After the reveal of the first single “(Not) Science Fiction” yesterday — it’s also below if you don’t feel like opening another tab; I’ll tell you up front it’s not every band that gets two posts in two days around here — Orange Goblin have followed up this morning with an announcement for the July 19 release of Science, Not Fiction, their 10th album, and the launch of preorders through Peaceville Records.

Word of the album came through their email list, and according to that, it was sent to subscribers a few hours early, so I’ve delayed posting this in an effort to not be, well, a prick about it. But I mean, if you heard the track yesterday — and if not, don’t think you’re late — then I think the turn in production style from 2018’s The Wolf Bites Back (review here) or 2014’s Back from the Abyss (review here), that sharper, more metallic edge in the sound, makes sense. They don’t come on stage to, “It’s a long way to the top if you wanna be a metal band.” They come out to classic heavy rock. What I hear in “(Not) Rocket Science,” aside from the optimism of the lyric, “We’re doing alright” — which, as a species, are we really? — is Orange Goblin‘s version of that. It’s not about going back to an earlier style, necessarily, because the point of view, sound and style is new, but about bringing a more organic-feeling side of their sound forward. I’ve only heard the one song, so can’t tell you more about the record than that, but I hear purpose there and am intrigued to find out where the rest of Science, Not Fiction goes.

The tracklisting below is the CD digipak version, which comes with a bonus track. That’s the one I ordered, so that’s what I’m using. The info below is combined from the email they sent to subscribers (that’s your hint to sign up for their mailing list), the preorder page on Merchnow, and the tour dates I think I initially grabbed from their Facebook. If it seems like a hodgepodge, that’s probably why.

I probably should’ve gotten a t-shirt bundle. Alas:

ORANGE GOBLIN – SCIENCE, NOT FICTION – JULY 19TH 2024 – PRE-ORDER NOW!

Preorder: https://orangegoblinpv.lnk.to/Science

Science, Not Fiction – the band’s 10th studio album. Recorded and produced by Mike Exeter (Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Tony Iommi) at Woodworm Studios in Oxfordshire over a few weekends at the end of 2023.

Available as:
10 Track Double 45rpm Vinyl (various colour choices)
10 Track Deluxe Digipak CD
9 Track CD
Range of merch bundle combinations available.

Originally formed in London under the name Our Haunted Kingdom back in 1995, celebrated UK metal greats Orange Goblin entered the world of heavy music as wide-eyed enthusiasts, eager to channel the fire and fury of their favourite bands. Emerging amid the exhilarating melee of the mid-‘90s stoner rock and doom explosion, Orange Goblin’s debut album ‘Frequencies From Planet Ten’ was released via underground imprint Rise Above Records in October 1997.

Since then, the quartet has shared the stage with legendary acts such as Alice Cooper, Danzig, and Heaven & Hell among numerous others on their rise to prominence. A stream of critically acclaimed and widely revered studio albums also added to Orange Goblin’s substantial legacy, from early classics like ‘Time Travelling Blues’ and ‘The Big Black’ through to more recent triumphs like 2012’s universally praised ‘A Eulogy For The Damned’ and 2018’s equally hailed ‘The Wolf Bites Back’.

Fast forward to 2021 and Orange Goblin ushered in a new era of metal chaos, signing with legendary UK metal imprint Peaceville Records, with long-standing trio Ben Ward, Joe Hoare & Chris Turner joined by new bassist Harry Armstrong for this next chapter.

The first fruits of this union manifest in new studio album ‘Science, Not Fiction’; an absorbing exploration (and exploitation) of the world as seen through the three fundamental factors; Science, Spirituality, & Religion and how they determine and affect the human condition. Commandingly articulated as ever through vocalist Ben Ward, this is backed by Orange Goblin’s unmistakably catchy and accomplished yet often deceptively intricate brand of Sabbath-ian Heavy Metal thunder.

‘Science, Not Fiction’ was recorded at Woodworm Studios UK in late 2023, with production and mixing duties carried out by Grammy winning producer Mike Exeter (most notable for his work with Black Sabbath) and mastering was conducted by the esteemed Peter Hewitt-Dutton at The Bakery in LA.

This edition of ‘Science, Not Fiction’ is presented on digipack format, including the bonus track, ‘Eye of the Minotaur’, including 20 page booklet.

Tracklisting:
1. The Fire At The Centre Of The Earth Is Mine [05:19]
2. (Not) Rocket Science [04:21]
3. Ascend The Negative [05:23]
4. False Hope Diet [06:57]
5. Cemetary Rats [05:57]
6. The Fury Of A Patient Man [03:01]
7. Gemini (Twins Of Evil) [05:05]
8. The Justice Knife [04:58]
9. End Of Transmission [05:51]
Bonus Tracks
10. Eye Of The Minotaur [04:32]

Orange Goblin live:
06.04 – Cyclone (Shibuya) – Tokyo, JAPAN (w/ Church of Misery)
07.04 – Soccer Factory, Osaka, JAPAN
09.04 – Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide, AUSTRALIA
10.04 – The Basement, Canberra, AUSTRALIA
11.04 – The Zoo, Brisbane, AUSTRALIA
12.04 – Crowbar, Sydney, AUSTRALIA
13.04 – The Croxton, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
15.04 – Mothership, Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
16.04 – Rolling Stone, Christchurch, NEW ZEALAND
17.04 – Valhalla, Wellington, NEW ZEALAND

Tickets for all shows are available here:
https://routeonebooking.fanlink.tv/orangegoblinjpausnz2024

Orange Goblin is:
Ben Ward – Vocals
Joe Hoare – Guitar
Harry Armstrong – Bass / Backing vocals
Christopher Turner – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/orangegoblinofficial/
https://www.instagram.com/orangegoblin1/
http://www.orange-goblin.com/

https://facebook.com/burningshed
https://instagram.com/burningshed
http://www.peaceville.com/store

Orange Goblin, “(Not) Rocket Science” lyric video

This weekend, Orange Goblin begin their tour of Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and before they went — and even I think a day early, the band has posted a lyric video for their new single, “(Not) Rocket Science.” And it’s a rocker. Handclaps and all. The first studio offering from the band since 2018’s The Wolf Bites Back (review here), and the first with bassist Harry Armstrong — who for sure gets his punches in — has a classic heavy groove propelled by Christopher Turner‘s drums, a line of keys or guitar deep in the mix to add to the urgency, and a trademark gruff vocal from Ben Ward in a hook over a choice Joe Hoare riff. Call it Orange Goblin, because it’s Orange fucking Goblin.

