I’ve covered Mephistofeles once or twice over the last couple years. The Argentinian three-piece are probably known as much for their visual style as much as grit-coated distorted riffing, indulging as they do in post-Electric Wizard-style exploitation in various degrees of the pornographic. Truth be told, that kind of thing puts me off, but I’ve been looking for an excuse to like the band, since the music is good. I’ve been through the upcoming EP, A Path of Black, twice now and its three songs should make a killer entry to anyone who hasn’t picked up on them yet. Hooky, filth-toned, semi-doomed but right on in terms of vibe, they bring forward the band’s appeal in a way that somewhat belies the fuckall of their presentation, but still keeps the swing loose and misanthropic.

They’ve signed to Helter Skelter Productions for the new release in February, and their two full-lengths are also being reissued as you can see in the copious PR wire info below. But don’t miss out on the video for EP opener “Lucifer’s Hellride” below. I think the title-cut is the best of the three, but this one surely gets the point across as well.

Dig:

MEPHISTOFELES to release new EP through HELTER SKELTER, reissue two albums – first video from EP streaming now

Helter Skelter Productions (distributed & marketed by Regain Records) is proud to announce an alliance with the one and only Mephistofeles. The first fruit of this alliance will be a new EP, A Path of Black, set for release on February 26th, 2021 on CD, 12″ vinyl, and cassette tape formats. Also on February 26th, 2021 shall follow two reissues through Helter Skelter: Mephistofeles’ classic second album, I’m Heroin, on vinyl LP format and the band’s classic third album, Satan Sex Ceremonies, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.

One of the cultest names in the underground, Mephistofeles hail from Argentina and have prolifically perfected a literally addicting blend of garage rock, stoner doom, and ritual atmosphere that truly puts the SATANIC in Satanic panic! From 2013 onward, this power-trio have been pumping out one sonic drug after another, from singles and demos to EPs and even live albums, all culminating in three full-lengths to date. And now, longtime fans Helter Skelter Productions will be reissuing parts of Mephistofeles’ back catalog as well as some new recordings.

The first of these new recordings, A Path of Black is a quick-hitting slab of Mephistofeles at their darkest, druggiest best. Featuring three brand-new songs, A Path of Black is aptly titled: there’s garage-rockin’ energy to spare, but you literally feel the darkness dragging you down like a drug you can’t shake. If anything, this EP emphasizes the ROCK far more than the doom, but it’s all recognizably their signature sound. And like all Mephistofeles’ recordings, each of these three tracks is as immediately memorable as the last, the trio’s swagger truly something to behold.

See & hear a special promo video for the brand-new track “Lucifers Hellride” HERE at Regain Records’ YouTube channel. Preorder info can be found HERE at Regain Records’ Bandcamp. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Mephistofeles’ A Path of Black
1. Lucifers Hellride [3:43]
2. Electric Ripper [2:47]
3. A Path of Black [5:45]

The first of the reissues, I’m Heroin was originally released in 2017 but in extremely limited quantities. Mephistofeles have always had a knack for compelling(ly lurid) record titles, and I’m Heroin is no exception: both phonetically and visually in its original incarnation of ( ( ( I ‘ M H E R O I N ) ) ), it conveys the sense of delirium and madness written large across the grooves of this nearly 47-minute work. Indeed, Mephistofeles’ second long-player goes all in on getting gone – hypnotic yet loose, jammy yet locked-in, devilishly drugged-out and above all FUN in its freedom. Minutes turn into hours, hours turn into days, days turn into weeks, ad infinitum…being stuck inside I’m Heroin is like being stuck inside a jellied coma you never wanna come out of! Preorder info can be found HERE at Regain Records’ Bandcamp. Tracklisting is as follows:

Tracklisting for Mephistofeles’ I’m Heroin
1. Transylvanian Funeral [9:09]
2. The Rogue [4:06]
3. White Butterfly [5:55]
4. Trash Lord [5:10]
5. Heroin [5:55]
6. Addicted to Satan [4:19]
7. Into the Night [10:48]

The second of the reissues, Satan Sex Ceremonies was originally released in 2019 but in extremely limited quantities. Mephistofeles have always had a knack for compelling(ly lurid) record titles, and Satan Sex Ceremonies is no exception – in fact, it pretty much sums up the Mephistofeles experience in a mere three words! As such, the album’s a slowly bubbling cauldron of eerie atmospheres and drugged-out sonics; amidst the ever-present haze of hashish and sulfur, it’s by far one of the band’s most authentically DOOM recordings. And at 47 minutes, the simmering slime Mephistofeles here dole out so effortlessly sounds more like 47 hours, so ensnared by addiction you’ll be. Preorder info can be found HERE at Regain Records’ Bandcamp. Tracklisting is as follows:

