Friday Full-Length: Clamfight, Clamfight

Posted in Bootleg Theater on May 16th, 2025 by JJ Koczan

 

This is out today. It is Clamfight’s fourth full-length and very much a self-titled in the tradition of a band declaring themselves as a group. It’s self-released, and it comes seven years after their last record, III. I reviewed that album. I could probably review this one too, and talk about the tones in Sean McKee’s and Joel Harris’ guitars or the former’s e’er vigilant shred, the punch Louis Koble brings to “Dragonhead,” drummer/vocalist Andy Martin’s duet with Oldest Sea’s Samantha Marandola in “Brodgar,” or the fact that across seven songs and 43 minutes the band manage to turn riffy burl-rock into a platform for a mostly-not-toxic expression of masculine love — that is, their love for each other — with an emotional honesty that resonates even beyond the heartstring-pull of the eponymous “Clamfight”‘s guest vocal spot from Steve Murphy of Kings Destroy.

I’m also on that track, on “Clamfight,” screaming like a jerk, but even more than that — I was fortunate enough to meet engineer Steve Poponi, who recorded this and helmed everything else Clamfight has released to-date, before he passed away in 2023 — it’s the emotional honesty of the thing I want to highlight. Why on earth, in talking about an album that so much wears its heart on its sleeve, would I pretend that, say, I haven’t known Clamfight for two decades, or pretend that I don’t consider them friends, that I wasn’t honored to be included in not only what’s their best album (and I say that as somebody who helped release one of them) but in what’s so clearly intended as an all-in culmination of their time together, made in the precious knowledge that all is fleeting. It’s been seven real years since their last record and the spirit of Clamfight, the urgency from the sprawl of 11-minute opener “The Oar” onward, comes in part from that. Love, loss, growth, life, death — Clamfight are celebrating as much as they’re mourning here, but the point is they’re doing it all together and realizing how lucky they are to have the chance to do that as part of their lives for so long. They’re right, and it’s a beautiful, if very adult, realization to witness.

It comes with a corresponding sincerity of form. Don’t tell this to “Drinking Tooth” on here, but Clamfight are not a stoner band and they never were, however large their tones may grow or how weighted their grooves can get or how informed they may be by things like fishing and obscure historical lore. Okay, maybe a little. But they’ve never been about chasing fuzz, or about playing to ideas of genre, and part of the honesty throughout Clamfight is in just how much they push against that. It’s ’90s thrash and hardcore gang shouts. It’s the acoustics and string sounds on “FRH.” The unrepentantly epic ground-scorch before “Redtail” is even halfway over (also after), setting up a punch-drunk roll as the band ride their own groove into the sunset, aware that clamfight clamfightany time could be the last time. It’s not social media content. It’s not trying to get on the cool playlist. It’s its own thing because they made it true to who they are as people and who they’ve grown to be as they’ve come into adulthood together. “Clamfight” itself is very much about that, but it’s all over the rest of the songs as well, and if you’d tell me you can’t understand how outwardly aggressive or loud or harsh music can be used to express love or gratitude, the only reply I really have for you is I’m sorry.

The line is right there in the galloping part of “Clamfight” — “Same four dudes/All this time” — and the song itself asks how long it can last. I don’t have an answer for that, but the band does. The answer is in cherishing what you have, whether that’s a band, a family, your life, a dumpy blog or some other outlet, for the time you have it. That’s what makes Clamfight a mature Clamfight album, and I don’t think I have to say that these aren’t the kinds of self-manifestations one would generally get from dudes in their 20s — not to disparage the songs Clamfight were writing at the time; I still love 2010’s Volume I (review here) and remember nostalgically seeing them on stage before then as well — but accepting being grown up and knowing a little more about who you are is a part of moving into middle age. There’s no attempt to hide that in these songs. No attempt to hide the fun. It’s as open a record as Clamfight could ever have hoped to make, and I love it for that. You can hear each one of them putting everything they have into it. Not every band gets to make an album like that, let alone to realize they’re doing it at the time and value it accordingly.

