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Witchrot Announce Spring Tour Dates

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 25th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

March 10 has been set as the arrival date for Witchrot‘s Live in the Hammer, the follow-up to their 2021 studio debut, Hollow (review here), and reportedly a herald of a second record to come from the Toronto-based four-piece. Fuzzed and Buzzed will handle the release, Tony Reed mastered, preorders are up, and everything seems to be in line to keep the momentum the band had coming off the debut, which came after a lineup split that went viral, blah blah.

I’ll be honest: I know that kind of thing is good for clicks, building a social media following, and so on, and I understand that the quantifiable terms of that following go a long way toward defining how well regarded a band is at this point in time, but I would have to work hard to care less. Whether or not someone becomes a meme has nothing to do with their music — somehow I feel old believing that — and it’s the music that will ultimately outlast any incurred virality. I hope they sold shirts, but I dug Hollow on its own terms and expect no different with the live record. Not even sure why I need to say that, so maybe I’ll just shut the fuck up and post the press release.

Here you go:

witchrot

WITCHROT Announce Spring Tour

Sizzling, soulful and bewitching, WITCHROT is gearing up for their latest offering Witchrot: Live in the Hammer, due out for its international release March 10, 2023. Shortly after, the band will hit the road in Canada in support of the album. Their tour kicks off on March 31st at the Ottowa House of Targ and wraps on May 13th at Sudbury Townhouse Tavern. Full dates below. Tickets can be found HERE or purchased at the door of each venue.

March 31 Ottawa House of Targ
April 1 Sherbrooke Murdoch
April 2 Montreal Turbohaus
April 13 London Richmond Tavern
April 14 Sarnia Mauds
April 15 Hamilton Casbah
May 11 Toronto Hardluck
May 12 Barrie Infinity Zero
May 13 Sudbury Townhouse Tavern
More about Live In The Hammer:

All sleaze and psych, Live In The Hammer has the fuzz fueled quartet playing in the grease trap of Ontario. Smoky vocals overtop mesmeric psychedelic doom fill the room to the brim. Pre-orders for Live In The Hammer are available HERE: https://witchrot.bandcamp.com/music

Formed in Toronto in 2018, WITCHROT was founded by Lea Reto (vocals) & Peter Turik (Guitar). After some international press over band disputes, betrayals, and a temporary break up, the band recruited Lea’s boyfriend Nick Kervin (Drums) and Cam Alford (Bass). Together they recorded the band’s debut full-length Hollow (2021) and most recently Live In the Hammer. Currently, Nick “Nido” Dolphin has joined the band on bass.

Pulling from the lost psychedelic masterpieces with fuzz erupting like a volcano and the ethereal shoegaze music of the late 80s and 90s, WITCHROT has carved their own haunting path. The all-consuming wave of divine music that is terrifying by its sheer velocity and force rather than dissonance.

Simultaneously beautiful and putrid, Live In The Hammer pays homage to the grime of the past, paved over by the glitz of the present. Live In The Hammer was recorded at Boxcar Sound in Hamilton, and mastered by Tony Reed at Heavy Head Recording.

The bubbling cauldron that is Live In the Hammer, serves as a bridge between Hollow and the band’s forthcoming next album, currently in the works. There’s no escaping the strange web of WITCHROT. Fall into the chasm and embrace the dark.

WITCHROT is:

Lea Reto – Vocals
Peter Turik – Guitar
Nick Kervin – Drums
Nick “Nido” Dolphin – Bass

https://www.facebook.com/witchrot
https://www.instagram.com/witchrotband/
https://witchrot.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Fuzzedandbuzzed-631019733954614/
https://www.instagram.com/fuzzedandbuzzed/
https://www.fuzzedandbuzzed.com/

Witchrot, Hollow (2021)

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Head Stream New Album Satisfaction in Full

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on September 16th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

head

Head play the release party for their new album, Satisfaction, on Sept. 24. Released through Fuzzed and Buzzed Records and produced by Ian Blurton, the record runs a sans-bullshit nine songs and 29 minutes that remind that just because something doesn’t spend 15 minutes droning out (not that there’s anything wrong with that) doesn’t mean it can’t have an atmosphere. Head are rock and rollers. You can hear it in the tones and softshoe riff of guitarist Michael Starnino in “Shudder,” the warmer fuzz of Elyse Besler‘s bass on “Spell” and the shuffle in Hunter Raymond‘s drumming and singing on “Runaway,” as he steps forward with at least tacitly acknowledged post-Elvis warble as part of a series of lead/backing vocals tradeoffs with Besler that proves malleable throughout and is responsible for a good portion of the noted atmospherics.

