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Album Review: Dozer, Drifting in the Endless Void

Posted in Reviews on April 20th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Dozer Drifting in the Endless Void

Dozer return. A decade almost to the day after beginning a reunion at Desertfest in Berlin and London (review here) and having played festivals and select other dates all the while if not having fully resumed life as a touring band, and the better part of two years announcing the project as part of Blues Funeral Recordings‘ PostWax subscription vinyl series — for which, in the interest of full disclosure, I wrote/write the liner notes — after full catalogue reissues through Heavy Psych Sounds and years of will-they-won’t-they speculation on the part of their audience, Dozer offer the Karl Daniel Lidén-helmed seven songs/42 minutes of Drifting in the Endless Void as a decade-and-a-half-later follow-up to 2008’s Beyond Colossal (featured here, discussed here, 2009 interview here), and part of what’s so stunning about it is that it makes that ridiculous idea a reality. A ‘follow-up’ 15 years later. Imagine where you were 15 years ago, who you were. Do you think you could step back into being that person?

Of course, the narrative here is more complex. Dozer announced their hiatus in 2009, but haven’t been actually-gone for a long time, and as founding guitarist Tommi Holappa has spent the intervening years building his concurrent outfit Greenleaf into a full-time touring act — in some ways fulfilling the role that Dozer otherwise might and taking on a more modern heavy sound, where Greenleaf was once a classic ’70s-style heavy rock side-project — they’ve never been entirely absent from consideration, the prospect of a new album looming over their being added to one fest or another, here, there, or Germany. But the ease with which Holappa and fellow founding member, guitarist/vocalist Fredrik Nordin — whose voice is no less a part of what makes Dozer who they are than the riffs or bombastic style of a song like “Run, Mortals, Run!” here — bassist Johan Rockner and drummer Sebastian Olsson (also of Greenleaf) have apparently stepped back into being Dozer is striking.

Part of that is the collaboration with the aforementioned Lidén on production. The history between the two parties is significant and winding, with his having been in Demon Cleaner, with whom Dozer did splits early on, having played in Greenleaf and produced Dozer numerous times in the past, which is not to mention drumming on 2005’s Through the Eyes of Heathens (featured here; discussed here) and the demo collection released during their hiatus, Vultures (review herediscussed here) — that, by the way, is the short version of the association thread — but his work at the board of Studio Gröndal is essential to the sound of Drifting in the Endless Void, from the opening riff and ride cymbal taps, thuds and frenetic tension that launches the record with the seven-and-a-half-minute “Mutation/Transformation” to the fullness of the groove that ensues in the last build and don’t-want-to-let-go finish of bookending closer “Missing 13” (also the longest song at 8:35), the balance between spaciousness and crunch in the mix seeming to pick up where the band left off those years ago like nothing ever happened. Like, oh, turns out Dozer were right there the whole time. Here’s “Dust for Blood.”

That song, which caps side A and is a standout hook even among Dozer‘s various surging choruses in “Ex-Human, Now Beast,” “Mutation/Transformation” and the intentionally grandiose crescendo of centerpiece “Andromeda” still to come, is quintessential Dozer. With an energy that comes through the kick drum and a threat of aggression coinciding, it is atmospheric in the reach of its echo around Nordin‘s vocals (which were self-recorded) and immediate in Rockner‘s bassline in the verse with the guitar picking up for the somehow-swaggering chorus push. They toy with pace throughout, as “No Quarter Expected, No Quarter Given” moves into and through a relative frenzy in its second half and hits into a false stop before bursting back into its own chorus, “Andromeda” rides its melancholy groove so fluidly, and “Run, Mortals, Run!” — yes, there is a lot of punctuation in the song titles; don’t get hung up — finds consciousness and purpose within its intensity, guitar howling out like a siren at about three and a half minutes into the 6:44 before the loud/quiet trade and ending ensue, the four-piece clearheaded in following a plot while making a thrill of the going.

dozer (Photo by Mats Ek)

But if one feels in listening like they’re riding a car that’s hitting the bumps in the road on purpose, the adrenaline that courses throughout Drifting in the Endless Void is also a crucial part of Dozer‘s approach and has been at least since 2002’s Call it Conspiracy (discussed herealso discussed here); they write songs you can feel in your blood, and they’d seem to know it. At the same time, it’s not 2009, or 2013, and as this material was written between 2021 and 2022 (recorded in Spring a year ago), it’s a fresh look at who Dozer are today. These aren’t tracks that have been laying around since 2015, and accordingly, Drifting in the Endless Void benefits from not being overworked. Of course there’s a plan at work — it would be hard to follow the course charted by “No Quarter Expected, No Quarter Given” through its snare-stomp-punctuated ebbs and flows and argue otherwise — but part of what lets the album as an entirety live up to the near-impossible expectations upon it is the fact that it avoids the issue entirely. Dozer know who they are.

