Here we go day four of the Quarterly Review. I would love to tell you it’s been easy-breezy this week. That is not the case. My kid is sick, my wife is tired of my bullshit, and neither of them is as fed up with me as I am. Nonetheless, we persist. Some day, maybe, we’ll sit down and talk about why. Today let’s keep it light, hmm?

And of course by “light” I mean very, very heavy. There’s some of that in the batch of 10 releases for today, and a lot of rock to go along, so yes, another day in the QR. I hope you find something you dig. I snuck in a surprise or two.

Quarterly Review #31-40:

Dorthia Cottrell, Death Folk Country

Crafted for texture, Death Folk Country finds Windhand vocalist Dorthia Cottrell exploring sounds that would be minimal if not for the lushness of the melodies placed over them. Her first solo offering since 2015 runs 11 tracks and feels substantial at a manageable 42 minutes as delivered through Relapse Records. The death comes slow and soft, the folk is brooding and almost resistant in its Americana traditionalism, and the country is vast and atmospheric, and all three are present in a release that’s probably going to be called ethereal because of layering or vocal reverb but in fact is terrestrial like dry dirt. The seven-minute “Family Annihilator” is nigh on choral, and e-bow or some such droner element fills out the reaches of “Hell in My Water,” expanding on the expectation of arrangement depth set up by the chimes and swells that back “Harvester” after the album’s intro. That impulse makes Death Folk Country kin to some of earlier Wovenhand — thinking Blush Music or Consider the Birds; yes, I acknowledge the moniker similarity between Windhand and Wovenhand and stand by the point as regards ambience — and a more immersive listen than it would otherwise be, imagining future breadth to be captured as part of the claims made in the now. Do I need to say that I hope it’s not 2031 before she does a third record?

Dorthia Cottrell on Bandcamp

Relapse Records website

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Fvzz Popvli, III

It’s been a quick — read: not quick — five years since Italian heavy rockers Fvzz Popvli released their second album, Magna Fvzz (review here), through Heavy Psych Sounds. Aptly titled, III is the third installment, and it’s got all the burner soloing, garage looseness and, yes, the fvzz one would hope, digging into a bit of pop-grunge on “The Last Piece of Shame,” setting a jammy expectation in the “Intro” mirrored in “Outro” with percussion, and cool-kid grooving on “Monnoratzo,” laced with hand-percussion and a bassline so thick it got made fun of in school and never lived down the trauma (a tragedy, but it rules just the same). “Post Shit” throws elbows of noise all through your favorite glassware, “20 Cent Blues” slogs out its march true to the name and “Tied” is brash even compared to what’s around it. Only hiccup so far as I can tell is “Kvng Fvzz,” which starts with a Charlie Chan-kind of guitar line and sees the vocals adopt a faux Chinese accent that’s well beyond the bounds of what one might consider ‘ill-advised.’ Cool record otherwise, but that is a significant misstep to make on a third LP.

Fvzz Popvli on Facebook

Retro Vox Records on Bandcamp

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Formula 400, Divination

San Diegan riffslingers Formula 400 come roaring back with their sophomore long-player, Divination, following three (long) years behind 2020’s Heathens (review here), bringing in new drummer Lou Voutiritsas for a first appearance alongside guitarist/vocalists Dan Frick and Ian Holloway and bassist Kip Page. With a clearer, fuller recording, the solos shine through, the gruff vocals are well-positioned in the mix (not buried, not overbearing), and even as they make plays for the anthemic in “Kickstands Up,” “Rise From the Fallen” and closer “In Memoriam,” the lack of pretense is one of the elements most fortunately carried over from the debut. “Rise From the Fallen” is the only cut among the nine to top five minutes, and it fills its time with largesse-minded riffing and a hook born out of ’90s burl that’s a good distance from the shenanigans of opener “Whiskey Bent” or the righteous shove of the title-track. They’re among the best of the Ripple Music bands not yet actually signed to the label, with an underscored C.O.C. influence in “Divination” and the calmer “Bottomfeeder,” while “In Memoriam” filters ’80s metal epics through ’70s heavy and ’20s tonal weight and makes the math add up. Pretty dudely, but so it goes with dudes, and dudes are gonna be pretty excited about it, dude.

Formula 400 on Facebook

Animated Insanity Records website

No Dust Records website

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Abanamat, Abanamat

Each of the two intended sides of Abanamat‘s self-titled debut saves its longest song for its respective ending, with “Voidgazer” (8:25) capping side A and “Night Walk” (9:07) working a linear build from silence all the way up to round out side B and the album as a whole. Mostly instrumental save for those two longer pieces, the German four-piece recorded live with Richard Behrens at Big Snuff and in addition to diving back into the beginnings of the band in opener “Djinn,” they offer coherent but exploratory, almost-Uncle–Acidic-in-its-languidity fuzz on “Thunderbolt of Flaming Wisdom,” growing near-prog in their urgency with it on the penultimate “Amdest” but never losing the abiding mellow spirit that manifests out of the ether as “Night Walk” rounds out the album with synth and keys and guitar in a jazzy for-a-walk meander as the band make their way into a fuller realization of classic prog elements, enhanced by a return of the vocals after five minutes in. They’re there just about through the end, and fit well, but it demonstrates that Abanamat even on their debut have multiple avenues in which they might work and makes their potential that much greater, since it’s a conscious choice to include singing on a song or not rather than just a matter of no one being able to sing. The way they set it up here would get stale after a couple more records, but one hopes they continue to develop both aspects of their sonic persona, as any need to choose between them is imaginary.

Abanamat on Instagram

Interstellar Smoke Records store

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Vvon Dogma I, The Kvlt of Glitch

Led by nine-string bassist Frédérick “ChaotH” Filiatrault (ex-Unexpect), Montreal four-piece Vvon Dogma I are a progressive metal whirlwind, melodic in the spirit of post-return Cynic but no less informed by death metal, djent, rock, electronic music and beyond, the 10-song/45-minute self-released debut, The Kvlt of Glitch confidently establishes its methodology in “The Void” at the outset and proceeds through a succession marked by hairpin turns, stretches of heavy groove like the chorus of “Triangles and Crosses” contrasted by furious runs, dance techno on “One Eye,” melody not at all forgotten in the face of all the changes in rhythm, meter, the intermittently massive tones, and so on. Yes, the bass features as it inevitably would, but with the precision drumming of Kevin Alexander, Yoan MP‘s backflipping guitar and the synth and strings (at the end) of Blaise Borboën (also credited with production), a sound takes shape that feels like it could have been years in the making. Mind you I don’t know that it was or wasn’t, but Vvon Dogma I lead the listener through the lumbering mathematics of “Lithium Blue,” a cover of Radiohead‘s “2+2=5” and the grand finale “The Great Maze” with a sense of mastery that’s almost unheard of on what’s a first record even from experienced players. I don’t know where it fits and I like that about it, and in those moments where I’m so overwhelmed that I feel like my brain is on fire, this seems to answer that.

Vvon Dogma I on Facebook

Vvon Dogma I on Bandcamp

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Orme, Orme

Two sprawling slow-burners populate the self-titled debut from UK three-piece Orme. Delivered through Trepanation Recordings as a two-song 2LP, Orme deep-dives into ambient psych, doom, drone and more besides in “Nazarene” (41:58) and “Onward to Sarnath” (53:47), and obviously each one is an album unto itself. Guitarist/vocalist Tom Clements, bassist Jimmy Long (also didgeridoo) and drummer Luke Thelin — who’s also listed as contributing ‘silence,’ which is probably a joke, but open space actually plays a pretty large role in the impression Orme make — make their way into a distortion-drone-backed roller jam on “Nazarene,” some spoken vocals from Clements along the way that come earlier and more proclamatory in “Onward to Sarnath” to preface the instrumental already-gone out-there-ness as well as throat singing and other vocalizations that mark the rest of the first half-hour-plus, a heavy psych jam taking hold to close out around 46 minutes with a return of distortion and narrative after, like an old-style hidden track. It’s fairly raw, but the gravitational singularity of Orme‘s two forays into the dark are ritualistic without being cartoonishly cult, and feel as much about their experience playing as the listener’s hearing. In that way, it is a thing to be shared.

Orme on Facebook

Trepanation Recordings on Bandcamp

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Artifacts & Uranium, The Gateless Gate

The UK-based experimentalist psych collaboration between Fred Laird (Earthling Society) and Mike Vest (Bong, et al) yields a third long-player as The Gateless Gate finds the duo branching out in the spirit of their 2021 self-titled and last year’s Pancosmology (review here) with instrumentalist flow and a three-dimensional sound bolstered by the various delays, organ, synth, and so on. Atop an emergent backbeat from Laird, “Twilight Chorus” (16:13) runs a linear trajectory bound toward the interstellar in an organic jam that comes apart before 12 minutes in and gives over to church organ and sampled chants soon to be countermanded by howls of guitar and distortion. Takest thou that. The B-side, “Sound of Desolation” (19:55), sets forth with a synthy wash that gives over to viol drone courtesy of Martin Ash, a gong hit marking the shift into a longform psych jam with a highlight bassline and an extended journey into hypnotics with choral keys (maybe?) arriving in the second half as the guitar begins to space out, fuzz soloing floating over a drone layer, the harder-hit drums having departed save for some residual backward/forward cymbal hits in the slow comedown. The world’s never going to be on their level, but Laird and Vest are warriors of the cosmos, and as their work to-date has shown, they have bigger fish to fry than are found on planet earth.

Artifacts & Uranium on Facebook

Riot Season Records website

Echodelick Records website

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Rainbows Are Free, Heavy Petal Music

What a show to preserve. Heavy Petal Music, while frustrating in that it’s new Rainbows Are Free and not a follow-up to 2019’s Head Pains, but as the Norman, Oklahoma, six-piece’s first outing through Ripple Music, the eight-song/43-minute live LP captures their first public performance in the post-pandemic era, and the catharsis is palpable in “Come” and “Electricity on Wax” early on and holds even as they delve into the proggier “Shapeshifter” later on, the force of their delivery consistent as they draw on material from across their three studio LPs unremitting even as their dynamic ranges between a piano-peppered bluesy swing and push-boogie like “Cadillac” and the weighted nod of “Sonic Demon” later on. The performance was at the 2021 Summer Breeze Music Festival in their hometown (not to be confused with the metal fest in Germany) and by the time they get down to the kickdrum surge backing the fuzzy twists of “Crystal Ball” — which doesn’t appear on any of their regular albums — the allegiance to Monster Magnet is unavoidable despite the fact that Rainbows Are Free have their own modus in terms of arrangements and the balance between space, psych, garage and heavy rock in their sound. Given Ripple‘s distribution, Heavy Petal Music will probably be some listeners’ first excursion with Rainbows Are Free. Somehow I have to imagine the band would be cool with that.

