Posted in Whathaveyou on February 23rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
So, the debut album from Cleveland, Ohio, atmospheric heavymakers Slow Wake, apparently titled Falling Fathoms, isn’t mentioned by name in the press release below, though the new video from it for the 10-minute simmerer “Controlled Burn” is. Meantime, if you pop over to the band’s Bandcamp, you’ll find the five-tracker streaming in its sprawling entirety with the release date of Feb. 21, 2023. If you’re keeping up, that was three days ago.
I don’t know if that was intentional, if it will still be true by the time this goes live, or if it’s just a matter of some miscommunication between promotional concerns around the band, but the record sounds cool — for some reason, their doom-adjacent, metal-rooted, progressive-leaning take on heavy reminds on first impression of Boss Keloid and Sergeant Thunderhoof, both UK acts and nowhere near the US Midwest at all; go figure — but I’ve barely started to dig in and with breadth as a focus I’m not prepared to define their aesthetic even just for my own purposes, so don’t quote me on that or anything. Maybe it’s just that there’s a lot going on, which is a common trait for all three acts. Slow Wake don’t seem to be shy about letting the guitars do a bit of dreaming either, which rests organically alongside the corresponding heft.
Maybe they decided to just put it all out there at once, and maybe they’ll pull the record off Bandcamp to allow the whole promo cycle to play out as it will. I have no idea and it’s not up to me. I take what I can get when I can get it. Later than you think, and all that.
Here’s what the PR wire had to say about the band signing to Argonauta:
US Psych Post-Doomsters SLOW WAKE sign with ARGONAUTA Records and share debut single and video
Says the band: “We are incredibly excited to partner with Argonauta Records to release our debut album! Being part of such a strong and passionate label with an incredibly rich and diverse roster – many of whom we’re big fans of – is simply thrilling. We’re stoked to work with Gero to bring you all our signature brand of beautiful heaviness!”
Slow Wake was conceived in Cleveland, Ohio amidst the chaos and turmoil of the Covid pandemic by guitarists Dan Simone (Black Spirit Crown) and Matt Merchant. As the world seemed to collapse around them, the two long-time friends convened to process what they were experiencing by finally starting that band they’d been talking about for years. What emerged from those first few jam sessions was an intriguing blend of styles, Matt’s post-rock/americana and Dan’s stoner doom offering compelling counterpoint to each other in passages that were simultaneously ethereal and psychedelic, yet powerful and cathartic.
The duo were soon joined by bassist Joe Fortunato (Sparrowmilk, Venomin James) and drummer Jeff Larch (Black Spirit Crown, Reginleif) and the riffs did flow. What emerged was a blend of post-rock, doom, heavy psych and outer space that’s been described as “Like staring out into the abyss of Lake Erie at sunset on a few hits of acid as the sun burns the water.”
The band hit the ground running with their first show in June of 2021 and proceeded to play relentlessly throughout the region with heavy hitters such as Lo-Pan, Frayle, Telekinetic Yeti, Heavy Temple, Caustic Casanova and Argonauta Records alumni The Lucid Furs, as well as an appearance at the Ohio Doomed and Stoned Fest. Independent label and co-organizers of the “Post.Festival” and “dunk!USA”, A Thousand Arms Music, included the song “In Waves” on their “Open Language: Volume VII” compilation to a wide audience of post fans.
Stay tuned for more news to be revealed soon!
Slow Wake is: Jeff Larch – Drums, Backing Vocals Matthew Merchant – Guitar, Guitar Synth Dan Simone – Vocals, Guitar, Guitar Synth Joe Fortunato – Bass, Bass Synth
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 10th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Been waiting for this since Valley of the Sun were announced for Desertfest in London and Berlin, and all the better for the Ohio four-piece that they’ll go further after the latter fest, keeping on with additional club shows supporting last year’s killer The Chariot (review here) album, which offered a ready definition of a band firing on all cylinders.
And of course, before they let out for international waters, Valley of the Sun will support UK harmonizers Church of the Cosmic Skull on a US tour (info here), and that as well is something I’m very much looking forward to. I’m not sure with whom they’ll be playing in Europe and the UK, but I do know that this is hardly the band’s first time over there and there’s no shortage of acts for them to meet up either as local support or doing the whole run, I have no idea.
In any case, these guys staying active post-pandemic is only good news, and as The Chariot wrought their most mature sound to-date, one might rightly think of these tours as a victory lap. The dates for UK and EU are below, venue info in the poster, which you can click to enlarge.
From social media:
TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
We’re heading back to the UK and EU this May to rock off all your beautiful faces!!! Ticket links below:
05/05 UK DESERTFEST LONDON 07/05 UK EDINBURGH 08/05 UK NEWCASTLE 09/05 UK SHEFFIELD 10/05 UK MANCHESTER 11/05 UK NOTTINGHAM TBA 12/05 UK BRISTOL 13/05 UK BOURNEMOUTH 15/05 CH LUZERN 16/05 IT TORINO 17/05 HR ZAGREB TBA 18/05 AT GRAZ TBA 19/05 DE PASSAU 20/05 DE DESERTFEST BERLIN 21/05 DE HANOVER 22/05 DE WIESBADEN TBA 23/05 DE MUNSTER 24/05 BE EEKLO 25/05 NL EINDHOVEN 26/O5 DK ESBJERG 27/05 DE KIEL
VALLEY OF THE SUN are: Ryan Ferrier – Guitar/Vocals Lex Vegas – Drums Chris Sweeney – Bass, Keys Josh Pilot – Guitar
Posted in Reviews on January 9th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Welcome to the second week of the Quarterly Review. Last week there were 50 records covered between Monday and Friday, and barring disaster, the same thing will happen this week too. I wish I could say I was caught up after this, but yeah, no. As always, I’m hearing stuff right and left that I wish I’d had the chance to dig into sooner, but as the platitude says, you can only be in so many places at one time. I’m doing my best. If you’ve already heard all this stuff, sorry. Maybe if you keep reading you’ll find a mistake to correct. I’m sure there’s one in there somewhere.
