Yet again, The Obelisk asks the big questions.

Speaking of British bands whose songs get irreparably caught in my head and in whose riffs I want to immerse myself for weeks at a time and who are allegedly releasing a new album this year, fucking Electric Wizard, man. I don’t really have a point other than that. Fucking Electric Wizard. In an effort to better your afternoon at work or wherever the hell you are, here’s “Stone Magnet” from their 1995 self-titled debut:

And if I may say so myself, that’s pretty badass. Here’s the PR wire infos:

Two of doom metal’s most acclaimed acts will team up for a two week US tour this winter as the legendary Pentagram joins forces with celebrated “True Heavy Metal” band The Gates of Slumber. The 11 city tour will launch on January 15, 2010 in Springfield, VA.

Pre-sales for the Pentagram / The Gates of Slumber 2010 US tour go on sale Friday, November 13 [Gads! That's today! --ed.]. The initial routing for the trek is as follows:

January 15 Springfield, VA, Jaxx
January 16 Philadelphia, PA, Polaris
January 17 New York, NY, B.B. King Blues Club
January 18 Richmond, VA, The Hat Factory
January 21 New Orleans, LA, The Howlin’ Wolf
January 23 Atlanta, GA, The Masquerade
January 26 Des Moines, IA, Vaudeville
January 27 Madison, WI, High Noon
January 28 Cleveland, OH, Peabody’s
January 29 Detroit, MI, Blondie’s
January 30 Chicago, IL, Empty Bottle

Indianapolis trad doomers The Gates of Slumber have their sound in the key of epic. On their latest album and first for Rise Above Records, Hymns of Blood and Thunder (reviewed here), the trio craft a heavy metal classic in the grand tradition of both the grand and the traditional. Guitarist/vocalist Karl Simon, bassist Jason McCash and drummer “Iron” Bob Fouts capitalize in every way on the success of 2008’s Conqueror, as though this album were built on the foundation of its predecessor. As Simon reveals in the extensive interview below, in many ways it was.

Speaking of revelations (no, this isn’t a Christian thing), at the very beginning of our interview, in what would normally be mundane cordialities not worth printing, Simon and I wound up discussing how he makes his living. Given the noble nature of his work and the fact that I think it’s an interesting read, it’s staying in. You can decide the relevance for yourself.

In either case, please enjoy the Q&A after the jump.

Read more »

Just about everything concerning Indianapolis traditional doomers The Gates of Slumber is heavy, from their look (there is nothing more metal than a skullet, and I say that completely without irony or facetiousness) to their riffs, to the artwork and medieval brutality of their lyrics. Seriously, these guys are fucking metal. No counterpoint necessary.

I wasn’t a big fan of Conqueror, their last album, which was released by Profound Lore in 2008 and turns out to have been their breakthrough, but after spending some time with their Rise Above debut, Hymns of Blood and Thunder, and particularly after seeing them live with Zoroaster on the North America is Doomed Tour, I’ve been given a new context in which to understand and appreciate what they’re doing. When these dudes rock out like Candlemass, it’s not retro silliness or hipster bullshit. They might just be the guys who wear Cirith Ungol shirts and actually own the records.

Read more »

They’re based in the UK, but there’s really no telling where planet-hopping space rockers Litmus might end up in or out of this feebly-armed galaxy by the end of their third album, Aurora, and where they might take you likewise. Their second album on Rise Above Records (2004’s You are Here came out on aptly-named Space Records), Aurora follows the mellotronned spirit of 2007’s Planetfall, but delves even further into an unmined quarry of retro prog and Hawkwindy sonicspheres.

“Beyond the Sun,” “Miles Away,” “Stars” and album highlight “Kings of Infinite Space” let you know Litmus are interested in distance and journey, and their music follows suit, with delicately composed — but heavy — progressions of technically complex riffs and rhythms. The multiple vocals of drummer Marek, guitarist Fiddler and bassist Martin work in tandem to affect a ‘70s-style harmonized patchwork, enhanced on record by liberal reverb and backed by the already noted mellotron and other psychedelic swirlings of resident noisemaker Anton and keyboardist Oli. With these two members focused entirely on ambience around the traditional power trio, Litmus bravely rock their way into a difficultly navigated asteroid field on “In the Burning Light” while floating through the outer reaches of anti-gravity with “Eos” only minutes later, allowing for twists sound-wise for which other bands simply aren’t equipped.

Read more »

NOTE: Yeah, I know I didn’t write part one yet. I’m starting with Pt. 2. If you don’t like it, get your own damn website and number posts however you see fit. Now then…

It was under an appropriately darkening and threatening dusk that I — having slept until 1:30pm and spent most of the day wandering around semi-conscious and reeling from the night before — drearily made my way into Manhattan to catch the North America is Doomed Tour with SerpentCult, The Gates of Slumber and Atlanta mavens Zoroaster headlining. I left the house at about 8pm hit little to no traffic and pulled into a parking spot directly across the street from Webster Hall at 9:05. From outside, I could hear The Gates of Slumber riffing the start of their set. No one stopped me when I went and pulled on the wrong door of the venue.