And that awareness extends to their ability to be sweeping in their largesse or intimate and subdued, or both if we’re talking about the “Everything will be okay” reassurances that become the apex of “Missing 13” at the record’s conclusion, but in that, Drifting in the Endless Void isn’t just Dozer doing an impression of what Dozer used to be, either in sound or substance. These songs reach farther, find new middle grounds between one extreme or the other, and define themselves in part by how they interact with each other — the transitions between “Andromeda” and “No Quarter Expected, No Quarter Given,” or the dead stop of “Ex-Human, Now Beast” and the bright clarion of guitar at the start of “Dust for Blood” create a flow that, while still a series of individual tracks, gives the album a whole-work feel — and to think that a band would release a sixth album 15 years after their fifth and have it sound the same is ludicrous anyway. Dozer have grown. Mutated and transformed? Maybe. I’m not sure they could’ve gone to the same kinds of places during their original run as they do in that first cut or what follows. But they’re still Dozer.

It would be hyperbole to say Drifting in the Endless Void was worth the wait as the ‘next thing’ from the band, but that’s kind of true as well. At very least, the album justifies the anticipation that’s greeted it and reaffirms just how not-done Dozer were when they went on hiatus. Calling it a heavy rock landmark for 2023 feels like underselling it. Calling it one of the year’s best records? Superfluous. It’s not a record about this year or the last 15 years or even about next year. It’s a testament to everything Dozer have done that has both stood the test of time and remained so decisively individualized that nobody has been able to come along and do it better. This band, doing this thing, in their way. Inimitable. There has only ever been one Dozer. Thank goodness they showed up here.

Dozer, Drifting in the Endless Void (2023)

Dozer, “Ex-Human, Now Beast” official video

Dozer, “Dust for Blood” official video

Dozer on Facebook

Dozer on Instagram

Dozer on Bandcamp

Dozer website

Blues Funeral Recordings on Facebook

Blues Funeral Recordings on Instagram

Blues Funeral Recordings on Bandcamp

Blues Funeral Recordings website

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Dozer Post “Ex-Human, Now Beast” Video; Drifting in the Endless Void Preorder Available

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 22nd, 2023 by JJ Koczan

dozer (Photo by Mats Ek)

There are going to be a lot of people with Dozer at the top of their best-of-2023 lists about 10 months from now, and none of them will get any argument from me. The venerated Swedish heavy rockers return after 15 years with Drifting in the Endless Void, which is out April 21 through Blues Funeral Recordings. By that time, the subscribers to the label’s PostWax service will have already gotten their platters — the download codes went out a couple evenings ago — and as I wrote the liner notes for that edition of the release, I won’t pretend not to have heard it. It’s new Dozer. I feel like that’s the highest compliment for it, and if you know the band, you know that means something.

Yesterday, the band and label posted the track “Ex-Human, Now Beast,” and I almost put this up then, but got the tipoff that the video was coming today for it, so here we are. I’ve waited a long time to talk about this record, so one more day isn’t killing me, but if you’re still reading, why? The clip is at the bottom of the post. Go. Go!

The PR wire brought the following info, preorder links, and so on. As I said, go:

Dozer Drifting in the Endless Void

Swedish stoner rock godfathers DOZER to release new album “Drifting in the Endless Void” on Blues Funeral Recordings; preorder + first single available!

Preorder: Blues Funeral Recordings website, Bandcamp and European store.

Swedish godfathers of stoner rock DOZER return after over a decade with their long-anticipated sixth studio album “Drifting in the Endless Void”, to be released this April 21st on Blues Funeral Recordings. Watch their brand new video for “Ex-Human, Now Beast” right now!

About Dozer’s awaited comeback, Dozer co-founder and lead guitarist Tommi Holappa comments: “It’s been 15 years since the last Dozer album and this is who we are now. We might be older, maybe not so much wiser, but I think we may have made one of our best albums. When we started writing new material, we didn’t have a clue what this band would sound like in the 2020s. It was a bit nerve-wracking at first, but after we finished “Missing 13”, the first song we wrote for the album, we knew we were onto something. The first single “Ex-Human, Now Beast” has all the energy, power and heaviness we’ve always loved to create, it’s proof we can still rock and we can’t wait for people to hear it!”

About the video: “As soon as I saw the track name, I knew I needed to do a video where one or more of the guys get beastified by a giant tentacled monster,” laughs Peder Bergstrand, director, Lowrider frontman and longtime friend of the band. “The result is a mix of horror, humor, and these relentless animated nightmare sections that I think match the track’s non-stop rocket fuel drum parts really well.”

DOZER still bring the tumultuous churn that longtime fans expect, but their sound has become a gravitational mass that also pulls in massive sludge, fuzzed-out doom, space-tripping grooves, red-eyed psychedelics, and whatever else they find floating in the vast cosmic expanse. Their return to the musical landscape they helped shape is cause enough for celebration, but the explosive playing and fiery purpose is what makes “Drifting in the Endless Void” a truly unmissable experience!

“Drifting in the Endless Void” will be available worldwide on April 21st (with the ultra-limited deluxe vinyl edition shipping earlier to PostWax Vol. II subscribers) on various vinyl formats, limited digipack CD and digital.

