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Friday Full-Length: Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath

Posted in Bootleg Theater, Canon of Heavy on February 9th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

To the origin point of doom. The riff. Contrary to marketing hypersimplification, no, Black Sabbath did not conjure heavy metal out of thin air, but they sure as hell got there first. You can root around late ’60s rock, Hendrix, Blue Cheer, Blue Öyster Cult, Led Zeppelin, Cream, even The Beatles if you want to stretch or hang your hat on a couple tracks from their last years, and find flashes of what you might call pre-heft. With their foundation in blues rock like so much of what was emerging in the UK and US at the time, Black Sabbath codified hard blues riffing with the depth of low end essential to create a sense of aural weight. If ‘heavy’ as a musical ideal was previously gestating, Black Sabbath‘s Black Sabbath is where all the threads came together to such a degree that it tipped some imaginary balance in the brains of listeners and was born as something new. Black Sabbath‘s Black Sabbath is a nexus. Heavy music would probably exist without it, but not as it does today. We will never be able to chart its full influence, because it is endemic to the microculture.

And rest assured, it’s hard in concept to look at an album that’s among the most landmark of landmarks in the history of recorded or rock music, an icon that’s earned any and all flowery hyperbole you can throw at it and then generations’ worth more plaudits, and try to look at it objectively, but one of the key facets of Black Sabbath is that the album refuses to let you romanticize it on any other level but its own. It is not the best Black Sabbath album either of the original lineup — vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward — or the post-Ozzy years, but it has something not even Paranoid, which was released later in 1970 (Sept., as opposed to the self-titled in Feb.), could have: it was utterly clueless of what the band was about to become.

At this point, your experience of the album is probably going to much depend on which version you take on. Do you want the Crow cover “Evil Woman, Don’t You Play Your Games With Me” with its casual misogyny and a boogie speaking to the band’s early days bumping around Birmingham as blues rockers? What about “Sleeping Village?” With decades of reissues, remasters, bonus material, on and on and on, especially if you’re not holding the 1970 Vertigo Records edition in your hands — which I’ll assume you’re not — and amid the disorganized wreck that is digitalia and the world of streaming, but whether or not the rainstorm you hear at the start of “Black Sabbath” sounds four levels of volume lower than the harmonica at the start of “The Wizard,” the songs themselves are undeniable and righteously imperfect. Ward‘s over-the-top fills in “The Wizard.” Ozzy sounding nervous singing “N.I.B.,” which is fair considering the Butler bass solo from which the song emerges, and early in the album, with the first two cuts and the swinging pickup at the start of “Behind the Wall of Sleep” that leads into the open verse, Iommi leads the material riffing to such a degree that even 53 years after the band’s first release, he’s never been given the credit as a guitar player that he’s deserved for his soloing.

But the record is sloppy. Disjointed. “Behind the Wall of Sleep” fades out lazily, like the band had no idea how to finish it, and its intros confuse the proceedings. The lyrics and patterns come across as simple, the melodies are dark, andblack sabbath black sabbath Black Sabbath sound like a bunch of disaffected working class kids from industrial-crunch England who want nothing more than to blow their brains out with drugs and volume. Get stoned and jam out some Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation in “Warning” to end the record. Screw it. Who cares?

Thus we arrive at the appeal.

Don’t mistake me. I’m not saying Black Sabbath couldn’t handle their instruments. Ozzy may have been discovering the vocal approach he’d refine on later outings, but he still nails “Black Sabbath” and the aforementioned N.I.B.” enough to make himself the godfather of heavy metal, Iommi‘s always been technically underrated, Butler is the weight and it’s utter bullshit that his bass runs aren’t taught in grade schools, and when Bill Ward was ejected from the band ahead of their 2010s ‘final’ run, the character of his style revealed itself as having earned such audience loyalty that there was practically a social movement to get him back into the lineup. Black Sabbath wouldn’t have worked if they didn’t actually have the musicianship to pull off what they were doing, but volume and tonal density in the guitar and bass on Black Sabbath made it sound hard, foreboding and despondent. You can call it a preface to the comedown era of the post-hippie ’70s, the birth of heavy, whatever you want. Primarily, it’s the work of raw kids who had no clue what they were about to get into but wanted to get into it anyway.

This and others in Sabbath‘s early catalog are essential to the point of being a given, almost a cliché, but if you count yourself among the converted either to doom or heavy rock and roll, for anything that has based itself in some way around that Iommic methodology of centralizing the riff that bands have been doing since, oh, about five minutes after this record, then it is a thing to bask in. It has an energy entirely its own and is the perfect example of a band feeling their way into their sound and finding themselves in the process. Black Sabbath‘s stylistic progression would take them to places and see them explore ideas that this self-titled could never anticipate, but wherever they went, they were never completely removed from what they laid out in this collection of songs, and when it was time for their purported final LP, 2013’s 13 (review here), it was to this era they most looked in bringing their career full circle back to an Osbourne-fronted heavy blues. True to tradition, critics didn’t like it. I guess we’ll see what everyone says in another 50 years.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

This might be a series? I might do a few Sabbath records, at least through the Ozzy years and get those covered. I feel like that should be a thing. In the back of my head I’m putting together a ‘canon of heavy’ as a book idea — probably time I did a book about music — and obviously Sabbath’s self-titled is the place to start. I don’t know that anything will come to fruition, as the vast majority of ideas I have don’t since I either get overwhelmed and give up (see my secret dream of selling homemade artisanal nut butters at Northern New Jersey’s lesser farm markets) or get distracted and move onto something else (pretty much everything to do with this site). But if I get the words out maybe some day MadJohnShaft (you know him) will make me an AI to go get all the words I want and cut and paste them into a Word doc.