Tracklisting for Mephistofeles’ Satan Sex Ceremonies
1. Satan Sex Ceremonies / The Wrath of Jacula [15:03]
2. Profanation [3:30]
3. Down Again [4:15]
4. Overdose [3:12]
5. Syringe [6:12]
6. Curse of the Knife [5:17]
7. Chains of Agony [9:51]

http://mephistofeles.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/mephistofelesdrone/
http://instagram.com/fuckoffhippieposers
www.helterskelterproductions.se
www.facebook.com/helterskelterproductions
www.helterskelterproductions.bandcamp.com

Mephistofeles, “Lucifer Hellride” official video

Plenty of this lineup looks familiar from what Psycho Las Vegas would’ve been in 2020, and duh, that’s the idea. You’ve still got Danzig doing Lucifuge, still got At the Gates and Katatonia and Emperor and Mercyful Fate. Still got the possibility that if I go, I can hang out after Pinback‘s set and bother Rob Crow about how badly he needs to do another Goblin Cock record. Wino, Fatso Jetson, Elder and Blackwater Holylight playing the pool party, six or seven curveball emo bands — all that fun stuff. Spectacle unmatched in heavy music, set in the Planet Earth’s official home for damned souls. It’s as perfect as it is incongruous.

Makes me wonder what Crowbar have going on next August.

But what you probably want to know is whether your ticket if you had one for 2020 is still good for 2021. Yes.

Behold:

Psycho Entertainment presents Psycho Las Vegas 2021

Psycho Las Vegas has been rescheduled to August 20th – 22nd, 2021. Psycho Swim has been rescheduled to August 19th, 2021. If you already purchased a pass for either event and want to attend in 2021, there is nothing you need to do – your passes will automatically be valid for the new dates.

80 of the 83 bands originally booked on the lineup are returning in 2021. The bands who are not joining us next year are Ty Segall, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Crowbar.

Danzig, Mercyful Fate, Emperor, The Flaming Lips, Blue Oyster Cult, Down, Mayhem, Satyricon, Obituary, Warpaint, Blonde Redhead, HEALTH, Watain, Ulver, Katatonia, At the Gates, Poison The Well, Paul Cauthen, Amigo The Devil, Exhorder, Wolves in the Throne Room, Thursday, Pinback, Zola Jesus, Drab Majesty, Boris, Eyehategood, Repulsion, Immolation, Midnight, MGLA, Windhand, Cursive, Tsol, King Dude, Pig Destroyer, Brutus, Profanatica, Lower Dens, Cult of Fire, Intronaut, boysetsfire, Death by Stereo, Curl Up and Die, Adamantium, This Will Destroy You, Khemmis, Mothership, Guantanamo Baywatch, Dengue Fever, Kaelan Mikla, Black Joe Lewis, Fatso Jetson, Wino, Creeping Death, Mephistofeles, Frankie and The Witch Fingers, Toke, Foie Gras, Flavor Crystals, Silvertomb, Lord Buffalo, Warish, Alms, Bombers, Glacial Tomb, Relaxer, Black Sabbitch, Hippie Death Cult, Vaelmyst, Mother Mercury, Two Minutes to Late Night

America’s rock n’ roll bacchanal returns to Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino August 20th through August 22th, with another resort-wide casino takeover unlike any of its kind. Now approaching its fifth year in the swirling neon decadence of Las Vegas, PSYCHO will feature over seventy artists across four stages including the world-class Events Center, the iconic House Of Blues, Mandalay Bay Beach, and the vintage Vegas-style Rhythm & Riffs Lounge in the center of the casino floor. PSYCHO LAS VEGAS 2021 will continue to redefine America’s conception of what a festival can be.

Psycho Entertainment presents Psycho Swim “The Official Psycho Las Vegas Pre-Party”

Old Man Gloom, Elder, Polyrhythmics, Death Valley Girls, The Skull, Blackwater Holylight, Here Lies Man, DJ Scott Seltzer

America’s rock n’ roll pool party returns to DAYLIGHT Beach Club on August 19th for the second annual PSYCHO SWIM. This official all-day pre-party celebrates the best of previous PSYCHO LAS VEGAS lineups with performances from a host of festival alumni as well as new PSYCHO additions.

DAYLIGHT Beach Club is nestled next to the Mandalay Bay Resort And Casino and features a 4400-square-foot main pool, daybeds, cabanas, and bungalows, with an elevated stage offering unobstructed, up-close-and-personal views of artist performances.

https://www.facebook.com/events/2513255765662644/
http://www.vivapsycho.com
http://www.facebook.com/psychoLasVegas
http://www.instagram.com/psycholasvegas

A Message from Psycho Las Vegas

Psycho Las Vegas 2020 has begun the process of unveiling its lineup, and already it’s all-over-the-place in that precariously well-named kind of way. That is, Psycho, and, well, yeah. Familiar faces Elder and Windhand return, and Ulver, Blonde Redhead, Mayhem, Kaelan Mikla, Mephistofeles and Ty Segall and the Freedom Band will join on as well for a varied and already kinda overwhelming aesthetic reach that should be perfectly suited to the festival’s gonna-blow-minds mission and generally hallucinatory vibes. Like a mirage all the more so for the blurred vision of those in attendance. There’s a difference between drinking in the heat and drinking in heat. At Psycho, they do both.

