Posted in Whathaveyou on December 30th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
Spanish avant doom duo Orthodox are preparing to start 2015 by hitting the road in their native country and Portugal with UK/Netherlands-based Dead Neanderthals, who’ve already followed up their 2014 single-song long-player, Prime, with an EP charmingly titled Random Acts of Nuclear Devastation. The two will kick off the five-date run on Jan. 27 and finish in Sevilla right before Feb. hits.
The PR wire affirms the stint and offers background:
ORTHODOX / DEAD NEANDERTHALS – Spain/Portugal Tour 2015
Orthodox was born as a trio in Seville (Spain) in 2004. Their music, initially framed in the so called “doom metal”, incorporates elements of drone, jazz or stoner rock. They’ve played at international festivals such as Hellfest, Roadburn, Supersonic or Primavera Sound and they have collaborated with artists such as the musician and writer Julian Cope or flamenco artists like Israel Galván, Terremoto or Inés Bacán.
Orthodox accumulate an extensive discography with four albums and other ep’s, cassettes, etc… Their last edition, “Conoce los caminos”, is a compilation of rare material from 2005 to 2010. They’re currently working as a duo open to all kinds of collaborations and experiments following the eclectic and unpredictable nature that has always been part of the band’s idiosyncrasy.
Dead Neanderthals is a Dutch/UK based double sax & drums trio incorporating elements from jazz, grindcore, drone and noise culminating in a pummeling sound that has been described as Painkiller meets Brötzmann.
Dead Neanderthals just released their new album PRIME, heralded as their “ultimate statement” and “a wake-up call to anyone who thought free jazz was a dying art”. PRIME is a single, unrelenting 40-minute piece, with no “solos” or soothing interludes. Dead Neanderthals will perform the album in its entirety.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 29th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
Interesting news all around from Texas three-piece Funeral Horse. The Houston-based rockers have netted fascination on their two releases to-date, 2013’s Savage Audio Demon (review here) and this year’s Sinister Rites of the Master (review here, stream here), and it seems they’ll continue to do so as we move into 2015. Having already done a stint along the West Coast, they mention in the update below they’ll do more US touring — maybe this time they’ll come east? — and also the word “Europe” is included as a possibility for next fall. Curious to see what shape that takes as the months go on, and if Funeral Horse will wind up at any of the annual fests that happen over there around that time. That would explain early hint-dropping of the tour. Hmm…
Also — and maybe that’s me burying the headline a bit — they’ve swapped drummers, bringing in Chris Bassett alongside guitarist/vocalist Paul Bearer and bassist Jason Argonaut in place of Chris Larmour, who if you’ll recall wrote the short story that came with the Sinister Rites of the Master vinyl. No small change, but with mention of Bassett making the band tighter and doomier in the announcement below, which also brings word that Funeral Horse are hitting the studio next month, the plot gets even thicker.
Intrigue!
FUNERAL HORSE announce recording of new album, new drummer
Dusting themselves off from their recent West Coast USA tour, Texas stoner doom trio FUNERAL HORSE has announced that they will be entering the studio to record the follow-up to their acclaimed second album, Sinister Rites of the Master (Artificial Head Records).
Additionally, the band wishes to officially announce Chris Bassett as their new drummer. Chris will be joining the band in the studio to lay down the tracks for the third FUNERAL HORSE release.
Recording will begin in January with nine songs currently slated for release. The band has once again selected Digital Warehaus in Houston, Texas as the studio for recording. Renowned artist Savage Pencil has been tapped for the cover art to the new album.
“We are extremely lucky to have found Chris and have him on board with us,” explained singer/guitar player Paul Bearer. “Not only has he picked up the new material quickly, he has helped to tighten the focus of the band and bring more of the doom element into our sound.”
Additional info on the upcoming album will be released in the coming weeks as FUNERAL HORSE prepares to finish recording and then hit the road again around North America and Europe in the fall of 2015.
