Another Me is the seventh full-length from Philly-region heavy rockers Bang, who got their start in 1969 and in 1971 released their self-titled debut through Capitol Records. Like many, their history as a group is long and tumultuous, vocalist/bassist Frank Ferrara, guitarist/vocalist Frankie Gilcken and drummer/lyricist Tony Diorio releasing two more records — 1972’s Mother/Bow to the King and 1973’s Music — in their original era, eventually calling it quits and reuniting in time to put out 1999’s RTZ – Return to Zero before the century turned, then following with 2004’s 2LP The Maze. A handful or two of drummers coming and going in the meantime, Bang‘s reputation as a classic band grew to new generational appreciation with the 2010 release of the 4CD box set Bullets through Rise Above Relics, concurrent to a reissue of the self-titled. As Bangreturned once again in 2014 and took to touring life in the modern, post-social media underground, the self-titled was also pressed in 2016 through Svart and has an edition arriving alongside the eight-song, 38-minute Another Me, through the trio’s current label, Cleopatra Records.
All of which is to say that even as Bang‘s legend is set in stone and chasing them down, the direction they’re moving is forward. Another Me is led off by its hooky title-track, transposing personal struggle onto clarion riffing that’s as much classic metal as rock, sharper in tone than one might expect having seen them live, but setting an easy groove through its intro, open verse and volume-surge chorus that would, should and does preface in its structure some of what’s to come throughout the subsequent tracks, as in the layered vocal melodies in “Two Angels” in the mirror position at the start of side B, or the finale “This Night,” which works to vary persona and mood while remaining structurally verse/chorus in the tradition of Bang‘s influences, whether some Beatles poking through in the piano and bouncing rhythm of side A’s “Man of God” and the aforementioned closer, which brings tambourine to the mix — Diorio and the band’s new/live drummer Danny Piselli both feature on the album, but I’ve no clue on the actual division of percussive labor — or the late highlight “Tin Man,” which with its harmonies sounds like the skull from whence Uncle Acid sprang, its chorus complemented by a return of the keys from “Man of God,” the band’s arrangements fluid and unforced, like the tempo and the delivery of the material itself.
I’ll admit I may forever have a soft spot in my heart for Bang after seeing them live however many times, and Another Me accounts for their status as a classic underground band — three LPs on Capitol, which you’ll recall also put out The Beatles, is nothing to sneeze at — without trying to pretend the intervening half-century hasn’t happened. The production sound is modern — I’ve never heard an original-era-heavy act put out a new release with vintage-style recording; would be an interesting experiment — and, again, has a bit more edge to Gilcken‘s guitar tone than was anticipated, which only ends up bolstering the overall vitality. Ferrara‘s vocals are clear amid the proto-metal chug of “Drone Pilot,” and whether it’s “Clouds” turning the riff from “Looks That Kill” into catchy biker rock or the clear-eyed psychedelic lean of “Tin Man,” or the way “Broken Toys” builds into its relatively noisy, solo-topped ending, Bang deliver an accessible and welcoming encapsulation of their sound. They’ve never been as outwardly heavy, and they’ve pushed the scale of their melodicism likewise to a level that would seem to have been reached thanks to their time spent on stages around the US and beyond in the better part of the last decade.
How many bands do you know who can trace their tenure back more than 50 years — even if they broke up for part of that, as most do — and are still trying ideas in new material? Three? Maybe five? Having grown up as part of the first generation of rock and roll fans in America, Bang are no less a part of the genre’s legacy for their craft than for the obvious passion that continues to drive them. And they may have been tagged as the US’ answer to Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin in their early going, and one could throw Judas Priest on the pile there for some of the riffs Bang follow here, but Another Me is much more about who Bang are as themselves. Gilcken‘s lead guitar pulling notes in the riff cycles of “Man of God” and soloing in layers around the bass and drums to complement Ferrara‘s vocals, the mid-paced flow of even the the more aggressive “Another Me” and “Broken Toys,” hints of doom abounding there and in the swing of “Tin Man” and the burlier digging-in that takes place across “This Night.” In their atomic-level makeup, Bang are more rock than metal, whatever impact their style may have had on the development of the latter, and Another Me manifests those two sides fascinatingly, with turns of atmosphere and mood that are no challenge to make because of the strength of their songwriting and performances.
That’s not a new formula and I don’t think Bang are hoping to convince anyone otherwise, but as a group whose reputation will precede them for many who take them on, they successfully walk a difficult path in offering Another Me not as the work of Bang circa ’71-’73, but of Bang now. If you’re old enough to answer, are you the same person you were half a century ago? What about 20 years? 10? Another Me isn’t positioning itself as being of any moment other than this one, and maybe that suits Ferrara, Gilcken and Diorio (and Piselli) most of all. Is it their last record? Hell if I know. But 19 years after their ‘most recent’ long-player, Bang are back with a collection that adds to their story rather than pulling away from past accomplishments, and for right now, that’s plenty, more than was expected, and certainly, certainly much more than they owed anyone. Call it a win and be happy it exists.
I’m drinking coffee out of a different mug today. It may not surprise you to learn that I’m particular about that kind of thing. I have two mugs — one from Baltimore, one from Salem, Mass. — that are the same. They are huge, blue and black, and they curve slightly inward at the top. They can hold half of a 10-cup pot of coffee. I use one of them per day for a pot in the morning.
Not today. The Pecan gifted me a Mr. Spock mug — he’s in his dress uniform, so it’s likely based on the TOS episode ‘Journey to Babel,’ where we meet his parents for the first (our time) time — and it’s smaller and lighter in the hand, will require an extra trip up to the kitchen to finish the pot, but I think she’ll be glad to see me use it, and maybe that’ll help her get a decent start to the day in a bit when she comes downstairs.
Today’s the last day for this week of QR, but we dive back in on Monday and Tuesday to close out. Hope you find something you dig, and if I don’t catch you at the closeout post for the week, have a great weekend.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
Motorpsycho, Yay!
