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Quarterly Review: Primordial, Patriarchs in Black, Blood Lightning, Haurun, Wicked Trip, Splinter, Terra Black, Musing, Spiral Shades, Bandshee

Posted in Reviews on November 28th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

The-Obelisk-Quarterly-Review

Day two and no looking back. Yesterday was Monday and it was pretty tripped out. There’s some psych stuff here too, but we start out by digging deep into metal-rooted doom and it doesn’t get any less dudely through the first three records, let’s put it that way. But there’s more here than one style, microgengre, or gender expression can contain, and I invite you as you make your way through to approach not from a place of redundant chestbeating, but of celebrating a moment captured. In the cases of some of these releases, it’s a pretty special moment we’re talking about.

Places to go, things to hear. We march.

Quarterly Review #11-20:

Primordial, How it Ends

primordial how it ends

Excuse me, ma’am. Do you have 66 minutes to talk about the end of the world? No? Nobody does? Well that’s kind of sad.

At 28 years’ remove from their first record, 1995’s Imrama, and now on their 10th full-length, Dublin’s Primordial are duly mournful across the 10 songs of How it Ends, which boasts the staring-at-a-bloodied-hillside-full-of-bodies after-battle mourning and oppression-defying lyricism and a style rooted in black metal and grown beyond it informed by Irish folk progressions but open enough to make a highlight of the build in “Death Holy Death” here. A more aggressive lean shows itself in “All Against All” just prior while “Pilgrimage to the World’s End” is brought to a wash of an apex with a high reach from vocalist Alan “A.A. Nemtheanga” Averill, who should be counted among metal’s all-time frontmen, ahead of the tension chugging in the beginning of “Nothing New Under the Sun.” And you know, for the most part, there isn’t. Most of what Primordial do on How it Ends, they’ve done before, and their central innovation in bridging extreme metal with folk traditionalism, is long behind them. How it Ends seems to dwell in some parts and be roiling in its immediacy elsewhere, and its grandiosities inherently will put some off just as they will bring some on, but Primordial continue to find clever ways to develop around their core approach, and How it Ends — if it is the end or it isn’t, for them or the world — harnesses that while also serving as a reminder of how much they own their sound.

Primordial on Facebook

Metal Blade Records website

Patriarchs in Black, My Veneration

Patriarchs in Black My Veneration

With a partner in drummer Johnny Kelly (Type O Negative, Danzig, etc.), guitarist/songwriter Dan Lorenzo (Hades, Vessel of Light, Cassius King, etc.) has found an outlet open to various ideas within the sphere of doom metal/rock in Patriarchs in Black, whose second LP, My Veneration, brings a cohort of guests on vocals and bass alongside the band’s core duo. Some, like Karl Agell (C.O.C. Blind) and bassist Dave Neabore (Dog Eat Dog), are returning parties from the project’s 2022 debut, Reach for the Scars, while Unida vocalist Mark Sunshine makes a highlight of “Show Them Your Power” early on. Sunshine appears on “Veneration” as well alongside DMC from Run DMC, which, if you’re going to do a rap-rock crossover, it probably makes sense to get a guy who was there the first time it happened. Elsewhere, “Non Defectum” toys with layering with Kelly Abe of Sicks Deep adding screams, and Paul Stanley impersonator Bob Jensen steps in for the KISS cover “I Stole Your Love” and the originals “Dead and Gone” and “Hallowed Be Her Name” so indeed, no shortage of variety. Tying it together? The riffs, of course. Lorenzo has shown an as-yet inexhaustible supply thereof. Here, they seem to power multiple bands all on one album.

Patriarchs in Black on Instagram

MDD Records website

Blood Lightning, Blood Lightning

Blood Lightning self titled

Just because it wasn’t a surprise doesn’t mean it’s not one of the best debut albums of 2023. Bringing together known parties from Boston’s heavy underground Jim Healey (We’re All Gonna Die, etc.), Doug Sherman (Gozu), Bob Maloney (Worshipper) and J.R. Roach (Sam Black Church), Blood Lightning want nothing for pedigree, and their Ripple-issued self-titled debut meets high expectations with vigor and thrash-born purpose. Sherman‘s style of riffing and Healey‘s soulful, belted-out vocals are both identifiable factors in cuts like “The Dying Starts” and the charging “Face Eater,” which works to find a bridge between heavy rock and classic, soaring metal. Their cover of Black Sabbath‘s “Disturbing the Priest,” included here as the last of the six songs on the 27-minute album, I seem to recall being at least part of the impetus for the band, but frankly, however they got there, I’m glad the project has been preserved. I don’t know if they will or won’t do anything else, but there’s potential in their metal/rock blend, which positions itself as oldschool but is more forward thinking than either genre can be on its own.

