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Geezer and Isaak to Release Interstellar Cosmic Blues & The Riffalicious Stoner Dudes Split

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 22nd, 2024 by JJ Koczan

Geezer and Isaak split LP is an easy win for the universe. It’s out May 17, and I feel like that’s probably all I need to say, except to point out that I’m glad Geezer‘s “Little Voices” is coming out. That song was recorded when the Kingston, New York, trio were in Woodstock to track their 2022 album, Stoned Blues Machine (review here). On side B, Genoa, Italy’s Isaak — who were all-caps on their 2023 album, Hey (review here), which was their first full-length in eight years — have three tracks featuring collaborations with members of Liquido di MorteNerve and Ufomammut and they specifically promise an experimentalist ethic that is sure to expand their own sonic palette. Given the righteously cumbersome title Interstellar Cosmic Blues and the Riffalicious Stoner Dudes, the split already carries a lighthearted and unpretentious vibe that should fit nicely in the respective catalogs of both outfits.

First word came down the PR wire a bit ago, and you can stream “Little Voices” down at the bottom. Preorders and whatnot included:

geezer isaak interstellar cosmic blues and the riffalicious stoner dudes

Heavy Psych Sounds to announce split album GEEZER // ISAAK – Interstellar Cosmic Blues & The Riffalicious Stoner Dudes – presale starts TODAY !!!

Today we are stoked to start the presale of a brand new split album featuring the US blues rockers GEEZER and the Italian heavy stoners ISAAK.

The release is called INTERSTELLAR COSMIC BLUES & THE RIFFALICIOUS STONER DUDES !!!

RELEASE DATE: MAY 17th

ALBUM PRESALE: https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm#HPS306

USA PRESALE: https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm

RELEASED IN
10 ULTRA LTD TEST PRESS VINYL
100 ULTRA LTD COLOR IN COLOR TRANSP. BACK. RED/SPLATTER BLUE VINYL
350 LTD BLUE VINYL
BLACK VINYL
DIGIPAK
DIGITAL

TRACKLIST
SIDE A
Acid Veins (Geezer)
Little Voices (Geezer)
Mercury Rising (Geezer)
Oneirophrenia (Geezer)

SIDE B
The Whale (Isaak)
Crisis (Isaak)
Flat Earth (Isaak)

ALBUM DESCRIPTION

GEEZER

As the “Interstellar Cosmic Blues” half of this EP, we consider these songs to be some of the best that we’ve produced. Songs that could all be “singles” all on their own. And they better be because “The Riffalicious Stoner Dudes” brought some savage riffage of their own! Put it all together with amazing artwork by Mirkow Gastow and release it on Heavy Psych Sounds, the BEST record label on the planet… and you’ve got all the makings of a great record! A modern classic right out of the box. Dig it!

Songs 1 & 4 Recorded and Mixed by David Andersen at the Artfarm (Accord, New York)
Songs 2 & 3 Recorded and Mixed by Chris Bittner at the Applehead Recording (Woodstock, New York)
All Songs Mastered by Scott Craggs

GEEZER are:
Pat Harrington – vocals/guitar
Richie Touseull – bass
Steve Markota – drums

ISAAK

Art comes from change and experimentation.
These three songs are exactly that.
Three songs, three different souls.

This recording session is born from the collaboration of some friends invited by the band, and these are:

Fabio Cuomo from Gotho & Liquido di Morte – THE WHALE
Fabio Palombi from Nerve & Burn the Ocean – CRISIS
And last but not the least, Levre from Ufomammut – FLAT EARTH

ISAAK is
Giacomo Boeddu – vocals
Francesco Raimondi – guitars
Gabriele Carta – bass
Davide Foccis – drums

https://www.instagram.com/geezertown/
https://www.facebook.com/geezerNY/
http://geezertown.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/isaakmusic/
https://www.facebook.com/isaakband
http://isaakmusic.bandcamp.com/

heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/
https://www.instagram.com/heavypsychsounds_records/

Geezer, “Little Voices”

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Quarterly Review: ISAAK, Iron Void, Dread Witch, Tidal Wave, Guided Meditation Doomjazz, Cancervo, Dirge, Witch Ripper, Pelegrin, Black Sky Giant

