Posted in Radio on September 30th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
As will happen during a Quarterly Review, I’ve sort of found myself thinking there’s a ton of stuff that I don’t want to see get lost in the shuffle, and I’ve decided to focus this episode of The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal on making sure that doesn’t happen.
‘Selections from the QR’ may be the theme here, but what it rounds out to is a cool mix of mostly new music either way. Goes without saying that with 100 releases covered, there was plenty to choose from, and indeed I might end up doing a second of these — it was a two-week Quarterly Review after all, ending today — but if you’ve kept up with that or not, this is a summary of some of what was included. Like the Quarterly Review itself, it’s pretty heavy on vibe and atmosphere, but there are a couple bangers in there too that, along with the rest, I most certainly hope you enjoy.
Thanks if you listen and thanks for reading.
The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.
Full playlist:
The Obelisk Show – 09.30.22 (VT = voice track)
Mezzoa
Moya
Dunes of Mars
Lightrain
Hyd
AER
Spirit Adrift
Mass Formation Psychosis
20 Centuries Gone
VT
Cachemira
Ambos Mundos
Ambos Mundos
Goatriders
The Garden
Traveler
Garden of Worm
In the Absence of Memory
Endless Garden
Church of the Cosmic Skull
Now’s the Time
There is No Time
Voidward
Chemicals
Voidward
Early Moods
Curse the Light
Early Moods
Maunra
Lightbreather
Monarch
Obiat
Ulysses
Indian Ocean
Reverend Mother
Locomotive
Damned Blessing
Deer Creek
A Dark, Heartless Machine
Menticide
Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships
Mystical Consumer
Consensus Trance
Blacklab
Abyss Woods
In a Bizarre Dream
VT
The Gray Goo
Bicycle Day
1943
Les Lekin
Ascent
Limbus
The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Oct. 14 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.
Posted in Reviews on September 19th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Oh hello. I didn’t see you there. What, this? Oh, this is just me hanging out about to review 100 records in 10 days’ time. Yup, it’s another double-wide Quarterly Review, and I’m telling myself that no, this isn’t just how life is now, that two full weeks of 10 reviews per day isn’t business as usual, but there’s an exceptional amount of music out there right now, and no, this isn’t even close to all of it. But I’m doing my best to keep up and this is what that looks like.
The bottom line is the same as always and I’ll give it to you up front and waste no more time: I hope you enjoy the music here and find something to love.
So let’s go.
Quarterly Review #01-10:
Yatra, Born into Chaos
The partnership between Chesapeake extremists Yatra and producer Noel Mueller continues to bear fruit on the band’s fourth album and first for Prosthetic Records. Their descent from thick, nasty sludge into death metal is complete, and songs like “Terminate by the Sword” and “Terrorizer” have enough force behind them to become signature pieces. The trio of Dana Helmuth (guitar/vocals), Maria Geisbert (bass) and Sean Lafferty (drums, also Grave Bathers) have yet to sound so utterly ferocious, and as each of their offerings has pushed further into the tearing-flesh-like-paper and rot-stenched realms of metal, Born into Chaos brings the maddening intensity of “Wrath of the Warmaster” and the Incantation-worthy chug of closer “Tormentation,” with massive chug, twisting angularity and brain-melting blasts amid the unipolar throatripper screams from Helmuth (reminds at times of Grutle Kjellson from Enslaved), by now a familiar rasp that underscores the various violences taking place within the eight included tracks. I bet they get even meaner next time,. That’s just how Yatra do. But it’ll be a challenge.
Part of the fun of a new Sula Bassana release is not knowing what you’re going to get, and Nostalgia, which is built from material recorded between 2013-’18 and finished between 2019-’21, is full of surprises. The heavy space grunge of lead cut “Real Life,” which along with its side A companion “We Will Make It” actually features vocals from Dave “Sula Bassana” Schmidt himself (!), is the first here but not the last. That song beefs up early Radiohead drudgery, and “We Will Make It” is like what happens when space rock actually gets to space, dark in a way but expansive and gorgeous. Side B is instrumental, but the mellotron in “Nostalgia” — how could a track called “Nostalgia” not have mellotron? — goes a long way in terms of atmosphere, and the 10-minute “Wurmloch” puts its well-schooled krautrockism to use amid melodic drone before the one-man-jam turns into a freakout rager (again: !), and the outright beautiful finisher “Mellotraum” turns modern heavy post-rock on its head, stays cohesive despite all the noise and haze and underscores the mastery Schmidt has developed in his last two decades of aural exploration. One wonders to what this sonic turn might lead timed so close to his departure from Electric Moon and building a Sula live band, but either way, more of this, please. Please.