Posted in Bootleg Theater on December 29th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
If you put your mind to it, you can probably think of one or two things as romantic to do on Valentine’s Day as going to see Portland’s own Gods of Grungus Blackwitch Pudding close out their “Magic up Your Butt” West Coast tour with a hometown gig at High Water Mark, but I doubt any of them would be as much fun. The wizard-robed three-piece streamed their Covered in Pudding Vol. 1 EP here earlier this year, and it was a work of demented genius to follow-up their 2013 debut full-length, Taste the Pudding (review here), but I don’t imagine either captures the full tonal spellcasting they do on stage.
To that end, the series of occasional video premieres we’ve been doing (“we” being you and I) from the 2014 Ceremony of Sludge continues, this time with Blackwitch Pudding themselves. The song they dig into in the clip below carries the charm-laden title “Gathering Panties,” and it comes from the LP. You’ll note the creeper riff at the start and the pummeling it portends. More curious, perhaps, is the arrival of a fourth wizard on keyboard. I’m not sure the designation of this particular magician. Likely he was conjured from the ether to further the efforts of Space Wizard, Lizard Wizard and Wizard Wizard in crafting their otherworldly murk, and to that ether he soon returned. Or something.
We’re getting to the point where Ceremony of Sludge should be announcing who’ll be taking part in 2015 — the festival was held in March this year at Club 21 and seems to have drawn a good crowd — so if and when I hear anything on that, I’ll keep you posted, but in the meantime, Blackwitch Pudding have some underwear they’d like to round up and I’m no one to stand in the way.
Direction by Cole Boggess, audio by Tim Burke. Tour details follow the video:
Blackwitch Pudding, “Gathering Panties” Live at Ceremony of Sludge
Paying Homage to the rotten filth from which they were born, Blackwitch Pudding are actually a band of three wizards. Legend has it they were raised from a stagnant, used puddle of ergot, left by the mysterious Blackwitch no less than 600 years ago. Trained in the dark arts of doom and witchery, these wizards wander the cosmos in search of nothing, for their path is a simple one: The riffs must be heavy and the smoke must be heavier.
Following the wildly successful release of their new EP, Covered In Pudding Vol. 1, the 600-year-old wizards of Blackwitch Pudding are taking their magic, their smoke, their lazers–and most importantly their riffs–on the road. Starting January 15th, you can catch the traveling wizard doom party extravaganza across the U.S….and a show so entertaining that no other doom metal band in their weight class can muster.
“MAGIC UP YOUR BUTT” U.S. TOUR DATES:
1/15 Seattle, WA @ The Narwhal 1/16 Portland, OR @ The Kenton Club 1/17 Ashland, OR @ Club 66 1/18 Sacramento, CA @ TBA 1/21 San Diego, CA @ The Til Two Club 1/22 Pomona, CA @ Characters 1/23 Tempe, AZ @ Tempe Tavern 1/24 Tucson, AZ @ Sky Bar 1/25 El Paso, TX @ Grynde Bar 1/26 San Antonio, TX @ Lime Light Bar 1/27 Houston, TX @ Rudyards 1/29 Austin, TX @ The Lost Well 1/30 Dallas, TX @ Lola’s Room 1/31 Little Rock, AR @ Vino’s 2/1 Oklahoma City, OK @ The Conservatory 2/2 Amarillo, TX @ TBA 2/3 Santa Fe, NM @ The Launchpad 2/4 Flagstaff, AZ @ The Hive 2/5 Las Vegas, NV @ The Dive Bar 2/6 Los Angeles, CA @ Los Globos 2/7 San Luis Obispo, CA @ Sweet Springs Saloon 2/8 San Francisco, CA @ The Hemlock Tavern 2/10 Bend, OR @ TBA 2/14 Portland, OR @ High Water Mark
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 29th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
Sharing a base of operations with the Southwest Terror Fest in Tucson, Arizona, the upcoming Borderland Fuzz Fiesta will make its initial showing in 2015 an impressive round of acts including Fireball Ministry — as seen on Motörhead‘s Motörboat above, with none other than Scott Reeder on bass — Wo Fat, Mos Generator, Powered Wig Machine and plenty of others, plus a light show from the venerable Mad Alchemy to add visual psychedelia to what’s sure to be a well-distorted evening Feb. 21 at The Rock. Not a bad way to start out, if you’re starting out.
