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Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Switzerland Makes First Lineup Announcement

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

This is gonna sound like I’m kissing ass, but Heavy Psych Sounds is real-deal upping its festival game this year. From the stellar California lineup to Italy to this, it’s been fun to watch as the shows get bigger and more plentiful. El Perro and maybe Acid Mammoth/1782 (?) had this fest in their latest tour dates, so the existence of Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Switzerland isn’t exactly news — and they’re both booked by HPS, so if it was a leak, it wasn’t done without the label knowing it since the bookers and the label are the same people — but the lineup is right on with Truckfighters in the headline slot, the aforementioned El Perro, Acid Mammoth and 1782, Giöbia and Oreyeon ticking any boxes you have for weird, and Deadsmoke for a bit of something nastier. I’ll be interested to see who else gets added — certainly there are plenty of acts on tour in May and with so many festivals happening around then — but if this was it I’d still say it’s a good one. And the poster alone is giving the lineup alone a run for its money.

Shows are in Martigny and Winterthur, and if you need me to say any more about Heavy Psych Sounds, I’m done here, but I’m pretty sure there will be more news from them in about five minutes, so just sit tight.

From the PR wire:

Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Switzerland first poster

First names and tickets for HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST SWITZERLAND available; May 26-27th on Winterthur and Martigny!

Today, Heavy Psych Sounds Records unveil the first names for the 2023 edition of HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST SWITZERLAND, the stoner, doom and psych rock mini-festival taking place simultaneously on May 26-27th in Winterthur and Martigny. Two days, two cities, same lineup: all the fuzz!

Following on from the recent HPS Fest Italy and HPS Fest California announcements, it’s now time to get ready for the summer season with the yearly Swiss gathering of all things heavy and fuzzy-sounding! As always with Heavy Psych Sounds, some of the finest bands of their label roster will hit the festival’s stage, joined by one or two cornerstone acts of the international heavy rock scene: on this special occasion, Swedish stoner rock icons Truckfighters are confirmed as headliners for this 2023 edition!

All bands announced are set to play both in Winterthur and Martigny across the weekend of April 26-27h of April. Day splits and timetables to be unveiled soon!

Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Switzerland 2023
May 26-27th at Gaswerk (Winterthur) and Les Caves du Manoir (Martigny)
(#127903#) Winterthur tickets: https://www.petzi.ch/de/events/51711-gaswerk-heavy-psych-sounds-fest/tickets/
(#127903#) Martigny tickets: https://www.petzi.ch/fr/events/51669-caves-du-manoir-heavy-psych-sounds-fest-switzerland/

All bands play both cities!
Truckfighters
Acid Mammoth
El Perro
1782
Giöbia
Deadsmoke
Oreyeon
+ more bands TBA

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

Truckfighters, Live at Fuzz Festival #3, Stockholm, Sweden

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Heavy Psych Sounds Finalizes Day Splits for Swiss & Austrian Festivals

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 28th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

In this year of returned-so-far live music, and with the eternal asterisk looming overhead as a reminder to hold such things precious while one can, I’m very much enjoying posting about so many festivals taking place over the last few days/weeks, as well as the inevitable bit of daydreaming that always accompanies. To wit, seeing High on Fire, Geezer and Ecstatic Vision in Switzerland, or watching Duel and Black Rainbows back-to-back in Austria? Yes, that would be just fine.

And attending such a thing would be a great way to sample Heavy Psych Sounds‘ wares when it comes to European bands — DeadsmokeRyte, Hazemaze1782Acid Mammoth, GiöbiaTonsSleepwulfOreyeon, and maybe even a look at something to come in Hellroom Projectors — as well as given headliners Elder.

The arguments in favor are myriad and though I won’t be there, I’m glad these things are happening, because you never know, maybe next time. Or, maybe not, in which case that’s all the more reason for this to happen where and when they can.

From the PR wire:

hps-fest-2022-switzerland-and-austria

HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS RECORDS Announces Final Day-Splits For HPS Fests in Switzerland & Austria!

Featuring ELDER, HIGH ON FIRE, MONDO GENERATOR, BLACK RAINBOWS, ACID MAMMOTH & many more high class live acts!

Headquartered in Rome, Italy, Heavy Psych Sounds Records represents some of the best artists in the global heavy psych, doom, fuzz blues, sludge and space rock realms such as Stöner (feat. former Kyuss members Brant Bjork & Nick Oliveri), Nebula, Yawning Man, Black Rainbows, Belzebong, Acid Mammoth, Alunah or The Sonic Dawn to name just a few. The underground cult label is not only THE adress for all heavy rock record collectors, but has also become an essential part of the live scene with a brisk participation from heavy music fans all over the world. Their festival-series shows no exception, spotlighting the ever-growing label’s dedication to its craft. While the first HPS Fests were held in Italy, the label has since extended its live reach into the UK, Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria and even the USA. Now, after more than 2 long years without any live shows, Heavy Psych Sounds Records has revealed the final day-splits for their upcoming HPS Fest editions in Winterthur, Switzerland as well as in Salzburg, Austria!

“We are so stoked to finally get back on the road with our HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FESTs !“ Rajko Dolhar of Heavy Psych Sounds recently commented. “After bringing our heavy psych vibes to many parts of Europe and the USA in recent years, we wanted to take over Switzerland and now Salzburg, too. Last year, the pandemic put a hitch in our giddy up but we are pretty sure that in 2022 we will succeed. The Line-Ups are some of the best we’ve ever put together so far, with HIGH ON FIRE, ELDER, MONDO GENERATOR, DUEL and so many more, grab your tickets and see you soon in front of the stage again!”

