Day four of five puts the end of this Quarterly Review in sight, as will inevitably happen. We passed the halfway point yesterday and by the time today’s done it’s the home stretch. I hope you’ve had a good week. It’s been a lot — and in terms of the general work level of the day, today’s my busiest day; I’ve got Hungarian class later and homework to do for that, and two announcements to write in addition to this, one for today one for tomorrow, and I need to set up the back end of another announcement for Friday if I can. The good news is that my daughter seems to be over the explosive-vomit-time stomach bug that had her out of school on Monday. The better news is I’ve yet to get that.

But if I’m scatterbrained generally and sort of flailing, well, as I was recently told after I did a video interview and followed up with the artist to apologize for my terribleness at it, at least it’s honest. I am who I am, and I think that there are places where people go and things people do that sometimes I have a hard time with. Like leaving the house. And parenting. And interviewing bands, I guess. Needing to plow through 10 reviews today and tomorrow should be a good exercise in focusing energy, even if that isn’t necessarily getting the homework done faster. And yeah, it’s weird to be in your 40s and think about homework. Everything’s weird in your 40s.

Quarterly Review #31-40:

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Monkey3, Welcome to the Machine

What are Monkey3 circa 2024 if not a name you can trust? The Swiss instrumental four-piece are now more than 20 years removed from their 2003 self-titled debut, and Welcome to the Machine — their seventh album and fourth release on Napalm Records (three studio, one live) — brings five new songs across 46 minutes of stately progressive heavy craft, with the lead cut “Ignition” working into an early gallop before cutting to ambience presumably as a manifestation of hitting escape velocity and leaving the planetary atmosphere, and trading from there between longer (10-plus-minute) and shorter (six- and seven-minute) pieces that are able to hit with a surprising impact when they so choose. Second track “Collision” comes to crush in a way that even 2019’s Sphere (review here) didn’t, and to go with its methodical groove, heavy post-rock airiness and layered-in acoustic guitar, “Kali Yuga” (10:01) is tethered by a thud of drums that feels no less the point of the thing than the mood-aura in the largesse that surrounds. Putting “Rackman” (7:13, with hints of voice or keyboard that sounds like it), which ends furiously, and notably cinematic closer “Collapse” (12:51) together on side B is a distinct immersion, and the latter places Monkey3 in a prog-metal context that defies stylistic expectation even as it lives up to the promise of the band’s oeuvre. Seven records and more than two decades on, and Monkey3 are still evolving. This is a special band, and in a Europe currently awash in heavy instrumentalism of varying degrees of psychedelia, it’s hard to think of Monkey3 as anything other than aesthetic pioneers.

Monkey3 on Facebook

Napalm Records website

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The Quill, Wheel of Illusion

With its Sabbath-born chug and bluesy initial groove opening to NWOBHM grandeur at the solo, the opening title-track is quick to reassure that Sweden’s The Quill are themselves on Wheel of Illusion, even if the corresponding classic metal elements there a standout from the more traditional rock of “Elephant Head” with its tambourine, or the doomier roll in “Sweet Mass Confusion,” also pointedly Sabbathian and thus well within the wheelhouse of guitarist Christian Carlsson, vocalist Magnus Ekwall, bassist Roger Nilsson and drummer Jolle Atlagic. While most of Wheel of Illusion is charged in its delivery, the still-upbeat “Rainmaker” feels like a shift in atmosphere after the leadoff and “We Burn,” and atmospherics come more into focus as the drums thud and the strings echo out in layers as “Hawks and Hounds” builds to its ending. While “The Last Thing” works keyboard into its all-go transition into nodding capper “Wild Mustang,” it’s the way the closer seems to encapsulate the album as a whole and the perspective brought to heavy rock’s founding tenets that make The Quill such reliable purveyors, and Wheel of Illusion comes across like special attention was given to the arrangements and the tightness of the songwriting. If you can’t appreciate kickass rock and roll, keep moving. Otherwise, whether it’s your first time hearing The Quill or you go back through all 10 of their albums, they make it a pleasure to get on board.

The Quill on Facebook

Metalville Records website

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Nebula Drag, Western Death

Equal parts brash and disillusioned, Nebula Drag‘s Dec. 2023 LP, Western Death, is a ripper whether you’re dug into side ‘Western’ or side ‘Death.’ The first half of the psych-leaning-but-more-about-chemistry-than-effects San Diego trio’s third album offers the kind of declarative statement one might hope, with particular scorch in the guitar of Corey Quintana, sway and ride in Stephen Varns‘ drums and Garrett Gallagher‘s Sabbathian penchant for working around the riffs. The choruses of “Sleazy Tapestry,” “Kneecap,” “Side by Side,” “Tell No One” and the closing title-track speak directly to the listener, with the last of them resolved, “Look inside/See the signs/Take what you can,” and “Side by Side” a call to group action, “We don’t care how it gets done/Helpless is the one,” but there’s storytelling here too as “Tell No One” turns the sold-your-soul-to-play-music trope and turns it on its head by (in the narrative, anyhow) keeping the secret. Pairing these ideas with Nebula Drag‘s raw-but-not-sloppy heavy grunge, able to grunge-crunch on “Tell No One” even as the vocals take on more melodic breadth, and willing to let it burn as “Western Death” departs its deceptively angular riffing to cap the 34-minute LP with the noisy finish it has by then well earned.

Nebula Drag on Facebook

Desert Records store

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LLNN & Sugar Horse, The Horror bw Sleep Paralysis Demon

Brought together for a round of tour dates that took place earlier this month, Pelagic Records labelmates LLNN (from Copenhagen) and Sugar Horse (from Bristol, UK) each get one track on a 7″ side for a showcase. Both use it toward obliterating ends. LLNN, who are one of the heaviest bands I’ve ever seen live and I’m incredibly grateful for having seen them live, dig into neo-industrial churn on “The Horror,” with stabbing synth later in the procession that underscores the point and less reliance on tonal onslaught than the foreboding violence of the atmosphere they create. In response, Sugar Horse manage to hold back their screams and lurching full-bore bludgeonry for nearly the first minute of “Sleep Paralysis Demon” and even after digging into it dare a return to cleaner singing, admirable in their restraint and more effectively tense for it when they push into caustic sludge churn and extremity, space in the guitar keeping it firmly in the post-metal sphere even as they aim their intent at rawer flesh. All told, the platter is nine of probably and hopefully-for-your-sake the most brutal minutes you might experience today, and thus can only be said to accomplish what it set out to do as the end product sounds like two studios would’ve needed rebuilding afterward.

