Dozer Interview & Full Album Stream Pt. 5: Through the Eyes of Heathens

Posted in Features on February 24th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

dozer

Last week Sweden’s Dozer oversaw reissues of their final two (to-date) albums through Heavy Psych Sounds. The Italian label has been making its way through the Dozer catalog, and so has this interview series. Below, bassist Johan Rockner takes us back to 2005’s Through the Eyes of Heathens (discussed here), following the discussion yesterday of the demo collection recorded in the same era, Vultures (review here; discussed here), originally issued in 2013.

Through the Eyes of Heathens is a special album, and to be completely honest, I’m just happy to have the excuse to put it on while I write. From the bombastic opening of “Drawing Dead,” it establishes Dozer as a more dynamic outfit than any of their prior material could have, even as it hinted toward what was coming. “Born a Legend,” “From Fire Fell,” “The Roof, the River, the Revolver,” are more than just catchy tracks. They find Dozer more fully realizing the brash side of 2002’s Call it Conspiracy (discussed here; also discussed here), as they moved farther away from the desert-style heavy of 2001’s Madre de Dios (discussed here) and 2000’s In the Tail of a Comet (discussed here) and deeper into their own identity. Recording in Finland, they nonetheless set a standard for Swedish heavy rock that few beyond themselves could hope to meet, try though they might and have.

Their fourth album was also their 10th anniversary, and Rockner, as well as guitarist Tommi Holappa, guitarist/vocalist Fredrik Nordin, and then-drummer Karl Daniel Lidén rose to that occasion in songwriting and performance. Complete with a guest vocal spot from Troy Sanders of tourmates Mastodon on closer “Big Sky Theory,” Through the Eyes of Heathens is the moment at which Dozer became the band they were meant to be, and the identity of their craft has not been dulled in the least by the ensuing 16 years. It is a thing of beauty right unto Peder Bergstrand‘s willfully weird cover design, and whether you’ve embraced and been embraced by the record before or you’re a stranger to it, as someone listening to it right now, I’ll tell you flat out that you’ll only find welcome and refuge in its course.

This interview series, the other parts of which are all haphazardly linked above, will conclude tomorrow with Rockner discussing Beyond Colossal.

Until then, here’s this and thanks for reading:

dozer through the eyes of heathens

Through the Eyes of Heathens Q&A with Johan Rockner

Tell me about where you see Through the Eyes of Heathens in terms of Dozer’s overall progression. How does it relate to Call it Conspiracy in your mind?

That album was a big turning point, in the same way Call it Conspiracy was, but different. I think it relates mostly through songwriting. But also, we learned alot from the making of Call it Conspiracy, which was a big project from start to finish. Especially for us. Best producer and best studios.

So, take all the good lessons we learned from CIC, and carefully use those, but in our way in the process of THEOH.

This was the first album Dozer put out with Small Stone Records. How did that deal come about and what did that change in distribution mean for the band?

Haha! I guess all the money ran out on the CIC project, and we were in urgent need of someone else to pay for the next album. ;) I guess distribution was a part of it, and also other connections the label had. But I guess, we needed a change over and all and Small Stone was back then a place for bands like us to be.

Looking back on them now and revisiting them for this reissue, what do songs like “Born a Legend” and “Man of Fire” mean to you now? What do you remember about writing or recording them?

For me, all the songs are great, and the songs “Big Sky Theory,” “Until Man Exists No More” and “From Fire Fell” stick out the most to me, but they are also songs we always love to play live. But this album is the album that I guess had the best impact for us as a band.

A lot of things happened before recording it, Erik [Bäckwall] left the band, Daniel joined the band, European tour with Mastodon and two years of making songs. So the band was full of new energy and the direction of the songs just came naturally. We made 16 songs for this album, 10 on album and six of them ended up on Vultures. Says a lot about our creativity at this time, we were definitely on a roll. :)

What’s the story behind the album cover?

Love the cover that Peder [Bergstrand, Lowrider] made. I don’t know the story, but I guess Peder had some weird fantasies about crossing different animal species and see what kind of strange new ones who would appear. We’ll never know.

Anything in particular you’d like to add about Through the Eyes of Heathens? Any other standout memories to share about this time in the band?

This album recording sticks out for me. A lot of good memories. This was around Midsummer’s Eve on an island just outside Helsinki, Finland. Two weeks of good times. Good recording days, music, friends and parties. Troy [Sanders, Mastodon] came by to sing some guest vocals, went to see their show with Iron Maiden. Good hang with them and Fantomas, who also toured Europe at that time.

