Uh, so touring with Voivod seems like a pretty awesome idea. Cheers to Portland, Oregon, trio Eight Bells on landing a gig of gigs in supporting the godfathers of prog-thrash Voivod on their upcoming East Coast and Midwestern run. Eight Bells‘ second LP behind 2013’s impressive The Captain’s Daughter, dubbed Landless, will be released on Feb. 12 via Battleground Records, and in spreading the word even further, the trio has added a long weekender beforehand that caps in Phoenix, Arizona, and will presumably be followed by just as many days of driving on a diagonal across the country — unless they’re flying, which seems like it would be much easier — before picking up Feb. 4 in Massachusetts, to be joined the next night by Vektor and the night after by Voivod as the three-week stint kicks off.

Dates and info follow, off the PR wire, as well as the stream of Landless opener “Hating,” which you should check out especially if it’s as overcast where you are today as it is where I am:

EIGHT BELLS: Voivod tour approaches, new tourdates added

With sophomore album Landless coming February 12th on Battleground Records, Eight Bells will embark on a full US tour that includes three weeks supporting avant-metal godfathers Voivod and thrashers Vektor.

Kicking off the tour in its hometown of Portland, Oregon, Eight Bells heads south then makes a beeline for the East Coast to join forces with the Voivod/Vektor caravan.

The newly updated list of dates is as follows:

Eight Bells:
Jan 28 – Portland, OR @ High Water Mark
Jan 29 – Sacramento, CA @ Starlite Lounge
Jan 30 – Glendale, CA @ Complex w/ Bosse-De-Nage, Wreck and Reference
Jan 31 – Phoenix, AZ @ Yucca Tap
Feb 4 – Worcester, MA @ Ralph’s
Feb 5 – Hamden, CT @ Outer Space Ballroom w/ Vektor

Voivod, Vektor, Eight Bells:
Feb 6 – Providence, RI @ Fete Ballroom
Feb 7 – New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre
Feb 8 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
Feb 9 – Morgantown, WV @ Mainstage
Feb 10 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Altar Bar
Feb 11 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony
Feb 12 – Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club
Feb 13 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
Feb 14 – Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter
Feb 16 – Raleigh, NC @ Kings
Feb 18 – Charlotte, NC @ Neighborhood Theatre
Feb 19 – Sanford, FL @ West End Trading Co.
Feb 20 – Ybor City, FL @ The Orpheum
Feb 21 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
Feb 22 – Knoxville, TN @ The Concourse
Feb 23 – Newport, KY @ Southgate House Revival
Feb 24 – Chicago, IL @ The Abbey Pub
Feb 25 – Cudahy, WI @ The Metal Grill
Feb 26 – St Paul, MN @ The Amsterdam
Feb 27 – Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room
Feb 28 – St Louis, MO @ Firebird

Eight Bells is the trio consisting of guitarist/vocalist Melynda Jackson, formerly of SubArachnoid Space, bassist/vocalist Haley Westeiner, and new drummer Rae Amitay, also of Immortal Bird and Thrawsunblat.

Sophomore album Landless, out February 12th on Battleground Records, was recorded and mixed by Billy Anderson (Neurosis, Leviathan) and mastered by Justin Weis (Pallbearer, Agalloch). Over five sprawling tracks, Eight Bells combines the majesty of ’70s Pink Floyd – ethereal vocals, soaring guitars – with 19th-century ghostliness and modern-day black-doom flourishes, to create a sound that transcends time entirely.

https://www.facebook.com/eightbellsband
http://www.eightbellsband.com/
http://battlegroundrecords.bigcartel.com/

Eight Bells, “Hating”

Baltimore experimental duo Darsombra — not satisfied with the 109 different cities they played across the US earlier this year — are playing three gigs this week, sneaking two more dates in before 2016 hits and then kicking off the New Year in hometown style at The Crown. The two-piece of guitarist Brian Daniloski and synthesist/vocalist/visual artist Ann Everton had noted intent to make a new album after finishing that mammoth, three-leg run, and I see no reason that can’t pan out as noted, but it’s pretty telling of Darsombra as a project that basically wants to do as much as humanly possible all the time that they can’t get out of 2015 without playing just these last couple shows. I dig that. A lot.