Posted in Reviews on April 10th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

the-obelisk-qr-summer-2020

Welcome to the Spring 2023 Quarterly Review. Between today and next Tuesday, a total of 70 records will be covered with a follow-up week slated for May bringing that to 120. Rest assured, it’ll be plenty. If you’re reading this, I feel safe assuming you know the deal: 10 albums per day from front to back, ranging in style, geography, type of release — album, EP, singles even, etc. — and the level of hype and profile surrounding. The Quarterly Review is always a massive undertaking, but I’ve never done one and regretted it later, and looking at what’s coming up across the next seven days, there are more than few records featured that are already on my ongoing best of 2023 list. So please, keep an eye and ear out, and hopefully you’ll also find something new that speaks to you.

We begin.

Quarterly Review #1-10:

ISAAK, Hey

isaak hey

Last heard from as regards LPs with 2015’s Serominize (review here) and marking 10 years since their 2013 debut under the name, The Longer the Beard the Harder the Sound (review here), Genoa-based heavy rockers ISAAK return with the simply-titled Hey and encapsulate the heads-up fuzz energy that’s always been at the core of their approach. Vocalist Giacomo H. Boeddu has hints of Danzig in “OBG” and the swing-shoving “Sleepwalker” later on, but whether it’s the centerpiece Wipers cover “Over the Edge,” the rolling “Dormhouse” that follows, or the melodic highlight “Rotten” that precedes, the entire band feel cohesive and mature in their purposeful songwriting. They’re labelmates and sonic kin to Texas’ Duel, but less bombastic, with a knife infomercial opening their awaited third record before the title-track and “OBG” begin to build the momentum that carries the band through their varied material, spacious on “Except,” consuming in the apex of “Fake it Till You Make It,” but engaging throughout in groove and structure.

ISAAK on Facebook

Heavy Psych Sounds on Bandcamp

 

Iron Void, IV

IRON VOID IV

With doom in their collective heart and riffs to spare, UK doom metal traditionalists Iron Void roll out a weighted 44 minutes across the nine songs of their fourth full-length, IV, seeming to rail against pandemic-era restrictions in “Grave Dance” and tech culture in “Slave One” while “Pandora’s Box” rocks out Sabbathian amid the sundry anxieties of our age. Iron Void have been around for 25 years as of 2023 — like a British Orodruin or trad-doom more generally, they’ve been undervalued for most of that time — and their songwriting earns the judgmental crankiness of its perspective, but each half of the LP gets a rousing closer in “Blind Dead” and “Last Rites,” and Iron Void doom out like there’s no tomorrow even on the airier “She” because, as we’ve seen in the varying apocalypses since the band put out 2018’s Excalibur (review here), there might not be. So much the better to dive into the hook of “Living on the Earth” or the grittier “Lords of the Wasteland,” the metal-of-yore sensibility tapping into early NWOBHM without going full-Maiden. Kind of a mixed bag, it might take a few listens to sink in, but IV shows the enduring strengths of Iron Void and is clearly meant more for those repeat visits than some kind of cloying immediacy. An album to be lived with and doomed with.

Iron Void on Facebook

Shadow Kingdom Records website

 

Dread Witch, Tower of the Severed Serpent

Dread Witch Tower of the Severed Serpent

An offering of thickened, massive lava-flow sludge, plodding doom and atmospheric severity, Dread Witch‘s self-released (not for long, one suspects) first long-player, Tower of the Severed Serpent, announces a significant arrival on the part of the onslaught-prone Danish outfit, who recorded as a trio, play live as a five-piece and likely need at least that many people to convey the density of a song like the opener/longest track (immediate points) “The Tower,” the eight minutes of which are emblematic of the force of execution with which the band delivers the rest of what follows, runtimes situated longest to shortest across the near-caustic chug of “Serpent God,” the Celtic Frost-y declarations and mega-riff ethos of “Leech,” the play between key-led minimalism and all-out stomp on “Wormtongue” and the earlier-feeling noise intensity of “Into the Crypt” before the more purely ambient but still heavy instrumental “Severed” wraps, conveying weight of emotion to complement the tonal tectonics prior. Bordering on the extreme and clearly enjoying the crush that doing so affords them, Dread Witch make more of a crater than an impression and would be outright barbaric were their sound not so methodical in immersing the audience. Pro sound, loaded with potential, heavy as shit; these are the makings of a welcome debut.