The show was downstairs in a space they called The Studio. I’d never been in it before, but it was basically a smaller club apart from the larger ballroom. I love rooms like that. Like the Tap Bar at the old Knitting Factory. Every time I go to one I immediately start booking a multi-stage festival in my head. Upstairs I’d get High on Fire and Pentagram to headline while in The Studio I’d bring over Dozer and put them on with someone more local like Unearthly Trance or maybe Solace. Awesome. Just don’t ask me how I’d pay for it.

By the time I was inside, The Gates of Slumber were nearly done with what I hope was the first song they played. I checked the merch area for copies of their older albums, 2004’s The Awakening and 2006’s Suffer No Guilt, to no avail. Though 2008’s Conqueror didn’t do much for me in terms of repeat listens, my understanding was such that the two that came before were the way to go. Has yet to be seen (or heard, I suppose). In either case, the trio surprised the hell out of me by kicking all sorts of unholy trad doom ass on material both new and old, highlighting Conqueror cuts like “Trapped in the Web” while simultaneously promoting their forthcoming Rise Above debut, Hyms of Blood and Thunder (split your lungs therein). Skulleted guitarist/vocalist Karl Simon pulled emotive solo notes to new song “Descent into Madness” shortly after saying how glad he was people had come down to the show because he didn’t think anyone would show up, and if I wasn’t a fan before, I certainly was one by the time they were done with “The Ice Worm’s Lair.”

Read more »

Blah blah blah, Carcass reunion, blah blah blah. Get to the good part.

The good part was this year at Roadburn when Firebird (yes, and Carcass) guitarist/vocalist Bill Steer — who was apparently sick as hell at the time — started belting out songs through his harmonica, drummer Ludwig Witt and bassist Smok Smoczkiewicz throwing down infectiously grooving rhythms to match every solo, chorus and verse of riffy ’70s guitar rock. Shortly thereafter, with the release of the fifth Firebird record, Grand Union, the band proved the energy they captured on stage they could easily match in the studio, providing fitting covers of Humble Pie and James Taylor alongside original highlights “Jack the Lad” and “Wild Honey” while showing the retro sect there’s more to it than vintage gear and fuzzy promo photos.

Indeed, Grand Union’s second greatest strength (the first being the songwriting) might be its modern sound. In the digital age of endless recording possibilities, Firebird sound natural, unforced and entirely void of pretense. As ever, the trio executes their material with a keen eye on hard rock’s lineage but both feet planted in the present.

Steer was kind enough to take some time out recently for a phoner to talk about the album, Firebird in general, and his plans for the future, including the revelation (spoiler alert) that he’s joined Gentleman’s Pistols on lead guitar. Enjoy.

Read more »

Just in on the PR wire is the good news that Indianapolis traditional doomers The Gates of Slumber have finished their new album, dubbed Hymns of Blood and Thunder. The way I see it, this is the make or break record for these guys, where they either fall into trendy retro lameness or basically become this generation’s Saint Vitus. Should go without saying where my hopes lie. Here’s the abridged press release:

Critically acclaimed ?True Heavy Metal? band The Gates of Slumber has completed work on its new studio album, Hymns of Blood & Thunder.? The album is slated to drop in North America on September 13, 2009 via Rise Above Records.

Recorded in Chicago?s Semaphore Studios with producer Sanford Parker (Nachtmystium, Pelican), The Gates of Slumber unleashes its holy grail in the formidable Hymns of Blood & Thunder.? A mighty document of both powerful songwriting and instrumental skull-crushing, the album is heavy and chillingly bleak; in an almost unrelenting way that hasn’t been heard since Judas Priest’s heyday (Sad Wings of Destiny, Sin After Sin, etc.).? Displaying a powerful focus and direction and demonstrating a very compelling emotional range, THE GATES OF SLUMBER have upped its levels of both technique and melody, resulting in an album that is at once frighteningly dark in its effect, tight in its grooves and unrivaled in its sheer power.

The final track listing for Hymns of Blood & Thunder is as follows:

Read more »

I’ll say this for Tokyo stoner metallers Church of Misery: their sound is insane enough to do justice to the serial killers they write songs about. I once heard Slayer guitarist Kerry King describe the drumming of Dave Lombardo as being always right on the edge, totally about to fall apart, but completely in control at the same time. Well, Church of Misery don’t come off like they’re even trying to make the pretense of control. Chaos, human sacrifice, cannibalism. And on their latest full-length, Houses of the Unholy (Rise Above), a Sir Lord Baltimore cover for good measure.

On the back of the liner notes for the album it says, “No drone, no power ambient, let them eat doom,” and that’s a better review for Houses of the Unholy than I could ever write. Church of Misery’s unhinged fuck-all doom moves quick, with songs loosely shaped around the unreal riffage from guitarist Thomas Sutton and the burly, spittle-drenching vocals of Hideki Fukasawa. The fast pace of a track like “Born to Raise Hell (Richard Speck)” — probably the most stoner cut on the record with a killer? bass break from main songwriter Tatsu Mikami around four minutes in that leads to a massive riffed-out slowdown and eventually back into the titular chorus — does nothing but add to the madness, with the wide open production of Junji Narita’s cymbals giving the recording a live feel and constant ring. They are the very definition of lethal.