LLNN on Facebook

Sugar Horse on Facebook

Pelagic Records website

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Fuzzter, Pandemonium

Fuzzter aren’t necessarily noisy in terms of playing noise rock on Pandemonium, but from the first cymbal crashes after the Oppenheimer sample at the start of “Extinción,” the Peruvian outfit engage an uptempo heavy psych thrust that, though directed, retains a chaotic aspect through the band’s willingness to be sound if not actually be reckless, to gang shout before the guitars drift off in “Thanatos,” to be unafraid of being eaten by their own swirl in “Caja de Pandora” or to chug with a thrashy intensity at the start of closer “Tercer Ojo,” doom out massive in the song’s middle, and float through jazzy minimalism at the finish. But even in that, there are flashes, bursts that emphasize the unpredictability of the songs, which is an asset throughout what’s listed as the Lima trio’s third EP but clocks in at 36 minutes with the instrumental “Purgatorio,” which starts off like it might be an interlude but grows more furious as its five minutes play out, tucked into its center. If it’s a short release, it is substantial. If it’s an album, it’s substantial despite a not unreasonable runtime. Ultimately, whatever they call it is secondary to the space-metal reach and the momentum fostered across its span, which just might carry you with it whether or not you thought you were ready to go.

Fuzzter on Facebook

Fuzzter on Instagram

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Cold in Berlin, The Body is the Wound

The listed representation of dreams in “Dream One” adds to the concrete severity of Cold in Berlin‘s dark, keyboard-laced post-metallic sound, but London-based four-piece temper that impact with the post-punk ambience around the shove of the later “Found Out” on their The Body is the Wound 19-minute four-songer, and build on the goth-ish sway even as “Spotlight” fosters a heavier, more doomed mindset behind vocalist Maya, whose verses in “When Did You See Her Last” are complemented by dramatic lines of keyboard and who can’t help but soar even as the overarching direction is down, down, down into either the subconscious referenced in “Dream One” or some other abyss probably of the listener’s own making. Five years and one actual-plague after their fourth full-length, 2019’s Rituals of Surrender, bordering on 15 since the band got their start, they cast resonance in mood as well as impact (the latter bolstered by Wayne Adams‘ production), and are dynamic in style as well as volume, with each piece on The Body is the Wound working toward its own ends while the EP’s entirety flows with the strength of its performances. They’re in multiple worlds, and it works.

Cold in Berlin on Facebook

Cold in Berlin website

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The Mountain King, Apostasyn

With the expansive songwriting of multi-instrumentalist/sometimes-vocalist Eric McQueen at its core, The Mountain King issue Apostasyn as possibly their 10th full-length in 10 years and harness a majestic, progressive doom metal that doesn’t skimp either on the doom or the metal, whether that takes the form of the Type O Negative-style keys in “The White Noise From God’s Radio” or the tremolo guitar in the apex of closer “Axolotl Messiah.” The title-track is a standout for more than just being 15 minutes long, with its death-doom crux and shifts between minimal and maximal volumes, and the opening “Dødo” just before fosters immersion after its maybe-banging-on-stuff-maybe-it’s-programmed intro, with a hard chug answered in melody by guest singer Julia Gusso, who joins McQueen and the returning Frank Grimbarth (also guitar) on vocals, while Robert Bished adds synth to McQueen‘s own. Through the personnel changes and in each piece’s individual procession, The Mountain King are patient, waiting in the dark for you to join them. They’ll probably just keep basking in all that misery until you get there, no worries. Oh, and I’ll note that the download version of Apostasyn comes with instrumental versions of the four tracks, in case you’d really like to lose yourself in ruminating.

The Mountain King on Facebook

The Mountain King on Bandcamp

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Witchorious, Witchorious

The self-titled debut from Parisian doomers Witchorious is distinguished by its moments of sludgier aggression — the burly barks in “Monster” at the outset, and so on — but the chorus of “Catharsis” that rises from the march of the verse offers a more melodic vision, and the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Antoine Auclair, bassist/vocalist Lucie Gaget and drummer Paul Gaget, continue to play to multiple sides of a modern metal and doom blend, while “The Witch” adds vastness and roll to its creeper-riff foundation. The guitar-piece “Amnesia” serves as an interlude ahead of “Watch Me Die” as Witchorious dig into the second half of the album, and as hard has that song comes to hit — plenty — the character of the band is correspondingly deepened by the breadth of “To the Grave,” which follows before the bonus track “Why” nod-dirges the album’s last hook. There’s clarity in the craft throughout, and Witchorious seem aware of themselves in stylistic terms if not necessarily writing to style, and noteworthy as it is for being their first record, I look forward to hearing how they refine and sharpen the methods laid out in these songs. The already-apparent command with which they direct the course here isn’t to be ignored.

Witchorious on Facebook

Argonauta Records website

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Skull Servant, Traditional Black Magicks II

Though their penchant for cult positioning and exploitation-horror imagery might lead expectations elsewhere, North Carolinian trio Skull Servant present a raw, sludge-rocking take on their second LP, Traditional Black Magicks II, with bassist Noah Terrell and guitarist Calvin Bauer reportedly swapping vocal duties per song across the five tracks while drummer Ryland Dreibelbis gives fluidity to the current of distortion threaded into “Absinthe Dreams,” which is instrumental on the album but newly released as a standalone single with vocals. I don’t know if the wrong version got uploaded or what — Bauer ends up credited with vocals that aren’t there — but fair enough. A meaner, punkier stonerism shows itself as “Poison the Unwell” hints at facets of post-hardcore and “Pergamos,” the two shortest pieces placed in front of the strutting “Lucifer’s Reefer” and between that cut and the Goatsnake-via-Sabbath riffing of “Satan’s Broomstick.” So it could be that Skull Servant, who released the six-song outing on Halloween 2023, are still sorting through where they want to be sound-wise, or it could be they don’t give a fuck about genre convention and are gonna do whatever they please going forward. I won’t predict and I’m not sure either answer is wrong.