So they’re lucky to have each other and they know it. In uncertain times and facing an unknowable future ahead where little seems bright, that warmth is a saving grace. If the lesson of the pandemic was to teach the value of being together by keeping us apart, Clamfight embrace this as sweeping personal growth and depth of craft. These songs, this album taken as a whole, is a ready example of why you would be in a band for 20 years without care for ‘making it big’ or financial profit. It’s because you love it and you love the people you do it with. Such a simple answer and in no small part because men are raised to be emotional cripples it’s such a rare thing to see outside of violent and/or misogynist contexts. That is to say, it’s socially acceptable for men to bond so long as they’re hating women or killing somebody. But sounds so heavy with love so clearly at their foundation are rare and special and that’s exactly what Clamfight’s Clamfight is. The declaration it makes is no less than the band bearing their heart in portraying the family they’ve become over the last two decades. It’s brash and gorgeous and special and I’m very, very happy for my friends.

Also, Andy got married last week and Sean’s family recently welcomed a new member, so congrats all around.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

Why not bold the proper names above? I don’t know. It didn’t feel right. Too review-y, maybe. I’m still just finishing my coffee at 9AM, so bear with me.

My alarm was set for 6:30 but the kid was pounding on the wall before that. We had a late night. The Patient Mrs. was out and The Pecan and I were on our own for the evening, which was fine. Bedtime started after nine and went until a bit before 10PM, which is already long, and she was out her bedroom door before I was downstairs long enough to take a sip of water. Back up like four more times before I made it to bed, then she came down two more times, finally decided she needed to poop, and did that I guess around an hour after she first came down, making it about 11PM. I took her back upstairs and fell asleep in her bed, where thankfully she also fell asleep at long last, and made it back downstairs sometime shortly after midnight. The Patient Mrs. was home by then, so I got to say goodnight in my barely-conscious ‘you wanna watch a Star Trek?’ state. TOS it is.

The kid had had a rough day at school, missing behavior targets and such, and The Patient Mrs. didn’t want to risk derailing recent forward progress — because this week has been better until yesterday, and three incident-free days, one of them a field trip, isn’t nothing to us at this point — so we’re keeping her home today. I’ll take her to the arcade or something since the weather sucks. I asked for and received the time to write this while they watch videos in the living room, and I am grateful for it.

Getting home from Oslo on Sunday was fine. It was a typical landing in Newark, which means the plane was tossed from side to side like a Micro Machines in a vortex and the line at customs took 40 minutes. My bad was out when I got out, so I didn’t wait there. In Europe, you wait for the bag. In the US, you wait to find out if you’re going to be let in the country.

I could go on about that or the Lord Buffalo thing this week with the drummer being detained and then it comes out he’s got warrants or somesuch. Like that makes it better. People being perfectly happy to miss the point is precisely why I said I was worried the US will learn nothing from the dark moment in history it’s inhabiting. We dismantled education. On purpose. First you need a cultural recommitment, and that also means money. Then you need to raise a generation of teachers. Then you need to raise a generation of educated kids. If you say it’s been since Nixon the right wing has been trying to privatize schooling, then the damage that’s been done to-date will need at least that long to undo, again, if the commitment to undo it was made, which given the track the country is on now there’s about zero chance of happening. I wonder if public schooling will exist by the time my daughter is my age. They want to privatize garbage collection in my town. There’s 50,000 people here. How fucking stupid do you need to be?

As noted, I could go on.

Next week I’ve got premieres for Electric Citizen, The Lotus Matter, and Entheomorphosis, and I’m going to review the new Turtle Skull, which will feel like exorcising a demon as I finally get all the laudatory blah blah blah out of my brain that I’ve been writing there for the last however-many weeks. Like a top-three of the year for me, that one.

I wish you a great and safe weekend. Drink water. Watch your head. Tell someone you love them. Listen to good music. I’m back Monday.

FRM.

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Vision Eternel Calls it Quits

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 16th, 2025 by JJ Koczan

If you’ve followed this site for a while or found yourself going down a specific rabbit hole, you might know I’ve covered Montréal’s Vision Eternel a fair amount. The solo drone project of Alexander Julien, mostly through a series of short releases and explorations, honed a specifically evocative, cinematic sound, and consistently stood in ready demonstration of the point that just because something is ethereal, that does not need to preclude it from also being emotional.

