Wizzerd Announce Spring West Coast Tour

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 21st, 2024 by JJ Koczan

In addition to a slot at Treefort Music Fest in Boise, Idaho, on March 22 and a three-pack of dates in the company of Matt Pike‘s Pike vs. the Automaton, the upcoming West Coast tour from Montana heavy rockers Wizzerd will lead to their return appearance at Rocky Mountain Riff Fest (info here), to be held April 20 in the band’s native Kalispell.

The four-piece toured this past Fall in support of 2022’s Space‽: Issue No. 001 (review here), hitting the Midwest and touching on the Eastern Seaboard, so a Spring complement along the Pacific (and inland) seems about right. They had talked at that point about moving on toward their next release, whatever shape that might ultimately take, and while this tour is substantial, I don’t see it precluding a focus on new material at all. What, if they play a couple new songs live it’s gonna hurt the next record? The opposite seems much likelier.

Either way — and mind you I don’t know that they’ll be playing new songs at all on the run — they continue to put their work in. The shows were posted on socials thusly:

Wizzerd tour

⚡️TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT⚡️
We’re pleased to announce the Equinox Tour! We can’t wait to get back out on the west coast, and there are some real doozies on this one. More news coming very soon, but for now we’ll see you at one of the dates below…
Details at the link in our bio!

3/16 – Kalispell, MT – Eagles
3/22 – Boise, ID – @treefortfest
3/23 – Salt Lake City, UT – @aceshighsaloon_slc
3/24 – Las Vegas, NV – Dive Bar
3/26 – Tempe, AZ – @yuccataproom
3/27 – Los Angeles, CA – @theredwoodbarandgrill
3/29 – Oceanside, CA – @pourhouseoceanside
3/30 – Yucca Valley, CA – @giantrockmeetingroom
4/1 – Santa Cruz, CA – @bluelagoonsc
4/2 – San Francisco, CA – @theknockoutsf
4/3 – Eureka, CA – @solarsiren
4/5 – Portland, OR – @dantesportland *
4/6 – Bremerton, WA – @tracytonmoviehouse *
4/7 – Seattle, WA – @elcorazonseattle *
4/20 – Kalispell, MT – @rockymtnrifffest
*=with Pike vs the Automaton

Poster by @isaacpasswaterillustration

Wizzerd is:
Guitar/Vocals – Jhalen Salazar
Guitar – Jamie Yeats
Drums – Sam Moore
Bass – Layne Matkovich

https://www.facebook.com/wizzerddoom
https://www.instagram.com/wizzerddoom/
https://wizzerd.bandcamp.com/

http://www.fuzzoramarecords.com/
http://www.facebook.com/Fuzzorama
https://fuzzoramarecords1.bandcamp.com/

Wizzerd, Space: Issue No. 001 (2022)

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Skraeckoedlan: New Album Vermillion Sky Out March 27

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 15th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

Time for new Skraeckoedlan. Indeed, perhaps the Swedish progressive heavy rockers/metallers were feeling some of the weight of the long stretch since they put out 2019’s Eorþe (review here) when they released “The Vermillion Sky” — which it turns out is the title-track of the new record, Vermillion Sky — as a standalone single last year. The four-piece’s impending fourth long-player will see release March 27 in continued collab with Fuzzorama Records, and I’ll tell you right now it’s a burner. If you didn’t hear that track, it and “Night Satan” are both streaming below.

I value your time and wouldn’t try to waste it by recommending crap, so if you don’t know Skraeckoedlan yet, please take that endorsement for what it’s worth. I do feel like the greater likelihood at this point is that people do know the band. The last album got a great response, they’ve been at it for well over 10 years now, and they’ve toured consistently if not constantly during that time. But if you didn’t hear that single, now’s a good time, what with album preorders up and t-shirt bundles and all that sort of whatnot.