Skull Servant on Facebook

Skull Servant on Bandcamp

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Lord Velvet, Astral Lady

Notice of arrival is served as Lord Velvet dig into classic vibes and modern heft on their late 2023 debut EP, Astral Lady, to such a degree that I actually just checked their social media to see if they’d been signed yet before I started writing about them. Could happen, and probably will if they want it to, considering the weight of low end and the flowing, it’s-a-vibe-man vibe, plus shred, in “Lament of Io” and the way they make that lumber boogie through (most of) “Snakebite Fever.” Appearing in succession, “Night Terrors” and “From the Deep” channel stoned Iommic revelry amid their dynamic-in-tempo doomed intent, and while “Black Beam of Gemini” rounds out with a shove, Lord Velvet retain the tonal presence on the other end of that quick, quiet break, ready to go when needed for the crescendo. They’re not reinventing stoner rock and probably shouldn’t be trying to on this first EP, but they feel like they’re engaging with some of the newer styles being proffered by Magnetic Eye or sometimes Ripple Music, and if they end up there or elsewhere before they get around to making a full-length, don’t be surprised. If they plan to tour, so much the better for everybody.

Lord Velvet on Facebook

Lord Velvet website

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Welcome to Wednesday of the Quarterly Review. If you’ve been here before — and I do this at least four times a year, so maybe you have and maybe you haven’t — I’m glad you’re back, and if not, I’m glad you’re here at all. These things are always an undertaking, and in a vacuum, I’m pretty sure busting out 10 shorter reviews per day would be a reasonably efficient process. I don’t live in a vacuum. I live vacuuming.

Metaphorically, at least. Looking around the room, it’s pretty obvious ‘vacuum life’ is intermittent.

Today we hit the halfway mark of this standard-operating-procedure QR, and we’ll get to 30 of the 50 releases to be covered by the time Friday is done or die trying, as that’s also the general policy. As always, I hope you find something in this batch of 10 that you dig. Doesn’t have to be any more of a thing than that. Doesn’t need to change your life, just maybe take the moment you’re in and make it a little better.

Quarterly Review #21-30:

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Deadpeach, The Cosmic Haze and the Human Race

A new full-length from Italian cosmic fuzz rockers Deadpeach doesn’t come along every day. Though the four-piece here comprised of guitarist/vocalist Giovanni Giovannini, guitarist Daniele Bartoli, bassist Mrsteveman and drummer Federico Tebaldi trace their beginnings back to 1993, the seven-song/37-minute exploration The Cosmic Haze and the Human Race is just their fourth full-length in that span of 31 years, following behind 2013’s Aurum (review here), though they haven’t been completely absent in that time, with the 2019 unplugged offering Waiting for Federico session (review here), 2022’s Live at Sidro Club, etc. But whether it’s the howling-into-the-void guitar over the methodical toms in the experimental-vibing closer “Loop (Set the Control to Mother Earth),” the mellower intro of “Madras” that leads both to chunky-style chug and the parade of classic-heavy buzz that is “Motor Peach,” what most comes through is the freedom of the band to do what they want in the psychedelic sphere. “Man on the Hill (The Fisherman and the Farmer)” tells its tale with blues rock swing while the subsequent “Cerchio” resolves Beatlesian with bouncy string and horn sounds and is its own realization at the center of the procession before the languid roll of “Monday” (so it goes) picks up its tempo later on. A mostly lo-fi recording still creates an atmosphere, and Deadpeach represent who they are in the weirdo space grunge of “Rust,” toying with influences from a desert that’s surely somewhere on another planet before “Loop (Set the Controls for Mother Earth)” turns repetition into mantra. They might be underrated forever, but Deadpeach only phase into our dimension intermittently and it’s worth appreciating them while they’re here.

Deadpeach on Facebook

Deadpeach website

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SÂVER, From Ember and Rust

In or out of post-metal and the aggressive end of atmospheric sludge, there are few bands currently active who deliver with the visceral force of Oslo’s SÂVER. From Ember and Rust is the second LP from the three-piece of Ole Ulvik Rokseth (guitar), Markus Støle (drums) and Ole Christian Helstad (bass/vocals), and while it signals growth in the synthy meditation worked into “I, Evaporate” after the lead-with-nod opener “Formless,” and the intentionally overwhelming djent chug that pays off the penultimate “The Object,” it is the consuming nature of the 43-minute entirety that is most striking, dynamic in its sprawl and thoughtful in arrangement both within and between its songs — the way the drone starts “Eliminate Distance” and returns to lull the listener momentarily out of consciousness before the bassy start of centerpiece “Ember and Rust” prompts a return ahead of its daring and successful clean vocal foray. That’s a departure, contextually speaking, but noteworthy even as “Primal One” lumbersmashes anything resembling hope to teeny tiny bits, leaving room in its seven minutes to catchy its breath amid grooving proggy chug and bringing back the melodic singing. As much as they revel in the caustic, there’s serenity in the catharsis of “All in Disarray” at the album’s conclusion, and as much as SÂVER are destructive, they’re cognizant of the world they’re building as part of that.

SÂVER on Facebook

Pelagic Records website

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Ruben Romano, The Imaginary Soundtrack to the Imaginary Western Twenty Graves Per Mile

Departing from the heavy psychedelic blues rock proffered by his main outfit The Freeks, multi-instrumentalist and elsewhere-vocalist Ruben Romano — who also drummed for Fu Manchu and Nebula in their initial incarnations — digs into Western aural themes on his cumbersomely-titled solo debut, The Imaginary Soundtrack to the Imaginary Western Twenty Graves Per Mile. To be clear, there is no movie called Twenty Graves Per Mile (yet), and the twice-over-imaginary nature of the concept lets Romano meander a bit in pieces like “Sweet Dream Cowboy” and “Ode to Fallen Oxen,” the latter of which tops its rambling groove with a line of delay twang, while “Chuck Wagon Sorrow” shimmers with outward simplicity with a sneaky depth to its mix (to wit, the space in “Not Any More”). At 10 songs and 27 minutes, the collection isn’t exactly what you’d call ‘feature length,’ but as it hearkens back to the outset with “Load the Wagon (Reprise)” bookending the opener, it is likewise cohesive in style and creative in arrangement, with Romano bringing in various shakers, mouth harp, effects and so on to create his ‘soundtrack’ with a classic Western feel and the inevitable lysergic current. Not as indie or desert chic as Spindrift, who work from a similar idea, but organic and just-came-in-covered-with-dust folkish just the same. If the movie existed, I’d be interested to know which of these tracks would play in the saloon.

