https://www.high-endrolex.com/18

Quarterly Review: Sumac, Cortez & Wasted Theory, Thunder Horse, The Howling Eye, Grime, URSA, Earthling Society, Bismarck, Grand Reunion, Pledge

Posted in Reviews on December 7th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

quarterly-review

As we land on what would otherwise be the end of a Quarterly Review — day 5, hitting the standard 50 records across the span of a week that this time we’re doubling with another 50 next week — it occurs to me not how much 100 albums is, but how much it isn’t. I mean, it’s a lot, don’t get me wrong. I’ve been sitting and writing about 10 records every day this week. I know how much that is. But it’s astounding to me just how much more there is. With the emails I get from people looking for reviews, discs sent in the mail, the messages on Facebook and everything else, I could do another 100, easy.

Well, maybe not ‘easy,’ but it would be full.

Is it a new golden age of heavy? 45 years from now are rockers going to look back and say, “Hell yeah, from like 2012-2019 was where it’s at,” all wistful like they do now for the ’70s? Will the Heavy ’10s be a retro style? I don’t know. But if it was going to happen, there would certainly be enough of an archive to fuel it. I do my best to cover as much as I can, but sometimes I feel like we barely crack the surface. With 100 records.

That said, time’s a-wasting.

Quarterly Review #41-50:

Sumac, Love in Shadow

sumac love in shadow

What are Sumac if not the most vital and highest profile atmospheric metal act out there today? With Aaron Turner (Isis, etc.) on guitar/vocals, Brian Cook (Russian Circles) on bass and Nick Yacyshyn (Baptists) on drums, they qualify easily as a supergroup, and yet their third album, Love in Shadow (on Thrill Jockey), is still more about creative growth and the exploration of sound than anything else. Certainly more than ego — and if it was a self-indulgent exercise, it’d probably still be pretty good, frankly. As it stands, the four massive tracks through which Sumac follow-up 2016’s What One Becomes (review here) and their 2015 debut, The Deal (review here), refine the sound Sumac has developed over the past three years-plus into a sprawling and passion-driven sprawl that’s encompassing in scope, challenging in its noise quotient, and in utter refusal to not progress in its approach. And when Sumac move forward, as they do here, they seem to bring the entire aesthetic with them.

Sumac on Thee Facebooks

Thrill Jockey Records on Bandcamp

 

Cortez & Wasted Theory, The Second Coming of Heavy: Chapter Nine

cortez wasted theory second coming of heavy ch 9

Ripple Music‘s split series The Second Coming of Heavy hits its ninth chapter in bringing together Boston’s Cortez and Delaware’s Wasted Theory, and neither band fails to live up to the occasion. Cortez‘s range only seems to grow each time they hit the studio — vocalist Matt Harrington makes easy highlights of the opener and longest track (immediate points) “The Firmament” and the echo-laden “Close” — and Wasted Theory‘s “Ditchpig,” “Abominatrix,” “Baptized in Gasoline” and “Heresy Dealer” are so saturated with whiskey it might as well be coming out of their pores. It’s a decidedly North/South release, with Cortez rolling straightforward New England heavy rock through “Fog of Whores” and the Deep Purple cover “Stormbringer” while Wasted Theory dig with all good speed into a grit that’s more and more become their own with time, but there’s a shared penchant for hooks and groove between the two acts that draws them together, and whatever aspects they may or may not share are ultimately trumped by that. As Ripple starts to wind down the series, they continue to highlight some of the finest in heavy that the underground has to offer. One would expect no less.

Cortez on Thee Facebooks

Wasted Theory on Thee Facebooks

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

 

Thunder Horse, Thunder Horse

thunder horse thunder horse

There’s an unmistakable sense of presence throughout Thunder Horse‘s six-song/43-minute self-titled debut that undercuts the notion of it as being the San Antonio four-piece’s first album. With professionalism and a firm sense of what they want to be as a band, the Texans liberally sprinkle samples throughout their material and hone a professional sound built around massive riffs and even-more-massive lumbering grooves. Indeed, they’re not strangers to each other, as three-fourths of the group — guitarist/vocalists Stephen Bishop, guitarist/sampler T.C. Connally and drummer Jason West — double in the more industrial-minded Pitbull Daycare, whose debut LP came out in 1997. Completed by bassist/vocalist Dave Crow, Thunder Horse successfully cross the genre threshold and are well comfortable in longer cuts like “Liber ad Christ Milites Templi” and “This is the End,” both of which top nine minutes, and shorter pieces like the rocking “Demons Speak” and the shimmering finale “Pray for Rain.” With “Coming Home” and the sneering “Blood Ritual” at the outset, Thunder Horse pulls listener quickly toward dark atmospheres and flourishes amid the weighted tones therein.

Thunder Horse on Thee Facebooks

Thunder Horse on Bandcamp

 

The Howling Eye, Sonorous

the howling eye sonorous

Poland’s The Howling Eye make a lengthy long-player debut with Sonorous, but more important than the reach of their runtimes — closer “Weedblazer” tops 16 minutes, the earlier “Reflections” hits 12, etc. — the reach of the actual material. The common pattern has been that psychedelic jamming and doom are two distinct things, but The Howling Eye tap into a cosmic interpretation of rolling riffs and push it with an open spirit far into the ether of spontaneous creation. It’s a blend that a group would seem to need to be cautious to wield, lest the whole notion fall flat, but with the assurance of marked chemistry behind them, the Bydgoszcz-based trio of drummer/sometimes vocalist Hubert “Cebula” Lewandowski (also harmonica where applicable), guitarist Jan Chojnowski and bassist Mi?osz Wojciechowski boldly shift from the more structured beginnings of the funky “Kairos” and the aggro beginning “Stranded” into an outward push that’s ambient, psychedelic and naturalistic all at once, with room left over for more funk and even some rockabilly on “The Potion.” It is not a minor conglomeration, but it works.

