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

Burque Rock City Fest: Weedeater, Matt Pike, Belzebong, Early Moods & More to Play New Fest in Albuquerque, NM

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 20th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

If I’d had a soul, it would’ve wept bitter soul-tears last September at my being unable to attend Monolith on the Mesa 2022 (lineup here, if you’d like a refresher) in Taos, New Mexico. Now, I don’t know what Roman Barham, also of heavy trio Red Mesa, has in store for the first-and-maybe-only installment of Burque Rock City Fest, which moves the proceedings from Taos to Albuquerque and is set to have its inaugural edition take place in early August, but I’m more than willing to trust that by the time he and his crew have their shit together and know what they’re doing, based on past evidence as well as the already well-on-its-way lineup they’ve unveiled for Burque Rock City Fest 2023, highlighted by Belzebong coming over from Poland, Weedeater at the top of the bill (unclear if they’re headlining or just there for now), Matt Pike‘s solo-project, Early Moods, High Desert QueenSorcia and Thunder Horse alongside Prism Bitch and Coma Recovery.

It’s two days — Monolith was three last year — and will happen across two venues, neither of which I know anything about more than their name from lists of tour dates. But again, it’s a new fest but familiar parties behind it, so also not a worry. Barham notes in the quote below that Monolith on the Mesa will be back in Taos in 2024, so it’s unclear whether Burque Rock City Fest is a one-time-only placeholder or will be an ongoing second festival. I wouldn’t attempt to guess, but as it’s worth keeping an eye on, that’s what I’m doing. Will continue to do so as the lineup takes shape.

For now, the first announcement and early-bird ticket links, as per the PR wire:

Burque City Rock Fest

Monolith On The Mesa Presents: Burque Rock City Fest

August 4th & 5th 2023

The Historic El Rey Theater & Insideout Bar in Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The first round of bands has been announced…

Weedeater * Pike Vs The Automaton * Belzebong * Early Moods * High Desert Queen * ThunderHorse * Sorcia * Prism Bitch * Coma Recovery

Many More To be Announced!!

Early Bird Day Pass-$100: https://holdmyticket.com/event/412535

Early Bird 2 Day Pass-$200: https://holdmyticket.com/event/412537

Roman Barham, co-founder of Monolith on the Mesa has been quietly working on Burque Rock City Fest.

Barham says:

“Monolith On The Mesa crew would love to thank everyone who helped make Monolith 2022 an awesome fest. Huge thanks from The Taos Mesa Brewery crew, the Hotel Luna Mystica crew and to all the very respectful patrons that came out and made Monolith On The Mesa 2022 an amazing tribute to our fallen brother Dano Sanchez (deceased Monolith co-founder).

We have decided to take a year off from Monolith and bring it back in 2024 to Taos Mesa Brewery.

Branching south from the Monolith On The Mesa tree is Burque Rock City Fest in Albuquerque, NM At The Historic El Rey Theater & Insideout Bar On Friday August 4th & Saturday August 5th 2023.

More band announcements & more exciting info soon.

Cheers!!”

monolithonthemesa.com
instagram.com/monolithonthemesa
facebook.com/monolithonthemesa
twitter.com/onmonolith

Weedeater, “Jason… the Dragon” live in Jacksonville, FL, March 1, 2023

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Om Announce Fall West Coast Tour Dates

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 3rd, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Om photo by Tim Bugbee

I guess this is the part where I say it’s been 10 years since Om released Advaitic Songs (review here), and though rumors have persisted of an album being this or that in some stage of done or not, I’ve yet to see anything manifest in concrete, confirmed fashion since 2019’s excellent BBC Radio 1 (review here) live record. And at this point, maybe it’s unreasonable to expect another one to come, right? Maybe in your life you get to make one album like that if you’re lucky enough, and maybe that kind of scope and realization isn’t something that could happen twice. Lightning meet bottle, etc. I don’t know. If it’s a question of their having set a standard by releasing one of the best records of the 2010s — and one that, despite being issued so early in the decade, actually held up for the rest of it — I’d be happy just to hear Al Cisernos‘ Rickenbacker mellow out for 35 or so minutes on some songs. Anything past that is gravy, really.

Om have Fall tour dates announced with Zombi. They’ll be doing the Midwest and West Coast, some shows in Canada. I’d love to see this band again, as I’ve missed chance after chance and it’s been a while by now, but maybe next time. And of course if I hear/see/smell anything about a new full-length, I’ll probably post faster than I can even type, so apologies in advance when everything is spelled wrong.

