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Elder Druid Post Carcosa Album Art and Details

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 28th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Even if one might accuse Belfast unit Elder Druid of jumping the gun a bit in posting the album art and tracklisting of their new album before they’re finished recording it, mixing or mastering, it’s easy enough to understand why they might be excited-about-a-thing when you look at the Serpent Tusk Studio front cover for the impending release. Factor in as well that it was nearly a year ago that the follow-up to 2020’s Golgotha (review here) was first announced along with their signing to Interstellar Smoke Records, and alright, yeah, fair enough. There’s only so much sitting on hands one can reasonably be expected to do, especially when one is passionate about the work in question, which we already know Elder Druid are. Stick that in your marketing plan.

Carcosa will be out whenever it’s out — I’m told time is a flat circle anyhow, so whatever — and in the interim, an update is welcome. Not quite done, but coming together on multiple fronts, and the cover rules. Until I can actually hear the thing, that’s good enough for me.

From social media:

elder druid carcosa

ELDER DRUID -‘CARCOSA’ TRACKLIST

We thought it was time for another update on our next album, ‘Carcosa’. We’ve had a number of delays in wrapping up the recording but we’re currently nearing the end and are set for a release in 2022.

It will comprise of 6 songs and they are listed below in the order they will appear on record:

1. Armada
2. Carcosa
3. Coffin Dropper
4. Gambit Caster
5. The Ingredient
6. Pandora’s Box

‘Carcosa’ will be released on vinyl via Interstellar Smoke Records and on CD/tape via Galactic SmokeHouse. We will have more information regarding pre-orders once we have the album mixed & mastered.

PERSONNEL:
Gregg McDowell: Vocals
Jake Wallace: Guitar
Mikey Scott: Guitar
Dale Hughes: Bass
Daniel Zanker Ovalle: Bass
Brien Gillen: Drums
Album artwork: Serpent Tusk Studio

https://www.facebook.com/elderdruidband
https://elderdruid.bandcamp.com/releases
http://www.instagram.com/elderdruidband
https://www.facebook.com/Interstellar-Smoke-Records-101687381255396/
https://interstellarsmokerecords.bigcartel.com/
https://www.facebook.com/GalacticSmokeHouse
https://www.instagram.com/galacticsmokehouse/
https://galacticsmokehouse.bigcartel.com/

Elder Druid, Golgotha (2020)

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Quarterly Review: Zack Oakley, Vøuhl, White Manna, Daily Thompson, Headless Monarch, Some Pills for Ayala, Il Mostro, Carmen Sea, Trip Hill, Yanomamo & Slomatics

Posted in Reviews on January 17th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

THE-OBELISK-FALL-2020-QUARTERLY-REVIEW

Somehow it feels longer than it’s actually been. Yeah, a year’s changed over, but it’s really only been about a month since the last Quarterly Review installment, which I said at the time was only half of the full proceedings. I’ve started the count over at 1-50, but in my head, this is really a continuation of that five-day stretch more than something separate. It’s been booked out I think since before the last round of 50 was done, if that tells you anything. Should tell you 2021 was a busy year and 2022 looks like it’ll be more of the same in that regard. Also a few other regards, but let’s keep it optimistic, hmm?

We start today fresh with a wide swath of stuff for digging and, well, I hope you dig it. Let’s go.

Quarterly Review #1-10:

Zack Oakley, Badlands

Zack Oakley Badlands

Apparently I’ve been spelling Zack Oakley‘s name wrong for the better part of a decade. Zack with a ‘k’ instead of an ‘h’ at the end. I feel like a jerk. By any spelling, dude both shreds and can write a song. Known for his work in Joy, Pharlee, Volcano, etc., he brings vibrant classic heavy to the fore on his solo debut, Badlands, sounding like a one-man San Diego scene on “I’m the One” only after declaring his own genre in opener “Freedom Rock.” “Mexico” vibes on harmonica-laced heavy blues and the acoustic-led “Looking High Searching Low” follows suit with slide, but there’s tinge of psych on the catchy “Desert Shack,” and “Fever” stomps out in pure Hendrix style without sounding ridiculous, which is not an achievement to be understated. Closing duo “Acid Rain” and “Badlands” meet at the place where the ’60s ended and the ’70s started, swaggering through time with more hooks and a sound that might be garage if your garage had a really nice studio in it. I’ll take more of this anytime Mr. Oakley wants to belt it out.

Zack Oakley website

Kommune Records on Bandcamp

 

Vøuhl, Vøuhl

Vøuhl Vøuhl

Issued by Shawn Pelata — also known as Pælãtä Shåvvn, with an apparent thing for accent marks — the self-titled debut from Vøuhl mixes industrial-style experimentalism, dark ambience and a strong cinematic current across a still-relatively-unassuming five-songs and 23 minutes, hitting a resonant minimalism at the ending of “Evvûl” while building to a fuller-sounding progression on the subsequent “Välle.” Drones, echoing, looped beats and thoughtfully executed synth let Pelata construct each atmosphere as an individual piece, but with the attention obviously paid to the presentation of the whole, there’s nothing that keeps one piece from tying into the next either, so whether one approaches Vøuhl‘s Vøuhl as an EP or a short album, the impression of a deep-running soundscape is made one way or the other. What seems to be speech samples in “Aurô” and noise-laced closer “ßlasste” — thoroughly manipulated — may hint at things to come, but I hope not entirely at the expense of the percussive urgency of opener “Dùste” here.

Vøuhl on Facebook

Stone Groove Records website

 

White Manna, First Welcome

White Manna First Welcome

At first you’re all like, “yeah this is right on I can handle it” and then all of a sudden White Manna are about four minutes into the freakery of “Light Cones” opening up their latest opus First Welcome and you’re starting to panic because you took too much and you’re couchlocked. The heretofore undervalued Calipsych weirdos are out-out-out on their new eight-songer, done in an LP-ready 39 minutes but drippy droppy through an interdimensional swap-meet of renegade noises and melted-down aesthetics. Maybe you heard 2020’s ARC (review here) and thereby got on board, or maybe you don’t know them at all. Doesn’t matter. The thing is they’re already in your brain and by the time you’re done with the triumph-boogie of “Lions of Fire” you realize you’re one with the vibrating universe and only then are you ready to meet the “Monogamous Cassanova” in krautrock purgatory before the swirling “Milk Symposium” spreads itself out like a blanket over the sun. Too trippy for everything, and so just. fucking. right. If you can hang with this, I wanna be friends.