The Howling Eye on Thee Facebooks

The Howling Eye on Bandcamp

 

Grime, What Have We Become

grime what have we become

Their roots in metal, North Dakota trio Grime — not to be confused with the Italian sludge outfit of the same name — unleash their first full-length in the form of What Have We Become, an ambitious 51-minute offering of progressive heavy rock marked by thoughtful lyrics and fluid songwriting made all the more so by the shared vocals of bassist Andrew Wickenheiser and guitarist Nick Jensen, who together with drummer Tim Gray (who would seem to have been replaced by Cale Mogard) effect a classic feel through “Alone in the Dark” while chugging and winding through the not-a-cover “Hand of Doom” with some harsher vocals peppered in for good measure. Seven-minute opener and longest track (immediate points) “Through the Eye” sets a broad tone that the rest of the record seems to build on, with the penultimate “Sunshine” delivering the title line ahead of the grittier closer “The Constant Grind,” which seems to payoff everything before it with a final explosion before a big rock finish. They’ll need to decide whether their sound will ultimately tighten up or loosen over time, but for now, what they’ve become is a band with a solid foundation to grow from.

Grime on Thee Facebooks

Grime on Bandcamp

 

URSA, Abyss Between the Stars

ursa abyss between the stars

Modern doom meets a swath of metallic influences on URSA‘s full-length debut, Abyss Between the Stars (on Blood Music), as members of Petaluma, California’s Cormorant take on such classic themes as wizards, dragons, yetis, witches, a spider king, mountains, and… actually, yeah, that covers the six included tracks on the 46-minute LP, which shifts gracefully between epic fantasy doom and darker, soemtimes more extreme fare. It’s easy enough to put URSA in the narrative of a band started — circa 2016 — around a central idea, rather than just dudes picking up instruments and seeing what happened next. Not just because bassist/vocalist Matt Solis, guitarist/keyboardist Nick Cohon and drummer Brennan Kunkel were already three-quarters of another band, but because of the purposefulness with which they approach their subject matter and the cohesion in all facets of their approach. They may be exploring new ground here, but they’re doing so on sure footing, and that comes not only from their experience playing together, but from knowing exactly where they want to be in terms of sound. I would not be surprised if that sound adopted more post-Candlemass grandeur with time — one can hear that burgeoning in “Serengeti Yeti” — but whatever direction they want to go, their debut will only help them on that path.

URSA on Thee Facebooks

Blood Music website

 

Earthling Society, MO – The Demon

earthling society mo the demon

Look, if you can’t get down with a bunch of freaks like Earthling Society tapping into the lysergic fabric of the cosmos to come up with an unsolicited soundtrack to a Hong Kong martial arts movie, I just don’t know what to tell you. Issued by Riot Season, the seven-track MO – The Demon is reportedly the end of the band’s technicolor daydream, and as they crash their plane into the side of “Mountains of Bliss” and hone space rock obliteration throughout “Super Holy Monk Defeats the Black Magic Mothafucker,” their particular experimentalist charm and go-anywhere-anytime sensibility demonstrates plainly exactly why it will be missed. There’s a sharp high-pitched tone at the start of opener “Theme from MO – The Demon” that’s actually pretty abrasive, but by the time they’re through the kosmiche laser assault in “Spring Snow” and the let’s-be-flower-children-until-it’s-time-to-freak-the-fuck-out throb of closer “Jetina Grove,” that is but a distant memory. So is consciousness. Fare thee well, Earthling Society. You were a band who only sought to make sense to yourselves, and for that, were all the more commendable.

Earthling Society on Thee Facebooks

Riot Season Records on Bandcamp

 

Bismarck, Urkraft

bismarck urkraft

Norwegian five-piece Bismarck bring spaciousness to doom riffing on their debut album, Urkraft, which is constructed of five molten tracks for a 34-minute totality that seems much broader than the time it takes to listen. Vocals are growls and shouts across a cosmic stretch of tone, giving a somewhat aggressive pulse to heavier psychedelic soundscaping, but a bouncing rhythm behind “A Golden Throne” assures the song is accessible one way or the other. The 10-minute “Vril-Ya” is naturally where they range the farthest, but the Bergen outfit even there seem to be playing by a set of aesthetic principles that includes maintaining a grounded groove no matter how spaced they might otherwise get. Rolling riffs bookend in opener “Harbinger” and closer “The Usher,” as “A Golden Throne,” playing-to-both-sides centerpiece “Iron Kingdom” and the subsequent “Vril-Ya” explore atmospheres that remain resonant despite the low end weight that seems to chug out beneath them. The mix by Chris Fielding at Skyhammer (who also co-engineered) doesn’t hurt in crafting their largesse, but something tells me Urkraft was going to sound big no matter what.

