When Toronto shoegaze-psych explorers Quest for Fire announced they were done in Jan. 2013, hints were dropped that new bands were already in the works. For guitarist/vocalist Chad Ross and guitarist Andrew Moszynski, that hint pays off in the arrival of Comet Control, who make their self-titled debut on Quest for Fire‘s former label, Tee Pee Records. Some elements are recognizable between the two bands — Ross‘ distinctly dreamed-out vocal style and a penchant for languid guitars permeate cuts like opener “Blast Magic,” “Hats off to Life” and closer “Master” in a way one might draw from one act to the other — but by the time Comet Control‘s Comet Control has played out its vinyl-ready eight songs and 40 minutes, there can be little mistaking one for the other. Quest for Fire‘s self-titled debut from 2009 and its 2010 follow-up, Lights from Paradise (review here), had their rocking moments as well, usually as a payoff to some gradual build, but Comet Control is by far a more active-sounding band. Comprised of Ross, Moszynski, bassist Nicole Howell, keyboardist Christopher Sandes and drummer Jay Anderson, the five piece get into some genuine space rock on memorable songs like “Future Forever,” the highly-stylized “Ultra Bright” and perhaps most of all on “Century,” the dividing point of the tracklist and presumed side B launch. The upbeat material is what most marks out Comet Control, but the emerging dynamic and fluidity with which they shift from faster material to slower psychedelia is no less integral to the overall vibe of the album, which is hazy enough to limit visibility and yet clearheaded in its execution of hooks like that on “Ultra Bright” and “Future Forever.”

Those two particularly stand out for their relatively straightforward take. Comet Control opens with a sprawl; “Blast Magic” is the longest song on the album (immediate points) at 8:04 and can almost be read stylistically as a transition point between Quest for Fire and this new band. It is a slow roll, steady in its nodding appeal, and Ross‘ vocals in both the verse and the chorus incantations make a familiar impression over the lush instrumentation. Even here, though, Comet Control have a heavier, fuller sound, less concerned with minimalism and more comfortable in the heft emerging. This proves to be a precursor once the subsequent one-two shots of “Future Forever” and “Ultra Bright” introduce the faster, more swirling side of Comet Control‘s sound. Looking at the record’s structure in a linear form — digital or CD, though vinyl is pretty clearly what they were thinking of in putting it together — the five-piece depart from “Blast Magic” and continue to build momentum through “Century” before they pull back again on “Hats off to Life,” which puts “Future Forever,” “Ultra Bright,” “The Soft Parade” and “Century” into a distinct movement separate from the other four tracks included. To say half the record is fast and half is slow is over-simplifying it — and flat-out wrong, time-wise — but it reinforces how much opening with “Blast Magic” adds to the richness of the proceedings that the album as a whole comes across not as bifurcated along tempo lines, but as an engagingly complex and varied release, whether it’s the blown-out bass buzz of “The Soft Parade” adding a touch of garage to the effects wash and Anderson‘s well-grounded drumming or the acoustic psych-blues push of the penultimate “Fear the Haze.”

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As it’s written on the album cover, the title of the new Heavy Glow record is Pearls & Swine and Everything Fine. Phonetically, I have no issue. With lists, traditional grammar constructs would have you put a comma, so it’s “pearls, swine and everything…” (the Oxford comma is a matter of a whole different debate, I use it situationally), but it’s obvious the Cleveland heavy rocking trio are toying with long-standing aphorisms, and the double “and” is playful. What gets me about it is the ampersand.

Not that they use it. I tend not to except in headlines if I’m feeling particularly saucy — it’s embarrassing how true that is — but I’m cool with Heavy Glow using it in their title, especially on an album cover where space is limited. What makes the lid on my editor’s eye twitch is the use of the ampersand and then the use of “and.” Basically they’re saying “and” twice, but doing it once with an ampersand and once with the actual word. These guys are a good band going by everything I’ve heard from them, and I’m not sure I can explain why it bothers me in a way that doesn’t immediately lead to some kind of self-diagnosis, but to have the ampersand there and then “and” itself, well, it’s got my nerves in a bundle.

