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Quarterly Review: Howling Giant, Rose City Band, The Tazers, Kavrila, Gateway, Bala, Tremor Ama, The Crooked Whispers, No Stone, Firefriend

Posted in Reviews on July 9th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

the-obelisk-fall-2016-quarterly-review

You know what? We’re through the first week of the Quarterly Review as of this post. Not too bad. I feel like it’s been smooth going so far to such a degree that I’m even thinking about adding an 11th day comprised purely of releases that came my way this week and will invariably come in next week too. Crazy, right? Bonus day QR. We’ll see if I get there, but I’m thinking about it. That alone should tell you something.

But let me not get ahead of myself. Day five commence.

Quarterly Review #41-50:

Howling Giant, Alteration

howling giant alteration

Let the story be that when the pandemic hit, Nashville’s Howling Giant took to the airwaves to provide comfort, character and a bit of ‘home’ — if one thinks of live performance as home — to their audience. With a steady schedule of various live streams on Twitch, some playing music, some playing D&D, the band engaged their listenership in a new and exciting way, finding a rare bright point in one of the darkest years of recent history. Alteration, a crisp four-song/20-minute EP, is born out of those streamed jams, with songs named by the band’s viewers/listeners — kudos to whoever came up with “Luring Alluring Rings” — and, being entirely instrumental from a band growing more and more focused on vocal arrangements, sound more like they’re on their way to being finished than are completely done. However, that’s also the point of the release, essentially to showcase unfinished works in progress that have emerged in a manner that nobody expected. It is another example from last year-plus that proves the persistence of creativity, and is all the more beautiful for that.

Howling Giant on Facebook

Blues Funeral Recordings website

 

Rose City Band, Earth Trip

Rose City Band Earth Trip

Vaguely lysergic, twanging with a non-chestbeating or jingoistic ’70s American singer-songwriter feel, Rose City Band‘s Earth Trip brings sentiment without bitterness in its songs, engaging as the title hints with nature in songs like “Silver Roses,” “In the Rain,” “Lonely Planes,” “Ramblin’ with the Day,” “Rabbit” and “Dawn Patrol.” An outlet for Ripley Johnson, also of Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo, the “band” isn’t so much in Rose City Band, but there is some collaboration — pedal steel here and there, as on “Ramblin’ with the Day” — though it’s very much Johnson‘s own craft and performance at the core of this eight-song set. This is the third Rose City Band long-player in three years, but quickly as it may have come about, the tracks never feel rushed — hushed, if anything — and Johnson effectively casts himself in among the organic throughout the proceedings, making the listener feel nothing if not welcome to join the ramble.

Rose City Band on Facebook

Thrill Jockey Records website

 

The Tazers, Dream Machine

The Tazers Dream Machine

Johannesburg, South Africa’s The Tazers are suited to a short-release format, as their Dream Machine EP shows, bringing together four tracks with psychedelic precociousness and garage rock attitude to spare, with just an edge of classic heavy to keep things grooving. Their latest work opens with its languid and lysergic title-track, which sets up the shove of “Go Away” and the shuffle in “Lonely Road” — both under three and a half minutes long, with nary a wasted second in them, despite sounding purposefully like tossoffs — and the latter skirts the line of coming undone, but doesn’t, of course, but in the meantime sets up the almost proto-New Wave in the early going on “Around Town,” only later to give way to the band’s most engaging melody and a deceptively patient, gentle finish, which considering some of the brashness in the earlier tracks is a surprise. A pleasant one, though, and not the first the three-piece have brought forth by the time they get to the end of Dream Machine‘s ultra-listenable 16-minute run.