Dates from socials:

Om tour

OM Tour

All shows with Zombi

09.08 Oklahoma City OK 89th St. OKC
09.09 Lawrence KS The Bottleneck
09.10 Omaha NE Slowdown
09.12 Des Moines IA Wooly’s
09.15 Chicago IL Thalia Hall
09.16 Milwaukee WI Cactus Club
09.17 Minneapolis MN Fine Line
09.20 Winnipeg MB Canada Pyramid Cabaret
09.22 Saskatoon SK Canada Amigos Cantina
09.23 Edmonton AB Canada The Starlite Room
09.24 Calgary AB Canada Dickens
09.27 Vancouver BC Canada Rickshaw Theatre
09.28 Seattle WA The Crocodile
09.29 Bellingham WA Wild Buffalo
09.30 Tacoma WA Alma Mater
10.01 Portland OR Aladdin Theater
10.03 Berkeley CA The UC Theater
10.04 Felton CA The Felton Music Hall
10.05 Los Angeles CA Lodge Room
10.06 Los Angeles CA Lodge Room
10.07 Solana Beach CA Belly Up Tavern
10.10 Mesa AZ The Nile
10.11 Las Vegas NV Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas
10.12 Salt Lake City UT Metro Music Hall
10.13 Englewood CO The Gothic Theatre
10.15 Albuquerque NM Sister Bar

OM lineup:
Al Cisneros
Emil Amos
Tyler Trotter

https://www.facebook.com/om.band
https://om.merchtable.com/
https://omband.bandcamp.com/
http://www.omvibratory.com/

https://www.dragcity.com/

Om, Advaitic Songs (2012)

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Review & Full Album Premiere: Blue Heron, Ephemeral

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on May 25th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Blue Heron Ephemeral Cover Art by Mirkow Gastow

[Click play above to stream Blue Heron’s Ephemeral in full. Album is out Friday on Kozmik Artifactz and Seeing Red Records.]

True, the blue heron is not a desert bird. They live in wetlands. One imagines that Albuquerque, New Mexico’s Blue Heron — who include the line, “without water we’ll drink the sand,” in the song “Futurola” which opens their debut album, Ephemeral — chose it because in some Native American traditions, to see a blue heron is a positive omen for a fishing trip, or a sign of growth and evolution more generally. One doubts the four-piece get much fishing done in Albuquerque, so perhaps it’s safe to assume their nod is to the latter.

Such would seem to be borne out across the 47 minutes and eight songs of Ephemeral, which sees issue through Seeing Red Records and Kozmik Artifactz and follows only a couple of compilation/tribute appearances and the band’s late-2021 two-songer Black Blood of the Earth / A Sunken Place (review here), the video that accompanied same accomplishing much in terms of establishing the band’s persona as they rocked a barroom venue with drummer Ricardo Sanchez turning in a full-body performance behind the kit. One very much gets the sense that he’s doing the same on the rest of the tracks here, and whether it’s the heavy-but-laid-back classic desert rock unfurling of “Futurola,” the lumbering-into-freakout-into-space-out-jam in the midsection of the subsequent 13-minute viber “Sayonara” or the later march of “The Buck” that sets out into the sandy wastes with a backpack made of highlight fuzz, rhythm is very much at the heart of Ephemeral.

Can’t groove without it, and it’s the groove that ties the scream-sludgy payoff of “Push the Sky” to the angular turns prior, the crunching, gruff rush early in “Black Blood of the Earth” to its willfully meandering, spoken-word-topped second half, like a post-grunge noise solution to the problem of ‘how do we get lost on purpose.’ That’s not to minimize the contributions of bassist Steve Schmidlapp, or guitarist Mike Chavez and vocalist Jadd Shickler, the latter two of whom also played together in Spiritu, whose self-titled debut was issued in 2002 and of whom Blue Heron might be considered a spiritual successor in terms of their general approach.

Shickler — who’s invariably more known for having also co-founded MeteorCity, today runs Blues Funeral Recordings and contributes to Ripple MusicMagnetic Eye Records, the PostWax vinyl subscription service (for which I do liner notes; full disclosure), and so on — and Chavez dig into older-school heavy/desert vibes throughout, and the ability and readiness to break out a more aggressive stance across Ephemeral is part of that, though at the same time, they offer the Chavez-solo drifting interlude “Infiniton Field” and the acoustic/pedal steel-laced Americana expanse of the penultimate two-minute instrumental “Where One Went Together,” and those are decidedly drawn from newer influences; a bit of Lord Buffalo to go with the underlying Dozer, at least in the case of “Where One Went Together.” It’s only fair to read this as Blue Heron‘s omen of evolving coming to fruition in the songs themselves, which is arguably the ideal for the band, particularly on their first full-length.

The broad scope they set is likewise realized among the shifts in tonality and meter, though certainly the heart of Ephemeral is in the fuzz of Chavez‘s guitar, which shoves the listener into the first verse of “Futurola” like Kyuss pushing over “Gardenia.” Pairing that song and the more purposefully vast “Sayonara” — which opens like “War Pigs” at the wrong (right) speed — as the record’s initial salvo has a lasting effect on the atmosphere of what follows, and even when “The Buck” leads into “Black Blood of the Earth,” which is the pairing of two tracks that are the most similar in their intention throughout, those two songs have distinctive resonances. Elsewhere, the shout-topped payoff of “Sayonara” gives way to the comparatively stripped down, backing vocal-inclusive melodic highlight “Push the Sky,” from which they set off into the “Infiniton Field” before the steady, righteously-stoner-rock drawn-out intro of “The Buck” establishes the beginning of a subtle and effective linear build unto its final rumble.