Winter 2023 Quarterly Review #51-60:
Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, Doom Wop
Powered by eight-string-guitar and bass chug, Austin heavy party rockers Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol offer markedly heavy, Steve Brooks-style weight on “Doom Wop,” the title-track of their second album, and prove themselves catchy through a swath of hooks, be it opener “Heel,” “Chew” or “I’m the Fucking Man,” which, if the finale “Jesus Was an Alien” — perhaps the best, also the only, ‘Jesus doing stuff’ song I’ve heard since Ministry‘s “Jesus Built My Hotrod”; extra kudos to the band for making it about screwing — didn’t let you know the band didn’t take themselves too seriously, and their moniker didn’t even before you hit play, then there you go. Comprised of guitarist Leo Lydon, bassist Aaron Metzdorf and drummer Sean St. Germain, they’re able to tap into that extra-dense tone at will, but their songs build momentum and keep it, not really even being slowed by their own massive feel, as heard on “Chew” or “The Bog” once it kicks in, and the vocals remind a bit of South Africa’s Ruff Majik without quite going that far over the top; I’d also believe it’s pop-punk influence. Since making their debut in 2020 with Burger Babes… From Outer Space!, they’ve stripped down their songwriting approach somewhat, and that tightness works well in emphasizing the ’90s alt rock vibe of “The Room” or the chug-fuzzer “Fly Super Glide.” They had a good amount of hype leading up to the Sept. 2022 release. I’m not without questions, but I can’t argue on the level of craft or the energy of their delivery.
French heavy rock traditionalists DoctoR DooM return following a seven-year drought with A Shadow Called Danger, their late 2022/early 2023 follow-up to 2015’s debut, This Seed We Have Sown (review here). After unveiling the single “What They Are Trying to Sell” (premiered here) as proof-of-life in 2021, the three-piece ’70s-swing their way through eight tracks and 45 minutes of vintage-mindset stylizations, touching on moody Graveyardian blues in “Ride On” and the more uptempo rocker “The Rich and the Poor” while going more directly proto-metallic on galloping opener “Come Back to Yourself and the later “Connected by the Worst.” Organ enhances the sway of the penultimate “In This Town” as part of a side B expansion that starts with tense rhythmic underlayer before the stride of “Hollow” and, because obviously, an epilogue take on Händel‘s “Sarabande” that closes. That’ll happen? In any case, DoctoR DooM — guitarist/vocalist Jean-Laurent Pasquet, guitarist Bertrand Legrand, bassist Sébastien Boutin Blomfield and drummer Michel Marcq — don’t stray too far from their central purpose, even there, and their ability to guide the listener through winding progressions is bolstered by the warmth of their tones and Pasquet‘s sometimes gruff but still melodic vocals, allowing some of the longer tracks like “Come Back to Yourself,” “Hollow” and “In This Town” to explore that entirely imaginary border where ’70s-style heavy rock and classic metal meet and intertwine.
Clearly when you start out with a direct invocation of epic tales like “Gilgamesh (…and Enkidu’s Demise),” you’re going big. Portugal’s Stones of Babylon answer 2019’s Hanging Gardens (review here) with Ishtar Gate, still staying in Babylon as “Annunaki,” “Pazuzu,” the title-track, “The Fall of Ur,” and “Tigris and Euphrates” roll out instrumental embodiment of these historical places, ideas, and myths. There is some Middle Eastern flourish in quieter stretches of guitar in “Anunnaki,” “Pazuzu,” “The Fall of Ur,” etc., but it’s the general largesse of tone, the big riffs that the trio of guitarist Alexandre Mendes, bassist João Medeiros and drummer Pedro Branco foster and roll out one after the other, that give the sense of scale coinciding with their apparent themes. And loud or quiet, big and rolling or softer and more winding, they touch on some of My Sleeping Karma‘s meditative aspects without giving up a harder-hitting edge, so that when Ur falls, the ground seems to be given a due shake, and “Tigris and Euphrates,” as one of the cradles of civilization, caps the record with a fervency that seems reserved specifically for that crescendo. A few samples, including one at the very end, add to the atmosphere, but the band’s heart is in the heavy and that comes through regardless of a given moment’s volume.
