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Enslaved to Release New Album Heimdal March 3; “Congelia” Video Posted

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 18th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Enslaved

Norwegian progressive black metal progenitors Enslaved will release their 16th album, Heimdal, March 3 on Nuclear Blast. News comes fresh off the PR wire, along with a video for the first single “Congelia” and the opening of preorders. We would seem to be at the moment of launch, as regards the album generally.

I probably don’t have to ask you when the last time you felt so much anticipation for a band’s 16th record was, but there’s only one Enslaved. The single they released earlier this year, “Kingdom” (posted here), will feature on the record and since I’m in the waiting room of a doctor’s office I haven’t even had the chance to check out “Congelia” yet, but that’s for sure going to happen on the ride home, whether or not the orthopedist takes out the stitches currently residing on either side of my left knee. Good fun.

In any case, Heimdal will be the follow-up to 2020’s Utgard (review here), and on the off chance you don’t already have the kind of crazy unrealistic expectations that the band specialize in surpassing, I’ll tell you outright that you should.

Info from the PR wire:

Enslaved Heimdal

ENSLAVED Announce New Studio Album “Heimdal”
+
Release New Single/Video “Congelia”

Those few golden, undying hearts are those of secret sons.

And the secrets of the Sun are those of daughters asking to…

Bergen visionaries Enslaved are proud to announce their 16th studio album, Heimdal, set to be released on March 3rd 2023, via Nuclear Blast Records. Today’s news is accompanied by the release of a blistering new single, titled ‘Congelia’, alongside an emotive, environmental video.

Enslaved’s Ivar Bjørnson & Grutle Kjellson commented,

“It’s quite weird, yet pretty awesome that we are now talking about the release of our 16th album; yes our 16th full-length album release. That’s not too shabby for a couple of scallywags from rural western Norway, is it? If you count our stint in the short lived Phobia-act, we have been playing together for no less than 32 years!

In all these years, Norse mythology has been our umbilical cord to the realms of mysticism and philosophy, and our gateway to the realms of deep psychology and the esoteric worlds beyond. One of the most fascinating characters of our mythology is HEIMDAL, and he has been lurking around in our minds like an enigma for three decades now. His first appearance was in a song called ‘Heimdallr’ on our demo tape ‘Yggdrasill’ back in 1992, and he’s had both minor and more significant roles in our lyrical universe over the years.

This time we have decided to dedicate an entire body of work to this most enigmatic of characters and richest of archetypes – we give you ‘HEIMDAL’. We have reached deeper and scouted further ahead than ever before – the past, present and future sound of the band comes together in songs born from sheer inspiration – it is the common force of a close-nit group of friends and musicians.”

You can pre-order Heimdal here: https://enslaved.bfan.link/heimdal.ema
Listen to ‘Congelia’ here: https://enslaved.bfan.link/congelia.ema

Heimdal, is both a departure and a communion with roots forged over three decades ago in the turbulent birth throes of Norway’s black metal scene. The record is named after Heimdal, arguably the most mysterious entity in Nordic mythology.

The record features psychedelic track ‘Caravans To The Outer Worlds’ from last year’s EP of the same name. Album bonus versions contain an extra track, ‘Gangandi’, alongside a Blu-Ray copy of 2021’s stunning Otherworldly Big Band Experience streamed event – the band’s boldest project to date, featuring fellow Norwegian prog band Shaman Elephant. The kaleidoscopic stage show features a stellar setlist, covering Enslaved’s career, both past and present.

Heimdal tracklisting
01. Behind The Mirror
02. Congelia
03. Forest Dweller
04. Kingdom
05. The Eternal Sea
06. Caravans To The Outer Worlds
07. Gangandi (Bonus Track)*
08. Heimdal

Heimdal formats
CD
Limited edition digipack CD (inc. Bonus Track) + Blu-Ray*
2LP vinyl gatefold – black
2LP vinyl gatefold – white + black marble (Nuclear Blast Excl.)
2LP vinyl gatefold – white + green marble (Nuclear Blast + Selected Retailers)
2LP vinyl gatefold – blue + white marble (UK Retail + EMP)
2LP vinyl gatefold – white (USA Revolver Excl.)
2LP vinyl gatefold (inc. Bonus Track) + Blu-Ray – crystal clear w/ black marble (Nuclear Blast Excl.)*
2LP vinyl gatefold (inc. Bonus Track) + Blu-Ray – clear w/ black + gold marble (Band Excl.)*

Heimdal was produced by Enslaved’s own Ivar Bjørnson, Iver Sandøy and Grutle Kjellson. Mixing was handled by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios, and the final treatment was mastered by Tony Lindgren. The concept and lyrics for Heimdal was, as always, developed by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson in tandem.

The album was recorded primarily at Solslottet Studios in Bergen, which is owned by Iver Sandøy. Solslottet is a satellite of the well-known Duper Studios, where the drums were recorded and engineered by Iver himself, with assistance from Vegard Lemme. The main guitars, bass, pianos, organs, and vocals were also recorded at Solslottet. Arve ‘Ice Dale’ Isdal recorded his guitar leads at his own Earshot & Conclave Studios. The final touches and a few experimental ideas were added at the Overlook Hotel using Solslottet’s mobile studio rig. All music for Heimdal was written and demoed at Ivar Bjørnson’s own Crow’s Nest studio.

