Mystical Porn Heroes Premiere “Tura” Lyric Video; Debut EP Out July 7

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on June 30th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

mystical porn heroes

Italian newcomer trio Mystical Porn Heroes — who are named presumably so that those posting about them on social media can have any and all accounts immediately suspended — will release their self-titled debut EP on July 7 through Go Down Records. The band brings together drummer Max Ear (also of Ananda Mida, OJM and Go Down Records) and guitarist/vocalist Andrea “Rocker” Ghion (also Scontro Frontale and El Cuento de la Chica y la Tequila, among others) with Tommaso Mantelli (Captain Mantell, Kirlian, ex-Bleeding Eyes, among others) handling bass and production in the band’s hometown of Treviso. Working shortest to longest across “Tura” (3:12), “Carnal” (4:16) and “Titana” (4:57) — the last of which appeared on a Go Down digital compilation last year, the three-piece find their way into darkened corners of heavy, classic doom nod and garage rock drawl meeting without coming across as either an Electric Wizard clone or hyper-performative cult rock.

What saves them in both regards is the movement in the tracks. “Tura” and “Carnal” have an undercurrent of ’70s heavy rock, the instrumental and “Carnal” reaches with Ghion‘s solo toward modern prog tonality like later-’70s Iommi, but even there, Mystical Porn Heroes don’t shy away from boogie, even if the tone is moodiermystical porn heroes mystical porn heroes and that rhythmic shuffle is filled out with a marked consideration for atmosphere. “Tura” works in layers almost from the outset and establishes its riff like stoner metal, but might shakes out across its brief course like a nebulous Green Lung, replacing grandeur of arrangement with lower-fi, dug-in darkfuzz. It and “Carnal” lead into the prior-unveiled “Titana,” and that song’s arrival feels momentous with its keys-or-effects flourish, rhythm and lead layers, somehow-Bowie strut and rawer hook, the drums matching the guitar in its turns before straightening out to sprint to the crashout at the end, a final thud. Whump.

With elements of garage rock, garage doom, classic heavy, ’90s weirdness, and a moniker that is going to catch the eye one way or the other, Mystical Porn Heroes on their debut EP establish a place for themselves between defined microgenres. This is to their credit as experienced players and as new collaborators in this context, and ideally the direction of their growth as a unit from here will be foreshadowed by the malleable sound offered in these three songs and 12 minutes. They are on their way toward a multifaceted sound underscored by volatile but steady groove and a sneaky depth in the mix, and these first steps are an encouraging beginning of their getting there.

A lyric video for “Tura” premieres below, followed by more info from the PR wire. One more time, Mystical Porn Heroes‘ self-titled debut EP is out July 7 on Go Down Records.

Please enjoy:

Mystical Porn Heroes, “Tura” lyric video premiere

Mystical Porn Heroes is a fictional work inspired by the current obsessive and disturbing cult of appearance trying to interpret it. These are three “musical tales” set in a crazed, dystopic, and obscene world, a theater of questionable heroic deeds.

“Tura” is the EP’s opening track, and its official lyric video features AI-generated visuals edited by Andrew Pozzy (The Sade). “Carnal” is an instrumental interlude that perfectly encapsulates MPH’s musical style: a tight rhythm section that intertwines with oriental-flavored harmonies. The final “Titana”, previously included on the Go Down Records 2022 compilation, evokes the anxiety triggered by the chaos of an impending and mysterious disaster.

MYSTICAL PORN HEROES is the new musical project of guitarist and songwriter Andrea Ghion, aka Rocker (Scontro Frontale, Rocker’s Guitar), and drummer Max Ear (OJM, Ananda Mida, Go Down Records Art Director). Their self-titled debut EP was conceived at Altroquando, Zero Branco, Italy, and later arranged and recorded by Tommaso Mantelli at his Lesder Studio.