Long-running and prolific Norwegian prog rockers Motorpsycho have proven time and again their stylistic malleability across their north-of-100-strong catalog of releases, and comprised of 10 tracks running 42 minutes of acoustic-led-but-still-lushly-arranged, melodic and sometimes folkish craft. If you ever needed an argument that Motorpsycho could have been writing simplified, ultra-accessible, soundtrack-to-your-summer fare — and I’m not sure you have — Yay! provides that, with a classic feel in the harmonies of “Sentinels” and “Dank State,” though the lyrics in that last cut and in pieces like the leadoff “Cold & Bored,” the later isolated strummer “Real Again (Norway Shrugs and Stays at Home)” and in the lost-love-themed “Loch Meaninglessness and the Mull of Dull” have a cynical current to their framing contrasts that the outwardly pretty face lent to it by the Paul Simon-style lead vocals from Bent Sæther (also guitar, mandolin, omnichord here and more elsewhere). If the record is a gimme for an audience looking for a more earthbound Motorpsycho, then the arrival of the 7:46 “Hotel Daedalus” is where they give a nod to the heavier heads in their fanbase, with one of several guest spots from Reine Fiske (Dungen, Träden, etc.) and a shift in the balance between electric and acoustic guitar and synth at the foreground. Standout as that is, it’s also consistent with the spirit of Yay! more generally, which is built to be more complex in emotion than it presents on its face, and the work of masters, whether they’re writing longform prog epics or sweet closer “The Rapture,” which paints the change of seasons through an image of unmelted leftover snow “sulking in the shade.” One should expect no less than that kind of reach and attention to expression, and one should never engage Motorpsycho with expectations beyond that.
“Apollo,” which was the first single released by Severed Satellites, opens the Baltimore instrumentalists’ first EP, Aphelion, as well, its uptempo blues-informed groove an enticing beginning before “Lost Transmissions” digs further into riffer nod. With five tracks running 27 minutes, Severed Satellites — guitarist Matt Naas, keyboardist Dave Drell, bassist Adam Heinzmann and drummer Chuck Dukehart, the latter two both of heavy rockers Foghound, among others — offer material that’s built out of jamming but that is not itself the jam. Songs, in other words. Recorded by Noel Mueller at Tiny Castle Studio, the EP proves solid through “Lost Transmissions” and the bassier “Hurtling Toward Oblivion” with its ending comedown leading into the coursing keyboard waveform at the start of “Breaking Free From Orbit,” which is the longest inclusion at 7:21 and uses most of that extra time in the intro, building afterward toward a ’70s strutting apex that puts energy ahead of largesse before the keys lead the way out in the two-minute outro “Reaching Aphelion.” Through the variety in the material, Severed Satellites showcase a persona that knows what it’s about and presents that fluidly to the listener with a minimum of indulgence. A rousing start.
The collaboration between baritone/bass guitarist Martin Rude, drummer Jakob Skøtt, both also of Danish psych-jazz and psych-as-jazz explorers Causa Sui, and guitarist Nicklas Sørensen of molten-but-mellow jammers Papir, Edena Gardens issue their first and perhaps not last live album in Live Momentum, a three-song set taped at Jaiyede Jazz Festival — their first onstage appearance — in 2022 and pressed concurrent to the second Edena Gardens studio full-length, Agar (review here) while still not so far removed from their 2022 self-titled debut (review here). “Veil” from the sophomore LP opens, with a thicker guitar sound and more active delivery from the stage, a heavier presence in the guitar early on, hinting at Link Wray and sounding clear enough that the applause at the end is a surprise. Taken from the self-titled, “Now Here Nowhere” is more soothing and post-rocking in its languidity — also shorter at seven minutes — an active but not overbearing jazz fusion, while side B’s 17-minute “Live Momentum” would seem to be the occasion for the release. Exploratory at the start, it settles into a groove that’s outright bombastic in comparison to the other two tracks, brings down the jam and pushes it out, growing in volume again late for a slow, howling finish. What should be a no-brainer to those who’ve heard the band, Live Momentum portrays a side of Edena Gardens that their ‘proper’ albums — which is also where new listeners should begin — hasn’t yet shown, which is no doubt why it was issued to start with. Only fortunate.
Following up 2022’s What Lies Beneath (review here) and the intervening covers collection, Cover Ups, and the Crack the Lock EP, prolific Pennsylvania heavy rock outfit Delco Detention, led by the son/father duo of Tyler and Adam Pomerantz return with their Come and Get It! is suitably exclamatory fashion. The nine-track collection is headlined by a guest guitar spot from Earthless‘ Isaiah Mitchell on “Earthless Delco” near the album’s middle, but stop-bys from familiar parties like Kevin McNamara and Mike DiDonato of The Age of Truth and Jared Collins of Mississippi Bones, among others, assure diversity in the material around the foundation of groovy heavy rock. Clutch remain a strong influence — and the record finishes with a take on “I Have the Body of John Wilkes Booth” — but the fuzzy four minutes of the penultimate “Rock and Roll God” and the swing in opener “Domagoj Simek Told Me Quitters Never Smoke” continue to show the band’s growth in refining their songwriting process and aligning the right performers with the right songs, which they do.