Rainbows Are Free on Facebook

Ripple Music website

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Slowenya, Angel Raised Wolves b/w Horizontal Loops

It’s the marriage of complexity and heft, of melody and nod, that make Slowenya‘s “Angel Raised Wolves” so effective. Moving at a comfortable tempo on the drums of Timo Niskala, the song marks out a presence with tonal depth as well as a sense of space in the vocals of guitarist/synthesist Jan Trygg. They break near the midpoint of the 6:39 piece and reemerge with a harder run through the chorus, bassist Tapani Levanto stepping in with backing vocals before a roar at 4:55 precedes the turn back to the original hook, reinforcing the notion that there’s been a plan at work the whole time. An early glimpse at the Finnish psych-doom trio’s next long-player, “Angel Raised Wolves” comes paired with the shorter “Horizontal Loops,” which drops its chugging riff at the start as though well aware of the resultant thud. A tense verse opens to a chorus pretty and reverbed enough to remind of Fear Factory‘s earlier work before diving into shouts and somehow-heavier density. Growls, or some other kind of noise — I’m honestly not sure — surfaces and departs as the nod builds to an an aggressive head, but again, they turn back to where they came from, ending with the initial riff the crater from which you can still see right over there. The message is plain: keep an ear out for that record. So yes, do that.

Slowenya on Facebook

Karhuvaltio Records on Facebook

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Elkhorn, On the Whole Universe in All Directions

Let’s start with what’s obvious and say that Elkhorn‘s four-song On the Whole Universe in All Directions, which is executed entirely on vibraphone, acoustic 12-string guitar, and drums and other percussion, is not going to be for everybody. The New York duo of Drew Gardner (said vibraphone and drums) and Jesse Sheppard (said 12-string) bring a particularly jazzy flavor to “North,” “South,” “East” and “West,” but there are shades of exploratory Americana in “South” that follow the bouncing notes of the opener, and “East” dares to hint at sitar with cymbal wash behind and rhythmic contrast in the vibraphone, a meditative feel resulting that “West” continues over its 12 minutes, somewhat ironically more of a raga than “East” despite being where the sun sets. Cymbal taps and rhythmic strums and that strike of the vibraphone — Elkhorn seem to give each note a chance to stand before following it with the next, but the 39-minute offering is never actually still or unipolar, instead proving evocative as it trades between shorter and longer songs to a duly gentle finish. Gardner formerly handled guitar, and I don’t know if this is a one-off, but as an experiment, it succeeds in bridging stylistic divides in a way that almost feels like showing off. Admirably so.

Elkhorn on Facebook

Centripetal Force Records website

Cardinal Fuzz Records BigCartel store

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So here we are. A fascinating and varied trip this has been, and while I’m tempted to find some greater meaning in it as regards the ongoing evolution of genre(s) in heavy underground music, the truth is that the overarching message is really that it’s impossible to keep up with that complexity as it unfolds. Hitting 70 releases on this last day with another 50 to come in a couple weeks, I feel like there’s just so much out there right now, and that that is the primary signifier of the current era.

Whether it’s pandemic-born projects or redirects, or long-established artists making welcome returns, or who knows what from who knows where, the world is brimming with creativity and is pushing the bounds of heavy with like-proportioned force and intent. This hasn’t always been easy to write, but as I look at the lineup below of the final-for-now installment of the QR, I’m just happy to be alive. Thanks for reading. I hope you have also found something that resonates.

Quarterly Review #61-70:

Dommengang, Wished Eye

A fourth full-length from Dommengang — are they in L.A. now? Portland, Oregon? does it matter? — neatly encapsulates the heavy psychedelic scope and the organic-vibing reach that stands them out from the pack, as somehow throughout the nine songs of Wished Eye, the Thrill Jockey denizen trio are able to inhabit a style that’s the Americana pastoral wakeup of “Runaway,” the hill-howling “Society Blues,” the drift-fuzz of over solid drums of “Last Card,” the dense tube-burning Hendrixism of “Myth Time,” and the minimalist guitar of “Little Beirut.” And oh, it keeps going; each track contributing something to the lush-but-natural spirit of the whole work. “Blue & Peaceful” brings acoustics to its midsection jam, while “Petrichor” is the West Coast freedom rock you’ve been waiting for, the title-track goes inland for nighttime desertscaping that finishes in hypnotic loops on a likewise hypnotic fade, and “Flower” proves to be more vine, winding its way around the lead guitar line as the vocals leave off with a highlight performance prior a fire-blues solo that finishes the record as the amps continue to scream. Undervalued? Why yes, Dommengang are, and Wished Eye makes the argument in plain language. With a sonic persona able to draw from country, blues, psych, indie, doom, fuzz, on and on, they’ve never sounded so untethered to genre, and it wasn’t exactly holding them back in the first place.

Dommengang on Facebook

Thrill Jockey website

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Ryan Kent, Dying Comes With Age

Formerly the frontman of Richmond, Virginia, sludgers Gritter, Ryan Kent — who already has several books of poetry on his CV — casts himself through Dying Comes With Age as a kind of spoken word ringmaster, and he’s brought plenty of friends along to help the cause. The readings in the title-track, “Son of a Bitch” and the title-track and “Couch Time” are semi-spoken, semi-sung, and the likes of Laura Pleasants (The Discussion, ex-Kylesa) lends backing vocals to the former while Jimmy Bower (Down, EyeHateGod) complements with a low-key fuzzy bounce. I’ll admit to hoping the version of “My Blue Heaven” featuring Windhand‘s Dorthia Cottrell was a take on the standard, but it’s plenty sad regardless and her voice stands alone as though Kent realized it was best to just give her the space and let it be its own thing on the record. Mike IX Williams of EyeHateGod is also on his own (without music behind) to close out with the brief “Cigarettes Roll Away the Time,” and Eugene S. Robinson of Oxbow/Buñuel recounting an homage apparently to Kent‘s grandfather highlights the numb feeling of so many during the pandemic era. Some light misogyny there and in “Message From Someone Going Somewhere With Someone Else Who is Going Somewhere” feels almost performative, pursuing some literary concept of edge, but the aural collage and per-song atmosphere assure Dying Comes With Age never lingers anywhere too long, and you can smell the cigarettes just by listening, so be ready with the Febreze.

Ryan Kent on Bandcamp

Rare Bird Books website

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1782, Clamor Luciferi

The first hook on Clamor Luciferi, in post-intro leadoff “Succubus,” informs that “Your god is poison” amid a gravitationally significant wall of low-end buzzfuzz, so one would call it business as usual for Sardinian lurch-doomers 1782, who answer 2021’s From the Graveyard (review here) with another potent collection of horror-infused live resin audibles. Running eight songs and 39-minutes, one would still say the trio are in the post-Monolord camp in terms of riffs and grooves, but they’ve grown more obscure in sound over time, and the murk in so much of Clamor Luciferi is all the more palpable for the way in which the guitar solo late in “Devil’s Blood” cuts through it with such clarity. Immediacy suits them on “River of Sins” just before, but one would hardly fault “Black Rites” or the buried-the-vocals-even-deeper closer “Death Ceremony” for taking their time considering that’s kind of the point. Well, that and the tones and grit of “Demons,” anyhow. Three records in, 1782 continue and odd-year release pattern and showcase the individual take on familiar cultism and lumber that’s made their work to-date a joy to follow despite its sundry outward miseries. Clamor Luciferi keeps the thread going, which is a compliment in their case.

1782 on Facebook

Heavy Psych Sounds website

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Seum, Double Double

What Seum might be seen to lack in guitar, they more than make up in disgust. The Montreal trio — vocalist Gaspard, bassist Piotr, drummer Fred — offer a mostly-hateful 32-minute low-end mudslide on their second album, Double Double, the disaffection leaking like an oily discharge from the speakers in “Torpedo” and “Snow Bird” even before “Dog Days” lyrically takes on the heavy underground and “Dollarama” sees the emptiness in being surrounded by bullshit. For as caustic as it largely is, “Torpedo” dares a bit of dirt-caked melody in the vocals — also a backing layer in the somehow-catchy “Razorblade Rainbow” and the closing title-track has a cleaner shout — and the bass veers into funkier grooves at will, as on “Dog Days,” the winding second half of “Snow Bird,” where the bassline bookending the six-minute “Seum Noir” reminds a bit of Suplecs‘ “White Devil” in its fuzz and feels appropriate in that. Shades of Bongzilla persist, as they will with a scream like that, but like their impressive 2021 debut, Winterized (review here), Seum are able to make the big tones move when they need to, to the point that “Dollarama” brings to memory the glory days of Dopefight‘s over-the-top assault. Righteous and filthy.

Seum on Facebook

Electric Spark Records website

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Old Mine Universe, This Vast Array

Clearheaded desert-style heavy rock is the thread running through Old Mine Universe‘s debut album, This Vast Array, but with a bit of blues in “No Man’s Mesa” after the proggy flourish of guitar in “Gates of the Red Planet” and the grander, keyboardy unfolding of “My Shadow Devours” and the eight-minute, multi-movement, ends-with-cello finale “Cold Stream Guards,” it becomes clear the Canadian/Brazilian/Chilean five-piece aren’t necessarily looking to limit themselves on their first release. Marked by a strong performance from vocalist Chris Pew — whom others have likened to Ian Astbury and Glenn Danzig; I might add a likeness to some of Jim Healey‘s belting-it-out there as well, if not necessarily an influence — the songs are traditionally structured but move into a jammier feel on the loose “The Duster” and add studio details like the piano line in the second half of “Sixes and Sirens” that showcase depth as well as a solid foundation. At 10 songs/47 minutes, it’s not a minor undertaking for a band’s first record, but if you’re willing to be led the tracks are willing to lead, and with Pew‘s voice to the guitar and bass of David E. and Todd McDaniel in Toronto, the solos from Erickson Silva in Brazil and Sol Batera‘s drums in Chile, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the tracks take you different places.