Blue Heron 2022 Band Photo 4 by JT Schmidlapp

That’s one from which the tense noise at the outset of “Black Blood of the Earth” looses its initial tom-fueled intensity, which seems to be maintained even through the more open-sounding midsection until at last the song lets go of your lungs and turns at about five minutes in to its heavy psych-style exploration, which caps with fingers sliding on strings as one imagines pedals are clicked off and gives over to the acoustic strums of “Where One Went Together” and, ultimately, to the finale “Salvage,” which answers the layering of “Push the Sky,” the head-down force of “Black Blood of the Earth” and reaffirms the threat that at any point Blue Heron can and just might bring forward their sludgier impulses, which they do as the track’s seems to break apart at the conclusion of the album before it turns around for one final clearheaded chorus.

This movement of one into the next into the next is more than about run-on sentences. It’s the flow of Ephemeral as an entirety, and though as a 47-minute LP it’s pushing the limits of that format in terms of runtime, there is not a song in which the overarching fluidity of the whole work is sacrificed.

I am not impartial here, on multiple fronts. First, no one’s ever truly impartial about anything. Ever. Second, and in the interest of further full-disclosure, I’ve known Shickler for about 20 years now since his MeteorCity days, and we communicate on the regular for PostWax, other bands, and more besides. I consider him a friend and often a monumental pain in the ass (which is how you know I really mean that “friend” part). Accordingly, even if I didn’t dig Ephemeral, I probably wouldn’t say so. However, if I didn’t dig Ephemeral, I also wouldn’t be streaming it or reviewing it in this manner, or even telling you this. One way or the other, Ephemeral sets its goals clearly in its songs and meets them front to back.

In terms of my actual listening experience, there are parts where I can pick out nuances from acts Shickler has long associated with, be it the aforementioned Dozer, or Lowrider, or Unida, but even for a listener not coming into Blue Heron‘s debut with my personal context, its melding together of cross-generational sounds is not to be overlooked. The songs are considered and developed, but full of life, and they offer forward glimpses as well as potent nostalgia. As a record, Ephemeral is folkloric in that way, even if the title imagines things coming and going in the passage of time.

Blue Heron, “Black Blood of the Earth” official video

Blue Heron on Facebook

Blue Heron on Instagram

Blue Heron on Bandcamp

Kozmik Artifactz store

Kozmik Artifactz on Facebook

Seeing Red Records on Facebook

Seeing Red Records on Instagram

Seeing Red Records website

Seeing Red Records on Bandcamp

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Blue Heron Set May 27 Release for Ephemeral

Posted in Whathaveyou on April 21st, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Blue Heron 2022 Band Photo 2 by JT Schmidlapp

Whether or not you know Jadd Shickler personally — and he’s an outgoing guy, so you just might — the greater possibility is you know his work. One of the original founders of the MeteorCity label and the perennially-missed All That’s Heavy webstore, he’s currently involved to some degree or other in Blues Funeral, Magnetic Eye Records and Ripple Music, in addition to having conceived and launched the PostWax vinyl subscription series.

That this lifelong passion for heavy rock and roll should extend itself to performing should be no surprise whatsoever. Blue Heron will release their debut album, Ephemeral, on May 27 — the news actually came in a bit ago and slipped through the rather large cracks in my PR wire system these days — and they’ve got a video up for the new single “Futurola.” That, of course, is not to be confused with Futurama, which I hear is coming back, and the song and the album it heralds will follow-up on the initial two-songer (review here) that the Albuquerque-based four-piece put out late last year.

Older heads will recall Shickler (in the blue shirt above and presumably the designated driver of the photoshoot since he’s the only one without a drink) as well from his time in the underrated Spiritu, whose lone, Jack Endino-produced self-titled full-length was released in 2002. Twenty years after the fact — and keeping plenty busy in the meantime — to have Blue Heron arrive with their own album only emphasizes the point. I don’t use the word “lifer” often, but sometimes nothing else will do.

Looking forward to the album:

BLUE HERON EPHEMERAL

Desert Rockers BLUE HERON Prepare to Release First Full Album Ephemeral

New Mexico stoner metal outfit to issue new LP via Seeing Red Records and Kozmik Artifactz on May 27th, with first single “Futurola” now streaming

New Mexico desert rockers Blue Heron will release their first full-length album, Ephemeral, via Seeing Red Records (US) and Kozmik Artifactz (Germany) on May 27th, 2022. The album’s first single, “Futurola” is now streaming on digital services, along with an interpretive animated video.

Ephemeral is an 8-track, 47-minute exploration of heavy rock at its fullest. Excavating the far reaches and connected strata of stoner rock, sludge, doom, heavy psych and post-metal, Blue Heron transmute years of engagement with rock and metal’s profuse branches into a singular, sand-scorching epic. With lyrical threads ranging from mortality and failed civilizations to mythic fables and cinematic re-imaginations, Ephemeral is stylistically diverse, thematically ambitious and unassailably relentless in its raw, desert power.

Ephemeral arrives May 27th, 2022 on limited edition vinyl from Seeing Red Records in North America and Kozmik Artifactz in Europe and on all digital services.

Preorders are available now via the labels and the Blue Heron Bandcamp.

