Starting tomorrow, the next three weeks are absolutely stupid with new albums. Over-the-top, ridiculous. An immediately-go-broke amount of music. Nothing less than an onslaught. We’re under attack.

Far be it from me to tell you how to spend your money — also far be it from me not to — but there’s some really killer stuff in here. As to why it’s all landing now? Some of it of course has to do with the timing of when it was recorded, bands hitting the studio in Spring before heading out on the road over the summer, but Fall releases also line up nicely for tours in October and November, heading into the holiday season, when the music industry basically shuts down. This is the last chance for releases to come out in 2017 and be considered for best-of-year lists.

I doubt the likes of Chelsea Wolfe or Godspeed You! Black Emperor or even Kadavar would cop to that as a motivating factor, instead pointing to the timing of Fall touring and so on, but these things are rarely coincidental. You know how there aren’t any blockbusters in January but every movie feels like it’s trying to win an Oscar? Same kind of deal.

Nonetheless, 2017 is laying it on particularly thick these next couple weeks, and as you can see in the lists below, if you’ve got cash to spend, you can pretty much choose your rock and roll adventure. I’ll add to this as need be as well, so keep an eye for changes:

Sept. 22:

Alcest, Souveinirs d’un Autre Monde (10th Anniversary Edition)
Brant Bjork, Europe ’16
Chelsea Wolfe, Hiss Spun
Epitaph, Claws
Faces of the Bog, Ego Death
The Flying Eyes, Burning of the Season
Fvzz Popvli, Fvzz Dei
Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Luciferian Towers
Jarboe & Father Murphy, Jarboe & Father Murphy
Monarch, Never Forever
Nibiru, Qaal Babalon
Process of Guilt, Black Earth
Satyricon, Deep Calleth Upon Deep
Spelljammer, Inches from the Sun (Reissue)
Thonian Horde, Inconnu
Trash Titan, Welcome to the Banana Party
Ufomammut, 8
With the Dead, Love from With the Dead
Wolves in the Throne Room, Thrice Woven

Sept. 29:

Cities of Mars, Temporal Rifts
Deadsmoke, Mountain Legacy
A Devil’s Din, One Hallucination Under God
Disastroid, Missiles
Jim Healey, Just a Minute More (Sept. 26)
Idylls, The Barn
Kadavar, Rough Times
Lucifer’s Chalice, The Pact
Monolord, Rust
Outsideinside, Sniff a Hot Rock
Radio Moscow, New Beginnings
Scream of the Butterfly, Ignition
Tronald, Tronald (Sept. 30)
Unsane, Sterilize
Wucan, Reap the Storm

Oct. 6:

Elder Druid, Carmina Satanae
Fireball Ministry, Remember the Story
Frank Sabbath, Are You Waiting? (Oct. 2)
Himmellegeme, Myth of Earth
House of Broken Promises, Twisted EP
O.R.B., Naturality
Primitive Man, Caustic
Spirit Adrift, Curse of Conception
Spotlights, Seismic
Sumokem, The Guardian of Yosemite
Torso, Limbs
White Manna, Bleeding Eyes

Also:

Oct. 13: Enslaved, Firebreather, I Klatus, R.I.P., Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats (reissue), Weird Owl, etc.

Oct. 20: Iron Monkey, Spectral Haze, Bell Witch, The Spacelords, etc.

Something I forgot?

Invariably, right? If you know of something not seen above that should be, then by all means, please leave a comment letting me know. My only ask is that you keep it civil and not call me a fucking idiot or anything like that. I write these posts very early in the day, and if something has been neglected, I assure you it’s not on purpose and I’m happy to correct any and all oversights.

Thanks for reading and happy shopping. Support local record stores.