Put together by Wayne and Joseph Rudell of Powered Wig Machine, the whole deal was announced via the PR wire as follows:
BORDERLAND FUZZ FIESTA: Tucson, Arizona’s First Annual Riff Party Reveals 2015 Lineup Including FIREBALL MINISTRY, WO FAT, MOS GENERATOR & More
The desert city of Tucson, AZ is host to a wide array of annual events in the musical realm and this coming February will see the addition of a still another: The Borderland Fuzz Fiesta. Conceived and curated by the Rudell brothers of regional desert rockers Powered Wig Machine and Fuzz Evil, the inaugural show will take place on February 21st at The Rock.
Borderland Fuzz Fiesta 2015 Official Lineup:
Fireball Ministry Wo Fat Mos Generator Powered Wig Machine Goatroper Skulldron Asimov Yeti Ender Conqueror Worm Methra
When: February 21, 2015 Where: The Rock, 136 North Park Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719
“My brother and I have always wanted to put together a stoner rock themed fest and we’re definitely excited about this first year’s lineup,” comments an enthusiastic Wayne Rudell. The bill for the event certainly serves up ample helpings of the stoner genre with its fine mix of bands from the Southwest region and beyond, including Fireball Ministry, Wo Fat, Mos Generator, Powered Wig Machine, Skulldron, Asimov, Goatroper, Yeti Ender, Conquerer Worm, Methra and the Mad Alchemy Liquid Light Show.
While the lineup is definitely under the wider umbrella of the stoner rock genre, there is a great diversity of sounds among the bands, from sprinklings of the psychedelic to slabs of doom and scorching thrash riffs, or pretty much something for every pair of ears inclined towards heavy music. Mr. Rudell certainly believes so: “We really feel that fans of this music would appreciate this event and will hopefully get behind it in the time to come, we’re going to be striving to make the Borderland Fuzz Fiesta bigger and better every year.”
Tickets for Borderland Fuzz Fiesta are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, and are available nowRIGHT HERE.
Sponsored by Eminence Speakers, Lace Pickups, Hovercraft Amplifiers, Greeson Custom Guitars, Tucson Maidens of Metal, Electric Beard of Doom, Radio, Sludged.com, and Wildcat Screen Repair.
Posted in Reviews on December 29th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
This is it. New Year’s is this week and by Friday we’ll be into 2015. A new year always brings new hopes, concerns, records and so on, but to be completely honest, I’m just not quite done with 2014 yet. So here we are. I’ve had stacks of CDs on my desk and folders on my computer from the last couple months of stuff I have been trying to fit in, and it doesn’t seem right to me to let the year go without cramming in as much music as I possibly can.
Gotta call it something, so I went with “Last Licks,” since that’s basically what it will be. The plan is that between today and Friday, each day I’ll have another batch of 10 reviews. I’m not going to promise they’ll be the most comprehensive ever, but the idea is to do as much as I can and this seems to me the best way to turn my brains into goo. When that ball drops in Times Square, there’s a good chance I’ll be typing.
No sense in delaying. You get the idea, so let’s jump in:
Sigiriya, Darkness Died Today
Recorded live as their debut on Candlelight Records and the follow-up to 2011’s debut, Return to Earth (review here), the sophomore outing from Welsh heavy rockers Sigiriya, Darkness Died Today, is distinguished by a vocalist swap bringing in Matt Williams of Suns of Thunder. Williams has a tough job in replacing Dorian Walters, who like guitarist Stuart O’Hara, bassist Paul Bidmead and drummer Darren Ivey, is a former member of Acrimony. There are times when it works and times when it doesn’t. Along with a more barebones tonality in the guitar than appeared on the debut, Williams brings a more straightforward style in his voice, and it changes the personality of the band on songs like “Freedom Engines” and the first-album-title-track “Return to Earth.” “Tribe of the Old Oak” is a catchy highlight and I’ll almost never argue with a song called “Obelisk,” but it seems like they’re still searching for the footing here that seemed so firmly planted their last time out.
