I’m not saying the heavy underground took Torche for granted, but yes, in fact that’s very much what I’m saying. The Miami-based innovators of what for a time was called sludge-pop called it quits in 2022, when founding frontman Steve Brooks announced he was leaving the band just a few nights before they featured at Desertfest New York (review here) and began a Fall tour alongside Meshuggah. No one would accuse the band, founded in 2004 and with five full-lengths to their credit — the last of them being 2019’s Admission (review here) — of owing anybody anything, but it was still a bummer to see them disband. Their 2005 self-titled debut (discussed here) had taken the bomb-toned emo-punk leanings of Brooks‘ prior band, Floor, and crafted a worthy successor to that band’s landmark 2002 self-titled LP (discussed here), pushing into a new kind of heavy rock that was as dense as any colossally-riffed nodding doom, but uptempo, major key, and with a shove that would become a signature.

Comprised then of Brooks, guitarist Juan Montoya, drummer Rick Smith and bassist Jon Nuñez — the band’s final lineup would see Nuñez on guitar in place of Montoya and Eric Hernandez on bass — Torche issued the In Return EP as a combined 10″ and CD with a rare non-booby-lady cover by John Dyer Baizley of Baroness, pressed through Robotic Empire in 2007, between the self-titled and their 2008 Hydra Head-backed breakout, Meanderthal. It’s a blip in their career arc, but at just 19 minutes and seven songs, it serves the immediacy of what Torche did in a way that a full album never could. That’s not to say their records were too long — the self-titled was 29 minutes, Meanderthal still just 36; they never went over 40 — but that the EP format was suited to the rush of a piece like In Return‘s title-track, a two-and-a-half-minute burst of solar-matter-made-riff that feels like it should fall apart before its first verse but that holds itself together right into its midsection stops and shifts into a stoner-metal nod with Brooks‘ always clean vocals over top. Torche songs never wanted for having a lot going on. On In Return, that could be true without their being more overwhelming than they wanted.

In Return highlights what works in Torche‘s sound in a way that their albums couldn’t, and it wasn’t the only EP they put out during their time that did so — 2010’s Songs for Singles (review here) had enough substance to carry the band from Meanderthal to 2012’s Harmonicraft (review here) with little dip in momentum; certainly a full touring schedule helped in that regard as well — but is a special moment just the same, and not only because it features at its penultimate moment one of the heaviest and most righteously dug-in tracks Torche would ever produce in the outright-monstrous “Tarpit Carnivore.” Amid a riff in the imitable low tone that few but Brooks could hope to conjure, simple lyrics like “Sabretooth mastodon/Dire wolf/Native American” feel duly primal in a way that presages the coming of a next generation of heavy purveyors; these are lessons bands like Conan would pick up and use as a foundation to embark in new, sometimes much more outwardly ferocious directions.

But In Return is no more only about “Tarpit Carnivore” than it is any of its other six component cuts — well, maybe a little; they do revel in it and build up to the track’s arrival with the angular procession in the two-minute instrumental “Olympus Mons,” named for the Martian volcano that, to-date, is the largest discovered in the solar system. Even so, that movement from one to the other is just part of an overarching flow that begins with the suitably cannon-esque shots of distortion and crash fired at the outset of “Warship” and continues in the declarative stomp that emerges from the title-track. As tightly packed as the songs seem to be in themselves, they in conversation with each other as well, whether it’s “In Return” fading into the explosion of light at the start of “Bring Me Home” — ahead of the curve on heavygaze by more than half a decade, with its resonant vocal melody and airy guitar — and the flurried intensity of “Rule the Beast,” which follows with a gallop that rivals what High on Fire might’ve produced at the time while remaining very much its own thing, and fun as part of that in a way many of their peers couldn’t be. As much ‘worship’ pervades the heavy underground, whether it’s volume, tone, riff, weed, or whatever as the object of it, Torche were one of few bands who could actually cast a song as a celebration.

To wit, the EP follows the great flattening of “Tarpit Carnivore,” Torche further the onslaught in “Hellion,” the closer and longest track at a whopping 3:37. Smith‘s toms take a beating as thrown-down-the-stairs fills pepper the chorus, and that hook is anchored by heft inherited from the song prior while the melodic vocals, still part-shout, sneer out the title line. It’s an exciting sound at its root, and Torche never gave the impression of not knowing what they were going for as a band, even as an LP like 2015’s Restarter (review here) expanded the sonic palette, and so when they end “Hellion” by scorching the ground with feedback, there’s little chance it’s a coincidence. Torche have laid waste. It took them less than 20 minutes to do so.