New album “Drifting In The Endless Void”
Out April 21st on Blues Funeral Recordings
Get more info & subscribe to PostWax Vol. II at this location

1. Mutation/Transformation
2. Ex-Human, Now Beast
3. Dust for Blood
4. Andromeda
5. No Quarter Expected, No Quarter Given
6. Run, Mortals, Run!
7. Missing 13

DOZER is:
Tommi Holappa – Guitar
Fredrik Nordin – Guitar/Vox
Johan Rockner – Bass
Sebastian Olsson – Drums

Photo: Mats Ek @matstxswe

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https://www.dozermusic.com/

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Dozer, “Ex-Human, Now Beast” official video

Dozer, Drifting in the Endless Void (2023)

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Mammoth Volume Premiere “A Lullaby of Doom” Video; New Album Due Aug. 19

Posted in Bootleg Theater on June 7th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Mammoth Volume

Sweden’s Mammoth Volume release their new album, The Cursed Who Perform the Larvagod Rites, on Aug. 19 through Blues Funeral Recordings.

Once upon about 20 years ago, there was a band in Sweden who were weird. They were called Mammoth Volume, and amid the surge of heavy rock and roll coming out of their home country at the time (see also: always), the Lysekil natives took a more pastoral turn. They weren’t going for retroism like others at that particular moment, but their brand of heavy rock fore sure was indebted to the classics. 21 years after releasing their landmark second LP, 2001’s A Single Book of Songs By…, the weirdos are back and, well, they’re still weird.

That is to say, their approach, whatever familiarity it might have to desert-minded this or classically bluesy that, is still their own. Fact of the matter is Mammoth Volume were never as big as some of the others of their cohort because they didn’t fit as easy into a single idea. Their songs could go different places, add different vibes to a record, and that’s still the case on the cumbersomely titled The Cursed Who Perform the Larvagod Rites. Just because it’s been two decades you think they can’t outweird you? I promise you they beg to differ.

“A Lullaby of Doom” is the first audio to come from The Cursed Who Perform the Larvagod Rites, which will be out Aug. 19 through Blues Funeral Recordings, and you’ll find it premiering in the video below. Please also note that this release is included in Postwax Year II, for which I write the liner notes.

Video and details from the PR wire follow:

 

Mammoth Volume, “A Lullaby of Doom” video premiere

Mammoth Volume on “A Lullaby of Doom”:

“”A Lullaby of Doom” is the first single from The Cursed who Perform the Larvagod Rites. The song is about a possible future with rampant wars and destruction, but also about hope, love and reconciliation. Now is a good time to reflect on – and appreciate – the fact that we do not live in a warzone. So, sit back, pour yourself a cold beer, smoke ’em if you got ’em, crank up the volume, listen and enjoy!”

Mammoth Volume was founded in the small Swedish town of Lysekil in 1996, during a recording session where Daniel Gustafsson was the artist and Nicklas Andersson was the sound engineer. Also at the session was Nicklas’ brother Jörgen (known then as THE metal singer in Lysekil). A friend of the three, Kalle Berlin, was invited to complete the lineup of the new band on bass, an instrument he hadn’t played before. A truly humble beginning. At the time, stoner rock was new, cool, and catching fire in Sweden, and Mammoth Volume immediately sought to differentiate themselves. Proggy sections, unusual melodic phrasings, jazzy breaks, shady tempo changes and wistful ballads became hallmarks of their sound.

A band who never thought anyone but friends and family would listen to their music signed with American record company The Music Cartel in 1998, and released their debut album the following year. Emails and phone calls began to flow in. The visitor counter on their official website increased noticeably, and Stonerrock.com – the place to be if you followed the genre – praised the record.

Noara Dance was released in 2000, a seven-song EP on CD and vinyl. Another positive response followed, and the band embarked on small tours in Germany and Holland with Dozer and Terra Firma, among others. In 2001, A Single Mammoth-Volume-The-Cursed-Who-Perform-The-Larvagod-RitesBook of Songs was released and hit like a bomb in the scene. The album won the year’s best album on Stonerrock.com, even though the record made it clearer than ever that Mammoth Volume was as influenced by Yes and Mike Oldfield as by Kyuss. The band took to the road for the biggest tour of their career across Europe, playing in some places to packed houses, while other venues were almost comically empty.

The first phase of Mammoth Volume came to a close with the release of the 17-song “DEMO” album The Early Years. With that, the band took a long break. They recorded a few demos in the mid-2000’s, had a couple of rehearsals, gigs and recording sessions in the early 2010’s, but all in a fairly underground way. But Nicklas always had the vision to re-start the band properly, convinced that, with Daniel at his side, Mammoth Volume had more to give.

At last, the band officially reactivated in 2019, stronger than ever, and ready to present their comeback album of genre-bending stoner-prog fusion to an unsuspecting world.

New album “The Cursed Who Perform The Larvagod Rites”
Available on August 19th, 2022 through Blues Funeral Recordings.

Stronger and weirder than ever, Mammoth Volume return with their comeback album of genre-bending stoner-prog fusion. Ready to blindside the scene with massive riffs, unexpected instrumentation, and angular yet irresistible hooks, their approach remains utterly unique, going back to when this innovative foursome reigned over the early, wild west days of the online heavy rock landscape.

