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Doors to No Where Premiere “Drift Into Sequence” Lyric Video

Posted in Bootleg Theater on August 23rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan

doors to no where drift into sequence

Santa Cruz heavy rockers Doors to No Where release their new single ‘Drift Into Sequence,’ Aug. 25 on Bandcamp and the rest of the stream/DL ecosphere through Desert Records. That’s Friday, if you’re not paying attention. Recorded by Aaron Cooper, who ended up playing guitar and synth in addition to engineering — always a good thing when the producer ends up adding to the track; means they think enough of what’s happening to be inspired to do so; when an engineer doesn’t give a rat’s ass, that doesn’t happen — the song in its accompanying lyric video form runs 6:40 and presents itself with the raw, on-beat melodicism reminiscent of Alice in ChainsFacelift, which is suitable to the layered and brooding vocal from founding guitarist Marc Lewis (also Moog, other keys).

As Lewis and bassist Marc Prefontaine — who eases the transition out of the Spanish-guitar midsection back into the verse and is the force of heft overall — welcome new drummer Kyle Moore and collaborate with Cooper as producer/player, the band’s general palette seems to have expanded even since they arrived on Desert Records with 2021’s Darkness Falls (discussed here), which was their fourth album.

What’s the plan for a fifth, I don’t know beyond the all-caps update in the headline below. The crunch in the guitar tone on “Drift Into Sequence” is so resolutely ’90s — I can hear Megadeth in it initially and Clutch in its later roll, both ’90s era, in addition to Alice in Chains, so yes, ’90s — as Lewis cycles through the first chorus of “I’m at odds with your fate/I’m at odds with the pain you’re in,” the undercurrent of metal feels genuine. A subtle twist brings back the verse, hinting toward lysergics as it moves into that acoustic-inclusive break, but interested ultimately in the straight and narrow of structure and returning smoothly to that.

The flamenco-esque guitar returns as the song wraps, doubling-down on the divergence from the norm while reinforcing the norm itself, Moore making his presence felt in the toms behind that finish and in the verse groove prior, putting a sense of movement to the grim, moody atmosphere that surrounds. It’s only one song and supposedly they’re working on more, so fair enough. Figure we’ll probably hear from them either way sometime next year.

Doors to No Where have also collaborated with Slough Brewing Collective to create “Stage Beer,” which one assumes based on the description is a lower-ABV session lager or ale. In any case, if beer’s your thing, you’ll want to take note.

Video follows here, with more from the PR wire below, including the preorder link.

Please enjoy:

Doors to No Where, “Drift Into Sequence” lyric video premiere

Desert Records proudly presents Doors To No Where and their upcoming single “Drift Into Sequence”

THE BAND HAS ALSO HAS BEGAN WORK ON A NEW RECORD

SINGLE PREORDER: https://doorstonowhere.bandcamp.com/track/drift-into-sequence

DRIFT INTO SEQUENCE

Driven by a dissonant guitar riff “Drift Into Sequence” is a complex sonic journey with a touch of heavy psych. Lyrically the song is about a person going through a mental health crisis and battling themselves. The premise is that someone knows they are not well but feels helpless in what the next step is. “Drift Into Sequence” is also the first song to welcome Kyle Moore (Band Of Orcs/Stellar Corpses) into the band. Kyle is familiar with the band as he filled in on a tour in the past.

The cover art was done by Santa Cruz based artist Ugly Eye. The track was mixed and mastered by Aaron Cooper (Pylon Productions) who also contributed synth and guitar.

DOORS TO NO WHERE

Doors To No Where from Santa Cruz California have been going at it since 2010 when the band was formed by front man Marc Lewis. Along with Drummer Alex Ross and Bass player Sean Sanford Doors To No Where put out their debut album “I’m Alive” via ChillTopp Records. In 2012 Doors To No Where released their sophomore album “Lucky You” which was the first to feature Pete Tetorff on drums. Next came the album “The Haunting” which featured the same lineup in 2016.

In 2020 Doors To No Where signed with Desert Records and began work on a new album “Darkness Falls,” which would be the introduction of new bass player Marc Prefontaine. “Darkness Falls” also features some guitar work from Bob Balch of Fu Manchu. Since then the band has released a series of singles, “Gloom” and “Time For A New Dream” and have begun working on a new full length album. “Time For A New Dream” once again featured Bob Balch on guitar. The band also announced that Kyle Moore will now be handling drum duties.

BEER RELEASE

To help celebrate the release of “DRIFT INTO SEQUENCE” Doors To No Where worked with The Slough Brewing Collective in Watsonville California to brew “Stage Beer.” The light and crisp lager will be the perfect hydrating co-pilot to help fuel badass riffs and grooves. Lewis who was hands on from start to finish brewed stage beer with brewer Ben Ward. “Stage Beer” is a golden glass of pure joy and the can will feature art by Slogan design.

Marc Lewis is a musician from Santa Cruz, California that has been creating music since 1996 when he was the ripe age of 12. Starting off with some good old school punk Lewis created the perfect soundtrack for skateboarding and surfing around SC. In the early days Marc played stages across California along with many skate contests or DIY shows in the punk scene. Lewis started adding the stoner rock influence and heavy sounds to his writing style as he progressed in his playing style. Marc has been in the bands Live Wire, The Fire Sermon, It and Doors To No Where.

He has shared a stage with such bands as: Big Business, Mondo Generator, Adolescents, Fu Manchu, Mos Generator, Sevendust, Fatso Jetson, Blast and The Melvins.