Continuing a streak of working with highly-respected imprints, Finland’s Garden of Worm release their third album, the eight-song/43-minute Endless Garden, through Nasoni Records after two prior LPs through Shadow Kingdom and Svart, respectively. There have been lineup changes since 2015’s Idle Stones (review here), but the band’s classically progressive aspects have never shone through more. The patient unfolding of “White Ship” alone is evidence for this, never mind everything else that surrounds, and though the earlier “Name of Lost Love” and the closer “In the Absence of Memory” nod to vintage doom and the nine-minute penultimate “Sleepy Trees” basks in a raw, mellow Floydian melody, the core of the Tampere outfit remains their unpredictability and the fact that you never quite know where you’re going until you’re there. Looking at you, “Autumn Song,” with that extended flute-or-what-ever-it-is intro before the multi-layered folk-doom vocal kicks in. For over a decade now, Garden of Worm have been a well kept secret, and honestly, that kind of works for the vibe they cast here; like you were walking through the forest and stumbled into another world. Good luck getting back.
Untethered by genre and as unorthodox as ever, Sevilla, Spain, weirdo doom heroes Orthodox return with Proceed after four years in the ether, and the output is duly dug into its own reality of ritualism born more of creation than horror-worship across the six included songs. “Arendrot” carries some shade from past dronings, and certainly the opener before it is oddball enough, with its angular riffing and later, Iberian-folk-derived solo, but there’s a straigter-forward aspect to Proceed as well, the vocals lending a character of noise rock and less outwardly experimentalist fare. “Rabid God” brings that forward with due intensity before the hi-hat-shimmy-meets-cave-lumber-doom “Starve” and the lurching/ambient doomjazz “The Son, the Sword, the Bread” set up the 10-minute closer “The Long Defeat,” which assures the discomforted that at least at some point when they were kids Orthodox listened to metal. Righteously individual, their work isn’t for everyone, and it’s by no means free of indulgence, but in 42 minutes, Orthodox once again stretch the limits of what doom means in a way that most bands wouldn’t dare even if they wanted to, and if you can’t respect that, then I’ve got nothing for you.
Fifty years from now, some brave archivalist soul is going to reissue the entire catalog of Lima, Peru’s Matus and blow minds far and wide. A follow-up to 2013’s Espejismos (review here), Espejismos II brings theremin-laced vintage Sabbath rock vibes across its early movements, going so far as to present “Umbral / Niebla de Neón” in mono, while the minute-and-a-half-long “Los Ojos de Vermargar (Early Version)” is pure fuzz and the organ-laced “Hada Morgana (Early Instrumental Mix)” — that and “Umbra; / Niebla de Neón” appeared in ‘finished versions on 2015’s Claroscuro (review here); “Summerland” dates back to 2010’s Más Allá Del Sol Poniente (review here), so yes, time has lost all meaning — moves into the handclap-and-maybe-farfisa-organ “Canción para Nuada,” one of several remixes with rerecorded drums. “Rocky Black” is an experiment in sound collage, and “Misquamacus” blends acoustic intricacy and distorted threat, while capper “Adiós Afallenau (Version)” returns the theremin for a two-minute walk before letting go to a long stretch of silence and some secret-track-style closing cymbals. The best thing you can do with Matus is just listen. It’s its own thing, it always has been, and the experimental edge brought to classic heavy rock is best taken on with as open a mind as possible. Let it go where it wants to go and the rewards will be plenty. And maybe in another five decades everyone will get it.
Offset by interludes like the classical-minded “Aversion” or the bass-led “Reprobation,” or even the build-up intro “S.Z.,” the ritual doom nod of Swiss five-piece Shrooms Circle‘s The Constant Descent is made all the more vital through the various keys at work across its span, whether it’s organ or mellotron amid the lumbering weight of the riffs. “Perpetual Decay” and its companion interlude “Amorphous” dare a bit of beauty, and that goes far in adding context and scope to the already massive sounding “The Unreachable Spiral” and the subtle vocal layering in “The Constant Descent.” Someone in this band likes early Type O Negative, and that’s just fine. Perhaps most of all, the 11-song/48-minute The Constant Descent is dynamic enough so that no matter where a given song starts, the listener doesn’t immediately know where it’s going to end up, and taking that in combination with the command shown throughout “Demotion,” “Perpetual Decay,” the eight-minute “Core Breakdown” and the another-step-huger finale “Stagnant Tide,” Shrooms Circle‘s second album offers atmosphere and craft not geared toward hooking the audience with catchy songwriting so much as immersing them in the mood and murk in which the band seem to reside. If Coven happened for the first time today, they might sound like this.
