Posted in Whathaveyou on December 9th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Some pretty grim artwork, and a heavy-ass show to go with it. The first-ever Doom City Fest is set for Feb. 22, 2020, in Mexico City, and it presents some immediately impressive international pull. Amid national acts 33, Fumata, Satánico Pandemonium and Malamadre, you’ll note that a significant portion of the top of the bill comes from abroad. European post-metal forerunners Amenra, from Belgium, will headline, and Germany’s Mantar, Canada’s Tekarra and America’s The Obsessed and -(16)- will round out the nine-band all-dayer lineup. It’s a pretty striking assemblage, and at least within the more weighted end of the sonic spectrum, wants little for variety.
For the many festivals that populate the planet at this point, putting one together — even one that’s only a single day — is no minor task in terms of coordination and presentation, who needs to be where, what’s it going to look like and sound like and all the rest of it. Getting nine bands from your neighborhood on the same lineup is hard enough. To have a bill where the majority are coming across borders to play? And it’s your first one? I tip my hat to Doom City Fest 2020.
Info and ticket links, as per the social medias:
Doom City Fest 2020 – Feb. 22 – Mexico City
Arriving in Mexico City: Doom City Fest with a strong and fine selection of exponents of underground music in genres such as Doom Metal, Sludge, Post-Metal, Stoner and other aspects of heavy music.
The first edition of this festival will take place in Sangriento, one of the most interesting venues in the northern part of the Mexico City necropolis located in the ruins of an old factory.
? Limited tickets in early bird phase already on sale at $750.00 mxn Until December 31TH OR SOLD OUT ?http://bit.ly/Doom-City-Fest.
An initiatory rite in the maelstrom of abysmal riffs, convulsive amplitudes and entheogenic frequencies.
Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 8th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
First off, I like bootlegs. The act of putting yourself in the raw moment of seeing a band play via a sometimes rough recording from a microphone somewhere in the audience. You can hear people talking between the songs, and you can hear the band as they were from the stage — no cleanup, no mixing, nothing. Bootlegs are the truest of “warts and all” presentations for live music. I’ll take a soundboard recording, to be sure, and a good-sounding A+ boot is like a gift from the gods — thinking specifically of Black Sabbath‘s Asbury Park ’75 recording (discussed here), but of course there are many examples among live and studio unofficial releases — but there’s for sure an appeal to a harsher-audio bootleg. It’s a document of a moment that would otherwise be lost to time and memory.
They’re not for everyone, and that’s cool. If they’re not for you, you might want to move on, skip to the bottom part where I bitch about life or just go about your day or whatever. But if you count yourself among the number who can be entranced by such things, and you’re a fan of the band, then the pure aural force The Obsessed display on Live at the Wax Museum should be considered utterly essential. Recorded on July 3, 1983, it first showed up in 1992 as an unofficial release through Doom Records and it wasn’t until last year that The Church Within (fittingly enough) gave it its first official pressing, with a glow the dark cover and a CD encased in a DVD-style digipak, textured artwork and all. The Obsessed have had a few archival live offerings this decade, including Live at the Melkweg November 28th 1992 and Live Music Hall Köln December 29th 1992 in 2012 when the band first got back together, but Live at the Wax Museum has a different feel, its title giving it a sense of importance as a milestone for the band: that time they were in that place. Also distinguishing Live at the Wax Museum is the fact that it was recorded some nine years before those other shows, with guitarist Scott “Wino” Weinrich, bassist Mark Laue and drummer Dave Flood — who demolishes a drum solo in “Sister Sin” right around the middle of the set, igniting howls from the crowd — playing as intense as I’ve ever heard any incarnation of the band.