The Tazers on Facebook

The Tazers on Soundcloud

 

Kavrila, Rituals III

Kavrila Rituals III

Pressed in an ultra-limited edition of 34 tapes (the physical version also has a bonus track), Kavrila‘s Rituals III brings together about 16 minutes of heavy hardcore and post-hardcore, a thickened undertone giving something of a darker mood to the crunch of “Equality” as guitars are layered in subtly in a higher register, feeding into the urgency without competing with the drums or vocals. Opener “Sunday” works at more of a rush while “Longing” has more of a lurch at least to its outset before gradually elbowing its way into a more careening groove, but the bridge being built is between sludge and hardcore, and while the four-piece aren’t the first to build it, they do well here. If we’re picking highlights, closer “Elysium” has deft movement, intensity and atmosphere in kind, and still features a vocal rawness that pushes the emotional crux between the verses and choruses to make the transitions that much smoother. The ending fades out early behind those shouts, leaving the vocals stranded, calling out the song’s title into a stark emptiness.

Kavrila on Facebook

The Chinaskian Conspiracy on Bandcamp

 

Gateway, Flesh Reborn

gateway flesh reborn

Brutal rebirth. Robin Van Oyen is the lone figure behind Bruges, Belgium-based death-doom outfit Gateway, and Flesh Reborn is his first EP in three years. Marked out with guest guitar solos by M., the four-track/25-minute offering keeps its concentration on atmosphere as much as raw punishment, and while one would be correct to call it ‘extreme’ in its purpose and execution, its deathliest aspects aren’t just the growling vocals or periods of intense blast, but the wash of distortion that lays over the offering as a whole, from “Hel” through “Slumbering Crevasses,” the suitably twisting, later lurching “Rack Crawler” and the grandeur-in-filth 12-minute closing title-track, at which point the fullness of the consumption is revealed at last. Unbridled as it seems, this material is not without purpose and is not haphazard. It is the statement it intends to be, and its depths are shown to be significant as Van Oyen pulls you further down into them with each passing moment, finally leaving you there amid residual drone.

Gateway on Facebook

Chaos Records website

 

Bala, Maleza

Bala Maleza

Admirably punk in its dexterity, Bala‘s debut album, Maleza, arrives as a nine-track pummelfest from the Spanish duo of guitarist/vocalist Anx and drummer/vocalist V., thickened with sludgy intent and aggression to spare. The starts and stops of opener “Agitar” provide a noise-rock-style opening that hints at the tonal push to come throughout “Hoy No” — the verse melody of which seems to reinvent The Bangles — while the subsequent “X” reaches into greater breadth, vocals layered effectively as a preface perhaps to the later grunge of “Riuais,” which arrives ahead of the swaggering riff and harsh sneer of “Bessie” the lumbering finale “Una Silva.” Whether brooding in “Quieres Entrar” or explosive in its shove in “Cien Obstaculos,” Maleza offers stage-style energy with clarity of vision and enough chaos to make the anger feel genuine. There’s apparently some hype behind Bala, and fair enough, but this is legitimately one of the best debut albums I’ve heard in 2021.

Bala on Facebook

Century Media Records website

 

Tremor Ama, Beneath

Tremor Ama Beneath

French prog-fuzz five-piece Tremor Ama make a coherent and engaging debut with Beneath, a first full-length following up a 2017 self-titled EP release. Spacious guitar leads the way through the three-minute intro “Ab Initio” and into the subsequent “Green Fire,” giving a patient launch to the outing, the ensuing four songs of which grow shorter as they go behind that nine-minute “Green Fire” stretch. There’s room for ambience and intensity both in centerpiece “Eclipse,” with vocals echoing out over the building second half, and both “Mirrors” and “Grey” offer their moments of surge as well, the latter tapping into a roll that should have fans of Forming the Void nodding both to the groove and in general approval. Effectively tipping the balance in their sound over the course of the album as a whole, Tremor Ama showcase an all-the-more thoughtful approach in this debut, and at 30 minutes, they still get out well ahead of feeling overly indulgent or losing sight of their overarching mission.

