Day four of five puts the end of this Quarterly Review in sight, as will inevitably happen. We passed the halfway point yesterday and by the time today’s done it’s the home stretch. I hope you’ve had a good week. It’s been a lot — and in terms of the general work level of the day, today’s my busiest day; I’ve got Hungarian class later and homework to do for that, and two announcements to write in addition to this, one for today one for tomorrow, and I need to set up the back end of another announcement for Friday if I can. The good news is that my daughter seems to be over the explosive-vomit-time stomach bug that had her out of school on Monday. The better news is I’ve yet to get that.

But if I’m scatterbrained generally and sort of flailing, well, as I was recently told after I did a video interview and followed up with the artist to apologize for my terribleness at it, at least it’s honest. I am who I am, and I think that there are places where people go and things people do that sometimes I have a hard time with. Like leaving the house. And parenting. And interviewing bands, I guess. Needing to plow through 10 reviews today and tomorrow should be a good exercise in focusing energy, even if that isn’t necessarily getting the homework done faster. And yeah, it’s weird to be in your 40s and think about homework. Everything’s weird in your 40s.

Quarterly Review #31-40:

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Monkey3, Welcome to the Machine

What are Monkey3 circa 2024 if not a name you can trust? The Swiss instrumental four-piece are now more than 20 years removed from their 2003 self-titled debut, and Welcome to the Machine — their seventh album and fourth release on Napalm Records (three studio, one live) — brings five new songs across 46 minutes of stately progressive heavy craft, with the lead cut “Ignition” working into an early gallop before cutting to ambience presumably as a manifestation of hitting escape velocity and leaving the planetary atmosphere, and trading from there between longer (10-plus-minute) and shorter (six- and seven-minute) pieces that are able to hit with a surprising impact when they so choose. Second track “Collision” comes to crush in a way that even 2019’s Sphere (review here) didn’t, and to go with its methodical groove, heavy post-rock airiness and layered-in acoustic guitar, “Kali Yuga” (10:01) is tethered by a thud of drums that feels no less the point of the thing than the mood-aura in the largesse that surrounds. Putting “Rackman” (7:13, with hints of voice or keyboard that sounds like it), which ends furiously, and notably cinematic closer “Collapse” (12:51) together on side B is a distinct immersion, and the latter places Monkey3 in a prog-metal context that defies stylistic expectation even as it lives up to the promise of the band’s oeuvre. Seven records and more than two decades on, and Monkey3 are still evolving. This is a special band, and in a Europe currently awash in heavy instrumentalism of varying degrees of psychedelia, it’s hard to think of Monkey3 as anything other than aesthetic pioneers.

Monkey3 on Facebook

Napalm Records website

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The Quill, Wheel of Illusion

With its Sabbath-born chug and bluesy initial groove opening to NWOBHM grandeur at the solo, the opening title-track is quick to reassure that Sweden’s The Quill are themselves on Wheel of Illusion, even if the corresponding classic metal elements there a standout from the more traditional rock of “Elephant Head” with its tambourine, or the doomier roll in “Sweet Mass Confusion,” also pointedly Sabbathian and thus well within the wheelhouse of guitarist Christian Carlsson, vocalist Magnus Ekwall, bassist Roger Nilsson and drummer Jolle Atlagic. While most of Wheel of Illusion is charged in its delivery, the still-upbeat “Rainmaker” feels like a shift in atmosphere after the leadoff and “We Burn,” and atmospherics come more into focus as the drums thud and the strings echo out in layers as “Hawks and Hounds” builds to its ending. While “The Last Thing” works keyboard into its all-go transition into nodding capper “Wild Mustang,” it’s the way the closer seems to encapsulate the album as a whole and the perspective brought to heavy rock’s founding tenets that make The Quill such reliable purveyors, and Wheel of Illusion comes across like special attention was given to the arrangements and the tightness of the songwriting. If you can’t appreciate kickass rock and roll, keep moving. Otherwise, whether it’s your first time hearing The Quill or you go back through all 10 of their albums, they make it a pleasure to get on board.

The Quill on Facebook

Metalville Records website

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Nebula Drag, Western Death

Equal parts brash and disillusioned, Nebula Drag‘s Dec. 2023 LP, Western Death, is a ripper whether you’re dug into side ‘Western’ or side ‘Death.’ The first half of the psych-leaning-but-more-about-chemistry-than-effects San Diego trio’s third album offers the kind of declarative statement one might hope, with particular scorch in the guitar of Corey Quintana, sway and ride in Stephen Varns‘ drums and Garrett Gallagher‘s Sabbathian penchant for working around the riffs. The choruses of “Sleazy Tapestry,” “Kneecap,” “Side by Side,” “Tell No One” and the closing title-track speak directly to the listener, with the last of them resolved, “Look inside/See the signs/Take what you can,” and “Side by Side” a call to group action, “We don’t care how it gets done/Helpless is the one,” but there’s storytelling here too as “Tell No One” turns the sold-your-soul-to-play-music trope and turns it on its head by (in the narrative, anyhow) keeping the secret. Pairing these ideas with Nebula Drag‘s raw-but-not-sloppy heavy grunge, able to grunge-crunch on “Tell No One” even as the vocals take on more melodic breadth, and willing to let it burn as “Western Death” departs its deceptively angular riffing to cap the 34-minute LP with the noisy finish it has by then well earned.