Music and lyrics by Andrea ‘Rocker’ Ghion.
Recorded and mastered by Tommaso Mantelli at Lesder Studio, Treviso, Italy.
Language supervision by Luciano Caserta.
Cover by eeviac: http://www.eeviac.art/

LINE-UP & CREDITS
Rocker – guitar, vocals
Max Ear – drums
Tommaso Mantelli – bass

Mystical Porn Heroes on Facebook

Mystical Porn Heroes on Instagram

Mystical Porn Heroes on Bandcamp

Go Down Records on Facebook

Go Down Records website

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OJM Post Full Reunion Set From Venezia Hardcore Fest 2022

Posted in Bootleg Theater on May 25th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

ojm at venezia hardcore festival 2022

Italian heavy rockers OJM took the stage at the Sept. 2022 Venezia Hardcore Fest playing alongside the likes of Dropdead, The Flex, Melt and Big Cheese, and a respectably aggressive slew of others. They also just played the Go Down Records-associated Maximum Festival 2023 in April, and you’re right, this April is more recent than last Fall, but the full set of the Venice show has been posted by the band and it’s all the more of an occasion since it was a special gig in celebration of their 25th anniversary performed as a reunion of the lineup that featured on 2006’s Under the Thunder.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but OJM belong to the class of ’00s-era European underground heavy rockers who did the thing before the mobilization of social media as an ecosystem for bands. Playing in a heavy desert style, OJM was the kind of band you’d hear about on StonerRock.com, or maybe you picked up their records at All That is Heavy like I did. Their most recent full-length was 2010’s Volcano (review here), which means that for 13 years of their quarter-century tenure, they haven’t had a record out. True, it hasn’t been a complete absence, as 2021’s Live at Rocket Club (review here) was a definitive sign of life, but their activity has been almost exclusively live since Volcano, the 18th anniversary compilation 18 (discussed here) that came out in — hang on, doing math — 2015 notwithstanding.

But that comp came with word that the band was taking a long break, and that’s how it’s gone since. I don’t know what their forward plans are, if anything, but vocalist David Martin, guitarist Alessandro Tedesco, bassist Andrew Pozzy and drummer Massimo “Max Ear” Recchia hit it hard enough in this clip that while they’d still definitely be a standout on any bill calling itself a hardcore fest — since, you know, they’re not a hardcore band — they did have a mosh going in front of the stage, people getting up and stage-diving off, and all that sort of happens-at-gigs-when-not-everyone-is-60-yet types of things. Not ragging on old people shows at all, by the way. If you need me, I’ll be in back looking for a chair.

I’ve included the stream of OJM‘s Under the Thunder below as hoisted from their Bandcamp. The fact of the matter is an entire generation of heavy rock’s audience has come to prominence since the last time OJM released an album, and I’m hoping that maybe one or two people will take the chance here to go back and listen to this one, or maybe their Beard of Stars-issued 2002 debut, Heavy (discussed here), or anything else on there, since the bottom line is they were a band worth knowing then and they remain one now. And if I didn’t hint at it strong enough, I’ll say outright that I’d love to hear what these guys could do on a new full-length. Maybe next year. Maybe not.

If you can dig it, then by all means, dig it:

OJM, Live at Venezia Hardcore Fest 2022

LINE UP
DAVID MARTIN – vocals
MAX EAR – drums
ANDREW POZZY – bass
ALESSANDRO TEDESCO – guitar

OJM, Under the Thunder (2006)

OJM on Facebook

OJM on Instagram

OJM on Bandcamp

Go Down Records on Facebook

Go Down Records website

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OJM Premiere “Venus” from Live at Rocket Club out Feb. 19

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on February 5th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

ojm

Treviso, Italy’s OJM are set to release Live at Rocket Club, recorded in Landshut, Germany, on Feb. 19. It has been a while — nearly 13 years — since the band’s last live offering, but to be fair, it’s been a while since their last anything. Late 2015’s 18 was a compilation in honor of the band reaching adulthood, but their fourth and latest studio album, Volcano (review here), came out in 2010 through drummer Max Ear‘s much-respected Go Down Records, and apart from sporadic shows, they’ve been largely absent as the post-social media generation of listenership has ascended ‘down the front’ of the heavy underground, blissfully unaware that a record like OJM‘s 2002 debut, Heavy (discussed here), helped set the stage for the booming scene that exists in Italy today.

Is Live at Rocket Club going to correct that history and provide much-needed context for current-wave heavy rock? Nah. That’d be asking an awful lot of a live record. It does, however, show the band in top form, and for those who either snagged Volcano a ojm live at rocket clubdecade-plus ago or have investigated since, it shows the rawer edge OJM bring to the material live. I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing the band — founded by Max Ear and vocalist David Martin, here rounded out by guitarist Andrew Pozzy and keyboardist/vocalist Stefano Pasky — in-person, but they sure enough sound like a good time, punkish in spirit with an edge of ’70s Detroit prot0-aggression as they cut into material mostly drawn from Volcano but going back further with “Sixties” and “Give Me Your Money” from 2006’s Under the Thunder and “Desert,” which closed 2003’s The Light Album but here is nearly twice as long at 11:19 and benefits much from the inclusion of Pasky in the lineup. One can only say the same of “Hush,” the Deep Purple cover that serves as the capstone to the 40-minute set. Because if you’re going to have an organ, use it.