Tremor Ama on Facebook

Tremor Ama on Bandcamp

 

The Crooked Whispers, Dead Moon Night

The Crooked Whispers Dead Moon Night

Delivered on multiple formats including as a 12″ vinyl through Regain Records offshoot Helter Skelter Productions, the bleary cultistry of The Crooked Whispers‘ two-songer Dead Moon Night also finds the Los Angeles-based outfit recently picked up by Ripple Music. If it seems everybody wants a piece of The Crooked Whispers, that’s fair enough for the blend of murk, sludge and charred devil worship the foursome offer with “Hail Darkness” and the even more gruesome “Galaxy of Terror,” taking the garage-doom rawness of Uncle Acid and setting against a less Beatlesian backdrop, trading pop hooks for classic doom riffing on the second track, flourishing in its misery as it is. At just 11 minutes long — that’s less than a minute for each inch of the vinyl! — Dead Moon Night is a grim forecast of things to come for the band’s deathly revelry, already showcased too on last year’s debut, Satanic Whispers (review here).

The Crooked Whispers on Facebook

Regain Records on Bandcamp

 

No Stone, Road into the Darkness

No Stone Road into the Darkness

Schooled, oldschool doom rock for denim-clad heads as foggy as the distortion they present, No Stone‘s debut album, Road into the Darkness, sounds like they already got there. The Rosario, Argentina, trio tap into some Uncle Acid-style garage doom vibes on “The Frayed Endings,” but the crash is harder, and the later 10-minute title-track delves deeper into psychedelia and grunge in kind, resulting in an overarching spirit that’s too weird to be anything but individual, however mmuch it might still firmly reside within the tenets of “cult.” If you were the type to chase down a patch, you might want to chase down a No Stone patch, as “Devil Behind” makes its barebones production feel like an aesthetic choice to offset the boogie to come in “Shadow No More,” and from post-intro opener “Bewitched” to the long fade of “The Sky is Burning,” No Stone balance atmosphere and songcraft in such a way as to herald future progress along this morose path. Maybe they are just getting on the road into the darkness, but they seem to be bringing that darkness with them on the way.

No Stone on Facebook

Ruidoteka Records on Bandcamp

 

Firefriend, Dead Icons

Firefriend Dead Icons

Dead Icons is the sixth full-length from Brazilian psychedelic outfit Firefriend, and throughout its 10 songs and 44 minutes, the band proffer marked shoegaze-style chill and a sense of space, fuzzy and molten in “Hexagonal Mess,” more desert-hued in “Spin,” jangly and out for a march on “Ongoing Crash.” “Home or Exile” takes on that question with due reach, and “Waves” caps with organ alongside the languid guitar, but moments like “Tomorrow” are singular and gorgeous, and though “Three Dimensional Sound Glitch” and “666 Fifth Avenue” border on playful, there’s an overarching melancholy to the flow, as engaging as it is. In its longest pieces — “Tomorrow” (6:05) and “One Thousand Miles High” (5:08) — the “extra” time is well spent in extending the trio’s reach, and while it’s safe to assume that six self-recorded LPs later, Firefriend know what they want to do with their sound, that thing feels amorphous, fleeting, transient somehow here, like a moving target. That speaks to ongoing growth, and is just one of Dead Icons‘ many strengths.

Firefriend on Facebook

Cardinal Fuzz store

Little Cloud Records store

 

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Cowboys & Aliens Premiere “Morbid Orbit” Video

Posted in Bootleg Theater on June 24th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

cowboys and aliens morbid orbit still

Images of landmarks as dust and rubble amid a pockmarked earth and devastated, re-shaped continents should be familiar enough to anyone who’s spent time amid the History Channel’s sundry apocalypse-porn CGI specials about major impacts, and yeah, there’s definitely a certain catharsis watching a giant asteroid looming above this pale blue dot waiting to unleash firestorms and nuclear winter to speed up the mass extinction that mankind seems so bent on perpetuating. Ka-boom, and all that.