Most of the sounds were vague, impressionistic, but it was always fun to see where Julien‘s whims and cinephile noir vibes were taking him. Vision Eternel was never super-hyped as far as bands go, but I enjoyed writing about the music and could hear in it a resounding commitment to growth and human expression. The songs were never overly accessible nor overly harsh, but set themselves more to worldbuilding and immersing the listener in texture, soft melody, and transient frequencies.

Julien‘s farewell is typically vague. There’s no grand explanation of self or reasoning, just a couple namedrops — Brandi Rayne Hoke was an ex-girlfriend who helped inspired the initial Vision Eternel music; Rain Frances has directed videos and shot photos along the way — and references. No mention of future intention, but one doubts Julien will actually stop making music, even if he does stop doing it under this name. Whatever form his next work, musical or not, takes, I wish him luck and thanks for the sounds. Seems like something of an irony to feel nostalgic about it.

From the PR wire:

vision eternel done

Vision Eternel has completed its purpose.
From Brandi Rayne Hoke to Rain Frances.
This is the end.

I always did prefer Rainy afternoons.
So thanks for the memories; the wonderful and the miserable.
Now good-bye.

Alexander Julien
Founding Band Member

https://www.visioneternel.com
https://facebook.com/visioneternel
https://instagram.com/visioneternel
https://soundcloud.com/visioneternel
https://play.spotify.com/artist/52WyoEAtuPS2QJ2qYOmb6u
https://visioneternel.bandcamp.com

Vision Eternel, “Pièce No. Trois” official video

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Margarita Witch Cult to Release Strung Out in Hell July 18

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 16th, 2025 by JJ Koczan

Note the cover art with its various iconography culled from the song titles. Whatever you do, don’t miss the Mars rover. Classic ’80s metal vibes there that have me somewhat curious as to how Birmingham heavy rock trio Margarita Witch Cult will have progressed from their well-received 2023 self-titled debut (review here), but there’s no audio yet to begin to get a sense. They’ll get there, I’m just impatient with this stuff.

Whatever the three-piece are up to in pieces like “Conqueror Worm” and “Crawl Home to Your Coffin,” the safer bet is it’ll be over the top, as that’s where the self-titled spent a good portion of its time. There’s still the better part of two weeks before the first single gets posted though, so really what they’re doing is laying the groundwork and getting those who dug the first record to snag the second one on spec, which honestly probably isn’t a bad call to make. I’m sure when one pressing sells out they’ll do another, because why not, but if you don’t look at this cover and want a first pressing, I feel like maybe you need to re-up your appreciation for the absurd.

From Heavy Psych Sounds via the PR wire

MARGARITA WITCH CULT STRUNG OUT IN HELL

MARGARITA WITCH CULT – Strung Out In Hell

– sophomore album for the UK proto metal – doom riffers –

Today we are stoked to start the presale of the MARGARITA WITCH CULT upcoming sophomore album STRUNG OUT IN HELL !!

RELEASE DATE: JULY 18th

ALBUM PRESALE: https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm#HPS360

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

FIRST SINGLE COMING OUT ON ALL DIGITAL PLATFORMS MAY 28th

RELEASED IN
15 ULTRA LTD TEST PRESS VINYL
100 ULTRA LTD SIDE A – SIDE B YELLOW/ORANGE/RED VINYL
100 ULTRA LTD HALF-HALF TRANSP./RED TRANSP. + SPLATTER BLACK VINYL
400 LTD GOLD NUGGET VINYL
BLACK VINYL
DIGIPAK
DIGITAL

TRACKLIST
SIDE A
Crawl Home To Your Coffin – 4:07
Scream Bloody Murder – 3:41
Conqueror Worm – 4:21
Witches Candle – 2:38
White Wedding – 4:45
SIDE B
Mars Rover – 4:53
Dig Your Way Out – 2:27
The Fool – 3:24
Who Put Bella In The Wych Elm – 6:46

ALBUM DESCRIPTION
Margarita Witch Cult captured lightning in a bottle with their 2023 debut- a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it behemoth that saw the band thrash and burn through Europe and the UK, picking up legions of fans and touring with the likes of Cancer Bats, Monster Magnet and Nebula.