Also they get stoned.

I got asked the other day if I was planning to write another book anytime soon. I said I wasn’t, but that’s not entirely true. I’d like to fly out to Psycho Las Vegas 2020, maybe a day early, eat a bunch of mushrooms in some stupidly-deluxe hotel room and gonzo my way through 20,000-odd words over the course of the four-day fest experience and then publish that in paperback. It would not be a common photos-and-words review. It might not be a review at all. But it would be something, and I think it would be fun to do, and an experience befitting the atmosphere for the fest itself. I haven’t made that pitch yet to Psycho. I’m not sure if they’d go for it.

Anyway, here’s the lineup announcement. Private bathrooms for the win:

PSYCHO LAS VEGAS 2020: First Round Of Artists Announced Including Ty Segall & The Freedom Band, Mayhem, Ulver, Windhand, Blonde Redhead, And More; Tickets On Sale Now!

America’s rock n’ roll bacchanal, PSYCHO LAS VEGAS, will return to Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino for a second consecutive year August 14th through August 16th 2020. Set to commence with a pre-party at Daylight Beach Club on August 13th, PSYCHO LAS VEGAS remains the premier rock festival destination offering fans one of the most unique and immersive festival formats in the world.

Now approaching its fifth year in the swirling neon decadence of Las Vegas, the resort-wide takeover will utilize four stages including the world-class Mandalay Bay Events Center, the iconic House Of Blues, Mandalay Bay Beach, and Rhythm & Riffs Lounge located at the center of the casino floor. With its signature mix of grit, grime, and grandeur, PSYCHO LAS VEGAS 2020 will continue to redefine America’s conception of what a music festival can be.

The curators of the event are pleased to unveil the first round of artists to grace the PSYCHO stages with California garage rock icons Ty Segall & The Freedom Band, New York alternative noise rock veterans Blonde Redhead, Virginia doom metal unit Windhand, and Massachusetts psyche metallers Elder (scheduled to play the pre-party), as well as Norwegian black metal legends Mayhem, long-running Norwegian dark ambient collective Ulver, Icelandic synth punk trio Kaelan Mikla, and Argentinian dark electric “mausoleum music” makers Mephistofeles.

Tickets for PSYCHO LAS VEGAS as well as the PSYCHO SWIM pre-party, which requires a separate ticket from the main festival pass, are on sale now!

PSYCHO LAS VEGAS offers several pricing tiers and payment plans starting with a $20 deposit. 3-Day GA Weekender passes start at $199 (excluding tax and fees). Limited VIP 3-Day High Roller passes – which sell out annually – are available for $499 (excluding tax and fees) and include:

— VIP access for all three days of the festival + entry to the Thursday pre-party
— VIP hotel and festival check-in at Mandalay Bay
— Dedicated lines for expedited entry to all stages of the festival
— Private viewing areas, seating, restrooms and bars at three stages of the festival
— Limited edition and exclusive merch item for 2020 High Rollers only

Tickets for all PSYCHO LAS VEGAS events can be purchased at VivaPsycho.com or AXS.com.

Meticulously curated, PSYCHO LAS VEGAS has gained worldwide recognition for consistently delivering lineups that grow increasingly diverse and eclectic with each passing year, the magnitude of which have yet to be seen in North America. From post-rock, to black metal, to world music and even electronica, PSYCHO’s wide-ranging allure has expanded ceaselessly since its inception, bringing together musicians and artists from seemingly immiscible corners of the musical world.

https://www.facebook.com/events/3255628101138593/
http://www.vivapsycho.com
http://www.facebook.com/psychoLasVegas
http://www.instagram.com/psycholasvegas

Elder, Live at Psycho Smokeout 2019

Hope you’ve been doing your noddercizing, because Argentinian three-piece Mephistofeles don’t stop once they get going, and otherwise you might pull something in your neck. The trio have signed to Cursed Tongue Records following a booming response to their second long-player, I’m Heroin — or, if you’d prefer it more spacious: ( ( ( I ‘ M H E R O I N ) ) ) — and have been confirmed for a 2018 vinyl release through the label. If you’re asking yourself, “Gee, wasn’t it just like last week that Cursed Tongue announced they’d signed somebody?” Yeah, it was. That’s how you know a label is up and coming.

