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Quarterly Review: Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, Doctor Doom, Stones of Babylon, Alconaut, Maybe Human, Heron, My Octopus Mind, Et Mors, The Atomic Bomb Audition, Maharaja

Posted in Reviews on January 9th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

quarterly-review-winter 2023

Welcome to the second week of the Quarterly Review. Last week there were 50 records covered between Monday and Friday, and barring disaster, the same thing will happen this week too. I wish I could say I was caught up after this, but yeah, no. As always, I’m hearing stuff right and left that I wish I’d had the chance to dig into sooner, but as the platitude says, you can only be in so many places at one time. I’m doing my best. If you’ve already heard all this stuff, sorry. Maybe if you keep reading you’ll find a mistake to correct. I’m sure there’s one in there somewhere.

Winter 2023 Quarterly Review #51-60:

Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, Doom Wop

RICKSHAW BILLIE'S BURGER PATROL DOOM WOP

Powered by eight-string-guitar and bass chug, Austin heavy party rockers Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol offer markedly heavy, Steve Brooks-style weight on “Doom Wop,” the title-track of their second album, and prove themselves catchy through a swath of hooks, be it opener “Heel,” “Chew” or “I’m the Fucking Man,” which, if the finale “Jesus Was an Alien” — perhaps the best, also the only, ‘Jesus doing stuff’ song I’ve heard since Ministry‘s “Jesus Built My Hotrod”; extra kudos to the band for making it about screwing — didn’t let you know the band didn’t take themselves too seriously, and their moniker didn’t even before you hit play, then there you go. Comprised of guitarist Leo Lydon, bassist Aaron Metzdorf and drummer Sean St. Germain, they’re able to tap into that extra-dense tone at will, but their songs build momentum and keep it, not really even being slowed by their own massive feel, as heard on “Chew” or “The Bog” once it kicks in, and the vocals remind a bit of South Africa’s Ruff Majik without quite going that far over the top; I’d also believe it’s pop-punk influence. Since making their debut in 2020 with Burger Babes… From Outer Space!, they’ve stripped down their songwriting approach somewhat, and that tightness works well in emphasizing the ’90s alt rock vibe of “The Room” or the chug-fuzzer “Fly Super Glide.” They had a good amount of hype leading up to the Sept. 2022 release. I’m not without questions, but I can’t argue on the level of craft or the energy of their delivery.

Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol on Facebook

Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol on Bandcamp

 

DoctoR DooM, A Shadow Called Danger

DoctoR DooM A Shadow Called Danger

French heavy rock traditionalists DoctoR DooM return following a seven-year drought with A Shadow Called Danger, their late 2022/early 2023 follow-up to 2015’s debut, This Seed We Have Sown (review here). After unveiling the single “What They Are Trying to Sell” (premiered here) as proof-of-life in 2021, the three-piece ’70s-swing their way through eight tracks and 45 minutes of vintage-mindset stylizations, touching on moody Graveyardian blues in “Ride On” and the more uptempo rocker “The Rich and the Poor” while going more directly proto-metallic on galloping opener “Come Back to Yourself and the later “Connected by the Worst.” Organ enhances the sway of the penultimate “In This Town” as part of a side B expansion that starts with tense rhythmic underlayer before the stride of “Hollow” and, because obviously, an epilogue take on Händel‘s “Sarabande” that closes. That’ll happen? In any case, DoctoR DooM — guitarist/vocalist Jean-Laurent Pasquet, guitarist Bertrand Legrand, bassist Sébastien Boutin Blomfield and drummer Michel Marcq — don’t stray too far from their central purpose, even there, and their ability to guide the listener through winding progressions is bolstered by the warmth of their tones and Pasquet‘s sometimes gruff but still melodic vocals, allowing some of the longer tracks like “Come Back to Yourself,” “Hollow” and “In This Town” to explore that entirely imaginary border where ’70s-style heavy rock and classic metal meet and intertwine.

DoctoR DooM on Facebook

Ripple Music website

Black Farm Records store

 

Stones of Babylon, Ishtar Gate

Stones of Babylon Ishtar Gate

Clearly when you start out with a direct invocation of epic tales like “Gilgamesh (…and Enkidu’s Demise),” you’re going big. Portugal’s Stones of Babylon answer 2019’s Hanging Gardens (review here) with Ishtar Gate, still staying in Babylon as “Annunaki,” “Pazuzu,” the title-track, “The Fall of Ur,” and “Tigris and Euphrates” roll out instrumental embodiment of these historical places, ideas, and myths. There is some Middle Eastern flourish in quieter stretches of guitar in “Anunnaki,” “Pazuzu,” “The Fall of Ur,” etc., but it’s the general largesse of tone, the big riffs that the trio of guitarist Alexandre Mendes, bassist João Medeiros and drummer Pedro Branco foster and roll out one after the other, that give the sense of scale coinciding with their apparent themes. And loud or quiet, big and rolling or softer and more winding, they touch on some of My Sleeping Karma‘s meditative aspects without giving up a harder-hitting edge, so that when Ur falls, the ground seems to be given a due shake, and “Tigris and Euphrates,” as one of the cradles of civilization, caps the record with a fervency that seems reserved specifically for that crescendo. A few samples, including one at the very end, add to the atmosphere, but the band’s heart is in the heavy and that comes through regardless of a given moment’s volume.

Stones of Babylon on Facebook

Raging Planet website

 

Alconaut, Slugs

Alconaut Slugs

Released on Halloween 2022, Alconaut‘s “Slugs” is a six-minute roller single following-up their 2019 debut album, Sand Turns to Tide, and it finds the Corsican trio fuzz-grooving their way through a moderate tempo, easy-to-dig procession that’s not nearly as slime-trail-leaving as its title implies. A stretch building up the start-stop central riff has a subtle edge of funk, but then the pedal clicks on and a fuller tone is revealed, drums still holding the same snare punctuation behind. They ride that stretch out for a reasonably unreasonable amount of measures before shifting toward the verse shortly before two minutes in — classic stoner rock — backing the first vocals with either organ or guitar effects that sound like one (nobody is credited for keys; accept the mystery) and a quick flash of angularity between lines of the chorus are likewise bolstered. They make their way back through the verse and then shift into tense chugging that’s more straight-ahead push than swinging, but still friendly in terms of pace, and after five minutes in, they stop, the guitar pans channels in re-establishing the riff, and they finish it big before just a flash of feedback cuts to silence. Way more rock and way less sludge than either their moniker or the song’s title implies, their style nonetheless hints toward emergent dynamic in its tonal changes even as the guitar sets forth its own hooks.