The band says: “The Cursed who Perform the Larvagod Rites is our first official release in over twenty years. A little bit of butterflies in the stomach, and a metallic taste in the mouth actually. How will our old fans react to our music in 2022? Well, we can promise them it is like nothing they could even imagine. It’s not metal, it’s not Nordic folk music, it’s not retro prog; but a bit of everything in between these styles. The Cursed who Perform the Larvagod Rites is a fictional (and sometimes not so fictional) journey through fire-ravaged wastelands, medieval castles, long abandoned ruins, post-apocalyptic cities and the modern city. So strap in, because you will be encountering demons, fortune tellers, literary figures, and of course the occasional cryptic gobbledygook lyrics for good measure. »

Tracklist:
1 The Kuleshov Effect
2 Diablo IV
3 Medieval Torture Device
4 Want to Join Us? Come Back Later!
5 Osteoporos
6 The Lightwedge 60’s Race, Zombie Piccolos and the German
7 A King and a Tyrant
8 A Lullaby of Doom
9 Diablo V: Lanternsong

Album credits:
Jörgen “Aston” Andersson – Vocals
Daniel Gustafsson – Guitars, Keyboards
Kalle Berlin – Bass
Nicklas Andersson – Drums, Vocals, Percussions

Guest Performances:
Richard Maisa – Bass on ‘Medieval Torture Device’ and ‘A King and a Tyrant’
Iza Elfström – Backup Vocals on ‘The Kuleshov Effect’

Mammoth Volume on Facebook

Mammoth Volume on Bandcamp

Blues Funeral Recordings on Facebook

Blues Funeral Recordings on Instagram

Blues Funeral Recordings on Bandcamp

Blues Funeral Recordings website

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Dozer Announce New Drummer Sebastian Olsson

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 5th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Swedish heavy rockers Dozer are looking to issue their first full-length since 2008 sometime this year as part of Blues Funeral RecordingsPostWax vinyl subscription series, and I can think of few albums that I personally am more anticipating hearing in 2022 than that. Maybe none.

I won’t at all discount the work guitarist and principal songwriter Tommi Holappa has done with Greenleaf in Dozer‘s absence — 2021’s Echoes From a Mass (review here) was a heavy blues beacon in a pretty dark year, and I don’t think it’s out of line to say that Greenleaf has progressed along a path that’s in part informed by where Dozer might’ve gone while benefitting from the differences of the other personalities involved; I could go on about this and probably will at some point — but after a decade of periodic shows and hints that something might be in the works, to know new Dozer is in actual progress feels great.

They’ll make their next record without drummer Olle Mårthans, it seems. Mårthans was with the band since 2008’s Beyond Colossal (discussed here; reissue featured here) — such as it was — and was a monster behind the kit, injecting youthful energy into Dozer‘s tried and true aggressive style of riff-led shove. The new drummer is Sebastian Olsson, who also plays in GreenleafDozer bassist Johan Rockner likewise played in Greenleaf for a time, so there’s plenty of fluid history between the two bands — and he’ll appear on the new Dozer release, which, again, is happening and that’s wonderful.

The band’s social media announcement follows:

Dozer

DOZER – BIG NEWS

We’d like to thank our (now former) drummer Olle for all the good memories. He could, sadly, no longer participate in our journey.

We’d also like to thank our new drummer Sebastian, also in Greenleaf, for taking part in this new chapter.

Great things are coming. New album with a new swinging setup.

DOZER is:
Tommi Holappa – Guitar
Fredrik Nordin – Guitar/Vox
Johan Rockner – Bass
Sebastian Olsson – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/dozerband
https://www.facebook.com/bluesfuneral/
https://www.instagram.com/blues.funeral/
https://bluesfuneralrecordings.bandcamp.com/
bluesfuneral.com

Dozer, Beyond Colossal (2008)

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Dozer to Release New Album for PostWax Subscription Vinyl Series

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 27th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Much-missed Swedish heavy rockers Dozer announce their return after 13 years with a new studio album to be released on Blues Funeral RecordingsPostWax subscription vinyl series. Their last record was 2008’s Beyond Colossal (discussed here; reissue featured here), and the band has played intermittently since getting back together alongside Lowrider at Desertfest Berlin and London in 2013, but even that’s eight years ago at this point. Certainly guitarist Tommi Holappa‘s work before and after that time in Greenleaf isn’t to be dismissed, but Dozer‘s work is the stuff of a very particular legend, and having Fredrik Nordin on guitar and vocals alongside Holappa on a full Dozer studio release is a significant happening.

The lineup for Dozer‘s impending PostWax offering will be Nordin, Holappa, bassist Johan Rockner and drummer Olle Mårthans, and that too is exceptionally good news.

Fresh off the PR wire:

dozer

Stoner rock legends DOZER to release first studio album in 13 years, as part of PostWax series on Blues Funeral Recordings.

Swedish stoner rock legends DOZER recently entered the studio to record their first full-length album since 2008’s “Beyond Colossal”. It will be released by Blues Funeral Recordings as part of their upcoming PostWax Vol.II vinyl series.
Dozer. A band whose name stands alongside the greatest pillars of the European desert rock movement, going back to its earliest genesis. A band whose music evolved, branched and grew over the course of five seminal albums and a wealth of memorable singles and EPs. Their era of peak activity saw them always crafting their sound as they matured and developed, endlessly sharpening their chops with shows and tours alongside Mastodon, Rollins Band, Hellacopters, Spiritual Beggars, Clutch, Nebula, Entombed and more.