Dread Witch on Facebook

Dread Witch on Bandcamp

 

Tidal Wave, The Lord Knows

Tidal Wave the lord knows

Next-generation heavy fuzz purveyed with particular glee, Tidal Wave seem to explore the very reaches they conjure through verses and choruses on their eight-song Ripple Music label debut (second LP overall behind 2019’s Blueberry Muffin), The Lord Knows, and they make the going fun throughout the 41-minute outing, finding the shuffle in the shove of “Robbero Bobbero” while honing classic desert idolatry on “Lizard King” and “End of the Line” at the outset. What a relief it is to know that heavy rock and roll won’t die with the aging-out of so many of its Gen-X and Millennial purveyors, and as Tidal Wave step forward with the low-end semi-metal roll of “Pentagram” and the grander spaces of “By Order of the King” before “Purple Bird” returns to the sands and “Thorsakir” meets that on an open field of battle, it seems the last word has not been said on Tidal Wave in terms of aesthetic. They’ve got time to continue to push deeper into their craft — and maybe that will or won’t result in their settling on one path or another — but the range of moods on The Lord Knows suits them well, and without pretense or overblown ceremony the Sundsvall four-piece bring together elements of classic heavy rock and metal while claiming a persona that can move back and forth between them. Kind of the ideal for a younger band.

Tidal Wave on Facebook

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

 

Guided Meditation Doomjazz, Expect

Guided Meditation Doomjazz Expect

Persistently weird in the mold of Arthur Brown with unpredictability as a defining feature, Guided Meditation Doomjazz may mostly be a cathartic salve for founding bassist, vocalist, experimentalist, etc.-ist Blaise the Seeker, but that hardly makes the expression any less valid. Expect arrives as a five-song EP, ready to meander in the take-the-moniker-literally “Collapse in Dignity” and the fuzz-drenched slow-plod finisher “Sit in Surrender” — watery psychedelic guitar weaving overhead like a cloud you can reshape with your mind — that devolves into drone and noise, but not unstructured and not without intention behind even its most out-there moments. The bluesy sway of “The Mind is Divided” follows the howling scene-setting of the titular opener, while “Stream of Crystal Water” narrates its verse over crunchier riffing before the sung chorus-of-sorts, the overarching dug-in sensibility conveying some essence of what seems despite a prolific spate of releases to be an experience intended for a live setting, with all the one-on-one mind-expansion and arthouse performance that inevitably coincides with it. Still, with a rough-feeling production, Expect carries a breadth that makes communing with it that much easier. Go on, dare to get lost for a little while. See where you end up.

Guided Meditation Doomjazz on Facebook

The Swamp Records on Bandcamp

 

Cancervo, II

Cancervo II

II is the vocalized follow-up to Cancervo‘s 2021 debut, 1 (review here), and finds the formerly-instrumental Lombardy, Italy, three-piece delving further into the doomed aspects of the initial offering with a greater clarity on “Arera,” “Herdsman of Grem” and “The Cult of Armentarga,” letting some of the psychedelia of the first record go while maintaining enough of an atmosphere to be hypnotic as the vocals follow the marching rhythm as the latter track moves into its midsection or the rhythmic chains in the subsequent “Devil’s Coffin” (an instrumental) lock step with the snare in a floating, loosely-Eastern-scaled break before the bigger-sounding end. Between “Devil’s Coffin” and the feedback-prone also-instrumental “Zambla” ahead of 8:43 closer “Zambel’s Goat” — on which the vocals return in a first-half of subdued guitar-led doomjamming prior to the burst moment at 4:49 — II goes deeper as it plays through and is made whole by its meditative feel, some semblance of head-trip cult doom running alongside, but if it’s a cult it’s one with its own mythology. Not where one expected them to go after 1, but that’s what makes it exciting, and that they lay claim to arrangement flourish, chanting vocals and slogging tempos as they do bodes well for future exploration.

