Posted in Whathaveyou on June 29th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Baltimore’s severely-named Gateway to Hell will issue their debut five-track EP, Clovers, via Unholy Anarchy Records on July 21. The band have posted the grim-looking cover art by Ru Gomez and the tracklisting, as well as the opening title-track, which you can stream at the bottom of this post, and which leaves little to wonder about where the PR wire’s noted Danzig influence stems from.
“Clover” isn’t quite Maryland-style doom, and by that I mean it doesn’t necessarily sound like The Obsessed, and while I can’t speak for the rest of the EP, the roll in the title-cut seems to work well for the band. Dig in and see what you think. You’ve got a couple minutes to spare.
Art, info and audio from the PR wire:
GATEWAY TO HELL: Baltimore Doom Metal Unit To Release Debut EP Via Unholy Anarchy Records; New Track Streaming
Baltimore doom metal unit GATEWAY TO HELL – fittingly self-described as a, “groovy, ghoulish mix of doom metal and the laughter of ugly children, with a touch of inebriation and shame – will release their debut EP next month via Unholy Anarchy Records.
Slated to drop on July 21st, the five bottom-heavy ragers comprising Clovers were captured at Developing Nations with Kevin Bernsten on their home turf and douses its listeners with heavy riffs, an exceptional vocal attack, and sheer, unrepentant catchiness. The Maryland four-piece conjure loud music about things that matter. Whether it’s a slow burning, existential lament or a fast-paced scorcher about regrettable, late-night, drunken food orgies, GATEWAY TO HELL draws influences from all over the musical spectrum including Deep Purple, Danzig, and of course, Black Sabbath.
Clovers will come available digitally and on limited edition vinyl in three color variations (orange/pink merge, clear with blue splatter, and standard black). Preorders are currently availableRIGHT HERE.
Clovers Track Listing: 1. Clovers 2. Tin Roof 3. The Drizzard 4. Rain For Days 5. Scorched Earth
GATEWAY TO HELL was forged in 2013 when drummer Dan Petruccelli and bassist Rudy Gomez started jamming in the basement of an otherwise reputable Baltimore cake shop. Taking cues from John Carpenter soundtracks, Type O Negative, and Ministry, they realized they were onto something fun and brought in Jerrod Bronson on vocals and Jo K. on guitar to complete the initial lineup. The band released a self-recorded demo in October of 2014 and shows with the likes of The Skull and Crypt Sermon ensued.
By 2015, Gomez moved to Austin, Texas but remains an integral part of the band as the painter responsible for much of the band’s artwork. Eric Smythe was brought in on bass and later Alex Briscoe joined as a second guitarist. Together, they played shows regionally opening for Valient Thorr, The Bronx, Mac Sabbath, and Mondo Generator. In the spring of 2016, they recorded the soon-to-be-unleashed Clovers EP featuring five songs of atmospheric and crushing metal that fuses their many metal and punk influences. Later that year, Jo K. fled the band to pursue new projects. The band remains a four-piece. GATEWAY TO HELL’s catalog includes a self-titled demo, one single titled “Scorched Earth,” and their upcoming 2017 debut EP Clovers. The band is currently writing new material for their next album.
Gateway to Hell is: Jerrod Sydnor – vocals Alex Briscoe – guitar Joe Koffler – guitar Eric Smythe – bass Dan Petruccelli – drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 29th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Oh, don’t mind me. Just posting about another awesome and totally weirded-out festival happening in Europe with a range of bands from the improv psych of Electric Moon to the anti-genre E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr and back again through the post-Sleep lumber of Albinö Rhino and the cultistry of Jess and the Ancient Ones. The 2017 Uleåborg Festival of Psychedelia as fodder for daydreams? You bet your ass. Book my flight. I’ll be there in a second. Mind if I sleep on your floor? Hope typing at night doesn’t keep you awake. Ha.
