Quarterly Review: The Atlas Moth, Across Tundras, The Wizards of Delight, Against the Grain, Our Solar System, Dommengang, Boss Keloid, Holy Smoke, Sabel, Blackwater Prophet

Posted in Reviews on April 4th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

Quarterly-Review-Spring-2018

This is a crucial moment in any Quarterly Review. Today we hit the halfway point one way or the other. I still haven’t decided if this will be a 50- or 60-album edition; kind of playing it by ear, but either way, today’s a landmark in my mind in terms of how far to go vs. how far we’ve come. Uphill vs. downhill to some extent, but I don’t want to give the impression that I’m either half-assing it from here on out or that I don’t enjoy the challenge of reviewing 10 records in a day, one after the next, for (at least) five days in a row. I’ve always been a glutton for a bit of self-flagellation. Ha.

Alright, let’s dive in.

Quarterly Review #21-30:

The Atlas Moth, Coma Noir

the atlas moth coma noir

If one still wants to consider Chicago’s The Atlas Moth post-metal after hearing Coma Noir, at least do them the courtesy of emphasizing the “metal” part of that equation. For their debut on Prosthetic Records and fourth full-length overall, the five-piece worked with producer Sanford Parker to solidify a progressive metal sound that, whether in the harsh and weighted impact of the opening title-track or the later interplay between guitarists Stavros Giannopoulos and David Kush on screams and cleaner vocals in “Furious Gold,” seems to take cues from groups like a less manic Strapping Young Lad and a less watered-down Mastodon more than Isis or Neurosis. With prominent synth from Andrew Ragin (also guitar), and the solid roll from the rhythm section of bassist Alex Klein and drummer Mike Miczek, the band brings revitalized edge to “The Streets of Bombay,” and even on the slower, more atmospheric closer “Chloroform,” they’ve never sounded more lethal. It suits them.

The Atlas Moth on Thee Facebooks

Prosthetic Records webstore

 

Across Tundras, Tumbleweeds III

across tundras tumbleweeds iii

A collection of odds and ends from Across Tundras, the 10-track/52-minute Tumbleweeds III may or may not sate anyone hoping for a follow-up to 2013’s Electric Relics (review here), but it provides some curio fodder along the way to be sure, from raw opener “Final Breath over Venom Falls” to the acoustic-percussion jam “Bullet in the Butt” to the fuller roll of “Cold Ride” and later demos for “Spinning Through the Cosmic Dust,” “Hijo del Desierto,” “Stone Crazy Horse” and “The Stacked Plain,” which later became “Seasick Serenade” on Electric Relics, it’s at very least something for fans to dig into and a fascinating listen, as Across Tundras’ rambling sound is almost eerily suited to a home-recording vibe, as the “Stone Crazy Horse” demo, featuring vocalist Shannon Allie-Murphy along with frontman Tanner Olson, sounds all the more folksome as a result of its lack of production polish. Closing with Bob Dylan’s “The Ballad of Hollis Brown,” then, could hardly be more appropriate. Still waiting for a proper long-player to surface, but happy at this point to take what comes.

Across Tundras on Thee Facebooks

Across Tundras on Bandcamp

 

The Wizards of Delight, The Wizards of Delight

the wizards of delight the wizards of delight

Like a chicanery-laced dusty vinyl with a naked lady on the cover, The Wizards of Delight emerge from the London underground to solidly declare “We’ve got the rock ‘n’ rollz.” And yes, they spell it with a ‘z.’ The presence of frontman Andreas “Mazzereth” Maslen will be familiar to anyone who ever even briefly encountered Groan – dude makes an impression, to be sure – and the four tracks he and the surrounding five-piece of guitarists/backing vocalists Dan Green’s Myth and Lenny Ray, bassist/backing vocalist Eponymous, organist/backing vocalist Henry and drummer Reece bring is both funky and classically heavy, “Gypsy” referencing Dio Sabbath in the first line while “Mountain Woman” brings a heavy ‘70s shuffle to answer the way-un-P.C. “Shogun Messiah,” which seems to be working under the thesis that because it sounds like it’s from 40 years ago, they can get away with it. I’ll give them that the track is, to an unfortunate degree, catchy. As to the rest, give me the groove of “We Got the Rock ‘n’ Rollz” any day. It’s been a while since anyone so brazenly interpreted Mk. II Deep Purple and actually pulled it off.