Cuts like “Welcome” and “Venus” (originally “Venus God”) that begin the show and the later “Wolf” and jammier “Ocean Hearts” have plenty of room of keys as well, despite the urgency of the earlier songs. “Venus,” which premieres below, runs at a decent sprint, playing up the boogie aspect of the rhythm and the attitude-laced vocals that top it. Though the instrumental “Welcome” precedes it, as on Volcano, think of it as the beginning of the gig and I think you’ll get a sense of what they’re going for in showing it off ahead of the release. Like most of what surrounds — certainly like the fellow Volcano track “I’ll Be Long,” which follows in like-minded punkish and catchy form — it’s a high-energy riffer that asks only that you take the two and a half minutes required to follow along. No pretense, no BS, just good time heavy rock and roll.

And if it sends you over to OJM‘s Bandcamp where you check out their studio records, all the better.

A few words from the band about the single and album preorder links and all that good stuff follow here, courtesy of the PR wire.

Enjoy:

OJM, “Venus” official track premiere

OJM on “Venus”:

“Venus” has been the most important single of our 2010 album Volcano. Because of its great and overwhelming energy, we have chosen it as opening track for the concert at the Rocket Club. This version is very different from the one recorded in the studio, thanks to the addition of the Hammond organ and the brazen garage-punk attitude that characterizes us on stage. To be listened to at full volume!

OJM’s “Live At Rocket Club” out on February 19th 2021.

Coloured LP: https://www.godownrecords.com/product-page/ojm-live-at-rocket-club-LPx
LP: https://www.godownrecords.com/product-page/ojm-live-at-rocket-club-LP
Digital: https://backl.ink/144268169

OJM has been one of the first Italian bands dedicated to stoner-rock, so much that its first EP goes back to 20 years ago. The band from Treviso (north of Italy) has been able to evolve and improve. Both musicians and style changed over the years and moved to the seventies garage and the heavy-psych, which are superbly represented in the last album Volcano dated 2010. Ten years passed since then and the band never officially split up. We can talk about a long hibernation which is alternated to awakenings heated by terrific live performances: the best way to enjoy its music! All the different formations that have followed over the years, turn around the two founding members, the drummer Max Ear and the vocalist David Martin, who are the beating hearts of a creature able to give us truly unforgettable emotions! Live At Rocket Club photographs the band in one of the best ever moment of its artistic life.

Live At Rocket Club will be printed in 300 copies (only vinyl) thanks to the cooperation between Go Down Records and Vincebus Eruptum Recordings and it is a summa of the great show of OJM at the Rocket Club in Landshut, Germany. 

LINE-UP
David Martin | vocals
Max Ear | drums
Andrew Pozzy | guitar
Stefano Pasky | vocals, bass piano, organ

OJM on Facebook

OJM on Instagram

OJM on Bandcamp

Go Down Records on Facebook

Go Down Records website

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Friday Full-Length: OJM, Heavy

Posted in Bootleg Theater on February 19th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

OJM, Heavy (2002)

We continue this afternoon with a next installment in the kind of informal series that’s been going on for the last few weeks in these Friday Full-Length posts with another underrated, pre-social media European heavy rocker. Originally released in 2002 through Beard of Stars, the aptly-titled Heavy (also discussed here) is the debut album from Treviso, Italy’s OJM, a band who, at least to someone outside of Europe like me, seem criminally underlooked when it comes to their country’s scene. Today, Italy is booming, with bands like Ufomammut and Black Rainbows and Isaak leading a charge of hundreds of outfits — seriously, if I’ve got email, it’s a one in three shot the band is Italian — but go back to the early aughts and that was much less so the case. OJM formed in 1997, and so were right on the cusp of a wave of post-Kyuss stoner. Granted, by the time Heavy came out, Queens of the Stone Age would have two records under its belt, but in songs like opener “The Sleeper,” the doom-rolling “You Come” and ultra-fuzzed “As I Know,” OJM laid out a stoner rock blueprint that stands toe to toe with what scenes in Germany, Sweden or the Netherlands were producing at the time in both the quality of its songcraft and its affinity for pushing the boundaries of what came before it.