She sings some, he sings some, they sing together, on closer “Hound Dog” they kind of sing a conversation, and though one is sad somehow to think of Starnino left out of the fun — because these songs are most certainly that; the ultra-funky “Queen” struts by with a regal wave and Besler belting out the lead part — he stays plenty busy occupying sometimes one channel, then the other, maybe both for solos that are alternately classy or drunkard-sway, depending on what the given track calls for. On “Queen,” for example, he makes the guitar sing.

The lines about “getting some” Head write themselves to an almost tragic degree, but so it goes. In terms of aesthetic, there’s a fascinating sense of ‘room’ about Satisfaction, in that the instruments sound isolated in the studio, resulting in each having its own definite space within the songs. As “Shudder” yawns awake before beginning its fuzz-buzzy (hey wait a second!) sub-three-minute procession — Raymond handling verses, Besler joining for the chorus — it sets up not only that (relative, fluid, not-just-one-then-the-other) balance between the two vocalists, but also the place each player occupies.

Guitar doesn’t bleed into the bass, bass doesn’t bleed into the guitar, and you would call the drums the unshakeable foundation of it all were “Shake” notHead Satisfaction the centerpiece of the record and one of the many boogie-minded offerings herein. I don’t know the recording circumstances, but that feel adds to the energy of Satisfaction and the glam-gone-grunge vibe that results, “Queen” and “Shake” leading to “Strychnine,” with Besler delivering one of the album’s strongest hooks — no shortage of competition — and a riff that feels like purely distilled Nirvana. Considering the punch and swing of “Runaway,” or “Shudder,” or the shove of “Queen,” “Strychnine” is something of a stylistic turn, but by the time you get there you won’t even blink. There’s no question Head are in control and know what’s up. It’s a party without being dudebro party rock, and still weird enough to be interesting. Ask more of a two-minute-and-forty-eight-second song, I dare you.

As regards track runtimes, “Spell” is the longest at 4:42, and it’s also arguably the slowest inclusion. The later “Out for Blood,” at 4:26, is more of a rush early on, with some mellowing for a longer solo stretch in its second half; more of a jam, from which they don’t bother coming back and really they don’t need to, having already long since demonstrated their songcraft. “Your Money” picks up with a more urgent chorus from Besler and Raymond, the line, “I want your money” part of a call and response between the two that’s familiar enough by then but still delivered with welcome vitality.

Like “Strychnine,” “Your Money” has a bit of grown-out-of-punk to its underlying parts, but Head make it their own they’ve done all across Satisfaction, leaving “Hound Dog” — not a cover — to blues shuffle their way through the end credits, a swinging epilogue to a record that hasn’t necessarily masked its intelligence, but for all its variety of arrangements holds to its lack of pretense. It’s a smart record, but cool about it, and in zero danger of overstaying its welcome.

The three-piece took part in Fuzzed and Buzzed‘s The Powder Box split box set, and the focus of that was on a kind of neo-glam rock, but that’s really just part of what Head offer, nodding to ’50s rock foundations, 1970s-style blues groove and the rougher heavy punk of the ’90s in a surprisingly encompassing spirit. But wherever they go, vibe goes with, and so nothing here — even “Hound Dog” tucked away at the end — feels out of place. Again, it’s hard to want anything more than they deliver.

I think this is live on Bandcamp now, so I don’t know if it counts as a premiere or whatever, but who cares. Stream the album below, and enjoy. Let go your worries for a little while:

Buy link: https://headrnr.bandcamp.com/album/satisfaction

Motörhead, Teenage Head, the head rush you got at recess smoking in the smoke pit at high school – all good things come with Head, including their new album Satisfaction. Hard charging rock ‘n roll that dares to rip off the Stones and spit it right back to mix with the blood and the vomit on the beer soaked dance floor. Satisfaction has 9 high octane tunes of rock ‘n roll swagger guaranteed to satisfy that prove – all you need is Head. Produced by underground rock legend, Ian Blurton, Satisfaction is available now on prestige black vinyl mastered by the heaviest of heads, Tony Reed, and only available on Fuzzed and Buzzed.

All vinyl copies of Satisfaction by Head will include a QR code to view the Head concert film “Almost Live at the Monarch!”

HEAD are:
Hunter Raymond – Drums / Vocals
Elyse Besler – Bass / Vocals
Michael Starnino – Guitar

Head on Facebook

Head on Instagram

Head on Bandcamp

Fuzzed and Buzzed Records on Facebook

Fuzzed and Buzzed Records on Instagram

Fuzzed and Buzzed Records website

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Quarterly Review: Per Wiberg, Body Void, Ghorot, Methadone Skies, Witchrot, Rat King, Taras Bulba, Opium Owl, Kvasir, Lurcher

Posted in Reviews on July 16th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

the-obelisk-fall-2016-quarterly-review

In my hubris of adding an 11th day to this Summer 2021 Quarterly Review — why not just do the whole month of July, bro? what’s the matter? don’t like riffs? — I’ve rendered today somewhat less of a landmark, but I guess there’s still some accomplishment to be felt in completing two full weeks of writing about 10 records a day, hitting triple digits and all that. Not that I doubted I’d get here — it’s rare but it’s happened before — and not that I doubt I’ll have the last 10 done for Monday, but yeah. It’s been a trip so far.