That’s the underlying message of In Return, really. If you heard Torche at the time it came out and were curious who this band were going to become, In Return provided a vital, crushing answer, with maximum efficiency. Torche couldn’t very well have spent their career putting out half-albums and attained the kind of profile they did, but they were unquestionably suited to the format, and In Return demonstrates their ability to tell a story in sound, mirroring the relative brevity of their songs themselves with the presentation thereof. I don’t have a bad word to say about their work more broadly unless you count “fuck yeah,” but that In Return was anything more than a tossoff to begin with epitomizes the singular nature of it and the band, who for all the acclaim they received during their run still seem to be somewhat underappreciated in what they accomplished.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thank you for reading.

—

This weekend is kind of a marathon. Tonight we’re going to Connecticut, then tomorrow back down to NJ to see Slomosa at Starland Ballroom, and Sunday we’re having family friends over, so yeah, I expect by the start of next week I’ll be duly shitkicked. Big change.

Thanks to everybody who checked out the Desertfest NYC coverage last week. I got some nice comments particularly about the photos, which was great since I’m well aware taking pictures isn’t always my strong suit. I did get some decent ones though. Maybe hanging out with the likes of Tim Bugbee had an effect, though it feels like flattering myself to even think so. Maybe I was just the right amount of stoned. Who knows.

Look out for a Terry Gross review next week, that Slomosa live review, and premieres for Starmonger, Northern Heretic and Caixao. We’re coming up on the next Quarterly Review. I had wanted to do it at the start of September — you can see how that went by the lack of Quarterly Review happening — and as a result of not getting it done, it’s currently slated for two weeks starting Oct. 7. There’s a ton coming out right around then, and I’m already doubled-up on some of those days, which isn’t what I want to be when I’m already writing about 10 different releases in one post, but I’ve done it before and I’ll survive again. It will be good to have another 100 albums off my back in terms of things I want to have covered in some way — whether that’s Alunah (out today), Massive Hassle, Steve Von Till, Castle and Elder or Sandveiss, Endless Floods, Land Mammal and Satan’s Satyrs. One way or the other, it is packed. I’ve got like two slots left and then I need to start putting in alternatives and filling the next one.

Some of that stuff I’m behind on, but one thing about that is I think I care less about timeliness than I ever have. Part of that is reactionary. I see things on social media, bands of the minute, whatever it is, and while I know lists can be fun however often they’re derided for ranking things that shouldn’t be ranked — a fair argument — to me it just seems emblematic of the current disposability of creative work. It says that this stuff matters when it comes out and then it goes away to make room for the next thing. I’ll do a year-end list this year because I feel like I have to, like it’s expected of the site and good for me to have to refer to later, but I can’t help but feel like new music is given an expiration date when it neither needs nor deserves one. If an album came out in June, what, that means October is too late? By what standard could that possibly be true in anything other than the setting of panicked internet FOMO capitalism in which the heavy underground permeates?

As far as that does, I’m a do what I want, and by my own standard. That’s why I started this site in the first place. That doesn’t make me cool, just old and ornery. The cool kids share memes.

I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Have fun out there while the weather’s still good (if it is where you are) and don’t forget to hydrate. See you back here Mubblesday for that Slomosa review and whatever news I’m probably trying to catch up on. Ha.

FRM.

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An architect and driving force behind one of the most successful heavy rock bands in the history of the style, bassist/vocalist Mike Dean will step away from the band he co-founded, Corrosion of Conformity. The band’s announcement today comes as something of a shock, and lands even as the long-tenured C.O.C. look to release a new album next year following-up 2018’s No Cross No Crown (review here), which reunited the group with guitarist/vocalist Pepper Keenan, also of Down.

The band notes below that those recordings are in progress, and this seems to be a fresh enough advent that there’s no word of who will replace Dean in handling the crucial bottom end of C.O.C.‘s sound, but at the very least, it means the next C.O.C. record will be just the second in the band’s 42-years-and-counting tenure not to feature Dean, who fronted both early and later incarnations, on bass. That leaves guitarist/backing vocalist Woody Weatherman as the lone remaining founding member, with Keenan having first come aboard for the other Dean-less LP, 1991’s Blind (discussed here), before stepping into the lead vocalist role on 1994’s commercial breakthrough, Deliverance (discussed here), for which Dean also made a return.

You can see his reasons listed below, among them the 2020 passing of drummer Reed Mullin, but whatever drove the decision, there’s no question that seeing the band onstage without him will be a big change, even if it’s not the first time such a thing has happened. And as Dean has a number of other projects and outlets, there’s a certain comfort in knowing it probably won’t be long before the next thing comes up.

Just saw this on socials, so here it is:

This is from our brother, Mike Dean:

“Recently I made a decision to step away from Corrosion Of Conformity, a band started 40 odd years ago by Reed Mullin, Woody Weatherman, and myself.

I’m extremely proud of everything we’ve done together, and look forward to hearing more from the band going forward.

