https://www.high-endrolex.com/18

Red Beard Wall Sign to Desert Records; 3 Out July 2; Premiere “Liberate”

Posted in audiObelisk, Whathaveyou on April 29th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

With a by-now-signature blend of raw sludge and post-hardcore-style melodicism, West Texas’ Red Beard Wall signs to Desert Records for the forthcoming album 3, set to release on July 2. The follow-up to 2019’s The Fight Needs Us All (discussed here) pushes band mastermind/multi-instrumentalist Aaron Wall further along the particular course of purposeful and expressive songwriting — the first line of post-intro opener “Move Forth” is “Oh my god what the fuck have we done?” — and finds him bringing the melodic side of his vocal approach to new prominence in the band’s sound. Effective layering with throaty rasps make for an engaging and malleable dynamic, and even a later cut like “Leave Me Be,” which plays one off the other in verse/chorus fashion, does so fluidly with the crunch of ’90s noise in its riff and enough sludge tonality to be joyous in its harshness.

The ultimately positive nature of Wall‘s lyrics — even “Move Forth” is an encouraging statement, let alone “Keep Fighting” later on — is a distinguishing factor, and feels as much self-directed as outward. This record has been in the works for a while, but no doubt events of the last year played a role as well, and to find “My Brothers” at the center ahead of the first single “Liberate” (premiering below) speaks to the intensity of messaging throughout 3: “You’re a person/We care about what happens to you.” Where this melding of scathe and melody ultimately brings Red Beard Wall is “Home,” which wraps the nine-song/37-minute outing with a mosh-ready apex that feels like it’s just waiting to emanate at full volume from some stage, anywhere, at any time. Fingers crossed that might get to happen ever.

July, huh? That feels like a long time away, but it isn’t. 3 is the most complex and accomplished collection Red Beard Wall have yet done, and as you can see in the announcement below, label and artist alike are pretty thrilled to have come together to make it happen.

Dig:

Red Beard Wall 3

RED BEARD WALL 3

Two years after the critically acclaimed sophomore effort “The Fight Needs Us All,” and touring incessantly to support it… the mighty Red Beard Wall are BACK!

“Welcome mutha-fuckin’ Red Beard Wall to the ever-growing Desert Records artist roster!” says label head Brad Frye. “This was a no-brainer right here. I’ve known Aaron for years through Red Mesa. He has the fire and passion that is nearly unparalleled in the heavy underground. His positive attitude and energy is contagious. I can’t wait for folks to hear this album… dig the first single, ‘Liberate!'”

The highly anticipated and aptly titled new album “3” has arrived in all its gnarly, yet beautiful amalgamation of heavy! “3” is the band’s most urgently emotional and honest collection of songs to date. Heavier than ever, gnarlier than ever, more passionate than ever, and on the flipside, more lush and beautiful than ever. Riff salad with a healthy side of groove soup.

“We are beyond honored to team up with the amazing and hella fast-rising Desert Records for RBW3!” echoes Red Beard Wall’s Aaron Wall. “Brad is our brother, so that makes it even more special. We’re focused on growing the band, the label, and our friendship. This is more than a collab… this is family. This is home. We can’t wait for you to hear and see what we do together! Gargantuan guaranteed!” Mad love, gratitude, and respect always!! ALL HAIL!!!”

Joining forces with the impeccable and cutting edge Desert Records for vinyl, digital, and cd release, scheduled for July 2, 2021. For fans of Floor, Torche, Helmet, and Snapcase. ALL HAIL Red Beard Wall!!!

Tracklisting:
1. Tap
2. Move Forth
3. Contrarian
4. Waste
5. My Brothers
6. Liberate
7. Leave Me Be
8. Keep Fighting
9. Home

https://www.facebook.com/redbeardwall/
https://www.instagram.com/redbeardwall/
https://redbeardwall.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/desertrecordslabel/
https://desertrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://desertrecords.bigcartel.com/

Tags: , , , , ,

Quarterly Review: Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou, Spaceslug, Malsten, Sun Crow, Honeybadger, Monte Luna, Hombrehumano, Veljet, Witchrider, Devil Worshipper

Posted in Reviews on December 28th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

THE-OBELISK-FALL-2020-QUARTERLY-REVIEW

New week, same Quarterly Review. Today is the next-to-last round for this time, though once again, I look at the folders of albums on my desktop and the CDs and LPs that have come in and I realize it could easily go longer. I never really caught up from the last QR. I guess it’s been that kind of year. In any case, more good stuff today, so sit tight and enjoy. If you didn’t find anything last week that stuck out to you, maybe today’s your day.