Across songs like “Concrete Cancer,” which is introduced during Wino‘s minimalist stage banter as an “old tune,” and “Touch of Everything” (a “dance tune”) and “Mental Kingdom” (a “brand new song”),
along with 11 others for a total of 14 cuts plus an intro, The Obsessed absolutely tear into this show. There’s a minute-long intro from some preacher talking about how rock music is the devil and blah blah blah and then the three-piece rip into “Burning Gland” and there’s no going back. “Iron & Stone” and set-finale “Sodden Jackal” would show up in ’83 on the band’s first 7″ single following two should-probably-be-reissued demos — their 1984 Concrete Cancer demo was given a limited run by Relapse in 2017, so it’d be as simple as repackaging 1999’s Incarnate, I think — but what’s most striking about Live at the Wax Museum is the sheer intensity of it, and that’s something that comes through despite the rough audio. Because, let’s face it: it’s a bootleg. It ain’t a cleaned-up live record, or something that’s been remastered and remastered, the tape gone over with a fine-toothed comb to remove the static noise. It’s all there. You get to hear someone in the crowd after “Concrete Cancer” shout that “FM radio sucks!” — nothing changes — and someone else later call out for them to play some Sabbath after they nail “Mental Kingdom” — again, nothing changes — and if you’re in the right mindset listening, all of that feeds into the specific atmosphere of the release.
Maybe that’s an added academic or theoretical appeal, but Live at the Wax Museum has no shortage of highlight performance moments to go along with that, from the winding and chugging of “Failsafe” to the utterly indispensable “Neatz Brigade,” which is probably the catchiest hook Wino ever wrote — that’s a pretty vast pantheon of stuff between The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan, The Hidden Hand, Premonition 13, and the sundry other units in which he’s been involved or led — but in terms of the way the verse builds tension for the chorus to open up and release, I can’t come up with a match for it. Especially not listening to it as it appears here. Certainly the catchiest The Obsessed tune, at the very least, and one that, 36 years later, you’re still pretty much guaranteed to see them play at every show. With good reason.
I wasn’t there in 1983 for this show. I was going on two, so let’s assume I wouldn’t have been able to make it even if I’d been aware of it, or, say, anything. But having Live at the Wax Museum as not just proof that it happened but kind of a glimpse at who The Obsessed were at the time and how much their miraculously-not-punk grit and working-class disaffection flew in the face of the burgeoning grandeur of the NWOBHM is not only helpful in explaining who they were at the time and how they earned the reputation they’ve long enjoyed, but also just a badass-sounding recording of a raw three-piece working to shape what we now know as Maryland doom. Hell yes that gets multiple spins from me.
The history of The Obsessed is tumultuous and ongoing, but their long absence ended in 2012 and in 2017, they produced the LP Sacred (review here), their first new album in some 23 years. They’ve been touring steadily for it since. They did Muddy Roots in Tennessee in August, Descendants of Crom III in Pittsburgh in September, last weekend were at Cafe 611 — home of Maryland Doom Fest — with Spiral Grave and others, and will travel to California next Spring for Psycho Smokeout. So yes, keeping busy. I don’t know if they’re planning another record or what, but they’ve got plenty of time to keep aligned with their every-two-decades pace, and I’m happy to see them play whenever the opportunity presents itself. Hearing Live at the Wax Museum only underscores why.
Today is also a new episode of The Obelisk Show on Gimme Radio. The first new one in more than a month. You hopefully already saw the playlist. It’s on at 1PM Eastern.
While I’m indulging shameless plugs, I’ll be at Ode to Doom tomorrow in Manhattan, presented in part by this site. Horehound, Thunderbird Divine, Mantismass and Iron Rider are playing.
Before you say it, I know Slayer and Primus are at MSG tomorrow night. In the hallowed halls of the Knicks and Billy Joel. Cough. I won’t ever tell you not to go see Primus, and I get that it’s Slayer’s alleged farewell tour, but yeah. Seems like as regards Slayer, I’ve got my memories of seeing them destroy, and I’d rather make new memories than relive old ones. So I’ll be at Arlene’s Grocery. I’m not telling you you’re wrong for being nostalgic — Primus are one of my all-time favorite bands; I’ve loved Primus since I was single digits, and I’ve loved seeing them every chance I’ve had — or trying to get while the getting’s good, but yeah. I’ve never seen Thunderbird Divine, or Mantismass, or Iron Rider, and Horehound rule, so I’ll take the lower key option and be grateful for it.