The announcement came through in Fuzzorama‘s newsletter and I combined it with info from the preorder page. Have at it:

Skraeckoedlan Vermillion Sky

Skraeckoedlan announce new album ‘VERMILLION SKY’ out March 27th

PRE-ORDER YOUR LIMITED EDITION LP, CD OR T-SHIRT NOW: https://fuzzoramastore.com/

Introducing the ultimate auditory experience for all rock enthusiasts – SKRAECKOEDLAN’s “Vermillion Sky”

Four bearded Swedes who’s forged their unique sound of progressive stoner rock in the cold northern forests. Previous album Earth was a massive domestic success as it hit the hard rock charts in Sweden.

Dive headfirst into the surreal world of Swedish stoner rock with this mind-bending album.

“Vermillion Sky” is a sonic journey that transcends boundaries, with SKRAECKOEDLAN’s signature blend of heavy riffs, mesmerizing melodies, and haunting vocals. Let the adrenaline-infused tracks transport you to a parallel universe, where the vermillion sky reigns supreme!

Crafted by masterful musicians, this album offers an immersive experience. Discover Vermilion Sky, out after five years of silence.

Five years. Is that a long time to wait? Generally speaking, yes. Probably. Well, maybe. Time is after all relative, so there surely isn’t a fail-safe answer.

Available on:
Limited Edition 300 copies Gatefold Yellow vinyl with Red splatter
Limited Edition 500 copies Gatefold blue vinyl with red splatter
Limited Edition 400 copies Black vinyl
CD digipack

Skraeckoedlan:
Robert Lamu – Vocals/Guitar
Henrik Grüttner – Guitar
Erik Berggren – Bass
Martin Larsson – Drums

http://www.skraeckoedlan.com/
http://instagram.com/skraeckoedlan
https://www.facebook.com/SKRAECKOEDLAN/

http://www.fuzzoramarecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Fuzzorama
https://www.instagram.com/fuzzoramarecords/

Skraeckoedlan, The Vermillion Sky (2024)

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Truckfighters Announce Early 2024 European Touring

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 14th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

This past January, when posting a round of late-Winter/early-Spring touring to be undertaken by Sweden’s Truckfighters, I noted they’re due for a new album. The last 11 months haven’t made them any less so, to be sure. But if Truckfighters, who spent the earlier portion of their career establishing themselves as a barnburning live act, want to keep their focus on that part of what they do now, who the hell can blame them? That’s where the fun is, where the audience is, and where the merch sales happen most. The studio will still be there (hopefully anyhow) when they get back to it.

There are fests here and club shows around them. You’ll note Into the Void in the Netherlands, Desert Hel in Finland and Belgium’s Alcatraz Fest as one of probably more to come this summer, in addition to Interstellar Solar Festival and These Go to Eleven as part of this run. It’s probably not the only run they’ll do in 2024, and they’ve announced the dates for their next Fuzz Festival in Stockholm as well, which will be held Nov. 22-23. No bands confirmed yet, but there’s a pretty gosh darn solid chance Truckfighters will play as they do every year, in addition to hosting the event at Debaser Strand and Bar Brooklyn.

They say there’s more to come and I take them at their word. For now, this was the latest from the newsletter of the band-helmed label, Fuzzorama Records:

truckfighters spring 2024

TRUCKFIGHTERS announce Euro shows

Germany, Netherlands, UK, Finland, Belgium and more to come.

Truckfighters Tickets here: https://www.truckfighters.com/dates-2/

TRUCKFIGHTERS
21.2 BIELEFELD, D – Forum
22.2 DRESDEN, D – Chemiefabrik
23.2 ERFURT, D – Bandhaus
24.2 EINDHOVEN, NL- Into the void festival
25.2 FRANKFURT, D – Zoom
10.3 LONDON, UK – Garage
30.3 LEIDEN, NL – Interstellar solar festival
31.3 ZWOLLE, NL – These go to eleven festival
18.4 TURKU, F – Utopia
19.4 TAMPERE, F – Tullikamari Klubi
20.4 HELSINKI, F – Desert Hel festival
Aug 9-11 Alcatraz Festival, Belgium

http://www.truckfighters.com
https://www.facebook.com/truckfighters
https://www.instagram.com/truckfighters/
https://www.youtube.com/user/TruckfightersTV

https://www.fuzzoramarecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Fuzzorama/
https://www.instagram.com/fuzzoramarecords/
https://fuzzoramarecords1.bandcamp.com/