In Cowboys & Aliens‘ new video for “Morbid Orbit,” the story seems to be of the aftermath of same — no breathable air, humanity hunkered down, survival in question. We see a lone figure staggering, people emerging from some kind of bunker to witness the wrecked landscape under a dirty sky. I feel like we’re due a really good end-of-the-world movie. It’s been a while, right? There were a ton for a while there. Everything’s comic books now. Maybe the thing to make is an end-of-the-world comic book.

Either way, amid Cowboys & Aliens — whose most recent full-length was 2019’s Horses of Rebellion (review here) — celebrating 25 years as a band, they’ve released “Morbid Orbit” as part of the Polderrecords compilation, PolderRiffs Vol. II, and they can be seen in the video witnessing the end of definitely-most things with various skyscrapers in the background, among them London’s Strata SE1 with its telltale windmills integrated into the top of its construction.

The message there? Maybe that humanity pretending to give a crap about the environment was too little too late, or moot anyway? Or maybe it’s just a cool looking futuristic building, which, frankly, is legit. Presumably when the tsunamis come, that’ll be the final say on that as well.

The good news, aside from the fact that all that havoc looks awesome in 4K, is the song is also catchy as hell and broadly spacious enough to encompass most of the video’s nine minutes. Cowboys & Aliens lead off PolderRiffs Vol. II and share time there with Wheel of SmokeCavaran and others, and they’re well positioned to represent Belgium’s heavy rock underground in both its history and how they’ve grown into their style over the years since they made their full-length debut with 1998’s League of Fools.

Though I suppose the perspective there might be somewhat aligned. It’s still ‘always this and that,’ but sometimes “that” is a big rock taking out the whole planet in one go. These things happen.

So enjoy!

Cowboys & Aliens, “Morbid Orbit” official video premiere

Legendary stoner outfit Cowboys & Aliens from Belgium are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year!

They are currently writing and recording new songs for a new album due early 2022, but for the occasion they have finished one song completely, it’s featured on a vinyl exclusive compilation: POLDERRIFFS that was released on Record Store Day June 12th.

Various Artists, Polderriffs Vol. II (2021)

Cowboys & Aliens on Bandcamp

Cowboys & Aliens on Thee Facebooks

Polderrecords website

Polderrecords on Thee Facebooks

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Review & Full Album Stream: Cowboys & Aliens, Horses of Rebellion

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on March 6th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

cowboys aliens horses of rebellion

[Click play above to stream Cowboys & Aliens’ Horses of Rebellion in its entirety. Album is out March 15 on Polderrecords.]

It’s been more than 20 years since Cowboys & Aliens got their start in 1997 with the long-out-of-print League of Fools, and as with anything, some stuff has changed and some hasn’t. The Bruges-based four-piece still put groove front and center of their approach, and one can still hear traces of Kyuss and earlier Astrosoniq in their approach, but as they release Horses of Rebellion through Polderrecords, the band’s melodic foundation remains strong, but they deliver their material with something of a sharper edge. To listen to songs like “Take a Good Look Around” or even the initial push of “Soaking,” the sound is still right in line with that initial wave of European late ’90s heavy rock, and Henk Vanhee‘s post-John Garcia vocal style speak to that timeframe as well, but the tones of guitarist John Pollentier are as hard as they are heavy, and with the fervent push of Peter Gaelens on drums and Tom Neirynck‘s bass, the album retains a metallic feel to coincide with its foundations in the riffy ways.

It runs a clean 11 songs/43 minutes all told, and makes a centerpiece of its catchiest hook in the title-track, but whether it’s a bruiser like “Morning Again” or the slower early going in “Sheep Bloody Sheep,” Cowboys & Aliens bring an efficiency to their delivery that speaks to their maturity as a band. It’s been a minute, though. While their landmark and widest-known release has always been 2000’s A Trip to Stonehenge Colony (on Buzzville), their last full-length was 2005’s Language of Superstars. In the intervening 14 years, the band broke up and (obviously) got back together, releasing two EPs earlier this decade in 2011’s Sandpaper Blues Knockout and 2013’s Surrounded by Enemies. Both of those releases continued to tap into fuzzier tonality and more of a rocking feel, not quite laid back, but not quite as on top of the beat as a cut like “Refuse” finds them here.