Quarterly Review #51-60:

Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou, May Our Chambers Be Full

emma ruth rundle thou may our chambers be full

Sure, there’s poise and plunder amid torrents of emotion and weighted tonality, but what’s really astonishing about May Our Chambers Be Full, the first collaboration between Louisville’s Emma Ruth Rundle (Red Sparowes‘ third LP, the Nocturnes, Marriages, etc.) and New Orleans’ sludgers Thou is that it feels so much more substantial than its 36 minutes. That’s not to say it drags, though it does when it wants to in terms of tempo, but just that its impact both in songs where Rundle and Thou‘s Bryan Funck trade off like “Ancestral Recall” or when they come together as on opener “Killing Floor” is such that it feels longer. Atmosphere is certainly a factor, but May Our Chambers Be Full is so striking because of its blend of extremity and melody, emotion and sheer catharsis, and the breadth that seems to accompany its consuming crush. In a couple years, there are going to be an awful lot of bands putting out debut albums that sound very much like this. Follow-up EP out soon.

Emma Ruth Rundle on Thee Facebooks

Thou on Instagram

Sacred Bones Records website

 

Spaceslug, Leftovers

spaceslug leftovers

Produced by the band and Piotr Grzegorowski — who also guests on synth and guitar — during the plague-addled Spring of 2020, Spaceslug‘s Leftovers EP represents a branching out in terms of style to incorporate a sense of melancholy alongside their established sprawling psychedelics. The 21-minute five-tracker is less a follow-up to 2019’s Reign of the Orion (review here) than a standalone sidestep, but in the acoustic/synth rollout of “From Behind the Glass” and in the especially-stripped-down-feeling centerpiece “The Birds are Loudest in May” it lives up to the challenge of blending an organic atmosphere with the otherworldly sensibilities Spaceslug have honed so well throughout their tenure. Having started with its longest and synthiest track in “Wasted Illusion,” Leftovers caps with the shorter and more active “Place to Turn” and its title-track, which adds a spindly layer of electric guitar (or something that sounds like it) for an experimentalist vibe. Very 2020, but no less welcome for that. The question is whether these impulses show up in Spaceslug‘s work from here on out, and if so, how.

Spaceslug on Thee Facebooks

Spaceslug on Bandcamp

 

Malsten, The Haunting of Silvåkra Mill

malsten The Haunting of Silvakra Mill

Malmö-based four-piece Malsten make their full-length debut on Interstellar Smoke Records with the four-song/44-minute The Haunting of Silvåkra Mill, and in so doing show an immediate command of post-Pallbearer spaciousness and melodic-doom traditionalism. Their lumber is prevalent and engrossing tonally on opener “Torsion” (10:36), uses silence effectively on “Immolation” (10:24), and seems to find a place between Warning and Lord Vicar on “Grinder” (9:02) ahead of the epic-on-top-of-epics summary in closer “Compunction” (13:54), which finds Malsten having reserved another level of heavy to keep as their final statement. So be it. Very heavy and worthy of as much volume as you can give it, The Haunting of Silvåkra Mill is an accomplished beginning and heralds significant potential on the part of what’s to come from Malsten. I’d watch this band do a live stream playing this record front-to-back. Just saying.

Malsten on Thee Facebooks

Interstellar Smoke Records webstore

 

Sun Crow, Quest for Oblivion

Sun Crow Quest for Oblivion

A significant undertaking of progressive heavy and noise rock, Sun Crow‘s Quest for Oblivion is among the most ambitious debut albums I’ve heard in 2020, but there’s nothing it sets for itself in terms of goals that it doesn’t accomplish, as vocalist Charles Wilson flips between clean melodies and effective screams atop the riffs of guitarist Ben Nechanicky, the bass of Brian Steel and Keith Hastreiter‘s drums. Somebody’s gonna sign these guys. Even at 70 minutes, Quest for Oblivion, from its post-apocalyptic standpoint, aesthetic cohesion, fluid songcraft and accomplished performance, is simply too good to leave without a proper 2LP release. Individualized in atmosphere though working with familiar-enough elements, it is an album that makes it joyously difficult to pick apart influences, unleashing an initial burst of four longer tracks before giving way (albeit momentarily) to “Fear” and the outlying, brazenly Motörheady “Nothing Behind” before returning to cosmic heavy in “Hypersonic” and the 11-minute “Titans,” which uses its time just as well as everything else that surrounds. Ironic that a record that seems to be about a wasteland should bring so much hope for the future.