I don’t know when their 10th album, from whence the new single comes, will be out, but hearing this only makes me more excited at the prospect. Not gonna delay further. Here’s the info, the tour dates, the video. Go go go:

Legendary UK metal giants Orange Goblin are back with a new single “(Not) Rocket Science”

Video created by Matthew Vickerstaff (IG @matthew_vickerstaff )

“(Not) Rocket Science” is a matter of fact observation on the human tendency to over-complicate life …” Frontman and lyricist Ben Ward says “It’s basically saying that life can be pretty simple and straightforward if you just stop wasting your time and make each day count. Be prepared to work hard, don’t expect any hand outs and basically enjoy yourself along the way. When Chris came up with the music he said it needed something that could be delivered in a Bon Scott / Lemmy style and I think it came out really well”.

06.04 – Cyclone (Shibuya) – Tokyo, JAPAN (w/ Church of Misery)
07.04 – Soccer Factory, Osaka, JAPAN
09.04 – Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide, AUSTRALIA
10.04 – The Basement, Canberra, AUSTRALIA
11.04 – The Zoo, Brisbane, AUSTRALIA
12.04 – Crowbar, Sydney, AUSTRALIA
13.04 – The Croxton, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
15.04 – Mothership, Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
16.04 – Rolling Stone, Christchurch, NEW ZEALAND
17.04 – Valhalla, Wellington, NEW ZEALAND

Tickets for all shows are available here:
https://routeonebooking.fanlink.tv/orangegoblinjpausnz2024

Orange Goblin is:
Ben Ward – Vocals
Joe Hoare – Guitar
Harry Armstrong – Bass / Backing vocals
Christopher Turner – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/orangegoblinofficial/
https://www.instagram.com/orangegoblin1/
http://www.orange-goblin.com/

https://facebook.com/burningshed
https://instagram.com/burningshed
http://www.peaceville.com/store

Orange Goblin, “(Not) Rocket Science” lyric video

I’m not trying to sound like a gatekeeper here, or like I’m invalidating anyone’s opinions about whatever, but I will give some serious side-eye to any list of the best all-time doom or metal records that doesn’t have a reverential place reserved for Candlemass‘ debut album, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. Released through Black Dragon and Leviathan Records in 1986 — arguably a pinnacle year for metal with landmarks from Slayer, Megadeth, Metallica, Voivod, Iron Maiden, and Saint Vitus, among others — it set in motion one of doom’s most essential, genre-defining progressions and became a model that, more than 35 years after its arrival, continues to inform the aesthetic in mood and sound. It is a blueprint for doom metal even as it captures a band who never really existed.

The story is famous by now that Candlemass were set to record their first long-player and founding bassist, principal-songwriter and bandleader Leif Edling brought in Johan Längquist to fill the role of lead singer. Candlemass had been around for a couple years at that point, operating under the moniker of Nemesis since 1982 with guitarist Mappe Björkman joining in 1985 — lead guitarist Lars Johansson and drummer Jan Lindh joined in ’87; the band’s second album, Nightfall (discussed here), came out that year and was their first with frontman Messiah Marcolin — and Längquist wasn’t so much in the band as on the songs. Difficult to imagine anyone involved thought they were making a heavy metal landmark when it came out, but there continues to be magic in the six-song/43-minute run of Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. Opening track “Solitude” is morose in its beginning in a way that feels like it’s speaking to what would’ve been a nascent goth culture in 1986, and the riff that takes hold is a clarion to worshipers of Black Sabbath: “Come in and be among your own.”

“Solitude,” “Demon’s Gate,” “Crystal Ball,” “Black Stone Wielder,” “Under the Oak,” “A Sorcerer’s Pledge” — the immediacy of side A gives over to more of a storytelling feel for side B, and therein lies the heart of doom. Because Candlemass are rightly credited with crafting a style tagged as “epic doom,” and a lot of the bands working under their influence in the last, oh, 35-plus years are tagged the same. Fair enough. But that’s really more about Nightfall and its own follow-ups, 1988’s Ancient Dreams (discussed here) and 1989’s Tales of Creation, and the Messiah Marcolin era that hadn’t begun yet when Epicus Doomicus Metallicus was recorded, even if the band themselves are telling you how to consider their work right there in the title: “epicus.” Certainly what they would become and the path they’d take over the course of the rest of the 1980s — which is inarguably the root of the influence they’ve had on two-plus generations of doomers subsequent to their earliest output; Candlemass share another commonality with Sabbath in that their 1990s work is undervalued in light of what they’d done prior — were hinted toward in “Under the Oak,” “Black Stone Wielder,” and the narrative “A Sorcerer’s Pledge,” but their doom hadn’t yet earned its patience or poise, and Epicus Doomicus Metallicus is rougher than nearly everything Candlemass would do after in terms of its basic sound. This becomes a great strength throughout the album.

The version streaming above is a 2007 remaster from Peaceville Records. It came with a bonus disc of live material recorded in the UK in 1988 that’s also part of the Bandcamp stream. You can hear in its sound a little more separation between the instruments — that may just be a result of raising the volume for what was then a 2CD/LP edition; a 3LP version came out in 2022 — and maybe that’s imaginary or power of suggestion, but it feels just slightly different from the original. Consider Längquist in the open space at the end of “Solitude.” That’s a brief moment, but so pivotal, and in this edition he seems just a little more isolated. I’m not saying it’s an enhancement to the material — it’s neither pro or con — just something you should be aware of if you listen. The original version I’m sure is on YouTube or whathaveyou if you feel like you want to chase it down, I just went with an official release.