When I rejoined COC for the finishing touches of the “Deliverance” album, I moved back to Raleigh, NC for an all-in creative campaign, but time, distance and side projects and life in general has changed all of that.

Ever since Reed drifted away from the band and then passed way, it’s been difficult for me to collaborate on new material with bandmates who live hundreds of miles away.

I look forward to putting together a new Raleigh based outlet to create new music with more alacrity and with more of an emphasis on my own ideas than in recent times.

Also, I look forward to continuing to record and produce other artists.

All the best to Woodroe, Pepper, and COC crew, and most importantly, many big thanks to the fans of all iterations of the band, who have made this real for all of these years.

Salute!

Mike Dean

PS Stay tuned here for links and more information”

We, Woodroe and Pepper, are in full support of Dean’s future endeavors and wish him all the best in the quest. Thankful for the music made and (R)evolutionary paths created.

That being said, this book of Corrosion is not finished, nor will the train stop. The opportunity to play music and create is something that we don’t take lightly, and we will not waver. New COC recording is well underway and will be released in 2025.

Much love and respect to all the free thinkin’ beer drinkin’ friends and fans worldwide, looking to making more. Without you, we are just growing deaf in a garage.

See you on the horizon.

Stay tuned, stay heavy.

Always,
Corrosion of Conformity

http://www.coc.com
http://www.facebook.com/corrosionofconformity
https://www.instagram.com/coccabal/

C.O.C., “Your Tomorrow”

Floridian heavy rockers The Electric Mud will release their new album, Ashes and Bone, on Oct. 4 through Small Stone Records. Named of course after the classic Muddy Waters album, Electric Mud (discussed here), the band made their Small Stone debut with 2020’s Burn the Ships (review here) and there and on the subsequent Black Wool EP (review here), they fostered a markedly bluesy heavy rock sound. That’s still definitely a factor on Ashes and Bone‘s 10-track/43-minute span, most notably in the vocals of guitarist Peter Kolter — joined in the band by guitarist Constantine Grim, bassist Tommy Scott and drummer Pierson Whicker — but change is clearly afoot in their sound.

In the twisting lead riffing of “The Crown That Eats the Head’ or the rhythmically tense chug behind “The Old Ways” and “Manmade Weather” later on, The Electric Mud transpose an early-Mastodon influence into a more aggressive form of their own heavy blues. This, coupled with a sharper attack in the grooves of pieces like opener “Silent Gods” and the careening “Top of the Tree” in the album’s initial salvo, changes the scope of Ashes and Bone coming off of Burn the Ships, and while that record wanted nothing for energy, the direction in which that manifests is notably shifted from where it was. Whether that was conscious or not as the band set themselves to the task of writing, I don’t know, but they’re at least aware of it after the fact as a characteristic of the album — the PR wire info below attests — and even as they make their way from the taut craft of “Manmade Weather” and the angularity of the penultimate “Pillars” into the nine-minute progressively-structured semi-metallized “Ace” to round out, they seem to revel in the new without entirely letting go of who they were last time around.

“Ashes and Bone,” the title-track with a lyric video premiering below, is somewhat anomalous in its construction. It follows the organ-laced meld of presumed side-A capper “Wrath of the Mighty,” which brings in a bit of dogmatic fire and brimstone, and brings together fluid melody and more complex rhythms, and keeps the organ behind a brooding verse en route to building to a chorus delivering the album’s titular line. It is bluesier than some of the album that shares its name, but its ebbs and flows resolve in a solo-topped crescendo that’s precise enough to tie it to the surrounding pieces. It’s a somewhat mournful lyrical perspective — fair enough — shared with the likes of “The Old Ways” and “Gone Are the Days,” but “Ashes and Bone” is a standout for highlighting both how anchored in roll The Electric Mud are and how much they are able to work around that solid center.

Moreover, Ashes and Bone serves as a reminder that the lines between microgenres are imaginary in the first place, that music is music, and that part of the function of art is to be a showcase for new ideas and interpretations. For someone like me, sitting at a keyboard after the fact of the album’s making and trying to convey some of its intent to anyone who might take it on, this notion is crucial to keeping an open mind. It may be that The Electric Mud are in a transitional moment on their way to become a metal band. If so, all the better that they’ve managed to capture that process as it’s happening rather than simply showing up next time around as basically a different band. Whether that’s the case or not, I obviously have no idea, but with as much motion as there is throughout Ashes and Bone, however post-apocalyptic it may be, it’s hard to think of The Electric Mud resting on these laurels any more than they did after Burn the Ships.

If it needs to be said, that’s a good thing. As a niche, blues rock could use a kick in the ass and a refreshed perspective. The Electric Mud would seem to be providing both.

