Sharing a hometown of Berlin, the four-piece Suns of Thyme and duo Odd Couple have teamed up for a new split release on H42 Records. Due out Nov. 24, the split features one song from each band, Odd Couple contributing “Blue Footed Bobby” and Suns of Thyme offering “Former Friend” — their side’s cover is the one with the empty chair — and a total of 300 copies will be pressed in various editions of 7″ vinyl. That’s all well and good, but both songs are also streaming in full now on H42‘s Bandcamp, which is something of a change from the label’s usual methodology.

Still, a good way to get introduced. Info follows, hoisted gently off the PR wire and positioned carefully in a place of respect:

Odd Couple / Suns Of Thyme Split-7″ announced – coming Nov 24 on H42 Records

ODD COUPLE / SUNS OF THYME SPLIT 7”
H42 Records H42-024 lim. Edition, handnumbered
OUT: 24. NOV 2015 / PRESALE: 1 NOV 2015
A1: BLUE FOOTED BOBBY from ODD COUPLE
B1: FORMER FRIEND from SUNS OF THYME

TOTAL 300 COPIES:
50 clear marbled Edition
100 clear dark blue marbled Edition
150 black Edition

This is the first Split release between these two berlin based bands: Suns of Thyme & Odd Couple

Suns Of Thyme are, Tobias Feltes (vocals & git), Tim Hoppe (git), Jens Rosenkranz (bass) und Jascha Kreft (drums & backing vocals). The Berlin based four-piece have already managed to acquire a reputation in the German capital. They supported the British shoegazers TOY and were also featured on the 8MM Musik compilation alongside Brian Jonestown Massacre, Kadavar and Camera. The four young blokes are all in their twenties, but their sound is surprisingly mature. Besides worshipping psychedelic heroes, the music is wafted by grungy garage as well as kraut rock and the smoky corners of the shoegazy version of stonerrock

The young Berlin-based duo The Odd Couple creates in their songs a power, forcing the last chord of the body to contract. Their electrifying sound with influences from Garage, Psych and Surf Rock blows the dust off those dusty genres. Jascha Kreft and Tammo Dehn moving fast between guitars, organ and percussions. On stage they offer you a musical Mojo, which you have probably not experienced in that way since the early days of Black Keys or Kills.

ODD COUPLE NEXT GIGS:
24.11.2015 – Reiche, Quedlinburg
25.11.2015 – MUZclub, Nürnberg
26.11.2015 – Fliese, Halle
27.11.2015 – Pressure Air Festival @ Druckluft, Oberhausen
28.11.2015 – Stereo Wonderland, Köln
02.12.2015 – Skala Bielefeld, Bielefeld
03.12.2015 – Molotow, Hamburg
04.12.2015 – The TUBE, Düsseldorf
05.12.2015 – Cafe Tikolor (aka Tiko), Erfurt
08.12.2015 – Soho Stage, Augsburg
09.12.2015 – Alte Hackerei, Karlsruhe
10.12.2015 – Badehaus Szimpla Musiksalon, Berlin

www.oddcouple.de
www.facebook.com/oddcoupleberlin
www.sunsofthyme.de
www.facebook.com/SunsofThyme
www.facebook.com/H42Records
www.h42records.com
www.twitter.com/H42records
www.h42records.8merch.com

Odd Couple & Suns of Thyme, Split 7″

Goodness gracious. There wasn’t really any doubt that Desertfest London 2016 meant business when it came out of the gate with Electric Wizard, Elder and Conan in the lineup, but the Camden Town festival has continued to swing hard with its next batch of adds, which includes Godflesh, Crowbar, Truckfighters, Wo Fat, Mothership, Egypt (if those last three aren’t touring Europe together around their Desertfest appearance, they should be), Monolord, Rotor and Planet of Zeus. It’s a pretty significant round two from Desertfest London 2016, which, again, wasn’t exactly struggling to make its quota of awesome to start with. If I had a bank holiday weekend, that would seem to be the way to spend it.

Tickets are on sale now. Details follow, as seen on the PR wire:

Godflesh, Crowbar, Truckfighters, Egypt and more acts confirmed to play DESERTFEST LONDON 2016!