One way or the other, I believe strongly in a Canon of Heavy, which is to say a league of records no home should be without. A level of performance, songwriting, aesthetic or craft that’s so essential to understanding what heavy is, was, or can be, that it can and should not be ignored. I’m talking about universality within a heavy subculture. Some shit everybody can and should get on board with. Epicus Doomicus Metallicus stands among the ultimate examples in my mind of this, and is a release that should be celebrated for its own accomplishments in innovating and helping to shape the style of doom metal, as well as for how cognizant it seems to be of what it’s doing. That is, Candlemass probably didn’t know they’d still be putting out records in the 2020s, but they are, and as on 2022’s Sweet Evil Sun (review here) and on 2019’s The Door to Doom (review here) that earned them wide accolades and a Grammy nomination, it’s Längquist on vocals — a part of the band at last, in addition to being an essential component of their history and thus that of doom at large.

It was a long and tumultuous road, with breakups, reunions, Robert Lowe from Solitude Aeternus fronting them for three records after coming aboard in another need-a-singer situation following an apparently-final split with Marcolin ahead of 2007’s King of the Grey Islands, which I can’t believe hasn’t closed out a week here before. So it goes with a band whose discography is rich both with singularly righteous doom and historical back and forth. But the work stands, as ever, and in Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, in their very first album, Candlemass set forth a blueprint for themselves and for others of what doom could be, how it could engage with the likes of the NWOBHM or even thrash, and retain its signature melancholy. Also it’s great.

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

—

Made it through the week, which feels impressive. Earlier this week sucked. Early every week sucks. The Patient Mrs.’ semester has started, so she’s in class on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. We were in Connecticut last Saturday and last Sunday had company for a brunch playdate. The Pecan threw up Monday morning so I kept her home and that killed Monday and Tuesday here. 15 years later and I’m still scrounging for seconds of the day to write. Feels great.

I turned on Zelda and let the kid play so I could at least bang out some text to go with the two premieres that happened on Tuesday, and that was basically the day. Tuesday she went back to school and I dug into the whatnot, have been trying to catchup ever since and have not yet succeeded. But the week’s over, so I’ll pick back up Monday and still be behind. This weekend? Oh, well, Saturday we’re having company for brunch and then Sunday is a playdate. I expect the usual amount of getting caught up to take place.

Apologies if you’ve sent me email and I haven’t answered. Or social media messages. Whatever. Sorry. I’m trying my best and can’t even slate reviews for stuff I want to write about, let alone stuff I haven’t heard yet.

My new laptop, which is smaller — and if you’d call me out for bitching about that when I’m typing on a brand new computer, I’ll kindly refer you to the 40-plus years of my fucking life I’ve spent engaging with materials designed for people smaller than I am, whether it’s clothes, cars, Nintendo controllers, laptop keyboards, socks, on and on, and I’m not even just talking about being fat and trying to squeeze my ass in somewhere; I’m talking about how I have to scrunch my shoulders in to properly position my wrists on the condensed keyboard and it fucking hurts now when shit doesn’t fit because I’m old — came with a bunch of obnoxious intrusive bundled crap that no one ever, ever, ever wants but that keeps one jackass employed at Microsoft, presumably whichever AI they’ve hired as the CEO. I should’ve stayed home from CT last Saturday and set it up. Instead, I did it over the course of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday while also trying to do Obelisk stuff and blew my brains out like 70 times trying to perform what seem to be for most individuals basic functions and tasks and failing outright all the time, every day. Constantly.

Do you know what my wife has? My wife has a text chain. Okay. A text chain. This text chain was born out of a Facebook group. The Facebook group was splintered off another one. The original was called Academic Mamas, and it was/is a group for mothers who are in academia, who are college professors like my wife or researchers, etc. Then it was Academic Mamas of 2017s for those who had kids the same year we had The Pecan. Then she found Academic Mamas of Special Needs 2017s, and then that became a text chain. Madness, right? Stay with me.

Do you know what they do on this text chain? They support each other. They talk about their day, or something that was hard, something that was easy, and they’re just there for each other, with advice or encouragement, whatever it is. They’re supported. Women supporting each other. Sometimes I very much wish there wasn’t so much shame around masculinity. I feel like I’m so ashamed of being angry, sad, bitter, resentful, all of these things, that they just sit and fester and I lose out on so much because I’m still back there trying to lug my own bullshit baggage. See? I even just called it bullshit! I can’t even get through a sentence talking about it without undercutting myself. That’s how it feels to be a man.

And nobody gives a shit. Nobody. Ain’t no text chains here. You got a problem? Sort it out, man. Man up. Go watch some football or something. Go punch a wall, which I’ve definitely done. Go shoot up a grocery store, or your school, or anywhere. Jump off a bridge. If you’re me, eat compulsively. This is what men get as options, and I think it’s perhaps the only instance wherein the cultural privilege of being a man is a detriment — because usually that’s pretty good livin’ as regards cultural dominance; I’ll remind you I don’t have a job — because since everybody else is worse off between women and those who identify outside the cisgender binary who the hell is going to offer any sympathy when one of the conditions for being a man in the first place, along with your babykiller pickup truck and, I don’t know, being a cop?, is killing that sympathy within yourself? The word ‘toxic’ is overused, but not misused.

So I’m gonna go sort all that out over the next 48 hours or so. Then probably write a book and live off speaking fees for the rest of my life. You have a great and safe weekend. Have fun, watch your head, hydrate, kill the patriarchy for the betterment of all humanity. End war. End fossil fuel consumption today. End money. End guns. Start love.

FRM.

The Obelisk Collective on Facebook

The Obelisk Radio

The Obelisk merch

 

 

A few weeks ago, London doom rock titans Orange Goblin put word out of their plans to record their 10th full-length next month. That’ll be their first studio outing since 2018’s The Wolf Bites Back (review here), and six years between full-lengths is the longest stretch of their career, that itself coming up on its 30th anniversary, depending on from when you count their start.

The numbers aside — and certainly one might account for an extra year or two between albums considering the years in question — I’m curious to know where Orange Goblin are headed with their first long-player of this bizarre decade. The Wolf Bites Back followed on from 2014’s Back from the Abyss (review here), and both of those aligned the band toward a more straight-ahead and aggressive production style, still definitely riff-based, still definitely Orange Goblin, but a little more toward heavy metal than some of the records preceding.