This weekend is also my sister’s birthday, so we’re doing family dinner tonight because I’ll be out tomorrow — not at all the first time I’ve rescheduled such things for a show; these people are very indulgent, these relatives of mine — and then I guess other whatnot over the course of the next couple days that I’m sure will be good.
That’s fine. It was a shit week. They all are. I spent most of it overthinking food, yelling at a two-year-old, feeling bad for yelling at a two-year-old, getting hit, kicked and bit at various points, being wrong about fucking everything, going back and forth with homeowners insurance, waiting for the other shoe to drop that will make us have to move again and daydreaming about being dead. In any case, a little time out of my head is welcome.
Thanks to everyone who has added a list so far to the end-of-decade poll. If that’s not you, I humbly point you to the form to do so here. Include whatever you want. Have fun with it.
I think that’s the last of the plugs.
Well, unless you count all the stuff for next week. Monday is that Ode review, plus a stream of the new Midas EP. Tuesday a Canyon of the Skull album stream. Wednesday an Onhou album stream — dark, dark, dark that one is. Thursday a track premiere and review of the new Solace record that I should probably just start writing now to get it done in time. Next Friday a Czar track premiere. Whole week, nailed down. Most of the week after as well. Busy times for being the “off season” in rock and roll, but it usually is, so fair enough.
Gonna try to get my head into the day to come (still early as I write) and probably fail miserably, as I so, so often do.
Great and safe weekend. Forum, radio and NEW merch.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 20th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Hey Psycho Smokeout 2.0 — sick fuggin’ lineup. With one headliner still TBA next month Psycho Entertainment and RidingEasy Records pair up to present the likes of Weedeater, Acid King, The Obsessed, Cough, Mondo Drag, Heavy Temple, The Well, Holy Grove, Salem’s Bend, and on and on, all on one day — April 18, 2020. Considering there are 19 acts confirmed, let’s assume there will be multiple stages going. I don’t know what that’ll do to the schedule — certainly possible to alternate — but however it happens, it’s a badass assemblage and there’s more to come. Tickets are on sale now, because seriously, why the hell wait?
So yes. Why wait?
From the PR wire:
PSYCHO SMOKEOUT 2.0 To Take Place April 18th, 2020; Lineup Includes Weedeater, The Obsessed, Acid King, Cough, And More + Early Bird Tickets On Sale Now!
Behold! PSYCHO SMOKEOUT 2.0 will make its annual descent upon Los Angeles’ multi-level Catch One Riff Compound April 18th, 2020!
Brought to you by Psycho Entertainment and RidingEasy Records, this year’s day-long puffathon features performances from nearly two-dozen artists including North Caroline stoner metal goliaths Weedeater, Maryland doom icons The Obsessed, California stoner rock veterans Acid King, and Virginia sludge bringers Cough, with the final headliner to be unveiled later this fall. Spread across three stages, the glassy-eyed gala will include a massive vendor market and more surprises to be announced in the weeks to come.
Early bird tickets for PSYCHO SMOKEOUT 2.0 go on sale Thursday September 19th. The limited early bird tickets are a cool $39 plus fees and are expected to sellout within 48 hours of being announced. The next tier will be $49 plus fees. The final tier will be $59 plus fees. Don’t sleep on this!
PSYCHO SMOKEOUT 2.0 is a 420 friendly, 18 and over event.
Psycho Entertainment & RidingEasy Records Presents: PSYCHO SMOKEOUT 2.0 April 18th, 2020 Catch One Riff Compound Los Angeles, California
Lineup (in alphabetical order): Acid King Casket Raider Cough Deathchant Great Electric Quest Heavy Temple Holy Grove India Tigers In Texas Leather Lung Mondo Drag Mother Iron Horse Mountain Tamer Pale Mare Salem’s Bend The Munsens The Obsessed The Well Vaelmyst Weedeater
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 17th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Come on, Norway. You could let Wino in at this point. It’s been five years. Considering it as a punitive measure, I can’t even imagine how much the loss of European touring income would be in terms of paying a fine. Certainly enough for however much drugs it was he got busted with at the border. Shit happens. Dude took the hit, so maybe time to move on?