Doors To No Where is:
Marc Lewis – Vocals, Lead Guitar, Moog, Keys
Marc Prefontaine – Bass
Kyle Moore – Drums
Aaron Cooper – Engineer, Synth, Guitar

Doors to No Where, “Drift Into Sequence”

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Album Review: Mammatus, Expanding Majesty

Posted in Reviews on June 27th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

mammatus expanding majesty

Any addition to the catalog of Santa Cruz, California, merchants Mammatus is noteworthy. Expanding Majesty is all the more so, in being the trio’s fifth album, first for Silver Current Records, and in arriving some eight years after their fourth, 2015’s sharp-visioned Sparkling Waters (review here); they also had their The Ear Food compilation of off-album tracks in 2020. One way or the other, it’s been a while, and the trio who began their run in 2005, released their self-titled debut (discussed here) in 2006, and quickly reaffirmed their penchant for epic and longform heavy psychedelia in 2007’s The Coast Explodes, continue to grow in new directions.

True, Expanding Majesty shares much of its makeup in common with Sparkling Waters; at nearly 70 minutes long, it is presented across the each-to-their-own-vinyl-side “Expanding Majesty” (15:18), “By the Sky” (15:17), “Foreveriff” (22:38) and “Beams of Light” (16:19), and like its predecessor, the latest offering was recorded with Phil Manley (Trans Am/The Fucking Champs) at El Studio in San Francisco (Tim Green mastered at Louder Studios in Grass Valley), and the result is a rich tapestry of prog-informed heavy psych rock, as classic in its exploration as it is evocative in the hearing. Pretty much what Mammatus do, right?

Honestly, that’d probably be enough on its own for Expanding Majesty to accomplish — a new Mammatus record, existing! — but guitarist/vocalist Nicky Emmert, bassist Chris Freels and drummer Aaron Emmert push forward along their individual path, each contributing to the overarching washes of synthesizer/keyboard that become so much a part of the album’s personality. Whether it’s the serene pastoralism in the opening moments of “By the Sky” or the science-fact swirls that fill out along the extended intro to “Expanding Majesty” itself, they play a central role.

That early going of the title-track finds them contrasting but following the rhythm of the purposefully tense guitar circular runs of guitar, gradually becoming more prominent until they’re at the forefront of the mix, not so much competing with the pickslide sweep of distortion that comes in at 7:05 as a setup for the first (yes, first) entry of the vocals half a minute later, but definitely the sky to that grounding rumble. That makes the keys/synth a fit as well alongside Nicky‘s effects-laced-but-gentle vocal delivery, which becomes a part of the atmosphere of the record as a whole and is a uniting factor in the material.

“Expanding Majesty” further establishes the self-awareness that underlies so much of the album that shares its name. The song? Well, it’s majestic and it expands and grows broader throughout its 15-plus minutes. “By the Sky?” Perhaps best summarized by the gorgeous Cristian Eres hinting-at-classic-metal cover art, a dragon flying to a guitar castle above clouds on what may or may not be another planet; it starts with just under three minutes of wakeup before slow-crashing in and taking off into the verse, which does nothing if not look down from above. “Foreveriff?” Yeah, it’s 22 minutes long, but more than that, it’s the way the rolling heavy post-rocker seems to meander even as it weaves into and out of leads, verses, float and crush; the surrounding rhythm is so linear that it’s easy to get lost and not know where it begins or ends. Imagine marching on air, finding clarity in the last nod that starts at about 19 minutes in, growing more fluid en route to the comedown.

mammatus

And do I even have to say it for “Beams of Light?” The dreamy, melody-focused opening section building gracefully to a heavy psych crescendo about five minutes in that puts twists on a riff that would otherwise be signature Colour Haze before going full-cosmic ethereal around the midpoint, soon to pick up the tempo with an earlier Devin Townsend-style chug (note these are my comparisons; I’d be surprised if the band listened to either of the groups mentioned in this sentence) that serves as a bed for the at-least-two layers of guitar soloing that transport Mammatus and their audience alike to the record’s finish, highlighting the shimmer that’s been there all the while in all the songs, each presenting it in its own sculpted form, sometimes vast, sometimes compact, tense like the hi-hat and speedy noodling of “Expanding Majesty” or an exercise in worldbuilding like the closer.

Through it all, Mammatus retain their sense of purpose, and while there’s little doubt these four pieces were born out of jamming and perhaps built around them, they are not jams. They are songs, with structures and plotted directions, considered dynamics and places to go. That difference is crucial to understanding Expanding Majesty as a forward step in Mammatus‘ ongoing progression. Even the logo the band uses on the front cover tells you something about the heavy metal precision that sneaks into some of the lead guitar parts — “Beams of Light” circa 12 minutes in, for example — but from inside out, Expanding Majesty is conscious of what it’s doing and why, and the focusing of that intention around progressive elements, the slowdown in “By the Sky” and “Foreveriff” after “Expanding Majesty” and the way “Beams of Light” seems to draw the different sides together while also finding new ground, makes it even more resonant as arguably the most vocal-minded and definitely the most synth-minded release in Mammatus‘ catalog.

They remain themselves, which is something for which anyone still reading this is likely to be thankful, but as they did following the six years between The Coast Explodes and 2013’s Heady Mental (review here), Mammatus would seem to have used at least part of the longer break between outings to present and develop fresh ideas. The immersion factor in Expanding Majesty is not to be understated. The Emmerts and Freels carefully and lightly guide the listener through the sometimes-sparse, sometimes frenetic course the record takes, having long since earned the trust of their audience. That intro to “By the Sky.” That last push over the top the vocals bring in “Foreveriff” at about 18 minutes in. These are emblematic of the fullness of Expanding Majesty and the band’s ability to steer their particular dragon wherever they want it to fly. Here, they encompass multitudes.