Info and whatnot:

Transcendental audio/visual rock duo Darsombra have packed and prepared their shuttle for launch, readying themselves for journey to inner space. Brian Daniloski (a veteran of metal bands Meatjack and Trephine), pilots, navigates, and controls the sound of Darsombra, alternating between searing guitar riffs, leads, loops, mammoth vocal swells, and soundscapes. He takes one part metal, one part psychedelic rock, one part experimental, and dashes of prog, glam, and krautrock, to soundtrack the voyage. Filmmaker Ann Everton joins him on vocals, synthesizer, and percussion, as well as stewarding us along the way by projecting her kinetic, psychotropic videos specifically composed to the music, engulfing the audience within the trip.

Following releases on At A Loss, Public Guilt, Underradar and others, Darsombra worked with Exile On Mainstream for the release of Climax Community in 2012. The three tracks on the LP traverse forty-five minutes of the outfit’s unique, slow-building, organic transcendental rock. Recent tours in the U.S. and Europe have paired Darsombra with Wino, Jucifer, Thrones, Floor, and Stinking Lizaveta.

This week, Darsombra plays our last shows of 2015/first show of 2016:

Dec 29 – Asheville NC @ Static Age Records w/ Nate Hall
Dec 30 – Norfolk VA @ Electroganic w/ Wandcarver, Clary Sage
Jan 1 – Baltimore MD @ The Crown w/ Height, Gavin Riley Smoke Machine, Hemlock Ernst, EU1OGY, DJ Secret Weapon Dave

photo by Brandon Walker

https://www.facebook.com/darsombra
http://www.darsombra.com/
http://darsombra.bandcamp.com/
www.mainstreamrecords.de/shop

Darsombra, Climax Community (2012)

Please note: This list is not culled in any way from the Readers Poll, which is ongoing. If you haven’t yet contributed your favorites of 2015 to that, please do.

—

What’s a short release? Anything that’s not a full-length. I’ve done this list in the past and given a small list — The Top 20 EPs, Splits, Demos and Singles, or whatever — but “Short Releases” seemed more concise, and believe it or not, that’s something I shoot for.

Essentially, what we’re taking a look at here is everything else a band might put out in a given year. No question that albums are where the greatest impact is made over the longer term, but from landmark 7″s to EPs that provide crucial experiments or serve notice of bands solidifying their sound or marking pivotal first impressions, the shorter offerings have tremendous value, and it’s worth considering them on their own merit, rather than in comparison to LPs directly.

I know for a fact that there are releases I’ve missed here. Particularly among the Bandcamp-only demos, there’s just so much out there that for any one person to keep up with all of it is even more impossible than it’s ever been before. Before you berate me immediately with, “Hey you forgot X Band!” and start throwing tomatoes at your computer or mobile device screen, please keep in mind The Obelisk is run by a single individual and there are only so many hours in the day. As always, I do the best I can.

Here we go:

The Obelisk Presents: The Top 20 Short Releases of 2015

1. Foehammer, Foehammer EP
2. Mos Generator & Stubb, The Theory of Light and Matter Split
3. Sun Voyager, Lazy Daze EP
4. All Them Witches, A Sweet Release
5. Geezer & Borracho, The Second Coming of Heavy: Chapter 1 Split
6. Fatso Jetson & Farflung, Split
7. Eggnogg & Borracho, Sludgy Erna Bastard Split 7″
8. Shroud Eater, Face the Master EP
9. Bedroom Rehab Corporation, Fortunate Some EP
10. Stars that Move, Demo Songs
11. Wight, Helicopter Mama 7″
12. Thera Roya, Unraveling EP
13. Shatner, EP
14. Cities of Mars, Cyclopean Ritual EP
15. Pyramidal & Domo, Jams from the Sun Split
16. Sandrider & Kinski, Split
17. Mount Hush, Low and Behold! EP
18. Godhunter & Amigo the Devil, The Outer Dark Split
19. Groan, Highrospliffics EP
20. Rozamov & Deathkings, Split

Honorable Mention

The Sunburst EP by Valley continues to resonate, as do splits from Goya & Wounded Giant and King Buffalo & Lé Betre. plus Derelics‘ Introducing, Time Rift‘s demo, the Carpet 7″, Watchtower‘s EP, Eternal Black‘s debut demo, Dorre‘s half-hour single One Collapsed at the Altar, and Mount Desert‘s two-songer all deserve serious consideration, as well I’m sure as many others.