Truckfighters, Live at Vera Groningen, March 25, 2023

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Bottenhavet Sign to Fuzzorama Records; Debut Album Coming Soon

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

bottenhavet fuzzorama records

Once upon a however many years ago, respected Swedish fuzz purveyors Truckfighters signed Skraeckoedlan to their label, Fuzzorama Records, and their picking up Bottenhavet now reminds me of that perhaps because like Skraeckoedlan, Bottenhavet — from Stockholm — also have some aspects of sound in common with Truckfighters to begin with. But the style overall hits with its own impact, and while Bottenhavet aren’t necessarily as proggy as either Truckfighters or Skraeckoedlan at this point, they’re just putting out their debut album now. Give these things some time, hmm?

There’s no audio from the LP as yet and details are minimal — I’ll be interested to find out when the time comes if Bottenhavet recorded with Niklas Källgren, as Fuzzorama bands often do, especially for their first releases on the label — but a new single will be out right after Halloween called “Våg,” and one assumes more info will be forthcoming at that point. Fine. If you’re up for a little minimal-effort digging, while Bandcamp lasts you can check out a couple of tracks from their page that I’ve embedded below, as well as a quick announcement/teaser/promo for the record to come and the single that will arrive ahead of it next week.

Also noteworthy is that Bottenhavet play Truckfighters Fuzz Festival #4 at Debaser/Bar Brooklyn in Stockholm, which is held Nov. 10-11. More info here. I wish I was going.

Everything seems to be in order, then. I’ll let you off with a warning this time. Next time there might actually be new music to check out. Heads up from the Fuzzorama newsletter:

bottenhavet vag

Bottenhavet, latest addition to the Fuzzorama family!

”This is absolutely an instant match between Fuzzorama and Bottenhavet. Superb songs and in addition to that excellent musicians. Pre-save this new song and follow them for more tasty music in a near future”

First single of the forthcoming debut album out Nov 1st!

PRE-SAVE SPOTIFY HERE: https://www.musicgateway.com/presave/1478-vag

https://www.facebook.com/BottenhavetBand/
https://instagram.com/bottenhavet
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1FJuxWxChxMXT94cdpHJ7A
https://bottenhavet.bandcamp.com/
https://www.bottenhavet.se/

http://www.fuzzoramarecords.com/
http://www.facebook.com/Fuzzorama
https://fuzzoramarecords1.bandcamp.com/

Bottenhavet, Fuzzorama Signing Announce

Bottenhavet, “Faller”

Bottenhavet, “N​ä​r tiden d​ö​r”

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Friday Full-Length: Asteroid & Blowback, Split LP

Posted in Bootleg Theater on September 8th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

asteroid and blowback split

Oh, the fuzz! What a time to be alive! Released in 2006 through a then-comparatively-nascent Fuzzorama Records — the catalog number is FuzzCD005; they’re past 40 by now — the Asteroid and Blowback split LP from the Örebro-based outfits arrived in fairly unassuming style. Its cover has the names of the bands, a pinwheel design, greenish tint. Not minimal necessarily, but you wouldn’t call it grandiose. It wasn’t the first release from either band, as Asteroid had a demo in 2004 and a self-titled EP in 2005 — man, I’d love to hear those; I bet there’s a CD-R somewhere — and Blowback had a five-song demo/EP also in 2005, also self-titled. But it was early days for both, and the progression that these two acts would undertake afterward across Asteroid‘s three full-lengths and Blowback‘s two can be traced to these corresponding six-song sets issued on CD some 17 years ago.