Mammatus, Expanding Majesty (2023)

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Mammatus Announce Expanding Majesty Out June 23; Streaming Title-Track

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 3rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan

I’m well aware that if you’re anything like me, no words I put here are going to make a damn bit of difference in slowing you down from checking out the 15-minute streaming-now title-track of Mammatus‘ impending 2LP full-length, Expanding Majesty. So have at it. I can’t even argue. The Cali psych-prog purveyors make the going sweet, with crisp tonality that reminds of where they were eight years ago on 2015’s Sparkling Waters (review here) without giving up the sense of journey from their earliest work, be it their 2006 self-titled debut (discussed here) or that record’s 2007 follow-up, The Coast Explodes.

Those two records are something of a longform/jam holy duology, but 2013’s Heady Mental (review here) began interweaving progressive textures into the proceedings, and listening to “Expanding Majesty” even as long as it’s been since Sparkling Waters — which, indeed, shimmered — the three-piece are still recognizable in their craft, dynamic and willingness to go, go, go where the song wants to go. I didn’t have a spot saved on my best-albums-of-2023 list for Mammatus when I woke up this morning, but I do now. It’s out June 23 through Silver Current Records.

Enjoy:

mammatus expanding majesty

MAMMATUS return after 8 years with brand new album Expanding Majesty on Silver Current Records

A sprawling masterwork and a career defining album that pushes the boundaries of 21st Century heavy music.

8 years in the making, Santa Cruz California’s reclusive sons of tectonic riffage Mammatus return with Expanding Majesty, a 69 minute magnum opus of kaleidoscopic guitars, soaring analog synths, wall-of-amps fuzz bass and 100ft drums. 4 side-long pieces unfold across a double album in unstoppable riffs that span the meditative and joyful un-earthed flight of 70’s kosmische godfathers like Popol Vuh and Tangerine Dream to the kinds of sub-surface thunder pioneered by Melvins and Sleep.

Like Stanley Kubrick, Mammatus are slowing in output as they forge surely and steadily down the path of their artistic legacy. Now, 8 years since their last release and 20 years since their inception as a band, Mammatus have recorded a sprawling masterwork. Expanding Majesty is not just a career defining album for the band but one that pushes the boundaries of 21st Century heavy music.

Formed by brothers Nicky and Aaron Emmert in 2005 in Santa Cruz, California, the same fertile Redwoods-and-sea incubator that produced fellow outer-region psych travelers Comets on Fire, Residual Echoes and The Fucking Champs, Mammatus have become increasingly reclusive in the years since their inception. They have also been honing their vision of mathy stoner rock, proto-new age, Kraut-prog and organic proto-metal into a panoramic, ever-expanding visionary world uniquely their own resulting in Expanding Majesty. Engineered by Phil Manley (The Fucking Champs/ Trans Am) at El Studio in San Francisco, four extended side-long pieces take the listener on a journey in which they experience reality only through the mind and vision of Mammatus.

The album opens with the 15+ minute ‘Expanding Majesty,’ as guitarist and singer Nicky Emmert strikes a single window-rattling guitar chord and breaks the darkness, shooting a ray of sonic light forth and letting it hang, glowing for a moment before Mammatus begins to assuredly introduce and weave together the album’s strands of DNA; kaleidoscopic guitar notes in infinite double helix, soaring 70’s analog synthesizers, wall-of-amps bass, 100ft drums and finally, no sooner than 71/2 minutes into the song, huge and ethereal vocals in cascading harmonic layers.

Opener ‘Expanding Majesty’ in its long running, epic arc, travels from the meditative and joyful un-earthed flight of 70’s Kosmische godfathers like Popol Vuh and Tangerine Dream to the kinds of tectonic sub-surface riffage pioneered by The Melvins and Sleep and these two poles of heavyosity maintain the balance of the album’s 69 minutes.

Despite the intensity of the music veering between darkness and light, the subject matter and intention of the music is strictly positivism, awe and wonder at the beauty of the natural world and the possibilities of expanded human consciousness.

16 years ago and only two years into their existence, Mammatus essentially dropped out of the indie music rat race and were absorbed back into the Santa Cruz hills and valleys, walking away from an expanding touring career and the traditional non-stop release/ promote/ tour/ release cycle to find out if there was something more profound at the true heart of creativity and ‘being a band.’ In 2007, having just come off a successful US tour with Acid Mothers Temple, they retreated and reconfigured their musical life around the idea of peak creativity and peak quality of output completely off timeline or professional agenda. Their releases began to slow down and they began to create music with glacial precision.

There have been bands that have taken 8 years to release an album but very few who intentionally afford their creativity such time to patiently, steadily and mindfully work on a record and see it through to completion.

The old-growth redwoods, the grassy hills and mountain tops, the crashing ocean, the blue sky into the black of space into the infinite universe are all the stuff of Expanding Majesty, both its subject matter and its genetic structure. It is a slow work, made of patience, tradition and love of craft, a master rendition of the beauty of our world, fantastic and incredible through the eyes of Mammatus.

MAMMATUS
EXPANDING MAJESTY
Silver Current Records
Release date: 23rd June 2023 (2XLP)

Tracklist
1. Expanding Majesty (15:18)
2. By The Sky (15:17)
3. Foreveriff (22:38)
4. Beams Of Light (16:18)

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Mammatus, “Expanding Majesty”

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Marc Lewis of Doors to No Where Premieres New Single “Time for a New Dream”

Posted in audiObelisk on July 21st, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Doors to No Where Time for a New Dream

Founding multi-instrumentalist Marc Lewis of Santa Cruz heavy rockers Doors to No Where is — as per the all-caps statement at the bottom of this post from the PR wire — planning to release a solo record either this or next year. As you take on his new single and not-the-first-time collaboration with guitarist Bob Balch of Fu Manchu, perhaps note that intention in processing some of the differences between Lewis and the band of which he remains an integral part. “Time for a New Dream” was composed and recorded for a self-challenge while the other members were working on various projects, but as Lewis handles vocals, bass, guitar, keys and drums with no complete band lineup behind him, gears would seem to have been switched. And as so often happens, one song leads to another,  and eventually, a full-length.