Enjoy the video:

The Electric Mud, “Ashes and Bone” video premiere

It’s been three years since the release of THE ELECTRIC MUD’s Black Wool EP and, encouraged by friends, family, and the brass at Small Stone, the band is excited to announce their return. They believed they had more to say, and that their best music was still in front of them. They believed the ideas and creative philosophy that brought the band to life and to the precipice of so many exciting things just a few short years ago had to be carried to the next point in their evolution. A new full-length album, it was decided, was the best way to make that statement.

During the writing sessions, a theme emerged: Mankind’s obsession with its own destruction. Where did it come from, and where will it take us? THE ELECTRIC MUD intended to examine some of the darker angels of our nature, and set it to a heavy, post-apocalyptic soundtrack. Decamping to Juniper Recordings in Cape Coral, Florida, and bringing Caleb Neff aboard not just to engineer the record but produce it created an open and creative environment in the studio that’s integral to the sound. There is a deep collaborative bond stitched into the fabric of the record, a collection of heavy sounds and ideas that are truly egalitarian in nature. The point is emphatically driven home with a fantastic mix by Ben McLeod, studio wiz by day, guitar demigod for All Them Witches by night. The resulting record, Ashes And Bone, has been a labor of love, and a reminder of what they love about music and each other.

Boasting a heavier, more aggressive sound that owes as much to the sludgy, prog inflected ferocity of Soundgarden or Mastodon as it does the eerie proto-metal riffing of Black Sabbath and soulful energy of Graveyard, Ashes And Bone is a firmly taken musical step forward into the future as much as it is the sound of a band taking care of unfinished business.

Ashes And Bone, which features album artwork and design by Alexander von Wieding, will be released on CD, LP and digital formats.

Find preorders at the Small Stone Recordings Bandcamp page at THIS LOCATION: https://smallstone.bandcamp.com/album/ashes-and-bone

Ashes And Bone Track Listing:
1. Silent Gods
2. Top Of The Tree
3. The Crown That Eats The Head
4. Gone Are The Days
5. Wrath Of The Mighty
6. Ashes And Bone
7. The Old Ways
8. Manmade Weather
9. Pillars
10. Ace

THE ELECTRIC MUD:
Constantine Grim – guitar
Pierson Whicker – drums, percussion
Peter Kolter – vocals, guitar
Tommy Scott – bass

Special Guests:
Joe Reppert – organ and keys on “Wrath Of The Mighty”
Jon Meek – synths on “Wrath Of The Mighty” and “Ace”

The Electric Mud on Facebook

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The Electric Mud on Bandcamp

The Electric Mud website

Small Stone Records on Facebook

Small Stone Records on Instagram

Small Stone Records on Bandcamp

Small Stone Records website

I haven’t heard it, but judging from the description below, the cover art of Conny Ochs‘ new album, Troubadour, seems pretty telling in terms of the intent of the German singer-songwriter’s latest full-length. Ochs last year put out Wahn Und Sinn (review here), which made the shift of putting lyrics in German, and Troubadour will find him back in English and playing mostly on his own in the guy-and-guitar style of his earliest work.

That’s an interesting development, but by no means the craziest thing Ochs has ever done, as his career has found him particularly malleable to changing up his approach, whether that means taking part in the experimentalist outfit Trialogos or working with Scott “Wino” Weinrich (The Obsessed, et al) on collaborative albums. Even on his own, he’s rarely bound by genre, so yeah, in English, in German, whatever. Chances are the record’s going to be beautiful either way.

And yes, that’s genuinely the insight I have to offer here. I don’t know why anybody reads this site. But thanks if you do.

From the PR wire:

CONNY OCHS: German Folk/Rock Soloist Returns To His Roots On Impending Troubadour LP, Set For October 25th Release Through Exile On Mainstream; Preorders Posted

Exile On Mainstream Records presents Troubadour, the intimate new album from nomadic German singer/songwriter CONNY OCHS, confirming the album for release October 25th and introducing the cover art, track listing, and preorders.

Since 2010, CONNY OCHS has been capturing the hearts and minds of curious music fans around the globe through his expressive and emotive songcraft. Through eight full-length releases – including two collaborative albums with Scott “Wino” Weinrich of Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, and more, and not to mention his work in Trialogos and other projects – OCHS has expanded his sound from stripped-down singer/songwriter anthems based almost entirely on guitar and vocals into more rock-infused creations with a more standard rock backline with drums and more.

Almost to the date one year after his Wahn Und Sinn LP, sung completely in German, CONNY OCHS now unveils his new studio album Troubadour, which marks his return to the English language and the very roots of his music, in a very naked approach to the essence of his craft. Here, the soloist delivers an album that feels more akin to his 2010 debut album, Raw Love Songs, yet with a more refined and polished sound and approach, adopted naturally through the years of hard work since the first album.

