Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 15th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Fresh off a performance at the Rise and Fall Festival in Niort, France, the Bordeaux-based heavy psychedelic progressive rock trio Mars Red Sky are edging closer to the Dec. 8 release of their fifth full-length, Dawn of the Dusk. Following up on the clip for “Break Even” (posted here) that itself followed the actual album announcement early last month, “The Final Round” is track three on the record after “Break Even” and “Maps of Inferno,” which featured earlier this year on the collaborative EP, Mars Red Sky & Queen of the Meadow (review here).
It’s an eight-track record and the last one is an instrumental revisit to the eerie melodies of “Maps of Inferno,” so three songs is not an insubstantial portion of the release out there before the arrival, which is still basically a month off. “The Final Round” also brings to my mind one of my greatest concerns about Dawn of the Dusk, namely that it’s either consciously or not positioning itself as the last Mars Red Sky album. The LP’s title certainly hints at beginnings of endings, and maybe “The Final Round” really is a last go on their part in some way. You’ll note it’s not the first round for bassist Jimmy Kinast taking on lead vocals. That was “Up the Stairs” on their 2011 self-titled debut (review here, discussed here), but Kinast makes the six-plus-minute track a highlight of the album — which is doubly impressive following Helen Ferguson‘s sit-in for “Maps of Inferno” and the high standard of guitarist Julien Pras‘ general handling of the role — and the effect those changes have in broadening the scope of Dawn of the Dusk isn’t to be understated. I may or may not be streaming the album in advance of the release, so I’m trying to hold back reviewing for that, but Mars Red Sky have never put out the same record twice, they’ve only ever moved forward, and this one does that too.
I only hope it’s not where they stop moving at all. I don’t think the shape of heavy rock or progressive psych would be what it is without the work Mars Red Sky have done over more than the last decade. They’re the band that showed a generation how to be heavy without having to give up melody for aggression. If they are done — mind you I have no confirmation, this is me hypothesizing; and “done” includes a hiatus for a few or however many years — the legacy they’ve left is not a trifling thing, and while I hope very much Dawn of the Dusk is not their collective final round, neither do I feel like they owe listeners or anyone else anything in terms of either the quality of their work or the ethic with which they’ve thus far delivered it. Speaking of, there’s tour dates listed below that carry into next year. Hardly the kind of thing a band wrapping up would do, you say? It is my sincere, sincere hope that you’re correct.
Enjoy “The Final Round”:
Mars Red Sky, “The Final Round” official video
From MARS RED SKY’s new album ‘Dawn Of The Dusk’ – out December 8th 2023 on MRS Red Sound & Vicious Circle. https://idol-io.ffm.to/DawnoftheDusk
French doom-psych/heavy-progressive trio MARS RED SKY unveil a striking new video for their monumental new track “The Final Round”. Their upcoming album ‘Dawn Of The Dusk’ is due out on December 8th 2023 via Mrs Red Sound and Vicious Circle Records.
‘Dawn Of The Dusk’: the beginning and the end are one. Mirror effects, reversals, double-dealing, deterioration… This fifth studio effort from French heavy psychedelic stalwarts MARS RED SKY is a genuine conceptual piece of work skilfully designed to take the listener on a journey through a shifting, unpredictable and even utterly disconcerting sonic universe. Bordeaux-based trio explore progressive and post-metal territories with boundless inspiration.
New video “The Final Round” proves that the band know how to surprise with a sumptuous Bowiesque journey with Jimmy Kinast (bass) on vocals! One of the highlights of the album. “As the film progresses, the organic elements of the creature deteriorate. This slow decline reflects the lyrics suggesting, in a pre-apocalyptic atmosphere, a balance of power between leaders and victims, the powerful ones and the weaks, power and the people it affects” comment film director Carol Teillard D’Eyry. “The Final Round” was directed by Carol Teillard d’Eyry with the help of D.O.P Nicolas Pradeau and Mathieu Disson (gaffer). Starring: Clément Gyselinck.