Notes

It’s something of a break in routine for me to put any kind of debut in a top spot (other, of course, than on the list of debuts), but Foehammer simply would not be denied. The Virginia trio’s three-song EP release on Grimoire Records (LP on Australopithecus Records), it was a self-titled that seemed to be telling you the name of the band twice as if in a warning against forgetting it. And that warning was one to heed. Foehammer‘s first outing brought the Doom Capitol region to new heights of extremity, and while at over half-an-hour long it could’ve just as easily have been called a full-length, part of the overarching threat is what the band will bring to bear when they actually get around to their first LP.

A good number of splits included here, with Mos Generator and Stubb‘s The Theory of Light and Matter (HeviSike Records), Geezer and Borracho‘s The Second Coming of Heavy: Chapter 1 (launching a series for Ripple Music), Fatso Jetson and Farflung‘s joint release (on Heavy Psych Sounds) and Eggnogg and Borracho‘s Sludgy Erna Bastard (on Palaver Records) all cracking the top 10. No coincidence that Washington D.C. heavy riffers Borracho show up twice in that mix. As Pyramidal and Domo‘s blissful Jams from the Sun, Sandrider and Kinski‘s one-two, Godhunter and Amigo the Devil‘s Battleground Records collaboration and Rozamov and Deathkings‘ joint single feature between #11-20, a total of eight out of the full included 20 releases here are splits. Last year it was only five.

Whether that means the form is growing in an attempt to capture fickle social-media-age attention spans while cutting individual vinyl pressing costs, I couldn’t say — likely a combination of the two and more besides — but it’s noteworthy that a split is more than just a toss-off, between-albums castaway at this point, something for songs to later be included on rare-tracks comps. One could easily say the same of EPs as a whole. To that end, Sun Voyager‘s Lazy Daze was a brutal tease for the NY psychgaze outfit’s first album, hopefully out in 2016. And while All Them Witches‘ A Sweet Release was over 50 minutes long — longer, actually, than their Dying Surfer Meets His Maker LP, which was also issued this year — they considered it an EP/live collection, and that indeed proved how it worked best, immersive though its stretch remained.

Shroud Eater and Bedroom Rehab Corporation both turned in impressive outings that showed marked progression from their last time out, while Shatner‘s first batch of tracks tipped off a songwriting process well-honed and Stars that Move, Cities of Mars, Thera Roya and Mount Hush — I’d put Mount Desert in this category as well — had compelling outings that, like Foehammer at the top, showed much potential at work in formative sounds. Not to be forgotten, Wight‘s Helicopter Mama 7″ gave listeners a heads up on the funkified stylistic turn their upcoming full-length, Love is Not Only What You Know, will take even further, and UK stoner miscreants Groan proved once and for all that, along with logic and reason, a constantly changing lineup can’t hold back their good times.

—

Like I said — like I always say — if I left something out, let me know about it in the comments. Really let me have it. Call me a jerk. It’s cool. I can take it.

Please note: I can, in no way, take it.

Still, if I left something/someone out, I hope you’ll let me know. And please don’t forget that if you haven’t yet, you can still contribute your list of 2015 favorites to the year-end poll until Dec. 31. EPs, LPs, whatever, however many, it doesn’t matter. All entries are welcome there.

Thanks for reading.

