Posted in Whathaveyou on June 1st, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Am I surprised that a larger, commercially-minded label like Century Media would pick up a band like Swedish classic heavy rockers Horisont? A little, but maybe I shouldn’t be. At this point, Horisont, who released their fourth album, Odyssey (review here), last year on Rise Above, are mark the third time the long-running imprint has delved into the heavy underground in the last year-plus, after pickups of The Shrine (from Tee Pee) and Hexvessel (from Svart). Both of those earlier deals seem to have worked out well for the bands as well as for the label, so why not continue the thread?
Horisont seem to hint that a new single this fall will precede the release of their next long-player in 2017. More on that as I hear it.
From the PR wire:
HORISONT sign worldwide deal with Century Media Records
On the eve of their 10 year anniversary, and after headlining a special show at the Göteborg Rockfest, Swedish hardrock band HORISONT are pleased to announce the next chapter within their illustrious career by putting pen to paper and confirming a worldwide deal with Century Media Records. Formed in 2006, HORISONT have spent the last decade establishing themselves within the Scandinavian retro-rock revival scene, along with peers such as Witchcraft, Graveyard etc, thus creating a sound that takes the foundations of the movement while injecting hearty doses of boogie blues, infusing prog complexities and finishing it all off with that good ole NWOBHM swagger!
After releasing their fourth full length album entitled Odyssey in late 2015, HORISONT completed a 6 week tour across Europe with Kadavar along with their new label mates The Shrine, which helped gain further attention from Century Media, and now before the ink has dried on their brand new deal, HORISONT are bust writing the follow up to Odyssey and plan to enter the studio this summer with the plan to unleash another album guaranteed to get heads banging in 2017!
The band comments: “We are super excited to be signing with the mighty and highly acclaimed Century Media and look very much forward to be working together. Right now we are in the most creative era of this bands existence and this will spill right over into the new album we are currently working on. The first taster off the new stuff will hit the streets by the fall and we’re pretty sure it will electrocute your soul. In the meantime – see you on the road!”
Jens Prueter, head Of A&R Century Media Europe, comments: “I first saw HORISONT at the Rock Hard Festival in 2013 where they turned the amphitheater into a sea of head banging and beer raising. Seeing them again last year, I was impressed how they took their retro influences and progressed into a league of their own. These guys are as tight as their trousers. Looking forward to join their journey! Thanks to all of the guys and the equally amazing Peter from Crusher Records who discovered them first and is still the captain of the ship!”
Stay tuned for more news about the recording of the new album, further live appearances as well as the release of a brand new single before the sun sets on 2016!
Horisont is: Axel – Vocals Charles – Guitar Magnus – Bass Pontus – Drums
Discography: Två Sidor Av Horisonten (2009) Second Assault (2012) Time Warriors (2013) Odyssey (2015)
Posted in Reviews on September 30th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Cruising right along with the Fall 2015 Quarterly Review. I hope you’ve been digging it so far. There’s still much more to come, and I’ve spaced things out so that it’s not like all the really killer stuff was in the first day. That’s not so much to draw people in with bigger names as to get a good mix of styles to keep me from going insane. 10 records is a lot to go through if you’re hearing the same thing all the time. Today, as with each day this week, I’m glad to be able to change things up a bit as we make our way through. Let’s get to it.
Fall 2015 Quarterly Review #21-30:
Horisont, Odyssey
Aside from earning immediate points by sticking the 10-minute title-track at the front of their 62-minute fourth album, Swedish mustache rockers Horisont add intrigue to Odyssey (out on Rise Above) via the acquisition of journeyman guitarist Tom Sutton (The Order of Israfel, ex-Church of Misery). Their mission? To rock ‘70s arena melodies and grandiose vibes while keeping the affair tight enough so they don’t come across as completely ridiculous in the process. They’ve had three records to get it together before this one, so that they’d succeed isn’t necessarily much of a surprise, but the album satisfies nonetheless, cuts like “Blind Leder Blind” departing the sci-fi thematics of the opener for circa-1975 vintage loyalism of a different stripe, while “Back on the Streets” is pure early Scorpions strut, the band having found their own niche within crisp execution of classic-sounding grooves that seem to have a vinyl hiss no matter their source.