Released on Halloween 2022, Alconaut‘s “Slugs” is a six-minute roller single following-up their 2019 debut album, Sand Turns to Tide, and it finds the Corsican trio fuzz-grooving their way through a moderate tempo, easy-to-dig procession that’s not nearly as slime-trail-leaving as its title implies. A stretch building up the start-stop central riff has a subtle edge of funk, but then the pedal clicks on and a fuller tone is revealed, drums still holding the same snare punctuation behind. They ride that stretch out for a reasonably unreasonable amount of measures before shifting toward the verse shortly before two minutes in — classic stoner rock — backing the first vocals with either organ or guitar effects that sound like one (nobody is credited for keys; accept the mystery) and a quick flash of angularity between lines of the chorus are likewise bolstered. They make their way back through the verse and then shift into tense chugging that’s more straight-ahead push than swinging, but still friendly in terms of pace, and after five minutes in, they stop, the guitar pans channels in re-establishing the riff, and they finish it big before just a flash of feedback cuts to silence. Way more rock and way less sludge than either their moniker or the song’s title implies, their style nonetheless hints toward emergent dynamic in its tonal changes even as the guitar sets forth its own hooks.
Instrumental save for the liberally distributed samples from Planet of the Apes, including Charlton Heston’s naming of Nova in “Nova” presented as a kind of semi-organic alt-techno with winding psychedelic guitar over a programmed beat, Maybe Human‘s Ape Law is the second long-player from the Los Angeles-based probably-solo outfit, and it arrives as part of a glut of releases — singles, EPs, one prior album — issued over the last two years or so. The 47-minute 10-songer makes its point in the opening title-track, and uses dialogue from the Apes franchise — nothing from the reboots, and fair enough — to fill out pieces that vary in their overarching impression from the heavy prog of “Bright Eyes” and the closing “The Killer Ape Theory” to the experimentalist psych of “Heresy.” If you’re looking to be damned to hell by the aforementioned Heston, check out “The Forbidden Zone,” but Ape Law seems to be on its most solid footing — not always where it wants to be, mind you — in a more metal-leaning guitar-led stretch like that in the second half of “Infinite Regression” where the guitar solo takes the forward role over a bed that seems to have been made just for it. The intent here is more to explore and the sound is rawer than Maybe Human‘s self-applied post-rock or pop tags might necessarily imply, but the deeper you go there more there is to hear. Unless you hate those movies, in which case you might want to try something else.
Beginning with its longest track (immediate points) in the nine-minute “Rust and Rot,” the third full-length from Vancouver’s Heron, Empires of Ash, offers significant abrasive sludge heft from its lurching outset, and continues to sound slow even in the comparatively furious “Hungry Ghosts,” vocalist/noisemaker Jamie having a rasp to his screams that calls to mind Yatra over the dense-if-spacious riffing of Ross and Scott and Bina‘s fluid drumming. Ambient sections and buildups like that in centerpiece “Hauntology” allow some measure of respite from all the gnashing elsewhere, assuring there’s more to the four-piece than apparently-sans-bass-but-still-plenty-heavy caustic sludge metal, but in their nastiest moments they readily veer into territory commonly considered extreme, and the pairing of screams and backing growls over the brooding but mellower progression on closer “With Dead Eyes” is almost post-hardcore in its melding aggression with atmosphere. Still, it is inevitably the bite that defines it, and Heron‘s collective teeth are razor-sharp whether put to speedier or more methodical use, and the contrast in their sound, the either/or nature, is blurred somewhat by their willingness to do more than slaughter. This being their third album and my first exposure to them, I’m late to the party, but fine. Empires of Ash is perfectly willing to brutalize newcomers too, and the only barrier to entry is your own threshold for pain.
A reissue of their 2020 second LP, My Octopus Mind‘s Faulty at Source (Bonus Edition) adds two tracks — “Here My Rawr,” also released as a single, and “No Way Outta Here Alive” — for a CD release. Whichever edition one chooses to take on, the range of the Bristol-based psych trio of guitarist/vocalist/pianist Liam O’Connell, bassist Isaac Ellis and drummer Oliver Cocup (the latter two also credited with “rawrs,” which one assumes means backing vocals) is presented with all due absurdity but a strongly progressive presence, so that while “The Greatest Escape” works in its violin and viola guest appearances from Rebecca Shelley and Rowan Elliot as one of several tracks to do the same, the feeling isn’t superfluous where it otherwise might be. Traditional notions of aural heft come and go — the riffier and delightfully bass-fuzzed “No Way Outta Here Alive” has plenty — while “Buy My Book” and the later “Hindenburg” envision psychedelic noise rock and “Wandering Eye” (with Shelley on duet vocals as well) adds mathy quirk to the proceedings, making them that march harder to classify, that much more on-point as regards the apparent mission of the band, and that much more satisfying a listen. If you’re willing to get weird, My Octopus Mind are already there. For at least over two years now, it would seem.
Having become a duo since their debut, 2019’s Lux in Morte (review here), was released, Et Mors are no less dirgey or misery-laden across Lifeless Grey for halving their lineup. Wretched, sometimes melodic and almost universally deathly doom gruels out across the three extended originals following the shorter intro “Drastic Side Effects” — that’s the near-goth plod of “The Coffin of Regrets” (9:45), “Tritsch” (16:13), which surprises by growing into an atmosludge take on The Doors at their most minimalist and spacious before its own consumption resumes, and “Old Wizard of Odd” (10:29), which revels in extremity before its noisy finish and is the ‘heaviest’ inclusion for that — and a concluding cover of Bonnie “Prince” Billy‘s “I See a Darkness,” the title embodied in the open space within the sound of the song itself while showcasing a soulful clean vocal style that feels like an emerging distinguishing factor in the band’s sound. That is, a point of growth that will continue to grow and make them a stronger, more diverse band as it already does in their material here. I’d be interested to hear guitarist/vocalist Zakir Suleri and drummer/vocalist Albert Alisaug with an expansive production able to lean more into the emotive aspects of their songwriting, but as it is on Lifeless Grey, their sound is contrastingly vital despite the mostly crawling tempos and the unifying rawness of the aural setting in which these songs take place.