Greek heavy rockers Godsleep have released their debut LP, Thousand Sons of Sleep (review here), on vinyl through Rock Freaks Records. The album was initially offered up by the band earlier in 2015 digitally and on CD, and the pickup by Rock Freaks, which is the record label associated with Freak Valley festival, has some pretty obvious implications as to how the Athens foursome might be spending at least part of their summer. Maybe that’s jumping the gun, as, admittedly, I’m prone to do in this kind of case, but whether they wind up on that fest or not, Godsleep‘s debut showed considerable promise, and right down to its artwork, earned a vinyl release all the way. Kudos to the band and label on joining forces.

Rock Freaks had the news and release particulars like this:

Rock Freaks Records proudly presents the 2nd label release: Godsleep – THOUSAND SONS OF SLEEP!

With their debut these guys from Athens, Greece, created a mixture of powerful throaty vocals colliding with thick-sounded, fuzz fuelled heavy rock, accompanied by extended solos.

Poaching in the deep covert of sludge, stoner and psychedelic rock this foursome leads you from the muddy woods of Lousiana to the dusty sands of Arizona. This sounds crazy. And it is crazy. Available now on heavy 180gr vinyl and inside-out print you can choose between three colors: traditional black (limited and handnumbered to 150 pieces), silver (130) and gold (110).

Get your special „die-hard-edition“ next saturday at the FREAK-VALLEY-X-MAS showcase including the golden vinyl plus a ROCK FREAKS RECORDS patch. The black edition is available at GODSLEEPS show on saturday 19th in Athens.

All colours available next week in our shop and on the forthcoming GODSLEEP-tour. There are still dates for april 2016 available, so if you want them to stop by or if you know a cool place that they should fill with some heavy tunes, please contact Stef : stef@totalvolumeagency.com.

www.rockfreaks.de
https://www.facebook.com/freakvalley/
https://www.facebook.com/Godsleepband
http://godsleep.bandcamp.com/releases

Godsleep, Thousand Sons of Sleep (2015)

All things considered, Lemmy Kilmister was probably a better figurehead than rock and roll deserved.

A walking, snarling, tilting-his-head-up-to-the-microphone one man summary of all that has ever been righteous in defying a mainstream that he almost inadvertently came to define, Ian Fraser “Lemmy” Kilmister was born on Dec. 24, 1945. Over the last 50 years, his career has set a standard to which it’s entirely likely no one will ever live up. From his early days in The Rockin’ Vickers circa 1965 through acting as a roadie for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Kilmister’s start was auspicious even before a stint in Sam Gopal led to his joining space rock pioneers Hawkwind in 1972 and founding Motörhead as its bassist and vocalist in 1975.

Motörhead would become his life’s work and the primary vehicle for his widespread influence. From a 1977 self-titled debut that continues to resonate nearly 40 years later with songs like “Iron Horse/Born to Lose” acting as lifestyle anthems, through 1979’s ultra-classic Overkill, Bomber and On Parole through the next year’s landmark Ace of Spades, Motörhead burned a swath through punk rock and early heavy metal that found the band living up to what Lemmy said initially was their intent: to be the loudest and dirtiest band of all time.

Lemmy spent 40 years of his life standing in the center of that tempest. I never spoke to the man, but by all accounts he remained decent and committed to his sonic purpose. His health failing over the last year-plus, he continued to tour as much as possible, spreading Motörhead’s raw gospel to a fanbase that, by this time, spanned generations, debates on 1983’s Another Perfect Day vs. 1993’s Bastards vs. 2004’s Inferno only serving to underscore the point that Motörhead, and by extension Lemmy himself, never stopped. Hell, they never even slowed. 2015’s Bad Magic was the third album the band — now comprised of Lemmy, guitarist Phil Campbell and drummer Mikkey Dee — released this decade, behind 2013’s Aftershock and 2010’s The Wörld Is Yours. Even in light of Lemmy’s death, it seems unbelievable to think it might actually be their last record.

On Dec. 26, two days after turning 70, Lemmy reportedly learned of an aggressive cancer that just two days later took his life. That life stands at a scope beyond hope for any summation — it’s simply too big. Even the 2010 documentary, Lemmy, could only tell part of the story. The band announced his passing thusly:

There is no easy way to say this…our mighty, noble friend Lemmy passed away today after a short battle with an extremely aggressive cancer. He had learnt of the disease on December 26th, and was at home, sitting in front of his favorite video game from The Rainbow which had recently made it’s way down the street, with his family. We cannot begin to express our shock and sadness, there aren’t words.