I’ll make no bones whatsoever about being partial to the work of both Blackwolfgoat – the solo experimental vehicle of Boston-based guitarist Darryl Shepard – and Larman Clamor – the solo-project of Hamburg-based graphic artist Alexander von Wieding – so to find them teamed up for a split 7” on H42 Records is something of a special thrill. Shepard’s inclusion, “Straphanger,” continues to push the thread between building layers of guitar on top of each other and songwriting that the last Blackwolfgoat full-length, Drone Maintenance (review here), found him exploring, while Larman Clamor’s “Drone Monger” is an alternate version from what appeared on last year’s Beetle Crown and Steel Wand (review here) and “Fo’ What You Did” digs deep into the swampy psych-blues that von Wieding has done so well developing for the last half-decade or so in the project’s tenure. My only complaint? No collaboration between the two sides. Would love to hear what Shepard and von Wieding could do in a cross-Atlantic two-piece.
II is the aptly-titled second full-length from Russian heavy psych instrumentalists Matushka, who jam kosmiche across its four component tracks and round out by diving headfirst into the acid with “Drezina,” a 20-minute pulsation from some distant dimension that gives sounds like Earthless if they made it up on the spot, peppering shred-ola leads with no shortage of effects swirl. In comparison, “As Bartenders and Bouncers Dance” feels positively plotted, but it, “The Acid Curl’s Dance” before and the especially dreamy “Meditation,” which follows, all have their spontaneous-sounding elements. For guitarist Timophey Goryashin, bassist Maxim Zhuravlev (who seems to since be out of the band) and drummer Konstantin Kotov to even sustain this kind of lysergic flow, they need to have a pretty solid chemistry underlying the material, and they do. I don’t know whether Matushka’s II will change the scope of heavy psychedelia, but they put their stamp on the established parameters here and bring an edge of individuality in moments of arrangement flourish — acoustics, synth, whatever it might be — where a lot of times that kind of thing is simply lost in favor of raw jamming.
If a pilot is used in television to test whether or not a show works, then Tuna de Tierra’s EPisode I: Pilot, would seem to indicate similar ends. A three-song first outing from the Napoli outfit, it coats itself well in languid heavy psychedelic vibing across “Red Sun” (the opener and longest track at 8:25; immediate points), “Ash” (7:28) and the particularly dreamy “El Paso de la Tortuga,” which closes out at 4:08 and leaves the listener wanting to hear more of what Alessio de Cicco (guitar/vocals) and Luciano Mirra (bass) might be able to concoct from their desert-style influences. There’s patience to be learned in some of their progressions, and presumably at some point they’ll need to pick up a drummer to replace Jonathan Maurano, who plays here and seems to since be out of the band, but especially as their initial point of contact with planet earth, EPisode I: Pilot proves immersive and a pleasure to get lost within, and that’s enough for the moment.
Much of what one might read concerning North Carolinian trio MAKE and their second album, The Golden Veil, seems to go out of its way to point out the individual take they’re bringing to the established parameters of post-metal. I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but part of that has to be sheer critical fatigue at the thought of another act coming along having anything in common with Isis while at the same time, not wanting to rag on MAKE as though their work were without value of its own, which at this point an Isis comparison dogwhistles. MAKE’s The Golden Veil successfully plays out an atmospherically intricate, engaging linear progression across its seven tracks, from the cut-short intro “I was Sitting Quietly, Peeling back My Skin” through the atmospheric sludge tumult of “The Absurdist” and into the patient post-rock melo-drone of “In the Final Moments, Uncoiling.” Yes, parts of it are familiar. Parts of a lot of things are familiar. Some of it sounds like Isis. That’s okay.