Enslaved are:
Ivar Bjørnson | guitars
Grutle Kjellson | vocals
Arve ‘Ice Dale’ Isdal | guitar
Håkon Vinje | keyboards, clean vocals
Iver Sandøy | drums

http://www.facebook.com/enslaved
https://www.instagram.com/enslavedofficial
http://www.enslaved.no/

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http://instagram.com/nuclearblastusa

Enslaved, “Congelia” official video

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Green Lung Sign to Nuclear Blast; Touring with Clutch in December

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 3rd, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Congratulations to Green Lung on signing to Nuclear Blast. In 2021, the London outfit released their second full-length, Black Harvest (review here), through Svart Records and it was nothing less than one of the year’s best records, which they’ve set about supporting live since like their plans for global domination were never derailed by a global pandemic in the first place.

I was fortunate enough to finally catch Green Lung live this past summer at Freak Valley Festival (review here), where they — and I 100 percent mean this — absolutely owned that stage. Like, made it theirs during their time, put on a pro-shop show, and signaled to all in attendance that, indeed, they’re on their way up. Best wishes to them as they move forward from Black Harvest and onto their Nuclear Blast label debut; a huge moment for which they are utterly prepared.

This is just off the PR wire, like right now:

Green Lung 6 (Photo by JJ Koczan)

GREEN LUNG Sign To Nuclear Blast Records

Rising psych-occultists GREEN LUNG have announced their signing to NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS. The band’s rich blend of proto-metal and doom laden hard rock, steeped in distinctly British folklore has proven a monumental hit across their debut EP Free The Witch (2018 – listen here) and two critically acclaimed albums Woodland Rites (2019 -listen here) and Black Harvest (2021).

Vocalist, Tom Templar comments on the signing:

“We’re incredibly excited to partner with the team at Nuclear Blast to usher in the next era of Green Lung. Over the past five years we’ve gone from playing DIY basement shows and selling our music on home-taped cassettes to playing international festivals and working with the world’s biggest metal label, and that’s entirely down to the support and enthusiasm of our endearingly cult-like fanbase. We can’t thank you all enough for your faith and support in getting us to this point, and rest assured we’re only just getting started. We’ve spent the past few months hoping to repay the debt by writing our most ambitious album yet, and look forward to getting back into the studio to record it. But before then, we’ll be embarking on our biggest tour to date, supporting Clutch across the UK and Europe this November and December. Come, join our rites!”

Senior A&R, Nathan Barley Phillips states:

“I was lucky enough to catch Green Lung play at London’s infamous Black Heart venue right before the covid lockdown kicked in during early 2020… I then spent two long years desperately waiting for another opportunity, thanking the blesséd wheat-weaving gods when Desertfest rolled around again in early 2022 and the stars of the goatwizard finally aligned.

This band has riffs for days and I am so proud and excited to welcome them to Nuclear Blast. A special thanks to AMF Music Publishing for helping to make this happen – I can’t wait to see what we can all achieve together!”

2022 has seen GREEN LUNG excel on the live circuit, at both their own headline shows and performances at the likes of Roadburn, Mystic Festival, Desertfest and Freak Valley Festival. They will be rounding out their most successful year to date with a set at Damnation Festival in November, and an extensive tour across Europe and the UK alongside CLUTCH this winter.

GREEN LUNG Tour Dates
05.11 – UK – Damnation Festival, Manchester
11.11 – UK – O2 Academy, Glasgow*
12.11 – UK – O2 City Hall, Newcastle*
13.11 – UK – O2 Academy, Leeds*
15.11 – UK – The Great Hall, Exeter*
16.11 – UK – Brighton Dome, Brighton*
18.11 – DE – Capitol, Hannover*
19.11 – NL – Helldorado Festival, Eindhoven*
20.11 – DE – Markthalle, Hamburg*
22.11 – DE – Huxley’s Neue Welt, Berlin*
23.11 – DE – Neue Theaterfabrik, Munich*
24.11 – AT – Arena, Wien*
25.11 – HR – Culture Factory, Zagreb*
26.11 – IT – Fabrique, Milan*
28.11 – ES – Apolo, Barcelona*
29.11 – ES – La Riviera, Madrid*
01.12 – ES – Santana, Bilbao*
02.12 – FR – Le Bikini, Toulouse*
03.12 – FR – Le Transbordeur, Lyon*
05.12 – CH – X-TRA, Zurich*
06.12 – DE – LKA Longhorn, Stuttgart*
07.12 – DE – Batschapp, Frankfurt*
09.12 – DE – Live Music Hall, Cologne*
10.12 – FR – Bataclan, Paris*
13.12 – UK – O2 Academy, Bristol*
14.12 – UK – O2 Academy, Birmingham*
16.12 – UK – Rock City, Nottingham*
17.12 – UK – Roundhouse, London*
*supporting CLUTCH

