The Obelisk Presents: The Top 20 Debut Albums of 2017

Posted in Features on December 18th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk top-20-debut-albums

Please note: This post is not culled in any way from the Year-End Poll, which is ongoing. If you haven’t yet contributed your favorites of 2017 to that, please do.

Every successive year brings an absolute inundation of underground productivity. Every year, someone new is inspired to pick up a guitar, bass, drums, mic, keyboard, theremin, cello — whatever it might be — and set themselves to the task of manifesting the sounds they hear in their head.

This is unspeakably beautiful in my mind, and as we’ve done in years past, it seems only fair to celebrate the special moment of realization that comes with a band’s first album. The debut full-length. Sometimes it’s a tossed-off thing, constructed from prior EPs or thrown together haphazardly from demo tracks, and sometimes it’s a meticulously picked-over expression of aesthetic — a band coming out of the gate brimming with purpose and desperate to communicate it, whatever it might actually happen to be.

We are deeply fortunate to live in an age (for now) of somewhat democratized access to information. That is, if you want to hear a thing — or if someone wants you to hear a thing — it’s as simple as sharing and/or clicking a link. The strong word of mouth via ubiquitous social media, intuitive recording software, and an ever-burgeoning swath of indie labels and other promotional vehicles means bands can engage an audience immediately if they’re willing to do so, and where once the music industry’s power resided in the hands of a few major record companies, the divide between “listener” and “active participant” has never been more blurred.

Therefore, it is a good — if crowded — time for an act to be making their debut, even if it’s something that happens basically every day, and all the more worth celebrating the accomplishments of these first-albums both on their current merits and on the potential they may represent going forward. Some percent of a best-debuts list is always speculation. That’s part of what makes it so much fun.

As always, I invite you to let me know your favorite picks in the comments (please keep it civil). Here are mine:

telekinetic-yeti-abominable

The Obelisk Presents: The Top 20 Debut Albums of 2017

1. Telekinetic Yeti, Abominable
2. Rozamov, This Mortal Road
3. Mindkult, Lucifer’s Dream
4. Dool, Here Now There Then
5. Eternal Black, Bleed the Days
6. Arduini/Balich, Dawn of Ages
7. Vinnum Sabbathi, Gravity Works
8. Tuna de Tierra, Tuna de Tierra
9. Brume, Rooster
10. Moon Rats, Highway Lord
11. Thera Roya, Stone and Skin
12. OutsideInside, Sniff a Hot Rock
13. Hymn, Perish
14. Riff Fist, King Tide
15. Bees Made Honey in the Vein Tree, Medicine
16. Abronia, Obsidian Visions/Shadowed Lands
17. Book of Wyrms, Sci-Fi Fantasy
18. Firebreather, Firebreather
19. REZN, Let it Burn
20. Ealdor Bealu, Dark Water at the Foot of the Mountain

Honorable Mention

Alastor, Black Magic
Devil’s Witches, Velvet Magic
Elbrus, Elbrus
Green Meteor, Consumed by a Dying Sun
Grigax, Life Eater
High Plains, Cinderland
Kingnomad, Mapping the Inner Void
Lord Loud, Passé Paranoia
Masterhand, Mind Drifter
The Necromancers, Servants of the Salem Girl
Owlcrusher, Owlcrusher
Petyr, Petyr
The Raynbow, The Cosmic Adventure
Savanah, The Healer
War Cloud, War Cloud
WhiteNails, First Trip

I could keep going with honorable mentions, and no doubt will add a few as people remind me of other things on which I brainfarted or whathaveyou, preferably without calling me an idiot, though I recognize that sometimes that’s a lot to ask. Either way, the point remains that the heavy underground remains flush with fresh infusions of creativity and that as another generation comes to maturity, still another is behind it, pushing boundaries forward or looking back and reinventing what came before them.