Cancervo on Facebook

Electric Valley Records website

 

Dirge, Dirge

Dirge Dirge

So heavy it crashed my laptop. Twice. The second full-length from Mumbai post-metallers Dirge is a self-titled four-songer that culls psychedelia from tonal tectonics, not contrasting the two but finding depth in the ways they can interact. Mixed by Sanford Parker, the longer-form pieces comprise a single entirety without seeming to have been written as one long track, the harsh vocals of Tabish Khidir adding urgency to the guitar work of Ashish Dharkar and Varun Patil (the latter also backing vocals) as bassist Harshad Bhagwat and drummer Aryaman Chatterji underscore and punctuate the chugging procession of opener “Condemned” that’s offset if not countermanded by its quieter stretch. If you’re looking for your “Stones From the Sky”-moment as regards riffing, it’s in the 12-minute second cut, “Malignant,” the bleak triumph of which spills over in scream-topped angularity into “Grief” (despite a stop) while the latter feels all the more massive for its comedown moments. In another context, closer “Hollow” might be funeral doom, but it’s gorgeous either way, and it fits with the other three tracks in terms of its interior claustrophobia and thoughtful aggression. They’re largely playing toward genre tenets, but Dirge‘s gravity in doing so is undeniable, and the space they create is likewise dark and inviting, if not for my own tech.

Dirge on Facebook

Dirge store

 

Witch Ripper, The Flight After the Fall

Witch Ripper The Flight after the Fall

Witch Ripper‘s sophomore LP and Magnetic Eye label-debut, The Flight After the Fall, touches on anthemic prog rock and metal with heavy-toned flourish and plenty of righteous burl in cuts like “Madness and Ritual Solitude” and the early verses of “The Obsidian Forge,” though the can-sing vocals of guitarists Chad Fox and Curtis Parker and bassist Brian Kim — drummer Joe Eck doesn’t get a mic but has plenty to do anyhow — are able to push that centerpiece and the rest of what surrounds over into the epic at a measure’s notice. Or not, which only makes Witch Ripper more dynamic en route to the 16:45 sprawling finish of “Everlasting in Retrograde Parts 1 and 2,” picking up from the lyrics of the leadoff “Enter the Loop” to put emphasis on the considered nature of the release as a whole, which is a showcase of ambition in songwriting as much as performance of said songs, conceptual reach and moments of sheer pummel. It’s been well hyped, and by the time “Icarus Equation” soars into its last chorus without its wings melting, it’s easy to hear why in the fullness of its progressive heft and melodic theatricality. It’s not a minor undertaking at 47 minutes, but it wouldn’t be a minor undertaking if it was half that, given the vastness of Witch Ripper‘s sound. Be ready to travel with it.

Witch Ripper on Facebook

Magnetic Eye Records store

 

Pelegrin, Ways of Avicenna

Pelegrin Ways of Avicenna

In stated narrative conversation with the Arabic influence on Spanish and greater Western European (read: white) culture, specifically in this case as regards the work of Persian philosopher Ibn Sina, Parisian self-releasing three-piece Pelegrin follow-up 2019’s Al-Mahruqa (review here) with the expansive six songs of Ways of Avicenna, with guitarist/vocalist François Roze de Gracia, bassist/backing vocalist Jason Recoing and drummer/percussionist Antoine Ebel working decisively to create a feeling of space not so much in terms of the actual band in the room, but of an ancient night sky on songs like “Madrassa” and the rolling heavy prog solo drama of the later “Mystical Appear,” shades of doom and psychedelia pervasive around the central riff-led constructions, the folkish middles of “Thunderstorm” and “Reach for the Sun” and the acoustic two-minute “Disgrace” a preface to the patient manner in which the trio feel their way into the final build of closer “Forsaken Land.” I’m neither a historical scholar nor a philosopher, and thankfully the album doesn’t require you to be, but Pelegrin could so easily tip over into the kind of cartoonish cultural appropriation that one finds among certain other sects of European psychedelia, and they simply don’t. Whether the music speaks to you or not, appreciate that.