Upstate New York blues rockers Handsome Jack waste little time living up to the title Do What Comes Naturally. The name of their third album, released by Alive Naturalsound, is both mission-statement aand suggestion, and on songs like the soul-inflected “Creepin’” and the rolling “You and Me,” they make it sound like a good idea. Blues and classic soul meet garage rock across cuts like the relatively brief “Leave it all Behind,” but the tones are warm throughout the record, and guest spots on harmonica and Hammond help keep a sense of variety in the material, well-constructed but still loose in its vibe. The twang might recall The Brought Low for heavy rock heads, but one doubts Handsome Jack groove on much that came out after Psychedelic Mud. Even the CD splits into sides, and as easy as it would be for something like this to sound like a put-on, Handsome Jack prevail with closer “Wasted Time” in making an outing that’s anything but.
London doomers Serpent Venom sound like experts in the form on Of Things Seen and Unseen, their second album for The Church Within following 2011’s Carnal Altar and their initial 2010 demo (review here), a righteous 48-minute lumbering slab of heavy riffs, downerism and nod. It’s not every band who could put “Death Throes at Dawn” and “Lord of Life” next to each other, but the four-piece of vocalist Garry Ricketts, guitarist Roland Scriver, bassist Nick Davies and drummer Paul Sutherland keep their focus so utterly doomed that even the quiet, minimalist acoustic interlude “I Awake” – ostensibly a breather — comes across as trodden as the earlier “Sorrow’s Bastard,” or the Reverend Bizarre-worthy “Let Them Starve,” which follows. For those who long for trad doom that has an identity outside its Vitus and Sabbath influences, Serpent Venom prove more than ready to enter that conversation on the wah-soaked soloing in the second half of “Pilgrims of the Sun.” Right fucking on.
The artwork tells the story. Owl Glitters’ Alchemical Tones (on Heart and Crossbone Records) is a wash of color. Taking tribal rhythms and repetitions and pairing them with organic low-end, chanted vocals and periodic excursions of psych rock guitar, Arkia Jahani (who seems to be the lone creative force behind the project, though Mell Dettmer mastered) brings a ritualistic sensibility to the eight included pieces, and the flow is molten from the start of “Dervishes.” Less purposefully weird than Master Musicians of Bukkake, but farther into the cosmos than Om, there’s a folkish identity at the heart of Alchemical Tones that keeps the proceedings human even on the near-throat-singing of “Hakim Sanai” or “Poets of Shiras” and “Khalifa’s Visions” an immersive pair preceding the droning closer “By the Candlelight Our Eyes Welcome Glimmers of Eternity.” Beautifully experimental – and in the case of “Mindful of Gems,” fuzzed to the gills – Owl Glitters’ second outing engages sonic spiritualism with dogmatic command and stares back at you from the space within yourself.
Sandveiss released Scream Queen, their first full-length, late in 2013, reveling in a modern sound crisply produced and more than ably executed to feature the vocals of guitarist Luc Bourgeois, who provides frontman presence even on disc alongside guitarist Shawn Rice, bassist Daniel Girard and drummer Dzemal Trtak. Cohesiveness isn’t in question as opener and longest cut (immediate points) “Blindsided” rounds out its 6:26, leading the way into “Do You Really Know” and setting the tone for big-riffed Euro-style heavy from the Quebecois foursome, who slow down on “Bottomless Lies,” on which Trtak backs Bourgeois in you-guys-should-do-this-more fashion, and ultimately hold firm to the focus on songwriting that establishes itself early. They fuzz out on closer “Green or Gold,” but by then it’s another element of variety among the organ, guest vocals on “Scar” and tempo shifts on Sandveiss’ ambitious debut, distinguished even unto the six-panel gatefold digi-sleeve in which it arrives, the art and design by Alexandre Goulet one more standout factor on an album demanding attention.