Dozer has been playing festivals and reissuing a handful of their classic releases for nearly a decade, but the world has been without a proper new album for some time. Now, Dozer is well underway on a new studio album, which will be presented by Blues Funeral Recordings as part of its exclusive PostWax Vol. II series, as well as in a worldwide format to follow. It’s a homecoming, as Blues Funeral’s founder originally released Dozer on his first label, MeteorCity, on both the ‘Welcome to MeteorCity’ compilation and the Unida/Dozer double EP. Time passes, creativity re-ignites, friends circle back.

Says singer/guitarist Fredrik Nordin about Dozer’s return to the studio: “Cancelled gigs. Isolation. Many full moons have passed since we were last creating music together. We came to the conclusion that we should make something positive of all this… so we started to create. The ball was in motion. Made a post on Instagram which caught the attention of our old friend Jadd. He asked if we were writing an album? Yes, we said. PostWax and Record deal? Hell yes, we said. The ball was rolling. 2022 will be one hell of a year. How it will sound? No one knows. All we can tell you is that it will be something to look forward to, because it’s gonna be one hell of a trip.”

To subscribe to PostWax Vol. II and receive Dozer’s forthcoming album in a stunning collector’s format alongside PostWax releases featuring Acid King, Dead Meadow, Josiah, Dopelord, Elephant Tree, Lowrider, REZN, Mammoth Volume, The Otolith and Vinnum Sabbathi, visit Bluesfuneral.com.

DOZER is:
Tommi Holappa – Guitar
Fredrik Nordin – Guitar/Vox
Johan Rockner – Bass
Olle Mårthans – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/dozerband
https://www.facebook.com/bluesfuneral/
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https://bluesfuneralrecordings.bandcamp.com/
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Dozer, Beyond Colossal (2008)

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Dead Meadow to Release The Unhounded Now for PostWax Vol. II

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 4th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Okay, count with me. Dead Meadow, Acid King w/ Jason LandrianRezn & Vinnum SabbathiLowrider & Elephant TreeJosiahMammoth VolumeDopelordThe Otolith. That’s eight.

As Blues Funeral Recordings wrapped the well-over-its-goal by crowdfunding this past week for PostWax Vol. II, and as this announcement of Dead Meadow‘s The Unhounded Now is reported to be the final one by the label’s own social media posting, I can’t help but notice that somebody’s missing. I know I’m the guy who does the liner notes for PostWax, but I tell you now I have no idea who the ninth act is.

The PR wire below acknowledges one more to come, so I guess we’ll see soon enough. Here’s looking forward, also to Dead Meadow getting weird and jamming out for this:

postwax year two logo

DEAD MEADOW to issue special project as part of PostWax Vol.II vinyl series on Blues Funeral Recordings.

Washington-based modern psych rock luminaries DEAD MEADOW are set to release a special concept record as part of Blues Funeral Recordings upcoming PostWax Vol. II vinyl series. Also confirmed to take part in the series are Acid King, Lowrider, Elephant Tree, Mammoth Volume, Josiah, REZN and Vinnum Sabbathi.

Emerging in Washington, D.C. in the late 90s, DEAD MEADOW reached critical mass in the mid-2000s, creating a dreamy, universe-expanding blend of classic and forward-thinking psychedelic rock that puts them at the top of modern psych-rock tinged with post-metal, carving out a space somewhere between the Black Angels and Explosions in the Sky.

On the heels of a sublime Levitation Sessions performance at The Pillars of the Gods earlier this year, the band set to work creating a special release for PostWax Vol. II. They were encouraged to push even further into the cosmos, and for a band like this, who knows what far-reaching dimensions that might take them to? Of their forthcoming PostWax recordings, singer and guitarist Jason Simon says: “Dead Meadow present ‘The Unhounded Now’, a mostly instrumental outing of fuzzed-out drone, otherworldly melody, and eastern tinged celebration.”

Announcing a total of nine releases for their upcoming PostWax Vol. II series, Blues Funeral Recordings have already confirmed the participation of Acid King, Mammoth Volume, Josiah, as well as one-off collaborative albums between Lowrider / Elephant Tree, and REZN / Vinnum Sabbathi. The final band to join the series will be announced soon; don’t forget to head over their Kickstarter page to sign up for the series before it ends on Friday 30th April. The purpose of Postwax Vol. II is to create a curated series of releases that stand alone yet also connect, both through art elements and a musical throughline, in the form of next level collectible records for all heavy rock fans worldwide.

=> Get more info & subscribe to PostWax Vol. II at this location: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bluesfuneral/postwax-vol-ii

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Dead Meadow, “Rains in the Desert” Levitation Sessions

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The Otolith & Dopelord Announced for PostWax Vol. II

Posted in Whathaveyou on April 29th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

This brings us up to seven of the nine total inclusions for PostWax Vol. II, and if I tell you The Otolith‘s debut album is among the outings I’m most looking forward to in this series, I hope you’ll know I’m not exaggerating. Been waiting a couple years for that post-SubRosa outfit to release their first record, so yeah, I’ll take that as soon as humanly possible thank you very much. New Dopelord — their Reality Dagger EP (review here) — shows how far the reach of this project goes. They have a few albums out, of course, but like REZ and Vinnum Sabbathi, who’ll collaborate on a PostWax offering, they represent an up and coming generation of players. I like that they don’t seem to know what they’re going to do in the quote below. How about a film score? Really mess with people.