Blood Lightning on Facebook

Ripple Music website

Haurun, Wilting Within

haurun wilting within

Based in Oakland and making their debut with the significant endorsement of Small Stone Records and Kozmik Artifactz behind them, atmospheric post-heavy rock five-piece Haurun tap into ethereal ambience and weighted fuzz in such a way as to raise memories of the time Black Math Horseman got picked up by Tee Pee. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. With notions of Acid King in the nodding, undulating riffs of “Abyss” and the later reaches of “Lost and Found,” but two guitars are a distinguishing factor, and Haurun come across as primarily concerned with mood, although the post-grunge ’90s alt hooks of “Flying Low” and “Lunar” ahead of 11-minute closer “Soil,” which uses its longform breadth to cast as vivid a soundscape as possible. Fast, slow, minimalist or at a full wash of noise, Haurun‘s Wilting Within has its foundation in heavy rock groove and riffy repetition, but does something with that that goes beyond microniche confines. Very much looking forward to more from this band.

Haurun on Facebook

Small Stone Records website

Kozmik Artifactz website

Wicked Trip, Cabin Fever

wicked trip cabin fever

Its point of view long established by the time they get around to the filthy lurch of “Hesher” — track three of seven — Cabin Fever is the first full-length from cultish doomers Wicked Trip. The Tennessee outfit revel in Electric Wizard-style fuckall on “Cabin Fever” after the warning in the spoken “Intro,” and the 11-minute sample-topped “Night of Pan” is a psych-doom jam that’s hypnotic right unto its keyboard-drone finish giving over to the sampled smooth sounds of the ’70s at the start of “Black Valentine,” which feels all the more dirt-coated when it actually kicks in, though “Evils of the Night” is no less threatening of purpose in its garage-doom swing, crash-out and cacophonous payoff, and I’m pretty sure if you played “No Longer Human” at double the speed, well, it might be human again. All of these grim, bleak, scorching, nodding, gnashing pieces come together to craft Cabin Fever as one consuming, lo-fi entirety, raw both because the recording sounds harsh and because the band itself eschew any frills not in service to their disillusioned atmosphere.

Wicked Trip on Instagram

Wicked Trip on Bandcamp

Splinter, Role Models

Splinter Role Models

There’s an awful lot of sex going on in Splinter‘s Role Models, as the Amsterdam glam-minded heavy rockers follow their 2021 debut, Filthy Pleasures (review here), with cuts like “Soviet Schoolgirl,” “Bottom,” “Opposite Sex” and the poppy post-punk “Velvet Scam” early on. It’s not all sleaze — though even “The Carpet Makes Me Sad” is trying to get you in bed — and the piano and boozy harmonies of “Computer Screen” are a fun departure ahead of the also-acoustic finish in closer “It Should Have Been Over,” while “Every Circus Needs a Clown” feels hell-bent on remaking Queen‘s “Stone Cold Crazy” and “Medicine Man” and “Forbidden Kicks” find a place where garage rock meets heavier riffing, while “Children” gets its complaints registered efficiently in just over two boogie-push minutes. A touch of Sabbath here, some Queens of the Stone Age chic disco there, and Splinter are happy to find a place for themselves adjacent to both without aping either. One would not accuse them of subtlety as regards theme, but there’s something to be said for saying what you want up front.

Splinter on Facebook

Noisolution website

Terra Black, All Descend

Terra Black All Descend

Beginning with its longest component track (immediate points) in “Asteroid,” Terra Black‘s All Descend is a downward-directed slab of doomed nod, so doubled-down on its own slog that “Black Flames of Funeral Fire” doesn’t even start its first verse until the song is more than half over. Languid tempos play up the largesse of “Ashes and Dust,” and “Divinest Sin” borders on Eurometal, but if you need to know what’s in Terra Black‘s heart, look no further than the guitar, bass, drum and vocal lumber — all-lumber — of “Spawn of Lyssa” and find that it’s doom pumping blood around the band’s collective body. While avoiding sounding like Electric Wizard, the Gothenburg, Sweden, unit crawl through that penultimate duet track with all ready despondency, and resolve “Slumber Grove” with agonized final lub-dub heartbeats of kick drum and guitar drawl after a vivid and especially doomed wash drops out to vocals before rearing back and plodding forward once more, doomed, gorgeous, immersive, and so, so heavy. They’re not finished growing yet — nor should they be on this first album — but they’re on the path.