Old Mine Universe on Facebook

Witch City Music on Facebook

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Saint Karloff, Paleolithic War Crimes

Although Olso-based riffers Saint Karloff have tasked Nico Munkvold (also Jointhugger) for gigs, the band’s third album, Paleolithic War Crimes, was recorded with just the duo of guitarist/vocalist Mads Melvold (also keys and bass here) and drummer Adam Suleiman, and made in homage to original bassist Ole Sletner, who passed away in 2021. It is duly dug-in, from the lumbering Sabbath-worship repetitions of “Psychedelic Man” through the deeper purple organ boogieprog of “Blood Meridian” and quiet guitar/percussion interlude “Among Stone Columns” into “Bone Cave Escape” tilting the balance from doom to rock with a steady snare giving way to an Iommi-circa-’75 acoustic-and-keys finish to side A, leaving side B to split the longer “Nothing to Come” (7:01), which ties together elements of “Bone Cave Escape” and “Blood Meridian,” and closer “Supralux Voyager” (8:26) with the brash, uptempo “Death Don’t Have No Mercy,” which — I almost hate to say it — is a highlight, though the finale in “Supralux Voyager” isn’t to be ignored for what it adds to the band’s aesthetic in its patience and more progressive style, the steadiness of the build and a payoff that could’ve been a blowout but doesn’t need to be and so isn’t all the more resonant for that restraint. If Munkvold actually joins the band or they find someone else to complete the trio, whatever comes after this will inherently be different, but Saint Karloff go beyond 2019’s Interstellar Voodoo (review here) in ambition and realization with these seven tracks — yes, the interlude too; that’s important — and one hopes they continue to bring these lessons forward.

Saint Karloff on Facebook

Majestic Mountain Records store

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Astral Sleep, We Are Already Living in the End of Times

Feels like a gimme to say that a record called We Are Already Living in the End of Times is bleak, but if I note the despair laced into the extremity of songs like “The Legacies” or “Torment in Existence,” it’s in no small part to convey the fluidity with which Finland’s Astral Sleep offset their guttural death-doom, be it with melancholic folk-doom melody as on the opening title-track, or the sweetly weaving guitar lines leading into the bright-hued finish of “Invisible Flesh.” Across its 46 minutes, Astral Sleep‘s fourth LP picks up from 2020’s Astral Doom Musick (review here) and makes otherwise disparate sounds transition organically, soaring and crashing down with emotive and tonal impact on the penultimate “Time Is” before “Status of the Soul” answers back to the leadoff with nine-plus minutes of breadth and churn. These aren’t contradictions coming from Astral Sleep, and while yes, the abiding spirit of the release is doomed, that isn’t a constraint on Astral Sleep in needing to be overly performative or ‘dark’ for its own sake. There’s a dynamic at work here as the band seem to make each song an altar and the delivery itself an act of reverence.

Astral Sleep on Facebook

Astral Sleep on Bandcamp

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Devoidov, Amputation

The second single in two months from New Jersey sludge slayers Devoidov, “Amputation” backs the also-knife-themed “Stab” and brings four minutes of heavy cacophonous intensity that’s as much death metal as post-hardcore early on, and refuses to give up its doomed procession despite all the harshness surrounding. It’s not chaotic. It’s not without purpose. That mute right around 2:40, the way the bass picks up from there and the guitar comes back in, the hi-hat, that build-up into the tremolo sprint and kick-drum jabs that back the crescendo stretch stand as analogue for the structure underlying, and then like out of nowhere they toss in a ripper thrash solo at the end, in the last 15 seconds, as if to emphasize the ‘fuck everything’ they’ve layered over top. There’s punk at its root, but “Amputation” derives atmosphere from its rage as well as the spaciousness of its sound, and the violence of losing a part of oneself is not ignored. They’re making no secret of turning burn-it-all-down into a stylistic statement, and that’s part of the statement too, leaving one to wonder whether the sludge or grind will win in their songwriting over the longer term and if it needs to be a choice between one or the other at all.

Devoidov on Instagram

Devoidov on Bandcamp

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Wolfnaut, Return of the Asteroid

Norwegian fuzz rollers Wolfnaut claim a lineage that goes back to 1997 (their debut was released in 2013 under their old moniker Wolfgang; it happens), so seems reasonable that their fourth full-length, Return of the Asteroid, should be so imbued with the characteristics of turn-of-the-century Scandinavian heavy. They might be at their most Dozerian on “Crash Yer Asteroid” or “Something More Than Night” as they meet careening riffs with vital, energetic groove, but the mellower opening with “Brother of the Badlands” gives a modern edge and as they unfurl the longer closing pair “Crates of Doom” (7:14) and “Wolfnaut’s Lament” (10:13) — the latter a full linear build that completes the record with reach and crunch alike, they are strident in their execution so as to bring individual presence amid all that thick tone crashing around early and the takeoff-and-run that happens around six minutes in. Hooky in “My Orbit is Mine” and willfully subdued in “Arrows” with the raucous “G.T.R.” following directly, Wolfnaut know what they’re doing and Return of the Asteroid benefits from that expertise in its craft, confidence, and the variety they work into the material. Not life-changing, but quality songwriting is always welcome.

Wolfnaut on Facebook

Ripple Music website

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Fuzz Voyage, Heavy Compass Demo

If you’re gonna go, take a compass. And if your compass can be made of primo fuzz riffing, isn’t it that much more useful? If not as an actual compass? Each of the four cuts on Washington D.C. instrumentalists Fuzz Voyage‘s Heavy Compass Demo coincides with a cardinal direction, so you get “South Side Moss,” “North Star,” “East Wind” and “West Ice Mountain.” These same four tracks featured across two separate ‘sessions’-type demos in 2020, so they’ve been fairly worked on, but one can’t discount the presentation here that lets “East Wind” breathe a bit in its early going after the crunching stop of “North Star,” just an edge of heavy psychedelia having featured in the northerly piece getting fleshed out as it heads east. I might extend the perception of self-awareness on the part of the band to speculating “South Side Moss” was named for its hairy guitar and bass tone — if not, it could’ve been — and after “East Wind” stretches near seven minutes, “West Ice Mountain” closes out with a rush and instrumental hook that’s a more uptempo look than they’ve given to that point in the proceedings. Nothing to argue with unless you’re morally opposed to bands who don’t have singers — in which case, your loss — but one doesn’t get a lot of outright fuzz from the Doom Capitol, and Fuzz Voyage offer some of the densest distortion I’ve heard out of the Potomac since Borracho got their start. Even before you get to the concept or the art or whatever else, that makes them worth keeping an eye out for what they do next.

Fuzz Voyage on Instagram

Fuzz Voyage on Bandcamp

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Kind of an odd Quarterly Review, huh? I know. The two extra days. Well, here’s the thing. I’ve already got the better part of a 50-record QR booked for next month. I’ve slid a few of those albums in here to replace things I already covered blah blah whatever, but there’s just a ton of stuff out right now, and a lot of it I want to talk about, so yeah. I tacked on the two extra days here to get to 70 records, and in May we’ll do another 50, and if you want to count that as Spring (I can’t decide yet if I do or not; if you’ve got an opinion, I’d love to hear it in the comments), that’s 120 records covered even if I start over and go from 1-50 instead of 71-120. Any way you go, it’s nearly enough that you could listen to two records per week for the next full year based just on two weeks and two days of posts.

That’s insane. And yet here we are. Two weeks in a row wouldn’t have been enough, and any more than that and I get so backed up on other stuff that whatever stress I undercut by covering a huge swath in the QR is replaced by being so behind on everything that isn’t said QR. Does that make sense at all? No? Well fine then. Shit.

Quarterly Review #51-60:

Ecstatic Vision, Live at Duna Jam

This is a good thing for everyone. Here’s why: For the band? Easy. They get a new thing to sell at the merch table on their upcoming European tour. Win. For the label? Obviously the cash from whatever they sell, plus the chance to showcase one of their acts tearing it up on European soil. “Check out how awesome this shit is plus we’re behind it.” Always good for branding. For fans of the band, well, you already know you need it. I don’t have to tell you that. But Ecstatic Vision‘s Live at Duna Jam — as a greater benefit to the universe around it — runs deeper than that. It’s an example to follow. You wanna see, wanna hear how it’s done? This is how it’s done, kids. You get up on that stage, step out on that beach, and you throw everything you have into your art, every fucking time. This is who Ecstatic Vision are. They’re the band who blow minds like the trees in the old videos of A-bomb tests. They’ve got six songs here, a clean 38-minute live LP, and for the betterment of existence in general, you can absolutely hear in it the ferocity with which Ecstatic Vision deliver live. The fact that it’s from Duna Jam — the ultimate Eurofest daydream — is neat, but so help me gawd they could’ve recorded it in a Philly basement and they’d still be this visceral. That’s who they are. And if we, as listeners, are lucky, others will hear this and follow their example.

Ecstatic Vision on Facebook

Heavy Psych Sounds website

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Usnea, Bathed in Light

Oppressive in atmosphere regardless of volume but with plenty of volume to go around, Portland all-doomers Usnea return after six years with their third full-length, Bathed in Light, a grueling and ultimately triumph-of-death-ant work spanning six songs and 43 minutes of unremitting drear positioned in the newer-school vein of emotionally resonant extreme death-doom. Plodding until it isn’t, wrenching in its screams until it isn’t, the album blossoms cruelties blackened and crushing and makes the chanting in “Premeditatio Malorum” not at all out of place just the same, the slow-churning metal unrelentingly brutal as it shifts into caustic noise in that penultimate track — just one example among the many scattered throughout of the four-piece turning wretched sounds into consuming landscapes. The earlier guitar squeals on “The Compleated Sage” would be out of place if not for the throatripping and blastbeating happening immediately prior, and whether it’s the synth at the outset and the soaring guitar at the end of “To the Deathless” or the Bell Witchian ambient start to closer “Uncanny Valley” — the riff, almost stoner — before it bursts to violence at three minutes into its 8:27 on the way to a duly massive, guttural finish for the record, Usnea mine cohesion from contradictions and are apparently unscathed by the ringer through which they put their audience. Sometimes nothing but the most miserable will do.