And yeah, 17 years both is and isn’t a long time. In rock and roll, it’s a bygone age. Legacies have been set, bands have come and gone and come again — including Asteroid — and the evolution of style and trend has continued mostly unabated since. But there’s more than intellectual value in this material, and more to Asteroid and Blowback than some hackneyed moral about the early potential of what would turn out to be good bands showing itself in raw form. In the organic tones of both acts as recorded by Truckfighters bassist/vocalist Oskar Cedermalm — whose band had just put out their own debut, the landmark Gravity X, in 2005 — and in the classic elements showcased within their styles, whether it’s the semi-retro vibes of Blowback pieces like “Holy Skies” and the swinging “Cosmic Dust” or the hand-percussion of Asteroid‘s “Supernova” and the melodic flourish of “Hexagon,” you can hear the roots of what they’d become.

The songs are songs — verses, choruses, bridges, solos, ends, etc. — but in Asteroid‘s jammier heavy-mellow languidity offset by the speedier stop-start swing of “Sim-Sala-Bim,” which makes it a party, and in the jazzy cymbal taps of the quiet noodly stretch in Blowback‘s “The Arquitect,” the mood is exploratory, exciting. Fresh. Each group offers six songs across a CD-era 62-minute runtime, and that’s plenty enough for each ‘side’ to have a flow of its own, Asteroid first and Blowback second as the cover and de facto title indicate. “Supernova” leads off which chunky-style fuzz riffing and some calmer wah, but moves into its middle with the aforementioned percussion as if to say, “Yeah, but we also do this,” and fleshing out the funkier aspects of their sound. “Anagram” and “Walk Alone” both demonstrate the dual-vocals of bassist/vocalist Johannes Nilsson and guitarist/vocalist/organist Robin HirseMartin Ström was reportedly the drummer at the time, but I’m not 100 percent on that — that would become such a part of Asteroid‘s sound on their three albums to-date, as they play around arrangements through psych-blues, fuzzy push and laid back stonerism, the heavy-hippie spirit palpable right up to the fadeout of the jam in “The Big Trip Beyond,” which caps what I almost can’t help but think of as their ‘side’ of the release.

As they almost invariably would, Blowback introduce themselves with a wah riff at the outset of “Holy Skies” and go on after 15 seconds or so to unfold a rich fuzz tied to Asteroid‘s own by methodology and production alike, with the first-name-only four-piece of guitarist Seb, bassist Crille, drummer Henke and vocalist Stefan taking some influence from the likes of Dozer in their hook there, answering the good-times vibes of the first six cuts on the split with some cowbell, and circling back to the chorus in a way that feels reliable and satisfying in kind. That is to say they groove plenty and the structures come across as somewhat tighter, though that assessment is certainly relative. But if you can’t nod to the nod under that solo in “Holy Skies,” go back and try again, because it’s there, right before the backmasked vocals end the track and “Autumn Leaf” begins its thick-bottom-end march with deceptive swing and movement, a slow shuffle that breaks in the middle to dreamier janga-janga before the riff returns, the vocals go watery and they delightfully fuzz-bounce to a fadeout ahead of “Fairys Dance.”

Here’s the Sabbath, if you’ve been waiting for it. There’s some shimmer layered in the fuzz of the second chorus on the quicker Blowback song, but the riff is duly Iommic and gives over to a sample under the solo and some peppered-in background vocals, tambourine and three or four fake endings before the bass exits as the last element to go into the subdued post-Witchcraft/pre-Graveyard slow, vintage-feeling proto-doom blues of “Cosmic Dust.” A highlight of the release for its sense of creep as well as the boogie that emerges therefrom and the layered chorus that accompanies, “Cosmic Dust” twists in the guitar and bass later on and doesn’t want for a payoff before its on-the-jam fade, but like “Fairys Dance” it doesn’t get anymore lost than it wants to. “The Arquitect” loosens the reigns more, has some push in the hook of its first half, before the handclaps and before when at four minutes in they give a clear break into the jam they’ll build back up and use as the crescendo of their outbound trajectory, fading out once more to let “Invisible Touch” serve as epilogue, which is fair enough as a four-and-a-half-minute comedown from the entrenched fuzz threaded through the 11 cuts prior.