Blue Heron will perform at Ripplefest Texas this July alongside scene heavyweights including Crowbar, Big Business, The Sword, Heavy Temple, Howling Giant and Eagles of Death Metal.

Blue Heron is:
Mike Chavez – Guitar
Ricardo Sanchez – Drums
Steve Schmidlapp – Bass
Jadd Shickler – Vocals

Ephemeral was recorded at Third Eye Studios by David McRae, except:
“Infiniton Field” recorded by Mike Chavez
“Where One Went Together” recorded at Tru-Art Media by Jose Martinez

Mastered by J.T. Schmidlapp
Produced by Blue Heron, David McRae and Lee Sillery
Art and layout by Mirkow Gastow

https://www.instagram.com/blueheronabq/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5iNywSwnYX4eMwaQISEpzG
https://www.facebook.com/blueheronabq

http://shop.bilocationrecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kozmikartifactz

https://www.facebook.com/seeingredrecords/
https://www.instagram.com/seeing_red_records/
http://www.seeingredrecords.com/
https://seeingredrecords.bandcamp.com/

Blue Heron, “Futurola” video

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Quarterly Review: Arð, Seremonia, The Quill, Dark Worship, More Experience, Jawless, The Heavy Co., Sound of Smoke, Red Mesa, Margarita Witch Cult

Posted in Reviews on April 5th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

THE-OBELISK-FALL-2020-QUARTERLY-REVIEW

Well then, here we are. Day two of the Spring 2022 Quarterly Review brings a few records that I really, really like, personally, and I hope that you listen and feel similar. What you’ll find throughout is a pretty wide swath of styles, but these are the days of expanded-definition heavy, so let’s not squabble about this or that. Still a lot of week to go, folks. Gotta keep it friendly.

Deep breath in, and…

Quarterly Review #11-20:

Arð, Take Up My Bones

ard take up my bones

Hard to know at what point Winterfylleth‘s Mark Deeks decided to send his historically-minded solo-project Arð to Prophecy Productions for release consideration, but damned if the six-song Take Up My Bones doesn’t feel quintessential. Graceful lines of piano and strings give way to massively-constructed lumbering funeralia, vocals adding to the atmosphere overall as the story of St. Cuthbert’s bones is recounted through song, in mood perhaps more than folk balladeering. Whatever your familiarity with that narrative or willingness to engage it, Deeks‘ arrangements are lush and wondrously patient, the sound of “Boughs of Trees” at the outset of side B building smoothly toward its deathly sprawl but unrelentingly melodic. The longer “Raise Then the Incorrupt Body” and “Only Three Shall Know” come across as more directly dramatic with their chants and so on, but Arð‘s beauty-through-darkness melancholy is the center around which the album is built and the end result is suitably consuming. While not incomplete by any means, I find myself wondering when it’s over what other stories Deeks may have to tell.

Arð on Facebook

Prophecy Productions website

 

Seremonia, Neonlusifer

seremonia neonlusifer

Oh, Seremonia. How I missed you. These long six years after Pahuuden Äänet (review here), the Finnish troupe return to rescue their cult listenership from any and all mundane realities, psych and garage-fuzz potent enough to come with a warning label (which so far as I know it doesn’t) on “Neonlusifer” and the prior opener “Väärä valinta” with the all-the-way-out flute-laced swirl of “Raskatta vettä,” and if you don’t know what to make of all those vowel sounds, good luck with the cosmic rock of “Kaivon pohjalla” and “Unohduksen kidassa,” on which vocalist Noora Federley relinquishes the lead spot to new recruit Teemu Markkula (also Death Hawks), who also adds guitar, synth, organ and flute alongside the guitar/synth/vocals of Ville Pirinen, the drums/guitar/flute/vocals of Erno Taipale and bass/synth/vocals of Ilkka Vekka. This is a band who reside — permanently, it seems — on a wavelength of their own, and Neonlusifer is more than welcome after their time out of time. May it herald more glorious oddness to come from the noisy mist that ends “Maailmanlopun aamuna” and the album as a whole.

Seremonia on Facebook

Svart Records website

 

The Quill, Live, New, Borrowed, Blue

The Quill Live New Borrowed and Blue

Swedish heavy rockers The Quill mark 30 years of existence in 2022 (actually they go back further), and while Live, New, Borrowed, Blue isn’t quite an anniversary release, it does collect material from a pretty broad span of years. Live? “Keep it Together” and an especially engaging take on “Hole in My Head” that closes. New? The extended version of “Keep on Moving” from 2021’s Earthrise (review here), “Burning Tree” and “Children of the Sun.” Borrowed? Iron Maiden‘s “Where Eagles Dare,” November‘s “Mount Everest,” Aerosmith‘s “S.O.S.” and Captain Beyond‘s “Frozen Over.” Blue? Certainly “Burning Tree,” and all of it, if you’re talking about bluesy riffs, which, if you’re talking about The Quill, you are. In the narrative of Sverige heavy rock, they remain undersung, and this compilation, in addition to being a handy-dandy fan-piece coming off their last record en route to the inevitable next one, is further evidence to support that claim. Either you know or you don’t. Three decades on, The Quill are gonna be The Quill either way.