All the better, I suppose, that the latest track from what I’ve just decided I’m going to call Pearls and Swine and Everything Fine is “Nerve Endings,” and that its catchy, classic rocking stomp will soothe the aching brain. Heavy Glow‘s new album is out on June 3, but they’re taking preorders now on their Bandcamp, and “Nerve Endings” is just the most recent reveal in a series that can be tracked through their YouTube channel.

Enjoy:

Heavy Glow, “Nerve Endings”

Heavy Glow on Thee Facebooks

Heavy Glow on Bandcamp

I’ve never made a zombie movie, but if I were to do such a thing, I can see the appeal of getting Pittsburgh riff metallers Supervoid involved. The double-guitar five-piece have just the right balance of metallic tone and stonerly charm — plus a decent sense of humor — to be a good fit, and they seem to bang out hooks the way I eat bowls of Peanut Butter Puffins cereal, which is daily, so yeah, it makes sense. That the flick in question, The Other Side, is filmed in and around Pittsburgh and that the soundtrack features bands all local to that area only furthers the logic involved, putting it square in the territory of the “no brainer.” Insert zombie pun here.

The film itself isn’t due until later in the year as I understand it, but being the energetic chaps they are, Supervoid have jumped the gun and made their soundtrack inclusion, “Against Sunrise” available now as a pay-what-you-want download through their Bandcamp. Those who heard their late-2013 full-length, Filaments (review here), will likely recognize the Kyuss-riff-meets-melodic-death-metal-vocal approach, no less gleefully flying in the face of trend here than it was on the last record. I like that about Supervoid, but the appeal of their songwriting also goes past whatever novelty factor one might tack to them because of the growling.

Like so:

Space cadets, aliens, fellow space riffers, here is our new track we wrote and recorded for the local Pittsburgh film The Other Side. Please share it with your friends and let us know what you think!

This song was written and recorded for the full length feature film ‘The Other Side’ created by Pittsburgh-based indie production company Orchard Place Productions. The film showcases many local Pittsburgh bands in the soundtrack. Be sure to check out the movie once it is released!

https://www.facebook.com/SuperVoid.PGH/
http://supervoid.bandcamp.com/track/against-sunrise

Supervoid, “Against Sunrise” (2014)

No doubt about it, Vincebus Eruptum has its thing and does it well. The Italian fanzine continues to keep me enamored with issue no. 17 (which actually came out in February but was somewhat delayed in getting to me owing to US post office silliness), redoubling my passion for underground print media with its own. Editor Davide “Davidew” Pansolin has assembled another round of interviews with new and established bands, and in addition to as ever supporting the hell out of his native Italian scene, he’s reached across borders and continents in the reviews section to once again tantalize with a variety of heavy wares. I think I say this every time I get an issue, but I never come out of reading Vincebus Eruptum without wanting to spend money on records.

I’d understand if that actually turned some people off from reading — last thing any of us need to be shelling out a more significant portion of income, I’m sure — but the fact is that even if you don’t immediately take to label sites, Bandcamp pages or whatever other outlets (physical stores, maybe?) and pony up, Vincebus Eruptum remains a good way to stay informed. Especially for somebody like me, who’s a nerd for Euro heavy psych but lives across a particularly large body of water, it’s a cool way to stay in the loop. Not that the ‘zine just sticks to European bands, though. This time around, an interview with San Francisco’s Wild Eyes SF caught my eye as a cool read after reviewing their Get Into It! vinyl, and chats with Icelandic rockers The Vintage Caravan, The Oscillation and Alice Tambourine Lovers followed suit. I hadn’t heard of Minneapolis’ The Lone Crows, so mark that a win as well.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Vincebus Eruptum if Italy wasn’t strongly represented. By my count, 17 of the 38 reviews are either bands of Italian origin or on an Italian label, and that includes such heavy-hitters as Void Generator‘s new album and Fatso Jetson‘s limited 7″ on Go Down Records, so everything included well earns its place. Two releases by Swedish rockers The Movements are covered, and takes on Deamon’s Child and Earthless once again assure Vincebus Eruptum‘s commitment to all things heavy, regardless of where they might call home. Now a licensed cultural association (fiscal code 92100050092) and a sponsor of the Desertfest in Berlin with new label releases from Organic is Orgasmic and Sendelica — the latter are coincidentally interviewed in issue no. 17 — through Vincebus Eruptum Recordings, it seems like the ‘zine has never been going stronger.