So why the change? Hell if I know. These are troubled times, and perhaps it’s some reflection of that, though songs like “Two Time a Man,” “Hollow,” and the closing duo of “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” and “Splendid Isolation” seem to speak to a more personal perspective than some broader social comment. Even “Refuse,” in the track itself, is preceded by an “I.” Fair enough. One way or the other, it seems safe to assume that the shift in approach — and it’s a shift more than a leap; something notable, but not drastic; they’re not suddenly djenting by any means — is purposeful given the band’s established tenure and the fact that Horses of Rebellion is their fifth long-player. It is very much a collection of songs rather than something composed as a full-length concept or thematic piece, but it flows well throughout its aggressive take, and is malleable in terms of tempo and general mood even though it stays on point as “Soaking” and “Still in the Shade” careen outward in a brisk seven-and-a-half-minute opening salvo that sets the vibe for the rest of what follows.

cowboys and aliens

“Two Time a Man” gives Neirynck‘s bass a well-earned showcase, and presents a more open verse, pulling back the throttle somewhat from the initial launch, but they hold firm to a hook and still have room at the end for a quick crescendo guitar solo ahead of “Sheep Bloody Sheep,” which is a foreshadow of the melodic highlight to come in the title-track and the longest inclusion at just over five minutes, still hitting hard, but doing it slower. Gaelens starts “Take a Good Look Around” and the first two minutes of the song build through a resonant chorus kept on point by a steady kick drum while Pollentier seems to bend the riff around the central groove, never losing it but walking the edge as he goes. When it comes at the start of side B, the subsequent title-track has more of a classic take and a hook made for sticking to the brain complemented by a start-stop verse riff and a swagger that much of Horses of Rebellion avoids. They rightly lean into that chorus even toward the end of the song, but it’s telling that when it’s over, the turn to “Morning Again” is immediate.

That is, there’s a beat of a pause, but that’s it. Only a beat. And even on a record full of relatively smooth transitions, that one stands out as capturing a live feel on the part of the band. Being as crisply produced as they are here, I don’t know how much Horses of Rebellion represents their onstage character — I’ve also never seen them, so that doesn’t help either — but that changeover certainly comes across as show-ready, and it works to keep the energy of the title-track going into “Morning Again,” which has a bounder of a riff at its core and works to keep the momentum going into “Hollow” and “Refuse,” which respectively pull back and push forward in terms of thrust, the latter being the most intense moment on the record since the opening and maybe overall as well. They follow with the solid groove and layered harmonies of “Walk a Mile in My Shoes,” mellowing out a bit in its second half but still keeping the proceedings to a tight four-minutes.

And they close out with “Splendid Isolation,” which — and I mean this in the best, laughingest way possible — is kind of a jerk move. At 2:20, the finale is naught but tense guitar strum and vocal lines. It’s building, you see. At any second, the listener is waiting for the song to absolutely explode, but it never does. Cowboys & Aliens are simply toying with their audience, putting what might otherwise have been first or at the beginning of a live set at the end of the record instead. The message, of course, comes through clearly enough: They’re just getting started. And for a band 22 years on from their debut, that’s no minor message to deliver as effectively as they do, but perhaps the intensity in some parts of Horses of Rebellion is mirroring an urgency behind the album’s creation in the first place, and if that’s so, one seriously doubts it will be another decade and a half before they’re heard from again. As much as their roots remain in the heavy rock of their initial era, their will to move forward is writ large in these songs.

