Grim Reefer Fest 2024 Finalizes Lineup

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 15th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

Some light shuffling in the final lineup of Grim Reefer Fest 2024 — which is set for April 27 at The Ottobar in Baltimore, Maryland — as Yatra step out and Weed Coughin step in alongside new adds Telekinetic Yeti and Left Lane Cruiser, who’ll head out together a couple weeks later on tour supporting John Garcia (info here), but the final shape of the bill is massive one way or the other. Weedeater are at the top, in the megastoned headliner position that Bongzilla filled last year (review here), and from the crushing grim realities of Foehammer through Black Lung‘s atmospheric progressivism, Telekinetic Yeti‘s dense riffy counterpoint, Leather Lung‘s party sludge and house-band Haze Mage, you can get sense of some of how the day might flow. With High Leaf, Weed CoughinLeft Lane Cruiser and Bleak Shore completing the 10-band roster, it is absolutely packed.

But so was last year, and you know, I had time to drive south from NJ for the three-plus hours to Baltimore and still get to The Ottobar before the bands started at 3PM, and after crashing out for the night with local friends, I headed home early the next morning before any likely traffic. Easy peasy. The all-dayer — a single-day festival — isn’t something you see all the time in the US, but with a ticket at $40 you’re literally paying $4 per band you’ll get to see and when it’s done, you still have a weekend day to get yourself back to wherever you need to be. The vibe at Grim Reefer Fest was casual as one would hope, and if it sounds like I’m trying to figure a way to make the trip again even though I’ll have just gotten back from other travels earlier that same week, you’re absolutely right, I am.

With good reason, as you can see:

grim reefer fest 2024 final lineup

The full lineup for GRF 2024 is here! Join us as we return to the legendary Ottobar in Baltimore Maryland with some of the best heavy bands around including Weedeater, Telekinetic Yeti, BLACK LUNG, Left Lane Cruiser, Haze Mage, and more!

Once again, the amazing Golden Grillz food truck will be parked outside all day and night to take care of all of your munchie needs!

Tickets are now available here: https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/62386586

Poster by John DeCampos aka @ghost_bat_

Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/4LgCZ1iCo

https://www.facebook.com/GrimReeferFest
https://www.instagram.com/grimreeferfest/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3BL9lkMWbIC2qaqWZ4LH8g
https://www.grimreeferfest.com/

Weed Coughin, Other Worldly (2022)

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High Noon Kahuna Sign to Crucial Blast; This Place is Haunted Out May 17

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 8th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

Please know that I’m sincere when I tell you High Noon Kahuna signing to Crucial Blast for their now-announced second long-player, This Place is Haunted, is heartwarming. The label has been supporting the weirder end of underground weird for 25 years now, and in their snagging High Noon Kahuna — whose 2022 debut, Killing Spree (review here), drew together seemingly disparate ends within heavy rock, black metal, surf, jazz and doom — I’m reminded of their long history with noisy bands who didn’t quite fit a mold otherwise, be it Jumbo’s Killcrane or Totimoshi around the turn of the century, Across Tundras, Weedeater, the split between Floor and their offshoot Dove, etc., or bands like Cultic and Gnaw Their Tongues in more recent years. Not every imprint, new or old, has a broad enough background to get what a band like High Noon Kahuna are going for.

Based in Frederick, Maryland, High Noon Kahuna will indeed be at Maryland Doom Fest 2024 this June (info here) for their first appearance, and a May 17 release means This Place is Haunted will be out before they even get there. They’re playing live in the meantime, of course. The other night they were in Martinsburg, West Virginia, for a set that was filmed (credit to Phebography, I think?) that you can watch in its entirety at the bottom of this post.

I’ll hope to have more to come closer to the release, but here’s what’s out there now from socials:

high noon kahuna (Photo by Tigran Kapinos Photography)

HIGH NOON KAHUNA This Place Is Haunted CD / CS / DL (VINYL TBA) – OUT MAY 17, 2024

Crucial Blast is stoked to announce that we are joining forces with longtime friends HIGH NOON KAHUNA on the release of their second album, This Place Is Haunted.

Harder, darker, but also brimming with haunting melody, the Maryland band features former members of Internal Void, Vox Populi and Admiral Browning, executing an incredibly infectious mix of classic noise rock and psychedelic crunch. The twelve songs on Haunted are on a whole new level from the band; this rumbling riff-beast brilliantly evokes everything from pummeling Am Rep abrasion, soaring Hawkwindian space rock, haunting post-punk, Dick Dale-on-acid licks, doses of massive doom-laden crush, and even wisps of classic Morricone moodiness and some hammering QOTSA-esque groove.