Probably the most clearly Beatlesian moment on Octopus Syng’s Reverberating Garden Number 7 is a slight “Hey Bulldog”-style cadence on side A’s “Very Strange Trip,” and that in itself is an accomplishment (one I’m apparently not the first to observe). The Helsinki four-piece in their 15th year are led by guitarist/vocalist Jaire Pätäri and emit an oozing, serene psychedelia, peaceful and lysergic in late ‘60s exploratory fashion. Reverberating Garden Number 7 (on Mega Dodo Records) echoes out vibe to spare and is deceptively lush while keeping a humble vibe thanks in no small part to Pätäri’s restrained vocal approach and curios like “Cuckoo Clock Mystery,” which boasts an actual cuckoo clock to add bounce to its arrangement. Nine-minute closer “Listen to the Moths” is the single biggest surprise, and an album unto itself, but its unfolding is only the capstone on a collection of psychedelic wonder sincere in its stylistic intent and execution. It fills the ears like warm air in the lungs.
Destructive Australian trio Sun Shepherd put the bulk of Procession of Trampling Hoof to tape in 2011. Closing bonus track “Exploding Sun” is a demo from 2006, but it fits with their extended tracks and big riffs piled onto each other in densely-weighted fashion, if rougher in presentation. More Ramesses than High on Fire, who prove otherwise to be a key influence tonally for guitarist/vocalist Anson Antriasian, must-hear bassist Leigh Fischer and drummer Michael Barson, though their approach is decidedly less thrash-based. The first five of the six songs find Sun Shepherd’s first full-length a pummel-minded blend of sludge and doom. Antriasian’s vocals are semi-spoken, but fitting theatrically on “Goat-Head Awakening” with the grueling riff-led nod, the tension released as they pass the halfway point of the 10-minute run, a raw atmosphere bolstering the chaos of their slower-motion marauding. With the welcome flourish of stonerly soloing on “Engulfed by Ocean of Time,” one can’t help but wonder what the Melbourne natives are up to three years later.
Fuzz-toned elements of Sleep and Sabbath pervade the stoner-doomy self-titled The Church Within debut from Oslo three-piece Purple Hill Witch, who carry the bounce well in immediately familiar riffs and groove. Swinging drums from Øyvind and the inventive basslines of Andreas underscore Kristian’s purely Iommic riffage and blown-out vocals, somewhere between Witchcraft’s earliest going and Witch’s self-titled. If that gives Purple Hill Witch an even witchier feel, “Final Procession” sounds just fine with that, as do shorter tracks like the later “Aldebaranian Voyage (Into the Sun)” and centerpiece “Karmanjaka” on which the stoner side comes out in force. They finish by using all 11 minutes of the eponymous “Purple Hill Witch”’s runtime, breaking in the midsection for a murky exploration that’s creepily atmospheric without veering into cult rock cliché. They bounce resumes and slows to a crawl to close out, but the jam serves Purple Hill Witch well in expanding the band’s sonic reach and the album’s weedian sensibility. Not that they were keeping it a secret.
A burly dual-guitar five-piece with roots in Germany and Switzerland, Giant Sleep start out their self-titled, self-released first LP with a brief intro titled “Argos” before getting to the question, “Why am I angry all the time?” as the central, recurring line of “Angry Man.” That song, like “Henu” and “Reproduce,” gets its point across quick in heavy rock fashion and develops its argument from there, a progressive metal vibe pervading especially the latter, which is penultimate in the 10-song/52-minute effort, and underscores the high-grade craftsmanship accomplished throughout. “Dreamless Sleep” is probably my pick of the bunch for its airier tone and resonant minor-key hook in the guitars of Markus Ruf and Patrick Hagmann, vocalist Thomas Rosenmerkel belting out the chorus before making way for plotted solos atop Radek Stecki’s bass and Manuel Spänhauer’s drums, but it’s not so far removed from its surroundings. As a whole, the album could be more efficient, but it wants nothing for songwriting, and especially as a debut, Giant Sleep hits its marks readily.
