If maybe you’ve been around this site for any length of time, or even if you haven’t really and you just wound up here right now through internet happenstance — the thing about happenstance: it happens — I don’t imagine it’s much of a mystery to you why I’d jump at the chance to co-present a tour featuring My Sleeping Karma, Stoned Jesus and Somali Yacht Club. All three are quality acts I’ve never had the opportunity to see live, and if I can’t do that, then living vicariously through encouraging others to do so seems like an obvious correct decision. The run is put together by Sound of Liberation and has been dubbed the “SOL Sonic Ride Vol. 1,” which seems immediately to drop the clue that there’s intent toward a “Vol. 2.” So be it.

Shows start Nov. 15 in Cologne, Germany, and finish in Stuttgart with the second of two nights of the run that also include Belzebong. Stoned Jesus will mark their 10th anniversary as the internet’s favorite heavy rock band, My Sleeping Karma will have new material and Somali Yacht Club will offer highlights from their two to-date full-lengths. Sounds awesome.

Here’s the info:

MY SLEEPING KARMA announce SONIC RIDE TOUR VOL. I with STONED JESUS and SOMALI YACHT CLUB!

Instrumental hypnotic rockers, genre pioneers My Sleeping Karma, have announced to embark on an extensive tour this Fall, with very special guests Stoned Jesus and Somali Yacht Club on the bill!

THE SONIC RIDE, presented by powerhouse live institution Sound of Liberation, will feature this eclectic tour package in its first edition of a new SOL roadshow trip, a must-see run for every psychedelic and heavy rock fan with stops in Germany, France, Italy, Austria and many more European locations!

Beside timeless classics My Sleeping Karma will introduce their upcoming album material live on stage, well-respected heavy fuzz rock unit Stoned Jesus, who just released their brand new album Pilgrims with Napalm Records, have announced to play an exclusive “greatest hits”-set in celebration of their 10th band anniversary. Psych post rockers Somali Yacht Club to open these November nights will perfectly round up this very special line-up you do not want to miss!

Get on a SONIC RIDE with MY SLEEPING KARMA, STONED JESUS and SOMALI YACHT CLUB live at the following dates:

15.11.19 Cologne | Live Music Hall (DE)
16.11.19 Neunkirchen | Gloomaar Festival (DE)
17.11.19 Brussels | Botanique (BE)
18.11.19 Paris | Alhambra (FR)
19.11.19 Rennes | Antipode MJC (FR)
20.11.19 Toulouse | Rex (FR)
21.11.19 Genf | L’Usine (CH)
22.11.19 Bologna | Freak Out (ITA)
23.11.19 Salzburg | Dome of Rock Festival (AT)
24.11.19 Budapest | A38 (HU)
25.11.19 Munich | Feierwerk (DE)
26.11.19 Vienna | Arena (AT)
27.11.19 Leipzig | Werk2 (DE)
28.11.19 Hamburg | Markthalle (DE)
29.11.19 Berlin | Festsaal Kreuzberg (DE) + Belzebong
30.11.19 Stuttgart | Hallschlag (DE) + Belzebong

www.soundofliberation.com
www.facebook.com/MySleepingKarma
www.facebook.com/stonedjesusband
www.facebook.com/Somaliyachtclub

My Sleeping Karma, Live at Freak Valley 2018

There are still a couple dates TBA, but it feels like a win nonetheless announcing the two weeks-plus that Lo-Pan will spend on the road in the UK and parts of Europe this Fall. It’s October, which coincides with their previously-announced festival appearance at Up in Smoke and will also see them at Keep it Low 2019 and the Setalight and Into the Void festivals. There’s another fest on that Oct. 19 date that’s still unannounced, and while I don’t know what’s planned for it — I’ll emphasize that while there’s an Obelisk logo on the poster, I have zero inside information — I wouldn’t be surprised to find the run stopping through there either.

Either way, Lo-Pan of course head abroad in support of their 2019 album, Subtle (review here), which is yet another powerhouse offering from the four-piece despite lineup changes since their last offering, and Elephant Tree, who’ll open the run, are set to release their second album hopefully in time to coincide with the tour (that’d be just dandy as far as I’m concerned, though if they wanted to send it to me earlier, I’d take that too, hint hint). I’m not sure if Steak have a record in the works — their last one came out in 2017, so it’s certainly possible — but as I’ve noted a couple times already since, they killed at Desertfest New York recently.