Cowboys & Aliens on Bandcamp

Cowboys & Aliens on Thee Facebooks

Polderrecords website

Polderrecords on Thee Facebooks

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Cowboys & Aliens to Release Horses of Rebellion March 15

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 28th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

If you’re looking at the band moniker and thinking of the 2011 flop/would’ve-been-high-budget-blockbuster, the Belgian rockers predate it by more than a decade. In fact, taking their name presumably from the comic on which that movie was based, Belgian rockers Cowboys & Aliens predate the film by more than a decade. They formed in 1996 — ancient history by any measure; ha — and put out four records in the pre-social media era before fading out circa the middle of the last decade, only to return in this one. Still, a more than 20-year history backs them and Horses of Rebellion, which is due out March 15 on Polderrecords, will be their first long-player since 2005’s Language of Superstars, though they also had EPs out in 2011 and 2014.

Long-underrated European underground heavy rock looking to make a comeback after more than a decade from their last album? Yeah, you know that’s my jam.

Info follows here, courtesy of the PR wire:

cowboys and aliens

Polderrecords announces new album by Cowboys & Aliens

POLDERRECORDS is happy to announce the signing of Belgian’s finest stoner rock legends for their 5th full-length album ‘HORSES OF REBELLION’ out March, 2019.

Cowboys & Aliens is a four-piece stoner rock band from Bruges, Belgium. Formed in 1996, they released 4 full studio albums before falling into hiatus in 2006. The band reunited with the original lineup from ‘’ in 2011 with a brand new EP: “Sandpaper Blues Knockout” and gave a hell of a show at DesertFest Antwerp and opened up for Deep Purple (for the second time) at Vorst Nationaal. After playing countless festivals around Europe they released another EP in 2014: “Surrounded by Enemies” that took them once more to numerous stages in Belgium, Holland and Germany.

Now the time has come for their 5th full album: HORSES OF REBELLION to be released March 15th on POLDERRECORDS. The album was recorded and mixed by Pieter Nyckees at Shellshock Studio and mastered by Uwe Teichert at Elektropolis Brussels.

‘HORSES OF REBELLION’ is a classic guide on how to mix different styles into a breathtaking heavy cocktail. It’s all about melodic guitars and classic vocal harmonies, maintaining the riff-loaden grooves and ponderous rhythms Cowboys & Aliens are so well known for.

‘HORSES OF REBELLION’ is a diverse album with some punk attitude injections, classic stoner rock and the heavy edge of nineties grunge … and even an acoustic masterpiece!

Prepare yourself for a trip loaded with heavy fuzz, riffs and catchy melodies.

Brace yourself for impact soon as the album will release digitally on Cowboys & Aliens Bandcamp and all streaming platforms March 1st, 2019 and get ready to groove along to an absolute monster of an album! CD and Vinyl release: March 15th, 2019.

PR018 – COWBOYS AND ALIENS – ‘HORSES OF REBELLION’,
out on cd and vinyl March 15th, 2019.

COWBOYS AND ALIENS are:
John Pollentier – Guitar
Henk Vanhee – Vocals
Peter Gaelens – Drums
Tom Neirynck – Bass

All songs written,arranged and produced by COWBOYS & ALIENS
All lyrics by Henk V.
Recorded and mixed at Shellshock Studio by Pieter Nyckees.
Mastered at Electropolis Brussels by Uwe Teichert.
Artwork by Sandy Verfaille (Inksane Tattoo)
Photos by Trees Rommelaere
Layout & design by Tom Maene and Henk V.