After this, as noted, Asteroid put out three LPs — 2007’s self-titled (discussed here), 2010’s II (discussed here, review here) and 2016’s III (review here) — and other odds and ends before announcing a hiatus in 2017 that would end the next year. There have been rumors of new stuff in the works for a while, and if it happens that they do something else, great. Between Asteroid‘s III and Blowback‘s 2008 debut, Morning Wood — after which they signed to Transubstans for 2010’s 800 Miles (review here) — I had a hard time picking what would cap the week, but it was the nebulous character of Asteroid and Blowback that spoke to me, and I guess sometimes you can have both and get away with it.

As always, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy.

Well, kindergarten started this week. That’s been a labor. And exhausting. And hot. It’s been so god damned hot here. The Patient Mrs.’ car — which exaggerates, but still — had it at 107 the other day. What is this, Psycho Las Vegas? No way it should be that hot in New Jersey, basically ever. And even if it was really 102, or 98, or whatever, the same applies. Instant sweat. Change your clothes three times a day, not the least after walking part-way to kindergarten dropoff.

First day was chaos, but she made it through. I asked her teacher how she did and got the usual, “We had some trouble listening. She kind of wants to do her own thing. We’ll work on it,” as a not-so-encouraging answer. Yeah, guess what? My kid doesn’t fucking listen. She’s not going to. I told this story to The Patient Mrs. this week, but I remember The Pecan being a baby strapped in a high chair not much more than a year old, making the clear decision for the first time that she wasn’t going to do what she was told. And what had I told her to do? Take a bite of the cut-up string cheese I’d given her for lunch. She looked right at me like she was Neo in the fucking Matrix, put the cheese down and — without saying it — was a clear “no” on the request. That’s how it’s been ever since.

So you’re not going to get her to listen, and if you try, she’s going to work against you. And you know what? She’s going to win. She’s got more energy, she’s intelligent and knows how to manipulate a situation her way, and I guarantee that whatever bullshit she’s arguing about that she wants to do, she cares much, much more about it than you do. You can’t work against her. You have to work with her. You have to redirect her energy in such a way as to make it productive. Tell her to read a book. Ask her about black holes. Ask her a math problem. Ask her to write a story about a dragon driving some monster trucks on the moon or something. It was the first day, and I’m not blaming the teacher — my mother taught for 35 years in a town near here called Butler; I have great enough sympathy for the plight of teachers that I didn’t become one when I probably should have — but it wasn’t the start we’d hoped for, of course.

And after the first day, when it was like, “Okay, let’s get ready to go back tomorrow,” the kid was all, “You mean I have to do this again?,” which I get. It was nerve-racking and overwhelming and even the dopamine drip of holding the puppy wasn’t necessarily a salve. We did dropoff just her and me yesterday. And the dog, I guess. Dog kind of comes everywhere and is small enough at 12 weeks old to do that. There’s a part of me that’s bummed thinking romantically about The Pecan’s untamed heart, her wild, has-an-idea-and-is-so-excited-she-does-laps-around-the-living-room self, being told to sit in a chair and color blocks in a way that requires counting to three, something she’s been able to do since she was two, being trained to, what, get a job someday? Maybe live in one of the many shitbox condos that somehow cost half a million dollars around here? I’d be bummed going to kindergarten too. Ain’t nobody in kindergarten talking about The Pecan’s light-cycle, which is a motorcycle she invented that goes faster than the speed of light and runs on light energy.

But as someone who apparently didn’t, I can appreciate the fact that you have to learn how to be and live among other people, and school is where that happens.