The Wizards of Delight on Thee Facebooks

APF Records website

 

Against the Grain, Cheated Death

against the grain cheated death

Hard-touring Detroit heavy rockers Against the Grain are known for speed, and rightly so. When they burst into high gear, as on “Sacrifice,” “No Sleep,” “Last Chance,” “Rolling Stone,” “Enough’s Not Enough,” and “Jaded and Faded” from their latest offering and Ripple Music debut, Cheated Death. The follow-up to 2015’s Road Warriors (review here) sees them no less infectious in their live energy, but it’s hard to ignore the more versatile approach that seems to be growing in their sound, from the classic rocking “Smoke” to the near-centerpiece “Devils and Angels” which ballads-out its boozy regrets before entering into an effective mid-paced build that rounds out in choice dual-soloing. Likewise, though they open at a good clip with the title-track, closer “Into the Light” finds a middle ground between thrust and groove. The truth is Against the Grain have never been just about speed, but they’ve never so directly benefited from a dynamic approach as they do on Cheated Death either.

Against the Grain on Thee Facebooks

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

 

Our Solar System, Origins

our solar system origins

Immediate kudos to Stockholm-based psychedelic progressive explorers Our Solar System – aka Vårt Solsystem – for opening their third full-length for Beyond Beyond is Beyond, the five-track/41-minute Origins, with the side-consuming 21-minute “Vulkanen.” One could hardly ask for more effective immersion in the band’s world of patiently unfurled, languid psychedelia, and with the accompaniment of “Babalon Rising,” the jazz-prog tracklist centerpiece “En Bit Av Det Tredje Klotet,” the birdsong-laced “Naturligt Samspel” and the semi-freaked-out melodic wash of “Monte Verita” on side B, a full, rich, and mind-expanding cosmos is engaged, free of restriction even as it remains thoroughly lysergic, and adherent to no structural will so much as the will to adventure into the unknown, to find out where one progression leads. As regards the long- and short-form material on Origins, it leads far, far out, and if you don’t come out the other side wanting to own everything the band has ever released, you’re decidedly in the wrong.

Our Solar System on Thee Facebooks

Beyond Beyond is Beyond website

 

Dommengang, Love Jail

dommengang love jail

Once calling Brooklyn Home, Los Angeles trio Dommengang waste no time in getting down to the business of boogie on their second album for Thrill Jockey, Love Jail. Produced by Tim Green (The Fucking Champs), the 10-track/50-minute long-player has all the room for organ/guitar mashups, righteous West Coast vibes and easy-flowing classic heavy rock one could hope for, and in the opening salvo of “Pastel City,” “Lovely Place” and “Lone Pine,” the three-piece of guitarist Dan “Sig” Wilson, bassist Brian Markham, and drummer Adam Bulgasem reaffirm mellow bluesiness as well on the title-track and dig into ‘90s-style alt bliss on the penultimate “Color out of Space.” There’s a welcoming air throughout that holds steady regardless of tempo, and in heavier moments like the second half of “I’m out Mine,” the band resonates with fuzz and noisy elements that bring just enough danger to the proceedings to keep the listener riveted. Classy, but not too classy, in other words.

Dommengang on Thee Facebooks

Thrill Jockey Records website

 

Boss Keloid, Melted on the Inch

boss keloid melted on the inch

It would seem that Wigan, UK, outfit Boss Keloid — newly signed to Holy Roar Records for the release of their third LP, Melted on the Inch – internalized a few crucial lessons from their sophomore outing, 2016’s Herb Your Enthusiasm (review here). At six tracks and 40 minutes, Melted on the Inch is about 20 minutes shorter than its predecessor. Its title isn’t a weed pun. Its cover art conveys a work of dimensionality, and most importantly, the album itself turns to be precisely that. Taking a significant step toward a more progressive sound, Boss Keloid maintain the heft of their prior outing but base it around material that, frankly, is more complex and dynamic. I won’t say that “Tarku Shavel” and “Lokannok” are without their elements of self-indulgence, but neither should they be for the five-piece to do justice to the multifaceted nature of their purpose. They still roar when they want to, but Boss Keloid strike with breadth on Melted on the Inch as well as sheer impact.