Tickets for all dates are on sale now.
GREEN LUNG is
Tom Templar – Vocals
Scott Black – Guitar
Joseph Ghast – Bass
John Wright – Organ
Matt Wiseman – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/greenlungband
https://www.instagram.com/greenlungband/
http://www.greenlung.co.uk/
https://greenlung.bandcamp.com/

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Green Lung, “Let the Devil In” official video

Green Lung, “Graveyard Sun” official video

Green Lung, Black Harvest (2021)

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Graveyard and Kadavar Announce Spring 2023 Tour

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

Graveyard (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Take two headlining bands — both arguably at the forefront of their generation of heavy rock and rollers in Europe, now veterans both but by no means out of date or ‘old,’ however they might feel after a given gig — and slap ’em out on tour together. It’s a long-proven winning formula and next April Örebro, Sweden’s Graveyard and Berlin, Germany’s Kadavar will head out together to demonstrate its functionality again. Legit.

Both groups were recently announced as part of Desertfest London 2023’s lineup (info here), but I hardly put together from that that they’d be on tour together — oh me of small mind, narrow view — but I happened to catch Graveyard earlier this month at the second night of Høstsabbat 2022 (review here) in Norway, and it’s been a minute since I saw Kadavar that one time, but I’ve got no doubt they’re similarly up to the task of heading out on a co-headlining bill like this. This kind of tour makes everyone play better.

I guess some tickets are on sale now and more will open up next week? That’s how I read the below, anyhow, which is what Graveyard posted on the ol’ socials:

Graveyard Kadavar tour dates

Glad to announce that we’re hitting the european spring roads together with Kadavar. Get your tickets and hope to see you out there.

Tickets go on sale today, Friday 28th and Monday 31st of October – check your local dealer for more info.

19.04 Hamburg DE Grosse Freiheit 36
21.04 Stuttgart DE LKA Longhorn
22.04 Frankfurt DE Zoom
24.04 Munich DE Backstage Werk
25.04 Vienna AT Arena
28.04 Nijmegen NL Doornrosje
29.04 Amsterdam NL Melkweg
30.04 Paris FR Trabendo
01.05 Lessines FR Roots & Roses
03.05 Bristol UK SWX
04.05 Manchester UK Academy 3
05.05 London UK Desertfest
06.05 Luxembourg LUX Den A

Graveyard:
Joakim Nilsson (vocals, guitar)
Truls Mörck (bass)
Oskar Bergenheim (drums)
Jonatan Ramm (guitar)

Kadavar are:
Lupus Lindemann – Vocals & Guitar
Simon ‘Dragon’ Bouteloup – Bass
Tiger – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/graveyardofficial
https://twitter.com/graveyard
https://instagram.com/graveyardmusic/

https://www.facebook.com/nuclearblastusa
https://twitter.com/nuclearblastusa
http://shop.nuclearblast.com/en/shop/index.html

https://www.facebook.com/KadavarOfficial/
https://instagram.com/kadavargram/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVmSmatRaSUU2LMhecGKiqg/
https://www.kadavar.com/

https://www.facebook.com/robotorrecords/
https://www.instagram.com/robotorrecords/
https://robotorrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.robotorrecords.com/

Graveyard, “Please Don’t” official video

Kadavar, Studio Live Session Vol. II (2020)

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Enslaved Post New Single and Video “Kingdom”

Posted in Bootleg Theater on August 25th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

enslaved

Anyone notice how the new Enslaved video has a better framerate than real life? Shit looks gorgeous. Also, I actually LOL’ed when the piggyback happened at 3:02. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all very artsy and I know it’s a metaphor and so on, but it’s also a guy doing light parkour in the wilderness and then running on a beach and having an old man climb on his back. So, video of the year? Maybe. In any case, you know it’s Iceland even before you look at the names in the credits and see all the ‘ð,’ ‘fn,’ ‘Þ,’ etc. As I said, gorgeous.

“Kingdom” — for that is the name of the song in question — doesn’t come from the band’s new album or anything (they’ve got a record due in Feb.; thanks Mike H. for the info), but it’s definitely, definitely Enslaved. And by that I mean a band who’ve been together over 30 years and have a continuous creative progressionenslaved kingdom the likes of which just about nobody else can boast. I guess you would say “Kingdom” is of the era of 2020’s Utgard (review here) and its Caravans to the Outer Worlds (review here) companion EP, but mostly because that means the band and guitarist/songwriter Ivar Bjørnson are doing whatever the hell feels right and following no other apparent standard. To be fair, that is all they need to do. I do not think Bjørnson or anyone else composing material in Enslaved sits down and says, “now we are going to try adding krautrock rhythmic repetitions to our progressive black metal foundation,” but they keep going and all that stuff comes out. They are exploratory unto themselves.

