Posted in Whathaveyou on November 8th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Beginning later this month and running into December, Italian boogie trio Doctor Cyclops will head out on a round of European tour dates supporting their latest release, Local Dogs (review here), which came out this past Spring on Heavy Psych Sounds. The three-piece are no strangers to the road, and this time they’ll hit up Italy, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and Slovenia before they’re done, covering a decent swatch of ground with a couple nights off that may or may not get filled in as they go.
If you didn’t hear it, Local Dogs is streaming in full below, and its take on classic heavy rock comes balanced against impulses drawn from NWOBHM poise and gallop. I haven’t had the pleasure myself, but it seems like a combo that would go pretty well on stage. Doctor Cyclops had a documentary out a couple years back, if you’ll recall, that was also a pretty solid advertisement for showing up.
From the PR wire:
DOCTOR CYCLOPS EUROPEAN TOUR 2017
Doctor Cyclops is a seventies-styled power trio playing heavy rock music inspired by a vintage sound, eldest son of glorious Black Sabbath and other more underground heroes from the 70s and early 80s as Truth and janey, Sir Lord Baltimore, Captain Beyond or Witchfinder General. Even later and more modern references are warm-vintage styled ones: Witchcraft, Graveyard, Firebird, Cathedral, Spiritual Beggars just to say some.
Their discography includes one self produced Ep-CD “The Doctor Cyclops” (2010), and two full length albums, “Borgofondo” (2012) and “Oscuropasso” (2014), both released by the German heavy psychdelic label World in Sound.
The band is active since 2008 and toured Europe several times, sharing the stage with bands such as Firebird, Blood Ceremony, Siena Root, Colour Haze, Stoned Jesus, The Grand Astoria and many more. Doctor Cylops also took part to important festivals such as Freak Valley (2012) and Red Smoke (2016).
Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking is proud to present:
***DOCTOR CYCLOPS EUROPEAN TOUR 2017*** 24.11.2017 IT Guastalla-La Quadra 26.11.2017 IT Castel D’Ario-Hostaria 27.11.2017 CH Birsfelden-Roxy 28.11.2017 DE Mannheim-Kurzbar 29.11.2017 DE Stuttgart-Keller Klub 01.12.2017 DE Berlin-Zosch 02.12.2017 DE Munster-Rare Guitar Shop 03.12.2017 NL Den Haag-Het Haagje 04.12.2017 DE Osnabruck-Dirty+Dancing 07.12.2017 DE Dresden-Sabotage 08.12.2017 SL Slovenj Gradec-Klub Špajzl 09.12.2017 SL Novo Mesto-Lokal Patriot
Christian Draghi – Guitar and Vocals Francesco Filippini – Bass Alessandro Dallera – Drums
[Click play above to stream Local Dogs by Doctor Cyclops in its entirety. Album is out March 31 on Heavy Psych Sounds.]
Italian heavy rockers Doctor Cyclops are gearing up to issue Local Dogs, their third full-length and Heavy Psych Sounds debut, on March 31. Recorded by James Atkinson of Gentlemans Pistols and boasting guest appearances from Bill Steer of Firebird (also of Carcass, but it’s the boogie that’s way more relevant in this context), the 10-track/47-minute outing follows 2014’s Oscuropasso (discussed here) and finds the three-piece skirting the line between classic heavy rock and more metallic impulses — songs dipping into NWOBHM stylizations in a way that, even three years ago, might have been out of character. As it stands, they find a basis for nuance in this meld, and with the clarity of production and the push of songs like “Wall of Misery” and the stomping “Druid Samhain,” it feels all the more intentional on their part that one might relate their work as much to Dio and Iron Maiden as to Sabbath and Atomic Rooster.
Of course, speaking stylistically (and literally too), it’s not the first time the ’70s have given way to the ’80s, but what Doctor Cyclops use to draw these elements and influences together is a healthy coating of tonal warmth, plus-grade songcraft and a clear-headedness of performance that makes songs like opener “Lonely Devil,” the acoustic-infused “Epicurious” and the swinging, organ-laced penultimate track “Witch’s Tale” all the more memorable before the finale “Witchfinder General” draws a direct link to the NWOBHM and brings Local Dogs to a galloping and righteous close. Striking throughout is the confidence and the poise with which the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Christian Draghi, bassist Francesco Filippini and drummer Alessandro Dallera pull off playing to one side or the other and the assured feeling that what they’re doing with their sound across Local Dogs‘ span is the right way to go, wherever an individual track may actually be headed. In no small part because of that confidence, they turn out to be 100 percent correct.
