I just decided how long this Quarterly Review is actually going to be. It’s seven days, then I’ll do my year-end list and the poll results on New Year’s Eve and Day, respectively. That’s the plan. Though honestly, I might pick up after that weekend and continue QR-style for that next week. There’s a lot […]

A little prog, a little cult rock, some space, some psych, some classic heavy blues there in “Small Beginnings” and a lush affiliation for ’70s melodicism that feels drawn somewhere between modern Opeth and earliest Ghost, distilling the progressive craft of the one and the unmitigated accessibility of the other into something their own and, […]

As to what might be Swedish progressive cult rockers Kingnomad‘s fascination with emptiness, I can’t say, but it’s worked out for them thus far into their relatively brief tenure. Ripple Music released their debut long-player, Mapping the Inner Void, and now issues the quick-turnaround follow-up in the form of The Great Nothing; six tracks recorded […]

[Click play above to stream Kingnomad’s Mapping the Inner Void in full. Album is out this Friday, Feb. 24, on Ripple Music.] When it comes to new bands, there are some who just kind of get together in a room and see what comes out. Not a bad approach by any means. In many instances, […]

Swedish outfit Kingnomad made a striking impression last year with their participation in Ripple Music‘s The Second Coming of Heavy split series, bringing a classic garage-fuzz sensibility to their half of a co-release with Michigan’s BoneHawk (review here). Little surprise Ripple snapped them up for the ensuing full-length, which is titled Mapping the Inner Void […]

It would seem that as Ripple Music‘s split series presses forward in number it’s doing likewise in sound. As well it should. The Second Coming of Heavy — Chapter Three once again brings together two acts on a single LP, two bands in the earlier stages of their career but who each seem to be […]

[Click play above to stream High Desert Queen and Blue Heron’s Turned to Stone Ch. 8: The Wake split LP in full. Album is out Friday on Ripple Music and available to preorder here for the US, here for Europe, and here on Bandcamp.] It’s a quick listen to be sure at just 28 minutes, […]

The world is a different place than it was a year ago on Jan. 4. One can say the same of any year, but it’s a question of scale. My interest isn’t in philosophizing or preaching to you — much; ha — but there’s a good chance your life is substantively different than it was […]