Speaking of Word, holy crap, fuck Microsoft. Am I the only one out here using Windows 11? I hope so for your sake. What a wreck. Look, I can’t imagine having billions of dollars resting on the prospect of you fixing something you got right 30 years ago — which is essentially what’s been happening with Windows since the ’95/XP era; the tech ethic of ‘continuous improvement’ is both a scam to extract money and a flawed ethic generally — but they definitely broke that shit in the process. I’ve had this computer for two weeks, and every single day there’s been some instance of some intrusive-ass bundled software, or fucking OneDrive deciding to pull a ton of watermarked promos off my desktop and stick them on the internet calling them ‘safe’ — you gotta be kidding me — and secure, or Word not being able to apply an activation code, on and on, it’s just bad software. That’s all it is. My old machine was on Windows 10. I’d switch back, but I don’t trust it not to blow up the entire machine. Alas. I’m sure I’ll get used to it, and if not, apparently I love nothing more than complaining, so, fine.

Next Monday is my wife’s birthday. If you’re reading, happy birthday, baby. I love you more than I love complaining. I’m sorry I’m generally awful.

That’s kind of how it’s been: generally awful. I’m in this place, in my head, where I feel crippled in just about all situations. I accidentally deleted my entire desktop yesterday — and trust me, it’s ALL there — and I just couldn’t handle it. I started hyperventilating. I paced back and forth. I fell apart, and I lost like an hour of writing time as a result. That might not sound like much to you, but an hour a day, especially early in my weeks of late, is the difference between getting a thing finished and not.

I have a neurologist appointment for I don’t know when. I have a call in to a talk-therapy office that hasn’t called me back. I have spent the last 25-plus years shoving chemicals into my body and I have precious little to show for it other than 25 years’ worth of chemicals floating around my body. I’m not saying I’m anti-meds now — my refills await at Wegmans down the road — but the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expecting different results, so at a certain point I have to wonder what ‘help’ that route has actually been. I get more to shut up the bad voice in my brain out of eating a weed gummy than I’ve gotten from antidepressants probably since I was a teenager.

But weed gummies aren’t covered by insurance, and that being bullshit doesn’t make it less true. So we persist.

I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Have fun, watch your head, all that. Next week is packed front to back and beyond, so keep an eye out Monday as there’s good stuff to come. Thanks as always for reading.

FRM.

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Goat Major Premiere “Snakes (Goddess of the Serpent)” Video; Ritual Out March 8

Posted in Bootleg Theater, Reviews on February 2nd, 2024 by JJ Koczan

goat major

Welsh trippy doom metallers Goat Major will release their debut full-length, Ritual, on March 8 through Ripple Music. Comprised of eight songs — “Snakes (Goddess of the Serpent)” wastes no time diving in as the opener; its video premieres below — and running 41 minutes, it is outwardly doom in its cultish downtrodden point of view, but to listen to the guitar at the end of the title-track, a melodic reference to ’60s psychedelia takes hold, and in “Light of the End,” that vibe extends to a druggy ’90s alternativism, growing declarative and sneering as it nods through its six-plus minutes, catchy with backing vocals behind bassist Tom Shortt, who’s joined in the group by guitarist Jammie Arnold and drummer Simon Bonwick, so the proceedings are not as straightforward as they might seem when “Snakes (Goddess of the Serpent)” unfurls the first of Ritual‘s several genuinely righteous rolls, an air of metallic dankness around a Candlemassian creeper of a riff serving double-duty as an intro to the album and a preface to the verse, which calls Electric Wizard to mind without losing itself in an aural fog.

At least not much. Indeed, there’s more going on throughout Ritual influence-wise than it might at first seem. “Power That Be” opens side B (I think) with an acoustic strum but soon moves into the push of a classic stoner rock riff, fuzz and all, distinguished by the change in context that sets it to such doomly purpose. The subsequent “Mountains of Madness” gives some manner of echo to this in a verse the vocal pattern of which is reminiscent of Acid King‘s ur-landmark “Electric Machine,” even if Goat Major take the song elsewhere for the chorus, touching again on the psychedelic in a way that feel far removed from the insistent hook of the title-track back on side A but that is no less crucial in its intention. And “Ritual” has its jammy part too, so these things are all relative, however one might end up blocking them into categories or hearing something here that’s also there, etc. From that, one can take the assurance that Goat Major‘s debut boasts nascent perspective on genre and is unafraid to take inspiration from blatant Sabbath worship early in “Turn to Dust” to the Slomatics-ish drama brought to the same song a short time later by Mellotron.