Taking place in both cities between June 3 – 5, 2022, with an eclectic line-up of high class bands such as psych rock kings ELDER, heavy masters HIGH ON FIRE, the desert punks of MONDO GENERATOR and many many more, the day-splits of the festival editions will read as follows.

WINTERTHUR TICKETS: https://www.petzi.ch/de/events/46811-gaswerk-heavy-psych-sounds-fest/tickets/#ticket-67502

SALZBURG TICKETS: https://www.rockhouse-bar.at/e458/heavy-psych-sounds-fest-salzburg

heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/
www.youtube.com/user/MonoStereo79

High on Fire, “Blood From Zion” live at Brick-by-Brick, San Diego, CA

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Soldat Hans Premiere Title-Track of New Album Anthaupt

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on March 15th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Soldat Hans

Anthaupt, the third full-length from Swiss post-metallers Soldat Hans, will see release vinyl May 20 through Wolves and Vibrancy Records with a digital edition preceding on April 22, and if you’re unfamiliar with the band, be ready for a multi-tiered heft of atmosphere and tone, a resonant feeling of exploration, and a due portion of skin-peeling harshness and pummel. Last heard from with 2018’s Es Taut (review here) and having made their debut with 2014’s Dress Rehearsal (review here), the band bring a simmer of tension beneath their ambience, and in those moments when the destructive impulse hits, as is the case as the gorgeous instrumental opener “Eighty-Two Percent Chance of Rain” gives way to Anthaupt‘s title-track (premiering below), the impact is no less palpable than the increase in distortion or volume. In six songs and 66 minutes — the runtime of the beast — the five-piece of vocalist/guitarist Omar Hetata, guitarist Omar Fra and Tobias Pfenninger, bassist Jonathan Chaclan, drummer Justin Harrison and various other collaborators — some evidently related, some not — bring to life an engrossing and expansive sound, coming across like the culmination of the band’s willful growth to this point.

To wit, “Anthaupt” finds an early apex as Carol Schuler joins Hetata on vocals, melodic and screaming voices uniting over dense-toned riffing. An organ-laced stretch follows, the melancholy ambience bolstered by trombone from Sebastian Koelman, and as the ensuing procession marches slowly to its finish, it’s the scathe that returns. Schuler proves to be a major presence as Anthaupt plays out, adding to extended pieces like “Speechwriter,” “Cineaste, Cineaste” and closer “The Jubilant Howl” such that the prevailing vibe of Soldat Hans reaching beyond themselves mirrors their forward-thinking creative mindset. The organ/synth contributions of Daniel Gisler — turns out Soldat Hans might just need to become a six-piece — Koelman, the cello by Julia Pfenninger and the backing vocals of Philip Harrison aren’t to be ignored either. Anthaupt is all the more consuming for what each player brings, marking out depths as it moves further through its course, minimal in the early going of “Horse Funeral” butSoldat Hans Anthaupt vibrant in the slow, echoing-feedback-led dirge that results. Comprising the entirety of side B, “Speechwriter” conveys immediacy through a shouted vocal part in its second half set against its lumbering tempo, fiinally giving way to screams that feel brutal in their urgency as well as what they might be doing to the vocal cords responsible for them.

All the while, Soldat Hans as a whole are patient, almost calm in how they bring it all about. Each move is constructed fluidly, and the scope of arrangement adds a cinematic quality, certainly to the ensuing instrumental wash of “Speechwriter” as well as to the build that seems to sweep up the early, wholesome verses of “Cineaste, Cineaste,” an echo of the subtle twang with which the guitar announces “Horse Funeral” prior, before receding once again to a ’70s singer-songwriter duet and, finally, righteously, combining the two ideas before finding even ground at the end. As an album, Anthaupt is plotted and ultra-modern in its evocative breadth, drawing from Earth and Europe’s post-metallic sphere and crafting something individual from them that’s likewise willing to be harsh and beautiful. Soldat Hans have grown bolder since their Dress Rehearsal those eight years ago, and it does not seem that the four since Es Taut have been wasted either if the final, agonizingly mournful march of “The Jubilant Howl” plays out across Anthaupt‘s final minutes, daring to inject a sense of hope — or jubilance, if you like — via guitar amid the harsh screams and lumbering, slow rhythm, readily grandiose and masterfully executed. A beauty of grief that ends where they began, if in a different realization.

Like Es Taut before it, Anthaupt challenges its listener to listen deeper, to appreciate the detail and the level of care put into the execution of these songs, the mixes through which they’re presented, and the complete effect of the textured oil brushstrokes with which the album is ultimately painted. In thinking of how “Anthaupt” represents the 2LP that shares its name, one will not find the picture complete in the 10-minute title-cut, but it does answer for the entirety of the the offering being made in terms of its melody and heft, and its willingness to depart from the early riff-led force of its delivery into and through its peaceful moment before growing even more oppressive. That is, it shows what Soldat Hans are capable of in terms of arrangement and of making their music a physical presence within itself, and the result of hearing it is correspondingly like being physically moved.

Track premiere follows here, along with the preorder link, vinyl breakdown, etc., courtesy of the PR wire.

Please enjoy:

3rd album by Soldat Hans.