White Manna on Facebook

Cardinal Fuzz webstore

Centripetal Force Records website

 

Daily Thompson, God of Spinoza

God Of Spinoza by Daily Thompson

In 2022, German heavy rockers Daily Thompson mark a decade since their founding. God of Spinoza is their fifth full-length, and in songs like “Cantaloupe Melon,” “Golden Desert Child,” and “Muaratic Acid,” the reliability one has come to expect from them is only reinforced. Their sound hinges on psychedelia, but complements that with an abiding sense of grunge and a patience in songwriting. They’ve done heavy blues and straight-up rock in the past, so neither is out of the trio’s wheelhouse — the penultimate “Midnight Soldier” is a breakout here — but the title-track’s drawn-out “yeah”s and slacker-nod rhythm seem to draw more directly from the Alice in Chains school of making material sound slow without actually having it crawl or sacrifice accessibility. I’d give them points regardless for calling a song “I Saw Jesus in a Taco Bell,” but the closer is a genuine highlight on God of Spinoza turning a long stretch of disaffection to immersive fuzz with a deftness befitting a band on their fifth record who know precisely who they are. Like I said, reliable.

Daily Thompson on Facebook

Noisolution website

 

Headless Monarch, Titan Slug

Headless Monarch Titan Slug

Founded by guitarist/bassist Collin Green, Headless Monarch released their first demo in 2013 and their most recent EP, Nothing on the Horizon, in 2016. Five years later, Green and drummer Brandon Zackey offer the late-2021 debut full-length, Titan Slug, working in collaboration for the first time with vocalist and producer Otu Suurmunne of Moonic Productions — who mostly goes by Otu — across a richly executed collection of six tracks, three new, three from prior outings. Not sure if Otu is a hired gun as a singer working alongside the other two, but there’s little arguing with the results they glean as a trio across a song like “Fever Dream” or “Sleeper Now Rise,” the latter taken from Headless Monarch‘s 2015 two-songer and positioned in a more aggressive stance overall. The newer songs come across as more fleshed out, but even “Eight Minutes of Light” from the first demo has atmospheric reach to go with its clarity of focus and noteworthy heft. One only hopes the collaboration continues and inspires further work along these lines.

Headless Monarch on Instagram

Headless Monarch on Bandcamp

 

Some Pills for Ayala, Space Octopus

Some Pills for Ayala Space Octopus

Technically speaking, you had me at Space Octopus. After releasing a self-titled EP under the somewhat-troubling moniker (one hopes it’s not too many) Some Pills for Ayala, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and producer Néstor Ayala Cortés of At Devil Dirt returns with this two-songer, comprised of its 11-minute title-cut and the shorter “It’s Been a Long Trip.” The lead track is duly dream-drifty in its procession, a subtle build underway across its span but pushing more for hypnosis than impact and getting there to be sure, even as the second half grows thicker in tone. At 3:48, “It’s Been a Long Trip” comes across more as an experiment in technique captured and used as the foundation for Cortés‘ soft, wide echoing vocals. Lysergic and adventurous in kind, the 15-minute EP is nonetheless serene in its presence and soothing overall. Could be that Cortés might push deeper into folk as he goes forward, but the acidy foundation he’s working from will only add to that.

Some Pills for Ayala on Instagram

Some Pills for Ayala on Bandcamp

 

Il Mostro, Occult Practices

Il Mostro Occult Practices

It’s a quick in-out from Boston heavy punkers Il Mostro on the Occult Practices EP. Four songs, the last of which is a cover of T.S.O.L.‘s “Black Magic,” nothing over three minutes long, all fits neatly on a 7″. For what they’re doing, that makes sense, taking the high-velocity ethic of Motörhead or Peter Pan Speedrock (if you need a second plays-fast-punk-derived-and-rocks band) and delivering with an appropriately straightforward thrust. Opener “Firewitch” ends with giggling, and that’s fair enough to convey the overarching lack of pretense throughout, but they do well with the cover and have a righteous balance between control and chaos in the relatively-mid-paced “Trial” and the sprinter “Faith in Ghosts,” which follows. Is cult punk a thing? I guess you could ask the Misfits that question, but Il Mostro mostly avoid sounding like that Jersey band, and it’s easy enough to imagine them bashing walls at any number of Beantown havens or bathed under the telltale red lights of O’Brien’s as they tear into a set. So be it, punkers.

Il Mostro on Facebook

Il Mostro on Bandcamp

 

Carmen Sea, Hiss

Carmen Sea Hiss

Should it come as a surprise that an EP of violin-laced/led instrumentalist progressive post-rock, willfully working against genre convention in order to cross between metal, rock and more atmospheric fare includes an element of self-indulgence? Nope. How could it be otherwise? The five-track Hiss from Parisian four-piece Carmen Sea is a heady outing indeed, but at just 29 minutes, the band doesn’t actually lose themselves in what they’re doing, and the surprises they offer along the way like the electronic turns in “Black Echoes” or the quiet drone stretch in the first half of 11-minute closer “Glow in Space” — which gets plenty tense soon enough — provide welcome defiance of expectation. That is to say, whatever else they are, Carmen Sea are not predictable, and that serves them well here and will continue to. “Frames” begins jarring and strutting, but finds its strength in its more floating movement, though the later bridge of classical and weighted musics feels like the realization that might’ve led to creating the band in the first place. There’s potential in toying with that balance.

Carmen Sea on Facebook

Carmen Sea Distrokid

 

Trip Hill, Ain’t Trip Ceremony

Trip Hill Aint Trip Ceremony

Florence’s Fabrizio Cecchi has vibe to spare with his solo-project Trip Hill, and Denmark’s Bad Afro Records has stepped forward to issue the 2020 offering, Ain’t Trip Ceremony, toward broader consciousness. The eight-song/39-minute long-player is duly dug-in, and its psychedelic reach comes with a humility of craft that makes the songs likewise peaceful and exploratory and entrancing. Repetition is key for the latter, but Cecchi also manages to keep things moving across the album, with a fuzzy cut like “Spam Mind” seeming to build on top of loops and shifting into a not-overblown space rock, hardly mellow, but more acknowledging the vastness of the cosmos than one might expect. The more densely-fuzzed “Ralph’s Heart Attack” leads into the guitar-focused “Pan” ahead of the finale “What Happened to Will,” but that’s after “Tame Ùkhan” has gone a-wandering and decided to stay that way and the seven-minute “Trái tim Thán Yêu” has singlehandedly justified the vinyl release in its blend of percussive urgency and psychedelic shimmer. Go in with an open mind and you won’t go wrong.

