The clock is ticking on the crowdfunding campaign to support the making and release of Magnetic Eye Records‘ upcoming Pink Floyd tribute, The Wall [Redux], and the NY-based label has broken out some big guns in terms of confirmations for who will take part. Greenleaf, Mars Red Sky, Pallbearer, Ruby the Hatchet, ASG, Yawning Man, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, The Ultra Electric Mega Galactic and Sasquatch, as well as the likes of Swedish crushers Domkraft, L.A.’s LowFlyingHawks and Ghastly Sound from the label’s own roster — along with the previously-announced Summoner — would seem to only bolster the offering as a whole, for which preorders are being taken directly through the Kickstarter. This is the third of these projects Magnetic Eye has done, and as ever, the scope of the thing is massive and the logistics seem, frankly, nightmarish.

You don’t need me to sell you on shit and you already know this is a cause worthy of your support, so I’ll spare you all that it’s-an-emergency-you-gotta-help-out whatnot, but suffice it to say that this thing happening only makes the world a better place. So there you go.

Here’s the latest update, courtesy of the label:

Magnetic Eye’s ambitious homage to Pink Floyd, THE WALL [REDUX], has gained some serious momentum in the final week of its preorder/crowdfunding campaign. The confirmation of several higher-profile artists, including Greenleaf, Pallbearer, Mars Red Sky, Yawning Man, Sasquatch and Noveller all signing on to bring their distinct voices to the project has prompted the MER to add an exclusive “Best of Pink Floyd” companion LP for Kickstarter backers. This complement to the main THE WALL [REDUX] will feature a range of cuts from throughout the Floyd catalog by even more fantastic artists from the scene and beyond.

There are still a few days left to support the project by pre-ordering one of several versions of the record, all of which will reflect Magnetic Eye’s well-documented aesthetic and penchant for gorgeous vinyl. This also means there’s still time for a final few hush-hush conversations to potentially yield even more intriguing artist confirmations.

To see what an undertaking this has been (and what an amazing spectacle the finished albums will surely be), here’s a quick review of the latest list of confirmed bands and an exclusive first reveal of some tracks, with numerous more still to be announced:

ASG, “Mother”
Domkraft
Ghastly Sound
Greenleaf
Mos Generator
Low Flying Hawks (feat. Dale Crover of The Melvins)
Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard
Mars Red Sky, “Comfortably Numb”
Pallbearer, “Run Like Hell”
Ruby the Hatchet, “Pigs” (The Best of Pink Floyd)
Sasquatch
Sergeant Thunderhoof
The Slim Kings (feat. drummer Liberty DeVitto)
Solace, “In the Flesh”
Summoner
The Ultra Electric Mega Galactic (feat. Ed Mundell of Monster Magnet)
WhiteNails
Worshipper
Yawning Man
Year of the Cobra

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/magneticeye/the-wall-2
store.merhq.com
http://magneticeyerecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MagneticEyeRecords

Mars Red Sky, Alien Grounds short film

Goodness gracious. Here I was minding my business on a Sunday night and Psycho Las Vegas went and more than doubled the size of its lineup, adding Uncle Acid, Elder, Converge, Wovenhand, Boris, The Black Heart Procession, Budos Band, Dead Meadow, SubRosa, Midnight, Disenchanter, Lumerians, Tombstones, ASG, Death Alley, Ides of Gemini, Goya, Dirty Streets, Crypt Sermon, Mantar, Gozu, Beelzefuzz, Lo-Pan, Holy Grove, CHRCH, Carousel and more. Not like the fest wasn’t huge already, but big bands, small bands, in-between bands, European bands, Asian bands, West Coast bands, East Coast bands — pretty much if it falls under the category of “bands,” they’re probably playing. And by way of a friendly reminder, this isn’t it. As you can see in the lineup below, there are more announcements to come next month.

