This Friday, New Jersey-based heavy rockers Ego Planet will issue their self-titled debut through Argonauta Records. The band took kind of a roundabout path to existence — as you can read below, the songs on Ego Planet began life as solo demos by Chris Baker, who plays guitar and bass on the album; vocalist Jarrett Mead lived in Seattle, etc. — but you’d hardly know any of that from the music. Comprised in its vinyl edition of 10 songs that run 38 minutes — the LP has two bonus tracks; the hook of “Dead Man’s Float” is enough on its own to justify shelling out for the whole record but thankfully isn’t close to being on its own making the argument — Ego Planet engages classic structures and rock songwriting forms while interpreting them through big, accessible hooks and a style that borders on the commercial.

Now, when I say commercial, there’s a bit to unpack, particularly as relates to Ego Planet. Where a lot of modern heavy plays atmospherics through effects or synth or just noise off of verses, choruses, bridges, and so on, perhaps in intros or outros or breaks; it becomes a distinct thing within a whole work. The ambient parts. Ego Planet have some of that as well, at the beginning of opener “Swallow the Sun” to immerse the listener at the outset, or as a preface to the tense metal chug of “Entertainment” — the acoustic start of “Order of the Tree,” but even the openness of the verse in the two-minute “Leviathan” holds depth in its sound en route to its even-bigger-hook ending, and Ego Planet use that space effectively in changing the mood and character of their songs without indulgences. The album is sharp and professional in a way that many heavy rock records are not interested in being, and Ego Planet‘s drawing from ’80s metal in cuts like “Entertainment,” “Butcher’s Blade” and the first of the bonus tracks “T.H.E.N.” brings that much more personality to the deftly set course through grunge and heavier styles that show up in the songs.

But “commercial” as regards heavy rock and roll doesn’t exist. There’s no MTV to shoot for, no radio play. Chasing streams and cynically manipulating algorithms feels lesser in scale than “The Call” and “Reflection,” which round out the opening salvo after “Swallow the Sun” — presumably not about the Finnish band, but you never know — impact-swings to its cold finish. Among the messages conveyed in those first three songs before “Entertainment” and “Butcher’s Blade” start roughing up the place is the focus on songwriting throughout, but performance meets that on every level across the span, whether it’s Steve Iannettoni‘s drums declaring the apex of the leadoff or maximizing the roll in the already-noted chorus of “Dead Man’s Float” or Mead‘s harmonizing there. And that remains true as Ego Planet explore the post-grunge hard rock of “Faceless Children” with hints of Dehumanizer-style Iommism in the riff of its verse, following up in the chorus of the subsequent “Order of the Tree” with a metal-informed largesse that’s not aggressive in the delivery and defined in no small part by its likewise expanse of melody.

They’re more than flirting with heavy metal here, and that’s not a negative judgment by any means. Without tipping over into outright anger in the presentation, Ego Planet find and successfully manipulate a balance of elements that makes their self-titled feel even less like a debut and even more professional. Some bands just know what they’re going for at the outset. As “T.H.E.N.” bases itself around a sharper, defined chug en route to its chorus, it seems to be working toward a big finish and bounces its groove with extra stops in the second half, but if it hasn’t gotten across yet, it’s “Dead Man’s Float” that delivers on that promise, with Lo-Pan soul, Alice in Chains breadth and a roll that makes its four-minute runtime feel short. It is the kind of track that rings in your head afterward, and so is impeccably placed.

And if you didn’t know, this is the part where I generalize that last statement to Ego Planet as a whole, because while “Dead Man’s Float” has that memorability and is positioned to highlight it, the awareness on the band’s part of the moves they’re making here resonate with intention. I don’t know where Ego Planet see themselves going in terms of sound — there are hints dropped in a few progressive twists, and I’ll just mention that they haven’t actually thrashed out at this point and they wouldn’t necessarily be out of line if they did next time — but moving forward from such an expertly-crafted first LP, they’ll be in that much better position to continue to push themselves as they audibly do here.

That’s it, kids. Album streams below, followed by the preorder link and PR wire info. Hail Garden State heavy.