Nebula Drag on Facebook

Desert Records store

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LLNN & Sugar Horse, The Horror bw Sleep Paralysis Demon

Brought together for a round of tour dates that took place earlier this month, Pelagic Records labelmates LLNN (from Copenhagen) and Sugar Horse (from Bristol, UK) each get one track on a 7″ side for a showcase. Both use it toward obliterating ends. LLNN, who are one of the heaviest bands I’ve ever seen live and I’m incredibly grateful for having seen them live, dig into neo-industrial churn on “The Horror,” with stabbing synth later in the procession that underscores the point and less reliance on tonal onslaught than the foreboding violence of the atmosphere they create. In response, Sugar Horse manage to hold back their screams and lurching full-bore bludgeonry for nearly the first minute of “Sleep Paralysis Demon” and even after digging into it dare a return to cleaner singing, admirable in their restraint and more effectively tense for it when they push into caustic sludge churn and extremity, space in the guitar keeping it firmly in the post-metal sphere even as they aim their intent at rawer flesh. All told, the platter is nine of probably and hopefully-for-your-sake the most brutal minutes you might experience today, and thus can only be said to accomplish what it set out to do as the end product sounds like two studios would’ve needed rebuilding afterward.

LLNN on Facebook

Sugar Horse on Facebook

Pelagic Records website

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Fuzzter, Pandemonium

Fuzzter aren’t necessarily noisy in terms of playing noise rock on Pandemonium, but from the first cymbal crashes after the Oppenheimer sample at the start of “Extinción,” the Peruvian outfit engage an uptempo heavy psych thrust that, though directed, retains a chaotic aspect through the band’s willingness to be sound if not actually be reckless, to gang shout before the guitars drift off in “Thanatos,” to be unafraid of being eaten by their own swirl in “Caja de Pandora” or to chug with a thrashy intensity at the start of closer “Tercer Ojo,” doom out massive in the song’s middle, and float through jazzy minimalism at the finish. But even in that, there are flashes, bursts that emphasize the unpredictability of the songs, which is an asset throughout what’s listed as the Lima trio’s third EP but clocks in at 36 minutes with the instrumental “Purgatorio,” which starts off like it might be an interlude but grows more furious as its five minutes play out, tucked into its center. If it’s a short release, it is substantial. If it’s an album, it’s substantial despite a not unreasonable runtime. Ultimately, whatever they call it is secondary to the space-metal reach and the momentum fostered across its span, which just might carry you with it whether or not you thought you were ready to go.

Fuzzter on Facebook

Fuzzter on Instagram

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Cold in Berlin, The Body is the Wound

The listed representation of dreams in “Dream One” adds to the concrete severity of Cold in Berlin‘s dark, keyboard-laced post-metallic sound, but London-based four-piece temper that impact with the post-punk ambience around the shove of the later “Found Out” on their The Body is the Wound 19-minute four-songer, and build on the goth-ish sway even as “Spotlight” fosters a heavier, more doomed mindset behind vocalist Maya, whose verses in “When Did You See Her Last” are complemented by dramatic lines of keyboard and who can’t help but soar even as the overarching direction is down, down, down into either the subconscious referenced in “Dream One” or some other abyss probably of the listener’s own making. Five years and one actual-plague after their fourth full-length, 2019’s Rituals of Surrender, bordering on 15 since the band got their start, they cast resonance in mood as well as impact (the latter bolstered by Wayne Adams‘ production), and are dynamic in style as well as volume, with each piece on The Body is the Wound working toward its own ends while the EP’s entirety flows with the strength of its performances. They’re in multiple worlds, and it works.

Cold in Berlin on Facebook

Cold in Berlin website

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The Mountain King, Apostasyn

With the expansive songwriting of multi-instrumentalist/sometimes-vocalist Eric McQueen at its core, The Mountain King issue Apostasyn as possibly their 10th full-length in 10 years and harness a majestic, progressive doom metal that doesn’t skimp either on the doom or the metal, whether that takes the form of the Type O Negative-style keys in “The White Noise From God’s Radio” or the tremolo guitar in the apex of closer “Axolotl Messiah.” The title-track is a standout for more than just being 15 minutes long, with its death-doom crux and shifts between minimal and maximal volumes, and the opening “Dødo” just before fosters immersion after its maybe-banging-on-stuff-maybe-it’s-programmed intro, with a hard chug answered in melody by guest singer Julia Gusso, who joins McQueen and the returning Frank Grimbarth (also guitar) on vocals, while Robert Bished adds synth to McQueen‘s own. Through the personnel changes and in each piece’s individual procession, The Mountain King are patient, waiting in the dark for you to join them. They’ll probably just keep basking in all that misery until you get there, no worries. Oh, and I’ll note that the download version of Apostasyn comes with instrumental versions of the four tracks, in case you’d really like to lose yourself in ruminating.

The Mountain King on Facebook

The Mountain King on Bandcamp

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Witchorious, Witchorious

The self-titled debut from Parisian doomers Witchorious is distinguished by its moments of sludgier aggression — the burly barks in “Monster” at the outset, and so on — but the chorus of “Catharsis” that rises from the march of the verse offers a more melodic vision, and the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Antoine Auclair, bassist/vocalist Lucie Gaget and drummer Paul Gaget, continue to play to multiple sides of a modern metal and doom blend, while “The Witch” adds vastness and roll to its creeper-riff foundation. The guitar-piece “Amnesia” serves as an interlude ahead of “Watch Me Die” as Witchorious dig into the second half of the album, and as hard has that song comes to hit — plenty — the character of the band is correspondingly deepened by the breadth of “To the Grave,” which follows before the bonus track “Why” nod-dirges the album’s last hook. There’s clarity in the craft throughout, and Witchorious seem aware of themselves in stylistic terms if not necessarily writing to style, and noteworthy as it is for being their first record, I look forward to hearing how they refine and sharpen the methods laid out in these songs. The already-apparent command with which they direct the course here isn’t to be ignored.