goat major ritual“Mountains of Madness” is more than half over by the time it gets to the chorus — rules — and has a semi-lysergic break that brings back the hook for a big slowdown ending with laughter over top. Hypnotic as that movement is, “Evil Eye” feels like a regrounding in doom and is a sleeper highlight, encapsulating the doom/fuzz meld and the impulses toward structure and fuckall that seem to be competing in Goat Major‘s sound right now. A side B complement to “Ritual,” maybe, and it’s not the last track — they cap atmospheric with the drumless open-space distortion wash of “Lay Me Down,” vocals far back in that churning ambient melodic hum — and it’s not the longest track, which is “Mountains of Madness” just before, but it says something about who Goat Major are circa their first album, and it is encouragingly their own in its willingness to cross stylistic lines that are awfully sacrosanct for being entirely made up and despite cult themes that will ring as familiar to experienced heads taking it on. I’m not sure they need those, and I find myself wondering what other stories their material might tell, but I’m not about to tell a band making their debut that they should drop the lyrical foundation they’re working from. Seems neither helpful nor useful. Plus I think if I was from Wales I’d probably be into the occult too. It’s like made for it.

That said, part of what makes Ritual engaging in its niche-crossover execution is that the band are exploring and at the beginning stages of their longer-term growth, and that development over time could take them down any number of thematic avenues, including the one they’re currently on, which suits this material fine and offers intricacy without pretense, heavy doom for and by those for whom it serves as a lifesblood. I’ve highlighted the individuality of what they do on Ritual here, and that’s because I believe that even more than the malevolent fuzz on the guitar or the sneer in Shortt‘s delivery, it’s the drive to present themselves as themselves that will serve them best over the course of their tenure, and whatever they’ll ultimately do with their sound, you can hear the roots of it in “Light of the End,” or “Evil Eye” or maybe even “Lay Me Down,” which lays claim to an entire seminar’s worth of mind expansion. Maybe this is the new generation’s statement and innovation — it doesn’t have to just be one or two things, it can be an encompassing whole built from parts that, to players in generations past, were disparate. That sounds like progress to me, and may or may not be the story of Goat Major as told by their next few records, but it certainly feels relevant to mention in light of what they achieve on Ritual.

The aforementioned video for “Snakes (Goddess of the Serpent)” premieres below, followed by more from the PR wire.

Please enjoy:

Goat Major, “Snakes (Goddess of the Serpent)” video premiere

The second single from the upcoming Goat Major album on Ripple Music is HERE! This is “Snakes (Goddess of the Serpent)” – enjoy the music video and then hit the links below to pre-order your copy of “Ritual” now – available March 8th on Vinyl/CD/Digital formats!

Hailing from Wales, the land of ancient monuments and Celtic traditions, GOAT MAJOR is a formidably earth-shattering newcomer in the British stoner and doom metal scene. The band was formed during the harsh lockdown of a global pandemic by longtime friends Jammie Arnold (guitar), Simon Bonwick (drums) and Tom Shortt (bass/vocals), who all grew up within half a mile of each other in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in the shadow of the town’s medieval castle.

The power trio worked hard crafting songs of catchy sinister occult doom metal, all while escaping the brutality that was cast upon the world. As restrictions started to lift, GOAT MAJOR began playing shows as an instrumental band before Shortt decided to take up the vocal duties. The band continued fine-tuning their songs with regular shows around the south/west of Wales and further afield in England and consequently started playing higher profile shows around the UK, sharing the stage with the likes of Thunder Horse, Wytch Hazel, Sigiriya, Parish, OHHMS, Made Of Teeth, Inhuman Nature. They also performed at Swansea Fringe festival and headlined Rock the Gwasbah festival in West Wales.

Following the recent release of their “Evil Eye” EP, GOAT MAJOR recently signed to US reference stoner, doom and heavy rock label Ripple Music for the release of their debut album “Ritual” in March 2024.

GOAT MAJOR – Debut album “Ritual”
Out March 8th on Ripple Music (vinyl, CD, digital)
International preorder – https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/ritual
US preorder – https://ripplemusic.bigcartel.com/product/goat-major-ritual

TRACKLIST:
1. Snakes (Goddess of the Serpent)
2. Ritual
3. Turn to Dust
4. Light of The End
5. Power That Be
6. Mountains of Madness
7. Evil Eye
8. Lay Me Down

GOAT MAJOR is
Jammie Arnold – guitar
Simon Bonwick – drums
Tom Shortt – bass & vocals

Goat Major, Ritual (2024)

Goat Major on Facebook

Goat Major on Instagram

Goat Major on YouTube

Ripple Music on Facebook

Ripple Music on Instagram

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

Ripple Music website

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Desertfest London 2024 Adds 32 Bands to Lineup & Announces Day Splits

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 1st, 2024 by JJ Koczan

So I guess this is the last announcement for the lineup of Desertfest London 2024, and I’ll just say I kind of love the casual manner in which the festival set for May 17-19 tosses in another 30-plus names for the bill. Oh no big deal but here’s like two more fests we’re just gonna add while we give you the schedule. Badass. There’s a lot to dig here on all levels, from the headliners — that Friday at The Electric Ballroom, also Saturday and Sunday, looks pretty sweet — and while I’d set up camp at The Underworld on Saturday, no question I’d have to abscond from that home base to at least catch a bit of Saint KarloffAcid King, and so on, and, well, on Sunday I’m actually kind of relieved I’m just pretending to have to pick one spot to be in, as each room has a distinctive pull. DVNE and Morag Tong or Borracho and KadabraUfomammut and Monolord or Stinking LizavetaDarsombra and Orme? This shit is hard sometimes.