I’ve never been to Finland — neither have Electric Moon, as it happens; Uleåborg Festival of Psychedelia 2017 will mark their first appearance there — but Oulu (aka Uleåborg in Swedish) has consistently had cool stuff happening. Tampere, which is about six hours further south by car, gets a lot of the credit as a hotbed, and fairly enough so, but acts like Oulu Space Jam Collective and Deep Space Destructors are clearly trying to make something happen up north, and their efforts here are more than admirable in pulling together bands from all over Finland and beyond.
Full lineup and fest schedule follows, as thankfully translated via the PR wire:
ULEÅBORG FESTIVAL OF PSYCHEDELIA 2017
Uleåborg Festival of Psychedelia is a collision point of new music and art, which is to be held third time on 14th and 15th of July in Oulu, Finland.
The two day festival reveals new experiences, re-finds what has been forgotten, questions the deadlocks of the mind and ultimately provides fun experiences in a colourful company.
Open your mind, now is the time.
Line-up
Friday 14th of July: Jess And The Ancient Ones Tähtiportti Boar Missikisat Getsemane E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr Horte Internet
Saturday 15th of July: Electric Moon (first time in Finland) Risto Mara Balls Esa Kotilainen E=SA2 Albinö Rhino Kap Kap Pekka Tuomi & Orfeuksen Lapset Punaisen Kuningattaren Periaate Hazard Wings Oulu Space Jam Collective
Over the next couple months, Ukrainian heavy rockers Stoned Jesus will tour as they have been since earlier this year celebrating the fifth anniversary of their second album, 2012’s Seven Thunders Roar (review here). In August, they’ll head back to South America for shows presented by Abraxas, and upon their return to Europe for the Fall, they’ve already been confirmed to take part in Up in Smoke 2017, Desertfest Athens 2017 and Desertfest Belgium 2017 as part of a tour with support from Beastmaker — all as Stoned Jesus make ready to move past their 2015 third full-length, The Harvest (review here), and work on a follow-up fourth outing. There’s nothing quite like keeping busy.
It’s pretty clearly been a process for Stoned Jesus guitarist/vocalist Igor Sidorenko coming to terms with the lasting impact of Seven Thunders Roar in the months since he discovered the album’s massive playcounts on YouTube and began to hear from those affected by the record, but the response to playing it live and the swell of bookings for them to do so seem only to have bolstered his appreciation for the way it has steadily resonated, spreading through internet word-of-mouth where so many other releases have lived and died by all too quick album and touring cycles. It is a rare thing, after all, to create something that appreciates with time, even if it’s only been five years so far.
As to what it is about Seven Thunders Roar that’s let it do that, Sidorenko is poses an interesting theory that it’s nearly as much about the time and place as about the album itself. Maybe the record hit with just the right trippy, heavy vibe at just the right generational moment, with just the right kind of striking cover art to look perfect in a YouTube recommendation window. A confluence of factors, rather than any single, individual thing, song, or riff.
Either way, Stoned Jesus — which is Sidorenko, drummer Viktor Kondratov and bassist Sergii Sliusar — must and will press forward as a group, and even as they honor one release from the past, they’re keeping an eye on another for the future, which Sidorenko refers to in the Q&A below as “#StJFourthLP.” The guitarist talks about that coming album, giving Seven Thunders Roar the touring attention it didn’t get the first time around, and more.
Please enjoy the following Six Dumb Questions:
Six Dumb Questions with Stoned Jesus
Tell me about the continued impact of Seven Thunders Roar. What do you think it is that allowed that album to resonate so much with a YouTube audience, and how does it make you feel when you see those numbers?
Well, I discovered our YouTube fame about nine months ago, and as we speak “I’m the Mountain” hits 6,000,000 views mark! But way before that I’d seen those comments online, be it YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or numerous blogs and forums, that Seven Thunders Roar was someone’s first entry to psychedelic/stoner music… Every week I’m reading yet another revelation on how influential and important this record was for someone, either on StJ’s email account or friends share these posts with me or I even see those in my personal inbox. Of course I was flabbergasted the first time(s), but now I kinda see the bigger picture.