Future Mirror is The Atomic Bomb Audition‘s first release since 2014 and their first studio album since 2011’s Roots into the See (review here), the returning Oakland-based four-piece of guitarist/vocalist Alee Karin, bassist/vocalist Jason Hoopes, drummer Brian Gleeson and synthesist/engineer The Norman Conquest reigniting their take on pop-informed heavy, sometimes leaning toward post-rock float, sometimes offering a driving hook like in “Night Vision,” sometimes alternating between spacious and crushing as on “Haunted Houses,” which is as much Type O Negative and Katatonia darkness as the opener “Render” was blinding with its sweet falsetto melodies and crashing grandeur. Two interludes, “WNGTIROTSCHDB” and “…Spells” surround “Golden States, Pt. 1” — note there is no second part here — a brief-at-three-minutes-but-multi-movement instrumental, and the linear effect in hearing the album as whole is to create an ambient space between the three earlier shorter tracks and the two longer ones at the finish, and where “Dream Flood” might otherwise be a bridge between the two, the listening experience is only enhanced for the flourish. Future Mirror won’t be for everybody, as its nuance makes it harder to categorize and they wouldn’t be the first to suffer perils of the ‘band in-between,’ but by the time they get the payoff of closer “More Light,” tying the heft and melody together, The Atomic Bomb Audition have provided enough context to make their own kind of sense. Thus, a win.
Maharaja‘s new EP, Aviarium (on Seeing Red), might be post-metal if one were to distill that microgenre away from its ultra-cerebral self-indulgence and keep only the parts of it most crushing. The downer perspective of the Ohio trio — guitarist Angus Burkhart, bassist Eric Bluebaum, drummer Zack Mangold, all of whom add vocals, as demonstrated in the shouty-then-noisy-then-both second track — is confirmed in the use of the suffix ‘-less’ in each of the four songs on the 24-minute outing, from opener “Hopeless” through “Soulless,” into the shorter, faster and more percussively intense “Lifeless” and at last arriving in the open with the engrossing roll of 10-minute finisher “Ballad of the Flightless Bird,” which makes a home for itself in more stoner-metal riffing and cleaner vocals but maintains the poise of execution that even the many and righteous drum fills of “Hopeless” couldn’t shake loose. It is not an easy or a smooth listen, but neither is it meant to be, and the ambience that comes out of the raw weight of Maharaja‘s tones as well as their subtle variation in style should be enough to bring on board those who’d dare take it on in the first place. Can be mean, but isn’t universally one thing or the other, and as a sampler of Maharaja‘s work it’s got me wanting to dig back to their 2017 Kali Yuga and find out what I missed.
Posted in Questionnaire on November 24th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Adrian Zambrano of Brujas del Sol
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I guess I’d just simply say I’m a guitarist. It’s been something I’ve been in love with since I was a kid. My dad is a huge rock and roll guy. Like most of my peers, I’m sure, I was raised on Floyd, Zeppelin, The Doors, ZZ Top. I suppose it just always looked cool to me. (Insert photo of Zeppelin in front of their plane)… How could that not be cool?
Describe your first musical memory.
I’ve always had a love for Guns ‘n’ Roses. I used to wear my dad’s cut off G’N’R shirt around the house as a little kid singing and air guitaring.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
My time in Lo-pan, forcibly short as it was due to family health issues, was so incredible. When Brujas del Sol started, we looked up to them so so much… We still do. Best dudes. Best band.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Oh man, one half of my family is from Mexico. Where do I start?
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Hopefully a path of happiness… fulfillment. That can mean a lot of different things to a lot of people.
For me personally, it’s knowing my bandmates feel challenged, open to express themselves.
How do you define success?
People feeling eager to listen to our music or come see a show is enough for me.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Halloween Resurrection.
Fuck… maybe I’m lying. Busta Rhymes yelling “Trick or treat, mother fucker” is pretty mint.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to created.
An all synthesized record. Something I’ve been messing with for a few years now.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
This is probably a boring answer… but, for me, to get people to think.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Hmmm. I’ve gone out on my own professionally and started a finish carpentry company in North Carolina. So, between that and three bands, I reckon I’ve got my hands full.
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 9th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Frayle just wrapped the UK portion of their Fall 2022 European tour, and are currently kicking around the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and more Germany to wrap up. No doubt Damnation Festival was a highlight, but it inevitably would be. As they go, continue to go, the Cleveland, Ohio, witch doomers and apparent light-bondage aficionados — not shaming, judging, particularly caring; it’s just a thing to mention as it’s clearly a part of their aesthetic and live presentation, like the one dude’s dreadlocks — further announce they’ll re-press their two full-lengths, the latest of which, Skin and Sorrow, was released in September, to rectify prior sell-throughs. That’s the EP, The White Witch, Skin and Sorrow, and their debut LP, 1692. Sometimes a band moves records. Kind of nice when it happens, actually.