TRACK LISTING ‘DAWN OF THE DUSK’ 1. Break Even 2. Maps of Inferno 3. The Final Round 4. A Choir of Ghosts 5. Carnival Man 6. Trap Door 7. Slow Attack 8. Heavenly Bodies
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 26th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Should probably go without saying that this won’t be the last tour French heavy space rockers Slift announce supporting their upcoming label debut for Sub Pop Records, Ilion, or the last region. The record is set to release on Jan. 19, and from the looks of the below and the band’s ethic of hard touring up to this point, it seems likely they’re entering a genuine album cycle. They’ll do these dates in Western Europe and then likely run down a checklist of various other parts of Europe, North America, maybe South America, Australia/New Zealand. Wouldn’t be surprised if they popped up in Japan or Egypt or South Africa. The demand seems to be there, and the trio up to this point have been ready to go just about anywhere they’re asked. They’ve got a long road and a lot of work ahead of them.
The tradeoff, I suppose, is entering the next phase of their tenure as their exit-velocity ascent to the forefront of the international heavy underground has now led to things like listener expectations and the inevitable internet reactionary I-don’t-see-what-the-big-deal-is shrugs and shit-talking. That’s how you know they’re popular. But even my couchlocked ass got to see them this year, so if you haven’t sit tight and I’m sure they’ll get there faster than social media can complain about their not.
Speaking of socials, that’s where this comes from:
Oï !
Thrilled to announce that we’ll be on tour next year, starting with Europe & UK !
There’s some crazy venues, we can’t wait to see ya’ll during this new trip around the sun.
Tickets available via the farcaster portal : sliftrock.com
Peace (#128406#)(#128420#)✨ Poster by Caza Radical Production
SLIFT live: 23.02 Brighton UK Chalk 24.02 Manchester UK Gorilla 25.02 Dublin IE Whelan’s 27.02 Leeds UK Brudenell 28.02 London UK Electric Ballroom 29.02 Lille FR L’Aeronef 01.03 Paris FR Cigale 02.03 Saint-Malo FR Route du Rock Hiver 13.03 Toulouse FR Le Bikini 15.03 Nantes FR Stereolux 18.03 Bruselles BE Ancienne Belgique 19.03 Utrecht NL Tivolirendenburg 20.03 Köln DE Club Volta 21.03 Groningen NL Vera 22.03 Hamburg DE Gruenspan 24.03 Kobenhavn DK Loppen 25.03 Gothenburg SE Pustervik 26.03 Oslo NO John Dee 27.03 Stockhom SE Hus 7 30.03 Berlin DE Lido 01.04 Leipzig DE UT Connewitz 02.04 Stuttgart DE Im Wizemann 03.04 Esch sur Alzette LUX Rockhal 04.04 Zurich CH Mascotte 05.04 Lyon FR L’Epicerie Moderne 06.04 Marseille FR Espace Julien
As announced last week, Mars Red Sky‘s new album is called Dawn of the Dusk and it’s being released on Dec. 8 through Vicious Circle Records and Mrs Red Sound. I spent a goodly portion of September (and October so far) with it on repeat, so when the clip came out last Wednesday, I wanted to post it right away because I’ve been dying to talk about this record, the somewhat darker take in “Break Even” at the outset and how that comes to define the record through the diversion in “Maps of Inferno” from the Bordeaux trio’s earlier-’23 collaboration EP with Queen of the Meadow, aptly-titled Mars Red Sky & Queen of the Meadow (review here) and on from there into the heart of the band’s latest expression, built on their core approach of bringing together heavy, melodic, progressive psychedelia with memorable songwriting and identifiability of sound. That is, especially by this point, as they head to their fifth long-player and look to tour in Europe this Fall and probably next Spring (if they wait that long) ahead of traveling back to the US to tour to support it. They’ve already been announced for Ripplefest Texas 2024, and I doubt that will be the last. Recall they were on the American West Coast last year.
More even than 2019’s The Task Eternal (review here), and as four additional years — especially the last four — will, Dawn of the Dusk presents a more mature sound from Mars Red Sky, whose directional growth revealed itself on their second full-length, 2014’s Stranded in Arcadia (discussed here, review here) as the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Julien Pras, bassist/sometimes-vocalist Jimmy Kinast (he gets lead vox on “The Final Round,” which is track three after “Break Even” and “Maps of Inferno”) and then-new drummer Mathieu “Matgaz” Gazeau set themselves forth after their 2011 self-titled debut (discussed here, review here) with an expansive take that has only continued to flourish through 2016’s Apex III (Praise for the Burning Soul) (review here) and the aforementioned 2019 outing. This should be seen as willful commitment to stylistic progression, because that’s what it is. Mars Red Sky have always been a band who have looked to push themselves toward new ideas and interpretations of what they do. “Break Even” boasts a familiar roll and breadth, and in the layering of the guitar, the somewhat downtrodden vocal delivery from Pras and the subtle angularity of its turns and the solo that complements its final lines, has a kind of urgency to it that seems to be mirrored in the lyrics.