I’m gonna tell you straight out: Don’t write this shit off because Goatriders is a goofy band name or because the cover art for their second album, Traveler, is #vanlife carrot gnomes listening to a tape player on a hillside (which is awesome, by the way). There’s more going on with the Linköping four-piece than the superficialities make it seem. “Unscathed” imagines what might have happened if Stubb and Hexvssel crossed paths on that same hill, and the album careens back and forth smoothly between longer and shorter pieces across 50 engrossing minutes; nature-worshiping, low-key dooming and subtly genre-melding all the while. Then they go garage on “The Garden,” the album seeming to get rawer in tone as it proceeds toward “Witches Walk” and the a capella finish in “Coven,” which even that they can’t resist blowing out at the end. With the hypnotic tom work and repeat riffing of the instrumental “Elephant Bird” at its center and the shouted culminations of “Goat Head Nebula” and “Unscathed,” the urgent ritualizing of “Snakemother” and the deceptive poise at the outset with “Atomic Sunlight,” Traveler finds truth in its off-kilter presentation. You don’t get Ozium, Majestic Mountain and Evil Noise on board by accident. Familiar as it is and drawing from multiple sides, I’m hard-pressed to think of someone doing exactly what Goatriders do, and that should be taken as a compliment.
At the tender age of 80, bizarrist legend Arthur Brown — the god of hellfire, as the cover art immediately reminds — presents Long Long Road to a new generation of listeners. His first album under his own name in a decade — The Crazy World of Arthur Brown released Gypsy Voodoo (can you still say that?) in 2019 — and written and performed in collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Rik Patten, songs like “Going Down” revisit classic pageantry in organ and horns and the righteous lyrical proclamations of the man himself, while “I Like Games” toys with blues vibes in slide acoustic, kick drum thud and harmonica sleazenanigans, while the organ-and-electric “The Blues and Messing Round” studs with class and “Long Long Road” reminds that “The future’s open/The past is due/In this moment/Where everything that comes is new,” a hopeful message before “Once I Had Illusions (Part 2)” picks up where its earlier companion-piece left off in a manner that’s both lush and contemplative, more than a showpiece for Brown‘s storytelling and still somehow that. His legacy will forever be tied to The Crazy World of Arthur Brown‘s late-1960s freakery, but Long Long Road is the work of an undimmed creative spirit and still bolder than 90 percent of rock bands will ever dare to be.
Ultimately, whether one ends up calling Green Sky Accident‘s Daytime TV progressive psychedelia, heavier post-rock or some other carved-out microgenre, the reality of the 10-song/50-minute Apollon Records release is intricate enough to justify the designation. Richly melodic and unafraid to shimmer brightly, cuts like “Point of No Return” and the later dancer “Finding Failure” are sweet in mood and free largely of the pretense of indie rock, though “Insert Coin” and the penultimate piano interlude “Lid” are certainly well dug-in, but “Sensible Scenes,” opener “Faded Memories,” closer “While We Lasted” and the ending of “Screams at Night” aren’t lacking either for movement or tonal presence, and that results in an impression more about range underscored by songwriting and melody than any kind of tonal or stylistic showcase. The Bergen, Norway, four-piece are, in other words, on their own trip. And as much float as they bring forth, “In Vain” reimagines heavy metal as a brightly expressive terrestrial entity, a thing to be made and remade according to the band’s own purpose for it, and the title-track similarly balances intensity with a soothing affect. I guess this is what alt rock sounds like in 2022. Could be far worse, and indeed, it presents an ‘other’ vision from the bulk of what surrounds it even in an underground milieu. On a personal level, I can’t decide if I like it, and I kind of like that about it.
Pure Land Stars, Trembling Under the Spectral Bodies
With members of Cali psych-of-all explorers White Manna at their core, Pure Land Stars begin a series called ‘Altered States’ that’s a collaboration between Centripetal Force and Cardinal Fuzz Records, and if you’re thinking that that’s going to mean it’s way far out there, you’re probably not thinking far enough. Kosmiche drones and ambient foreboding in “Flotsam” and “3rd Grace” make the acoustic strum of “Mountains are Mountains” seem like a terrestrial touch-down, while “Chime the Kettle” portrays a semi-industrial nature-worship jazz, and “Jetsam” unfolds like a sunrise but if the sun suddenly came up one day and was blue. “Lavendar Crowd” (sic) turns the experimentalism percussive, but it’s that experimentalism at the project’s core, whether that’s manifest in the nigh-on-cinematic “Dr. Hillarious” (sic) or the engulf-you-now eight-minute closer “Eyes Like a Green Ceiling,” which is about as far from the keyboardy kratrock of “Flotsam” as the guitar effects and improvised sounding soloing of “Jetsam” a few tracks earlier. Cohesive? Sure. But in its own dimension. I don’t know if Pure Land Stars is a ‘band’ or a one-off, but they give ‘Altered States’ a rousing start that more than lives up to the name. Take a breath first. Maybe a drink of water. Then dive in.