Trip Hill on Facebook

Bad Afro Records on Bandcamp

 

Yanomamo & Slomatics, Split 7″

Yanomamo & Slomatics Split

Yanomamo begin their Iommium Records two-song split 7″ with Slomatics by harshly delivering a deceptively positive message: “If you’re going to seek revenge/Might as well dig two graves/He who holds resentment is already digging his own.” Fair enough. The Sydney, Australia, and Belfast, Northern Ireland, outfits offer about 10 and a half minutes of material between them, but complement each other well, with the thickness of the latter building off the raw presentation of the former, Yanomamo‘s guttural portrayal of bitterness offered in scream-topped sludge crash on “Dig Two Graves” that builds in momentum toward the end while Slomatics‘ “Griefhound” offers the futurist tonal density and expanse of vocal echo typifying their latter-day work and turns a quiet, chugging bridge into a consciousness-slamming payoff. Neither act is really out of their comfort zone, but established listeners will revel in the chance to hear them alongside each other, and if you hear complaints about either of these cuts, they won’t be from me.

Yanomamo on Facebook

Slomatics on Facebook

Iommium Records on Bandcamp

 

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Friday Full-Length: Slomatics, A Hocht

Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 19th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Pick your favorite sci-fi apocalypse and then close your eyes and watch it manifest as Slomatics make their way through the meager-seeming 35 Earth minutes of A Hocht. Favor fire? There’s plenty of that to go around, from the Anthony Roberts cover art on down. More of the ice, flood or plague type? Supernova? Perhaps just a big, giant, humongous thing smashing into the misbegotten crust of our home planet? Between “Inner Space” and “Outer Space,” the Belfast trio efficiently conjure a no doubt more glorious finish than we as a species deserve — and with riffs, to boot.

A Hocht — the title translating from Irish to “eight” to mark their eighth year as a group — arrived in 2012 at a pivotal moment for Slomatics. Issued through Head of Crom (LP) and Burning World Records (CD), the eight-song offering followed behind their 2011 split with English trio Conan (review here), whose popularity was surging at the time and who championed Slomatics‘ influence loudly and broadly; Conan guitarist/vocalist Jon Davis would go on to reissue the first two Slomatics records, 2005’s Flooding the Weir and 2007’s Kalceanna, on his Black Bow Records imprint.

In answering behind that and in seeing release through Burning World and Head of Crom, the Rocky O’Reilly-produced/mixed A Hocht was a shift in momentum for the band. It also marked the first appearance of Marty Harvey on drums/vocals alongside guitarists David Majury and Chris Couzens, which brought a significant impact to their sound and thematic in the years following as he would come to take on the Moog synth duties with which O’Reilly is credited here and which bring such a cinematic scope in accompanying the crush of “Tramontane” or “Theme From Remora.” The former tops seven minutes and is an automatic focal point as regards Slomatics‘ general methodology, but it’s by no means the only highlight of A Hocht when it comes to individual pieces.

To wit, “Return to Kraken.” Following the noisy and rumbling intro of “Inner Space” — which, yes, is echoed in “Outer Space” later — A Hocht makes its way through a succession of four relatively straightforward, structured songs. “Tramontane” is the fourth. “Return to Kraken” is the third, following behind “Flame On” and “Beyond Acid Canyon,” and after its roiling 28 seconds of an introduction, it sweeps and surges in with a riff and immediate verse that are superlative to the record’s destructive purpose. Even among the rest of Slomatics‘ pummel, it is singular in its largesse and though it’s shorter than “Black Acid Canyon” before it — mind you, neither that nor “Flame On” are lacking heft — it feels like a moment of impact-landing that’s intentionally delivered between the feedback at the end of the song before and its own intro. As a listener, you’re meant to be punched into nodding, and you do.

But of course, that wouldn’t happen with the lurch of “Flame On,” which establishes the spaciousness that accompanies so much of the plunder of A Hocht and slomatics-a-hochtcomes to define the record no less than its riffiest moments, however memorable those might be. Slomatics aren’t exactly dropping subtle hints toward an atmospheric mindset with “Inner Space” at the beginning — it’s the first thing you hear when you hit play — but “Flame On” effectively brings that together with the tonal weight in Couzens and Majury‘s guitars, and as “Beyond Acid Canyon” plays out with a slower tempo, the idea of being dragged along by the three-piece through whichever endtime you’ve chosen is palpable, and by the time those synth horns seem to sound in the second half of “Return to Kraken” — that could just as well be guitar, to be honest; I’m not won’t pretend to know what’s going on there as it spans channels — the shift into “Tramontane” secures the hold the band have already well established to that point.

There is nuance there, though. In the effects on Harvey‘s vocals, or in the rhythmic turns from one progression to the next, the layering of guitar and synth, or even just the depth of the mix. I don’t want to give the impression that Slomatics are purely bludgeoning, because they’re not, and “Blackwood,” with just the non-lyric vocalizations from guest performer Arlene, or the instrumental “Theme From Remora” and the instrumental-save-for-vague-echoing-shouts “Outer Space” bring that notion to the fore. The vinyl release of A Hocht splits the tracks four to a side, such that “Tramontane” leads directly into “Blackwood” and “Theme From Remora” before “Outer Space” closes, and the procession of one to the next, the flow there, is every bit as thoughtful as the manner in which “Return to Kraken” delivers its bulldozer of a groove.

And just as their heaviest moments aren’t without atmosphere, so too is Slomatics‘ ambience heavy. “Blackwood” is drumless and dedicated to pure spaciousness and drone, and “Theme From Remora” chugs through a riff set to a deceptively upbeat drum march before building into its ultimate wash, the residual noise of which carries into the sparse initial combination of high and low tones that mark the beginning of “Outer Space,” which ends on a fading static noise like a transmission lost to cosmic background radiation. Whatever the message is there — maybe it was a way to save something — it’s gone.