In the PR wire info below, you might note that in the quote from Bjørnson, he talks about a ‘coming trek.’ I do not know if that means a tour announcement is to follow shortly — I could live 400 years and I’d never be cool enough to have inside info on this band — but it’s something to keep an eye on. Enslaved were in North America this year, curating at the Fire in the Mountains festival in Wyoming, which if you’ve seen as many pictures of it on your social media as I have of mine, you know was quite a thing to miss out on as I did, sad to say. If you were there, you probably don’t need me to tell you about it. Right on.

This is Enslaved‘s second single of 2022 behind the live version of “Bounded by Allegiance” (posted here) earlier this year as taken from their ‘Otherworldly Big Band Experience’ collaborative streaming concert. I would not attempt to guess what they might do from here, but if it is a tour, the arguments in favor of showing up are about as vast as the Icelandic countryside through which all the admirably athletic Icelanders are running in the “Kingdom” video. Don’t worry, they get where they’re going.

Enjoy:

Enslaved, “Kingdom” official video

ENSLAVED Reveal New Single “Kingdom” Alongside Concept Video

ATOMS HUM.

THE ORDER OF ALL. THE OLDEST OF DREAMS.

Today, Enslaved release a stunning new track titled ‘Kingdom’ alongside an evocative concept video. The unorthodox Norwegians have found themselves at an intersection of sorts, where the momentum of living time rushes forward at an ever-increasing pace, imperceptibly modulated by the primeval echoes of eons past.

Ivar Bjørnson stated:
“Kingdom – a tribute to the endurance of ideas and the people that carry them forward through hardship and fatigue, for the benefit of us all.

Musically, it is a tribute to the Riff and the Rite: to the Teutonic Thrash kings, to Space Rock, to the Ambient pioneers of the 70s.

With this we ask you to join us on this coming trek. Thanks for listening!”

Stream/Download ‘Kingdom’ here: https://enslaved.bfan.link/single-kingdom.ema

Enslaved is:
Ivar Bjørnson – guitar
Grutle Kjellson – vocals/bass
Ice Dale – guitar
Håkon Vinje – keys/vocals
Iver Sandøy – drums

Enslaved, “Bounded by Allegiance” from The Otherworldly Big Band Experience

Enslaved on Facebook

Enslaved on Instagram

Enslaved on YouTube

Enslaved website

Nuclear Blast on Facebook

Nuclear Blast on Instagram

Nuclear Blast website

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Earthless Announce East Coast Tour

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 24th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

earthless

I guess I’m supposed to be over here stoked that Earthless are going to come East supporting their 2022 album, Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (review here), and don’t get me wrong, better that than not, but I’m having trouble after reading the news this morning mustering up the requisite fanboy excitement. My country doesn’t believe women are people, believes that pre-human cell collections are, and is moving ever farther away from the representative democracy it once claimed to be toward and imperialist fascist white supremacist state. Failing, in essence, in even the most basic of its promises. As a citizenry, we should be disgusted, more than usual.

But hey, Earthless, right? That’s a cool band, with a cool record, and bands being able to tour is cool, and they’re all dudes so they’ll probably be allowed to leave the house or whatever when the time comes.

Fuck everything. The sun rises, humans let you down, the sun sets. Tomorrow is another day with more bullshit. Grab your precious moments while you can. The boots are coming for your fucking skull.

From socials:

Earthless tour

Hello everyone! We are very happy to announce that we will be out in the Midwest/East Coast starting September 1st!

These will be our first shows out East since 2019 so we cannot wait to get back and play for you all. Hope to see you there!

Tickets on sale TODAY at 10 am http://earthlessofficial.com/tour-dates

9/1 Chicago IL Empty Bottle (Scorched Tundra Fest with Monolord + Dorthia Cottrel)
9/2 Hamtramck MI Sanctuary Detroit
9/3 Cleveland Heights OH Grog Shop
9/4 Toronto ON Velvet Underground
9/6 Cambridge MA Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub
9/7 Baltimore MD Ottobar
9/8 Philadelphia PA Underground Arts
9/9 Brooklyn NY MARKET HOTEL
9/10 Pittsburgh PA Mr Smalls Theater
9/12 Louisville KY Portal at Fifteentwelve Creative Compound
9/13 Fort Wayne IN Piere’s

EARTHLESS Lineup:
Isaiah Mitchell – Guitar & Vocals
Mike Eginton – Bass
Mario Rubalcaba – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/earthlessrips
www.twitter.com/earthlessrips
www.instagram.com/earthlessrips

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http://shop.nuclearblast.com/en/shop/index.html

Earthless, Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, “Death to the Red Sun” teaser

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Enslaved Post “Bounded by Allegiance” Live Video

Posted in Bootleg Theater on March 30th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

enslaved

Bergen, Norway, progressive black metal expansionists Enslaved held their ‘The Otherworldly Big Band Experience’ stream on Dec. 21, 2021, the Winter Solstice, and played as a nine-piece lineup — hence “Big Band” — that incorporated the four-piece outfit Shaman Elephant. Even for a band who’ve spent the better part of the last two decades refining and building on a sound that has only become more individualized for their efforts in making it, the stream was a distinct step beyond expectation. Enslaved‘s new interpretations of old songs — like “Bounded by Allegiance” below, originally taken from 2004’s Isa LP — found them all the more atmospheric for the stunning visuals and cinematography that accompanied, not to mention the extra players, and furthered their commitment to exploring progressive, psychedelic and extreme styles that broadened the definitions of genre as much as their own.