Sun Crow on Thee Facebooks

Sun Crow on Bandcamp

 

Honeybadger, Pleasure Delayer

honeybadger pleasure delayer

It doesn’t take Honeybadger long to land their first effective punch on their debut LP, Pleasure Delayer, as the hook of opener/longest track (immediate points) “The Wolf” hits square on the jaw and precedes an atmospheric guitar outro that leads into the rest of the album as a closer might otherwise lead the way out. A product of Athens’ heavy rock boom, the four-piece distinguish themselves in fuzzy tones and an approach that comes right to the edge of burl and doesn’t quite tip over, thankfully and gracefully staving off chestbeating in favor of quality songcraft on “The Well” and the engagingly bass-led “Crazy Ride,” from which the initially slower, bluesier “Good for Nothing” picks up with some Truckfighters, some 1000mods and a whole lot of fun. Side B’s hooks are no less satisfyingly straightforward. “That Feel” feels born for the stage, while “Laura Palmer” makes a memorable chorus out of that Twin Peaks character’s slaying, the penultimate “Holler” feels indeed like the work of a band trying to stand themselves out from a crowded pack and “Truth in the Lie” caps mirroring the energy of “Good for Nothing” but resounding in a cold finish. Efficient, hooky, smoothly executed. There’s nothing one might reasonably ask of Pleasure Delayer that it doesn’t deliver.

Honeybadger on Thee Facebooks

Honeybadger on Bandcamp

 

Monte Luna, Mind Control Broadcast

monte luna mind control broadcast

Released name-your-price as a benefit for the venue The Lost Well in Monte Luna‘s hometown of Austin and derived from a CvltNation-sponsored livestream, the three-song Mind Control Broadcast follows 2019’s Drowners’ Wives (review here) and is intended as a glimpse at their impending third LP, likely due in 2021. That record will be one to look forward to, but it’ll be hard to trade out the raw bludgeon of “Blackstar” — the leadoff here — for another, maybe-not-live-recorded version. True, the setting doesn’t necessarily allow for the band to bring in guests like they did last time around or to flesh out melodies in the same way, but the sound is brash and thrilling and lets “Rust Goliath” live up to its name in largesse, while saving its nastiest for last in “Fear the Sun,” the glorious bassline of which it feels like a spoiler even mentioning for someone who hasn’t heard it yet. 22 of the sludgiest minutes you’re likely to spend today.

Monte Luna on Thee Facebooks

Monte Luna BigCartel store

 

Hombrehumano, Crepuscular

hombrehumano crepuscular

As satisfying as the laid-back-heavy desert rock flow of “Rolito” is, and as well done as what surrounds on Hombrehumano‘s 2019 debut album, Crepuscular, turns out to be in its 53-minute run, it’s in the longer pieces like the Western “Puerto Gris” or the post-Brant Bjork “Metamorfosis” that they really shine. That’s not to take away from the opening instrumental “Nomada” that establishes the tones and sets the atmosphere in which the rest of the record takes place, or the nod of “Primaveras de Olvido,” and certainly the fuzz-boogie and percussion of “Ouroboro” shine in a manner worthy of being depicted on the cover, but the Argentinian four-piece do well with the extra time to flesh out their material. But, either way you go, you go. Hombrehumano craft sweet fuzz and spaciousness on “Puerto Gris” and answer it back later in “Zombakice” and add twists of percussion and acoustics and vocal effects — never mind the birdsong — on closer “Del Ensueño.” Es un ejemplo más de lo que le falta a la cultura gringo al no adorar fuertemente a los sudamericanos.

Hombrehumano on Thee Facebooks

Hombrehumano on Bandcamp

 

Veljet, Viva El Diablo

veljet viva el diablo

Even my non-Spanish-speaking ass can translate Viva el Diablo, the title of Mexican instrumentalist three-piece Veljet‘s debut album. Initially released by the band in March 2020, it was subsequently reissued for physical pressing with a seventh track, “Leviatan,” added, bringing the runtime to a vinyl-ready 37 minutes. The apparently-devil-worshiping title-cut is still the longest at a doomly eight minutes, but though the production is fairly raw, Veljet‘s material taps into a few different impulses within the heavy rock sphere, offsetting willfully repetitive riffing in “El Día de las Manos” with scorching solo work while “Jay Adams” — presumably named in homage to the Dogtown skater — pulls some trad-metal riffing into its second half. “Cutlass” is short at 2:36, but makes the record as a whole feel less predictable for that, and the add-on “Leviatan” embodies its great sea beast with a nod up front that opens to later cacophony. The vibe throughout is you’re-in-the-room live jams, and Veljet have well enough chemistry to carry the songs across in that setting.