It’s a bummer that The Obsessed‘s return trip to the Schengen countries and greater Europe has been nixed on account of ongoing fallout from that arrest, but the band, who also toured earlier this year in the States with C.O.C. and Crowbar, will appear this coming weekend at Descendants of Crom III in Pittsburgh, so the news isn’t all bad. They’ll be more than welcome I’m sure as they take the place of ASG on that bill and join the ranks of Solace, Foghound, Valkyrie and hometown heroes Argus, among many others. That’s pretty much a guaranteed good time.
Wino posted the following through the social medias:
Hello to all our fans and friends .
We are saddened to say that all European Obsessed shows in fall have been cancelled .
The facts are: After an arrest in Norway I was banned from Norway and all the Schengen countries for five years. Its been five years . Recently we found out, only by chance, that the Norwegian govt was not only deceptive about the ability to enter other countries by visa but also intentionally delayed filing my appeal that I filed in a timely manner in accordance with Norwegian law. This added an extra year to the ban consequently keeping THE OBSESSED from being able to play in Europe (UK is not included in the ban).
I feel I have been wronged by these events. I have accepted responsibility for my actions initially but now our hands are tied. Knowledge of these actions by the Norwegian govt only came to light when i arrived in Berlin to play acoustic set at Desertfest earlier this year. After being detained 10 hours i was luckily granted a temporary three day visa, but advised by the German border police of the extended ban etc. We are seeking legal recourse now and will be over to play as soon as we can. Our most sincere apologies.
We will be playing in Pittsburgh Saturday September 21st at the Descendants of Crom III festival. Great lineup….. it’s going to be a kick ass night. See you there.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 15th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
I know people’s schedules can be weird and sometimes you have to work on a weekend or you have a family thing or whatever it might be, but I don’t really get the day-ticket thing. If you’re going to go to a festival, don’t you want to be there for the entire event if you absolutely can? I mean, if monetarily it’s one day or nothing, that’s one thing, but if you have your choice between one day or three, who would just choose one? Isn’t part of the appeal of the thing that there’s so much going on? Again, if that’s how it has to be and there’s one band you absolutely need to see or something like that, fine, but would you really choose to only see one day of a fest like Desertfest Belgium 2019 if you could see all three?
The autumnal edition of Desertfest has a few new lineup announcements, including the surprise headliner of Ty Segall & the Freedom Band. They’re right. I didn’t see that one coming:
DFBE19 NEW HEADLINER: TY SEGALL & THE FREEDOM BAND! Day Tickets available 15/05
Guess you didn’t see this one coming! And yet here it is: Ty Segall & The Freedom Band will perform a highly exclusive set of European shows this fall, and we are honoured to host one of these as a headliner at this year’s Desertfest. More details are forthcoming, but Ty’s performance has never been anything less than blistering – and The Freedom Band sees him in his most ambitious setup yet.
A completely different strand of melodic heavy rock will be brought in as ASG hits the stage. The North Carolina riff-rockers certainly need no introduction to our crowd and have become a perennial fan favorite, and with good reason. Coming in from Madrid, Toundra is an experimental instrumental post-rock outfit with a vibe that is entirely in its own plane of existence.
As far as stoner doom legends go, you can’t get much more legendary than Wino. His most beloved outfit The Obsessed has been back with a vengeance since 2016, so it’s high time they make an appearance on our festival! And finally, we present you with two highly original doom bands to complete this batch of names. Yatra offers up a spiritual blend of doom, sludge and blackened vocals, straight from the Maryland forests. Sunnata hails from Poland, working towards a highly acclaimed sound that incorporates psychedelia with grungey harmonies and severe riffing.
DAY TICKETS ARE IMMINENT
If for some reason you don’t want to go the entire length, and would prefer to limit your DF intake to 1 day – we have just the ticket for you!
Or rather: we soon will have. On Wednesday 15/05 at 1pm sharp we will start selling day tickets for this year’s festival. From that point, we will also publish the line-up per day so far on our website. These tickets will be highly limited, so get them while you can!