Notes

Will try and likely fail to keep this brief, but the thing I find most striking about this list is the variety of it. That was not at all something I planned, but even if you just look at the top five, you’ve got Telekinetic Yeti at the forefront. Abominable is something of a speculative pick on my part for the potential it shows on the part of the Midwestern duo in their songcraft and tonality, but then you follow them with four other wildly different groups in Rozamov, Mindkult, Dool and Eternal Black. There you’ve got extreme sludge from Boston, a Virginian one-man cult garage project, Netherlands-based dark heavy rock with neo-goth flourishes, and crunching traditionalist doom from New York in the vein of The Obsessed.

What I’m trying to say here is that it’s not just about one thing, one scene, one sound, or one idea. It’s a spectrum, and at least from where I sit, the quality of work being done across that spectrum is undeniable. Think of the prog-doom majesty Arduini/Balich brought to their collaborative debut, or the long-awaited groove rollout from Vinnum Sabbathi, or how Italy’s Tuna de Tierra snuck out what I thought was the year’s best desert rock debut seemingly under everybody’s radar. Stylistically and geographically these bands come from different places, and as with Brume and Moon Rats, even when a base of influence is similar, the interpretation thereof can vary widely and often does.

That Moon Rats album wasn’t covered nearly enough. I’m going to put it in the Quarterly Review coming up just to give another look at the songwriting on display, which was maddening in its catchiness. Maddening in its cacophony of noise was Stone and Skin from Brooklyn’s Thera Roya, which found itself right on the cusp of the top 10 with backing from the ’70s heavy rock vibes of the post-Carousel Pittsburgh outfit OutsideInside. Norway’s Hymn thrilled with their bleak atmospheres, while Australia’s Riff Fist showed off a scope they’d barely hinted at previously, and Bees Made Honey in the Vein Tree offered surprises of their own in their warm heavy psych tonality and mostly-instrumental immersion. That record caught me almost completely off-guard. I was not at all prepared to dig it as much as I did.

Thrills continue to abound and resound as the Young Hunter-related outfit Abronia made their first offering of progressive, Americana-infused naturalist heavy, while Book of Wyrms dug themselves into an oozing riffy largesse on the other side of the country and Sweden’s Firebreather emerged from the defunct Galvano to gallop forth and claim victory a la early High on Fire. REZN’s Let it Burn got extra points in my book for the unabashed stonerism of it, while it was the ambience of Ealdor Bealu’s Dark Water at the Foot of the Mountain that kept me going back to it. An album that was genuinely able to project a sense of mood without being theatrical about it was all the more impressive for it being their first. But that’s how it goes, especially on this list.

There you have it. Those are my picks. I recognize I’m only one person and a decent portion of my year was taken up by personal matters — having, losing a job; pregnancy, childbirth and parenting, etc. — but I did my best to hear as much music as I could in 2017 and I did my best to make as much of it as new as I could.

Still, if there’s something egregious I left out or just an album you’d like to champion, hell yes, count me in. What were some of your favorites? Comments are right down there. Let’s get a discussion going and maybe we can all find even more music to dig into.

Thanks for reading and here’s to 2018 to come and the constant renewal of inspiration and the creative spirit.

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Vinnum Sabbathi to Begin UK Touring this Weekend

Posted in Whathaveyou on July 4th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

vinnum sabbathi

Mexican riffbringers Vinnum Sabbathi have been on the road in Europe since last month supporting their debut long-player, Gravity Works (review here), which was released earlier this year. The run, which wrapped up its continental portion on July 1, will pick up again this coming Friday at the warm-up party for the Bristol Psych Fest, and from there, Vinnum Sabbathi hit the road alongside Kurokuma — who’ve newly issued a Kraftwerk cover as a name-your-price download — for a stretch of dates across the UK that includes another free all-dayer in Kurokuma‘s native Sheffield and gigs in Coventry, Bath, Hull, Liverpool, Edinburgh, and so on.

It’s a solid stint to continue Vinnum Sabbathi‘s push for their awaited first full-length, and they’ll cap their time abroad on Aug. 12 with an appearance at SonicBlast Moledo in Portugal, which, frankly, is an awesome way to go out.