UK’s #1 stoner, doom, sludge and psych event DESERTFEST LONDON is thrilled to announce the second wave of artists who will be taking the stage at the 2016 edition, taking place in April 29th to May 1st across multiple venues in the legendary musical hub of Camden Town…

NOLA’s sludge metal heroes CROWBAR will be heading back over seas to make ears bleed, bringing their influential slow-and-low sound to an eager, ready, and willing Desertfest. Kirk Windstein and his crew of titans haven’t graced UK revellers with their rowdy presence since 2014; and Crowbar has never played Desertfest London. Making for a truly exciting, and long over-due, addition to the already stellar proceedings next year has in store.

Desertfest are also pleased to reveal that our friends at Old Empire will once again be curating a stage, bringing an eclectic and exciting array of acts to broaden the pallet. First to be announced are industrial legends GODFLESH, who will be headlining the Old Empire offerings. Their experimental and aggressive sound has established the Birmingham-based duo as one of the most innovative bands in industrial music, cited as influencing everyone from Metallica to Faith No More.

As if all that wasn’t enough to process, there’s of course a healthy helping of doom and stoner rock goodness joining the mix for Desertfest 2016. Heavy-hitting warriors TRUCKFIGHTERS will be chucking riffs left, right and centre, alongside fellow Swedish fuzz lords MONOLORD, who will be riding easy and destroying all in one slow, hard and loud blow. Psychedelic monsters WO FAT are a welcome return, having well and truly mastered the art of trippy doom – many can do it, but few do it as well as the Dallas desert trio. EGYPT will also be heading over and hitting the bill hard to bring some Dakota doom goodness to the haze, alongside eccentric instrumental gurus ROTOR. Southern rock lovin’ PLANET OF ZEUS are bringing their raw grooves out of the Greek underground and into thirsty a London, and finally heavy rockers MOTHERSHIP will be taking fans well out the galaxy – musically speaking, of course.

– DESERTFEST LONDON 2016 –
April 29th to May 1st in Camden, London (UK)
Weekend tickets available AT THIS LOCATION

Current lineup is as follows:
ELECTRIC WIZARD
GODFLESH
CROWBAR
TRUCKFIGHTERS
ELDER
EGYPT
CONAN
WO FAT
MOTHERSHIP
MONOLORD
ROTOR
RAGING SPEEDHORN
PLANET OF ZEUS
WITCHSORROW

https://www.leedstickets.com/eventinfo/4804/Desertfest-2016
http://www.thedesertfest.com/london/
https://twitter.com/DesertFest
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon
https://instagram.com/desertfest
http://desertfest.bigcartel.com/

Truckfighters, Live at Desertfest London 2013

Nuclear Blast has announced a Jan. 15 release date for Nucleus, the next LP from Swedish revivalist progenitors Witchcraft, who brazenly adopted a more modern take on their last album, 2012’s Legend (review here). That record was their fourth overall and their first for the label, and as founding guitarist/vocalist Magnus Pelander has once again revamped the lineup, it’s even harder to know what to expect for full-length number five. Doubtless that’s the whole idea, but my interest is piqued with the label’s mentioning of capturing the rawness of their early work in the upcoming tracks. We’ll see how it pans out. Either way, preorders are up now and linked below.

From the PR wire:

WITCHCRAFT announce new album details!

Swedish classic / doom rock masters WITCHCRAFT have announced the release date, track list and cover art for the band’s eagerly anticipated new album.

Nucleus is scheduled for a January 15, 2016 release worldwide via Nuclear Blast and will be available as CD, lavish digipak (also as a t-shirt bundle), vinyl (black, clear, splatter, gold) and digital download.

The first single, ‘The Outcast’ will be released on 7″ vinyl (black, clear) and as digital download on December 4, and will exclusively be available via the Nuclear Blast Mailorder. The single will include the NIRVANA cover ‘Even In His Youth’.

Pre-order Nucleus and The Outcast 7″ from the Nuclear Blast web shop, here: http://nblast.de/WitchcraftNucleusNB

The track lists for both releases read as follows.

The Outcast 7″:
Side A
01. The Outcast (edit)
Side B
02. Even In His Youth (NIRVANA cover)

Nucleus:
01. Malstroem
02. Theory Of Consequence
03. The Outcast
04. Nucleus
05. An Exorcism Of Doubts
06. The Obsessed
07. To Transcend Bitterness
08. Helpless
09. Breakdown
Limited digipak CD & 2LP vinyl bonus track
10. Chasing Rainbows

The successor of 2012’s globally extremely successful album, Legend, will be entitled Nucleus. The record seemlessly mixes the rawer side of WITCHCRAFT’s early roots, with a slightly more melancholic modern sound.