Doctor Cyclops have live dates lined up through the Spring — they’re working with Heavy Psych Sounds on booking as well, and in May, they will take part in the label’s Sonic Ritual Fest (info here) alongside Yawning Man, Ecstatic Vision and others, right after they hit the UK with Cybernetic Witch Cult (info here). One can only assume there are more shows to be announced through the end of 2017 and beyond, so keep an eye out., but here’s where they’ll be over the next couple months:
Doctor Cyclops on tour: 14.04 Pavia(IT) Spaziomusica 15.04 Francavilla (IT) Tikitaka Live Village 22.04 Tortona (IT) Dazibao 2.05 St.Gallen (CH) Rumpeltum w/Farflung 3.05 Ins (CH) Schuxenaus 5.05 Ipswich (UK) The Swan 6.05 Banbury (UK) The Wheatsheaf 7.05 London (UK) The Dev 8.05 Bristol (UK) The Gryphon 9.05 Plymouth (UK) The Junction 11.05 Olten (CH) Coq d’Or 12.05 Erba (IT) Centrale Rock w/Crowbar 20.05 Mezzago (IT) Bloom 07.07 Salzburg (AT) RockHouse “Dome of Rock Fest 08.07 Nandlstadt (DE) FreakinOut Festival
In the meantime, Local Dogs can be ordered now from Heavy Psych Sounds, and Draghi was kind enough to take part in a short interview about making the album.
Please enjoy the following Six Dumb Questions:
Six Dumb Questions with Doctor Cyclops
Tell me about recording Local Dogs. How was it working with James Atkinson from Gentlemans Pistols as producer? What made you choose him to record the album?
Was nice and easy, as James is a super cool and easygoing guy. At the same time he is really professional and into the kind of music we are as well, so it was a relief for us to find someone we were in complete harmony to work with. We chose him as we knew he could have been the right person to help us catching on the record those dirty and honest sound you normally get just by recording on tapes in your rehearsal room. We met because of a common friend, Steve Lloyd. He introduced us to James, we had a talk and then we sent him some rough recordings we did. He understood immediately what we were looking for. He was the right guy at the right time.
What were you going for sound-wise coming off of Oscuropasso?
We decided to go for a simpler approach. We just wanted to capture the sound of the rehearsal room, so once in the studio we played all together in one room take after take, trying to put down every song in the faster and more natural way we could. No click tracks, not that many overdubbings, just straight playing, one song after the other… that’s it, good old ’70s rotten rock way.
Songs like “Stardust” have a lot of classic metal to them as well as ‘70s rock. What is the relation between classic and modern sounds for Doctor Cyclops at this point? Are there specific albums or bands that drove your love of older metal?
I guess some of our songs could sound like the lost connection between the early 70’s sound and the proto-heavy metal era… We are into bands like Captain Beyond, Dust, Sir Lord Baltimore, but also into the early Iron Maiden, Witchfinder General, Budgie. I guess in some songs we cheated on the pure ’70s groove by flirting (or petting) with the heavy metal/hard rock lustful chick.
This is your first full-length for Heavy Psych Sounds. How did working with the label come about and how has it been leading up to the release?
We know Gabriele [Fiori], the HPS master, since years as we played together with his band Black Rainbows somewhere around Europe. We are both in the same scene and country, so we kept in touch easily. Once we had this record done we started spreading it around, Gabriele gave his feedback, he was really happy and offered us to release it. We agreed that HPS is a growing label on the market. The names he is signing in and musicians he is working with prove that. He has very good connections in the scene and – things that is really important for a band – he does booking and follows his bands step by step with a careful promotion planning. He is passionate but also a wise business guy. A good mixture for a label boss.
