Posted in audiObelisk on March 7th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Norwegian sludgetossers Rongeur will issue their debut album, An Asphyxiating Embrace, on March 9. They’ve aligned themselves to no fewer than three separate labels for the occasion: Poacher Records has the initial digital release — that’s this week — late Spring (May or June, depending on whom you ask) will see cassette and vinyl out through Poacher, as well as Ampmandens Records and Aonair Records. Complicated? Don’t worry, by the time you make it through the track premiere for “Wellpisser” below, you’ll feel like you were hit over the head and you won’t remember anything anyway. It’ll be like the confusion never happened. Thud.
An Asphyxiating Embrace — or as I’ve enjoyed thinking of it, ‘the bear-hug that kills you’ — offers claustrophobia worthy of it title, and for that reason one might try to to peg it as post-metal, but that’s hardly even the surface level of the melting pot formed by the eight-track/30-minute offering, throughout which songs like “The Weight of Guilt” blend punishing low end and soaring guitars and keys for an effect that offsets the ultra-pissed noise punk of the earlier “Special Needs” or the everybody-scream-at-the-same-time onslaught of “Mr. Hands.” A catchall like “noise rock” ultimately applies no less than a catchall like “progressive” to what the Oslo three-piece put together in their material, but I don’t think there’s any denying that from the opening lumber of “Weltschmerz” through the rawer bass and feedback interplay of “Chained to a Dead Horse,” the core of the album is in its aggressive thrust.
That said, there are moments of flourish one finds throughout, like the keyboards that arrive and come to the fore on “Wellpisser,” the trio of bassist/vocalist Dag Ole, guitarist/vocalist Ken-Robert and drummer/backing vocalist Jon incorporating more spacious guitar leads and keys amid the by-then-familiar rumble of low end beneath. Followed by the chugging and more bare-bones arrangement of “The Deconstructionist,” “Wellpisser” is a standout from much of An Asphyxiating Embrace, but nonetheless representative when it comes to the spirit of the full-length overall, which is to operate with efficient brutality — a kind of thoughtful onslaught playing out over its course that presents itself with deceptive variety through songs like the rolling “Friendsliebe” and the Mellotron-laced creeper-riff-into-aggro-explosion in “The Weight of Guilt,” on which High on Fire-style gallop meets with ’90s hardcore in only the cruelest of presentations.
Their first full-length, An Asphyxiating Embrace follows behind the 2015 demo collection, The Catastrophist and As the Blind Strive Demos (review here), and benefits from the lessons learned across those 2013 and 2014 shorter releases in terms of its fluidity, diversity of approach and general level of craft and production. It is the proverbial impressive debut from a band who’ve obviously given thought to how they want to direct the weapon that is their sound.
You can stream the premiere of “Wellpisser” below, followed by the idiomatic origin story of the title — if anyone needs me I’ll be trying to work the word into daily conversation — and more info from the PR wire. Please enjoy:
Dag Ole on An Asphyxiating Embrace:
The album An Asphyxiating Embrace is in essence a frustrated observation of the human inadequacy to make rational choices. It dwells on the metaphysical aspects of social norms, religion and politics, but without being dogmatic about any of these. Rather it poses more questions than it offers answers. So hope and relief has to be found elsewhere. If anywhere.
The song title “Wellpisser” is derived from old norse “brunnmigi” or “brønnpisser,” meaning to urinate in somebody’s well, i.e. drinking water. It is today used as a derogatory expression in modern political discourse to portray political opponents as fraudulent and false, and is a means to disguise one’s real intentions. However, it should come as no surprise that this phenomenon of dishonesty in regards to intentions appears in all spheres of human interaction. This song is thus about deceit.
Rongeur’s first release was a compilation of demos, the Catastrophist (2013) and As the Blind Strive (2014), issued on cassette by the British label Aonair Productions in December 2015. These demo recordings were then released on compact disc by Disiplin Media (now defunct) in April 2015 with a worldwide distribution deal. In March 2015 Rongeur entered the studio of Jørgen Karlstrøm (ex-Hexed) at PhatCat Studios in Oslo to record four crushing tracks. Two of these were released as a digital split release with Ampmandens Døtre in September 2015, and the remaining two tracks were released as the “God and I/Good War” 7” vinyl single via Ampmandens Records in April 2016.