To an extent, the reputation of Belgium instru-crushers SardoniS precedes them, and as such I can’t help but listen to “The Coming of Khan,” which launches their third album, III (out via Consouling Sounds), and not be waiting for the explosion into tectonic riffing and massive-sounding gallop. Still the duo of drummer Jelle Stevens and guitarist Roel Paulussen, SardoniS offer up five tracks of sans-vocals, Surrounded by Thieves-style thrust, a cut like “Roaming the Valley” summarizing some of the best elements of what they’ve done across the span of splits with Eternal Elysium and Drums are for Parades, as well as their two prior full-lengths, 2012’s II and 2010’s SardoniS (review here), in its heft and its rush. A somewhat unanticipated turn arrives with 11:46 closer “Forward to the Abyss,” which though it still hits its standard marks, also boasts both lengthy atmospheric sections at the front and back and blastbeaten extremity between. Just when you think you know what to expect.
With their debut long-player, Barcelona trio Lewis and the Strange Magics answer the promise of their 2014 Demo (review here) in setting a late-‘60s vibe to modern cultish interpretation, post-Uncle Acid and post-Ghost (particularly so on “How to be You”) but no more indebted to one or the other than to themselves, which is as it should be. Issued via Soulseller Records, Velvet Skin isn’t afraid to dive into kitsch, and that winds up being a big part of the charm of songs like “Female Vampire” and “Golden Threads,” but it’s ultimately the chemistry of the organ-inclusive trio that makes the material hold up, as well as the swaggering rhythms of “Cloudy Grey Cube” and “Nina (Velvet Skin),” which is deceptively modern in its production despite such a vintage methodology. The guitar and keys on that semi-title-track seem to speak to a classic progressive edge burgeoning within Lewis and the Strange Magics’ approach, and I very much hope that’s a path they continue to walk.
Basking in a style they call “oceanic rock,” newcomer German trio Moewn unveil their first full-length, Acqua Alta, via Pink Tank Records in swells of post-metallic undulations that wear their neo-progressive influences on their sleeve. Instrumental for the duration, the three-piece tracked the album in 2014 about a year after first getting together, but the six songs have a cohesive, thought-out feel to their peaks and valleys – “Packeis” perhaps most of all – that speaks to their purposeful overall progression. Atmospherically, it feels like Moewn are still searching for what they want to do with this sound, but they have an awful lot figured out up to this point, whether it’s the nodding wash of airy guitar and fluid heft of groove that seems to push “Dunkelmeer” along or second cut “Katamaran,” which if it weren’t for the liquefied themes of the art and their self-applied genre tag, I’d almost say sounded in its more spacious stretches like desert rock à la Yawning Man.
Since their first album, 2008’s Lemuria (review here), it has been increasingly difficult to pin Peruvian outfit El Hijo de la Aurora to one style or another. Drawing from doom, heavy rock, drone and psychedelic elements, they seem to push outward cosmically into something that’s all and none of them at the same time on their third album, The Enigma of Evil (released by Minotauro Records), the core member Joaquín Cuadra enlisting the help of a host of others in executing the seven deeply varied tracks, including Indrayudh Shome of continually underrated experimentalists Queen Elephantine on the acoustic-led “The Awakening of Kosmos” and the penultimate chug-droner “The Advent of Ahriman.” Half a decade after the release of their second album, Wicca (review here), in 2010, El Hijo de la Aurora’s work continues to feel expansive and ripe for misinterpretation, finding weight in atmosphere as much as tone and breadth enough to surprise with how claustrophobic it can at times seem.
Dallas outfit Hawk vs. Dove recorded Divided States in the same studio as their self-titled 2013 debut (review here) and the two albums both have black and white line-drawn artwork from Larry Carey, so it seems only fitting to think of the new release as a follow-up to the first. It is fittingly expansive, culling together elements of ‘90s noise, post-grunge indie (ever wondered what Weezer would sound like heavy? Check “X”), black metal (“Burning and Crashing”), desert rock (“PGP”) and who the hell knows what else into a mesh of styles that not only holds up but feels progressed from the first time out and caps with an 11-minute title-track that does even more to draw the various styles together into a cohesive, singular whole. All told, Divided States is 38 minutes of blinding turns expertly handled and impressive scope trod over as though it ain’t no thing, just another day at the office. It’s the kind of record that’s so good at what it does that other bands should hear it and be annoyed.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 16th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Preceded by the 2014 single “Break the Limit,” the video for which you can see below, the fourth full-length from Swedish trad heavy rockers Horisont is titled Odyssey and it will be out on Sept. 18 via Rise Above Records. That single will also be on the album, the details and righteous artwork for which have just been unveiled. It’s their first record with guitarist Tom Sutton (The Order of Israfel, ex-Church of Misery) in the lineup, so there’s an added level of intrigue there, but at this point the band are pretty reliable for an exciting meld of classic rock and metal, so if Odyssey is business as usual for them, that’s just fine.