With eleven heartfelt new songs, CONNY OCHS delivers some of his most melancholic yet optimistic anthems yet on Troubadour, which sees the artist performing all vocals, guitars, piano, and more, the record’s sole guest appearance made by his Trialogos bandmate Sicker Man with whom OCHS co-wrote the string arrangement for the song “Edge Of Love”, and who also performed the actual recording of the cello tracks. Troubadour was recorded with OCHS’ trusted studio cohort Thommy Krawallo at Kabumm Studio who also handled mixing and mastering. The cover photo was taken by Klaus Nauber, and the inlay art was created by OCHS himself.

CONNY OCHS reveals about Troubadour’s inception and creation, “I had a strong desire to create an album with the same minimal approach as Raw Love Songs and Black Happy, but with themes and vibes that reflect my current experiences. Since performing live has always been my main focus, I wanted to write songs that I could play in various settings, such as clubs, festivals, and while traveling, with minimal requirements. I aimed for a down-to-earth record that allows listeners to breathe, pay attention, and explore the details of the images it creates.

“Recently, I had a conversation with a friend about new music, and he expressed that he finds it challenging to listen to many releases because they come across as overwhelming in terms of sound, composition, and arrangements. He mentioned that the sheer volume of releases can be overwhelming. I can relate to his feelings. This is why I wanted to create an album that contrasts with the current trend of overwhelming expression and aesthetics – almost like an anti-record. Troubadour felt like a natural title for this still yet intense recording, which reflects my life over the past two years or so and the stories of people I have crossed paths with. It’s a quintessential songwriter’s record, paying homage to my musical influences such as Townes van Zandt, Leonard Cohen, Elliot Smith, and Dax Riggs. And it´s especially the quiet songs that stayed with me the longest and still touch me as they did the first time I heard them. This album is also an ode to my role as a troubadour – someone who travels in search of songs and is deeply passionate about sharing music with others. It’s about maintaining an intimate connection with my art and returning to the essence of why I started making music in the first place: the pursuit of the ‘tower of song.’

“There’s a special truth about a song that allows you to deeply connect with it when giving you a room to enter. A track becomes more than a mere escape; it becomes your own song. I worked again with Thommy (Krawallo) on this album, with the intention of recording all the tracks live and without click tracks, and with minimal overdubs. Some songs benefited from a few additional tracks, but overall, we kept the recording process simple. Our goal was to capture the authenticity of the moment. We didn’t go back to make changes to any of the songs later on. We wanted to preserve the rawness of the recording, as it is a snapshot of a moment in time.

“I’m eagerly anticipating performing these songs live and witnessing people’s reactions to the new tracks. I hope that these songs can provide the same room to breathe and reach out that it has given to me.”

Troubadour will be released on Black Vinyl LP with a bundled CD and digitally on October 25th. Physical preorders are live at the Exile On Mainstream webshop HERE: https://shop.mainstreamrecords.de/product/eom113

Troubadour Track Listing:
1. Holy Motors
2. Cool Black Stars
3. Trouble Me
4. Edge Of Love
5. Crazy Horse
6. The Boxer
7. Wasp Trap
8. Inside The Man
9. Crow Honey
10. Run With The Devil
11. Way Of The Future

Never one to remain idle, CONNY OCHS is booking new live performances to support Troubadour, having already booked two release shows for the album as part of Haarlem Vinyl Festival September 20th and 21st where the album will be exclusively available before its official release. Watch for additional updates to post over the weeks ahead.

CONNY OCHS Troubadour Release Shows at Haarlem Vinyl Festival:
9/20/2024 Sounds Haarlem Record Store – Haarlem, NL
9/21/2024 St. Bavo Church – Haarlem, NL

https://www.connyochs.com
https://www.facebook.com/conny.ochs
https://www.instagram.com/connyochs
https://connyochs.bandcamp.com

http://www.mainstreamrecords.de
https://www.youtube.com/@exileonmainstream3639

Conny Ochs, “Hickhack” official video

The latest spate of Ripple Music signings continued earlier this week with the announcement that the California-based imprint will release the upcoming third full-length from UK heavy rock trio Dunes early next year. Last heard from with their Gargoyles LP in 2022, you might recall the band were set to cross the Atlantic last year in order to appear at Desertfest New York and tour around that, but had to cancel the run about a month ahead of time. Putting out their next record through an American imprint doesn’t assure their intention to try to the same thing again in 2025 by any means, but it certainly doesn’t make it any less likely. If 2025 plays out as 2024 has, with Desertfest New York and Ripplefest Texas happening on successive weekends, there’s a natural front and back to anchor such a run.

That’s getting ahead of things a bit, perhaps. Below, you’ll find the announce from Ripple — short and sweet, how they’ve been doing them — and some words from the band, as well as the video for new single “Riding the Low,” which is the first audio to come from the new offering, as yet untitled. Keep an eye for more to come as we get closer to the New Year, as it seems likely that, whatever their plans end up being, Dunes will be looking to make some waves therein.

