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Quarterly Review: Nibiru, The Ditch and the Delta, Cyanna Mercury, Surya Kris Peters, Golden Bats, Blind Hen, The Black Wizards, Low Flying Hawks, Brother Sister Hex, Cold Insight

Posted in Reviews on September 28th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk quarterly review

Ready for round three of the Fall 2017 Quarterly Review? I hope so, because it’s a doozy. Things get pretty weird and pretty rockin’ in this batch, and at the risk of being completely honest, I much prefer it that way. It’s a varied group — maybe the most diverse in terms of sound throughout the entire week, though there’s stiff competition still to come — and as we hit the 30th review, that brings us to the halfway point of the Quarterly Review itself, which if all keeps proceeding according to plan will wrap up on Monday with a grand total of 60 done. Let’s hope no pianos fall on my head between now and then, literally or figuratively. Onward.

Quarterly Review #21-30:

Nibiru, Qaal Babalon

nibiru qaal babalon

The fourth full-length from Italian sludge ritualists Nibiru, Qaal Babalon (on Argonauta) is an encompassing, 57-minute grind comprised of four extended tracks, the longest of which is opener (immediate points) “Oroch” at 19:07 – a song whose depths run dark and cruel and which, even when the tempo pushes upward from its initial slow crawl, still feels massively slow. Still, the spirit behind “Oroch” as well as the following and much faster “Faboan” (10:51), the buzzsaw noise cutting avant insanity of “Bahal Gah” (16:40) and full-drone rite of “Oxex” (11:05) is less directly about the punishment itself than about the exploration enacted thereby. That is, Nibiru aren’t just heavy for heaviness’ own sake and they’re not just assaulting their listenership without reason. Though I won’t take away from its raw sonic impact, Qaal Babalon’s greatest asset is its atmospheric impression and the experimentalism it brings to bear, which moves Nibiru into a terrifying place sound-wise that they seem to have all to themselves.

Nibiru on Thee Facebooks

Argonauta Records website

 

The Ditch and the Delta, Hives in Decline

the-ditch-and-the-delta-hives-in-decline

Hailing from the unlikely heavy hotbed of Salt Lake City, Utah – though where better for a counterculture to emerge? – sludge rocking trio The Ditch and the Delta made their debut earlier in 2017 with the seven-song Hives in Decline via Battleground Records before being picked up by Prosthetic for this reissue. Comprised of bassist/vocalist Kory Quist (see also: Making Fuck), guitarist/vocalist Elliot Secrist and drummer Charles Bogus, the three-piece pummel handily throughout early cuts like opener and longest track (immediate points) “Hives in Decline” “Fuck on Asphalt” and the nodding “Sleeping Dogs,” but with the instrumental interlude “Dry Land,” they tap into post-Across Tundras heavy Americana and in that brief two-minute stretch deeply affect the mood of the release overall. They’re back to angular noise rock turns soon enough on “Till Body Quits” and the Remission-era-Mastodon-style “Mud” before alternating between lurching crush and airier prog/post-rock on closer “Dread Spectacle,” but by then the secret’s out of their underlying complexity, and rather than offset the sense of drive in the prior cuts, one finds them only enhanced by the later unfolding. Intense, and very much in the process of sorting through these impulses, but loaded with potential.

The Ditch and the Delta on Thee Facebooks

The Ditch and the Delta at Prosthetic Records

 

Cyanna Mercury, Archetypes

Cyanna-Mercury-Archetypes

From Greek dialogue in “Hermes” to the Nick Cave-style piano balladry of “Apollo” to the organ-and-handclaps Mediterranean pop underscoring “Lilith”’s boogie and the spoken verses and explosive hook of “Snake” ahead of moody closer “There will be a Time,” Cyanna Mercury’s debut long-player, Archetypes, seems to leave no sonic stone unturned. The Athens-based five-piece hone a thoroughly progressive approach across the 10-track/40-minute (plus a CD bonus track) outing, touching on heavy psych in opener “Horse Dark as Night” and injecting a darker theatricality into centerpiece “Ode to the Absent Father” and the later “Nothing We Can Do,” but refusing to relegate themselves ultimately to one sound or another. Elements of folk, heavy rock, psychedelia, classic prog, pop and more besides show themselves across what’s a legitimate head-trip of a record, and though it’s hard to get a grip on where Cyanna Mercury are ultimately headed with this sonic brew already so potent and already so much their own, they seem to be completely in control of how it all plays out in arrangement and songwriting, and they work quickly to earn the listener’s trust via a resonant overarching flow that renders Archetypes truly immersive. Will fly under most radar, but a stunningly creative debut.