Am I complaining? Hell no. I’m saying I’m eager to know where that’s leading and what’s in store on the new record, which will also be their first since Harry Armstrong joined on bass. As regards shows, the band has recently put out word that for 2024 they’ll play Switzerland in March 9 for the inaugural Plug Out Festival there, and that they’ll be in Belgium in August for the Alcatraz Festival.

Easy to imagine tours being built around these, so when they did the ‘big things coming’ thing and teased announcing this tour, the only real question was which one it would be. Neither, it turns out. They’re going to Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Go figure.

From socials:

**ORANGE GOBLIN ANNOUNCE TOUR OF JAPAN, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND FOR APRIL 2024**

After many years of being asked, Orange Goblin have announced that they will finally return to Japan and Australia in April 2024, whilst also adding their first ever shows in New Zealand!

These will be the bands first shows in Japan since 1999 and their first in Australia since touring there as part of Soundwave Festival in 2013. We are excited to return and also to visit New Zealand for the very first time EVER!

Catch the band at:
06.04 – Cyclone (Shibuya), Tokyo, JAPAN*
07.04 – Soccer Factory, Osaka, JAPAN
09.04 – Lions Art Factory, Adelaide, AUSTRALIA**
10.04 – The Basement, Canberra, AUSTRALIA**
11.04 – The Zoo, Brisbane, AUSTRALIA**
12.04 – Crowbar, Sydney, AUSTRALIA**
13.04 – The Croxton, Melbourne, AUSTRALIA**
15.04 – Mothership, Auckland, NEW ZEALAND***
16.04 – A Rolling Stone, Christchurch, NEW ZEALAND***
17.04 – Valhalla, Wellington, NEW ZEALAND***

* = Support in Tokyo from Church of Misery
** = Support in Australia from Dr Colossus and Astrodeath
*** = Support in New Zealand from Pieces of Molly

Tickets for all shows go on sale on Thursday 19th October: https://routeonebooking.tourlink.to/orangegoblinjpausnz2024

Poster Artwork: Dominic Sohor Design

Orange Goblin is:
Ben Ward – Vocals
Joe Hoare – Guitar
Harry Armstrong – Bass / Backing vocals
Christopher Turner – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/orangegoblinofficial/
https://www.instagram.com/orangegoblin1/
http://www.orange-goblin.com/

https://facebook.com/burningshed
https://instagram.com/burningshed
http://www.peaceville.com/store

Orange Goblin, “The Filthy and the Few” live at Bear Stone Festival 2023

Orange Goblin, Rough & Ready, Live & Loud (2020)

So this is the kind of thing that, as a nerd generally and an Orange Goblin fan in particular, I should probably be well stoked on. ‘Good band is gonna make a record’ is almost always welcome news even if it means I’m probably on the hook for buying a CD of that record, if one is even made. Orange Goblin are signed to Peaceville now. They’ve bounced around a bit in the last couple years; playing fests and so on since 2022 and bringing in Harry Armstrong on bass, they also released 2020’s digital-first Rough & Ready: Live & Loud (review here) on Dissonance Productions, and you might remember their ninth studio LP, 2018’s The Wolf Bites Back (review here), was on Spinefarm. Pretty funny they show up on Peaceville though some 30 years after starting out in the deathlier Our Haunted Kingdom, influenced by the likes of Paradise Lost and others from the label’s oeuvre.

And generally speaking, I guess I am stoked on the prospect of a new Orange Goblin record. There’s a lot that can happen between now and when it eventually comes out, but I saw the band this past summer — even rode in the van with them back to the hotel where they were staying (I was residing elsewhere) — and they killed with vigor and resonant verve. The Wolf Bites Back was pretty metal. I’ll be interested to hear where album 10 takes them. I’ll try and tamp down the nerdery accordingly.

From socials:

It’s been a while since we posted as we have been busy in the rehearsal room writing and fine tuning new material ahead of the 10th Orange Goblin studio album. We will enter a recording studio in England in November to start laying it down, our first album since 2018’s ‘The Wolf Bites Back’ and first for new label, Peaceville Records. We have 10 new songs pretty much ready to go and are very excited to share these with you, hopefully to be released in the first half of 2024.

Orange Goblin is:
Ben Ward – Vocals
Joe Hoare – Guitar
Harry Armstrong – Bass / Backing vocals
Christopher Turner – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/orangegoblinofficial/
https://www.instagram.com/orangegoblin1/
http://www.orange-goblin.com/

https://facebook.com/burningshed
https://instagram.com/burningshed
http://www.peaceville.com/store

Orange Goblin, Rough & Ready, Live & Loud (2020)

Welcome to the penultimate day of the Summer 2020 Quarterly Review. I can only speak for myself, but I know it’s been a crazy couple months on this end, and I imagine whatever end you’re on — unless and probably even if you have a lot of money — it’s been the same there as well. Yet, it was no problem compiling 50 records to review this week, so if there’s a lesson to be taken from it all, it would seem to be that art persists. We may still be painting on cave walls when it comes to the arc of human evolution, but at least that’s something.

Have a great day and listen to great music.

Quarterly Review #31-40:

Katatonia, City Burials

Like their contemporaries in My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost, the latter-day period of work from Sweden’s Katatonia veers back toward some measure of direct heaviness, as City Burials showcases in cuts like “Rein,” “Heart Set to Divide” and “Behind the Blood,” but more than either of those others mentioned, the Stockholm outfit refuse to forsake the melody and progressivism they’ve undertaken with their sound in the name of doing so. By the time they get to “Untrodden” at the end of the album’s 50-minute/11-song run, they’ve run a gamut from dark electronica to progressive-styled doom and back again, and with the founding duo of guitarist Anders Nyström and vocalist Jonas Renkse at the helm of the songwriting, they are definitive in their approach and richly emotive; a melancholy that is as identifiable in their songs as it is in the bands working under their influence. Their first work in four years, City Burials is an assurance that Katatonia are in firm ownership and command of all aspects of their sound. As they approach their 30th year, they continue to move forward. That’s a special band.