The Quill on Facebook

Metalville Records website

 

Dark Worship, Flesh of a Saint

Dark Worship Flesh of a Saint

Though it’s just 20 minutes long, the six-song debut from Ohio’s Dark Worship offers dark industrial heft and a grim psychedelic otherworldliness in more than enough measure to constitute a full-length. At the center of the storm — though not the eye of it, because it’s quiet there — is J. Meyers, also of Axioma, who conjures the spaces of “Culling Song” and “We’ve Always Been Here” as a bed for a selection of guest vocalists, including Nathan Opposition of Ancient VVisdom/Vessel of Light, Axioma‘s Aaron Dallison, and Joe Reed (To Dust, Exorcisme). No matter who’s fronting a given track — Reed gets the lion’s share, Dallison the title-track and Opposition the penultimate “Destroy Forever (Death of Ra)” — the vibe is biting and dark in kind, with Meyers providing backing vocals, guitar, and of course the software-born electronic beats and melodies that are the core of the project. Maybe hindsight will make this nascent-feeling, but in terms of world construction, Flesh of a Saint is punishing in its immersion, right up to the howling feedback and ambience of “Well of Light” at the finish. Conceptually destructive.

Dark Worship on Facebook

Tartarus Records store

 

More Experience, Electric Laboratory of High Space Experience

More Experience Electric Laboratory of High Space Experience

Nature sounds feature throughout More Experience‘s 2021 third album, Electric Laboratory of High Space Experience, with birdsong and other naturalist atmospheres in opener “The Twilight,” “Beezlebufo,” closer “At the Gates of Dawn,” and so on. Interspersed between them is the Polish troupe’s ’60s-worship psych. Drawing on sonic references from the earliest space rock and post-garage psychedelics — think Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, King Crimson’s “Epitaph” is almost remade here as the penultimate title-track — band founder Piotr Dudzikowski (credited with guitars, organs, synthesizers, backing vocals, harmonium, tambura, and cobuz) gets by with a little help from his friends, which means in part that the vocals of extended early highlight “The Dream” are pulled back for a grain-of-salt spoken word on “The Trip” and the later “Fairy Tale.” The synthy “The Mind” runs over nine minutes and between that, “The Dream” and the title-track (9:56), I feel like I’m digging the longer-form, more dug-in songs, but I’m not going to take away from the ambient and more experimental stuff either, since that’s how this music was invented in the first place.

More Experience on Facebook

More Experience on Bandcamp

 

Jawless, Warrizer

Jawless Warrizer

Young Indonesian riffers Jawless get right to the heart of heavy on their debut album, Warrizer, with a raw take on doom rock that’s dead-on heavy and classic in its mindset. There’s nothing fancy happening here other than some flourish of semi-psych guitar, but the self-produced four-piece from Bandung kill it with a reverence of course indebted to but not beholden to Sabbathian blues licks, and their swing on “Deceptive Events” alone is enough proof-of-concept for me. I’m on board. It’s not about progressive this or that. It’s not about trying to find a genre niche no one’s thought of yet. This is players in a room rocking the fuck out. And they might have a bleak point of view in cuts like “War is Come,” and one does not have to look too far to get the reference in “The Throne of Tramp,” but that sense of judgment is part and parcel to originalist doom. At 50 minutes, it’s long for an LP, but as “Restrained” pays off the earlier psychedelic hints, “Metaphorical Speech” boogie-jams and “G.O.D.” rears back with each measure to spit its next line, I wouldn’t lose any of it.

Jawless on Facebook

Jawless on Bandcamp

 

The Heavy Co., Shelter

The Heavy Co Shelter

Adding a guest guitar solo from EarthlessIsaiah Mitchell wasn’t going to hurt the cause of Indianapolis duo The Heavy Co., and sure enough it doesn’t. Issued digitally in 2020 and premiered here, “Shelter” runs a quick three minutes of psych-blues rock perfectly suited to the 7″ treatment Rock Freaks Records gives it and the earlier digi-single “Phoenix” (posted here), which had been the group’s first offering after a six-year break. “Phoenix,” which is mellower and more molten in its tempo throughout its six minutes, might be the better song of the two, but the twang in “Shelter” pairs well with that bluesy riff from guitarist/vocalist Ian Daniel, and Jeff Kaleth holds it down on drums. More to come? Maybe. There’s interesting ground here to explore in this next phase of The Heavy Co.‘s tenure.

The Heavy Co. on Facebook

Rock Freaks Records store

 

Sound of Smoke, Tales

Sound of Smoke Tales

All that “Witch Boogie” is missing is John Lee Hooker going “boom boom boom” over that riff, and even when opener “Strange Fruit” or “Dreamin'” is indebted to the Rolling Stones, it’s the bluesier side of their sound. No problem there, but Freiburg, Germany, four-piece Sound of Smoke bring a swagger and atmosphere to “Soft Soaper” that almost ’70s-style Scorpions in its beginning before the shuffling verse starts, tambourine and all, and there’s plenty of pastoral psych in “Indian Summer” and 10-minute “Human Salvation,” the more weighted surges of which feel almost metallic in their root — like someone between vocalist/keyboardist Isabelle Bapté, guitarist Jens Stöver, bassist Florian Kiefer and drummer Johannes Braunstein once played in a harder-focused project. Still, as their debut LP after just a 2017 EP, the seven-song/43-minute Tales shows a looser rumble in “Devil’s Voice” behind Bapté, and there’s a persona and perspective taking shape in the songs. It’ll be hard work for them to stand out, but given what I hear in these tracks, both their psych edge and that sharper underpinning will be assets in their favor along with the sense of performance they bring.