Bismarck on Thee Facebooks

Apollon Records website

 

Grand Reunion, In the Station

grand reunion in the station

In the Station doesn’t seem like anything too fancy at first. It’s produced cleanly, but not in any kind of overblown fashion, and Grand Reunion‘s songwriting is so solid that, especially the first time through their eight-track debut LP, it’s easy to say, “Okay, that’s another cool hook,” and not notice subtleties like when the organs turn to keyboard synth between opener “Eres Tan Serpiente” and second cut “Gordon Shumway,” or to miss the Latin percussion that Javier Tapia adds to Manuel Yañez‘s drumming, or the ways that guitarist Christian Spencer, keyboardist Pablo Saveedra, bassist Mario Rodríguez and Tapia work to complement guitarist Cristóbal Pacheco on vocals. But all of that is happening, and as they make their way toward and through the eight-minute fuzzer “Band Band the Headbang,” through the soaring “Weedow” and into the acoustic-led closer “It’s Alright,” the character and maturity in Grand Reunion‘s songwriting shows itself more and more, inviting multiple listens in the most natural fashion possible: by making you want to hear it again.

Grand Reunion on Thee Facebooks

Grand Reunion on Bandcamp

 

Pledge, Resilience

pledge resilience

16 minutes of scathing post-hardcore/sludge from Portuguese four-piece Pledge, who are in and out of their Resilience EP with a clean break and a windmill kick to the face. The newcomers lack nothing for ferocity, and with the throat-searing screams of Sofia M.L. out in front of the mix, violent intentions are unmistakable. “Profer Lumen Caecis,” “The Great Inbetweeness,” “Doom and Redemption” and “The Peter, the Wolf” nonetheless have groove built on varying degrees of extremity and angularity, with Vítor Vaz‘s bass maintaining a steady presence alongside the guitar of Hugo Martins and Filipe Romariz‘s drumming, frenetic as it sometimes is. I wouldn’t say things calm down in “The Peter, the Wolf” so much as the boiling seems to take place beneath the surface, waiting for a time to burst out, which it eventually does, but either way, for all its harsher aspects, Pledge‘s material isn’t at all void of engagement. It does, however, state the requirement right there on the front cover.

Pledge on Thee Facebooks

Pledge on Bandcamp

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

VVitch Festival 2018 Confirms Lineup with Dopethrone, Celeste, Eagle Twin and More

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 22nd, 2018 by JJ Koczan

Set in Milan across four nights and three different venues taking place over the course of two months, the full VVitch Festival is a season-long experience. It draws bands from multiple regions in Europe, the US and Canada, and is no less eclectic in its sound than in the geography. Each show has a different theme that feeds into the larger entirety of the experience, and VVitch Festival proper will be held as the last night, with Frizzi 2 FulciCeleste, KENmodeBelzebong and The Necromancers (who are touring together and also making a stop in Austria at the Heavy Psych Sounds Fest), Birds in Row and Coilguns. Seems like a pretty sick night and all over the place, but again, it’s just the last of four in the series.

Full lineups follow here, along with event links as per the PR wire:

vvitch festival lineup

-VVITCH-

Inspired by witchcraft and horror movies themes, between doom, sludge, black, grind, death and post metal, it?s coming soon in Milano, Italy, a new event for metal maniacs called “VVITCH FESTIVAL”. A trilogy of events plus a fourth one, the festival. Three different venues in Milano, 17 bands, some of them for the first time in Italy, some for exclusive Italian shows.

“..dark forces are going to cross the walls of the city, after the Sacrifice and the Ritual, the Evocation..”

VVITCH I – Sacrifice
September 19th 2018, Spazio Ligera, Milano
DEMILICH (FIN) exclusive Italian show
SPECTRAL VOICE (USA) exclusive Italian show
CARDIAC ARREST (USA) exclusive Italian show
FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1568544103256273

VVITCH II – Ritual
October 11th 2018, Kraken Pub, Milano
DOPETHRONE (CAN)
EAGLE TWIN (USA)
MESSA (IT)
FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1979301145733544

VVITCH III – Evocation
November 3rd 2018, Spazio Ligera, Milano
BOLOGNA VIOLENTA (IT) “Uno Bianca” full album set
FISTULA (USA) exclusive Italian show
GRIME (IT)
DEATH HAS GONE (IT)
FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2063352060550129

VVITCH FESTIVAL
November 25th 2018, Circolo Magnolia, Milano
FRIZZI 2 FULCI (IT)
(live soundtracks by Fabio Frizzi, of Lucio Fulci’s horror cult movies, for the
first time in Milano)
CELESTE (FR) exclusive Italian show
KEN MODE (CAN) exclusive Italian show
BELZEBONG (PL)
BIRDS IN ROW (FR)
COILGUNS (CH)
THE NECROMANCERS (FR)
FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/172227866788138

https://www.facebook.com/vvitchfestival

Eagle Twin, The Thundering Heard (2018)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cough Announce West Coast Tour with Grime

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 16th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

If you’re on the West Coast and looking to test your tolerance for extreme sludge, this might be the show with which to do it. Italy’s Grime are nothing if not aptly-named. Their sound is a filth-coated assault of bludgeoning aural misanthropy. Not only that they would come to the US to tour, but that they’d partner with Richmond, Virginia, dirge-oozers Cough is significant, the latter being a genuinely headlining-worthy outfit in terms of presence and volume who compromise neither in their pursuit of some of the darkest sonic corners to be found anywhere. There will be riffs. They will be loud. They will be slow. They will be punishing.