Katatonia on Thee Facebooks

Peaceville Records website

—

 

Marmalade Knives, Amnesia

Boasting production, mixing and percussion from The Golden Grass‘ Adam Kriney, Marmalade Knives‘ debut album, Amnesia, is a delight of freaky-but-not-overblown heavy psychedelia. Oh, it’s headed far, far out, but as the opening narration and the later drones of second cut “Rivuleting” make plain, they might push, but they’re not trying to shove, if you know what I mean. The buzz in “Best-Laid Plans” doesn’t undercut the warmth of the improvised-seeming solo, and likewise, “Rebel Coryell” is a mellow drifter that caps side A with a graceful sense of wandering the soundscape of its own making. The vibe gets spacey on “Xayante,” and “Ez-Ra” touches on a funkier swing before seeming to evolve into light as one does, and the 10-minute “Astrology Domine” caps with noise and a jammed out feel that underscores the outbound mood of the proceedings as a whole. Some of the pieces feel like snippets cut from longer jams, and they may or may not be just that, but though it was recorded in three separate locations, Amnesia draws together well and flows easily, inviting the listener to do the same.

Marmalade Knives on Thee Facebooks

Electric Valley Records webstore

—

 

King Witch, Body of Light

Edinburgh’s King Witch toe the line between classic metal and doom, but whatever you want to call them, just make sure you don’t leave out the word “epic.” The sweeping solo and soaring vocals on the opening title-track set the stage on their second LP, the hour-long Body of Light, and as much mastery as the band showed on their 2018 debut, Under the Mountain (review here), vocalist Laura Donnelly, guitarist Jamie Gilchrist, bassist Rory Lee and drummer Lyle Brown lay righteous waste to lofty expectations and bask in grandiosity on “Of Rock and Stone” and the linear-moving “Solstice I – She Burns,” the payoff of which is a high point of the album in its layered shred. Pieces like “Witches Mark” and “Order From Chaos” act as confirmation of their Euro-fest-ready fist-pumpery, and closer “Beyond the Black Gate” brings some atmosphere before its own headbang-worthy crescendo. Body of Light is a reminder of why you wanted to be metal in the first place.

King Witch on Thee Facebooks

Listenable Records on Bandcamp

—

 

Glass Parallels, Aisle of Light

Eminently listenable and repeat-worthy, Glass Parallels‘ debut LP, Aisle of Light, nonetheless maintains an experimentalist flair. The solo-project of Justin Pinkerton (Golden Void, Futuropaco), covers a swath of ground from acid folk to psych-funk to soul vibes, at times bordering on shoegaze but seeming to find more expressive energy in centerpiece “Asphyxiate” and the airy capper “Blood and Battlegrounds” than any sonic portrayal of apathy would warrant. United by keys, pervasive guitar weirdness and Pinkerton‘s at-times-falsetto vocals, usually coated in reverb as they are, Aisle of Light brings deceptive depth for being a one-man production. Its production is spacious but still raw enough to give the drums an earthy sound as they anchor the synth-laden “March and April,” which is probably fortunate since otherwise the song would be liable to float off and not return. One way or another, the songs stand out too much to really be hypnotic, but they’re certainly fun to follow.

Glass Parallels on Thee Facebooks

Glass Parallels on Bandcamp

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Thems That Wait, Stonework

Stonework is the self-aware debut full-length from Portland, Maine, trio Thems That Wait, and it shoulders itself between clenched-teeth metallic aggression and heavier fuzz rock. They’re not the first to tread such ground and they know it, but “Sidekick” effectively captures Scissorfight-style groove, and “Kick Out” is brash enough in its 1:56 to cover an entire record’s worth of burl. Interludes “Digout” and “Vastcular” provide a moment to catch your breath, which is appreciated, but when what they come back with is the sure-fisted “Paragon” or a song like “Shitrograde,” it really is just a moment. They close with “Xmortis,” which seems to reference Evil Dead II in its lyrics, which is as good as anything else, but from “Sleepie Hollow” onward, guitarist/vocalist Craig Garland, bassist Mat Patterson and drummer Branden Clements find their place in the dudely swing-and-strike of riffs, crash and snarl, and they do so with a purely Northeastern attitude. This is the kind of show you might get kicked at.

Thems That Wait on Thee Facebooks

Thems That Wait on Bandcamp

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Sojourner, Premonitions

Complexity extends to all levels of Sojourner‘s third album and Napalm Records debut, Premonitions, in that not only does the band present eight tracks and 56 minutes of progressive and sprawling progressive black metal, varied in craft and given a folkish undercurrent by Chloe Bray‘s vocals and tin whistle, but also the sheer fact that the five-piece outfit made the album in at least five different countries. Recording remotely in Sweden, New Zealand, Scotland and Italy, they mixed/mastered in Norway, and though one cringes at the thought of the logistical nightmare that might’ve presented, Sojourner‘s resultant material is lush and encompassing, a tapestry of blackened sounds peppered with clean and harsh singing — Emilio Crespo handles the screams — keyboards, and intricate rhythms behind sprawling progressions of guitar. At the center of the record, “Talas” and “Fatal Frame” (the shortest song and the longest) make an especially effective pair one into the other, varied in their method but brought together by viciously heavy apexes. The greatest weight, though, might be reserved for closer “The Event Horizon,” which plods where it might otherwise charge and brings a due sense of largesse to the finale.

Sojourner on Thee Facebooks

Napalm Records website

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Udyat, Oro

The order of the day is sprawl on Udyat‘s recorded-live sophomore LP, Oro, as the Argentinian outfit cast a wide berth over heavy rock and terrestrial psych, the 13-minute “Sangre de Oro” following shorter opener “Los Picos de Luz Eterna” (practically an intro at a bit over six minutes) with a gritty flourish to contrast the tonal warmth that returns with the melodic trance-induction at the start of “Los últimos.” That song — the centerpiece of the five-track outing — tops 15 minutes and makes its way into a swell of fuzz with according patience, proceeding through a second stage of lumbering plod before a stretch of noise wash leads pack to the stomp. The subsequent “Después de los Pasos, el Camino Muere” is more ferocious by its end and works in some similar ground, and closer “Nacimiento” seems to loose itself in a faster midsection before returning to its midtempo roll. Oro borders on cosmic doom with its psychedelic underpinnings and quiet stretches, but its movement feels ultimately more like walking than floating, if that makes any sense.