Terra Black on Facebook

Terra Black on Bandcamp

Musing, Somewhen

musing somewhen

Sometimes the name of a thing can tell you about the thing. So enters Musing, a contemplative solo outfit from Devin “Darty” Purdy, also known for his work in Calgary-based bands Gone Cosmic and Chron Goblin, with the eight-song/42-minute Somewhen and a flowing instrumental narrative that borders on heavy post-rock and psychedelia, but is clearheaded ultimately in its course and not slapdash enough to be purely experimental. That is, though intended to be instrumental works outside the norm of his songcraft, tracks like “Flight to Forever” and the delightfully bassy “Frontal Robotomy” are songs, have been carved out of inspired and improvised parts to be what they are. “Hurry Wait” revamps post-metal standalone guitar to be the basis of a fuzzy exploration, while “Reality Merchants” hones a sense of space that will be welcome in ears that embrace the likes of Yawning Sons or Big Scenic Nowhere. Somewhen has a story behind it — there’s narrative; blessings and peace upon it — but the actual music is open enough to translate to any number of personal interpretations. A ‘see where it takes you’ attitude is called for, then. Maybe on Purdy‘s part as well.

Musing on Facebook

Musing on Bandcamp

Spiral Shades, Revival

Spiral Shades Revival

A heavy and Sabbathian rock forms the underlying foundation of Spiral Shades‘ sound, and the returning two-piece of vocalist Khushal R. Bhadra and guitarist/bassist/drummer Filip Petersen have obviously spent the nine years since 2014’s debut, Hypnosis Sessions (review here), enrolled in post-doctoral Iommic studies. Revival, after so long, is not unwelcome in the least. Doom happens in its own time, and with seven songs and 38 minutes of new material, plus bonus tracks, they make up for lost time with classic groove and tone loyal to the blueprint once put forth while reserving a place for itself in itself. That is, there’s more to Spiral Shades and to Revival than Sabbath worship, even if that’s a lot of the point. I won’t take away from the metal-leaning chug of “Witchy Eyes” near the end of the album, but “Foggy Mist” reminds of The Obsessed‘s particular crunch and “Chapter Zero” rolls like Spirit Caravan, find a foothold between rock and doom, and it turns out riffs are welcome on both sides.

Spiral Shades on Facebook

Spiral Shades on Bandcamp

Bandshee, Bandshee III

Bandshee III

The closing “Sex on a Grave” reminds of the slurring bluesy lasciviousness of Nick Cave‘s Grinderman, and that should in part be taken as a compliment to the setup through “Black Cat” — which toys with 12-bar structure and is somewhere between urbane cool and cabaret nerdery — and the centerpiece “Bad Day,” which follows a classic downer chord progression through its apex with the rawness of Backwoods Payback at their most emotive and a greater melodic reach only after swaying through its willful bummer of an intro. Last-minute psych flourish in the guitar threatens to make “Bad Day” a party, but the Louisville outfit find their way around to their own kind of fun, which since the release is only three songs long just happens to be “Sex on a Grave.” Fair enough. Rife with attitude and an emergent dynamic that’s complementary to the persona of the vocals rather than trying to keep up with them, the counterintuitively-titled second short release (yes, I know the cover is a Zeppelin reference; settle down) from Bandshee lays out an individual approach to heavy songwriting and a swing that goes back further in time than most.

Bandshee on Facebook

Bandshee on Bandcamp

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The Watcher Sign to Cruz Del Sur; Debut Album Coming Next Year

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 27th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Perhaps by the time they get the ball rolling on their debut album through Cruz Del Sur Music — to which the band are newly announced as signed — Boston’s The Watcher will have a band photo. Maybe they won’t; you know heavy metal is shy like that sometimes. I don’t like looking at pictures of myself either, and that might be the most metal thing about me save for the crushingly accurate lack of self worth of which that’s a symptom, but then again, I’m not promoting a first record being put out by one of the best underground heavy metal and doom imprints going. The Watcher — who are not to be confused with San Fran’s The Watchers or any other lookie-loo type monikers out there — find themselves, or will soon find themselves, in that very position.

The trio released their debut EP, Your Turn to Die, in 2021. You’ll note the cover where the band photo discussed above might otherwise be. You can stream the EP below because Bandcamp hasn’t actually collapsed yet after firing half their staff blah blah corporate bullshit ruining lives. Comprised of three songs and topping 13 minutes, it was recorded in 2017. Six years ago! How you can guess the album will be good is that Cruz Del Sur probably wouldn’t ink a band whose only offering came out two years ago and was recorded six years ago and who haven’t spent all that time touring incessantly without at least hearing some new music first, whether that’s demos or partial finished tracks as The Watcher will look to complete the recording process in November, as the PR wire tells it. Though if it was just Your Turn to Die that hooked the label, that’s fine too.