Boss Keloid on Thee Facebooks

Holy Roar Records website

 

Holy Smoke, Pipe Dream

holy smoke pipe dream

After forming in 2015, Philadelphia’s exclamatory Holy Smoke! issued their first three-track release, It’s a Demo! (review here) the next year and showed marked stylistic promise in cuts like “Rinse and Repeat” and “Blue Dreams.” Both of those tracks, as it happens, stand at the opening of the band’s latest EP, the five-song Pipe Dream, and reaffirm the potential in the group. The opener (also the longest track once again; immediate points) is a tale of workaday redundancy, the very sort of monotony that the rest of the offering seems to leave behind in favor of post-grunge heavy rock, marked by the wah-bass on finale “Asch Backwards” and the brooding sensibility of the prior “Golden Retriever,” which surges in its midsection like a lost Alice in Chains demo only to end quiet once again, a departure from the linearity of centerpiece “Missing the Mark” just before. Less psychedelic than their initial impression conveyed, they seem to have undertaken the work of crafting their own sonic niche in Philly’s increasingly crowded scene, and there’s nothing on Pipe Dream to make one think it’s not a realistic possibility they’ll get there.

Holy Smoke on Thee Facebooks

Holy Smoke on Bandcamp

 

Sabel, Re-Generation

sabel re-generation

Sabel know what they want to be and then are that thing. Their third album, Re-Generation, arrives via Oak Island Records as six tracks of to-the-converted stonerism, and from opener/longest track (immediate points) “In the Walls of Eryx,” the Swedish trio do little more than ask their listeners to smell the smoke emanating from their speaker cabinets (oddly sweet), and hone walls of fuzz that each seem to be bigger than the last. There are some elements of earliest Electric Wizard at play in “Atlantean” or the sneering “Voodoo Woman,” but belters like “Interstellar Minddweller” and “Green Priestess” stave off their sounding overly derivative, and though at the end of Re-Generation’s 42-minute run, one might feel as though they need a shower, the record itself proves well worth the dive into the muck. The band would seem to have carved their own descriptor with the title of their self-released 2015 LP, Hard Doom, and that’s as good as anything I could come up with, so let’s roll with it. They seem to.

Sabel on Thee Facebooks

Oak Island Records on Thee Facebooks

 

Blackwater Prophet, As I Watch it Freeze

blackwater prophet as i watch it freeze

Cheers to Christian Peters of Samsara Blues Experiment for putting me onto Spokane, Washington’s Blackwater Prophet, who with the seven-track As I Watch it Freeze collect various tracks recorded between 2015 and 2017. Thus something of a compilation, the 40-minute outing wants nothing for overarching flow, “In My Passing Time” leading off with a mellow psych-blues spirit that only grows more classic-feeling through “House of Stone” and the gorgeously pastoral “The Swamp.” The band have two proper full-lengths out, and if they wanted to count As I Watch it Freeze as their third, I don’t think they’d find much argument, as centerpiece “Gold in the Palm” opens like a gateway leading to the increasingly resonant “Careworn Crow,” the fuzzy swing of “Eating the Sun” and finally, the title-track itself, which answers the acoustics of “The Swamp” earlier while adding flourish of volume-swelling and swirling electric guitar and late choral vocals that only make the proceedings seem all the more complete in their engagement.

Blackwater Prophet on Thee Facebooks

Blackwater Prophet on Bandcamp

 

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The Atlas Moth Announce West Coast Tour Dates

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 19th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

And so I sip the second cup from my second pot of morning coffee and decide it’s time to put together a post about The Atlas Moth‘s impending tour. The Chicago post-metal veterans head out in support of their new album, the Sandord Parker-produced Coma Noir — released by no less than Prosthetic Records — and though I’ve had the record on my desktop since I don’t know how long and it’s slated to be included in the Quarterly Review at the start of next month, I haven’t yet really dug into it in more than a cursory “yup, that’s The Atlas Moth” kind of way.