With an all new line-up (Rage Widerberg on drums and Tobias Anger on bass) the band sounds more hungry and powerful than ever before. In combination with the thrilling, yet very down-to-earth production by mastermind Magnus Pelander himself, Philip Gabriel Saxin and Anton Sundell, the album throws you into a dreamy sonic landscapes that will mesmerize and haunt you alike.

www.witchraftswe.com
www.facebook.com/witchcraft
www.nuclearblast.de/witchcraft
http://nblast.de/WitchcraftNucleusNB

Witchcraft, “Deconstruction” Live in Finland, 2013

Memphis fuzz rock trio The Heavy Eyes will release their third album, He Dreams of Lions, Nov. 13 on Kozmik Artifactz. The band, who are to be confused neither with Baltimore’s The Flying Eyes nor Indiana’s The Heavy Company, dig deep into modern-styled fuzz boogie throughout the crisp, straightforward 11 tracks/47 minutes, with bluesy flourish adding further heft to the righteous fuzz of Tripp Shumake‘s guitars and Wally Anderson‘s bass while Eric Garcia propels the roll of a track like “Old Saltillo Road” while going more all-out on a faster piece like “Smoke Signals,” a Fu Manchu-style wall of fuzz built up around laid back vocals.

The Heavy Eyes are efficient and conscious of what kind of noise they want to make at any given turn, but hardly unipolar, setting a back-country mood with nighttime insect noise at the start of opener “Shadow Shaker” before unloading the first of many rock solid and solidly rocking riffs, Shumake‘s penchant for highlight hooks taken a step further from the band’s impressive 2012 sophomore outing, Maera, on the subsequent “Saint” and “Z-Bo,” two shorter groovers that seem to pull in the listener before they even realize it, He Dreams of Lions building considerable momentum right from the start and holding onto it until they get to the Queens of the Stone Age-esque riffing of eight-minute closer “Modern Shells.”

Peak-era Queens isn’t a bad comparison point for the album as a whole, but The Heavy Eyes are more inclined to nestle into a groove, as they do on “Old Saltillo Road” and move into the title-track, which trades echoing, spacious verse lines for a more intensely-distorted chorus, an edge of grunge working its way into their sound on the sly before “Hail to the King, Baby” brings back the megafuzz and seems to layer in some organ deep in the left channel mix, ending up in an open, beery groove that rolls right into an extended finish of organ and amp noise, “Smoke Signals” picking up with Garcia‘s toms to keep the pace high as they make ready to move into the end section of the record with the particularly Fu-ey “The Fool.”

Their ability to switch up vibes is pretty well encapsulated between “Smoke Signals,” “The Fool” and “Somniloquy,” but they stay within a fuzz rock context throughout while effectively toying with one side or another of genre convention, not reinventing the wheel so much as reminding how smoothly it can roll when pushed just right. Groove is the unifying factor, and remains so as “Somniloquy” and “Littlefinger” prepare the ground for the finale, the latter rounding out with some coming-apart chug as the beginning of the closer serves as an underscoring to the point of how much Anderson‘s tone has been a highlight factor all along, even though it’s the guitar out front for another hairy lead.

It’s a party front to back, but again, not necessarily beholden entirely to one mood or another to get there — that is, not everything on He Dreams of Lions is exhaustingly uptempo — and that proves much to the album’s benefit. Still, one of its great strengths lies in the early momentum it mounts, and as a part of that (and as a means for demonstrating what I mean about Anderson‘s bass above), I’m thrilled to be able to host the premiere of “Saint.” You’ll find it on the player below, followed by more from the PR wire on The Heavy Eyes.

Enjoy:

Tripp Shumake on “Saint”:

“Saint is a frenzied blues groove layered under the frantic screaming of a mad man. As pounding drums and slinky bass surge through the speakers, the chaos builds and swells until it breaks. Leaving the listener with more questions than answers but nodding along just the same.”

Following on from their 2011 self-titled debut, and 2012’s successful Maera album, Memphis trio The Heavy Eyes return to the fold this November with their most accomplished record to date. Over eleven tracks, amidst the unbridled rawness of ‘Saint’, the sheer weight of ‘Z-Bo’ and R’n’B shake appeal of ‘Smoke Signal, hypnotic hard rock riffs are delivered thick and fast through distorted fuzz boxes, gnarled bass lines and levee breaking drum beats. This is an album that draws heavily from the heaviest (Led Zeppelin, Humble Pie, Mountain) and in doing so turns out new ideas with a punishing authenticity and honesty in line with their Memphis blues heritage.