The only video recording diary we ever made. Which also reflects how much fun, crazy and weird stuff that was going on during our recording. Watch it!

Dozer, Through the Eyes of Heathens

Dozer, Through the Eyes of Heathens Studio Diary

Dozer on Thee Facebooks

Dozer on YouTube

Dozer website

Heavy Psych Sounds on Thee Facebooks

Heavy Psych Sounds on Instagram

Heavy Psych Sounds on Twitter

Heavy Psych Sounds on Bandcamp

Heavy Psych Sounds website

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Dozer Interview Pt. 4: Vultures

Posted in Features on February 23rd, 2021 by JJ Koczan

dozer

The reissue of Swedish heavy rockers Dozer‘s 2013 offering, Vultures (review here), is out now on Heavy Psych Sounds. With new artwork by Peder Bergstrand (also Lowrider) and an extra track that finds Dozer taking on Sunride‘s “Vinegar Fly,” it is the closest the band has come to issuing new material since their fifth and final full-length, 2008’s Beyond Colossal (discussed here). Issued as an EP, its six original tracks — plus the cover makes seven — were culled from demos for the band’s 2005 album, Through the Eyes of Heathens (discussed here), recorded by close ally Bengt Bäcke, whose history with the band helming their first sessions has meant they’ve always sounded way better than “demo” might imply.

Vultures was never a live-to-tape-in-the-rehearsal-space kind of affair, and eight years after its original release by the band, tracks like “The Blood is Cold” and “To the Fallen” have no trouble holding up. Bassist Johan Rockner talks below about the band having a glut of material and wanting to get it out in some form, with Vultures enabling them to do that. Then newly signed to Small Stone Records, the four-piece already had three records to their credit in 2002’s Call it Conspiracy (discussed here; also discussed here), 2001’s Madre de Dios (discussed here) and 2000’s In the Tail of a Comet (discussed here), as well as sundry tracks from earlier splits that continue to beg for an early-works compilation. When it arrived, their fourth album would continue a progression toward more aggressive, harder-hitting grooves, and Vultures represents the moment between Call it Conspiracy and Through the Eyes of Heathens as Dozer sought out the places they wanted their sound to go.

It is entirely to the band’s credit that Vultures is anything more than a fan-piece or curio for the converted. Guitarist Tommi Holappa, guitarist/vocalist Fredrik NordinRockner on bass and Karl Daniel Lidén on drums bring a full sound to these tracks and in its substance it’s less a demo than a series of alternate takes. Dozer posted a short while that they were in the studio for a yet-unnamed reason. The fact that Vultures holds up as well as it does even for being material that didn’t get released when it was recorded, only serves as another example of why the possibility of their doing something new is so exciting.

Interviews with Rockner about Through the Eyes of Heathens and Beyond Colossal will follow this week.

In the meantime, enjoy and thanks for reading:

DOZER VULTURES

Vultures Q&A with Johan Rockner

Tell me about the demo process for what became Vultures. Even when the songs were first released in 2013, they seemed remarkably finished. Did Dozer always do this kind of preproduction?

At this time we’re really creative. We had a lot of songs, and these demo songs were a part of the demos for Through the Eyes of Heathens. We had 16 songs to choose from for the Through the Eyes of Heathens. And we made demos of all of them.

We had a studio in the building where we used to rehearse. Same studio where In the Tail of a Comet and Madre de Dios were recorded. So, when we had three-four, good and ready songs, we recorded them as a pre-production/demos for ourselves.

What did you learn from these demos that you took into the recording/writing for Through the Eyes of Heathens?

I think we’ve always felt that it’s good to make demos, to be able to listen to the song over and over and see if it works or needs more love. It’s a good working progress.

Is there more material from this session or where these songs it? Obviously you and Daniel Lidén already went back a long time. What were these sessions like?

No, this is it! :) That’s why we released Vultures in the first place. These songs are too good to be laying around. We also think that our music should be out there for people to hear. That’s why we also release “Vinegar Fly” (the Sunride cover) for this vinyl/digipack release.

The sessions were great, Daniel is such a great guy with a good music ear. He brought in some new fresh energy into the band which I guess reflects the creativity at this time.

Dozer was appearing at Desertfest around 2013 when these songs were released. What did it feel like to see the response to these tracks when they came out?