Issued late last year, the untitled split seven-inch between Garden of Worm and The Wandering Midget finds the two outfits with plenty in common between them. Some preliminaries: Both hail from Finland. Both are trios. Both got together in the mid-aughts and have released two full-lengths to-date, and both work in an intricate and sometimes subtle vein of progressive, classic-sounding doom. In addition, though they’ve stayed productive in the meantime, both are several years removed from their most recent full-lengths, though they’ve shares shorter offerings in between. In other words? Yeah, getting The Wandering Midget and Garden of Worm together for a split release makes sense, even if in so doing there’s an emphasis placed on the differences between their methods.
Each three-piece offers one track. Garden of Worm bring “Whirls” and The Wandering Midget “Man with Black Hole Eyes.” “Whirls” hits the six-minute mark and “Man with Black Hole Eyes” pushes that mark, so it’s fair to say they’re pushing the limits of what a 7″ platter — even one with the backing of three different imprints in Rämekuukkeli, Acidmen and Pariah Child Records — can hold. They treat stylistic boundaries much the same way, with Garden of Worm on side A measuring out light-grey-toned heavy psychedelic vibe in “Whirls,” which builds on the classic progressivism of 2015’s sophomore outing, Idle Stones (review here) while pushing even further away from a strict adherence to what’s commonly thought of as doom.
Understated, almost laid back vocals give “Whirls” a pastoral vibe in its rolling second half, but this emerges only after the song’s first three minutes embark on a patient, Doors-worthy psychedelic meander, building gradually to the first verse that seems to arrive just a little late on purpose — Garden of Worm making their audience wait, even after the crashing drums of J.M. Suvanto have clearly brought the first of the two movements to its head, S.J. Harju‘s bass and E.J. Taipale‘s guitar living up to the titular “Whirl” all the while. That loose psychedelic feel is maintained, but “Whirls” is unmistakably doom as well, though effectively filtered through classic progressive heavy rock in a way few bands can pull off so well. In six minutes’ time, Garden of Worm reemphasize the individualism of style that’s made their work to-date so satisfying to follow while reminding of the forward potential still so evident in what they do.
A percussive dirge from The Wandering Midget on side B’s “Man with Black Hole Eyes” has a folkish tinge, despite resonant sonic heft particularly stemming from the low end of bassist Thomas Grenier. It’s been over a decade now since the Lappeenranta trio arrived in 2007 via Eyes Like Snow with their I am the Gate compilation — I still remember getting a slimline CD promo copy in the mail, and yes, I still have it — and though part of what they do in paying homage to doomly gods is inherently regressive in form, there’s a freshness to the melancholy of “Man with Black Hole Eyes” that, as the song rounds out with a few lines of vocal harmonies from Grenier backing guitarist Samiel Wormius — the trio completed by drummer Jonathan Sprenger — there is an unmistakable sense of sonic persona running in measure to the post-Reverend Bizarre rolling rhythm at the center of the song. A strong and emotive vocal performance from Wormius gives “Man with Black Hole Eyes” an underlying human presence, but really, it’s the slogging rhythm brought to bear without going over-the-top in terms of tonal weight that gives the track its roots in downerism, gracefully executed and still somehow raw and minimal-seeming.
The Wandering Midget, who had a split out last year as well with Swedish-via-Roman outfit Hands of Orlac are nonetheless creeping up on being six years removed from their second LP, 2012’s From the Meadows of Opium Dreams, and especially listening to the poise with which they deliver “Man with Black Hole Eyes,” that seems like plenty long enough. They’ve always been an outlier — in part I think because of their non-preferred-nomenclature moniker and in part just because they’re bizarre — but “Man with Black Hole Eyes” is a reminder that since the days of I am the Gate there’s always been something intangible and strange about their modus and it’s a due relief to know that hasn’t changed in the time that has passed. Without knowing any plans in that regard or if any batch of new material might be in the works, I can at least say that “Man with Black Hole Eyes” is enough to leave me wanting more from The Wandering Midget, and presumably that’s part of the impetus behind the split in the first place.
Though it’s been out for a while, the split hasn’t actually been streamed anywhere as yet, and I consider myself very fortunate to be able to host the digital premiere of it today. Find it below,followed by more background on the project, and please enjoy:
December 2017
The first plans about this split were made already ten years ago. After that these Finnish bands have played a lot together so it is only natural that they finally share a vinyl too. Luckily the songs are not as old as the original idea.