Udyat on Thee Facebooks

Udyat on Bandcamp

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Bismarck, Oneiromancer

To anyone who might suggest that extreme metal cannot also be forward-thinking, Bismarck submit the thoughtful bludgeon of Oneiromancer, a five-song/35-minute aesthetic blend that draws from doom, death, hardcore and sundry other metals, while keeping its identity in check through taut rhythm and atmospheric departures. Following the chants of opening intro “Tahaghghogh Resalat,” the Chris Fielding-produced follow-up to Bismarck‘s 2018 debut, Urkraft (review here), showcases an approach likewise pummeling and dynamic, weighted in ambience and thud alike. “Oneiromancer” itself starts with blastbeats and a plundering intensity before breaking into a more open midsection, but “The Seer” is absolutely massive. Despite being shorter than either the title-track or “Hara,” both of which top nine minutes, and closer “Khthon” underscores the blood-boiling tension cast throughout with one last consuming plod. Fucking raging. Fucking awesome. Pure sonic catharsis. Salvation through obliteration. If these are dreams being divined as the title hints, the mind is a limitless and terrifying place. Which, yes.

Bismarck on Thee Facebooks

Bismarck on Bandcamp

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The Gral Brothers, Caravan East

I won’t say it’s seamless or intended to be, but as Albuquerque, New Mexico, two-piece The Gral Brothers make their initial move on Caravan East between cinematic Americana and industrial brood, samples of dialogue on “Cactus Man” and violin in the seven-minute soundscaper “In Die Pizzeria” seem to draw together both a wistfulness and a paranoia of the landlocked. Too odd to fall in line with the Morricone-worship of Cali’s Spindrift, “Crowbar” brings Spaghetti West and desert dub together with a confidence that makes it seem like a given pairing despite the outwardly eerie vibes and highly individualized take, and “Santa Sleeves” is beautiful to its last, even if the lone bell jingle is a bit much, while “Silva Lanes” pushes even further than did “Circuit City” into mechanized experimental noisemaking. They end with the birdsong-inclusive “Ode to Marge,” leaving one to wonder whether it’s sentiment or cynicism being expressed. Either way, it’s being expressed in a way not quite like anything else, which is an accomplishment all on its own.

The Gral Brothers on Thee Facebooks

Desert Records on Bandcamp

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Astral Glide, Flamingo Graphics

When you’re at the show and the set ends, Flamingo Graphics is the CD you go buy at the merch table. It’s as simple as that. Recorded this past March over the course of two days, the debut album from Floridian foursome Astral Glide is raw to the point of being barebones, bootleg room-mic style, but the songwriting and straightforward purposes of the group shine through. They’re able to shift structures and mood enough to keep things from being too staid, but they’re never far off from the next heavy landing, as “Devastation” and the closer “Forever” show in their respective payoffs, that latter going all out with a scream at the end, answering back to the several others that show up periodically. While their greatest strength is in the mid-paced shove of rockers like “Space Machine” and “Scarlett” and the speedier “Workhorse,” there are hints of broader intentions on Flamingo Graphics, though they too are raw at this point. Very much a debut, but still one you pick up when the band finishes playing. You might not even wait until the end of the show. Meet them back at the table, and so on.

Astral Glide on Thee Facebooks

Astral Glide on Bandcamp

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Anathema, Alternative 4 (1998)

 

When I was 18 years old and working at KB Toys store number #1051 at the intersection of Rt. 10 and 202 in Morris Plains, NJ, about a minute from where I’ll be living from now on, a coworker turned me onto Anathema‘s Alternative 4. I bought the CD on his say-so, put it on, heard the piano intro to “Shroud of False” and absolutely didn’t get it. Made no sense to my brain. I tossed the disc into the back of my 1988 Ford Bronco II and it stayed there probably for a few weeks until I finally decided to give it a real shot, and when I did, it was one of my first and most pivotal engagements with underground music, and something that helped set me listening-wise on the course I’m still on today. That coworker kind of turned out to be an asshole, but didn’t we all.

Alternative 4 was indeed Anathema‘s fourth album and the last they’d issue during their original run on Peaceville Records, which had nursed them through their death-doom beginnings from 1992’s The Crestfallen EP across their 1993 debut, Serenades, 1995’s The Silent Enigma and Pentecost III EP and 1996’s Eternity. The band, who will mark their 30th anniversary in 2020 no doubt with form of some celebration or other, already seemed to be in transition by their third album, but it was the 10-song/44-minute Alternative 4 that would push that over the top. Guitarist Vincent Cavanagh had taken over the vocalist role from Darren White following Pentecost III, and that change would prove crucial to their direction on the whole, incorporating elements of goth emotionalist drama and a heavy hand of Floydian progressivism to go with their depressive themes and bouts of still-metal intensity.

But they weren’t just metal anymore, and their use of space in the recording, their arrangements of keys, and most of all their patience, demonstrated that. “Shroud of False” was the outset of one of the most powerful salvos I’ve ever heard on a record, with “Fragile Dreams,” “Empty” and “Lost Control” behind it varying in intensity but united in their depressive expression. Themes of loss, betrayal, disillusionment came to a head in the third track: “Nothing left but to kill myself again ‘cos I’m so empty,” but the build to that moment across “Fragile Dreams” and “Empty” itself was gorgeous and troubling in kind, the hook of “Fragile Dreams” serving as a downer clarion as the then-four-piece of Vincent Cavanagh, his brother Danny Cavanagh (lead guitar, keys), Duncan Patterson (bass, keys) and Shaun Taylor-Steels (drums) pushed some of Alternative 4‘s most fervent delivery to the front in order to branch out from there. The violin on “Lost Control” seemed a nod to their own death-hued past as well as to compatriots My Dying Bride, and the thrust in “Re-Connect” was more chaotic than that of “Fragile Dreams,” and purposefully so, but frenetic in a way that evoked the chaos of mania it seemed intended to convey.