Now, the Birmingham trio are set to pick their teeth with the bones of their own past- as their second LP ‘Strung Out In Hell’ takes everything that was so compelling about their debut and turns the knob up to 11; rips off the knob; throws the knob into the fires of hell and cackles maniacally in the wake of its demoniacal glory.

From top-to-tail, ‘Strung Out In Hell’ is a cloven hoof to the chest; a dizzying descent through infernus. It will caress you only to chew you up and spit you out. It is the soundtrack to the afterparty of all life on earth. Succumb to its sordid siren song. Bolder, stranger, and downright more mean, there’s no better time to jump on the Margarita Witch Cult train- and it’s going straight down, fast.

CREDITS
Recorded & Mixed by Mark Gittins at Megatone Studio, Birmingham, UK
Mastered by Scott Middleton at High Wattage Cottage, Ontario, Canada
Producer – @mark_gittins_sound / @megatonerecordingstudio
Artwork by Dirt Wizard.
All songs Copyright Margarita Witch Cult 2025 except Track 5.

Guest Performers
Alicia Gardener-Trejo – Baritone Sax on ‘The Fool’
Sam Wooster – Trumpet on ‘The Fool’

Writing Credits
All songs written by Scott Abbott except:
Track 3 – Conqueror Worm – James Brown / Scott Abbott
Track 5 – White Wedding – Billy Idol
Track 7 – Dig Your Way Out – James Brown / Scott Abbott

MARGARITA WITCH CULT is:
Scott Abbott – Vocals & Guitars
James Brown – Bass, Vocals, Synth, Mellotron, Guitars
George Caswell – Drums & Vocals

https://www.facebook.com/margaritawitchcult
https://www.instagram.com/margaritawitchcult/
https://margaritawitchcult.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/margaritawitchcult

https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/
https://twitter.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUND
https://instagram.com/heavypsychsounds_records/
https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/
http://www.heavypsychsounds.com/

Margarita Witch Cult, Margarita Witch Cult (2023)

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Goya Announce East Coast Tour With Bronco

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 15th, 2025 by JJ Koczan

If you missed it — and I know you didn’t, but stay with me — Arizona worshippers Goya posted their video for the second single from their impending album, In the Dawn of November, toward the end of last week. It’s called “Depressive Episode” and you’ll find it below. The band will release the album on June 13 through Blues Funeral, and before it’s even out, they’ll be on the road headed east for a round of shows in the Midwest and along the Atlantic Seaboard, keeping sludgy company with their labelmates in Toke-offshoot Bronco, whose self-titled debut (review here) came out at the end of February.

The two bands will be out together for about two weeks, and Goya have a couple shows after as they make their way home. The list of dates is below and the video for “Depressive Episode,” the prior clip for the title-track, and the audio stream of both all follow here, because one likes to be thorough while also probably missing out on a bunch of whathaveyou.

The poster and dates came from socials:

Goya tour

Tour with Bronco starts in one month.

JUN 12-Chicago, IL-Reggie’s/Music Joint
JUN 13-Indianapolis, IN-State Street
JUN 14-Cleveland, OH-The Winchester
JUN 15-Melvindale, MI-Parts and Labor
JUN 17-Toronto, ON-Bovine Sex Club
JUN 18-Montreal, QC-Bar Blue Dog
JUN 19-Portland, ME-Geno’s Rock Club
JUN 20-Jamaica Plain, MA-The Midway Cafe
JUN 21-Brooklyn, NY-The Wood Shop
JUN 22-Philadelphia, PA-Nikki Lopez
JUN 23-Richmond, VA Banditos
JUN 25-Winston-Salem, NC Hoots
JUN 27-Atlanta, GA Boggs Social and Supply*
JUN 28-New Orleans, LA Gasa Gasa*
JUN 29-Houston, TX White Oak Upstairs*
*no Bronco

Goya is
Marcus Bryant – Drums
Jeffrey Owens – Guitar/Vocals
CJ Sholtis – Bass

facebook.com/goyastoner
https://www.instagram.com/goyaband/
marijuana.bandcamp.com
https://linktr.ee/goyadoom

https://www.facebook.com/bluesfuneral/
https://www.instagram.com/blues.funeral/
https://bluesfuneralrecordings.bandcamp.com/
bluesfuneral.com