That is, Seven Thunders Roar might be the genre’s last great album – pardon my immodesty – along with Elder’s Lore, Samsara [Blues Experiment]’s Long Distance Trip and Mars Red Sky’s debut. These are the 100 percent DIY bands, with no major label backing, no heavy promotion, earning everything they have through hard work, charisma, talent and relentless touring.
Another fun fact is these bands are YOUNG, and they speak to a younger audience. I personally discovered stoner rock/metal through recommendations on a music forum — I haven’t seen Kyuss opening for Metallica, I haven’t seen Queens of the Stone Age or Clutch videos, I haven’t seen Electric Wizard shows back when they were a three-piece… You know what I mean? And when this younger, internet-friendly audience stumbles upon a more fresh-sounding, better version of the music their dads used to groove to, they might prefer it to the leather-and-flares revivalists’ muzak – which mainstream media calls “psychedelic rock” these days. We are the youngsters’ band, and I’m proud to admit that!
Five years out from making the record, how has its long-term reception changed how you feel about the album? How has the reception been to playing it live in its entirety this year?
It’s funny but we’d never felt the pressure of coming up with a follow-up to Seven Thunders Roar – until we made The Harvest, which was a significant departure from that sound, that style. It’s a natural process for me as a writer and the whole band as a creative unit to go somewhere else – that’s why it takes two-three years for us to come up with the next album. Of course we just could release a bunch of forgettable records in between the really good ones, but hey, there are million bands that do exactly this, so why should we, haha.
So when we decided to sort of look back and announced that we’re dedicating a few months of 2017 to playing Seven Thunders Roar in its entirety live, we never thought how many show requests we would get in the end! Basically our whole 2017 touring-wise is this “Five Thunders Roar Tour” now. And yes, I know how silly that sounds – what, a fifth anniversary? Couldn’t you guys wait for at least five years more? – but we played 14 shows in Europe in 2012, so virtually nobody heard the album LIVE back then. Now we’re headlining three-times-bigger venues packed with enthusiastic crowds, and we’ll have like 50 more shows this year after 25 already played. I think Seven Thunders Roar deserves this, 100 percent.
You moved forward with The Harvest and changed your sound again. What was it like making that record and how purposeful were the shifts in style coming off of Seven Thunders Roar? As you look to follow-up The Harvest, what direction to you see the new material heading in?
I’d say we’re trying to keep the balance between a purposeful shift and a natural one. The main influence for #StJFourthLP is our constant touring and the feelings you get (or more specifically, you lose) out of it. I mean we had almost a hundred shows in 2016 alone, and I’m the guy who does all the overseas logistics (with all due respect to local promoters efforts, of course) and some booking, manages merch and touring routine, SMMs the shit out of our social media profiles and sometimes plays guitar and writes these sweet-sweet songs. So yours truly is not a stranger to words like “exhaustion” or “burning out.”
But there’s also the struggle all of us face like trying to balance our personal lives with the life on the road. It’s basically this “John Rambo returning from Vietnam” kind of situation – you just don’t know anymore where’s real life. It messes with your head, hard. So this all is reflected in the lyrics, sometimes literally, sometimes more metaphorically. This is gonna be a pretty dark and intense record, I must say.
Musically…oh where should I even begin? First of all we’re really tired of guitar-oriented music, sharing the stage with genre bands all these years. I’m not saying we’re going electro but I seriously doubt a meat-and-potatoes stoner fan would adore #StJFourthLP. But on a brighter side, Elder’s experimental Lore was the biggest thing in the genre two years ago, so what do I know, right? Second, I was more focusing on rhythms than melodies this time around, so it’s gonna be pretty different to what we’ve done previously – think more Killing Joke, Swans or Can than Sabbath, Tool or Clutch. It’s like we’re skipping two or three albums of a gradual progression in between our actual albums, haha!
I was mostly listening to ‘70s prog and kraut, ‘80s noise rock/industrial/no wave stuff and ‘90s hip-hop and post-hardcore last year, but I’m not sure one would hear those things in #StJFourthLP. They could’ve influenced the way I’m thinking as a musician, but not the actual songs. Okay, maybe there’s an At the Drive-In riff or two, but everything else is pure Stoned Jesus version 4.0!