What I’m most enjoying about this bevvy of pickups from the imprint thus far, however, is a diversity of sound. To wit, Mephistofeles are post-Electric Wizard scumriffers of the highest order, dropping out, nodding off, reveling in grainy porn and a generally addled haze. Hey, it’s an aesthetic. Deeply problematic on a number of levels, but an aesthetic nonetheless. Plus, Tony Reed did the mastering! That’s always a win.

As is Cursed Tongue‘s wont, they’ve got a full announcement with background and so forth to get listeners introduced, and if you haven’t heard it yet, you can stream the seven-tracker in its entirety at the bottom of this post. I’m digging the stomp in “Trash Lord,” personally, but you’ll no doubt find your own path through the mire.

Fog on:

MEPHISTOFELES SIGNS TO CURSED TONGUE RECORDS TO UNLEASH THE “CTR-666”

( ( ( I ‘ M H E R O I N ) ) ) SEES A WORLD WIDE RELEASE ON VINYL IN SPRING 2018

This time we at Cursed Tongue Records have gotten our hands stained by the vilest filth this side of the Andes. It is with the utmost thrill we can announce the inclusion of Mephistofeles to the CTR family. We are very happy to welcome this black sheep of doom and its hate-infused debauchery extravaganza. Cursed Tongue Records look forward to drop a thick slab of wax right in the face of a festering vinyl collecting horde of sonic-drug-hungering stoner heads.

Based in Paraná, Entre Ríos, Argentina since mid-2015 Mephistofeles compels a three piece power group that worships an early seventies prototype of doom metal with tints of psychedelia. Mephistofeles’ music goes hand in hand with graphics that tend to be trashy, including elements from sexual abuse, nazi exploitation and dreary dark scenarios.

The band fulfilled its faith when releasing the debut album called “Whore” (2016), which prompted a ton of public attention during this past year, achieving a little well known place in the international underground stoner music scene. Moving away from the cleaner production on Whore, they have managed to unveil the true sleazy sound on “( ( ( I ‘ M H E R O I N ) ) )”, the kind of dirty and sloppy sound that this record needed to attain. In other words, the band arrive at what they like to call “The true sound of hate”. A sound that most bands nowadays have forgotten how to achieve.

“( ( ( I ‘ M H E R O I N ) ) )” was straight out recorded in just one session during Argentinian summer of 2017 and mixed during the entirety of the following winter. The record does not go that much further from the “Whore” equation, but definitely has an evolution in the sound and brew of the songs. On the new record the compositions have a wider dynamic that take the listener from: heavy acid repetitive riffing nightmares into another different stage of electricness with songs as “The Rogue” and ‘Addicted To Satan’. “( ( ( I ‘ M H E R O I N ) ) )” sees the band branch out and experiment even further with the song compositions, extending the jams to give them time to properly unfold resulting in the ultimative mind-fuck. The album closes with ‘Into The Night’; a truly psyche-eroding extemporary spaced-out excursion to the brain’s deepest abyss and as the song progresses it slowly starts to dissapear between the trees of the darkest forests that Transylvania has to offer. There’s no no hope of surviving this Hendrixian heroin spree!

“( ( ( I ‘ M H E R O I N ) ) )” has already garnered some significant notion by some of the scene’s heavy weight icons and rightfully so as their sophomore album expands Mephistofeles’ expression on several levels; the production is sleazier, the instrumentation and play is markedly enhanced, the lyrics and graphic content more bleak, the hate is untamed. There’s no doubt that Mephistofeles didn’t come here to win your heart, they are here to corrupt your mind and drain your soul. For what’s left after all when it’s over…

The band responds to the commotion by stating:

“We are really happy to be experimenting this kind of stuff right now with our music. We are kids in our early 20’s, we can’t ask for anything more. We believe that there’s just death afterwards in our future.”

The new album will see ligt of day on limited heavy weight vinyl via Cursed Tongue Records in the spring of 2018 sporting a wide array of truly x-rated graphical content pushing the borders of what’s widely accepted. Tongue in cheek – literally.

CTR-666, Mephistofeles – “( ( ( I ‘ M H E R O I N ) ) )”, official release date: 2018

Mephistofeles is:
Ismael Dimenza on bass,
Gabriel Ravera on guitar and vocals,
Iván Sachar on drums

Julián Millen on general mixing
Enrique Lopez as mixing assistant
Aitor Aramberry as mixing assistant & digital mastering
Mastering for optimal vinyl playback by Tony Reed
Artwork, layout & design by Wizard Of Meth

http://mephistofeles.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/mephistofelesdrone/
http://instagram.com/fuckoffhippieposers

https://www.facebook.com/CursedTongueRecords/
https://www.instagram.com/cursedtongue
http://cursedtonguerecords.bigcartel.com/

Mephistoeles, I’m Heroin (2017)