Anyhoozle, next week is Desertfest NYC, so I’ll have a couple days — thanks entirely to The Patient Mrs. — to take that in and shuft focus from nervous stress to covering the fest, which is different nervous stress. I’ve been missing the Vitus Bar. It’ll be incredible to see Colour Haze there, and there isn’t a bummer day to be found in the lineup. I’m looking forward to it, ad I have been for a while now.

So have a great and safe weekend. Rest up, watch your head, hydrate, maybe go somewhere and have fun if that’s your thing. In any case, thanks again for reading and I’ll of course have posts up before the Desertfest pre-show on Thursday, and post coverage probably Friday, Saturday and Sunday rather than close out next week as normal, so have two great and safe weekends, I guess.

FRM.

The Obelisk Collective on Facebook

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The Obelisk merch

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Wizzerd Announce September Tour Dates

Posted in Whathaveyou on August 16th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

wizzerd

Montana-based heavy rockers Wizzerd released their first album for Fuzzorama, titled Space‽: Issue No. 001 (review here), last September, and as they announced this tour that will bring them to the East Coast for the first time since it arrived, I couldn’t help but notice the word “final” included. Is the implication that the band are done after this? A last hurrah and that’s it? Would be unfortunate timing, most especially since the record was cool, but I reached out to guitarist Jamie Yeats for clarification and was assured that no, they’re not saying they’re breaking up, it’s just probably the last time they’ll be out supporting the latest album. Fair. It will have been a year, after all.

And glad as I am they’re not dissolving the project, it’s also rad to see them doing shows with Greek heavy forerunners 1000mods on their US tour and Fuzzorama labelmates Valley of the Sun, from Ohio, who are also doing some of their best work right now, at this very moment. Seems like the kind of show one might consider hitting up, should they be rolling through your neighborhood. Go to a show. Buy a shirt.

Here are the dates:

Wizzerd Tour

TRANSMISSION:

Wizzerd is excited to reveal the Afterburner Tour! We will journey east in a final‽ voyage through space…

We will travel alone in the first half and return to home alongside 1000mods and Valley of the Sun.

Join us in the fight against moon spiders.

Artwork by Isaac Passwater

9/6 – Billings, MT – Kirk’s Grocery
9/7 – Spearfish, SD – Crow Peak Brewing
9/8 – Denver, CO – Skylark
9/9 – Lawrence, KS – Replay Lounge
9/10 – St. Louis, MO – Platypus
9/12 – Morgantown, WV – 123 Pleasant St
9/14 – Cambridge, MA – Middle East#
9/15 – Buffalo, NY – Soup of Dissent
9/16 – Youngstown, OH – Westside Bowl#
9/18 – Columbus, OH – Rumba Cafe#
9/20 – Fort Wayne, IN – Stan’s Room#
9/21 – Des Moines, IA – Lefty’s#
9/22 – Omaha, NE – Reverb Lounge#
9/23 – St. Paul, MN – Turf Club#
9/24 – Chicago, IL – Reggies#
#=with 1000mods and Valley of the Sun

Wizzerd is:
Guitar/Vocals – Jhalen Salazar
Guitar – Jamie Yeats
Drums – Sam Moore
Bass – Layne Matkovich

https://www.facebook.com/wizzerddoom
https://www.instagram.com/wizzerddoom/
https://wizzerd.bandcamp.com/

http://www.fuzzoramarecords.com/
http://www.facebook.com/Fuzzorama
https://fuzzoramarecords1.bandcamp.com/

Wizzerd, Space: Issue No. 001 (2022)

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Skraeckoedlan to Release “The Vermillion Sky” Single Aug. 17; New Album in 2024

Posted in Whathaveyou on August 1st, 2023 by JJ Koczan

skraeckoedlan

Okay, so it looks like the fourth full-length from Swedish progressive heavy rockers Skraeckoedlan will be released next year through Fuzzorama Records, and that the first single from that album, “The Vermillion Sky,” is out Aug. 17. If you get nothing else from this post, that’s enough of a takeaway. What that doesn’t tell you is the way the new record ties into 2019’s Eorþe (review here) — which is reportedly does — or what else they have in the works as regards narrative and so on, which is a whole other sphere to be explored.