Usnea on Facebook

Translation Loss Records store

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Oceanlord, Kingdom Cold

The more one listens to Kingdom Cold, the impressive Magnetic Eye Records debut LP from Melbourne, Australia’s Oceanlord, the more there is to hear. The subtle Patrick Walker-style edge in the vocals of “Kingdom” and the penultimate roller “So Cold,” the Elephant Tree-style nod riff in “2340,” the way the bass underscores the ambient guitar and layered melodies in “Siren,” the someone-in-this-band-listens-to-extreme-metal flashes in the guitar as “Isle of the Dead” heads into its midsection, and the way the shift into and through psychedelia seems so organic on closer “Come Home,” the three-piece seeming just to reach out further from where they’ve been standing all the while for the sake of adding even more breadth to the proceedings. If the Magnetic Eye endorsement didn’t already put you over the edge, I hope this will, because what Oceanlord seem to be doing — and what they did on their 2020 demo (review here), where “Isle of the Dead” and “Come Home” appeared — is to work from a foundation in doom and slow-heavy microgenres and pick the elements that most resonate with them as the basis for their songs. They bring them into their own context, which is not something everyone does on their fifth record, let alone their first. So if it’s hearing the potential that gets you on board, fine, but the important thing is you should just get on board. They’re onto something, and part of what I like about Kingdom Cold is I’m not sure what.

Oceanlord on Facebook

Magnetic Eye Records store

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Morass of Molasses, End All We Know

Thoroughly fuzzed and ready to rock, Reading, UK, three-piece Morass of Molasses follow 2019’s The Ties That Bind (review here) with their third album and Ripple Music label debut, End All We Know, breaking eight songs into two fascinatingly-close-to-even sides running a total of 37 minutes of brash swing and stomp as baritone guitarist/vocalist Bones Huse, bassist Phil Williams and drummer Raj Puni embrace more progressive constructions for their familiar and welcome tonal richness. With Huse‘s vocals settling into a Nick Oliveri-style bark on opener “The Origin of North” and the likes of “Hellfayre” and “Naysayer” on side A, the pattern seems to be set, but the key is third track “Sinkhole,” which prefaces some of the changes the four cuts on side B bring about, trading burl and brash for more dug in arrangements, psychedelic flourish on “Slingshot Around the Sun” and “Terra Nova” — they’re still grounded structurally, but the melodic reach expands significantly and the guitar twists in “Terra Nova” feel specifically heavy psych-derived — before “Prima Materia” combines those hazy colours with prog-rock insistences and “Wings of Reverie” meets metallic soloing with Elder-style expanse. Not a record they could’ve made five years ago, End All We Know comes through as a moment of realization for Morass of Molasses, and their delivery does justice to the ambition behind it.

Morass of Molasses on Facebook

Ripple Music website

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Fuzzy Grapes, Volume 1

Real headfucker, this one. And I’ll admit, the temptation to leave the review at that is significant, since so much of the intent behind Fuzzy Grapes‘ Volume 1 seems to be a headfirst dive into the deepweird, but the samples, effects, of course fuzz and gong-and-chant-laced brazenness with which the Flagstaff, Arizona, unit set out on “Sludge Fang,” the Mikael Åkerfeldtian growls in “Snake Dagger” and the art-surf poetry reading in “Dust of Three Strings” that becomes a future cavern of synth and noise before the “Interlude” of birdsong and meditative noodling mark a procession too individual to be ignored. Three songs, break, three songs, break goes the structure of the 25-minute debut offering from the five-piece outfit, and by the time “The Cosmic Throne” begins its pastoral progadelic “ahh”s and dreamy ride cymbal jazz, one should be well content to have no idea what’s coming next. Once upon a time elsewhere in the Southwest, there was a collective of kitchen-sink heavy punkers named Leeches of Lore, and Fuzzy Grapes tap some similar adventurousness of spirit, but rarely is a band so much their own thing their first time out. “Made of Solstice” harsh-barks to offset its indie-grunge verse, fleshing out the bassy roll with effects or keys from the chorus onward, jamming like Blind Melon just ran into Amon Amarth getting gas at the Circle K. “Goatcult” ties together some of it with the harsh/chant vocal blend and a cymbal-led push, finishing with the line “Every day the world is ending” before the epilogue “Outro” plays like a vintage 78RPM record singing something about when you’re dead. Don’t expect to understand it the first time though, or maybe the first eight, but know that it’s worth pursuing and meeting the band on their level. I want to hear what they do next and how/if their approach might solidify.

Fuzzy Grapes on Facebook

Fuzzy Grapes on Bandcamp

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Iress, Solace EP

Conveying genuine emotionality and reach in the vocals of Michelle Malley, the four-track Solace EP from L.A.’s Iress turns its humble 16 minutes into an expressive soundscape of what the kids these days seem to call doomgaze, with post-rock float in the guitar of Graham Walker (who makes his first appearance here) atop the solemn and heavy-bottomed grooves of bassist Michael Maldonado and drummer Glenn Chu for a completeness of experience that’s all the more immersive on headphones in a close-your-eyes kind of listen — that low contemplation of bass after 2:20 into “Soft,” for example, is one of a multitude of details worth appreciating — and though leadoff piece “Blush” begins with a quick rise of feedback and rolls forth with a distinct Jesu-style melancholy, Iress are no less effective or resonant in the sans-drums first two minutes of “Vanish” in accentuating atmosphere before the big crash-in finishes and “Ricochet” offers further dynamic display in its loud/quiet trades, graceful and unhurried in their transitions, the surge of the not-cloying hook densely weighted but not out of place either behind “Vanish” or ahead of “Soft,” even as it’s patience over impact being emphasized as Malley intones “I’m not ready” as a thread through the song. Permit me to disagree with that assessment. The whole band sounds ready, be it for a follow-up album to 2020’s Flaw (which was their second LP) or whatever else may come.

Iress on Facebook

Dune Altar website

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Frogskin, III – Into Disgust

Long-running Finnish troupe Frogskin ooze forth with extremity of purpose even before the harsh-throated declarations of 10-minute opener “Mistress Divine” kick in, and III – Into Disgust maintains the high (or purposefully low, depending on how you want to look at it) standard that initial millstone-slowness sets as “Of Vermin and Man” (8:30) continues the scathe and tension in its unfolding and the somehow-thicker, sample-inclusive centerpiece “Serpent Path” (7:21) highlights violent intention on the way to the shift that brings the atmosphere forward on the two-minute still-a-song “B.B.N.T.B.N.” — the acronym: ‘Bound by nature to be nothing’ — which feels likewise pathological and methodical ahead of closer “The Pyre” (11:46). One might expect in listening that at some point Frogskin will break out at a sprint and start either playing death or black metal, grindcore, etc., but no. They don’t. They don’t give you that. And that’s the point. You don’t get relief or release. There’s no safe energetic payoff waiting. III – Into Disgust is aural quicksand, exclusively. Do not expect mercy because there’s none coming.

Frogskin on Facebook

Iron Corpse store

Violence in the Veins website

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Albinö Rhino, Return to the Core

No strangers to working in longform contexts or casting spacier fare amid their doom-rooted riffery, Helsinki’s Albinö Rhino downplay the latter somewhat on their single-song Return to the Core full-length. Their first 12″ since 2016’s Upholder (review here), the trio of guitarist/vocalist/Moogist Kimmo Tyni, bassist/vocalist VH and drummer Viljami Väre welcome back Scott “Dr. Space” Heller (also of Space Rock Productions, Øresund Space Collective, etc.) for a synthy guest appearance and Mikko Heikinpoika on vocals and Olli Laamanen on keys, and the resultant scope of “Return to the Core” is duly broad, spreading outward from its acoustic-guitar beginning into cosmic doom rock with a thicker riff breaking doors down at 9:30 or so and a jammed-feeling journey into the greater ‘out there’ that ensues. That back and forth plays out a couple times as they manifest the title in the piece itself — the core being perhaps the done-live basic tracks then expanded through overdubs to the final form — but even when the song devolves starting after the solo somewhere around 22 minutes in, they’re mindful as well as hypnotic en route to the utter doom that transpires circa 24:30, and that they finish in a manner that ties together both aspects tells you there’s been a plan at work all along. They execute it with particular refinement and fluidity.

Albinö Rhino on Facebook

Space Rock Productions website

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Cleõphüzz, Mystic Vulture

Self-released posthumous to the defunctification of the Quebecois band itself, Mystic Vulture ends up as a rousing swansong for what could’ve been from Cleõphüzz, hitting a nerve with “Desert Rider”‘s blend of atmosphere and grit, cello adding to the space between bass and guitar before the engrossing gang chants round out. With its 46 minutes broken into the two sides of the vinyl issue it will no doubt eventually receive, the eight-song offering — their debut, by the way — makes vocal points of the extended “Desperado” with its organ (I think?) mixed in amid the classic-style fuzz and “Shutdown in the Afterlife” bringing the strings further to the center in an especially spacious close. But whether it’s there or in the respective intros “The End” and “Sarcophage” or the proggy float of “Sortilège” or the Canadiana instrumental and vocal exploration of the title-track itself, Mystic Vulture flows easily across its material, varied but not so far out as to lose its human underpinning, and is more journey than destination. It’s gotten some hype — I think in part because the band aren’t together anymore; heavy music always wants what it can’t have — but in arrangement as well as songwriting, Cleõphüzz crafted the material here with a clear sense of perspective, and the apparent loss of potential becomes part of hearing the album. Some you win, some you lose. At least they got this out.

Cleõphüzz on Facebook

Cleõphüzz on Bandcamp

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Arriver, Azimuth

Expansive metal. Azimuth is the fourth long-player and first in seven years from Chicago progressive/post-metallers Arriver, who answer melody with destruction and crunch with sprawl. From opener “Reenactor” onward, they follow structural paths that are as likely to meld meditative psych with death metal (looking at you, “Only On”) as they are to combust in charred punker aggro rage on “Constellate” or second track “Knot.” The 10-minute penultimate title-track would seem to represent the crossroads at which these ideas meet — a summary as much as anything could hope to be — but even that isn’t the end of it as “None More Unknown” makes dramatic folkish proclamations before concluding with a purposeful nod. “In the Only” winds lead guitar through what might otherwise be post-hardcore, while “Carrion Sun” duly reeks of death in the desert, the complexity of the drum work alone lending gotta-hear status. Plenty of bands claim to be led by their songs. I won’t say I know how Arriver assembled these pieces to make the entirety of Azimuth, but if the band were to say they sat back and let the record write itself and follow its own impulses, I’d believe them more than most. Bound to alienate as well as engage, it is its own thing in its own place, and commanding in its moments of epiphany.