Preorder: https://wolvesandvibrancyrex.bigcartel.com/product/soldat-hans-anthaupt-2×12

ANTHAUPT (WVR 055)
SIDE A:
Eighty-two Percent Chance of Rain (06:48)
Anthaupt (10:44)

SIDE B:
Speechwriter (15:04)

SIDE C:

Horse Funeral (09:37)
Cinéaste, Cinéaste (12:05)

SIDE D:
The Jubilant Howl (11:49)

Mastered by Magnus Lindberg Productions
– limited to 300 copies (200 x black purple egg / 100 x light blue transparent)
– gatefold sleeve inside / out
– 2 x inlays / lyrics sheets
– incl. DL code

Physical Release: May 20, 2022.

Band:
Justin Harrison – Drums
Omar Hetata – Guitar / Vocals
Omar Fra – Guitar
Tobias Pfennninger- Guitar
Jonathan Chaclan – Bass

Collaborators:

Carol Schuler – Vocals
Daniel Gisler – Rhodes, Organs, Synthesizer
Sebastian Koelman – Trombone
Julia Pfenninger – Cello
Philip Harrison – Backing Vocals

Soldat Hans on Facebook

Soldat Hans on Instagram

Soldat Hans on Bandcamp

Soldat Hans website

Wolves and Vibrancy Records store

Wolves and Vibrancy Records website

Wolves and Vibrancy Records on Facebook

Wolves and Vibrancy Records on Bandcamp

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Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Switzerland 2022 Makes First Lineup Announcement

Posted in Whathaveyou on July 20th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Switzerland 2022 stupid crop

Not going to sit here and pretend I know what the next year will bring. Or the next 15 minutes. Shit, I live with a three year old. Every day is a new reality to face down. Maybe announcements like this are grasping at straws for a life that’s gone now. I don’t know. But isn’t it worth it, especially in light of the universe of bullshit that has unfolded over the last year and a half — and don’t fool yourself, is still unfolding — to err on the side of optimism?

So yeah, Heavy Psych Sounds is announcing lineup info for its fest next year in Winterthur, Switzerland, at the famed Gaswerk venue. High on FireElder and Duel (who had a recent song premiere here) are the first three names, and that’s awesome. It’s a two-day event, and probably one of at-least-several-if-not-many the Italian label will unveil in the coming months, and though the chances of my being there are approximately nil, it still makes me feel good to think this might happen, so I’m posting about it. That’s all. I just want to actively think positively about a thing.

Here goes:

Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Switzerland 2022

HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS RECORDS announces HIGH ON FIRE, ELDER and DUEL for HPS FEST SWITZERLAND 2022!

After last year’s cancellation, Heavy Psych Sounds Records is proud to finally reveal the first bands for their Swiss edition of the renowned HPS Fest- series, taking place between June 3 – 4, 2022 at the Gaswerk in Winterthur!

Headquartered in Rome, Italy, Heavy Psych Sounds specializes in presenting the best artists in the global heavy psych, doom, fuzz blues, sludge and space rock realms such as BRANT BJORK, NEBULA, NICK OLIVERI, YAWNING MAN, STÖNER, BLACK RAINBOWS, ACID MAMMOTH, BELZEBONG, WEDGE, THE SONIC DAWN among many more, and their festival- series shows no exception, spotlighting the ever-growing label’s dedication to its craft. While the first HPS Fests were held in Italy, the label has since extended its live reach into the UK, Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria and even the USA: The underground cult label is not only THE adress for all heavy rock record collectors, but has also become an essential part of the live scene with a brisk participation from heavy music fans all over the world. More than a long year without live shows, today Heavy Psych Sounds announced the first big names for their Swiss 2022- edition, and have confirmed metal icons HIGH ON FIRE, progressive psych rock overlords ELDER, and Texas‘ heavy rockers DUEL to play HPS FEST Switzerland!

“We are so stoked to finally get back on the road with our HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FESTs !“ Says Heavy Psych Sounds staff member Rajko Dolhar. “After bringing our heavy psych vibes in the EU and the USA in recent years, we wanted to take on Switzerland too. Last year the pandemic put a hitch in our giddy up but we are pretty sure that in 2022 we will succeed. The lineup is one of the best so far with HIGH ON FIRE, ELDER, DUEL and many more yet to come, so grab your tickets and see you soon in front of the stage again !!”

Tickets for the HPS FEST Switzerland are now available at THIS LOCATION: https://www.petzi.ch/en/events/46811-gaswerk-heavy-psych-sounds-fest/tickets/#ticket-67502

heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/
www.youtube.com/user/MonoStereo79

Duel, “Children of the Fire

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Quarterly Review: Glanville, Destroyer of Light, The Re-Stoned, Ruff Majik, Soldat Hans, High Priestess, Weed Demon, Desert Storm, Ancient Altar, Black Box Warning

Posted in Reviews on July 17th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

quarterly-review-CALIFORNIA-LANDSCAPE-Julian-Rix-1851-1903

So Day 1’s done and it’s time to move on to Day 2. Feeling stressed and totally overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff still to be done? Why yes, I am. Thanks for asking. In the past, I used to handle the Quarterly Review well ahead of time. It’s always a lot to get through, but the week before, I’d be setting up back ends, chasing down links and Bandcamp players, starting reviews, etc., so that when it came time, all I had to do was the writing and plug it all into a post and I was set.