Veljet on Thee Facebooks

The Swamp Records website

 

Witchrider, Electrical Storm

witchrider electrical storm

Smoothly produced and executed, not lacking energy but produced for a very studio-style fullness, Witchrider‘s second LP arrives via Fuzzorama Records in answer to 2014’s Unmountable Stairs with a pro-shop feel for its 50-minute duration. Songs are sharply hooked and energetic, beefing up Queens of the Stone Age-style desert rock early on “Shadows” and “You Lied” before the guitars introduce a broader palette with the title-track. The chorus of “Mess Creator” and the big finish in closer “The Weatherman” are highlights, but songs like “Keep Me out of It” and “Come Back” feel built for a commercial infrastructure that — at least in radio-free America — doesn’t exist anymore. I’m not sure what it takes to attract the attention of picky algorithms, but if it’s grounded songwriting, varied material and crisp performance like it was when there was a cable channel playing music videos, then Witchrider are ready to roll. As it stands, the Austrian outfit seem underserved by the inability to even get on a festival stage and play this material live to win converts in that manner. They’re hardly alone in that, but with material that seems so poised specifically toward audience engagement, it comes through all the more, which of course is a testament to the quality of the work itself.

Witchrider on Thee Facebooks

Fuzzorama Records website

 

Devil Worshipper, 3

devil worshipper 3

Opening with its longest track (immediate points) in the 10-minute “Silver Dagger” and presented with the burning red eyes of Christopher Lee’s Dracula on the front, the 33-minute 3 tape from Seattle’s Devil Worshipper maintains the weirdo-experimental spirit of the outfit’s 2015 self-titled debut (review here), finding a kind of Butthole Surfers-into-a-cassette-recorder, anything-goes-until-it-sucks, dark ’90s psychedelia they call “garage metal.” Fair enough. Apparently more efficient than anything I can come up with for it, though what doesn’t necessarily account for is the way the 3 challenges the listener, the remastered versions of “Into Radiation Wave” and “Chem Rails” from the first album, or the horror atmospherics of “Drinking Blood.” It’s like it’s too weird for this planet so it finally made one for itself. Well earned.

Devil Worshipper on Thee Facebooks

Puppy Mill Recordings on Bandcamp

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Spidergawd Announce European Tour; Spidergawd 3 Due Jan. 22

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 9th, 2015 by JJ Koczan

spidergawd

Maybe you don’t yet know how much you should be looking forward to the release of Norwegian heavy rockers Spidergawd‘s new album, Spidergawd 3, but you should be. The four-piece recorded their third outing this fall with bassist Bent Sæther producing and will issue the results Jan. 22 via Stickman Records and Crispin Glover Records, continuing a quick succession of output that has thus far brought forth 2015’s Spidergawd II (review here) and their 2014 self-titled debut (review here). Working in classic form as regards things like song structure and flourish of bluesy or psychedelic heavy rock, it seems also that Spidergawd enjoy working at a classic-style album-a-year pace. The more the merrier.

Even before they so memorably kicked my ass at Roadburn this year, I was looking forward to what the next Spidergawd might bring, and if the new full-length and the extensive European touring they’ve newly announced help turn more heads internationally in their direction, then all the better. They seem to have caught on in Europe pretty well — lineage that includes prog heavyweights Motorpsycho doesn’t hurt in that regard — but I feel like the US audience should stand up and take notice here too, or else miss out on a genuinely killer band.

Here are the confirmation of the Jan. 22 release and those tour dates:

SPIDERGAWD euro tour

Finally we can announce our European and Norwegian release tour for Spidergawd 3!!!! Tickets available on some of the venues if you click on the Bandsintown button! And remember release date is 22.01.2016. Bam!

JANUARY
29/01 Beta, Copenhagen DK
30/01 Northern Winter Beat, Aalborg DK

FEBRUARY (Europaturné)
11/02 Posten, Odense DK
12/02 Blåfrostfestivalen, Rognan NO
13/02 Bitterzoet, Amsterdam NL
14/02 Het Bos, Antwerpen BE
15/02 Tower, Bremen DE
16/02 Vera, Groningen NL
17/02 Gebäude 9, Köln DE
18/02 Schlachthof, Wiesbaden DE
19/02 Kofmehl, Soloturn CH
20/02 Lo-Fi, Milano IT
21/02 TBA, Zürich CH
23/02 Zwölf Zehn, Stuttgart DE
24/02 Shakespear, Salzburg AT
25/02 Strom, München DE
26/02 Beatpol, Dresden DE
27/02 Glocksee, Hannover DE
28/02 Hafenklang, Hamburg DE