Cyanna Mercury on Thee Facebooks

Cyanna Mercury on Bandcamp

 

Surya Kris Peters, 2nd Chances

surya-kris-peters-second-chances

Numerically-titled three-song EP 2nd Chances is – since we’re going by the numbers – the third release of 2017 from Surya Kris Peters, behind the synth-driven Dream Exit EP digitally-issued this past summer and January’s Holy Holy Holy (review here) full-length. With it, Samsara Blues Experiment frontman Christian Peters further expands the contextual breadth of his solo work, revisiting songs from his prior outfit Terraplane in the Mellotron-infused melancholy of “Smalltown Blues” and the quick, folkish rambling instrumental “Dark Euphoria” while also covering Jefferson Airplane’s “Come up the Years” between. All told, it’s only 10 minutes long, but Peters brings a particularly progressive psychedelic folk vibe to the tracks, and from the shimmering guitar lead that takes hold in “Come up the Years” and the intimate feel of “Smalltown Blues” despite an arrangement of keys, vocals, multiple layers of guitar and effects, an emotional and sonic resonance is still very much achieved. One never wants to guess what Peters will do next, but if he had a full-length of this kind of thing out at some point, you wouldn’t be likely to find me complaining.

Surya Kris Peters on Soundcloud

Electric Magic Records on Bandcamp

 

Golden Bats, Residual Dread

golden-bats-residual-dread

An underlying mournfulness pervades Golden BatsResidual Dread, or maybe that’s just the Brisbane-based solo-project of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/engineer Geordie Stafford living up to the title chosen for the album on “Nothing.” Elsewhere, Residual Dread takes on guitar-as-keyboard plotted soloing in 11-minute closer “The Crows Build a Fire” and find a place between black metal and doomly roll, and add piano to tapped Godflesh-style programming on opener “Trouble in the Sewers” and bring organ to the relative bounce of “Eye Juices” as far-back echoing shouts provide the vocal presence. Setting elements against each other would seem to be a core aspect of Stafford’s intent, and the feel on Residual Dread is more about the smashing them together and seeing what happens than trying to gently meld one idea from two or three. That lends a raw, experimentalist sensibility to the lumber of “Outer Body” and “Into the Silver Valley” that serves them well, like a Large Hadron Collider driven by riffs and thickness of tone.

Golden Bats on Thee Facebooks

Haemorrhage Records webstore

 

Blind Hen, Life

blind-hen-life

In its first two minutes, Blind Hen’s “As a Monster” moves from electronica-style Euro dance rock to heavy-riffed progressive metal. Then it turns back. This is just the start of the Finnish four-piece’s four-track/21-minute Life EP, and “Titanic” follows stylistic suit with an even more intense thrust early before moving into psychedelia in its second half with an underlying tension in its beat to contrast the melodic wash overtop. The chugging “The Maze” is more guitar-led and straightforward, but even there, Blind Hen find room for nuance in their vocal arrangement, also bringing in acoustics amid the multiple layers of singing, and with a sample at the outset, closer “Catch” moves once again toward the danceability of the earlier fare, if in a via-Mr.Bungle rhythmic restlessness rather than the fusion beatmaking. Weird, weird, weird. What draws Life together is the fact that Blind Hen cross this aesthetic swath with stuck-in-your-head choruses as a constant, essentially giving the audience something to grasp onto while they go wherever they want in terms of sound. It is appreciated to say the least, and shows the band to be all the more attuned to their craft, even when they seem at their most unhinged.

Blind Hen on Thee Facebooks

Blind Hen on Bandcamp

 

The Black Wizards, What the Fuzz!