We will say more in the coming days, but for now, please…play Motörhead loud, play Hawkwind loud, play Lemmy’s music LOUD.

Have a drink or few. Share stories. Celebrate the LIFE this lovely, wonderful man celebrated so vibrantly himself.

HE WOULD WANT EXACTLY THAT.

Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister

1945 -2015

Born to lose, lived to win.

It will be decades more before we ultimately can assess what the impact of his life has been, but neither rock and roll nor heavy metal would exist as it does today without him. The level of his impact is as expansive as vision was uncompromising. From the moment he showed up until the moment he left, he was absolutely one of a kind.

Normally, this is the part where I express condolences to the departed’s friends, family and fans, and while all that holds true in this case as well, the fact of the matter is that a loss like this one goes beyond blood or personal ties. We’re all poorer, the planet, our species as a whole, is poorer, for his passing.

Rest in peace, Lemmy Kilmister: 1945-2015.

Motörhead, Overkill (1979)

It hasn’t yet been a full month since it was revealed that Mantar had signed to Nuclear Blast to release their sophomore LP, Ode to the Flame, in Spring 2016, but already we’re getting a sense of how the Bremen duo will support it. They’ve been added to the lineup for Freak Valley 2016 and presumably that’s the first of many such appearances to come. Mantar got behind their 2014 debut, Death by Burning (review here), pretty hard, what with touring the US alongside Conan and all, so it’s easy to imagine Ode to the Flame will get much the same treatment. And by that I mean driven forcibly into the ears of audiences in various parts of the world.

They found a good place to start:

Hey Freaks!

We think you deserve a later but heavy X-mas present!!

Here you are: German two-piece wall of Noise and Doom MANTAR are confirmed to play FREAK VALLEY FESTIVAL 2016!!

Ugly, slimy, bumpy and brutal, yet at the same time contains some of the catchiest riffs and melodies you’ll hear this side of the Ganges. If High On Fire, ‘Bleach’ era Nirvana and Darkthrone had a meth fueled orgy this would be it’s offspring.

MANTAR manages to sound heavier than most five piece bands you may know, in spite of the fact that no bass guitar is used. Just drums and guitar set for destruction. Forget about Rock ‘n Roll. This will hurt. Flogging beats and blackened melodies meet feedback orgies and doom mayhem.

Please share this amazing cover art by Headbang Design

FREAK VALLEY FESTIVAL – 26th-27th-28th May 2016
www.freakvalley.de – www.rockfreaks.de

FVF 2016 is SOLD OUT!!

Freak Valley Festival: No Fillers – Just Killers

Line-up 2016:
DEAD MEADOW [US] – Psychedelic Stonerrock
SPIDERGAWD [NO] – Post-Boogie
WHITE HILLS [US] – Fuzzed Out Motorik Psychedelic
BABY WOODROSE [DK]- Psychedelic Garagerock
LONELY KAMEL [NO]- Heavy Blues, Hardrock & Stoner
ROTOR [D] – Instrumental StonerRock/Psychedelic
MONOLORD [SW] – Doom/Sludge
MANTAR [D] – Death Metal Doom Punk
FARFLUNG [US] – Spacerock for 21st Century Heads
THE GOLDEN GRASS [US]- Heavy/Funk//Psych/Freakbeat
SPIDERS [SW] – Hard/Glam Rock
SONS OF HUNS [US] – Heavy Riffin Rock
LÉ BETRE [SW] – Bluesy Hardrock

…more tba very soon

www.freakvalley.de
https://www.facebook.com/freakvalley
https://twitter.com/FreakValley
https://shop.ticketscript.com/channel/web2/start-order/rid/LYSQRABJ/language/en