From the PR wire:

the watcher your turn to die

THE WATCHER Joins Cruz Del Sur Music, New Album Due in 2024

Cruz Del Sur Music is proud to announce the signing of Boston classic metal/doom outfit, THE WATCHER. The label will release the band’s first full-length album in 2024.

THE WATCHER is the 2016 creation of guitarist/bassist Max Furst, who, after many years of playing darker and heavier styles of metal, wanted to write music that was more driving, epic and up-tempo. Furst embarked on finding the proper musicians, first landing on drummer Chris Spraker. The two promptly began work on the music that would become the Your Turn To Die EP. But first, they needed to find a vocalist.

“After years of dead ends and countless ‘no’s,’ I was fortuitously introduced to Paden Reed in late 2020 through a mutual acquaintance,” says Furst. “Paden was the first person to come at the project with sincere enthusiasm, and in July 2020, he sent me a demo of what would become Your Turn To Die. I was beyond floored by his delivery of the vocals and his interpretation of the music. I immediately knew we had something special, so we spent the next few months developing vocals for two additional songs from a 2017 instrumental demo. Paden then went into a studio to properly record the vocals; we then mixed and mastered the entire session.”

The Your Turn To Die EP finally saw the light of day in 2021. The wait for THE WATCHER was worth it — the EP was warmly received across the metal underground for its tight, immediate songwriting and timeless blend of BLACK SABBATH and NWOBHM. (To boot, all physical copies of Your Turn To Die are sold out!)

Furst says THE WATCHER is currently set to finish tracking the album this coming month with Sasha Stroud at Artifact Audio in New York City.

With new tracks on the way along with the promise of future live shows, joining the Cruz Del Sur Music roster is the logical next step for THE WATCHER.

“Finding a label that felt right for the band was tricky,” says Furst. “I was fortunate enough to be put in touch with Cruz Del Sur through a mutual friend. Cruz Del Sur stood out to me because of the wide range of bands they release. While everything is squarely within the scope of the metal genre, each band has a distinct and unique quality about them. Above all, all of the folks at Cruz Del Sur seem incredibly passionate about the music they release. To me, that implies a true personal investment in what they do and that is the most important trait a label should have, in my opinion.”

The Watcher is:
Paden Reed – Vocals
Max Furst – Guitars & Bass
Chris Spraker – Drums

https://instagram.com/the.watcher.heavy.metal
https://thewatcherheavymetal.bandcamp.com

cruzdelsurmusic.com
facebook.com/cruzdelsurmusic
cruzdelsurmusic.bandcamp.com

The Watcher, Your Turn to Die EP (2021)

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Milosz Gassan from Morne

Posted in Questionnaire on October 23rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Morne (Photo by Hilarie Jason)

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: Milosz Gassan from Morne

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

Well, I’d say that I let out my passion for creating something, music or writing lyrics or doing anything around that territory. I let something that is inside out. Guess how I grew up and how my parents raised me and sparked all those interests led me to where I am and what I do.

Describe your first musical memory.

Can’t really remember exactly. There was always music in our house. My parents always listened to something. I’d say bands like Genesis, Pink Floyd come to mind. I wasn’t necessarily aware of it but it’s still somewhere in my head. Generally music is something that was always part of my day as a kid.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

My first distortion pedal. My dad bought me an electric guitar when I was 9 or 10 after seeing me rocking out around our house with an acoustic guitar for a couple of years. I had no idea how to make my electric guitar to make “that” sound until my neighbor gave me this piece of shit handmade distortion pedal. I could then figure out how to make my own noise. It pretty much changed my life.

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

I try to move forward as fast as I can so I don’t have to look back and remember any of that.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

To a lot of frustration that sometimes leads to satisfaction. Always a bumpy road with a lot of twists and turns but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

How do you define success?

Happiness. No matter how high or how low in your life you are, being happy is a success.

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

My friends passing away at young age. It’s devastating.

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

More Morne albums.

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

Uncompromised education. Nothing more nothing less. It lets you think and it lets you learn.

