Berlin heavy punk rockers Howling Wolves released their second album, As Above So Below, on June 26 through Karma Conspiracy Records. It is the first offering from the band in five years since their self-titled debut, and it continues the four-piece’s stated grown-ups-with-hardcore-riffs intentions, pushing the balance between aggression and groove from where it was in the Beforetimes to the bass-punching middle ground of “Reclaim,” which slow down just where you expect it to speed up, or the earlier single “Bad Company,” which even with its galloping stretch holds to the song’s overarching movement. The album runs 10 songs and 42 minutes with “Night Off” (3:24) as the shortest track and throwing-elbows-in-the-pit closer “D.I.E.” (4:55) the longest, even though the last 20 seconds or so are a kind of residual noise at the ending — so yes, tightly packed. That’s pretty clear.

Germany has a long and encompassing history of punk rock, so you don’t need my ass to come along and start comparing them to American bands just because that’s who I hear in my head, but to go with all that careening attitude and would-be-frenetic-but-we’re-all-over-30-and-who-has-the-time riffing there are hints of the thrash and heavy metal of yore, not quite the grandiosity of NWOBHM, filtered through the hardcore punk that at least some if not all of guitarist Gregor Nick, bassist Hannes Pfeifer, drummer Riccardo Zander and vocalist Felix Weckowski probably grew up playing. One can hear in opener “World of Doubts” and the subsequent shover “Eye of the Storm” — gadzooks! there’s a video premiering below! — this amalgam of styles coming together. Crucially, the band seem conscious of what they’re doing but not necessarily held back by any self-imposed limits on their sound. Sharp as it is and as hammered out as the Jan Oberg-recorded/mixed As Above So Below is in the end-product, the songwriting feels organic in that way.

So which side wins out? Metal, punk or heavy rock? Hard to call it, so I won’t. Weckowski‘s vocals — cleaner than on the self-titled, less throaty and more melodic, still rooted in hardcore — add to the gotta-do-this-now vibe of a cut like “Human Error,” riding the start-stop riff effectively and knowing precisely where to take the chorus like someone who’s been there before, while but for its relatively laid back delivery and fuzzier tone the subsequent “Grin” could be outright thrash and “Parting Ways” may or may not pull a little d-beat into its sweaty run to underscore its point. It’s not necessarily that Howling Wolves sound like they have multiple writers — they very well might, I don’t know — but As Above So Below is unified more through performance than the similar purposes of its tracks, and that essentially lets the band go where they want in a given song. I’d say they keep it within reason, but the transition that seems to be taking place in bringing them from hardcore punk to heavy rock is still happening, and that can be heard in the intensity of “Parting Ways” before “Treadmills” steps a little further into nodder groove.

The clip for “Eye of the Storm” follows the aesthetic pattern in bringing together different sides. Skateboards, Adidas and ’90s hip-hop hand gesturing meets leg kicks, constant motion and more than an edge of good humor, so yes, they’ve got their bases duly covered. Same applies to As Above So Below, really, and even the album’s title seems to acknowledge a multifaceted nature, despite being a familiar enough turn of phrase. Hardcore punk isn’t ever going to be everybody’s jam — nine times out of 10, it’s not really mine either — but the more you dig Howling Wolves‘ tracks, the more there is to hear that they’re bringing to their foundation, expanding beyond the debut with a due sense of putting the songs first and letting the rest sort itself out later. And speaking of later, As Above So Below was recorded with Oberg (Earth Ship, Slowshine, Grin, etc.) at Hidden Planet Studio in earliest 2021, which means that even as it came out the recordings were nearly 18 months old. Even if they go five years between full-lengths again, they seem to be well on their way.

Video and PR wire info follow here. Please enjoy:

Howling Wolves, “Eye of the Storm” video premiere

The Howling Wolves’s Sound on the new record is like a mix of 80s Metal guitar heaviness, 90s Grunge catchiness, on a Stoner Rock vibe transported with the urgency of Hardcore Punk. So figure out! We call it SabbathPunk because it feels like a mix of Black Sabbath HardRock Metal and HardcorePunk with a nice dose of melody. So basically a hybrid of everything nice and heavy.