How did having Bill Steer contribute to Local Dogs come about, and what was it like to work with him?
We’ve known Bill since years. We were great Firebird fans, we attempted many of their shows and we played with them as well in 2009. Since then we kept in touch. Of course we love Bill as a guitar player, but the cool thing is that he appreciated us as well as musicians. We simply asked him if he was into recording a couple of solos on the album and he said ‘yes’. He is also a really generous and humble person, a super cool guy. He overdubbed his solos after we finished our recordings as at the time we were in the studio he was busy with Carcass. But I can tell that we were amused about the work he did from the first listening on! We are proud and thankful he did that.
Any other plans or closing words you want to mention?
Now we just have one thing to do…going back on the road and rock as many asses out as we can! Follow us on the web, Facebook or website… touring dates will be announced very soon.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 24th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Any number of bands make boogie rock records every day. You want to commit? Get frickin’ Bill Steer to play on the thing. Yeah, I know he’s been grinding out the last few years in the reunited Carcass, and that’s awesome, but when he was in Firebird, that band was absolutely incredible, and one imagines it’s that kind of I’m-just-gonna-softshoe-while-I-play-this-awesome-’70s-lead vibe that he brings to Doctor Cyclops‘ upcoming third album, Local Dogs.
Local Dogs follows 2014’s Oscuropasso (discussed here) and will be the Italian outfit’s first full-length on Heavy Psych Sounds. The label posted copious details on the record — and of course it will have more to offer than the Steer guest appearance; though he gets a showing per side — as well as the striking cover art, ahead of the preorders for the CD and LP, which start next month.
Goes like this:
Doctor Cyclops unveil details about upcoming album “Local Dogs” on Heavy Psych Sounds.
DOCTOR CYCLOPS New album “Local Dogs”
Out March 31st on Heavy Psych Sounds
– Presales start on February 24th –
Amazing artwork by Rise Above (Marcello Crescenzi)
Released in: Black Vinyl Clear Blue Ltd Vinyl Cd Digital
Northern Italy’s cold woods are set to unleash their fieriest beast, with ’70s power trio DOCTOR CYCLOPS returning with their blistering third album “Local Dogs” this March on Heavy Psych Sounds.
DOCTOR CYCLOPS haven’t stood idle since their latest album “Oscuropasso” (World In Sound 2014), slowly but surely rustling up their heaviest and most accomplished project to date. This new full-length entitled “Local Dogs” is an explosive mixture of ’70s heavy rock, NWOBHM and doomier Sabbath-style riffage, ready to take you back to a different era. Groovy riffs and gloomy paths coming straight from the woods feel like the epic saga of the ’70s is truly likely to continue its course. In this context, the appearance of Bill Steer (Carcass, Firebird, Gentlemans Pistols) on lead guitar tastes like the icing on top of a tempting cake.
TRACK LISTING: SIDE A 1. Lonely Devil 2. D.I.A. 3. Stardust (w/ Bill Steer) 4. Epicurus 5. Wall Of Misery SIDE B 1. King Midas 2. Stanley The Owl 3. Druid Samhain (w/ Bill Steer) 4. Witch’s Tale 5. Witchfinder General
DOCTOR CYCLOPS is a power trio delivering a blistering heavy rock rejuvenating the legacy of the ’70s and early ’80s. The band formed in 2007 in a small village in the middle of Appennino mountains, Northern Italy. Their common passion for brilliant outfits such as Truth and Janey, Sir Lord Baltimore, Captain Beyond or Witchfinder General lead them to record and self-produce their first EP “The Doctor Cyclops” (2010), which is quickly followed by two full-lengths: “Borgofondo” (2012) and “Oscuropasso” (2014), both released on German heavy psychedelic label World in Sound.
Since 2008, the trio has had the chance to tour Europe several times, sharing the stages with Firebird, Blood Ceremony, Siena Root, Colour Haze, Stoned Jesus, The Grand Astoria and many other bands. DOCTOR CYCLOPS also took part to important festivals such as Freak Valley in Germany (2012) and Red Smoke Festival in Spain (2016).
DOCTOR CYCLOPS will be on tour in spring soput an eye on the news to catch them on the road!!