I’ve read some preliminary info, but I don’t think it’s public yet and don’t want to give away something I shouldn’t, so please, consider this a heads up on the forthcoming track and the record to be. I haven’t heard it yet, but Skraeckoedlan have never wanted for ambition and this seems like their broadest reaching work yet. Even beyond digging into the single, I am curious as to how it will all come out when it does. Spring, maybe?

Fuzzorama‘s newsletter had the following:

skraeckoedlan the vermillion sky
It’s been a while. A good, long four years since Skraeckoedlan released their latest album, Earth. Meaning it’s time for something new. It’s time to take off.

The Vermillion Sky, is the first single from Skraeckoedlan’s upcoming 2024-release and will be available digitally on August 17. A mere 7 minutes can take you pretty far. You will hop planets, watch heavenly bodies collide, traverse galaxies and get drawn into the all-encompassing nothingness. The Void. And there are also rainbows. If that’s not enough, good news. This is only part of a continuous, much larger story. But that is something to be heard (and read) at a later date.

So, come August 17, keep your eyes toward the heavens.

Have a look at The Vermillion Sky!

Skraeckoedlan:
Robert Lamu – Vocals/Guitar
Henrik Grüttner – Guitar
Erik Berggren – Bass
Martin Larsson – Drums

http://www.skraeckoedlan.com/
http://instagram.com/skraeckoedlan
https://www.facebook.com/SKRAECKOEDLAN/

http://www.fuzzoramarecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Fuzzorama
https://www.instagram.com/fuzzoramarecords/

Skraeckoedlan, Eorþe (2019)

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Album Review: Swan Valley Heights, Terminal Forest

Posted in Reviews on May 5th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Swan Valley Heights Terminal Forest

The recorded-in-a-cabin-in-the-woods narrative for Swan Valley Heights‘ third album, Terminal Forest, offers quick explanation for the birdsong at the outset of opener “Microbe Galaxy,” which might seem inconsistent until one digs a little deeper into the title. I don’t know which German forest resulted in the six tracks and 46 minutes with which Swan Valley Heights follow-up their 2019 sophomore LP and first outing for Fuzzorama Records, The Heavy Seed (review here), as well as their 2016 self-titled debut (review here) on Oak Island, but the band give a duly pastoral impression in the 11-minute leadoff as homage. The phrase ‘terminal forest’ itself means a forest in the stage of sustainable, incremental sprawl over the long term; an older forest, grown through the initial rounds of grasses, bushes and trees to things like large pines and taller deciduous trees, and so on.

You see where this is going as relates to the work done by guitarist/vocalist David Kreisl, bassist Christian Schmidt and drummer/keyboardist Andy Ozbolt — they’re the forest. They’re the ones who’ve been through the process of organic growth, in their case for at least the last seven years, and who emerge with their third album backed by the lessons they’ve learned and the strong roots they’ve established. Is that what they meant by the title? Probably not, but it’s arguably applicable just the same. Indeed, Terminal Forest does blossom enriched by what Swan Valley Heights have done prior, and the sense of grace they bring to their take on warm-toned, melodic and largely mellow heavy psychedelia is something that has likewise flourished as they’ve moved forward to this point.

To wit, “Microbe Galaxy” — which one assumes is actually something pretty small in relation to an actual galaxy — runs 11:24 and is the first of three extended tracks to feature throughout Terminal Forest. Side B boasts the title-track (10:02) and closer “Star Fever” (12:20) either in succession to close the record if you have the vinyl or with the four-minute fuzz instrumental “Looking for Bird Pet” between them in the digital version, and the album as a whole uses these as not only the bulk of its expression but as landing points from which to continue to expand outward. That is to say, the three shorter pieces — “The Hunger” (5:12), “Space Bash III” (3:09) and the already-noted “Looking for Bird Pet” (4:19) — are complementary to what their longer counterparts are accomplishing, while still offering an impression of their own, whether it’s the drums making the fuzz dance on “The Hunger” or the winding and bopping procession that follows immediately and shows the guitar stepping in to lead the movement.