Sound of Smoke on Facebook

Tonzonen Records website

 

Red Mesa, Forest Cathedral

red mesa forest cathedral

Coming off their 2020 full-length, The Path to the Deathless (review here), Albuquerque-based trio Red Mesa — guitarist/vocalist Brad Frye, bassist/vocalist Alex Cantwell, who alternates here with Frye, and drummer/backing vocalist Roman Barham, who may or may not also join in on the song’s willfully lumbering midsection — take a stated turn toward doom with the 5:50 Forest Cathedral single. The grittier groove suits them, and the increasing sharing of vocals (which includes backing), makes them a more complex act overall, but there’s not necessarily anything in “Forest Cathedral” to make one think it’s some radical shift in another direction, which there was enough of on The Path to the Deathless to warrant a guest appearance from Dave Sherman of Earthride. Still, they continue to do it well, and honing in on this particular sound, whether something they do periodically to change it up, never touch again after this, or see as a new way to go all-in, I’m content to follow along and see where it goes.

Red Mesa on Facebook

Desert Records BigCartel store

 

Margarita Witch Cult, Witchfinder

Margarita Witch Cult Witchfinder

In keeping with the tradition of over-the-top weed-doom band names, Margarita Witch Cult crawl forth from the birthplace of sonic weight, Birmingham, UK, with their debut two-songer cassingle-looking CD/DL Witchfinder. That’s not the only tradition they’re keeping. See also the classic riffer doom they capture in their practice space on the not-tape and the resulting rawness of “The Witchfinder Comes” and “Aradia,” bot nodders preaching Iommic truths. There’s a bit more scorch in the solo on “Aradia,” but that could honestly mean the microphone moved, and either way, they also keep the tradition of many such UK acts with goofball monikers in actually being pretty right on. Of course, they’re in one of the most crowded heavy undergrounds anywhere in the world, but there’s a lot to be said for taking doom rock and stripping it bare as they do on these tracks, the very least of which is that it would probably work really well on tape. If I was at the gig and I saw it on the merch table, I’d snag and look forward to more. I’ll do the same with the Bandcamp.

Margarita Witch Cult on Facebook

Margarita Witch Cult on Bandcamp

 

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Red Mesa to Release “Forest Cathedral” Single May 6

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 24th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

red mesa

Ultimately, it’s not such a huge surprise to find Albuquerque-based trio Red Mesa — who Desert Records founder Brad Frye and Monolith on the Mesa co-founder Roman Barham in their ranks along with bassist/vocalist Alex Cantwell, who I’m sure runs a record pressing plant or something likewise relevant — digging into doomier sounds. As much as the band are of the desert regionally, their 2020 full-length, The Path to the Deathless (review here), offered an array of sonic branchouts, demonstrating their will not to be pigeonholed in terms of style. The new single “Forest Cathedral” finds its equilibrium in chunky-style riffs and a classic nod that’s malevolent in atmosphere even as the lyrics offer a sense of worship for the natural world.

Red Mesa have live shows coming up starting tomorrow and running throughout Spring, including a brief stint with Cloud Catcher, and have already been announced for this year’s Monolith on the Mesa as well in September. If there are further recording plans (aren’t there always?), I’ve no specifics to offer, but I wouldn’t read “Forest Cathedral” as a radical shift in overarching direction for the band as much as the three-piece continuing to explore having multiple songwriters tapping into a greater swath of influence even than what they showed two years ago. Continued progression, heavy riffs. Claiming more territory and topography with their sound. I will not argue.

It’s not streaming yet, but info on what drove Cantwell into the forest follows here ahead of preorders starting next week. As per the PR wire:

red mesa forest cathedral

RED MESA to release their new Doom Metal single “Forest Cathedral” on May 6th via Desert Records

The heavy desert trio will start preorder on April 1st (Bandcamp only) for limited edition 7″ lathe vinyl & merch bundle that will include Taos desert sage, t-shirt, patch, stickers.

A walk in the woods. That’s what inspired Red Mesa’s new single “Forest Cathedral” on Desert Records. Not to sound trite, but even saying that anything “inspired” the song is a misnomer. A more accurate way to explain how the song came about is that it was “revealed” to bass player Alex Cantwell during repeated hikes in the same area of Oak Flat in Tijeras, NM.

“In New Mexico where we live”, explains Alex, “there are different topographies within a short drive from each other including high desert landscapes, forested mountains, river valleys with old growth trees called the bosque, sand dunes, grass plains, salt flats, caves, etc. This provides an aesthetic variety and different perspectives. I spent 10 months renting a cabin in the mountains in the forest, and it was an amazing place to spend time. I especially loved my frequent hikes, and this song, riff by riff was all pieced together in my head as the muse provided it to me and made it available for me to snatch out of the air. The lyrics are simply an outpouring of simple gratitude for the forest itself.”