Ruben Romano on Facebook

Ruben Romano on Bandcamp

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Kosmodrom, Welcome to Reality

With the seven-minute “Earth Blues” left off the vinyl for want of room, German heavy psychedelic instrumentalists Kosmodrom put a color filter on existence with Welcome to Reality as much as on the cover, shimmering in “Dazed in Space” with a King Buffalo‘ed resonance such that the later, crunchier fuzz roll of “Evil Knievel” feels like a departure. While the three-piece are no doubt rooted in jams, Welcome to Reality presents finished works, following a clear plot in the 10-minute “Quintfrequenz” and the gradual build across the first couple minutes of “Landstreicher” — an intent that comes more into focus a short while later on “Novembersong” — before “Earth Blues” brings a big, pointed slowdown. They cap with “OM,” which probably isn’t named after the band but can be said to give hints in their direction if you want to count its use of ride cymbal at the core of its own build, and which in its last 40 seconds still manages to find another level of heft apparently kept in reserve all along. Well played. As their first LP since 2018, Welcome to Reality feels a bit like it’s reintroducing the band, and in listening, seems most of all to encourage the listener to look at the world around them in a different, maybe more hopeful way.

Kosmodrom on Facebook

Kosmodrom on Bandcamp

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The Endless, The Endless

Heads experienced in post-metal will be able to pick out elements like the Russian Circles gallop in The Endless‘ “Riven” or the Isis-style break the Edmonton-based instrumental unit veers into on “Shadows/Wolves” at the center of their self-titled debut, but as “The Hadeon Eon” — the title of which references the planet’s earliest and most volatile geological era — subtly invites the listener to consider, this is the band’s first recorded output. Formed in 2019, derailed and reconstructed post-pandemic, the four-piece of guitarists Teddy Palmer and Eddy Keyes, bassist James Palmer and drummer Jarred Muir are coherent in their stylistic intent, but not so committed to genre tenets as to forego the sweeter pleasure of the standalone guitar at the start of the nine-minute “Reflection,” soon enough subsumed though it is by the spacious lurch that follows. There and throughout, the band follow a course somewhere between post-metal and atmospheric sludge, and the punch of low end in “Future Archives,” the volume trades between loud and quiet stretches bring a sense of the ephemeral as well as the ethereal, adding character without sacrificing impact in the contrast. Their lack of pretense will be an asset as they continue to develop.

The Endless on Facebook

The Endless on Bandcamp

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Our Maddest Edges, Peculiar Spells

Kudos if you can keep up with the shifts wrought from track to track on Our Maddest Edges‘ apparent first long-player, Peculiar Spells, as the Baltimorean solo-project spearheaded by Jeff Conner sets out on a journey of genuine eclecticism, bringing The Beatles and Queens of the Stone Age stylistically together and also featuring one of the several included duets on “Swirl Cone,” some grunge strum in “Hella Fucky” after the remake-your-life spoken/ambient intro “Thoughts Can Change,” a choral burst at the beginning of the spoken-word-over-jazz “Slugs,” which of course seems to be about screwing, as well as the string-laced acoustic-led sentimentality on “Red Giant,” the Casio beat behind the bright guitar plucks of “Frozen Season,” the full-tone riffs around which “I Ain’t Done” and “St. Lascivious” are built, and the sax included with the boogie of “The Totalitarian Tiptoe,” just for a few examples of the places its 12 component tracks go in their readily-consumable 37-minute runtime. Along with Conner are a reported 17 guests appearing throughout, among them Stefanie Zaenker (ex-Caustic Casanova). Info is sparse on the band and Conner‘s work more broadly, but his history in the punkish Eat Your Neighbors accounts for some of the post-hardcore at root here, and his own vocals (as opposed to those of the seven other singers appearing) seem to come from somewhere similar. Relatively quick listen, but not a minor undertaking.

Jeff Conner on Bandcamp

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Saint Omen, Death Unto My Enemy

Rolling out with the ambient intro before beginning its semi-Electric Wizardly slog in “Taken by the Black,” Death Unto My Enemy is the 2023 debut from New York City’s Saint Omen. Issued by Forbidden Place Records, its gritty nod holds together even as “Evolution of the Demon” threatens to fall apart, samples filling out the spaces not occupied by vocals, communicating themes dark, violent, and occult in pieces like the catchy-despite-its-harsher-vocal “Destroyer” or the dark swirl of “Sinners Crawl.” Feeling darker as it moves through its 10 songs, it saves a particular grim experimentalism for closer “Descent,” but by the time Death Unto My Enemy gets there, surely your mind and soul have already been poisoned and reaped, respectively, by “The Seventh Gate,” “The Black Mass” and the penultimate title-track, that deeper down is the only place left to go. So that’s where you go; a humming abyss of anti-noise. Manhattan has never been a epicenter of cultish doom, but Saint Omen‘s abiding death worship and bleakness — looking at you, “Sleepness” — shift between dramaturge and dug-in lumber, and the balance is only intriguing for the rawness with which it is delivered, harsher in its purpose than sound, but still plenty harsh in sound.

Saint Omen on Facebook

Forbidden Place Records store

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Samsara Joyride, The Subtle and the Dense

The psychedelic aspects of Samsara Joyride‘s The Subtle and the Dense feel somewhat compartmentalized, but that’s not necessarily a detriment to the songs, as the solo that tops the drearily moderated tempo of “Too Many Preachers” or the pastoral tones that accompany the bluesier spirit of “Who Tells the Story” emphasize. The Austrian outfit’s second full-length, The Subtle and the Dense seems aware of its varied persona, but whether it’s the swaggering stops of “No One is Free” calling to mind Child or the sax and guest vocals that mark such a turn with “Safe and Sound” at the end, Samsara Joyride are firm in their belief that because something is bluesy or classic doesn’t necessarily mean it needs to be simple. From the layer of acoustic guitar worked into opener “I Won’t Sign Pt. 1” — their first album also had a two-parter, the second one follows directly here as track two — to the gang chorus worked in amid the atmospheric reach of “Sliver,” Samsara Joyride communicate a progressive take on traditionalist aesthetics, managing as few in this end of the heavy music realm ever do to avoid burly masculine caricature in the process. For that alone, easily worth the time to listen.