The second full-length from Montana heavy-funk shenanigans purveyors The Gray Goo, Circus Nightmare, sounds like there’s a story to go along with every song, whether it’s the tale of “Nightstocker” no doubt based on a 24-hour grocery store, or the smoke-weed-now anthem “Pipe Hitter” that so purposefully and blatantly takes on Sleep‘s “Dragonaut,” or even the interlude “Cerulean” with its backward wisps of guitar leading into the dreamy-Ween-esque, Beatles-reference-dropping “Cosmic Sea,” or the Primus-informed absurdity of “Alligator Bundee,” which leads off, and the garage punk that caps in “Out of Sight (Out of Mind).” Equal parts brilliant and dopey, “BEP” is a brief delve into surf-toned weirdness while “Wizards of the Mountain” pays off the basement doom of “Pipe Hitter” just before with its raw-captured slowdown, organ included in its post-midpoint creep and “Cumbia de Montana” is perhaps more dub than South American-style mountain jamming — though there’s a flute — but if you want to draw a line and tell me where one ends and another starts, I won’t argue. Bottom line is that after an encouraging start in last year’s 1943 (review here), The Gray Goo are more sure of themselves and more sure of the planet’s ridiculousness. May they long remain so certain and productive. Heavy rock needs more oddballs.
It’s like they packed it with extra nasty. The seven-song/27-minute Shit Hexis is the debut offering from Saarbrücken, Germany’s Shit Hexis, and it stabs, it scathes, it skin-peels and not in the refreshing way. Flaying extreme sludge riffs presented with the cavernous echo and murky purposes of black metal, it is a filthy sound but not completely un-cosmic as “Latrine Odins” feedsback and lumbers through its 92 seconds, or “Erde” drone-plods at terrifying proportion. On paper, Shit Hexis share a mindset with the likes of Come to Grief or even earlier Yatra in bringing together tonal weight with aesthetics born out of the more extreme ends of heavy metal, but their sharp angles, harsh tones and the echoing rasp of “Le Mort Saisit le Vif” are their own. Not that fucking matters, because when you’re this disaffected you probably don’t give a shit about originality either. But as their first release of any kind, even less than a half-hour of exposure seems likely to cause a reaction, and if you’re ever somewhere that you need people not to be, the misanthropic, loathing-born gurgling of “Mkwekm” should do the trick in clearing a room. This, of course, is as the duo of guitarist/vocalist Mo and drummer Pat designed it to be, and so, wretched as it is, their self-titled can only be called a success. But what a vision thereof.
That Sacramento, California, two-piece Oromet — guitarist/vocalist/layout specialist Dan Aguilar and drummer/bassist/synthesist/backing vocalist/engineer Patrick Hills — have a pedigree between them that shares time in Occlith accounts for some of the unity of intent on the grandly-unfolding death-doom outfit’s self-titled three-song Transylvanian Recordings debut full-length. Side A is dedicated solely to the opener/longest track (immediate points) “Familiar Spirits” (22:00), which quiets down near the finish to end in a contemplative/reflective drone, and earlier positions Oromet among the likes of Dream Undending or Bell Witch in an increasingly prevalent, yet-untagged mournful subset of death-doom. “Diluvium” (11:31) and “Alpenglow” (10:07) follow suit, the former basking in the beauty in its own darkness and sounding duly astounded as it pounds its way toward a sudden stop to let the residual frequencies swell before carrying into the latter, which is gloriously tortured for its first six minutes and comes apart slowly thereafter, having found a place to dwell in the melodic aftermath. Crushing spiritually even as it reaffirms the validity of that pain, it is an affecting listening experience that can be overwhelming at points, but its extremity never feels superfluous or disconnected from the sorrowful emotionality of the songs themselves.
Each of the four tracks of Le Mur‘s fourth record, Keep Your Fear Away From Me, corresponds to a place in time and point of view. That is, we start in the past with 15-minute leadoff “…The Past Will Be Perfect…” — and please note that the band’s name is also stylized all-caps where album and song titles are all-lowercase — moving through “Today is the Day/The Beauty of Now” (9:27) in the present and “Another Life/Burning the Tree/I See You” (11:19) confirming the subjectivity of one’s experience of self and the world, and closer “…For the Puzzles of the Future.” (12:12) finishing the train of thought by looking at the present from a time to come. Samples peppered throughout add to the otherwise mostly instrumental proceedings, focused on flow and at least semi-improvised, and horns on the opener/longest cut (immediate points) sets a jazzy mindset that holds even as “Another Life/Burning the Tree/I See You” forays through its three-stage journey, starting with a shimmy before growing ever-so-slightly funky in the middle and finishing acoustic, while the (electric) guitar on “…For the Puzzles of the Future.” seems to have saved its letting loose for the final jam, emerging out of the keyboardy intro and sample to top a raucous, fun finish.
Pushing through sax-laced, dug-in space jamming, Tunisia’s 10-20 Project reportedly recorded Snakes Go Dark to Soak in the Sun during the pandemic lockdown, perhaps in a bid just to do anything during July 2020. Removed from that circumstance, the work of the core duo of guitarist Marwen Lazaar and bassist Dhia Eddine Mejrissi as well as a few friends — drummer Manef Zoghlemi, saxophonist Ghassen Abdelghani and Mohammed Barsaoui on didgeridoo — present a three-track suite that oozes between liquid and vaporous states of matter across “Chutney I” (25:06), “Chutney II” (14:32) and “Chutney III” (13:00), which may or may not have actually been carved out of the same extended jam. From the interweaving of the sax alongside the guitar in the mix of the opener through the hand-drumming in the middle cut and “Chutney III” picking up with an active rhythm after the two pieces prior took their time in building quietly, plus some odd vocalizations included for good measure, the 52-minute outing gets its character from the exploratory meld in their arrangements and the loose nature with which they seem to approach composition generally. It is not a challenge to be entranced by Snakes Go Dark to Soak in the Sun, as even 10-20 Project seem to have been during its making.