Witchorious on Facebook

Argonauta Records website

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Skull Servant, Traditional Black Magicks II

Though their penchant for cult positioning and exploitation-horror imagery might lead expectations elsewhere, North Carolinian trio Skull Servant present a raw, sludge-rocking take on their second LP, Traditional Black Magicks II, with bassist Noah Terrell and guitarist Calvin Bauer reportedly swapping vocal duties per song across the five tracks while drummer Ryland Dreibelbis gives fluidity to the current of distortion threaded into “Absinthe Dreams,” which is instrumental on the album but newly released as a standalone single with vocals. I don’t know if the wrong version got uploaded or what — Bauer ends up credited with vocals that aren’t there — but fair enough. A meaner, punkier stonerism shows itself as “Poison the Unwell” hints at facets of post-hardcore and “Pergamos,” the two shortest pieces placed in front of the strutting “Lucifer’s Reefer” and between that cut and the Goatsnake-via-Sabbath riffing of “Satan’s Broomstick.” So it could be that Skull Servant, who released the six-song outing on Halloween 2023, are still sorting through where they want to be sound-wise, or it could be they don’t give a fuck about genre convention and are gonna do whatever they please going forward. I won’t predict and I’m not sure either answer is wrong.

Skull Servant on Facebook

Skull Servant on Bandcamp

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Lord Velvet, Astral Lady

Notice of arrival is served as Lord Velvet dig into classic vibes and modern heft on their late 2023 debut EP, Astral Lady, to such a degree that I actually just checked their social media to see if they’d been signed yet before I started writing about them. Could happen, and probably will if they want it to, considering the weight of low end and the flowing, it’s-a-vibe-man vibe, plus shred, in “Lament of Io” and the way they make that lumber boogie through (most of) “Snakebite Fever.” Appearing in succession, “Night Terrors” and “From the Deep” channel stoned Iommic revelry amid their dynamic-in-tempo doomed intent, and while “Black Beam of Gemini” rounds out with a shove, Lord Velvet retain the tonal presence on the other end of that quick, quiet break, ready to go when needed for the crescendo. They’re not reinventing stoner rock and probably shouldn’t be trying to on this first EP, but they feel like they’re engaging with some of the newer styles being proffered by Magnetic Eye or sometimes Ripple Music, and if they end up there or elsewhere before they get around to making a full-length, don’t be surprised. If they plan to tour, so much the better for everybody.

Lord Velvet on Facebook

Lord Velvet website

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Homecoming, whose very moniker speaks to their desire to evoke an emotional response in their listener — no matter who you are or what it is, you feel some way about the notion of going home — will release their second album this Spring. Titled Those We Knew as if to underscore the evocative point, the six-song outing follows late-2019’s LP01 (review here) and is the band’s first for UK imprint Copper Feast Records, which snagged the band this past summer following their appearance at Desertfest London 2023.

The Parisian four-piece draw as much from progressive metal as progressive heavy rock, and they meet the nine-minute urgency-parade of “Tell Me Something” at the album’s outset with the slower creep into volume of the subsequent “Red Rose,” which begins acoustic and follows a linear course of emotive heavy focused more in the melodic flow where the song prior spun heads on the way to, well, spinning more. Elements recognizable from the likes of Mastodon, Neurosis, maybe even Paris’ own Abrahma or similarly textured units given to shimmering guitars like those heard in “Gift of Eyes,” which premieres below and closes the record.

It’s not a minor journey to get there as regards acquiring bumps and bruises, but Homecoming offer encouragement along the way and the scope of “Tell Me Something,” the smoothness with which it departs its earlier aggro-isms for more atmospheric fare before building back up around blackened squigglies and a chugging rush, sets up (and fulfills) any expectation or anticipation for breadth one might have. Like the music propelling them, the vocals are dynamic, switching between lower-register cleans and harsher growls. By the time “Gift of Eyes” lays out its headspinning course, Homecoming have already brought that melodic style into focus on “Red Rose,” set up the bright-toned intertwining leads of “Blood of My Blood” as well as its screaming payoff, subtly reaffirmed their penchant for ironic titles with “Interlude II” at 9:02 (though some days we all need a nine-minute interlude), and landed in the 11-minute “Shores.”

The latter pushes guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Théo Alves Guiter, guitarist/backing vocalist Renaud Fumey-Seguy, bassist Basile Chevalier and drummer Theo Giotti about as far they go, but there’s another level of intensity reserved for “Gift of Eyes,” the position of which as the closer after “Shores” would make it an epilogue were it not so forcefully delivered. Pairing the melodic singing and contorting riffery gives the track a particularly progressive feel even among its compatriots, and with lyrical mention of symmetry to boot, Homecoming tie that proggy urgency back to the start of Those We Knew before dropping everything.

Minimalism and consumption follow, in that order, to end the record. Homecoming let go of the angularity that brought them through the first half of “Gift of Eyes” and dig into quiet standalone guitar, but the explosion is coming and they rightly saved the more extreme barks for the second half. Speaking of epilogues, though, “Gift of Eyes” has its own in the subdued, sweetly contemplative guitar that ends after the assault has subsided. Like “Tell Me Something New,” or “Shores,” or hell, even “Interlude II,” it’s kind of an album unto itself.

So much the better that you can hear it here. Comment from the band and info from the PR wire follows.

Please enjoy:

Théo Guiter on “Gift of Eyes”:

This tune is a treatise of the hubris of which man is capable, the folly of attempting to grasp the infinite and the possibility of stumbling upon something far greater, as incomprehensible in its immensity as in its designs. Each glance demands a sacrifice, a gift.

Lyrics:
Light, filtered through bars
Can’t conceal the stars
Demented by the erudite scroll I correlate it all

Halls carved in strange stone, The symmetry is wrong
Thrown into this cell
Entombed in waking hell
Demented by the effort of it all
Don’t let me fall asleep

Halls hewn in strange stone, The symmetry is gone

Now the walls they grow and writhe
I hear the wails of thousand lives
Calling me there
Anywhere’s better than here

Now they seem to carry on
To conclude their fateful song
Calling me home
Take my eyes for your throne

Wrenching the macula brings no anguish
Keeping these is all but useless
Adorn the vitreous wreath with this gift of eyes

Light
Eyes on the inside
This my gift to you
Borne to spy the space between the veil and and all that we were meant to see

New album ‘Those We Knew’
Out April 19th 2024 on Copper Feast Records
LP, CD, download and streaming

The album reveals the band’s well-honed personality, fusing grunge, 90s rock and progressive metal. “Those We Knew” showcases remarkable vocal work that guides the listener through various musical tableaux. The vocals adapt to the moods and unite the tracks, tying together the influences. The gloomy, heavy, sometimes hushed 90s tones collide with endless imagination, peppered by ethereal atmospheres, enticing introspection.