Info, preorder links and whatnot all came down the PR wire:
Frayle announces the repress of The White Witch, 1692 and Skin & Sorrow for their European tour
Cleveland based Heavy Witch Doom coven are excited to announce that they will re-pressing all 3 of their albums on vinyl to co-coincide with the band’s European Tour which they are currently on.
Formed in Cleveland in 2017 by Sean Bilovecky and Gwyn Strang they band made their debut with the ‘The White Witch’ EP in 2018 released on vinyl by Lay Bare Recordings. The White Witch was followed by two full length albums: ‘1692’ and ‘Skin & Sorrow.’
Frayle’s “lullabies over chaos” approach to songwriting allows them the freedom to explore what is possible with heavy music. They strive to balance the heaviest of riffs with the approachability of Gwyn’s haunting vocal melodies. Complex layering and tone stacking is a hallmark of their music. Each musical element is thoughtfully composed resulting in a unique combination of midrange-heavy guitars, syncopated rhythms, and unexpected vocal progressions. Gwyn tells stories of heart break, anger, hypocrisy and resolution, asking the audience for empathy, and in turn inspiring vulnerability.
The coloured vinyl comes with full colour inlay (300pcs). A repress of the ‘White Witch’ CD (300pcs) will be available at Lay Bare Recordings and on Frayle’s bandcamp (300 vinyl, 200 CD) and available EXCLUSIVE on their EU/ UK tour.
In this 2nd repress version of 1692 ‘Ring of Fire’ from Johnny Cash is added. Frayle delivers their own epic version of the song written by June Carter Cash and Merle Kilgore and popularized by Johnny Cash in 1963.This version comes in a/ side b/side: white/ gold colored vinyl.
This is the first repress of the critically acclaimed album that was released 23rd of September 2022.The new version come on heavy weight 180g 12” coloured vinyl (grimace purple / sea blue) in a gatefold cover.
Tour Dates 9th November 2022 – Alte Meierei – DE 10th November 2022 – Stengade – Copenhagen – DK 11th November 2022 – Plan B – Malmo – SE 13th November 2022 – Revolver – Oslo – NO 16th November 2022 – Backstage – Munich – DE 17th November 2022 – Comma Club – Gera – DE 18th November 2022 – Zolkatine – Bremen – DE 19th November 2022 – Gloomar Festival – Neunkirchen – DE 20th November 2022 – MTC – Cologne – DE
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 11th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
In what I seriously doubt will be their last trip abroad supporting their new album, Skin & Sorrow, Ohio witch doomers Frayle have announced a stretch of European tour dates for next month. That includes a stop at Damnation Festival in Manchester, UK, and the Gloomar Festival in Neunkirchen, Germany, for which I’ve no doubt they’ll be suitably gloomy. They’re fresh off a run with Cradle of Filth, and I could be wrong, but I think that officially puts them in the realm of ‘kind of a big deal,’ so as their audience increases thanks to crisp songwriting and striking visuals like those in the video for “Bright Eyes” at the bottom of this post, the chance to see them at spots like The Black Heart in London and Backstage in Munich — these venues very much on the circuit for heavy underground touring acts — may be limited. That is to say, the rooms are only going to get bigger.
I don’t know that I’ll review the album or not — I’m challenging myself on why I wouldn’t, other than the usual crunch of time and space — but Frayle have a thing and are clearly making a go of it and from where I sit you have to respect the hustle. Safe travels and well wishes, and so on. The dates came from the PR wire:
Heavy Witch Doom quartet Frayle set to embark on a European tour in November
Frayle makes music for the night sky.
Hot off the heels of their latest release Skin & Sorrow, Cleveland’s Frayle have announced a European tour kicking off on November 1st, 2022. The tour will see the band playing shows and festivals in the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, UK, and Germany.
The group was formed in 2017 by guitarist Sean Bilovecky (formerly of now-defunct Man’s Ruin recording artists Disengage) and vocalist Gwyn Strang, a singer with an alluring voice and an equally compelling flair for imagery. Frayle’s “lullabies over chaos” approach to songwriting allows the group the freedom to explore what is possible with heavy music; its gorgeously ominous sound a result of complex layering and tone stacking while simultaneously overseeing the perfectly delicate balance between heaving, heavy riffs and haunting vocal melodies.
“We look forward to seeing everyone again in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium as well as meeting new fans and friends in the UK, Denmark and Sweden. This album has been a long time in the making and we can’t wait to share these new songs with our fellow Heretics.” – Frayle
Tour Dates 1st November 2022 – Willemeen – Arnhem – NL 2nd November 2022 – Patronaat – Haarlem – NL 3rd November 2022 – VII – Rotterdam – NL 4th November 2022– Ragnarök – Bree – BE 5th November 2022 – Damnation Festival – Manchester – UK 6th November 2022– Black Heart – London – UK 8th November 2022 – Simplon – Groningen – NL 9th November 2022 – Alte Meierei – DE 10th November 2022 – Stengade – Copenhagen – DK 11th November 2022 – Plan B – Malmo – SE 13th November 2022 – Revolver – Oslo – NO 16th November 2022 – Backstage – Munich – DE 17th November 2022 – Comma Club – Gera – DE 18th November 2022 – Zolkatine – Bremen – DE 19th November 2022 – Gloomar Festival – Neunkirchen – DE 20th November 2022 – MTC – Cologne – DE
Posted in Reviews on September 22nd, 2022 by JJ Koczan
On occasion, throughout the last eight years or so that I’ve been doing this kind of Quarterly Review roundup thing, I’ve been asked how I do it. The answer is appallingly straightforward. I do it one record at a time, listening to as much music as possible and writing as much as I can. If you were curious, there you go.