That’s all the more impressive in an age of such rampant internet dominance, proving that if you offer a unique, well-curated experience and understand your audience, it’s still possible to make a print model work. Easier said than done, of course, but flipping the pages once again of Vincebus Eruptum, they make it seem so natural, so easy, that one can only hope they keep it going into perpetuity. It’s a joy when the next issue shows up.

Organic is Orgasmic, As We Speak of Space and Wisdom (2014)

Vincebus Eruptum website

Vincebus Eruptum store

Also releasing a new album with Floor this week and hitting the road in support of it, Henry Wilson steps to the front on guitar and vocals with House of Lightning‘s Lightworker album, continuing some of the same ideas Wilson brought to the table with his post-Floor project, Dove. As the PR wire informs below, Dove‘s no longer with us (their 2004 self-titled remains a piece of buried treasure from among the Floor-related milieu), but House of Lightning‘s Lightworker came out on Easter via Fair Warning Records and is a solid burner. If you missed it, Floor‘s Anthony Vialon spoke highly if it in his interview last week as well.

Details and music follow, the PR wire vigilant as always:

HOUSE OF LIGHTNING is coming—look busy. Proudly hailing from Winter Haven Florida, they feature current and former band members of FLOOR, DOVE, and CAVITY. The death of DOVE finally gives rebirth to HOUSE OF LIGHTNING…Rising from the ashes like a mighty phoenix. The resurrection occurs on Easter Sunday 4/20 in the form of a 10-song, 40-minute riff-rollercoaster, “Lightworker.”

House Of Lightning’s long-awaited debut album does more than just pick up where DOVE left off five years ago; they blast off out of the known universe and into a completely new and unknown dimension. From the mad-genius mind of HENRY WILSON, comes an almost uncategorizable yet positively spiritual incorporation of Heavy Metal, Thrash, bits of Math, a sprinkle of Prog, a pinch of 1984, and a dash of 5150. Sounds wild, you say? That’s because IT IS. Lightworker is difficult to simply just pin a label onto; you are better off hearing this one for yourself. All aboard the rocketship!

“April is a busy month for our brother HENRY WILSON. Not only does this cat have a new FLOOR album dropping, but his long-awaited much-belabored HOUSE OF LIGHTNING record finally gets unleashed, taking what he started with DOVE, upping the riff-tornado and generally fucking with your dome. Nothing else sounds like this and it comes out 4/20 via brethren Fair Warning Records.”—Andy Low, Robotic Empire

Henry Wilson – Guitar, Vocals, Synth
John Ostberg – drums

Recorded by Mark Nikolich at Atomic Audio
Sleeve Art by Francesco LoCastro (of Floor ‘Oblation’ fame)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/House-of-Lightning/196769132312
http://fairwarningrecords.bandcamp.com/
http://fairwarning.storenvy.com/

House of Lightning, “More Lights More Trails” from Lightworker (2014)

Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus, “Wind Seized” official video

If you’re not yet friendly with the early-onset heavy psych sprawl of Swedish youngins Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus, chances are that by the time you make your way through their video for the song “Wind Seized,” you will be. Tomorrow marks the release of the Stockholm four-piece’s Small Stone label debut (third album overall), Spirit Knife, which follows the 2011 Transubstans release and recent Small Stone reissue, Bloom, in setting a dynamic, flowing course throughout its 59-minute run and across eight tracks that run a gamut of updated classic influences. Cuts like “Point Growth” delve into sweet, wide-open, Cream-style psychedelic blues, distinguished immediately through the use of organ, while elsewhere, “Sworn Collision” takes “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” head-on to a place no less endearing for its relative minimalism.