If one assumes that “Side A” (19:58) and “Side B” (20:01) of Landing‘s are the edited-down versions of what appeared as part of the Connecticut ambient psych troupe’s Bandcamp ‘Subscriber Series Collection 02’ as “Motionless I-III” (29:56) and “Motionless IV-VI” (27:18), then perhaps yes, the Sulatron Records-issued Motionless I-VI has been markedly altered to accommodate the LP format. The (relatively) concise presentation, however, does little to undercut either the floating cosmic acoustics and drones about halfway through the first side or the pastoral flight taken in “Side B” before the last drone seems to devour the concept with especially cinematic drama. Whereas when there are drums in “Side A” the mood is more krautrock or traditional space rock, the second stretch of Motionless I-VI is more radical in its changes while still being gentle in its corner turning from one to the next, as heard with the arrival of the electric guitar that fades in at around six and a half minutes and merrily chugs through the brightly-lit serenity of what might’ve at some point been “Motionless V” and here is soon engulfed in a gradual fade that brings forward the already-mentioned drone. There’s more going on under the surface than at it — and that dimension of mix is crucial to Landing‘s methodology — but Motionless I-VI urges the listener to appreciate each element in its place, and is best heard doing that.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 19th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
When Heavy Temple and Howling Giant were announced in April for Into the Void in Leeuwarden, I noted that I hoped the two bands would tour together. What they most have in common between Heavy Temple‘s hard-fuzz dark boogie and Howling Giant‘s sprawling heavy prog — aside from being labelmates under the banner of Magnetic Eye Records — is that both have only just begun to realize their potential. Doing this tour will help push both acts forward, and more over, doing this tour together is important.
Yeah, they’re playing Up in Smoke, Into the Void, Keep it Low and Desertfest Belgium, but the truth is these two — both with multiple tours under their respective belts — are the kinds of acts who in another decade or decade-plus could very well headline these kinds of events, so their pairing for a run now is an investment in further comity over the longer term of their careers. I hereby — and you know I mean business when I break out “hereby” — formally request on-stage collaboration, abundant guest spots if not the formation of a Heavy Giant Howling Temple family big band. Also video of that. Like, decent video.
And a note to Europe specifically: These bands are two of America’s brightest hopes for next-gen heavy. Skip seeing them now and you may live to regret it later.
Dates came down the PR wire with comment from the bands:
HEAVY TEMPLE & HOWLING GIANT announce co-headlining EUROPEAN tour!
HEAVY TEMPLE from Philadelphia, PA and Nashville, Tennessee’s HOWLING GIANT will both make their first journey overseas for a co-headlining European tour in advance of their upcoming new albums. The tour will include appearances at several key festivals. It kicks off in Switzerland at the Up in Smoke Festival in Pratteln and runs through until October 22 in the city of Antwerp at Desertfest Belgium.
Please see below for all confirmed HEAVY TEMPLE and HOWLING GIANT tour dates.
HOWLING GIANT comment: “We are fired up about this European quest with our shield companions in Heavy Temple,” drummer Zach Wheeler writes. “We’re ready to sling riffs and cross swords with the best of the best beyond the great pond.”
HEAVY TEMPLE add: “We hope that Europe is as ready for us as we are for them!”, bassist and vocalist High Priestess Nighthawk declares. “Can’t think of another heavy-hitting power trio that we’d like to shred across the pond with than Howling Giant.”
HEAVY TEMPLE & HOWLING GIANT Euorpean tour 29 SEP 2023 Pratteln (CH) Z7, Up in Smoke Festival 30 SEP 2023 Leeuwarden (NL) Neushoorn, Into the Void Festival 02 OCT 2023 Siegen (DE) Vortex 03 OCT 2023 Hamburg (DE) Hafenklang 04 OCT 2023 Jena (DE) Rosenkeller 05 OCT 2023 Kassel (DE) Goldgrube 07 OCT 2023 München (DE) Backstage, Keep It Low Festival 2023 09 OCT 2023 Budapest (HU) Robot 10 OCT 2023 Wien (AT) Arena 11 OCT 2023 Bologna (IT) Freak Out 12 OCT 2023 Milano (IT) Barrios 13 OCT 2023 Roma (IT) RCCB 14 OCT 2023 Viareggio (IT) Circolo ARCI GoB 15 OCT 2023 Carmagnola (IT) Circolo ARCI Margot 18 OCT 2023 San Sebastian (ES) Dabadaba 19 OCT 2023 Barcelona (ES) Razz3 22 OCT 2023 Antwerp (BE) Trix, Desertfest Belgium
Heavy Temple: High Priestess Nighthawk – vocals, bass Lord Paisley – guitar Baron Lycan – drums
Howling Giant: Tom Polzine – guitar, vocals Zach Wheeler – drums, vocals Sebastian Baltes – bass, vocals
Welcome to day two of the Summer 2023 Quarterly Review. Yesterday was a genuine hoot — I didn’t realize I had packed it so full of bands’ debut albums, and not repeating myself in noting that in the reviews was a challenge — but blah blah words words later we’re back at it today for round two of seven total.
As I write this, my house is newly emerged from an early morning tornado warning and sundry severe weather alerts, flooding, wind, etc., with that. In my weather head-canon, tornados don’t happen here — because they never used to — but one hit like two towns over a week or so ago, so I guess anything’s possible. My greater concern would be flooding or downed trees or branches damaging the house. I laughed with The Patient Mrs. that of course a tornado would come right after we did the kitchen floor and put the sink back.
We got The Pecan up to experience and be normalized into this brave new world of climate horror. We didn’t go to the basement, but it probably won’t be the last time we talk about whether or not we need to do so. Yes, planet Earth will take care of itself. It will do this by removing the problematic infection over a sustained period of time. Only trouble is humans are the infection.
So anyway, happy Tuesday. Let’s talk about some records.