Doors to No Where signed to Desert Records for last year’s Darkness Falls (discussed here), on which Balch also featured, and it seems the label will pick up Lewis‘ impending solo release as well — don’t quote me, but that’s it looks right now; plans can always change — which is fair enough. The intention behind the song as Lewis puts it is to roll out a riff, vibe open for a while, then pick up with more terrestrial groove at the finish. Balch, also of the exploratory Big Scenic Nowhere, is right at home in the “Time for a New Dream” midsection, his sound nuanced in its approach, his playing technically unquestionable and his addition to the atmosphere of that stretch essential. It is Lewis‘ track, but he shares it well with Balch and also producer Aaron Cooper, who adds synth embellishment and vocals.

I guess the question I’m left with apart from when’s the record out is whether or not indeed it’s time for new dream. There’s an aging generation of heavy rockers and genre heads grey-bearding it up at shows — I’m part of it, as much as I can leave the house these days — and though it was easy enough for rock and roll to be for the young in, say, 1970, when everybody who’d ever made it was still young, applying the ethic becomes more difficult when someone’s life has been in no small part defined by their joining this community of passionate creatives. Does one need to hang up one’s dream, whatever that may be, as a result of time, or is it simply a change of focus being alluded to in the title in the first place and I’m overthinking it?

I don’t know. It seems to me, though, that as my hair falls out, my beard goes greyer, my ass expands like the universe itself, my body keeps finding exciting new ways to hurt and I’m more tired at 8:30PM than I used to be at two in the morning, that part of being a “lifer” at a thing is understanding how to make that thing a part of your life. If you feel differently, I would only say to you give it time.

Enjoy the track:

Marc Lewis, “Time for a New Dream” lyric video

Marc Lewis on “Time For A New Dream”:

This track is the first one I started really working on when I started really putting my attention to putting out a solo project. I really liked the idea of the rolling riff hitting a wall on going on a bit of a psych trip before hitting hard again. Right away I knew I wanted to work with Balch again, the dude is such a pro and amazing talent. His tone and style are truly some of my favorites out there.

Marc Lewis featuring Bob Balch & Aaron Cooper
Time For A New Dream (single)
doorstonowhere.bandcamp.com/track/time-for-a-new-dream-feat-bob-balch

TIME FOR A NEW DREAM

Desert Records is proud to present “Time For A New Dream” by Marc Lewis from Doors To No where and featuring Bob Balch (Fu Manchu, Big Scenic No Where) on Guitar and synth. The track was mixed and mastered by Aaron Cooper (Pylon Productions) who also contributed vocals and synth.

Marc Lewis from Santa Cruz California has been playing gigs and recording since he was 13. Marc got his start by fronting the band Live Wire who put out four albums and toured all over the place. Marc also played with The Fire Sermon, It and Drive contributing to multiple albums and tours. In 2010 Marc started Doors To No Where with drummer Alex Ross. Doors To No Where has put out four studio albums to date.

Bob Balch is a bonafide guitar hero and absolute legend. Balch has not only been playing with Fu Manchu since 1996 but he is also one of the founders of Big Scenic Nowhere and Sun And Sail Club. The contributions Balch has given to stoner rock are undeniable. He also is the mastermind of playthisriff.com and has in own guitar, amp and pedal pro models.

BEER RELEASE

To help celebrate the release of “Time For A New Dream” Marc Lewis worked with The Slough Brewing Collective in Watsonville California to brew “Stage Beer.” The light and crisp lager will be the perfect hydrating co-pilot to help fuel badass riffs and grooves. Lewis who was hands on from start to finish brewed stage beer with brewer Ben Ward. “Stage Beer” is a golden glass of pure joy and the can will feature art by Slogan design.

Marc Lewis is a musician from Santa Cruz, California that has been creating music since 1996 when he was the ripe age of 12. Starting off with some good old school punk Lewis created the perfect soundtrack for skateboarding and surfing around SC. In the early days Marc played stages across California along with many skate contests or DIY shows in the punk scene. Lewis started adding the stoner rock influence and heavy sounds to his writing style as he progressed in his playing style. Marc has been in the bands Live Wire, The Fire Sermon, It and Doors To No Where.

Time For A New Dream features:
Marc Lewis – Vocals, Guitar, Moog, Keys, Bass, Drums
Bob Balch – Guitar, synth
Aaron Cooper – Engineer, Producer, Synth, Vocals

MARC LEWIS PLANS ON RELEASING A SOLO RECORD LATE 2022 OR EARLY NEXT YEAR.

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Friday Full-Length: Mammatus, Mammatus

Posted in Bootleg Theater on May 7th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Let’s step out of time for a little bit. We’ll all take a collective breath, close our eyes, and imagine ourselves walking on a long path. It’s a long path lined with trees that leads to a beach and at the beach we’re totally alone. You can see planets up in the sky like big smiling faces and imagine the people there waving to you, far away. Far, far away. Distant, but big. You walk up and feel the change from the path to the sand under your feet, the looseness of the ground. There’s a breeze, because of course there is, and the sound of the water and the smell of salt and that ambient wetness that comes from being near the ocean. It feels like the place life came from, and it is.

We’re there and we’re all alone and it doesn’t matter because there are as many realities as we need to make these things happen and each one we inhabit is our own and we’re all there on this beach and we open our eyes and look out at the water. There’s however many suns you want, and the planets, and life, and water. Now imagine you’re there all by yourself and you realize you have something in your hand, and what is it?