You could go on here in choose-your-adventure daydreaming, and frankly I’d encourage you to do just that. Worst that happens is you end up listening to good music. Or, you know, going to the fest, which would also be the best thing that could happen. Here’s why:

DESERTFEST LONDON 2024 DAY SPLITS

Desertfest London announces day splits and 32 additional artists

Friday 17th May – Sunday 19th May 2024
Weekend & Day Tickets now on sale

Desertfest London has revealed their day and stage splits for their 13th edition, taking place this May across multiple venues in Camden, London.

The festival proudly welcomes Masters of Reality as Friday’s Electric Ballrooms headliners, with Chris Goss at the helm providing a master-class in desert sounds. Plus, newly announced for this stage are Colour Haze and Frankie and The Witch Fingers who will join Brant Bjork Trio and Mondo Generator to kick off the weekend in true Desertfest style. Mantar and Raging Speedhorn will shake-up the Underworld, whilst Brume and Alber Jupiter psych-out at The Black Heart.

Saturday sees skate-punk legends Suicidal Tendencies back in London for the first time in seven years, as they decimate the equally legendary Roundhouse. Joined by Cancer Bats, Bongripper, Acid King and newest addition to the bill, Pest Control. Saturday’s Roundhouse stage is undeniably a melting pot of genres, but celebrating one common thread – insane live performances. Elsewhere, Maserati, Monkey3, Domkraft, Wet Cactus and many more will level Camden to the ground.

Back at the Ballroom on Sunday night, the festival enters its final day with a dose of experimental heaviness from Godflesh, Ozric Tentacles, Monolord, Ufomammut & Ashenspire. Additionally, Desertfest will be welcoming Bat Sabbath, the Black-Sabbath cover band formed by Cancer Bats to close out the entire weekend at our Underworld Stage after-party. Plus, DVNE, Nightstalker, Astroqueen, Stinking Lizaveta & The Grudge, with a hell of a lot more will be rounding off the weekend’s festivities.

Across the weekend, Desertfest has also newly announced the likes of Morag Tong, Borracho, Noisepicker, Gramma Vedetta, Lodestar, Kulk, Earth Tongue, Skypilot, Wolfshead, Weedsnake, Orsak:Oslo, WAXY, Horndal, Silverburn, Fires In The Distance, Sleemo, Midwich Cuckoos, Akersborg, Grand Atomic, Voidlurker, Under The Ashes and Fuz Caldrin.

Weekend & Day Tickets for the event are on sale now via www.desertfest.co.uk

Full line-up
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES | MASTERS OF REALITY | GODFLESH | OZRIC TENTACLES BONGRIPPER | MONOLORD | ACID KING | UFOMAMMUT | COLOUR HAZE | BRANT BJORK TRIO | MASERATI | MANTAR | MONDO GENERATOR | CLOAKROOM | MONKEY3 | FRANKIE & THE WITCH FINGERS | NIGHTSTALKER | BLANKET | BAT SABBATH | DVNE | PEST CONTROL | RAGING SPEEDHORN | ASHENSPIRE | DOMKRAFT | ASTROQUEEN | PIJN | SUNNATA | BRUM | WAKE | KAL-EL | ALBER JUPITER | SUGAR HORSE | STINKING LIZAVETA | WET CACTUS | PSYCHLONA | MORAG TONG | KADABRA | BORRACHO | THE GRUDGE | DARSOMBRA | SERGEANT THUNDERHOOF | GRAMMA VEDETTA | SAINT KARLOFF | LODESTAR | LORD ELEPHANT | GOZER | ACID THRONE | KULK | EARTH TONGUE | DUSKWOOD| GOBLINSMOKER | SKYPILOT | BOREHEAD | ORME | WOLFSHEAD | CLOUDS TASTE SATANIC | WEEDSNAKE | NOISEPICKER | ORSAK:OSLO | WAXY | HORNDAL | SILVERBURN | FIRES IN THE DISTANCE | SLEEMO | SAGAN | MIDWICH CUCKOOS | AKERSBORG | WARPSTORMER | GRAND ATOMIC | VOID LURKER | UNDER THE ASHES | SONIC TABOO | WIZDOOM | FUZ CALDRIN

DAY / STAGE SPLITS FOR DESERTFEST LONDON 2024

Friday 17th May
Electric Ballroom
MASTERS OF REALITY
COLOUR HAZE
BRANT BJORK
MONDO GENERATOR
FRANKIE & THE WITCH FINGERS