This is The Heavy Eyes, one of rock and roll’s best and brightest, and He Dreams Of Lions will be released via Kozmik Artifactz on 13th November 2015.

The Heavy Eyes:
Tripp Shumake – Vocals, Guitars
Wally Anderson – Bass
Eric Garcia – Drums

The Heavy Eyes on Thee Facebooks

The Heavy Eyes on Bandcamp

The Heavy Eyes on Instagram

Kozmik Artifactz on Thee Facebooks

Kozmik Artifactz website

After three EPs and the digital single “Occultation” released earlier this year, Ohio heavy psych rockers Brujas del Sol will release their new Starquake 7″ on Dec. 14 through H42 Records. This marks the first offering on the label for the band — who now share guitarist Adrian Zambrano with fellow Columbus natives Lo-Pan —  and a teaser has been posted below to give a sense of the trippery that seems bound to ensue on the two-part title-track that will consume both sides of the platter. You can hear that below, because, you know, multi-sensory experience and whatnot.

Preorders start Nov. 1, which is apparently in like four days — who knew? — and more info follows, thanks to the generous grace of the PR wire:

NEW BRUJAS DEL SOL 7”-Single ‘STARQUAKE’ COMING 14 DEC 2015 from H42 RECORDS!

BRUJAS DEL SOL ‘STARQUAKE’ 7”-Single
H42 Records H42-023 lim. Edition, handnumbered
OUT: 14. DEC 2015 / PRESALE: 1 NOV 2015
A1/B1: Starquake (Pt. I & Pt. II)

LIM TOTAL 250 COPIES
70 clear stardust/gold glitter Edition
100 clear orange marbled Edition
130 space black Edition

BRUJAS DEL SOL is a psychedelic quartet from Columbus that focuses their attention toward fuzzed out, loud, swirly, droney compositions. After their heaped with loads of great reviews Debut LP ‘Moon Liner’ from 2013 the Columbus Four went back to the studio to work on a new epic song: The new song ‘Starquake’ is about 11 minutes and with strong bonds of Hawkwind to Pink Floyd with a lot of genius hypnotic tunes.

Now two years after their debut BRUJAS DEL SOL is back with a bang! ‘Starquake’ will be released end of 2015 over H42 Records. Brujas Del Sols ADRIAN is also known as the new guitarist of Lo-Pan! Once again Alex from www.zeichentier.com is responsible for the artwork!

Bio:
Old bandmates Adrian Zambrano (guitar, vocals) and Derrick White (bass) formed BRUJAS DEL SOL with drummer Jason Green in the fall of 2011. Instead of pre-writing songs, the band took a more organic approach; recording every improvised jam session. After a few months, hours of musical ideas were captured. Listening back, the band picked a couple of favourites which became their first songs. A variety of musical ingredients began to melt into a sound of their own; hypnotic krautrock, fuzz-laden blues grooves, swirling surf-rock, ambient drones all found their ways into songs.

During the spring of 2012 the band hit Electraplay Studios which yielded two EPs-Moonliner volumes 1 & 2. As the writing process became more demanding, the band wanted to add a keyboardist. Ryan Stivers joined that summer and the band went forth composing music for the last installation in their Moonliner trilogy.

While spending most of the summer writing and opening for national acts A Place to Bury Strangers and Black moth super rainbow, Moonliner volume 3 was recorded and finally released December of 2012.

Band:
Adrian – High end/Vocals
Derrick – Low end
Cody – Percussion
Ryan – Keyboards

http://brujasdelsol.bandcamp.com/
www.facebook.com/H42Records
www.h42records.com
www.twitter.com/H42records
www.h42records.8merch.com

Brujas del Sol, Starquake 7″ teaser

I kind of love it that I don’t know what to expect at shows these days. Acid King, sold out, on a Monday night, for example. Don’t get me wrong, Acid King are fucking incredible live, and everyone and their cousin should show up to see them, but it was like a great correction in the universe to see that actually happen at the Cambridge’s Middle East Upstairs where the no-pun-intended riff royalty showed up aided by local support from Gozu and Black Beach, plus a liquid light show on three projectors shot upward from the front row of the crowd for all three sets. The packed house was a generational mix, some of those who probably saw Acid King on tour their last time through — some nine years ago — and others turned on and tuned in by this year’s excellent Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere (review here) studio comebacker on Svart, but the gig was enough of a draw that even The Patient Mrs. came out for it, and that’s even rarer than a Monday sellout.