Alconaut on Facebook

Alconaut on Bandcamp

 

Maybe Human, Ape Law

Maybe Human Ape Law

Instrumental save for the liberally distributed samples from Planet of the Apes, including Charlton Heston’s naming of Nova in “Nova” presented as a kind of semi-organic alt-techno with winding psychedelic guitar over a programmed beat, Maybe Human‘s Ape Law is the second long-player from the Los Angeles-based probably-solo outfit, and it arrives as part of a glut of releases — singles, EPs, one prior album — issued over the last two years or so. The 47-minute 10-songer makes its point in the opening title-track, and uses dialogue from the Apes franchise — nothing from the reboots, and fair enough — to fill out pieces that vary in their overarching impression from the heavy prog of “Bright Eyes” and the closing “The Killer Ape Theory” to the experimentalist psych of “Heresy.” If you’re looking to be damned to hell by the aforementioned Heston, check out “The Forbidden Zone,” but Ape Law seems to be on its most solid footing — not always where it wants to be, mind you — in a more metal-leaning guitar-led stretch like that in the second half of “Infinite Regression” where the guitar solo takes the forward role over a bed that seems to have been made just for it. The intent here is more to explore and the sound is rawer than Maybe Human‘s self-applied post-rock or pop tags might necessarily imply, but the deeper you go there more there is to hear. Unless you hate those movies, in which case you might want to try something else.

Maybe Human on Facebook

Maybe Human on Bandcamp

 

Heron, Empires of Ash

Heron Empires of Ash

Beginning with its longest track (immediate points) in the nine-minute “Rust and Rot,” the third full-length from Vancouver’s Heron, Empires of Ash, offers significant abrasive sludge heft from its lurching outset, and continues to sound slow even in the comparatively furious “Hungry Ghosts,” vocalist/noisemaker Jamie having a rasp to his screams that calls to mind Yatra over the dense-if-spacious riffing of Ross and Scott and Bina‘s fluid drumming. Ambient sections and buildups like that in centerpiece “Hauntology” allow some measure of respite from all the gnashing elsewhere, assuring there’s more to the four-piece than apparently-sans-bass-but-still-plenty-heavy caustic sludge metal, but in their nastiest moments they readily veer into territory commonly considered extreme, and the pairing of screams and backing growls over the brooding but mellower progression on closer “With Dead Eyes” is almost post-hardcore in its melding aggression with atmosphere. Still, it is inevitably the bite that defines it, and Heron‘s collective teeth are razor-sharp whether put to speedier or more methodical use, and the contrast in their sound, the either/or nature, is blurred somewhat by their willingness to do more than slaughter. This being their third album and my first exposure to them, I’m late to the party, but fine. Empires of Ash is perfectly willing to brutalize newcomers too, and the only barrier to entry is your own threshold for pain.

Heron links

Heron on Bandcamp

 

My Octopus Mind, Faulty at Source (Bonus Edition)

My Octopus Mind Faulty at Source

A reissue of their 2020 second LP, My Octopus Mind‘s Faulty at Source (Bonus Edition) adds two tracks — “Here My Rawr,” also released as a single, and “No Way Outta Here Alive” — for a CD release. Whichever edition one chooses to take on, the range of the Bristol-based psych trio of guitarist/vocalist/pianist Liam O’Connell, bassist Isaac Ellis and drummer Oliver Cocup (the latter two also credited with “rawrs,” which one assumes means backing vocals) is presented with all due absurdity but a strongly progressive presence, so that while “The Greatest Escape” works in its violin and viola guest appearances from Rebecca Shelley and Rowan Elliot as one of several tracks to do the same, the feeling isn’t superfluous where it otherwise might be. Traditional notions of aural heft come and go — the riffier and delightfully bass-fuzzed “No Way Outta Here Alive” has plenty — while “Buy My Book” and the later “Hindenburg” envision psychedelic noise rock and “Wandering Eye” (with Shelley on duet vocals as well) adds mathy quirk to the proceedings, making them that march harder to classify, that much more on-point as regards the apparent mission of the band, and that much more satisfying a listen. If you’re willing to get weird, My Octopus Mind are already there. For at least over two years now, it would seem.

My Octopus Mind on Facebook

My Octopus Mind on Bandcamp

 

Et Mors, Lifeless Grey

et mors lifeless grey

Having become a duo since their debut, 2019’s Lux in Morte (review here), was released, Et Mors are no less dirgey or misery-laden across Lifeless Grey for halving their lineup. Wretched, sometimes melodic and almost universally deathly doom gruels out across the three extended originals following the shorter intro “Drastic Side Effects” — that’s the near-goth plod of “The Coffin of Regrets” (9:45), “Tritsch” (16:13), which surprises by growing into an atmosludge take on The Doors at their most minimalist and spacious before its own consumption resumes, and “Old Wizard of Odd” (10:29), which revels in extremity before its noisy finish and is the ‘heaviest’ inclusion for that — and a concluding cover of Bonnie “Prince” Billy‘s “I See a Darkness,” the title embodied in the open space within the sound of the song itself while showcasing a soulful clean vocal style that feels like an emerging distinguishing factor in the band’s sound. That is, a point of growth that will continue to grow and make them a stronger, more diverse band as it already does in their material here. I’d be interested to hear guitarist/vocalist Zakir Suleri and drummer/vocalist Albert Alisaug with an expansive production able to lean more into the emotive aspects of their songwriting, but as it is on Lifeless Grey, their sound is contrastingly vital despite the mostly crawling tempos and the unifying rawness of the aural setting in which these songs take place.

Et Mors on Facebook

Et Mors on Bandcamp

 

The Atomic Bomb Audition, Future Mirror

California, Filth Wizard Records, Future Mirror, Oakland, The Atomic Bomb Audition, The Atomic Bomb Audition Future Mirror

Future Mirror is The Atomic Bomb Audition‘s first release since 2014 and their first studio album since 2011’s Roots into the See (review here), the returning Oakland-based four-piece of guitarist/vocalist Alee Karin, bassist/vocalist Jason Hoopes, drummer Brian Gleeson and synthesist/engineer The Norman Conquest reigniting their take on pop-informed heavy, sometimes leaning toward post-rock float, sometimes offering a driving hook like in “Night Vision,” sometimes alternating between spacious and crushing as on “Haunted Houses,” which is as much Type O Negative and Katatonia darkness as the opener “Render” was blinding with its sweet falsetto melodies and crashing grandeur. Two interludes, “WNGTIROTSCHDB” and “…Spells” surround “Golden States, Pt. 1” — note there is no second part here — a brief-at-three-minutes-but-multi-movement instrumental, and the linear effect in hearing the album as whole is to create an ambient space between the three earlier shorter tracks and the two longer ones at the finish, and where “Dream Flood” might otherwise be a bridge between the two, the listening experience is only enhanced for the flourish. Future Mirror won’t be for everybody, as its nuance makes it harder to categorize and they wouldn’t be the first to suffer perils of the ‘band in-between,’ but by the time they get the payoff of closer “More Light,” tying the heft and melody together, The Atomic Bomb Audition have provided enough context to make their own kind of sense. Thus, a win.