Underworld
MANTAR
RAGING SPEEDHORN
WAKE
WEEDSNAKE
GRAND ATOMIC

Dingwalls
CLOAKROOM
BLANKET
SUGAR HORSE
PIJN
SLEEMO

Black Heart
BRUME
ALBER JUPITER
CLOUDS TASTE SATANIC
ORSAK:OSLO
SAGAN
BOREHEAD

The Dev
GOBLINSMOKER
WARPSTORMER
WOLFSHEAD
VOIDLURKER
AKERSBORG

Saturday May 18th
Roundhouse
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES
CANCER BATS
BONGRIPPER
ACID KING
PEST CONTROL

Underworld
MASERATI
MONKEY3
DOMKRAFT
SUNNATA
SERGEANT THUNDERHOOF
KAL-EL

Black Heart
WET CACTUS
DUSKWOOD
EARTH TONGUE
SAINT KARLOFF
LORD ELEPHANT
SONIC TABOO

The Dev
ACID THRONE
HORNDAL
UNDER THE ASHES
FIRES IN THE DISTANCE
WIZDOOM

Sunday May 19th
Electric Ballroom
GODFLESH
OZRIC TENTACLES
MONOLORD
UFOMAMMUT
ASHENSPHIRE

The Underworld
BAT SABBATH (after-party)
NIGHTSTALKER
ASTROQUEEN
PSYCHLONA
BORRACHO
KADABARA
NOISEPECKER

Dingwalls
DVNE
MORAG TONG
KULK
LODESTAR
SILVERBURN

Black Heart
STINKING LIZAVETA
DARSOMBRA
GOZER
SKYPILOT
ORME
GOAT MAJOR

The Dev
THE GRUDGE
GRAMMA VEDETTA
WAXY
MIDWICH CUCKOOS
FUZ CALDRIN

TICKETS ON SALE – www.desertfest.co.uk

http://www.desertscene.co.uk/support
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_london/
https://www.desertfest.co.uk/

Monkey3, “Collision” visualizer

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Review & Full Album Premiere: Troy the Band, Cataclysm

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on January 31st, 2024 by JJ Koczan

Troy the Band

Friday, Feb. 2, marks the awaited release for Troy the Band‘s first album, Cataclysm, through Swedish imprint Bonebag Records. The six-song/41-minute offering follows behind 2022’s debut EP, The Blissful Unknown (review here), and is weighted and spacious in kind, the London-based four-piece immersed in a sound that’s part heavygaze, but fuzz-grunge and almost universally molten. Opening with its title-track, Cataclysm lumbers with large-snail-creature presence but isn’t so unipolar in its approach as the overarching wash might make it seem, whether it’s the boogie in the second half of “Cataclysm” itself or the crash-laden shove of “IHOD,” on which vocalist Craig Newman is at his most reminiscent of Facelift-era Layne Staley, or “Only Violence” just before which seems to be working under the influence of earlier Mars Red Sky or the Sabbath-via-Sleep stonerized Declaration of Riff in “Flesh Wound,” bolstered by the production of Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse, who you probably already know because he also helmed your album. Or at least mixed it.

Most of the record though resides in the spaces between Dead Meadow‘s languid ethereality and the more grounded ends of modern riff worship. That is to say it’s a current sound but not ready to settle into being one thing or the other and, particularly on this first long-player, that much stronger for the flashes of doom that show up amid the hot pinks and psychedelic yellows in the wah-drenched reaches of “Flesh Wound,” which is also the longest song at 8:53 and a roller that seems to lose none of its impact for all the float surrounding, perhaps best encapsulating the meld of styles Troy the Band are crafting, if not necessarily telling the entire story on its own either in their melodic penchant, the post-punk goth dance party at the start of “The Void” or closer “Fauna” castingTroy the Band Cataclysm its urban-concrete bass tone against a ranging vocal and an outbound final push speaking one way or another to an escapist sensibility maybe also behind the title. They go, have gone, are gone, and when they decide it’s time to vibe on some Earth-y drone repetition, they’re dug no less into that than they are into the expanse in the hook of “Cataclysm” that teaches the listener so much about the album that follows.

And repetition is part of the methodology here, but again, not necessary all of it, as a big part of what ultimately makes Troy the Band an exciting listen — this was true of the EP as well, but is more fleshed out on the longer release, as well as the band being more sonically developed generally — is that the songs are coherent and purposeful but don’t draw from any single source so much as to be readily placed in this or that niche. Yeah, I’ve namedropped a few bands in the course of this review, and I stand by those comparisons — none of them feels outlandish; that riff in “Only Violence” really does sound like second-LP Mars Red Sky, even if it’s been buried in other effects — but that’s just it: Troy the Band have a sound that seems aware of its influences but unwilling to be limited by them. This is something that, inherently, can’t be confirmed by one full-length alone since it’s a measure of a band’s progression over time, but in coming across more like themselves than anyone else in the genre, Troy the Band seem to have a leg up on their own growth. Or maybe I’m just spaced out on that jam halfway through “Flesh Wound.” I don’t know, but it all feels very consuming and light — not like bright colors but like light itself; the mixed wavelengths of raw sunlight — right now, and I think that means it’s working.