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

Sharing more quality time with my family and my friends. Also getting a little bit more sleep would be good.

https://www.facebook.com/mornecrust
https://www.instagram.com/morneband
https://morneband.bandcamp.com

http://www.metalblade.com
http://www.facebook.com/metalbladerecords
http://www.instagram.com/metalbladerecords

Morne, Engraved With Pain (2023)

Morne, “Wretched Empire” official video

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Morne to Release Engraved With Pain Nov. 3; “Wretched Empire” Video Posted

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 11th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Morne (Photo by Hilarie Jason)

About a month ago, maybe two, I was fortunate to get an email from Metal Blade asking if I was interested in writing a bio for the new album from Boston atmospheric doomers, titled Engraved With Pain, and it was an easy yes. Heralded critically for their individualism and merging of different styles, I’d count them as undervalued considering their sound is malleable enough to fit on bills with a metal band like Gojira (a random name with precious little to do with Morne stylistically — any range of bleak proggers bubbled up from the heavy underground, sludge, death metal, industrial, on and on. And the record is four tracks long, utterly consuming, which is shown even in the small sample offered by the first single “Wretched Empire,” streaming below.

So I wrote the thing, duh. And it’s here though I’m posting it mostly to be archived here — it’s nice to keep things in a place — and if you want to skip it and go right to the song, no offense taken.

Here’s the art and info, including the bio I wrote (paragraphs two to four), and the single. Expect multi-tiered crush. Bask in it.

Off you go:

Morne Engraved With Pain

Morne: Boston Post-Metal Practitioners to Release “Engraved with Pain” Full-Length November 3rd via Metal Blade Records

“Wretched Empire” Video / Single Now Playing + Pre-orders Available

Boston-based post-metal practitioners and recent Metal Blade Records signees MORNE will unleash their devastating Engraved With Pain full-length on November 3rd, today unveiling the record’s first single, artwork, and pre-orders.

The stylistic pyroclasm of MORNE’s bleak, extreme but reachable metal did not happen overnight. Since their 2009 debut album, Untold Wait, the quartet has made simple categorizations like “doom” or even “metal” laughable, and their latest and fifth full-length, fittingly titled Engraved With Pain, refines their attack to a level toward which even 2018’s To The Night Unknown could only hint.

Engraved With Pain is a moment of grim triumph, as rooted in Celtic Frost as in Ministry, still somehow extrapolated from the gods Black Sabbath and characteristic of no one so much as themselves. Spacious, crushing, darkly thoughtful enough to be progressive but never so indulgent as to lose sight of its core message, the offering was recorded with legendary producer Kurt Ballou at GodCity Studio in Salem, Massachusetts.

Playing out across four chapters in forty-minutes, the album sees the veteran outfit crafting rhythmic tension and lung-squeezing atmospheres as Polish-born guitarist/vocalist Miłosz Gassan emits layered guttural shouts that speak to inner and outer crises. Engraved With Pain makes its title believable, and from its eponymous opener through “Memories Like Stone,” “Wretched Empire,” and “Fire And Dust,” it carries humanity individually and collectively through the realities of its decline.

“‘Wretched Empire’ is the first song off of our new album to be published bringing the wait to its end,” Gassan notes of the band’s first single, as well as their first ever video. “Barebone, stripped down riffs and a cold look at today’s reality, lyrically it’s my take on the current situation in the world: How divided everything is and how people are prone to being misled. How we forget our history; history that happened not that long ago. I never comment on my lyrics but maybe in this case it’s needed. I call humanity a ‘wretched empire.’ It’s not an optimistic song. I hope people will enjoy it and find something for themselves in this single and the whole album as well.”

Engraved With Pain will be released on CD, LP, and digital formats. Find pre-orders at: metalblade.com/morne

Photo by Hillarie Jason

MORNE:
Milosz Gassan – Guitar, Vocals
Paul Rajpal – Guitar
Morgan Coe – Bass
Billy Knockenhauer – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/mornecrust
https://www.instagram.com/morneband
https://morneband.bandcamp.com

http://www.metalblade.com
http://www.facebook.com/metalbladerecords
http://www.instagram.com/metalbladerecords

Morne, Engraved With Pain (2023)

Morne, “Wretched Empire” official video

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Album Review: Kind, Close Encounters

Posted in Reviews on August 9th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

kind close encounters

It’s not that expectations weren’t high for Close Encounters. By virtue of their lineup’s pedigree, Kind‘s output has been anticipated since before their first release, and their two albums to-date, 2015’s Rocket Science (review here) and 2020’s Mental Nudge (review here), set and lived up to a high standard for craft and melody, gleefully, mischievously kicking ass all the while since first getting together a decade ago.