Arriver on Facebook

Arriver on Bandcamp

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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: Frederic Couture of Sons of Arrakis

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

It’s always hard to define what I’m doing as a musician, but let’s put really briefly. I’ve always played heavy rock music based around riff ideas and very structured songs. Most of the time, the writing process begins with one riff. Those riffs are often developing when I play my old acoustic guitar at home. Sometimes, I have riffs, beats or melodies in my head that I want to try on the guitar, but I’m not talented enough to nail them. They evolve into something else and after that, it’s like bringing pieces of a puzzle together.

I’ve always been doing this, sit and compose music since I’m 13 years old. My first band was Crazy Head when I was 14 years old. Then, those guys invited me in their band called People Who Care and they were tight for 15 years old guys. They had bases in music and needed a singer and rhythm guitarist in their rank, I immediately accepted the contract. People Who Care morphed in Reckless Ride and this is where we recorded our first decent EP. This band was on the classic rock side with fast and heavy riffs that jumped right in the face. In those bands, I’ve always been the singer and rhythm guitarist. I think I fit well in this role because I’ve done it since my teenage years.

To define what I do and how I came to do it, I also have to talk about my inspirations. I’ve been inspired by so many things and there’s been so many musical epiphanies, but the most significant moment was the first time I listened to Master of Reality by Black Sabbath. Riffs after riffs is the kind of vibe I’m searching for when it comes to music. This is where I come from as a musician. I also like proto-metal music from the late 60’s like Hendrix, Cream, Mountain, Blue Cheer, etc.

Another influence would be more progressive stuff like the album Close to the Edge and The Yes Album by Yes. Hemisphere and 2112 by Rush would be worth mentioning here. I really like concept albums and variations in songs. It makes it more intriguing and fascinating. Lately, the album Innate Passage by Elder really blew my mind!

When I was a kid, I also remember playing guitar over Angus Young on the Live at Donington concert DVD. It’s where I develop my chops and my interest for Gibson SG! Epiphany moment I would say! I also love Metallica’s first three albums because my father introduced me to those when I was just 11 years old. Puppets would be my favorite. Thanks to my old man!

But the ultimate reason why I’m a musician is when I saw Jack Black in School of Rock when I was 11 years old. I was at the beginning of high school and we were a bunch of kids who listened to Metallica, Megadeth, Nirvana, Sex Pistols, etc. We were outcasts in our musical tastes at that time. Dewey Finn was the ”man” (direct reference to the movie) who open the gates and brought the moral caution to rock it!

At the end of Reckless Ride in 2011, there was a musical hiatus for me, but I was just preparing the ground and building my own studio in Montreal that was called Reel Road Studio and then Gamma Recording Studio. From 2011 to 2016, I’ve been in different projects that never took form, but developed ideas and jamming songs and riffs ideas. I was cutting my teeth to say so. Then came Mick Martel from The Hazytones in late 2015. We started this band as a trio and we were motivated enough to start from scratch and put it all together. The first record was out in September 2016, I think. We went on tour in Canada and Europe for a couple of months following the release of this debut LP. This experience changed a lot of things for me and defined a what I do in my actual band Sons of Arrakis.

Ultimately, what’s fun about Sons of Arrakis is that we can’t only fit in one category of genres and styles of music. Everyone has their own point of view and ‘’appellations’’ for the music that we play, starting with the expression Melange Rock. I think that critics and people categorized our music that way because of the universe of Frank Herbert in which we immerge ourselves in. Actually, Melange Rock isn’t one style of music, it’s a vast spectrum of sonorities and genres.

In reality, we play some kind of a stoner-”ish” and desert-”ish” kind of rock. Francis Duchesne, SOA’s lead guitarist, came up with ”Cinematic sci-fi rock” once to differentiate us from ”the vast ocean of stoner rock bands”. It’s also because Francis introduces keyboards and guitar melodies that sound retro-futuristic. For example, on Shai-Hulud, the harmonized slide lead guitar brings this aspect forward. We also have a dual harmonized solo (keys and lead guitar) at the end of Temple of the Desert that is really mysterious and reminds of a laborious walk in the deep desert. In Abomination, in the chorus and the second verse, there’s a wonderful guitar orchestration that almost sounds symphonic.

Furthermore, there are parts in some songs that is more on the classic heavy rock side like the riff in the verses of Omniscient Messiah for example. Sometimes, we like to introduce some heavier parts in hommage to Thrash Metal, like in the bridges of the songs Temple of the Desert and Omniscient Messiah. Another hidden nugget is this doom metal bridge in The Black Mirror that has an overall straight forward desert rock feel. In short, we like to mix many genres and explore different sonorities. That’s why it’s more relevant to call it Melange Rock than stoner or doom I think. These are just few examples.

In short, this is the evolution. The point where I started to play music until now, with my band Sons of Arrakis. It’s hard to develop what we do, but it’s always been about the search for the riff, the sound of rock n’ roll that we all vibe and trip on.

Describe your first musical memory.

I was really young, maybe 5 years old. I remember that father used to play Nirvana Unplugged in NY on our way back from Lake Champlain, upstate New York, to Montreal. He had an old boat in the US, near Plattsburg and he had those cassettes. He also played Neil Young, I think it was a ”Best of” K7. I just remember the vibe and how it made me feel as a kid. The music felt like a haven and I felt safe with my parents and my sister. It almost felt like a fresh breeze from the Northern part of the lake.

In my childhood, I also remember that my mother was a really huge fan of this musical icon in Québec, called Jean Leloup. He was, and still is, the odd yet incredible figure in music and is a true artist. His album ”Les Fourmis” (The Ants in English) was the album that I remember the most, because my mother had the CD and always played it. There were also Daniel Bélanger, who’s also a important figure in the québécoise culture that was defining for me, back in the mid 1990’s.

I would say these are the first musical memories that I have. It was at a very young age, but I remember how it felt and I think my love for music come from childhood.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

I remember listening for the first time to the album “Reflections of a Floating World” from the band Elder. It was back in 2017, I was on the road in the Canadian Rockies and the first riff of the song “Sanctuary” started to play. Images, sounds and emotions merged together and it was a colossal feeling. When I listened to their new album, ”Innate Passage”, I found the same feelings that when I heard ”Sanctuary” for the first time. The song ”Endless Return” is a perfect reflection and a culmination of their work, I think.

There’s a lot a subtlety and refinement in this piece of art. One of the aspect I like the most is the marvelous crisp guitar arpeggios supported by this extremely solid rhythm section that never stops rolling. Elder has a surprisingly sharp melodic sense on this album achieved by the well thought lead guitars and vocals that smoothly float above the mix. Another aspect that I particularly like is the present of this vintage strings sound (Mellotron) that brings this nostalgic 70’s progressive feel to the songs.

Plus, this summer, I had the chance to see them live for the first time and meet them in person on September 6th at the legendary Montreal’s Foufounes Électriques. I think this maybe one of my best musical memory.

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

There’s one big life event that deeply changed my vision of life and tested my ingrained beliefs in the summer of 2017. I was with the band The Hazytones at that time and we were gone on tour for a couple of months for this two legs tour. In March and April 2017, we were in Europe for a whole month, then came back for 10 days to leave for a Canadian tour for 40 days.

I was in an important relationship at that time and the tour was really painful because I felt I was away from home, I missed my wife, and felt that the relationship was slowly degrading. I felt insecure, I was scared and angry the distance would have created a chill between us.

When I got back from tour, my ex-wife left the house at the end of May. I felt powerless, but I knew that it was the end and there were no coming back. I blamed it on me for being far from home, too goal oriented, forgetting to take the time. I was stressed out and anxious, and feel that I was one thousand light years away from her, even when I was at home.

It shook my beliefs because I realized at that time that if you want to be part of the music business, it’s not only a lot of money and work, but it’s also a lot of pressure on your love and family life. It’s a lot of sacrifices and it’s often a long desolate road.

I questioned myself a lot at that time, I dropped The Hazytones in June 2017 and I decided to quit for a while and didn’t want to form a new band anymore. I was on the mend. I took care of my studio with my partner for a while and build something that we could be proud of. After a couple of months, I found the inner force to go back in the studio and record those songs that I had in my head while I was with my ex-band: The Black mirror and High Handed Enemy (that will figure on Volume II).

Also, another thing that I learnt from that experience is that I have to take my time more and breathe deeply, enjoy every moment. If I can’t do that, I agitated and feel anxious, it’s not the right thing for me to do. Every step is an effort, but if you want to persevere, you have to take it soft and slow. I don’t want to feel the anger any more, it gives pretty good lyrics though (lol).

One of the most important thing, people who appreciate and love you will stay in the long run. If they don’t, it’s their choice, but as long as they’re present, take it as a gift and be grateful. I’m grateful that my bandmates are here in my life. I’m grateful for the success that 2022 brought us. I’m grateful that I have a good job and contribute to more justice and equity in our society, etc.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

After our debut album, Volume I, was finished recording in December 2020, I was really eager to work on new material for Sons of Arrakis. But, it is really hard to start somewhere… During the pandemic, I had a lot of time to sit down, take my old acoustic guitar and search endlessly of some new riffs and ideas. It was really a moment to take a step back on the agitation of our daily life to breathe a little bit more. At least, it’s the way that I say it at first.

With Sons of Arrakis, we took the time to jam every once in a while during the pandemic to stay in touch, but the main idea was to go forward and I booked some studio time in April 2021 to demo some new songs with my friend Luc at Red Tube Studio in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, near Montreal. I recorded five song ideas that potentially land on Volume II.

A second album is really defining for a band I think. It indicates if the band is creative enough to continue. I feel that there is an artistic progression in the songs I write. I think that SOA has its own identity and I have to find a way to evolve even though we have a strict framework and are stuck with the Frank Herbert’s known universe (haha!).

What I can tell you is that SOA’s new songs will be more straight forward, maybe shorter songs in general. I keep the riffs at the center of the songs, and I try to develop a more progressive side. The riffs are more complex, What I came up first with the recording in April 2021 are evolving in more well thoughts songs because they had the time to mature. There’s a big accent put on vocals and there will be a lot of harmonization and arrangements that will feel larger then life. There will be more harmonized guitar parts and solos, etc.