Montreal trio A Devil’s Din aim a little bit earlier than many in the current sphere of retro-minded rock, eschewing the proto-metallic boogie of the early ’70s in favor of the mid-to-late ’60s psychedelia that spawned it. On Sept. 29, they’ll issue their third long-player, One Hallucination Under God, via their own Island Dive Records imprint, and its influence in classic surf and garage-a-delic vibe is evident from the opening notes of “Eternal Now,” for which you can see a video premiere below marked out by colorful manipulation of old cartoons, found-seeming footage and, apparently, whatever else the band decided fit the spirit they were going for.

And quite a spirit it is. The hook of “Eternal Now” has some push of the earliest space rock from drummer Dom Salameh, but from the running bassline of Tom G. Stout to the vocal harmonies that would seem to be led by guitarist Dave Lines, the arrangement feels lush and warm in a way that more than earns its accompanying colorful swirl. True to their aesthetic, “Eternal Now” has a straightforward verse/chorus structure and at just under three and a half minutes there’s not much room to wander from it, but with the blend of keys and guitar, the wash of melody in the vocals and the pervasive sense of weirdness across its still-brief span, there’s plenty to dig into for those looking for a quick trip into the far and farther out.

I haven’t heard the full album yet, but I wouldn’t necessarily expect “Eternal Now” to speak for the entirety of One Hallucination Under God. To wit, in Dec. 2016, A Devil’s Din issued the 13-minute single-song digital EP, I’m Freaking Out: The Saga of the Missing Child, as the follow-up to their June-released sophomore full-length, Skylight — their debut was 2011’s One Day all this Will be Yours — and it was an entirely more progressive and theatrical affair, harder in the impact of its tones and less cosmically directed on the whole, though those elements were still there in the especially varied second half of the song. That may have been a one-off, but Skylight had plenty of diversity in its sound as well, so I’m just giving a heads up “Eternal Now” might not be the complete story when it comes to One Hallucination Under God, however much the long-player may all be part of one expanded-consciousness experience.

More info on One Hallucination Under God and some statement direct from A Devil’s Din follows the “Eternal Now” video below and comes courtesy of the PR wire. Once again, album is out Sept. 29 and will be available direct from the three-piece via their Bandcamp.

Please enjoy:

A Devil’s Din, “Eternal Now” official video

A Devil’s Din on “Eternal Now”:

“‘Eternal Now’ opens the album. It’s an upbeat song with a snazzy guitar riff and verse sung in three-part harmony. The chorus is the closest thing we have to a pop song, but when pop wasn’t a disposable, corporate-driven product. Overall, the theme of the album is about ‘Perception Versus Reality,’ how our world is essentially a subjective experience and a reflection of our individual thoughts and judgments. This idea is perhaps best expressed by semanticist Alfred Korzybski’s dictum, ‘The map is not the territory.’ Songs like ‘Sea of Time,’ ‘Eternal Now,’ ‘Where Do We Go?’ and the title-track all touch on this theme: how we are born into a reality and then conditioned into accepting that this version of reality is ‘it’… And anyone who’s been on the Psychedelic Path will tell you otherwise.

A Devil’s Din are the psychedelic brainchild of UK-born Montreal-based multi-instrumentalist David Lines; joined on his creative journey by disciple of the Rickenbaker bass Thomas Chollet, and virtuoso drummer Dom Salameh. They are a trio of sonic alchemists that together create a chemical wedding of cosmic chords, constantly seeking the philosopher’s stone of the perfect psychedelic song. And as we all know, it’s not the journey — it’s the trip!

A Devil’s Din has two fine albums under their collective kaftans, ‘One Day All This Will Be Yours’ (2011) and ‘Skylight’ (2016), and now, as though creating a trans-dimensional triptych, they unleash ‘One Hallucination Under God’.

‘One Hallucination Under God’ will be available as of September 29th, 2017.

A Devil’s Din is:
Dave Lines, Guitar/Keyboards/Vocals
Tom G. Stout, Bass/Guitar/Vocals
Dom Salameh, Drums/Perc/Vocals

A Devil’s Din on Thee Facebooks

A Devil’s Din on Twitter

A Devil’s Din on Bandcamp