So I click a link included with the press release below for “Actual Human Blood” and with its blend of extreme metal clarty, post-sludge atmospherics and richly weighted groove, it’s hard to believe these guys are as underrated as they are. It’s not hard to imagine that if they were from Germany instead of Chi-town, they’d be hailed as progressive overlords — though being Swedish didn’t exactly work for Burst when it came to being improperly valued, so maybe I’m way off — but either way, for as much as they put into what they do in terms of both passion and cerebralism, my coffee and I both think they deserve more love than they get.

Good band, is the point. They’re touring the West Coast with Mustard Gas & Roses and He Whose Ox is Gored, as the PR wire informs:

the atlas moth

THE ATLAS MOTH announce tour dates with Mustard Gas & Roses

New album, Coma Noir out now

Coma Noir is available now at http://smarturl.it/TheAtlasMoth.

THE ATLAS MOTH will continue inducing Coma Noir across North America with new tour dates announced. Joined by special guests Mustard Gas & Roses; THE ATLAS MOTH will also share select dates with He Whose Ox Is Gored and a special performance in Los Angeles at Resident DTLA with Of Feather & Bone on June 5th.

Released February 9, 2018 via Prosthetic Records, Coma Noir entered the Billboard charts at the and continues to draw praise from media and fans alike.

Produced by Sanford Parker (Eyehategod, Voivod), Coma Noir simultaneously channels the eclecticism and evolution of THE ATLAS MOTH; resulting in their finest offering of intoxicating psychedelic post metal to date. For deeper insight on the inspiration and creation of Coma Noir, listen and watch what the band has to say about the new album below.

THE ATLAS MOTH tour dates:
5/28 – St. Paul, MN @ Amsterdam Bar *
5/29 – Winnipeg, MB @ The Park Theatre *
5/30 – Regina, SK @ Cloud 9 *
5/31 – Edmonton, AB @ Temple *
6/01 – Vancouver, BC @ The Astoria w/ He Whose Ox Is Gored *
6/02 – Seattle, WA @ Northwest Terror Fest
6/03 – Portland, OR @ Star Theater w/ He Whose Ox Is Gored *
6/04 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst *
6/05 – Los Angeles, CA @ Resident DTLA w/ Of Feather & Bone *
6/06 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Rebel Lounge *
6/07 – Las Vegas, NV @ Beauty Bar *
6/08 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Loading Dock *
6/09 – Denver, CO @ Trailside Saloon *
6/10 – Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room *
*w/ Mustard Gas & Roses

THE ATLAS MOTH is:
Andrew Ragin – Synth/guitar
Alex Klein – Bass
Mike Miczek – Drums
David Kush- Guitar/Vocals
Stavros Giannopoulos – Guitar/Vocals

www.facebook.com/theatlasmothband
www.twitter.com/theatlasmoth
www.instagram.com/theatlasmoth

The Atlas Moth, “Actual Human Blood”

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The Atlas Moth to Release Coma Noir Feb. 9

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 17th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

When Chicago’s The Atlas Moth were announced over the summer as signing to Prosthetic Records, the tentative timeframe for their next album, Coma Noir, was Fall 2017. Okay, so maybe the record will ultimately wind up a little off that mark, but I can’t help but think that’ll ultimately work to its benefit. This past Fall — we’re basically through it now, at least in terms of releases — was utterly slammed with new records. One after the next after the next. Granted, there’s always stuff coming out these days, but even for that, it was overwhelming.

I don’t know what else Feb. 9 will bring, but as The Atlas Moth follow-up 2014’s The Old Believer (discussed here), at least they’re not in such immediate danger of getting lost in the fray of everything coming out. They’ll be on the road at the time with Royal Thunder and Mirrors for Psychic Warfare — the latter whose lineup includes Sanford Parker, who produced Coma Noir (funny how these things work sometimes) — so all the better. The record was one to look forward to before. Still is.

The Atlas Moth will also take part in next year’s Northwest Terror Fest, as the PR wire affirms:

the atlas moth

The Atlas Moth announce Coma Noir release date, headlining tour and Northwest Terrorfest appearance

Chicago’s experimental metallers, THE ATLAS MOTH, have set a February 9, 2018 release date for their fourth LP, Coma Noir. The band will kick off a North American tour the following day with Royal Thunder and Mirrors of Psychic Warfare. Full dates are below.