A Hocht was the beginning of a purported trilogy of LPs based around a similar narrative, followed by 2014’s Estron (review here) and 2016’s Future Echo Returns (review here), and in addition to their 2019 long-player, Canyons (review here), the band has continued the streak of splits of which the release alongside Conan was a part. 2021 alone has brought work alongside Yanomamo and Ungraven (review here), and as I understand it, there’s more to come in that regard for 2022 too. Earlier this year, they also released the digital-only 2017 recording Live at Start Together Studio — on which “Tramontane” features, as it does alongside “Return to Kraken” on 2017’s Futurians: Live at Roadburn (review here) — because, well, it was February and who the hell knew at that point if there would ever be live shows again?

I’ll spare you tying that thought back into the various apocalypses noted above, but as much as the word “dystopian” gets tossed around in modern parlance, A Hocht has only come to feel ahead of its time.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

This weekend is Fuzz Fest in Sweden, and there was a non-zero chance I was going to be there. Clearly I’m not in Stockholm, or I probably wouldn’t be on my couch, typing this while thinking vaguely about trying to shower before The Pecan’s bus drops him off from school.

I’m going to see Swallow the Sun on Nov. 29 in Clifton, NJ. That will be my first indoor show since Jan. 2020. I got an email reminder about the All Them Witches tour coming up. I might like to go see them again and take pictures and review the show, but I don’t know. Brooklyn sounds like an awful lot of people. More, certainly, than Clifton on the Monday after Thanksgiving. We’ll see how this goes. One gig at a time, I guess. I’m not exactly looking to “burst on the scene,” whatever that even means at this point.

I did some writing for Slomatics and got a new shirt from the band, was why they were on my mind. Plus they’re killer, so that was an easy pick. It was kind of a long week, and as I will, I’m dreading the holidays to come.

Speaking of, apparently next week is Thanksgiving. We’ll be in Connecticut. I’m sure what’s going on with me posting Thursday or Friday — Gimme Metal show airs next Friday; I need to finish and turn in a playlist that I’ve started — but neither do I think anybody’s waiting around to see what news I’m three days behind on. Feeling pretty run-down in general, I guess. End of the year slog. List time soon. Ha.

Also thinking I need to do the Quarterly Review sometime before The Pecan gets out for holiday break, which means I think the second week of December. I’m already getting hit up for streams and stuff (not a complaint) for then, however, so I need to sit with the calendar for about 30 seconds and figure it all out. Maybe tomorrow.

I also cannot keep up with email anymore. It’s a multiple-front battle, with Facebook messages coming in for my profile and site’s page and the stuff that comes in through actual email and the contact form. It is a thing at which I am actively failing. And that kind of stuff weighs on me. I don’t like to be that guy.

Nonetheless.

If you celebrate Thanksgiving, enjoy it. If you don’t, hug someone anyway and eat a good meal. Despite the politically problematic historical narrative behind the day, its actual celebration is perhaps my favorite of the actual-holidays holidays — that is, the ones that aren’t my wife’s birthday or an anniversary. You sit down for 10 minutes, maybe eat some turkey, enjoy each other’s company. Then do the dishes. Could be worse.

I wish you a great and safe weekend. Have fun, watch your head, and of course, remember to hydrate. So important.

Thanks for reading.

New merch up at MIBK.

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Album Review: Ungraven & Slomatics, Split

Posted in Reviews on March 5th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

ungraven slomatics split cover sfw

Eons ago, when the world was bright and new and everything beautiful and nothing hurt except endless war and economic disparity — circa 2011, in other words — Head of Crom Records issued a split between Conan and Slomatics (review here). At the time, Conan‘s founding guitarist/vocalist Jon Davis very much positioned the offering as a showcase of the drive toward sonic largesse his own band adapted in some measure from the Belfast-based Slomatics, and no doubt it was a first encounter for many listeners with the bass-less-but-still-unbelievably-heavy-and-sci-fi-prone Northern Irish trio.

What fascinates about this new split between Slomatics and Ungraven — on Davis‘ own Black Bow Records, with mastering by James Plotkin and cover art by Ryan Lesser — is that it’s Slomatics who are the “bigger” band. The three-piece of  drummer/vocalist/synthesist Marty Harvey and guitarists David Majury and Chris Couzens went on a tear throughout the rest of the 2010s, offering four full-lengths in 2012’s A Hocht (discussed here), 2014’s Estron (review here), 2016’s Future Echo Returns (review here), and 2019’s Canyons (review here), as well as a handful of splits, adding to a foundation of earlier work much of which has seen reissue through Black BowUngraven, meanwhile, began as a solo-project from Davis in 2018 and released its first studio recording in 2019’s Language of Longing, basking in a industrial-informed ’90s noise metal crunch à la Nailbomb, etc. from Earache Records around 1995 and what nobody wants to admit was the peak era of Sepultura.

Following some more demos and a March 2020 live-studio release that features all three of the tracks included here, Ungraven — now Davis alongside bassist Dave Ryley of Fudge Tunnel and Tuskar drummer Tyler Hodges — come to their own split with Slomatics not just as the newer band (because in fact Slomatics weren’t newer when they did the split with Conan), but as the group being presented in a more introductory fashion. As I understand it, this is their first recording as a full trio. So say a friendly hi to Ungraven. They’ve come to pummel your skull. Neat!

And some of the aspects with which they choose to do so will ring familiar. Davis‘ tone and shout are signature and largely inimitable, and with production by his Conan bandmate Chris Fielding at Foel Studio, there’s no doubt a certain level of comfort even as Ungraven embark on clearing their own creative path. Which is precisely what they’re doing in “Defeat the Object,” “Onwards She Rides to Certain Death” and “Blackened Gates of Eternity,” and for all the in-context elements they might share with Conan via Davis‘ basic approach, Ungraven leave behind much of the doomier, slow-lumbering plod that’s such a staple in Conan‘s work. Comparisons between the two may be inevitable, at least at this point, but there’s grounds for contrast as well and it comes from the structure of the riffs, the central charge around them rhythmically, and the fact that “Onwards She Rides to Certain Death” barely tops three minutes and gets its job done.