Piano returned to introduce “Inner Silence” at the outset of side B as Vincent proved in a single track the vocalist he would ultimately become on subsequent outings, and Danny answered right back with a winding and meditative guitar lead. No verses or choruses or such, but an arrangement that bordered on the orchestral in its wash — particularly given the production of the era — and a perfect lead-in for the darker and brooding low of the title-track, with its multi-movement immersion and play toward minimalism. It and “Regret,” which follows, were the two longest tracks on Alternative 4 at 6:18 and 7:58, respectively, and their pairing was no coincidence, and though “Regret” would pick up from “Alternative 4” with a memorable chorus and a more structured feel on the whole, there’s no question the change in atmosphere brought the listener even deeper into the record’s bleak emotional landscape — “Visions of love and hate/A collage behind my eyes/Remnants of dying laughter/Echoes of silent cries,” the hook. Organ added to the melody as the band traded between loud and quiet parts in the second half and came around to what for me always seemed like the apex of the album, though “Feel” both continued the thread of organ and had more of a crashing end, a kind of anti-doom doom, riding out on fading progression that seemed foreboding even though it was followed by the brief “Destiny,” with its guitar and toy piano and vocal harmonies, a kind of epilogue that ended the record with a sincere-feeling moment of contemplation, underscoring that the point of the whole thing all along was the emotion, and that the moments of bombast were there to serve that as much as the songs themselves.

Some music just hits you at the right time. This is one of those records for me, and A Fine Day to Exit (reissue review here), which they’d release in 2001 after 1999’s Judgement, is among my favorite albums of any era. I wasn’t ready for Judgement on such a quick turnaround, but A Fine Day to Exit and 2003’s A Natural Disaster, which would be their final album until 2010’s We’re Here Because We’re Here (discussed here), remain essential in my view. Alternative 4 may be somewhat dated in its production, but the songs themselves hold up more than 20 years later, and the emotion behind them still resonates though it’s a direction Anathema have long since left behind in favor of flirtations with more modern prog and a brighter perspective on the whole. Fair enough, I guess. That change would come about on We’re Here Because We’re Here and continue on 2012’s Weather Systems (review here) and 2014’s Distant Satellites before 2017’s The Optimist (review here) picked up the story of A Fine Day to Exit and added fresh perspective at the same time it allowed itself to engage more of a range of styles of craft.

Anathema have never stopped progression. Each record is something different from the one before it, the one after — and don’t get me started on Hindsight or Falling Deeper — but their vision always charts a path forward from where they’ve, and Alternative 4, from as troubled a place as it seems to come, was a special moment for them that only happened once. As a listener, it was for me as well.

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

—

I don’t break out Anathema all the time. Especially not this record. Especially not in summer. This week though, coming down H-A-R-D as I have been from Maryland Doom Fest, we got there. That change, where you go back to real life after the thing, I just haven’t been able to get there. A lot of processing. A lot of sort of distant daydreaming. A lot of trying to distract myself and failing pretty hard at it. I don’t know. I’m just not there. I haven’t been sleeping. Was up at 2:30 this morning, 12:30 the other night, 1AM another night. Yesterday I slept I think. Hard to remember outside of the overall pattern of fucking self-loathing and wishing I was someone else.

When people say nice things to me, a voice in my head immediately contradicts. They don’t know me. They have some idea of me that’s not true. I’d like to be that. But that’s not who I am. I know who I am. Fucking wretched. I am not a good person. I do not appreciate or deserve the things and people I have in my life. It goes on and on. I take pills for it. I’ve been microdosing psilocybin mushrooms every other day for the last couple weeks and that’s made those days easier. But still. I look at my son and know I’ll fail him. Every time someone says he looks like me, I want to die. I look at my wife and know I let her down. I don’t deserve what I have. At all.

So.

We’re in Connecticut this weekend, going back to Jersey on Sunday. I might go to the studio with Solace that day, as they were kind enough to invite me as they did nine years ago when they were finishing A.D., but it depends largely on timing. We’re also starting the Quarterly Review next week. I’ve slated it for six days, but there’s a bit of finagling to do, so whatever. I also need to do Postwax liner notes, send out interview questions to Tony Reed and The Mad Doctors (who are breaking up) and update a visa recommendation letter for Kadavar, so there’s some shit going on either way. Obviously this week I’ve been super-motivated to do anything other than bash my brain in with a fucking hammer.

Baggage claim. That’s mine. Least I can do is be honest about it.

Seriously, at Doom Fest, people said like the nicest shit to me. “Thanks for all you do,” and “How do you do it” and all that. You know how I do it? I’m fucking crazy, is how I do it. I’m compulsive in EVERYTHING. The same drive that used to have me getting drunk by myself at two in the morning? The same drive that punishes myself for, I don’t know, eating a meal? It’s the same fucking thing. It’s all part of my disgusting fucking brain. I’m 37 years old. I can’t even function. I can’t even chew gum like a human being. I’m supposed to raise a kid? I can feel myself poisoning everything around me.

Next week will be better. Will it? Yeah, it will. I’ll do the Quarterly Review and that’ll get me out of my head for a little bit, give me something to focus on. It’s just exhausting in the meantime.

I’m gonna pour myself another coffee and go watch the sunrise. Great, safe. Forum, radio, merch.

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Katatonia, Last Fair Deal Gone Down (2001)

Primarily in my mind, 2001’s Last Fair Deal Gone Down is a winter album. Not at all Katatonia‘s first outing that one might think of as geared toward colder climes — their debut, after all, was 1993’s Dance of December Souls — but from the lachrymose unfolding of opener “Dispossession” and the weepy backing lines of e-bow guitar to Jonas Renkse‘s depressive vocal melodicism, the Stockholm group’s fifth long-player has always carried a chilly association. So of course it was released in May.