The Atomic Bomb Audition on Facebook

The Atomic Bomb Audition on Bandcamp

 

Maharaja, Aviarium

Maharaja Aviarium

Maharaja‘s new EP, Aviarium (on Seeing Red), might be post-metal if one were to distill that microgenre away from its ultra-cerebral self-indulgence and keep only the parts of it most crushing. The downer perspective of the Ohio trio — guitarist Angus Burkhart, bassist Eric Bluebaum, drummer Zack Mangold, all of whom add vocals, as demonstrated in the shouty-then-noisy-then-both second track — is confirmed in the use of the suffix ‘-less’ in each of the four songs on the 24-minute outing, from opener “Hopeless” through “Soulless,” into the shorter, faster and more percussively intense “Lifeless” and at last arriving in the open with the engrossing roll of 10-minute finisher “Ballad of the Flightless Bird,” which makes a home for itself in more stoner-metal riffing and cleaner vocals but maintains the poise of execution that even the many and righteous drum fills of “Hopeless” couldn’t shake loose. It is not an easy or a smooth listen, but neither is it meant to be, and the ambience that comes out of the raw weight of Maharaja‘s tones as well as their subtle variation in style should be enough to bring on board those who’d dare take it on in the first place. Can be mean, but isn’t universally one thing or the other, and as a sampler of Maharaja‘s work it’s got me wanting to dig back to their 2017 Kali Yuga and find out what I missed.

Maharaja on Facebook

Seeing Red Records store

 

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Leo Maia

Posted in Questionnaire on December 6th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Leo Maia

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Leo Maia

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I’m a singer, composer and play instruments such as guitar and keyboards, and a solo artist focused on progressive rock / metal. My technical studies are way deeper on vocals than instrumental playing, its the music theory that gets me to play them and compose.

I’m also really passionate about songwriting, how to chain together harmonies and melodies that have cohesion and tell a story without words. Each note that I choose is aimed towards what emotion it should transpire. I focus on getting very complex time signatures and harmonies justified by intention in order for them to feel organic even to listeners who are not familiar with these odd choices common in progressive rock and jazz.

Describe your first musical memory.

I remember when I was just 6 years old and my dad sitting me on a chair and pressing play on Pink Floyd the wall, the movie. I was simply blown away by it. My brain literally melted and I was never the same. I had no idea on how to process those psychedelic images, and I didn’t speak english to understand the lyrics, but the music itself connected with my heart and made me feel a multitude of great emotions through the course of the movie.

Since then, I’ve gravitated towards listening to albums that have a tale behind the music and it seemed like if there weren’t elements of prog in the track I immediately felt like it was missing something. Only many years later I’ve realized what I really liked once I heard King Crimson for the first time, and my journey with musical studies and composing started.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

First thing that crossed my mind was when I saw King Crimson live for the first time. I cried through Mel Collins’ emotional playing and remember Starless vividly. They even played Islands which is an underrated piece by Crimson that I wasn’t expecting them to, it’s one of my favorites, i really cherish my vinyl copy of Islands.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

As a teenager I used to really like shredding and extremely technical musical execution and firmly believed that “good music” was “hard music”. As I grew older, I realized how wrong I was. As a great example of this, if you would ask me to rate the best guitar solo of all times, I’d probably pick something from David Gilmour, like comfortably numb. Its something my teen self would surely disagree on as it’s not a shreddy solo, but now I understand that the right notes at the right rhythm (motifs) is what makes melodies great and a solo must be melodic. A really fast execution is impressive, but doesn’t communicate emotions as a very melodic and well composed solo does.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

It is absolutely leading to me becoming a better artist and musician for sure. But also, and maybe most importantly, it’s leading me to meet people, both other musicians whom I’m collaborating with, but also extremely enthusiastic listeners who connect to the music I’m making and building genuine connections with them.

How do you define success?

My initial naive thought is that success is defined by your goals. Each goal needs a success criteria attached to it so you can define what success is, so it varies from person to person, goal to goal. That said, after deeper thought, I think success can also be achieved when you don’t meet the criteria. We don’t know what we don’t know, and its by going down the route of pursuing a goal that you learn better, and sometimes, along the way you realize that what matters the most is not what you’ve set as your goal, and having that insight and changing your goals is also success. It is also the friends you make along the way :) Or as another cliche, it’s your experience of the road, not the destination.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

Not something physical that I’ve seen, but more of a movement. I wish I hadn’t seen modern progressive rock / metal lean heavily into technical proficiency, where the harder is considered the better, and instead kept more attached to the intentional emotional roots of the 70s prog rock. Of course there are many that haven’t, but many more that have, and we, the fans, are the ones looking for it, but I wish we hadn’t. Shredding and being an awesome player is super cool and all, but if its shredding for the sake of shredding rather than shredding because the song passage needed to convey a chaotic emotion then I think it loses the emotional connection with the non-technical listener.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

Well the next single that I’m working on after Sonhos is probably about “Passive Genocide”, a critique on the handling of the pandemic. How you can create a massive killing of a group of people not by actively causing it, but instead by being passive and NOT doing something. It will also feature violins and I’m inviting a very special guitar player for a killer solo on it. It might become a long song as the composition is developing.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

Tell a message through emotions. Art will always cause some sort of emotion when experienced, and the emotional response has an implicit message to it, even if you can’t decipher it, you can feel it.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Surely looking forward to my next vacation trip to India and Bali. :)

https://facebook.com/Leomaiaprogrock
https://instagram.com/Leomaiaprog
https://leomaia.bandcamp.com/

Leo Maia, “Sonhos”

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Eye of Doom Premiere “Eye of Doom Pt. I”; The Sapient Out Nov. 11

Posted in audiObelisk on August 26th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Eye of Doom again

Vancouver three-piece Eye of Doom will release their debut full-length, The Sapient, on Nov. 11 through Majestic Mountain Records. The album follows the success of the band’s 2020 EP, Curse of the Pharaoh — they also had a self-titled EP out in 2018 — and is preceded today by the unveiling of “Eye of Doom Pt. I.”