Quarterly Review #11-20:
Bell Witch, Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate
Cumbersome in its title and duly stately as it unfurls 83 minutes of Billy Anderson-recorded slow-motion death-doom soul destroy/rebuild, Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate is not the first longform single-song work from Seattle’s Bell Witch, but the core duo of drummer/vocalist Jesse Shreibman and bassist/vocalist Dylan Desmond found their path on 2017’s landmark Mirror Reaper (review here) and have set themselves to the work of expanding on that already encompassing scope. Moving from its organ intro through willfully lurching, chant-topped initial verses, the piece breaks circa 24 minutes to minimalist near-silence, building itself back up until it seems to blossom fully at around 45 minutes in, but it breaks to organ, rises again, and ultimately seems to not so much to collapse as to be let go into its last eight minutes of melancholy standalone bass. Knowing this is only the first part of a trilogy makes Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate feel even huger and more opaque, but while its unrelenting atmospheric bleakness will be listenable for a small percentage of the general populace, there’s no question Bell Witch are continuing to push the limits of what they do. Loud or quiet, they are consuming. One should expect no less in the next installment.
Some records are self-titled because the band can’t think of a name. Plainride‘s Plainride is more declarative. Self-released ahead of a Ripple Music issue to accord with timing as the German trio did a Spring support stint with Corrosion of Conformity, the 10-song outing engages with funk, blues rock, metal, prog and on and on and on, and feels specifically geared toward waking up any and all who hear it. The horns blasting in “Fire in the Sky” are a clear signal of that, though one should also allow for the mellowing of “Wanderer,” the interlude “You Wanna…” the acoustic noodler “Siebengebirge,” or the ballady closer “The Lilies” as a corresponding display of dynamic. But the energy is there in “Hello, Operator,” “Ritual” — which reminds of Gozu in its soulful vocals — and through the longer “Shepherd” and the subsequent regrounding in the penultimate “Hour of the Mûmakil,” and it is that kick-in-the-pants sensibility that most defines Plainride as a realization on the part of the band. They sound driven, hungry, expansive and professional, and they greet their audience with a full-on “welcome to the show” mindset, then proceed to try to shake loose the rules of genre from within. Not a minor ambition, but Plainride succeed in letting craft lead the charge in their battle against mediocrity. They don’t universally hit their marks — not that rock and roll ever did or necessarily should — but they take actual chances here and are all the more invigorating for that.
Massachusetts doomers Benthic Realm offer their awaited first full-length with Vessel, and the hour-long 2LP is broad and crushing enough to justify the wait. It’s been five years since 2018’s We Will Not Bow (review here), and the three-piece of bassist Maureen Murphy (ex-Second Grave, ex-Curse the Son, etc.), guitarist/vocalist Krista Van Guilder (ex-Second Grave, ex-Warhorse) and drummer Dan Blomquist (also Conclave) conjure worthy expanse with a metallic foundation, Van Guilder likewise effective in a deathly scream and melodic delivery as “Traitors Among Us” quickly affirms, and the band shifting smoothly between the lurch of “Summon the Tide” and speedier processions like “Course Correct,” the title-track or the penultimate “What Lies Beneath,” the album ultimately more defined by mood and the epic nature of Benthic Realm‘s craft than a showcase of tempo on either side. That is, regardless of pace, they deliver with force throughout the album, and while it might be a couple years delayed, it stands readily among the best debuts of 2023.
Cervus follow 2022’s impressive single “Cycles” (posted here) with the three-song EP Shifting Sands, and the Amsterdam heavy psych unit use the occasion to continue to build a range around their mellow-grooving foundation. Beginning quiet and languid and exploratory on “Nirvana Dunes,” which bursts to voluminous life after its midpoint but retains its fluidity, the five-piece of guitarists Jan Woudenberg and Dennis de Bruin, bassist Tom Mourik, keyboardist/guitarist Ton van Rijswijk and drummer Rogier Henkelman saving extra push for middle cut “Tempest,” reminding some of how The Machine are able to turn from heavy jams to more structured riffy shove. That track, shorter at 3:43, is a delightful bit of raucousness that answers the more straightforward fare on 2021’s Ignis EP while setting up a direct transition into “Eternal Shadow,” which builds walls of organ-laced fuzz roll that go out and don’t come back, ending the 16-minute outing in such a way as to make it feel more like a mini-album. They touch no ground here that feels uncertain for them, but that’s only a positive sign as they perhaps work toward making their debut LP. Whether that’s coming or not, Shifting Sands is no less engaging a mini-trip for its brevity.
On their third album, Where’s the Ground?, Portuguese experimentalists Unsafe Space Garden tackle heavy existentialist questions as only those truly willing to embrace the absurd could hope to do. From the almost-Jackson 5 casual saunter of “Grown-Ups!” — and by the way, all titles are punctuated and stylized all-caps — to the willfully overwhelming prog-metal play of “Pum Pum Pum Pum Ta Ta” later on, Unsafe Space Garden find and frame emotional and psychological breakthroughs through the ridiculous misery of human existence while also managing to remind of what a band can truly accomplish when they’re willing to throw genre expectations out the window. With shades throughout of punk, prog, indie, sludge, pop new and old, post-rock, jazz, and on and on, they are admirably individual, and unwilling to be anything other than who they are stylistically at the risk of derailing their own work, which — again, admirably — they don’t. Switching between English and Portuguese lyrics, they challenge the audience to approach with an open mind and sympathy for one another since once we were all just kids picking our noses on the same ground. Where’s the ground now? I’m not 100 percent, but I think it might be everywhere if we’re ready to see it, to be on it. Supreme weirdo manifestation; a little manic in vibe, but not without hope.
Guitarist/vocalist Henning Schmerer reportedly self-recorded and mixed and played all instruments himself for Neon Burton‘s third full-length, Take a Ride. The band was a trio circa 2021’s Mighty Mondeo, and might still be one, but with programmed drums behind him, Schmerer digs in alone across these space-themed six songs/46 minutes. The material keeps the central duality of Neon Burton‘s work to-date in pairing airy heavy psychedelia with bouts of denser riffing, rougher-edged verses and choruses offsetting the entrancing jams, resulting in a sound that draws a line between the two but is able to move between them freely. “Mother Ship” starts the record quiet but grows across its seven minutes to Truckfighters-esque fuzzy swing, and “I Run,” which follows, unveils the harder-landing aspect of the band’s character. The transitions are unforced and feel like a natural dynamic in the material, but even the jammiest parts would have to be thought out beforehand to be recorded with just one person, so perhaps Take a Ride‘s most standout achievement — see also: tone, melody, groove — is in overcoming the solo nature of its making to sound as much like a full band as it does in the 10-minute “Orbit” or the crescendo of “Disconnect” that rumbles into the sample-topped ambient-plus-funky meander at the start of instrumental closer “Wormhole,” which dares a bit of proggier-leaning chug on the way to its thickened, nodding culmination.