To that end, the lyrics are here. I don’t always include them with videos unless specifically asked — and I wasn’t — but they’re relevant, and maybe you want to sing along. I do. I’m still getting to know the abiding mood of Dawn of the Dusk, but I’m also still getting to know their first record, so don’t go by me. I’ll have a full album review up at some point between now and Dec. 8 (he said with absolute confidence after being the better part of a week late posting the video; I’ve been annoyed at myself since about last Wednesday at 9AM Eastern), but I’ve heard it enough over the last few weeks to tell you with certainty that “Break Even” represents Dawn of the Dusk well and its accompanying video bolsters the atmosphere of the song itself, which of course is the idea, while mostly giving the track its own space.
Gonna stop myself here, but know that there’s more to say on this one and that I hope to sooner or later do at least some of that saying. With that warning in mind, I urge you to please enjoy the video below:
Mars Red Sky, “Break Even” official video
From MARS RED SKY’s new album ‘Dawn Of The Dusk’ – out December 8th 2023 on MRS Red Sound & Vicious Circle. https://idol-io.ffm.to/DawnoftheDusk
Video directed by Clara Griot.
Special thanks to Paul Roucher. Project supported by ADAMI.
Recorded and mixed by Benjamin Mandeau at Cryogene Studio, France, mastering by Ladislav Agabekov at Caduceus Studio in Gimel, Switzerland.
Lyrics : For any sort of pain there’s a market and a remedy Stocks bonds up & down the chain of custody Keeper of the Flagstaff a sniper at the ready Prone to snap hands clapping cracking codes & ribs Fire up & down the rapids shoot the medecine He’ll quit and join the race, the rank & file for normality If you can make it there you’ll make it anywhere Just what you’d be making exactly is anyone’s guess
Soon it’s the pat on the back The ravings, the panic attacks Fool it’s the common mistake The fun and the fin in the lake Soon it’s the cast of a die The shrewdly slanted device
Thank the groom for a room so dank Phantom-powered light bulbs flicker in a fish tank Who’s that waiting on the other side of the receiving end Cold-blooded doner with ghastly manners I was leader of the aging pack when I found her Sketch out etching replicate shiped out built-in operator
Soon it’s the pat on the back The ravings, the panic attacks Fool it’s the bid in the auction Break even or break into heaven
A figure head of state a true visionary Joins the rank & file for dependency Investigating what lays back younder What might come out of it I dare not wonder
Soon it’s the pat on the back The ravings, the panic attacks Fool it’s the common mistake The fun and the fin in the lake Soon it’s the cast of a die The shrewdly slanted device Fool it’s the bid in the auction Break even or break into heaven
Posted in Reviews on October 5th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Welcome to Thursday of the Fall 202 Quarterly Review. It’s been a good run so far. three days and 30 records, about to be four and 40. I’ve got enough on my desktop and there’s enough stuff coming out this month that I could probably do a second Fall QR in November, and maybe stave off needing to do a double-one in December as I had been planning in the back of my head. Whatever, I’ll figure it out.
I hope you’ve been able to find something you dig. I definitely have, but that’s how it generally goes. These things are always a lot of work, and somehow I seem to plan them on the busiest weeks — today we’re volunteering at the grade school book fair; I think I’ll dig out my old Slayer God Hates Us All shirt from 20 years ago and see if it still fits. Sadly, I think we all know how that experiment will work out.
Anyway, busy times, good music, blah blah, let’s roll.
Quarterly Review #31-40:
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Darsombra, Dumesday Book
Forever touring and avant garde to their very marrow, ostensibly-Baltimorean duo Darsombra — Ann Everton on keys, vocals, live visuals, and who the hell knows what else, Brian Daniloski on guitar, a living-room pedal board, and engineering at the band’s home studio — unveil Dumesday Book as a 75-minute collection not only of works like “Call the Doctor” (posted here) or “Call the Doctor” (posted here), which appear as remixes, but their first proper album of this troubled decade after 2019’s Transmission (review here) saw them reach so far out into the cosmic thread to harness their bizarre stretches of bleeps and boops, manipulated vocals, drones, noise and suitably distraught collage in “Everything is Canceled” — which they answer later with “Still Canceled,” because charm — but the reassurance here is in the continuation of Daniloski and Everton‘s audio adventures, and their commitment to what should probably at this point in space-time be classified as free jazz remains unflinching. Squares need not apply, and if you’re into stuff like structure, there’s some of that, but all Darsombra ever need to get gone is a direction in which to head — literally or figuratively — so why not pick them all?