Mantar, Live at Saint Vitus Bar, May 22, 2015

Symmetry, structure and momentum. The tools put to use by Swedish heavy rockers Deville on their fourth full-length, Make it Belong to Us, aren’t exactly unfamiliar, but the record works quickly to live up to its title, offering a rich, coherent sonic personality and cutting a blazing, straightforward path through its 10 tracks/37 minutes. It’s the Malmö four-piece’s first offering through Fuzzorama Records after a vinyl reissue of their 2007 debut, Come Heavy Sleep, on Heavy Psych Sounds, and follows 2013’s Hydra (on Small Stone; review here) and 2010’s Hail the Black Sky (interview here) in being a next logical step in the ongoing development of what’s become a formidable songwriting process and all-charged, riff-led thrust.

Also Deville‘s first full-length since adding guitarist Andreas Wulkan to the lineup of guitarist/vocalist Andreas Bengtsson, bassist Markus Åkesson and drummer Markus Nilsson, who also produced and recorded with Tobias Ekqvist at Sunnanå Studio, Make it Belong to Us is three-tracks deep before it seems to take a breath with the chugging stomper intro to “Mind on Hold,” but really it’s a front-to-back run of hooks and craftsmanship across these songs, and while Deville bask in a mostly sans-frills approach, hooks like those of opener “Make it Belong to Me” and the subsequent rush of “Chief” would make them superfluous additions to such a solid foundation. Very much a successor to Hydra in its sound — Nilsson helmed that recording as well — Make it Belong to Us emphasizes the steady growth of the band’s style and even in a track like “Chief,” which is just under two and a half minutes long and pushes past quickly, they keep a keen eye for melody and a purposefulness to everything they do.

Thoroughly modern in its aural crispness and the fullness of its impact, Make it Belong to Us nonetheless takes on a classic form. Its 37 minutes divide neatly onto two vinyl sides, and the better part of its forward reach comes in the back half, with a closing salvo of four tracks that each offer some marked shift or evolutionary next step. Preceded by affirmations like the Mastodonic stomp of “Mind on Hold” or the beats-its-way-into-your-head chorus of the preceding “Out of the Black,” this later material is even more resonant, but even it holds steady to the core accessibility underlying Deville‘s songwriting. As far out as they go, they only touch four-and-a-half minutes once, on closer “What Remains” (for context, it happened twice on Hydra, one song reaching 6:30), and it’s in the overarching tightness of cuts like “Chief,” “Lever” and “Dying to Feel” that Make it Belong to Us makes its most lasting impressions.

There is a tension at work in the twists of “Lever,” but the melody remains a grounding force, and even when they seem to be their most explosive, Deville are never even close to being out of control, as much as the near-destructive swing in the bridge of “Out of the Black” might work to convince otherwise. “Lever” is also noteworthy for being part of a two-song centerpiece section, both tracks in which have one-word titles — “Lever” and “Drive”; I’m a little surprised they didn’t call it “Revel” — and for its balance of an airier verse with a stomp-into-nod apex that rounds out in an impressively efficient 3:41. All tied together, all neat and flawlessly executed. Beginning with an immediate burst, “Drive” follows suit in its open verse, but hits even harder when it decides the time is right, and though symmetrical to “Lever,” is ultimately even more of a standout.

As the launch point for the aforementioned four-song finishing movement, “Life in Decay” is particularly notable, but it’s more the insistent rhythm and snare punctuation that mark it out as the beginning of a sonic turn, rather than simply a matter of its north-of-four-minutes runtime — though these last four songs work shortest to longest, between 4:12 and 4:30, so purpose and structure abounds even unto the placement. As to where that extra time goes, it’s dedicated to a soaring melodic apex that blindsides the listener and, at least for me, has me wondering why Deville aren’t the Queen of heavy rock. “Dying to Feel” picks up at a verse-chorus run like nothing ever happened and bounces its way through terrain not so far off from earlier pieces like “Out of the Black,” except for a guitar solo that bleeds into an extended, crashing finale that holds its final feedback into the stomp-happy opening of the penultimate “Reflecting Surface.”