Quarterly Review #91-100:

Per Wiberg, All Is Well In the Land of the Living But for the Rest of Us… Lights Out

per wiberg all is well in the land of the living but for the rest of us lights out

The cumbersome-seeming title of Per Wiberg‘s new solo EP derives from its four component tracks, “All is Well,” “In the Land of the Living,” “But for the Rest of Us…” and “Lights Out.” The flow between them is largely seamless, and when Wiberg (whose pedigree as an organist/keyboardist includes Opeth, Candlemass, Big Scenic Nowhere and more others than I can count) pauses between tracks two and three, it feels likewise purposeful. It’s a dark mood inflected through the melodies of the opener and the atmospheric piano lines of “But for the Rest of Us…,” but Wiberg offers a driving take on progressive heavy rock with “In the Land of the Living” and the build in the subsequent “Lights Out” is encompassing with the lead-in it’s given. Wiberg sounds more comfortable layering his voice than even on 2019’s Head Without Eyes, and his arrangements are likewise expressive and fluid. Dude is a professional. I think maybe that’s part of the reason everybody wants to work with him.

Per Wiberg on Facebook

Despotz Records website

 

Body Void, Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth

Body Void Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth

Massive, droning lurch, harsh, biting screams and lumbering, pummeling weight, Body Void‘s third album and first for Prosthetic, Bury Me Beneath This Rotting Earth, boasts feelgood hits like “Wound” and “Laying Down in a Forest Fire,” bringing cacophonous, Khanate-style extremity of atmosphere to willfully, punishingly brutal sludge. It is not friendly. It is devastating, and it is the kind of record that sounds loud even when you play it quietly — and that’s before you get to “Pale Man”‘s added layers of caustic noise. Front to back in the four songs — all of which top 12 minutes — there’s no letup, no moment at which the duo relent in order to let the listener breathe. This is intentional. A conjuring of aural concrete in the lungs coinciding with striking lines like “Your compromises are hollow monuments to your cowardice” and other bleak, throatripping poetry of dead things and our complicity in making them. Righteous and painful.

Body Void on Facebook

Prosthetic Records website

 

Ghorot, Loss of Light

ghorot loss of light

Ghorot is the three-piece of bassist/vocalist Carson Russell (also Ealdor Bealu), drummer/vocalist Brandon Walker and guitarist Chad Remains (ex-Uzala), and Loss of Light is a debut album no less gripping for its push into darkness, whether it’s the almost-toying-with-you Sabbath-style riff of “Harbinger” or the tortured atmospherics in the back end of “Charioteer of Fire,” which follows. Competing impulses result in a sense of grueling even through the barks and faster progression of “Woven Furnace,” while “Dead Gods” offers precious little mourning in its charred deathsludge, saving more ambience for the 12-minute closer “In Endless Grief,” which not only veers into acoustics, but nods toward post-metal later on, despite holding firm to cavernous growls and wails. Obscure? Opaque? There isn’t a way in which Loss of Light isn’t heavy. Everywhere they go, Ghorot carry that weight with them. It is existential.

Ghorot on Facebook

Transylvanian Recordings on Bandcamp

Inverse Records on Bandcamp

 

Methadone Skies, Retrofuture Caveman

methadone skies retrofuture caveman

Lush from the outset and growing richer in aural substance as it plays out, the 17:56 longest/opening (immediate points) title-track of Methadone Skies‘ latest work, Retrofuture Caveman, is an obviously intended focal point, and a worthy one at that. Last heard from with 2019’s Different Layers of Fear (review here), the Romanian four-piece break down walls across the bulk of this fifth full-length, with “Retrofuture Caveman” itself setting the standard early in moving instrumentally between warm heavy psychedelia, prog, drone, doom and darker black metal. It’s prog heavy that ultimately wins the day on the subsequent linear build of “Infected by Friendship” and centerpiece “The Enabler,” but there’s room for more lumber in the 11-mminute “Western Luv ’67” and closer “When the Sleeper Awakens” offers playful shove riffing in its midsection before a final stretch of quiet guitar leads to a last-minute volume burst, no less consuming or sprawling than anything before, even if it feels like it finishes too soon.