Track listing:
Side A
Soaking – 04:05
Still in the Shade – 03:37
Two Times a Man – 04:45
Sheep Bloody Sheep – 05:01
Take a Good Look Around – 04:22

Side B
Horses of Rebellion – 03:59
Morning Again – 04:14
Hollow – 03:42
Refuse – 03:11
Walk a Mile in my Shoes – 04:21
Splendid Isolation – 02:20

https://cowboysandaliens.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/cowboysandaliensgrooves/
http://www.polderrecords.be

Cowboys & Aliens, Surrounded by Enemies (2013)

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The Heavy Crown Sign to Cursed Tongue Records for Reign On Vinyl Release

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 31st, 2018 by JJ Koczan

the heavy crown (Photo by Jana Germanus)

I had a feeling it would be Cursed Tongue. I used context clues! But basically it’s not a stretch to think of The Heavy Crown putting out their second album, the impending Reign On, through the label that has shown such a penchant for taste in its choice of releases. I’m curious to hear how some of the sci-fi aspects noted below come together, as when the artwork was first posted there was little actually said about the sound of the record itself. Their debut, 2015’s Full of Haze, was and remains an organ-laced classic heavy rocker through and through. Given all they’ve been through since with the 2016 passing of drummer Jelle “Lil Bonham” Tommeleyn, it’s not a wonder their style would have shifted some, but the question of how much is an intriguing one going into the album’s release.

We won’t have to wait long to find out. As Cursed Tongue begins its preorders in a couple weeks for the vinyl due early in 2019 — I see “March” listed below, so fair enough — the band will also release the album digitally on Nov. 3, so the audio will be out. And because I have no concept of the passage of time, I’ll note that Nov. 3 is this coming Saturday.

The PR wire tells the full story:

the heavy crown cursed tongue poster

THE HEAVY CROWN SIGNS TO CURSED TONGUE RECORDS FOR A WORLD WIDE RELEASE OF THEIR SECOND ALBUM ‘REIGN ON’ SCHEDULED FOR EARLY 2019.

Rarely have we as a label been this psyched for an imminent Cursed Tongue Records release and even more so honored to be given the chance to work with Belgium’s own The Heeavy Crown on releasing their absolutely stunning sophomore album. Following the wake of turmoil caused by the untimely and sad passing of their previous drummer Jelle Tømmeleyn, The Heavy Crown have managed to turn something utterly devastating into a figure of immmense beauty. ‘Reign On’ is a soothing, sonic sculpture that despite projecting sheer heartache commands full attention and leaves you replenished and rejuvenated.

‘Reign On’ will be out digitally on November 3rd, 2018 in honor of the passing of ‘Lil Bonham. With the vinyl release via Cursed Tongue Records slated around March 2019. Pre-orders will be follow shortly after the digital release, more info on that in due time.

BIO:

I : “FULL OF HAZE” (2014-2016)

Heavy and groovy powertrio from Bruges, with subtle psychedelic and soulful influences. And a less subtle wink to stellar bands from the late sixties and seventies era, although with a contemporary and original sound.

Instantly making sense upon the first spin, “Full of Haze” will please many young listeners in search of that epicness of before-mentioned decades, and will strike an equal amount of people with pure nostalgic joy…

Already highly praised for its originality and well-executed songwriting by many of the underground scene, but THE HEAVY CROWN was not planning on slowing down after their first record yet.

II : “LIL’ BONHAM” (2016-2018)

Nonetheless, the band took an indefinite hiatus and was forced into inactivity following the very sudden and untimely death of drummer Jelle Tommeleyn in the winter of 2016. Future plans -both musical and personal- had made way for a prolonged time of intense grief and disorientation…

When the phase of involuntary acceptance came along many months later, remaining members Tristan and Jasper decided to carry on with the THE HEAVY CROWN in honour of their deceased friend, and to preserve the love, contribution and effort he had put into the band.

III: “REIGN ON” (2018-…)

Inspired by the tragedy that took place two years earlier, THE HEAVY CROWN wrote a sophomore record entitled “Reign On”, and released it on the day the departed drummer would’ve celebrated his 27th birthday (and coincidentally, the day their new drummer Stan turned 22). The concept album tells a cosmic tale with “Lil’ Bonham” acting as the main protagonist, portraying a metaphorical astronaut trying to find a way to communicate with his loved ones from outer space, which is resembled by afterlife and death.