The tour is presented by Midnite Collective, and kudos to them on the pairing. The PR wire puts it like this:

cough tour poster

COUGH (Relapse) & GRIME (Argento) Announce Joint West Coast Tour

Announcing a plague over the West Coast…Virginia’s COUGH (Relapse Records) and Italy’s GRIME (Argento) are joining forces to wreak havoc this May. CA’s Midnite Collective takes responsibility for bringing the Italian doom lords across the ocean for their first ever US shows – sure to be a hell of a run. Dates below:

Catch COUGH & GRIME Live:
5/11 – Los Angeles, CA – Union
5/12 – Phoenix, AZ – Club Red
5/13 – Las Vegas, NV – The Bunkhouse Saloon
5/14 – San Diego, CA – Soda Bar
5/15 – Oakland, CA – The Golden Bull
5/16 – Portland, OR – Tonic Lounge
5/17 – Seattle, WA – The Highline

Conceived in the fertile metal underground of Richmond, VA circa 2005, ?COUGH ?have sought to be the heaviest band ever since their inception. The band takes inspiration from the most savage aspects of extreme music, from crushing doom metal and grimy sludge to early black metal. After the independent 2007 release of their first EP, ?The Kingdom?, ?COUGH? quickly put out their first proper full-length, ?Sigillum Luciferi ?(Forcefield Records, 2008).

Between hospital visits and bouts of near-insanity, ?COUGH? slowly labored forward with the writing of their follow-up album. By 2010 the band had signed to Relapse Records and returned to Chicago, IL, enlisting Parker once again to record their sophomore album, the aptly titled Ritual Abuse. ?

After a six year hiatus, ?COUGH ?return with ?Still They Pray?, a 65? ?minute acid-drenched nightmare set to music?.? Produced by ?Electric Wizard’s ?Jus Oborn and recorded by Oborn and ?Windhand’s? Garrett Morris, ?COUGH? pick up where ?Ritual Abuse ?left off, masterfully pushing their black cosmic psychedelia to the brink of despair. ?

Grime starts its mission in Trieste, Italy during summer 2010- their only goal is bringing destruction to a town near yours. Their sound is rooted in a rotten burial ground and their songs are the voice of a decaying swamp filled with trash. Marching to a slow and heavy groove as filthy and vicious as the guitar riffs are sharp and covered with rust. Drums and bass hit with the unstoppable power of a mud avalanche.

Over the years the band toured relentlessly across Europe (with Converge, Cough, Fistula, Today is The Day and -(16)-, to name a few) and had the honor to play some of the greatest European festivals such as Roadburn, Heavy Days in Doomtown, Bloodshed Festival, Barroselas Metal Fest and Desertfest (London and Belgium). Grime is ready to release some new material in 2018 along multiple tours…stay tuned.

https://www.facebook.com/Cough666/
https://www.instagram.com/cough666/
https://cough.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Grime666Grime/
https://www.instagram.com/grimeofshit/
https://grime666.bandcamp.com/
http://www.midnitecollective.com/
https://www.facebook.com/midniteclv/
https://www.instagram.com/midniteclv/

Cough, Still They Prey (2016)

Grime, Circle of Molesters (2015)

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Desertfest Belgium 2017: Lowrider, The Vintage Caravan, Mantar, -(16)-, Grime, Partisan and Spirit Valley Added

Posted in Whathaveyou on September 4th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

Hasn’t been a week since the last update from Desertfest Belgium 2017, and the Antwerp-based fest comes out swinging yet again with another batch of heavy-hitters in what’s purported to be the second-to-last update to its bill. This time? The primo heavy rock of Lowrider and The Vintage Caravan meets the extremity of Mantar and the sludge of -(16)-, the neo-psych of Spirit Valley and the abrasion of Partisan. Once more, the story of Desertfest Belgium 2017 is one of the festival branching out in multiple directions all at once, expanding its reach in style and profile alike. Can’t help but wonder what the final update will bring. I mean, look at this thing. In what way would you call it incomplete?

The latest announcement follows, courtesy of the PR wire:

desertfest-belgium-2017-poster

DF ANTWERP 2017 LINE-UP SECOND LAST UPDATE – NEARLY DONE!

We are nearing the completion of the Desertfest Antwerp 2017 line-up. After this, there’s just one more announcement to go and we’re in the straight line to the Fest! You all better come prepared because it’s gonna be massive. Massive we tell you!

We think we’ll be pleasing many stoner heads with the addition of classic Desert rockers Lowrider to the Friday line-up. Their show at Desertfest Berlin was epic, and we’re convinced they’ll repeat such a feat at the Belgian edition.

Equally iconic is -(16)-, a band whose name is as enigmatic as their pioneering sludge is a straightforward boot to the face. More pummeling riffs are to be expected from Germany’s Mantar and Grime from North Dakota. For more eclectic rock inspired grooves, look no further than The Vintage Caravan and Spirit Valley. And finally, we’re pleased to have Partisan on the bill, a Belgian band on Hypertension Records featuring members of renowned national rock bands like Rise and Fall and Oathbreaker.

That’s it, one more announcement to go which you can expect very soon!