Just look at this insane shit:

PSYCHO LAS VEGAS 2016

Psycho Entertainment
Friday, August 26, 2016 at 12:00 PM – Sunday, August 28, 2016 at 12:00 AM (PDT)
Las Vegas, NV

BLUE OYSTER CULT
SLEEP
UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS
THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN
PENTAGRAM
CANDLEMASS
DEATH
TRUTH AND JANEY
CONVERGE
(Announced March 3rd)
BUDOS BAND
WOVENHAND
(Announced March 3rd)
BLACK HEART PROCESSION
FU MANCHU
BORIS
DOWN
ZOMBI
COLOUR HAZE
YOB
DEAD MEADOW
ELDER
ACID KING
DANAVA
SUBROSA
MIDNIGHT
SATAN’S SATYRS
THE SHRINE
JUCIFER
BONGRIPPER
BLOOD OF THE SUN
ORESUND SPACE COLLECTIVE
MARS RED SKY
SPELLJAMMER
BELZEBONG
THE COSMIC DEAD
TOMBSTONES
LUMERIANS
ASG
SAVIOURS
A STORM OF LIGHT
DEATH ALLEY
LECHEROUS GAZE
DIRTY STREETS
IDES OF GEMINI
GOYA
SPENCER MOODY SOLO (Murder City Devils)
WITCH MOUNTAIN
HAS A SHADOW
ASHBURY
CRYPT SERMON
MONDO DRAG
MANTAR
TALES OF MURDER AND DUST
SHROUD EATER
CRAZY BULL
DEMON LUNG
LOPAN
CHRCH
BEHOLD THE MONOLITH
DISENCHANTER
CAVE OF SWIMMERS
HORNSS
CAROUSEL
TIA CARRERA
GOZU
FLAVOR CRYSTALS
HOLY GROVE
BEELZEFUZZ
GREAT ELECTRIC QUEST
FAMILY
HIGHLANDS
LYCUS
THE COMPANY CORVETTE
WASHERWOMAN
THE RARE BREED
INVDRS

Psycho Pool Party 8.25.16
MUDHONEY
FATSO JETSON
MOTHERSHIP
GOLDEN VOID
ELECTRIC CITIZEN
MAC SABBATH
GREENBEARD

ACCOMMODATIONS
Join the bands and crew at the Hard Rock Hotel & use the code: Psych16 at checkout to recieve 30% off your rooms.

ANNOUNCEMENT SCHEDULE
1/20 – “Warm up” Tickets Onsale 8am pst
2/14 – Full Lineup (60+ acts)
3/15 – Headliners Revealed
5/4 – Van/Chopper & Alt Exhibitions

http://www.eventbrite.com/e/psycho-las-vegas-2016-tickets-20777507083
WWW.PSYCHOLV.COM
WWW.HARDROCKHOTEL.COM

Sleep, Live at Psycho California, May 16, 2015

I’m not really sure what might prompt North Carolinian heavy rock four-piece ASG to make a new video now, more than two years after the release of their latest album, Blood Drive, also their debut on Relapse Records, but if I had to take a guess, they had the footage and decided to use it. Sad to say, I’m not familiar enough with the Wilmington area to know definitively where their newly-premiered clip for “Mourning of the Earth” was filmed, but if it’s Ziggy’s by the Sea, then it would be the same locale where the band captured “Scrappy’s Trip” from the same album, though that seems to have been set to the studio version of the song, whereas this is live video and audio.

Maybe ASG have a new record in the works and are looking to get a little momentum going and say goodbye to Blood Drive before they enter the release/touring cycle anew — and with them, there’s little doubt it’d be a substantial cycle indeed — but whatever it is, I’m little inclined to argue. The massive response Blood Drive garnered was neither happenstance nor the result of anything other than a quality songwriting process and years of hard work put in, and if “Mourning of the Earth” is their way of reminding people of that fact before they bring something new to the table next year, then right on. Hell, even if they haven’t been writing or recording, I don’t think they’ll meet with too many complaints, even this far out from the last release.