TRACK LISTING ‘THOSE WE KNEW’
1. Tell Me Something
2. Red Rose
3. Blood Of My Blood
4. Interlude II
5. Shores
6. Gift Of Eyes

Lyrics composed by Theo Alves Guiter
Mixed and mastered by Francis Caste at Sainte-Marthe Studios, Paris.
Artwork by Vaderetro Studios

Produced by Noon Brings The Fire
Distributed by Copper Feast Records
Promoted by Shake Promotion

Homecoming are:
Voices : Théo Alves Guiter
Backing vocals : Théo Alves Guiter, Renaud Fumey-Seguy
Guitars : Théo Alves Guiter, Renaud Fumey-Seguy
Bass : Basile Chevalier
Drums : Theo Giotti (“Atc De Giotto”)

Homecoming on Instagram

Homecoming on Facebook

Homecoming on Bandcamp

Copper Feast Records on Facebook

Copper Feast Records on Instagram

Copper Feast Records on Bandcamp

Copper Feast Records BigCartel store

Powerblaster space rock from France, you say? Seems fair to expect a lot of that kind of thing over the next few years, so it’s so much the better that Empty Full Space are working quickly to get their debut LP out. March 20 will be the release date, Spinda Records has gotten behind the offering as part of an ongoing expansion of geography and sound for the Spanish imprint, and the band had a teaser on socials that you can see at the bottom of this post. I guess that’s everything you need to know, so I’ll just add that, yeah, I was being a little glib in that first sentence about cosmic heavy taking off in France in the wake of Slift‘s ascent, but it’s pretty obvious Empty Full Space are on their own kind of trip.

If you’re feeling adventurous, that teaser is down there, and the PR wire has more on From the Limbo, which is the offering to come. Dig:

EMPTY FULL SPACE joins Spinda Records

Here at Spinda Records we proudly welcome to our family the young French band Empty Full Space, formed by Nico (guitars, lead vocals), Flo (drums, backing vocals), Edgar (synths, percussions), Antoine (bass) y Max (guitars).

Inspired by legendary bands such as Hawkwind and Can, as well as contemporaries like King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard and Osees, these five musicians from the heart of Paris bring to our label a fusion of psychedelia, krautrock, postpunk, and shoegaze.

Only 6 months after we received an email introducing them as a band, we are thrilled to announce that on March 20, we will release their debut album titled ‘From The Limbo’. Prior to that, on January 25, we’ll be launching a first single for you to try this first offering from Empty Full Space. Digital, compact disc and vinyl editions will be available. Stay tuned for a musical journey that promises to captivate your senses!

What Empty Full Space says: “We feel grateful and proud to release our debut album with Spinda Records. It’s truly meaningful for us to spread our music the way we love. We’ve been working on this record for over a year, and we’re thrilled that it’s about to see the light very soon.

TRACK-LIST
1. From The Limbo
2. Morphogen
3. The Wheel
4. Amnesia
5. Have you seen the witch?
6. 2C

First single: Jan 25
Release: March 20

Formats:
* digital
* compact disc
* vinyl

https://www.facebook.com/emptyfullspace/
https://www.instagram.com/emptyfullspace/
https://emptyfullspace.bandcamp.com/
https://www.emptyfull.space/

https://www.facebook.com/SpindaRecords
https://www.instagram.com/spindarecords
https://spindarecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.spindarecords.com/

Always right on to see a band get signed based on the strength of their live performance, and it would seem that Copper Feast Records, having caught the Paris-based Homecoming in at Desertfest London, has subsequently picked up the band to release their 2020 debut, LP01 (review here), on vinyl. Sad to say I didn’t see Homecoming at Desertfest London, but that the label ends up classifying the central genre as “post-whatever” below makes a fair amount of sense considering the prog/crush crossover happening in their sound. That record had both encouraging reach and sharp songcraft in the now (or in the couple-years-ago, as it were), and if we’re lucky maybe they’ll have a follow-up in the offing before too long.

The band kicked off a tour in support of LP01 on June 8, and you’ll find the remaining dates included below, in addition to the announcement of their signing as per Copper Feast‘s social media. Dig:

Surprise! It’s time to welcome the newest addition to the Copper Feast family!

Our favourite discovery of Desertfest London – Homecoming have signed with us as we prepare to reissue their debut album ‘LP01’ on vinyl for the first time.

This Parisian post-whatever stoner/sludge metal powerhouse are in the midst of a massive European tour that we thoroughly suggest you do what you can to see in the flesh.

For fans of Soundgarden, Baroness and if you’ve been following us for a while, Sleeping Giant

More news coming soon on the vinyl, but for now, get your teeth into LP01 at wearehomecoming.bandcamp.com/album/lp01

Homecoming – LP01 Spring Tour 2023 (remaining dates)
14.06 SZEKESFEHERVAR, Hungary Nyolcas Műhely
15.06 OSTRAVA, Czech Republic @ Rock Hill Club
16.06 WROCLAW, Poland Klub Szalonych
17.06 OPOLE, Poland San Diego // Opole
18.06 BERLIN, Germany RESET – Live Club Berlin Kreuzberg
19.06 NEED HELP
20.06 LYON, Le Farmer Le Farmer
24.06 ZURICH, Switzerland Dynamo Zürich
07.07 PARIS, Olympic Cafe Olympic Café
8.07 ANGERS, T’es Rock Coco T’ES ROCK COCO, Bistrot Culturel

https://www.facebook.com/homecomingmusic/
https://www.instagram.com/homecoming_paris/
https://wearehomecoming.bandcamp.com/

http://facebook.com/copperfeastrecords
http://instagram.com/copperfeastrecords
https://copperfeastrecords.bandcamp.com/
http://www.copperfeastrecords.com/