The big question is how much Troy the Band will do in a live setting to support it. In 2023, they played both Masters of the Riff II and Desertfest London, and certainly those are by no means the only festivals in the UK, but they’re two good ones to have in your pocket as a band putting out your first LP. But if I mention touring for an act who haven’t been out for months at a time up to this point in their still-perhaps-nascent tenure, it’s not to point out something they haven’t done up to now so much to to highlight their sound as being strong enough in its identity to stand up to the task if they wanted to take it on the road. Plenty of time for such things, though. For now, the spaces conjured and conquered throughout Cataclysm stand as testament to the efforts put in by Troy the Band performance-wise and in terms of composition, but also that potential for what they might accomplish moving on from here.

Cataclysm streams in full below, followed by more info from the PR wire.

Please enjoy:

Cataclysm, the debut full-length album from London-based Doom-gaze four-piece Troy The Band, will be released on Sweden’s Bonebag Records on February 2nd 2024. Since the release of their debut EP, The Blissful Unknown, Troy The Band have become mainstays in the London heavy music scene, with a list of accolades in 2023 that includes appearances at Desertfest London, Masters of the Riff, and Stoomfest, as well as a craft beer collaboration with East London’s Old Street Brewery.

With Cataclysm the band have taken the most unique elements of their debut EP and forged them into an album that blends elements of Stoner-Doom, Post Rock, Shoegaze and Heavy Psych. Cataclysm is dark, heavy, and identifiably their own.

For this album the band went back to work with Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse studio in East London. From the band’s point of view, this was a no-brainer: “We knew we wanted to work with Wayne again on this album. He’s great to work with and he had an important hand in shaping the sound of our EP. We knew he would get what we were trying to do with this album, and we really couldn’t be happier with how it has turned out.”

Each track is built from a sturdy foundation of Sean Durbin’s bass riffs which are then overlaid with Sean Burn’s distinctive guitar playing and Craig Newman’s unique and ethereal vocal style, adding layers of harmonic complexity and tension that is a defining feature of their sound.

The album title is derived from the name the band gave the initial demo of the title track, driven by its musically jarring feel rather than its lyrical content. It was then self-consciously adopted as the album title to reflect their aim of causing a musical upheaval in the heavy music scene. We believe it will.

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Conan Announce US Touring for March and April

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 17th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

This past Fall, UK consciousness-smashers Conan took to the streets of Continental Europe in the company of futureprog-thrashers Lord Dying. Neat bill. For their upcoming US run, they’ll be out with Psychic Trash, the duo who until last year were known as Wizard Rifle, which is a similar kind of set up if you think about it as follows: A band gets on stage and does a lot. Conan get on next and crush everything.

It’s an interesting play with dynamic there, right? Lord Dying are more severe and far more metal, but both they and Psychic Trash are a counterpoint to Conan‘s own style, which while it has grown, refined, tried new things, etc., still readily bills itself as ‘Caveman Battle Doom.’ This tour will touch both coasts and points between, hitting not quite the four corners of the US, but pretty close. I wonder where Conan actually haven’t been yet, aside from Mars or some such. Limited to this planet.

If you missed word from the band early last month, they announced that Fudge Tunnel‘s David Riley has taken over on bass for Chris Fielding, who will continue in his role as producer, to both the betterment and devastation of all mankind. Pretty sure that’s the latest. At least until this tour, that is. Conan will be out in the UK before this one happens as well.

From socials:

conan us tour

***US TOUR 2024 ANNOUNCEMENT*** We are beyond excited to return to the USA with @psychictrash in March. Ticket links are over on our Linktree (www.linktr.ee/hailconan) dates are below. See you in the pit. Art by @apesofdoom

3/29 Boise, ID – Neurolux
3/30 Salt Lake City, UT – Aces High
3/31 Denver, CO – Skylark Lounge
4/1 Lincoln, NE – Cosmic Eye
4/2 Chicago, IL – Reggies
4/3 Youngstown, OH – West Side Bowl
4/4 Philadelphia, PA – Kung Fu Necktie
4/5 Brooklyn, NY – Saint Vitus Bar
4/6 Washington DC – Atlas Brew Works
4/7 Raleigh, NC – Pour House
4/8 Atlanta, GA – The Earl
4/9 New Orleans, LA – Santos
4/10 Austin, TX – Lost Well
4/12 Albuquerque, NM – Sister Bar
4/13 Phoenix, AZ – Rebel Lounge
4/14 Los Angeles, CA – The Echo
4/15 Oakland, CA – Stork Club
4/16 Sacramento, CA – Café Colonial
4/17 Eugene, OR – John Henry’s
4/18 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
4/19 Seattle, WA – Clock-Out Lounge

CONAN is:
Jon Davis – Guitar, Vocals
David Riley – Bass
Johnny King – Drums

http://www.hailconan.com/
https://www.facebook.com/hailconan/
https://www.instagram.com/hailconan/
https://conan-conan.bandcamp.com/
https://www.linktr.ee/hailconan

Conan, Evidence of Immortality (2022)

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Masters of the Riff III Adds Dopethrone for UK Exclusive Show

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 4th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

I actually decided to go back and search, and this post is the first time the phrase “riff tyrant” — or its pluralization, for that matter — has been used on this site. That might not seem like a big deal to you, but from where I sit, any time I hear “riff” in a phrase I’ve never encountered before it’s worth putting a star on the calendar, so kudos to London Doom Collective on the creativity as well as for importing Dopethrone from Canada to the UK to appear for an exclusive at Masters of the Riff III in March.