Methadone Skies on Facebook

Methadone Skies on Bandcamp

 

Witchrot, Hollow

witchrot hollow

Stood out by the gotta-hear bass tone of Cam Alford, the ethereal-or-shouting-and-sometimes-both vocals of Lea Reto, the crash of Nick Kervin‘s drums and the encompassing wah of Peter Turik‘s guitar, Toronto’s Witchrot offer a striking debut with their awaited first full-length, Hollow, oozing out through opener/longest track (immediate points) “Million Shattered Swords” before the stomping wash of “Colder Hands” sacrifices itself on an altar of noise, leading to the more directly-riffed “Spiral of Sorrow,” which nonetheless maintains the atmosphere. Things get noisier and harsher in the second half of Hollow, which is presaged in the plod of “Fog,” but as things grow more restless and angrier after “Devil in My Eyes” and move into the pair “Burn Me Down” and “I Know My Enemy,” both faster, like blown-out Year of the Cobra toying with punk rock and grunge, Witchrot grow stronger for the shift by becoming less predictable, setting up the atmospheric plunge of the closing title-track that finishes one of 2021’s most satisfying debut albums.

Witchrot on Facebook

Fuzzed and Buzzed Records website

DHU Records store

 

Rat King, Omen

Rat King Omen

Omen is the first long-player from Evansville, Indiana, four-piece Rat King, who use rawness to their advantage throughout the nine included tracks, at least one of which — “Supernova” — dates back to being released as a single in 2017. With manipulated horror samples and interludes like the acoustic “Queen Anne’s Revenge” and “Shackleton” and the concluding “Matryoshka” spliced throughout the otherwise deep-toned and weighted fare of “Capsizer” and the chugging, pushing, scream-laced “Druid Crusher,” Omen never quite settles on a single approach and is more enticing for that, though the eight-minute “Vagrant” could well be a sign of things to come in its melodic reach, but the band revel in the grittier elements at work here as well — the thunderplod of “Glacier,” the willful drag of “Nepenta Divinorum,” and so on — and the ambience they create is dreary and obscure in a way that comes across as purposeful. Is Omen a foreshadow or just the name of a movie they dig? I don’t know, but I hope it’s not too long before we find out.

Rat King on Facebook

Rat King store

 

Taras Bulba, Sometimes the Night

Taras Bulba Sometimes the Night

What was Earthling Society continues to evolve into Taras Bulba at the behest of Fleetwood, UK’s Fred Laird. Sometimes the Night (on Riot Season) is a mostly solo affair, and truth be told, Laird doesn’t need much more than his own impulses to conjure a full-sounding record, as he quickly shows on the acid lounge opener “The Green Eyes of Dragon,” but the guest vocals from Daisy Atkinson bring echoing presence to the subsequent “Orphee” and Mike Blatchford‘s late-arriving sax on “The Sound of Waves,” “The Big Duvall” and “House in the Snow” highlight the jazzy underpinnings of the organ-laced “Night Train to Drug Town” and the avant, anti-anything guitar strum and piano strikes of “One More Lonely Angel.” No harm done, in any case, unless we’re talking about the common conception of what a song is, and hey, if it didn’t need to happen, it wouldn’t have. An experiment in vibe, perhaps, in psychedelic brooding, but evocative for that. Laird‘s no stranger to following whims. Here they lead to moodier space.

Taras Bulba on Facebook

Riot Season Records website

 

Opium Owl, Live at Hodila Records

Opium Owl Live at Hodila Records

I’ll admit, there’s a part of me that, when “Intro” hits its sudden forward surge, kind of wishes Opium Owl had kept it mellow. Nonetheless, the Riga, Latvia-based double-guitar (mostly) instrumental heavy psych four-piece offer plenty of serenity throughout the four-song live set Live at Hodila Records, and the back and forth patterning of the subsequent “Echo Slam” is all the more effective at winning conversion, so fair enough. “Stone Gaze” dips into even bigger riffage, while “Tempest Double” dares vocals over its quieter noodling, dispensing with them as it pushes louder toward the finish. For a live recording, the sound is rich enough to convey what would seem to be the full warmth of Opium Owl‘s tonality, and in its breadth and its impact, there’s no lack of studio-fullness for the session-style presentation. Live at Hodila Records may be formative in terms of establishing the methods with which the band — who formed in 2019 — will continue to work, but showcases significant promise in that.