LOWRIDER

Sweden’s answer to the American brand of rocky-funky-gritty Desert rock, Lowrider’s impact on both their native scene and the international underground in Europe and beyond cannot be ignored. Their 2000 album “Ode to Io” is a true scene gem of the purest, hardest and brightest rock. After a long retreat, the band reformed in 2013 for a reunion set at Desertfest Berlin. Since then, the band has been on the road again and killing it live, including another legendary performance at DF Berlin this year!

THE VINTAGE CARAVAN

Despite their young age, The Vintage Caravan only took a few years to garner a mighty reputation on stage, playing hundreds of shows on European stages with ever-growing audiences delivering standing ovations after each show. Their musical influences are very diverse but their main focus is the classic hard rock of the 60’s and 70’s. Though this may suggest a glorified retro-type band, The Vintage Caravan make it their own with a powerful attitude and a modern twist..

MANTAR

The band describe themselves as a “two-piece monster from North Germany”, and indeed it is hard to believe this kind of infernal noise could come from only two musicians. But yet here we are, and if their debut album ‘Death By Burning’ broke down doors, the follow-up ‘Ode To The Flame’ and this year’s ‘The Spell’ EP (both on Nuclear Blast) burned down the house. No gimmicks, just true battle hymns and sinister sounds of darkness!

-(16)-

SoCal sludge stalwarts -(16)- are among the most consistent and most underrated purveyors of the heavy riff. They started out in 1991 and through many line-up changes and other rock’n’roll adventures they finally got the credit they deserve with last year’s ‘Lifespan Of A Moth’, the band’s heaviest, darkest, and most complex material to date! If you dig Eyehategod and Acid Bath, don’t miss out on these pioneers of sludge metal.

GRIME

Taking cues from both grunge (Soundgarden and Alice In Chains) and rock legends like Led Zeppelin and Rush, Grime have formed their own brand of heavy metal thunder. Grime independently released their debut EP, ‘Hitch-Hiking Prohibited’, in September 2015. The four songs are a perfect snapshot of their varied and creative approach to metal.

SPIRIT VALLEY

Dave Spirit and Chris Valley formed the duo outfit Spirit Valley in Australia, but moved to Amsterdam in 2015 to tour Europe. Their own term for the kaleidoscopic mix of styles they present is ‘Doomshine Boogie’, a raw brand of psychedelic rock inspired by bands like The Black Angels, Murder City Devils, Japandroids and Explosions in the Sky.

PARTISAN

Partisan’s collective members are known for renowned Belgian HC and metal-derived bands such as Rise and Fall and Oathbreaker, but they are far from being a mere extension of their predecessors. With their post-punk inspired sound, Partisan channel influences from their collective musical pasts into songs that deliver their power and urgency through texture, dynamics and dark melody.

http://www.desertfest.be/tickets
https://www.facebook.com/desertfestbelgium/
https://www.facebook.com/events/264364590656095/
https://twitter.com/DesertfestBE

Lowrider, Ode to Io: Deluxe Edition (2017)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Grime Announce Shows in France, Spain and Portugal

Posted in Whathaveyou on April 7th, 2015 by JJ Koczan

grime

Italian extreme sludgers Grime will take off at the end of this month for a quick run of dates in France, Spain and Portugal. It’s five shows in all, but one imagines that any more of a dose of Grime‘s wafting filthy sludge would throw off the jet-stream and result in devastated ecosystems throughout the northern hemisphere. Or something. Whatever. They’re super fucking heavy. You get the point.

Their 2013 album, Deteriorate (review/stream here) was as vicious as sludge gets, which if you heard it you know is plenty vicious. They (apparently) released a prior-recorded first album last year through Mordgrimm Records, which I guess slipped by me, unless I’m misunderstanding the bio. Take a look for yourself and see what you think:

grime poster

GRIME (IT. FORCEFIELD RECORDS) FRENCH & IBERIAN DATES

GRIME starts its mission in Trieste, Italy during summer 2010. they play a extremely massive sludge metal, in their line up is the ex- drummer of the italian blackened crust band THE SECRET. With influences from bands like EYEHATEGOD, SOURVEIN or GRIEF the band in their first album (properly released in last june by the english label Mordgrimm, WINDHAND, POMBAGIRA, EAGLE TWIN, HUATA,…) produced a notable extreme and massive pile of songs those could form of the albums of the year without doubt in this music gender. In June of 2013 comes out their second album “Deteriorate”. thanks to the great reputation the band was getting touring around Europe with bands like COUGH Forcefield records (COUGH, WINDHAND) puts the record out with Mordgrimm again. the band has performed in the most important festivals in Europe like Roadburn, Heavy days in doom town, Desert Fest London. GRIME has toured or performed with bands like COUGH, 16, SOURVEIN, GRAVES AT SEA, etc, etc,.. and they has become one of the main bands in the sludge-metal genre in Europe.

Their only goal is bringing destruction to a town near yours. Their sound is rooted into rotten burial ground and their songs are the sound of a decaying swamp filled with trash. Their slow and heavy groove is filthy and vicious, guitar riffs are sharp and covered with rust, drums and bass hit with the unstoppable power of a mud avalanche. They will keep spread their plague in your town very soon. Be afraid.