Will acknowledging the five-year anniversary of Seven Thunders Roar factor into the sound of the next record at all? Will that album be an influence, and is there a way to balance that with continuing to try new things?
Absolutely. When we were rehearsing the whole thing last Autumn, I couldn’t help but notice the way it flows, the tracks’ structures, the songs themselves… This is something that was missing with The Harvest — the Song. I mean there are complex pieces on Seven Thunders Roar too — “Electric Mistress,” obviously “I’m the Mountain” — but they don’t sound forced or overthought. So the new album is seven songs, 50-52 minutes long, but there’s not a single piece longer than 10 minutes. Actually Sergei made me throw away one section of a song to make it flow naturally!
Another thing is the way I’m working on the lyrics this time around. I’m accustomed to mumbling some gibberish while practicing the would-be song with a band and only THEN writing a set of lyrics. But for a non-English speaker it’s usually the ONLY way. So I decided I’ll be using what I’m singing during rehearsals, because this is how you figure what syllables and sounds you feel like singing at the moment. I mean it’s really hard to sing “oooh” for six months only to change it to “yeaaah” on the record – you’ll be struggling to drop this bloody “oooh” later anyway. So I’m kinda building my lyrics around the noise that I create with my throat when practicing these new songs with the band.
And finally, we’re less angry than we were three years ago, making The Harvest. Ukraine is still fucked due to 2014’s Russian invasion, but this is not the focus for our new record – unfortunately it has become something of a career-starting reference for many local pop and rock stars, and we don’t want any of that. So #StJFourthLP is not the occult haze of First Communion, the psychedelic bliss of Seven Thunders Roar or the metallic stomp of The Harvest — more like post-touring depression mixed with misanthropic apathy.
When will you hit the studio to record? What will the process be this time around?
See, the main problem with The Harvest was inconsistency, incoherence even. The album was a bold step for our band in many terms, but the material itself was too eclectic to sit together on the same piece of vinyl. I for one admire experimentation, but there were three alternative rock songs, two doom metal dirges and a prog metal epic (!). Three songs were written in 2012, one in 2014, and the other two songs date back to 2010, I mean c’mon! I’m not trying to write The Harvest off or something, I just want to say that there was this one thing that kept the album together – the anger, reflected in this heavier, cleaner sound… which was also an issue of sorts for some people. And finally, The Harvest took us 15 months (!) to record, because back then we were touring while also having day jobs and whatnot.
So now everything’s gonna be different because, first: we got all the songs well-rehearsed and we’re ready to get the record done in a matter of weeks, not YEARS. Second, all the songs were written around early 2015/late 2016, and musically they’re more or less on the same page BUT without being identical. I don’t really like those bands with indistinguishable tracks… and albums, too. Embrace the change!
You’re doing South America again and Desertfest Belgium and Athens and Up in Smoke this Fall already. Any other plans or closing words you want to mention?
I just feel extremely humbled to be able to do what I do, to have these crazy guys as my bandmates, to see those wonderful people under the stage and to exchange energy with them every night when we’re on tour, to share our experiences with the whole world. Long it may last! A huge thanks to you all.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 29th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Come on, Europe. Get on this one. Aussie blues rockers Child return to your shores in a few short weeks and they still have a handful of dates TBA for the tour. Time to step up. The trio offered up some of the most kickass heavy blues roll this side of a slower Firebird on their late-2016 second album, Blueside (review here) — released by Kozmik Artifactz — and I’m not trying to tell anyone their business or say anybody owes anyone anything, but it’s only right that as they hit the capital-‘c’ Continent to support that hands-up righteous outing, they be met with due hospitality. You could book a show. Shit, have them play in your living room. I bet they’d do it and I bet that show would rule. Get video. I’ll post it — promise.
They’ve got a bunch of fest appearances anchoring the run, including Stoned from the Underground, which kicks things off on July 15, and other dates that find them paired with the formidable likes of Acid King, Elder and King Buffalo, so it seems to me that once the TBA gigs are locked up, they’ll be sitting pretty. Make it happen.