Opium Owl on Facebook

Hodila Records on Facebook

 

Kvasir, 4

kvasir 4

Doled out with chops to spare and the swagger to show them off, Kvasir‘s eight-song debut LP, 4, puts modern heavy rock riffing in blender and sets it on high. Classic, epic heavy in “Where Gods to to Pray” and a more nodding groove in “Authenticity & the Illusion of Enough” meet with the funkier starts-stops of “Slow Death of Life” and the languid Sabbathism of “Earthly Algorithms.” “Chill for a Church” opens side B with trashier urgency and suitable rhythmic twist, and “The Brink” sets its depressive lyric to a ’70s boogie swing, not quite masking it, but working as a flowing companion piece for “The Black Mailbox,” which follows in like-minded fashion, letting closer “Alchemy of Identity” underscore the point with a rawer take on what once made The Sword so undeniable in their groove. There’s growing to do, patience to learn, etc., but Kvasir make it easy to get on board with 4 and their arguments for doing so brook little contradiction. Onto the list of 2021’s best debut albums it goes.

Kvasir on Facebook

Glory or Death Records on Bandcamp

 

Lurcher, Coma

lurcher coma

Lurcher might go full-prog before they’re done, but they’re not their yet on their four-song debut EP, Coma, and the songs only benefit from the band’s focus on impact and lack of self-indulgence. The leadoff title-track has an immediate hook that brings to mind an updated, tonally-heavier version of what Cave In innovated for melodic post-hardcore, and the subsequent “Remove the Myth From the Mountain” follows with a broader-sounding reach in its later solo that builds on the heavy rock foundation the first half of the song put forth. Vocalist/guitarist Joe Harvatt — backed by the rhythm section of bassist Tom Shortt and drummer Simon Bonwick — is prone, then, to a bit of shred. No argument as that’s answered with the Hendrix fuzz at the outset of “All Now is Here,” which both gets way-loud and drones way-out in its seven minutes, in turn setting up the lush-and-still-hard-hitting capper “Cross to Bear,” which rounds off the 26-minute release with all the more encouraging shifts in tempo, flowing melody, and mellotron sounds to add to the sweeping drama. I know the UK underground is hyper-crowded at this point, but consider notice served. These cats are onto something.

Lurcher on Instagram

Trepanation Recordings on Bandcamp

 

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Head Premiere “Burning Bridges” Video Ahead of Livestream May 7

Posted in Bootleg Theater on May 5th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

head

Toronto bluesy heavy rockers Head will release their debut full-length later this year through Fuzzed and Buzzed Records. To celebrate that fact, and, one assumes, life in general, the three-piece will stream a live set from the Monarch Tavern — you know it, right there on Clinton St.; cool font on the wall outside; the place with all the whiskey; you’ve been there — on May 7. For those who didn’t catch them on the glammy The Powder Box 7″ comp that Fuzzed and Buzzed put out circa 2019 or who didn’t hear their 2018 self-titled three-songer produced by Ian Blurton, the live take premiering here of “Burning Bridges” sees the three-piece putting drummer Hunter Raymond to work with Danzig-style backing howls behind bassist Elyse Besler‘s lead vocal lines, the track grooving its way easy into the slowdown given due fuzz both in the low end and as the setup for guitarist Michael Starnino‘s solo, a little bit of effects swirl thrown in for good measure. And by “good measure” I mean a bit of danger.

Dig it? Yeah, you probably will. There’s no pretense but a lot of attitude, and they sell that well in antihero fashion. I haven’t seen the full set or heard the record, but taken next to the 2018 tracks, “Burning Bridges” is longer, slower, and more languid in how it plays out, and none of that is cause for complaint on this end. Whether you’re itching for live shows or you just take this little snippet and file it away under “vinyl to look for later,” that’s fine. The point is the song’s cool and the band put you right where they want you for the duration, offering a memorable hook as your reward for having made the trek along with them.

‘Almost Live at the Monarch’ — cute — is streaming May 7 and the yet-untitled debut album is set to release this summer. I’ll take it as it comes and hope “Burning Bridges” makes the cut for the final tracklisting there. Until then, I’m glad to host this premiere.

Get into it:

Head, “Burning Bridges” live video premiere

Heart pounding, fist pumping, hard charging rock ‘n roll power trio Head will be releasing their debut album on Fuzzed and Buzzed. Head was previously heard on the Powder Box, a glam rock ripper triple 7 inch set put out by Fuzzed and Buzzed. Ahead of their bombshell release this summer, Head will be performing “Almost Live at the Monarch!” a “live” stream on Friday May 7 filmed at the Monarch Tavern and put together by Lexology Ltd. The “live” stream will feature the entire new album along with old hits from the past and some surprising wicked covers. For a rockin’ rollin’ good time, all you need is Head.

Check out the full show under “events” at: http://facebook.com/monarchtavern/ OR at https://www.facebook.com/events/844354159485192/.