the-black-wizards-what-the-fuzz

If you’ve got 68 minutes, Portuguese four-piece The Black Wizards are ready to have a heavy blues shindig on their second 2LP full-length, What the Fuzz!, and I do believe we’re all invited. The nine-song outing emphasizes the vocals of guitarist Joana Brito, who emerges on post-intro opener “Freaks and Geeks” with a prominent kind of trilling in her voice of the sort Parker Griggs brings to Radio Moscow that holds for the duration as a steady presence. Joined by guitarist Paulo Ferreira, bassist/acoustic guitarist B and drummer/backing vocalist Helena Peixoto, Brito leads the way through the fuzzy rollout of the nine-minute “The Story of an Hopeless Drummer” (sic), stepping back to let the guitar/bass have a righteously nodding moment late in the track, but holds firm in a forward position on the short, twanging “Just Not Today” as well as the early going of the prior subdued-blues-smoker highlight “Floating Blues.” “Build Your Home,” “I Don’t Wanna Die” and the particularly-classic-sounding “Fire” revive the classic heavy rock spirit of “Freaks and Geeks,” and 16-minute finale “Everything is Good Until Trouble Comes” uses its extra runtime for a satisfying and patient execution with an expanded arrangement including choral vocals, organ and additional guitar effects. You might be boogied out by the time they’re done, but as The Black Wizards crash through their big finish, they sound like their party’s just getting started.

The Black Wizards on Thee Facebooks

The Black Wizards on Bandcamp

 

Low Flying Hawks, Genkaku

low-flying-hawks-genkaku

One might expect that with all the Melvins affiliation going on in the second Magnetic Eye Records full-length from L.A. duo Low Flying Hawks, Genkaku would sound, you know, more like the Melvins, but despite working with bassist Trevor Dunn, drummer Dale Crover and producer Toshi Kasai, and despite bringing in Buzz Osbourne for guest vocal spots on eight-minute opener/longest track (immediate points) “Smile” and side B leadoff “Space Wizard,” initials-only multi-instrumentalists EHA and AAL follow their 2016 debut, Kofuku (review here), with a sound even more their own, balancing between thick riffy rollout and post-rock atmospherics. Of course, they weird out a bit on “Smile” and the lumberingly spacious “Uncool” and “Virgin Witch,” but whether it’s the later mournfulness of “Hallucination” or “Twilight” toying with noisy fuckall while seeming to mock heavy rocker burl ahead of the melodic payoff in closer “Sinister Waves,” there’s more EHA and AAL in Low Flying Hawks than the prominent pedigree of their collaborators might lead you to believe. All the better for what becomes a richly satisfying 43-minute listen rife with depth, patience, and yes, personality.

Low Flying Hawks on Thee Facebooks

Magnetic Eye Records on Bandcamp

 

Brother Sister Hex, End Times

brother-sister-hex-end-times

Coherent songwriting rests at the core of what Denver’s Brother Sister Hex bring to their five-song third EP, End Times, which darkens up Queens of the Stone Age-circa-Songs for the Deaf vibing on its title-track (also a bit of Kyuss’ “El Rodeo” in there for good measure) before delving into more ambient fare on the centerpiece “Confessions.” Vocalist/guitarist Colfax Mingo demonstrates SubRosa-style vocal command there, but the context is more rock-based, uptempo and straightforward as she, guitarist Patrick Huddleson, bassist Drew Hicks and guest-drummer Jordan Palmer (Plastic Daggers) meld traditionalist structures with atmospheric moodiness. Opener “Hey” offers a suitable greeting through hook and groove, and the shuffle of “Sweet and Sleazy” and the rumbling fuzz (Hicks makes it a highlight) of closer “News Feed” wraps with another grunge-style QOTSA melody efficiently drawn, shouting the question “what have we done?” as it thuds into its second half. Uh, you’ve made a professional-sounding, excellently-constructed EP that shows you’re more than ready to embark on a debut full-length, permanent drummer or no. So yeah, get on that.

Brother Sister Hex on Thee Facebooks

Brother Sister Hex on Bandcamp

 

Cold Insight, Further Nowhere

cold-insight-further-nowhere

As progressive as it is brutal, Further Nowhere is ostensibly the debut release from Paris’ Cold Insight. The material seems to date back at least to 2013, if not earlier than that, when band-spearhead Sébastien Pierre (also of Enshine, Fractal Gates, and others) first issued what’s now tagged as a “pre-production album” version, but it’s hardly as though the lush, growling, melodeathly doom sounds dated. With sonic likenesses throughout to bands like Amorphis, Dark Tranquility and Paradise Lost, Cold Insight – on which Pierre, who also did the artwork, is joined by drummer Christian Netzell while Jari Lindholm adds lead guitar – hit on a very particular, very European style, and not an unfamiliar one as displayed in the righteously driving “Distance,” but the find-the-beauty-in-darkness spirit behind “Close Your Eyes” and songs like “Even Dies a Sun” and the more uptempo later piece “I Will Rise” help ensure that the formidable 12-song/66-minute run of Further Nowhere never gets too bogged down in its melancholy. It may have been a while in the making, and one hopes a follow-up won’t take as long to arrive, but the precise execution Pierre hones in these songs and the depths to which he can bring a willing audience are a fitting payoff for the years of work that went into their construction.