Homecoming, LP01 (2019)

I didn’t know it until I went ahead and googled the single looking for a Bandcamp version, but Sphaèros‘ Possession was apparently released in 2020 through Pan European Recording, which I guess makes this a reissue. And the whole album is streaming from that label, at least as of this writing. One might also note that, while Possession being released with Tee Pee‘s backing, it’s also coming out as digital-only, so as to why it’s Tee Pee Records proper and not the Tee Pee Digital Annex that’s done more than a handful of cool outings over the last few years, I don’t know. I gotta be honest with you. I got asked if I wanted to do this announcement like five months ago and I was like, “yeah sure of course” and thought I had it all figured out. Then this shows up in the ol’ inbox a bit ago in a general PR wire mailing and here I am.

Possession lays on Arthur–Brown-in-space vibes pretty hard, and the project is helmed by David Sphaèros of Aqua Nebula Oscillator — awkward to say, fun to listen to — and one might at any point hear frogs croaking, orgasmic moans (not from frogs) or subconscious-piercing synth. It’s gets weird is what I’m saying. Don’t fight it.

I don’t know if that Bandcamp player will still be there by the time this is posted, but I certainly don’t mind getting to sample Possession while I write about it. It’s wild stuff.

From the aforementioned PR wire:

SPHAÈROS | Aqua Nebula Oscillator Founder Raises Hell with Subterranean Psych Rock Project on Tee Pee Records

‘Possession’, the debut album by Sphaèros is released 23rd June 2023

Watch the video for ‘Lucifero’ HERE

After spending thirty years as a multimedia artist experimenting in sculpture, retinal visualization, travel, and poetry, Aqua Nebula Oscillator founder David Sphaèros has channelled his creative energies into music once again for the protean monster; Possession.

When forming the beloved Parisian psych rock cellar-dwellers ANQ in 1999, Sphaèros pulled inspiration from several dimensions. Voodoo, horror, underground literature, early cult cinema and even painters like Jérôme Bosch and Salvador Dali. Chartering more than his fair share of ships across many a sea of creative existence, in 2005 he eventually settled underground. Literally, beneath the capital, establishing a cosmic haven of crypts and sixteenth century caverns to house his art, sculptures, mystic paraphernalia, photos, and videos.

Due for release on the legendary New York label Tee Pee Records this June, Possession is the aural embodiment of those three years spent inside that inner world, living an almost monastic life to find the very essence of creation, and to openly share a vision of both magic and reality as without any concession.

“For Possession, I’ve created seven music pieces and seven films, born from spheres, without a preconceived form, created spontaneously like automatic writing, to let the spirits speak,” explains Sphaèros. “This work is made up of a superposition of successive layers of sound, visions, poetry, and colours. When linked together, these elements create a unique living kaleidoscopic universe that blends seeing, hearing, and spiritual thinking into the Beyond and its parallel worlds.”

Listen, watch, and partake in the first official offering from Possession, with new single ‘Lucifero’, ahead of the album’s official release on 23rd June 2023 on Tee Pee Records.

TRACK LISTING:

1. Lucifero
2. Possession
3. Sorcière
4. Vibration
5. Void
6. Oeil
7. Ange De Lumière

Artist: Sphaèros
Album: Possession
Record Label: Tee Pee Records
Formats: Digital
Release Date: 23/06/2023

https://www.facebook.com/david.sphaeros
https://www.instagram.com/d.sphaeros/
https://open.spotify.com/album/3ZjdrSwIUrlFUJO10owq0V
https://sphaeros.bandcamp.com/

Sphaèros, “Lucifero” official video

Sphaèros, Possession (2020/2023)

Welcome to the Spring 2023 Quarterly Review. Between today and next Tuesday, a total of 70 records will be covered with a follow-up week slated for May bringing that to 120. Rest assured, it’ll be plenty. If you’re reading this, I feel safe assuming you know the deal: 10 albums per day from front to back, ranging in style, geography, type of release — album, EP, singles even, etc. — and the level of hype and profile surrounding. The Quarterly Review is always a massive undertaking, but I’ve never done one and regretted it later, and looking at what’s coming up across the next seven days, there are more than few records featured that are already on my ongoing best of 2023 list. So please, keep an eye and ear out, and hopefully you’ll also find something new that speaks to you.

We begin.

Quarterly Review #1-10:

ISAAK, Hey

Last heard from as regards LPs with 2015’s Serominize (review here) and marking 10 years since their 2013 debut under the name, The Longer the Beard the Harder the Sound (review here), Genoa-based heavy rockers ISAAK return with the simply-titled Hey and encapsulate the heads-up fuzz energy that’s always been at the core of their approach. Vocalist Giacomo H. Boeddu has hints of Danzig in “OBG” and the swing-shoving “Sleepwalker” later on, but whether it’s the centerpiece Wipers cover “Over the Edge,” the rolling “Dormhouse” that follows, or the melodic highlight “Rotten” that precedes, the entire band feel cohesive and mature in their purposeful songwriting. They’re labelmates and sonic kin to Texas’ Duel, but less bombastic, with a knife infomercial opening their awaited third record before the title-track and “OBG” begin to build the momentum that carries the band through their varied material, spacious on “Except,” consuming in the apex of “Fake it Till You Make It,” but engaging throughout in groove and structure.