Ungraven Slomatics split

It’s a question of balance, then, as well of course as the personalities and styles of the other players involved. Ungraven are rawer than Conan at this stage, and the noisy aspect of their sound comes through despite the thickness of the low end through which it cuts, but the work here isn’t so far removed from Conan‘s earlier fare that longtime fans will be totally alienated or anything like that, particularly through “Defeat the Object,” while the run of “Onwards She Rides to Certain Death” and the tense crush of “Blackened Gates of Eternity” — which doesn’t so much release at the end as simply arrive at an even more excruciating place — push further into individualized expression. Perhaps, for all the bombast, leading with “Defeat the Object” is Davis‘ way of easing listeners into the brutal modus of the new band.

Working at Start Together Studio with Rocky O’ReillySlomatics‘ three tracks, “Kaan,” “Proto Hag” and “Monitors” each bring something of their own to the proceedings. With “Kaan,” it’s sheer lumber. There’s a volume dip at least on the digital version of the release between Ungraven and Slomatics‘ sides — I can’t speak to the actual vinyl — but if the answer is “turn it up,” that was probably going to be the answer anyway. “Kaan” superplods through the molassesy bulk of its 5:43 run, with atmospheric vocals layered in a kind of line-for-line call and response until, at last, CouzensMajury and Harvey cap with thudding toms and transitional samples into the shorter and catchier “Proto Hag,” which doubles as a trad-doom-soaring showcase for its vocals even as it remains duly thick in its roll, synth adding melody in its final chorus. Harvey is audibly pushing his voice in the last lines, and it adds to the intensity of that apex.

The concluding “Monitors” might be the highlight of the entire release, with a melancholy tempo and open feeling strum in the guitars that serves as bed for likewise downtrodden verse lines. It begins and ends with drones, and departs in its midsection for some atmospherics as well, but the effectiveness of the track overall comes from how draws together and exemplifies Slomatics‘ take on the whole. The two bands inarguably have some factors in common, but they’re telling different stories here, and while impulse with splits is always to compare one to the other — fair enough — the manner in which Ungraven and Slomatics arrive in succession is more complementary than contrasted.

An intervening decade and Ungraven and Conan being different bands precludes this split from being a direct sequel to the 2011 Black Bow offering, but there are spiritual elements shared between that release and this one, the stated friendship between Davis and Slomatics, the latter band’s continued output through the label, and so on. Sonically, there was little danger the pairing wasn’t going to make sense, and it does make sense, showing Slomatics in a place of refining their central methodology even as Ungraven seek out to claim theirs, both of which just happen to be heavy as all hell. It’s kind of a no-brainer.

Ungraven, Split with Slomatics (2021)

Slomatics, Split with Ungraven (2021)

Ungraven on Facebook

Ungraven on Instagram

Ungraven BigCartel store

Ungraven on Bandcamp

Slomatics on Facebook

Slomatics on Bandcamp

Slomatics website

Black Bow Records BigCartel store

Black Bow Records on Bandcamp

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Elder Druid Sign to Interstellar Smoke Records; New Album Later This Year

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 3rd, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Heartfelt best wishes to Jacek Trepko of Polish imprint Interstellar Smoke Records, who the other day posted to social media a few genuinely horrifying pictures of the twisted metal clump that used to be his automobile before it was in the kind of crash from which one is lucky to be carried away, let alone walk. Trepko was in the hospital at the time but noted recovery under way, and of course I hope that that’s exactly how it proceeds.

The news isn’t all awful, however, as the label has picked up Elder Druid out of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The band’s second album, Golgotha (review here), was released in early 2020, and it seems that Interstellar Smoke will put out the follow-up sometime later in 2021. Of course that’s subject as everything is to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, so who the hell knows anything about anything — if that even needs to be said at this point — but on the most basic level, it’s cool to see a band who’ve been working hard get noticed for that and have someone behind them to press a record. Whenever it might show up.

Elder Druid announced the signing and then followed up with a few words about Trepko‘s auto accident. You’ll find their words below:

ELDER DRUID

ELDER DRUID SIGN TO INTERSTELLAR SMOKE RECORDS

We’re delighted to announce that we have signed a record deal with Polish stoner/doom label Interstellar Smoke Records.

We’ll be releasing album #3 on vinyl through the label later this year. Very exciting times ahead. Many thanks to Jacek Trepko.

After announcing that we had signed to Interstellar Smoke Records yesterday, we woke up to the news that Jacek had been involved in a serious car crash.

His car was destroyed, a lot of records were damaged and he was very lucky to make it out alive.

If anyone would like to help the guy out, head over to the Big Cartel page below and pick up some vinyl from the other bands on the roster:
https://interstellarsmokerecords.bigcartel.com/

https://www.facebook.com/elderdruidband
https://elderdruid.bandcamp.com/releases
http://www.instagram.com/elderdruidband
https://www.facebook.com/Interstellar-Smoke-Records-101687381255396/
https://interstellarsmokerecords.bigcartel.com/

Elder Druid, Golgotha (2020)

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Nomadic Rituals Premiere “Them” Video; Tides out Now

Posted in Bootleg Theater on January 28th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Nomadic Rituals

Look. I don’t know the cats from Belfast trio Nomadic Rituals at all. I was fortunate enough to see the band in Dublin in 2017 (review here), but it’s not like we hung out after the show or anything. Point is, for all I know, baritone guitarist/vocalist Peter Hunter (also synth), bassist/vocalist Craig Carson and drummer Mark Smyth could be absolute sweethearts — really nice guys. But their sound is nasty as fuck.

Crushing, wrenching, slow-motion-grinding atmospheric sludge is writ all across the feels-longer-than 45 minutes of their third full-length, Tides, released earlier this month through respected Irish purveyor Cursed Monk Records. The follow-up to 2017’s likewise gruesome Marking the Day (review here), the six-song Tides gives the listener hints in how to approach it in how it leads off. While it begins with an initial onslaught of noise meant to symbolize the ‘launch’ in the title of opener/longest track (immediate points) “Cassini-Huygens Part 1 (The Launch),” what builds up over the next few minutes from there is gradual, recalling some of We Lost the Sea‘s Challenger-themed post-rock, if in immediately heavier fashion.Nomadic Rituals Tides Shortly before three and a half minutes in, however, the switch is flipped and the thicker chug arrives, followed shortly thereafter by the harsh, barking vocals that will pervade much of what follows, adding to the extremity of the band’s approach overall.