Garden of Worm started its career with plain doom metal. During the years the band has developed towards more innovative and original sound but all the time maintaining very down-to-earth attitude and warm atmosphere. Whirls is once again a fine example of these qualities.
On the other side of the single The Wandering Midget delivers a heavy punch with an intensive doom metal song. Man with Black Hole Eyes includes a large scale of emotions and heaviness, which suits the genre’s finest traditions.
Besides the unforgettable musical moments the record offers beautiful artwork by Tommi Musturi and skillful calligraphy by Jusso Pilhjerld.
Garden of Worm: S.J. Harju – bass, vocals E.J. Taipale – guitar, vocals J.M. Suvanto – drums
The Wandering Midget: Samuel Wormius – vocals, guitar Thomas Grenier – bass, backing vocals Jonathan Sprenger – drums
Posted in audiObelisk on March 6th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Today marks the release date of Finnish doom rockers Garden of Worm‘s second album, Idle Stones, on Svart. It’s a record that, following half a decade after their 2010 self-titled debut (review here), has already been reviewed here more or less twice (see here and here), so I’ll spare the verbiage this time around and say instead how fortunate I feel to be able to host the stream, because I genuinely think it’s a record that represents something special within its four tracks.
Not just that Garden of Worm have grown since their last time out, but from the initial downer-shuffle of “Fleeting are the Days of Man” through the twists of “Desertshore” and on into the expansive jamming in the 19-minute closer “The Sleeper Including Being is More than Life,” it crosses genre borders so easily as to make the listener forget they existed in the first place, or more, to doubt they ever did.
Easy to mark that out as hyperbole, maybe, but I think Garden of Worm‘s sophomore outing lives up to it. When I streamed “Summer’s Isle Including Caravan,” I said something similar, and remarked on how fluid the material was across the board and how natural the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist EJ Taipale, bassist/vocalist SJ Harju and drummer JM Suvanto sounded moving between parts and showcasing varied sides of their influences.
I stand by all of it, of course, and it’s a big part of the reason why after hosting one track I’m so pleased to be able to follow-up with the album in its entirety. It deserves to be heard front to back, to have each shift experienced in its most proper surroundings, the context of Idle Stones as a whole. I don’t usually do this kind of thing, and if one might think of it as an exception to the rule, consider it also an exceptional album.
And of course, please enjoy:
Garden of Worm‘s Idle Stones is out today, March 6, on Svart Records. The release show is tonight in the band’s native Tampere. More info at the links.
Posted in audiObelisk on February 11th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Tampere, Finland, trio Garden of Worm will release their second album, Idle Stones (review here), via Svart Records on March 6. It is a much different sort of outing than their 2010 self-titled Shadow Kingdom debut (review here), which was gruffer in its tone and more traditional overall, and is comprised of four tracks split easily into two vinyl sides, each comprised of a shorter and a longer piece, totaling about 42 minutes. The focus this time around seems to be more geared toward space than distorted riffing, and while Idle Stones bears considerable weight tonally and emotionally, it’s the latter that gives opener “Fleeting are the Days of Man” (5:35), “Summer’s Isle” (10:13), “Desertshore” (7:01) and “The Sleeper Including Being is More than Life” (19:49) their full breadth. Five years after an impressive debut, Garden of Worm breathe life into a staid sound and embark on engaging explorations of form that feel not hindered by genre constraints but enhanced by them. You can’t know which lines to cross without first knowing where they are.
Today I have the extreme pleasure of hosting “Summer’s Isle Including Caravan” for streaming ahead of the LP’s release. As the title-hints, it’s a two-parter, and what impresses most about it is the flow from one segment to the next. Garden of Worm — guitarist/vocalist EJ Taipale, bassist/vocalist SJ Harju and drummer JM Suvanto — set up a strong sense of atmosphere throughout Idle Stones‘ first three songs, and the last one which follows makes the most of the spaciousness provided. Following a morose, understated opening that’s deceptively heavy, Taipale, Harju and Suvanto move into a wash of noise that unfolds gradually, gracefully, into a pulsating space rock jam, a psychedelic freakout emerging like a multicolored mushroom from a forest floor. The sound swells and consumes, but it’s not the end.