I honestly don’t know how OJM are thought of in Italy. The band celebrated their 18th anniversary last year with a compilation of previously unreleased tracks, and Heavy itself was reissued on vinyl by Go Down Records in 2014, but their last proper full-length was 2010’s Volcano (review here) and I think it’s safe to say that in the last six years the scope of heavy rock’s reach — everywhere — has shifted massively, with a new generation of bands and a new generation of fans discovering the power of riffs and fuzz put to the right use. OJM have played shows steadily these last years, but an album like Heavy, with its noise rocking “Strange Dreams,” its centerpiece Stooges cover “T.V. Eye” and the weirdo experiments of “Mix Up!” — not to mention the spacious desert psychedelia of eight-minute closer “Theorem” — seems to be lost in the shuffle of what’s come since. Maybe it’s hard to get excited about a record that’s 14 years old like one that’s out next month. I accept that. But there’s also a matter of giving respect where it’s due, and the way I see it, OJM are overdue for theirs.

When they released that anniversary comp last year, they said they were taking a “long break.” What that means for their future remains uncertain, but if they’re calling it quits or just not taking the stage for however long, it seems like all the more of an opportunity to appreciate what they’ve done before. Heavy, as one of the best heavy rock records to come from Italy in its era, feels like a great place to start.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

I had Monday off from work, and even without driving to the office that one day, it seems like this week was eternal. The good news is we got two more bands announced for the first-ever The Obelisk All-Dayer and the response was positive. I’m very excited about this thing. It’s been kind of a rough year since I went back to work full-time, and I’ve been trying very hard to find time to listen, write about and otherwise experience music as much as I can, and I feel like something like this takes that effort to a new place. I hope you can make it, and stay tuned, because the rest of the lineup is sick as well.

Next week… Uh… Well, a lot of videos, for one thing. Everybody and their cousin decided this week was when they wanted to put out their video, and call me crazy but I’d rather not post like five per day, so there are videos slated through next Thursday already for BretusQueen CrescentHypnos and Forming the Void. So long as nobody else makes a video, should be fine. Yeah right.

As for premieres, look out Monday for a full stream of the Banquet album, Tuesday for an exclusive track from Blizaro, and next Friday for a track premiere from Dream Death. In between, I’ll be reviewing the new Mars Red Sky album and maybe Church of Misery if I can make it happen before I leave to go to the Borderland Fuzz Fiesta on Friday morning. We’ll see how much I can get done, but you know that whatever I can, I will.

R.I.P. Harper Lee. Literature > death.

I’ve got a good friend in from out of town this weekend, so looking forward to a classic chillout and copious consumption of smoked meat and cheese products. It’ll be a time. Whatever you’re up to, please have a great and safe weekend, and please check out the forum and radio stream.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

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OJM Release 18 Anniversary Compilation

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 28th, 2015 by JJ Koczan

ojm

It’s been a little over five years since Treviso, Italy, foursome OJM released their last album, Volcano (review here), so when the PR wire refers to the band’s new 18th anniversary compilation, titled either 18 or 18th Anniversary, depending on where you look — either gets the point across — and notes that it will precede a “long break,” I can’t help but wonder if that means we won’t see a fifth outing from the long-running and perennially underappreciated outfit. After all, it’s been a half-decade. What’s a “long break” on top of that? I guess we’ll find out.

Go Down Records eases that news somewhat with the release of 18, which, yes, has 18 tracks. Those come culled from OJM‘s varied history, some previously unreleased, some singles and rare tracks and so on. You know the deal. Noteworthy off the bat are “I Got Time” and “Jam of Wine” which feature Brant Bjork and “War Abysses,” which boasts an appearance from Italian godfather of weird Paul Chain.

OJM play two anniversary shows this week, presumably before they scuffle off into whatever ether might await them, and those dates and the track info for 18 follow here, as sent along the PR wire:

ojm 18

OJM celebrate 18 years with 2 special gigs, before to take a long break. The band releases “18”, an album with unreleased and classic tracks.