Here’s the info for the tour as it stands now:
CHILD European Tour July/August 2017
Following the successful release of our second LP ‘Blueside’ we are overjoyed to be crossing the pond once again!
The CHILD European tour 2017 covers some of our favourite festivals (including a little jaunt to the Arctic Circle) and includes a string of dates with US bands ELDER, ACID KING and KING BUFFALO.
Dates: 2017-07-15 GER – Erfurt, Stoned From The Underground 2017-07-16 POL – Pleszew, Red Smoke Festival 2017-07-17 DNK – Copenhagen, Pumpehuset * 2017-07-18 TBA 2017-07-19 TBA 2017-07-21 NOR – Oslo, Blå * 2017-07-22 NOR – Tromsö, Bukta Festival 2017-07-24 GER – Hamburg, Hafenklang * 2017-07-25 GER – Wiesbaden, Schlachthof * 2017-07-26 TBA 2017-07-27 GER – Berlin, Badehaus 2017-07-28 GER – Siegen, Vortex * 2017-07-29 BEL – Liege, Le Hangar * ~ 2017-07-30 FRA – Paris, Glazart * ~ 2017-07-31 GER – Munich, Backstage (Free & Easy) * ~ 2017-08-01 ITA – Milano, Magnolia * ~ 2017-08-02 TBA 2017-08-03 TBA 2017-08-04 GER – Beelen, Krach Am Bach Festival 2017-08-05 BEL – Waarschoot, Roadkill Festival * with Elder/King Buffalo ~ with Acid King
Child is: Mathias Northway – Guitars, Vocals Michael Lowe – Drums, Percussion Danny Smith – Bass Guitar
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 28th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Atmospheric heavy rockers Low Flying Hawks are set to release their second full-length for Magnetic Eye Records this August. In keeping with the spirit of their 2016 debut, Kofuku (review here), the new offering, Genkaku, boasts a Japanese title and copious affiliation with the Melvins, be it through collaboration with drummer Dale Crover and bassist Trevor Dunn or producer Toshi Kasai, who also helmed the debut. This time they even go so far as to ring up King Buzzo himself for a couple of guest vocal appearances.
These sonic personae, as well as James Plotkin (Khanate, etc.), who mastered, form a circle around Low Flying Hawks‘ initials-only core two-piece of vocalist/guitarist/bassist EHA and bassist/guitarist/vocalist AAL, who’ve successfully managed to keep their own identities obscure while letting the focus be on the breadth of their sonic output — a clear and purposeful choice that one imagines will be another continuity from the first record to this one.
The PR wire checks in with artwork, band comment and album details:
LOW FLYING HAWKS to Release New LP, ‘Genkaku’, August 25
Hazy, Heavy Record Featuring Members of Melvins, Mr. Bungle and Big Business Set for Summer Release
LOW FLYING HAWKS is a self-described “ambient metal” band featuring dummer Dale Crover (The Melvins) and bassist Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle) alongside multi-instrumentalists EHA and AAL. The group will release its sophomore LP, Genkaku, on August 25 via Magnetic Eye Records. Produced, recorded and mixed by Toshi Kasai (Melvins, Big Business) at Sound of Sirens and mastered by James Plotkin (Electric Wizard, Moon Duo) Genkaku is the follow-up to LOW FLYING HAWKS’ 2016 debut, K?fuku.
Unlike its predecessor, Genkaku (Japanese for “hallucination” or illusion”) also features Melvins frontman King Buzzo, who lends his unique vocals to the album’s titanic lead track, “Smile”, as well as the awesomely-titled song “Space Wizard”. Decidedly doomier and boasting bigger hooks than the debut, Genkaku is more riff-filled land than post-genre shoegaze, overflowing with Melvins-ready guitar work and darkly intense music-as-mood. Like a rumbling rain cloud, the record moves and morphs growing, grumbling and growling before bursting into brilliant sheets of saturated sound that soak speakers with hovering showers of ferocious feedback and electric energy.