Surface can be reflecting, fine, but it’s also thick as hell. Dense riffs are cut through by Bengtsson‘s echoing vocals, and it’s a reminder that when they want to do so, Deville have the ability to conjure serious weight in their riffs. Even here, though, they pull together a memorable hook, and complement it with a righteous nod of an instrumental finish that seems to wink in the direction of Come Heavy Sleep‘s “Rise Above” without directly repeating it. “What Remains” is somewhat brighter, but has a larger groove in its chorus, capping Make it Belong to Us with another of the kind of ultra-catchy stretches that seem to come so naturally to (and from) Deville across their fourth LP’s deceptively brief span. The drums take off at about three-minutes in, but the band quickly turn around and come to a point around a final chorus in “What Remains” and end the record cold with the same level of pretense they affected all the way through: none. That prevailing bluntness of intent lets Make it Belong to Us get right to business at the start of “Make it Belong to Me” and leave its audience wanting more after “What Remains,” so to call it effective seems perhaps like understating it, but what one really takes away from Deville‘s latest is the band’s clearheadedness about what they want their material to do and their ability to bring that to light. No question they’ve grown, and no question they’ve done so in the right direction. They’ve made it belong to them.

Deville, Make it Belong to Us (2015)

Deville on Thee Facebooks

Deville website

Fuzzorama Records

Fuzzorama on Bandcamp

It’s been a little over five years since Treviso, Italy, foursome OJM released their last album, Volcano (review here), so when the PR wire refers to the band’s new 18th anniversary compilation, titled either 18 or 18th Anniversary, depending on where you look — either gets the point across — and notes that it will precede a “long break,” I can’t help but wonder if that means we won’t see a fifth outing from the long-running and perennially underappreciated outfit. After all, it’s been a half-decade. What’s a “long break” on top of that? I guess we’ll find out.

Go Down Records eases that news somewhat with the release of 18, which, yes, has 18 tracks. Those come culled from OJM‘s varied history, some previously unreleased, some singles and rare tracks and so on. You know the deal. Noteworthy off the bat are “I Got Time” and “Jam of Wine” which feature Brant Bjork and “War Abysses,” which boasts an appearance from Italian godfather of weird Paul Chain.

OJM play two anniversary shows this week, presumably before they scuffle off into whatever ether might await them, and those dates and the track info for 18 follow here, as sent along the PR wire:

OJM celebrate 18 years with 2 special gigs, before to take a long break. The band releases “18”, an album with unreleased and classic tracks.

1. Damn 03:08
2. Way Of Pain 07:27
3. You Come 06:23
4. As I Know 03:14
5. Theorem 08:27
6. War Abysses (featuring Paul Chain) 05:00
7. I’ve Got No Time To Waste 05:00
8. To Be A Woman 03:20
9. Desert 06:42
10. I Got Time (featuring Brant Bjork) 02:53
11. Sixties 03:12
12. Stoned Love 04:10
13. Lonelyness 04:51
14. I’ll Be Long (radio version) 04:14
15. Venus 02:38
16. Ocean Hearts 07:13
17. 2012 03:55
18. Jam Of Wine (unreleased with Brant Bjork) 09:25

Tuesday, December 29th 2015 @ Benicio Live Gigs (Giavera del Montello – IT)
?Wednesday, December 30th 2015 @ Sidro Club (Savignano sul Rubicone – IT)

OJM were formed in Treviso, Italy in 1997. Since the very beginning both the Italian music press and rock ’n’ roll scene in general seemed to show a certain interest toward the band due to their personal style displaying rough guitars with a psychedelic touch and hints of Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath, MC5 and Grand Funk.

Fifth OJM album, Volcano, released in September 2010 on Go Down Records produced by Dave Catching (Eagles of death Metal, Queens of the Stone Age).

https://www.facebook.com/events/1690187461204397/
https://www.facebook.com/events/111510009215131/
https://www.facebook.com/OJM-6992173391/
http://www.ojm.it/
https://ojmmusic.bandcamp.com/album/18
https://www.facebook.com/GoDownRecords
http://www.godownrecords.com/

OJM, 18 (2015)