Cavernous in its echo and with a grit of tone that is the aural equivalent of the feeling of pull in your hand when you make a doom claw, The Banishing is the second full-length from Italian doom rockers Bottomless. Working as the trio of vocalist/guitarist Giorgio Trombino (ex-Elevators to the Grateful Sky, etc.), drummer David Lucido (Assumption, among a slew of others) and bassist Sara Bianchin — the latter also of Messa and recently replaced in Bottomless by Laura Nardelli (Ponte del Diavolo, etc.) — the band follow their 2021 self-titled debut (review here) with an eight-track collection that comes across as its own vision of garage doom. It’s not about progressive flourish or elaborate production, but about digging into the raw creeper groove of “Guardians of Silence” or the righteous post-Pentagram chug-and-nod of “Let Them Burn.” It is not solely intended as worship for what’s come before. Doom-of-eld, the NWOBHM, ’70s proto splurges all abound, but in the vocal and guitar melody of “By the Sword of the Archangel” and the dramatic rolling finish of “Dark Waters” after the acoustic-led interlude “Drawn Into Yesterday,” in the gruel of “Illusion Sun,” they channel these elements through themselves and come out with an album that, for as dark and grim as it would likely sound to more than 99 percent of the general human population, is pure heart.
The Death Wheelers, Chaos and the Art of Motorcycle Madness
Look. I don’t know The Death Wheelers personally at all. We don’t hang out on weekends. But the sample-laced (“We wanna be free to ride our machines without being hassled by the Man — and we wanna get loaded!” etc.), motorcycle-themed Québecois instrumental outfit sound on their second LP, the 12-track/40-minute riff-pusher Chaos and the Art of Motorcycle Madness, like they’re onto something. And again, I don’t know these cats at all. I don’t know what they do for work, what their lives are like, any of it. But if The Death Wheelers want to get out and give this record the support it deserves, the place they need to be is Europe. Yeah, I know there was The Picturebooks, but they were clean-chrome and The Death Wheelers just cracked a smile and showed you the fly that got splattered on their front tooth while they were riding — sonically speaking. The dust boogie of “Lucifer’s Bend,” the duly stoned “Interquaalude” ahead of the capper duo of “Sissy Bar Strut (Nymphony 69)” and “Cycling for Satan Part II” and the blowout roll in “Ride into the Röt (Everything Lewder Than Everything Else)” — this is a band who should bypass America completely for touring and focus entirely on Europe. Because the US will come around, to be sure, but not for another three or four month-long Euro stints get the point across. I don’t know that that’ll happen or it won’t, but they sound ready.
The career arc of guitarist Phil Caivano — and of course he does other stuff as well, including vocals on his self-titled solo-project’s debut, Caivano, but some people seem to have been born to hold a guitar in their hands and he’s one of those; see also Bob Balch — is both longer and broader than his quarter-century as guitarist and songwriting contributor to Monster Magnet, but the NJ heavy rock stalwarts will nonetheless be the closest comparison point to these 10 tracks and 33 minutes, a kind of signature sleazy roll in “Talk to the Dead,” the time-to-get-off-your-ass push of “Come and Get Me” at the start or the punkier “Verge of Yesterday” — touch of Motörhead there seeming well earned — a cosmic ripper on a space backbeat in “Fun & Games,” but all of this is within a tonal and production context that’s consistent across the span, malleable in style, unshakable in structure. Closer “Face the Music” is the longest cut at 5:04 and is a drumless spacey experiment with vocals and a guitar figure wrapped around a central drone, and that adds yet more character to the proceedings. I’d wonder how long some of these songs or parts have been around or if Caivano is going to put a group together — could be interesting — and make a go of it apart from his ‘main band,’ but he’s long since established himself as an exceptional player, and listening to some of this material highlights contributions of style and substance to shaping Monster Magnet as well. Phil Caivano: songwriter.