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 23rd, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Well, if we’ve learned anything so far in 2019, it’s that The Obsessed will be spending significant amounts of it in Europe. The Maryland doom forebears have already been confirmed for Freak Valley and SonicBlast Moledo this summer, and they’ll be back this Fall — assuming they ever leave — with slots at Up in Smoke and now Keep it Low 2019. This is in addition to July UK dates with Alunah and an appearance next month in New Mexico for Monolith on the Mesa. Oh yeah, and there was that tour they did in March with C.O.C. and Crowbar too, so, you know, not a little bit of touring in general.
Their joining the ranks for Keep it Low 2019 comes with the festival’s announcement of the day splits — that’s who plays when — and the further confirmations of Bongripper and Mantar, thereby assuring the ground will shake and fury (and spit) will be spit with aggressive purpose as the fest plays out. There are a host of other righteous acts confirmed — Lo-Pan! Nebula! The Machine! etc. — so check out the lineup below, and here’s the latest from Sound of Liberation, which is presenting the whole affair:
As promised, here come the day-split, the single-day tickets and 3 new awesome bands!
We thought it was about time to bring more darkness and ferocity into our 2019 line-up, and therefore we are proud to tell you that German heaviest duo MANTAR, Illinois’ monster of riff BONGRIPPER & Maryland’s doom pioneer The Obsessed join the bill today! We still have a few bands to announce, but this 7th edition of Keep It Low Festival 2019 is shaping up nicely, isn’t it? :)
Check out the poster below to know the day-split, and get your tickets here https://www.keepitlow.de/tickets-keep-it-low while you still can! 2-day passes are gone, it was faster than ever, and we’re sure those day tickets won’t last until the Summer!
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 28th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Wasn’t this bound to happen? Either Vol. 4 or Master of Reality? And by the way, there’s really no wrong answer there. So, you know, yeah. April 2020 is the listed ship date on Vol. 4 Reduxand The Best of Black Sabbath, both of which continue Magnetic Eye Records‘ wildly successful ‘Redux’ series that’s already touched on Hendrix, Floyd, Helmet and has Alice in Chains on deck as a next installment. Still, obviously Black Sabbath have a special place in the history of heavy — right there at the start of it, maybe page three? — and accordingly, the big guns are coming out for the homage, whether it’s Matt Pike doing “FX” or Bongzilla taking on “Snowblind” or Tony Reed doing “Laguna Sunrise.” There’s no way it’s going to miss.
My only hope is that High Reeper make “Changes” heavy.
Interested to see how The Best of Black Sabbath pans out as well, with Year of the Cobra, Elephant Tree and Earthless and a host of others confirmed. I saw Elephant Tree do a killer version of “Paranoid” live this past Fall. Wouldn’t mind a studio take on that from them as well.
But really, there’s no way to lose here.
Word from Magnetic Eye follows:
If you told us even as recently as six weeks ago that we’d be working on a Redux version of Black Sabbath’s Volume 4 and, before the end of March, artists including The Obsessed, Whores, Zakk Wylde, and Matt goddamn Pike would have all committed to be part of the project, we would’ve probably answered, “Wow.”
And if you’d then said, “Oh yeah, you’ll also assemble a Best of Black Sabbath companion LP featuring Earthless, Elephant Tree, Year of the Cobra, and tons of other great artists including a whole crop of brand-new Magnetic Eye roster bands, who by the way you’ll find time to sign during all the madness of your Vol. 4 Kickstarter,” we’d have most likely said, “piss off.”
And yet, here we are, and all of the above has come to pass.
We are indeed reduxing Volume 4 and offering up a Best of Sabbath companion record, we do have some of the greatest heavy artists in the world committed to be part of this project, and we did somehow find time to sign three new bands during all of this, each of whom we’ll have a new record coming from later this year, and all of whom we’re inviting to be part of the project.
So, yeah. Wow.