Easily one of the most unique bands ever to emerge from the DC/MD area, KAHUNA is weirder, heavier, and catchier than ever before, and C-BLAST is incredibly excited to bring this banger to your ears.

This Place Is Haunted will be released May 17th, 2024.

Stay tuned for the first single from the album, coming in early March!

High Noon Kahuna is:
Tim Otis: guitar (Admiral Browning)
Brian Goad: Drums (Internal Void / The Larrys)
Paul Cogle: Bass VI and Vocals (Black Blizzard)

https://linktr.ee/highnoonkahuna
https://highnoonkahuna.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/highnoonkahuna/
https://www.facebook.com/HighNoonKahuna/

https://linktr.ee/crucial_blast
http://www.crucialblast.bandcamp.com
http://www.crucialblast.net
http://www.facebook.com/CrucialBlast
https://www.instagram.com/crucial_blast/

High Noon Kahuna, Live in Martinsburg, WV, March 2, 2024

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Quarterly Review: Deadpeach, SÂVER, Ruben Romano, Kosmodrom, The Endless, Our Maddest Edges, Saint Omen, Samsara Joyride, That Ship Has Sailed, Spiral Guru

Posted in Reviews on February 28th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

The-Obelisk-Quarterly-Review

Welcome to Wednesday of the Quarterly Review. If you’ve been here before — and I do this at least four times a year, so maybe you have and maybe you haven’t — I’m glad you’re back, and if not, I’m glad you’re here at all. These things are always an undertaking, and in a vacuum, I’m pretty sure busting out 10 shorter reviews per day would be a reasonably efficient process. I don’t live in a vacuum. I live vacuuming.

Metaphorically, at least. Looking around the room, it’s pretty obvious ‘vacuum life’ is intermittent.

Today we hit the halfway mark of this standard-operating-procedure QR, and we’ll get to 30 of the 50 releases to be covered by the time Friday is done or die trying, as that’s also the general policy. As always, I hope you find something in this batch of 10 that you dig. Doesn’t have to be any more of a thing than that. Doesn’t need to change your life, just maybe take the moment you’re in and make it a little better.

Quarterly Review #21-30:

Deadpeach, The Cosmic Haze and the Human Race

Deadpeach The Cosmic Haze and the Human Race

A new full-length from Italian cosmic fuzz rockers Deadpeach doesn’t come along every day. Though the four-piece here comprised of guitarist/vocalist Giovanni Giovannini, guitarist Daniele Bartoli, bassist Mrsteveman and drummer Federico Tebaldi trace their beginnings back to 1993, the seven-song/37-minute exploration The Cosmic Haze and the Human Race is just their fourth full-length in that span of 31 years, following behind 2013’s Aurum (review here), though they haven’t been completely absent in that time, with the 2019 unplugged offering Waiting for Federico session (review here), 2022’s Live at Sidro Club, etc. But whether it’s the howling-into-the-void guitar over the methodical toms in the experimental-vibing closer “Loop (Set the Control to Mother Earth),” the mellower intro of “Madras” that leads both to chunky-style chug and the parade of classic-heavy buzz that is “Motor Peach,” what most comes through is the freedom of the band to do what they want in the psychedelic sphere. “Man on the Hill (The Fisherman and the Farmer)” tells its tale with blues rock swing while the subsequent “Cerchio” resolves Beatlesian with bouncy string and horn sounds and is its own realization at the center of the procession before the languid roll of “Monday” (so it goes) picks up its tempo later on. A mostly lo-fi recording still creates an atmosphere, and Deadpeach represent who they are in the weirdo space grunge of “Rust,” toying with influences from a desert that’s surely somewhere on another planet before “Loop (Set the Controls for Mother Earth)” turns repetition into mantra. They might be underrated forever, but Deadpeach only phase into our dimension intermittently and it’s worth appreciating them while they’re here.

Deadpeach on Facebook

Deadpeach website

SÂVER, From Ember and Rust

SAVER From Ember and Rust

In or out of post-metal and the aggressive end of atmospheric sludge, there are few bands currently active who deliver with the visceral force of Oslo’s SÂVER. From Ember and Rust is the second LP from the three-piece of Ole Ulvik Rokseth (guitar), Markus Støle (drums) and Ole Christian Helstad (bass/vocals), and while it signals growth in the synthy meditation worked into “I, Evaporate” after the lead-with-nod opener “Formless,” and the intentionally overwhelming djent chug that pays off the penultimate “The Object,” it is the consuming nature of the 43-minute entirety that is most striking, dynamic in its sprawl and thoughtful in arrangement both within and between its songs — the way the drone starts “Eliminate Distance” and returns to lull the listener momentarily out of consciousness before the bassy start of centerpiece “Ember and Rust” prompts a return ahead of its daring and successful clean vocal foray. That’s a departure, contextually speaking, but noteworthy even as “Primal One” lumbersmashes anything resembling hope to teeny tiny bits, leaving room in its seven minutes to catchy its breath amid grooving proggy chug and bringing back the melodic singing. As much as they revel in the caustic, there’s serenity in the catharsis of “All in Disarray” at the album’s conclusion, and as much as SÂVER are destructive, they’re cognizant of the world they’re building as part of that.