But it’s in the pairing of “Cassini-Huygens Part 1 (The Launch)” and the subsequent “Cassini-Huygens Part 2 (Last Transmission)” that Tides tells you how to read it. Of course it splits in half to accommodate vinyl with three songs on two sides, but if you’re listening, say, digitally, it also functions as three sets of two songs each. You get the “Cassini-Huygens” duology named for the mission to study Saturn, and you get “Them” and Tumulus” paired, the one ending in silence, the other picking up from it, and you get the slow-building “Moving Towards Total Disorganization” feeding into closer “The Burden” — more than just an intro, but certainly complementary in how it rolls out, ending quiet and giving way to the more immediate low-end pulsations of the finale. Nomadic Rituals by no means go out of their way to make moves toward accessibility — even unto the depths of “The Burden,” they are ferocious, shifting between angular churn and sample-laced noise, only to end with scathing layers of feedback — but with a different understanding of how Tides might be intended to work, the perspective shifts accordingly, and the immersion that is so well enacted by the songs becomes even more vital.

However you go through Tides, one should be aware of the undertow that comes with the trio’s lumbering oscillations. That is to say, the album is one that does not blink as it pulls the listener into its sphere, at once broad and spacious and crushing and freezing the way one thinks of vacuum affecting lungs; gorgeous and destructive in kind.

You’ll find the Bandcamp stream of the full release down toward the bottom of the post, and I’m thrilled to host the premiere of the video for “Them” below.

However you approach, please enjoy:

Nomadic Rituals, “Them” official video premiere

Nomadic Rituals are a heavy 3-piece Sludge/Doom band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Formed in July 2012 by Craig Carson, Peter Hunter, and Mark Smyth, the band started writing and gigging, when they released 3 self-recorded tracks that became their demo “DFWG”. This was followed up with the recording of a full-length album in late March 2013 with Niall Doran at Start Together Studios, Belfast. Released in September of that year, “Holy Giants” garnered a number of very positive reviews.

Gigging continued after release of the album, and the increasing attention received by the band opened up opportunities for shows further afield. Writing also continued, and the band returned to Start Together Studios to work with Niall Doran on the recording of “The Great Dying”. This was released in late February 2015 as a split 12″ vinyl along with fellow local Doom band Tome.

Further gigging and a lengthy period of writing followed, after which the band returned to Start Together Studio to record their second full length album ‘Marking the Day’ in late March 2016. As with the first two releases, the artwork and packaging for the new album was created, designed and screen printed by the band themselves. ‘Marking the Day’ was released in February 2017.once again to critical acclaim.

After several gigs in countries such as Denmark, Norway and Lithuania the band return with their third album ‘Tides’ which was released on CD, Cassette, and Digital Download on the 8th of January 2021 through Cursed Monk Records.

Craig Carson – Bass Guitar / Vocals
Peter Hunter – Baritone Guitar / Vocals / Synth
Mark Smyth – Drums / Percussion

Nomadic Rituals, Tides (2021)

Nomadic Rituals on Facebook

Nomadic Rituals on Instagram

Nomadic Rituals on Bandcamp

Nomadic Rituals website

Cursed Monk Records website

Cursed Monk Records on Bandcamp

Cursed Monk Records on Facebook

Cursed Monk Records on Instagram

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Ungraven & Slomatics Split Available to Preorder

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 13th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Anyone remember that time Conan and Slomatics put out a split? Hell’s bells, I do. Nearly 10 years later, preorders are up for what one might think of as a kind of semi-sequel — at least an extension of the franchise — which brings together the aforementioned Slomatics with Conan vocalist/guitarist Jon Davis‘ second band, Ungraven. Three songs from each unit are featured, and the release will be in March through Davis’ label, Black Bow Records, just like last time out.

And hey, I know it was 10 years ago, so if you didn’t hear it, don’t feel like you’re lagging behind. I’m not trying to be Johnny Groundfloor with either of these bands, because I ain’t, but two points: first, you should still be looking forward to the new split, and second, it’s not at all too late to stream the other.

I’ve included offerings from Ungraven and Slomatics here if you want to use that as your gateway. However you go there’s no wrong answer.

Have at it:

Ungraven Slomatics split

UNGRAVEN / SLOMATICS SPLIT

Preorder: https://blackbowrecords.bigcartel.com/product/ungraven-slomatics-split

Split release between Ungraven and Slomatics. Ungraven arrive on vinyl for the first time following their early ‘drum machine’ demos and now the lineup includes David Ryley of FUDGE TUNNEL on bass and Tyler Hodges of TUSKAR on drums. Jon Davis (CONAN) fronts the band and is the founding member. SLOMATICS are of course well known to all fans of heavy music, stunning shows at Roadburn, Psycho Las Vegas and many other festivals, combined with SOLID releases across all platforms have cemented the Belfast 3 piece in heavy music lore, a crown they have worn since 2004.

Available in two colours ‘starburst’ and ‘green/black’ – on a single sleeve pressing, 300 copies of each colour printed.

Track List

Side A
UNGRAVEN
Defeat The Object 05:20
Onwards She Rides To A Certain Death 03:06
Blackened Gates of Eternity 04:56

Side B
SLOMATICS
Kaän 05:43
Proto Hag 04:30
Monitors 07:16

Distributed from our base in Netherlands.
STOCK EXPECTED MID / LATE FEB. RELEASE DATE 5th MARCH 2021.

NB….. Tracked shipping provided with all orders.