Independent from the actual pandemic shit the songs deal with failure of humanity on all its levels. A lot of personal reflection on both sides of the spectrum are happening and end with a positive note. Its about losing deadweight like unnecessary relationships or hiding from the outside world. There is a will for better times and new starts. But in the end its: Fuck Them All, I will do it on my own.

TRACKLIST
1. World Of Doubts 04.27
2. Eye Of The Storm 04.03
3. Bad Company 03.30
4. Night Off 03.24
5. Human Error 04.27
6. Grin 04.03
7. Parting Ways 04.14
8. Treadmills 04.41
9. Reclaim 04.20
10. D.I.E. 04.55

LINE UP
Riccardo Zander – drums
Gregor Nick – guitar
Hannes Pfeifer – bass
Felix Weckowski – vocals

Howling Wolves, As Above So Below (2022)

Howling Wolves on Facebook

Howling Wolves on Instagram

Howling Wolves on Bandcamp

Karma Conspiracy Records on Facebook

Karma Conspiracy Records on Instagram

Karma Conspiracy Records website

While I admit I wasn’t expecting a new Hermit’s Weedsom album to drop today — kudos to the Rennes, France-based duo on the oldschool-style Tuesday release day — neither am I sorry to see it. Or to hear it, for that matter. The instrumentalist two-piece impressed late last year with their have-apparently-intended-to-review-it-for-the-last-seven-months debut, He Who Sees in the Dark, and the new offering dives further into weedian nod and fervent push, a song like “Empress Crown” clocking in at just under nine minutes with a hard-hitting forward drive while the earlier “Emperor’s Fall” is pure nodding delight topped with spacious soloing.

They start at a rush with the drum fill at the head of opener “Wheel of Fortune” — and you’ll pardon me if the Karma to Burn comparison feels overly timely, it fits just the same — and hold that momentum all the while, twisting and turning as they go until just-over-nine-minute closer “Luna” rounds out with their most atmospheric stretch. Not a minor journey along the way and clearly not intended to be.

It’s streaming up on their Bandcamp — which I guess is ‘above’ since the player is also ‘below’ at the bottom of this post — and available in a digipak CD with the following nifty art:

As the Emerald Tablet says: “As Above, So Below”.

Guided by the arcane, Hermit’s Weedsom delivers a second stoner/doom prog-infused metal album.

“Follow the cards toward the absolute consciousness point”

The band says: “Hi everyone, 7 months after the release of our 1st album, we are back with a new one. Still instrumental, still self-produced. We put in this record and its 8 tracks, a mix of everything we like to listen to and we hope you will like it too. Take care of yourself! See you soon.”

Tracklisting:
1. Wheel of Fortune 07:31
2. End of Cycle 07:29
3. Broken Chariot 08:08
4. Emperor’s Fall 06:58
5. Hierophant’s Rule 07:40
6. Empress Crown 08:55
7. Eliphas Synthesis 08:30
8. Luna 09:02

Drums : Robin Leplumey
Guitar / Bass : Valentin Cabioch

https://www.facebook.com/HermitsWeedsom
https://www.instagram.com/hermitsweedsomband/
https://hermitsweedsom.bandcamp.com/

Hermit’s Weedsom, As Above, So Below (2021)

Long-running Greek heavy rockers Nightstalker will release their seventh album, As Above so Below, next month on Oak Island Records. Now at the 25-year mark since their 1991 demo and with origins that reach further back than that, the Athens-based outfit led by vocalist Argy and bassist Andreas Lagios also return to European shores in terms of their label; their last offering was 2012’s Dead Rock Commandos (streamed here) on Small Stone, and before that was 2009’s Superfreak (review here) on Meteorcity. As Above so Below finds the four-piece digging into unpretentious heavy rock vibes, their nine tracks/42 minutes straightforward to a point one would almost be tempted to call unassuming were it not for the quality of their craft and hooks, which is apparent from opener “Naked Fire” onward in the focus on catchy choruses, grade-A riffing and placing Argy‘s vocals forward in the mix ahead of Tolis Motsios‘ guitar, Lagios‘ bass and Dinos Roulos‘ drums.