Goya, “Depressive Episode” official video

Goya, “In the Dawn of November” official video

Goya, In the Dawn of November (2025)

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The Gates of Slumber Post “Full Moon Fever” Video

Posted in Bootleg Theater on May 15th, 2025 by JJ Koczan

the gates of slumber (photo by Marshall Kreeb)

“Full Moon Fever” appeared on The Gates of Slumber‘s 2024 comebacker self-titled (review here), issued through Svart. On the album, it’s one of the speedier songs if you’re talking average tempo, though “At Dawn,” “The Plague,” and so on are prone to faster parts as well, if not beholden to them in quite the same way the Indianapolis three-piece revel in the grueling nod elsewhere. Led by guitarist/vocalist Karl Simon, who revamped the lineup now six years ago (that’s a GTFO realization for me) with original drummer Chuck Brown and newcomer bassist Steve Janiak, both of whom also handle guitar and vocals in Apostle of Solitude.

So, doom band makes video a while after record is out. That’s only a good thing, and if you follow Apostle, you already know that Janiak has had a hand in a number of clips for that band. That’s not what’s happening here though. “Full Moon Fever” was directed by Tad Leger, who has drummed for ToxikBlood FarmersLucertola and a host of others, and who has done layout work in horror cinema for I don’t even know how long as a graphic designer. Don’t be surprised when you see the wolfman show up, is what I’m saying, and the classic-horror that pervades does so with a firm grip on whence it comes.

It had been a while, so I decided to bother Leger for some comment about making the clip, and he was kind enough to indulge. You’ll find that below, followed by more from the PR wire. I don’t think The Gates of Slumber are really plugging anything other than the existence of the record or the band as they stand, and that’s plenty as far as I’m concerned. If you believe in doom, you believe in The Gates of Slumber.

From the PR wire:

The Gates of Slumber, “Full Moon Fever” video

Tad Leger on “Full Moon Fever”:

“I felt like ‘Full Moon Fever’ was a very cinematic feel. It filled my mind with images from classic films by Hammer and German expressionist filmmakers who used a monochromatic color palette. My friend Cliff Peck and I put in serious hours to craft something worthy of Gates of Slumber. Big thanks to Karl Simon for giving us such a challenging experience.”

“I was talking with our buddy Tad and he expressed an interest in doing the lyric video,” explains guitarist/vocalist Karl Simon. “Tad’s a massive fan of classic horror and he was into the song…. One thing led to another and he and his buddy Cliff came up with what I think is a pretty killer video clip! Hope you enjoy.”

THE GATES OF SLUMBER was formed by Karl Simon in 1998. Various people were in and out of the group between 1998 and 2001, when the Blood Encrusted Deth Axe demo was recorded with Jamie Walters aka Dr. Phibes/Athenar (Boulder, Midnight) on drums and bass. In 2003 Jason McCash took over the bass duties and was a long-time member of the band until his untimely demise in 2014, after which Simon decided it was time to call it quits. That was until 2019 when the renowned metal festival Hell Over Hammaburg wanted to bring the band back on stage to perform at the festival’s 2020 edition. Simon reformed the band with its original member Chuck Brown on drums and Steve Janiak on bass and got back to work.

The Gates of Slumber is available on Svart-exclusive black/white marble vinyl, limited transparent blue vinyl, black vinyl, CD, and all major digital platforms.

The Gates of Slumber, The Gates of Slumber (2024)

The Gates of Slumber on Facebook

The Gates of Slumber on Instagram

The Gates of Slumber on Bandcamp

The Gates of Slumber merch

Svart Records website

Svart Records on Facebook

Svart Records on Instagram

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Hebi Katana Set July 25 Release for Imperfection; Video Posted

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 15th, 2025 by JJ Koczan

hebi katana

This is sooner than I thought it would be. I guess I thought I was all clever last week when the band’s signing announcement came through and I did the 30 seconds of looking into Japanese doomsters’ Hebi Katana‘s website, where it said they would release their new album, in September. Yeah, fine. July works too, though, don’t you worry.