Here are the thus-far confirmed dates for the tour. Gonna be a good one, and I’m insanely proud to have this site involved in presenting it:

30.09.19 TBA
01.10.19 Bristol | The Old England (UK)**
02.10.19 Swansea | The Bunkhouse (UK)**
04.10.19 Paris | Gibus (FR)
05.10.19 Pratteln | Up In Smoke Festival (CH)
06.10.19 Salzburg | Rockhouse (AT)
08.10.19 Linz | Stadtwerkstatt (AT)
09.10.19 Freiburg | Slow Club (DE)
10.10.19 Leipzig | Werk2 (DE)
11.10.19 Berlin | Setalight Festival (DE)
12.10.19 Munich | Keep it Low Festival (DE)
14.10.19 Wiesbaden | Schlachthof (DE)
15.10.19 Cologne | Helios 37 (DE)
16.10.19 Hamburg | Hafenklang (DE)
17.10.19 Bremen | Zollkantine (DE)
18.10.19 Leuwaarden | Into the Void Festival (NL)**
19.10.19 TBA | TBA
** Lo-Pan only

LO-PAN is:
Jeff Martin – vocals
Skot Thompson – bass
Jesse Bartz – drums
Chris Thompson – guitar

http://www.lopandemic.com
http://www.facebook.com/lopandemic
http://www.aqualamb.org
http://www.aqualamb.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/aqualambrecords
https://www.facebook.com/Soundofliberation/

Lo-Pan, “Ten Days” official video

Steak, No God to Save (2017)

Elephant Tree, Elephant Tree (2016)

Spanish heavy desert rockers Wet Cactus are just past a year out from the release of their second album, Dust, Hunger & Gloom, and while it wasn’t the most uplifting of titles, the record itself reached to the core roots of fuzzy means, with a central groove unmistakably drawn from ’70s-via-’90s intentions and thereby tapped into a feeling of timelessness as only heavy rock can. Their self-titled debut (review here) came out in 2015 and they’re getting ready to take part in the massive Resurrection Fest this summer. As they do, they’ll do a string of dates throughout next month that The Obelisk is co-presenting with Wombat Booking and others.

Dust, Hunger & Gloom was yet another of the albums I was all set to review before my laptop got stolen last year, and I’m sure you got to check it out, but if not, it’s streaming at the bottom of this post, and it should answer any and all curiosity as to why I might want to throw an Obelisk logo on the poster for a bunch of sporadic shows I’ve got about no chance in hell of seeing. It’s because I like good bands.

PR wire has dates:

Wet Cactus is a Stoner Rock and psychedelia band with progressive hints created in the summer of 2013 in Suances, a surfer village located on Cantabria´s west coast (Spain). Formed by four pals born in the early 90s: Daniel Pascual Salvador (93, Bass and vocals), Ernesto Díez Otí (94, Guitar), Óscar Sánchez Marcano (93, Guitar and vocals) y Jaime Pérez Herrera (92, Drums). The local Auditorium was the place where they started to worship a genre which they had been polishing and personalizing throughout time with every single ritual.

These desert dwellers have been nourishing from the 70s and 90s essence. Dry and open mouths are common in their concerts, where they used to start off with incendiary jams to simply burst the stage.

Wet Cactus “Dust, Hunger & Gloom Tour 2019”
27.04 Muestra de Bandas, Torrelavega
03.05 Beer Garden, Talavera de la Reina
05.05 Wurlizter Ballroom, Madrid
10.05 La Casa de las Musas, Burgos
05.07 Resurrection Fest, Viveiro
27.07 Algortako Jaiak

Wet Cactus is:
Daniel Pascual Salvador – vocals/bass
Jaime Pérez Herrera – drums
Ernesto Díez Otí – guitar
Óscar Sánchez Marcano – guitar/vocals

https://wetcactus.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/wetcactus/
https://www.instagram.com/wetcactusband/
https://www.facebook.com/wombatbooking/
wombatbooking.com

Wet Cactus, Dust, Hunger & Gloom (2018)

Ode to Doom is coming up on three years of presenting shows on the regular at Arlene’s Grocery in Manhattan, and I’m proud to have had this site associated with it more or less since the outset. Claudia Crespo, who runs Freebird Productions, has been putting together killer lineups all the while and on March 20 — next week, y’all — she’ll present Geezer, Grass, The Ancient Stone and Slush for a four-bands-on-a-weeknight bill the likes of which will make you want to take the next day off.