One thing I found particularly interesting in the PR wire info below is when drummer Pontus Jordan mentions that the artwork tells the story of the album. I’d be very interested to know what that story is, given the following:
HORISONT to Release Odyssey September 18th on Rise Above Records
Artwork and Track Listing Revealed
Big of moustache and tight of trouser, HORISONT drink from the bottomless wellspring of inspiration that’s been bubbling up through the layers of time since the birth of the blues – or Blue Oyster Cult at the very least. Theirs is a sound that harks back to the dawn of the 70s, when a new clutch of heads decided it was time to harsh the 60s hippies’ mellow and paint it black; those years when the twin spirit of hard rock and prog rose to redefine sound.
This quintet’s rock trip might be retro but their songwriting is timeless; a good melody lives forever and HORISONT have songs in abundance. New album Odyssey is exactly as its title suggests: an epic journey into the known. A sonic trip. A mighty voyage of sound. You could even call their fourth full release a concept album – although they themselves prefer “space saga”. Either way it’s a brave band who open their album with a ten minute-long track, yet on the album’s title track HORISONT dive straight into the deep end, delivering space-rock with all the dexterity and deftness of the very best prog rock’s finest, such as early Yes or Kansas.
Odyssey was recorded in Studio Kust in Gothenburg with producer by Henrik Magnusson. It was, the band explain their most harmonious creative period ever.”No HORISONT recording session has ever been this good,” admits Delborg. “We had worked with Henrik on our ‘Break The Limit’ single and knew that he was our guy. All the basics where recorded live in just a couple of days. Then we spent a lot of time on the intricate details.”
The artwork for Odyssey harks back to both classic sci-fi paperbacks and prime prog rock albums of the 70s. “We wanted a slightly disturbed, Asimov-esque science fiction cover that told the story of Odyssey,” says drummer Pontus Jordan. “Tom knew this guy who was really in to old science fiction stuff and he had done the cover for The Order Of Israfel. So we meet the guy and it was the one and only Henrik Jacobsen. And he really nailed it.”
Formed in 2006, HORISONT have spent close to a decade kicking ass, taking names and establishing themselves at the forefront of the Scandinavian retro rock revival (see also Witchcraft, Graveyard etc), injecting their sound with early-Status Quo-styled boogie blues, prog complexities, NWOBHM swagger and fire-spitting choruses set to scorch the eyebrows of the first ten rows. This is music made without irony, unafraid to acknowledge an allegiance to past greats such as Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Cactus, Thin Lizzy, the aforementioned Yes andJudas Priest.
Their first two albums Tva Sidor Av Horisonten(2009) and Second Assault (2012) earned HORISONT a special place in the rock underground, while Time Warriors (2013) was a no-holds barred demonstration of classic rock and metal combined with a fearlessly inventive streak, and took them to a wider international audience. And now comes Odyssey, a bold leap into more expansive and ethereal musical territory. It’s the band’s first to feature native Australian and former Church Of Misery guitarist Tom Sutton.
The new line-up change sees a definite gear-shift too. Here HORISONT play as if their lives depend upon it: duelling guitars do battle in a endlessly thrilling interplay over a rhythm section that gallops like wild horses across the frozen tundra. And cutting through the middle, Axel Söderberg’s howling heartfelt vocals delivered with a space-age sense of soulfulness.
Strap in, sit back and let the Odyssey begin….