I won’t take away from either of the first two records. They’re both some of the most essential heavy rock that’s come out of Boston, Massachusetts, in the last eight years. Rocket Science showed that the chemical formula resulting from the combined elements of vocalist/synthesist Craig Riggs (also drums in SasquatchRoadsaw frontman, etc.), guitarist/synthesist Darryl Shepard (so many bands and more all the time; he’s also a brilliant conceptualist standup comedian), bassist Tom Corino of newer-school sludge metallers Rozamov, and drummer Matt Couto (ex-Elder, also Aural Hallucinations) could function as a group rather than just players culled from elsewhere, and Mental Nudge reaffirmed it.

Where Close Encounters — because it’s the third Kind record; get it? — goes further is in extending a sense of progression to the individual sound of Kind. That is, with these nine songs and 48 minutes, Kind and returning producer Alec Rodriguez (who recorded at Mad Oak in Spring 2022 and also mixed) refine the identity of Kind as their own band, identifiable in their melodicism, psych-leaning groove and tonality, and not even through opener “Burn Scar” (premiered here) before they’re trying new ideas, crushing in tone and spacious in breadth, vocals delivered in layers as they draw the listener deeper into the album’s unfolding.

The pattern continues through rolling highlight cut “Favorite One,” which joins closer “Pacino” as the only other inclusion on Close Encounters to hit seven minutes. That’s a shift in approach from Mental Nudge, which worked back and forth between longer and shorter tracks, but the band want nothing for flow either way. “Favorite One” finds Riggs delving into a fairly spot on Jerry Cantrell-circa-Facelift-style hook, backed by the synchronicity of Couto‘s snare and the punch of Corino‘s bass, and a drifting vocal melody after Shepard‘s solo that reminds of Snail, but is recontextualized to suit Kind‘s purposes of structured exploration.

The point of “Black Yesterday” seems to be to capture a sense of vastness, as evidenced by the reverb soaking the midsection before it hands off to Shepard for a particularly fuzzed lead section, but it’s also the last part of a three-song opening salvo that builds up the momentum that will carry Kind through the remining six pieces. “Snag” is a big help in that regard, with a stripped-back runtime — at 3:58, it is one of three Kind pieces to clock in under four minutes; the still-to-come “Power Grab” is the shortest song they’ve written at 2:56 — and a chorus that stands up well to being leaned on as it is, heavy and atmospheric, with the vocals seeming to sort of surf the riff as the band move into the crescendo hook and subsequent ending section, some ‘additional percussion’ credited to Riggs marking the change.

kind

‘Just a rock song’ — in quotes because I’m someone whose life has been changed and in many ways shaped by rock songs — on paper, “Snag” is given space, character and dimension through the guitar and bass tones, the mix, and the echo treatment on the drums and vocals. This is emblematic of Kind‘s approach generally, but captured with particular efficiency and accessibility. They follow it with the centerpiece, named “Massive” presumably in honor of Corino‘s bassline, and swinging with a thickened strut that is at once classic heavy rock and a stylistic signature from Couto. Marked by vital nod, “Massive” sits well between “Snag” and “Power Grab,” both of which are faster and the latter of which is Close Encounters‘ most fervent push.

I’m not sure where the vinyl sides split, but if either “Massive” (seems more likely timing-wise) or “Power Grab” starts side B, then fair enough as it leads into the last section of the record, which begins explosive as “Of the Ages” bursts to life from its standalone-riffed intro. Quick into the verse, quick into the chorus, it follows suit from “Snag” and even “Massive” in terms of structural traditionalism, and so does “What It Is to Be Free,” but each has its own persona, with “Of the Ages” seeing itself out with a multi-stage solo atop its swaying lumber, and “What It Is to Be Free” finding an especially brash groove and a guitar melody in its intro that meets bombast with due swagger. It is not the sort of tune Kind would or maybe could have written together in 2015, but they sure make it sound easy now (and for all I know the song was written in 2015).

“Pacino” rounds out with what seems to be shimmy in surplus — no complaints — and a tension resulting that’s balanced through complementary twists led by Shepard on guitar and a stretch in the second half of more forward push. The key word is ‘push,’ though. Shepard takes a lead before Riggs returns with a last verse and chorus, and as it comes apart, “Pacino” spends not quite its full last minute in a lightbath of melodic psych drone carved out of residual comedown noise. Where much of Close Encounters up to that point has been about movement between parts, the flow within and between songs, and expansion on Kind‘s prior modus of craft and performance, “Pacino” dwells more in that boogie, riding the central chug for the vast majority of the proceedings and wrapping the album so that still kinetic in nature, but changed in shape and underlying makeup.