Read more »

Firebird guitarist/vocalist Bill Steer probably wasn’t thinking there’s a chain of grocery stores on the east coast of the US called Grand Union when he came up with the title for his band’s fifth album. In all likelihood, he just went with it because it sounded cool and ’70s-ish, which, out of the context of the shopping list, it does. Produce aisle be damned.

Based out of foggy London town, Steer is probably best known as the guitarist for grind gods Carcass, and if Grand Union serves as anything, it’s a reminder of why Steer looked so damn bored on stage when I saw their reunion tour last year. Sure, he ripped through solos and shredded when it was dictated he do so, but, decked in bellbottoms and a white t-shirt, he seemed out of his element and disinterested. By contrast, when Firebird played Roadburn this April, he was excited to the point that he couldn’t stand still.

Though, to be fair, Firebird’s music is the type of classic ’70s rock that’ll have just about anyone shaking their ass. Certainly the crowd in The Netherlands was into it, and Steer — joined by drummer Ludwig Witt and new bassist Smok Smoczkiewicz — locked onto the energy as the band ran through Grand Union tracks like “Four Day Creep,” “Silent Stranger,” “Wild Honey” and Duster Bennett’s harmonica-led “Worried Mind.” New songs or old, it was good-time rock and roll, which just so happens to be Firebird’s specialty.

Read more »

Any fans of King Crimson’s earliest days and/or the modern mellotron antics of Steven Wilson-era Opeth or Belgian rockers Hypnos 69’s extra-proggy last record, The Eclectic Measure, will want to catch up with San Diego retro prog (henceforth to be referred to as “reprog” in these pages) containment unit Astra. Their shroomy Rise Above Records debut, The Weirding is a sweetly melodic, intricately-arranged excursion into the ’70s when the ’70s were young and the excesses arena rock had yet to take hold. There are some heavier moments peppered in the longer tracks, mostly arriving after sizeable buildups, but even so, it’s countryside prog all the way.

The five-piece (I can’t even remember the last time I wrote about a band with that many people in it on this site) outfit capture a specific moment in the development of their genre, when certain among the set of acid rockers decided that simply wasn’t smart enough for them, made a left turn and landed square in the midst of technically proficient psychedelic self-indulgence. Guitarists Richard Vaughan (also vocals, mellotron and echoplex), Conor Riley (also vocals, mellotron, “arp odyssey” and organ) and Brian Ellis (also vocals and moog) don’t go overly tech in their six-string work, but Astra, with their abundance of synth atmosphere and encompassing, engaging sound, could easily fall into the category of a kitchen-sink kind of band.

Read more »

Los Angeles rural riffers Night Horse, who released their debut EP on Tee Pee not so long ago, are streaming a new song now. Not only that, but San Diego’s prog specialists Astra have also put up a new track to their MySpace page that comes off their Rise Above debut, The Weirding. Nothing like free goo. Here’s press release excerpts:

Night Horse:
Fresh off the heels of their critically acclaimed EP The Dark Won’t Hide You, Night Horse return with another heavy helping of rockin’ blues ‘n roll by the name of “Good Bye Gone,” the A side to a split single with like-minded roots rockers from San Diego, Dirty Sweet — the first of three split singles Night Horse have planned for this summer on Tee Pee Records.

Night Horse, “Good Bye Gone”

Astra:
San Diego based progressive rock band Astra has completed work on its hotly-anticipated debut album, entitled The Weirding.?The record hits stores in North America today via Rise Above Records. A taste of what The Weirding holds in store can be experienced now as the new Astra song ?The River Under? been posted online at this location.

This just came in on the PR wire. Heartfelt congratulations to these Midwestern boys. Hope to hear new stuff from them soon:

Heralded Indianapolis, IN doom metal masters THE GATES OF SLUMBER have signed to England?s Rise Above Records for the release of their highly anticipated new album and follow up to 2008?s celebrated Conqueror. The as-yet-untitled record is slated for a fall, 2009 release.

The announcement is made on the heels of the brightest and busiest year in the respected power trio?s history; one that saw the band pack clubs during its first US headlining tour and land atop many year-end media polls with Conqueror, an album that was hailed as ?a breath of fresh air within the doom / true metal underground.? The record placed at the #5 position in Decibel’s “Top 40 Albums of 2008″ and made Village Voice Media?s “Top 10 Metal Albums of 2008,” joining an impressive list of some of the genre?s finest including AC/DC, Judas Priest and Metallica. The signing of The Gates of Slumber further bolsters the North American roster of Rise Above ? the London-based independent record label owned by Lee Dorrian (vocalist of the band Cathedral and original lead singer of Napalm Death) ? which has increased its Stateside profile of late by also welcoming San Diego prog rockers Astra and Toronto doom-psyche band Blood Ceremony to its family of artists.