Enjoy:

Ego Planet, Ego Planet (2023)

Preorders are up at this address: https://www.argonautarecords.com/shop/

Ego Planet is a Heavy Rock band based in New Jersey, formed in 2020 from a collection of instrumental demos founder, Chris Baker, wrote in the midst of the Covid-19 quarantine.

After several months of writing, Chris partnered up with vocalist/lyricist, Jarrett Mead, to add a voice to his music. The two collaborated to finish 10 songs remotely while Jarrett was living in Seattle, WA. In January of 2021 recording began at Backroom Studios in Rockaway, NJ with owner/engineer Kevin Antreassian. The studio band features Jarrett Mead (Vocals), Chris Baker (Guitars/Bass) and Steve Iannettoni (Drums).

TRACKLISTING:
1. Swallow The Sun
2. The Call
3. Reflection
4. Entertainment
5. Butcher’s Blade
6. Leviathan
7. Faceless Children
8. Order Of The Tree
9. T.H.E.N. (Vinyl Bonus Track)
10. Dead Man’s Float (Vinyl Bonus Track)

Ego Planet on Facebook

Ego Planet on Instagram

Ego Planet on Bandcamp

Ego Planet on Linktr.ee

Argonauta Records on Instagram

Argonauta Records on Facebook

Argonauta Records store

Fasano, Italy-based heavy rockers King Potenaz released their debut album, Goat Rider (review here), this past Spring through countryman imprint Argonauta Records. Business over, right? April was like 13 years ago. Who cares about records more than five minutes after they’re released anyway? On to the next thing.

Meanwhile, Giuseppe, Francesco and Pierro aka PRNX (I don’t know how you pronounce that, but if I’d been named after Prince, that’s how I’d spell it) take the nine-minute “Dancing Plague” for a full lap around from a quiet wakeup in the low end through more rockin’ post-Kyuss desert crunch — and they didn’t skip the crunch, as many others might — with snarling, echoing vocals almost guttural in the verses like Celtic Frost. I haven’t seen the lyrics, but THC and LSD both get namedropped in a single line, the hook is “She is my dancing plague,” and they back it with those red sun blues until about five minutes into the video when they shift into a jam.

That inward transition is awfully smooth for basically using the tactic of ‘now we’re doing this’ to make it happen. But a band confident enough — and with a good enough drummer — can be in a jam 10 seconds after finishing a chorus and still get cheers from the crowd. King Potenaz at their most immersive on Goat Rider retain the album’s lack of pretense — they friggin’ called it Goat Rider; nobody’s out here trying to be Very Serious Artists^TM. These are riffers, reveling. And it’s the transition back out of the jam to the central riff — if ever there’s a moment not to screw up, that’s it — that absolutely makes it. They handle it with no more ceremony than they had going in, and clearly there’s no need for any.

And throughout whether it’s the quiet, the loud, the quiet or the loud, King Potenaz ask nothing more of the listener or viewer than to semi-consciously follow along, while making it both easy and enjoyable to do so. The video is basically a performance clip with the members superimposed on backgrounds of what look like architectural tourist attractions of Italy’s boot. It might be kind of an artsy send-up with the black and white, the atmospheric shots, etc., but in the lack of fancy tricks, it’s true to the band’s traditionalist ethos,and like the song itself it’s a reminder that when you strip everything else out, it’s still about the joy of communal creativity and playing with friends. That’s the vibe I get, anyhow. You can see for yourself and decide, I know.

Hope you dig it, in any case, and thanks for dedicating a few minutes of your day to doing so.

King Potenaz, “Dancing Plague” video premiere

The song is taken from their album GOAT RIDER, released April 28th, 2023 via ARGONAUTA Records: http://www.argonautarecords.com/shop/

Born out of a series of jam sessions in 2019 in Fasano (Italy), KING POTENAZ began to write their own music by drawing heavily on the work of doom/stoner bands like Sleep, Electric Wizard, Kyuss, Monster Magnet and, of course, Black Sabbath.

After a change on drums, the lineup solidifies into the current power trio formed by Giuseppe (guitar and vocals), Francesco (bass guitar) and Piero (drums and synths).

Longtime friends and musicians, they are active in the local heavy/underground scene since the 90s: Giuseppe and Francesco initiated several black/doom/drone projects such as Helvete, Moriendoom and Rius de la Mort, whereas Piero played drums in punk/hardcore bands No Exit and Erpice and produced two electronic solo albums as PRNX.