SÂVER on Facebook

Pelagic Records website

Ruben Romano, The Imaginary Soundtrack to the Imaginary Western Twenty Graves Per Mile

Ruben Romano The Imaginary Soundtrack to the Imaginary Western Twenty Graves Per Mile

Departing from the heavy psychedelic blues rock proffered by his main outfit The Freeks, multi-instrumentalist and elsewhere-vocalist Ruben Romano — who also drummed for Fu Manchu and Nebula in their initial incarnations — digs into Western aural themes on his cumbersomely-titled solo debut, The Imaginary Soundtrack to the Imaginary Western Twenty Graves Per Mile. To be clear, there is no movie called Twenty Graves Per Mile (yet), and the twice-over-imaginary nature of the concept lets Romano meander a bit in pieces like “Sweet Dream Cowboy” and “Ode to Fallen Oxen,” the latter of which tops its rambling groove with a line of delay twang, while “Chuck Wagon Sorrow” shimmers with outward simplicity with a sneaky depth to its mix (to wit, the space in “Not Any More”). At 10 songs and 27 minutes, the collection isn’t exactly what you’d call ‘feature length,’ but as it hearkens back to the outset with “Load the Wagon (Reprise)” bookending the opener, it is likewise cohesive in style and creative in arrangement, with Romano bringing in various shakers, mouth harp, effects and so on to create his ‘soundtrack’ with a classic Western feel and the inevitable lysergic current. Not as indie or desert chic as Spindrift, who work from a similar idea, but organic and just-came-in-covered-with-dust folkish just the same. If the movie existed, I’d be interested to know which of these tracks would play in the saloon.

Ruben Romano on Facebook

Ruben Romano on Bandcamp

Kosmodrom, Welcome to Reality

Kosmodrom Welcome to Reality

With the seven-minute “Earth Blues” left off the vinyl for want of room, German heavy psychedelic instrumentalists Kosmodrom put a color filter on existence with Welcome to Reality as much as on the cover, shimmering in “Dazed in Space” with a King Buffalo‘ed resonance such that the later, crunchier fuzz roll of “Evil Knievel” feels like a departure. While the three-piece are no doubt rooted in jams, Welcome to Reality presents finished works, following a clear plot in the 10-minute “Quintfrequenz” and the gradual build across the first couple minutes of “Landstreicher” — an intent that comes more into focus a short while later on “Novembersong” — before “Earth Blues” brings a big, pointed slowdown. They cap with “OM,” which probably isn’t named after the band but can be said to give hints in their direction if you want to count its use of ride cymbal at the core of its own build, and which in its last 40 seconds still manages to find another level of heft apparently kept in reserve all along. Well played. As their first LP since 2018, Welcome to Reality feels a bit like it’s reintroducing the band, and in listening, seems most of all to encourage the listener to look at the world around them in a different, maybe more hopeful way.

Kosmodrom on Facebook

Kosmodrom on Bandcamp

The Endless, The Endless

the endless the endless

Heads experienced in post-metal will be able to pick out elements like the Russian Circles gallop in The Endless‘ “Riven” or the Isis-style break the Edmonton-based instrumental unit veers into on “Shadows/Wolves” at the center of their self-titled debut, but as “The Hadeon Eon” — the title of which references the planet’s earliest and most volatile geological era — subtly invites the listener to consider, this is the band’s first recorded output. Formed in 2019, derailed and reconstructed post-pandemic, the four-piece of guitarists Teddy Palmer and Eddy Keyes, bassist James Palmer and drummer Jarred Muir are coherent in their stylistic intent, but not so committed to genre tenets as to forego the sweeter pleasure of the standalone guitar at the start of the nine-minute “Reflection,” soon enough subsumed though it is by the spacious lurch that follows. There and throughout, the band follow a course somewhere between post-metal and atmospheric sludge, and the punch of low end in “Future Archives,” the volume trades between loud and quiet stretches bring a sense of the ephemeral as well as the ethereal, adding character without sacrificing impact in the contrast. Their lack of pretense will be an asset as they continue to develop.