Speaking of not knowing what to expect, this was my first exposure to local trio Black Beach. The Middleboro, MA, trio have been around long enough to belt out a series of EPs and short releases since 2013 and have a debut full-length, Shallow Creatures, reportedly due early next year, and while they were the youngest act on the bill, that only served to add vigor to their swinging blend of heavy punk and indie, leaning at times toward stoner riffing but probably drawing from cooler influences than stuff like Nick Oliveri-fueled Queens of the Stone Age, even if they were taking the longer road around to get there. They had a good early crowd on their side and made the most of it on cuts like “Rats” from last year’s Play Loud, Die Vol. 1 or “Future Failure” from the upcoming LP while geometric shapes and orange and blue oils colored the stage, winding up with enough grunge in their sound to be distinct from heavy rock but not entirely separate, their most intense moments satisfyingly cathartic but still thoroughly grooved.

It’s only been five months since I last saw Gozu play, but they’ve clearly spent the intervening time hammering out new material. The slower groove of “Bubble Time” was complemented well by also-new set-opener “Lorenzo Llamas” and “Mr. Riddle” from 2010’s sophomore outing and Small Stone debut, Locust Season (review here), and after “Meat Charger” from the same record, they hit into the nodding chug of “Oldie” and the unabashed throttle of “Nature Boy,” both new, and the latter of which might have to become their closer for sets, as once people get a grip on what they’re doing with its quick turns between the verse and chorus and its building fury, it will be a hard one to follow. The four-piece of drummer Mike Hubbard, bassist Joe Grotto, guitarist Doug Sherman and guitarist/vocalist Marc Gaffney were locked in as one would expect, but encouragingly, there was no hiccup in the switch between new material and old, and like Black Beach, they seemed readily comfortable on their home turf.

After “Nature Boy,” they wrapped with “Bald Bull,” the only inclusion in the set from 2013’s The Fury of a Patient Man (review here). That was somewhat surprising, but I guess time was limited, and the show moved along at a pretty solid clip. Between that, the simple fact that Acid King were touring at all, that Gozu were on the bill — Kings Destroy played with them as well over the weekend, but weren’t doing the Boston-area show; nothing against Black Beach, but it would’ve been nice to see them and a three-band night with Kings Destroy, Gozu and Acid King would be like the god Apollo doing me personal favors — and that in keeping it to three bands, the show seemed to acknowledge the fact that most people there probably had to go to work in the morning, the whole vibe of the night felt like getting away with something. Like the entire room full of people snuck out of their lives to show up, or maybe that was just me.

Nearly all of Acid King‘s set — from “Intro” to “Outro” — came from Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere, and as I continue to be enthralled with that record, that was just fine by me. Through “Red River,” “Laser Headlights” and “Infinite Skies,” the San Francisco three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Lori S., bassist Mark Lamb (also of Fought upon Earth) and drummer Joey Osbourne unfurled tonal bliss and unmatched rhythmic roll, Osbourne‘s swinging snare work in “Laser Headlights” like a master class in how to do groove right. The nod? Infectious. The performance? Dead on. Acid King took the stage and melted the room. Philistines moshed, others nodded, still others disrobed. I’m pretty sure three people called into work and quit their jobs in the midst of “Infinite Skies.” It was fantastic. It may have taken them 10 years to get a record out, but watching them play to the full-to-the-brim Middle East, it was more like Acid King had just been waiting a decade for the rest of the world to catch up, which obviously it has begun to do.

They played two older songs, “Electric Machine” from 1999’s landmark Busse Woods was led into perfectly by “Coming down from Outer Space” off the new record, and “2-Wheel Nation” from 2005’s III, which was the encore. “Electric Machine” might have gotten the biggest response of the night, though I was even more stoked for “Coming down from Outer Space,” not that it’s worth quibbling one or the other in a reality that was kind enough to present both. Lori‘s guitar finished out “2-Wheel Nation” alone after Lamb‘s bass and Osbourne‘s drums dropped out, the fuzz imprinting itself in a last remaining mental cast on those there to hear it. I consider myself fortunate to have been in that number.