In late January 2017 the band recorded nine new tracks at Norsk Lydstudio to be featured in their debut full length album “An Asphyxiating Embrace”. The record is mixed and mastered by Ruben Willem at Caliban Studios. The digital version will be released on Poacher Records on the 9th of March 2018, and will also be released on physical format (vinyl and cassette) in May/June 2018 via Poacher Records, Ampmandens Records and Aonair Records.
Rongeur is: Dag Ole: bass and vocals Ken-Robert: guitar and vocals Jon: drums and vocals less
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 1st, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Head over to the Bandcamp page for Norwegian sludgers Rongeur and the story seems pretty complicated, but here’s the upshot so far as I can gather: The band is heavy as fuck and their debut album, An Asphyxiating Embrace, is coming out March 9 digitally with physical pressings to follow at some point thereafter. The good news is that if you feel so inclined you can check out the track “Weltschmerz” now — at the bottom of this post, even! — and see if you can resist the urge to punch yourself in the head while listening. I could not, but to be fair, neither was I really trying to. So it goes.
More to come on this one I think before the release, so stay tuned. Until then, the PR wire has info:
Oslo-based stoner/sludge trio Rongeur will finally unleash their first full-length album “An Asphyxiating Embrace” after releasing a couple of eps and split releases over the last six years.
Scheduled for release on March 9th digitally via Poacher Records and on vinyl/cassette in early June via Poacher Records, Ampmandens Records and Aonair Records, “An Asphyxiating Embrace” was recorded by Rongeur and mixed and mastered by Ruben Willem at Caliban Studios. Pre-orders for the physical versions will be announced soon.
We offer the album “An Asphyxiating Embrace” in a limited run of three different vinyl colours: clear, white or standard black vinyl (100 copies of each colour). The LP is housed in a beautiful single jacket cover designed by Ole Nymoen Design (Sibiir, Naga Siren, Hexed, Ieatheartattacks), with a high quality protective inner sleeve. All copies will be hand numbered by the band. Includes a digital download of the whole album made available on the date of release March 9. 2018.
We offer a very limited run of 50 hand numbered cassette tapes of the album “An Asphyxiating Embrace”. The cassette comes with exclusive artwork done by the talented french illustrator Alexandre Bodecot, and the bonus track “Sunk Costs”. Includes a digital download of the whole album made available on the date of release March 9. 2018.
Bio: The dystopian stoner/sludge/doom metal trio Rongeur was formed in the autumn of 2012. The band is known for playing loud, having a shared love for old tube amps, feedback, distortion, Neurosis, Seigmen and Black Sabbath. Rongeur therefore offer varying levels of angst, and batter you with their unique brand of heavy.
Rongeur is: Dag Ole: bass and vocals Ken-Robert: guitar and vocals Jon: drums and vocals less
Morale is good as I stare down day three of this Quarterly Review. I’m encouraged by the good response the two-so-far posts have gotten and hope if you’ve had the chance to check out any of this stuff you’ve been able to find something you’re into. Or if not, I hope the next three days can rectify that situation. There are 30 records still to go. Bound to be something in there for everyone, myself included.
Quarterly Review #21-30:
Royal Thunder, Crooked Doors
Royal Thunder’s second full-length for Relapse, Crooked Doors, is bound to surprise some listeners. A three-piece when they issued CVI through the label in 2012, the Savannah, Georgia, outfit arrives at Crooked Doors as a foursome with the addition of guitarist Will Fiore of Zoroaster, and embarks on a considerable shift in approach. Slickly, almost commercially produced, the album brisks past some riffy elements in songs like opener “Time Machine,” also the longest cut at 7:20 (immediate points), and “The Line” toward an aesthetic reinterpreting ‘80s pop-metal melodramas through a vaguely heavy rock filter. Between Fiore and might-spit-beer-on-you guitarist Josh Weaver, one might expect more tonal heft than Crooked Doors offers overall, but the album instead leans heavily on bassist/vocalist Mlny Parsonz to carry the emotional crux of the material (though Evan Diprima’s drums still hit with some impact as well). Parsonz’s voice proves up to the task — in pop-singer form, she carries the record — and is bolstered through layering, but by the time Crooked Doors’ hour runtime ends up at the lounge-blues and piano stylizations of “The Bear I” and “The Bear II,” it feels cumbersome and like the point has already been made.