Rocka. Also rolla:

ASG, “Mourning of the Earth”

North Carolina stoner rockers ASG have shared a new music video via Vevo for their track “Mourning Of The Earth,” taken from the 2013 release Blood Drive. Directed by Jason Lynn, the video is taken from one of ASG’s recent live performances in their their hometown of Wilmington, NC earlier this year, and features the band tearing through the ripping, riff-laden stoner metal anthem.

In late 2011, Relapse Records announced the signing of North Carolina’s finest psychedelic, stoner-punks. ASG entered the studio in February 2012 to record their highly anticipated Relapse debut with producer Matt Hyde (Slayer, Children of Bodom, Fu Manchu). After a string of U.S. dates with Corrosion of Conformity and label-mates Royal Thunder in early 2013, the group delivered their fourth full length Blood Drive on May 28th, 2013. A 12-song collection of sun-soaked anthems full of groove heavy riffs that reference equally Torche and Queens of the Stone Age, Blood Drive has garnered near-universal critical acclaim since its release.

ASG on Thee Facebooks

ASG on Bandcamp

ASG at Relapse Records

North Carolina two-piece Wildlights will no doubt earn a comparison or two to their Season of Mist labelmates in Floor with tracks like “Hellfire Forever” and “Onward Upward” from their impending self-titled debut full-length, out Aug. 21 via the aforementioned, but neither is that the beginning and end of their sonic sphere. Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Jason Shi of ASG and Thunderlips‘ Johnny Collins on drums, the duo hit on a blend of upbeat vibes, resonant melodies and weighted groove that find a middle-ground between accessibility and weight. Shi‘s vocals are immediately identifiable for anyone who’s listened to ASG — and perhaps they’re an underappreciated distinguishing factor in that group as well — but the dynamic in Wildlights is on its own trip, shorter cuts like “Lights Out” and the airier-into-a-big-finish closer “Big Frontier” shooting for unabashed catchiness in their hooks, while “New Year Repeat” and the earlier “Snow Song” add arrangement flourishes via a quiet guitar line at the start and an organ (or organ-sounding) finish, respectively.

Worth mentioning plainly is the production of Matt Hyde (Monster Magnet, Slayer, etc.), whose crispness in the guitar and drums suits Wildlights‘ presentation remarkably well. Cuts throughout the 12-track/41-minute release are relatively short — “Hellfire Forever” is the longest at 4:33 — but for the kind of efficiency they’re looking to convey, it wouldn’t work if they weren’t, and while still vinyl-ready in its runtime, it’s not as though the album is lacking substance. As it is, small shifts like the tempo change of “Climb in the Throne” and the departure from the early rush of “Anchors” and “Rebel Smiles” that “Part of the Sea” brings with its winding riff feed into each other over the course of the front-to-back listen, and Wildlights proves to be more of a full-album experience than it at first seems, as memorable as individual tracks and parts can be over its span. At their root, Shi and Collins benefit from the songwriting experience both have and execute a record that seems barebones because its structures are so apparent and so much of the appeal but also has a considerable amount of atmosphere to go with, immersing the listener almost before they know what’s happened.

By way of evidence, I have the pleasure of hosting the premiere today for “Lights Out.” One of four cuts on Wildlights‘ Wildlights under three minutes long, it nonetheless engages with its heft, the tonal presence of Shi‘s guitar and the push of Collins‘ drums. Please find it on the player below, followed by more info from the PR wire, and enjoy:

WILDLIGHTS’ brand of hard rock is truly timeless. Featuring ASG’s Jason Shi and THUNDERLIP!s’ Johnny Collins, their direct, honest sound draws equally from the driving, melodic, SoCal-spawned skate/desert rock and the heavy, blues-based sound of the South. Their self-titled, Matt Hyde (PORNO FOR PYROS, MONSTER MAGNET, FU MANCHU, SLAYER) produced album shines with stunning tracks like “Rebel Smiles”, “Anchors”, “Lights Out”, “Lions”, “Part of the Sea” and more. More than just a mere collection of tracks, WILDLIGHTS is a soundtrack to life that resonates hope.