Dates, links and music follow here. Dig it:

vinnum-sabbathi-kurokuma tour

Vinnum Sabbathi / Kurokuma UK dates

ALL THE INFO ABOUT OUR UK TOUR IN JULY WITH:
Kurokuma / Cegvera / SODEN

July 07 Bristol Bristol Psych Fest WARM UP PARTY (Free Entry)
July 13 Edinburgh Vinnum Sabbathi / Kurokuma / Lucifers Corpus – Bannermans Bar
July 14 Hull HNC#50 Vinnum Sabbathi (Mexico) / Kurokuma / Battalions / Still
July 15 Dewsbury Vinnum Sabbathi/Kurokuma/Sick Tapestry/Gandalf The Green at The Old Turk
July 16 Liverpool KUROKUMA // VINNUM SABBATHI // PHULLOPIUM DUDE // MR TED
July 20 Coventry Vinnum Sabbathi / Kurokuma / Cegvera + MK1 Soundsystem
July 21 London Vinnum Sabbathi, Kurokuma, Cegvera, Doomicidal
July 22 Bath Vinnum Sabbathi, Kurokuma, Cegvera, Doomicidal
July 23 Sheffield Doomlines III – free doom/sludge/stoner all-dayer
July 28 Manchester Vinnum Sabbathi (Mexico) + special guests
July 29 Scunthorpe Vinnum Sabbathi (Mexico) + Guests

Vinnum Sabbathi:
Aug. 12 SonicBlast Moledo, Portugal

Vinnum Sabbathi is a space doom band from Mexico City founded in 2011 and formed by Alberto (guitar), Gerardo (drums), Samuel (bass) and Roman (live samples).

With influences like Ufomammut, YOB, Electric Wizard and 35007, the band mixes heavy riffs with scientific themes to bring loud and distorted sonic textures and energetic live performances; playing in venues all around Mexico with the Fume On Tour (2014), the Fuzzonaut Tour (2015) and the TerroNaut Tour (2016) along with bands like Terror Cosmico, Weedsnake and El Ahorcado.

Vinnum Sabbathi have just released Gravity Works to widespread acclaim.
https://vinnumsabbathi.bandcamp.com/album/gravity-works

Kurokuma have just released their cover of Kraftwerk’s “Radioactivity”.
https://kurokumauk.bandcamp.com/track/radioactivity-kraftwerk-cover

www.facebook.com/VinnumSabbathi/
https://vinnumsabbathi.bandcamp.com/
http://aimdownsightrecords.com/
https://lsdr.bandcamp.com/

www.facebook.com/kurokumauk
kurokumauk.bandcamp.com

Vinnum Sabbathi, Gravity Works (2017)

Kurokuma, “Radioactivity”

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Vinnum Sabbathi Update European Tour Plans

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 15th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

vinnum-sabbathi-Photo-by-Rodrigo-Jardon

Word has been kicking around now of a European tour from Mexico City instrumentalists Vinnum Sabbathi. The band made their full-length debut last month in the early hours of 2017 with Gravity Works (review here) via a slew of labels, including Aim Down Sight, LSDR and South American Sludge, but even before that, they’ve been planning the trip across the Atlantic that now looks like it will finally come to fruition this summer.

They’ve got a poster together for the run and what seems to be a good idea of the routing — both crucial steps, to be sure — but there are still some particulars to fill in when it comes to where they’ll be playing, connecting the dots from one city to the next, and so on. If you can help the band with any of the shows that aren’t yet together, get in touch with them via social media. I don’t want to speak for anybody, but I think they’ll probably play your house if you’ve got room enough for all the volume they’re sure to bring.

The PR wire has the following:

vinnum sabbathi euro tour

VINNUM SABBATHI – “GRAVITY WORKS” EUROPEAN TOUR 2017

We’re very excited to announce our tour dates for Europe so far, although we still need help to fill some shows and maybe a couple more could be added.