King Potenaz:
Giuseppe guitar/vocals
Francesco bass
PRNX drums/synth

(Photo above by Studio Figure)

King Potenaz, Goat Rider (2023)

King Potenaz on Facebook

King Potenaz on Instagram

King Potenaz on Bandcamp

Argonauta Records on Facebook

Argonauta Records on Instagram

Argonauta Records store

[Click play above to stream Superlynx’s 4 10 in its entirety. Album is out tomorrow on Argonauta Records.]

It’s been a productive few years from Oslo’s Superlynx. Their third album, 2021’s Electric Temple (review here), was followed-up by that December’s Solstice EP (review here), and last year, vocalist Pia Isaksen released the first full-length from her solo-project Pia Isa. It was announced this Spring they’d signed to Argonauta Records for their fourth album, the numerically-titled 4 10 and the eight-song/45-minute collection also features the first appearance of guitarist Espen Krøll alongside Isaksen, guitarist Daniel Bakken and drummer Ole Teigen, and it is marked by a languid overarching flow between the tracks, songs like “Sphinx” and “Heavier Than Me” on side A spacious in their presentation with atmosphere high on a list of priorities with sonic heft and melody. There are deeper aspects of grunge underlying some of the riffs, doom to be had throughout, but the real tell of 4 10 is in opener “Cycle.”

It is among the shorter cuts at 4:27 — the longest is presumed side B opener “Nothing to Everything” at 7:42; anagram numbers are fun — and has a mellow heavy crux with a slow, steady roll for which “Heavier Than Me” offers structural reinforcement, fleshing out the sense of mood that begins in “Cycle” and spans the record’s entirety, and is no less encompassing in this than the breadth of echoing reaches of “Into the Sun” in the final moments. Superlynx have always touched on psychedelia, and the additional guitar lets them do so on 4 10 with according flexibility as they reportedly shifted their process toward emphasizing the jams at root in their songwriting.

Indeed, it’s relatively easy to imagine the now-four-piece Superlynx in a rehearsal space, happening on the fluidity of riff that would soon enough become “The Unknown” at the finish of side A or the swaying semi-twang of the penultimate “Under its Spell,” which with a few pulls notes here and there evokes heavy Westernism as well as the garage doom of Uncle Acid and maybe even a bit of Graveyard‘s drawn blues as a near-drone backdrop for Isaksen‘s vocals. It doesn’t sound like an planned progression, something brought in by one of the members for the others to add their parts; it sounds like it came together, together, with all of them in the room. Organic is the word, and “Under its Spell” moves in much the same way, oozing naturally forward as the guitar becomes more prominent, grabs the front portion of the mix for a soulful lead after five minutes in, begins to draw it down from there.

They don’t mirror each other exactly — if I’ve got the vinyl structure right at all, that is — but “The Unknown” capping side A and “Under its Spell” would seem to have more in common than a titular prefix. Each later on its respective side, with “Into the Sun” backing the latter as the closer, and each offers some relative uptick in its delivery, whether it’s the vocals assuming a more intense cadence around three minutes into “The Unknown” or that howling guitar in “Under its Spell.” These little flourishes aren’t a ton on their own, but with the intricacy of melody in “Cycle,” the dual-vocals and sweep in the second half of “Nothing to Everything,” the still-somehow-morose shimmer of “Into the Sun” as it plays out its six and a half minutes, they and others like them add up, and 4 10 derives a facet of its persona as a record from them. Even with their songs rooted in jams, it seems Superlynx are prone to build something from out of them rather than directly port their improv sessions onto a platter — not that there’s anything wrong with that.

“Away,” which is the actual shortest cut at 3:28, precedes the closing duo and has a sudden stop before its held-chug verse begins, and is molten in its flow in kind with much of what surrounds, but arriving between “Nothing to Everything” and “Under its Spell” as it does, it has a secondary function of keeping momentum rolling from one extended piece to the next, and its hairy jangle of guitar is the foundation on which it rests to do so. Lyrics are semi-spoken at first, but “Away” is more than an interlude, and demonstrates how Superlynx are able to tie distinct pieces together in tone and style such that the continuity of 4 10, once laid out, holds through the finish.