Together for nearly a decade, richly informed by the progressive and space rock(s) of the 1970s, prone to headspinning feats of lead guitar like that in the back end of second cut “Dysania,” Entropía offer their second full-length in Eclipses, a five-track/40-minute excursion of organ-inclusive cosmic prog that reminds of Hypnos 69 in the warm serenity at the start of “Tarbes,” threatens the epic on seven-minute opener “Thesan” and delivers readily throughout; a work of scope that runs deep in the pairing of “Tarbes” and “Caleidoscopia” — both of which top nine minutes long — but it’s there that Entropía reveal the full spectrum of light they’re working with, whether it’s that tonal largesse that rears up in the latter or the jazzy kosmiche shove in the payoff of the former. And the drums come forward to start closer “Polaris,” which follows, as Entropía nestle into one more groovy submersion, finding heavy shuffle in the drums — hell yeah — and holding that tension until it’s time for the multi-tiered finish and only-necessary peaceful comedown. It’s inevitable that some records in a Quarterly Review get written about and I never listen to them again. I’ll be back to this one.
God damn, Ghorot, leave some nasty for the rest of the class. The Boise, Idaho, three-piece — vocalist/bassist Carson Russell (also Ealdor Bealu), guitarist/vocalist Chad Remains (ex-Uzala) and drummer/vocalist Brandon Walker — launch their second LP, Wound, with the gloriously screamed, righteously-coated-in-filth, choking-on-mud extreme sludge they appropriately titled “Dredge.” And fuck if it doesn’t get meaner from there as Ghorot — working with esteemed producer Andy Patterson (The Otolith, etc.) and releasing through Lay Bare Recordings and King of the Monsters Records — take the measure of your days and issue summary judgment in the negative through the mellow-harshing bite of “In Asentia,” the least brutal part of which kind of sounds like High on Fire and the death/black metal in centerpiece “Corsican Leather.” All of which is only on side A. On side B, “Canyon Lands” imagines a heavy Western meditation — shades of Ealdor Bealu in the guitar — that retains its old-wizard vocal gurgle, and capper “Neanderskull” finally pushes the entire affair off of whatever high desert cliffside from which it’s been proclaiming all this uberdeath and into a waiting abyss of willfully knuckledragging blower deconstruction. The really scary shit is these guys’ll probably do another record after this one. Yikes.
With the self-release of Outward, heavy progressive psych instrumentalists Moozoonsii complete a duology of pandemic-constructed outings that began with last year’s (of course) Inward, and to do so, the trio based in Nantes, France, continue to foster a methodology somewhere between metal and rock, finding ground in precision riffing in the 10-minute “Nova” or in the bumps and crashes after eight minutes into the 13-minute “Far Waste,” but they’re just as prone to jazzy skronk-outs like in the midsection solo of “Lugubris,” and the entire release is informed by the unfolding psychedelic meditationscape of “Stryge” at the start, so by no, no, no means at all are they doing one thing for the duration. “Toxic Lunar Vibration,” which splits the two noted extended tracks, brings the sides together as if to emphasize this point, not so much fitting those pointed angles together as delighting in the ways in which they do and don’t fit at certain times as part of their creative expression. Pairing that impulse with the kind of heavy-as-your-face-if-your-face-had-a-big-boulder-on-it fuzz in “Tauredunum” is a hell of a place to wind up. The unpredictable character of the material that surrounds only makes that ending sweeter and more satisfying.
An initial two tracks from UK trio Death Wvrm, both instrumental, surfaced earlier this year, one in Spring around the time of their appearance at Desertfest London — quiet a coup for a seemingly nascent band; but listening to them I get it — and after. “Enter” was first, “The Endless” second, and the two of them tell a story unto themselves; narrative seeming to be part of the group’s mission from this point of outset, as each single comes with a few sentences of accompanying scene-setting. Certainly not going to complain about the story, and the band have some other surprises in store in these initial cuts, be it the bright, mid-period Beatles-y tone in the guitar for “The Endless” (it’s actually only about four and a half minutes) or the driving fuzz that takes hold after the snap of snare at 2:59, or the complementary layer of guitar in “Enter” that speaks to broader ambitions sound-wise almost immediately on the part of the band. “Enter” and “The Endless” both start quiet and get louder — the scorch in “Enter” isn’t to be discounted — but they do so in differing ways, and so while one listens to the first two cuts a band is putting out and expects growth in complexity and method, that’s actually just fine, because it’s exactly also what one is left wanting after the two songs are done: more. I’m not saying show up at their house or anything, but maybe give a follow on Bandcamp and keep an eye.