Head is:
Hunter Raymond – Drums / Vocals
Elyse Besler – Bass / Vocals
Michael Starnino – Guitar

Head, Head EP (2018)

Head on Facebook

Head on Instagram

Head on Bandcamp

Fuzzed and Buzzed Records on Facebook

Fuzzed and Buzzed Records on Instagram

Fuzzed and Buzzed Records website

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Witchrot: Debut Album Hollow Preorders May 1; Album Teaser Premieres

Posted in Whathaveyou on April 16th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

witchrot 2

If you’re not already looking forward to Hollow, the debut album from Toronto’s Witchrot, then the 50-second teaser making its first airing at the bottom of this post should take care of that with all due efficiency. The four-piece outfit will have the Tony Reed-mastered record up for preorder on May 1, and from its moody-then-explosive opening in “A Million Shattered Swords” and the equal-parts massive and soaring “Burn Me Down” and the final closing statement in its title-track — the word “hollow,” incidentally, is how guitarist Peter Turik once described the voice of singer Leo Reto as making him feel — the band make spaces and fill them with drenched tones and post-grunge melody. They may have made their name by breaking up, but this album is nothing if not alive.

Vinyl release date is June 30, and there are the preorder links that you’ll find with that teaser clip below in shimmering PR wire blue:

witchrot hollow

Witchrot – Hollow

https://witchrot.bandcamp.com

Two years ago, Witchrot splattered across the internet with an infamous breakup post on Facebook. The notoriety from the breakup gave them renewed vigor and they soldiered on to fashion themselves into the seventh best band of all time (narrowly pushing the Beatles out of the top ten).

Now Witchrot are set to premiere their debut vinyl long player – Hollow. This killer mix of ethereal vocals, crushing riffs and bottom end dredged up from your local graveyard will be available on Fuzzed and Buzzed Records in North America and DHU in Europe.

The wax comes in three different colorways including the Band edition, the DHU edition and Fuzzed and Buzzed black. Artwork is by ZZ Corpse and each edition comes with a bonus poster from Shane Horror. The whole thing is mastered to vinyl by the heaviest of all heads, Tony Reed.

Celebrate the Beltane Festival with pre-orders on May 1 at Noon EST and 6pm CEST. Available from fuzzedandbuzzed.com in North America and darkhedonisticunionrecords.bigcartel.com in Europe or straight from the band https://witchrot.bandcamp.com/.

Witchrot are:
Lea Reto
Peter Turik
Nick Kervin
Cam Alford

https://www.facebook.com/witchrot
https://www.instagram.com/witchrotband/
https://witchrot.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Fuzzedandbuzzed-631019733954614/
https://www.instagram.com/fuzzedandbuzzed/
https://www.fuzzedandbuzzed.com/
https://www.facebook.com/DHURecords/
https://www.instagram.com/dhu_records/
https://darkhedonisticunionrecords.bandcamp.com/
darkhedonisticunionrecords.bigcartel.com/

Witchrot, Hollow teaser video

Witchrot-Hollow_Promo(Pre-order_May_1).mov from Fuzzed and Buzzed on Vimeo.

Witchrot, Strega / Hey Hey My My (2020)

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Witchrot: Debut Album Hollow Coming Soon

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 2nd, 2021 by JJ Koczan

witchrot

Right on. I dug the 2020 Strega / Hey Hey My My (review here) single from Toronto’s Witchrot, and the news of an impending full-length debut is only welcome as far as I’m concerned. The release — which will be out… ever — is unsurprisingly set to issue through the ongoing collaboration between Fuzzed and Buzzed and DHU Records that has wrought much cultishness of purpose and much fuzz of tone already and one hopes will only continue to do so throughout 2021. The more the merrier.

If you didn’t hear the single last year, it’s streaming below as there’s no audio as yet from the album, which is titled Hollow. One assumes that will come in time along with stuff like, oh, a release date and preorders and all that whatnot.

DHU sent the preliminaries along the PR wire:

witchrot hollow

New release by Fuzzed and Buzzed & DHU Records: Witchrot ~ Hollow

DHU Records is excited to announce we will be teaming up once again with that super stoned label of Canadian descent Fuzzed and Buzzed Records to bring you the debut full length LP Hollow by Toronto Doom Cult Witchrot!!

“After releasing 2 crushing 7″ & 8” singles in 2019 and 2020, the time has come for Canadian Doomers Witchrot to unleash their debut full length and they did not hold back to bring you earth shattering hymns of colossal proportions!

Ultra Heavy riffing, uncomfortable atmospheres coiled in overwhelming & mesmeric chants from singer Lea make Hollow a Doom Masterpiece!”