Monday 27th April Black Sheep, Montpellier, France
Tuesday 28th April, Rocksound, Barcelona, Spain
Wednesdsay 29th April, Wurlitzer Ballroom, Madrid, Spain
Thursday 30th April, Barroselas Metalfest, Portugal
Friday 1st May, Sentinel rock Bar, Erandio, Bizkaia, Spain

http://grime666.bandcamp.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/grimeofshit
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grime/209557405747608

Grime, Live at Heavy Days in Doomtown 2013

Tags: , ,

Roadburn 2014: Terra Tenebrosa, Grime and Mantar Added to Lineup

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 24th, 2014 by JJ Koczan

The Roadburn 2014 lineup got dealt a considerable blow yesterday when it was announced that The Heads wouldn’t be taking part as planned. KENmode also bowed out, but particularly as The Heads were to be the artists-in-residence, playing multiple sets including a collaboration with Carlton Melton at the Afterburner the Sunday after the fest proper, they leave a sizable hole in their wake. It’s a bummer, since along with fest-headliners Loop, The Heads were typifying so much of Roadburn 2014’s psychedelic vibe, but already the search for a replacement has begun, and in the meantime, Mantar, Terra Tenebrosa and Grime have joined the bill.

Announcements follow, courtesy of the fest website:

The Mysterious Terra Tenebrosa To Devastate Roadburn 2014

Hot on the heels of our announcement that The Heads have had to step down from performing as Artists in Residence at Roadburn 2014, comes the announcement that mysterious avant-metallers Terra Tenebrosa will be stepping in to replace The Heads spin-off Kandodo.

Rising from the ashes of much-beloved post-hardcore outfit Breach, Stockholm’s Terra Tenebrosa have brought forth two albums of dark, brooding avant-garde hardcore-influenced metal, 2011?s debut The Tunnels and 2013?s The Purging, and we couldn’t be happier to have them onboard.

Terra Tenebrosa will be bringing the fear on Friday April 11th at Het Patronaat in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Roadburn Festival 2014 will run for four days from Thursday, April 10th to Sunday, April 13th 2014 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Mantar To Bring The Fire To Roadburn 2014!

You can’t keep a good festival down, and so no sooner have we announced the unfortunate cancellation of KEN Mode than we are overjoyed to be able to announce that the mighty Mantar will replace them!

The heavier-than-a-concrete-elephant gruesome twosome from Hamburg dropped their killer ‘White Nights’ seven-inch not so long ago and are about to let loose with their devastating debut full-length album Death By Burning through Svart Records in a few short weeks. We at Roadburn are super excited to be able to add them to the already stellar line-up for Roadburn 2014.

Mantar will play Roadburn 2014 on Thursday, April 10th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Grime To Crush Your Moral Compas at Roadburn Festival 2014

Roadburn is pleased to announce the addition of Italian sludge-meisters, Grime. The band channelled their utter despair, emptiness and aggression into one of the filthiest records of 2013, Deteriorate, a vile and repulsive outlook on humanity.

Roadburn will be playing host to Grime‘s negativity and hatred on Saturday 12th of April, at the Cul de Sac in Tilburg, The Netherlands, when they bring their filth-laden journey into the ugliest recesses of your depraved mind to life.

Roadburn Festival 2014 will run for four days from Thursday, April 10th to Sunday, April 13th 2014 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Tickets for the traditional Afterburner event on Sunday, April 13th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands are still available. Get in on the action HERE!

http://www.roadburn.com/roadburn-2014/

Terra Tenebrosa, The Purging (2013)

Tags: , , , , , ,

London Desertfest 2014 Gets Very, Very Sludgy

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 20th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

We already knew Desertfest wasn’t fucking around, but goodness gracious. To add Sourvein, Graves at Sea, Kongh, Grime, Pombagira, Lifer and War Wolf all at once is ridiculous. It’s like you took two already-quite-heavy fests and smashed them into each other. The Human Disease Promo/When Planets Collide stage is aptly named, if nothing else, because with acts this heavy tossed in, it adds an entirely different dimension to London Desertfest 2014 and makes its roster of bands all the more enviable.

I won’t waste time with a long intro since there’s a lot to wade through here. The following comes courtesy of the Desertfest website, with words by Staggerin’ Matt and Gareth Kelly. Dig it:

Welcome To The HDP / WPC Stage @ Desertfest 2014

Back for the third year running, human_disease_promo / when planet’s collide are teaming up once again to curate a stage of smoked-out heavy rumblings at DesertFest 2014.

Anyone who caught the crushing slab of decibel meter smashing doom that radiated from their stage earlier this year will know to expect the heaviest, loudest, most tripped out, underground sludge / doom from around the globe when The Underworld gets taken over on the final day of the festival again in April. This year will see them bringing as many variations of the theme as are out there to forge a dynamic stage including elements of pysch, prog, dark metal and crust, as well as the traditional dirty sludge and weedy doom riffs. Bring your earplugs and lose your mind as hdp / wpc draw out the festival in swampy, distorted style.

DESERTFEST DROWNS IN GRIEF WITH GRAVES AT SEA

Purveyors of the finest crust-doom nihilism Arizona’s Graves At Sea will be landing in the middle of the eye of the storm at The Underworld to bring forth a cargo laden with wretched snarls of bile and horror.

With relatively little in the way of released material G.A.S. built up a slew of interest due to the sheer grief / woe ridden intensity of the sound that they spewed forth. 2 tracks on a split with Asunder in 2005 showed the band to also possess a quality of strong dynamic ability, although it is the sheer overall nastiness of the bands squalid down-tuned sound that make their status as one of the most sought after underground dark sludge offerings fully justified. Few bands could hope to possess such varying and well laid down exorcisms (at times reminiscent of the vocal stylings of the likes of Corrupted, Burning Witch, Noothgrush, and occasionally even through to Autopsy / Abscess), draped over smoke enriched fuzzed licks and long low bass rumbles.