The Endless on Facebook

The Endless on Bandcamp

Our Maddest Edges, Peculiar Spells

Our Maddest Edges Peculiar Spells

Kudos if you can keep up with the shifts wrought from track to track on Our Maddest Edges‘ apparent first long-player, Peculiar Spells, as the Baltimorean solo-project spearheaded by Jeff Conner sets out on a journey of genuine eclecticism, bringing The Beatles and Queens of the Stone Age stylistically together and also featuring one of the several included duets on “Swirl Cone,” some grunge strum in “Hella Fucky” after the remake-your-life spoken/ambient intro “Thoughts Can Change,” a choral burst at the beginning of the spoken-word-over-jazz “Slugs,” which of course seems to be about screwing, as well as the string-laced acoustic-led sentimentality on “Red Giant,” the Casio beat behind the bright guitar plucks of “Frozen Season,” the full-tone riffs around which “I Ain’t Done” and “St. Lascivious” are built, and the sax included with the boogie of “The Totalitarian Tiptoe,” just for a few examples of the places its 12 component tracks go in their readily-consumable 37-minute runtime. Along with Conner are a reported 17 guests appearing throughout, among them Stefanie Zaenker (ex-Caustic Casanova). Info is sparse on the band and Conner‘s work more broadly, but his history in the punkish Eat Your Neighbors accounts for some of the post-hardcore at root here, and his own vocals (as opposed to those of the seven other singers appearing) seem to come from somewhere similar. Relatively quick listen, but not a minor undertaking.

Jeff Conner on Bandcamp

Saint Omen, Death Unto My Enemy

saint omen death unto my enemy

Rolling out with the ambient intro before beginning its semi-Electric Wizardly slog in “Taken by the Black,” Death Unto My Enemy is the 2023 debut from New York City’s Saint Omen. Issued by Forbidden Place Records, its gritty nod holds together even as “Evolution of the Demon” threatens to fall apart, samples filling out the spaces not occupied by vocals, communicating themes dark, violent, and occult in pieces like the catchy-despite-its-harsher-vocal “Destroyer” or the dark swirl of “Sinners Crawl.” Feeling darker as it moves through its 10 songs, it saves a particular grim experimentalism for closer “Descent,” but by the time Death Unto My Enemy gets there, surely your mind and soul have already been poisoned and reaped, respectively, by “The Seventh Gate,” “The Black Mass” and the penultimate title-track, that deeper down is the only place left to go. So that’s where you go; a humming abyss of anti-noise. Manhattan has never been a epicenter of cultish doom, but Saint Omen‘s abiding death worship and bleakness — looking at you, “Sleepness” — shift between dramaturge and dug-in lumber, and the balance is only intriguing for the rawness with which it is delivered, harsher in its purpose than sound, but still plenty harsh in sound.

Saint Omen on Facebook

Forbidden Place Records store

Samsara Joyride, The Subtle and the Dense

samsara joyride the subtle and the dense

The psychedelic aspects of Samsara Joyride‘s The Subtle and the Dense feel somewhat compartmentalized, but that’s not necessarily a detriment to the songs, as the solo that tops the drearily moderated tempo of “Too Many Preachers” or the pastoral tones that accompany the bluesier spirit of “Who Tells the Story” emphasize. The Austrian outfit’s second full-length, The Subtle and the Dense seems aware of its varied persona, but whether it’s the swaggering stops of “No One is Free” calling to mind Child or the sax and guest vocals that mark such a turn with “Safe and Sound” at the end, Samsara Joyride are firm in their belief that because something is bluesy or classic doesn’t necessarily mean it needs to be simple. From the layer of acoustic guitar worked into opener “I Won’t Sign Pt. 1” — their first album also had a two-parter, the second one follows directly here as track two — to the gang chorus worked in amid the atmospheric reach of “Sliver,” Samsara Joyride communicate a progressive take on traditionalist aesthetics, managing as few in this end of the heavy music realm ever do to avoid burly masculine caricature in the process. For that alone, easily worth the time to listen.

Samsara Joyride on Facebook

Samsara Joyride on Bandcamp

That Ship Has Sailed, Kingdom of Nothing

that ship has sailed kingdom of nothing

Like a check-in from some alternate-universe version of Fu Manchu who stuck closer to their beginnings in punk and hardcore, Californian heavy noise rockers That Ship Has Sailed tap volatility and riffy groove alike through the five songs of their Kingdom of Nothing EP, with an admirable lack of bullshit included within that net-zero assessment amid the physical push of riffs like “One-Legged Dog” or “Iron Eagle II” when the drums go to half-time behind the guitar and bass. It’s not all turn-of-the-century disaffection and ‘members of’ taglines though as “Iron Eagle II” sludges through its finish and “I Am, Yeah” becomes an inadvertent anthem for those who’ve never quite been able to keep their shit together, “Sweet Journey” becomes a melodic highlight while fostering the heaviest crash, and “Ready to Go” hits like a prequel to Nebula‘s trip down the stoner rock highway. Catchy in spite of its outward fuckall (or at least fuckmost), Kingdom of Nothing is more relatable than friendly or accessible, which feels about right. It’s cool guys. I never got my shit together either.