08 JUN DÜSSELDORF(??)
09 JUN MARBURG
10 JUN BERLIN
11 JUN LEIPZIG(??)
14 JUN CHEMNITZ(??)
15 JUN WEIMAR
21 JUN WÜRZBURG(??)
22 JUN MUNICH(??)
23 JUN NUREMBERG(??)
24 JUN DRESDEN
25 JUN HAMBURG(??)
28 JUN LEEUWARDEN(??)
29 JUN EINDHOVEN
30 JUN THE HAGUE(??)
01 JUL AMSTERDAM(??)
07 JUL BRISTOL
13 JUL EDINBURGH
14 JUL HULL
15 JUL DEWSBURY
16 JUL LIVERPOOL
20 JUL COVENTRY
21 JUL LONDON
22 JUL BATH
23 JUL SHEFFIELD
27 JUL OXFORD(??)
11 AGO ??????

Bio:
Vinnum Sabbathi is a space doom band from Mexico City founded in 2011 and formed by Alberto (guitar), Gerardo (drums), Samuel (bass) and Roman (live samples).

With influences like Ufomammut, YOB, Electric Wizard and 35007, the band mixes heavy riffs with scientific themes to bring loud and distorted sonic textures and energetic live performances; playing in venues all around Mexico with the Fume On Tour (2014), the Fuzzonaut Tour (2015) and the TerroNaut Tour (2016) along with bands like Terror Cosmico, Weedsnake and El Ahorcado.

The band has been part of festivals such as NRMAL 2014 and Lxs Grises Fest II & IV, recorded a live session at Mexican Radio Institute for Reactor 105.7FM and also being featured in different compilations including ‘The Stoner Box’ released by Los Angeles-based label Cleopatra Records.

www.facebook.com/VinnumSabbathi/
https://vinnumsabbathi.bandcamp.com/
http://aimdownsightrecords.com/
https://lsdr.bandcamp.com/

Vinnum Sabbathi, Gravity Works (2017)

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Vinnum Sabbathi, Gravity Works: Vastness and Density

Posted in Reviews on January 18th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

vinnum sabbathi gravity works

One doubts if Mexico City’s Vinnum Sabbathi had in mind defending the sciences as a political position when they were putting together their debut full-length, Gravity Works, for release through LSDR Records, Aim Down Sight, and South American Sludge, but there’s a clear sense of celebrating achievement as the five-song collection plays out topped in songs like the 11-minute “Early Works” and the penultimate “Loop Quantum Gravity” by public domain samples concerning all things space: astronauts, cosmonauts, the expanding universe, and so on. Of course, the use of samples in instrumental heavy rock to take the place of lyrics isn’t anything new — it’s been done for at least the last quarter-century — but the four-piece of guitarist Alberto, bassist Samuel, Mico (or Gerardo) and sampler/synther Roman use the clips also to execute a cohesive theme across the album’s 43-minute span, and that’s somewhat rarer in terms of process.

Gravity Works is consistent in this, and from their 2015 split with Bar de Monjas, Fuzzonaut (review here), back across a slew of EPs, digital singles and other short releases to their 2012 demo, they’ve been nearly entirely focused on the cosmic in one way or another. It’s almost odd, then, that they don’t actually play space rock. One might expect the thrust of Hawkwind or the grand, effects-soaked meanderings of any number of instrumental jammers given all the space-space-space that Vinnum Sabbathi highlight, but the band actually has much more in common with the likes of Bongripper of Monolord (obviously sans vocals in the case of the latter); proffering crushing wave after crushing wave of big-tone riffs to build a massive, engaging nod.

Even when it locks into the chugging groove of centerpiece “Gravity Waves,” Gravity Works does so with an abiding thickness in the guitar and bass, and the drums seem more than happy to roll this gargantuan onslaught forward. The songs themselves are plotted but still exploratory in the sense of likely having been built out of jams — it’s easy to imagine Vinnum Sabbathi in a rehearsal space, hopefully wearing earplugs, digging into the churn that emerges from the almost calm wade into dense waters at the start of opener “Weightlessness” — and the samples provide more than flourish throughout, becoming an essential part of the record from that opener onward.