What will be their first LP through Ripple MusicImperfection will indeed be out in the horrendous thick of the coming climate crisis summer, and the first video from it is up now. Or down, if you’re thinking in terms of where you’re scrolling in this post to see it.

When you hear that and want more, the band’s 2023 album, III, is underneath the video. Between the two, you should have enough to go on for pre-saving or pre-ordering or pre-whatever-it-is-you-do-when-you-think-something-coming-out-is-going-to-be-cool. I can’t keep up. Also I don’t want to.

The PR wire has it like this:

hebi katana imperfection

Tokyo samurai doom unit HEBI KATANA share first track off upcoming new album “Imperfection”; out July 25th on Ripple Music!

Japanese doom and heavy rock powerhouse HEBI KATANA announces the release of their fourth studio album “Imperfection” this July 25th on Ripple Music and presents the haunting debut single “Dead Horse Requiem” today.

HEBI KATANA are purveyors of a one-of-a-kind fusion of wabi-sabi (Japanese traditional acceptance of transience and imperfection) and heavy doom sounds! Their 2023 album “III” was widely acclaimed in Japan and overseas.

Their upcoming fourth full-length “Imperfection” — written and recorded in parallel of a tour with the same lineup as “III” — features lyrics inspired by Matsuo Basho and Tanizaki Junichiro’s “wabi sabi” “beauty of imperfection” and “enso” based on the unique Japanese spiritual world. This new album refines their signature doom and proto-hard rock sound, merging loud roaring riffs with beaming melodies. Pulsing with sheer intensity and channeling the spirit of the 70s, their dynamics interweave doom metal weight and psychedelic expansiveness while staying true to their dark, shadowy and introspective worldview.

The trio’s chemistry shines as they balance brute force with intricate subtleties, creating a sound that feels both primal and meticulously crafted. “Imperfection” marks a bold evolution for HEBI KATANA. Every riff, groove, and vocal line reinforces their identity — a band unafraid to explore darkness while delivering pure, riff-driven power in their own right. Don’t wait to join the cult.

HEBI KATANA “Imperfection”
Out July 25th on Ripple Music (LP/CD/digital): https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/

Formed in Tokyo in 2020, HEBI KATANA released their self-titled debut album at the end of the same year. With their authentic doom/stoner sound and dark and mellow heavy rock sound, they quickly became a cornerstone of the Japanese scene amongst enthusiasts in overseas media, establishing their sound as “Tokyo Samurai Doom”. In 2022, they released their second album “Impermanence”, welcoming Yukito Okazaki of Eternal Elysium/Studio Zen fame as the producer. A year later, they issued their third album “III”, which was distributed in Japan, as well as in Germany, Poland and the UK. The band performed relentlessly in Tokyo and major cities in Japan, appeared at the Tokyo Doom Fest, and toured in Italy, France and South America.

Hebi Katana live:
May 24 SUNRIZE Tokyo, Japan
May 30 20000V Tokyo, Japan
May 31 Huck Finn (ハックフィン) Nagoya, Japan
Jun 1 Hokage 火影 Osaka, Japan
July 5 Tokyo TBA
July 21 Tokyo TBA
Aug 24 Tokyo TBA
Sep 14 Tokyo Koiwa Bush Bash – Farewell To The Heroes Vol.5
〜HEBI KATANA 4th album ”Imperfection” Release & 35th Birthday Anniversary Party〜
Oct 18 Sapporo TBA
Nov 16 TBA

Hebi Katana:
Nobu: Guitars, Vocals
Laven: Bass, Vocals
Goblin: Drums, Keyboard

https://hebikatana.wordpress.com/
https://hebikatana.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/hebikatana/
https://www.facebook.com/hebikatana

https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

Hebi Katana, “Dead Horse Requiem” official video

Hebi Katana, III (2023)

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The Spiral Electric Premiere “In Too Deep”; New Single Out Tomorrow

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on May 15th, 2025 by JJ Koczan

The Spiral Electric In Too Deep

San Fran psych rockers The Spiral Electric pull back the veil on their new single “In Too Deep” tomorrow, May 16. The six-minute piece feels like ’60s psych-rock pulled through a filter of ’90s revivalist edge as something slightly sinister drips from the molten tone of the initial guitar quickly topped by Clay Andrews‘ layered vocals. The vibe is mellow, intentionally oversweet to set up a fuller-toned chorus that now we call shoegazey but six decades ago would’ve just been rock and roll.