Opener “Las Noches del Desierto” is the only one of Star Collider’s five tracks under 10 minutes. Flux seems to be the norm for Finnish post-stoners Acid Elephant, who recently brought in vocalist Martin Ahlö but here revolve around the core of bassist/guitarist/vocalist Miksa Väliverho, guitarist/vocalist Ilpo Kauppinen and drummer Roope Vähä-Aho, employing a host of others on obscure vocals, percussion and djembe throughout the 64-minute sophomore outing, recorded in 2012 and released late in 2013. Whoever they are now, Acid Elephant on Star Collider call out heavy psych, drone/jam and riff-based impulses in their extended cuts, gradually getting longer from “Red Carpet Lane” (10:46) until closer “Bog” hits 18:29. To their credit, their songs leave impressions to match their length, and even as it’s finishing its instrumental run, “Godmason” (15:58) is highlighting its resonant central riff, having emerged from a wash of feedback and amp noise at its beginning, preceded by the droning centerpiece “7th Stone.” Satisfying and unpredictable, Star Collider balances experimentation and engagement smoothly without losing its focus on individualism.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 29th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
Swedish five-piece Horisont have been announced for Freak Valley 2015. The retro heavy rockers join an already massive bill headlined by Earthless and Goatsnake and featuring Egypt, Sigiriya and many others alongside whom the kickass classic-style riffing of Horisont should feel right at home. Their latest single, “Break the Limit,” is out now on Rise Above and has produced a not-surprisingly-grainy video for the A-side that you can see below.
Word came the other day they’ll also take part in Heavy Days in Doomtown, so at least we know they’ll be busy. Freak Valley 2015 is set for June 4-6 in Netphen, Germany. Here’s the announcement:
Hey Freaks! We have a little X-mas present for you!!
Finest proto metal riffs and enviable moustaches by Swedish retro rockers HORISONT – they will play Freak Valley Festival 2015!!
Real rock‘n’roll cannot be faked. It is the immortal celebration of prized atavistic values – power and volume, sweat and adrenalin, uncompromising good times and the invigorating squall of past, present and future colliding. Those with the artistry and soul required to make music that stirs the blood will never stop chasing that distant horizon, and so Horisont have both the name and the know-how to blow minds and disperse life’s oppressive clouds. They are real rock’n’roll incarnate: an exhilarating blast of sonic euphoria, custom built to raise spirits and quicken the pulse of any right-thinking rock or metal fan.
Since forming in 2006, this Swedish quintet have steadily established themselves as one of Europe’s premier underground Rock bands.
Their first two albums made it plain that the band have tapped directly into the heart of heaviness and guitar-wielding derring-do. Now, with their latest masterpiece, the vividly realised Time Warriors, Horisont are raising their game, refining and re-defining themselves and leaving the competition spluttering in the dust.
Cover art by Jo Riou Graphic Designer // Headbang Design
FREAK VALLEY FESTIVAL – 4th-5th-6th June 2015
FVF tickets are selling like Blues Pills vinyls already – get yours in time – the first 3 editions have been sold out early!! We are selling tix to all parts of this planet!!
Goatsnake – Earthless – The Vintage Caravan – Electric Moon – Horisont – Gas Giant – Monkey3 – Danava – Egypt – Siena Root – Bröselmaschine – Sigiryia – Kamchatka – Purson – Dead Man – Freedom Hawk – Mountain Witch – Tuber – Valley of the Sun – Tombstones – more tba soon!!
Posted in Bootleg Theater on December 27th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
Judas Priest, Stained Class (1978)
The Judas Priest catalog has a few classics in it, or I guess they wouldn’t be Judas Priest, and while they’ve joined the ranks of those metal bands who seem to retire as often as not, there’s little arguing one can do with their early years — they’re the raw building blocks on which heavy metal would be constructed. And as much as Black Sabbath gets credit for inventing the sound, listening to a record like 1978’s Stained Class, there’s little doubt Priest played a major role in shaping the style and visual aesthetic of the genre.