More pics after the jump. Thanks for reading.

Read more »

I think if Black Sabbath were going to extend their tour based on “overwhelming demand,” they probably wouldn’t ever be able to retire. Still, the forefathers of modern doom — and, less relevantly, metal as a whole — have added dates to their “The End” 2016 tour, which will head to Europe after completing an initial North American run and then circle back for summer dates in the US. It will be the band’s first run since 2013, when they came through heralding their first Ozzy Osbourne-fronted release in over 30 years, 13 (review here).

And yeah, I know you’ve seen this. Everyone’s seen it. Shit, it was trending on Thee Facebooks, so let alone those who’ve made riffs into a lifestyle, people who in no way give even the remotest shit about Black Sabbath have seen it. Consider it here for the ICYMI crowd and for posterity. Never know when you’ll want to refer back to it later. Or at least I will.

And yeah, no Bill Ward.

PR wire-esque info follows:

BLACK SABBATH TRIUMPHANTLY RETURN TO NORTH AMERICA

DUE TO OVERWHELMING DEMAND, “THE END” TOUR EXTENDED INTO FALL 2016 WITH ADDITIONAL NORTH AMERICAN SHOWS

Due to overwhelming demand, the road to THE END just got longer.

On the heels of their much-anticipated performances in North America, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, BLACK SABBATH will end the epic journey they began nearly five decades ago with another run of North American dates in fall 2016. These shows will follow a mix of summer headlining and festival performances throughout Europe.

The second run of North American dates kicks off August 17 at Jones Beach Amphitheater in New York and includes stops at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles (where the band last performed a sold-out show on their wildly successful 13 world tour in 2014), Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto, Detroit, and Dallas, among others, before wrapping September 21 at AK-Chin Pavilion in Phoenix, AZ.

The massive 2016 world tour by the greatest Metal Band of all time marks THE END for Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler as they close the final chapter in the final volume of the incredible BLACK SABBATH story with this tour. BLACK SABBATH’s THE END farewell tour promises to surpass all previous tours and will feature the band’s most mesmerizing production ever.

When this tour concludes, it will truly be THE END, THE END of one of most legendary bands in Rock ’n Roll history…BLACK SABBATH

BLACK SABBATH’s 2016 Tour Dates are as follows:

NORTH AMERICA
1/20 Omaha, NE CenturyLink Center
1/22 Chicago, IL United Center
1/25 Minneapolis, MN Target Center
1/27 Winnipeg MN MTS Centre
1/30 Edmonton, AB Rexall Centre
2/1 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome
2/3 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
2/6 Tacoma, WA Tacoma Dome
2/9 San Jose, CA SAP Pavilion
2/11 Los Angeles, CA The Forum
2/13 Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay
2/15 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
2/17 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center
2/19 Detroit, MI The Palace of Auburn Hills
2/21 Hamilton, ON First Ontario Centre
2/23 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
2/25 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
2/27 New York, NY Madison Square Garden

AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND
4/15 Perth, AU Perth Arena
4/17 Adelaide, AU Entertainment Centre
4/19 Melbourne, AU Rod Laver Arena
4/23 Sydney, AU Allphones Arena
4/25 Brisbane, AU Entertainment Centre
4/28 Auckland, NZ Vector Arena
4/30 Dunedin, NZ Forsyth Barr Stadium

EUROPE
6/1 Budapest,Hungary Groupama Arena
6/8 Berlin, Germany Waldebuhne
**6/11 Donington, UK Download
6/13 Verona, IT Arena Di Verona
6/15 Zurich, Switzerland Hallenstadon
**6/17 Dessel,Belgium Grasspop
**6/23 Halden, Norway Tons of Rock
**6/25 Copenhagen, DE Copenhell
6/28 Vienna, Austria Stadthalle
6/30 Prague, Czech Rep. 02 Arena
7/2 Krakow, Poland Tauron Arena
7/5 Riga, Latvia Riga Arena
**7/7 Helsinki, Finland Monsters of Rock
**7/9 Stockholm, Sweden Monsters of Rock
7/12 Moscow, Russia Olympisky Arena
**Denotes festival appearance