ISAAK on Facebook

Heavy Psych Sounds on Bandcamp

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Iron Void, IV

With doom in their collective heart and riffs to spare, UK doom metal traditionalists Iron Void roll out a weighted 44 minutes across the nine songs of their fourth full-length, IV, seeming to rail against pandemic-era restrictions in “Grave Dance” and tech culture in “Slave One” while “Pandora’s Box” rocks out Sabbathian amid the sundry anxieties of our age. Iron Void have been around for 25 years as of 2023 — like a British Orodruin or trad-doom more generally, they’ve been undervalued for most of that time — and their songwriting earns the judgmental crankiness of its perspective, but each half of the LP gets a rousing closer in “Blind Dead” and “Last Rites,” and Iron Void doom out like there’s no tomorrow even on the airier “She” because, as we’ve seen in the varying apocalypses since the band put out 2018’s Excalibur (review here), there might not be. So much the better to dive into the hook of “Living on the Earth” or the grittier “Lords of the Wasteland,” the metal-of-yore sensibility tapping into early NWOBHM without going full-Maiden. Kind of a mixed bag, it might take a few listens to sink in, but IV shows the enduring strengths of Iron Void and is clearly meant more for those repeat visits than some kind of cloying immediacy. An album to be lived with and doomed with.

Iron Void on Facebook

Shadow Kingdom Records website

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Dread Witch, Tower of the Severed Serpent

An offering of thickened, massive lava-flow sludge, plodding doom and atmospheric severity, Dread Witch‘s self-released (not for long, one suspects) first long-player, Tower of the Severed Serpent, announces a significant arrival on the part of the onslaught-prone Danish outfit, who recorded as a trio, play live as a five-piece and likely need at least that many people to convey the density of a song like the opener/longest track (immediate points) “The Tower,” the eight minutes of which are emblematic of the force of execution with which the band delivers the rest of what follows, runtimes situated longest to shortest across the near-caustic chug of “Serpent God,” the Celtic Frost-y declarations and mega-riff ethos of “Leech,” the play between key-led minimalism and all-out stomp on “Wormtongue” and the earlier-feeling noise intensity of “Into the Crypt” before the more purely ambient but still heavy instrumental “Severed” wraps, conveying weight of emotion to complement the tonal tectonics prior. Bordering on the extreme and clearly enjoying the crush that doing so affords them, Dread Witch make more of a crater than an impression and would be outright barbaric were their sound not so methodical in immersing the audience. Pro sound, loaded with potential, heavy as shit; these are the makings of a welcome debut.

Dread Witch on Facebook

Dread Witch on Bandcamp

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Tidal Wave, The Lord Knows

Next-generation heavy fuzz purveyed with particular glee, Tidal Wave seem to explore the very reaches they conjure through verses and choruses on their eight-song Ripple Music label debut (second LP overall behind 2019’s Blueberry Muffin), The Lord Knows, and they make the going fun throughout the 41-minute outing, finding the shuffle in the shove of “Robbero Bobbero” while honing classic desert idolatry on “Lizard King” and “End of the Line” at the outset. What a relief it is to know that heavy rock and roll won’t die with the aging-out of so many of its Gen-X and Millennial purveyors, and as Tidal Wave step forward with the low-end semi-metal roll of “Pentagram” and the grander spaces of “By Order of the King” before “Purple Bird” returns to the sands and “Thorsakir” meets that on an open field of battle, it seems the last word has not been said on Tidal Wave in terms of aesthetic. They’ve got time to continue to push deeper into their craft — and maybe that will or won’t result in their settling on one path or another — but the range of moods on The Lord Knows suits them well, and without pretense or overblown ceremony the Sundsvall four-piece bring together elements of classic heavy rock and metal while claiming a persona that can move back and forth between them. Kind of the ideal for a younger band.

Tidal Wave on Facebook

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

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Guided Meditation Doomjazz, Expect

Persistently weird in the mold of Arthur Brown with unpredictability as a defining feature, Guided Meditation Doomjazz may mostly be a cathartic salve for founding bassist, vocalist, experimentalist, etc.-ist Blaise the Seeker, but that hardly makes the expression any less valid. Expect arrives as a five-song EP, ready to meander in the take-the-moniker-literally “Collapse in Dignity” and the fuzz-drenched slow-plod finisher “Sit in Surrender” — watery psychedelic guitar weaving overhead like a cloud you can reshape with your mind — that devolves into drone and noise, but not unstructured and not without intention behind even its most out-there moments. The bluesy sway of “The Mind is Divided” follows the howling scene-setting of the titular opener, while “Stream of Crystal Water” narrates its verse over crunchier riffing before the sung chorus-of-sorts, the overarching dug-in sensibility conveying some essence of what seems despite a prolific spate of releases to be an experience intended for a live setting, with all the one-on-one mind-expansion and arthouse performance that inevitably coincides with it. Still, with a rough-feeling production, Expect carries a breadth that makes communing with it that much easier. Go on, dare to get lost for a little while. See where you end up.

Guided Meditation Doomjazz on Facebook

The Swamp Records on Bandcamp

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Cancervo, II

II is the vocalized follow-up to Cancervo‘s 2021 debut, 1 (review here), and finds the formerly-instrumental Lombardy, Italy, three-piece delving further into the doomed aspects of the initial offering with a greater clarity on “Arera,” “Herdsman of Grem” and “The Cult of Armentarga,” letting some of the psychedelia of the first record go while maintaining enough of an atmosphere to be hypnotic as the vocals follow the marching rhythm as the latter track moves into its midsection or the rhythmic chains in the subsequent “Devil’s Coffin” (an instrumental) lock step with the snare in a floating, loosely-Eastern-scaled break before the bigger-sounding end. Between “Devil’s Coffin” and the feedback-prone also-instrumental “Zambla” ahead of 8:43 closer “Zambel’s Goat” — on which the vocals return in a first-half of subdued guitar-led doomjamming prior to the burst moment at 4:49 — II goes deeper as it plays through and is made whole by its meditative feel, some semblance of head-trip cult doom running alongside, but if it’s a cult it’s one with its own mythology. Not where one expected them to go after 1, but that’s what makes it exciting, and that they lay claim to arrangement flourish, chanting vocals and slogging tempos as they do bodes well for future exploration.