Escapism and the power of imagination, loss and grief, being lost in space, wandering the afterlife realms, renewal and hope, healing through love, acceptance of the impermanent,… These main themes drove the band to take a new creative path, adapting a more progressive, psychedelic, spaced-out melancholic sound influenced by sci-fi and analog synth culture. Although staying true to the roots of the catchiness in songwriting and the vintage flavour the band was originated in, these new elements almost seem synonymous with rebirth and revival…

‘Reign On’ will be out on high quality, heavy weight vinyl via Cursed Tongue Records around March 2019.

Pre-orders will be available via Cursed Tongue Records bigcartel store: http://cursedtonguerecords.bigcartel.com/

CTR-017 The Heavy Crown – ‘Reign On’, vinyl official release date: exact date TBA, Spring 2019

All music and lyrics written by THE HEAVY CROWN
Produced by THE HEAVY CROWN
Recorded by Ace Zec & Tristan Vandenbouhede
Mixed by Jasper Govaerts
Mastered by Alan Douches
Artwork by Charles Degeyter
Photography by Jana Germanus

Track listing:

Side A
1. Becoming…
2. The Escapist
3. Reign On
4. Greenish Brown
5. Venus Gold

Side B
6. Won’t You Stay
7. Three Swans
8. Wicked Lady
9. Lovers Remorse
10.Goodnight, Moon

The Heavy Crown is:
Tristan Vandenbouhede • Bass, Keys & Vocals
Jasper Govaerts • Guitars
Stan Van Acker • Drums

https://www.facebook.com/wearetheheavycrown/
https://www.instagram.com/theheavycrown
https://wearetheheavycrown.bandcamp.com/
http://cursedtonguerecords.bigcartel.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CursedTongueRecords
https://www.instagram.com/cursedtonguerecords

The Heavy Crown, Full of Haze (2015)

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The Heavy Crown Post Cover & Tracklisting for Reign On; Album out Nov. 3

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 19th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

the heavy crown (Photo by Jana Germanus)

Organ-ic Belgian rockers The Heavy Crown will release their second album in just a few short weeks. Titled Reign On, the 10-song offering will be out digitally first on Nov. 3 with vinyl to follow, presumably next year through a yet-to-be-announced label. I’ve got a guess which one it’ll be, and you might too, but I’d rather wait and see if I’m right than engage in baseless or mostly-baseless speculation in that regard. Hedging my bets, maybe.

I guess the digital release is basically going to be as soon as it’s mastered, since they’re finishing up the mix currently and then will send it off to Alan Douches (rhymes with “couches”) to be finalized. Their debut release was 2015’s Full of Haze, which you can stream at the bottom of this post. Easy to hear why some (yet unnamed) label would want to pick them up.

Karate chop:

the heavy crown reign on

Mixing is almost done, so in the meanwhile feast your eyes on the amazing artwork our buddy Charles made for our second record, entitled “Reign On”.

“Reign On” will tell a semi-autobiographical tale about escapism and the power of imagination, loss and grief, being lost in space, wandering the afterlife realms, renewal and hope, healing through love, and acceptance of the impermanent among the many other difficulties of life as we know it. We guess you could call it a concept album…

Mastering will be done by Alan Douches (also mastered “Full of Haze” in 2015), known for working on world-renowned records by Motörhead, High on Fire, Baroness, Converge,… so we are beyond excited to release this one into the universe.

Reign On tracklisting:
1. Becoming…
2. The Escapist
3. Reign On
4. Greenish Brown
5. Venus Gold
6. Won’t You Stay
7. Three Swans
8. Wicked Lady
9. Lover’s Remorse
10. Goodnight, Moon

“Reign On” will be available on Spotify and other digital platforms November 3, vinyl pre-order (both regular and limited edition) launching shortly thereafter.

https://www.facebook.com/wearetheheavycrown/
https://www.instagram.com/theheavycrown
https://wearetheheavycrown.bandcamp.com/

The Heavy Crown, Full of Haze (2015)

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