The kings of Kingston, Geezer headline as they support their recently issued Spiral Fires EP (review here), and they’re joined at the top of the bill by Grass, whose demo has been making the rounds of interwebular hyperbole. The Ancient Stone open and Slush follow shortly thereafter as the night gets a reasonably early start at 7:30, all very civilized, all very heavy. It’ll be a good time.

When Ode to Doom started, I thought part of the appeal was that it was a reminder of 10-15 years ago before Brooklyn took over as New York’s creative hub — I guess Queens is next? wait till the craft-brew crowd takes Weehawken — but at this point, Ode to Doom has built its own community and made its own impact, true to the history of the basement barroom shows of yore, but consistently admirable most of all for its forward-thinking nature.

Bottom line, I guess is it’s worth getting off your ass and going. I don’t say that about everything, but the truth is Manhattan needs less couture and more culture and this is how that happens. Support creative work.

Info follows:

March 20 – Ode To Doom W/ Geezer, Slush, Grass, & The Ancient Stone

DOORS AT 7!!!
The Ancient Stone at 7:30
Slush at 8:30
Geezer at 9:30
Grass at 10:30

Flyer by Ritual Design.

Geezer, Spiral Fires (2019)

Ode to Doom on Thee Facebooks

Ode to Doom event page on Thee Facebooks

Tickets at Arlene’s Grocery website

Ahead of a previously announced appearance at Denver’s Electric Funeral Fest IV, Boston heavy rockers Gozu will head out this coming weekend for a three-pack of shows alongside Kings Destroy — who are celebrating their new album release on a tour co-presented by The Obelisk — and Forming the Void. The targets are Geno’s in Portland, Maine, Middle East in Boston and Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, and at the latter gig, as part of NYC Beer Week, they’ll be unveiling a new, limited edition Gozu beer in collaboration with Alewife Brewing.

The cans, as you can see below, use the cover art from Gozu‘s 2018 album, Equilibrium (review here), and while I’ll admit I don’t know much about the particulars of what makes a Gose a Gose when it comes to brewing — coriander? — but a Gozu Gose could hardly be more appropriate, and it looks pretty awesome with the can art, so mark it a win. Gozu will also be touring to later this year in conjunction with the trip out to Colorado. Dates on that will be along in good time. The fest is in June, so we’ve got a minute.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen these cats, and I’ll be at the latter two of these shows, so I’m looking forward to it:

We are excited to rage with our homies in Kings Destroy and Forming The Void!!

2/28 Portland ME, Geno’s
3/01 Cambridge MA, Middle East
3/02 Brooklyn NY, St Vitus

The pre show for the Kings Destroy Saint Vitus album release show with Clamfight and Forming The Void is pretty banging!! We will have a special edition Gozu “Gose” on hand with a collaboration with Alewife Brewing!! The Six Most Metal Breweries Presents:
NYC Beer Week Bangover!

Saturday, March 2nd @ Saint Vitus Bar

Unlimited pours from 6-8pm with Kings County Brewers Collective, Barrier Brewing, Finback Brewery, Nightmare Brewing, Sing Sing Kill Brewery and the most metal Gozu collaboration beer by Alewife Brewing. So stop by!!

https://www.facebook.com/GOZU666
http://gozu.bandcamp.com
instagram.com/gozu666
https://twitter.com/GOZU666

Gozu, “They Probably Know Karate” official video

Spanish progressive heavy post-rockers Dûrga are set to embark on a European tour supporting their 2018 outing, De Lira Ire. The three-piece took the title because, well, delirium, and it somewhat suits the pervasively atmospheric approach they take on the record while still keeping a weighted sense of presence amid all that ambient stretchout. The tour follows a string of dates they did over the course of Fall 2018 and into 2019, as the show they played Jan. 4 at Wurlitzer Ballroom in Madrid was captured on film — or, you know, pixels — and from that footage was assembled an official live video for “Amentia” that you can see below. Pretty dark, but still looks like it was a good show.

The dates and info came courtesy of Wombat Booking via the PR wire:

Dûrga is a young post-rock power-trio from the city of Valencia, Spain. Their influences are bands like Russian Circles, Caspian, Toundra, If These Trees Could Talk among others, but with their own personality.