Terminal Forest is rife with precisely this kind of dynamic. As it unfolds through its melodic first verse peppered with stick clicks and airy guitar lines that solidify around an acoustic-inclusive movement where the lead guitar works like Colour Haze playing the bridge of the Ghostbusters theme — that sounds like I’m ragging on it; let me be clear and say I’m not — “Microbe Galaxy” sets a patient and flowing atmosphere that hold firm even for the crunchiest stretches of fuzz in it or the culmination payoffs of “The Hunger” or “Looking for Bird Pet,” “Terminal Forest” or “Star Fever” after.

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And ultimately, it is the flow that defines the album; the smoothness and ease with which Swan Valley Heights foster an overarching impression while each piece explores a space of its own, however long that may or may not be. “Space Bash III,” for example — and no, I don’t think there’s a “Space Bash I” or “Space Bash II”; maybe someday we’ll get prequels in the trilogy — is the shortest of the inclusions, but it stands out with the twisting movement of its riff and the airy lead lines around it, neither the first nor last time the band seem to reference what-coulda-been Dutch heavy psych rockers Sungrazer in the proceedings, as the drift and nod of the early going of “Terminal Forest” feels specifically in conversation with the subdued verses of that band’s “Somo,” never mind the consuming fullness of tone that ensues from there, but in Kreisl‘s vocal echo and the easy movement between loud and quiet parts, Swan Valley Heights own the moment, resolving the title-track with building intensity around a circular movement until slamming shut at nine minutes and opening wide from there into a final chorus calling up from under the weight of guitar and bass.

On a lot of records, “Microbe Galaxy” or “Terminal Forest” would be a finale or a crowning achievement wherever else they might be placed in the tracklisting, but after the palette-cleansing roll and riffy jam of “Looking for Bird Pet” — in which genuine-sounding laughter can be heard off-mic before it gets loud for the second time — delves into momentary noodle-prog hypnosis and clears its head with one more wash of fuzz before the drone at the outset of “Star Fever” announces the arrival of the album’s best argument for being about itself; that is, the point at which Swan Valley Heights most enunciate their to-this-point development as a group. A long stretch of intertwining guitar and keys moves subtly toward the inclusion of drums and bass at two minutes in. They’ll soon enough get into the handclaps and surges of fuzz and layered vocal melody — have I mentioned the fuzz? oh, only 15 times? well it’s worth a 16th mention — but they do return to that spaceout, adding vocals later as a precursor to the surprising rager of a solo and the saved-the-biggest-for-last nod that caps “Star Fever” and Terminal Forest as a whole.

There and everywhere throughout Terminal ForestSwan Valley Heights are thoughtful in their approach and considered in their presentation without losing the natural spirit required for this kind of heavy psych. As a result, they’re not so much playing to style as letting style play to them. Generally speaking, this is not the work of first or second full-lengths, so maybe it’s true that Terminal Forest is the stylistic endgame for the band, but given the linear trajectory of their releases up to now, the fact that they take their time both within and between them, and the apparent commitment to sonic evolution on display in this material as it relates to their past output, it doesn’t seem likely they’ve finished exploring. Terminal Forest demonstrates nascent mastery in Swan Valley Heights‘ ability to careen so fluidly between parts and entire songs, and taken front-to-back, it should go without saying that it’s the high point of their tenure to-date. But, part of what makes it so striking is that it doesn’t actually sound ‘terminal’ in that regard. From seed to forest and toward who knows what, they might just keep growing.

Swan Valley Heights, Terminal Forest (2023)

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