Pelegrin on Facebook

Pelegrin on Bandcamp

 

Black Sky Giant, Primigenian

Black Sky Giant Primigenian

Lush but not overblown, Argentinian instrumentalists Black Sky Giant fluidly and gorgeously bring together psychedelia and post-rock on their third album, Primigenian, distinguishing their six-song/31-minute brevity with an overarching progressive style that brings an evocative feel whether it’s to the guitar solos in “At the Gates” or the subsequent kick propulsion of “Stardust” — which does seem to have singing, though one can barely make out what if anything is actually being said — as from the denser tonality of the opening title-track, they go on to unfurl the spiritual-uplift of “The Great Hall,” fading into a cosmic boogie on the relatively brief “Sonic Thoughts” as they, like so many, would seem to have encountered SLIFT‘s Ummon sometime in the last two years. Doesn’t matter; it’s just a piece of the puzzle here and the shortest track, sitting as it does on the precipice of capper “The Foundational Found Tapes,” which plays out like amalgamated parts of what might’ve been other works, intermittently drummed and universally ambient, as though to point out the inherently incomplete nature of human-written histories. They fade out that last piece after seeming to put said tapes into a player of some sort (vague samples surrounding) and ending with an especially dream-toned movement. I wouldn’t dare speculate what it all means, but I think we might be the ancient progenitors in question. Fair enough. If this is what’s found by whatever species is next dominant on this planet — I hope they do better at it than humans have — we could do far worse for representation.

Black Sky Giant on Facebook

Black Sky Giant on Bandcamp

 

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Heavy Psych Sounds Fest 2023 Announces Lineups for Italy

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 14th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Do not expect this to be the last Heavy Psych Sounds Fest announcement. The Italian label/booking empire gas over the last several years turned its various festivals into celebrations that each even beyond its own significant associated roster, and in this first reveal for Bologna and Torino fests, we see that happening exactly. Look for tours to emerge around this and other HPS fests to come in Europe (maybe US too), as end-of-April/beginning-of-May is kind of the culmination of the Spring festival season over there.

As someone born, raised and living in the US, I can only marvel at such a thing. I came up in the days of Lollapalooza roaming around bringing bands from town to town in a big traveling festival, but imagine multiple separate tours converging and separating across state lines in one spot, then roving around for club shows until the next one. What an amazing course of live performance and art and craft that is. I know we’re talking about rock shows and that’s generally considered lowbrow fare, but god damn, isn’t that how culture happens? These two dates encapsulate some of that same idea, and Heavy Psych Sounds did similar in California earlier in 2022, so maybe someday they’ll get there. I don’t know, but they make it easy to dig in the meantime.

Lineups follow:

Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Italy 2023

HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST ITALY 2023

BOLOGNA & TORINO

Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking is proud to announce *** HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST ITALY 2023 – BOLOGNA & TORINO ***

first bands announcement

Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking will smash Bologna and Torino with their highly acclaimed mini festival-series, the HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST!

In cooperation with Freakout Club, Mkno, Blah Blah and Last One To Die, today Heavy Psych Sounds has revealed the first bands for the upcoming HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST ITALY !!!

The HPS Fest Italy will be taking place 29th and 30th of April 2023 at the TPO Club in Bologna and Last One To Die in Caramagna Piemonte (Torino) !!!

BOLOGNA TICKETS PRESALE:
https://www.musicglue.com/freakoutclub/events/2023-04-29-heavy-psych-sounds-fest-at-tpo-freakout-club

TORINO TICKETS PRESALE:
https://www.musicglue.com/last-one-to-die-1/events/2023-04-29-heavy-psych-sounds-fest-italy-impianti-sportivi-caramagna-piemonte

STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFO COMING SOON…

Stoned Jesus
Conan
BelzebonG
BLACK RAINBOWS
MESSA
TONS
Giöbia
OREYEON
Isaak

heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/

Stoned Jesus, “Porcelain” official video

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Isaak to Release New Album on Heavy Psych Sounds

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 8th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

It was not so long ago when near the end of October, Genoa-based heavy rockers Isaak put forth word that they’d finished recording their next album. Good news all around. It’s been a minute. True, they had the split with Alberta’s Chron Goblin (review here) in 2019, but their last full-length was 2015’s Sermonize, so yeah. If you’re ever going to do it, figure it’s probably time.

Fair enough. You’ll note the not-at-all-curious lack of details below. Next week, when preorders launch and the first track is unveiled, we’ll get stuff like the album cover, the tracklisting, more background on what they were going for with it and so on. With a release set probably for next Spring at the earliest, there’s plenty of time for all of this, one or two more tracks leaked ahead of the actual arrival of the record, etc. You know the drill. So yeah, I’ll probably post again next week, and as ever, I feel a little bit like a sucker posting what’s essentially an announcement of an announcement, but life’s short and we all have to take our joy where we can and I like posting about bands, so here we are.