Although the Montreal scumsludgers dug into their back catalog to celebrate their 15th anniversary with the Deepest Hits tape on Northern Haze, we’re coming around on six years since their last album-proper, and they’ve accordingly threatened new stuff in the works. As to whether that will show up in 2024, 2025, or ever — now, soon, or infinity — I don’t know, but they join Elephant Tree and The Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell as headliners, and you can see the full lineup below. Gonna be a party. A messy party.

Sludging onward:

dopethrone-masters-of-the-riff-iii

HAPPY NEW YEAR YOU RIFF TYRANTS!

We’ve been delving into the deepest and darkest corners of the underground, casting evil spells and summoning the nastiest tones in order to bring you our FINAL HEADLINER for the rapidly approaching MASTERS OF THE RIFF III 1st-3rd March 2024.

Therefore… …with absolute terror and delight we are pleased to announce that Québec’s filthiest, Dopethrone, will be heading over to London to eat your soul and rip ya face off at this year’s Masters Of The Riff festival!

We told you this one was going to be special! We are always striving to bring you the most sought after RIFFS, so this will be an LDC EXCLUSIVE and will be the band’s ONLY UK SHOW OF 2024!!!

If you aren’t there this never happened! So you seriously need to be there, as WE would love to see you, and YOU don’t want to miss this exclusive performance.

Seriously, this one is going to go off! Tickets won’t hang around long so make sure you grab them as soon as!

Weekend Passes available through

DICE: https://link.dice.fm/U8cb45f798a5

SKIDDLE: https://skiddle.com/e/36450206

Full Line up now announced…

Dopethrone, Elephant Tree, The Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, Firebreather, Margarita Witch Cult, Dystopian Future Movies, Dead Witches, Grave Lines, Tuskar, Hundred Year Old Man, Trippy Wicked, Gurt, Dunes, Black Orchids, Wall, Helve, Novere, Godless Suns, Mountain Caller, Bodach and Orme.

Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/256478197224605

Love you all dearly

https://www.facebook.com/londondoomcollective/
https://www.instagram.com/london_doom_collective/

Dopethrone, Transcanadian Anger (2018)

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Goat Major to Release Debut LP Ritual March 8; Title-Track Video Posted

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 22nd, 2023 by JJ Koczan

goat major

About as dug into the traditions of denim doom as they are modern in their cavernous atmosphere and creeper vibe, Goat Major have the distinction of releasing their debut full-length, titled simply Ritual, as labelmates to The Obsessed, and while I’m not a newcomer trio from the UK trying to carve a place in genre as well as raise awareness of their existence, I’d imagine putting your record out a month after Wino on the same label might feel pretty good. Or you know, it’s doom, so nothing really feels good except when the volume hits.

But while the new single “Evil Eye” stretches north of six minutes, it’s an easy-to-dig push made all the more fluid by the melody that accompanies the dark-hued fuzz. The logo in the album art might have you thinking Electric Wizard, and that’s certainly part of the scope here, but not all of it. The video for “Evil Eye,” accompanied by the prior single “Ritual” at the bottom of this post, is delightfully oldschool in its green-screen presentation of the three-piece, and that’s of course suited to the track as well.

You can read more about the band below — the PR wire diligent as ever — and I’ll note that I looked for the Evil Eye EP on Bandcamp and couldn’t find it otherwise that would be here as well. “Evil Eye,” “Turn to Dust” and “Mountains of Madness” appeared there and will be on the LP as well, as you can see in the blue text:

goat major ritual

UK occult doom metallers GOAT MAJOR to release debut album “Ritual” on Ripple Music this March 8th, 2024; watch new “Evil Eye” video now!

Welsh occult doom metal newcomers GOAT MAJOR announce the release of their crushing debut full-length “Ritual” on Ripple Music this March, and unveil their new single “Evil Eye”!

Captivating audiences with their fuzzed-out steamroller sound, devastating riffs, creepy and haunting melodies driven on by aggressive grooves and sophisticated fills, GOAT MAJOR established as a formidably earth-shattering newcomer in the British stoner and doom metal scene.

Following the 2022 release of their debut EP “Evil Eye” alongside numerous club and festival performances in the UK, the trio recently signed to Californian label Ripple Music for the release of their debut album “Ritual” in the late winter of 2024. Soaked in the trio’s infectious brand of sinister occult doom metal, their debut album “Ritual” is inspired by the band’s roots and Celtic traditions, making for and aural experience that is haunting and bone-crushing all at once and will leave you humming the melodies while you pray for forgiveness. Don’t miss their recent video for “Ritual” at this location.