But you know all this. If you’ve heard me expound for the last decade-plus about Enslaved‘s evolving, consistent, and consistently evolving genius, you don’t need me to rehash the point. And to be perfectly honest, if you haven’t caught on by now, I sincerely doubt I’ll change your mind by telling you how good they are at what they do. I believe strongly in the power of words, but hey, some things just don’t connect. I get it.

Then I guess the underlying point in my posting “Bounded by Allegiance” as taken and made a single from what one can only assume/hope is a forthcoming live release for ‘The Otherworldy Big Band Experience’ — please, please, please let them do black metal Sgt. Pepper for the cover art — is that I’m doing it for me, as an Enslaved fan. I’m choosing to write about something I actively enjoy and appreciate. And if you want to come along with that, shit, the more the merrier. If not, maybe next time.

If you hit play on the clip, watching for flashing lights, as that’s a thing. There’s a link in the PR wire info that follows as well just to get to the audio if that might suit your better.

Otherwise, hope you dig:

Enslaved, “Bounded by Allegiance” from The Otherworldly Big Band Experience

Left-field metal luminaries ENSLAVED are proud to reveal their single and video for “Bounded by Allegiance – Live.” The track, which originally comes from their ground-breaking album “Isa” (2004), sees a live recording of a new avant-garde interpretation, with nuanced accompaniment by fellow psychedelic Norwegian prog band Shaman Elephant. This extraordinary performance took place on last year’s Winter Solstice, via the stunning streaming event “The Otherworldly Big Band Experience.”

Listen to the “Bounded by Allegiance – Live” single here:
https://enslaved.bfan.link/bounded-by-allegiance.ema

Frontman Grutle Kjellson stated, “So here’s a little memory from last year’s musical endeavor. Our ‘Big Band’ collaboration with Shaman Elephant was such a trip! It felt like, and indeed it was, an avalanche of locked up energy just bursting out. The streamed concert plus a small tour in Norway was pretty much the only shows we did in 2021, so the energy level was pretty much turned to 11, on all of us. All nine of us! ‘Bounded By Allegiance’ was one of the first songs we thought would fit being dressed for a nine man outfit, with its natural percussive nature. We hope we were right, enjoy!”

“The Otherworldly Big Band Experience” was an ENSLAVED show like none other, their biggest, boldest project to date – a colossal, kaleidoscopic stage show featuring a stellar setlist covering their career, both past and present. Including some tracks never previously performed live.

Enslaved is:
Ivar Bjørnson – guitar
Grutle Kjellson – vocals/bass
Ice Dale – guitar
Håkon Vinje – keys/vocals
Iver Sandøy – drums

Enslaved on Facebook

Enslaved on Instagram

Enslaved on YouTube

Enslaved website

Nuclear Blast on Facebook

Nuclear Blast on Instagram

Nuclear Blast website

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Album Review: Earthless, Night Parade of One Hundred Demons

Posted in Reviews on January 4th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

earthless night parade of one hundred demons

Who doesn’t love a parade? Comprised of its massive, 41-minute title-track (split into two parts at 19:04 and 22:09, respectively) and the 20-minute companion-piece “Death to the Red Sun,” the sixth long-player from San Diego heavy psychshredders Earthless is being heralded as a return to form for the trio, and in some ways, Night Parade of One Hundred Demons is that. Their second full-length under the banner of Nuclear Blast, its structure and some of the included material harkens back to the band’s beginnings — according to the narrative (blessings and peace upon it), the first riff the band wrote is somewhere in the hour-plus stretch, which is neat on a trivia level some 20 years beyond their formation — and that’s a decided departure, or at least a re-parture, from 2018’s Black Heaven (review here), which now feels like an aberration as regards its shorter-form songs, inclusion of vocals from guitarist Isaiah Mitchell, and so on. Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, then, would seem to get back to business.

One might be reminded of Sonic Prayer (2005) or some of their no-break, all-in live work — 2008’s Live at Roadburn (discussed here) comes to mind, perpetually, but it’s not the only example — as bassist Mike Eginton (who also did the striking album art), drummer Mario Rubalcaba and Mitchell dig into “Night Parade of One Hundred Demons” itself, but the title-track doesn’t try to be so brazen as to pretend the last 15-plus years of the band’s progression hasn’t happened. Rather, they open with a movement of subdued psychedelic guitar that unfolds across the first six minutes before giving way to more angular lead work and gradually shifting into a jazzier jam with underlying tension in the drums and bass. It’s hypnotic and engrossing, very much Earthless being Earthless, which would seem to be the point. Like a classic power trio put through an interdimensional taffy pull, Mitchelspaces out on guitar over the course of who even knows how much anti-time as Eginton and Rubalcaba provide the underlying movement and foundation of groove on which the material is built.