And to answer the next question that nobody actually asked, yes, Sermonize also came out on Heavy Psych Sounds, so this is technically a re-signing. There you have it:

Isaak (Photo by Davide Colombino)

Heavy Psych Sounds Records &Booking is really proud to present a new band signing *** ISAAK ***

We are so stoked to announce that the heavy stoner riffers ISAAK has signed a worldwide deal with Heavy Psych Sounds for their new album !!!

PRESALE + first track premiere: DECEMBER 12th

Isaak, a piece of history in the Italian Stoner Rock Music scene, are back after 7 years with a new album. Active since 2011, born from the ashes of Ghandhi’s Gunn, the quartet from Genoa is finally back on track, having started with purely Stoner rock sounds, now they like to define themselves as a Riffalicious Fast Forward Stoner Rock Band.

ISAAK is
Giacomo Boeddu – vocals
Francesco Raimondi – guitars
Gabriele Carta – bass
Davide Foccis – drums

https://www.instagram.com/isaakmusic/
https://www.facebook.com/isaakband
http://isaakmusic.bandcamp.com/

heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/

Chron Goblin & Isaak, Split (2019)

Isaak, Sermonize (2015)

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Isaak Finish Work on New Album

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 26th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

The first Isaak release of the decade will be a new full-length album set to arrive next year on a yet-to-be-announced label. The Genova, Italy, four-piece were last heard from with a 2019 split they shared with Chron Goblin (review here), and their most recent album is 2015’s Sermonize (review here), which was issued on Heavy Psych Sounds.

There’s no audio or anything like that at this point — one assumes there will be announcements of announcements before we get there; such is the way of things in the world of need-to-make-content-to-exist, not that I’d know — but the band posted an update saying they’d finished the mastering and I chased them down for a little bit more of what they can say at this point, so at least we know there’s a cover that’s longer than “Yeah” by Kyuss, which leaves it pretty open, and the album was done with Fabio Palombi in Genoa. And they took a snazzy picture.

As to what it might sound like, you’d be forgiven for needing a refresher since it’s been seven years at this point — might be eight before the next record’s out — since Sermonize was released. If you’d like to know how they do, both of the above-mentioned outings are streaming at the bottom of this post.

Here’s what they had to say:

Isaak (Photo by Davide Colombino)

HEY

Album rec. done!

Mastering done!

High fashion photoshoot 2022/2023 by @davide_colombino done!

Now it’s the turn for the IRREPLACEABLE master of ceremonies @solomacello (#128420#) Can’t wait!

The new album will consist of 10 tracks + one cover, ok not funny like the last one (we had covered “YEAH” by KYUSS if you remember) but certainly longer ahahah. It’s been 7 years more or less since our last work and like many other bands these have been really difficult years, surely the lyrics and the “intensity” of the songs have been influenced a lot by these past years.

We are very happy about what we have done, this new collaboration with Fabio Palombi (Blackwave studio in Genoa Italy) has given us the new energy we were looking for.

Will it be a purely stoner record? will it be metal? will it be rock? will it be POP? Who knows? ahahahha

For sure it will be our usual sound or “soul” that someone once defined: Riffalicious fastforward Stoner Rock

We really can’t wait to share it!

The album will be out in the first half of 2023 for sure but we cannot give further details yet :(

Isaak

https://www.instagram.com/isaakmusic/
https://www.facebook.com/isaakband
http://isaakmusic.bandcamp.com/

Chron Goblin & Isaak, Split (2019)

Isaak, Sermonize (2015)

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Premiere: Chron Goblin & Isaak Stream Split Tape in Full

Posted in audiObelisk on September 6th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

chron goblin

isaak

Today, Sept. 6, marks the arrival of the new split tape from Canadian and Italian outfits Chron Goblin and Isaak. Issued name-your-price through Spikerot Records in a soon-to-be-gone limited edition of only 100 tapes, the offering features one track from each band, each representing something different from them. To wit, Chron Goblin are about to put out their fourth album, Here Before (track premiere here), on Sept. 27 through Grand Hand Records. Isaak, meanwhile, were last heard from with 2015’s Sermonize (review here) on Heavy Psych Sounds. The Chron Goblin track, “Signs,” however, was recorded in 2015 at the same session as their third album, Backwater (review here). The Isaak song, “Taste,” was tracked at the end of last year. So the split arises from some pretty complex circumstances. For one band, it represents a chance to showcase something older as they move onto something newer, and for the other, it marks a return after a few years’ absence from the studio, a kind of refresher for their audience and a reminder of what they do as a group. It’s a fair amount of context to pack into an eight-minute release.