Issued via Peaceville Records, it’s not a record history looks back on with any particular favor, but it’s one I’d consider vastly underrated for the quality of its songs and atmosphere. More than a decade into their tenure around the core founding duo of Renkse and guitarist Anders Nyström at that point, Katatonia, like British cohorts Paradise Lost, Anathema and My Dying Bride — the so-called “Peaceville three,” of which one might think of Katatonia as the fourth but for the fact that they’re not from the UK — had cast off their earlier death/doom sound in favor of said focus on atmospheric approach. Last Fair Deal Gone Down, comprised of a CD-era swath of 11 songs spread over 50 minutes, marked the first time Nyström and Renkse joined forces with brothers Fredrik Norrman (guitar) and Mattias Norrman (bass), as well as drummer Daniel Liljekvist, and as a five-piece, they continued to flesh out the stylistic progression of 1999’s Tonight’s Decision, nestling into the unabashed emotionalism and hooks of songs like “We Must Bury You,” “Teargas,” “Tonight’s Music,” “The Future of Speech” and “Passing Bird” while referencing what was then modern alternative rock in a piece like “Sweet Nurse,” which carries echoes of Failure‘s “The Nurse Who Loved Me” from 1996’s Fantastic Planet and foreshadowing future delving into progressive doom on “I Transpire” and closer “Don’t Tell a Soul.” These pieces, as well as “Chrome” and the later “Clean Today,” arrive with a consistency of character thanks to a fluid and at times lush-sounding production, giving Last Fair Deal Gone Down a somewhat gentle touch despite being weighted in tone and at times strikingly aggressive, but it’s ultimately the songwriting that most stands the work out from Katatonia‘s vast discography and the output that their aforementioned peers were releasing at the turn of the century.

All formed roughly in the late ’80s and earliest ’90s, Katatonia, Paradise Lost, Anathema and My Dying Bride helped greatly to establish what would become death/doom, but none of them would stay put entirely within that sphere. Paradise Lost went gothic and by 2001 were on their way toward trying their hand at radio-friendliness (because in 2001 that was a thing), and Anathema were in full-on depressive mode with A Fine Day to Exit, brooding and sad but not at all metal. My Dying Bride, who put out The Dreadful Hours the same year, arguably stayed closest to what one might think of as their core sound, but Katatonia‘s progression was particularly striking because rather than present its changes in flashes, it all carried such a sense of presentation. To listen to Last Fair Deal Gone Down, they’re clearly trying new things and working out ideas as they’d never done before, and yet the footing beneath them is so sure that there’s never any doubt they’ll pull it off in the end. And of course they do. There’s nothing angular about it. Nothing pokes you in the eye and says, “Hey, this is us doing something we haven’t done,” but the tracks are undeniably coming from a place beyond Tonight’s Decision or anything that preceded it. A strong focus on keyboard textures provide a hallmark of its era, but where others of their ilk clumsily made their way into the unknown, Katatonia on Last Fair Deal Gone Down move with a gracefulness that speaks not only to their maturity as artists, but to the idea of their having thoroughly worked on this material in fleshing it out to where they wanted it to be, refusing to make any album other than that which they wanted to make, and knowing how to realize their own vision in the actual recording process.

Katatonia have put out five-arguably-six records since Last Fair Deal Gone Down, and as it was their fifth album, it’s fair to think of it at this point as being part of a middle-period for the band. Emotional dramas — sometimes, admittedly, melodramas — would continue to persist in their sound from 2003’s Viva Emptiness across 2006’s triumphant The Great Cold Distance, 2009’s Night is the New Day (discussed here), 2012’s Dead End Kings and last year’s The Fall of Hearts (review here), and there are trace elements across all their offerings that one can follow all the way back to 1993 if one is willing to embark on such a winding path, but most importantly, they’ve never failed to on some level push themselves forward from album to album, whether it’s a matter of tightening songwriting around a new lineup or finding new modes of expression for the melancholy that seems to have taken up permanent residence in their souls. Not to wish anyone ill, but long may it reign.

As we move toward the darkest days of the year, this one seemed all the more fitting. I hope you agree, and as always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading and listening.

—

Rougher start to the week than finish, and little question I have The Patient Mrs. to thank for that. I was kind of a wreck on Monday and Tuesday and a redirect Tuesday night involving more cloud bread and leftover pesto helped situate me for the last couple days. I’ve been in therapy for two weeks now, going Monday mornings, and this week was hard. My therapist wants me to see my primary care doctor to get an electrolyte panel and and EKG done because I have an eating disorder and I guess the concern is I could be doing damage to my heart. Fair enough. That appointment is next Thursday. I don’t anticipate there being any problems, but one never knows. Sometimes life is interesting.

In the meantime, I didn’t stay there long, and that was on purpose, but in my daily weigh-ins, I hit 150 pounds for the first time this week. When I started this whole low-carb thing about two years ago right around this time, I was 330 pounds, which means I’ve lost upwards of 180. It is utter fucking madness to see those numbers typed out.

Oh, I’m also five years sober as of last week. I didn’t even remember the date had passed. I think it was the ninth? Might’ve been the fifth. I don’t know. Either way though, that was Dec. 2012 that I “took a weekend off” drinking.

The Pecan continues his now-seven-week-long process of becoming a human being. Lots of poop, lots of puke, lots of laundry to be done. Blah blah blah, knee deep in baby stuff. He’s cute. The Patient Mrs. likes him. I like him. The Little Dog Dio isn’t so sure, but she’ll get on board eventually.

This is usually the part where I’d post my notes for next week. Well, at some point I’m going to review the next part of The Second Coming of Heavy and at some point I’m going to put up my top albums of the year, but I’m not sure when all that’s going to happen yet, so I’m keeping it vague for the moment. I’ve got a premiere slated for Bible Black Tyrant next Thursday, new videos for King Witch and Black Space Riders early in the week, and if I can I’d like to review the new C.O.C. too, but that might be the week after. Up in the air.

So there you have it. Ups and downs. Music. Life.

From my daze and days of semi-conscious infant fatigue, I wish you all the best as ever. The Patient Mrs. mom is coming north this weekend to watch The Pecan for a couple hours so we can go see the new Star Wars and I’m looking forward to that, and I’m doing a radio interview on Sunday, but other than that, some reading and work on year-end list stuff shall persist. You’ll probably see it coming, but it’ll be January before I know it.

Have a great and safe weekend, and once again, thanks for reading. Please don’t forget to check out the forum and radio stream.

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