Odyssey Track Listing: 1. Odyssey 2. Break The Limit 3. Blind Leder Blind 4. Bad News 5. Light My Way 6. The Night Stalker 7. Flying 8. Back On The Streets 9. Beyond The Sun 10. Red Light 11. StÑder Brinner 12. Timmarna
HORISONT Lineup: Axel Söderberg – vocals Charlie Van Loo – guitar Tom Sutton – guitar Magnus Delborg – bass Pontus Jordan – drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 29th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
Swedish five-piece Horisont have been announced for Freak Valley 2015. The retro heavy rockers join an already massive bill headlined by Earthless and Goatsnake and featuring Egypt, Sigiriya and many others alongside whom the kickass classic-style riffing of Horisont should feel right at home. Their latest single, “Break the Limit,” is out now on Rise Above and has produced a not-surprisingly-grainy video for the A-side that you can see below.
Word came the other day they’ll also take part in Heavy Days in Doomtown, so at least we know they’ll be busy. Freak Valley 2015 is set for June 4-6 in Netphen, Germany. Here’s the announcement:
Hey Freaks! We have a little X-mas present for you!!
Finest proto metal riffs and enviable moustaches by Swedish retro rockers HORISONT – they will play Freak Valley Festival 2015!!
Real rock‘n’roll cannot be faked. It is the immortal celebration of prized atavistic values – power and volume, sweat and adrenalin, uncompromising good times and the invigorating squall of past, present and future colliding. Those with the artistry and soul required to make music that stirs the blood will never stop chasing that distant horizon, and so Horisont have both the name and the know-how to blow minds and disperse life’s oppressive clouds. They are real rock’n’roll incarnate: an exhilarating blast of sonic euphoria, custom built to raise spirits and quicken the pulse of any right-thinking rock or metal fan.
Since forming in 2006, this Swedish quintet have steadily established themselves as one of Europe’s premier underground Rock bands.
Their first two albums made it plain that the band have tapped directly into the heart of heaviness and guitar-wielding derring-do. Now, with their latest masterpiece, the vividly realised Time Warriors, Horisont are raising their game, refining and re-defining themselves and leaving the competition spluttering in the dust.
Cover art by Jo Riou Graphic Designer // Headbang Design
FREAK VALLEY FESTIVAL – 4th-5th-6th June 2015
FVF tickets are selling like Blues Pills vinyls already – get yours in time – the first 3 editions have been sold out early!! We are selling tix to all parts of this planet!!
Goatsnake – Earthless – The Vintage Caravan – Electric Moon – Horisont – Gas Giant – Monkey3 – Danava – Egypt – Siena Root – Bröselmaschine – Sigiryia – Kamchatka – Purson – Dead Man – Freedom Hawk – Mountain Witch – Tuber – Valley of the Sun – Tombstones – more tba soon!!
Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 7th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
With classic metal riffs and enviable moustaches, Swedish retro rockers Horisont have unveiled a new video for the A-side of their Rise Above single, “Break the Limit.” The clip basks in classic VHS-style graininess, reminding of something Motörhead or Scorpions might have had out, and that suits the song itself well, with its immediately memorable hook and 8-track-ready sensibility. Horisont are on tour in Europe now, and the 7″ for Break the Limit is available in a handful of different varieties with amazing not-Gimli cover art, all of which are sure to be gone by the time this post goes live. Because that’s how it goes, man. You snooze, you hope for a repress.
If Horisont‘s stage left guitarist looks familiar, it’s because it’s Tom Sutton, who took the place of Kristofer Möller this summer. Sutton is probably best known as the former boogie-bringer for Church of Misery, but also made a debut this year on Napalm with the new band The Order of Israfel. I guess you never know where he’ll show up next.
In case you’re looking to get down:
Horisont, “Break the Limit” official video
Directed, shot & edited by Magnus Delborg & Christian Hillén / B-TV Productions.
Swedish hard-rocking classic metallers return with Break the Limit, a stop-gap release between albums. Following the success of third album, Time Warriors, the titans do not hold back with this relentless, anthemic slab of full on heavy metal glory.
Backed with the synthesizer enhanced Yellow Blues, it’s a good indication of how far these guys have come and what a monstrous prosposition their fourth studio album is looking to be.
Track Listing 1. Break The Limit 2. Yellow Blues
Colours 100 x Crystal Clear 200 x White 200 x Trans. Green (200 of these should have gone direct to the band, we will have 25) 200 x Purple 500 x Black 200 x Red
See Horisont Live across Europe!