A couple things about the track outright. First, it’s 10 minutes long. You’re announcing your debut album and the first single you’re streaming for people to check out is the first of a don’t-know-how-many-part procession and it crosses the line into a four-number runtime? This is a marketing planEye of Doom single cover I can get behind. Second, from mellowing out the impact of Monolordian riffing to delving into more lysergic reaches, maybe some Green Lung in the organ-laced melody circa 8:20, and doing it in a way that makes its own kind of sense — that’s all one ever needs — and makes a hook of its riff while conveying to the listener a feeling of atmosphere and still having room to jam it out, let it develop, and make it go.

They’re not pushing the limits of genre at this point — it’s a first record, slow down — but “Eye of Doom Pt. I” is an immersive celebration of heavy for a band who seem to be finding their place and establishing the sides they want to bring together as they forge their sound from the foundation of their influences.

Or if you want it simple: hey, I think this song’s pretty cool. Haven’t heard the full album yet, but if you’re still reading, I think this might be worth checking out. Stick around for when they bring back that riff at the end. It’s worth the trip, especially because the ‘going’ part of that trip is no less right on.

I actively like the loose feel. That doesn’t mean the band are sloppy, but as they open riff-into-solo early on in the track’s going, the nod is paced just right so that it’s not too fast but shifts into the verse, feeling intentional in trying to carry the listener along for the ride and thus all the more satisfying when it does precisely that. It’s heavy and not any more repetitive than it needs to be; deceptively thoughtful in its construction, and it’s easy to appreciate a band that strikes a hard balance and makes it sound easy. That’s very much what’s happening here.

To wit, I hope you enjoy:

Eye of Doom, “Eye of Doom Pt. I” premiere

‘Eye of Doom’ is the first single from the new album ‘The Sapient’ that will be released this Autumn on Majestic Mountain Records.

Majestic comes knocking once again as the harbinger of kick ass doom metal from the Mountain’s roster with news of Canadian three piece Eye of Doom unleashing the first single ‘Eye Of Doom Part I’ from their first full-length release ‘The Sapeint’ due out on the 11th of November.

The band tells us that “Eye of Doom Part I” draws lyrically from science fiction horror themes to narrate the demise of a lone space-dweller who while traversing the now colonized, yet mysteriously desolate planet Venus, experiences an array of extreme physical and mental obstacles akin to the human condition. He perseveres through this hardship and, upon contacting a long-lost comrade, is met with a horrific surprise.  The story is concluded in “Eye of Doom Part II”, which appears on our upcoming album The Sapient.

We’re saying that this track is one hell of a ride through massively malevolent and eerie soundscapes, menacingly searing guitar solos, and richly reverb laden vocal textures. Ten minutes and fifty-eight seconds of pure, fuzz driven, progressive stoner doom metal from our favourite Canadians and we’re psyched to get this into your ears. 

‘Eye Of Doom Part I’ challenges the senses with its melodically spectacular scope and through pristine production, musicianship and crushing composition sets the tone for what’s to come with the band’s first full length ‘The Sapient’ this November.

The bar is high and believe us when we say ‘The Sapient’s’ five tracks are bone crushing brilliance from this three-piece juggernaut from the great white north.

PRE ORDER on Friday 02.09

Official release on 11 November

Recorded and produced by the band at River Serpent Records Studios,

mixed and mastered by Esben Willems at Studio Berserk, Sweden.

Summoned from the forests of Vancouver, Canada, Eye of Doom is a doom metal band made up of Adam Mattsson (guitar), Alex Kadhim (bass) and Derrick Staines (drums). The band infuses progressive rock soundscapes with psychedelic notes from outer space.

Eye of Doom is:
Adam Mattsson – Guitar
Alex Kadhim – Bass
Derrick Staines – Drums

Eye of Doom on Facebook

Eye of Doom on Instagram

Eye of Doom on Twitter

Eye of Doom website

Majestic Mountain Records webstore

Majestic Mountain Records on Facebook

Majestic Mountain Records on Instagram

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: James Farwell of Bison B.C.

Posted in Questionnaire on July 29th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

James Farwell of Bison

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: James Farwell of Bison B.C.

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

“I write songs for sad people to be sad”. That’s a quote from my son, George. Pretty much sums it up. I am constantly pulling myself back together with the songs I write.

Describe your first musical memory.

Watching the video for “Dancing With Tears in my Eyes”, creating my own feelings about love and death as I hid under my blankets.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Watching Chi Pig hanging from the rafters at the Cauldron in Winnipeg (’88?)

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

When we decided to leave a big label.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Poverty. Solitude. Smaller rooms. Happiness.

How do you define success?

Success? There is no success. My children are inheriting a dying world. Success would be a time machine.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

A man bleeding and wanting to die with his dog standing by his side.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

A book of poetry. I’ve always loved poetry. Song lyrics can be poetry, but they are more put together as a puzzle, fit to the music that inspired them. Poetry is inspired by silence and the rage within. Art that has no origin, it simply has always existed.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

To make welcome new feelings that may be alien or jarring.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

A summer of bike rides with my sons, George and Charlie.

http://www.facebook.com/bisonbc
https://bison.bandcamp.com/
http://www.bisonmerch.com/

http://www.pelagic-records.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pelagicrecords
http://www.instagram.com/pelagic_records

Bison, You Are Not the Ocean, You Are the Patient (2017)

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Quarterly Review: MWWB, Righteous Fool, Seven Nines and Tens, T.G. Olson, Freebase Hyperspace, Melt Motif, Tenebra, Doom Lab, White Fuzzy Bloodbath, Secret Iris

Posted in Reviews on July 6th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

THE-OBELISK-FALL-2020-QUARTERLY-REVIEW

I don’t know what day it is. The holiday here in the States has me all screwed up. I know it’s not the weekend anymore because I’m posting today, but really, if this is for Tuesday or Wednesday, I’m kind of at a loss. What I do know is that it’s 10 more records, and some quick math at the “71-80” below — which, yes, I put there ahead of time when I set up the back end of these posts so hopefully I don’t screw it up; it’s a whole fucking process; never ask me about it unless you want to be so bored at by the telling that your eyeballs explode — tells me today Wednesday, so I guess I figured it out. Hoo-ray.

Three quarters of the way through, which feels reasonably fancy. And today’s a good one, too. I hope as always that you find something you dig. Now that I know what day it is, I’m ready to start.