A sophomore EP from this London five-piece following their impressive 2013 self-titled (review here), Luia doesn’t top half an hour, but its five included tracks show marked progression in pushing Strauss away from the Kyuss-isms that in large part defined their prior work. Opener “Mud at You” is immediately more aggressive, and though “Humanphobic (to Mary Shelley)” (note: anthropophobia), slows the pace and opens wide in its middle third, vocalist Stef shouts to remind of the core intensity in the songwriting. That takes a back seat as centerpiece “For all the Wrong Reasons” moves toward an apex of a cleaner-sung chorus, but the riffs of guitarists Charles and Bano, and the groove from bassist Bill and drummer Doc, remain heavy enough that the point isn’t lost. The eight-minute “Eclipse” has it all – doomed chug, screams, singing, crash, tempo changes, nod and so on – but the funky jam that starts closer “2015” shows Strauss are willing to have some fun with their heaviness as well. All the better. Time for a full-length.
Comparisons to Witch Mountain are inevitable for Minneapolis four-piece Kult of the Wizard, whose vocalist, Mahle Roth, carries a bluesy inflection not dissimilar from Uta Plotkin on the five-song EP, The White Wizard. Self-released, it’s the band’s first work with Roth as frontwoman, guitarist Aaron Hodgson, bassist Ryan Janssen and drummer Travis Nordahl having released two prior outings – The Red Wizard (2013) and The Blue Wizard (2014) – instrumentally, and the difference is palpable. Roth adds a commanding presence to the rolling leadoff track “Tusk of the Mammoth,” showcases a noteworthy range on “Black Moon” and steps back only for an eerie wash of noise and samples on centerpiece “Plasma Pool,” but the finest performance on all fronts is closer “Devil Delight,” which meters out stomp and echo at its peak to concoct an otherworldly churn of psychedelic cult doom, Roth once again steering the progression with a sure hand. One does not expect The White Wizard to be the last we hear from Kult of the Wizard. Hell, they haven’t even done all the primary colors yet.
With 350 copies pressed by H42 Records in no fewer than five different color variations and at least that many versions of the cover art, Ein Herz Voller Soul, the latest 7” single from horn-laden German rockers Coogans Bluff hits with a fair amount of circumstance. It is, nonetheless, two songs and a quick listen. Its A-side is “Ein Herz Voller Soul,” a German-language retelling of “Heart Full of Soul” from the band’s 2014 full-length, Gettin’ Dizzy, and the B-side is “She Gave Her Life for a Man,” a classic rocker given middle-era Beatlesian flair by Stefan Meinking’s trombone, which feels fitting after the garage style of “Ein Herz Voller Soul,” though both cuts retain an element of the progressive in their approach, the band – Meinking, guitarist Willi Paschen, bassist/vocalist Clemens Marasus, drummer Charlie Paschen and saxophonist Max Thum – not afraid to branch wherever the song might take them, to a call and response hook or harder drum stomp. A stopgap, maybe, but Coogans Bluff have a tendency to engage and here they do so in hardly any time at all.
Papir Meets Electric Moon, The Papermoon Sessions Live at Roadburn 2014
Members of German psych-jam godsends Electric Moon and Copenhagen progressive explorers Papir took the stage at Roadburn 2014 in the Netherlands as a follow-up to their 2013 outing, The Papermoon Sessions (review here). I don’t think they’d played live together before and I’m pretty sure they haven’t since (though don’t quote me on that), but in any case, the billing Papir Meets Electric Moon isn’t something that happens every day, and the two north-of-20-minutes pieces conjured up for inclusion on The Papermoon Sessions Live at Roadburn 2014 only emphasize how special the collaboration actually is, washes of synth and effects layered over gloriously krautrocking rhythms, swiftly turning one minute and peaceful the next, but never disjointed, never losing the sense of flow. Each track — the second one is shorter at 22:15 — has its own movement, but the thing to do is put on The Papermoon Sessions Live at Roadburn 2014 and just let it go and go along with it. For a group that came together in the wake of a tragedy — the untimely passing of Danish promoter Ralph Rjeily — Papermoon proves yet again that beauty can spring even in dark times. I hope they do another record.