Over on side B, the dual-vocal thrust of “Desertshore” sets the table for 20-minute closer “The Sleeper Including Being is More than Living” which expands the ideas of “Summer’s Isle Including Caravan” even further, moving from doomly vibing into a psych jam that, just before the 17-minute mark, drops out and Suvanto‘s ride cymbal eases the way back into a kind of epilogue reprise of the song’s earlier melancholy, this time using it as the launch point for what becomes a kind of summary of the piece in its entirety — another mini-freakout building to a head and is brought to a minimalist, contemplative conclusion. It makes a worthy focal point for Idle Stones, but I won’t take away from the achievement of the album as a whole either, whether it’s the cohesive introduction the album is given on “Fleeting are the Days of Man” or the subtle ritualism in “Summer’s Isle Including Caravan” that, as a preface to the closer, boldly rips itself to shreds in a more concise fit of improv-sounding noise. There are those who see doom and heavy rock like church and state, as though they couldn’t or shouldn’t occupy the same ideals. Garden of Worm cut to the root influence and create something of their own from it that is neither and both at the same time, and their command and poise as Idle Stones plays out its progressive sprawl is not to be discounted.
Please find “Summer’s Isle Including Caravan” on the player below, followed by some PR wire background, and enjoy:
GARDEN OF WORM is a trio operating in Tampere, Finland. Having played progressive rock in various groups, in 2003 the group decided it was time to play simple & basic doom metal. Thus the WORM was born. After several releases on several metal labels, the latest being the successful album for Shadow Kingdom Records (2010), the band went into hibernation.
The new album Idle Stones is a product of this long period of quiet life. After the ambitious debut full length the band were unsure for a time regarding the direction their art would take next. Slowly the doomier, grimmer material allowed improvisation to creep in, and the entire work has a newfound sense of spontaneity.
In 2014 GOW is a different beast than the creature of the early days. The band sounds more inspired and relaxed than ever. The doom metal base is still present, but there’s also psychedelic warmness to the sound as well as freedom, like witnessed in the work of improvising rock units such as AMON DÜÜL (II) and TRÄD GRÄS & STENAR. The freedom also adds to the intensity of the live performances – even though there are always composed songs in the set, the improvisational passages keep the band focused on the moment. Anything can happen.
Posted in Radio on January 30th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Radio server, which I’ve taken to calling the “main computer core,” was down most of last week after some kind of unknown surge in the EPS conduits, so with the data stream running on auxiliary power (yes, I’m using Star Trek science lingo; I’ll stop) it didn’t make much sense to do a round of adds. No one would hear the stuff anyway amid all the Sabbath, Kyuss, Goatsnake, Electric Wizard, etc. Sometimes I really like that backup server, but after a few days of listening, a change is welcome. I was pretty happy when we got the primary box back online.
And by “we,” I mostly mean Slevin, to whose technical expertise I am perpetually indebted. While I wouldn’t dare go much farther than doing so, I’m fortunate enough to be able to add files to the server on my own — I’m sure if you gave him five minutes he’d come up with a more efficient method — so we’ll give that a shot, and if the whole thing doesn’t come crashing down, we can consider it a win. Here goes.
The Obelisk Radio adds for Jan. 30, 2015:
Sumac, The Deal
Sumac start out high-profile thanks to the lineup of guitarist Aaron Turner of Isis and Old Man Gloom and drummer Nick Yacyshyn of Baptists and the fact that Russian Circles bassist Brian Cook recorded the low end for their Profound Lore debut, The Deal, but I think even if they were a trio of out-of-nowhere unknown entities, this record would turn some heads. Coated in feedback, blisteringly heavy — in the tradition of older Isis but more assured in its purpose — its six tracks breathe dense tonal life into the pallid post-metal vibe, songs like “Hollow King” (12:21) and “The Deal” (13:41) sounding as complex as they do crushing, wanting nothing in impact or atmosphere. “Spectral Gold” (3:18) and “Thorn in the Lion’s Paw” (8:55) begin The Deal on an ambient note, and the sprawl-drone of “The Radiance of Being” ends it likewise with five minutes of solo guitar from Turner, but in between “Hollow King,” “Blight’s End Angel” (10:17) and “The Deal” work quickly to win over even skeptical ears. Yacyshyn‘s performance is of particular note. Where it would’ve been all too easy to fall into Isis-style patterning to complement Turner‘s riffs, he holds firm to his own personality and The Deal is that much stronger for it. It is a startling and potential-laden debut. Almost enough to make up for the needless dickery Old Man Gloom pulled last year sending a fake record to the press, assuming what I’ve heard from Sumac is actually the real thing. Sumac on Thee Facebooks, at Profound Lore.