There was some prep-work done this past weekend, but especially this time, with my old laptop having been stolen in May, it’s all been way more jazz-improv. I was still adding releases as of last Friday, and writing beforehand? Shit. With the baby having just figured out how to climb? Not bloody likely. Accordingly, here we are, with much to do.

It’ll get done. I haven’t flubbed a Quarterly Review yet, and if I took an extra day to get there, I’m under no delusion that anyone else would care. So there you go. Let’s hit it for Day 2:

Quarterly Review #11-20:

Glanville, First Blood

glanville first blood

First Blood is the aptly-titled five-song debut EP from Glanville, a newcomer dual-guitar outfit with established players Philip Michel (The Earwix) on lead and Christopher West (Named by the Sun, ex-Stubb, etc.) on rhythm, Wight’s Peter-Philipp Schierhorn on bass and René Hofmann on vocals, and Thomas Hoffman (ex-Bushfire) on drums. Based in Germany and the UK, the group present 23 minutes of material on their first outing, drawing from the guitar-led likes of Thin Lizzy and Judas Priest to capture early metal and present it with a heavy rocking soulfulness and modern production. The most raucous of the cuts might be centerpiece “Durga the Great,” but neither “God is Dead” nor “Dancing on Fire” before nor “Demons” and “Time to Go” after want for action, and especially the latter builds to a furious head to close out the release. Hofmann as a standalone singer wants for nothing in range or approach, and the band behind him obviously build on their collective experience to dig into a stylistic nuance rarely executed with such confidence. They’ve found a place willfully between and are working to make it theirs. Can’t ask for more than that.

Glanville on Thee Facebooks

Glanville on Bandcamp

 

Destroyer of Light, Hopeless

destroyer of light hopeless

Having just recently signed to Argonauta Records for a new album in 2019, Austin doomers Destroyer of Light follow their 2017 long-player, Chamber of Horrors (review here), with a further auditory assault in the lumbering Hopeless. Psychedelic and yet still somehow traditional doom lingers in the brain after “Nyx” and “Drowned” have finished – the latter with an Alan Watts sample discussing alcoholism – and the band moves into demos for Chamber of Horrors cuts “Into the Smoke,” “Lux Crusher” and “Buried Alive.” Between the two previously unreleased songs and those three demos, Hopeless pushes to 39 minutes, but it’s probably still fair to call it an EP because of the makeup. Either way, from the miserable plod of “Nyx,” in which each chug in the riff cycle seems to count another woe, to the rolling nod early and surprising melody late in “Drowned,” Hopeless is anything but. Anticipation was already pretty high for Destroyer of Light’s next record after the last one, but all Hopeless does is show further depth of approach and more cleverly-wielded atmospheric murk. And the more it sounds like there’s no escape, the more Destroyer of Light seem to be in their element.

Destroyer of Light on Thee Facebooks

Destroyer of Light on Bandcamp

 

The Re-Stoned, Stories of the Astral Lizard

the re-stonEd stories of the astral lizard

The inevitable question is “Why a lizard?” and if you make it four minutes into 11-minute opener “Fractal Panorama” and don’t have your answer, go back ad start over. Moscow heavy psych instrumentalists The Re-Stoned intend the reptile as a spirit guide for their new outing Stories of the Astral Lizard (on Oak Island Records), which follows quickly behind their late-2017 offering, Chronoclasm (review here), and given the ultra-patient desert vibes in the opener, the acoustic-laced folk-prog of “Mental Print for Free,” the languid meander of “A Companion from the Outside,” the swirling sprawl of the 16-minute “Two Astral Projections” and the final cowpoke drift of “The Heather Carnival,” one might indeed just find a lizard sunning its belly amid all the atmospheric evocations and hallucinatory vibes. I’ll take “Two Astral Projections” as the highlight, but mostly because the extra length allows the band to really dig in, but really the whole album feeds together gorgeously and is a new level of achievement when it comes to atmosphere for The Re-Stoned, who were already underappreciated and find themselves only more so now.

The Re-Stoned on Thee Facebooks

Oak Island Records on Thee Facebooks

 

Ruff Majik, Seasons

Ruff Majik Seasons

Right on fuzz, right on groove, right on vibe – there isn’t much else one might say about Ruff Majik’s Seasons (on Rock Freaks Records and Forbidden Place Records) beyond “right on.” Heavy rock with twists of psychedelia, the Pretoria, South Africa, three-piece of Johni Holliday, Jimi Glass and Benni Manchino make their home on the lines of various subgenres, but wherever they go, the proceedings remain decisively heavy. To wit, a cut like “Breathing Ghosts” or the later “Birds Stole My Eyes” might dig into shuffle boogie or extreme-metal-derived thrust, but there’s a chemistry between the members and a resonant looseness that ties the material together, and as the last 14 of the total 66 minutes are dedicated to “Asleep in the Leaves,” there’s plenty of progressive weirdness in which to bask, one song moving through the next such that neither “Hanami Sakura (And the Ritual Suicide” nor the semi-doom-plodding “The Deep Blue” nor the funky twists of “Tar Black Blood” come across as predictable. Seasons might take a few listens to sink in, but it’s easily worth that effort.