If, more likely, you weren’t curious, now you know anyway. Shall we?
Quarterly Review #31-40:
Russian Circles, Gnosis
You wanna know how big a deal Russian Circles are? I didn’t even get a promo of this record. Granted, I’m nobody, but still. So anyway, here I am like a fucking sucker, about to tell you Gnosis is the heaviest and most intense thing Russian Circles — with whose catalog I’m just going to assume you’re familiar because they’re that big a deal and you’re pretty hip; bet you got a download to review, or at least an early stream — have ever done and it means literally nothing. Just makes me feel stupid and lame. I really want to like this album. That chug in “Conduit?” Fuck yeah. That wash in “Betrayal?” Even that little minimalist stretch of “Ó Braonáin.” The way “Tupilak” rumbles to life at the outset. That’s my shit right there. Chug chug crush crush, pretty part. So anyway, instead of sweating it forever, I’ll probably shut Gnosis off when I’m done here and never listen to it again. Thanks. Who gives a shit? Exactly. Means nothing to anyone. Tell me why I do this? Why even give it the space? Because they’re that big a deal and I’m the nerdy fat kid forever. Total fucking stooge. Fuck it and fuck you too.
Are not all gods mere substitutes for the power of human voices united in song? And why not tonight for finding the grace within us? As Brother Bill, Sister Caroline and their all-colours Septaphonic congregation of siblings tell us, we’re only one step away. I know you’ve been dragged down, wrung out, you’ve seen the valleys and hills, but now’s the time. Church of the Cosmic Skull come forward again with the message of galactic inner peace and confronting the unreality of reality through choral harmonies and progressive heavy rock and roll, and even the Cosmic Mother herself must give ear. Come, let us bask in the light of pure illumination and revolutionary suicide. Let us find what we lost somewhere. All gods die, but you and I can live forever and spread ourselves across the universe like so much dust from the Big Bang. We’ll feel the texture of the paper. We’ll be part of the team. Oh, fellow goers into the great Far Out, there’s reverence being sung from the hills with such spirit behind it. Can you hear? Will you? There’s nothing to fear here, nothing sinister. Nothing to be lost except that which has held you back all along. Let it all move, and go. Open your eyes to feel all seven rays, and stand peeled like an onion, naked, before the truth being told. Do this. Today.
Saarbrücken duo Pretty Lightning follow 2020’s stellar Jangle Bowls (review here) with a collection of 14 instrumental passages that, for all their willful meandering, never find themselves lost. Heady, Dead Meadowy vibes persist on ramblers like “Sediment Swing” and “Splinter Bowl,” but through spacious drone and the set-the-mood-for-whatever “Glide Gently (Into the Chasm),” which is both opener and the longest track (immediate points) at just over five minutes, the clear focus is on ambience. I wouldn’t be the first to liken some of Dust Moves to Morricone, and sure, “Powdermill” has some of that Dollars-style reverb and “The Secret is Locked Inside” lays out a subtle nighttime threat in its rattlesnake shaker, but these ideas are bent and shaped to Pretty Lightning‘s overarching purpose, and even with 14 songs, the fact that the album only runs 43 minutes should tell you that even as they seem to head right into the great unknown wilderness of intent, they never dwell in any single position for too long, and are in no danger of overstaying their welcome. Extra kudos for the weirdness of “Crystal Waltz” tucked right into the middle of the album next to “The Slow Grinder.” Sometimes experiments work.
Combining burly modern heavy riffage, progressive flourish and a liberal dose of chicanery, Montana’s Wizzerd end up in the realm of Howling Giant and a more structurally-straightforward Elder without sounding directly like either of them. Their Fuzzorama Records label debut, the quizzically punctuated Space‽: Issue No. 001 echoes its title’s obvious nods to comic book culture with a rush of energy in songs like “Super Nova” and “Attack of the Gargantuan Moon Spiders,” the swinging “Don’t Zorp ‘n’ Warp” space-progging out in its second half as though to emphasize the sheer delight on the part of the band doing something unexpected. So much the better if they’re having fun too. The back half of the outing after the duly careening “Space Chase” is blocked off by the noisy “Transmission” and the bleep-bloop “End Transmission” — which, if we’re being honest is a little long at just under five minutes — but finds the band establishing a firm presence of purpose in “Doom Machine Smoke Break” and the building “Diosa del Sol” ahead of the record’s true finishing moment, “Final Departure Part 1: The Intergalactic Keep of the Illustrious Cosmic Woman,” which is both an adventure in outer space and a melodic highlight. This one’s a party and you’re invited.