DHU Records & Fuzzed and Buzzed Records are proud to bring you Hollow on Limited Edition Vinyl in the second quarter of 2021. DHU, Fuzzed and Buzzed and Witchrot Editions will be available. All Editions will be available to order in EU and CAN/US

More info & details coming soon…

Side A:
A1. Million Shattered Swords 6:44
A2. Colder Hands 5:42
A3. Spiral Of Sorrow 5:58
A4. Fog 2:46

Side B:
B1. Devil In Your Eyes 5:10
B2. Burn Me Down 5:27
B3. I Know My Enemy 4:16
B4. Hollow 5:04

Engineered and mixed by Dylan Frankland
At Palace Sound // Candle Studio November 2019 and October 2020.
Assistant Engineer Simon Kou
Mastered by Tony Reed at HeavyHead Recording Co.
Album art & layout by ZZ Corpse
Executive Producer Lex Shuper

Witchrot are:
Lea Reto
Peter Turik
Nick Kervin
Cam Alford

https://www.facebook.com/witchrot
https://www.instagram.com/witchrotband/
https://witchrot.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Fuzzedandbuzzed-631019733954614/
https://www.instagram.com/fuzzedandbuzzed/
https://www.fuzzedandbuzzed.com/
https://www.facebook.com/DHURecords/
https://www.instagram.com/dhu_records/
https://darkhedonisticunionrecords.bandcamp.com/
darkhedonisticunionrecords.bigcartel.com/

Witchrot, Strega / Hey Hey My My (2020)

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Astral Witch Premiere “Embodied” Video from Self-Titled LP

Posted in Bootleg Theater on April 17th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

astral witch

Featured as the second track on Astral Witch‘s soon-to-be-issued-on-vinyl 2018 self-titled debut, the cut ‘Embodied’ began its life as — well, probably as a riff, since that’s how these things go — but also as “Embodied by the Stars” from the Hamilton, Ontario, three-piece’s 2015 Bang-Over EP. The later incarnation, is longer, slower and somewhat clearer — though both it and the record it comes from want nothing for a blown-out sensibility — and with DHU Records in the Netherlands and Fuzzed and Buzzed in Toronto standing behind the LP edition of Astral Witch‘s Astral Witch in the requisite limited and oh-so-FOMO-able numbers as they are, the revision the band works only highlights how purposeful the abiding rawness of their debut actually is, and how much that rawness becomes a part of their aesthetic throughout. It sounds rough because it wants to and it wants to sound rough because it does.

The PR wire — blessings and peace upon it — calls them “occult space grunge,” which is brilliant enough to quote directly, the way I see it. I’m not sure I 100 percent agree on the “space” front, but if you want to sit here with me for half an hour and split hairs between what makes something space-doom and what makes it cosmic-doom, we can do that. I’m on quarantine lockdown — I’ve got the time. If, however, you’d prefer to spend your next six minutes in inevitably more constructive fashion, you’ll find the video for “Embodied” premiering below to highlight the fact that preorders are going live for the vinyl from all three parties involved — both labels and the band — tomorrow, April 18. The details of who gets what version of the album are below that, mostly because I think they’re interesting, and I’ve included the full stream of Astral Witch from the band’s Bandcamp too, because I know that after I heard “Embodied,” I wanted more, and hearing the direct lyrical juxtaposition between “Embodied” and “Love,” which follows, is definitely worth the additional effort it takes to, say, click another thing.

Rumble, grit, attitude and mastering by Tony Reed. Some bands have it all.

Please enjoy:

Astral Witch, “Embodied” official video premiere

Occult space grungers Astral Witch release their debut album on wax via Fuzzed and Buzzed Records in North America and DHU in Europe.

Sounding like a Sabbath worshipping L7 or Babes In Toyland, these Babes in Doomland bring the heavy on the vinyl version of their debut mastered by the legendary Tony Reed the mastering master of Mos Generator fame.

The wax comes in three different colorways including the Band edition, the DHU edition and the Fuzzed and Buzzed edition.

Pre-orders will be on April 18 at Noon EST and 6pm CEST from fuzzedandbuzzed.com in North America and darkhedonisticunionrecords.bigcartel.com in Europe or straight from the band https://astralwitch.bandcamp.com/

Side A:
A1. Rune
A2. Embodied
A3. Love
A4. Blood III

Side B:
B1. Black Denim
B2. 86ed
B3. Witch Knife

DHU Records Edition
Limited to 100 copies
Single sleeve w/ 3mm spine
Black flood inside
Full color double sided insert
Black polylined innersleeve
DHU Bside label
A3 poster by Shane Horror
Comes on Bone/Black Aside/Bside 12″ vinyl

Astral Witch Edition
Limited to 100 copies
Single sleeve w/ 3mm spine
Black flood inside
Full color double sided insert
Black polylined innersleeve
Astral Witch Bside label
A3 poster by Shane Horror
Comes on Purple/Black Aside/Bside 12″ vinyl