The last song that I’m working on will be more on the metal side. The song is brutal and there will be many different parts in it. I want this song to be a never-ending progression of riffs. It always takes time to achieve, but it’s worth it. And it’s what keeps it fun!

How do you define success?

Success isn’t something that can be measured, it’s something that you feel and defined by the goals that you set in the first place and their achievement. I think that when you are realistic or pragmatic enough and set objectives that you can reach, it’s always a success. There’s also another element that defines success: hard work. The goals have to be hard to reach in order to feel proud of what you achieved.

With Sons of Arrakis, this year, we have our load of success, especially after the launch of our album in July 15th. We increased our followers, fan base and listeners in a dazzling way. Our debut album has been well received by the critics and stoner rock enthusiasts. It feels like we’re on the map and it’s just another motivation to jump forward into the adventure of a second LP.

But even before that, we introduced a new drummer, Mat Root (Mathieu Racine), to Sons of Arrakis. The first project we did with Mat was the recording of two songs (Omniscient Messiah and Lonesome Preacher) in a live session at Studio Dandurand in Montreal in April 2022. Mat has become the cement of the band and he’s we can rely on him. We feel that we’re on a solid ground with this guys in the equation. In short, we succeeded to introduce this new member in a positive way and create a vibe where we feel that we can go in the right direction and move forward in new projects.

Our album release show was also a success! Even with the gig being canceled on July 15th, we postponed the show on October 14th to play at Turbo Haüs in Montreal for our second show in 30 months. It was sold out! This is what I called a success for us! Even if it’s a small venue of 140 people, it’s the first that we feel that people have a keen interest.

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

It’s the hardest question that I had to answer so far to be honest. I’m lucky enough to live in Montreal, a beautiful and secure city that has a lot of wealth. In Quebec, the social security system is made to regulate the inequity and we are not submitted to the phenomenon of poverty that often.

In the other hand, I work in the public school board system and I witness sometimes the hardship that some kids and teenagers are going through. As a teacher, I have the feeling that I have the role to be a positive figure paternal and a caring figure for those youngsters. Sometimes, I wish I hadn’t witness some cases where I say: “There’s nothing left to do”. It breaks my heart every time.

I wish I had enough energy and inner resources to say the right thing and to give a helping hand. The reality is this: we something is too deeply rooted in darkness; it may be not possible to help. When there is abuse, traumas and emotional exhaustion, parental alienation, etc. it makes you feel powerless.

During the Covid-19, the public system in Quebec, but it’s the same situation all over the Western World, suffers from the lack of initiative, the lack of funding, personal that are overwhelmed by the pressure, etc. I which things were different, but I notice and see that things are slowly falling apart.

Not considering that we’ll have to face may other crisis in the 21st century that we aren’t ready to face because we deny, as a specie, the urgency to act differently and change our old habits. In this era of YOLO attitude, individualism push to the extreme, the cult of image and collective narcissism and the polarization and the public opinion, we lost the sense of community. We want peace, love and understanding to be popular again.

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

Sometimes, I dream that I compose a song or that I’m working on the recording for one song. This song is killer. This song is fresh and new. It has something special and unique. I feel liberating just to hear it. It’s been such a long time since I haven’t heard anything musically that feels this way.

So if I had something I’d like to create would be in that kind of feel. Something that would be some kind of a musical renewal. But it’s completely silly to pretend that it’s possible in a world where the musical offer is beyond anything people would’ve imagine in the 90’s and the 2000’s. A lot of people that I know have the feeling that everything has already been made. We feel like it’s the end of history and evolution and that we can’t move into a new era.

If I had to create something, it’d be something innovative, that would be a synthesis of every record I know, something progressive and an ultimate concept album. Singles that would be intertwined with a long atmospheric transitions and a mysterious feel. It would have really hooky vocal melodies that would feel a little bit ”poppy” but well balanced. It’s would have harmonized guitar parts and a lot of orchestrations. Heavy, heavy riffs, with distorted fuzz, but not pushed over the top. Well thought and fluid rhythms to would feel transcendent.

Briefly, I don’t have something concrete here, just like in my dreams. It’s just a feeling, a special innovative and well thought of songs with crazy turnarounds and cool permutations. I write too much haha!

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

For me, art has always been something that would have a profound philosophical signification. Art has the function of criticizing the society in which we live in and illustrating its contradictions. To be honest, I will never be a fan of music that talks about partying life style and sex, drugs and rock n’ roll.

I think that poetry has an important role to change people minds about issues in the society and hope for the better. I think music has the role to congregate people in a world where we are more and more individualistic and isolated from each other.

In Sons of Arrakis, we base our music and lyrics around one of the most epic series of novels ever written. So, literature has a huge importance in my life. Not only the universe of Frank Herbert, but I also read Camus, Dostoyevsky, Kafka, Lovecraft, Orwell, and so many others. What I like the most about literature is that books are often a window that allows us to see the world on a different light. Fantastic and sci-fi novels often are allegories of the society in which we live in and usually consist in a dystopian depiction.

I also really like visual art, especially conceptual art. I like things that can make you reflect and think. Something that goes beyond just the superficial things in life. I like art for the way it tries to explain the world in an innovative and original way.

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

Lately, I’ve been craving to travel to be honest. The last time I travel was at the end of February 2020 in Morocco. We were with a group of friends and got back to Montreal on March 9th. It was 4 days before the first lock down on March 13th. In Quebec, everything shut down even the school at that point. It had an effect on me as a elementary school teacher, I had to go back home and leave my students.

It was the last time I travelled outside of Canada. I went to explore the province of Quebec and went to Toronto a few times, but I miss discovering new region of the world, meet new people. I think that travelling and see other cultures and speaking other languages widens you mind and opens it. It is the best way to see the other side.

It’s the best way of creating a dialogue between ”US” and ”THEM”. It’s a way to comprehend that human beings are all the same after all. We all need to be understood, accepted and loved. It’s a quest for harmony and universality.

I’m eager to travel the world and there are many destinations that I aiming for : South Amercia, Maghreb, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle-East, China, South-East Asia, etc. One thing I’d like to do is to learn to play Sitar properly and to meditate in Nepal. If I have enough time and money, that would be a dream to explore those areas for fore.

https://www.facebook.com/sonsofarrakisband
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https://www.sonsofarrakis.com/merch
https://sonsofarrakis.bandcamp.com/
https://www.sonsofarrakis.com/

Sons of Arrakis, Volume 1 (2022)

Montreal sans-guitar sludge rockers Seum released their second album, Double Double, earlier this month, and on March 31 they’ll bring their sometimes caustic and increasingly complex wares to the venerable Geno’s Rock Bar in Portland, Maine, entering the US for the first time as a band to play a show. This initial incursion is one of just two US dates — which, given how many US tours are billed as “North American” if they include two Canadian shows (and generally nothing in Mexico), seems like fair turnabout — and followed by a gig in Plattsburgh, New York, before they turn back north to do four more shows Ontario, but hell, that counts. International territory! For the first time! I’m not sure why I need these exclamation points!

You can stream Double Double (yeah, I know; it’ll be in the next Quarterly Review unless something comes up before; I’m doing my best, damnit) on the Bandcamp player below, and in oldschool fashion, the band sent the dates over with a hearty list of acts with whom they’ll be sharing stages. If you’ve never read a list of tour dates and come away with at least one band you’ve never heard of to check out, today might be your day. As for me, do I dare check out Shepherd of Rot? Or TV Moms? Think of it as the good kind of homework.

Info and dates from the PR wire. Cheers to Seum on going new places:

SEUM – DOUBLE DOUBLE Tour – 1st time in the US and Ontario

After the successful release of its second album DOUBLE DOUBLE, SEUM is about to visit the US and Ontario for the first time to defend their album on stage during the DOUBLE DOUBLE tour. Catch them here:

March 31st: Portland, ME (USA) at Geno’s Rock Bar with Necronomichrist, Candy Striper Death Orgy and Bloodborn
April 1st: Plattsburgh, NY (USA) at Monopole with Shepherd of Rot, Grave Sight and Embers
May 3rd: Hamilton, ON at The Doors with Desiccate + Holofernes Head
May 4th: London, ON at The Richmond Tavern with Hunter Gatherer and TV Moms
May 5th: Toronto, ON at Bar Orwell with Sun Below and Lousy Riders
May 6th: Ottawa, ON at Avant-Garde with TBD (Org by Smol Audio)

SEUM is a Montreal Doom’n’Bass band formed by 3 European French Doom veterans expats formerly in Lord Humungus (Gaspard – vocals), Mlah! (Piotr – bass), and Uluun (Fred – drums). SEUM means Venom in Arabic and is French slang for disappointment and frustration.

The band is only using drums, vocals and bass, no guitars.

DOUBLE DOUBLE is SEUM’s sophomore album. Self-produced by the band and mastered by the legendary John Golden (Melvins, Sleep, Weedeater), the album is available on:

Vinyl: https://www.electricsparkrecords.com/products/seum-double-double
Tape: https://riffmerchant.bandcamp.com/album/double-double
Digipak: https://seumtheband.bandcamp.com/album/double-double

Seum is:
Fred – Drums
Gaspard – Vocals
Piotr – Bass

https://www.facebook.com/Seumtheband
https://open.spotify.com/album/6ukhuyolnXMYY6MpODgZ37
https://seumtheband.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/seumtheband/

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https://www.electricsparkrecords.com/

Seum, Double Double (2023)

An immediately exploratory feeling guitar piece, the previously-unissued “Sometimes in Absence” is an older recording from Montreal solo outfit Vision Eternel, who in recent years casually dropped the accent mark over the moniker’s second ‘e’ but whose work nonetheless remains evocative, self-aware and, if you’ll pardon the use of the word, romantic. Alexander Julien, the principal behind the project, describes below the sort of wandering path the piece has taken to get to where it is, as well as the importance of Valentine’s Day to the whole aesthetic.

It makes sense if you listen to “Sometimes in Absence,” I think. There’s always a wistful kind of cinematic bent to Vision Eternel‘s work and that’s true here; persistent odes to lost love real or narrative, and a coming together of fictional spheres with genuine emotionality that’s rare in drone or post-black metal, which are probably the two central styles in which Vision Eternel resides, though the still-somehow-tense strum in “Sometimes in Absence” is as malleable as it is minimalist. You can hear any number of aspects to it depending on where your ears are coming from at any given moment, but the loneliness implied by its title is written into its spacious feel. As you listen, if you listen, I’d advise closed eyes and measured breaths, and if you feel silly doing that, it’s okay. We’re all silly sometimes. And in any cast, it’s only two minutes long. You’ll be left to your very serious self in no time, the resonant echo of Julien‘s guitar wisp-fading out at the finish.