The album marks a few firsts for the band; it’s the first release for LA indie metal, Prosthetic Records, it’s the first to feature Mike Miczik (Broken Hope) on drums, and it’s the first time the band worked with an outside producer. On previous releases, the band’s guitarist/vocalist, Andrew Ragin handled production duties. This time around, longtime friend, Sanford Parker (Eyehategod, Voivod) stepped in to steer the Coma Noir ship. An outside voice, one that the band was comfortable with, was key to channeling all the different elements the band brings to the table and keeping everything cohesive and concise.

More information on Coma Noir will become available in the coming weeks, and plans are already underway for further activity for THE ATLAS MOTH in 2018.

THE ATLAS MOTH w/ Royal Thunder & Mirrors of Psychic Warfare
2/10 Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle
2/11 Pontiac, MI @ The Pike Room
2/12 Toronto, ONT @ Hard Luck – Tickets
2/13 Montreal, QUE @ Bar Le Ritz
2/14 Allston, MA @ Great Scott
2/15 Hamden, CT @ Ballroom at the Outer Space
2/16 Brooklyn, NY @Saint Vitus
2/17 Philadelphia, PA @ Voltage Lounge
2/18 Washington, DC @ DC9
2/20 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
2/21 Columbia, SC @ New Brookline Tavern
2/22 Atlanta, GA @ 529

5/29-6/02 Seattle, WA @ Northwest Terror Fest

THE ATLAS MOTH is:
Andrew Ragin – Synth/guitar
Alex Klein – Bass
Mike Miczek – Drums
David Kush- Guitar/Vocals
Stavros Giannopoulos – Guitar/Vocals

www.facebook.com/theatlasmothband
www.twitter.com/theatlasmoth
www.instagram.com/theatlasmoth

The Atlas Moth, The Old Believer (2014)

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The Atlas Moth Sign to Prosthetic Records; New LP Coma Noir Due this Fall

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 14th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

Chicago’s The Atlas Moth are currently dug into the recording process of their fourth album, to be titled Coma Noir. Their first outing since 2014’s righteous The Old Believer (discussed here), it’s being produced by none other than Sanford Parker (Buried at Sea, Mirrors for Psychic Warfare, etc.) and will see release this fall as the band’s debut release through Prosthetic Records.

Solid fit for a band who’ve consistently played outside genre lines and an imprint who’ve taken pains particularly over the last couple years to expand their own aesthetic palette to cover swaths of the heavy and/or doom underground, and when it comes to The Atlas Moth, the likelier bet would be further progression of their densely-weighted, atmospheric sound, since whatever else they’ve done over the course of their three LPs to-date, they’ve never failed to push themselves forward.

One to look forward to in the colder, darker months to come.

From the PR wire:

the atlas moth

THE ATLAS MOTH Sign to Prosthetic Records, Recording New Album, “Coma Noir”

In-Studio Now with Sanford Parker (Voivod, Eyehategod) | Release Details Coming Soon

Chicago-based experimental metal band THE ATLAS MOTH have officially announced their signing to Prosthetic Records. The five-piece is augmenting their ever-evolving sound with producer Sanford Parker (Voivod, Eyehategod) at the helm.

Vocalist/guitarist Stavros Giannopoulos comments on the signing, “We have nothing but the best things to say about our time with Profound Lore and we are equally excited to start our next chapter with Prosthetic Records! We are currently tracking our fourth full-length record, Coma Noir, in Chicago with Sanford Parker at the helm! We’ve known Sanford for many years and are stoked to have him be the first to produce a moth record outside of the band. Keep your eyes peeled for in studio updates.”

Coma Noir will be released in the fall of this year. More information will be made available soon.

THE ATLAS MOTH have released three full lengths, A Glorified Piece of Blue Sky (Candlelight Records), An Ache For The Distance (Profound Lore) and The Old Believer (Profound Lore), as well as numerous splits, EPs and singles. They have toured with Gojira, Boris, Between the Buried and Me, The Ocean, Scale The Summit and many more throughout the world.