Desert 9 is one of several projects founded by synthesist Peter Bell through a collective/studio called Mutaform in the Brindisi region of Southern Italy (heel of the boot), and the seven-song/63-minute Explora II follows quickly behind June’s Explora I and works on a similar theme of songs named for different deserts around the world, be it “Dasht-e Margo,” “Mojave,” “Gobi” or “Arctic.” What unfolds in these pieces is mostly long-ish-form instrumental krautrock and psychedelic exploration — “Arctic” is an exception at a somewhat ironically scorching three and a half minutes; opener “Namib” is shorter, and jazzier, as well — likewise immersive and far-outbound, with Bell‘s own synth accompanied on its journeys by guitar, bass and drums, the former two with effects to spare. I won’t take away from the sunburn of “Sonoran” at the finish, but the clazzic-cool swing of “Chihuahuan” is a welcome respite from some of the more thrust-minded fare, at least until the next solo starts and eats the second half of the release. The mix is raw, but I think that’s part of the idea here, and however much of Explora II was improvised and/or recorded live, it sounds like the four-piece just rolled up, hit record and went for it. Not revolutionary in aesthetic terms, but inarguable in vitality.
Originally pressed to tape in 2019 through Fuzz Ink and brought to vinyl through Sound Effect Records, Greek sludgers Gagulta begin their self-titled debut with an evocation of the Old Ones before unfurling the 13-minute assault of “Dead Fiend/Devil’s Lettuce,” the second part of which is even slower than the first. Nods and screams, screams and nods, riffs and kicks and scratches. “Late Beer Cult” is no less brash or disaffected, the Galatsi-based trio of ‘vokillist’ Johny Oldboy, baritone bassist Xen and drummer Jason — no need for last names; we’re all friends here — likewise scathing and covered in crust. Side B wraps with the 10-minute eponymous “Gagulta” — circle pit into slowdown into even noisier fuckall — but not before “Long Live the Undead” has dirty-steamrolled through its four minutes and the penultimate “War” blasts off from its snare count-in on a punk-roots-revealing surge that plays back and forth with tortured, scream-topped slow-riff madness. I don’t know if the Old Ones would be pleased, but if at any point you see a Gagulta backpatch out in the wild, that person isn’t fucking around and neither is this band. Two years after its first release, it remains monstrous.
Some 20 years removed from their debut album, Accidentally Making Enemies, and 13 past their most recent, 2009’s Eye Tree Pi (review here), London’s Obiat return at the behest of guitarist/keyboardist Raf Reutt and drummer Neil Dawson with the duly massive Indian Ocean, an eight-song collection spanning an hour’s listening time that brings together metallic chug and heavy post-rock atmospherics, largesse of tone and melody central to the proceedings from opener “Ulysses” onward. Like its long-ago predecessor, Alex Nervo‘s bass (he also adds keys and guitar) is a major presence, and in addition to vocalist Sean Cooper, who shines emotively and in the force of his delivery throughout, there are an assortment of guests on “Eyes and Soul,” “Nothing Above,” “Sea Burial” and subdued closer “Lightness of Existence,” adding horns, vocals, flute, and so on to the wash of volume from the guitar, bass, drums, keys, and though parts were recorded in Wales, England, Australia, Sweden, Norway and Hungary, Indian Ocean is a cohesive, consuming totality of a record that does justice to the long wait for its arrival while also earning as much volume as you can give it through its immersive atmospherics and sheer aural heft that leads to the ambient finish. It is not a minor undertaking, but it walks the line between metal and post-metal and has a current of heavy rock beneath it in a way that is very much Obiat‘s, and if they’re really back to being a band again — that is, if it’s not another 13 years before their next record — watch out.
Vienna five-piece Maunra enter the fray of the harsher side of post-metal with Monarch, their self-released-for-now debut full-length. With throaty growling vocals at the forefront atop subtly nuanced double-guitars and bouts of all-out chugga-breakdown riffing like that in “Wuthering Seas,” they’re managing to dare to bring a bit of life and energy to the generally hyper-cerebral style, and that rule-breaking continues to suit them in the careening “Embers” and the lumbering stomp-mosh of the title-track such that even when the penultimate “Lightbreather” shifts into its whispery/wispy midsection — toms still thudding behind — there’s never any doubt of their bringing the shove back around. I haven’t seen a lyric sheet, so can’t say definitively whether or not opener “Between the Realms” is autobiographical in terms of the band describing their own aesthetic, but their blend of progressivism and raw impact is striking in that song and onward, and it’s interesting to hear an early ’00s metal influence creep into the interplay of lead and rhythm guitar on that opener and elsewhere. At seven tracks/41 minutes, Monarch proffers tonal weight and rhythmic force, hints toward more melodic development to come, and underscores its focus on movement by capping with the especially rousing “Windborne.” Reportedly the album was five years in the making. Time not wasted.
Still mostly instrumental, formerly just-Ohio-based progressive heavy rockers Brujas del Sol answer the steps they took in a vocalized direction on 2019’s II (review here) with the voice-as-part-of-the-atmosphere verses of “To Die on Planet Earth” and “Myrrors” on their third album, Deculter, but more importantly to the actual listening experience of the record is the fact that they’ve never sounded quite this heavy. Sure, guitarist Adrian Zambrano (also vocals) and bassist Derrick White still provide plenty of synth to fill out those instrumentalist spaces and up the general proggitude, and that’s a signal sent clearly with the outset “Intro,” but Joshua Oswald (drums/vocals) pounds his snare as “To Live and Die on Planet Earth” moves toward its midsection, and the aggression wrought there is answered in both the guitar and bass tones as 12-minute finishing move “Arcadia” stretches into its crescendo, more about impact than the rush of “Divided Divinity” earlier on, rawer emotionally than the keyboardier reaches of “Lenticular,” but no less thoughtful in its construction. Each piece (even that intro) has an identity of its own, and each one makes Deculter a stronger offering.