The band members are Santi, Carlos and David, three friends that in January 2016 started to play together with one only object: make the music they love. Their creations translate the listener in different landscapes thanks to their atmospheric passages with quiet and melodic rhythms: natural spaces that burst sharply with their defensive instinct, unrestrained anger, distortion and fast patterns.

If you come across Dûrga you will find a tense calm: a pleasant journey through beautiful landscapes, but always with that inquietude of the one feeling the storm approaching.

Dûrga starts in April their second European tour that will take them to countries like France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland or Andorra plus two shows in Spain. The band will present their last release “De Lira Ire”, an acclaimed work that received lots of positive reviews.

Tourdates
15/03/19 Sarria Esmorga Fest
*13-4: Satélite T, Bilbao
*14-4: TBA, Paris (FR)
*15-4: Music City, Antwerpen (BE)
*16-4: Le Garage, Liège (BE)
*17-4: Nordpol, Dortmund (DE)
*18-4: Grabenhalle, St Gallen (CH)
*19-4: Le Farmer, Lyon (FR)
*20-4: Black Sheep, Montpellier (FR)
*21-4: Rockòdrom, Andorra la Vella (AND)
*22-4: L’Astilla, l’Hospitalet de Llobregat

The project has been constantly growing from the beginning. In four months they released their first video-single “Vent”, recording three months later their first LP “Venjança” in Westline Studios (Toundra, Viva Belgrado) with Juan Blas, mastered in the emblematic Ultramarins Costa Brava.

After several Spanish tours and a European one, the band won the “Sona la Dipu” contest, which allow them to take part in festivals like Primavera Sound or Low Festival, a Spanish tour supporting the indie act Niños Mutantes and another one through Mexico and the SXSW in Austin (Texas), besides the edition of their second album “De Lira Ire”. This album was recorded in the winter of 2018 between Sadman Studios (Toundra, Jardin de la Croix) in Madrid and LR Studios in Valencia, mastered once again in Ultramarinos Costa Brava by Victor Garcia.

With all these activity in less than three years, the band is ready to keep growing and to show their powerful live show in as many places as possible.

Dûrga is:
David (Drums)
Carlos (Bass)
Santi (Guitar)

https://www.facebook.com/wearedurga/
https://www.instagram.com/wearedurga/
https://wearedurga.bandcamp.com/

Dûrga, “Amentia” Live at Wurlitzer Ballroom (official video)

Brooklyn’s Kings Destroy are getting ready once again to fuck with the formula via their fourth long-player, Fantasma Nera, which branches into new levels of progressive songwriting and melody while turning their confrontational aspect inward as much as outward in theme and execution. Like everything they’ve done, it leaves the past in its dust. Set to release March 8 on Svart Records — which is a label of taste broad and reliable enough to suit them — its arrival will be preceded by a run up the Eastern Seaboard in the company of Gozu and Forming the Void, and it’s my sincere pleasure to be among the presenters of the tour.

They’ll be at Maryland Doom Fest 2019 as well this June — along with many, many others — but even for those planning to see them there, this is an early chance to get introduced to the songs and, presumably, pick up a copy of the album before it’s officially out. Preorders are great and available now, but there’s nothing quite like a merch table either.

The shows kick off Feb. 27 in Kingston, New York, with hometown heroes Geezer and head into Canada for a stop on Montreal before swinging through Rochester, Cleveland and Pittsburgh to finish up. I’ll be at the Brooklyn gig that has Clamfight as the much-welcome fourth for the bill, and there’s no doubt in my mind it’s going to be a party. A sweaty, sweaty party.

Poster is by Bill Kole, and you can stream the Fantasma Nera title-track below:

Fantasma Nera pre-orders are available now via Svartrecords.com/artist/kings-destroy with physical bundles including colored vinyl and other merchandise. Digital pre-orders include an instant download of the title track.

The band has announced an East Coast Tour prior to the week of release as well as a recently announced performance at the Maryland Doom Fest on June 20.

Kings Destroy tour dates:
February 27 Kingston, NY The Anchor w/ Geezer
February 28 Portland, ME Geno’s
March 1 Boston, MA Middle East w/ Test Meat
March 2 Brooklyn, NY Saint Vitus w/ Clamfight
March 3 Montreal QC TurboHaus
March 4 Rochester, NY Bug Jar
March 5 Cleveland, OH Now That’s Class
March 6 Pittsburgh, PA Howlers w/ Horehound

Kings Destroy is Aaron Bumpus (bass), Stephen Murphy (vocals), Carl Porcaro (guitar), Rob Sefcik (drums) and Chris Skowronski (guitar).