In this way, the album is best experienced as a front to back listen, but individual tracks like “Cycle,” “The Unknown” and “Under its Spell” represent well the scope of floating vocals and outstretched guitar, nuanced composition interpreted through brooding psychedelia, weighted tonally in the guitars — remember there are two now! — and emotionally through Isaksen‘s voice, which rests easily in the verses and choruses as the organic approach of the band seems to extend to leaving space for vocals by rote rather than trying to adjust riffs around lyrics later.

That may or may not be how Superlynx actually function, but the complete statement of 4 10 is about who they are as a band, and they portray themselves with a rampant maturity. That’s not a dogwhistle for that they’re somehow staid creatively or they’ve stopped growing — they aren’t and haven’t — but it does mean they know what they’re doing in a way that, when their debut LVX came out in 2016 just three years after they’d formed, wouldn’t have been possible. The growth facilitated in their live work and their experience in the studio and as songwriters, it’s all right in these songs, right unto a little bit of hope in the early going of “Into the Sun” amid the pervasive melancholia, including that process of building upward — from “Nothing to Everything,” as the song puts it — in embracing the open feel of the jam without giving up the core of craft around it.

Whatever else they are, the tracks on 4 10 — there are four in the band now; they’ve been around for 10 years — are, they are the most realized representation to-date of Superlynx‘s methods, and the balance in them of meter and melody, ambience and impact, aren’t to be understated. They have carved out a place for themselves, stylistically, and now set about refining it as their own.

Superlynx on Facebook

Superlynx on Instagram

Superlynx on Bandcamp

Argonauta Records website

Argonauta Records on Facebook

Argonauta Records on Instagram

Argonauta Records on Bandcamp

Almost Honest signed to Argonauta Records in July and at the time announced their first album for the label and third overall would be released this Fall. No exact date on it yet, but the title is The Hex of Penn’s Woods and the first single/video “Amish Hex” finds the New Cumberland, Pennsylvania-based outfit digging into their regional lore.

Southern Central PA — for those who didn’t grow up on the Eastern Seaboard of the US — and particularly Lancaster County, has been home to the religious community of the Amish for 300 years. The technology-averse sect — which has spread through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and more than 25 other states, even if Lancaster County retains the highest population: about 30,000 — has long been a subject for television and films, novels, that one Weird Al video and so on depicting life inside and around the Amish way of being, but generally one’s experience with them will be limited to a hello passing by or giving wide berth to a slower-moving horse-drawn carriage traveling on the side of the road. They are something of a local feature, and if you ever end up someplace that promises the likes of ‘Penn Dutch’ cooking, that’s a thing you want to eat.

Driving out through farm land, one will likewise see plenty of hex signs as a local feature. Usually circular, intricate patterns; you can buy them at tourist shops and take them home. Almost Honest‘s take in the clip for “Amish Hex” is somewhat different, as the band explains below. The Amish kid who gets bullied gets his in the end, which I suppose is the advantage of being able to turn into a badass wizard who can control lightning. Handy, to say the least. As the song plays out through its nodder riff and layered, melodic chorus — the abiding attitude shooting for and hitting “nothing too fancy” without sounding staid or like anything’s missing — the video sympathizes with the young boy being pushed around, and fairly enough so. Granted, the Amish aren’t known for being a forward-thinking bunch, but it’s not the kid’s fault he was born. Again, good thing he’s a wizard.

Amish Gandalf’s revenge plays out cathartically as the song retains a likewise humble vibe, and in that, Almost Honest feel true to their origins. They’re not from some big hotspot city or scene. They’re probably not touring for six weeks at a clip. But they’re a rock and roll band with a point of view and the songs to express it, and as the first audio leak from the follow-up to 2019’s Seiches and Sirens (review here), “Amish Hex” is encouraging in both its actual sound and in the storytelling. In the spirit of the thing, I’ll leave you to check it out on your own and see where you end up. For me, it’s very much about place in a way I’ll be curious to hear if the album develops.

A quote from the band and more from the PR wire follows.