Samsara Joyride on Facebook

Samsara Joyride on Bandcamp

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That Ship Has Sailed, Kingdom of Nothing

Like a check-in from some alternate-universe version of Fu Manchu who stuck closer to their beginnings in punk and hardcore, Californian heavy noise rockers That Ship Has Sailed tap volatility and riffy groove alike through the five songs of their Kingdom of Nothing EP, with an admirable lack of bullshit included within that net-zero assessment amid the physical push of riffs like “One-Legged Dog” or “Iron Eagle II” when the drums go to half-time behind the guitar and bass. It’s not all turn-of-the-century disaffection and ‘members of’ taglines though as “Iron Eagle II” sludges through its finish and “I Am, Yeah” becomes an inadvertent anthem for those who’ve never quite been able to keep their shit together, “Sweet Journey” becomes a melodic highlight while fostering the heaviest crash, and “Ready to Go” hits like a prequel to Nebula‘s trip down the stoner rock highway. Catchy in spite of its outward fuckall (or at least fuckmost), Kingdom of Nothing is more relatable than friendly or accessible, which feels about right. It’s cool guys. I never got my shit together either.

That Ship Has Sailed on Instagram

That Ship Has Sailed on Bandcamp

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Spiral Guru, Silenced Voices

The fourth EP in the 10-year history of Brazi’s Spiral Guru, who also released their Void long-player in 2019 and the “The Fantastic Hollow Man” single in 2021, Silenced Voices is distinguished immediately by the vocal command and range of Andrea Ruocco, and I’d suspect that if you’re already familiar with the band, you probably know that. Ruocco‘s voice, in its almost operatic use of breath to reach higher notes, carries some element of melodic metal’s grandeur, but Samuel Pedrosa‘s fuzz riffing and the fluid roll of bassist José Ribeiro and drummer Alexandre H.G. Garcia on the title-track avoid that trap readily, ending up somewhere between blues, psych, and ’70s swing on “Caves and Graves” but kept modern in the atmosphere fostered by Pedrosa‘s lead guitar. Another high-quality South American band ignored by the gringo-dude-dominant underground of Europe and the US? Probably, but I’m guilty too a decade after Spiral Guru‘s start, so all I can say is I’m doing my best out here. This band should probably be on Nuclear Blast by now. Stick around for “The Cabin Man” and you’d best be ready to dance.

Spiral Guru on Facebook

Spiral Guru on Bandcamp

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This will be a thing I’ll enjoy owning. The Obelisk All-Dayer was an event I put together starting in 2015 for Aug. 20, 2016. It was held at the Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn. Heavy Temple and King Buffalo opened. Mars Red Sky headlined. Death Alley (now defunct), Kings Destroy and also-disbanded Ohio proggers EYE featured, and it was with a particular personal joy that Snail agreed to make the trek from their respective homes in Washington and Southern California to make their first East Coast appearance(s), playing Boston and Rhode Island as they made their way south to NYC.

I had been lucky enough to see Snail previously, on a 2010 trip to San Francisco (review here), where I also met the then-four-piece-now-trio for the first time, and I could gladly go on about how rad that was, but the bottom line is that even asking Snail to play was something I was doing as a fan of the band, and as they had released their stunning Feral (review here) LP in 2015, the timing couldn’t have been better.

It’s humbling to think it was special for them too. Most of all, I’m glad it happened and I’ll be glad to have this as a document of it. It’s digital-only for now, but I bet you could convince them to make some tapes if the downloads do well enough. We’ll see. Either way, I’m grateful it exists and for the kind thoughts the band express below.

Maybe 2026? I’ll think about it. For now, two tracks from Thou Art There are streaming below to mark the launch of preorders and the band’s 2021 LP, Fractal Altar (review here), is down there too in order to facilitate further digging.

So by all means, dig:

It was early Spring of 2016, and Snail had just come off the long-awaited release of Feral, when they got an email from JJ Koczan of the heavy psych blog The Obelisk. JJ was putting together a festival called ‘The Obelisk All-Dayer’ and wanted to know if they would be into playing. Without a second thought they were on board; this was destined to be a gathering of the tribes that no one wanted to miss!

Fans and bands came from all over – as far away as France – to play and be a part of it. This was Snail’s first tour on the East Coast, and the welcome couldn’t have been warmer. After playing shows in Boston and Rhode Island, Snail arrived at the club, devoured the catered veggie tacos and began meeting fans that they had only interacted with online. Everyone was so genuinely nice and positive, the music was HEAVY, and the energy in the club and city was electric.

Snail was exhilarated being on stage and playing for what felt like their “people.” Having loosened up with previous shows, they was now firing on all cylinders and vibing off the crowd. Seeing JJ head-banging in the front when the riff dropped for set closer ‘Thou Art That’ was like attaining heavy-music realization and the entire room resonated together.

So if you were there, we hope this recording puts you right back to that day and lives up to the memory. And if you weren’t, this is a chance to check out what all the fuss was about.
Thou Art There.

1. Blood (Live) 06:49
2. Cleanliness (Live)
3. Smoke the Deathless (Live)
4. Confessions (Live) 03:06
5. Mustard Seed (Live)
6. Hippy Crack (Live)
7. Mental Models (Live)
8. Thou Art That (Live)

Front of house engineer – Jeff Filmer
Mixing and mastering – Matt Lynch

Cover photo – Adam Donnelly
Additional cover image – Jennifer Hendrix-Johnson
Cover design – Matt Lynch

Snail are:
Marty Dodson – drums
Mark Johnson – guitar, vocals
Matt Lynch – bass, organ, vocals

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Snail, Thou Art There: Live at The Obelisk All-Dayer (2024)

Snail, Fractal Altar (2021)

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: Bill Kielty of O Zorn!

—

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

When I first heard the band Electric Wizard in like 2001/2002, I thought wow, this sounds amazing. I want to do something like that. The band I was in at the time was kinda rock, kinda emo. Just kinda lame. I was sick to death of it. When that band broke up, I formed a band called Who Rides The Tiger, and started exploring the darker sound. Tuned down. Got heavy. That band disbanded in 2008 or so. A couple years later, I formed O ZORN! and went even heavier with it. Not sure I can define exactly what we’re doing at the moment, but I feel like we’re progressing.