The key to the album, though, is immersion. Much as one might look at the moniker Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus and feel lost within it before getting to the last syllable, so too does 10:37 opener “Fog by the Steep” prove encompassing, a languid, rolling groove demonstrating an underlying core of heavy rock that consistently works its way into and through the ensuing full-length as guitarist/vocalist Karl Apelmo, guitarist Micke Pettersson, bassist Viktor Källgren and drummer Henke Persson — as well as guest organist Patrik Kolar, whose contributions aren’t to be forgotten — weave smoothly through atmospheres alternately rambunctious and serene, drawing rounded lines between so that Spirit Knife eases the listener along their path. A catchy shorter cut like “Wind Seized” (for which you can see the video above) retains its airy vibes, and likewise, the space-rocking finale title-track keeps its songwriting in focus even as its swirl seems to consume the album whole, and this balance between gives Spirit Knife not just a sense of consciousness, but of accomplishment as well, the band offering old Zeppelin-style soul in “Clang” and carving their identity in passages in the dream-echoes of “Deep Hardened Woods.”

I won’t lie: Spirit Knife surprised the living hell out of me the first time I heard it. Not just because the band is relatively few in years, but because it’s an hour long and they seem to have no trouble holding it together for that stretch. The closing duo of “Point Growth” and “Spirit Knife” provide both apex and post-script, and in the fullness of their sound, the scope of their influences and the edge of individuality they bring to them, Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus are every bit worth the investment of time and attention. You might notice Small Stone has the record up on its Bandcamp page, but given the opportunity ahead of the release date — which is tomorrow, April 29 — the chance to feature it here in full alongside the premiere of the “Wind Seized” video wasn’t something I was going to pass up. Please feel free to dig in below, and enjoy:

[mp3player width=480 height=350 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=jirm-spirit-knife.xml]

Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus release Spirit Knife April 29 on Small Stone Records. The album was recorded and mixed by Viktor Källgren at Puch Studios in Stockholm and mastered by Chris Goosman at Baseline Audio in Ann Arbor, MI. The band have the following live dates booked:

08.05.2014 Insikten, Jönköping (S)
09.05.2014 Hagenbusch, Marl (D)
10.05.2014 Alte Molkerei, Bocholt (D)
07.06.2014 Pustervik, Göteborg (S)

Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus on Thee Facebooks

Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus’ website

Spirit Knife at Small Stone’s Bandcamp

Small Stone Records

Over the last couple years, the number of Roadburn‘s fest-exclusive releases has been quietly growing. In 2013, one could pick up vinyl from Dread Sovereign and The Obsessed, and this year, no less than the grind royalty of Napalm Death put together an EP. Add to that live records from YOB and Candlemass and you have a bit of a series going. Or Burning World Records has a bit of a series going, anyway.

Today the label has put the word out that they’ve culled all the leftover vinyl and instead of hording it all to themselves, holing up in a corner somewhere with their arms wrapped tightly around Our Pain is Their Power, they’ve decided to make it available to the buying public who maybe didn’t get the chance to pick the stuff up at the fest itself. In addition, Burning World has made Elder‘s Live at Roadburn 2013 — which I’m told has one or two of my photos in the layout — available as a pay-what-you-want download, which if nothing else is generous. Elder‘s on tour now in Europe with Hull, so that ties together nicely.

Burning World sent the following down the PR wire:

Roadburn Festival exclusive vinyl

We managed to get our hands on these exclusive and limited Roadburn Festival 2014 only vinyl releases:

Napalm Death – Our Pain Is Their Power – The Roadburn Festival EP
Yob – The Unreal Never Lived live at Roadburn 2012 2LP
Candlemass – Live At The Marquee 1988 2LP

Free Elder Live at Roadburn download

Download Elder Live At Roadburn 2013 from Bandcamp. As usual with the Roadburn releases this download is free (or more exact ‘pay what you want’). If you need more you can pre-order the album on cd (in digipack with artwork) here (vinyl is sold out, get it on tour with the band).

http://burningworldrecords.com/
http://burningworldrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/officialnapalmdeath
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Yob/36708497970
https://www.facebook.com/candlemass

Elder, Live at Roadburn 2013

Scissorfight, Mantrapping for Sport and Profit (2001)