Please enjoy:

Almost Honest, “Amish Hex” video premiere

Almost Honest on “Amish Hex”:

We have lived in and around Lancaster County all of our lives and have always been around the Amish. It is not uncommon to get stuck behind a horse and buggy on your way to work or see parking spaces specifically for them. This song is a story we wrote about an Amish child who gets picked on by people from the outside world. Then one day he finds a book called The Hex of Penn’s Woods. He uses this book to summon an Amish Wizard who will have his revenge on those who mocked him. The lyrics push forth powerful south central Pennsylvania imagery. It even includes a nod to one of my favorite desserts, the Shoofly Pie. It’s nice to be able to take people to our little corner of the world without having to book a plane ticket.

ALMOST HONEST
The Hex of Penn’s Woods
release date Fall 2023
Argonauta Records

Almost Honest lineup:
Shayne Reed – Guitar/Vocals
Quinten Spangler – Percussion/Vocals
David Kopp – Guitar/Vocals
Garrett Spangler – Bass

Almost Honest on Facebook

Almost Honest on Instagram

Almost Honest on Bandcamp

Almost Honest website

Almost Honest at Linktr.ee

Argonauta Records on Facebook

Argonauta Records on Instagram

Argonauta Records on Bandcamp

Argonauta Records website

German post-hardcore-informed sludgers Kavrila (from Hamburg) and Shovel (from Berlin) will head out on what’s sure to be an onslaught of a 10-date run through Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, maybe-Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic. Kavrila‘s most recent LP is 2021’s Mor, but they’ve let it be known that they’ll release a new single at the end of this month called “Surface.” That will be out Sept. 29, which is well ahead of the start of this tour.

Shovel issued their self-titled full-length last year through Italy’s Argonauta Records and have started working on new songs. They’ve been playing shows pretty regularly, and while I don’t know if they’ve got new material ready to go, I do know that a year-old record is still worth supporting, especially when such furies are involved.

Open date in Switzerland; if you can help out, do. There’s a lot that goes into making a DIY run like this happen — easy for me to say as I’m two weeks late putting up the news — and it’s worth supporting one way or the other if you can.

From the PR wire:

KAVRILA & SHOVEL European Tour Okt/Nov 2023 – Here Come The Rats!

The rats are coming! We are thrilled to announce this tour together with our brothers in Shovel and can’t wait to get in the van. Mark your calendars, spread the word and prepare for some serious damage. We would be happy if you would spread the news and we also hope to see you in front of the stage in one or another city.

HERE COME THE RATS! European Tour 2023
27.10. DE Bremen – Zollkantine
28.10. NL Amsterdam – The Cave
29.10. BE Hasselt – De Witte Non
30.10. BE Ghent – Het Landhuis
31.10. FR Amiens – 1001 Bieres
01.11. CH —book us!—
02.11. AT Salzburg – Rockhouse
03.11. CZ Prague – Modra Vopice
04.11. DE Berlin – Urban Spree
05.11. DE Hamburg – Goldener Salon

Poster Artwork by Bianca Rother / https://www.instagram.com/biancarother

https://www.facebook.com/kavrilaband
https://www.instagram.com/kavrila_ritual
https://kavrila.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/shovelberlin
https://www.instagram.com/shovelberlin/
https://shovel.bandcamp.com/

www.instagram.com/argonautarecords
www.facebook.com/argonuatarecords
www.argonautarecords.com/shop

Kavrila, Mor (2021)

Shovel, Shovel (2022)

Leipzig-based heavy rockers Godzilla in the Kitchen will tour their native Germany in October and November, getting out to meet up with Greece’s Godsleep for a few shows and supporting their 2022 album, Exodus (review here), while probably starting to think about what comes next as well. They offered Live at Break Out earlier in 2023 and you can stream that below, along with the studio LP because thoroughness.

The run is 14 shows, one day off, all in Germany, and seeing shows booked in just Germany I guess shouldn’t seem weird, since most broader European tours feature at least two or three dates there along with stops in other countries. But fair enough. They’ll roll through their hometown the second night and proceed through Nov. 11, where the final show is in Hildburghausen.

Poster, info/dates, links and audio, courtesy of the PR wire:

GODZILLA IN THE KITCHEN are touring Germany in autumn!