Safe to assume some level of self-awareness on the part of Brazilian trio Mudness who, after unveiling their first single “R.I.P.” in 2020 make their self-titled full-length debut with seven songs of hard-burned wizard riffing, the plod of “Gone” (also an advance single, if not by three years) and guitarist Renan Casarin‘s Obornian moans underscoring the disaffected stoner idolatry. Joined by Fernando Dal Bó, whose bass work is crucial to the success of the entire release — can’t roll it if it ain’t heavy — and drummer Pedro Silvano, who adds malevolent swing to the slow march forward of “This End Body,” the centerpiece of the seven-song/35-minute long player. There’s an interlude, “Lamuria,” that could probably have shown up earlier, but one should keep in mind that the sense of onslaught between the likes of “Evil Roots” and “Yellow Imp” is part of the point, and likewise that they’re saving an extra layer of aural grime for “Final Breeze,” where they answer the more individual take of “This End Body” with a reach into melodicism and mark their appeal both in what they might bring to their sound moving forward and the planet-sucked-anyhow despondent crush of this collection. Putting it on the list for the best debuts of 2023. It’s not innovative, or trying to be, but that doesn’t stop it from accomplishing its aims in slow, mostly miserable stride.
I’m not generally one to tell you how to spend your money, but if you take a look over at The Space Huns‘ Bandcamp page (linked below), you’ll see that the Hungarian psych jammers’ entire digital discography is €3.50. Again, not trying to tell you how to live your life, but Legends of the Ancient Tribes, the Szeged-based trio’s new hour-long album, has a song on it called “Goats on a Discount Private Space Shuttle Voyage,” and from where I sit that entitles the three-piece of guitarist Csaba Szőke, bassist Tamás Tikvicki and drummer Mátyás Mozsár to that cash and perhaps more. I could just as easily note “Sgt. Taurus on Coke” at the start of the outing or “The Melancholic Stag Beetle Who Got Inspired by Corporate Motivational Coaches” — or the essential fact that in addition to the best song titles I’ve seen all year (again, and perhaps more), the jams are ace. Chemistry to spare, patience when it’s called for but malleable enough to boogie or nod and sound no less natural doing either, while keeping an exploratory if not improvisational — and it might be that too — character to the material. It’s not a minor undertaking at 59 minutes, but between the added charm of the track names and the grin-inducing nod of “Cosmic Cities of the Giant Snail Kingdom,” they make it easy.
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 5th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
So the title of the next Slift record is Ilion. The triumph-wielding heavy space rock trio from Toulouse, France, whose 2020 LP, Ummon (review here), ignited such a fervent crossover response across the underground cosmos that the band are now signed to Sub Pop Records. In other words, they’re about to get even bigger.
Kudos to the band on the eternal indie cred that signing to Sub Pop gleans them, and to the label for still picking up a heavy band every now and again the better part of 40 years later. The hype machine had already started — the first single can stream now and the press release was calling the album structure Homeric, so yes, superlatives will be bandied about for the next few months. The only reason that’s different from the last three years is it’s a different record everybody and their cousin is drooling over.
I’m not posting that PR, because I’m getting too old for that kind of hyperbole even though I understand its function, but here’s what the band had to say on socials with the tracklisting:
Oï !
Today’s the day ! We’re beyond excited to announce that our new album, ILION, will be out on Sub Pop Records the 19th January. You can now listen to the opening track, using your favorite web sonic dealer : https://music.subpop.com/slift_ilion
The preorders are open ! Check it out there’s some cool wax for ya’ll vinyl lovers.
Preorders shipped from France, by yours truly : sliftrock.com
We soon gonna announce the tour dates, can’t wait to see old and new friends in the pit, we’ll see space again together.
Thank you very much for your support, to everyone involve in the making of this record, to every past, present and futur listeners, and to everyone who’s gonna experienced it live with us !
Artwork by the mighty Caza.
SLIFT ILION 1. Ilion 2. Nimh 3. The Words That Have Never Been Heard 4. Confluence 5. Weavers’ Weft 6. Uruk 7. The Story That Has Never Been Told 8. Enter The Loop
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 2nd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
This Wednesday — two friggin’ days from now — French heavy psych rockers Mars Red Sky will post their video for “Break Even,” which is the first single from their new album, Dawn of the Dusk, due Dec. 8 on Vicious Circle Records and the band’s own Mrs Red Sound imprint. In fact, the clip is already up. It was sent to media with the press release below, and I’d love to share it, but it’s a 48-hour embargo and only assholes don’t respect that kind of thing.