That Ship Has Sailed on Instagram

That Ship Has Sailed on Bandcamp

Spiral Guru, Silenced Voices

Spiral Guru Silenced Voices

The fourth EP in the 10-year history of Brazi’s Spiral Guru, who also released their Void long-player in 2019 and the “The Fantastic Hollow Man” single in 2021, Silenced Voices is distinguished immediately by the vocal command and range of Andrea Ruocco, and I’d suspect that if you’re already familiar with the band, you probably know that. Ruocco‘s voice, in its almost operatic use of breath to reach higher notes, carries some element of melodic metal’s grandeur, but Samuel Pedrosa‘s fuzz riffing and the fluid roll of bassist José Ribeiro and drummer Alexandre H.G. Garcia on the title-track avoid that trap readily, ending up somewhere between blues, psych, and ’70s swing on “Caves and Graves” but kept modern in the atmosphere fostered by Pedrosa‘s lead guitar. Another high-quality South American band ignored by the gringo-dude-dominant underground of Europe and the US? Probably, but I’m guilty too a decade after Spiral Guru‘s start, so all I can say is I’m doing my best out here. This band should probably be on Nuclear Blast by now. Stick around for “The Cabin Man” and you’d best be ready to dance.

Spiral Guru on Facebook

Spiral Guru on Bandcamp

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Spiral Grave Post “The Death of Ronnie M.” Video; Ill Repute Coming Soon

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 20th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

Kind of a lower-key album announcement happening here as Maryland doom standard-bearers Spiral Grave unveil a video for “The Death of Ronnie M.” — as opposed to the death of Ronnie J. D., which I’m still not over — and send first word of the impending Ill Repute as a follow-up to the four-piece’s Argonauta-backed 2021 debut, Legacy of the Anointed (review here). That release was both proof-of-concept and a statement of intent for the band that pulled together vocalist “Screaming Mad Dee” Calhoun, bassist Louis “Iron Lou” Strachan and drummer Jason “Mot” Waldmann from the final incarnation of Iron Man and teamed them with guitarist Willy Rivera, formerly of the wildly underrated (and just plain wild) sludge metal experimentalists Lord. No solid date yet for Ill Repute, but ‘2024’ is easy enough to believe.

I don’t know if Ronnie M.’s is a true case of child abuse and you’ll pardon me if I skip Googling it to find out. In any case, Calhoun (a published author multiple times over) is no stranger to narrative in songwriting between Spiral Grave and his solo work, and “The Death of Ronnie M.” hits sharp with intensity in its low-end-shove midsection to coincide with the traditional metal reach of the vocals, and it’s plain to hear the band are pushing themselves. I haven’t heard Ill Repute or anything, and I can’t even play clever and drop some hint as to when it’ll be out, but a new track isn’t nothing to go on in advance of a familiar ‘more to come’ as they ramp up for the release.

Gets in, lands hard, gets out. Makes it easy to look forward to the record:

spiral grave

SPIRAL GRAVE, the US doom metal band consisting of members from Iron Man and Lord, has released a new official music video for ‘The Death of Ronnie M.’.

The first single from Ill Repute, “The Death of Ronnie M,” is quite simply about murdering a pedophile. The live footage from the video was shot at Another Round in Richmond VA on September 30, 2023.

Spiral Grave formed in late 2018 following the demise of two legendary mid-Atlantic bands, Iron Man and Lord. The band quickly hit the live circuit and recorded their debut album, Legacy of the Anointed (release delayed until 2021 due to COVID). Since that album’s release Spiral Grave has continued to tour, playing live dates and festivals in and around their home area of MD/VA, going as far west as Texas. In addition, the band has recorded their sophomore effort Ill Repute, which is scheduled for a 2024 release from Argonauta Records.

SPIRAL GRAVE:
Screaming Mad Dee – voice
Willy Rivera – guitar
Louis Strachan – bass
Jason “Mot” Waldmann – drums

https://www.facebook.com/SpiralGrave/
https://spiralgrave.bandcamp.com/

www.argonautarecords.com
www.facebook.com/argonautarecords

Spiral Grave, “The Death of Ronnie M.” official video

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Holy Fingers Premiere “Hunted” Video; III Vinyl Coming Soon

Posted in Bootleg Theater on February 19th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

Holy Fingers (Photo by JJ Koczan)

First, slow down.