“What we are trying to accomplish is that the listener enters a state of trance and confusion. Pounding guitars full of sludgy undertones fill ‘Genkaku’ from beginning to end, building to a sinister and almost out of body experience,” says both AAL and EHA. “This is ideal for anyone who´s willing to let go and hand over control to this hallucinating monster of a record.”
Dale Crover adds, “It was great recording with Low flying Hawks. Their psychotic, psychedelic, mind-bending compositions will take you on a journey through your inner space.” Toshi Kasai calls the finished album “A delicious mud-cake by LFH, flavored by Dale Crover and Trevor Dunn.”
Timing is everything. Wasn’t it just the end of last week that I was calling humanity poorer for the apparent dissolution of San Diego progressive heavy psych rockers Astra? Yes, it was. And wasn’t it just yesterday that band was talking about putting out a third record? Again, yuppers. Well, as it turns out, guitarist/keyboardist Brian Ellis and keyboardist/vocalist Conor Riley from that group have also teamed with drummer Paul Marrone from Radio Moscow and Psicomagia and Psicomagia bassist Trevor Mast to form the new outfit Birth, and their first demo track — a song called “Descending Us” that would seem to account for the general direction of who we are as a species — has been newly unveiled.
The pedigree of the lineup is significant, of course. San Diego’s well-discussed boom in heavy psych wouldn’t have the shape it does without the likes of Astra or Radio Moscow, and if you didn’t hear the El Paraiso-released 2014 self-titled debut from Psicomagia (review here), the arguments in its favor were numerous and convincing. Of the various strains of its lineage, “Descending Us” seems most immediately to have the most in common with Astra, however, and one can hear that in its focus on synth and vocal melody, which offer a restful, similarly post-Crimson vibe that finds still-fluid contrast with the dramatic rhythm drawn from Deep Purple‘s “Child in Time” and the later-emerging shred from Ellis‘ guitar, which at the apex of the track calls to mind Rush as much as SoCal scene kingpins Earthless without owing itself entirely to either of them.
An encouraging start, to say the least, and one that wouldn’t find Birth out of place on labels ranging from Rise Above (which brought Astra‘s two records to light) to Tee Pee to El Paraiso or Heavy Psych Sounds, let alone the broader distributive reach of an outlet like Century Media, which recently picked up Radio Moscow. Wherever they end up, they’ve made a resounding first impression, and one looks forward to what explorations and sonic discoveries may lay ahead.
Enjoy “Descending Us” in the video embed below, followed by the relevant social links:
Birth, “Descending Us” demo
Formed in 2016 in San Diego, Birth is drummer Paul Marrone (Radio Moscow, Psicomagia), bassist Trevor Mast (Psicomagia), guitarist/keyboardist Brian Ellis (Astra, Psicomagia) and keyboardist/vocalist Conor Riley (Astra).
[Click play above to stream ‘Awaken Assassin’ from Shroud Eater’s Strike the Sun. Album is out July 7 via STB Records.]
Check your calendar. It’s been a whopping six years — actually more like six and a half — since Miami sludge machine Shroud Eater released their debut full-length, ThunderNoise (review here). They’ve hardly been idle in the half-decade-plus since then; the three-piece have churned out a slew of shorter releases, from the 2013 Dead Ends EP (review here) that began to give some context to the band’s stylistic expansion from the raw foundation of their initial demo (review here) in 2009 that took place on ThunderNoise and would continue through 2015’s Face the Master single (video premiere here), 2016’s split EP with post-metallers Dead Hands (review here) or earlier 2017’s :th:ree: :cvrses: digital single, which found the trio of guitarist/vocalist Jean Saiz, bassist/vocalist Janette Valentine and drummer/vocalist/engineer Davin Sosa at their most experimental to-date, adding synth to a deeply atmospheric, cinematic but still noise-laden and extremely dark approach.