A definite 2LP at nine songs and 68 minutes, Sergeant Thunderhoof‘s fifth full-length, This Sceptred Veil, is indeed two albums’ worth of album, and the songs bear that out in their complexity and sense of purpose as well. Not to harp, but even the concluding two-parter “Avon/Avalon” is a lot to take in after what’s come before it, but what Bath, UK, troupe vary their songwriting and bring a genuine sense of presence to the material that even goes beyond the soaring vocals to the depth of the mix more generally. There’s heavy rock grit to “Devil’s Daughter” (lil eyeroll there) and progressive reach to the subsequent “Foreigner,” a lushness to “King Beyond the Gates” and twisting riffs that should earn pleased nods from anyone who’s been swept up in Green Lung‘s hooky pageantry, and opener “You’ve Stolen the Words” sets an expectation for atmosphere and a standard for directness of craft — as well as stellar production — that This Sceptred Veil seems only too happy to meet. A given listener’s reaction to the ’80s metal goofery of “Show Don’t Tell” will depend on said listener’s general tolerance for fun, but don’t let me spoil that for them or you. Yeah, it’s a substantial undertaking. Five records in, Sergeant Thunderhoof knew that when they made it, and if you’ve got the time, they’ve got the tunes. Album rocks front to back.
Posted in Questionnaire on July 15th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Dan Simone of Slow Wake, Black Spirit Crown & Ohio Doomed and Stoned Fest
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
Musically, I want to create songs that are both devastatingly heavy, and astonishingly beautiful. Avalanches of sound that smash the side of the mountain to dust, and reveal glittering veins of precious metal and gemstones in the strata beneath the surface. I also love the underground stoner/doom/etc scene and the people that are immersed in it.
I came to the scene late, starting my first band Black Spirit Crown in 2016. Pretty soon after that I found the Doomed and Stoned community while trying to network and figure out where in the world of music we would fit in. Billy (Goate, Doomed and Stoned Executive Editor) was looking for people to help with his series of “Doomed and Stoned in …” Compilations and I volunteered to do one for Ohio because I was starting to discover all of these killer bands around me and felt like they really needed to be heard by a wider audience.
I organized 45 bands and suddenly I had networked most of the state of Ohio. After that, inspired by the Doomed and Stoned Indy Fests, it seemed like the next thing to do was put together a fest and have a huge party with all of these rad people and bands I had met. So I organized the first Ohio Doomed and Stoned Fest in the summer of 2018. My mission with that is to shine a light on the incredible bands in Ohio, and get them all together with some excellent bands from beyond the region and have everyone rock out. It will aways be a curated selection of about 60% Ohio bands mixed with an amazing selection of out of state acts chosen to show as wide a cross section as possible from the genres that Doomed and Stoned is about.
Describe your first musical memory.
When I was in elementary school being super irritated at my dad while he played guitar along to Allman Brothers Band records after I was put to bed. I was sleepy!
Describe your best musical memory to date.
The Cleveland date of the last Monolord tour was just incredible. Can’t even say why, it just blew me away.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
My father was a minister so I was raised in the protestant church. I’d say back in middle school in the 80’s when I saw people in our church viciously celebrating the AIDS epidemic and the toll it was reaping on the LGBTQ+ and black communities. I had good friends who were just figuring out their sexuality and plenty of friends of color and it just devestated me that people I’d grown up respecting and trusting on issues of morality, etc. could be so horribly ecstatic at the idea of people like my friends dying.
My beliefs in christianity were sorely tested, and they broke. Thankfully my father was never like that, and he didn’t try to force me back in to the fold either.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Endlessly onward. I don’t think artists ever arrive at the end of their artistic journey. One of the most incredible things about humanity is the sheer amount of ways we’ve developed to express ourselves. I was immeresed in the arts growing up, both of my parents were visual artists and musicians, my mother taught art for many years, I ran an art gallery until recently. In both the visual arts and musical arts you see people who either focus on one medium (or instrument) or people who range across many mediums (or instruments). I think in both cases the artist is constantly striving to perfect their means of expression, and I don’t think it’s possible.
How do you explain happiness or anger to someone else. It can be done in vague terms, certainly the person you’re explaining to has experienced these emotions, but I know my anger is very different than my wife’s, for example. And her idea of happiness is different than mine (oddly enough it doesn’t involve large amplifiers and lots of effects pedals). How can any of us ever perfectly understand another point of view? It’s impossible. There’s a quote out there I’m about to mangle, “(Visual) Art is how we capture emotions in space, Music is how we capture emotions in time”. The artist is forever compelled to progress along the path of expression, but doomed to never reach the end, because there is no end.
How do you define success?
I love it when a plan comes together.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
People die.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
Musically I’m excited about the continuing development of the sounds of both Black Spirit Crown and Slow Wake, so I’m very stoked about the songs we’ll be creating. Artistically, I’ve been concepting a series of large drawings of mythological beings in colored pencil. Someday…
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
As I said before, expressing emotions.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Spending as many summer evenings as possible on the patio with my wife this year. We spent all last summer building it, this year we sit.