This project has seen ups and downs and side-to-sides the last few years — as have we all, to some extent — but “Sometimes in Absence” is a sign of continued life and dedication to the cause, and while it’s obviously not much for fanfare (and it would be weirder if it was), it has a depth and intimacy that leave an impression just the same.

Enjoy:

“Sometimes in Absence” free download: https://www.visioneternel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Sometimes-In-Absence.mp3

This Valentine’s Day marks the sixteenth anniversary of Vision Eternel’s debut extended play, Seul Dans L’obsession. It is also the fourteenth anniversary of the Japanese compilation, An Anthology Of Past Misfortunes, and the eighth anniversary of the extended play Echoes From Forgotten Hearts. All Vision Eternel releases were originally planned to be released on Valentine’s Day, but most of them missed the deadline due to recording, mixing, mastering, artwork or record label delays.

Unfortunately, Vision Eternel does not have the new release it hoped to present its fans in 2023, but since this holiday is such a meaningful and important date in the band’s calendar (and is also Jack Benny’s birthday), we are offering a Valentine’s Day heartbreak treat: Sometimes In Absence, an unreleased rarity from the band’s archives.

Shortly after releasing Vision Eternel’s third concept extended play, Abondance De Périls, in March 2010, work began on what was planned to be Vision Eternel’s first full-length album. The release was to comprise select songs re-recorded from the band’s three previous extended plays, all of which would feature guest appearances. The idea of including guest appearances on the songs sprouted from a time when Vision Eternel was a three-piece band, in early 2008, with Nidal Mourad on acoustic guitar and Adam Kennedy on lead electric guitar. Several issues were faced during the making of this full-length album (principally related to guests not recording their contributions), which ultimately led to its cancellation. Some of its content, along with material planned for the cancelled split 7″ vinyl with Ethereal Beauty, was recycled into Vision Eternel’s fourth concept extended play, The Last Great Torch Song, which was released in March 2012.

Two takes of Sometimes In Absence were tracked during a late night recording session at Mortified Studios (at its Villeray location), from 11:45 P.M. to 12:30 A.M. on May 6th-7th 2010. It was the third song to be recorded during the session, following Sometimes In Isolation (which remained unreleased) and Sometimes In Neglection (which was further developed over the year and was eventually released as Sometimes In Reminiscent Neglection on The Last Great Torch Song). The plan with Sometimes In Absence (which was a re-recording of Season In Absence from Vision Eternel’s 2008 concept extended play Un Automne En Solitude), was for Adam Kennedy to record a guitar solo over the song, but he never got around to it. Aside from playing in the band in early 2008, Kennedy had previously recorded a guitar solo over the song Season In Desperation in 2009, but this song, too, remained unreleased because the backing track had not been re-recorded as planned (which would have resulted with its updated title Sometimes In Desperation).

Sometimes In Absence remained incomplete from its anticipated form and was therefore unused. However, the song later received additional arrangements throughout 2017 and 2018, and was eventually re-recorded as Moments Of Absence, and released on Vision Eternel’s 2020 concept extended play, For Farewell Of Nostalgia. Sometimes In Absence, therefore, presents a stepping stone between Season In Absence and Moments Of Absence.

This year’s Valentines Day Exclusive is accompanied by an original ink drawing by Rain Frances at Rain Frances Art. Frances has provided artwork for past Vision Eternel releases, including For Farewell Of Nostalgia, the An Anthology Of Past Misfortunes boxed set, the Lost Misfortunes series, and the forthcoming Deluxe Edition of Echoes From Forgotten Hearts, as well as previous Valentine’s Day Exclusives.

https://www.visioneternel.com
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https://play.spotify.com/artist/52WyoEAtuPS2QJ2qYOmb6u
https://visioneternel.bandcamp.com

Vision Eternel, “Sometimes in Absence”

Canadian upstarts AAWKS and Sons of Arrakis pair pretty well together. Both issued well-buzzed debut albums in 2022 — AAWKS (review here) and Volume I (review here), respectively, and they have some things in common sound-wise without actually sounding all that much alike. Throw some cool locals on here and there for two long weekenders — one starting tomorrow, one in March — and I guess you could debate whether or not it’s a tour. It’s Ontario and Quebec, crossing provincial lines. I’m not about to tell someone that doing four shows in a row isn’t a tour, so I guess if you want to couple that with another four shows together and call it one tour, who’s gonna argue? Other than gatekeeping assholes, I mean.

Hell, bring this show to New York (or even better, to New Jersey) and I promise I’ll do my best to get there.

Or maybe I should just drive to Montreal? Hmm…

From the PR wire:

AAWKS To Embark On Interprovincial Wormhole Tour With SONS OF ARRAKIS This Week

Thursday January 19th, 2023, sees Barrie, Ontario rockers AAWKS joined by the Montreal based SONS OF ARRAKIS to kick off an out of this world, fuzz-fueled Canadian tour. With both acts sharing a love for cosmic exploration, psychedelic elements and heavy rock music, The Interprovincial Wormhole Tour is a thrilling venture into fantasy realms.

“AAWKS feels like we’re all hopped on the finest, psychedelic-intergalactic spice to have the opportunity to join forces with the mighty Sons of Arrakis for the Interprovincial Wormhole Tour!!! We can’t wait to introduce our hard rocking brothers from Quebec to Oshawa, Hamilton, Toronto and Barrie in January 2023!!!” – AAWKS

“This is the first tour we do to promote our debut album, “Volume I”. We’ve worked really hard to put on a great set list and get out there. AAWKS is the ultimate partner to share the stage with! It’ll be a real psychedelic experience, be ready!” – SONS OF ARRAKIS

Tour Itinerary:

Jan 19 – The Atria, Oshawa, ON – with VEINDUZE

Jan 20 – Doors Taco Joint and Metal Bar, Hamilton, ON – with SUN BELOW, MIDNIGHT TRIPPER

Jan 21 – Bovine Sex Club, Toronto, ON – with INDIAN HANDCRAFTS and LOW ORBIT

Jan 22 – The Queens Nightclub, Barrie ON – with ETHEREAL TOMB

March 8 – Ottawa – TBD

March 9 – Turbo Haus, Montreal, QC – with HAZEHOUND

March 10 – L’anti, Quebec City, QC – with THRUSH

March 11 – Le Murdoch, Sherbrooke, QC – with THE WILDFIRE EXPERIENCE

https://aawks.ca/
https://www.facebook.com/AAWKSBAND
https://www.instagram.com/aawksband/
https://twitter.com/aawks666

https://www.sonsofarrakis.com/merch
https://sonsofarrakis.bandcamp.com/album/volume-i
https://www.sonsofarrakis.com/
https://www.facebook.com/sonsofarrakisband
https://www.instagram.com/sonsofarrakis/

AAWKS, Heavy on the Cosmic (2022)

Sons of Arrakis, Volume 1 (2022)

We roll on in this new-year-smelling 2023 with day two of the Quarterly Review. Yesterday was pretty easy, but the first day almost always is. Usually by Thursday I’m feeling it. Or the second Tuesday. It varies. In any case, as you know, this QR is a double, which means it’s going to include 100 albums total, written about between yesterday and next Friday. Ton of stuff, and most of it is 2022, but generally later in the year, so at least I’m only a couple months behind your no doubt on-the-ball listening schedule.

Look. I can’t pretend to keep up with a Spotify algorithm, I’m sorry. I do my best, but that’s essentially a program to throw bands in your face (while selling your data and not paying artists). My hope is that being able to offer a bit of context when I throw 100 bands in your face is enough of a difference to help you find something you dig. Some semblance of curation. Maybe I’m flattering myself. I’m pretty sure Spotify can inflate its own ego now too.

Winter 2023 Quarterly Review #11-20:

Antimatter, A Profusion of Thought

Project founder, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mick Moss isn’t through opener “No Contact” — one of the 10 inclusions on Antimatter‘s 54-minute eighth LP, A Profusion of Thought — before he readily demonstrates he can carry the entire album himself if need be. Irish Cuyos offers vocals on the subsequent “Paranoid Carbon” and Liam Edwards plays live drums where applicable, but with a realigned focus on programmed elements, his own voice the constant that surrounds various changes in mood and purpose, and stretches of insularity even on the full-band-sounding “Fools Gold” later on, the self-released outing comes across as more inward than the bulk of 2018’s Black Market Enlightenment, though elements like the acoustic-led approach of “Breaking the Machine,” well-produced flourishes of layering and an almost progressive-goth (proggoth?) atmosphere carry over. “Redshift” balances these sides well, as does fold before it, and “Templates” before that, and “Fools Gold” after, as Antimatter thankfully continues to exist in a place of its own between melancholic heavy, synthesized singer-songwriterism and darker, doom-born-but-not-doom metal, all of which seem to be summarized in the closing salvo of “Entheogen,” “Breaking the Machine” and “Kick the Dog.” Moss is a master of his craft long-established, and a period of isolation has perhaps led to some of the shifting balance here, but neither the album nor its songs are done a disservice by that.

Antimatter on Facebook

Antimatter on Bandcamp

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Mick’s Jaguar, Salvation

There was a point, maybe 15 years ago now give or take, when at least Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City were awash in semi-retro, jangly-but-rough-edged-to-varying-degrees rock and roll bands. Some sounded like Joan Jett, some sounded like the Ramones, or The Strokes or whoever. On Salvation, their second LP, Mick’s Jaguar bring some chunky Judas Priest riffing, no shortage of attitude, and as the five-piece — they were six on 2018’s Fame and Fortune (review here) — rip into a proto-shredder like “Speed Dealer,” worship Thin Lizzy open string riffing on “Nothing to Lose” or bask in what would be sleaze were it not for the pandemic making any “Skin Contact” at all a serotonin spike, they effectively hop onto either side of the line where rock meets heavy. Also the longest track at 4:54, “Molotov Children” is a ’70s-burly highlight, and “Handshake Deals” is an early-arriving hook that seems to make everything after it all the more welcome. “Man Down” and “Free on the Street” likewise push their choruses toward anthemic barroom sing-alongs, and while I’m not sure those bars haven’t been priced out of the market and turned into unoccupied investment luxury condos by now, rock and roll’s been declared dead in New York at least 100,000 times and it obviously isn’t, so there.