MARCH (Norgesturné)
02/03 Rockefeller, Oslo NO
03/03 Lundetangen, Skien NO
04/03 Folken, Stavanger NO
05/03 Hulen, Bergen NO
09/03 Felix, Lillehammer NO
10/03 Energimølla, Kongsberg NO
11/03 Gregers, Hamar NO
12/03 Byscenen, Trondheim NO

https://www.facebook.com/spidergawd
http://spidergawd.no/
http://www.crispingloverrecords.com/
https://www.stickman-records.com/

Spidergawd, “Tourniquet” official video

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Friday Full-Length: The Atomic Bitchwax, 3

Posted in Bootleg Theater on July 3rd, 2015 by JJ Koczan

The Atomic Bitchwax, 3 (2005)

I guess after closing out last week with Truckfighters, my head got to thinking about heavy rock from that same year and that same era in general. A decade isn’t an inconsiderable amount of time, but to look at it in terms of records come and gone, it’s been a quick jump from 2005 to 2015, though one could easily argue that the entire shape of the heavy underground in the US and Europe, has changed. This shift has been generational, no doubt about it — Gen X moving out, the Millennials coming up — but when I think of a band like The Atomic Bitchwax, who formed in 1999 and are still going strong, the fact that they’ve managed to cross that divide where so many didn’t make it to the other side only increases their appeal in my mind. They have, at least to this point, stood the test of time.

No need to lie, The Atomic Bitchwax weren’t hurting for “appeal in my mind” anyway. As I was discovering heavy rock and roll, finding new bands and checking out all these incredible sounds from all around the world, the Long Branch, New Jersey, trio very quickly became hometown heroes. Their roots trace back to the more metallic Godspeed, in which bassist/vocalist Chris Kosnik played, and Monster Magnet, in which founding lead guitarist Ed Mundell cut his teeth. Alongside Kosnik and then-drummer Keith Ackerman, 3 was a pivotal, turning-point moment for the band in that it was their first to bring aboard guitarist Finn Ryan, formerly of NJ rockers Core — whose two outings, Revival (1996) and The Hustle is On (1999), remain gems well worth searching out — who would not only bring a different style of play to the band’s winding riffs, but would add his vocals to Kosnik‘s changing the dynamic of the band both on stage and on record.

The songs on 3, up to and including the Deep Purple cover “Maybe I’m a Leo,” were the band’s first to capitalize on that new dynamic, but they’d continue to progress from there on 2008’s TAB4, 2011’s riff-fest instrumental The Local Fuzz (review here) and this year’s excellent Gravitron (review here), drummer Bob Pantella (also Monster Magnet) coming aboard in replacement of Ackerman in time for TAB4 and continuing in that position through to the current day, his fluid grooves and crisp style adding both swing and a grounding effect on the head-turning riffs of Kosnik and Ryan, who have long since mastered the kind of turns that “Going Guido” here presents while keeping the memorable songwriting at their core that one finds on 3‘s “The Destroyer,” “You Oughta Know,” “You Can’t Win,” “If I Had a Gun” and “The Passenger,” the latter of which seems to directly address Mundell‘s departure from the band in the line from the chorus, “I fill the space with fuzz.”

3 for sure offers plenty of that. As much as The Atomic Bitchwax are an underrated band now — though they’ve started to get their due with increased touring in Europe after re-signing to Tee Pee — this record remains something of a hidden treasure of their songwriting, and as it’s 10 years old this year, it seemed all the more worth a revisit. I hope you enjoy.

Gonna make this very quick because I’m already missing hangout time with my niece and nephew to put this together, and that’s a limited resource. This weekend in the US is the 4th of July holiday. Today was a much-appreciated day off work. I felt like sleeping in alone was well worth all the troublesome colonialism in my country’s history. Or at least that whole Tea Party thing. The actual one with tea, not the one with the shitheads upset about having a black dude for president. Nothing justifies that.

Anyway. Thanks to all who checked in this week and caught any part of the Quarterly Review. I hope you found something in there you dug. I did. 50 reviews and I got one comment off it on here. I had to laugh.

Next week, reviews of Kadavar, Anathema‘s three vinyl reissues and whatever else I can come up with. I wish I could say the Quarterly Review completely caught me up on reviews, but yeah. Also a Fuzz Evil premiere in the works and more to come. It will be busy. It will not be as busy as this week. I will like that about it. Ha.

Alright. I hope you have a great and safe weekend, whether you’re someplace celebrating or not. See you back here Monday for more good times, and please check out the forum and the radio stream.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

Tags: , , , , ,