It’s always nice to see and hear people’s reaction to something the band does. Good or bad, it’s a matter of commitment and interest in the band, and that’s why we do this. To make music we love and hope others do as well.

Anything in particular you’d like to add about Vultures? Any other standout memories to share about this time in the band?

Great artwork by Peder!

Dozer, Vultures (2021)

Dozer on Thee Facebooks

Dozer on YouTube

Dozer website

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Dozer to Reissue Vultures, Beyond Colossal and Through the Eyes of Heathens

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 12th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

There isn’t really a wrong answer to the question of what’s your favorite era of Dozer, but golly, their later work? I love that shit. 2005’s Through the Eyes of Heathens (discussed here), and 2008’s Beyond Colossal (discussed here)? I won’t say a bad word about their first three records unless you count cursing when I say “holy shit this is good” but the Small Stone era is what I most often reach for when I need that Dozer fix. The more aggressive punch of their songwriting, the ferocity of their forward drive that’s so much their own. Sign me up for that every time.

And the Vultures EP (review here) that came out digitally in 2013 and was taken from pre-production work for Through the Eyes of Heathens was like the icing on that particular cake. An unexpected bit of “hey you know that thig you love well here’s some more of it” that no one knew was coming. Or I didn’t, at least.

Heavy Psych Sounds, which already oversaw reissues of the first three Dozer LPs, will now stand behind the first physical pressing of Vultures — with revamped art by Lowrider‘s Peder Bergstrand — and reissues of Through the Eyes of Heathens and Beyond Colossal in February. Preorders are up now. I think my position on whether or not you should place one would be obvious.

From the PR wire:

DOZER VULTURES

Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking is really proud to start the presale of HPS147 – DOZER – Vultures

– first time printed on vinyl and digipak with bonus track –

Today we are extremely proud to start the presale of the DOZER album VULTURES – printed for the first time on vinyl and digipak !!!

We are also repressing two DOZER albums: Through The Eyes Of Heathens + Beyond Colossal

ALBUM PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm#HPS147

USA PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm

RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 12th

RELEASED IN :
10 ULTRA LTD TEST PRESS VINYL
200 ULTRA LTD CORNETTO white background/purple stripes VINYL
400 LTD GOLD VINYL
BLACK VINYL
DIGIPAK

TRACKLIST
The Blood Is Cold – 5:12
The Impostor – 4:11
Last Prediction – 3:21
Vultures – 3:42
Head Ghosts – 4:45
To The Fallen – 5:07
+ unreleased bonus track
Vinegar Fly (Sunride cover) – 4:35

ALBUM DESCRIPTION

Vultures is a first time pressed EP of the swedish stoner band Dozer. Recorded in 2004-2005 at Rockhouse Studios in Borlänge, these six tracks were used as pre-production demos for what would later become the fourth Dozer album, 2005’s Through the Eyes of Heathens.

The album is now released for the first time on vinyl and digipak with a very special unreleased bonus track, a cover of the Sunride song Vinegar Fly. Vultures is a real heavy-stoner explosion, something that only Dozer can provide..

The amazing artwork is made by Lowrider leader Peder Bergstrand.

HPS148 *** DOZER – Through The Eyes Of Heathens***
– REPRESSED in brand new coloured versions –

ALBUM PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm#HPS148

USA PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm

RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 19th

RELEASED IN :
10 ULTRA LTD TEST PRESS VINYL
100 ULTRA LTD QUAD orange/blue VINYL
200 LTD BLOODY RED VINYL
200 BLACK VINYL

TRACKLIST
SIDE A
Drawing Dead – 4:38
Born A Legend – 3:24
From Fire Fell – 2:39
Until Man Exists No More – 5:08
Days Of Future Past – 3:45

SIDE B
Omega Glory – 5:00
Blood Undone – 4:44
The Roof, The River, The Revolver – 3:07
Man Of Fire – 3:16
Big Sky Theory – 8:28

HPS149 *** DOZER – Beyond Colossal***
– REPRESSED in brand new coloured versions –

ALBUM PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm#HPS149

USA PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm

RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 19th

RELEASED IN:
10 ULTRA LTD TEST PRESS VINYL
100 ULTRA LTD HALF-HALF yellow/black VINYL
200 LTD TRANSPARENT GREEN VINYL
200 BLACK VINYL

TRACKLIST
SIDE A
The Flood – 3:50
Exoskeleton (Part II) – 6:33
Empire’s End – 3:54
The Ventriloquist – 4:56
Grand Inquisitor – 4:12