Synth is used more sparingly, unless it’s there and the guitar and bass have just eaten it entirely — possible — but the recording/mixing job by Miguel Fraino at Vesubio34 Studio and mastering by James Plotkin (Khanate, so many others) leave little to want in terms of the production quality, capturing the push of air coming from Alberto and Samuel‘s cabinet speakers, the rumble of the latter on especially prevalent on “Loop Quantum Gravity” but always a key element, without pulling away from presenting the dynamic the band has managed to build over their five-plus years together.

vinnum sabbathi

That is to say, Gravity Works sounds completely fucking elephantine. Listen to basically everything after “Weightlessness” (also the shortest cut at 5:22) introduces the sprawl, whether it’s “Early Works,” “Gravity Waves,” “Loop Quantum Gravity” or closer “The Probe B,” and you’ll experience chest-compressing tonal heft of a suitably high order. But Vinnum Sabbathi‘s first long-player has its atmospheric aspects as well, and whether that’s the stretch of subdued-but-tense guitar that opens “Early Works” or the midsection sample break in “Loop Quantum Gravity,” that side is just as integral in the overall execution as the lurching thud of “Gravity Waves.”

And though with its runtime and general aesthetic cohesion, Gravity Works seems like a prime vinyl candidate, the course it follows is linear, fleshing out from its beginning as it moves toward “The Probe B,” which summarizes the impact of the material, adds nuance of wah in the guitar to subtly reinforce the notion of Vinnum Sabbathi as a band still growing, still finding themselves and who will look to build on what they’ve accomplished in these songs, and caps with a fervent kick in tempo that acts as an apex for the whole outing. One supposes there isn’t much else they could’ve done to end the record, but at 4:25, after a stop that gives a sample talking about a black hole free reign, the guitars start faster, the drums come back on a roll and a gallop that imagines High on Fire meeting YOB takes hold, shoving the track and the listener onward toward, what? Destruction? Some greater interstellar consumption? A subspace corridor of color, fuzz riffs and undulating sound waves?

I don’t really know, but by the time they lock in the final couple measures of nod and rumble to a finish, I’m ready for whatever the destination might be. In terms of Gravity Works itself, that concluding hum would seem to be it, but there’s a bigger story being introduced here, and for Vinnum Sabbathi, it will be their creative progression that enables them to tell it. What they do moving forward and how they continue to come together as a band, expand the chemistry they showcase in these tracks and work to make the tenets of cosmic doom their own. An overarching direction isn’t something one is inclined to guess at, though speculation is always fun, but Vinnum Sabbathi‘s debut impresses thoroughly because of what it might be starting as well as what it achieves in its own right, and it’s only fitting that it should dwell in those multiple dimensions, since that seems to be where the band has been headed the whole time.

Vinnum Sabbathi, Gravity Works (2017)

Vinnum Sabbathi on Thee Facebooks

Vinnum Sabbathi on Bandcamp

LSDR Records on Thee Facebooks

Aim Down Sight Records on Thee Facebooks

South American Sludge on Thee Facebooks

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Vinnum Sabbathi Release Gravity Works Tomorrow

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 2nd, 2017 by JJ Koczan

vinnum-sabbathi-photo-by-Rodrigo-Jordan

Look, we all know that outer space is a vacuum that can suck you in and explode your skull. We all know it. Vinnum Sabbathi certainly know it. Especially, it would seem, on “Gravity Waves,” the centerpiece of their awaited five-song debut album, Gravity Works, which is out tomorrow, Jan. 3, 2017, via Aim Down Sight Records and LSDR Records. The Mexican four-piece are still in the planning stages of a European tour this Spring to support the record, but of course that should be easier once eardrums get ahold of the tones they’re proffering on the record as well. Looking at you, Portugal. Might be time to get on this one.