Dig it:

Please welcome U.K. Desert rock rising riifmasters Dunes to the Ripple family.

Ripple Music is excited to unveil the music video for “Riding the Low” by Dunes! Prepare for a riff-fuelled, psychedelic wander through the darker side of the psyche.

Video filmed/edited by Isaac Johnson (/behindtheeyez)

Filmed at The Cluny in Newcastle, UK.

Says the band: “We’re buzzing to finally let people know that we’ve signed to Ripple Music! We’re over the moon to be working with them and Purple Sage PR on the release of our 3rd album which will be coming out early 2025 🤘

The first new single from the album ‘Riding The Low’ is now available to stream, hope you enjoy it, it’s great to finally get it out into the world!

We’d also like to take the opportunity to say a huge, massive thank you to David at Sapien Records Limited. It’s been a pleasure working with David and the Sapien team ❤️

Enjoy ‘Riding The Low’”

https://lnkfi.re/ridingdunes

Forming in 2016 Dunes quickly made a name for themselves in their native Northeast before setting their sights further afield and have since earned a solid reputation for themselves on the UK stoner rock scene. This has seen them share the stage with the likes of Fatso Jetson, Nick Oliveri, Alain Johannes, Red Fang, High Desert Queen, Monster Magnet, Sasquatch, Truckfighters, Ritual King, Psychlona and many more.

DUNES are:
Ade: bass
Nikky: drums
John: guitar/vocals

https://www.facebook.com/dunesNCL/
https://instagram.com/dunesncl
https://dunesncl.bandcamp.com/
https://linktr.ee/Dunes_ncl

https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

Dunes, “Riding the Low” official video

A quick fill from drummer Chuck Brown is all the ceremony The Gates of Slumber need to launch their studio return, as the title-track of their impending sixth album and first in 13 years, Embrace the Lie, soon unfolds with founding guitarist/vocalist Karl Simon dug wholly into the righteous Iommic doom on which the band cut their teeth in the aughts. “Embrace the Lie,” which also opens the record, is the first single to feature the new lineup of The Gates of Slumber, with Brown and bassist/vocalist Steve Janiak, both of whom handle guitar/vocals in Apostle of Solitude, and in its final verse as Janiak takes the lead vocal spot, it hints at new ideas taking shape in the band’s sound that one hopes will play out across the album to come.

The history of The Gates of Slumber is complex at this point, with Simon having put the band to rest in 2013 and the 2014 death of bassist Jason McCash, three years on from their till-now-final studio album, The Wretch (review here). Their 2019 reunion, which Simon discussed here, came after his founding of the band Wretch, which released a self-titled debut (review here) in 2016 and the next year followed up with the Bastards Born EP (discussed here). Embrace the Lie arrives as an endpoint for this winding path, and though The Gates of Slumber are moving forward with new players and a new album, their doom remains as downtrodden as ever, as “Embrace the Lie” hammers home its central thesis: we’re fucked.

The esteemed Svart Records will offer Embrace the Lie on Nov. 29, as the PR wire tells it:

The Gates of Slumber return with a new single out today, upcoming sixth album out in November via Svart Records

“I never intended to pick up with The Gates of Slumber ever again in 2014. While I did start the band and wrote most of the first album it was never intended to be a one man show.” -Karl Simon, 2024

Indiana’s True Doom Metal legends The Gates of Slumber return with a new album out on Svart Records in November. The self-titled album is the band’s first full length offering since The Wretch from 2011. First taste from the upcoming sixth album is out today. Listen to the new single Embrace the Lie, an ode to the lying news media and political talking heads, now.

The Gates of Slumber was formed by Karl Simon in 1998. Various people were in and out of the group between 1998 and 2001, when the Blood Encrusted Deth Axe demo was recorded with Jamie Walters of Boulder on drums and Dr. Phibes/Athenar (later to form the cult black metal band Midnight) on bass. In 2003 Jason McCash took over the bass duties and was a long-time member of the band until his untimely demise in 2014, after which Simon decided it was time to call it quits. That was until 2019 when the renowned metal festival Hell Over Hammaburg wanted to bring the band back on stage to perform at the festival’s 2020 edition. Simon reformed the band with its original member Chuck Brown on drums and Steve Janiak on bass and got back to work. “We’d been asked several times to play Hell Over Hammaburg. But there was no “we” to play. The germ of the idea started. We started re-learning songs from the first LP. It wasn’t too long into the rehearsals that we started coming up with new songs.”, states Simon.