Though pedigreed in a Maryland doom scene that deeply prides itself on traditionalism, Laurel, MD, trio Thousand Vision Mist mark out a progressive path forward with their second full-length, Depths of Oblivion, the eight songs/35 minutes of which seem to owe as much to avant metal as to doom and/or heavy rock. Opener “Sands of Time” imagines what might’ve been if Virus had been raised in the Chesapeake Watershed, while “Citadel of Green” relishes its organically ’70s-style groove with an intricacy of interpretation so as to let Thousand Vision Mist come across as respectful of the past but not hindered by it creatively. Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Danny Kenyon (ex-Life Beyond, Indestroy, etc.), bassist/backing vocalist Tony Comulada (War Injun, Outside Truth, etc.) and drummer Chris Sebastian (ex-Retribution), the band delves into the pastoral on “Love, the Destroyer” and the sunshine-till-the-fuzz-hits-then-still-awesome “Thunderbird Blue,” while “Battle for Yesterday” filters grunge nostalgia through their own complexity and capper “Reversal of Misfortune” moves from its initial riffiness — perhaps in conversation with “We Flew Too High” at the start of what would be side B — into sharper shred with an unshakable rhythmic foundation beneath. I didn’t know what to expect so long after 2018’s Journey to Ascension and the Loss of Tomorrow (review here), which was impressive, but there’s no level on which Thousand Vision Mist haven’t outdone themselves with Depths of Oblivion.
Founded and fronted by vocalist George Chamberlin (Ritual Earth), the named-for-a-Joy–Division-tune New Dawn Fades make their initial public offering with the three-songer Forever, which at 15 minutes long doesn’t come close to the title but makes its point well before it’s through all the same. In “True Till Death,” they update a vibe somewhere between C.O.C.‘s Blind and a less-Southern version of Nola-era Down, while “This Night Has Closed My Eyes” adds some Kyuss flair in Chamberlin‘s vocal and the concluding “New Moon” reinforces the argument with a four-minute parade of swing and chug, Sabbath-bred if not Sabbath-worshiping. If the band — whose lineup seems to have changed since this was recorded at least in the drums — are going to take on a full-length next, they’ll want to shake things up, maybe an interlude, etc., but as a short outing and even more as their first, they don’t necessarily need to shock with off-the-wall style. Instead, Forever portrays New Dawn Fades as having a clear grasp on what they want to do and the songwriting command to make it happen. Wherever they go from here, it’ll be worth keeping eyes and ears open.
According to the band, Aton Five‘s mostly-instrumental self-titled sophomore full-length was recorded between 2019 and 2022, and that three-year span would seem to have allowed for the Moscow-based four-piece to deep-dive into the five pieces that comprise it, so that the guitar and organ answering each other on “Danse Macabre” and the mathy angularity that underscores much of the second half of “Naked Void” exist as fully envisioned versions of themselves, even before you get to the 22-minute “Lethe,” which closes. With the soothing “Clepsydra” in its middle as the only track under eight minutes long, Aton Five have plenty of time to develop and build outward from the headspinning proffered by “Alienation” at the album’s start and in the bassy jabs and departure into and through clearheaded drift-metal (didn’t know it existed, but there it is), the work they’ve put into the material is obvious and no less multifaceted than are the songs, “Alienation” resolving in a combination of sweeps and sprints, each of which resonates with purpose. That one might say the same of each of the three parts that make up “Lethe” should signal the depth of consideration in the entirety of the release. I know there was a plague on, but maybe Aton Five benefitted as well from having the time to focus as they so plainly did. Whether you try to keep up with the turns or sit back and let the band go where they will, Aton Five, the album, feels like the kind of record that might’ve ended up somewhere other than where the band first thought it would, but is stronger for having made the journey to the finished product.
Giants Dwarfs and Black Holes, In a Sandbox Full of Suns
Their second LP behind 2020’s Everwill, the five-song In a Sandbox Full of Suns finds German four-piece Giants Dwarfs and Black Holes fully switched on in heavy jam fashion, cuts like “Love Story” and “In a Sandbox Full of Suns” — both of which top 11 minutes — fleshed out with improv-sounding guitar and vocals over ultra-fluid rhythms, blending classic heavy blues rock and prog with hints and only hints of vintage-ism and letting the variety in their approach show itself in the four-minute centerpiece “Dead Urban Desert” and the suitably cosmic atmosphere to which they depart in closer “Time and Space.” Leadoff “Coffee Style” is rife with attitude, but wahs itself into an Eastern-inflected lead progression after the midpoint and before turning back to the verse, holding its relaxed but not lazy feel all the while. It is a natural brand of psychedelia that results throughout — an enticing sound between sounds; the proverbial ‘not-lost wandering’ in musical form — as Giants Dwarfs and Black Holes don’t try to hypnotize with effects or synth, etc., but prove willing to take a walk into the unknown when the mood hits. It doesn’t always, but they make the most of their opportunities regardless, and if “Dead Urban Desert” is the exception, its placement as the centerpiece tells you it’s not there by accident.
Shit, man. Maybe you are a fucking bird. I don’t know.
Also: Ha. You wish it was that easy to explain.
