy of Sula and the rest of Electric Moon. The whole record is streaming on the player below. Hope you enjoy:

[mp3player width=460 height=270 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=electric-moon.xml]

Flaming Lake is out now on Sulatron Records and is limited to 250 physical, jewel case copies with art by Komet Lulu  that are available here. The latest info on Electric Moon can be found at their Thee Facebooks page as well. Special thanks to Sula Bassana for allowing me to host Flaming Lake.