Mick’s Jaguar on Facebook

Tee Pee Records store

Totem Cat Records store

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Sammal, Aika laulaa

Long live Finnish weird. More vintage in their mindset than overall presentation, Sammal return via the ever-reliable Svart Records with Aika Laulaa, the follow-up to 2018’s Suuliekki (review here) and their fourth album total, with eight songs and 43 minutes that swap languages lyrically between Finnish, Swedish and English as fluidly as they take progressive retroism and proto-metal to a place of their own that is neither, both, and more. From the languid lead guitar in “Returning Rivers” to the extended side-enders “On Aika Laulaa” with its pastoralized textures and “Katse Vuotaa” with its heavy blues foundation, willfully brash surge, and long fade, the band gracefully skip rocks across aesthetic waters, opening playful and Scandi-folk-derived on “På knivan” before going full fuzz in “Sehr Kryptisch,” turning the three-minute meander of “Jos ei pelaa” into a tonal highlight and resolving the instrumental “(Lamda)” (sorry, the character won’t show up) with a jammy soundscape that at least sounds like it’s filled out by organ if it isn’t. A band who can go wherever they want and just might actually dare to do so, Sammal reinforce the notion of their perpetual growth and Aika laulaa is a win on paper for that almost as much as for the piano notes cutting through the distortion on “Grym maskin.” Almost.

Sammal on Facebook

Svart Records store

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Cassius King, Dread the Dawn

Former Hades guitarist Dan Lorenzo continues a personal riffy renaissance with Cassius King‘s Dread the Dawn, one of several current outlets among Vessel of Light and Patriarchs in Black. On Dread the Dawn, the New Jersey-based Lorenzo, bassist Jimmy Schulman (ex-Attacker) and drummer Ron Lipnicki (ex-Overkill) — the rhythm section also carried over from Vessel of Light — and vocalist Jason McMaster offer 11 songs and 49 minutes of resoundingly oldschool heavy, Dio Sabbath-doomed rock. Individual tracks vary in intent, but some of the faster moments on “Royal Blooded” or even the galloping opener “Abandon Paradise” remind of Candlemass tonally and even rockers like “How the West Was Won,” “Bad Man Down” and “Back From the Dead” hold an undercurrent of classic metal, never mind the creeper riff of the title-track or its eight-minute companion-piece, the suitably swinging “Doomsday.” Capping with a bonus take on Judas Priest‘s “Troubleshooter,” Dread the Dawn has long since by then gotten its point across but never failed to deliver in either songwriting or performance. They strut, and earn it.

Cassius King on Facebook

MDD Records store

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Seven Rivers of Fire, Way of the Pilgrim

Issued on tape through UK imprint Dub Cthonic, the four-extended-tracker Way of the Pilgrim is the second 2022 full-length from South African solo folk experimentalist Seven Rivers of Fire — aka William Randles — behind September’s Sanctuary (review here) and March’s Star Rise, and its mostly acoustic-based explorations are as immersive and hypnotic as ever as the journey from movement to movement in “They are Calling // Exodus” (11:16) sets up processions through the drone-minded “Awaken // The Passenger” (11:58), “From the Depths // Into the Woods” (12:00) and “Ascend // The Fall” (11:56), Randles continuing to dig into his own particular wavelength and daring to include some chanting and other vocalizations in the opener and “From the Depths // Into the Woods” and the piano-laced finale. Each piece has an aural theme of its own and sets out from there, feeling its way forward with what feels like a genuinely unplanned course. Way of the Pilgrim isn’t going to be for everybody, as with all of Seven Rivers of Fire‘s output, but those who can tune to its frequencies are going to find its resonance continual.

Seven Rivers of Fire on Facebook

Dub Cthonic on Bandcamp

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Amon Acid, Cosmogony

Leeds-based psychedelic doomers Amon Acid channel the grimmer reaches of the cosmic — and a bit of Cathedral in “Hyperion” — on their fifth full-length in four years, second of 2022, Cosmogony. The core duo of guitarist/vocalist/synthesist Sarantis Charvas and bassist/cellist Briony Charvas — joined on this nine-tracker by the singly-named Smith on drums — harness stately space presence and meditative vibes on “Death on the Altar,” the guitar ringing out vague Easternisms while the salvo that started with “Parallel Realm” seems only to plunge further and further into the lysergic unknown. Following the consuming culmination of “Demolition Wave” and the dissipation of the residual swirl there, the band embark on a series of shorter cuts with “Nag Hammandi,” the riff-roller “Mandragoras,” the gloriously-weird-but-still-somehow-accessible “Demon Rider” and the this-is-our-religion “Ethereal Mother” before the massive buildup of “The Purifier” begins, running 11 minutes, which isn’t that much longer than the likes of “Parallel Realm” or “Death on the Altar,” but rounds out the 63-minute procession with due galaxial churn just the same. Plodding and spacious, I can’t help but feel like if Amon Acid had a purposefully-dumber name they’d be more popular, but in the far, far out where they reside, these things matter less when there are dimensions to be warped.

Amon Acid on Facebook

Helter Skelter Productions website

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Iron & Stone, Mountains and Waters

The original plan from Germany’s Iron & Stone was that the four-song Mountains and Waters was going to be the first in a sequence of three EP releases. As it was recorded in Fall 2020 — a time, if you’ll recall, when any number of plans were shot to hell — and only released this past June, I don’t know if the band are still planning to follow it with another two short offerings or not, but for the bass in “Loose the Day” alone, never mind the well-crafted heavy fuzz rock that surrounds on all sides, I’m glad they finally got this one out. Opener “Cosmic Eye” is catchy and comfortable in its tempo, and “Loose the Day” answers with fuzz a-plenty while “Vultures” metes out swing and chug en route to an airy final wash that immediately bleeds into “Unbroken,” which is somewhat more raucous and urgent of riff, but still has room for a break before its and the EP’s final push. Iron & Stone are proven in my mind when it comes to heavy rock songwriting, and they seem to prefer short releases to full-lengths — arguments to be made on either side, as ever — but whether or not it’s the beginning of a series, Mountains and Waters reaffirms the band’s strengths, pushes their craft to the forefront, and celebrates genre even as it inhabits it. There’s nothing more one might ask.

Iron & Stone on Facebook

Iron & Stone on Bandcamp

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DR​Ö​Ö​G, DR​Ö​Ö​G

To be sure, there shades of are discernible influences in DR​Ö​Ö​G‘s self-titled Majestic Mountain Records first long-player, from fellow Swedes Graveyard, Greenleaf, maybe even some of earlier Abramis Brama‘s ’70s vibes, but these are only shades. Thus it is immediately refreshing how unwilling the self-recording core duo of Magnus Vestling and Daniel Engberg are to follow the rules of style, pushing the drums far back into the mix and giving the entire recording a kind of far-off feel, their classic and almost hypnotic, quintessentially Swedish (and in Swedish, lyrically-speaking) heavy blues offered with hints of psychedelic flourish and ready emergence. The way “Stormhatt” seems to rise in the space of its own making. The fuller fuzz of “Blodörn.” The subtle tension of the riff in the second half of “Nattfjärilar.” In songs mostly between six and about eight minutes long, DR​Ö​Ö​G distinguish themselves in tone — bass and hard-strummed guitar out front in “Hamnskiftaren” along with the vocals — and melody, creating an earthy atmosphere that has elements of svensk folkmusik without sounding like a caricature of that or anything else. They’ve got me rewriting my list of 2022’s best debut albums, and already looking forward to how they grow this sound going on from here.

DR​Ö​Ö​G on Facebook

Majestic Mountain Records store

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Grales, Remember the Earth but Never Come Back

Rare is a record so thoroughly screamed that is also so enhanced by its lyrics. Hello, Remember the Earth but Never Come Back. Based in Montreal — home to any number of disaffected sludgy noisemakers — Grales turn apocalyptic dystopian visions into poetry on the likes of “All Things are Temporary,” and anti-capitalist screed on “From Sea to Empty Sea” and “Wretched and Low,” tying together anthropocene planet death with the drive of human greed in concise, sharp, and duly harsh fashion. Laced with noise, sludged to the gills it’s fortunate enough to have so it can breathe in the rising ocean waters, and pointed in its lurch, the five-song/43-minute outing takes the directionless fuckall of so many practitioners of its genre and sets itself apart by knowing and naming exactly what it’s mad about. It’s mad about wage theft, climate change, the hopelessness that surrounds most while a miserly few continue to rape and pillage what should belong to everybody. The question asked in “Agony” answers itself: “What is the world without our misery? We’ll never know.” With this perspective in mind and a hint of melody in the finale “Sic Transit Mundus,” Grales offer a two-sided tape through From the Urn Records that is gripping in its onslaught and stirring despite its outward misanthropy. It’s not that they don’t care; it’s that they want you to pick up a molotov cocktail and toss it at your nearest corporate headquarters. Call it relatable.

Grales on Facebook

From the Urn Records on Bandcamp

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Half Gramme of Soma, Slip Through the Cracks

Energetic in its delivery and semi-progressive in its intentions, Half Gramme of Soma‘s second album, Slip Through the Cracks, arrives with the backing of Sound of Liberation Records, the label wing of one of Europe’s lead booking agencies for heavy rock. Not a minor endorsement, but it’s plain to hear in the eight-song/42-minute course the individualism and solidified craft that prompted the pickup: Half Gramme of Soma know what they’re doing, period. Working with producer George Leodis (1000mods, Godsleep, Last Rizla, etc.) in their native Athens, they’ve honed a sound that reaches deeper than the deceptively short runtimes of tracks like “Voyager” and “Sirens” or “Wounds” might lead you to believe, and the blend of patience and intensity on finale-and-longest-song “22:22” (actually 7:36) highlights their potential in both its languid overarching groove and the later guitar solos that cut through it en route to that long fade, without sacrificing the present for the sake of the future. That is, whatever Half Gramme of Soma might do on their third record, Slip Through the Cracks shouldn’t. Even in fest-ready riffers “High Heels” and “Mind Game,” they bleed personality and purpose.

Half Gramme of Soma on Facebook

Sound of Liberation Records store

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