Many of us were disappointed when, following a long hiatus, the bands recent euro stint alongside New Zealand’s Methdrinker didn’t reach the UK mainland, so we’re totally stoked to play host to them on the human_disease_promo / when planet’s collide stage at the next installment of the festival. Get ready for a slow twisting vortex of ravenous filth throughout!

KONGH TAKE DESERTFEST THROUGH THE PORTAL

Sweden’s driving wall of darkened heaviness Kongh have been taking sludge and doomed post-metal to the next level for the best part of a decade now, destroying stages and minds worldwide with their own unforgiving barrage of dynamic noise and they are set to blast into The Underworld’s hdp / wpc curated stage for a UK exclusive show in April.

The band’s 2006 demo and the recently re-released 2007?s debut LP “Counting Heartbeats” were maelstroms of storming riffs, combining chugging sludge with other worldly ambiences to create a mesmorisingly crushing sound. Since then the trio have never looked back. Pushing forward with 2 more albums and a handfull of splits of intense grandiose tripped-out sludge noise, 2013?s Sole Creation is an accomplishment of gigantic proportions, projecting the band onto a trajectory of altering perceptions of what is possible within the realms of heavy music. Epic and monstrous guitar work layered up with pounding drums and vocals varying from trad-doom warbling to soaring harmonised melodys to crushing death-sludge roars and blackened rasps, all of this gelling together into a head-banging, brain-devouring force, it’s easy to forget sometimes that this huge sound is coming from only 3 members.

Kongh have been busy since they last hit these shores with YOB / Dark Castle in Oct 2011. As well as the album, a slew of European dates and a recent outing supporting heavyweights Meshuggah across Scandinavia have landed the band in a place ready to destroy the senses of all who can squeeze into the Underworld to catch them. Get ready to work those necks, throw claws, pound fists, and yet still be taken to a place far outside of this reality in the same process… Kongh are hitting DesertFest to liquidise your friggin’ minds!

SOURVEIN OFFER UP THE DIRGE WINE AT DESERTFEST 2014

North Carolina’s legendary dirt-sludge outfit, led by T-Roy the revered reverend of the dirty south, are set to land back on these shores to spread the gospel of hard times, turbulent troubles and violent struggles of life that they have been laying down since way back in 1993.

There are those bands that create a swamp of dirge so thick that you feel the possibility there may actually be no escape or mental resolve before the final end-time. Sourvein are not just one of those bands, they are the goddam masters! Oozing a southern drawl and nomadic mysticism that invokes images in the mind of horror and fright, and that uncertain feeling of teetering on the very edge of sanity. It’s akin to full engulfment in a THC cloud from the opening bars right through a distorted mire of torment, and whisky fueled loathing, to the bitter lasting feedback of the destructive climax. Basically Sourvein don’t fuck around, they do away with the pleasantries and get straight to the fucking point.

Following from the past appearances and incantations of the band at The Underworld on the “No Sleep Til Halloween” tour of 2006 (alongside fellow DesertFest favourites Church Of Misery), and again in 2008 with Orange Goblin, we are proud to once again welcome back T-Roy and his current outfit of NoCal’s finest filthmonger’s to this fair city of ours. Catch the sludge veterans on the human_disease_promo / when planet’s stage, preferably near the peak of your intoxication limits… and get ready to Bangleaf mother fuckers!

GRIME BRING THE FILTH TO DESERTFEST 2014

The Adriatic coast of Italy isn’t one of first places that springs to mind when thinking of the nastiest kind of down-tuned, spite-filled, blackened sludge… but that’s exactly what Trieste’s Grime bring to the table in droves.

Whether it’s the bloody history of Northern Italy’s past, or possibly the isolation of their hometown region? It’s left to be guessed, but Grime produce a sound that is most certainly dragged from the depths of despair, suffering and antipathy, crawling with venomous snarls and screeching, this is dark and heavy music at it’s best! That is not to say however that 2013’s crushing (Billy Anderson mixed) LP “Deteriorate” is lacking in soul. Far from it. In fact the band’s second offering is rich in warm tone and offers finely crafted riffmanship within interspersed chunks of head nodding weedy vibes. The overall feel of this band is a slow, brooding type of heavy that has initiated the band into doom / sludge circles with an instantly high regard. A European tour last year with Cough and shows with Steven O’Malley, Ufomammut and a Russian stint with Suma have cemented the trio as being a strongly anticipated soundtrack to a slice of post-smoke negativity when they make their UK debut on the human_disease_promo / when planet’s collide stage at DesertFest in April next year.

We can’t wait… let the bad times roll on!!

POMBAGIRA TO AMP UP SPELLBINDING SEAS OF DOOM

Few bands are capable of delivering the palpable blow to the senses than the UK’s loudest duo Pete and Carolyn Hamilton-Giles drive with sheer ease.