The stylistic reach Shroud Eater claimed as theirs across these offerings — some just one song long — and from their time spent touring and playing events like Psycho Las Vegas has made it increasingly difficult to predict where their awaited second full-length and STB Records debut, Strike the Sun, might lead them, and across 42 minutes/eight tracks, the band accordingly showcase six busy years’ worth of sonic lesson-learning. They still occasionally veer into the post-High on Fire gallop that typified their early work on a song like the penultimate “Unseen Hand” or parts of finale “Futile Exile,” but on the whole, they offer something much broader, more varied in tempo and mood, and more satisfying than anything they’ve done before.
As each of their outings to this point has brought something new to their approach, Strike the Sun does so as well, and in addition, offers an engaging summary of their evolution over the last eight years. Also worth noting, it is spell-out-the-letters h-e-a-v-y. One might find a tonal comparison point in Conan‘s more recent output for the kind of rumble Shroud Eater bring to “Iron Mountain” early on Strike the Sun or side B’s rolling “It Walks Among,” but even this is only a fraction of the whole when it comes to the complete, dark-hued narrative they’re conveying. The album breaks neatly in half for a two-sided feel, and each begins with an atmospheric intro — the washing drone of “Smokeless Fire” leads off, while “Dream Flesh” starts side B; both are infused with vague, melodic vocals — before digging into three tracks of pummel, drive, roll and nod. Whether it’s the landmark hook that “Awaken Assassin” provides in following “Iron Mountain” or the turn from wah-bass-infused stomp into ambient melodicism on “It Walks Among” — which of course is a setup for that track’s lumbering finale — Shroud Eater‘s dynamic has never sounded more alive.
Creative variety and arrangements of vocals between Saiz, Valentine and Sosa give “Futile Exile” a growing aggression and “Iron Mountain” or the earlier stretch of “It Walks Among” a spacious, shouting echo, but the harmonies in “Awaken Assassin” are not at all out of place in either theory or execution. And neither are they less effective in conveying a mood than some of Strike the Sun‘s more destructive moments in the midsection of “Iron Mountain,” the apex of “Futile Exile” or the whole of “Unseen Hand” are in eliciting a physical listener response, be it fist pumping, headbanging, or some other signal of the righteousness on display. The bottom line is that Shroud Eater bring forth a multi-tiered triumph across the span of Strike the Sun, marked by an impeccable sense of craft, strength through diversity of approach and a cohesive vision of what they want to accomplish as a group. Any concerns of a six-year-later sophomore slump should be duly allayed.
That is, I’ll allow, a fan’s perspective on what Shroud Eater have done here, and there will invariably be those for whom Strike the Sun is their first exposure to the band. On that level, flourish like the subdued tension in “Smokeless Fire” and “Dream Flesh,” or the samples that top the noisy instrumental side A closer “Another Skin” seems all the more to bolster the impression of the record as a singular entirety. As Saiz, Valentine and Sosa careen and crash through “Iron Mountain” and “Awaken Assassin,” the subsequent pairing of “Another Skin” and “Dream Flesh” — when listening in a linear format; digital or CD — emphasizes a between-songs flow with which full-lengths so outwardly heavy rarely concern themselves.
Likewise, as “It Walks Among” revives the full tectonic doom of their assault, it remains informed by the ambient stretch before it, and the material as a whole plays off itself in this way, giving Strike the Sun all the more a sense of consciousness behind its motivations that winds up summarized in “Futile Exile,” which in addition to being the finale is also the longest track at 7:20. Starting with a swell of volume and thundering crashes, it turns to nod and thrust early before finding a tension of toms as it heads to a more angular midsection, eventually dropping out to quiet in the second half and introducing melodic singing over thudding drums in setting up the crescendo that starts around 6:30 and will finish the record with a cold stop. A little bit of everything and a last warning from the band in that sudden end that they haven’t necessarily had their final word. So be it.