My question is: am I really going to put up another Mars Red Sky post on Wednesday with that video, just two days after the album announcement? On social media, that kind of thing makes sense because of the constant demand for content from the greedy algorithm. Here, especially on a week when I’m doing a Quarterly Review and that’s most of the writing/brain power/posted-stuff going up, I’m less certain.
But I’ve heard the record and it’s awesome. A wholly representative work from an essential band. Whether or not I’ll put that video up in a couple days isn’t my only question about it, either. This is the first album Mars Red Sky will have put out past their 15th anniversary last year. Is it the dawn of the dusk of the band? The beginning of the end? One never really knows, but I always get nervous when acts I like start talking about endings in record titles. That’s before you get to “The Final Round.”
So maybe I will post that clip! Getting while the getting’s good, and all that. If you heard the collaborative Mars Red Sky & Queen of the Meadow EP (review here), you’ll be happy to know that “Maps of Inferno” from it (video below) features early on Dawn of the Dusk and is part of a reprise later on as well, almost similar to how the EP ended with an edit of the track itself, but a different melodic interpretation.
I don’t know a lot of stuff coming out in December yet, and in my head, this might be the last big release of 2023. I’m sure it won’t be — because the truth is the onslaught never friggin’ ends — but in terms of my personal listening habits, it’s already been a big one and I have the feeling it will continue to be as the next few months draw down and we head into the dark of winter.
I did a video chat at some point with Julien and Jimmy that was great and I’m going to try to again for this record if I can. Keep an eye out.
Here’s this from the PR wire:
French heavy psych torchbearers MARS RED SKY to issue new album ‘Dawn Of The Dusk’ on December 8th: enjoy first extract “Break Even”.
Doom-psych / heavy-progressive project MARS RED SKY reveal details on their new album ‘Dawn Of The Dusk’ – due out on December 8th 2023 via Mrs Red Sound and Vicious Circle Records. Fuzz-laden video extract “Break Even” is due out this wednesday 4th October
‘Dawn Of The Dusk’: the beginning and the end are one. Mirror effects, reversals, double-dealing, deterioration… This fifth studio effort from French heavy psychedelic stalwarts MARS RED SKY is a genuine conceptual piece of work skilfully designed to take the listener on a journey through a shifting, unpredictable and even utterly disconcerting sonic universe. Bordeaux-based trio explore progressive and post-metal territories with boundless inspiration. Their original signature of jagged vocals and thundering rhythm is spiced up by drones and various mid-kraut rock and mid-gothic effects. The atmospheres and settings are finely crafted, with Julien Pras’s voice adding a delicious pop languor. Debut single “Break Even” shapes the components of the album into a kind of reversible allegory, as appealing as disturbing. The video directed by Clara Griot invites us to enter their post-apocalyptic world with wild open eyes.
MARS RED SKY’s new record ‘Dawn Of The Dusk’ is coming out on December 8th via Vicious Circle (Slift, We Insist!, Shannon Wright, The Psychotic Monks) and Mrs Red Sound (their own imprint) on coloured LP, CD digisleeve, streaming and download. It will be available for preorder on October 25th through both labels. All songs by Mars Red Sky except Maps Of Inferno by Mars Red Sky and Queen Of The Meadow (off their latest EP). Produced, recorded and mixed by Benjamin Mandeau at Cryogène Studio in Bègles, France. Mastering by Ladislav Agabekov (of hardcore band Nostromo) at Caduceus Studio in Gimel, Switzerland.
MARS RED SKY New album ‘Dawn Of The Dusk’ Out December 8th 2023 on Mrs Red Sound and Vicious Circle Records
TRACK LISTING ‘DAWN OF THE DUSK’ 1. Break Even 2. Maps of Inferno 3. The Final Round 4. A Choir of Ghosts 5. Carnival Man 6. Trap Door 7. Slow Attack 8. Heavenly Bodies
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 19th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Let’s casually presume that when Mars Red Sky release their new video on Oct. 4 for the track “Break Even,” that they’ll tag an announcement for their next full-length on with that, and I’m hoping it’ll be out before the end of the year. That does make it potentially a December release, and I’d hate to think of it not getting the look it deserves because listeners are settling into the holidays and the music industry is exhaling until late January or thereabouts, but they’ve got live shows set for the next half a year with likely a bunch more to come for Spring and Summer 2024, so I don’t think they’ll be lacking for spreading the word. They’ll do Freak Valley‘s big winter to-do in December as well, so whether that’s when the record comes out or not, it’ll be a busy month for the Bordeaux trio.