1. Damn 03:08
2. Way Of Pain 07:27
3. You Come 06:23
4. As I Know 03:14
5. Theorem 08:27
6. War Abysses (featuring Paul Chain) 05:00
7. I’ve Got No Time To Waste 05:00
8. To Be A Woman 03:20
9. Desert 06:42
10. I Got Time (featuring Brant Bjork) 02:53
11. Sixties 03:12
12. Stoned Love 04:10
13. Lonelyness 04:51
14. I’ll Be Long (radio version) 04:14
15. Venus 02:38
16. Ocean Hearts 07:13
17. 2012 03:55
18. Jam Of Wine (unreleased with Brant Bjork) 09:25

Tuesday, December 29th 2015 @ Benicio Live Gigs (Giavera del Montello – IT)
?Wednesday, December 30th 2015 @ Sidro Club (Savignano sul Rubicone – IT)

OJM were formed in Treviso, Italy in 1997. Since the very beginning both the Italian music press and rock ’n’ roll scene in general seemed to show a certain interest toward the band due to their personal style displaying rough guitars with a psychedelic touch and hints of Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath, MC5 and Grand Funk.

Fifth OJM album, Volcano, released in September 2010 on Go Down Records produced by Dave Catching (Eagles of death Metal, Queens of the Stone Age).

https://www.facebook.com/events/1690187461204397/
https://www.facebook.com/events/111510009215131/
https://www.facebook.com/OJM-6992173391/
http://www.ojm.it/
https://ojmmusic.bandcamp.com/album/18
https://www.facebook.com/GoDownRecords
http://www.godownrecords.com/

OJM, 18 (2015)

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Totem Psych Fest 2014 Set for July 25-27 in Italy

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 15th, 2014 by JJ Koczan

The inaugural Totem Psych Fest will take place July 25-27, 2014, at a castle located about an hour outside of Rome. Yup, a castle, and yup, Ufomammut are playing. So are Church of Misery. At a castle. They’re playing a castle. On the same bill. At a castle. Nik Turner from Hawkwind will be there too.

Euro fest culture, you’ve done it again. Kudos to Gabriele Fiori from Black Rainbows and Heavy Psych Sounds, which will present the festival. In addition to the aforementioned and Blues Pills, the lineup also includes a host of Italy’s best in heavy rock, from Isaak to Void Generator, Morkobot, OJM and The Wisdoom.

There you have it. For anyone lucky enough to have even the faintest chance of going, tickets are on sale now:

***TOTEM PSYCH FEST***

Heavy Psych Sounds, present the first edition of the TOTEM PSYCH FEST.

This exclusive festival is located one hour north-east of Rome, in the small village of Roccasinibalda. It takes place in the courtyard, gardens and underground cellar of a large, scorpion-shaped castle dating back to the 10th century.

About 25 bands – ranging from heavy psychedelic to space rock, sludge doom, stoner, acid rock, hard blues and one-man bands – will be playing live.

Given the capacity of the location, tickets are very limited: it is possible to purchase 3-day passes or single day tickets. Along the castle there will be shows, food stands and many other events. There will also be free camping, and over the next days a list of all the hotels and holiday-farms located close to the castle will be published on the website.

NIK TURNER SPACE GIPSY (EX Hawkwind)
BLUES PILLS
ZU
BALLETTO DI BRONZO
UFOMAMMUT
CHURCH OF MISERY
BLACK RAINBOWS
LENTO
OJM
OVO
MORKOBOT
TONS
SONIC JESUS
ISAAK
SMALL JACKETS
GIOBIA
IN ZAIRE
THE BLUES AGAINST YOUTH
DA CAPTAIN TRIPS
APE SKULL
THE WISDOOM
SPOOKY MAN
VOID GENERATOR
L’IRA DEL BACCANO

http://www.totempsychfest.com/tickets.htm
www.totempsychfest.com
https://www.facebook.com/totempsych.fest
https://www.facebook.com/events/682287335171446/

Ufomammut, Live in Belgium, April 25, 2013

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Buried Treasure: Haul That is Heavy, Vol. 4: Mega-Sale Edition

Posted in Buried Treasure on July 29th, 2011 by JJ Koczan

A mere two weeks ago, I posted notice that the kind souls at the All That is Heavy webstore were having a mega-sale with discs and t-shirts at 25 and 50 percent off. I also confessed that I did this only after going in and solidifying my own purchase. Well, the box showed up Wednesday and I’ve been making my way through the goods ever since. Here’s what I picked up:

The Body, All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood
Paul Chain “The Improvisor,Cosmic Wind
Church of Misery, The Second Coming (Diwphalanx reissue)
Leif Edling, The Black Heart of Candlemass
The Gates of Slumber, Villain, Villain
500 Ft. of Pipe, Dope Deal
500 Ft. of Pipe, The Electrifying Church of the New Light
Masters of Reality, Pine/Cross Dover (American version)
Mustasch, Parasite!
OJM, The Light Album
OJM, Under the Thunder
OJM, Volcano
Ponamero Sundown, Stonerized
Raging Slab, Raging Slab (2009 Rock Candy reissue)
Sgt. Sunshine, Black Hole
Sin of Angels, In the Grip of Despair