NOV 07 – AT, Neubichl, Baamhakke NOV 08 – DE, Lichtenfels, Paunchy Cats NOV 09 – SI, Nova Gorica, Mostovna NOV 10 – IT, Milan, Lo Fi Club NOV 11 – AT, Innsbruck, Weekender NOV 12 – CH, Winterthur, Gaswerk NOV 13 – FR, Paris, Glazart NOV 14 – UK, Pwhelli, Hard Rock Hell NOV 15 – UK, Glasgow, Classic Grand NOV 16 – UK, London, Underworld NOV 17 – UK, Manchester, Roadhouse NOV 18 – UK, Birmingham, Oobleck NOV 19 – BE, Gent, Decadance NOV 20 – DE, Dusseldorf, Pitcher NOV 21 – NL, Den Bosch, W 2 NOV 22 – DE, Kassel, Hellroom
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 29th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
You know what they say: “Blink and you’ll miss a shit-ton of adds to the Roadburn lineup.” Okay, they don’t say that, but I do. I had already planned on putting up the sundry bands that joined Roadburn 2014’s impossibly-large roster yesterday, and then today they also put on Harsh Toke‘s first European appearance, and well, hard to say no to that. There’s a lot to dig through here, so I won’t delay.
Skateboards, palm trees, psychedelic bands: these are enduring iconic symbols of California. Whether it’s pavement or guitars, the state has a rich and colorful history when it comes to shredding. Ready for the next chapter? Meet San Diego’s Harsh Toke!
Emerging from the same scene as Earthless, these four dudes share the mighty trio’s predilection for non-stop guitar-heavy psych rock awesomeness. They even have a professional skater in their ranks, too. Justin “Figgy” Figueroa’s searing guitar is alive with reverb and delay, climbing the wall of sound like some fast-growing new hallucinogenic strain of bougainvillea.
Meanwhile, Richie Belton’s grooving bass line dives into the rip current of Austin “Buya” Ayub’s smashing drums as Gabe Messer (“I’m on the space key,” he said by way of introduction in a video interview with Front magazine) sends one wave after another into the mix.
Tee Pee Records took notice and released the band’s invigorating debut full-length, Light Up and Live, which not only put Harsh Toke in excellent company label-wise but also earned them a spot on many Best Of 2013 lists. Recorded by Astra’s Brian Ellis and mastered by Carl Saff (Earthless, OFF!, Unsane), you might also recall that Light Up and Live was Roadburn’s Album of the Day on Friday, November 1st.
So far, US audiences have had a chance to trip out on some captivating Harsh Toke gigs. This year will be Europe’s turn. One of the enduring hallmarks of the Roadburn Festival is the incredible instrumental magic that happens on stage — Earthless in 2008 and Heavy Jam in 2012 are just two stellar examples. With that in mind, we are ultra stoked to offer Harsh Toke a residency to play their first-ever European shows exclusively at Roadburn Festival 2014 on Saturday, April 12th and Sunday, April 13th (the traditional Afterburner event) at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Traditionally, Roadburn audiences have shown a voracious appetite for high grade spaced out jams. Harsh Toke promises to deliver a cosmic buffet that will satisfy. Get ready to feast on some very tasty sounds!
Horisont To Return To Roadburn Festival 2014
Sweden’s Horisont will return to Roadburn after their highly acclaimed 2012 performance. This time, the band will be playing Cul de Sac, the friendly music cafe located across from the 013 venue, in Tilburg, The Netherlands on Saturday, April 12th. Since they were on tour with Scorpion Child, we eagerly tabbed them play the 2014 festival.
If you are an avid heavy 70s aficionado, or a lover of supreme hardrock, you will definitely dig Horisont. The band excels at crafting old school, bluesy hardrock, and on their latest album, Time Warrior, released on Rise Above Records, Horisont even incorporates heavy metal, while remorselessly going for the throat. The fact that the lyrics are sung in Swedish and English adds to band’s appeal.
Continue to stake their claim that Horisont may be the best new talent to emerge from the ever-fertile Swedish rock scene, the anticipation for their Roadburn appearance will be massive. Make sure to be there early, as Cul de Sac can only host 175 people.