Kings Destroy, “Fantasma Nera”

Kings Destroy on Thee Facebooks

Kings Destroy on Instagram

Kings Destroy website

Kings Destroy on Bandcamp

Svart Records website

Svart Records on Thee Facebooks

Svart Records on Twitter

Last year, I was fortunate enough to be asked to stand among the presenters for Greek heavy rock forerunners 1000mods‘ first US tour, and no joke, it was an absolute honor. Over the last decade-plus, the four-piece have become an essential piece of the European heavy underground, and their 2016 album, Repeated Exposure To… (review here), only worked to increase their profile, it was the best-case-scenario to watch that manifest in their conquering new territory and places they hadn’t been before. Had nothing to do with me, but on a watching-hard-work-pay-off level, it was a joy to see.

The trend continues in 2019 as 1000mods come closer to wrapping the cycle for Repeated Exposure To… by hitting Australia for the first time. They’ll head that way in April to appear at the Mojo Burning Festival on April 6 in Brisbane, and with dates slotted for before and after, they’ll cover a good amount of ground on the 10-day run. The Obelisk isn’t the only presenter, of course, but to even have a logo on the bottom of the poster for this one is humbling, and I thank Beats Cartel for the opportunity.

Listen to 1000mods. Go see 1000mods. It’s as simple as that.

I wanted to include the full tour announcement here for posterity, so you’ll find that below, but specifically note that tickets are on sale now. Links are provided with the dates.

Go go go:

GREECE’S 1000MODS ANNOUNCE FIRST EVER AUSTRALIAN TOUR

TIX ON SALE NOW

Greece’s 1000mods bring their psychedelic onslaught to Australia this April, touring nationally on the back of a Mojo Burning festival appearance.

Having risen from smokey basements to packed arenas, leaders of the now-legendary Greek heavy rock scene 1000mods offer inspired, powerful and uniquely fresh tunes having shared the stage with some of the world’s largest acts including The Black Keys, Mastodon, The Black Angels and Graveyard. The last few years have included a slew of sold out venues across Central Europe, Scandinavia, Britain, the US, Canada and Mexico on the back of their thick and heavy analogue sound and relentless touring schedule.

Described as having live ‘flawless flow’ (Soundgaze), the Greek Stoner lords have become known for remarkably passionate stage performances and soccer stadium-like crowd sing-a-longs amidst international festival appearances at Hellfest Open Air, Desertfest (Athens, Belgium, London and Berlin), Up in Smoke, Riff Ritual and many others including a recent sold out home show (3500 capacity) at renowned Athens venue Theatro Vrachon (PIC). This is a Rock band on the verge of international stardom who are widely considered to be the new-found power of the European (some say “worldwide”) heavy rock scene.

Album releases Super Van Vacation, Vultures (2014) and Repeated Exposure To… (2016) have netted the band one hundred thousand fans and kudos world wide, chalking up over 30 million track views on YouTube.

The 2019 Australian Tour, covering shows in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Geelong, Adelaide, Perth and Scarborough, marks the first time the band have ventured onto Australian shores, a task not taken lightly by the band or promoter Christian Tryhorn of Beats Cartel who says of the upcoming tour “We’re long term fans of 1000mods and are excited to now be in the position of bringing them into the country for the first time. Their raw power and riffage is some of the best in the world, each album gets better with every listen! Can’t wait to show the people of Australia one of the best live acts in Europe”.

1000mods will also be a part of an upcoming feature length documentary entitled ‘Greek Rock Revolution’, a tale of the rising Rock scene in Greece amidst nation-wide economic turmoil. The documentary will be released in March and also features Tuber, Naxatras, Puta Volcano, Planet of Zeus and more.

Heavier than life, psychedelic, trippy, hauntingly melodic and dangerously addictive, catch 1000mods live in Australia for the first time ever, travelling East to West for Beats Cartel and HEAVY Mag. With tour help from Young Henrys, Maric Media, Orange Amplifiers, The Obelisk and Tuff Cuff Records.

*All show details and on-sale tickets at www.beatscartel.com/tickets

1000mods is:
Dani G. / Bass & Vox
Giannis S. / Guitars
George T. / Guitars
Labros G. / Drums

https://www.facebook.com/1000mods/
https://1000mods.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/1000mods

1000mods, Repeated Exposure To… (2016)