You look down at your hand, right or left, maybe both, and you see you’re holding this lump. What is it? Oh wait, that’s bullshit. You remember now. You’re holding all your own bullshit. Look at that lump of bullshit. It’s been hanging out and festering and finally you got tired of all your own bullshit and you decided to take it for a walk and lose it once and for all. You take that lump of bullshit and you throw it as hard and as high as you can over the water and it sails like who knew bullshit could fly? But there it goes and it’s kind of fun to watch that big old lump of bullshit go higher and higher over the water until finally the arc crests and it starts to head down, far out and deep, past the continental shelf into the darker recesses of this infinite sea, and it’s so far gone by then that you don’t hear the splash but you still see it and then it’s done. All your bullshit, you just threw it away.

Maybe we all wash our hands in that sparkling water, salty but clean, and sit down for a while and just breathe in and out and tilt our heads back and close our eyes and feel the sun on our face. Maybe that’s what we do because there’s no more bullshit weighing us down and everything is beautiful around us and we don’t even have to look to know it, it’s just there and we can breathe it in and feel it in our lungs, feel the lungs take the oxygen out of the air and pump it through our blood, alone on this beach, the planets and suns and stars whatever all above, visible, shining impossibly, whatever. We’re all there, alone, breathing, living, no bullshit.

You open your eyes and look to either side of you. Maybe you’ve never felt this kind of freedom before, but now, your shoulders hanging natural and your breath coming easy, it’s there. You’re there. Everyone’s there. Nobody’s around.

mammatus self titledSanta Cruz, California’s Mammatus released their self-titled debut in 2006 through Holy MountainRocket Recordings and Leaf Hound Records, three labels the names of which alone should speak to the record’s essential nature. Comprised only of four songs, the record begins with “The Righteous Path Through the Forest of Old” (9:23) and moves through “The Outer Rim” (5:09) en route to “Dragon of the Deep Part One” (8:23) and “Dragon of the Deep Part Two” (22:12), the journey taking place enough of a preface for what’s become known as neo-psych that it renders the designation laughable. It’s not neo-anything. It’s out-of-time.

Comprised then of guitarist/vocalist Nicholas Emmert, drummer Aaron Emmert and bassist Chris Freels, with Zachery Patten and Mike Donofrio recording, Mammatus‘ initial explorations have become and well should be the stuff of cult psych legend. This record, its movement and progression between its songs, the way it sounds like one long stretch, a molten 45-minute flow broken into parts but united in its purpose and immersion just the same, is the stuff of should-be-worshiped-as-classic scorch. From the opening surf-in-space strum of “The Righteous Path Through the Forest of Old” through the bullshit-swallowing noisier reaches in the midsection breakdown of “Dragon of the Deep Part Two,” there is nothing so appropriate in the hearing of the album but to let go and trust the band to take you where they will because they’re going anyway.

Here we are, some 15 years after the fact and Mammatus‘ first still feels like it’s rolling through cosmic outer reaches inside the head. You want to call it hyperbole, fine. Your loss. This is an album for communion; both a preach to the converted and a call to convert. In the patient swirls of “The Outer Rim” there so much space tucked into just five minutes, and then “Dragon of the Deep Part One” adds even more feedback, overlapping feedback, before it launches into its own ultra-lysergic jam. What an album. What a band. Hot damn.

And you know “Dragon of the Deep Part Two” comes back from those open spaces in its middle. They bring it around to this massive fuzzy crunch, kick the slow wah and groove out huge in a before-Sleep-got-back-together paean to the power of rolling tone up and sharing the ensuing smoke. It’s all gorgeous and it all comes apart and gives way to noise like the universe spreading too wide and whoops, there goes the molecules that make up matter, cell walls breaking down and all that and what difference does it make anyhow we’ll just get another universe there are so many.

MammatusMammatus. Live and breathe.

Thanks for reading. Hydrate. Watch your head. Have a great and safe weekend.

FRM.

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Doors to No Where Sign to Desert Records for Darkness Falls LP; Premiere Title-Track Feat. Bob Balch

Posted in audiObelisk, Whathaveyou on March 18th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

doors-to-no-where

Santa Cruz, California’s Doors to No Where have signed to Desert Records and will release their new album, Darkness Falls, on May 21. From masterblaster-punk opener “Lie, Lie, Lie” through the early-Alice in Chains-style grunge chug of “Fade” and the classic metal epic tension in near-eight-minute finale “Darkness Falls,” the record runs a gamut of styles in a mere 31 minutes, finding a post-hardcore kind of heavy rock melody in “Worship the Machine” before the two-minute “Got Mine” shoves and sprints in post-Songs for the Deaf careening fashion. The trio don’t stay in any one place much longer than to leave a boot print as they’re off to the next thing, but there’s a consistency between “Fade” and “New Monster,” as vocals, tonal thickness and production/songwriting draw the release together as a whole. The succession of jabs, between the Goatsnake-ing groove of “Policy” and the finishing surge in “Who Died” and the rest of what surrounds becomes something of a consistency in itself, and the album is stronger for that.

One can tell from the track titles that Darkness Falls is something of a COVID-era production, and indeed, Doors to No Where recorded it last year. There are already and there are going to continue to be a glut of albums on the theme since, on the most basic level, art as an expression of processing common trauma is a human impulse. If the momentum of their tempos is anything to just by, Doors to No Where don’t seem to have been dragged down too far, or maybe that just means they had farther to go. I won’t speculate.

Fu Manchu and Big Scenic Nowhere‘s own Bob Balch sits in on the concluding title-track, which you can hear premiering at the bottom of this post. Album info and the signing announcement follow, courtesy of Desert Records and the PR wire:

doors to no where darkness falls

DESERT RECORDS PRESENTS “DARKNESS FALLS” DOORS TO NO WHERE

“Darkness Falls” is the fourth studio album from Doors To No Where, a trio from Santa Cruz, California. The album was recorded in 2020 smack-dab in the middle of COVID lockdowns. The band once again worked with producer Aaron Cooper (Pylon Productions).