NORTH AMERICA
8/17 Wantagh, NY Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
8/19 Philadelphia, PA Susquehanna Bank Center
8/21 Washington DC Jiffy Lube Live
8/23 Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
8/25 Boston, MA Xfinity Center
8/27 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
8/29 Toronto, ON Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
8/31 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theater
9/2 Indianapolis, IN Klipsch Music Center
9/4 Chicago, IL Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
9/7 Dallas, TX Gexa Energy Pavilion
9/9 Albuquerque, NM Isleta Ampitheater
9/11 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Ampitheater
9/13 Portland, OR Sunlight Supply Arena
9/15 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena
9/17 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
9/19 Hollywood, CA Hollywood Bowl
9/21 Phoenix, AZ AK-Chin Pavilion

https://www.facebook.com/BlackSabbath
http://www.blacksabbath.com/

Black Sabbath, ‘The End’ Tour Announcement

German heavy psych rockers Iguana will head out this weekend on a quick jaunt alongside progressive fuzzers Rotor to set up a couple other shows to close out 2015. Earlier this year, the Chemnitz-based four-piece released their sophomore full-length, Cult of Helios, as the follow-up to 2012’s Get the City Love You (review here), and today they answer that album with a new full-length live video release, Live at Radio T Sessions, filmed on July 30 at Larox Tonstudio in their hometown for the titular Radio T.

I don’t know what the band’s plans are for Live at Radio T Sessions, but the quality is exceptional and the performance by the band — guitarist/vocalist Alexander Lörinczy, guitarist Thomas May, bassist Alexander May and drummer Robert Meier — is spot on, so it seems to me that if they wanted to, they have worthy cause for pressing up a few copies. I’m not necessarily talking about a DVD, as I think that moment has passed, but even if it’s a limited cassette release of the audio or something like that. I’m not saying that’s what they’re going to do, just that the show they put on in the video below is worth preserving one way or another in the physical realm.

Hopefully you’ll agree. Three of the four cuts on Cult of Helios — “Josiah,” “Albedo” and “A Deadlock Situation” — make an appearance, and only the 15-minute title-track is left off (though you can hear it in a podcast here), so if you haven’t heard the record, Iguana offer a chance to get introduced to their spacious but earthy flow and the peaceful vibe they present across its span while also locking into heavier nod in cuts from the debut like “Vague as a Mirage” and “Madinat al Yasmin,” which unfolds a Tee Pee-style roll and gives the oft-smiling Alexander a chance to showcase his tone alongside the two guitars.

There are a handful of people in the studio with the band as they play — you can hear them clap in between songs and see them periodically reflected in a window — and I’m guessing that’s either friends and family or employees of Radio T, so as an intimate gig, Iguana capture something really cool with Live at Radio T Sessions, and while I’m not one to tell anybody their business, I’m just saying, if they put this one on tape, I’d check it out.

Info follows the clip. Dig in and enjoy:

Iguana, Live at Radio T Sessions

Radio-T-Sessions || 30th of July 2015
Live Radio Concert || recorded at Larox Tonstudio
1. Josiah 00:20
2. Albedo 06:45
3. A Deadlock Situation 11:19
4. Vague As A Mirage 17:16
5. Freshly Tranquilized 23:43
6. Madinat Al Yasmin 28:25
7. Down On You 32:00

IGUANA just won’t stand still. And that’s a good thing, too. After their spontaneous release of the psych- and kraut inspired record “Cult of Helios” (July 2015) and barely home from their tour with low-desert-punk mastermind and stoner rock legend Brant Bjork, IGUANA will hit the road with Berlin’s stoner-space-monument, ROTOR, beginning in October.

As if that weren’t enough IGUANA, the desert-psych-post-whatever-quartet from Chemnitz, will release a complete video recording of a live radio concert right on schedule with their tour start. A rather obvious decision as, from year one, IGUANA have been first and foremost a live band. To duly capture this passion on canvas, the makers of Radio-T unceremoniously invited IGUANA to play a live concert in the glorious halls of Larox recording studio. The result is an intimate live tape containing brand new songs from their latest record and tracks from their 2012 debut album – a private psych and desert concert for your living room so to speak. All that’s left to do is watch the video, turn up the volume and rock on.

Iguana_Tourdates_Cult_Of_Helios_Fall2015
29.10.2015 – Bielefeld, Forum w. Rotor
30.10.2015 – Hannover, Mephisto w. Rotor
21.11.2015 – Chemnitz, Zukunft w. Rotor
18.12.2015 – Weil der Stadt, JH Kloster

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Cult of Helios stream