Quarterly Review #71-80:

MWWB, The Harvest

MWWB The Harvest

It’s difficult to separate MWWB‘s The Harvest from the fact that it might be the Welsh act’s final release, as frontwoman Jessica Ball explained here. Their synth-laced cosmic doom certainly deserves to keep going if it can, but on the chance not, The Harvest suitably reaps the fruit of the progression the band began to undertake with 2015’s Nachthexen (review here), their songs spacious despite the weight of their tones and atmospheric even at their most dense. Proggy instrumental explorations like “Let’s Send These Bastards Whence They Came” and “Interstellar Wrecking” and the semi-industrial, vocals-also-part-of-the-ambience “Betrayal” surround the largesse of the title-track, “Logic Bomb,” the especially lumbering “Strontium,” and so on, and “Moon Rise” caps with four and a half minutes of voice-over-guitar-and-keys atmospherics, managing to be heavy even without any of the usual trappings thereof. If this is it, what a run they had, both when they were Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard and with this as their potential swansong.

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Righteous Fool, Righteous Fool

Righteous Fool Righteous Fool

Look. Maybe it’s a fan-piece, but screw it, I’m a fan. And as someone who liked the second run of Corrosion of Conformity‘s Animosity-era lineup, this previously-unreleased LP from the three-piece that included C.O.C. bassist/vocalist Mike Dean and drummer/vocalist Reed Mullin (R.I.P.), as well as guitarist/vocalist Jason Browning, is only welcome. I remember when they put out the single on Southern Lord in 2010, you couldn’t really get a sense of what the band was about, but there’s so much groove in these songs — I’m looking right at you, “Hard Time Killing Floor” — that it’s that much more of a bummer the three-piece didn’t do anything else. Of course, Mullin rejoining Dean in C.O.C. wasn’t a hardship either, but especially in the aftermath of his death last year, it’s bittersweet to hear his performances on these songs and a collection of tracks that have lost none of their edge for the decade-plus they’ve sat on a shelf or hard drive somewhere. Call it a footnote if you want, but the songs stand on their own merits, and if you’re going to tell me you’ve never wanted to hear Dean sing “The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown),” then I think you and I are just done speaking for right now.

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Ripple Music website

 

Seven Nines and Tens, Over Opiated in a Forest of Whispering Speakers

seven nines and tens over opiated in a forest of whispering speakers

I agree, it’s a very long album title. And the band name is kind of opaque in a kind of opaque way. Double-O-paque. And the art by Ahmed Emad Eldin (Pink Floyd, etc.) is weird. All of this is true. But I’m going to step outside the usual review language here, and instead of talking about how Vancouver post-noise rock trio Seven Nines and Tens explore new melodic and atmospheric reaches while still crushing your rib cage on their first record for the e’er tastemaking Willowtip label, I’m just going to tell you listen. Really. That’s it. If you consider yourself someone with an open mind for music that is progressive in its artistic substance without conforming necessarily to genre, or if you’re somebody who feels like heavy music is tired and can’t connect to the figurative soul, just press play on the Bandcamp embed and see where you end up on the other side of Over Opiated in a Forest of Whispering Speakers‘ 37 minutes. Even if it doesn’t change your life, shaking you to your very core and giving you a new appreciation for what can be done on a level of craft in music that’s still somehow extreme, just let it run and then take a breath afterward, maybe get a drink of water, and take a minute to process. I wrote some more about the album here if you want the flowery whathaveyou, but really, don’t bother clicking that link. Just listen to the music. That’s all you need.

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Willowtip Records website

 

T.G. Olson, II

TG Olson II

In March 2021, T.G. Olson, best known as the founding guitarist/vocalist for Across Tundras, released a self-titled solo album (review here). He’s had a slew of offerings out since — as he will; Olson is impossible to keep up with but one does one’s best — but II would seem to be a direct follow-up to that full-length’s declarative purpose, continuing and refining the sometimes-experimentalist, sometimes purposefully traditional folk songwriting and self-recording exploration Olson began (publicly, at least) a decade ago. Several of II‘s cuts feature contributions from Caleb R.K. Williams, but Olson‘s ability to build a depth of mix — consider the far-back harmonica in “Twice Gone” and any number of other flourishes throughout — is there regardless, and his voice is as definitively human as ever, wrought with a spirit of Americana and a wistfulness for a West that was wild not for its guns but the buffalo herds you could see from space and an emotionalism that makes the lyrics of “Saddled” seem all the more personal, whether or not they are, or the lines in “Enough Rope” that go, “Always been a bit of a misanthrope/Never had a healthy way to cope,” and don’t seem to realize that the song itself is the coping.

Electric Relics Records on Bandcamp

 

Freebase Hyperspace, Planet High

Freebase Hyperspace Planet High

Issued on limited blue vinyl through StoneFly Records, Freebase Hyperspace‘s first full-length, Planet High, is much more clearheaded in its delivery than the band would seem to want you to think. Sure, it’s got its cosmic echo in the guitar and the vocals and so on, but beneath that are solidified grooves shuffling, boogieing and underscoring even the solo-fueled jam-outs on “Golden Path” and “Introversion” with a thick, don’t-worry-we-got-this vibe. The band is comprised of vocalist Ayrian Quick, guitarist Justin Acevedo, bassist Stephen Moore and drummer Peter Hurd, and they answer 2018’s Activation Immediate not quite immediately but with fervent hooks and a resonant sense of motion. It’s from Portland, and it’s a party, but Planet High upends expectation in its bluesy vocals, in its moments of drift and in the fact that “Cat Dabs” — whatever that means, I don’t even want to look it up — is an actual song rather than a mess of cult stoner idolatries, emphasizing the niche being explored. And just because it bears mentioning, heavy rock is really, really white. More BIPOC and diversity across the board only makes the genre richer. But even those more general concerns aside, this one’s a stomper.

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Melt Motif, A White Horse Will Take You Home

Melt Motif A White Horse Will Take You Home

Not calling out other reviews (they exist; I haven’t read any), but any writeup about Melt Motif‘s debut album, A White Horse Will Take You Home, that doesn’t include the word “sultry” is missing something. Deeply moody on “Sleep” and the experimental-sounding “Black Hole” and occasionally delving into that highly-processed ’90s guitar sound that’s still got people working off inspiration from Nine Inch NailsThe Downward Spiral even if they don’t know it — see the chugs of “Mine” and “Andalusian Dog” for clear examples — the nine-track/37-minute LP nonetheless oozes sex across its span, such that even the sci-fi finale “Random Access Memory” holds to the theme. The band span’s from São Paulo, Brazil, to Bergen, Norway, and is driven by Rakel‘s vocals, Kenneth Rasmus Greve‘s guitar, synth and programming, and Joe Irente‘s bass, guitar, more synth and more programming. Together, they are modern industrial/electrionica in scope, the record almost goth in its theatrical pruning, and there’s some of the focus on tonal heft that one finds in others of the trio’s ilk, but Melt Motif use slower pacing and harder impacts as just more toys to be played with, and thus the album is deeply, repeatedly listenable, the clever pop structures and the clarity of the production working as the bed on which the entirety lays in waiting repose for those who’d take it on.