Cold Insight on Thee Facebooks

Cold Insight on Bandcamp

 

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The Ditch and the Delta Sign to Prosthetic Records

Posted in Whathaveyou on July 25th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

It wasn’t so terribly long ago that Salt Lake City slingers The Ditch and the Delta announced the US tour dates for next month alongside Rozamov and others that will precede their slot at Crucialfest in their hometown on Sept. 22, and along comes the PR wire with word that the three-piece have inked a deal to issue their debut album, Hives in Decline, through Prosthetic Records in September. Not too shabby. The record initially came out via Battleground earlier this year, and it’s streaming in full below and available to preorder in its new edition as we speak.

Like, right now. This very minute. I know it’s true because I read it in a press release and clicked the link:

the-ditch-and-the-delta-photo-jessica-bundy

Prosthetic Records Signs THE DITCH AND THE DELTA, Full-Length Album, “Hives In Decline”, Set for Re-Release on September 8, 2017

Album Engineered by Andy Patterson of SUBROSA

Prosthetic Records have announced the signing of Salt Lake City-based sludge rockers, THE DITCH AND THE DELTA. Formed in 2014 by longtime friends, Elliot Secrist, Charles Bogus and Kory Quist, the band released their 2015 EP, We Rust, to a vast array of critical acclaim. Their debut full length Hives In Decline was released on LP on Battleground records and digitally through the band’s Bandcamp page on May 12, 2017. Prosthetic Records will be re-releasing the album on compact disc and will make it available on all digital platforms on September 8th. Preorders are available here: http://smarturl.it/TDATD

The band comments on the signing, “Having been fans of many of both the current roster and alumni on Prosthetic, The Ditch couldn’t be more pleased to be on the label among such good company.”

Hives In Decline features seven tracks and was engineered by Andy Patterson of Subrosa. The album shows the band exploring into sound design sonics, as well as features a swarm of solos by Gentry Densley (Eagle Twin, Iceburn) on the song “Fuck on Asphalt”. Metal Injection recently described the album as, “a record that takes you in and allows you to revel in the madness of the genre.”

Hives In Decline track listing
1. Hives in Decline
2. Fuck on Asphalt
3. Sleeping Dogs
4. Dry Land
5. Till Body Quits
6. Mud
7. Dread Spectacle

The devil is in the details with The Ditch. The expanded harmony and tension, as well as the unique rhythms are, in part, due to Secrist’s studies and degree in Jazz Composition. The band calls their brand of sludgy/noise/doom, “Big Riff”. Employing different tunings, and modal centers, every song The Ditch writes manages to avoid many of the usual doom trappings of excessive feedback, static harmony, and pentatonic riffs. The lyrical content deals with everyday life and the constant suppression and alienation that comes with it. Three men from Mormon dominated Utah are bound to have a lot of resentment and disdain for the mono culture they exist in day to day.

They have shared the stage with Call of the Void, Lord Dying, Eagle Twin, Iceburn, The Sword, Subrosa, Kowloon Walled City, Castle, The Atlas Moth, Kayo Dot, and Dust Moth to name a few. Current tour dates are as follows:

8/15 Colorado Springs, CO @ Triple Nickel
8/16 Wichita, KS@ Barleyscorn
8/17 Wichita Falls, TX @ The Deep End.
8/18 Austin, TX @ The Lost Well
8/19 Lafayette, LA @ Boom Boom Room.
8/20 Greenville, SC @ Cabin Floor Records.
8/21 Raleigh, NC @ Slims
8/23 New York, NY @ TBA
8/24 Boston, MA @ Great Scott**
8/25 Columbus, OH @ Space Bar**
8/26 Milwaukee, WI @ Franks Power Plant
8/27 St Paul, MN @ TBA
8/30 Seattle, WA @ Fun House**
8/31 Portland, OR @ High Water Mark**
9/1 Boise, ID @ The Shredder**
9/22 Salt Lake City, UT @ Crucial Fest**.
** with Rozamov

