Two unfuckwithable days await the fortunate souls attending SonicBlast Moledo 2018. For a minute there I thought I’d be able to count myself among their number, but alas, it doesn’t seem to have come together. So it goes. I can ogle from afar just the same as the schedule is revealed amid the final confirmations for the lineup, which include primo jammers Electric Octopus as well as The Wizards, Astrodome, Talea Jacta and Desert’Smoke. These join stellar lineups on the main stage and pool stage at the venue in Moledo, Portugal, which is close enough to the coast that the pre-fest party will be held on the beach. This one would’ve been worth an overnight layover in the Azores easily. Alas. Maybe in 2019.

The final announcement and full schedule for the fest follows here, courtesy of the PR wire:

The eighth edition of SonicBlast Moledo, with the dates settled for August 10th and 11th , closes the 2018 lineup with the confirmations of Electric Octopus, The Wizards, Astrodome, Talea Jacta and Desert’Smoke! They will be joining the previously confirmed acts Earthless, Kadavar, Causa Sui, Nebula, Samsara Blues Experiment, Mantar, The Atomic Bitchwax, 1000mods, Conan, Ufomammut, Naxatras, Purple Hill Witch, The Black Wizards, Atavismo, Ruff Majik, Solar Corona and Greengo!

The warm-up sessions are also back, happening on August 9th at Moledo’s beach, to celebrate the beginning of another SonicBlast edition. The warm-up sessions lineup will be announced very soon.

The prolific Electric Octopus, ascending band in the art of improvisation, come from Northern Ireland to present their refined conjuction of sounds. With albums passing the four hours of running time, the huge instrumental voyages created by this trio, comprise a vast panoply of varied influences such as blues, psychedelic, jazz or even funk. We may await for a transcendental communion, moved by unique and hypnotic moments, where the free spontaneity is the law.

Hailing from the Basque Country, more concretely from Bilbao, The Wizards practice vintage Hard Rock, marked by flaming guitars, clear seventies influences and powerful occult vocals. Back in 2017, they released their latest album “Full Moon in Scorpio”, which lead them to new venues and consolidated the band as one of the most promising Spanish bands.

Three years after their double dose in Moledo, Astrodome return again, this time with a remodeled formation and a formidable new album, righteously entitled “II”. With their maturity clearly demonstrated in these compositions, the quartet embarks on the psychedelic fields of music, fearless of entering onto the fields of jazz or progressive, to make us singularly levitate in their musical journey.

Formed by guitarist Pedro Pestana (10,000 Russians, Tren Go! Sound System) and drummer João Pais Filipe (HHY & The Macumbas, Sektor 304, Magnetic Mountain, Paisel), Talea Jacta are a duo specialist in creating deep musical landscapes, using endless loops and mesmerizing tribal beats, which elevate the mind to another state in an unparalleled way.

Surprising everyone and everything with their debut work “Hidden Mirage”, the quartet Desert’Smoke shape their music in a purely instrumental way, which blends the harmony of the Heavy Psych dynamics with the heaviest moments of Stoner Rock. Indeed, the ideal junction of contemplative psychedelia with the power of Rock.

TICKETS
sonicblastmoledo.com/tickets
– From March 1st to June 30th – 48€
– From July 1st to July 31st – 55€
– As of August 1st – 60€

sonicblastmoledo.com
facebook.com/sonicblastmoledo

Electric Octopus, Line Standing (2017)

May 16 is the set release date for Full Moon in Scorpio, the second full-length and Fighter Records debut from Spanish heavy rockers The Wizards. To mark the announcement, the band has posted the track “Avidya,” which opens the album, for streaming, and as you can hear below, it gets the mastered-in-my-beloved-Garden-State outing off to an energetic start, taking elements from classic metal and an undercurrent of boogie at will and meshing them together in a cohesive package that reminds a bit of the post-NWOBHM dual-guitar antics of Bible of the Devil, which is not at all an unwelcome reminder to get. A little fist-pump to go with your shuffle and nod. Not gonna argue with it.

The track and background on the band came down the PR wire:

THE WIZARDS set release date for FIGHTER RECORDS debut, reveal first track

Spanish ’70s hard & heavy rock band The Wizards have inked a deal with Fighter Records for the release of their highly anticipated second album, Full Moon in Scorpio, which will see the light on May 16th internationally.

Formed in Bilbao (Basque Country) back in 2013, these five outcasts decided to form a band after several intense sessions of drug abuse and hard liquor drinking marathons at backyard parties where the records of Black Sabbath, Danzing, The Cult, Blue Oyster Cult, Pentagram, Deep Purple, Dio, Horisont, and Electric Wizard were played so loud, neighbors would call the police sooner than expected.

In January 2014, The Wizards recorded their first demo, Plagues. With only four songs recorded and a bunch of covers, they were able to win the 26th edition of the local pop/rock contest Villa de Bilbao, and during 2015, they released their self-titled debut album through their own label, Witch Records, in collaboration with French label Geea Music.

The band played live in France, Basque Country, and Spain opening for legendary bands and artists such as The Dictators, Iggy Pop, and Turbonegro, sharing the stage with bands like Horisont, Peter Pan Speed Rock, and Hypnos among others. They were even invited to participate in festivals such as Madrid Stoner Scene Fest, Kriston Fest, and Faan Fest.

During April 2016, The Wizards entered Gaua Studio together with Brooklyn-based produced Dean Rispler, current bass-player for The Dictators. During two weeks, they recorded eight songs that form their upcoming second album, Full Moon in Scorpio, engineered by Asier Zubelbu and mixed & mastered by Jesse Cannon (The Cure, The Misfits, The Dillinger Escape Plan) at Cannon Found Soundation in Union City, New Jersey.

Full Moon in Scorpio contains eight tracks of hard & heavy rock attack, the lyrics dealing with such issues as the destruction of the veils that blind us, the vast concepts of space and time, the search for spiritual enlightenment, and so on. For the band, it truly means a step forward in their quest for world domination. The sound is bigger, the songs are better, and The Wizards are ready to destroy and fuck things up wherever their presence is needed. The western world is collapsing – let’s dance over the fires while we howl at the Scorpio Moon. All in the name of rock ‘n’ roll – all in the name of Lucifer!

The Wizards’ Full Moon in Scorpio will be released May 16th through Fighter Records on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Tracklisting for The Wizards’ Full Moon in Scorpio
1. Avidya
2. Calliope (Cosmic Revelations)
3. Odinist
4. Stardust
5. Leaving the Past Behind
6. Halftones to Eternity
7. Who are You, Mr. Gurdjieff?
8. When We Were Gods

www.facebook.com/thewizardsrock
https://twitter.com/the_wizardss
https://thewizardsofrock.bandcamp.com/

The Wizards, “Avidya”