Describe your first musical memory.

My family went to some folk festival at the University of Riverside in California. I was maybe 4 or 5 years old. My memory of it is super spotty, but the picture in my head has stuck with me my entire life. The venue was called “The Barn” and throughout all my twenties and early thirties, it was THE local venue for all things punk, metal and hardcore. Saw a shitload of bands roll through there and took the stage myself a bunch. It’s still there. Place went soft years ago. Mostly cover and tribute bands these days.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

The Ramones and Murphys Law at the Palladium in 1989. It was the Pet Cemetery tour. I was really young. My best friend’s older brother drove us to Hollywood, which was a first. It was the loudest thing I’d ever heard. The pit was the scariest thing I’d ever seen. My ears were ringing for three days after. It was fuckin awesome.

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

For years, I firmly believed that I could control my drinking. Turns out, after years of trying, I cannot. I tried REALLY hard though.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

For me, artistic progression simply leads to and justifies me continuing to create.

How do you define success?

Seeing something through, no matter the task, as long as there’s some sense of accomplishment.

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

Many years ago, I spotted Kerry King (Slayer) buying a scented candle in Things Remembered at The Galleria Mall in Riverside. I’ve never looked at him the same since.

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

I’d like to start painting someday. Maybe a large oil painting. I feel like I’d be pretty good at it.

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

I think there’s many functions but for me, Art allows my brain some escape from my daily bullshit. Temporarily of course. Most of us don’t have enough of it weaved into our lives.

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

I’m looking forward to the day where the last of the boomers are out of office.

[Photo credit: @Twistedtripodphotography]

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O Zorn!, “Slow Mood” from Vermillion Haze (2024)

High on Fire weren’t trying to keep it secret when they were in the studio last year with Kurt Ballou — who’s now done four records with them — to follow-up 2018’s Electric Messiah (review here), and today they unveil the first song and album details ahead of an April 19 release through MNRK Heavy (formerly E1), their label home for the last 14 years. And while in many cases a given band’s ninth LP and fourth with the same producer might seem like ‘business as usual,’ the trio of Matt Pike, Jeff Matz and Coady Willis represent a new incarnation of High on Fire, as Cometh the Storm marks Willis‘ studio debut after a couple years of on-stage destruction for the back catalog.

No question this will be one of the biggest underground heavy releases of the year — can you still be underground if you won a Grammy? we’ll find out I guess — as anything High on Fire put out is going to draw attention and they’re big enough that that means both internet salivating and the inevitable naysay component, not much of which matters, as High on Fire will persist regardless. They’ve already announced summer plans for Europe and in addition to what’s on the poster below, they’re newly confirmed for Dark Lord Day this May in Indiana, as well as SonicBlast Fest 2024 in Portugal and Bear Stone in Croatia this August, so expect more to come.

In the meantime, the song. “Burning Down” finds High on Fire very much in their element with an intense chug and overlaid groove. Throaty conjurations from Pike, a satisfying roll to its verse, and whatever-your-quota’s worth of crash and bash, tucked into a convenient six-minute package. I’m not in the business of telling anyone how to live their life, but it seems to me that if you’re listening to music today, this might be what you want to hear. While I doubt it’s representative of the scope of the whole album, it does reassure you they didn’t somehow break their sound after 25-plus years bashing away at it.

PR just came through:

High on Fire to Release New LP, ‘Cometh the Storm’, April 19

Grammy-Winning Group Drops Video for Gargantuan New Track “Burning Down”

Iconic U.S. rock band, High on Fire, will release its new LP, ‘Cometh the Storm’, on April 19 via MNRK Heavy. The GRAMMY Award-winning group, celebrating its 25th anniversary, recorded ‘Cometh the Storm’ at GodCity Studio in Salem, Massachusetts with producer Kurt Ballou. The 11-song effort — the band’s ninth studio album — marks the release of the first new High on Fire music since 2018’s ‘Electric Messiah’ and the first to feature drummer Coady Willis (Big Business, Murder City Devils), alongside bassist Jeff Matz, and guitarist/vocalist Matt Pike. Pre-order/save High on Fire’s ‘Cometh the Storm’ at this location: https://highonfire.bandcamp.com/album/cometh-the-storm

‘Cometh the Storm’ is advanced by the lead track, “Burning Down”, and a haunting, fever dream video, directed by Lars Kristoffer Hormander. Experience High on Fire’s “Burning Down” at this location.

“Burning Down” kicks off with a classic Pike riff,” says Jeff Matz. “I think this song harkens back to the early High On Fire sound, but infused with fresh, new elements. It has a killer groove that you can really sink into. The body of the song took shape in our PNW rehearsal space, and we came up with the bridge/solo section and finalized the arrangement while we were at GodCity. Kurt Ballou’s input as a producer was also hugely helpful. His keen ears and fresh perspective were invaluable in making this album.”

“I think this band’s always had a really good drive,” states Matt Pike. “It’s a different entity. It’s its own thing. Which, I think, makes all of us very proud to be a part of it. It’s not an average band.”

“Being a fan of each other’s bands for a long time, it feels like all bets are off and anything goes which is a liberating feeling,” shares Willis. “That feeling of making something out of all of these imperfect parts and it becomes this magical, weird, new idea that none of us ever anticipated. Against all odds. That’s the joy of it.”

“It’s interesting, whenever there’s a lineup change in a band,” offers producer Kurt Ballou. “It can take a little while to rebuild. But it’s also an opportunity to reinvigorate the band and I think that’s what’s happened here.”

Tracklisting:
TRACKLIST
1. Lambsbread
2. Burning Down
3. Trismegistus
4. Cometh the Storm
5. Karanlık Yol (instrumental)
6. Sol’s Golden Curse
7. The Beating
8. Tough Guy
9. Lighting Beard
10. Hunting Shadows
11. Darker Fleece

High on Fire are:
Matt Pike – Guitar/vocals
Jeff Matz – Bass/backing vocals/saz
Coady Willis – Drums

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High on Fire, “Burning Down” official video

High on Fire, “Burning Down”

Guitarist Bob Balch would seem to be on something of a creative binge, between an impending Fu Manchu 2LP and recent releases from Yawning Balch and Big Scenic Nowhere, and with Slower he presents a manifestation of the ultimate beer-drunk band idea. “What if, like, you took Slayer, and slowed it down?”