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Garden of Worm, Idle Stones
Tampere, Finland, trio Garden of Worm make their debut on Svart Records via Idle Stones, their second album following 2010’s Garden of Worm (review here) on Shadow Kingdom. Comprised of four songs alternating between shorter and longer before arriving at 19:49 closer “The Sleeper Including Being is More than Life,” the sophomore outing is a richer, more progressive affair, with bassist SJ Harju and guitarist EJ Taipale combining their vocals effectively at the fore of the mix on “Summer’s Isle” (10:13), which follows the rolling opener “Fleeting are the Days of Man” (5:35). With a style that ultimately owes more to Witchcraft‘s tonal understatement than Reverend Bizarre‘s genre-defining traditionalism, they nonetheless shirk the trap of retroism and make an individual showing with a feel both loose and purposeful throughout. The brighter guitar work of “Desertshore” (7:01) makes it a highlight, along with the persistent crash of drummer JM Suvanto, and the freakout that emerges in “The Sleeper Including Being is More than Life” gracefully and boldly flows across the rarely-bridged gap between doom and heavy psychedelia with a naturalness that very much makes me hope it’s not another half-decade before we hear from Garden of Worm again. Garden of Worm on Thee Facebooks, at Svart Records.
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Carpet, Riot Kiss 7″
Story goes that German progressive heavy rockers Carpet started writing for their third album, to follow-up on 2013’s Elysian Pleasures (review here), which was released by Elektrohasch, and wound up with some material that didn’t quite fit the concept they were going for. Since they dug it and didn’t want to just toss it, the Riot Kiss b/w Song of Heartship 7″ was born. Two songs, both a little over four minutes long, reaffirm the Augsburg four-piece’s commitment to forward-thinking textures, with “Riot Kiss” as the space-prog A-side and the quieter, atmospheric-but-still-clearheaded “Song of Heartship” emphasizing Carpet‘s range on side B, the cuts having more dynamic between them than many bands show in their career. I don’t know what Carpet — the lineup of Sigmund Perner, Jakob Mader, Hubert Steiner and Maximilian Stephan — are shooting for with their third record that these songs didn’t jibe with, and I guess we won’t know until that album arrives, but Riot Kiss is a stopgap of considerable substance that showcases Carpet‘s ability to present progressive ideas in ways not only palatable but deeply engaging. Carpet on Thee Facebooks, Elektrohasch Schallplatten.
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Sporecaster, See Through Machine
An experimental drone/psych duo comprised in half by Ron Rochondo of Boston’s Ice Dragon, Sporecaster‘s debut release, See Through Machine, is four tracks/26 minutes of exploratory drone given natural breadth through use of didgeridoo and percussion. The outing was tracked at Ron’s Wrecker Service and has a lo-fi feel despite its spaciousness, and chants out its hypnotism early, opener “Invocation or Incantation” (4:20, by astounding coincidence) wrapping itself around consciousness like some kind of psychedelic serpent, only to have the whistle-blowing “Things are Not What they See” (3:21) and tribal-ish drummed “The False Light” (5:46) push deeper into the moody ambience laid out at the beginning. Closer “You are Transparent” (12:45) makes me wonder what Sporecaster might do working in even longer forms, its drone-out having room for both a jammy drum progression and a continuation of the earlier experimental and improvisational feel. As an early showing of their intent, though, See Through Machine makes it clear that Sporecaster‘s creative process is wide open. Sporecaster on Thee Facebooks, Ron’s Wrecker Service.
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The Devil and the Almighty Blues, The Devil and the Almighty Blues
The slow-rolling “The Ghosts of Charlie Barracuda” (7:46) begins the self-titled debut from Oslo-based five-piece The Devil and the Almighty Blues, released on the upstart Blues for the Red Sun Records. That song picks up gradually in the first of several of the six-song full-length’s satisfying builds, but atmospherically sets a laid back tone that tracks like the subsequent “Distance” (4:11) and more active “Storm Coming Down” (10:17) play off of, the band proving equally comfortable in long- or short-form material, nestling into a neo-heavy semi-retro blues rock more in line with Graveyard‘s overarching moodiness than Witchcraft‘s early-days dooming. Well-balanced lead guitars and crooning vocals serve as a uniting theme, but in a classic dynamic, it’s the rhythm section that makes the swing of side B’s particularly thick “Root to Root” (9:48) and “Never Darken My Door” — the singing especially blown-out on the latter — so irresistibly grooved. Wrapping with the classy fuzz of “Tired Old Dog” (6:28), The Devil and the Almighty Blues will come from a familiar place sonically, but as their debut, The Devil and the Almighty Blues boasts a cohesion worthy of its weighty title. The Devil and the Almighty Blues on Thee Facebooks, Blues for the Red Sun Records.