Ruff Majik on Thee Facebooks

Ruff Majik at Rock Freaks Records webstore

Forbidden Place Records on Bandcamp

 

Soldat Hans, Es Taut

SOLDAT HANS ES TAUT-750

Hyperbole-worthy post-ism from Switzerland’s Soldat Hans makes their sophomore outing, Es Taut – on Wolves and Vibrancy Records as a 2LP – a forward thinking highlight. As rich in atmosphere as Crippled Black Phoenix and as lethal as Converge or Neurosis or anyone else you might dare to put next to them, the six-piece made their debut with 2014’s Dress Rehearsal (review here) and served notice of their cross-genre ambitiousness. Es Taut finds them four years later outclassing themselves and most of the rest of the planet across three extended tracks – “Story of the Flood” (26:15), “Schoner Zerbirst, Part I” (8:03) and “Schoner Zerbirst, Part II” (18:56) – that sprawl out with a confidence, poise and abrasion that is nothing short of masterful. Es Taut may be a case of a band outdoing their forebears, but whatever their legacy becomes and however many people take notice, Soldat Hans singlehandedly breathe life into the form of post-metal and prove utterly vital in so doing, not only making it their own, but pushing forward into something new in ambience and heft. This is what a band sounds like while making themselves indispensable.

Soldat Hans on Thee Facebooks

Wolves and Vibrancy Records website

 

High Priestess, High Priestess

high priestess high priestess

Calling to order a nod that’s immersive from the opening strains of leadoff/longest-track “Firefly” (still immediate points), Los Angeles trio High Priestess build out the psych-doom ritualizing of their 2017 demo (review here) to make their self-titled full-length debut through Ripple Music. The difference between the demo and the album in terms of what’s included comes down to artwork and the track “Take the Blame,” which adds its bell-of-the-ride swing between the atmosphere and melodic focus of “Banshee” and the spacious roller “Mother Forgive Me.” Potential is writ large throughout from guitarist/vocalist Katie Gilchrest, bassist/vocalist Mariana Fiel and drummer Megan Mullins, as it was on their demo, and even the harsh growls/screams on “Despise” seem to have found their place within the proceedings. As they wrap with the guitar-led jam of “Earth Dive,” High Priestess put the finishing touch on what’s hands-down one of 2018’s best debut albums and offer a reminder that as much potential as there is in their sound for future development, the accomplishments here are considerable unto themselves.

High Priestess on Thee Facebooks

Ripple Music website

 

Weed Demon, Astrological Passages

weed demon astrological passages

Four tracks of gurgling riffy plunder pervade Astrological Passages, the 41-minute – longer if you get the digital version or the tape/CD, which includes the 7:24 “Dominion of Oblivion” – debut album from Columbus, Ohio’s Weed Demon. Delivered on vinyl through Electric Valley Records, the nodder/plodder carves out a cave for itself within a mountain of tonally thick stoner metal riffing, infusing a sense of sludge with shouted and growled vocals from guitarists Andy and Brian and bassist Jordan – only drummer Chris doesn’t get a mic – and an overarching sense of bludgeoning that’s Sleep-derived if not Sleep-adjacent in terms of its actual sound. Nasty? Why, yes it is, but as “Sigil of the Black Moon” heads toward the midpoint of its 10-minute run, the repetitive groove assault makes the band’s intention plain: worship weed, worship riff. They get faster on “Primordial Genocide” and even sneak a bit of speed in amidst the crawl before the banjo takes hold in the second half of 12-minute closer “Jettisoned” – more Americana sludge please; thank you – but they never lose sight of their mission, and it’s the uniting factor that makes their debut hit like the brick to the head that it is.

Weed Demon on Thee Facebooks

Electric Valley Records website

 

Desert Storm, Sentinels

desert storm sentinels

With Sentinels, Oxford, UK, five-piece Desert Storm pass a decade since making their self-titled debut in 2008. They followed that with 2010’s Forked Tongues (review here), 2013’s Horizontal Life and 2014’s Omniscient (review here), and though they had a single out in 2014 on H42 Records as a split with Suns of Thunder (review here) in 2016, Sentinels is their first outing on APF Records and their first long-player in four years. Burl has always been an important factor in what they do, and the High on Fire-meets-Orange Goblin slamming of “The Brawl” backs that up, but Desert Storm have left much of the hyper-dudeliness behind in favor of a more complex approach, and while Sentinels isn’t a minor undertaking at 10 songs and 51 minutes, longer cuts like “Kingdom of Horns” and “Convulsion” demonstrate the maturity they’ve brought to bear, even as the one-two punch of “Drifter”  and “The Extrovert” offer swinging-fist hooks and beard-worthy chug that assures any and all testosterone quotas are met.

Desert Storm on Thee Facebooks

APF Records on Bandcamp

 

Ancient Altar, Cosmic Purge/Foie Gras

ancient altar cosmic purge foie gras

Based in Los Angeles, Ancient AltarScott Carlson (bass/vocals), Barry Kavener (guitar/vocals), Jesse Boldt (guitar) and Etay Levy (drums) – were last heard from on 2015’s dug-in atmosludger Dead Earth (review here), and they return lo these several years later with the two-tracker Cosmic Purge/Foie Gras, pushing into more extreme crush-of-riff with an abandon that’s anything but reckless. On the contrary, there’s some clear development in the 10-minute “Cosmic Purge” and 13-minute “Foie Gras,” rolling out oppressive grooves with blended screams/shouts and cleaner vocals. As with the last album, a drive toward individuality is central here, and Ancient Altar get there in tone while bringing forth a sense of scope to a sound so regularly thought of as closed off or off-putting in general. In its early going, “Foie Gras” hypnotizes with echoing melody and spaciousness only to resolve itself in a deeply weighted dirge march, furthering the pummel of “Cosmic Purge” itself. I don’t know if the EP – on vinyl through Black Voodoo Records, CD on Transcendental Void Records – will lead toward another album or not, but the sense of progression in Ancient Altar’s style is right there waiting to be heard, so here’s hoping.