I’ll spare you the diatribe about how fast life moves these days because you already know. My advice, coming from a place of friendship, is before you dig into the video premiering below, do whatever you gotta do to inject a little calm into the moment. Deep breathing is a decent go-to. I often pause to take a drink of water if I’m feeling tense, frustrated, or just need to reset my brainvoice a little bit. If you want to step out and do a j, you can keep reading on your phone. But take a second to adjust the headspace before “Hunted” starts and I think you’ll be in a better position to appreciate it. Again, friendly advice.

Baltimorean folk-infused heavy psychedelic explorers Holy Fingers released their third album, titled Holy Fingers III — or maybe just III (review here) if you’re feeling casual — in the earliest, still-solstice-dark hours of 2024. It was the first review I did this year, and that was very much on purpose. After an algorithmic fluke on a now-subsumed social media platform put their stuff in front of my face — what used to be called a ‘chance encounter’ — I had spent some stay-indoors time circa 2021 with their second record, II (discussed here) and last April, in getting to see them live for the first and hopefully not last time, it confirmed in my head the anticipation for what would come next. Sure enough, III righteously finds connections between post-rock, heavy bluesy psych, folk pastoralism and command, and a progressive songwriting mindset. In atmosphere and hooks, vibe and structure, it delivers. I waited months to review it, but knew it was how I wanted to launch the New Year last month.

It’s not where the hype is at, I’m kind of sorry to say, but as it sometimes goes with that kind of thing, the ears with which it resonates will perhaps feel it more deeply for that as something to be treasured. If you haven’t heard it yet — and if not, that’s cool; it’s been out for a month, not three years; don’t let the internet make you feel like you’re behind on a thing — the full Bandcamp stream is included below so you can get a sense of how “Hunted” fits on the album. Following the fuzzy roll of “Blood Red Sun” and the open-strum and rhythmic sway of “Bring Me the Beasts” on side A, its throbbing groove is particularly tense, bringing the reverbed breadth of Ides of Gemini-style post-heavy to bear in deceptively forceful repetitions of the title in its chorus. Consistent in ambience and general sound, it follows its own path, and is a standout highlight instead of an awkward fit.

Holy Fingers III is the band’s second album in their current configuration and the places it explores speak to subconscious familiarity, something primal but not necessarily in an aggressive way. I could go on here, but I’d rather not keep you from the clip itself if you’re still reading. “Hunted” uses practical effects by Josh James of Rainbow Death Cult to create a visually atmospheric complement to the song. It is not AI — since that apparently needs to be said this week — and like the track itself, it shows its humanity in its intricacies and finer details while reaching into the abstract, or ethereal, if you prefer, for expression. This won’t hit with everyone, but it is my sincere hope that someone reading this loves it, and maybe that’s you.

Did you slow down? Good, because they’re gonna build back up a bit. Here goes:

Holy Fingers, “Hunted” video premiere

Hunted from Holy Fingers III available now on all streaming platforms. Vinyl preorders at holyfingers.bandcamp.com.

Video by Josh James | Rainbow Death Cult

‘III’ Recorded and mixed by Kevin Bernsten at Developing Nations Recording Studio, Baltimore, MD
www.instagram.com/developing_nations/

Mastered by Brian McTernan at Salad Days Studio
www.instagram.com/saladdaysstudio/

Holy Fingers are Tracey Buchanan, Dave Cannon, Theron Melchior and Josh Weiss.

Holy Fingers, Holy Fingers III (2024)

Holy Fingers on Facebook

Holy Fingers on Instagram

Holy Fingers on Bandcamp

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Maryland Doom Fest 2024 Announced Full Schedule and Timetable

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 24th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

Look at the blue text below and you know what you’re gonna see? Yes, a whole lot of skull emojis. Like a lot. But it happens that each individual one corresponds to a demonstration of the labor of love and community that is the Maryland Doom Festival. From Abel Blood through Zekiah, Maryland Doom Fest 2024 celebrates its 10th anniversary edition with its standard sans-bullshit glut of heavy. Once more the Frederick-based event looks your square in the eye, drops for absolutely immersive days on you and asks if you’re up for it. Well, are ya?

I’m not sure what my summer travel plans are yet — this and Freak Valley have overlapped the last couple years for me — but it’s been since 2019 that I was last down there and oh I’d be so eager to show up and have the three or four people who recognize me (and thus make it feel like an absolute family experience; love love love everywhere you go down there) quietly think to themselves I’ve gotten older and fatter en route to obliterating myself with volume for about 96 hours straight. Fuck. King. A.

Oh, and I hear Thunderbird Divine have new stuff in the works and it’s amazing. So that’s a thing too.