GOAT MAJOR – Debut album “Ritual”
Out March 8th on Ripple Music (vinyl, CD, digital)
International preorder – https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/ritual
US preorder – https://ripplemusic.bigcartel.com/product/goat-major-ritual

TRACKLIST:
1. Snakes (Goddess of the Serpent)
2. Ritual
3. Turn to Dust
4. Light of The End
5. Power That Be
6. Mountains of Madness
7. Evil Eye
8. Lay Me Down

Hailing from Wales, the land of ancient monuments and Celtic traditions, GOAT MAJOR is an occult doom band formed during the harsh lockdown of a global pandemic by longtime friends Jammie Arnold (guitar), Simon Bonwick (drums) and Tom Shortt (bass/vocals). All three members grew up within half a mile of each other in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in the shadow of the town’s medieval castle.

The power trio worked hard crafting songs of catchy sinister occult doom metal, all while escaping the brutality that was cast upon the world. As restrictions started to lift, GOAT MAJOR began playing shows as an instrumental band before Shortt decided to take up the vocal duties. The band continued fine-tuning their songs with regular shows around the south/west of Wales and further afield in England. The band consequently started playing higher profile shows around the UK, sharing the stage with the likes of Thunder Horse, Wytch Hazel, Sigiriya, Parish, OHHMS, Made Of Teeth, Inhuman Nature. They also performed at Swansea Fringe festival and headlined Rock the Gwasbah festival in West Wales. GOAT MAJOR recently signed to US reference stoner, doom and heavy rock label Ripple Music for the release of their debut album “Ritual” in March 2024.

GOAT MAJOR is
Jammie Arnold – guitar
Simon Bonwick – drums
Tom Shortt – bass & vocals

https://www.facebook.com/goatmajorband
https://www.instagram.com/goatmajorband/
https://www.youtube.com/@goatmajor

Goat Major, “Evil Eye” official video

Goat Major, “Ritual” official video

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Psychlona Sign to Magnetic Eye Records; New Video “Liberty” Posted

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 13th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

So to pick up the thread where we left off: last time around, UK heavy rocker Psychlona were getting confirmed for Desertfest London 2024. That was just a couple days after revealing they had swapped out half of their lineup. Today comes the news that the Bradford-based four-piece have signed with Magnetic Eye Records — as regards Psychlona news stories in the last two weeks, this is the big one — to release their next album sometime in 2024. Apparently somewhere in there they were confirmed for Stoned From the Underground next July too. One might speculate it feels pretty good to be in Psychlona right now.

Not the least because their new single “Liberty” absolutely oozes vibe. And the vibe is ooze, so that works out too. Molten psychedelia, dug-in tempo but not too slow it loses you, mellow but sure of where it’s headed. If it ended up opening or closing their new long-player when the time comes, yes.

Congrats to band and label. The PR wire has it as follows:

psychlona

PSYCHLONA sign with Magnetic Eye Records & release new video single ‘Liberty’

PSYCHLONA have set their signatures under a multi-album deal with Magnetic Eye Records, with the British desert rockers planning to release their fourth album via the label later in 2024. See below for statements regarding the signing.

In celebration of joining Magnetic Eye, PSYCHLONA also release a new video single today. Please see below for further details of the smoking track ‘Liberty’.

PSYCHLONA comment: “We are stoked to be joining Magnetic Eye”, guitarist and singer Phil Hey writes on behalf of the band. “We had a few offers on the table but we all knew that this label was the way we wanted to go. We have already worked with label director Jadd Shickler under various guises over the past few years and he has become a trusted confidant and friend. That was probably our primary reason, very closely followed by the fact that Magnetic Eye has a great roster including Greenleaf, who are one of my all-time favourite bands. It made perfect sense. We’re looking forward to a long relationship with Jadd and the guys!”

Jadd Shickler welcomes PSYCHLONA: “I’ve been working with Psychlona for several years in different capacities, and admire the fast leaps forward they’ve taken in a short time”, the Magnetic Eye director explains. “In 2020, they gave even Lowrider and Elephant Tree some tough competition for a lot of folks’ favorite record that year. Then they played back to back at Psycho Las Vegas, and I saw people go crazy for them firsthand. I dig their effortless desert vibe despite the guys being as British as it gets, and I love the dynamic they bring to our carefully curated roster of driven, sonically unique acts. I can hardly wait to hear what they’ll do on their first full album for us next year!”

Live
17-19 May 2024 London (UK) Desertfest
11-13 July 2024 Erfurt (DE) Stoned from the Underground

Line-up
Ian ‘Izak’ Buxton – bass guitar
Scott Frankling – drums
Phil Hey – guitar, vocals
Martin Wiseman – lead guitar, backing vocals

http://www.facebook.com/Psychlona/
http://instagram.com/psychlona
psychlona.bandcamp.com

http://store.merhq.com
http://magneticeyerecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MagneticEyeRecords
https://www.instagram.com/magneticeyerecords/

Psychlona, “Liberty” official video

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