Seems unlikely a band is going to dive into songs like “Hippies are Dead,” “Whore Island (Jim Loves His Wife” or “King Mullet Destroyer” and not have a sense of humor, let alone call themselves We are Warwick Davis – please note: the actor is nowhere to be seen – so yeah, the Illinois double-guitar five-piece get up to some chicanery on their Storming the Castle full-length. Lots of chicanery, as it happens. Vocalist Joe Duffy is blown out over the punkish progressions of “Audio Visual” but reminds more of Jello Biafra on “Mind Enemy Mine,” which launches the album following a voicemail intro about blowing people off the stage. Former Monster Magnet guitarist John McBain mastered the album, and it was apparently a couple years in the self-recording process. It’s accordingly raw, and at 57 minutes, I doubt the band could be accused of understating their argument. Out of balance here and there to the point of abrasion, but ultimately harmless.
Rongeur, The Catastrophist and As the Blind Strive Demos
With members of folk metallers Trollfest, off-kilter hardcore punkers Ampmandens Døtre and atmospheric post-metallers Sju in tow, it may or may not be fair to call Rongeur a side-project, but they sure as hell are varied in their influences. The Oslo trio of drummer/vocalist Jostein, guitarist/vocalist Ken-Robert and bassist/vocalist Dag Ole (who belong respectively to the bands above) arrange their two-to-date demos with the newer tracks first on The Catastrophist and As the Blind Strive Demos, on Disiplin Media, so that the listener encountering them for the first time hears where the trio are as of 2014, then goes back to their first explorations, from 2013. Raw noise ensues, a post-hardcore vibe delivered with shouts and sludgy heft, but the older tracks offer a fuller distortion that they seem to have stripped down before getting around to songs like “Traitors” or the barebones-aggro “Jon Hogg.” One wonders where they might go from here, which is probably the whole point of the release.
Heavy rock and death metal rarely tread the same ground without being immediately cast to one side or another. Gothenburg’s Crowlegion seem determined to stake a claim to both sides, and the 24-minute The First Offering EP, issued on CD by Grave Goods Productions, makes good on that attempt. The seven tracks are short – only two top four minutes – but stylistically ambitious, guitarist/vocalist Linus Pilebrand seeming to be the driving force behind the project’s blend of rolling riffs and guttural growls. He’s since replaced the rhythm section, having played bass on this recording in addition to guitar, with Jonas Jörgensen also on guitar and Sarah Tefke drumming, and four of the seven cuts also feature guest vocals, most of them working in extreme styles as well. I’m not sure if The First Offering is the release that finally crosses that long bridge between aesthetics, but Crowlegion position themselves well with these tracks to continue to make the journey. Nod or headbang. Your choice.
Chris Forsyth and the Solar Motel Band, Intensity Ghost
Less about the sonic heft of any given moment than the overarching freedom of exploration throughout its five instrumental tracks, Intensity Ghost is the first studio offering from Chris Forsyth and the Solar Motel Band (released on No Quarter), and it’s fucking brilliant. The Philly-based five-piece got together in 2013 but play like they’ve been sharing stages for a decade, whether it’s the smoothness with which they ride the bassline and current of synth in “Yellow Square” or closer “Paris Song”’s subtle move from minimalism into contemplative psychedelia. Dreamy centerpiece “I Ain’t Waiting” is the shortest of the bunch at 5:16, and opener “The Ballad of Freer Hollow” the longest and jammiest at 11:25 (immediate points), but wherever these guys – Forsyth on guitar, plus guitarist Paul Sukeena, bassist Peter Kerlin, drummer Steven Urgo and synth/organist Shawn Edward Hansen – seem to go, they get there with an engrossing fluidity that’s nothing short of masterful. A joy, front to back.
Eldorado’s Babylonia Haze, at 10 tracks and 55 minutes, is not an insignificant undertaking. The Spanish four-piece brazenly take on classic rock hooks topped with organ-and-guitar fluidity and the soar-ready singing of Jesus Trujillo, joined in the band by guitarist Andres Duende, bassist Cesar Sanchez and drummer Christian Giardino (since replaced by Javier Planelles). A progressive clarity marks out acoustic-led cuts like “Breathe the Night” and the later “Resurrection Song,” the arrangements natural and purposeful in kind, and longer inclusions like “Flowers of Envy” (8:02) and “Karma Generator” (11:35) have breadth enough to sustain their runtimes while keeping a structured feel, the latter providing plotted movements toward the apex of the album before “Moon Girl” offers a lesser build of its own as afterthought, reimagining prog-fueled heavy rock as the fodder of a pop wistfulness. Accomplished and precise, it’ll be too clean for some ears, while others will no doubt wonder how its brilliance can be ignored.
the core of the album is in its aggressive thrust.