Cancervo on Facebook

Electric Valley Records website

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Dirge, Dirge

So heavy it crashed my laptop. Twice. The second full-length from Mumbai post-metallers Dirge is a self-titled four-songer that culls psychedelia from tonal tectonics, not contrasting the two but finding depth in the ways they can interact. Mixed by Sanford Parker, the longer-form pieces comprise a single entirety without seeming to have been written as one long track, the harsh vocals of Tabish Khidir adding urgency to the guitar work of Ashish Dharkar and Varun Patil (the latter also backing vocals) as bassist Harshad Bhagwat and drummer Aryaman Chatterji underscore and punctuate the chugging procession of opener “Condemned” that’s offset if not countermanded by its quieter stretch. If you’re looking for your “Stones From the Sky”-moment as regards riffing, it’s in the 12-minute second cut, “Malignant,” the bleak triumph of which spills over in scream-topped angularity into “Grief” (despite a stop) while the latter feels all the more massive for its comedown moments. In another context, closer “Hollow” might be funeral doom, but it’s gorgeous either way, and it fits with the other three tracks in terms of its interior claustrophobia and thoughtful aggression. They’re largely playing toward genre tenets, but Dirge‘s gravity in doing so is undeniable, and the space they create is likewise dark and inviting, if not for my own tech.

Dirge on Facebook

Dirge store

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Witch Ripper, The Flight After the Fall

Witch Ripper‘s sophomore LP and Magnetic Eye label-debut, The Flight After the Fall, touches on anthemic prog rock and metal with heavy-toned flourish and plenty of righteous burl in cuts like “Madness and Ritual Solitude” and the early verses of “The Obsidian Forge,” though the can-sing vocals of guitarists Chad Fox and Curtis Parker and bassist Brian Kim — drummer Joe Eck doesn’t get a mic but has plenty to do anyhow — are able to push that centerpiece and the rest of what surrounds over into the epic at a measure’s notice. Or not, which only makes Witch Ripper more dynamic en route to the 16:45 sprawling finish of “Everlasting in Retrograde Parts 1 and 2,” picking up from the lyrics of the leadoff “Enter the Loop” to put emphasis on the considered nature of the release as a whole, which is a showcase of ambition in songwriting as much as performance of said songs, conceptual reach and moments of sheer pummel. It’s been well hyped, and by the time “Icarus Equation” soars into its last chorus without its wings melting, it’s easy to hear why in the fullness of its progressive heft and melodic theatricality. It’s not a minor undertaking at 47 minutes, but it wouldn’t be a minor undertaking if it was half that, given the vastness of Witch Ripper‘s sound. Be ready to travel with it.

Witch Ripper on Facebook

Magnetic Eye Records store

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Pelegrin, Ways of Avicenna

In stated narrative conversation with the Arabic influence on Spanish and greater Western European (read: white) culture, specifically in this case as regards the work of Persian philosopher Ibn Sina, Parisian self-releasing three-piece Pelegrin follow-up 2019’s Al-Mahruqa (review here) with the expansive six songs of Ways of Avicenna, with guitarist/vocalist François Roze de Gracia, bassist/backing vocalist Jason Recoing and drummer/percussionist Antoine Ebel working decisively to create a feeling of space not so much in terms of the actual band in the room, but of an ancient night sky on songs like “Madrassa” and the rolling heavy prog solo drama of the later “Mystical Appear,” shades of doom and psychedelia pervasive around the central riff-led constructions, the folkish middles of “Thunderstorm” and “Reach for the Sun” and the acoustic two-minute “Disgrace” a preface to the patient manner in which the trio feel their way into the final build of closer “Forsaken Land.” I’m neither a historical scholar nor a philosopher, and thankfully the album doesn’t require you to be, but Pelegrin could so easily tip over into the kind of cartoonish cultural appropriation that one finds among certain other sects of European psychedelia, and they simply don’t. Whether the music speaks to you or not, appreciate that.

Pelegrin on Facebook

Pelegrin on Bandcamp

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Black Sky Giant, Primigenian

Lush but not overblown, Argentinian instrumentalists Black Sky Giant fluidly and gorgeously bring together psychedelia and post-rock on their third album, Primigenian, distinguishing their six-song/31-minute brevity with an overarching progressive style that brings an evocative feel whether it’s to the guitar solos in “At the Gates” or the subsequent kick propulsion of “Stardust” — which does seem to have singing, though one can barely make out what if anything is actually being said — as from the denser tonality of the opening title-track, they go on to unfurl the spiritual-uplift of “The Great Hall,” fading into a cosmic boogie on the relatively brief “Sonic Thoughts” as they, like so many, would seem to have encountered SLIFT‘s Ummon sometime in the last two years. Doesn’t matter; it’s just a piece of the puzzle here and the shortest track, sitting as it does on the precipice of capper “The Foundational Found Tapes,” which plays out like amalgamated parts of what might’ve been other works, intermittently drummed and universally ambient, as though to point out the inherently incomplete nature of human-written histories. They fade out that last piece after seeming to put said tapes into a player of some sort (vague samples surrounding) and ending with an especially dream-toned movement. I wouldn’t dare speculate what it all means, but I think we might be the ancient progenitors in question. Fair enough. If this is what’s found by whatever species is next dominant on this planet — I hope they do better at it than humans have — we could do far worse for representation.

Black Sky Giant on Facebook

Black Sky Giant on Bandcamp

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Paris-based heavy psychedelic rockers Starmonger are working their way toward recording their second full-length later this year. Perhaps, then, one might think of their new single “Page of Swords” as a proof-of-concept for the current incarnation of the band, which since their first LP, 2020’s Revelations (review here), has seen the departure of vocalist/bassist Steve Faussier and the move of guitarist Arthur Desbois to the singer role while Mathias Friedman steps in on bass and backing vocals alongside Desbois and drummer Seb Antoine.