By the time they’re 12 minutes into “Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (Part 1),” Rubalcaba is nestled into a drum build and Mitchell follows the surge, rising into a more foreboding section of leads and riffs, Eginton, as ever, the low-end fueling the heft of the entirety on its course. There’s a triumph in space before the shredfest begins at about 14:00, some Slayery thrash sneaks in, a bit of doom, but it’s all on the way to a massive wash of noise that drops suddenly into “Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (Part 2),” the drums and sparse noise holding to the darker atmosphere of some of the first part’s guitar work, while at the same time answering back the patient, so-long-ago-now gradual manner in which the opening track took off. In fact, “Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (Part 2)” makes even more use of open space in its unfurling — the tolling bell is a nice touch — with wind sounds sweeping along with the airy guitar, drums and bassline until 11 minutes in, when whatever pedal that is clicks off and MitchellEginton and Rubalcaba begin the next round of wormhole-digging rippery.

earthless

Colors flash in your face like a full-spectrum-and-probably-then-some strobe light as the second part of “Night Parade of One Hundred Demons” courses toward its eventual end, hitting those same triumphal notes before thrashing out meaner once more and, sure enough, dizzying itself into a wash and a well earned crash-out ending. If that was the finish of Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, the whole album, I have a hard time imagining Earthless‘ significant fanbase would argue. Few bands have had the same kind of influence they’ve had on the current generation of heavy rock and roll, and with its sudden, mic-drop-but-without-the-mic finish, “Night Parade of One Hundred Demons” is bound to make an impact as well, given both the band’s profile and their willingness to engage moodier ambience despite the shimmering at the outset and the head-spinning washes with which both component parts are resolved.

Which is enough to make one wonder why they’d bother to include “Death to the Red Sun” at all instead of saving it for some future release — until one actually listens to it. At 20:27, it’s about half as long as the preceding two-parter, but with its more immediate start, go-go-go gnarl and grimmer underpinnings, it makes a fitting complement to “Night Parade of One Hundred Demons,” with Eginton‘s bassline under Mitchell‘s early solo (four minutes in) giving a highlight bounce that maintains the rhythm that will soon establish itself as the central force of the song. “Death to the Red Sun” — not to be confused either with Kyuss‘ Blues for the Red Sun or Earthless‘ own “Violence of the Red Sea” and “Lost in the Cold Sun” — feels like classic Earthless, tapping into the energy and inimitable chemistry of the trio working together as they build their material outward into an ether-plane of twists and dynamic shove. It is this over-the-top freakoutness on which much of their legend is based, and when “Death to the Red Sun” turns back to that ‘main’ riff via the bass just before it’s 17 minutes deep, and they tell the listener there’s been a plan unfolding all the while, one can only be astounded in a way that feels readily familiar.

They bring “Death to the Red Sun” down more gradually than “Night Parade of One Hundred Demons,” marching it slower before the feedback and residual cymbal wash gives a false ending ahead of a final measure of thrash, and are out with a clean-feeling break that feels very much their own even as it has touched on some newer stylistic ground for them. A key to the shift back toward focused-instrumentalism might be Mitchell‘s moving back to San Diego from the Bay Area, but however they got there, Earthless reclaim their dominance of aural space with Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. In anyone else’s hands, you’d call it excess. Unmanageable. Earthless make it sound like a walk in the least-pretentious park you’ve ever seen. Whatever they do next, whether it’s got vocals and choruses or blinding solos or both or neither, they have laid claim to multiple approaches over their time, and Night Parade of One Hundred Demons finds them reveling in the audience’s perception of who they are as a band even as they refine and expand their reach. By and large, they are unfuckwithable.

Earthless, “Death to the Red Sun” teaser

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Quarterly Review: Khemmis, Low Orbit, Confusion Master, Daemonelix, Wooden Fields, Plaindrifter, Spawn, Ambassador Hazy, Mocaine, Sun Below

Posted in Reviews on December 14th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

THE-OBELISK-FALL-2020-QUARTERLY-REVIEW

Day two, huh? Don’t know about you, but I’m feeling positively groovy after yesterday’s initial round of 10 records en route to 50 by Friday, and maybe that’s all the better since there’s not only another round of 10 today, but 50 more awaiting in January. Head down, keep working. You know how it goes. Hope you find something cool in this bunch, and if not, stick around because there’s more to come. Never enough time, never enough riffs. Let’s get to it.

Quarterly Review #11-20:

Khemmis, Deceiver

Khemmis Deceiver

Denver’s Khemmis are everything an American heavy metal band should be in 2021. The six-song Deceiver is the fourth LP from the band — now comprised of guitarist/vocalist Ben Hutcherson, guitarist/vocalist Phil Pendergast and drummer Zach Coleman — and it soars and crushes in kind. It is no more doom than thrash or epic traditional metal, with sweeping choruses from opener “Avernal Gate” onward, and yet it is intense without being boorish, accessible without being dumbed-down, dynamic in presentation. It commits neither to genre nor structure but is born of both, and its well-timed arrangements of more extreme vocalizations on “House of Cadmus” and “Obsidian Crown” are no less vital to its sonic persona than the harmonies surrounding. Even more here than on 2018’s Desolation (review here), Khemmis sound like masters of the form — the kind of band who’d make a kid want to pick up a guitar — and are in a class of their own.