THE ATLAS MOTH is:
Andrew Ragin – Synth/guitar
Alex Klein – Bass
Mike Miczek – Drums
David Kush- Guitar/Vocals
Stavros Giannopoulos – Guitar/Vocals

www.facebook.com/theatlasmothband
www.twitter.com/theatlasmoth
www.instagram.com/theatlasmoth

The Atlas Moth, The Old Believer (2014)

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audiObelisk Transmission 037

Posted in Podcasts on June 20th, 2014 by JJ Koczan

Click Here to Download

 

Here is the Music Player. You need to installl flash player to show this cool thing!

The apparent hubris I showed in bragging last time around at the silly method by which I transferred audio editing software from one laptop to another came back to bite me in the ass as I put this podcast together. Finally, last night, I turned to Thee Facebooks for assistance and received an amount of input that was both useful and encouraging on a personal level. Thanks to everybody who took the time to help and to recommend alternative programs to the one I was using. I’m by no means technically inclined, so it is very much appreciated.

So yeah, there was a bit of drama in the making maybe — it was right around the Buzzo track that everything went to hell — but I don’t think you’ll get any clue of that from the audio, which has a few unexpected turns in its progression. At least in the first hour. Hour two is huge jams, because basically there was no way I wasn’t going to put that 17-minute-long Wo Fat song in there and I wanted to have some other stuff to stand up to it, but hour one takes a couple different avenues toward heavy rock and I guess I was feeling some bluesy psych this time as well. I won’t spoil it any more than I already have. Hope you enjoy.

First Hour:
The Scimitar, “Babylon” from Doomsayer (2014)
Moab, “No Soul” from Scion A/V Presents Billow (2014)
Monobrow, “Cicada” from Big Sky Black Horse (2014)
1000mods, “Horses’ Green” from Vultures (2014)
Mat McNerney & Kimmo Helén, “Blood and Bone Revival” from The World is Burning OST (2014)
The Atlas Moth, “City of Light” from The Old Believer (2014)
Highlands, “Your Let Down” from Dark Matter Traveler (2014)
Blues Pills, “River” from Blues Pills (2014)
Sea Bastard, “Door Sniffer” from Scabrous (2014)
Major Kong, “Acid Transmission” from Doom for the Black Sun (2014)
Buzz Osborne, “The Ripping Driving” from This Machine Kills Artists (2014)
Prisma Circus, “Napalm” from Reminiscences (2014)
The Heavy Company, “One Big Drag” from Uno Dose (2014)

Second Hour:
Mope, “Doomed to Feed the Ground” from Mope (2014)
Idre, “Witch Trial” from Idre (2014)
Harsh Toke, “Weight of the Sun” from Light up and Live (2013)
Wo Fat, “Dreamwalker” from The Conjuring (2014)

Total running time: 1:58:41

 

Thank you for listening.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 037

 

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Stavros Giannopoulos of The Atlas Moth

Posted in Questionnaire on May 13th, 2014 by JJ Koczan

With the coming release next month of their third full-length, The Old Believer on Profound Lore, Chicago triple-guitar five-piece The Atlas Moth have proven to be survivors where others have fallen by the wayside. Consistent in releases and touring since 2008’s Pray for Tides EP (review here), the band has evolved beyond post-metallic beginnings to craft a sound of their own while those who were their peers and their forebears have called it quits, from Isis to Minsk. Through 2009’s A Glorified Piece of Blue Sky, 2011’s An Ache for the Distance and the 2013 compilation release Master of Blunt Hits that brought together Pray for Tides and 2010’s The One amongst the Weed Fields covers EP, as well as some prime internet smartassery, The Atlas Moth and guitarist/vocalist Stavros Giannopoulos have earned a place in metal that crosses genre lines and gives stoners and headbangers grounds for mutual nod.

Just today, Profound Lore announced that The Atlas Moth and labelmates SubRosa will join Japan’s Boris for US tour dates this August. The Old Believer is set for release June 10.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Stavros Giannopoulos

How did you come to do what you do?

A lot of hard work, persistence, and a general lack of interest in doing anything else whatsoever.

Describe your first musical memory.

My father dancing around the living room to Greek music.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

On tour with Gojira, our hometown Chicago show was on my 30th birthday with my entire family there for the first time to see us play.

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

Every time we meet adversity playing music.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Ultimate satisfaction.

How do you define success?

Finding happiness.

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

Lemonparty.org.

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

Master of Puppets.