In a bit of fun coincidence, I actually decided the other night that in a former life I was some kind of dopey, prehistoric flying creature. Proto-bird, maybe, like an archaeopteryx only nowhere near cool enough to have that name. Ever. It’s the best name. Seriously. Say “archaeopteryx” out loud. You won’t regret it.
By the way, this is my review of the single. How do you like it so far? Well, next time I write about Boozewa, I’m probably going to link back to it. You know, the ol’ “(review here).” I like the thought that someone might click that link in that post and see this.
I also like the fact that “Maybe I’m a Bird” is three minutes long and that around the point when it’s spent the first 90 seconds establishing its verse and chorus with genetically-punk drive and denser fuzz than you’re imagining it throws off its cowl and reveals it was grunge all along. Without giving up its purpose in tone or rawness, “Maybe I’m a Bird” is the most realized work yet from the still-raw-but-recorded-in-a-studio trio, who turn it back to another verse before the repetitions of “Maybe I’m a…” start to build before the more declarative “…bird” stops the song with a bit of done-now noise after.
Boozewa growing as a band, almost in spite of themselves. They keep it up and someone’s gonna start wondering about an album. I kind of already was.
Enjoy the clip. Mike made it:
Boozewa, “Maybe I’m a Bird” official video
BOOZEWA is back and BOOZEWA-ier than ever! The basement dwelling sludgy punk outfit have crawled up from the underground to reveal their first single as the fully realized vision of BOOZEWA. Done in a studio, not the basement! “Maybe I’m A Bird” retains the low-fi vibes BOOZEWA is known for and is a chantable, danceable, fuzzy good ol’ time!
BOOZEWA comments on the single: “Every day you have to go to work and there’s that one person there. That one person that’s always giving you a hard time. Always with the stink eye, always checking their watch to see if you were a minute late. We all know them. They are everywhere. When you see them tomorrow, make eye contact with them. Don’t break it. And let them know ‘HEY! You don’t know me. Maybe I’m A Bird!'”
Bringing a distinctive sound, BOOZEWA draws passionately from the heaviest of the heavy through to the mellowest of the mellow. Emphasized by their unusual recording method, the vintage touch produces a unique tone with a dynamic, atmospheric quality.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 3rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Cheers to New Cumberland, Pennsylvania’s Almost Honest, who have signed on to release their third album later this year through respected purveyor Argonauta Records. The band have become a four-piece since they issued their second full-length, Seiches and Sirens (review here), in 2019 through Electric Talon. There isn’t a timeline yet on their new release, but they join a glut of bands the Italian label has picked up over the last two months — also 10 years — that includes Superlynx, Fraught, Thedus, Slow Wake, and Dune Pilot. That would seem to speak to a busy Fall to come, one way or the other.
And that busy Fall now includes Almost Honest as well. The band celebrate their 10th anniversary this year since getting together in 2013 — their first EP, Profits of Doom, came out in 2016, followed by their debut album, Thunder Mouth, in 2017 — and releasing a third record on Argonauta sounds like a pretty killer way to mark the occasion. Good on them. I’ll hope to have more to come on the release as we get there.
From the PR wire:
US Heavy Fuzz Rockers ALMOST HONEST Sign to ARGONAUTA Records; New Album During Fall
Coughed up from a smoke filled corner deep in the Central Pennsylvania rock scene in 2012, Almost Honest is a four-piece riff conspiracy dipped in enough sludge to choke mammoth, enough groove to make the dead dance, lyrics that could summon a Sasquatch and make her sing along, and a tonal brilliance that was crafted by master sound-smiths and enchanted by sonic-shamans.
Says the band: “We at Almost Honest are absolutely thrilled to be working with Argonauta Records to release our 3rd record. We have been working tirelessly since 2020 on our new tunes and we are happy that it finally has a home. We know that we are going to accomplish wonderful things together and we cannot wait to share with you what we have been working on.”
Helmed by the darkly dulcet guitarist Shayne Reed, driven by the jungle rattling bassist Garrett Spangler, lifted up by the immense leads of David Kopp and powered by the ent-war thump of drummer Quinten Spangler, Almost Honest has evolved into a rock act to be reckoned with.
Focusing the energy they would have put into extensive touring during the past two years and using ritual druid magics, they conceived, wrote, and recorded a brand new album whose details will be revealed soon.
Almost Honest is poised to deliver more of their unique, creamy fuzz soaked, metallic prog-funk potion, with a riot punch live show that Pennsylvania head bangers have come to crave as soon as the world is ready!
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 30th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
In addition to an upcoming reissue of their much-loved 1971 self-titled debut (discussed here), proto-metallic heavy rockers Bang have announced their first full-length in nearly 20 years since 2004’s The Maze. Led off by its title-track, Another Me will release on July 21 through Cleopatra Records. It’s been nearly a decade as well since the band first decided to get going again in early 2014, which led to US and European tours, appearances at festivals like Psycho Las Vegas and Roadburn and Maryland Doom Fest, and a generationally-renewed appreciation for their work generally. Original guitarist Frankie Gilcken and bassist/vocalist Frank Ferrara are joined on the record by drummers Tony Diorio (also lyrics) and Danny Piselli, the latter of whom is new to the band at very least on relative terms.
You can hear “Another Me” at the bottom of this post. They’re so much a heavy rock band in my head, the new song actually hits harder than I would’ve expected, but you’re not going to hear me complain about that. Very much looking forward to the rest of the record, if that needs to be said.
From the PR wire:
Legendary Metal Trio BANG To Release New Album “Another Me”
Often called America’s answer to Black Sabbath, one of the most unsung bands in the history of US hard rock music, BANG, is back with a new album “Another Me”! Featuring all 3 members of the classic line-up: bassist/vocalist Frank Ferrara, guitarist Frankie Gilcken and original drummer/lyricist Tony Diorio along with new drummer Danny Piselli.