Track List:
1. Anchors
2. Rebel Smiles
3. Part of the Sea
4. Snow Song
5. Hellfire Forever
6. Pictures
7. Onward Upward
8. Lights Out
9. New Year Repeat
10. Climb in the Throne
11. Lions
12. Big Frontier

Line-up:
Jason Shi (ASG)- Vocals, Guitars
Johnny Collins (Thunderlip) – Drums

Release Date: August 21st

Wildlights on Thee Facebooks

Preorder at Season of Mist

I’m always happy to post streams from Roadburn, and I think I’ve made that clear over the last half-decade, but this batch in particular features two of my favorite performances from this year’s fest, namely Brooklyn’s Hull, who played Day One, and Boston’s Gozu, who played Day Three. The two bands are pretty far from each other sonically and aesthetically, but both are fantastic at what they do and for me represent where I come from (the New York area) and where I’m at now (the Boston area). So in addition to having enjoyed watching these guys wreck up Stage01 and the Green Room, respectively, I’m happy now to have the chance to revisit those memories. Heavy riffs and fuzzy feelings.

Also cool to hear Mansion‘s set again, which was something of a sleeper, and Carlton Melton, who were so psyched out I almost broke a vinyl-buying embargo, as well as acts I missed like E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr, New Keepers of the Water Towers and ASG. As ever, all the sets were recorded by the venerable Marcel van de Vondervoort and his team, and they’ll be available into perpetuity so that future generations can know just how much they suck in comparison to the rock and roll we beheld.

So behold:

ASG – Live at Roadburn 2014

Carlton Melton – Live at Roadburn 2014

E-musikgruppe Lux Ohr – Live at Roadburn 2014

Gozu – Live at Roadburn 2014

Hull – Live at Roadburn 2014

Mansion – Live at Roadburn 2014

Nicklas Barker & Reine Fiske – Live at Roadburn 2014

New Keepers Of The Water Towers – Live at Roadburn 2014

Thanks as always to Walter and the Roadburn crew for permission to host the streams. To check out past streams from Roadburn 2014 click here, here and/or here, and to read the coverage from this year’s fest, click here.

Roadburn’s website

Marcel Van De Vondervoort on Thee Facebooks

Once, a very, very long time ago — okay, it was last December — thoroughly-synthed doom rockers From Beyond traveled from their native Houston to a much different land, Los Angeles. There, they met head to head in riffy combat with North Carolina’s ASG. Alright, so maybe it was less “riffy combat” and more of a Scion Rock Show, but either way, it happened. The date was Dec. 4, the show was free with an RSVP, and to continue their Rock Show series of releases that’s already resulted in the pairings of Fu Manchu/Moab and The Dirty Streets/Indian Handcrafts, Scion A/V is set to issue a split between ASG and From Beyond, and I’m happy to be able to present the latter’s “The Fall to Earth” as a streaming debut to mark the occasion.

That gig, held at the Satellite, was From Beyond‘s first in L.A. and their first as a four-piece. When they put out their 2012 The Color out of Space EP (track stream here), they were a trio, but it was the lineup of Robert McCarthy (guitar/vocals/synth), David Grooman (guitar), Dick Beeman (drums/vocals) and Stephen Finley (bass, Moog Taurus) that landed in Silver Lake, and their Moogery and theatrical atmospherics obviously made an impression. “The Fall to Earth” makes the most of both of these, but that doesn’t take away from the crunching largesse of the rolling riff itself once it gets going. Shades of Electric Wizard give way to spaced-out vocal harmonies, creating a strong hook and a rare balance of emotional resonance, lyrical narrative and doomly engagement.

Structurally, “The Fall to Earth” is pretty simple, setting an ambient bed with its intro before launching into verse/chorus tradeoffs and finally marching out on its fuzzy central figure, but From Beyond remain cohesive in the atmosphere and make the track more than just a meandering freakout while also keeping a decidedly open feel. The Color out of Space was an impressive release from a band who knew where they wanted to be in terms of aesthetic, but we may have only seen the beginnings of From Beyond.