And while it’s a sidestep from some of the other material, it is consistent in both sound and atmosphere and well within their style, so not awkward or out of place. It’s like the rest of Close Encounters: the work of a band who have built their identity from the ground up, who know who they are, and who are working actively to evolve their processes and sound. I said when it was announced that Close Encounters is the best offering from Kind. It is. It weaves smoothly through complex changes and is soothing even at its heaviest, accomplishing a rare malleability of stylistic balance. More than anything though, it is Kind, and it broadens the scope of what that means.

Kind, Close Encounters (2023)

Kind on Facebook

Kind on Instagram

Kind on Bandcamp

Ripple Music on Facebook

Ripple Music on Instagram

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

Ripple Music website

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Blood Lightning: Self-Titled Debut Due Oct. 20 on Ripple Music

Posted in Whathaveyou on July 31st, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Blood Lightning

Following up on a video for the track “Blankets” that was unveiled in June with the first word of Blood Lightning‘s self-titled debut, Ripple Music has confirmed an Oct. 20 release for that album. The metal-leaning heavy project from members of — yes I’m doing the list; it’s a fun list — Gozu, We’re all Gonna Die, Sam Black Church and Worshipper (among others) got their start as a live one-off and, whoops, I guess somebody started writing songs. Then recording them. They’ve been trickling out singles since late 2021 with “The Dying Starts,” and that track will open the album, so that’s two out of five originals already public. A not-insubstantial sampling for a record that’s still the better part of three months out. And yeah, I’d be up for hearing them take on Black Sabbath‘s “Disturbing the Priest.” Of course.

Blood Lightning join a busy Fall for Ripple. In addition to the new LP from Blood Lightning‘s fellow Bostonians Kind out Aug. 11, recent announcements have been made for albums from Moon Coven (Aug. 25), Fire Down Below (Sept. 8), Dead Feathers (Sept. 22), La Chinga (Oct. 6) and Appalooza, who share Blood Lightning‘s release date of Oct. 20. It’s to the label’s credit that none of these releases steps too hard on the toes of the others sound-wise, and if you don’t think we’re living in a guilded age for heavy music, well, think about a leading label putting out stuff basically every other week from now until mid-Fall with more maybe to come before the end of the year, and then get back to me.

The PR wire has it like this:

Blood Lightning self titled

Boston heavy metal supergroup BLOOD LIGHTNING to release debut album on Ripple Music this fall; watch new video “Blankets” now!

Boston-based heavy metal supergroup BLOOD LIGHTNING (with members of GOZU, Sam Black Church, Worshipper, We’re All Gonna Die) team up with US powerhouse Ripple Music for the release of their self-titled debut this October 13th. Watch their brand new video for “Blankets” now!

Watch Blood Lightning’s fire it up on new “Blankets” video
Single available now on all digital streaming services

Formed in December 2020, Blood Lightning brings together the talents of vocalist Jim Healey (We’re All Gonna Die), guitarist Doug Sherman (GOZU), bassist Bob Maloney (Worshipper) and drummer J.R. Roach (Sam Black Church). What began as a 2019 Halloween show playing the entire Black Sabbath “Born Again” album just for fun has culminated in the release of original material by four veterans of the Boston metal/hardcore community.

Blood Lightning was formed with one thing in mind: get back to the real essence of heavy metal. No pretense. No subgenres to fit into. Only badass, straightforward, hard-hitting heavy metal with a nod to old school NWOBHM with contemporary firepower. They teamed up with award-winning producer and engineer Benny Grotto (Rolling Stones, Aerosmith), and mastering legend Alan Douches (Motörhead, Mastodon, High On Fire) to record five original songs and one Black Sabbath cover over the course of 2021 and 2022.

They were also honored to be nominated in 2021 and 2022 for Metal Artist of the Year by the Boston Music Awards. The band recently signed with acclaimed Stoner/Doom/Metal label, Ripple Music, and is excited to take the next step in that partnership to bring some new music to the masses.

BLOOD LIGHTNING “Blood Lightning”
Out October 20th on Ripple Music

TRACKLIST:
1. The Dying Starts
2. Hitting The Wall
3. Bananaconda
4. Face Eater
5. Blankets
6. Disturbing The Priest

BLOOD LIGHTNING is
Jim Healey – Vocals
Doug Sherman – Guitars
Bob Maloney – Bass
J.R. Roach – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/bloodlightning
https://bloodlightning.bandcamp.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzK8wKH5BET_4DWg_2Hp3hw

https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

Blood Lightning, “Blankets” official video

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Scott O’Dowd from Cortez

Posted in Questionnaire on July 13th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Scott ODowd from Cortez

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: Scott O’Dowd from Cortez

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

First and foremost, I’m a music fan. I have a voracious appetite when it comes to music, I can never get enough. Ever since I was a little kid, I have been fascinated by music. I think that it has to do with how it makes me feel. I associate songs with different memories and feelings that I have experienced. Somewhere along the way, this love of music led me to want to play an instrument, which ended up being the guitar. Playing guitar sort of naturally led to writing songs. 35-40 years later, I’m still at it.