Stuff like the 500 Ft. of Pipe and Mustasch I’d had my eye on for a long time. The psyched-up Fu Manchu fuzz of the former has been a delight long awaited. With The Body, I felt like I was finally giving into the hype, but at the sale price, decided it was now or never. Ponamero Sundown I wanted to listen to again before reviewing the new one and couldn’t find my old sleeve promo — apparently I’ve never heard of YouTube — and Masters of Reality I bought solely for the different label name on the side of the disc. It’s not the first time I’ve done that with them.

OJM I wanted to backlog since reviewing Volcano, and I included Volcano too because I didn’t have a full copy. The Raging Slab I very much enjoyed last night after work, imagining what new wave/no wave New Yorkers must have thought of them busting out those songs in 1989 and seeing the old pictures of drummer Bob Pantella, now of The Atomic Bitchwax. Sgt. Sunshine‘s a little stranger than I expected, but still pretty cool, and listening to it now, I think I might’ve already owned this Sin of Angels CD.

The rest I haven’t gotten to yet, but it’s worth noting that even with the drastically slashed prices, Dan and Melanie — the above-noted kind souls — included a freebie in the form of Black Materia, by Black Materia, which is rife with Anathema-style sorrow and metallic melody, in addition to being a Final Fantasy reference. Dig it.

The sale’s still on, but I don’t know for how long or anything like that. Hopefully I’ll have time to recoup some funds for another round before it ends, but even if not, I think I did alright the first time. If you missed the link above, check out the list of goods here.

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Buried Treasure and OJM’s Heavy Revelations

Posted in Buried Treasure on May 5th, 2011 by JJ Koczan

I didn’t exactly have the money laying around, but I did exactly have a few drinks in me, and being in such a state over this past weekend, I decided to partake in one of my favorite rituals: the drunken internet record buy. My longstanding wish list over at the All That is Heavy webstore was the target, and I just picked up a couple discs before crashing out for the night: Kaleidoscope by Siena Root, Antarctic Abyss by The Deep Blue and Italian rockers OJM‘s first album, Heavy.

The Siena Root was the last piece to complete their CD discography, and I reviewed that The Deep Blue album nearly two years ago and still couldn’t get it out of my head, so I figured a purchase of the full non-promo copy was long overdue, but it was the OJM I was really interested to hear. Their 2010 album Volcano (review here) had been in my head again since reading Vincebus Eruptum for most of last week, and while I’m not saying I’m embarking on a journey through their entire catalog, I’m not not saying it either. We’ll see how it plays out.

In the meantime, what I found with Heavy — released in 2002 on Beard of Stars Records — is a stoner rock album every bit of the quality of earliest Dozer (if arriving several years later), paying tribute to the deserts of lore with fuzzy riffs, occasional doomed excursions and that kind of unabashed fuzz that mostly European acts can get away with proffering today. Even cooler is that the record was produced by Italian guru Paul Chain (of earliest/best Death SS and his several solo incarnations, including Paul Chain Violet Theatre and P.C. Translate), giving it direct lineage to the classic underground.

Alright, maybe that’s not cooler than the sound of the album itself, which thrills with the straightforward come-find-me undiscovered gem “As I Know,” the swaggering “Strange Dreams” and the seething blues-based “You Come” while also leaving room for a Stooges cover of “TV Eye.” The songs are mostly short, but eight-minute closer “Theorem” has some acoustics and added complexity to its instrumental structure that’s a definite insight into the progressive path OJM has gone down since. I won’t lie and say I’m not tempted to fill in the blanks with 2003’s The Light Album and their Michael David (MC5)-produced 2006 outing, Under the Thunder, but if anything, take that as a statement of how much ass Heavy and Volcano kick in the first place.

If you thought you’d already partaken in all that stoner rock of the late ’90s/early ’00s had to offer and you haven’t yet checked out OJM, you’ll be glad you did. I think as the years go on, there’s something about the heavy rock made in the five or six years post-Kyuss that’s going to stand it out among what came before or since, but either way, Heavy is a cool record, good songs, killer grooves, and you can’t go wrong with that. Rest assured, I’ve bought way worse while under the influence.

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