Please find “The Fall to Earth” on the player below, courtesy of Scion A/V, and please enjoy:

The ASG track is set to release March 25. Scion A/V announced yesterday that this year’s Scion Rock Fest will take place in Pomona, CA, on May 17. More info at the links.

Scion A/V Releases

From Beyond on Thee Facebooks

@ScionAV

ASG on Thee Facebooks

Oft-touring Southern heavy rockers ASG have joined the lineup for the 2014 Desertfest in Berlin. The four-piece, who released the album Blood Drive this year on Relapse to much hullabaloo, were also previously announced for the London edition of the festival, and they’ll be playing a couple weeks earlier at Roadburn as well. Since it doesn’t seem likely they’ll fly to Europe for that, then fly back to the States only to return to Europe two weeks later, I’d expect full European tour dates are forthcoming sometime in the near future.

ASG also recently premiered a new video for the song “Scrappy’s Trip.” Desertfest had this to say about them being added to the Berlin lineup:

*** DESERTFEST BERLIN 2014 – ASG ***

Hey Desert-Folks !

We go on with another amazing announcement ! Today, North Carolina’s finest psychedelic stoner-punks ASG join the DESERTFEST BERLIN’s line-up !!

This year has been a triumphant one for ASG whose success with their last release “Blood Drive”, and we can’t be more excited to have these guys on board at DESERTFEST BERLIN !!

LIMITED HARD-TICKETS can be ordered by sending an email at TICKETS@DESERTFEST.DE (85€ + shipping costs) !!

Full announcement on : www.desertfest.de

************************************
24th, 25th, 26th April 2014 : DESERTFEST BERLIN
************************************
SPIRIT CARAVAN* Asg* Black Rainbows* Causa Sui* Elder* Gozu* Huata* Prisma Circus* Radar Men From The Moon* Sardonis* and many more tba !

https://www.facebook.com/asgnation
http://www.desertfest.de

ASG, “Scrappy’s Trip” Official Video

Huge news out of the Roadburn camp today for the 2014 lineup. In addition to a pre-sale party for tickets that features New Keepers of the Water Towers and SardoniS, YOB will headline the Afterburner playing 2009’s The Great Cessation in full, and Sourvein, Graves at Sea, Crowbar, ASG, Lord Dying, A Storm of Light and Anciients have been added to the bill, ensuring that however much psychedelia has been announced and may yet still come, Roadburn 2014 won’t lack for crushed skulls either.

Oh, and in case you missed it, let me just repeat: Graves at Sea. Graves at fucking Sea. So yeah.

Here’s the latest:

Roadburn announces ticket prices and pre-sales party; Crowbar, Sourvein, Yob and more added to the line-up

Roadburn Festival 2014 Ticket Pre-Sales Start Friday October 11th 2013 at 21:00 CET; Pre-Sales Party at the 013 venue (NL) with New Keepers of the Water Towers and Sardonis.

Yob to Headline Roadburn Festival 2014 Afterburner; Crowbar, Yob, Sourvein and Graves at Sea among others added to 2014 Roadburn Festival Lineup.

As previously announced, tickets for Roadburn 2014 will go on sale on Friday, October 11th 2013. Set your alarm and get ready to score your tickets at 21:00 CET!

The majority of Roadburners live outside The Netherlands, which is why ticket pre-sales will start at 21:00 CET. This should be convenient for most time zones. Apologies to our friends in Oceania who will have to wake up early (or just stay up late)!

We are pleased to report that there will be NO price increase this year. Three-day tickets will be available for 165 euros; four-day tickets will cost 185 euros. Afterburner-only tickets will cost 32.50 euros. Please note that one-day tickets are not available for the Thursday, Friday or Saturday Roadburn dates. Online buyers can order a maximum of four tickets.

For everyone in the Netherlands and Belgium: we are aware that your local ticket outlets will not be open when pre-sales start, which is why we are throwing another pre-sales party at the 013 venue in Tilburg (NL). From 19:00 CET – 20:30 CET you will be able to purchase a maximum of two paper tickets for Roadburn Festival 2014. Guaranteed!