“Darkness Falls” consists of eight blistering tracks that touch on Doors To No Where’s stoner rock roots and punk influence. The band brings big riffs and touches on elements of psych, doom and a hint of the heavier side of grunge. Plenty of groove to feel on this record.

The title track “Darkness Falls” features a guest performance from Bob Balch (Fu Manchu, Big Scenic Nowhere) on guitar. “Darkness Falls” also features percussion by Aaron Cooper. Darkness Falls was the last song written for the record and truly reflects the crazy time that 2020 was. Balch brings his huge tone to add to the song’s vibe.

“Darkness Falls” was recorded, mixed and mastered by Aaron Cooper at “pylon Studios” in Santa Cruz, California (USA). Doors To No Where has three albums under their belt, “Lucky You”, “I’m Alive” and “The Haunting.” The band will release their fourth record “Darkness” via Desert Records May 21st 2021. Joining Marc Lewis (guitar/vocals) is longtime drummer Pete Testorff and Marc Prefontaine (bass). “Darkness Falls will be Prefontaine’s first album with the band.

Marc Lewis on Working with Bob Balch:
Working with Bob was an honor and his contributions to the track are huge. He is a true pro and his tone is so recognizable and heavy. I had an idea of the whole song in my head before I even picked up a guitar and I knew I wanted Bob to contribute to it. I wanted that classic fuzz and grit and to give him room to shred some. When we played with Fu Manchu I picked his brain a lot about tone and threw out the idea of working together someday. I reached out to him with a very rough version of the song and he was into it. The dude just lives for guitar and working with him was so easy. He really nailed the vibe I had in my head. The dude is a special talent on guitar for sure.”

1. Lie, Lie, Lie
2. Fade
3. Worship the Machine
4. Got Mine
5. Policy
6. Who Died
7. New Monster
8. Darkness Falls (Feat. Bob Balch)

Doors to No Where are:
Marc Lewis (guitar/vocals)
Pete Testorff (drums)
Marc Prefontaine (bass)

https://www.facebook.com/D2NROCKNROLL
https://www.instagram.com/doors_to_no_where/
https://doorstonowhere.bandcamp.com/
http://www.doorstonowhere.com/
https://www.facebook.com/desertrecordslabel/
https://desertrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://desertrecords.bigcartel.com/

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Quarterly Review: Katatonia, Marmalade Knives, King Witch, Glass Parallels, Thems That Wait, Sojourner, Udyat, Bismarck, Gral Brothers, Astral Glide

Posted in Reviews on July 9th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

the-obelisk-qr-summer-2020

Welcome to the penultimate day of the Summer 2020 Quarterly Review. I can only speak for myself, but I know it’s been a crazy couple months on this end, and I imagine whatever end you’re on — unless and probably even if you have a lot of money — it’s been the same there as well. Yet, it was no problem compiling 50 records to review this week, so if there’s a lesson to be taken from it all, it would seem to be that art persists. We may still be painting on cave walls when it comes to the arc of human evolution, but at least that’s something.

Have a great day and listen to great music.

Quarterly Review #31-40:

Katatonia, City Burials

katatonia city burials

Like their contemporaries in My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost, the latter-day period of work from Sweden’s Katatonia veers back toward some measure of direct heaviness, as City Burials showcases in cuts like “Rein,” “Heart Set to Divide” and “Behind the Blood,” but more than either of those others mentioned, the Stockholm outfit refuse to forsake the melody and progressivism they’ve undertaken with their sound in the name of doing so. By the time they get to “Untrodden” at the end of the album’s 50-minute/11-song run, they’ve run a gamut from dark electronica to progressive-styled doom and back again, and with the founding duo of guitarist Anders Nyström and vocalist Jonas Renkse at the helm of the songwriting, they are definitive in their approach and richly emotive; a melancholy that is as identifiable in their songs as it is in the bands working under their influence. Their first work in four years, City Burials is an assurance that Katatonia are in firm ownership and command of all aspects of their sound. As they approach their 30th year, they continue to move forward. That’s a special band.

Katatonia on Thee Facebooks

Peaceville Records website

 

Marmalade Knives, Amnesia

marmalade knives amnesia

Boasting production, mixing and percussion from The Golden GrassAdam Kriney, Marmalade Knives‘ debut album, Amnesia, is a delight of freaky-but-not-overblown heavy psychedelia. Oh, it’s headed far, far out, but as the opening narration and the later drones of second cut “Rivuleting” make plain, they might push, but they’re not trying to shove, if you know what I mean. The buzz in “Best-Laid Plans” doesn’t undercut the warmth of the improvised-seeming solo, and likewise, “Rebel Coryell” is a mellow drifter that caps side A with a graceful sense of wandering the soundscape of its own making. The vibe gets spacey on “Xayante,” and “Ez-Ra” touches on a funkier swing before seeming to evolve into light as one does, and the 10-minute “Astrology Domine” caps with noise and a jammed out feel that underscores the outbound mood of the proceedings as a whole. Some of the pieces feel like snippets cut from longer jams, and they may or may not be just that, but though it was recorded in three separate locations, Amnesia draws together well and flows easily, inviting the listener to do the same.

Marmalade Knives on Thee Facebooks

Electric Valley Records webstore

 

King Witch, Body of Light

king witch body of light

Edinburgh’s King Witch toe the line between classic metal and doom, but whatever you want to call them, just make sure you don’t leave out the word “epic.” The sweeping solo and soaring vocals on the opening title-track set the stage on their second LP, the hour-long Body of Light, and as much mastery as the band showed on their 2018 debut, Under the Mountain (review here), vocalist Laura Donnelly, guitarist Jamie Gilchrist, bassist Rory Lee and drummer Lyle Brown lay righteous waste to lofty expectations and bask in grandiosity on “Of Rock and Stone” and the linear-moving “Solstice I – She Burns,” the payoff of which is a high point of the album in its layered shred. Pieces like “Witches Mark” and “Order From Chaos” act as confirmation of their Euro-fest-ready fist-pumpery, and closer “Beyond the Black Gate” brings some atmosphere before its own headbang-worthy crescendo. Body of Light is a reminder of why you wanted to be metal in the first place.