That’s what Slower is on paper. The songs of seminal Californian thrashers Slayer, played slower. The reality of Slower, which is the Balch-led project’s Heavy Psych Sounds-delivered debut album, is a selection of five covers that offers a richer experience than the math of the band’s purpose might lead one to believe. The Slayer originals they’ve chosen to rework — “War Ensemble,” “Blood Red,” and “Dead Skin Mask” from 1990’s Seasons in the Abyss, “The Antichrist” from 1983’s Show No Mercy and, to close, the title-track of 1988’s South of Heaven — are classics within the sphere of metal, and are treated with due respect even as they’re rearranged and turned into something pointedly not what they originally were.

This is done with care and love of the source material, and a sense of curation that is all the more resonant with the lineup Balch assembled for the project. Drummer Esben Willems (of Monolord; he has a solo album coming in addition to appearing here) in Gothenburg, Sweden, vocalist Amy Tung Barrysmith (Year of the Cobra) in Seattle, and bassist Peder Bergstrand (Lowrider) in Stockholm comprise the ‘main band’ on the record, developing a persona of their own even on covers through means of the rearrangement process. That is, they took the songs and reworked them. No one here is inexperienced or incapable. If you believe in supergroups, Slower‘s pretty damn super even before you get to Laura Pleasants (The Discussion, ex-Kylesa) and Scott Reeder (currently Sovereign Eagle, ex-Kyuss, The Obsessed, Goatsnake, needs to do another solo record, etc.) swapping in on vocals and bass, respectively, for “South of Heaven” at the finish. A goofy, fun idea for a band/album as Slower might be, the end result is pointedly not bullshit where it very easily (perhaps with different personnel) could have been.

Underlining the point: Slower is not a tossoff. It’s not a joke band. While indeed the songs are largely reduced in tempo, there is an aspect of the project that feels a bit like the impetus behind it was Balch wanting to take on playing both the Kerry King and Jeff Hannneman (from whose 2013 death the band never really recovered) solos, which he does with all suitable respect for the personalities of Slayer‘s two guitarists, whammy squeals and speed enough to speak to thrash. If that was the case, fair enough for the homage. It’s just a thing not everyone could do at the level it’s done here. Some of those shredfest ripper solos are no less iconic than the lyrical declarations of the choruses to “War Ensemble” or “Dead Skin Mask,” and they are put on a pedestal along with a treasure trove of groove that was lurking beneath the furious intensity of the originals. “War Ensemble,” opening here as it does on Seasons in the Abyss with some transposed urgency, unveils its central riff as a righteous nodder with Bergstrand bringing new tonal presence to the verse, Willems‘ casual double-kick giving an easy ride into the stop, and Barrysmith in immediate command.

The five-minute original becomes the 10-minute cover (it is both opener and longest track; immediate points), and as a lead-in for “The Antichrist,” “Blood Red” and “Dead Skin Mask,” “War Ensemble” blends the familiar — it was one of Slayer‘s many landmarks and a live-set feature for decades before the band ‘ended’ (never say never) in 2019 with 12 records and enough influence to make a project like this happen across microgenres — the surprises it holds and affirmations it makes are crucial to what follows. One doesn’t necessarily think of Slayer as an atmospherically-minded band, though they were at times (and perhaps a second Slower LP could honor Slayer and Sabbath both in opening with the storm at the start of “Raining Blood”; uniting worlds or at least disparate ends of the same one), but Slower dig into “The Antichrist” and find a gritty slog that becomes insistent in a chorus that takes the already-doubled vocals and adds backing tracks to emphasize a depth that is Slower‘s own in a song that, being a deeper cut — as opposed to a Slayer ‘hit,’ I guess? they did used to play their music videos on the tee-vee sometimes — allows Balch (who trips out the midsection admirably taring toward psychedelia), Barrysmith, Bergstrand and Willems to flesh it out and find a new path to the rotted-soul ascension of its title figure.

The melody emergent in “The Antichrist” is expanded upon in “Blood Red,” the centerpiece of the CD and presumed side B opener on the LP, as the verse riff becomes a strut and the chorus opens to a breadth Slower have been holding in reserve. It’s an un-pop singalong, complete with backing ‘oohs’ for “You cannot hide the face of death/Oppression ruled by bloodshed/No disguise can deface evil/The massacre of innocent people,” which are lines that sadly retain their relevance these 34 years after the fact, and are more sinister for the sweetness of Barrysmith‘s delivery. With “Dead Skin Mask” and “Seasons in the Abyss” still to come, “Blood Red” has a harder road making an impression, and that was true with Slayer‘s version as well in 1990, but amid the forward roll and chug of the verse and the arrival-point feel of the hook, it is the vocals even more that distinguish it as an unexpected highlight.

And I know Slayer have a ton of iconic tracks, from the prior-mentioned “Raining Blood” through “Disciple,” “Angel of Death” — maybe better to leave that one alone? — and “Piece by Piece,” but especially the first and maybe only time out, pairing “Dead Skin Mask” and “South of Heaven” at the end of Slower‘s Slower feels natural. The latter came before the former, and is arguably the most ‘doom’ Slayer ever got, where “Dead Skin Mask” showed up on the next album and refined those very purposes. Both are the kinds of songs dudes get tattoos of, but as they have all along, Slower tread carefully in terms of balancing respect for where the songs came from and taking them where they want to go. Not to be understated is the subversive element of a woman delivering the lyrics to “Dead Skin Mask,” which was never explicit but strongly implied misogynist violence, and Barrysmith resounds in the chorus, where “Dance with the dead in my dreams…” becomes a chant and all the more consuming for that. While I wish they repeated that finish four or five more times, I’m happy to take what I can get.

As noted, “South of Heaven” brings a lineup switch, Reeder stepping in for Bergstrand — the inclusion of those two speaks as well to Balch wanting to bring a new sense of presence to the low end; he could easily have handled bass himself as an afterthought; as is, bass becomes an essential part of the character of the band in a way Slayer‘s Tom Araya probably wouldn’t have expected — and Pleasants taking over for Barrysmith. Dark toned, Balch begins on guitar and Reeder and Pleasants soon join for the opening build, ending of course with the line “Before you see the light” stretched to fill the new spaces in the riff before the guitar, bass and drums stop cold to let Pleasants croon the second part of the lyric: “You must die.”