“We’re stoked about our new album ‘Another Me’ … It was a labor of love that’s been a long time coming … We went back to our roots to give our fans … in your face rock … all killer … no filler” – BANG
Check out the first single from the album, the killer title track “Another Me” – Stream/download the single: https://orcd.co/bang_anothermesingle
With the heaviness of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, coupled with the groove of Grand Funk Railroad, BANG released three critically acclaimed albums on Capitol Records in the early 1970s before disappearing for a number of years. 2023 marks the 52nd anniversary of BANG’s critically acclaimed debut album which was just reissued last week on a unique, limited edition colored vinyl.
In the summer of 1971, BANG, a trio from the Philadelphia area, decided to take a road trip to Florida to try their fortune. While buying some rolling papers in the Sunshine State, they learned about a Faces and Deep Purple concert nearby in Orlando. They showed up at the venue and brazenly declared they were ready to go on stage. The concert organizer asked them to set up and play for him. After a couple songs, he told them they were opening for Rod Stewart and Faces. Before they knew it, BANG was playing with Bachman Turner Overdrive, Deep Purple, Three Dog Night, Fleetwood Mac, Ike and Tina Turner, The Doobie Brothers, and even Black Sabbath. Capitol Records signed them, and three LPs were released.
The 1971 self-titled debut album “BANG” is considered an important forerunner to the early Doom Metal genre. Undoubtedly one of America’s heaviest ‘proto-metal’ bands from the period, BANG also had a strong sense of melodic power. The band’s versatility and songwriting skills are second to none. Highly regarded as a cult act by many for years, it’s now time for this truly amazing rock band to be enjoyed by a new audience worldwide!
It’s been nearly 20 years since the band’s previous studio album, two decades in which they’ve overcome incredible challenges, all to bring this epic slab of heavy, melodic psychedelic metal to their still loyal fanbase!
Track List: 1. Another Me 2. Broken Toys 3. Man Of God 4. Clouds 5. Two Angels 6. Drone Pilot 7. Tin Man 8. This Night
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 26th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
You can hear and see here that Philadelphia-based five-piece Quiet Man — who used to be called God Root — are working to distinguish themselves from the genre pack with their debut album. The way their style is discussed below — the references to dark psychedelia, and so on — I take as a signifier that their aural individuality is a goal in both the now and longer-term. And while that might be true for most bands at least in terms of what they say in press releases, the crusher single “Set to Boil is the New Standard” and their brazenly political stance-taking back up that intention as well.
“Set to Boil is the New Standard” is nine minutes long and one of seven tracks on the record, so either the runtime borders on an hour or they change up their methods significantly throughout. Either way, really. As a first impression from a first record as Quiet Man, the song’s weight is carried through the guitar and bass tones and the overarching atmosphere, a mood of actual-doom (as opposed to doom metal; I’m talking about the end of the world) and the resultant existential angst pervading all the more after reading the descriptions below. I guess they wind up in the post-metal or post-sludge vein, but at least with the single it’s more about the route that gets them there, which is engaging, brutally churning and spacious in kind.
The Starving Lesson is out July 14 through Riff Merchant Records and Astralands. The following came down the PR wire:
QUIET MAN Announces New Album The Starving Lesson
Bringing the darkness back to psychedelia, QUIET MAN (formerly God Root) is anything but quiet. The sludge-infused kaleidoscopic debut album, The Starving Lesson is as political and ecologically bent as it is emotionally and spiritually compelling. “It’s hard to write about anything else when you see what is happening to the planet and to our community,” the band states. The Starving Lesson is due out via Riff Merchant Records and Astralands 7/14.
Today the band has revealed the first single off of the new album. “Set to Boil Is The New Standard”.
Of the track, the band shares: “The military industrial machine is a Frankenstein monster long unchained from any master but total domination and anti-life. It is programmed to feed on the blood of the exploited for meaningless capital to the end-state of annihilation.”
“This isn’t rainbows and sunshine psych, this is peaking on acid in a car accident shit,” the band continues of the album. “We want the music, especially live, to be a more physical sensory experience. I think music has the power to change the physiology of a person and we really strive to give people a psychedelic experience and sense of catharsis through the performance.”
The soundtrack to the self-extinction of man, The Starving Lesson is a stark proclamation of the inevitable end.
The record kicks off with “Pressure to Burrow” The destruction of the self on both the micro and macro levels, the track about watching the people you love falling prey to chaotic drug use, drawing a thematic parallel to the self-destructive ecocide we perpetrate as a species.
“At Operating Temp” is a noise interlude that introduces sounds from numbers stations, encoded and usually automated messages sent to espionage agents over shortwave radio frequencies. These transmissions will outlast all life on Earth.
“From Tomorrow’s Dead Hiss” raises the stakes from simple self-destruction to ecological genocide. “It parallels the dulling and cheapening of human life through the machinations of capitalism to the dulling and cheapening of the Earth and her resources,” the band elaborates.
“The Post Abandoned” uses sounds from shortwave stations including the “dead hand system” meant to trigger nuclear retaliation in the case that there is nobody left alive to “push the button”.
While “The Starving Lesson” is a plea to leave the machine to not participate in its violence.
“All Along We Were Beautiful Radiant Things” is a recontextualization of a very hopeful and inspiring quote from Emma Goldman’s Living My Life: “I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody’s right to beautiful, radiant things.’ Anarchism meant that to me, and I would live it in spite of the whole world — prisons, persecution, everything. Yes, even in spite of the condemnation of my own closest comrades I would live my beautiful ideal.”
The Starving Lesson was recorded by Scot Moriarty at Backroom Studios in Rockaway, NJ and mastered by Magnus Lindberg (CULT OF LUNA).
The beginning of the end, what will take root once we are gone?
QUIET MAN is:
Joe Hughes – Guitar/Vocals Keith Riecke – Guitar Jack Sterling – Guitar/Samples Ross Bradley – Bass/Vocals Jason Jenigen – Drums