Jackson Firebird To Deliver Rugged, Explosive, Full-Filt Aussie Rock ‘n Roll at Roadburn 2014
Aussie full-tilt garage rockers, Jackson Firebird, will bring their mightly wallop to Roadburn Festival 2014 on Saturday, April 12th at Cul de Sac in Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Delivering their volatile live power to much acclaim Down Under, the duo of Dale Hudak and Brendan Harvey, will also leave Roadburn wild-eyed and breathless the moment their growling guitars, dirty riffs, and super tight beats kick you in the teeth.
The duo’s high octane debut album, Cock Rockin’, is one helluva wild ride — you want rock with no shame, stripped back, simple, dirty and in-your-face? Jackson Firebird has it in spades. Be forwarned, as Hudak and Harvey go straight at it!
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.
Evil Invaders To Kick Ass at Roadburn Festival’s Hardrock Hideout on Wednesday, April 9th
In addition to Death Alley‘s gnarly shake appeal we’ll crossover into the retro-thrash movement as well at Roadburn Festival‘s traditional Hardrock Hideout on Wednesday, April 9th at Cul de Sac in Tilburg, The Netherlands.
Belgium’s Evil Invaders offer a speedy but melodic old school rip fest, forging 80-ish inspired (thrash)metal along the lines of Exciter, Exodus, Agent Steel, Mercyful Fate and WASP among others. It’s really impressive to see these kids galloping away, pedal to the metal, rockin’ their denim-clad asses and sounding like the real deal from the early eighties!
The relentless neck wreckers of Evil Invaders simply kick ass and should have you headbanging and air guitaring to bring you back to those fast rude speed ‘n’ roll heavy metal days!
Just do yourself a favor and thrash until you crash at Roadburn’s Hardrock Hideout. Doors open at 8pm and admission is FREE!
Roadburn Festival 2014 – Cul de Sac: Atlantis and Yama To Play On Saturday, April 12th
Next to the announcement of Ggu:ll, Mühr, Seirom and Ortega, we’re continuing to showcase Dutch bands that have their own vibe while at the same time possessing a certain Roadburn flair, by giving Utrecht‘s Atlantis and Tilburg‘s very own Yama, the opportunity to connect with the international Roadburn community on Saturday, April 12th at Cul de Sac in Tilburg, The Netherlands.
With three critically acclaimed albums, Carpe Omnium, Mistress Of Ghosts, and Omens, plus their intense live shows, Atlantis has become a respected name in the post-metal / rock scene.
Their latest release, Omens, is an intense, engaging, bleak, and heavy affair, which compelled us to let Atlantis return to Roadburn Festival, after performing at the 2012 Afterburner.
While all music is written by Gilson Heitinga, Atlantis live is a full blown band. By creating a deafening wall of sound with their mixture of noise, doom, ambient, industrial, electronica, and metal, Atlantis tears down the walls between these genres, leaving their audiences in a state of awe.
Named after the Tibetan God of Death, Yama built a reputation as a solid live band over the last couple of years, and played festivals like Yellowstock and Freak Valley. Currently working on their debut full-length, Yama deliver heavy, fuzzed out stoner rock, underpinned with massive grooves — think Goatsnake meets Graveyard with occasional High on Fire type riffs thrown in for good measure!
Roadburn Festival 2014 will run for four days from Thursday, April 10th to Sunday, April 13th 2014 at the 013 venue, Het Patronaat and Cul de Sac 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 actionHERE!
Harsh Toke, Live at Unit B Skate Park, Santa Ana, CA, Dec. 2012
There was a point during the making of this podcast when I stepped back for a second realized, “This is getting really heavy.” It kind of happened out of the blue, but it definitely happened, and though the thought occurred to me to maybe pull it back and get into some more rocking stuff in the second hour again, I decided instead to just run with it and have fun and go as all-out ridiculously heavy as I could think of. That’s when we get to Beast in the Field‘s 22-minute “Oncoming Avalanche.” I know I’ve had them in before, but if you’re going all out in 2013 releases, that’s where you’re gonna end up.