Social media had it like this:

Maryland Doom Fest 2024 poster

We are super stoked to share with you the Maryland Doom Fest 2024 rosters, schedules, and lineups!!!

#4daysofdoom

THE MARYLAND DOOM FEST 2024

✝️Thursday June 20

Cafe 611-

💀 Thunderhorse
1115-1230
💀 The Magpie
1010-1055
💀 Born of Plagues
905-950
💀 Stone Nomads
800-845
💀 Pyre Fyre
700-740
💀 Dirt Eater
600-640

Olde Mother Brewery-

💀 Spellbook
920-1000
💀 Strange Highways
820-900
💀 Bailjack
720-800
💀 Stone Brew
620-700
💀 Abel Blood
520-600

✝️Friday June 21

Cafe 611-

💀 Diggeth
1215-120
💀 Shadow Witch
1110-1155
💀 Red Beard Wall
1010-1050
💀 CROP
910-950
💀 Almost Honest
810-850
💀 Cobra Whip
715-750
💀 The Crows Eye
620-655
💀 Stereo Christ
525-600

Olde Mother Brewery-

💀 Ten Ton Slug
915-1000
💀 Thousand Vision Mist
815-855
💀 Crowhunter
715-755
💀 Asthma Castle
615-655
💀 Bonded by Darkness
515-555

✝️Saturday June 22

Cafe 611-

💀 WHORES.
1150-115
💀 AGE/S
1040-1130
💀 Bloodshot
935-1020
💀 O ZORN!
830-915
💀 Double Planet
730-810
💀 Sun Years
630-710
💀 When the Deadbolt Breaks
530-610

Olde Mother Brewery-

💀 Black Water Rising
915-1000
💀 Switchblade Jesus
815-855
💀 Wyndrider
715-755
💀 Indus Valley Kings
615-655
💀 Vermillion Whiskey
515-555
💀 Doctor Smoke
415-455

✝️Sunday June 23

Cafe 611-

💀 Cirith Ungol
1200-110
💀 Mythosphere
1055-1140
💀 Conclave
955-1035
💀 Compression
855-935
💀 Sons of Arrakis
755-835
💀 Curse the Son
655-735
💀 Kulvera
555-635
💀 Old Blood
500-535
💀 Cloud Machine
405-440

Olde Mother Brewery-

💀 Thunderbird Divine
920-1000
💀 Black Manta
820-900
💀 High Noon Kahuna
720-800
💀 Unity Reggae
620-700
💀 King Bastard
520-600
💀 Zekiah
420-500

52 bands over a 4 day weekend at 2 venues across the street from one another!!
#4daysofdoom

WEEKEND PASSES: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-maryland-doom-fest-2024-tickets-732298202637?aff=oddtdtcreator

https://www.facebook.com/MdDoomFest/
www.marylanddoomfest.com

Thunderbird Divine, “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More, Babe” (Barry White cover)

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Darsombra Announce Spring European Tour

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

Maryland-based-but-essentially-nomadic art-drone experimentalists and joybringers Darsombra will launch their next European tour at the ever-prestigious Roadburn Festival in Tilburg, the Netherlands, and their tour will thread from there through the 25th anniversary party of their longtime label home Exile on Mainstream in Germany before swinging through the UK to hit Desertfest London 2024 and do club shows with Stinking Lizaveta from Philly, which with those two bands together is quite a show if you’re into off-kilter instrumentalism. As of course you are.

There are dates to be filled in, which as I understand it is mostly how booking Euro tours in the 2020s goes, so if you can help out in Poland, Germany, the UK, Belgium, Luxembourg, etc., in some of the spaces between dates below, do. You won’t regret facilitating Darsombra‘s weirdoism, and everybody knows Apollo shines on those who help out experimental bands. Science has taught us this over and over. Or somesuch.

Dates from the PR wire:

Darsombra (Photo by Dave Iden)

DARSOMBRA: Baltimore Transapocalyptic Galaxy Rock Duo Announces New Tour Dates Including Roadburn, Exile On Mainstream 25, Desertfest, And More

After touring across the North American continent heavily last year surrounding the release of their entrancing psychedelic masterpiece Dumesday Book, Baltimore-based galaxy rock duo DARSOMBRA will spend a solid portion of 2024 on the road as well, this week announcing a plethora of new tour dates.

The Winter and early Spring months will see DARSOMBRA performing sporadic one-off and regional dates along the East Coast, including a set at film and music gathering Sleeping Giant Fest in Jacksonville on March 30th.

In April, DARSOMBRA will make their way across the Atlantic, returning to Roadburn Festival to share the stage with The Jesus And Mary Chain, Chelsea Wolfe, Khanate, Blood Incantation, and dozens more.