Stained Class is the fourth Judas Priest album, following 1977’s Sin after Sin, 1976’s Sad Wings of Destiny and their 1974 debut, Rocka Rolla, which gets slagged a lot for not being as “metal” as what followed, but offers plenty for fans of heavy ’70s rock. Songs like “Better by You, Better than Me” (a cover of Spooky Tooth), “Exciter,” “Invader,” the ultra-badass “Saints in Hell” and “Beyond the Realms of Death” are monuments of the soon to rise New Wave of British Heavy Metal, arriving two years before Iron Maiden released their first album and roughly concurrent to Motörhead‘s 1977 self-titled debut. Sabbath at this point were falling apart, releasing Never Say Die in ’78 before the big split with Ozzy, and while early metal seemed to be floundering all around them, Judas Priest would emerge to lead the style into the ’80s, to what many still regard as its peak era.
Not a bad legacy to wind up with. Of course, the mob went wild when Priest issued British Steel in 1980 (1978’s Killing Machineappeared between Stained Class and that album), and that helped propel the Birmingham five-piece to their iconic status, but a couple years earlier, when Stained Class hit, it did so with more of a workman feel. Comprised at that point of guitarists Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing, vocalist Rob Halford, bassist Ian Hill and drummer Les Binks, they were a band who knew what they were going for and who knew who they were even as pop consciousness shifted toward the rawer and less superficially pretentious punk of the day. I won’t take anything away from that either — if you ever hear me badmouth the Ramones, please alert the authorities that I’ve been kidnapped and replaced by a cyborg with shitty taste — but I think time has proved Judas Priest were right in sticking to their guns.
This is the last week-ending full-length of 2014, so I hope you enjoy.
—
Why Saturday and not Friday as usual? Well, The Patient Mrs. and I got home a little bit after midnight from about 72 hours straight of Xmas family time. It was delightful, and draining. A final two-hour trip north from Connecticut and by the time we got in, we didn’t even have energy enough to bring in presents from the car. It’ll happen today. Of course, not closing out the week before I went to bed wound up being the wrong choice since I was up until two and then up again from about 5:30 to 8 this morning — something just didn’t feel right — so I got mine in the end for veering from the routine even in this small way. Take that, me.
If you celebrated, I hope you had a good ol’ time. This week coming up is New Year’s, so things get even crazier. The Patient Mrs. and I will head back down to New Jersey in the middle of the week (Tuesday night, I believe) for more festivities and wahthaveyou, but I’ve also decided to close out 2014 with a bang around here. I’ve got stacks of CDs on my desk that have come in for review and it’s time to get them gone, so what I’ve decided to do is a series I’m going to call “Last Licks.” It’ll be 10 reviews per post (obviously each writeup will be relatively brief), Monday to Friday this coming week, rounding up stuff I want to get in before the year ends, and that’ll be that for 2014. Yeah, I know it’ll be 2015 by next Friday, but just roll with me on it. It’ll be good.
So that’s 50 reviews next week. Keep an eye out. Ha.
I also have some news to catch up on, so I’ll work that in where and when I’m able, and we’ll have the results of the Readers Poll — did you get your list in? — hopefully on the first, but maybe the second if Slevin is busy or tells me to screw off, which he’d be well within his rights to do. It’s been a close race the whole month and has been exciting to watch, and I’m thankful to everyone that’s taken part so far.
Thanks also to everyone who shared the lists that went up this week and the podcast as well. I know it wasn’t much for quantity of posts the last couple days, but I hope the quality made up for some of that.
Alright, I’m going to get more coffee and spend the remainder of this lovely day sitting on my ass. Enjoy the holiday weekend. Be safe, have fun, and we’ll see you back here Monday to close out 2014 in style.
Posted in Features on December 26th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
Please note: These are not the results of the Readers Poll. That’s still going on. Please feel free to submit your list.
Making and releasing a first full-length album is a special moment in the life of any band, and that’s why I wanted to single out some of the best debuts of the year. I’ve never done this before, and so maybe with a top 10 I’m testing the waters a bit, but it seemed a worthwhile project anyway. It was a long (inner) debate about whether or not to include EPs and singles here too, but in the end, it just seemed to work better with albums.