My touchstone for drifty, lose-yourself-in-it psychedelia of such fluid order is defunct Canadian nodders Quest for Fire, and I know that the place The Spiral Electric reside for “In Too Deep” isn’t where they always dwell, but they pull off the single with especially hypnotic aplomb as Andrews (guitar and synth in addition to vocals), lead guitarist Nicolas Percey, bassist Ryan McKnight and drummer Marias Drago flow through a heady depth of mix resolving in a transposed “Sweet Dreams” riff as they make their way out.

Both the 1960s and the 1990s were a long-ass time ago, and it’s not my intention to oversimplify or generalize what’s going on in The Spiral Electric‘s sound in the face of the more THE SPIRAL ELECTRICcomplex aural truths therein. That is to say, don’t just go by the numbers. Their previous single “Shadow in the Dark” (premiered here) and their 2019 self-titled double-LP (review here) likewise had their more soothing moments, but “In Too Deep” goes further such that even when it ‘gets loud’ as the wash takes hold a bit before the three-minute mark going into the hook, the serenity of the vocal melody is maintained, and so the direction of the song abides correspondingly, even as the tambourine literally and figuratively brings shake to the procession.

So is it? ‘In too deep,’ I mean. Have the band meandered too far into the ethereal? Hard no, from where I sit. Instead, The Spiral Electric make striking a difficult balance sound easy as “In Too Deep” ebbs and flows, and the chorus here is delivered gently and memorably both times it cycles through. My honest hope at this point is that eventually “In Too Deep” and “Shadow in the Dark,” which came out in 2023, make their way onto a follow-up to the self-titled, and that seems to be the plan. The album, titled The Overview Effect, was being recorded with Dead Meadow bassist Steve Kille prior to his passing last year. I do not know if it’s done or what the status is, but if you notice this and “Shadow in the Dark” are both tagged as the ‘single version.’ This implies ‘album versions,’ and yes, those apparently exist, if not yet in the public sphere.

Instead, for now, maybe take a breath and let the rest worry about itself later. There’s plenty to keep busy with worrying, for sure, but it’ll still be there in six minutes. See if you can get yourself to this one and meet the melody on its own level. If not, it’ll still be there later. Contrary to what the streaming services and content-driven social media tell you, this stuff doesn’t expire.

Enjoy:

The Spiral Electric, “In Too Deep” track premiere

“This is one of the last tracks fully engineered and mixed by Steve Kille before his illness overtook him,” says Clay Andrews. “I edited a couple of minutes out for the ‘single version’ with the help of Daniel Dietrick (Ozean), the full version will be on the album.”

Produced by Clay Andrews & Steve Kille
Engineered & Mixed by Steve Kille at Wiggle Room Studio
Additional engineering by Daniel Dietrick
Mastering by Tim Green / Louder Studios
Cover artwork by Matias Drago / Logo by Alan Forbes / Layout by Clay Andrews
Music : Clay Andrews & Nicolas Percey
Lyrics : Clay Andrews

The Spiral Electric:
Clay Andrews : Vocals / Guitar / Piano / Percussion
Nicolas Percey : Guitars
Ryan McKnight : Bass
Matias Drago : Drums

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Grayceon Premiere “Thousand Year Storm” Video; Announce New Album Then the Darkness Out July 25

Posted in Bootleg Theater, Whathaveyou on May 14th, 2025 by JJ Koczan

GRAYCEON (Photo by Jackie Perez Gratz)

Five years after providing the harsh solace of Mothers Weavers Vultures (review here) in the midst of a hellish plague winter, San Francisco’s Grayceon  will move forward July 25 with Then the Darkness, their sixth full-length. To be released through Translation Loss on vinyl and their own imprint, We Can Records (DL), I swear to you I’m not going to review the album in this post — I’m not ready and it’s stupid early — but what I’ll tell you is that its 11-song/81-minute run is absolutely all-in.