Ancient Altar on Thee Facebooks

Black Voodoo Records on Thee Facebooks

 

Black Box Warning, Attendre la Mort

black box warning attendre la mort

Listen to it on headphones and the kickdrum on Black Box Warning’s Attendre la Mort is downright painful. Next-level blown-out aggro pulsations. Brutal in a physical sense. The rest of the band doesn’t follow far behind in that regard. Riffs are viscous and violent in noise rock tradition, but denser in their tone despite some underlying punkishness, and the vocals are likewise distorted and abrasive. The five-song/23-minute EP’s title translates to “Waiting for Death,” and each of the tracks is a dose: Opener “5 mg” is followed by “4 mg,” “1 mg,” “2 mg” and “3 mg.” Unsurprisingly, pills are a theme, particularly on “4 mg,” and the sense of violent threat is clear in “2 mg” and 3 mg,” which boast lines like, “Watch them all scream/Watch your enemy bleeded,” and “You are the pig/I am the butcher,” respectively. Between the lyrical and the general aural cruelty, the dis-ease is consuming and unmitigated, sludge becoming a slow-motion grindcore, and that’s clearly the point. Not stabbing, but gouging.

Black Box Warning on Thee Facebooks

Black Box Warning on Bandcamp

 

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Soldat Hans to Release Es Taut April 28

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 27th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

solldat hans

This band is fucking awesome. I’m serious. You like Amenra? That’s cool. Soldat Hans are better. You think Cult of Luna are the shit? Soldat Hans will eat your fucking soul. I said as much when they put out Dress Rehearsal (review here) in 2014, but they’re something special, and having now listened to the follow-up, Es Taut, which is out at the end of April via Wolves and Vibrancy Records, their potency has diminished none in the intervening four years between releases. Some music is just powerful. That’s pretty much the story here.

You can stream the 26-minute opener “Story of the Flood” at the bottom of this post, and I recommend you do so. Es Taut has more melody but no less impact than its predecessor, and yeah, it basically makes mincemeat out of the current sphere of post-metal, atmospheric sludge, or whatever the hell else you might want to call it. Will be on my best of 2018 list for sure. Already is, in fact.

From the PR wire:

Soldat Hans Es Taut

Soldat Hans – Es Taut – Wolves And Vibrancy Records

Switzerland-based sextet Soldat Hans began their career as an instrumental noise band playing solely improvised sets. The turning point happened around 2013 when they settled to write some material for their first album “Dress Rehearsal”, which was released in November 2014. Taking their name from the old fairytale “Des Teufels russiger Bruder” by the brothers Grimm, the sound of Soldat Hans somehow echoed the desolate feeling of this very tale, also making reference to others like Mahler and Schubert. “Dress Rehearsal” was an adventurous journey crossing disparate musical genres like doom, post-rock, drone and dark jazz.

After playing numerous gigs in support of their debut album the Swiss group now returns with their sophomore album, “Es Taut”. A three song album spanning 54 minutes, “Es Taut” was recorded in Winterthur by Philip Harrison, who also recorded the band’s debut, and mastered by Magnus Lindberg in Stockholm. The album sees the band following the same trajectory explored on “Dress Rehearsal”, merging elements of doom, post-rock, drone and dark jazz to craft music that sounds utterly depressing, haunting and enigmatic and yet extremely engaging.

Tracklisting:
1. Story Of The Flood 26:15
2. Schoner Zerbirst Part I 8:03
3. Schoner Zerbirst Part II 18:56

Soldat Hans is:
Omar – Guitar, Vocals
Tobias – Guitar
Omar – Guitar
Jonathan – Bass
Clemens – Keys
Justin – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/soldathansband/
https://soldathans.bandcamp.com/
https://soldathans.org/
http://wolvesandvibrancyrecords.com
https://www.facebook.com/wolvesandvibrancyrecords
https://wolvesandvibrancyrecords.bandcamp.com

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Quarterly Review: Satan’s Satyrs, Wildeornes, Blackwülf, VRSA, Marant, Grizzlor, Mother Crone, Psychedelic Witchcraft, Chimpgrinder & Miscegenator, Oak

Posted in Reviews on January 8th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk quarterly review winter

Last day. It’s been some week. When I otherwise would’ve been putting these reviews together yesterday? Jury duty. Yup, my civic responsibility. Add that to a busted laptop, a full-time job and a couple busy days for news, and you have a good argument for why with Quarterly Reviews prior I’ve gotten up at six in the morning over the weekend before and started writing to get as much out of the way as possible. Oh wait, I did that this time too. Well, maybe it was seven.

Either way, as it comes to a close, I want to personally express my thanks to you for checking it out and being a part of what’s become a weird seasonal ritual for me. I hope you’ve found something (or find something today) that resonates with you and stays with you for a long time. I’m pretty sure that’s what it’s all about.