Up to this point, everything Shroud Eater has done has felt loaded with potential. All along, they’ve been a group headed somewhere on the level of individual aesthetic. More than anything before it, Strike the Sun comes across as the destination to which their progression has been leading. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re done growing as artists — I don’t think they are, and nothing in these tracks indicates a readiness to stagnate — but there’s pivotal work being done here to establish what Shroud Eater‘s sound is, both to the band itself and to their audience, and in conveying that, Strike the Sun succeeds in a way that more than justifies the years in its arrival. Feeling greedy, one hopes it’s not so long before a third long-player surfaces, but if it is, at least we know their commitment to developing as artists is unflinching.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 28th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
New York doom crunchers Mountain God apparently haven’t taken the stage in a while, and by ‘a while’ I mean a couple years. In the interim, they signed to Artificial Head and released their debut album, Bread Solstice — which I’m already months late on reviewing, because I suck at this — which brought forth due sonic devastation after a couple of darkly portentous short offerings. Lineup shifts have been a regular feature of the band, at least around guitarist/vocalist Ben Ianuzzi and bassist/noisemaker Nikhil Kamineni, and the trio that now includes drummer Gabriel Cruz have apparently already set to work on their next batch of material. Clearly I’d better get my ass on that review. Noted.
The PR wire brings word of a weekender tour for next month in the Northeast that will mark their return to the stage. Goes like this:
Mountain God – July Tour
This July, experimental doom/sludge behemoths Mountain God return to the stage after a nearly 2 year absence from live performances. Led by founders Ben Ianuzzi (guitars, vocals) and Nikhil Kamineni (bass, synths, noise), the duo is joined by new drummer Gabriel Cruz (Hollow Senses). Their 2017 dates include shows in Brooklyn, Washington D.C, Elizabeth and Philadelphia, with more shows planned for the fall.
Having formed in 2012, Mountain God is a familiar name within the underground metal scene, known for a unique blend of doom, psych, noise, and all around heavy riffing. Each of their releases, including “Experimentation on the Unwilling” (2013), “Forest of the Lost” (2015), and most recently, their first full length entitled “Bread Solstice” (Artificial Head Records, 2017), have seen the band continue to evolve and transform into a powerful, scathing, visceral entity that is thoughtful in its process and uncompromising in its musical vision. With the addition of Cruz on drums, the band has been steadily working on new material that is darker, heavier, and noisier than anything the band has done to this point. Entitled “Psychic Driving”, (an allusion to 50s and 60s government mind control programs run by the CIA) Mountain God looks to create an atmosphere that is numbing, deconstructive, and terrorizing, the same emotions felt by the various test subjects whose lives were ruined by the work of men such as Dr. Ewen Cameron.
This tour will see the band perform one of these new tracks along with choice cuts from their back catalogue. If you’ve never seen them, Mountain God is a punishing band in a live setting. Their sound, honed since the bands inception, is a sum of all its parts, including Ianuzzi’s trademark Monson guitar crunch and distorted, terrifying vocals, coupled with Kamineni’s hypnotic, thick, fuzzed out bass tones that dance and weave throughout the songs. The band is all the more strengthened by the ferocity of Cruz’s drumming, as well as synth textures, provided by noise guru Kamineni, that bring the Mountain God trademark sound to life. This tour will see the band reconnect with friends in Godmaker and Foehammer, as well as other peer bands including Trunk and Hyborian.
Having shared the stage with acts such as Yob, Ufommamut, Primitive Man, Opium Lord, and many, many others, the future of the band is bright, with plans to take its music to new places and venues. One reviewer stated, “the demented sounds and sheer majesty of Mountain God suggest that this is a band with the potential to become a major driver in the doom metal scene. They have a sense of forward motion that many of their peers lack, but they are unafraid to ease back on the throttle and merely revel in the power of a great riff. Mountain God are a head and shoulders above many of their peers in this scene and Bread Solstice is a veritable statement and one that I sincerely hope will stand the test of time”.
July Tour Dates: July 28th- The Well, Brooklyn, NY with Godmaker, Hyborian, and Somnuri July 29th- The Pinch, Washington DC with Foehammer, Myopic, Ashes of Mankind, Ash Prayer July 30th- Cianfano’s Bar, Elizabeth, NJ with Galare, Trunk, TBA July 31st- Kung Fu Nektie (upstairs), Philadelphia, PA with Trunk, TBA