SIDE B
Message Through The Horses – 3:00
The Throne – 3:25
Fire For Crows – 3:57
Two Coins For Eyes – 6:55
Bound For Greatness – 3:29

https://www.facebook.com/dozerband
heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/

Dozer, “The Blood is Cold”

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Friday Full-Length: Dozer, Through the Eyes of Heathens

Posted in Bootleg Theater on January 18th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

Part of the magic of listening to Dozer is being able to say, no matter which of their five albums you put on, that, yes, this was the moment when they came into their own. Even going back to their 2000 debut, In the Tail of a Comet (discussed here), as their sound was so highly influenced by the desert rock coming out of California, they inevitably brought their own spin to those established elements. 2005’s Through the Eyes of Heathens was their penultimate album ahead of 2008’s Beyond Colossal (discussed here), and it was their first release through Small Stone Records in the US, which became their home after moving from Man’s Ruin Records to their own Molten Universe imprint. They were, of course, an absolute monster of a band by then, and given the swath of early and later splits and singles they released and the touring they did, it’s easy to forget that only five years separate their first and fourth long-players. But that momentum can be heard as well across the 10 songs on Through the Eyes of Heathens, and it sounds utterly unstoppable.

From the very start of “Drawing Dead” through the memorable lead line in the slower-paced closer “Big Sky Theory,” Dozer assembled a work of impeccable songwriting and deep-rooted character. In the arc of their career, every record was another step forward, and just as 2001’s Madre de Dios built on the debut and 2003’s Call it Conspiracy (discussed here) built on that, so too did Through the Eyes of Heathens pick up from where its predecessor left off. Its sound was still rooted in a heavy rock feel, but Dozer were able to translate that into something more aggressive when they wanted — their sound had bite as well as lumber, and while a cut like “Born a Legend” could be traced back to their desert-minded beginnings in its basic structure, by the time it was finally executed, it was something else entirely. Working with the core trio of guitarist/vocalist Fredrik Nordin, guitarist Tommi Holappa (see also: Greenleaf), bassist Johan Rockner (now of Besvärjelsen), the band had parted with drummer Erik Bäckwall (also now in Besvärjelsen) after the third LP, and they brought in Karl Daniel Lidén to fill in behind the kit.

No minor change. Lidén had played in Greenleaf with Holappa as well as in Demon Cleaner, and was already by then well into honing his craft as a producer/engineer. On drums for Through the Eyes of Heathens, he added to the propulsion of songs like “From Fire Fell” and the underlying intensity of “The Roof, the River, the Revolver,” while holding together the airy groove in the volume-surge chorus of “Days of Future Past.dozer through the eyes of heathens” His approach to the riffs was to meet them head on, such that every turn of “Blood Undone” seems punctuated and “Man of Fire” seems to run at a clip trying to convey putting itself out. His work, alongside Holappa‘s leads and riff construction, Nordin‘s ultra-distinctive and ever-more-confident vocals, and Rockner‘s classic you-guys-just-go-ahead-and-have-fun-if-you-need-me-I’ll-be-here-being-the-foundation-of-these-songs style of bass, helped bring the pointed energy of Through the Eyes of Heathens to live, such that it wasn’t just heavy, or grooving, or loud, or whatever else. It was vibrant. On a sheer delivery level, Dozer evoked a sense of shove that spoke to the urgency of its own creation. Putting it on was like having Arnold Schwarzenegger hold out his robot hand and say, “Come with me if you want to live.”

And while, yes, definitely some of Through the Eyes of Heathens‘ highlight moments were found in its intense push, there was never a lack of atmosphere. Sure, flourish of piano, organ, percussion, etc., helped with that, but most of it was owed to the breadth of the guitar tones and to Nordin‘s ease of melody. His shouts in “Born a Legend,” and the standalone lines in “Until Man Exists No More” — which almost made the guest vocal spot on that track from Mastodon‘s Troy Sanders feel superfluous — made for an essential presence throughout, and as much reach as there was in the songs, Nordin‘s performance was one more standout factor tying the material together. One could say the same of Holappa‘s work on guitar. I already said it about Rockner on bass, and the same applied to Lidén‘s drums. It was everything in these songs. There was no “miss” anywhere on the album.