“Forest Cathedral” sees Red Mesa embracing it’s gratitude and reverence for something else as well; doom metal. While their 2020 album “The Path to the Deathless” saw the band branch out from a desert rock format with nods to Kyuss, but also Motorhead, east coast doom, and expansive soundscapes that would give way to quiet acoustic passages and death metal alike, this new single is a nod to true doom, but done in Red Mesa’s ever-evolving style.

RED MESA hit the road this spring for a mini-tour with Cloud Catcher, and shows with Earthless, Nebula.

3/25 LAUNCHPAD- Albuquerque, NM w/Destroyer of Light
3/30 LAUNCHPAD- Albuquerque, NM w/REZN
4/10 LAUNCHPAD – Albuquerque, NM w/Earthless
5/7 LAUNCHPAD – Albuquerque, NM w/Nebula, Year of the Cobra
5/14 TRINIDAD LOUNGE, Trinidad, CO w/Cloud Catcher
5/15 REVOLT GALLERY, Taos, NM w/Cloud Catcher
5/16/22 TUMBLEROOT BREWERY Santa Fe, NM w/Cloud Catcher
5/17 LAUNCHPAD – Albuquerque, NM w/Cloud Catcher
5/27-5/28 – THE FEST IN THE NEST- Eagle Nest, NM.

Red Mesa is (L to R): Alex Cantwell – bass/vox, Brad Frye – guitar/vox, Roman Barham – drums/backing vox

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

Red Mesa, The Path to the Deathless (2020)

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Monolith on the Mesa 2022 Makes First Lineup Announcement

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 21st, 2022 by JJ Koczan

They say there’s more to come and given the scope of past editions of Monolith on the Mesa, one expects that’s the truth. It’s a different universe since the last time the El Prado, New Mexico-based festival was held, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t note — as you can read below — that this is the first Monolith on the Mesa to be held without co-founder Dano Sanchez, who passed away last Fall. Fellow founder Roman Barham, along with Ashley Sanchez and the Taos Mesa Brewing director Jayson Wylie have continued forward in collaboration, and the first lineup announcement is a celebration of the underground deep and high. Mars Red SkyWarHorseThe ObsessedThe OtolithDuel, Love Gang, and Red Mesa are the initial cohort, and that’s an admirable grouping on the levels of style and geography alike, representing West Coast, East Coast, in between and Europe in the span of seven bands. Right on.

I’m glad this festival is moving forward with Monolith on the Mesa 2022, and I’ve no doubt it’ll be a party.

To wit:

Monolith on the Mesa 2022

MARS RED SKY, THE OBSESSED, WARHORSE, THE OTOLITH, DUEL, RED MESA, LOVE GANG, AND MORE SET TO PLAY MONOLITH ON THE MESA: MUSIC AND ART FESTIVAL IN TAOS, NEW MEXICO

SEPTEMBER 16-17-18, 2022

located at Taos Mesa Brewing The Mothership the festival is open air

Monolith on the Mesa takes the cosmic opportunity of the vernal equinox to announce its return to Taos Mesa Brewing The Mothership, after the forced two year hiatus due to the global pandemic. Dates are set for September 16th, 17th, 18th, 2022. The festival is proud to share part of the line-up today including Mars Red Sky, The Obsessed, Warhorse, The Otolith, Duel, Love Gang, Red Mesa and visual magicians: Mad Alchemy Liquid Light Show.

The line-up remains “true to concept” and will focus on heavy riff-rock acts from across multiple sub-genres including stoner rock, heavy psych, doom metal, sludge, drone, and retro rock. The festival will once again be billed as “a truly singular and mystical experience. A weekend of live music heaviness blasting onto the high desert mesa in full view of the Sangre de Christo mountains.”

This past September the festival lost visionary co-founder, Dano Sanchez. In a statement Monolith on the Mesa producers Ashley Sanchez and Roman Barham, together with brewery director Jayson Wylie, say: “the festival experience is dedicated to our dearly beloved, fallen brother, and co-founder Dano Sanchez. Dano’s contribution has influenced only great times, as summed up in his signature phrase: “Hey bud, let’s party!” We’ll honor Dano by putting on an amazing festival featuring specialty crafted beers from Taos Mesa Brewery (served in reusable cups to reduce single use plastic), interactive art installations in conjunction with Revolt Gallery, and some of the best bands from around the world.”

This year the festival will be open air and focused around the “earthship” amphitheatre which holds 1,500 people. Upcoming festival announcements will detail efforts to make the event more eco-friendly, with less single use plastic and other disposables.

DATES AND TIMES:
September 16th, 17th, 18th, 2022
Doors at 12:00 pm. Bands start at 1:00 pm.

VENUE:
Taos Mesa Brewing The Mothership
20 ABC Mesa Rd, El Prado, NM, 87529
https://www.taosmesabrewing.com/mothership

TICKET INFORMATION:
Monolith on the Mesa will honor tickets and other arrangements purchased in 2020 and 2021. Tickets will be rolled over to this year’s Will Call list.