They posted the dates on socials with the ticket link and other whatnots. Earlier this year, the band put out the self-titled Mars Red Sky & Queen of the Meadow EP (review here) and there’ve been some quality short releases throughout 2023 thus far, but I’m not sure I’ve heard anything to top that one in my mind. Their last full-length was 2019’s The Task Eternal (review here), so yeah, they’re about due to hit it again. Hope they come back to the States.
Here’s dates from socials:
MARS RED SKY – TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT
Here we are!! Thanks to 3C and Sound of Liberation for the gigs. New video clip “Break Even” to come out on October 4th 2023. Stay tuned ’cause we have more cool things to announce.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 13th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Listening for the first time to the track they’ve got streaming now, and this is some righteous shit. I remember digging their 2021 record, The Holy of Holies (review here), and I guess it’s been a minute since I put it on, but honestly I didn’t think even in the neighborhood of two years. Anyway, imagine progressive heavy rock in the spirit of a version of Howling Giant that grew up listening to Opeth on a near-exclusive basis. Anyway, the song is called “Wasted Land” and it’s way dudely. Dudely enough to earn the suspenders above if not the horse-names below, but if you just accept that it’s also really, really good. As in, can I please hear the album now?
The PR wire has all the pertinent particulars, release dates and such. Someone should really keep track of this stuff:
French heavy rock trio APPALOOZA to release new album “The Shining Son” on Ripple Music this fall; new track and preorders available now!
Brittany’s heavy rock goldsmiths APPALOOZA announce the release of their third studio album “The Shining Son” on October 20th through Californian powerhouse Ripple Music. Watch their thunderous new lyric video for “Wasted Land” now!
Following the release of their latest single “Pelican”, APPALOOZA are now unleashing a thunderous and stirring new song with “Wasted Land”. Propelled by an exhilarating stampede of thick metallic guitars, rumbling grooves and frontman Wild Horse’s dramatic baritone vocals, “Wasted Land” perfectly encapsulates the trio’s sound, with its rich and multi-layered songwriting and trademark tribal percussions.
Listen to Appalooza’s new sonic stampede “Wasted Land”
New album “The Shining Son” is the sequel to their sophomore effort and Ripple Music debut “The Holy of Holies” (2021), weaving its storyline around enigmatic Biblical references and a fascinating cinematic approach, all wrapped in eight massive-sounding and catchy songs that subtly blend stoner rock, alternative and grunge rock and acoustic tribal music.
“After the awakening and arrival of The Horse aka Azazael on Earth narrated in our latest album ‘The Holy Of Holies’, ‘The Shining Son’ tells how The Horse exercises its power and how it sows chaos towards the populations. Here again, we are talking about religion and its perdition. Indeed, the Pelican as told in the first track represents The Christ who feeds his little ones aka the people. But his powers are weakened and his wings are damaged. He can no longer fly properly and get food to feed the starving people,” says the band about the new album’s main thematics. “The sequels of a violent childhood are for life. This album is some kind of emotional liberation going through fear, escape, counterattack, violence and anger. It is the testament of a bygone era, the legacy of the past on the present, the cure for the future. It denounces the family and social imprisonment of an era. A coincidence with the liberation of the people with the Covid-19 crisis?” they add.
“The Shining Son” was recorded by Arthurus Lauth at Brown Bear Recording in Saint-Lumine-de-Clisson, France. Mixed by Arthurus Lauth & Wild Horse, and mastered by Ronan Cloarec at Master Lab Systems in Nantes, France. Artwork was designed by Wild Horse Artworks.
TRACKLIST: 1. Pelican 2. Unbreakable 3. Framed 4. Groundhog Days 5. Wasted Land 6. Wounded 7. Sunburn 8. Killing Maria
APPALOOZA is a lost steed thirsting for freedom, drawing inspiration and essence from the dust of an arid desert. After a first American tour in 2015, the band galloped relentlessly and trampled the paths of the studio to record their first album “Appalooza”. In the winter of 2018, the band returned from an extensive US West Coast tour and signed to Ripple Music for the release of their second full-length “The Holy Of Holies”, bearing a brand new visual identity and sound. The band is now set to release their third record “The Shining Son” this fall on Ripple Music.