Huge waves of riff repetition of early releases earned the originally London based two-piece a reputation for a one-of-kind uncompromising volume experience with their live shows across the UK and Europe over the course of the last 7 years, plus a short stint on the US north west coast. A more recent move to a rural base has given rise to the massive 60 / 70’s influenced opus of 2013’s Maleficia Lamiah, the opening title track of which is currently being streamed for free on their own Black Axis Records website. With artwork by Vic Singh (also responsible for Pink Floyd’s Piper At The Gates Of Dawn cover art) Pombagira have conjured up a unique journey of modern doom-psych fusion, and this latest offering has yet to be experienced in a live setting in the capital… Until now! Expect their full backline of vintage hardware to drive home the heavy tide of a new found acid-doom drenched sound over the audience in a thick veil of hypnotic low end magnificence.

War Wolf To Howl In Camden

Hailing from England’s South coast WAR WOLF are a beastily heavy 3-piece whose credentials speak firmly for themselves, (being two-thirds ex-Dopefight, one third Sea Bastard / ex-Jovian).

This year’s debut 8 track EP “Riding With Demons” destroyed minds across the board and gave birth to a much needed balls-out band on the UK scene. Vehemently anti-Thatcher and outspoken against hypocritical catholic dogma / neo-fascism and economic plight, War Wolf blast a concentrated stream of criticism and spite into their music. But… this band also has riffs! Big gnarly riffs mixed with a giant distorted tone. Yet perfectly disjointed and stabbingly sharp to the point, owing as much to their raw talent as a general distain for all conformist ideals.

Overall, War Wolf are a blistering D.I.Y. punk-sludge force, reminiscent at times of the likes of early Cavity. Naturally in-your-face but addictively watchable, duo-vocaled , ripping riff heavy, and a welcome breath of fresh air from the mundane. A killer 3 tracks on their side of a recent split with Sob Story (self-released through drummer Ant Cole’s own Headless Guru Records label) hint towards the immanent new full length as being an important and highly anticipated record. One that will most likely carry both the unexpected as well as another leap forward into a solid standing as a modern UK export with a giant middle finger to the hypocrisy around them, echoing the crust heavyweights of yesteryear, yet with a hardcore / doom fusion that ensures their ability to remain up there with some of the heaviest bands around today.

Definitely a kick to the head not to be missed on the Human_Disease_Promo / When Planet’s Collide stage at DesertFest 2014.

LIFER TO OPEN AT DESERTFEST 2014

Coming in somewhere between Sick Of It All and the mighty Down these Welsh masters of the raging riff (ft ex-axeman of UK stoner heroes Acrimony) are due to set off the Human_Disease_Promo / When Planets Collide stage at this year’s festival.

Having played triumphant sets at the likes of Hammerfest and Bloodstock (appearing not once but twice, playing to a strong crowd on their second stage in 2013), the band have also played storming shows supporting many fellow “Lifer’s” like Viking Skull and Orange Goblin. Their debut Album ‘Curse them Out’ was released to rave reviews and with 2014 seeing them disappear back in to the studio once again we hope that this year’s appearance at DesertFest may be a good chance for them to air some brand new material too. These boys are coming from the valleys to crush your tiny minds. Do not miss out!

http://www.thedesertfest.com/
https://www.facebook.com/humandiseasepromo
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon

Sourvein, “Dirty South” Live

Tags: , , , , , , ,

audiObelisk: Stream Grime’s Sludge-Encrusted Deteriorate in its Entirety

Posted in audiObelisk on June 12th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Some records just make you feel dirty, and Italian sludge trio Grime are nothing if not aptly named. The Trieste three-piece are preparing to release their debut LP, Deteriorate, on Forcefield Records and Mordgrimm Records, and it’s an album of unrelenting viciousness, plodding out 40 minutes of searing nastiness that makes stylistic kin of Iron Monkey and Grief without losing sight entirely of the EyeHateGod swagger in its slower movements. Come to think of it, even the fast parts here are pretty slow.

If you want to get some clue as to Grime‘s perspective, take a look at the first two song titles: “Burning Down the Cross,” “Pouring out the Hatred.” The two actions could more or less stand as an analogy for the sonic approach on Deteriorate, the lung-filling mud of which gives no letup across the album’s course. Set to be issued on LP via Forcefield and CD through Mordgrimm, the record makes a show of its disdain, seething contempt running in the suitably hopeless “Giving Up” and the blistering “Pills.” The steadily declining riffs of Marco lead the way for his throat-ripping screams to follow, and drummer Chris and bassist Paulo lock in grooving drudgery befitting the sludgy, hate-fueled atmosphere.

This is demonstrated best, perhaps, on the closer “Idiot God,” which makes its bones on an ultra-simple riff and stomp, Chris adding a few extra snare hits here and there but otherwise no flourish whatsoever, so that even as the song picks up at the end, there’s no discernible shift from the onslaught, and Grime remain as heavy and extreme as ever as the album marches out on more screams and feedback-soaked riffing. True to the graphic nature of the Deteriorate cover art, Grime are an aural evisceration, and though it should go without saying at this point, not at all for the faint of heart.

Heads will roll, mellows will be harshed. Behold Deteriorate in full:

Here is the Music Player. You need to installl flash player to show this cool thing!

Grime‘s Deteriorate is coming soon on Mordgrimm Records and Forcefield Records. In addition to the CD release, the 180 gram vinyl will include a limited run of red and purple. More info and pre-orders below:

Grime on Thee Facebooks

Grime on Bandcamp

Forcefield Records

Mordgrimm Records

Tags: , , , , , , ,