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Low Orbit, Crater Creator

Low-Orbit-Crater-Creator

Somebody in Toronto’s Low Orbit likes Dr. Who, as signaled by inclusions like “Tardis” and “Timelord” on the trio’s third album, Crater Creator. Also huge riffs. Working with their hometown’s house helmer Ian Blurton (Rough Spells, Future Now, Biblical, etc.), guitarist/vocalist Angelo Catenaro, bassist Joe Grgic and drummer Emilio Mammone proffer seven songs across two-sides bent toward largesse of chug and spaciousness of… well, space. The opening title-track, which moves into the lumbering “Tardis” and the driving side-A-capper “Sea of See,” sets an expectation for massive tonality that the rest of what follows meets with apparent glee. The fuzz-forward nature of “Monocle” (also the cowbell) feels straightforward after the relative plod of “Empty Space” before it, but “Wormhole” and “Timelord” assure the mission’s overarching success, the latter with aplomb fitting its finale position on such a cosmically voluminous offering. Craters accomplished, at least in eardrums.

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Confusion Master, Haunted

CONFUSION MASTER Haunted

One assumes that the Cthulhu figure depicted breaking a lighthouse with its cthrotch on the cover art of Confusion Master‘s Haunted is intended as a metaphor for the coming of the German four-piece’s engrossing psychedelic doom riffery. The band, who made their debut with 2018’s Awaken (review here), owe some debt to Electric Wizard‘s misanthropic stoner nihilism, but the horrors crafted across the six-song/56-minute sophomore outing are their own in sound and depth alike, as outwardly familiar as the lumbering central riff of “The Cannibal County Maniac” might seem. It’s amazing I haven’t heard more hype about Confusion Master, with the willful slog of “Jaw on a Hook”‘s 11 minutes so dug in ahead of the sample-topped title-track you can’t really call it anything other than righteous in its purpose, as filthy as that purpose is on the rolling “Casket Down” or “Under the Sign of the Reptile Master.” Shit, they don’t even start vocals until minute six of 10-minute opener “Viking X.” What more do you want? Doom the fuck out.

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Exile on Mainstream website

 

Daemonelix, Devil’s Corkscrew

Daemonelix Devils Corkscrew

Sludge metal punishment serves as the introductory statement of Los Angeles’ Daemonelix, whose Devil’s Corkscrew EP runs just 18 minutes and four songs but needs no more than that to get its message across. The band, led by guitarist Derek Phillips, are uniformly brash and scathing in their composition, harnessing the punkish energy of an act like earlier -(16)- and bringing it to harsher places altogether, while still — as the motor-ready riff of “In the Name of Freedom” demonstrates — keeping one foot in heavy rock traditions. Vocalist Ana Garcia Lopez is largely indecipherable in her throaty, rasping growls on opener “Daemonelix” and the subsequent “Raise Crows,” but “In the Name of Freedom” has a cleaner hook and closer “Sing for the Moon” brings in more atmospherics during its slower, more open-feeling verses, before crushing once more in a manner that’s — dare I say it? — progressive? Clearly more than just bludgeoning, then, but yes, plenty of that too.

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Metal Assault Records on Bandcamp

 

Wooden Fields, Wooden Fields

wooden fields wooden fields

While I’ll admit that Wooden Fields had me on board with the mere mention of the involvement of Siena Root bassist Sam Riffer, the Stockholm trio’s boogie-prone seven-song self-titled debut earns plenty of allegiance on its own, with vocalist/guitarist Sartez Faraj leading the classically-grooving procession in a manner that expands outward as it moves through the album’s tidy 38 minutes, taking the straight-ahead rush of “Read the Signs” and “Shiver and Shake” into the airier-but-still-grounded “Should We Care” before centerpiece “I’m Home” introduces a jammier vibe, drummer Fredrik Jansson Punkka (Witchcraft, etc.) seeming totally amenable to holding the track together beneath the extended solo. The transition works because no matter how far they go in “Don’t Be a Fool” or “Wind of Hope,” Wooden Fields never lose the thread of songcraft they weave throughout, and the melodies of closer “Endless Time” alone establish them as a group of marked potential, regardless of pedigree and the familiarity of their stylistic foundation.