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Apollon Records on Bandcamp

 

Tenebra, Moongazer

tenebra moongazer

Moongazer is the second full-length from Bologna, Italy-based heavy psychedelic blues rockers Tenebra, and a strong current of vintage heavy rock runs through it that’s met head-on by the fullness of the production, by which I mean that “Cracked Path” both reminds of Rainbow — yeah that’s right — and doesn’t sound like it’s pretending it’s 1973. Or 1993, for that matter. Brash and raucous on its face, the nine-song outing proves schooled in both current and classic heavy, and though “Winds of Change” isn’t a Scorpions cover, its quieter take still offers a chance for the band to showcase the voice of Silvia, whose throaty, push-it-out delivery becomes a central focus of the songs, be it the Iommic roll of “Black Lace” or the shuffling closer “Moon Maiden,” which boasts a guest appearance from Screaming TreesGary Lee Conner, or the prior “Dark and Distant Sky,” which indeed brings the dark up front and the distance in its second, more psych-leaning second half. All of this rounds out to a sound more geared toward groove than innovation, but which satisfies in that regard from the opening guitar figure of “Heavy Crusher” onward, a quick nod to desert rock there en route to broader landscapes.

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New Heavy Sounds website

Seeing Red Records website

 

Doom Lab, IV: Ever Think You’re Smart​.​.​. And Then Find Out That You Aren’t?

doom lab iv

With a drum machine backing, Doom Lab strums out riffs over the 16 mostly instrumental tracks of the project’s fourth demo since February of this year, Doom Lab IV: Ever Think You’re Smart​.​.​. And Then Find Out That You Aren’t?, a raw, sometimes-overmodulated crunch of tone lending a garage vibe to the entire procession. On some planet this might be punk rock, and maybe tucked away up in Anchorage, Alaska, it’s not surprising that Doom Lab would have a strange edge to their craft. Which they definitely do. “Clockwork Home II (Double-Thick Big Bottom End Dub)” layers in bass beneath a droning guitar, and “Diabolical Strike (w/ False Start)” is a bonus track (with vocals) that’s got the line, “You’ll think that everything is cool but then I’ll crush your motherfucking soul,” so, you know, it’s like that. Some pieces are more developed than others, as “Deity Skin II” has some nuanced layering of instrumentation, but in the harsh high end of “Spiral Strum to Heaven II” and the mostly-soloing “Infernal Intellect II,” Doom Lab pair weirdo-individualism with an obvious creative will. Approach with caution, because some of Doom Lab‘s work is really strange, but that’s clearly the intention from the start.

Doom Lab on Bandcamp

 

White Fuzzy Bloodbath, Medicine

White Fuzzy Bloodbath Medicine

What you see is what you get in the sometimes manic, sometimes blissed-out, sometimes punk, sometimes fluid, always rocking Medicine by White Fuzzy Bloodbath, which hearkens to a day when the universe wasn’t defined by internet-ready subgenre designations and a band like this San Jose three-piece had a chance to be signed to Atlantic, tour the universe, and eventually influence other outcasts in their wake. Alas, props to White Fuzzy Bloodbath‘s Elise Tarens — joined in the band by Alex Bruno and Jeff Hurley — for the “Interlude” shout, “We’re White Fuzzy Bloodbath and the world has no fucking idea!” before the band launch into the duly raw “Chaos Creator.” Songs like “Monster,” “Beep-Bop Lives” and “Still” play fast and loose with deceptively technical angular heavy rock, and even the eight-minute title-track that rounds out before the cover of Beastie Boys‘ “Sabotage” refuses to give in and be just one thing. And about that cover? Well, not every experiment is going to lead to gold, but it’s representative on the whole of the band’s bravery to take on an iconic track like that and make their own. Not nearly everybody would be so bold.

White Fuzzy Bloodbath on Facebook

White Fuzzy Bloodbath on Bandcamp

 

Secret Iris, What Are You Waiting For

secret iris what are you waiting for

With the vocal melody in its resonant hook, the lead guitar line that runs alongside and the thickened verse progression that complements, Secret Iris almost touch on Euro-style melancholic doom with the title-track of their debut 7″, What Are You Waiting For, but the Phoenix, Arizona, three-piece are up to different shenanigans entirely on the subsequent “Extrasensory Rejection (Winter Sanctuary),” which is faster, more punk, and decisively places them in a sphere of heavy grunge. Both guitarist Jeffrey Owens (ex-Goya) and bassist Tanner Grace (Sorxe) contribute vocals, while drummer Matt Arrebollo (Gatecreeper) is additionally credited with “counseling,” and the nine-minutes of the mini-platter first digitally issued in 2021 beef up a hodgepodge of ’90s and ’00s rock and punk, from Nirvana grunge to Foo Fighters accessibility, Bad Religion‘s punk and rock and a slowdown march after the break in the midsection that, if these guys were from the Northeast, I’d shout as a Life of Agony influence. Either way, it moves, it’s heavy, it’s catchy, and just the same, it manages not to make a caricature of its downer lyrics. The word I’m looking for is “intriguing,” and the potential for further intrigue is high.

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Friday Full-Length: Devin Townsend, Accelerated Evolution

Posted in Bootleg Theater on July 1st, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Canadian auteur Devin Townsend released Accelerated Evolution, the first of only two albums from the short-lived era of The Devin Townsend Band, in March 2003, one month after his more extreme metal outfit, the riotous Strapping Young Lad, issued their own SYL. Divided in purpose like light and dark — something that Townsend may or may not explore on his upcoming companion album releases Lightwork (Oct. 28 release date) and Nightwork; dude puts out more music than even his own label can keep up with, let alone the rest of humanity — Accelerated Evolution prioritized melody and songcraft, and put to accessible use the wash of prog-leaning metal that typified earlier solo efforts like 1997’s Ocean Machine: Biomech, 1998’s Infinity and the somewhat meaner 2000 outing, Physicist. Despite the change in band situation — as in, he put together a band that wasn’t Strapping Young Lad — the lushness that unifies Accelerated Evolution‘s “Storm,” “Random Analysis,” “Deadhead,” “Away” and “Sunday Afternoon” (and while we’re at it also the rest) wasn’t unprecedented, continuing a thread from 2001’s Terria that still plays heavily into his work today, as demonstrated on 2019’s let’s-just-go-orchestral-and-see-what-happens Empath.