So, two more announcements to come, and then all will be revealed. I can’t wait to dig into these for the liner notes in the meantime:

postwax year two logo

DOPELORD and THE OTOLITH confirmed to release new albums as part of PostWax Vol. II vinyl series on Blues Funeral Recordings!

Blues Funeral Recordings announce the next bands to take part in the PostWax Vol. II vinyl subscription series. Polish stoner doom flag-bearers DOPELORD are set to crank their fuzz up to stratospheric levels, and Salt Lake City avant-garde doom unit THE OTOLITH (formed by SubRosa members) will issue their awaited debut album as part of the series.

Between Acid King, Lowrider, Mammoth Volume and Josiah, Blues Funeral Recordings has gathered a wealth of artists who have been hewing riffs from stone, sand and sky for decades, inviting them to bring their immense talents and peerless legacies to their ambitious PostWax series. But, as shown by the inclusions of REZN, Elephant Tree and Vinnum Sabbathi, they also put the spotlight on bands who represent stoner, doom and heavy scene’s present and future, ones with the benefit to peer across the generation of heavy rock greatness before them as they seek to forge enthusiastically forward.

Blues Funeral Recordings is happy to welcome Poland’s fuzz-doom emissaries DOPELORD on board today. These masters of monolithic normally follow a deeply DIY path, having self-released almost their entire catalog while still managing to secure worldwide adoration. Albums like ‘Children of the Haze’ and ‘Sign of the Devil’ are absolute monsters of granite-thick hallucinatory riff-tripping.

Dopelord’s Piotr Klusek declares: “We’ve been aware of the PostWax project for a few years now and thought it sounded interesting but wanted to see how it all came together, plus we were focusing on our new album. After releasing our latest record and seeing how the first PostWax series came out, we absolutely wanted to be involved if they did it again. Whatever we end up doing, look forward to something adventurous and fun but still massive and utterly Dopelord!”

As for THE OTOLITH, the new four-piece formed from the ashes of SubRosa, they will release their highly anticipated debut double LP as part of PostWax Vol. II. Those who’ve been following the aftermath of SubRosa’s dissolution know that Kim Cordray, Levi Hanna, Andy Patterson and Sarah Pendleton announced the formation of The Otolith in 2019, and tantalized acolytes of SubRosa’s avant-garde sonic palette with songs on Magnetic Eye Records’ one-off ‘Dirt [Redux]’ and ‘Women of Doom’ compilations.

THE OTOLITH hint: “Our debut album reveals the musical mutations and mystical wanderings of a soul, scanning the edges of the known universe through cracked glass. Ghostly symphonic strings interlace with crushing bass, guitar, and percussion; voices conducting signals across time and space to arrive through cosmic storms to a sea of liquid stars.”

The purpose of Postwax Vol. II is to create a curated series of releases that stand alone yet also connect, both through art elements and a musical throughline. Unearthing forgotten bands, unveiling new ones, and catching icons at the height of their powers, Blues Funeral Recordings are set to deliver yet another set of next level and highly collectible releases for all heavy rock, fuzz and doom fans out there.

=> Get more info & subscribe to PostWax Vol. II at this location: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bluesfuneral/postwax-vol-ii

https://www.facebook.com/bluesfuneral/
https://www.instagram.com/blues.funeral/
https://bluesfuneralrecordings.bandcamp.com/
bluesfuneral.com

The Otolith, “Bone Dust”

Dopelord, Reality Dagger (2021)

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Jadd Shickler of Blues Funeral Recordings, Magnetic Eye Records & Ripple Music, Etc.

Posted in Questionnaire on April 23rd, 2021 by JJ Koczan

jadd shickler

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Jadd Shickler of Blues Funeral Recordings, et al

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

I own and operate Blues Funeral Recordings, I’m the label director for Magnetic Eye Records, and I’m the label manager for Ripple Music. If I had to define it, I guess I’d say I’m a music industry professional in the independent heavy label world, although “music industry professional” sounds like a title crafted to sound good on LinkedIn. Basically, I work with underground heavy music for independent labels. I also sing for Blue Heron, the band that original Spiritu guitarist Mike Chavez and I started in 2018.

I came to do what I do when my best friend and I started All That’s Heavy, the world’s first online heavy rock mailorder, back in 1997 at the dawn of the internet, as well as launching our record label MeteorCity. We sold All That’s Heavy about 4 years later, and then sold MeteorCity in 2008.

I was a little bit disillusioned and left the industry for about a half dozen years, but started getting slowly drawn back in 2014 or so. I did some writing for The Ripple Effect and The Doom Charts, then finally ended up falling into a role with then one-man label Magnetic Eye Records in 2016. I had a day job at the time, but as my duties with Magnetic Eye expanded, my interest in doing more grew as well.

I got the idea for what would become the PostWax series around that time, and started working on it in the background of my day job and MER work.