GODZILLA IN THE KITCHEN announce their “Future of Mankind” tour for the fall. After the release of their 2nd album “EXODUS”, the first released live album “Live at Break Out” and their 2nd appearance at the Wacken Open Air, the Leipzig based heavy psychedelic rock band is touring Germany again.

The trio consisting of guitarist Eric Patzschke, bassist Simon Ulm and drummer Felix Rambach already inspired 2022 and 2023 at the WACKEN OPEN AIR. Almost a year after the release of their 2nd album via Argonauta Records and subsequent tour, EXODUS will be in the spotlight again. The “Future of Mankind Tour 2023” is targeting 14 cities in Germany.

The trio of guitarist Eric Patzschke, bassist Simon Ulm and drummer Felix Rambach already thrilled 2022 and 2023 at the WACKEN OPEN AIR. Almost a year after the release of their 2nd album and subsequent tour, EXODUS will be in the spotlight again. The “Future of Mankind Tour 2023” is targeting 14 cities in Germany.

As a follow-up to the impressive debut album GODZILLA IN THE KITCHEN, EXODUS also presents itself as an authentic and lively instrumental work, which invites you to dive in and enjoy. With a refreshing mix of melodic recognizability and rhythmic complexity, Godzilla In The Kitchen provide excitement in their live performances.

If you’re still not convinced, you can check out the band’s live album “Live at Break Out” in advance and come to one of the 14 dates.

28.10. Saarbrücken – Horst Club
29.10. Leipzig – Stö*
30.10. Braunschweig – B58*
31.10. Husum – Speicher*
01.11. Lübbenau – Kulturhof
02.11. Berlin – Sage
03.11. Halle – Hühnermanhattan
04.11. Asendorf – Break Out
05.11. Telgte – Pogo Retro
07.11. Dresden – Chemiefabrik*
08.11. Magdeburg – Flowerpower*
09.11. Köln – Stereo Wonderland
10.11. Hamburg – Astra Stube
11.11. Hildburghausen – Molle
*support for Godsleep

www.facebook.com/GodzillaInTheKitchen
www.godzillainthekitchen.bandcamp.com
www.instagram.com/godzilla_in_the_kitchen

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Godzilla in the Kitchen, Live at Break Out (2023)

Godzilla in the Kitchen, Exodus (2022)

Following suit from their prior single, New Jersey’s Ego Planet unveil ‘Butcher’s Blade,’ with a forward largesse of riff and melody wrapped in a tight structure. There’s some undercurrent of metal in the drumming, the way the bridge wants to gallop, but that push helps the punch of bass in the verse land with more force. Big rock. The band’s self-titled debut is set to issue on Oct. 29 through Argonauta Records, and preorders are up for LP and DL, the former of which has bonus tracks. And who doesn’t like bonus tracks?

Both “Butcher’s Blade” — I’m hearing a little Pallbearer in that chorus, but there’s a poppier sensibility too in how it moves; it’s my beloved Garden State, so it’s possible someone was in a pop-punk band in high school, though I don’t know that — and the prior single “The Call” are streaming at the bottom of this post. Way cohesive. I’m curious to see what Ego Planet‘s plans are, if they’ll tour at all, and so on. You’d think a band from NJ has it easy with New York up north and east and Philadelphia down south and west, Asbury Lanes in the middle, but that’s not always the case. Either way, “Butcher’s Blade” reinforces the notion that the songs are there, and I look forward to hearing the rest of the album.

From the PR wire:

GO PLANET Reveals Full Album Details; New Single “Butcher’s Blade” Now Streaming

After their recent signing with Italian label ARGONAUTA Records, US-based Heavy Rockers EGO PLANET released their impressive first single THE CALL, “the first Ego Planet song we finished writing back in 2020 as a pandemic ravaged the globe, protesters took to the streets to demand racial justice, and billionaires hoarded record amounts of wealth.” Says Jarrett (Vocalist/Lyricist) “I was being forced to face ugly truths on a daily basis and it was extremely uncomfortable. I found myself at times wanting to completely disengage from political issues and recede into my own world of comforting distractions. The song is about the allure of complacency and what it means to turn a blind eye while others fight for their right to exist.”