13 years ago, Scissorfight drew a line in the sand. On one side, horseshit. On the other, Mantrapping for Sport and Profit. It’s a triumph the New Hampshire H-E-A-V-Y rockers would proclaim some four years later with the Victory over Horseshit EP, but I don’t think there’s anyone around who’d argue that the prior 2001 full-length wasn’t the decisive battle. Fronted by Christopher “Ironlung” Shurtleff, whose beard was no less ahead of its time than the rest of the band, Scissorfight were a force of fuckall domination, each riff that Jay Fortin (now of Supermachine and White Dynomite) threw into this record a hook unto itself. Made winter-thick by bassist Paul Jarvis (also Supermachine) and set to march by drummer Kevin Shurtleff (who played as Kevin J. Strongbow), Mantrapping remains a balls-out classic that earned its burl every step of the way. You know all those records where the dude does the hey-whoa-mama “whiskey soaked” vocal thing? Yeah. Scissorfight ate those bands and shit out better songs.

Even before you get to the bizarre lyrical brilliance of a song like “Deliver the Yankee Coffin,” to have an album that delivers the one-two punch of “Acid for Blood” and “New Hampshire’s All Right if You Like Fighting” (a German-language version of which would also turn up on 2002’s als0-essential Potential New Agent for Unconventional Warfare EP) just makes it an immediate win. And even when there’s some measure of letup, on “Hazard to Navigation,” for example, there’s no real letup. Bruiser grooves the whole way through and no dip in quality when you get deeper into tracks like “Mantrap,” “Candy Clark” and “Go Cave.” It’s been over a decade and I still get these songs stuck in my head out of nowhere. Earlier Scissorfight was undeniably meaner, the vocals harsher over crunchier riffing, and I don’t want to take anything away from the badassery of 1996’s Guaranteed Kill debut, 1998’s Balls Deep, 2000’s New Hampshire, 2006’s cleaner swansong Jaggernaut or any of the other EPs, comps, splits, etc., they issued in their time, but everything seemed to come into balance on Mantrapping for Sport and Profit, and it still sounds like a steel-toed boot up the ass 13 years later.

It was the album that boldly proclaimed, “Get the fuck off my car, creep.” The record that warned of blizzards, buzzards and bastards. The record that was the most dangerous animal and the record that put the hammer down.

Enjoy.

—

Photos have been popping up in my Thee Facebooks feed for the better part of the day from the London and Berlin Desertfests, and I’ll admit I’m pretty jealous. I’ve had a good day and a lovely evening — this afternoon I interviewed Scott Hill from Fu Manchu and that went really well (look for it next week) and tonight The Patient Mrs. and I made baked potatoes and watched the Yankees get thoroughly demolished before switching to Star Trek: The Next Generation. And I expect the rest of the weekend will follow suit in its pleasantness, so I’m not saying I’m hard up, but seeing a shot of Gozu on stage in Berlin or Borracho in London, Spirit Caravan rocking out, I’d be lying if there wasn’t a part of me going, “Ah dude.” Next year. Should probably get a job first. Ha.

I should have the aforementioned Fu Manchu interview up before Wednesday. Their tour starts the same day as Floor‘s. Wow that interview fell flat this week. I thought it was really cool, was all stoked on it, and just zero response. Seemed especially cool after having talked to Anthony Vialon four years ago when they first picked back up, but so it goes. Maybe someone’ll notice it sooner or later. Once it’s posted it’s there forever. You’d be surprised at what gets noticed years after the fact.

Last week I had mentioned doing a Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus audio premiere. It got pushed back to next Monday, so look for it then. There’s a video to go with it as well, so even if you don’t want to commit to checking out the whole album, there will be a sample to start with. That’s a record worth hearing. Going to try to get reviews up of Comet Control, Bigelf and Electric Citizen too, so plenty of good stuff to come, as always.

Next weekend is The Eye of the Stoned Goat 4 as well, so I’ve got that to look forward to. Not sure how I’m going to handle the coverage yet, whether I’ll do it there or afterwards, but I’ll figure something out. I haven’t been to Ralph’s Rock Diner in Worcester yet, so I don’t really know the lay of the land, but we’ll see how it goes when I get there. There are a ton of shows the week after too, so it’ll be good to get back out to some regular, non-fest gigs too.

I hope you have a great and safe weekend, I hope Scissorfight do a reunion show and I hope I’m the one who puts it together, and I hope you check out the forum and the back-to-fully-functional radio stream. See you back here Monday.

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