I assume Gravity Works will be streaming starting tomorrow in all the usual places, so keep an eye out. In the meantime, here’s the art and info and links and the audio from Vinnum Sabbathi‘s 2015 split with Bar de Monjas (review here) for your listening and perusal pleasure:

vinnum sabbathi gravity works

“Gravity Works” is the first Full Album from Mexican space doomsters Vinnum Sabbathi.

Gravity Works describes the relationship between gravity and human exploration, from the state of weightlessness experienced and recorded by astronauts and the historic achievements of Russian and American scientists during the Space Age to the ultimate collapse of the entire Universe described by Asimov.

Recorded and Mixed by Miguel Fraino at Vesubio34 Studio in Mexico City between 2015-2016. Mastered by James Plotkin in USA 2016.

Art by Mike Sandoval (mike-sandoval.com)

Samples on “Weightlessness”, “Early Works” and “LQG” courtesy of NASA’s Educational Documentaries (www.nasa.gov). Samples on “Gravity Waves” and “The Probe B” by Roberto de la Peña and Andrea Celeste.

The Album will be released on vinyl by Aim Down Sight Records in Germany and CD by our own label LSDR Records in Mexico.

Upcoming European tour in 2017 to support the Album with confirmed shows in Germany, UK, the Netherlands and Portugal, still looking for help in those countries, contact: addendoom@hotmail.com and via Facebook.

www.facebook.com/VinnumSabbathi/
https://vinnumsabbathi.bandcamp.com/
http://aimdownsightrecords.com/
https://lsdr.bandcamp.com/

Vinnum Sabbathi & Bar de Monjas, Fuzzonaut Split (2015)

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Vinnum Sabbathi to Release Gravity Works in Jan.; Euro Tour in Spring

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 15th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

vinnum-sabbathi

Been a no-brainer to look forward to Mexico City’s Vinnum Sabbathi making their full-length debut since last year when the instrumentalists issued the split with Bar de MonjasFuzzonaut (review here), and displayed such a clear penchant for flow. A new tape release for that split is in the works as well, but the real news here is that Vinnum Sabbathi‘s first album, Gravity Works, is set to come out in Jan. 2017 through Aim Down Sight Records (Germany), South American Sludge (Argentina) and LSDR Records (Mexico). As the band puts it, US distribution is in the works.

Add to that the prospect of a European run in Spring and it seems all the more like Vinnum Sabbathi are preparing to get behind the record in a big way. They don’t have dates for that tour announced yet, but from what I hear it’s coming together even now, as Gravity Works is also in the process of being mixed and mastered.

Some of the below came through a translation matrix, but I think it gets the point across:

vinnum-sabbathi-euro-tour-poster

Our first Full Album “Gravity Works” will be released on January 3rd 2017.

Gravity Works, you will see the light in January 2017 and will be available in Germany via Aim Down Sight Records, in Argentina via South American Sludge Records in Mexico via LSDR Records and we’re in talks for distribution in the USA.

As far as the re-release on cassette of Fuzzonaut, is in the process of production, will be available in Europe through The Sober Stoner and in Mexico through LSDR Records.

Thank you for all your support and patience, you have done to vinnum sabbathi.

European Fans & Promoters:
We’ll be in Europe on May-June 2017 to support our upcoming first Album “Gravity Works” and we want to play in a venue near you, so get in touch to make this happen !

mail: addendoom@hotmail.com

Vinnum Sabbathi is:
Alberto (Guitar)
Samuel (Bass)
Mico / Gerardo (Drums)
Roman (Live Samples & Synth)

https://www.facebook.com/VinnumSabbathi/
https://vinnumsabbathi.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/aimdownsightrecords/
https://www.facebook.com/SASRECORDSARGENTINA/
https://www.facebook.com/lsdrrecords/
https://www.facebook.com/The-Sober-Stoner-1622910531354744/

Vinnum Sabbathi, Fuzzonaut Split (2015)

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