Shit, I’m ready. Let’s go. If you could get audio tattooed on your person, that moment might be worth carrying around for the rest of your life but it’s already ingrained in the heads of Slayer fans, so take that as you will. Pleasants toys with the verse arrangement somewhat, perhaps covering some awkwardness in the patterning born of the change in pace with effects and layering, but it’s nothing that feels out of line with the mood or atmosphere Slower bring to “South of Heaven,” the stinkface-inducing stomp of Willems‘ drums glorious in manifesting a sense of methodical aggression over the chaos referenced in the chorus — “Chaos rampant/An age of distrust/Confrontations, impulsive habitat (or ‘sabbath’)” before they got right down to it, “On and on, south of heaven” — as Balch likewise digs deeper to find a nastiness of tone that is undeniable. It ends, as it invariably would, with shred given over to noise and a tease of the thuds at the end of “Postmortem” that, on 1986’s Reign in Blood, mark the transition into “Raining Blood” itself. The message seems to be: maybe next time.

Generally speaking and across a wide range of contexts, I suck at fun. Accordingly, I was a little apprehensive in taking on Slower because I felt like maybe it would be a party and I wouldn’t really be able to get my head into the right space for it. That’s not how it went, either in terms of the atmosphere of the record or my listening experience with it. I don’t know that Slower will or won’t do more — certainly no one involved lacks other projects to focus on — but I hope they do, and as a love letter to Slayer, the execution of these songs and the obvious heart and thought put into them, Slower resonates, however familiar you may or may not be with the originals.

Slower, Slower (2024)

Slower on Instagram

Heavy Psych Sounds on Facebook

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Heavy Psych Sounds on Bandcamp

Heavy Psych Sounds website

So I know folks out there are just lining up to call me out on reusing the above image from when Vape Warlök revealed their collective mortal form in their video for “Inhale Death” (posted here) last year, and hey, I get that. That’s not the kind of premium, value-added content this site’s come to not really be all that known for over the last 15 years. Nonetheless, looking at the artwork for the L.A. lobotomy sludgers’ debut album, …And His Skull Shall Make My Bong, I’ll note my only reason for using the same pic as last time is I don’t want to deal with being reported on social media. Does that make me a hack? Probably. A clown? Certainly. Lazy? Most of all.

“Inhale Death” was the title-track from 2022’s Inhale Death EP (review here), which was the first release from the band founded by Collyn McCoy, also of Circle of Sighs and a slew of other projects, plus bass in Unida. As regards the follow-up long-player, I have precious little information of substance to share. Not none! There’s a title. A could-be cover. Some titles, gloriously dumb, and a Q&A that seems to be between McCoy and himself. Fair enough. Did I mention this is a supergroup? No? Well, fuck it.

My skull should be so lucky:

Coming in 2024.

Vape Warlök = “… and His Skull Shall Make My Bong.”

Five songs, 40 minutes, putrid and unlistenable sludgy stoner-doom.

Track List
1. Satan’s Succubus
2. …and His Skull Shall Make My Bong
3. Meth Slave
4. Satanalingus: The Devil’s Tongue
5. Bongmaster General

Q: Will the production be any better this time around?
A: No, if anything it will be worse.

Q: Will I be able to make out any of the lyrics this time?
A: No.

Q: Will you hire a professional artist to render a real cover?
A: No, this is as good as it’s going to get.

Q: Will Kiki help out with the lyrics again?
A: Yes of course. If it’s about unicorns, rainbows, and kittens who have unicorn-type horns that shoot rainbows, Kiki wrote it. If it’s about weed, Satan, or murder… daddy wrote it.

Not that you’ll be able to make out any of the lyrics. Just know that they exist and are just as likely to be about something awful as something adorable. But you’ll never know which is which.

Q: Is this a joke band?
A: No more or less than any other band. Is CCR a joke band? Oasis? The Doobie Bros? Are you a joke band?

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Vape Warlök, Inhale Death (2022)

Vape Warlök, “Inhale Death” official video

If you had ‘new Toadliquor record’ on your card for Unlikely Bingo, congratulations. The probably-Californian anonymous sludge rockers’ 2003 compact disc, The Hortator’s Lament, which was released through Southern Lord, was my apparently-way-late-to-the-party introduction to the band, whose Back in the Hole will be out in a couple weeks and whose penchant for things lurching-of-groove and caustic apparently remains intact if the album opener “First Crush” is anything to go by. Do you think they named it after the riff? I think maybe they did. I also think maybe they’re howling into the void there a little bit. I dig that.

Expect oldschool disillusion and the kind of sludge that makes you miserable because it is in fact itself miserable. Not about being cool, trendy weed-worship, blah blah check out my Orange stacks. This is raw aughts-era fuckery, when no one had any money, no one cared and all was intoxicants. It was hell on earth and the war went on forever. We’re still there. “First Crush” sounds pretty right for this moment in this wreck of a world.

To the PR wire, then:

Southern Lord to Release Toadliquor’s First New Music in 25 Years

Back in the Hole is out February 23, 2024. // Stream the album opener “First Crush” now.

Eternally shrouded in complete mystery and anonymity, the entity calling themselves Toadliquor has returned with its first recorded offerings in over 25 years. Back In The Hole will be released by Southern Lord on February 23, 2024.

Violently bleeding out into the early-90s with their lone LP Feel My Hate – The Power Is The Weight – R.I.P. Cain, Toadliquor followed that with a few comp tracks and a single before completely disappearing into the ether.

Southern Lord compiled most known recordings in 2003 on the Hortators Lament compact disc. Then, on the occasion of the label’s 20th anniversary in 2018, Southern Lord released these recordings plus one newly-received cryptic distress signal from deep space on the limited edition 2xLP set Cease & Decease.

Now, in 2024, Toadliquor return to continue their decades-long onslaught of desolation, despair and damaged vocal cords with Back in the Hole. Seven prize picks for the communal trough. Strap in and feed.

Look for Back in the Hole to be available on LP and digital formats only on February 23, 2024 (pre-order on Bandcamp here or from Southern Lord here). For fans with a penchant for pain, misery, and destruction!

Back in the Hole, track listing:

First Crush
Recained
Entry Level Position
In Gold
Basement
Open Through Funeral
Back in the Hole

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Toadliquor, Back in the Hole (2024)