Quarterly Review #41-50:

Satan’s Satyrs, Don’t Deliver Us

satan's satyrs don't deliver us

Virginian riff-turner trio Satan’s Satyrs passed the half-decade mark with their third album, late-2015’s Don’t Deliver Us (on Bad Omen Records), just one year after their sophomore outing, Die Screaming! crawled up from the foggy ’70s ether. In addition to touring the US with Electric Wizard, with whom Satan’s Satyrs shares bassist Clayton Burgess (also vocals), one assumes the trio spent the remainder of the year mining old VHS discount-bin horror to find inspiration and fitting subject matter for quick-turning cuts like “(Won’t You be My) Gravedancer” and “Crimes and Blood,” but whatever they did, it worked. As “Spooky Nuisance” jams out its Hendrix-via-Sabbath vibing and the subsequent “Germanium Bomb” leans into yet another impressive solo by guitarist Jarrett Nettnin complemented by the fills of drummer Stephen Fairfield, there’s an element of performance to what they do, but whether it’s the proto-doom of closer “Round the Bend” or the motor-chug of “Two Hands,” Satan’s Satyrs find that sweet spot wherein they constantly sound like they’re about to fall apart, but never actually do. For sounding so loose, they are enviably tight.

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Bad Omen Records

Wildeornes, Erosion of the Self

wildeornes erosion of the self

Sometimes you have an idea for a band, and it’s like, “I’m gonna start a band that puts this genre and this genre together.” In the case of Aussie four-piece Wildeornes, it’s stoner and black metal coming together on their second full-length, Erosion of the Self. I’ll give it to them, they pull it off. I’m not sure the “arising” instead of “rising” in “Serpent Arising” or the “So fucking high!” at the end of “The Subject” are really necessary, but hard to ignore the fact that before they get there, they’ve nodded at Pentagram, Crowbar, and Goatsnake and included a couple measures of blastbeats, or the fact that throughout the album they effectively tilt to one side or the other, riding atmospheric cymbals over a rolling groove in “The Oblivion of Being” only to tap into Nile-brand Egyptology in “Incantation for the Demise of Autumn” only to affect Erosion of the Self‘s biggest chorus on “Winter’s Eve.” Whatever genre tag they, you or I want to give it, their roots are definitely metal, but the juxtaposition they offer within that sphere works for them.

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Wildeornes on Bandcamp

Blackwülf, Oblivion Cycle

blackwulf oblivion cycle

Raw groove is at the core of what Oakland, California’s Blackwülf offer on their second album and Ripple Music debut, Oblivion Cycle. Divided neatly into two sides for an LP, its 10 track hearken to a stripped-down vision of classic metal on “Memories,” Sabbath and Maiden both a factor but not the end of the line when it comes to the four-piece’s influences. Somebody in this band (if not multiple somebodies) is a punker. The two impulses play out in a balance of grand stylization and lean production – to wit, “Wings of Steel” sneers even as it puts a triumphant foot on the stage monitor and gallops off – and if the punk/metal battle isn’t enough of a tip-off, let the umlaut serve as confirmation that these guys are going to miss Lemmy (who isn’t?), but their methods ultimately prove more indebted to Judas Priest than Motörhead by the time they get down to “Never Forget,” which touches on some vocal soaring as it rounds out that feels especially bold as well as well placed as a late gem before the slamming-groove-into-Iommic-flourish of closer “March of the Damned.” As much as Oblivion Cycle has these elements butting heads across its span, that’s not to say Blackwülf lack control or don’t know what they’re doing. Just the opposite. Their pitting ideas against each other is a big part of the appeal, for listeners and likely for the band as well.

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Ripple Music

VRSA, Phantom of an Era

vrsa phantom of an era

Four years after issuing their second album, 2011’s Galaxia (review here), late-2015’s Phantom of an Era finds Connecticut’s VRSA a considerably more crunch-laden entity. They’ve have some lineup changes in the past half-decade, which is fair enough, but guitarist Andrius and guitarist/vocalist Josh remain prominent, leading the rhythm section of bassist/vocalist John and drummer Wes through prog-metal cascades, quiet parts shifting on a dime to full-volume assaults or holding off and making the change more gradual as tension builds. Either way, if the end-goal is heavy, VRSA get there, whether it’s the rolling, chugging and growling of “Grand Bois” or the winding and crashing and thrashing of the later “Marble Orchard,” or how closer “Baron Cimetière” sets up its waltz rhythm subtly in the beginning only to bash the listener’s skull with it as the inevitable crushing begins anew. There’s plenty of it to go around on Phantom of an Era, which keeps a consistent air of brutality even as it veers into clean, progressive or atmospheric forms.

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VRSA on Bandcamp

Marant, High Octane Diesel

marant high octane diesel

As they get down elsewhere with hard-driving, Steak-style post-Kyuss desertism, Swiss four-piece Marant have just a couple of more laid back trips perfectly placed along the path of their debut album, High Octane Diesel. The first of them, “Smoothie,” follows opener “Kathy’s Trophy,” and like the later “Road 222,” it has its more raucous side as well, but the big tone-wash happens with the languid heavy psych roll of closer “N’BaCon?,” also the longest track at 8:47. The effect that varying their modus has on broadening the scope of more straightforward songs like “Evil Schnaps” and “The Good the Bad and the Trip” isn’t to be understated. Not only does it show a different side of the emerging chemistry between vocalist Jimmy, guitarist Sergio Calabrian Donkey, bassist Aff Lee and drummer Sir Oli with Snake, but it gives High Octane Diesel an atmospheric range beyond the desert and into an expanse no less ripe for exploration. Whichever method they employ, Marant engage fluidly across their first record.