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Argonauta Records website

 

Plaindrifter, Echo Therapy

Plaindrifter Echo Therapy

Surging forth with lush progressive heavy psychedelic rock, Plaindrifter‘s debut full-length, Echo Therapy, showcases an awareness of the context in which it arrives — which is to say the German three-piece seem to be familiar with the aesthetic tropes they’re working toward. Still, although their emphasis on bringing together melody and heft may result in flashes of Elder in the extended “Prisma” or the closer “Digital Dreamcatcher” or Elephant Tree in “New World,” with opener “M.N.S.N.” making its impression as much with ambience as tonal weight and centerpiece “Proto Surfer Boy” sneakily executing its linear build in space-creating fashion before its long fadeout, there’s an individual presence in the material beyond a play toward style, and from what they offer here, it’s easy to imagine their forward-thinking course will lead to further manifest individualism in subsequent work. That may be me reading into the possibilities cast by the melodies of “M.N.S.N.” and in the quieter break of “Proto Surfer Boy,” but that’s plenty to go on and by no means the sum of Echo Therapy‘s achievements.

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Spawn, Live at Moonah Arts Collective

Spawn Live at Moonah Arts Collective

The kind of release that makes me want to own everything the band has done, Spawn‘s Live at Moonah Arts Collective enraptures with four tracks of meditative psychedelic flow, beginning with “Meditation in an Evil Temple” and oozing patiently through a cover of “Morning of the Earth” — from the 1971 Australian surf film of the same name — before “Remember to Be Here Now” issues that needed reminder to coincide with the drift that would otherwise so easily lead the mind elsewhere, and the 13-minute “All is Shiva” culminates with a spiritually-vibing wash of guitar, sitar, bass, drums, keyboard, tabla and tantric vocal repetitions. Based in Melbourne, the seven-maybe-more-piece outfit released a studio EP in 2018 on Nasoni Records (of course) and otherwise have a demo to their credit, but the with the sense of communion they bring to these songs, studio or live doesn’t matter anymore. At just under half an hour, it’s a short set — too short — but with the heavier ending of “All is Shiva,” there’s nothing they leave unsaid in that time. This is aural treasure. Pay heed.

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Spawn on Bandcamp

 

Ambassador Hazy, Glacial Erratics

Ambassador Hazy Glacial Erratics

Formed as a solo-project for Sterling DeWeese, the lo-fi experimentalist psych of Ambassador Hazy‘s Glacial Erratics first showed up in 2020 after four years of making, and with a 2021 vinyl release, the 14-track/39-minute offering would seem to be getting its due. DeWeese — sometimes on his own, sometimes backed by a full band or just drummer Jonathan Bennett — delights in the weird, finding a place somewhere between desert-style drift (his vocals remind at times of mellower Mario Lalli, but I doubt that’s more than coincidence), folk and space-indie on “Ain’t the Same No More,” which is somehow bluesy while the fuzzy “Lucky Clover” earlier taps alterna-chic bedroom gaze and the subsequent “Passing into a Grey Area” brings in full backing for the first time. Disjointed? Yeah, but it’s part of the whole idea, so don’t sweat it. No single song tops four minutes — the Dead Meadowy “Sleepyhead” comes closest at 3:51 — and it ends with “The World’s a Mess,” so yeah, DeWeese makes it easy enough to roll with what’s happening here. I’d suggest doing that.

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Ambassador Hazy on Bandcamp

 

Mocaine, The Birth of Billy Munro

Mocaine The Birth of Billy Munro

A wildly ambitious debut — to the point of printing up a novella to flesh out its storyline and characters — The Birth of Billy Munro follows a narrative spearheaded by Mocaine guitarist/vocalist Amrit Mohan and is set in the American South following its title-character through a post-traumatic mental decay with material that runs a gamut from progressive metal to psychedelia to classic Southern heavy rock and grunge and so on. In just 43 minutes and with a host of dialogue-driven stretches — also samples like Alec Baldwin talking about his god complex from 1993’s Malice in the soon-to-be-churning “Narcissus” — the plot is brought to a conclusion on “The Bend,” which touches lighter acoustics and jazzy nuance without letting go entirely of the ’90s flair in “Psylocybin” a few tracks earlier, as far removed from the swaggering “Pistol Envy” as it seems to be, and in fact is. However deep the listener might want to explore, Mocaine seems ready to accommodate, and one only wonders whether the trio will explore further tales of Billy Munro or move on to other stories and concepts.

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Sun Below, Sun Below

sun below sun below

Toronto riffers Sun Below would like to be your entertainment for the evening, and they’d probably prefer it if you were also stoned. Their 71-minute self-titled debut long-player arrives after a series of three shorter offerings between 2018-2019, and after the opening “Chronwall Neanderhal,” the 14-minute “Holy Drifter” lets you know outright how it’s gonna go. They’re gonna vibe, they’re gonna jam, they’re gonna riff, and your brain’s gonna turn to goo and that’s just fine. Stoner is as stoner does, and whether that’s on a shorter track like “Shiva Sativa,” the shuffling “Kinetic Keif” and the rumbling “Doom Stick,” or the 18-minute “Twin Worlds” that follows ahead of the 12-minute closer “Solar Burnout,” one way or the other, you get gargantuan, post-Pike riffage that knows from whence its grooves come and doesn’t care it’s going to roll out an hour-plus anyway and steamroll lucidity in the process. Is that a bongrip at the end of “Solar Burnout” or the end of the world? More to the point, can’t it be both?

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