Not to take anything away from shorter releases, but putting out a debut EP is much different than a debut LP. First of all, a debut LP can come after several EPs or singles or demos or whatever and still be considered first. What a first album says to the listener is, “Okay, we’ve come this far and we’re ready to take this step.” Some bands, once they start putting out albums, never go back to EPs. Others who’ve been around for 30 years still release demos every now and then, but even so, a group only ever gets one crack at their first album, and it can be one of the most important things we ever do.
Compared to how many come out any given month, year, century, etc., very few debut long-players ever wind up being classics, and who knows what the future might hold for any of these acts on this list, but that not knowing and that excitement are part of the fun.
Let’s get to it:
The Top 10 Debut Albums of 2014
1. The Well, Samsara
2. The Golden Grass, The Golden Grass
3. Spidergawd, Spidergawd
4. Atavismo, Desintegración
5. Blues Pills, Blues Pills
6. Steak, Slab City
7. Comet Control, Comet Control
8. Elephant Tree, Theia
9. Black Moon Circle, Black Moon Circle
10. Temple of Void, Of Terror and the Supernatural
A couple honorable mentions. First to Valley of the Sun‘s Electric Talons of the Thunderhawk, which I still didn’t know what to do with the release date for. Officially 2014, but kinda released in 2013 too. I was back and forth on it. Also Wasted Theory‘s burly debut, Monolord‘s Empress Rising, Child‘s Child, the Silent Chamber, Noisy Heart sprawling one-song LP from Sylvaine.
Some notes: Actual time spent listening played a big role in the structuring of this list. More so than the Top 30 of 2014, I would say. The Well‘s Samsara and the self-titled debut from The Golden Grass featured pretty high on that list as well, and that’s because both of them were records that I continually went back to and found satisfying after they came out. In both bands I think there’s significant stylistic potential, but more importantly, they both came out of the gate with their mission solidified and ready to roll.
With Spidergawd‘s Spidergawd, the progressive take on classic heavy rock boogie was blinding, but righteous. Their second album is due early next year on Stickman and I’ll have more on it to come in the weeks ahead. Atavismo‘s Desintegraciónhit me like the proverbial ton of bricks. Just four songs, but the atmosphere was gorgeous enough that after listening I went back and asked the band if I could host a stream in hopes that more people would hear it. Fortunately for anyone who listened, they were kind enough to comply.
On sheer impact alone, I think Blues Pills‘ Blues Pills warrants inclusion on this list, but in my own listening, I put on the top four so much more often that I couldn’t really justify placing it any higher. But in terms of a first album coming out and really propelling a band to the next level, I think for a lot of people it’s probably the debut of the year. Fair enough. Steak‘s Slab City found the London four-piece physically and stylistically right in the heart of the California desert and their passion for that place and its sound came across heartfelt on the recording, which only heightened the appeal.
And while I’m still sorry to see Quest for Fire go, the debut from offshoot Comet Control helped ease that sorrow neatly with a blend of driving heavier space rock and psychedelic vibing. Cool album, bodes well. You could say the same for Elephant Tree‘s Theia, I suppose. Their take on psychedelia melded with screamy sludge successfully where I think a lot of bands would’ve fallen flat trying the same thing, and that’s definitely something noteworthy in an initial offering, particularly one not preceded by an EP or other kind of release.
To round things out, two very different records. Black Moon Circle‘s self-titled took a popular stylistic course — melding heavy rock and psychedelic jamming — and showed the trio beginning to make it their own. That’s something I hope will continue on their second outing, which, like that of Spidergawd, is coming on quick early in 2015. And finally, Temple of Void‘s extreme, deathly take on doom courted genres smoothly and delivered its punishment with efficiency while holding together a coherent atmosphere of darkness and aggression. It was a sadistic joy to behold.
If you missed it, there were a couple debuts included on the Top 20 Short Releases of 2014 list as well — Gold & Silver, Wren, Death Alley, and so on — so if you’re looking for more of that kind of thing, you don’t have to look too far. I hope if there was a debut album this year that particularly caught your attention, you’ll let me know in the comments.