Which is what it came down to. It was the songs. There was a memorable line, or a riff, or just something about the way it was played, to go with every single track on Through the Eyes of Heathens. It’s a 44-minute record, so not short — though the standard has gotten shorter in intervening years with the vinyl resurgence and so on — but a cut like “Omega Glory” seemed to move from hook to hook to hook, and even in the eight-minute stretch of “Big Sky Theory” at the end or in the quieter verses of “Days of Future Past,” there was ultimately nothing spare about it.

There are arguments to be made for each of Dozer‘s full-lengths as being their best work. Through the Eyes of Heathens, for me at least, seems to summarize much of what made them so rich and hard-hitting as well as the individualized sensibility of their material. I won’t take away from anything they did before or after — their last offering, 2013’s Vultures (review here), was the compiled pre-production demos for this album — but I still find myself going back to Through the Eyes of Heathens not infrequently and it feels each time like not only does it still have something new to offer, that it’s not just nostalgia, but also that it stands up to the time since it first came out with an ease that makes almost a decade and a half seem like nothing at all. Maybe that is nostalgia in itself. Fine, and well earned. True front-to-back releases are rare. They don’t happen every year, contrary to what hyperbole and promospeak tell you. Through the Eyes of Heathens is a blueprint for how to make an album last longer than its runtime.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

I went last night and saw Yawning Man and Freedom Hawk in Brooklyn. First club show in a while. I get too anxious these days in crowds. Fests I can kind of get away with it, because usually I’m going back and forth from one thing to the next, taking pictures, writing notes, whatever it is, but just standing around at a gig waiting for a band to go on, I feel like I’m losing my mind. It was a good show though, even though The Drunkest Guy in the Room kind of accused me of being a CIA agent. I guess because I looked stiff and was standing in the back? I don’t know. I was just glad he didn’t stab me in the throat with a piece of the glass he subsequently broke. New Yorkers, such as there are any, delude themselves in thinking that a kind of charm.

The baby was up this morning by the time I was done writing about Dozer. 5:30 or thereabouts. Brutal. I got in a little after midnight from the show, which ended a bit before 11, and was up at 4. My alarm had been set for 6. Just up. So it goes. Got some writing done, grabbed the baby, read books — One Fish Two Fish, Hop on Pop, and whatnot — and had breakfast. Gave the baby a bath and put him down for a nap, which The Patient Mrs. rightly decided also to take.

I meanwhile did the voice tracks for Sunday’s episode of ‘The Obelisk Show’ on Gimme Radio, answered some email to the best of my limited ability, and settled in for this. We’ll see if I can finish by the time The Pecan awakes.

Seemed silly to post about it, but this week I put up the 11,000th post on this site. Not bad. They’re not all gold, but you know, it’s a pretty significant number anyway.

So Monday will be the Yawning Man/Freedom Hawk live review. Here’s what else I’ve got in the notes. There’s plenty:

MON 01/21 Yawning Man live review; Hollow Leg album stream.
TUE 01/22 The Sabbathian album stream.
WED 01/23 9Doorsopen track premiere; Benthic Realm video premiere.
THU 01/24 Thermic Boogie track premiere; Sundrifter video.
FRI 01/25 Swallow the Sun review.

Subject to change something something blah blah.

It’s a lot of cool stuff, and it means I won’t just be spending this weekend filing my secret undercover CIA report about the vape-quotient at the Yawning Man show and instead will have plenty of writing to keep me busy. Seriously, what the hell would the CIA be doing at the Vitus Bar? I would love to know what the reason would be. Why would they be there? What’s the operation? Testing the effects of the sustained awesomeness of Mario Lalli’s bass-playing on the fragile human psyche?

Again, I was glad to not be stabbed.

Or slashed.

Alright, I’m gonna punch out so I can go read reviews of the first episode of Star Trek: Discovery season two before I actually watch it so I can sound smart when I make “observations” about canon connections to The Patient Mrs. Don’t tell her.

Have a great and safe weekend. Forum, radio, merch.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

The Obelisk shirts & hoodies

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Bootleg Theater: Dozer’s Heathen Ways

Posted in Bootleg Theater on March 12th, 2009 by JJ Koczan

I’m not sure I need one, but I do have an excuse for posting the video for Dozer‘s “From Fire Fell” off of 2005’s Through the Eyes of Heathens, and that is that it’s one of the songs guitarist Tommi Holoppa cited in the interview he did for The Obelisk as having informed the direction of the band’s new album, Beyond Colossal. If you haven’t checked that record out yet, it’s your own damn fault. Enjoy.

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