Today the band is excited to reveal full album details of their anticipated self-titled debut, which contains eight pummeling Hard Heavy Rock hymns made of intense vocals, massive riffs and resonant atmospheres, taking inspiration from the cosmic horror and psychedelic imagery. In January of 2021 recording began at Backroom Studios in Rockaway, NJ with owner/engineer Kevin Antreassian. The studio band features Jarrett Mead (Vocals), Chris Baker (Guitars/Bass) and Steve Iannettoni (Drums).

The epic new single “Butcher’s Blade” is now streaming on all digital platforms: https://ingrv.es/butcher-s-blade-sh4-d

“Ego Planet” will be released on Colored Vinyl Edition and Digital Download on the 29th of October.

Preorders are up at this address: https://www.argonautarecords.com/shop/

TRACKLISTING:
1. Swallow The Sun
2. The Call
3. Reflection
4. Entertainment
5. Butcher’s Blade
6. Leviathan
7. Faceless Children
8. Order Of The Tree
9. T.H.E.N. (Vinyl Bonus Track)
10. Dead Man’s Float (Vinyl Bonus Track)

https://www.facebook.com/egoplanetband
https://instagram.com/egoplanet
https://egoplanetband.bandcamp.com/
https://linktr.ee/Egoplanet

www.instagram.com/argonautarecords
www.facebook.com/argonuatarecords
www.argonautarecords.com/shop

Ego Planet, “Butcher’s Blade”

Ego Planet, “The Call” lyric video

Why 4 10? Am I crazy to think of number-title albums as somewhat aberrant? Is it crazier to think that’s what Oslo’s Superlynx might’ve been going for in naming their upcoming album as they did? Well, there’s four of them now and it’s the 10th anniversary of the band, so it’s not at all without reasoning behind it — even though the record itself was made as a trio — and if you want an efficient capsule of what’s up with Superlynx lately, you’re probably not going to find one using fewer characters. I don’t have much experience to speak from, but I hear good things about brevity.

The first single from 4 10 is the opener “Into the Sun,” and you can see the video for it at the bottom of this post, suitably atmospheric with undulating waves and such. I haven’t heard the full record yet — they’ll release it Sept. 9, which is before Oct. 4, or 04/10 if you write it Euro-style — but there’s about two months to go before it’s out, so I’m not complaining. But from what I’m hearing in the new song, it sounds like an expansion on 2021’s Electric Temple (review here), which is about what I’d hope for. Not like they’re coming into the record not knowing who they are.

Argonauta sent the following down the PR wire:

Norwegian Psychedelic Doomsters SUPERLYNX Reveal Full Album Details; “4 10” Out In September

Norway-based Psychedelic Doomsters SUPERLYNX celebrate their 10th anniversary by releasing new music, a new additional member and the return to stage. The band recently teased their new journey with the single “Into the Sun”, which is “a song suited for closing your eyes and drifting away” says the band.

The new album is entitled “4 10” and it is written and played by the original trio Pia, Ole and Daniel as usual, but since the recording the band has expanded by including additional guitarist Espen Krøll. He will join the band on stage from now on for an even fuller live sound.

“Jamming has always been important to us in addition to songwriting”. Superlynx says “This time all the music on the album was created through jamming sessions where the music that came out lead the way and turned into these songs. The entire album was recorded in the rehearsal space where we started out a decade ago, by our drummer Ole Teigen / Crowtown Recordings. The focus on 4 10 is imagination, dreams, connection and an open view. Today we further explore fuzzed out heavy psych, improvisation and the depths of dreams and surrealism”.

When Superlynx is asked about musical influences the answer is something like “the sum of all the different music we all listen to and are inspired by, be it doom, drone, psych, shoegaze, desert rock, grunge, metal, old blues, jazz, 60/70s rock”.

The members have a lot of music in common but also different influences. It is all a part of them, and something that naturally affects their own style of playing. Superlynx follows no rules except what sounds and feels right, and lets the music lead their way.

“4 10” will be released on CD, VINYL and DIGITAL formats by September 29th, 2023. Preorders are up: https://www.argonautarecords.com/shop/

Band photo by Kai Simon Fredriksen and cover art by Pia Isaksen.

TRACKLISTING:
Into the Sun
Cycle
Havier than Me
Sphinx
The Unknown
Nothing to Everything
Away
Under Its Spell

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Superlynx, “Into the Sun” official video