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Some of this stuff — Sumac, The Devil and the Almighty Blues, Carpet — was also included in the podcast that went up yesterday, so if you’d like another avenue for getting a sample, that might not be a bad way to go. However you choose to dig in, I hope that you will and hope that you find something that you feel is worth the time and effort.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 23rd, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Five years after making their full-length debut on Shadow Kingdom with their self-titled (review here), Finnish doomers Garden of Worm are set to issue Idle Stones, their second album. The four-song/42-minute long-player promises some shifts in style from the debut, and after half a decade, I believe it. Svart will have the new record out on March 6.
On a side note, the press release below mentions Träd, Gräs, och Stenar. I recently got a copy of their self-titled on CD and it’s awesome. If you have the chance to chase it down, it’s well worth the effort. The name being dropped makes me look forward even more to finding out what Garden of Worm have going for their sophomore outing. When the titles of songs start “including” other songs, you know it’s progressive.
To the PR wire:
GARDEN OF WORM set release date for new SVART album?
Today, Svart Records sets March 6th as the international release date for Garden of Worm’s second album, Idle Stones. Garden of Worm is a trio operating in Tampere, Finland. Having played progressive rock in various groups, in 2003, the group decided it was time to play simple & basic doom metal. Thus, the Worm was born. After several releases on several metal labels, the latest being the successful self-titled debut album for Shadow Kingdom Records in 2010, the band went into hibernation.
Garden of Worm’s debut for Svart, Idle Stones is a product of this long period of quiet life. After the ambitious debut full-length, the band were unsure for a time regarding the direction their art would take next. Slowly, the doomier, grimmer material allowed improvisation to creep in, and the entire work has a newfound sense of spontaneity.
In 2015, Garden of Worm is a different beast than the creature of the early days. The band sounds more inspired and relaxed than ever. The doom metal base is still present, but there’s also psychedelic warmness to the sound as well as freedom, like witnessed in the work of improvising rock units such as Amon Düül II, Träd Gräs, and Stenar. The freedom also adds to the intensity of the live performances: even though there are always composed songs in the set, the improvisational passages keep the band focused on the moment. Anything can happen. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Garden of Worm’s Idle Stones 1. Fleeting are the Days of Man 2. Summer’s Isle 3. Desertshore 4. The Sleeper including Being Is More Than Life
GARDEN OF WORM is: SJ.Harju – Vocals, bass JM.Suvanto – Drums EJ.Taipale – Guitars, vocals
With Finnish doomers Garden of Worm, the trick in listening is not to succumb to riff hypnosis and miss out on the interludes and progressive movements that make their sound unique. Right from the opening track of their self-titled debut Shadow Kingdom full-length, the trio offer deceptive intricacy on songs like “Spirits of the Dead” and “The Ceremony,” sounding on the one hand like little more than post-Reverend Bizarre players in a crowded scene, but actually exploring roots both deeper and more satisfying to hear. You’re not three songs in before they break out the mellotron sounds.
In fact, you’re not through the aforementioned “Spirits of the Dead” before a left turn leads to a proggy-type jam that concludes the cut. The guitars of EJ. Taipale take a temporary backseat to SJ. Harju’s foundational bass (both also handle vocals), and gradually the track comes to an apex with the driven cymbal work of drummer JM. Suvanto, and if you weren’t paying attention you could have easily missed it. To be perfectly clear, this is doom we’re dealing with. Garden of Worm play doom and Garden of Worm is a doom album. “The Black Clouds” is lumbering, slow and riff-led, with crashes and mournful vocals in the grand tradition. There’s just also more to it structurally. Like the opener, it soon twists toward the progressive for its back end.
The second half of Garden of Worm is little different from the first, although anyone with a track name fetish should be able to easily get off on “Psychic Wolves.” As for the song itself, it’s a great hulking beast, all the more powerful coming off “The Black Clouds” – both songs are well past seven minutes in length – but Taipale’s guitar leads into a jazzy, near Opethian thoughtful musical space where the song seems to want to rest a while. Guest keyboards from Markus Pajakala (who also provided the “mellotron” to “Rays from Heaven”) make the piece standout, but the real surprise is when a heavy Scott Kelly-style riff takes hold and Garden of Worm transpose the vocal style they’ve been using the whole time over top of it. You wouldn’t think it would fit, but they make it work.
With Finnish doomers Garden of Worm, the trick in listening is not to succumb to riff hypnosis and miss out on the interludes and progressive movements that make their sound unique. Right from the opening track of their self-titled debut Shadow Kingdom full-length, the trio offer deceptive intricacy on songs like “Spirits of the Dead” and “The Ceremony,” sounding on the one hand like little more than post-Reverend Bizarre players in a crowded scene, but actually exploring roots both deeper and more satisfying to hear. You’re not three songs in before they break out the mellotron sounds.