Describe your first musical memory.

I don’t have one specific memory per se. I have lots of memories of being, like four years old and hearing The Beatles and Beach Boys around the house. Also, lots of FM radio hits of the day. A few songs that I really remember being drawn to for whatever reason were “Dream Weaver” by Gary Wright, “Evil Woman” by ELO, and “Miracles” by Jefferson Starship.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

I don’t know if there is a ‘best’ musical memory, but a fun one is being on tour with our Belgian friends Solenoid, and our brothers in We’re All Gonna Die. We were pulling into a rest stop somewhere, we had all of the van windows open and were blasting ‘Balls To The Wall’ by Accept. It got to the part where it breaks down to just drums and bass, everyone spontaneously started singing the ‘Ah-ah- ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah’ chanting part at the top of their lungs. We all burst out into hysterical laughter afterwards.

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

The belief that anything is guaranteed. Over the last year, I have been dealing with serious back issues, which at times have made it almost impossible for me to walk. Sometimes I wonder if the physical limits of my own body may force me to stop playing music. Which is an absolutely unbearable thought.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

True artistic progression will ultimately lead to the next set of challenges. Whether they be external or internal. I’d like to think that the ultimate end would be a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment, but I think there is always the drive to eclipse, or expand on the previous song, album, or performance.

How do you define success?

I define success as doing what you want, and being happy.

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

My mother’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease. It is the most horrific thing I have ever had to endure.

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

The next song.

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

I think that the most essential function of art is to make you think. Whether it’s just getting your synapses firing, and experiencing different emotions, or really making you question things on a deeper level.

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

Traveling, spending time with friends and family.

https://www.facebook.com/cortezboston
http://www.instagram.com/cortezboston/
http://cortezboston.bandcamp.com/
https://www.cortezboston.com/

https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

Cortez, Sell the Future (2020)

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Tom Corino of Kind

Posted in Questionnaire on June 19th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Tom Corino of Kind (Photo by Tim Bugbee)

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: Tom Corino of Kind

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

I’ve spent the majority of my life playing bass in bands. Before I even owned an instrument I had agreed to be in a band so my skills on the bass took some time to catch up with my first skill which was being a bandmate. I’ve been lucky enough to develop my own style of playing over the years and I’ve also been to be surrounded by musicians who gave me the platform do my own thing in one form or another.

Describe your first musical memory.

The first time I heard music and it really clicked for me was being exposed to Black Sabbath in high school. A friend of mine got the Reunion live album as a gift and lent it to me for a trip to Shea Stadium to watch the Mets lose. I popped it in my walkman and it’s been all downhill from there.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Honestly it’s pretty hard to choose. I’ve been really fortunate that music has afforded me so many opportunities over the years. I’ve gotten to see most of the US and met some of my absolute heroes thanks to playing music (Opening for Slayer with Rozamov comes to mind).

That said, playing Desertfest London with Kind was a total trip. The reaction we got from that audience was just unreal. I also got to share the experience with my wife and explore the city for a bit which is not something that happens very often as anyone who has done any touring will tell you.

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

Having a child completely dismantled most of my firmly held beliefs. It changed everything and it’s hard to explain to people who haven’t experienced it themselves. Certain things I used to take so seriously are now completely trivial and things I once took for granted are now of utmost importance. Frankly, I look back at my former self in pity at how ignorant and self involved I was.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

I think everyone’s progression is different, and the journey is way more important than wherever it “leads” to. I’m not really sure it leads anywhere, artistic progression should never end if you’re doing it right.

How do you define success?

Success is enjoying the process.

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

Watching loved ones deal with serious mental health hurdles is the most debilitating thing ever and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.

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

I’ve always wanted to run a studio or venue of some kind. I have exactly none of the expertise needed for either venture but hey… maybe someday we’ll do it.

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

To allow the artist and audience to lose themselves collectively and have a respite from the outside world for some stretch of time, however brief.

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

All of my son’s “firsts”.

https://www.facebook.com/KINDtheband
https://www.instagram.com/therockbandkind/
https://kindrocks.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

Kind, Close Encounters (2023)

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