After a reunion tour was finished, Covid kicked in to slow down the process. Half of the album was already written but the remaining half took its time, and the songs were left to stew in their juices. With bastard heavy songs honoring the Doom Metal greats Saint Vitus and Penance, straight forward bangers, lyrics inspired by the Black Death and John Carpenter’s The Fog, The Gates of Slumber is a truly crushing album and a must listen to any Doom Metal fanatic.

The Gates of Slumber is available on Svart exclusive black/white marble vinyl, limited transparent blue vinyl, black vinyl, CD, and digital platforms on November 29th, 2024.

20.09. The Gates Of Slumber – Embrace The Lie (Digital): https://orcd.co/embracethelie

29.11. The Gates Of Slumber – The Gates Of Slumber (LP/CD Pre-Order): https://www.svartrecords.com/en/product/the-gates-of-slumber-the-gates-of-slumber/12760

29.11. The Gates Of Slumber – The Gates Of Slumber (Digital Album Pre-Save): https://orcd.co/thegatesofslumber

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The Gates of Slumber, “Embrace the Lie” visualizer

Kudos to you if you called Brian Ellis putting out a collection of classic punk covers today, because I assure you I did not. Taking on tracks by Operation Ivy, The Ramones, Body Count, Dead Kennedys, Misfits and — wait for it — Devo, the solo artist and guitarist/vocalist known for his work in progressive rockers like Astra and Birth, as well as Ellis/Munk Ensemble and others, strips it all down to the rawest parts on the self-recorded collection and flinches neither from killing cops nor raping mothers along the way. Punk rock used to do that shit all the time. I don’t know what it does now. Investment portfolios? Home refinance? Whatever.

In any case, I maybe didn’t expect when I woke up this morning to have “Last Caress” and “Holiday in Cambodia” ringing in my head, but got there anyhow. Thanks for making it weird.

Info from the Bandcamp page follows; player’s at the bottom:

BRIAN ELLIS – Howe Place Garage Days Re-Revisited EP

Brian Ellis is a multi-instrumentalist and genre-bending musical visionary hailing from Escondido, California. Known for his seamless ability to traverse diverse sonic landscapes—ranging from cosmic jazz and funk to electronic and experimental rock—Ellis now taps into his roots for his latest release, a heartfelt tribute to his early musical influences.

His new album, Howe Place Garage Days Re-Revisited EP, marks a full-circle moment for the artist. This collection of cover songs pays homage to the raw, unfiltered punk music that shaped him during his formative years as a young prodigy. At just nine years old, Ellis was already a virtuosic guitarist, immersed in the punk ethos of energy, rebellion, and simplicity. The album reflects the spirit of those early days, reimagined through his eclectic musical lens, much in the way Metallica revisited their formative influences in Garage Days Re-Revisited.

In Howe Place Garage Days Re-Revisited EP, Ellis channels the relentless energy and spirit of iconic punk bands from the late ’80s and early ’90s, bringing new life to the tracks that inspired his journey. The project is both nostalgic and forward-looking, showcasing Ellis’s deep appreciation for the genre’s rawness while integrating his own distinctive style.

Ellis recorded the album with the same DIY, rebellious mindset that defines punk, creating a stripped-down, visceral listening experience. Each track is infused with his virtuosity and deep emotional connection to the music, offering a glimpse into the soundtrack of his youth.

With Howe Place Garage Days Re-Revisited EP, Brian Ellis invites fans old and new to witness a personal and electrifying homage to the punk music that helped shape one of Escondido’s most innovative artists. This album is a tribute to youthful rebellion, artistic freedom, and the timeless spirit of punk rock.

1. Bombshell 01:03
2. I Just Wanna Have Something To Do 02:40
3. Cop Killer 04:38
4. Holiday In Cambodia 03:45
5. Last Caress 01:55
6. Whip It 02:37

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Brian Ellis, Howe Place Garage Days Re-Revisited (2024)

[Click play above to stream Legends of the Desert Vol. 4 by Eagle Twin and The Otolith in its entirety. The split LP is out this Friday, Sept. 20, on Desert Records.]

With two different visions of ‘heavy’ meeting an expanded definition of ‘desert’ on Legends of the Desert Vol. 4, the ongoing Desert Records split series is something of a heady affair in concept, but once you put it on, I promise you none of that matters. Instead, where the listener’s focus is likely to be is on the tense, roiling crush of Eagle Twin‘s “Horn vs. Halo,” the first of just four tracks on the 39-minute LP shared with fellow Salt Lake City denizens The Otolith.

Each band presents two songs — one on either side of 11 minutes and one between eight and nine; neither is a stranger to working in longer forms — and the arrangement of them has it that the 11:39 “Horn vs. Halo” (both longest inclusion and opener; immediate points) and The Otolith‘s “Phosphene Dream” (10:49) both bookend the proceedings and provide the bulk of the outing itself, though that’s not to say either Eagle Twin‘s “Qasida of the Dark Dove” (8:28) or The Otolith‘s “Crossway” (8:53) is somehow lacking in presence or impact. Indeed, “Qasida of the Dark Dove” in its second half ends up in a twisting, writhing solo section that seems to be trying to pull itself free as it splits into angles and crash, guitarist Gentry Densley departing the central nod set to march by drummer Tyler Smith only to return with another gutted-out verse after, engrossing in volume and tone.