Art by Ryan Lesser
Ungraven produced by Chris Fielding at Foel Studio.
Slomatics produced at Start Together Studio.

https://www.facebook.com/ungraven/
https://www.instagram.com/thisisungraven/
https://ungraven.bigcartel.com/
https://ungraven.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Slomatics-196382747053529/
https://slomatics.bandcamp.com/
http://slomatics.com/

https://blackbowrecords.bigcartel.com/
https://blackbowrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Black-Bow-Records-565275456841866/

Ungraven, Language of Longing (2019)

Slomatics, Canyons (2019)

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Quarterly Review: Witchcraft, The Wizar’d, Sail, Frank Sabbath, Scream of the Butterfly, Slow Draw, Baleful Creed, Surya Kris Peters, Slow Phase, Rocky Mtn Roller

Posted in Reviews on July 8th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

the-obelisk-qr-summer-2020

Day Three is always special when it comes to Quarterly Reviews because it’s where we hit and pass the halfway point on the way to covering 50 albums by Friday. This edition hasn’t been unpleasant at all — I’ve screened this stuff pretty hard, so I feel well prepared — but it still requires some doing to make it all come together. Basically a week’s worth. Ha.

If you haven’t found anything yet that speaks to you, I hope that changes either today, tomorrow or Friday.

Quarterly Review #21-30:

Witchcraft, Black Metal

witchcraft black metal

Four years ago, Witchcraft frontman/founder Magnus Pelander released a solo album under his own name called Time (review here) as a quick complement to the band’s own 2016 offering, Nucleus (review here). Pelander‘s Time was his first solo outing since a 2010 four-song EP that, for a long time, seemed like a one-off. Now, with Black Metal, Witchcraft strips down to its barest essentials — Pelander‘s voice and guitar — and he is the only performer on the seven-track/33-minute LP. Style-wise, it’s mostly sad, intimate folk, as Pelander begins with “Elegantly Expressed Depression” and tells the stories of “A Boy and a Girl,” “Sad People,” and even the key-inclusive “Sad Dog” before “Take Him Away” closes out with a bluesy guitar figure that features twice but is surrounded by a space that seems to use silence as much as music as a tool of its downer presentation. The title, obviously tongue-in-cheek, is clearly nonetheless a reference to depression, and while Pelander‘s performance is gorgeous and honest, it’s also very clearly held down by a massive emotional weight. So too, then, is the album.

Witchcraft on Thee Facebooks

Nuclear Blast webstore

 

The Wizar’d, Subterranean Exile

the wizar'd subterranean exile

Making their debut on Cruz Del Sur Music, Australia’s The Wizar’d return from the doomliest of gutters with Subterranean Exile, opening the album with the title-track’s take on capital-‘c’ Classic doom and the pre-NWOBHM-ism of Pagan Altar, Witchfinder General, and, duh, Black Sabbath. In just 35 minutes, the four-piece make the most of their raw but epic vibes, using the means of the masters to showcase their own songwriting. This is doom metal at its most traditional, with two guitars intertwining riffs and leads on “Master of the Night” and the catchy “Long Live the Dead,” but there’s a dungeon-style spirit to the solo in that track — or maybe that’s just build off of the prior interlude “Ecstatic Visions Held Within the Monastic Tower” — that sets up the speedier run of “Evil in My Heart” ahead of the seven-minute finale “Dark Fortress.” As one might hope, they cap with due lumber and ceremony befitting an LP so thoroughly, so entirely doomed, and while perhaps it will be seven years before they do another full-length, it doesn’t matter. The Wizar’d stopped time a long time ago.

The Wizar’d on Thee Facebooks

Cruz Del Sur Music website

 

Sail, Mannequin

Sail Mannequin

A follow-up to their later-2019 single “Starve,” the three-song Mannequin release from UK progressive metallers Sail is essentially a single as well. It begins with the ‘regular’ version of the track, which careens through its sub-five minutes with a standout hook and the dual melodic vocals of guitarists Tim Kazer and Charlie Dowzell. This is followed by “Mannequin [Synthwave Remix],” which lives up to its name, and brings bassist Kynan Scott to the fore on synth, replacing the drums of Tom Coles with electronic beats and the guitars with keyboards. The chorus works remarkably well. As fluidly as “Mannequin” fed into the subsequent remix, so too does “Mannequin [Synthwave Remix]” move directly into “Mannequin [Director’s Cut],” which ranges past the seven-minute mark and comes across rawer than the opening version. Clearly Sail knew they could get some mileage out of “Mannequin,” and they weren’t wrong. They make the most of the 16-minute occasion and keep listeners guessing where they might be headed coming off of 2017’s Slumbersong LP. Easy win.

Sail on Thee Facebooks

Sail on Bandcamp

 

Frank Sabbath, Compendium

Frank Sabbath Compendium

They’re not kidding with that title. Frank Sabbath‘s Compendium covers four years of studio work — basic improvisations done in 2016 plus overdubs over time — and the resulting freakout is over an hour and a half long. Its 14 component pieces run a gamut of psychedelic meandering, loud, quiet, fast, slow, spacey, earthy, whatever you’re looking for, there’s time for it all. The French trio were plenty weird already on 2017’s Are You Waiting? (review here), but the scales are tipped here in the extended “La Petite Course à Vélo” (11:16) and “Bermuda Cruise” (17:21) alone, never mind on the Middle Eastern surf of “Le Coucous” or the hopping bass and wah of “Gallus Crackus” and “L’Oeufou.” The band has issued live material in the past, and whatever they do, it’s pretty jammy, but Compendium specifically highlights this aspect of their sound, shoving it in front of the listener and daring them to take it on. If you’re mind’s not open, it might be by the time you’re done.

Frank Sabbath on Thee Facebooks

Frank Sabbath on Bandcamp

 

Scream of the Butterfly, Birth Death Repeat

scream of the butterfly birth death repeat

Scream of the Butterfly made a raucous debut in with 2017’s Ignition (review here), and Birth Death Repeat stays the course of bringing Hammond organ to the proceedings of melodically arranged ’90s-style heavy rock, resulting in a cross-decade feel marked by sharp tones and consistency of craft that’s evident in the taut executions of “The Devil is by My Side” and “Higher Place” before the more moderately-paced “Desert Song” takes hold and thickens out the tones accordingly. ‘Desert,’ as it were, is certainly an influence throughout, as the opener’s main riff feels Kyuss-derived and the later “Driven” has a fervent energy behind it as well. The latter is well-placed following the ballad “Soul Giver,” the mellower title-track interlude, and the funky but not nearly as propulsive “Turned to Stone.” They’ll soon close out with the bluesy “I’ve Seen it Coming,” but before they do, “Room Without Walls” brings some marked solo shred and a grungier riff that scuffs up the band’s collective boot nicely, emphasizing that the record itself is less mundane than it might at first appear or the title might lead one to believe.