THOU – WHEELS OF CONFUSION / THE STRAIGHTENER THE OBSESSED – TOMORROW’S DREAM HIGH REEPER – CHANGES MATT PIKE – FX SPIRIT ADRIFT – SUPERNAUT BONGZILLA – SNOWBLIND WHORES – CORNUCOPIA TONY REED – LAGUNA SUNRISE HAUNT – ST VITUS DANCE ZAKK SABBATH – UNDER THE SUN / EVERY DAY COMES AND GOES
ALBUM ART AND DESIGN ALYSSA MOCERE
IN ADDITION, WE HAVE INCREASED THE SCOPE OF OUR PROJECT TO INCLUDE 13 ADDITIONAL BLACK SABBATH SONGS ON A BEST OF BLACK SABBATH REDUX RECORD.
Summoner Elephant Tree Scott Reeder IRONWEED Earthless Chris Wyse Rwake Mooner Year of the Cobra Leather Lung Brume Caustic Casanova Dead Witches
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 27th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Here we are, it’s not even March yet, and already the Fall festival season is starting to take shape. We know Amenra will be around celebrating their 20th anniversary, and The Obsessed and Lo-Pan have already had other confirmations as well — possible they’re touring together? — and Mantar continue to get heavy rock bookings despite not at all being a heavy rock band, which is hilarious and ongoing in kind. Up in Smoke, like Keep it Low, is a Sound of Liberation-backed event, so it makes sense to find the likes of agency mainstays Greenleaf and My Sleeping Karma on the bill, and we already know Elephant Tree will have a new album out, so they’ll be touting that as they go. I don’t think they’re anywhere near done announcing bands for the now-three-dayer, but it already looks like a win. Simple as that.
And airfare, I guess.
Announcement from the fest follows, as seen on the social medias:
UP IN SMOKE – AMENRA + THE OBSESSED + MANTAR + LO-PAN + NO MUTE + HATHORS!
Smokers! We’re back with a new batch of great bands, who are eager to share their great music with you. This time we’re also presenting the first Swiss bands for this year’s festival. Legendary Z7 offers two big stages and a fantastic atmosphere. It’s with big honour that we present the following bands for you;
AMENRA, one of Europe’s leading forces when we’re talking about post metal. Their live performances are legendary and the heaviness from their music will probably make you gasp for oxygen. With six critically acclaimed albums on their CV, lots of splits and a few EP’s there will for sure be expectations and also dedication from you guys. Drum beats that sounds like an explosion, guitar and bass riffs so heavy that they turn your gut upside down and then everything breaks down to a melodic paradise. That’s very much what Amenra is all about.
THE OBSESSED, do they really need an introduction? The band has broken up a few times and somehow Wino has continued to believe in the bands mission and reformed it every time after a few years break. Last time he reformed The Obsessed were in 2016, then he also signed a deal with Relapse records. In 2017, 23 years after “The Church Within”, they released “Sacred” which is their fourth studio album. We are happy to give you the opportunity to experience the bands doomy sound and the great voice of Wino.
MANTAR shocked the metal underground five years ago with their debut album “Death By Burning”. During the past five years the duos extreme music has convinced lovers of heavy music that this is the real deal. You may call the music what you want, the only thing we’re sure of is that it isn’t doom or sludge. The duo’s live performances are an energetic madness that doesn’t leave anybody emotionally untouched. Get ready for heavy riffs, uncompromising music and an intense stage show, these two guys are heavier than most other bands.
LO PAN is the band that you can play on your first date with somebody who say they doesn’t like heavy music. The guys know how to perfectly blend melodies with heavy riffs. There is that intensity in the band’s music and still they manage to keep these melodies in there. A great vocalist that has the power and a great stage personality where he tries to hide behind the drumkit. There is a new album right around the corner and that’s going to be massive. If you can’t wait any longer, just put on “Marathon Man” and push that volume knob to 11.
HATHORS is a trio from Winterthur that has released three albums since their formation in 2010. Sometimes they bring some punk rock herbs to their music, which normally is in the vein of rock/alternative rock. It’s a nerve to their music that infects you, the listener, with energy and the desire jump around and be a part of the party.
NO MUTE is a Swiss rock band formed in 2006. They are from a little town called Olten between Zurich and Berne. Their music is dirty, distorted and energetic, simply put hotter than hell. They go with the classic rock ‘n’ roll line-up with drums, bass, guitar and a spastic vocalist. This is all about the good live performance, they always try to give you the show of your lifetime.