Whether you’re dug into the 20-minute “Mahsa” or the 13-minute “Forever Teeth,” which as a parent I definitely read as a song about lying to your kids for your own convenience/quality of life and feeling horrible about it — been there — the melodic roll and bite of “One Third” or the stately cello blastthrash and big-riff nod of “Song of the Snake,” Then the Darkness does not shy from being a tour de force of elements that have made this band so special all along. Cellist Jackie Perez Gratz has never sounded more soulful on vocals than in “Forever Teeth,” and the unabashedly sweet, folkish tinge brought to the penultimate “Untitled” feels like an adjustment to the balance of extremity and atmosphere that Grayceon have always managed to strike.

Of course, rhythms are fluid and change on a dime, with guitarist Max Doyle and drummer Zack Farwell as taut as ever whether a part is galloping at a sprint or subdued, ambient and gorgeous as many are. This would be expected of a Grayceon record by now, as the band marks 20 years since their inception as a group, but their intricate, individual and moving craft satisfies and is encompassing on a level all its own. It’s not a minor undertaking and it’s not supposed to be.

“Thousand Year Storm,” with the video by Gratz‘s bandmate in Brume, Jordan Perkins-Lewis, premiering below, is the opening track, and by no means does it speak for the entirety of the record, but it will give you a basic idea of some of the sounds they’re going for this time around in addition to making an enticing first impression for songs like “3 Points of Light” or the instrumental title-track that separates “Mahsa” and “Forever Teeth.” As a fan of the band, I appreciate the chance to host it.

Album info follows the quotes and cover below. Please enjoy:

Grayceon, “Thousand Year Storm” video premiere

“Thousand Year Storm is about breaking — crying out first in pain, then slowly coming to terms, and finally letting go. Like the rest of Then The Darkness, these songs sit in the aftermath — after the damage is done, when all you can do is try to make sense of what’s left and figure out how to keep going.” – Jackie Perez Gratz

“Death is always hard to deal with, but there can also be a comfort to it. The end is often a release of pain and struggle.” – Zack Farwell

grayceon then the darkness

Translation Loss Records is proud to announce Then the Darkness, the sprawling and gorgeous sixth full length from Bay-area progressive rockers, Grayceon.

Release date: July 25, 2025

Pre-order link: translationloss.com

Having meticulously plied their brand of expansive, progressive post metal since 2005, Grayceon have established themselves as a singular entity in the Bay Area scene and beyond. On full length album number six, Grayceon continue to mutate their unique sound and delve even further into the sonic abyss, creating a record of immense vision and gripping emotional peaks and valleys, one that’ll undoubtedly prove to be a cornerstone in their rich, storied history.

Then the Darkness presents Grayceon at their most haunting and visceral. On its eleven tracks, the non-traditional ‘power-trio’ composed of cellist/vocalist Jackie Perez Gratz (Giant Squid, Amber Asylum, etc.), guitarist Max Doyle and drummer Zack Farwell, create labyrinthine yet extremely memorable metallic compositions. Cello and guitar interplay and weave seamlessly to create boundless riffs and rhythms that bore into your psyche, leaving you humming its off-kilter melodies for the rest of the day. Perez Gratz’s vocals act as a guide through the maze of grief and other emotions; anguished shouts and screams give way to folkish singing and are capped off by moments of soaring vocal power. Then the Darkness was masterfully engineered, mixed and mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, etc.), whose natural and roomy production truly brings this powerful album to life.

Album Details:
Engineered, mixed and mastered at The Atomic Garden by Jack Shirley from December 2023 to June 2024.
Album art/design/photography: General LLC
Band photo: Jackie Perez Gratz
Video by Jordan Perkins-Lewis, San Francisco, CA.

Tracklist:
1. Thousand Year Storm
2. One Third
3. Velvet ‘79
4. 3 Points of Light
5. Mahsa
6. Then the Darkness
7. Forever Teeth
8. Song of the Snake
9. Holding Lines
10. Untitled
11. Come to the End

GRACEYON is:
Max Doyle (he/him) – guitar
Jackie Perez Gratz (she/her) – cello, voice
Zack Farwell (he/him) – drums

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