Fortunately, in listening to “Signs” and “Taste,” there’s plenty to dig into for those who’d otherwise, you know, just want to listen to some previously unheard material. Chron Goblin begin with a bit of amp noise and are all-go, soon enough launching into a Roadsaw-style verse that careens through a gang-shout hook en route to a winding slowdown and bluesy solo in thechron goblin isaak split second half. The key moment is when everything but the bass drops out and the nod takes full shape before dropping out to complete the efficient 4:25. Done. Flip tape. Chron Goblin are in and out of “Signs” with an assurance of songwriting that leaves little to wonder why they’d dig up the track four years after the fact and still find it relevant enough to release: because quality songcraft is always relevant.

Isaak‘s answer back in “Taste” by building up over the first minute-plus to finally unleashing a forceful pummel of a riff met with likewise burly vocals. They’ve never wanted for brashness, and “Taste” is no exception to this as the low-end takes central position tonally and they cycle through the verse again as though coming back out of the corner for round two. The tension they manifest turns in the third minute to a more straightforward pop of snare and seems to run a little more forward rather than circular, but the let’s-kick-ass-and-worry-about-the-rest-later vibe remains consistent. They too finish clean. Surprisingly so for having seemed to throw so much sonic mud around, but maybe after a few years it’s just a sense of relief to be back with new material at all. I won’t speculate as to what their plans are without knowing, but Isaak certainly sound like they still have plenty more to say, as they did on their last record too.

And for Chron Goblin, there’s already the advantage of knowing the direction they’d take after recording “Signs,” so yeah, it’s a bit of a different situation from one band to the other, but the bottom line is it’s two tracks of hard-edged heavy rock and roll marked out by zero pretense and an efficient delivery, pressed up to a limited tape that will likely sell out before it even lands on the merch table, so yeah, there’s really no way to lose here. Bonus to anyone who listens to the stream on a Walkman.

Credits follow. Enjoy the tracks:

Link to the store here:
http://bit.ly/ChronGoblin_Isaak

Chron Goblin – Signs
Recorded and mixed by Adam Pike at Toadhouse Studios in Portland, OR in February, 2015
Mastered by Stephan Hawkes at Interlace Audio

Chron Goblin are:
Josh Sandulak
Devin Purdy
Richard Hepp
Brett Whittingham

Isaak – Taste
Recorded and Mixed by Mattia Cominotto at Greenfog Studio in Genoa in December 2018
Mastered by Andrea De Bernardi at Eleven Mastering

Isaak are:
Giacomo Boeddu
Francesco Raimondi
Davide Foccis
Gabriele Carta

Chron Goblin on Thee Facebooks

Chron Goblin on Instagram

Chron Goblin on Bandcamp

Isaak on Thee Facebooks

Isaak on Instagram

Isaak on Bandcamp

Spikerot Records on Thee Facebooks

Spikerot Records on Instagram

Spikerot Records website

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Chron Goblin & Isaak to Release Split Tape this Week

Posted in Whathaveyou on September 2nd, 2019 by JJ Koczan

So Isaak haven’t released anything since 2015’s Sermonize (review here) and Chron Goblin are putting out their new record, Here Before (discussed here) at the end of September. Isaak are in Italy. Chron Goblin in Canada. These seem like two bands in very different situations, and yet this week they’ll team up for a cassette split that’s also the first tape ever to come out through Spikerot Records. You know what? I’d check that out. I like a tape, I like a split, and I’d like to know how these two bands got hooked up in the first place, so yeah, I’ll give this one a listen when the time comes. Why the hell not? Do the circumstances even matter? Of course not. The riffs matter.