King Witch on Thee Facebooks

Listenable Records on Bandcamp

 

Glass Parallels, Aisle of Light

Glass Parallels Aisle of Light

Eminently listenable and repeat-worthy, Glass Parallels‘ debut LP, Aisle of Light, nonetheless maintains an experimentalist flair. The solo-project of Justin Pinkerton (Golden Void, Futuropaco), covers a swath of ground from acid folk to psych-funk to soul vibes, at times bordering on shoegaze but seeming to find more expressive energy in centerpiece “Asphyxiate” and the airy capper “Blood and Battlegrounds” than any sonic portrayal of apathy would warrant. United by keys, pervasive guitar weirdness and Pinkerton‘s at-times-falsetto vocals, usually coated in reverb as they are, Aisle of Light brings deceptive depth for being a one-man production. Its production is spacious but still raw enough to give the drums an earthy sound as they anchor the synth-laden “March and April,” which is probably fortunate since otherwise the song would be liable to float off and not return. One way or another, the songs stand out too much to really be hypnotic, but they’re certainly fun to follow.

Glass Parallels on Thee Facebooks

Glass Parallels on Bandcamp

 

Thems That Wait, Stonework

thems that wait stonework

Stonework is the self-aware debut full-length from Portland, Maine, trio Thems That Wait, and it shoulders itself between clenched-teeth metallic aggression and heavier fuzz rock. They’re not the first to tread such ground and they know it, but “Sidekick” effectively captures Scissorfight-style groove, and “Kick Out” is brash enough in its 1:56 to cover an entire record’s worth of burl. Interludes “Digout” and “Vastcular” provide a moment to catch your breath, which is appreciated, but when what they come back with is the sure-fisted “Paragon” or a song like “Shitrograde,” it really is just a moment. They close with “Xmortis,” which seems to reference Evil Dead II in its lyrics, which is as good as anything else, but from “Sleepie Hollow” onward, guitarist/vocalist Craig Garland, bassist Mat Patterson and drummer Branden Clements find their place in the dudely swing-and-strike of riffs, crash and snarl, and they do so with a purely Northeastern attitude. This is the kind of show you might get kicked at.

Thems That Wait on Thee Facebooks

Thems That Wait on Bandcamp

 

Sojourner, Premonitions

sojourner premonitions

Complexity extends to all levels of Sojourner‘s third album and Napalm Records debut, Premonitions, in that not only does the band present eight tracks and 56 minutes of progressive and sprawling progressive black metal, varied in craft and given a folkish undercurrent by Chloe Bray‘s vocals and tin whistle, but also the sheer fact that the five-piece outfit made the album in at least five different countries. Recording remotely in Sweden, New Zealand, Scotland and Italy, they mixed/mastered in Norway, and though one cringes at the thought of the logistical nightmare that might’ve presented, Sojourner‘s resultant material is lush and encompassing, a tapestry of blackened sounds peppered with clean and harsh singing — Emilio Crespo handles the screams — keyboards, and intricate rhythms behind sprawling progressions of guitar. At the center of the record, “Talas” and “Fatal Frame” (the shortest song and the longest) make an especially effective pair one into the other, varied in their method but brought together by viciously heavy apexes. The greatest weight, though, might be reserved for closer “The Event Horizon,” which plods where it might otherwise charge and brings a due sense of largesse to the finale.

Sojourner on Thee Facebooks

Napalm Records website

 

Udyat, Oro

udyat oro

The order of the day is sprawl on Udyat‘s recorded-live sophomore LP, Oro, as the Argentinian outfit cast a wide berth over heavy rock and terrestrial psych, the 13-minute “Sangre de Oro” following shorter opener “Los Picos de Luz Eterna” (practically an intro at a bit over six minutes) with a gritty flourish to contrast the tonal warmth that returns with the melodic trance-induction at the start of “Los últimos.” That song — the centerpiece of the five-track outing — tops 15 minutes and makes its way into a swell of fuzz with according patience, proceeding through a second stage of lumbering plod before a stretch of noise wash leads pack to the stomp. The subsequent “Después de los Pasos, el Camino Muere” is more ferocious by its end and works in some similar ground, and closer “Nacimiento” seems to loose itself in a faster midsection before returning to its midtempo roll. Oro borders on cosmic doom with its psychedelic underpinnings and quiet stretches, but its movement feels ultimately more like walking than floating, if that makes any sense.

Udyat on Thee Facebooks

Udyat on Bandcamp

 

Bismarck, Oneiromancer

Bismarck Oneiromancer

To anyone who might suggest that extreme metal cannot also be forward-thinking, Bismarck submit the thoughtful bludgeon of Oneiromancer, a five-song/35-minute aesthetic blend that draws from doom, death, hardcore and sundry other metals, while keeping its identity in check through taut rhythm and atmospheric departures. Following the chants of opening intro “Tahaghghogh Resalat,” the Chris Fielding-produced follow-up to Bismarck‘s 2018 debut, Urkraft (review here), showcases an approach likewise pummeling and dynamic, weighted in ambience and thud alike. “Oneiromancer” itself starts with blastbeats and a plundering intensity before breaking into a more open midsection, but “The Seer” is absolutely massive. Despite being shorter than either the title-track or “Hara,” both of which top nine minutes, and closer “Khthon” underscores the blood-boiling tension cast throughout with one last consuming plod. Fucking raging. Fucking awesome. Pure sonic catharsis. Salvation through obliteration. If these are dreams being divined as the title hints, the mind is a limitless and terrifying place. Which, yes.