In addition to making it easy to get tickets, the pre-sales party is going to be a blast! This year, we have invited Sardonis and New Keepers of the Water Towers to provide the soundtrack. Both bands have been on the Roadburn radar for quite a while and this is the perfect opportunity for Belgium’s Sardonis to share their riff-heavy explorations and Stockholm heavyweights New Keepers of The Water Towers to take us on a progressive psychedelic trip. The live music part of the evening starts at 20:30 CET.

Roadburn’s artistic director/promoter Walter Hoeijmakers will be on hand to share the latest festival updates, too.

Get ready to score your tickets and kick off the official countdown to Roadburn 2014! More info on tickets for Roadburn 2014 here: http://www.roadburn.com/roadburn-2014/tickets/

Roadburn favorites Yob will be making a highly anticipated return appearance in 2014, playing two crushing sets of their unique doom. They will play The Great Cessation for their album set on Saturday, April 12th, and headlining the Roadburn Festival Afterburner on Sunday, April 13th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Yob founder Mike Scheidt says, “Coming back to Roadburn for a third time… to play our fifth and sixth sets total at this festival… it is difficult to come up with words to adequately express our feelings. We have made it very clear how much we love the spirit of the Roadburn Festival. It is an unparallelled experience encompassing everything we embrace as both artists and fans. We will bring what we hope to be the best we have ever done in both of our sets of music. Playing The Great Cessation live in entirety will be a YOB first. For our 2nd set, we will perform songs covering our entire discography, including something new as well. To be able to play, to be in attendance as fans, and to once again to walk the streets of Tilburg and live in the soul that is Roadburn is something we are very grateful for. April 2014 is too far away.” More info on Yob here: http://wp.me/p1m0FP-8aX

From deep in the earth you can feel massive vibrations… soon they become audible — huge distant riffs growing louder and turning into a sonic assault with a familiar feel and groove. Suddenly you realize… NOLA is in the house! Roadburn 2014 welcomes legendary New Orleans riffmasters Crowbar to the 013 venue main stage on Thursday, April 10th. With ties to Down, Eyehategod, Acid Bath and Pantera, Crowbar will definitely provide Roadburners with a perfect cure for their New Orleans metal jones in 2014. More info on Crowbar here: http://wp.me/p1m0FP-8aZ

Sludge legends Sourvein will be ratcheting up the sheer brutality of their damaged, blackend misery by playing all three of the band’s much acclaimed EP’s, Emerald Vulture, Ghetto Angel and Imperial Bastard, in their entirety exclusively at Roadburn Festival 2014. “We’re beyond excited to return to the mighty Roadburn Festival on our 20th anniversary tour” says T-Roy Medlin, “and this year we have a very special set prepared just for the Roadburn crowd. We will be doing our trilogy live, all three EP’s back to back and some songs off the first record that we’ve never done live… So we really look forward to this being an awesome time. See you at Roadburn 2014.” More info on Sourvein here: http://wp.me/p1m0FP-8b3

Underground favourites Graves at Sea will bring their crushing brand of slow, sluggish despair to Roadburn Festival 2014 on Thursday, April 10th at the 013 venue. More info on Graves at Sea here: http://wp.me/p1m0FP-8b1

Roadburn 2014 just got a whole lot heavier: Anciients, ASG, A Storm of Light and Lord Dying have been confirmed for Roadburn Festival 2014 as well.

Holland’s very own Roadburn Festival has become Europe’s leading festival for psychedelic, avant-metal, doom, heavy 70s or any other variation of leftfield sonic pleasures that push the boundaries of music.

Roadburn Festival 2014 (including Mikael Åkerfeldt’s curated event, Opeth and Loop) will run for four days from Thursday April 10th to Sunday April 13th, 2014 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

For more info: www.roadburn.com

Graves at Sea, Live at Heavy Days in Doomtown 2013