So, different from Strapping Young Lad and purposefully so, but that was consistent with Townsend‘s prior solo output. And the two outfits, through SYL‘s brilliant 2005 album, Alien, and The Devin Townsend Band‘s one-upping-by-being-even-more-brilliant Synchestra (discussed here), would eventually enter conversation, collide, and create something new in The Devin Townsend Project after SYL‘s 2006 swansong, The New Black, but for being in its particular spot in Devin Townsend‘s ongoing creative progression, for its clarity of intention to engage its audience with songcraft, for pulling away from some of the experiments in sound collage, etc., of his earlier solo records, and for the band, Accelerated Evolution could only be called prog, but its identity within that was and remains almost impossibly rich. It is the product of about three different creative transitions happening at the same time for its maker, and yet it is cohesive, massive, encompassing and vital.

Townsend‘s work has been sprinkled with enough hyperbole for the last 20-plus years that I don’t necessarily feel compelled to add to it, but he’s someone who has well earned the loyalty of his fans even as he’s delved into various indulgences and experiments — anyone remember DevlabThe Hummer? — and though I’ve come and gone following along his sometimes-merry-sometimes-tearjerking-sometimes-fun-sometimes-just-weird adventures in sound, Accelerated Evolution has devin townsend accelerated evolutionremained a special point in the timeline. Not really appropriate to say “lightning in a bottle,” since Townsend could probably make 100 records like this if he wanted to, just build them up one layer of guitar at a time until he gets to an immersive shove like “Suicide” here or the made-to-move “Traveller” and concluding hookmeister “Slow Me Down,” but still. A creative moment that is fortunately preserved through the clear vision of his own production. It is beautiful where Strapping Young Lad often strove to be ugly, and Townsend‘s vocal ability to convey emotion in “Sunday Afternoon” manages to not at all contradict the rush of scream-laced opener “Depth Charge,” but instead to feed into the whole-album affect that holds firm throughout the 54-minute run.

What the fuck am I talking about? I love this record, is what I’m trying to say. Yeah, it’s probably as close as Devin Townsend has ever come to writing a pop version of his take on heavy prog metal, but I’d have a hard time directing you to an album that does a better job of speaking to its audience while serving its own creative ends. The languid roll of “Deadhead” after the shove of “Random Analysis” — which, yes, has the lines, “Still you’re saying ‘fa-ot is as fa-ot does with every little fa-ot thing a fa-ot do’/I’m not insane, I’m not insane, I’m just smarter than you”; a word choice that one assumes Townsend, who turned 50 in May, probably regrets even using in a quoted context — the sheer brazenness of making “Suicide” the centerpiece, and the fluidity with which Accelerated Evolution crosses lines between metal and not-metal in a song like “Traveller” working its way up to its screams, or how “Random Analysis” and “Deadhead” sets up the pattern for “Traveller” and the spacious guitar musing “Away” is nothing short of genius, and if you search through this site for how many times I’ve thrown that word around, you’ll see it’s few compared to how much music has been discussed in the last 13-plus years. This album is simply craft at another level.

I don’t want to sit here and try to mansplain Devin Townsend to you, what he’s accomplished in his career, whether it’s with Strapping Young LadDevin Townsend BandDevin Townsend ProjectZiltoid, getting his start as a teenager with Steve Vai, all of that stuff. I just love these songs, and I’ve been a fan long enough that I don’t feel the need to feign impartiality and not say so. If you’ve never been interested in Townsend‘s output, or perhaps been put off by the eternal question of where to start or how to approach a catalog that encompasses multiple incarnations of the guy himself — I remember when The Devin Townsend Project started, thinking it lacked the moniker charm of The Devin Townsend Band, even if it had the added layer of humor thinking of himself as the project in question — it’s okay. I have come and gone over the years too, but sometimes you get on a kick and I’ve been rediscovering my affection for his work. This one stood out to me. If you’ve never listened to him before or given it a real shot, maybe Accelerated Evolution can be an entry point.

If nothing else, every time I put on “Sunday Afternoon,” I feel like my day gets a little bit better. Maybe you can too.

And like I mentioned above, Townsend‘s discography is ever-growing. The last couple years have been full of quarantine concerts, special editions — last December he released two records, The Puzzle and Snuggles, that I didn’t even know about until I started writing this — so there’s a universe to dig into. But especially if you’re new, start with this, keep it casual, and see where you end up.

As always, and maybe a little more than usual, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

“Good morning daddy,” from upstairs. 5:27AM wakeup.

That’s The Pecan, who’s been waking up exceedingly early these last few weeks. Now sitting next to me, I wonder if he reads these words yet. Probably. My dude is scary intelligent and somewhat covert about skills development until all of a sudden he starts reading street signs and shit.

We had a rough week.

It culminated yesterday in a phone call at 9:24AM telling us to pick him up from camp, that he was no longer welcome. He’d been hitting, biting, kicking, having a hard time generally, and still doesn’t use the toilet, which was a requirement. Camp had a policy no money back. We got our money back. I’m rather proud of the email The Patient Mrs. and I wrote to the owner of the camp, and of the fact that I told the director of The Pecan’s section off directly and called his camp inadequate to my son’s needs, which apparently it was.

That was a shitty situation pretty much from day one, but I’d been hoping it would smooth out rather than take the turn it took, not the least because that was our plan for the summer. He’d be at camp. The writing days were easy, he was swimming every day, it seemed pretty perfect. Alas. Daddy Daycamp it is.

This invariably makes next week’s continuation of the Quarterly Review more complicated. I also have a Creem column due — they pay me! it’s been long enough that that’s a novelty — and PostWax liner notes revisions for Acid King. Complicated. See also “5:27AM wakeup” above. Used to be my man slept reliably until after six.

So camp’s out. We’re exploring other options, like having someone come and just hang out with him for a couple hours a day, go for walks and bike rides, maybe take him to the kiddie pool up the hill at the town pool if we decide to join or just make sure he doesn’t lack-of-impulse-control his way into playing in traffic while dancing in and drinking hose water, etc. I like that notion because it’s one-on-one, and that’s how he’s best, and it’s centered around the home, where I can still be available if needed for backup while I’m otherwise working on this site, but finding the right person is probably a longer-term project than this weekend. I worry about him being lonely. Even his cousins, who he loves, are older, and every time he’s in a setting with another kid there’s an issue. We’ve read 1-2-3 Magic and a host of others. If there was a magic bullet answer for this kid, I feel like we would at least have had a hint of it. As of now, the only way he listens to me, ever, is if I threaten to take some preferred activity or item, toy, etc., away. I don’t like being that person. I don’t like myself as that person.

Collectively, we feel awful. Him, her, me. The whole family. My mother came to the house yesterday afternoon, kind of just for moral support, and fell outside on our patio. Nothing broken, thankfully, but it was another kick that, the giant shit The Pecan took after bedtime — “Daddy… I have to poop…” from the top of the stairs as I was about to start watching the new Star Trek — was a fitting end to a day. Shit up the kid’s back, in his shirt. We’re talking about “diapers going away” starting tomorrow. I don’t know if I’m brave enough to pull the trigger on that and invite that kind of existential pain. Parenthood as a relative measurement of agonies.