Eagle Twin‘s mountainous doom blues and The Otolith‘s violin-laced post-metallic expanses make a resounding pair. For the duo, it’s their first studio offering since 2018’s third full-length, The Thundering Heard (Songs of Hoof and Horn) (review here), while The Otolith — the lineup of vocalist/violinist Sarah Pendleton, violinist/vocalist Kim Cordray, guitarist/vocalist Levi Hanna, bassist/vocalist Matt Brotherton and drummer Andy Patterson, the latter of whom also recorded both bands at his The Boar’s Nest studio in SLC — arrive to the Legends series on the heels of their stunning 2022 debut LP, Folium Limina (review here), having emerged in 2019 following the breakup of members’ former outfit, SubRosa.

As a result of the fact that both bands recorded in the same place with the same producer, again, Patterson, the stark, vocal-topped crashes near the beginning of “Phosphene Dream,” given texture through the violins wistful, evocative melodies echoing out, feel kin to Eagle Twin in the setting of the split here, and though there marked differences between the guitar/drums duo and the string-inclusive five-piece, they share a penchant for massive underlying groove, and Legends of the Desert Vol. 4 takes shape around that center. As much as the differences in aesthetic and playing style between The Otolith and Eagle Twin are highlighted in the material, there’s a sense of joint intention throughout that would seem to be rare given that most splits don’t happen between acts from the same place or working in the same studio.

This only makes Legends of the Desert Vol. 4 more fluid as “Qasida of the Dark Dove” lumbers to its finish of low riffs and full-sounding crash and The Otolith‘s “Crossway” picks up with an initial shove before unfolding its rolling verse likewise leant flow and tension by the bowed strings as it moves through its early verses. The five-piece are well in their element as they move steadily through a quieter midsection and later explosive return, arranging melodic vocals from Pendleton and Cordray against the growls of Hanna and/or Brotherton, stately and consuming, somewhat in contrast to the rawer burl of Eagle Twin, but again, drawn together by the production and the general will toward aural heft. That is to say, each band is given a showcase for their craft and though they share some aspects, they also each make their own impression on the listener, whether that’s through arrangement or atmosphere.

Hearing it front to back — and it’s 2024, I think we can admit that while vinyl may be a dominant physical media, most people’s actual-listening happens digitally; if that’s saying the quiet part loud, fine — Eagle Twin and The Otolith complement each other more than they juxtapose, as the latter take ambience born out of Densely and Smith‘s guttural undulations and expand upon as though surfacing from underground and taking flight. Eagle Twin, then, are dug in, and their tracks offer the audience a chance to position themselves likewise, righteous stops and thuds in “Horn vs. Halo” topped by Densely‘s characteristically throaty vocals and wrought to a self-aware effect en route to a nod and stop at 5:15 from which the song resumes in furious fashion.

For their just-two-dudes makeup and the comparatively minimal guitar and drums in “Horn vs. Halo” and “Qasida of the Dark Dove,” their dynamic resonates through changes in volume and tempo, and the linear course they follow is a further parallel to The Otolith. As “Phosphene Dream” rises from its rumbling beginning of synth and bass or guitar (whichever it is) before the violins enter ahead of the first drum crashes, it too makes a stop in the middle, holding for a stretch of minimalist standalone guitar and backing wisps behind harmonized vocals. That this moment’s pause is (a:) not actually a pause, (b:) gorgeous and (c:) sad, won’t be a surprise to anyone who took on Folium Limina — if that’s not you, it’s not too late to do so — but the weight thrown in the crescendo, growls included, precedes the melancholic string-led finish with a grace that one can only hope foreshadows further progression to come as The Otolith continue their path and distinguish themselves from members’ previous work together as they inevitably will and already are.

So what do we learn? One might take comfort in finding out that six years after their last album, Eagle Twin have lost none of the force behind their take, and that two years on from their debut, The Otolith remain vivid and forward-thinking in their approach to steamrolling their listenership. There’s an entire separate essay to be (probably not) written as to the interplay of gender happening across the two sides, but these are welcome lessons, and Legends of the Desert Vol. 4 is not only a striking entry into the series that has already featured the likes of desert rock progenitors Fatso Jetson as well as Lord Buffalo, Dali’s Llama and others, but a new level for it in terms of conceptualism and profile, writing a new and increasingly complex legend and ultimately broadening what ‘desert’ means in a sonic context.

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