Plus, I figured there’s plenty of rocking stuff up front, starting with At Devil Dirt and the subsequent riff pushers in the first hour, and the whole thing rounds out with the psych-hypnosis of The Cosmic Dead, so though it’s far out by the conclusion, it does manage to come back from the ultra-weighted tones somewhat. Screw it. I was having a good time stringing together heavy songs. The bottom line of this whole thing is for it to be fun, and I was having fun, so there you go.
I hope you have fun with it too. Once again, we come in just under two hours with a slew of newer cuts and some stuff from earlier this year that maybe got missed along the way. Considering there’s so much pummel, it flows pretty well.
First Hour:
At Devil Dirt, “Don’t See You Around” from Plan B: Sin Revolucion No Hay Evolucion (2013)
Pigs, “Elo Kiddies” from Gaffe (2013)
Mutoid Man, “Scavengers” from Helium Head (2013)
Viper Fever, “Summer Time” from Super Heavy Garage EP (2013)
Sons of Huns, “I’m Your Dad” from Banishment Ritual (2013)
Blackout, “Seven” from We Are Here (2013)
Horisont, “Backstreet” from Time Warriors (2013)
Old Man Wizard, “If Only” from Unfavorable (2013)
Mother Susurrus, “Anagnorisis” from Maahaavaa (2013)
Coma Wall, “You are My Death” from Wood and Wire Split (2013)
Mollusk, “Hollowed” from Colony of Machines (2013)
Sea of Bones, “Failure of Light” from The Earth Wants us Dead (2013)
Second Hour:
Corrections House, “Dirt Poor and Mentally Ill” from Last City Zero (2013)
Rosetta, “Myo/The Miraculous” from The Anasthete (2013)
Beast in the Field, “Oncoming Avalanche” from The Sacred Above, the Sacred Below (2013)
The Cosmic Dead, “Djamba” from The Cosmic Dead/Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Split (2013)
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 22nd, 2013 by JJ Koczan
I really, really don’t have a spare grand-plus lying around at this point, but golly that’s a cool lineup posted for Stoned from the Underground this year in Erfurt, Germany. It seems Lowrider‘s reunion — they were a highlight of the London Desertfest in a one-two punch of Swedish awesomeness completed by a set from Dozer immediately following — continues, which is unmistakably good news, and along with the likes of Earthless, Acid King, Troubled Horse, The Gates ofSlumber, Pelicanand the many others listed below, it seems like it’s going to be a killer weekend July 11-13. The kind of weekend I’d like very much to see, let’s say with a camera and laptop in tow. One of these years, maybe.
Indulge a bit of escapism with me, won’t you?
Welcome to the Mother of all German Stoner Rock Meetings
July 11th , 12th & 13th – Alperstedter Lake near ERFURT
Festival founded in 2001 and located in the very geographical center of Germany, in the area of Erfurt (Thuringen): Stoned From The Underground grew from a one day indoor event with 400 visitors in 2001 to a 3 days outdoor event with 3000 visitors last year !
Located a few kilometers away from the city, in a nest of nature bordered by the Alperstedter Lake, the festival is the perfect location for a very first relaxing summer weekend !
Whether you want to sit in the grass, puffing up clouds of smoke, sipping a beer while checking out the best Rock & Stoner acts of the moment,
Or whether you want to chill out laying on your belly on the sand of the beach with your toes cooling down in Lake’s water…..
STONED FROM THE UNDERGROUND is the place where all your dreams will come true.
LINE- UP 2013: EARTHLESS ( Usa) MUSTASCH (Swe) POTHEAD (Ger)
TRUCKFIGHTERS (Swe) THE GATES OF SLUMBER (Usa) BEEN OBSCENE (At) LOWRIDER (Swe) HORISONT(Swe) TROUBLED HORSE (Swe) ISOPTERA (Ger) LORD VICAR (Fin) MIRROR QUEEN (Usa) ACID KING (Usa) PELICAN (Usa) THE OPERATORS (Ger) THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX (Usa) FIVE HORSE JOHNSON (Usa) SARDONIS (Bel) HYNE (Ger) DEVILLE (Swe) BLACK BOMBAIM (Por) HERKULES PROPAGANDA (Ger) TRECKER (Ger)