In the spring of 2018, a couple things happened: the prospect of releasing a record myself propelled me to create a new label of my own so that I’d have the infrastructure in place for PostWax whenever it was ready. Ironically, the release which motivated that ended up not happening, but I’d already gone through so much of the setup to get this new label (Blues Funeral) off the ground that it inspired me to give it some attention.

Around the same time, I came to realize that I wasn’t super invested in my day job. My boss realized it too, and she started getting really toxic, which is somewhat understandable given what she was paying me while I was sneakily working on Magnetic Eye stuff from the office, but it still soured me on the job.

I finally decided to quit that summer, which I find a bit funny because I’ve been fired from nearly every “real” job I ever had, but for the first time, I took the step of leaving into my own hands, even though it was the best-paying day job I’d ever had by that point. I nearly took a new day job the following month to replace, but in a moment of passion-driven risk and with support from my wife, I decided to pass on it to see if I could try to make an actual living in the music industry for the first time in my life.

We racked up debt for the next year or so, during which time I joined Ripple Music to handle production and a variety of logistical stuff, as well as launching the first PostWax series. In mid-2019, I was able to facilitate the purchase of Magnetic Eye Records by a larger label group, and part of the deal was that they’d keep me on as label director once the buyout took effect. So, after getting my start in the music industry in late 1997, it became my full-time career on January 1st, 2020, and that’s how I got where I am today, running two labels and working for a third, and not having to supplement what I do with having a traditional day job.

Describe your first musical memory.

I’ve got a few and can’t recall which one is first, but it’s one of these two:

jadd hit explosionThe first record I ever asked for and got which wasn’t a kid’s record was a vinyl compilation called Hit Explosion that came out in 1983 from K-Tel. It’s got tracks from Joan Jett, Rush, REO Speedwagon, Rod Stewart, the Steve Miller Band, and Survivor (yes, “Eye of the Tiger.” Hell yes.). I saw TV ads for it and my parents got it for me, and I would play it down in this big den with high ceilings and a red brick floor where the record player was set up on this wide wooden bookcase, and I’d lay in this brown beanbag chair on the floor with light streaming in from the huge sliding glass door and listen to those songs till I knew every word to every song, even the ones I liked less than others. I think it laid the groundwork for me to appreciate compilations and the idea of someone with a certain level of musical intelligence choosing songs from different artists to put together. It was also the first music I ever found for myself, instead of just listening to whatever my parents played. By the way, I still have this record, nearly 40 years later. It’s warped as hell and beat to shit, but it’s still with me.

My other early memory is listening to my Dad’s Neil Diamond records in that same den on that same stereo and record player. When you’re a kid and before you start to develop your own tastes, you just kind of absorb whatever those around you (like your parents) care about, and my God, did my Dad love Neil Diamond. So I was just kind of always around when he’d be listening to various albums and it got in my DNA. This was obviously not the beginning of my love affair with heavy rock, but it does give me a great connection to caring about music a ton from an early age, always having it playing, always spinning records, and listening to albums from start to finish and flipping the sides. I can still visualize that den and that record player and bean bag chair perfectly, better than I can remember a lot of other stuff from the past 20 years, haha.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

It’s impossible for me to pick just one as THE BEST, but here’s one I love: At the end of my sophomore year of high school, so May of 1990, my best friend Aaron and I went to see Motley Crüe on the Dr. Feelgood tour. It was my first concert. I’d never been to a real show before, and going inside after showing our tickets, we emerged from the tunnel at the far end of Tingley Coliseum and looked longways down the huge oblong auditorium. We were up in the area with the seats above the railing because we hadn’t paid for floor tickets (not sure why, maybe they were sold out, or maybe too expensive). So we were standing basically all the way down the other end of the place looking at the stage from about as far away as we could be. Just then, within like 90 seconds of us coming up from the stairwell and trying to decide what to do, we saw a fight erupt down on the floor between a concert-goer and several of the show’s security guys. All the other security people started running toward the fight, and as soon as they did, attendees on the other side of the auditorium started jumping the railing and pouring down onto the floor and running to go mix in with the rest of the crowd. Aaron and I looked at each other, and I don’t remember saying anything, we just jumped the railing and ran straight into the crowd. That was the start of our first concert – a risk of getting our asses kicked by security and a successful upgrade of where we’d see the show. The concert itself is a bit of a blur, but the two highlights I remember are Lita Ford, who was opening the show, playing “Close My Eyes Forever” and having the crowd sing the Ozzy part, which we did, and then Tommy Lee doing a drum solo during Crüe’s set where he rode some kind of suspended cable car drum kit out over the crowd, so he was basically hanging above us doing his solo as we watched from below. I don’t really ever think about Motley Crüe as a musical influence, but that concert was a great musical memory among many many many that I’ve got.

For good measure, another great music memory is when my old band Spiritu toured as an opener with Clutch and Spiritual Beggars in Europe in 2003. We shared the opening slot with Dozer, so every night for three weeks, we played all over Europe, trading the first and second slot with Dozer each night (and then getting to go watch Dozer, which was awesome), and then I would go out into the crowd and watch Clutch DESTROY. As a Clutch fan, getting to travel to dozens of cities across Europe and watch one of the greatest live bands of all time, who also happens to be one of your favorites, who you also happen to be opening for, is just indescribable. The highlight was somewhere in Germany when, during a short pause between songs when the noise briefly dropped, this giant 6′ 6″ dude yelled out, “Like Marlon Brando, but bigger!” in an almost comically-exaggerated German accent, carrying through the whole theater and making Neil and the whole band briefly crack up, then look at each other immediately launch into playing “John Wilkes Booth.” Three weeks of that! Amazing times.