Bismarck on Thee Facebooks

Bismarck on Bandcamp

 

The Gral Brothers, Caravan East

gral brothers caravan east

I won’t say it’s seamless or intended to be, but as Albuquerque, New Mexico, two-piece The Gral Brothers make their initial move on Caravan East between cinematic Americana and industrial brood, samples of dialogue on “Cactus Man” and violin in the seven-minute soundscaper “In Die Pizzeria” seem to draw together both a wistfulness and a paranoia of the landlocked. Too odd to fall in line with the Morricone-worship of Cali’s Spindrift, “Crowbar” brings Spaghetti West and desert dub together with a confidence that makes it seem like a given pairing despite the outwardly eerie vibes and highly individualized take, and “Santa Sleeves” is beautiful to its last, even if the lone bell jingle is a bit much, while “Silva Lanes” pushes even further than did “Circuit City” into mechanized experimental noisemaking. They end with the birdsong-inclusive “Ode to Marge,” leaving one to wonder whether it’s sentiment or cynicism being expressed. Either way, it’s being expressed in a way not quite like anything else, which is an accomplishment all on its own.

The Gral Brothers on Thee Facebooks

Desert Records on Bandcamp

 

Astral Glide, Flamingo Graphics

astral glide flamingo graphics

When you’re at the show and the set ends, Flamingo Graphics is the CD you go buy at the merch table. It’s as simple as that. Recorded this past March over the course of two days, the debut album from Floridian foursome Astral Glide is raw to the point of being barebones, bootleg room-mic style, but the songwriting and straightforward purposes of the group shine through. They’re able to shift structures and mood enough to keep things from being too staid, but they’re never far off from the next heavy landing, as “Devastation” and the closer “Forever” show in their respective payoffs, that latter going all out with a scream at the end, answering back to the several others that show up periodically. While their greatest strength is in the mid-paced shove of rockers like “Space Machine” and “Scarlett” and the speedier “Workhorse,” there are hints of broader intentions on Flamingo Graphics, though they too are raw at this point. Very much a debut, but still one you pick up when the band finishes playing. You might not even wait until the end of the show. Meet them back at the table, and so on.

Astral Glide on Thee Facebooks

Astral Glide on Bandcamp

 

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The Bad Light & Tuna de Tierra Release The Bad Tuna Split

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 1st, 2018 by JJ Koczan

There are few things I love more unabashedly, unashamedly and unironically in the realm of music than a cleverly named split release. Really. I’m not being sarcastic or trying to make a joke. You got two bands sharing a release and you’ve come up with a wordplay name for it? Chances are I’m at very least going to be on board on a linguistic level. What makes The Bad Tuna — the new and cleverly-titled Phonosphera Records split from Santa Cruz, California’s The Bad Light and Naples, Italy’s Tuna de Tierra — even better in my book is the groove quotient. Between the rolling blues fuzz of the former and the desert-worshiping vibes of the latter, that quotient is mighty indeed, and perhaps best summed up by The Bad Light themselves with the name of their second track. Appropriate nomenclature all the way around.

I’ll admit this is my first exposure to The Bad Light, who apparently have a new full-length — their second — currently in the works, but if the Tuna de Tierra cuts seem familiar, they were previously issued as 2015’s self-released EPisode I: Pilot (review here) debut EP. Time has not dulled their luster.

Release info and audio follows. Even if all you do is stream the thing, it’s well worth your time to do so:

the bad light tuna de tierra the bad tuna split

THE BAD LIGHT / TUNA DE TIERRA – THE BAD TUNA

This is the first edition of the SPLIT SERIES by Phonosphera Records, soon more to come!

Boiled down to the basic ingredients of drums, guitar and vocals The Bad Light plays their own brand of blues driven stoner sludge, the songs feel equally at home played through a resonator guitar as they do through a thick wall of fuzz.

Sounds from the desert, wide landscape full of sand at the sunset, intolerable warm atmospheres, lysergic imagination nurturing air. The Tuna de Tierra leaves for a trip with neither destination nor end, but just the purpose to move endlessly.

Tracklisting:
1. The Bad Light – Palo Santo 01:21
2. The Bad Light – Goodshit 04:49
3. The Bad Light – The Feels 05:11
4. The Bad Light – Love Letter 05:31
5. Tuna de Tierra – Red Sun 08:28
6. Tuna de Tierra – Ash 07:24
7. Tuna de Tierra – El Paso de la Tortuga 04:07

The Bad Light is:
Dana Shepard-Drums
Celeste Deruisa-Vocals
Edu Cerro-Guitar/Vocals

Recorded at The Compound in Felton CA, November 2017
Engineer-Joe Clement

Tuna de Tierra is:
Alessio De Cicco: guitar, vocals
Luciano Mirra: bass guitar
Jonathan Maurano: drums

Produced by Tuna de Tierra
Recorded and mixed at Trail Music Lab, Napoli (by Fabrizio Piccolo)
Vinyl master by Roy Bortoluzzi at xxx Studio (Rome, IT)

https://www.facebook.com/The-Bad-Light-164874116909229/
https://thebadlight.bandcamp.com/
http://thebadlight.com/

https://www.facebook.com/tunadetierra/
https://tunadetierra.bandcamp.com/
http://www.tunadetierra.com/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/117631158247162/
https://phonosphera.bandcamp.com/album/the-bad-light-tuna-de-tierra-the-bad-tuna-vinyl-split
http://www.phonosphera.com/?product=the-bad-light-tuna-de-tierra-the-bad-tuna

The Bad Light & Tuna de Tierra, The Bad Tuna (2018)

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