Following Roadburn, the band will tour through Europe with shows in Poland, Belgium, and Germany, to play the Exile On Mainstream 25 Festival dates in both Berlin and Leipzig – the 25th anniversary of the diverse label for which DARSOMBRA is an alumni act – with Ostinato, A Whisper In The Noise, Caspar Brötzmann Massaker, Conny Ochs, and many others also on the four-day/two-city bill.

And in the wake of EOM25, DARSOMBRA will join up with their allies Stinking Lizaveta for six shows across the UK, including Desertfest London with Godflesh, Suicidal Tendencies, Ufomammut, Bongripper, Acid King, Monolord, and many more.

DARSOMBRA is still seeking help booking shows throughout Europe between the Roadburn and EOM25 festivals and more UK dates with Stinking Lizaveta around the existing gigs, so anybody who wants to host this hallucinogenic duo, please contact the band directly through their social points linked HERE.

DARSOMBRA Tour Dates:
2/2/2024 2640 Space – Baltimore, MD
3/28/2024 Cobra – Richmond, VA
3/29/2024 King’s – Raleigh, NC
3/30/2024 Sleeping Giant Fest – Jacksonville, FL
4/19/2024 Roadburn Festival – Tilburg, NL
4/24/2024 Kunstverein Hintere Cramergasse e.V – Nuremberg, DE
4/25/2024 Kalambur – Wroclaw, PL
4/26/2024 Lot Chmiela – Poznan, PL
4/27/2024 Awaria – Krakow, PL
4/28/2024 Mlodsza Siostra – Warsaw, PL
5/05/2024 De Loft – Herent, BE
5/08-09/2024 Exile On Mainstream 25 Fest – Berlin, DE
5/10-11/2024 Exile On Mainstream 25 Fest – Leipzig, DE
5/17/2024 The Cellar – Cardigan, UK w/ Stinking Lizaveta
5/19/2024 Desertfest – London, UK w/ Stinking Lizaveta
5/22/2024 The Lubber Fiend – Newcastle, UK w/ Stinking Lizaveta
5/23/2024 BLOC – Glasgow, UK w/ Stinking Lizaveta
5/24/2024 St. Vincent’s Chapel – Edinburgh, UK w/ Stinking Lizaveta
5/25/2024 Tooth & Claw – Inverness, UK w/ Stinking Lizaveta

photo by Dave Iden

Darsombra is Brian Daniloski and Ann Everton.

http://facebook.com/darsombra
https://www.instagram.com/darsombra/
https://darsombra.bandcamp.com
http://www.darsombra.com/

Darsombra, “Gibbet Lore” official video

Darsombra, Dumesday Book (2023)

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Grim Reefer Fest 2024 Announces Initial Lineup; Tickets on Sale

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 18th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

I was lucky enough to attend the April 2023 edition of the Baltimorean all-dayer Grim Reefer Fest (review here), which featured Bongzilla as headliners and the likes of Sun Voyager and Holy Fingers, among others. Returning from last year’s bill for 2024 are Haze Mage, who are involved in organizing the fest — fair’s fair — and that’s it so far, though there are still two bands TBA, which tells me there’s probably a tour waiting to be announced or something like that. Sometimes it’s logistics as much as teasing with these lineup reveals.

But with the undebatable Weedeater in the top spot for 2024 backed by the atmospheric heavy rock of Black Lung, Yatra‘s we’re-the-death-metal-band-the-heavyheads-like extremity and Leather Lung‘s sludge metal party, along with High Leaf coming down from Philly, Foehammer up from VA and Bleak Shore, who just played their first show this past December, the day seems pretty packed even before you get to the two TBAs. It’ll be a fun one if you’re in the neighborhood on April 27, which you might consider being.

The announcement came down the PR wire thusly:

Grim reefer fest 2024

This April we return to the legendary Ottobar in Baltimore on Saturday April 27th for our 5th annual fest, bringing a very full day of the dankest & heaviest riffs around!

This year’s lineup includes:
Weedeater
Black Lung
Haze Mage
Yatra
Leather Lung
High Leaf
Foehammer
Bleak Shore

Plus we’ve got a couple more to still announce! Stay tuned!

Once again, the amazing Golden Grillz food truck will be parked outside all day and night to take care of all of your munchie needs!

Tickets are now available here: https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/62386586

Early birds get your tickets now! Prices for tickets go up after March 1st!
More details at GrimReeferFest.com

Poster by John DeCampos aka @ghost_bat_

Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/4LgCZ1iCo

https://www.facebook.com/GrimReeferFest
https://www.instagram.com/grimreeferfest/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3BL9lkMWbIC2qaqWZ4LH8g
https://www.grimreeferfest.com/

Sun Voyager, Live at Grim Reefer Fest 2023

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