Release is coming up quick, so keep an eye out for it. I’ll also be interested to see if it leads to more from Isaak anytime soon, as their last outing was a banger.

Here’s Spikerot‘s post about the tape:

chron goblin isaak

Chron Goblin Vs Isaak. Split Tape through Spikerot Records

Spikerot has been all about Vinyls and CDs so far, but cassettes have dignity too, so why not?

We’re proud to be releasing our first tape ever under the banner of international Stoner Rock with two previously unreleased tracks from Canadian boogie facepunchers Chron Goblin and Italian riffalicious gang Isaak. Those who know each band’s signature sound will not be disappointed, both tracks are sheer energy, pairing melody with groove and distortion for a fresh interpretation of heavy music.

RELEASE DATE: September 6th

TRACKLIST
SIDE A: Chron Goblin – Signs
SIDE B: Isaak – Taste

Artwork by SoloMacello

Chron Goblin are:
Vocals: Josh Sandulak
Guitar: Devin ‘Darty’ Purdy
Bass: Richard Hepp
Drums: Brett Whittingham

Isaak are:
Vocals – Giacomo H Boeddu
Bass – Gabriele Carta
Drums/Vocals – Davide Fox Foccis
Guitars – Francesco Raimondi

https://www.facebook.com/ChronGoblin/
https://www.instagram.com/chrongoblin/
https://chrongoblin.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/isaakband
https://www.instagram.com/isaakmusic/
https://isaakmusic.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/spikerotrecords/
https://www.instagram.com/spikerotrecords/
www.spikerot.com

Chron Goblin, Here Before (2019)

Isaak, Sermonize (2015)

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Isaak Welcome New Drummer

Posted in Whathaveyou on September 26th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

Italian heavy rockers Isaak took a major step forward late last year with their second album, Sermonize (review here). Released through Heavy Psych Sounds and Small Stone Records — two rousing endorsements to have — it found the band going well beyond the confines of 2012’s The Longer the Beard the Harder the Sound (streamed here) and toward a much more individual approach. After spending a decent portion of the last few years, the band has announced they’ve just swapped out drummers, and while one expects that will change their dynamic some going forward, I’d expect their growth will continue onto whatever it is they do next. Some momentum you just don’t stop.

I got sent a shorter version of the statement below, but wanted to print the thing in full since I think it speaks well of how much this music means to the people who are making it, and I guess that’s really what it’s all about. So here you go:

isaak

Isaak line up Change

Loads of things have happened after that dinner in a Mexican restaurant, choosing the name ISAAK after “some” Margarita.

What is the reason of starting with this sentence? We are going to explain you in a while, but we believe a short introduction is doubtless needed. ISAAK wasn’t just a change of name from Gandhi’s Gunn. Isaak became (and continue being nowadays) a completely different band from that moment. After that dinner we turned the page on the past and we looked forward, we always did it musically and not only. Band has been always more important than the single members and this shared belief has often allowed us to go ahead despite difficulties.

Who has been part of this project is perfectly aware of what we’re talking about. This band survived the distance, the adaptation to changes, the thefts, the necessities of life of the single members. This band has survived to the fact that it was possible to rehearse only during weekends. This situations has lasted for YEARS and only when we managed to be there all together (we also managed to make a record this way!). These are sacrifices that each one of us has done with pleasure and that each one of us would blindly be willing to do it again, from the first to the last.

For those who don’t know , Andre (our drummer) has been living in a city that is nearly 4 hours far away from Genoa. During three years he held it on, giving priority to our band and giving up on many other things. He did it for real. He did his best for the band.

Today Andre leaves the band but he will be always part of this family. He has significantly contributed on this project, he believed in ISAAK and we have been witness of it. He has definitely helped us to make this dream come true.

A simple post on Facebook certainly cannot summarize all this. Andre passes the baton to another great genoese drummer a great friend who will join us on the Isaak path, is name is Davide Foccis! We’ll see you under the stage to give him an eager welcome to the family!

Giacomo H Boeddu – Vocals
Gabriele Carta – Bass
Davide Fox Foccis – Drums/Vocals
Francesco Raimondi – Guitar

https://www.facebook.com/isaakband
https://www.instagram.com/isaakmusic/

Isaak, Sermonize (2015)

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