Scream of the Butterfly on Thee Facebooks

Scream of the Butterfly on Bandcamp

 

Slow Draw, Gallo

Slow Draw Gallo

From minimalist drone to experimental folk, Slow Draw‘s Gallo sets a wide-open context for itself from the outset, a quick voice clip and the churning drone of “Phase 2” leading into the relatively straightforward “No Words” — to which there are, naturally, lyrics. Comprised solely of Mark Kitchens, also known for drumming in the duo Stone Machine Electric, Slow Draw might be called an experimentalist vehicle, but that doesn’t make Gallo any less satisfying. “No Words” and “Falling Far” and the just-acoustic-and-voice closer “End to That” serve as landmarks along the way, touching ground periodically as pieces like the strumming “Harvey’s Chair” and the droned-out “Industrial Aged” play off each other and “Angelo” — homage to Badalamenti, perhaps — the minimal “A Conflict” and “Tumoil” [sic] and “Playground” tip the balance to one side or another, the penultimate krautdrone of “Phase 1” unveiling perhaps what further manipulation turned into “Phase 2” earlier in the proceedings. At 33 minutes, Gallo feels careful not to overstay its welcome, and it doesn’t.

Slow Draw on Thee Facebooks

Slow Draw on Bandcamp

 

Baleful Creed, The Lowdown

baleful creed the lowdown

Belfast’s Baleful Creed present a crisp 10 tracks of well-composed, straightforward, doom-tinged heavy rock and roll — they call it ‘doom blues boogie,’ and fair enough — with their third long-player, The Lowdown. They’re not pretending to be anything they’re not and offering their sounds to the listener not in some grand statement of aesthetic accomplishment, and not as a showcase of whatever amps they purchased to make their sound, but instead simply for what they are: songs. Crafted, honed, thought-out and brought to bear with vitality and purpose to give the band the best representation possible. Front-to-back, The Lowdown sounds not necessarily overthought, but professional enough to be called “cared about,” and whether it’s the memorable opening with “Mr. Grim” or the ’90s C.O.C. idolatry of “Tramalamapam” or the strong ending salvo of “End Game,” with its inclusion of piano, the mostly-subdued but swaggering “Line of Trouble” and the organ-topped closer “Southgate of Heaven,” Baleful Creed never veer too far from the central purpose of their priority on songwriting, and neither do they need to.

Baleful Creed on Thee Facebooks

Baleful Creed on Bandcamp

 

Surya Kris Peters, O Jardim Sagrado

Surya Kris Peters O Jardim Sagrado

Though he’s still best known as the frontman of Samsara Blues Experiment, Christian Peters — aka Surya Kris Peters — has become a prolific solo artist as well. The vinyl-ready eight songs/37 minutes of O Jardim Sagrado meet him in his element, bringing together psychedelia, drone and synthesizer/keyboard effects to convey various moods and ideas. As with most of the work done under the Surya Kris moniker, he doesn’t add vocals, but the album wants nothing for expression just the same, whether it’s the Bouzouki on “Endless Green” or the guest contribution of voice from Monika Saint-Oktobre on the encompassing 11-minute title-track, which would be perfect for a dance hall if dance halls were also religious ceremonies. Experiments and explorations like “Celestial Bolero” and “Saudade” bring electric guitar leads and Mellotron-laced wistfulness, respectively, while after the title-cut, the proggy techno of “Blue Nebula” gives way to what might otherwise be a boogie riff on closer “Southern Sunrise.” Peters always seems to find a way to catch the listener off guard. Maybe himself too.

Surya Kris Peters on Thee Facebooks

Surya Kris Peters on Bandcamp

 

Slow Phase, Slow Phase

slow phase slow phase

A strong if raw debut from Oakland three-piece Slow Phase, this 39-minute eight-tracker presents straight-ahead classic American heavy rock and roll in the style of acts like a less garage The Brought Low, a looser-knit Sasquatch or any number of bands operating under the Ripple Music banner. Less burly than some, more punk than others, the power trio includes guitarist Dmitri Mavra of Skunk, as well as vocalist/bassist Anthony Pulsipher of Spidermeow and vocalist/drummer Richard Stuverud, the rhythm section adding to the blues spirit and spiraling manic jangle of “Blood Circle.” Opener “Starlight” was previously issued as a teaser single for the album, and stands up to its position here, with the eponymous “Slow Phase” backing its strength of hook. “Psychedelic Man” meanders in its lead section, as it should, and the catchy “Silver Fuzz” sets up the riotous “Midnight Sun” and “No Time” to lead into the electric piano of “Let’s Do it Again (For the First Time),” which I’d kind of take as a goof were it not for the righteous jam that finishes it, referencing “Highway Star” during its fadeout. Some organizing to do, but they obviously know what they’re shooting for.

Slow Phase on Thee Facebooks

Slow Phase on Bandcamp

 

Rocky Mtn Roller, Rocky Mtn Roller

rocky mtn roller rocky mtn roller

This band might actually be more cohesive than they want to be. A double-guitar four-piece from Asheville, North Carolina, with a connection to cult heroes Lecherous Gaze via six-stringer Zach Blackwell — joined in the band by guitarist Ruby Roberts, bassist Luke Whitlatch and drummer Alex Cabrera — they’re playing to a certain notion of brashness as an ideal, but while the vocals have a drunk-fuckall stoner edge, the construction of the songs underlying is unremittingly sound on this initial EP. “Monster” opens with a welcome hook and “When I’m a Pile” sounds classic-tinged enough to be a heavy ’70s nod, but isn’t so easily placed to a specific band as to be called derivative. The longest of the four cuts at 5:30, “Bald Faced Hornet” boasts some sting in its snare sound, but the Southern heavy push at its core makes those dueling solos in the second half all the more appropriate, and closing out, “She Ran Off with the Dealer” has both charm and Thin Lizzy groove, which would basically be enough on their own to get me on board. A brazen and blazing candidate for Tee Pee Records‘ digital annex, if someone else doesn’t snag them first.

Rocky Mtn Roller on Thee Facebooks

Rocky Mtn Roller on Bandcamp

 

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