THE DITCH AND THE DELTA is:
Elliot Secrist (guitar/vocals)
Charles Bogus (drums)
Kory Quist (bass/vocals)

www.facebook.com/theditchandthedeltaslc/
https://theditchandthedelta.bandcamp.com/
http://smarturl.it/TDATD
https://store.prostheticrecords.com/search?q=the+ditch+and+the+delta
https://www.facebook.com/prostheticrecords/

The Ditch and the Delta, Hives in Decline (2017)

The Ditch and the Delta, “Mud” live

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The Ditch and the Delta Launch US Tour Next Month

Posted in Whathaveyou on July 13th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

There remain a couple of dates still to confirm along the Eastern Seaboard and in the Midwest for The Ditch and the Delta‘s upcoming August tour, so if you happen to live in any of the cities marked TBA below and can put together a show or are elsewhere and can help out with a crash spot or something like that, the PR wire has included an email address where you can reach out to the band directly. Don’t harass the dude. Be nice. Be helpful.

The Ditch and the Delta hit the road from Salt Lake City on Aug. 15 and will tour their way back around to their hometown to play Crucial Fest on Sept. 2. They’ll spend part of the run in the company of Battleground Records labelmates Rozamov, and will be out supporting their first album, Hives in Decline, which came out back in May.

You can stream that record below and if you’re so inclined, the LP’s like dirt cheap from the label if you’re in the US, so yeah. Here’s info:

the ditch and the delta

THE DITCH AND THE DELTA Confirms US August/September Tour Including Dates With Rozamov

Utah’s THE DITCH AND THE DELTA has announced a run of summer tour dates in support of their Battleground Records-released Hives In Decline debut LP.

THE DITCH AND THE DELTA’s upcoming tour begins in Colorado Springs on August 15th and runs through September 2nd where the band plays Crucial Fest in their hometown of Salt Lake City. The tour sees THE DITCH AND THE DELTA running through the Northern half of the country with shows spanning through the Midwest, East Coast, West Coast, and Mountain regions, and includes a week-and-a-half of dates with labelmates Rozamov. The band is still booking the last few unconfirmed venues with all gaps to be filled in the days ahead. Anybody interested in booking a show in one of the TBA towns listed below can get in touch with kquist801@gmail.com.

THE DITCH AND THE DELTA Tour Dates:
8/15/2017 Triple Nickel – Colorado Springs, CO
8/16/2017 Barleyscorn – Wichita, KS
8/17/2017 The Deep End – Wichita Falls, TX
8/18/2017 The Lost Well – Austin, TX
8/19/2017 Boom Boom Room – Lafayette, LA
8/20/2017 TBA – Atlanta, GA
8/21/2017 Slims – Raleigh, NC
8/22/2017 TBA – Baltimore, MD
8/23/2017 TBA – New York, NY
8/24/2017 Great Scott – Boston, MA w/ Rozamov
8/25/2017 Space Bar – Columbus, OH w/ Rozamov
8/26/2017 Reggies – Chicago, IL
8/27/2017 TBA – Sioux Falls, ND w/ Rozamov
8/28/2017 TBA – Billings, MT w/ Rozamov
8/29/2017 TBA – Spokane, WA w/ Rozamov
8/30/2017 El Corazon – Seattle, WA w/ Rozamov
8/31/2017 High Water Mark – Portland, OR w/ Rozamov
9/01/2017 The Shredder – Boise, ID w/ Rozamov
9/02/2017 Crucial Fest – Salt Lake City, UT w/ Rozamov

Battleground Records released THE DITCH AND THE DELTA’s Hives In Decline in May, unloading one of the most intriguing and unique records under the broad umbrella of doom and sludge metal infused with technical math rock and progressive elements. Engineered by Andy Patterson of Subrosa, Hives In Decline sees the band exploring many aspects of sound design by employing different tunings and modal centers, while lyrically dealing with the resentment and disdain for the mono culture these three men from Mormon-dominated Utah exist in daily. The LP also features a swarm of guest solos from Gentry Densley (Eagle Twin, Iceburn) on the track “Fuck On Asphalt.”

The Ditch and the Delta is:
Elliot Secrist-Guitars, samples, vocals
Charles Bogus-Drums
Kory Quist-Bass, vocals

https://theditchandthedelta.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.facebook.com/theditchandthedeltaslc
http://www.facebook.com/battlegroundrecords
http://battlegroundrecords.bigcartel.com

The Ditch and the Delta, Hives in Decline (2017)

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