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

Well, I’m not sure if this fits what you’re saying, and it’s going to sound like a sales pitch for PostWax, but it’s not, this actually happened: Maybe two months ago, my creative director Peder (from Lowrider) and I were talking about filling the last couple slots on PostWax, and he mentioned a band to me that basically has an all-star lineup but who I really don’t care for. I’m not going to say who they are because I don’t want to shit on them for those who dig what they do, but PostWax (to me) is about putting together a lineup of bands that at least one of the three of us choosing artists for the project absolutely loves, and never letting our decisions be guided by how big of a name someone is or whether having them on board might help sell the project. So I basically told Peder, if YOU love them, I might consider it, but if not, let’s not do it.

I’d consider this a test of a firm belief because otherwise, why don’t we go try to lure on some huge emo-metal band to join the project just so we can blow out another 2,000 signups? I’d rather pick bands we love that satisfy the ethic of only working with bands at least one of us deeply believes in and loves musically. And by the way, this belief was established quite a few years ago when I was running MeteorCity and put out a couple things that I did mainly based on the idea that they would sell, and not because I thought there were awesome bands. I did that Hermano record, and the Gallery of Mites record, and the Orquesta del Desierto albums, all first and foremost because of the names involved. There were moments on all of them that I enjoyed musically, but I didn’t go into them feeling moved or inspired as a listener, I was thinking of who the musicians were and how their names would get people to check out the records, not about what I thought of the actual music. So yeah, I’ll never do that again, and would much sooner get behind an unknown band with a niche sound and no fans but whose music I love than ever put my money or label name on something that’s coming from a place of, “people will buy this” ever again.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Ha, probably to eventually making a record that not a ton of people besides the artist likes. Not trying to be cynical, but if you’re an artist, there are probably two paths: you make music you like and no one ever cares but you’re happy with what you’re doing, OR, you make something that some people like, and that sets an expectation for everything else you’ll ever do, and eventually, whether it’s your next album or your tenth album, you’ll be sick of trying to deliver something that lives up to what everyone else liked and just make a record you dig, and people will be like, “Too bad, I liked his old stuff better.” I think that’s inevitable, but not a bad thing really. You have to progress, even if followers and fans of your art aren’t always willing to stick with you while you go. I mean, if you just try to rehash what’s already been done, they’ll see through that as well and call you on it.

How do you define success?

Thank God you’re asking easy questions.

I’d probably say success is feeling great about what you’re doing. I’m earning less these days than in at least a couple of my previous “career” jobs, but I’m far happier with what I do and thus feel more successful. I know that being able to buy whatever you want, travel wherever you want to go, eat out every night probably feels pretty fantastic too, but I have a hard time imagining being able to do anything I didn’t love or believe in what I was doing in order to reach that point. If I could have that AND do something I feel great about, then awesome. But if they’re mutually exclusive, then for me the road to success will always need to be paved by personal and artistic satisfaction first and foremost.

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

Literally this morning I saw a dead dog, a pit bull, in a dumpster. It was in its crate, which means this was someone’s pet, and regardless of how it died, the idea that someone felt that the way to lay this dog to rest was to pick up the whole crate with the dog inside and drop it into a dumpster on the street is fucking revolting. Some human beings are just slime, and this world loves to remind us of that fact.

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

Well, I’d like to make a record with my band that I want to listen to from end to end without questioning whether it’s good or if I’m being objective or noticing the flaws. This is probably something that’s impossible for any musician, so I’m not holding my breath, but yeah. My old band only recorded and released a few things, so I’m hoping that Blue Heron is able to make a record that I can enjoy without caveats as a listener, and just dig musically and be proud of.

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

I love this question, because I think about this a lot: I think art is the only value humanity actually has. When I think about all the awful shitty things we do to the planet, animals, each other, etc., it’s hard not to wish for a comet to hit the planet and reset everything. But we create art, and that to me is our only saving grace. We transcend our urges and our pettiness and our destructive tendencies and tap into something more meaningful and lasting when we create art, whether that’s music or paintings or books, and if we didn’t do that, I’d have no hope for us whatsoever. So, I guess the specific answer to your question is, the most essential function of art is justifying humanity’s existence. A bit dark, I guess, but how I feel.

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

New Ghostbusters and Top Gun movies, which will probably both suck, but for the moment I’m excited. I know you said non-musical, but I have to say, being able to go to small-club shows again also. And my wife and I will be taking our first trip to Europe together later this year. She’s never been out of the country, and I haven’t been in fourteen years, so I basically haven’t been abroad as a grownup. Can’t wait.

https://www.facebook.com/bluesfuneral/
https://www.instagram.com/blues.funeral/
https://bluesfuneralrecordings.bandcamp.com/
bluesfuneral.com

http://store.merhq.com
http://magneticeyerecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MagneticEyeRecords
https://www.instagram.com/magneticeyerecords/

https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

Spiritu, “Throwback”

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