Establishing an early shuffle in the leadoff, As Above so Below builds outward as it continues on from those organ-inclusive classic heavy rock vibes in a variety of moods across songs like second cut “Space Matter,” which seems to be in direct conversation with the underlying rumble of early Kyuss but ultimately becomes something more psychedelically daring in the guitar, and “Zombie Hour,” with a darker atmosphere, some howling from Argy in the chorus and harder-hitting finish. By then the course is set. Nightstalker make no attempts to hide where their heart lies stylistically or to coat their impulses in irony — this is heavy rock for heavy rockers, and the rest be damned.

“The Dog that No-One Wanted” is a standout for its background vocals and repetitions of the hook, “My girl’s so/My girl’s so beautiful/My girl’s so beautiful to me,” which in the context of the song makes me think it’s actually about the titular dog, so points there for charm, and while centerpiece “Deeper” is shorter, it also ranges a little further melodically, earning its place. Because Nightstalker are so solidified in their processes, because their songwriting is so apparent, their work can be deceptive and come across as flat on the first listen, but it’s not. It’s just professional. “Deeper” is a good example, with its interweaving lead and rhythm guitar layers, Argy‘s vocals in a call and response echo, and a push toward the finish that surprises with the amount of energy behind it.

One almost turns around and says, “Hey wait a minute, this kicks ass.” That’s been my experience all along with Nightstalker, and it holds firm on As Above so Below, but it’s really just a result of the band knowing what they want to do and then executing that flawlessly. To wit, “Forever Stoned” is pulled off with such a smooth groove and its hook is so well delivered that one might almost miss the nuance in Lagios‘ bass performance, or the little flourish of effects that are added to the vocals. Things like this add appeal to multiple listens, and as the subsequent “We Belong to the Dead” starts off its more brooding first half with just Argy and the Motsios, the full rush kicking in around the halfway mark, the momentum that Nightstalker have built for themselves is all the more palpable as they head into the rolling riff that ends out and leads to closing duo “My Electric Head” and “Blue Turns to Black,” both the only tracks on As Above so Below over six minutes.

But for the fact that Nightstalker have such a clear penchant for structure, I wouldn’t necessarily make much of pairing the two longest cuts on the album at the end, but it seems plain that they’re going for immersion at the finish line with “My Electric Head” and “Blue Turns to Black,” the former working its way into one of the record’s most vital stomps and the latter bookending the organ arrangement of the opener with one of its own for an overall grander feel. For what it’s worth, immersion is what they get. It’s not hypnotic jammy psychedelia by any means, but what Nightstalker bring to their material at the finale of this seventh offering resonates as an expansion of the earlier forms of “Zombie Hour” or “Deeper,” in addition of course to “Naked Fire.” By the time the organ rings out to cap “Blue Turns to Black,” they’ve come a deceptively long way from that boogie-down opener, but more than a quarter-century on from getting together, Nightstalker know exactly just what the hell they’re doing, exactly just how the hell to do it and exactly why. As Above so Below is a direct affirmation of that and its arrival is welcome.

Below, you can stream a track premiere of “Space Matter” from the album and see some brief comment from Argy on what the song is about. Nightstalker will tour Europe in Spring 2017.

Please enjoy:

Nightstalker, “Space Matter”

Argy on “Space Matter”:

“I always thought that everything is made from the same materials. We are stardust and water. We are all living on a closed spherical blue planet, spinning around in deep space!

This album is all about the ups and downs, the ins and outs, the good things and bad things that we experience in our life.”

Nightstalker is:
Argy (Vocals)
Andreas Lagios (Bass)
Tolis Motsios (Guitars)
Dinos Roulos (Drums)

Nightstalker on Thee Facebooks

Nightstalker on Bandcamp

Nightstalker website

Oak Island Records at Kozmik Artifactz