In short, concept proven.

The first Starmonger track in two and a half years, “Page of Swords” offers a gallop worthy of the vintage sci-fi gladiatorism that features in the accompanying video (by Antoine), and Desbois‘ lead vocals are enough to make one ask first why he wasn’t singing before and second when the battle is set to begin. Beginning with a riff that’s as clear a Kyuss reference as you could get, the track unfolds with medieval grandiosity, and Desbois‘ voice is suited to that kind of triumphal storytelling in both delivery and range. Moreover, both impress. If you heard their prior material, yes, “Page of Swords” is coming from a different point of view, and the feeling in the track itself is refreshed. The backing vocals from Friedman — and later also Antoine — emphasize the play toward the epic, but the song itself isn’t overblown, even as it moves through the break in its second half, which is put to use as a means of deepening the melody and building up to a big-riff finish that would fit neatly in the pantheon of Fuzzorama Records.

Touching on psychedelia and proggier construction, “Page of Swords” is nonetheless catchy and rousing to the listener, and it moves in a way that seeks to leave no one behind. I have no details on when they’re really setting to work on the next record, but to me this song reads like a precursor to a second debut rather than a sophomore LP, and it will be interesting to hear when the time comes if and how this sort of grandiose take — which feels like it’s born out of proto-NWOBHM as much as modern fuzz — manifests throughout the rest of their new material. Something to look forward to perhaps in 2024, depending on when they’re in the studio, label plans, and so on.

But to bottom-line it and again, try to keep it short, what you get here is a burgeoning perspective on the part of the band. It’s nascent, but it’s right there for you to hear. The clip below has the prior-alluded grainy B-movie footage, but also some studio footage of the band recording the song, which is welcome. It’s a positive way for Starmonger to step forward, and hopefully they continue to charge with such gusto down their path, wherever it takes them next.

Video premieres below. Please enjoy:

Starmonger, “Page of Swords” video premiere

STARMONGER is a French fuzzy power-trio hailing from Paris. Their sonic divinations, bewitching grooves and extravagant stories were first distilled in their debut LP “Revelations” released at the end of 2020, drawing from the raw rock of the 70’s and the energy of the modern stoner-rock and alternative metal scene. With unforgettable melodies and fuzz-laden hooks, Starmonger brings fresh air to the long tradition of the rock power-trio.

Through their songs and their visual universe, they evoke B-movies and pulp stories, post-apocalyptic deserts and eldritchian monsters from the abyss. The year 2023 marks a new staple for the band, ready to make you discover another dimension of fuzz with their new single Page of Swords, a prelude to an uncanny interdimensional voyage…

“Page of Swords” is a fuzzy voyage across mountain peaks, about delusions of grandeur and ambition, and backing away from the rat race. This marks some big changes for the band, as it is the first release since 2020 (and the troubled times of lockdown and all the changes, introspection & reconsideration it brought), and most importantly the first release with our new line up, with Mathias on bass guitar and backing vocals, and Arthur as lead singer.

Page of Swords was written & performed by Starmonger.
Recorded & mixed by Vincent Liard at Studio de la Vimondière, nov.-dec. 2022.
Mastered by Jérôme Richelme, jan. 2023.
Music video by Seb Antoine
Footage from “The Giant of Metropolis” (1961) / Studio de la Vimondière (2022)
Artwork by Starmonger

Starmonger is:
Arthur Desbois (guitar, lead vocals)
Mathias Friedman (bass, backing vocals)
Seb Antoine (drums, backing vocals)

Starmonger on Facebook

Starmonger on Instagram

Starmonger on YouTube

Starmonger on Bandcamp

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: Baron Crâne

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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

We are 3 musicians:

Léo GOIZET: Drums
Olivier PAIN: Bass
Léo PINON-CHABY: Guitar

We make rock prog instrumental music.

We continuously try to improve ourselves as musicians and technicians in relation to our instruments and to music in general.

We manage and develop the project Baron Crâne and it includes recording and live performances.

Describe your first musical memory.

Léo GTR: my mother playing flute

Oliv: me dancing on Michael Jackson

Léo drms: My father singing with his best friends during a late party !

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Léo GTR: the 1st time I listened to Django Reinhardt it was like a whole new universe appeared to me. I was deeply moved.

Oliv: The 1st time that I played with other musicians in a band, it allowed me to use music as a language.

Léo drms: a live show of Dhafer Youssef where I had no idea what I was about to hear, and I ended up with one of my best concert ever, with Mark Giuliana on drums and Tigran Hamasyan on piano.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

Oliv: When I realized that the best music for me was not the most popular.

Léo GTR: I feel that living in peace in this world implies to constantly test my own beliefs.

Léo drms: when I had a band that started to work pretty well and the leader decided to quit and stop music for personal reasons.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Oliv: humility

Léo GTR: not necessarily to stadiums but sometimes to satisfaction

Léo drms: to being yourself and alive.

How do you define success?

Oliv: money, I mean it

Léo GTR: I think you never really succeed but a good step is when people can listen to your music in supermarkets.

Léo drms: when you feel complete every time you are playing music.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

Oliv: Les Enfoirés (French caritative show), I mean it.

Léo GTR: all the shits on Netflix that made lose too much time

Léo drms: the video tape of my first time singing on stage while playing drums. The legend says that it was a song from Led Zeppelin !

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

Oliv: a dancing music album

Léo GTR: a music as powerful as “the Perfume” of Suskind.

Léo drms: a show that will mix all forms of arts, starting with music of course, circus, dance, drama and cinema.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

Oliv: emancipation

Léo GTR: elevation

Léo drms: exploring the way of being human

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Oliv: Jean Luc Mélenchon prime minister, I mean it

Léo GTR: peace

Léo drms: the end of capitalism

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Baron Crâne, Les Beaux Jours (2021)