Single Day Pass $60 ticket link:
https://holdmyticket.com/event/preview/event/be9b80e802fe934571af2d383f254a67

Two Day Pass $100 ticket link:
https://holdmyticket.com/event/preview/event/a2d1bf3d2a361e7df590738ee74e72c4

Three Day Pass $150 ticket link:
https://holdmyticket.com/event/preview/event/79c197fd39ff30a21f68fc545f003cb1

Rain or shine event!

monolithonthemesa.com
facebook.com/monolithonthemesa
instagram.com/monolithonthemesa
twitter.com/onmonolith

Mars Red Sky, “Crazy Hearth” official video

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Brad Frye of Red Mesa & Desert Records

Posted in Questionnaire on January 21st, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Brad Frye of Red Mesa & Desert Records

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Brad Frye of Red Mesa & Desert Records

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I am the sole owner/operator of the small record label, Desert Records.

I am the founding member of the desert rock band, Red Mesa.

Both the label and band are very active and take all my free time when I’m not working or raising my family. I live in Albuquerque, NM, a place I moved to in 2010 to start a “desert rock” band, which directly led to me forming Red Mesa. New Mexico is high desert, I live at 5,000 feet of elevation here in the city. The energy and spirit of the high desert helps fuel my creativity and stamina for both of these projects.

With the label, it’s 100% DIY. At the moment, I have 23 bands/artists on the label with 20 albums being released in 2021. This might be boring… but here’s the basic run-down of what I do with DR. I scout and sign bands, send out agreements/contracts, organize all aspects of releases, do all the admin work for setting up the music for streaming/distribution/direct sales. I do all the PR campaigns in house. I do all the accounting reports and handle all finances. I run the label’s social media/ marketing/advertising. On top of that, I spend a fair amount of time talking/messaging/emailing with the bands/artists directly. My approach is to operate a label that supports the musical vision of the artists on the label.

Overall, it’s a ton of work, a true labor of love. I put my heart and soul into this. So far, I have not been able to pay myself or bring home money to my family. I hope so one day, but in the meantime I reinvest any profits back into the label to help it grow.

Describe your first musical memory.

I guess it would be listening to cassette tapes in my folks car in the early 80’s in rural Maine. My parents introduced me to The Beatles, CCR, Bob Segar, Bruce Springsteen, and ’50s-’80s radio pop and rock. No one in my family played music, so I didn’t grow up around instruments nor did I see any live music as a kid.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

My first concert was seeing Tool in 1998 in Lewiston, ME. I was 18, a senior in high school, and it was truly the first big concert I had ever seen. They were touring for the Aenima album and they were in their prime. Completely blew my mind. That experience has stuck with me.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

Good question. Hard to pick one moment. Daily, I am confronted with doubt and belief, good and evil, light and dark, peace and chaos. I am not religious, but I am certainly of the spiritual realm (I believe we all are). Finding the peace within is the only thing that will keep me (or anyone) balanced to deal with all of life’s pressures and stress. Then you die. You can die at any minute. I do not want to be surprised by death. I want to be able to be at peace with that moment whenever it comes.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Evolution of the individual. Honesty. Finding the peace within. There is no other point to life. Stasis is death…

How do you define success?

The correct and true answer is happiness. My motto is “Follow your projects with purpose and passion without attachment to the outcome.” That is much easier said than done. Happiness in art can get buried in a number of things in which musicians and labels also have to gauge as “success”. When running a record label, you are helping release someone else’s art. This is extremely important to them, and must be handled with the utmost respect and care for their music. There are deadlines, budgets, sales goals, social media, growing a fan base, playing live shows/tours, on and on and on….It’s easy to get lost in the work and stress of it all. You have to believe in the music.

It’s the same with making your own music. You have to love it for yourself. You can’t care if anyone else will love it or hate it. You must also find a balance in your life…income, rent & bills, family, health, etc.

All the bands and labels that I work/communicate with do not earn any income from their music.

This is a tough reality to swallow. That means you really have to have your shit together.

Do not take things too seriously. Enjoy what you are doing. Play what you love and what makes you happy. If you can sit outside with your instrument in nature and play for no one AND be happy, you are doing fine. Truly, nothing else really matters.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

Greed, hatred, and violence. It all stems from fear. I have seen it from myself. I have seen it from people I love. I see it daily in my neighborhood. On the news/internet/social media. Something about those things make being a human being seem disgusting and hopeless. I still believe in love and gratitude. I strive to cultivate those on a daily basis to destroy fear.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

An instrumental/ambient/western/drone solo album(s). I have hundreds of voice memos on my iPhone of little ideas and pieces of music. I find it relaxing to play stuff that isn’t a structured song. When I get some time, I will start putting these together and record/release some of this stuff.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

To connect humans to a higher level of consciousness. Art provides perspective. It is an expression. It provides hope that life is not just work, chores, routine, birth and death cycles. Good music has always inspired me. Inspiration can be a powerful factor in motivating humans to strive for a higher consciousness.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Raising my one-year-old son, Wyatt. He’s changed my life for the better. I want to be the best father I can be for him.

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

Red Mesa, The Path to the Deathless (2020)

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