Fuzzed and Buzzed Edition
Limited to 100 copies
Single sleeve w/ 3mm spine
Black flood inside
Full color double sided insert
Black polylined innersleeve
Fuzzed and Buzzed Bside label
A3 poster by Shane Horror
Comes on Green w/ Black Smoke 12″ vinyl

Astral Witch are:
Alyssa – vox/guitar
Jon – vox/bass
Jen – drums/vox

Astral Witch, Astral Witch (2018)

Astral Witch on Thee Facebooks

Astral Witch on Instagram

Astral Witch on Bandcamp

Fuzzed and Buzzed Records on Thee Facebooks

Fuzzed and Buzzed Records on Instagram

Fuzzed and Buzzed Records website

DHU Records on Thee Facebooks

DHU Records on Instagram

DHU Records on Bandcamp

DHU Records webstore

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Witchrot Premiere “Strega” From 8″ Single out June 12

Posted in audiObelisk on April 3rd, 2020 by JJ Koczan

witchrot

With the premiere of its title-track, the new two-songer Strega from Toronto doom-drifters Witchrot is streaming in its entirety. By that I mean the other song was already streaming.

The release, cartoon-boobs cover and all, will see issue as an 8″ single — that’s right: “it’s one more, innit?” — through the cross-ocean partnership between Toronto’s Fuzzed and Buzzed Records and the Netherlands’ DHU Records, and to be sure, it puts that extra inch above the standard to good use. With a total 13-minute runtime, “Strega” and “Hey Hey My My” dwell in a realm of hypnotic riffy largesse. With the guitar and bass of Peter Turik clearly attuned toward maximum density, drummer Shane Tyrer brings forth a slow march on the B side after conjuring a pointed thud on the leadoff, in both cases giving Lea Reto a not-at-all-missed opportunity to cut through the morass as only melody can.

For added intrigue, not only does Reto do this, but she plays into the hypnotic aspects of both tracks almost entirely, patterning lyrics around a few repeating lines rather than whole verses and choruses. “Strega” is just “La strega/Hit me with her evil eye” — though certainly there’s a story behind it, as you can see in the quote from Turik below — and even “Hey Hey My My,” which derives straight from Neil Young, chooses one of the most distinctive progressions of his long career and reinterprets it as almost a religious chant. The attempt isn’t to turn it into the stuff of cult rock cliché — despite the fact that the band have “witch” in their name, I don’t actually get much of that kind of “I’m a spooky supernatural being and I live in the woods” vibe, thankfully — and neither does it need to be. Witchrot are plainly able to conjure the ethereal without hyperperformance of genre tropes. All they need are the riffs, and clearly they have those.

One would be tempted to call Strega deceptively memorable if there were anything deceptive about it. Rather, Witchrot are up front about what they’re doing and ask little indulgence on the listener’s part other perhaps than a definitely-earned nod along. So get to it.

Enjoy “Strega” below, followed by a few words from Turik about the song, and “Hey Hey My My” under that, for completeness’ sake:

Peter Turik on “Strega”:

This song was recorded at Candle Studio by Dylan Frankland. He has become the ultimate behind-the-scenes man for our band. He always knows what works and what doesn’t. Of course Lea belted it all out on this track with minimal effort. There is never a time when she goes into the studio with something set, she is in a constant state of experimentation.

I wrote this song about an encounter my Nono had with a witch back in Italy. She asked him for a ride on his donkey and when he denied she cursed him with some sort of paralysis. Apparently he was bed ridden for weeks and nearly died. His family eventually had to get another witch to reverse the spell.

DHU Records is releasing the song on a special edition 8″ vinyl with our Neil Young cover as the B side. So heavy a 7″ wouldn’t cut it! We also had a tour planned for May which would have been our first time heading to the USA, as of now I can only imagine that will be postponed. Along with that, Fuzzed and Buzzed was going to help us finish recording our first full-length. Of course that will be put off as well.

The state of the world is completely fucked up right now and I can only hope that there is a way to reverse this curse laid upon us.

It seems we’re doomed. Time will tell.

Stay safe… stay heavy.

Witchrot are:
Lea Reto – Vox
Peter Turik – Guitar/Bass
Shane Tyrer – Drums

Witchrot, “Hey Hey My My”

Witchrot on Thee Facebooks

Witchrot on Instagram

Witchrot on Bandcamp

Fuzzed and Buzzed Records on Thee Facebooks

Fuzzed and Buzzed Records on Instagram

Fuzzed and Buzzed Records store

DHU Records on Thee Facebooks

DHU Records on Instagram

DHU Records on Bandcamp

DHU Records store

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