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

The 2014-2015 Chicago Bulls season.

The Atlas Moth, Live in El Paso, TX, March 11, 2014

The Atlas Moth on Thee Facebooks

Profound Lore

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The Atlas Moth to Release The Old Believer June 10 on Profound Lore

Posted in Whathaveyou on April 8th, 2014 by JJ Koczan

I’m just going to assume that before you place the waterproof cover of The Atlas Moth‘s forthcoming third album, The Old Believer — out June 10 on Profound Lore — into water to reveal the rest of the art, it’s probably best to take the LP itself out first. Just a hunch. Cool idea though, and as it’s been three years since the last The Atlas Moth full-length, 2011’s An Ache for the Distance, it’s one more thing to stand them out from the crowd.

Not that they’ve been slacking in that regard anyway. It’s been half a decade since I reviewed their debut EP, Pray for Tides (review here), but particularly since the last record came out, The Atlas Moth have worked to establish their own identity within and around their sound. I’d have some catching up to do, but even beyond the novelty factor of the artwork, The Old Believer holds some intrigue ahead of its June release.

The PR wire offers the following:

THE ATLAS MOTH RELEASE THE OLD BELIEVER ON JUNE 10 VIA PROFOUND LORE

UNIQUE COVER ART CHANGES WHEN DIPPED IN WATER

The Atlas Moth, the Chicago-based quintet, release The Old Believer on June 10 via Profound Lore Records.

“This record is an equally large progression as between our first two records but this time is coupled with more experience,” explains singer/guitar player Stavros Giannopoulos (who also moonlights in black metal super group, Twilight). “I feel like we found ourselves on An Ache for the Distance and now we are expanding on our sound more than ever. It’s also the most personal and introspective music we have ever done. We are wearing our hearts on our sleeves with every note.”

The Old Believer, produced The Atlas Moth’s own Andrew Ragin at Chicago’s Wall To Wall Studios, features guests Joe Duplantier (Gojira), Marcus Eliopulos (Stabbing Westward) and Subrosa violinists Kim Pack and Sarah Pendleton. The album’s cover and back art feature a water-reveal stock, which when dipped in water, more graphics are revealed.

The Old Believer track listing:
1. Jet Black Passenger
2. Collider
3. The Sea Beyond
4. Halcyon Blvd
5. Sacred Vine
6. The Old Believer
7. City of Light
8. Wynona
9. Hesperian
10. Blood Will Tell

The band recently completed an extensive North American tour with The Ocean and Scale The Summit where they previewed music from The Old Believer. The Atlas Moth will return to the road upon release of The Old Believer, with dates to be announced soon.

www.facebook.com/theatlasmothband
www.twitter.com/TheAtlasMoth
theatlasmoth.bandcamp.com

The Atlas Moth, An Ache for the Distance (2011)

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audiObelisk: Stream Roadburn 2013 Sets from The Pretty Things, Cough, Pilgrim, Goat, The Atlas Moth, Zodiac, My Brother the Wind, Amenra, Satan’s Satyrs, Raketkanon

Posted in audiObelisk on June 10th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

A couple things you’ll want to note as you make your way through the latest batch of audio streams from Roadburn 2013. First, the Satan’s Satyrs set is a Blue Cheer tribute, and that’s frickin’ awesome, and second, I’m pretty sure that Pilgrim photo below (from the same set as the one above) is one of mine. So, you know, it’s nice to be included.

Thanks as always to Walter and the Roadburn crew for letting me host these streams, and to Marcel van de Vondervoort for continuing to boldly helm the recordings year after year. Posterity owes you a gratitude.

Enjoy:

The Pretty Things – Live at Roadburn 2013

Goat – Live at Roadburn 2013

Amenra – Live at Roadburn 2013

Cough – Live at Roadburn 2013

The Atlas Moth – Live at Roadburn 2013

My Brother The Wind – Live at Roadburn 2013

Satan’s Satyrs Tribute To Blue Cheer – Live at Roadburn 2013

Pilgrim – Live at Roadburn 2013

Zodiac – Live at Roadburn 2013

Raketkanon – Live at Roadburn 2013

If you missed them, check out the first batch of Roadburn 2013 audio streams here and the second batch of Roadburn 2013 audio streams here.

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