He’s up and running and I need to get him breakfast (6:09AM, if you’re wondering), so I’m gonna punch out. Great and safe weekend. Hydrate, watch your head. No non-consensual biting. Gimme show next week.

FRM.

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Dave Cotton of Sevens Nines & Tens

Posted in Questionnaire on February 14th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Dave Cotton of Sevens Nines & Tens (Photo by Colin)

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Dave Cotton of Sevens Nines & Tens

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I’m an artist/musician/songwriter by definition. My parents forced me to take piano lessons at a really young age and I eventually learned other instruments is how I came to do it.

Describe your first musical memory.

My first memories of music were hearing soft rock songs on AM radio when I was four years old in my dad’s car. My dad didn’t listen to Rock Music or Heavy Metal so my idea of music at that age was that there was a ton of melody, especially with the vocals.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

My band played a show with Champagne, Illinois, band Hum. My band is named after a lyric of theirs so that was pretty trippy in terms of being a memorable gig.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

Before I became a support worker for adults addicted to drugs I was ignorant to the ideology that 99.9% of drug addicts have become that way, in part, because of substantial trauma in their lives.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

To better art.

How do you define success?

Doing something you personally love and having the self-confidence to know that you do it very well.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

I’m a support worker for adult addicts with mental health illnesses. I found a client of mine who died by suicide.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

An album that gets universal acclaim. Our third record has received some objective praise but also a fair amount of middling reviews. Anything less than eight out of 10 is middling to me. There are so many artists, your material better be good if you want to be remembered.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

To give purpose and inspire.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 reboot for ps4, the Dune film sequel, the next Blue Jays baseball season, the Cave In Relapse Records debut in 2022. Finishing the fourth Seven Nines & Tens record, it’s going to be so dope. Listen to my group and stay humble!

http://www.facebook.com/sevenninesandtens
https://sevenninesandtens.bandcamp.com/
http://www.sevenninesandtens.com/
http://www.facebook.com/willowtip
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http://www.willowtip.com/

Seven Nines and Tens, Over Opiated in a Forest of Whispering Speakers (2022)

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Friday Full-Length: Strapping Young Lad, City

Posted in Bootleg Theater on December 10th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

This is my effort to wipe the slate clean in my own brain. City, released in 1997 by Vancouver’s Devin Townsend-led Strapping Young Lad through Century Media, deserves to be in conversation as one of the best metal records of all time. Shit, Gene Hoglan’s drums alone. But that’s not really why I’m listening to it. I’m listening to it because I’ve spent this entire week pissed off at myself, totally unmotivated to write, and I just want something to shake me out of my own head while at the same time pummeling my bones into powder. Accept no substitutes.

Yesterday was a 10-post day. That happened both because relevant news announcements kept coming and because I fucked up on TWO premieres. One I forgot about while putting the day together on Wednesday — had to write the piece Wednesday night after the kid went to bed, which is generally me-and-Patient-Mrs. time — and the other I had to do Thursday morning. Both pieces kind of sucked as a result, but what does it even matter? No one gives a shit. Bands got links to share on social media and a pullquote and there you go. Everybody moves on. Oh hey, there’s Crowbar announcing a record. That’s content!

But really, fuck content.

Except “Room 429.” That’s content I can get behind. And “All Hail the New Flesh,” I suppose. “Detox.” “Oh My Fucking God.” Fucking “AAA.” The rest.

I haven’t been doing the writing I’ve been wanting to do and I’m furious about it. More, I’m furious because I feel like I’m not doing it because I don’t have time. There’s so much shit I feel ‘obligated’ to post about — obligated to whom? for what reason? — that I can’t even keep up with. Today I wanted to review the new Spaceslug. It’s out today. I was going to premiere it at one point and then the band decided to go with someone else. Their prerogative. I’ve done strapping young lad cityplenty with Spaceslug over their years and will likely continue to. Can’t have ego about that shit or you’ll lose your mind (though I admit sometimes I take it personally; I’ve never been cool enough blah blah blah). I’d love to interview them about the record, actually. But I was going to review the album anyway for today and with all the extra crap held over from Wednesday to yesterday there was just no way to get it done.

Next week, you say? That’s the Quarterly Review. So much for any time for anything else, really, Monday to Friday — actually I already have an interview scheduled I’ll need to post at some point with Jon from Conan, assuming it happens — and then next weekend, as I should be starting work on my own Best of 2021 list and all that, I’m slated to do an in-studio for two days. That’ll be good for getting me out of the house — something I ALMOST did this week to go see All Them Witches and pulled out in the end — but leaves me otherwise lacking time. I am tired and burnt out wondering what the fuck I even bother doing any of this for? Free CDs sometimes? I’m 40 years old. Is this really going to be my life’s work? A fucking blog that hasn’t been updated since 2009? Do I really hate myself this much?

And I just got hit up for something next Wednesday that I can’t really say no to, so in addition to 10 short reviews of discs, that. Ugh.

I pitched a book project to Sound of Liberation for next year covering the entirety of the Truckfighters, Greenleaf and Asteroid 15-date tour in Europe. I don’t know what next year will bring in terms of festivals — if Roadburn will happen, if I’ll be invited, etc.; it’s a whole new world and generally shittier, so I’m not counting on anything — and who knows too what next summer will be like by the time Freak Valley, which I’m dying to get to and should’ve been to years ago already, happens. SOL said yes to the book, which would be made from posts and pics I’d put on this site, edited together as a volume and probably fleshed out a bit by me after the tour, and I’ll be honest, I’m pretty much hanging my hat on that possibility. That’s the thing I’m looking forward to. It feels just a little too much like a daydream to be real, and thus I am skeptical of its reality. Mighty tenuous.

It’s the holidays so of course everything is awful. The kid hates my guts, which is legit because I’m a prick. The Patient Mrs. is stressed about work and money, also legit because we’re paycheck-to-almost-paycheck forever. I want to go to bed for a month and not see or talk to anybody. I hate being in my skin. Tired, old, sad and angry. Damaged and helping nothing.

“So here’s all my hopes and aspirations/Nothing but puke.” God damn this record is amazing.

That’s enough. New Gimme show today. 5PM. Free. http://gimmemetal.com

New merch at MIBK. Sweatpants and dugouts and shirts. Not free. http://mibk.bigcartel.com/products

Great and safe weekend. Quarterly Review starts Monday. Five days, plus another five in January.

FRM.

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