Marant on Thee Facebooks

Marant on Bandcamp

Grizzlor, Cycloptic

grizzlor cycloptic

Lot of noise, lot of fuckall, not too many songs. Connecticut trio Grizzlor manage to pack seven songs onto a 7” release called Cycloptic (on Hex Records), most of which hover on either side of 90 seconds apiece. Dissonance, grit and tension pervade the offering front to back, and between “Sundays are Stupid” and “I’m that Asshole,” there’s an edge of experimentation in the vocals and rhythm as well, some starts and stops that add to the songwriting, though the peeled-skin noise rock of “Tommy” and the build-into-mayhem of “Winter Blows” ensure that the business of punkish intensity isn’t left out. Was it a danger to start with? Nah. Closer “Starship Mother Shit” and the earlier “Life’s a Joke” rolls out a sludgy-style groove, but with sneering and shouting overtop and hard-edged percussive punctuation, there’s no question where Grizzlor got all that aggression from. If Grizzlor are playing in the basement, somebody’s gonna call the cops.

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Hex Records

Mother Crone, Awakening

mother crone awakening

Bull-in-a-china-shop’ing their way through nine mostly-blistering tracks in 43 minutes, Seattle trio Mother Crone make their full-length debut with the appropriately titled Awakening, a record that melts doom and thrash together with the best of earliest Mastodon and comes out of it sounding righteous, wildly heavy and solidly in control of their methods. Don’t believe it? First of all, why not? Second, check out the six-minute “Descending the North” – the third track after a beastly opening with the mysteriously JFK-sampling intro “Silt Laden Black” and “Black Sea” – which chugs and twists and stomps through its first half only to drop out to just-guitar ambience and burst to life again with a shredding solo finish that leads to – wait for it – the quiet guitar-and-vocals only spaciousness of “The Dream,” which marks a twist into a more experimental middle quotient of the album, the subsequent “Halocline” and furiously building “Revelation” more experimental in form, before the sludgy “Turning Tides” and raging “Apollyon” make the job of the nine-minute closing title-track even more difficult in summarizing everything that came before it. A task of which that song makes short work. For the momentum they build and the brashness they execute within that, Mother Crone‘s Awakening is indeed bound to stir.

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Mother Crone on Bandcamp

Psychedelic Witchcraft, Black Magic Man

psychedelic witchcraft black magic man

Italian four-piece Psychedelic Witchcraft issued Black Magic Man in mid-2015 as their debut EP, and wound up selling through both its limited 10” vinyl pressings. For the Twin Earth Records CD version, it’s been expanded by two tracks – still EP length at 27 minutes – and given new artwork that underscores the band’s cultish bent, which comes across strong in the vocals of Virginia Monti, very much at the forefront of the group’s presentation on “Angela” and “Lying in Iron,” the opening duo that give way to the desert-toned push of the title-track, also the strongest hook included. Drummer Daniele Parrella leads the march into the grungier “Slave of Grief,” in which the guitar of Jacopo Fallai will take a noisy forward position in the midsection, giving way later to some blown-out singing from Monti given heft by bassist Riccardo Giuffrè, like 1967 time traveling to 1971. The production on the last two cuts, “Wicked Dream” and “Set Me Free” is audibly different (Vanni also plays bass), more modernly-styled, but the band’s core intent of living up to their name remains true.

Psychedelic Witchcraft on Thee Facebooks

Twin Earth Records

Chimpgrinder & Miscegenator, Split 7″

chimpgrinder miscegenator split

Philadelphia and New York rarely agree on anything, but Chimpgrinder and Miscegenator, who make their homes respectively in those burgs, have come together at least long enough to share a split 7” between them, though of course what they do with that time is vastly different. Chimpgrinder proliferate a raw kind of sludge on their two tracks, not completely void of melody, but more geared toward groove than expanse, “Gates” taking off on an lengthy solo and deciding it’d rather not come back, ending in feedback fading to abrasive noise. That’s a fitting lead-in for what NY’s Miscegenator are up to on the other side, as “Hate Hate Hate” leads off a six-song set of visceral grind. Shit is raw and mean, and it d-beats its way either into your heart or off your turntable – it’s not the kind of music anyone ever played because they were feeling friendly. Blink and its gone, but the punk-rooted abrasion is like as not to leave a scar as closer “Tony Randall was Right” goes slicing, which is a fair enough answer to the pummel Chimpgrinder made their own a whopping five minutes earlier.

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Oak, Oak

oak oak ep

The self-titled, self-released, self-recorded debut EP from London four-piece Oak saves its burliest impression for “Ride with Me,” the third of its four component tracks. That’s not to say that “All Above” and “Queen of this Land” aren’t plenty dudely – the vocals of Andy Wisbey see to that – but “Ride with Me” feels particularly caked in testosterone. Somewhat quizzical that it also finds guitarist/engineer Kevin Germain, bassist Scott Mason and drummer Rob Emms (since replaced by Sergiu, it would seem) vibing out for a bit of quiet desert noodling in the middle and ending with a primo shuffle of the post-Kyuss variety. Maybe it’s a fine line when one considers the body of work of Orange Goblin as an influence, but it gives a different context to the two songs before and certainly to the stonerly bounce of “Dissolve” after to know that Oak have more in their playbook than the standard beer-pounding and chestbeating. Should be interesting to hear how the various impulses play out as they more forward.

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Oak on Bandcamp

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