Album Review: 1000mods, Cheat Death

Posted in Reviews on November 11th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

1000mods cheat death

Greece’s foremost heavy rock export, 1000mods return to work with producer Matt Bayles (MastodonIsis, tons more) after collaborating on their 2020 LP, Youth of Dissent (review here, discussed here), for their fifth album, Cheat Death, which collects 10 new tracks across an hour of music issued through the band’s own Ouga Booga and the Mighty Oug Recordings and Ripple Music (in the US). And like Youth of Dissent, the album feels somewhat defiant in its vision of what heavy rock is and can do.

That is to say, where those familiar with 1000mods‘ earlier work might have an expectation of desert style party-isms of the kind that were offered on 2011’s full-length debut, Super Van Vacation (review herediscussed here, also here), with the choice sandy grooves that helped ignite/expose a generational shift in the Greek underground the ramifications of which are still panning out 13 years later, the truth of 1000mods‘ catalog when you listen to it front to back is that they’ve always been a more complex band. Even as they bring Bayles back on board to produce/engineer and mix Cheat Death (Brad Boatright mastered), the band have continued to evolve as they’ve done all along, refusing to stagnate and so — although the title-track lyrically is about love — part of the death being cheated across the album’s not-insignificant timespan is creative stagnation.

1000mods — now the core trio of vocalist/bassist Dani G., guitarist/vocalist George T. and drummer Labros G.; that’s down from the four-piece they were with Giannis S. on guitar; they still have two guitars live — have never put out the same album twice, and as they have all along, the band have not neglected to learn what worked for them and what didn’t on Youth of Dissent, and as Cheat Death moves forward, from the stark colors of its Eva Mourtzi cover compared to the muted tones of the album prior — both covers have a message to send; I’m not belittling either approach — to the rhythmic drive behind “Götzen Hammer” or the get-what-you-see galloping frenzy of “Speedhead,” it both works from its own foundations and remains aware of what 1000mods have done before.

The hooky and somewhat melancholic “Overthrown” and the dreamier build of golly-I-hope-I-get-to-see-them-play-it-live-at-some-point-ever 10-minute finale “Grey, Green Blues” each showcase a mature songwriting process, and special attention seems to have been given to conveying a sense of energy in the material; in both the speedier shuffle of “The One Who Keeps Me Down” and the Hammond-tinged alt-rock verses of “Love,” even in the cello’ed and finger-plucked (plus piano) instrumental “Bluebird” later on, the band are able to direct their songs to different ends that feed into the overarching flow and depth of Cheat Death as a whole. Classic stuff, but there seems to be more consciousness in Cheat Death in terms of the band wanting to shake up the proceedings between the songs. Sometimes that’s a change in mood, as when the mostly-swaying (until the solo, which shreds) “Misery” and “Bluebird” offer a somber stretch before the title-track twists and careens like modern progressive metal playing back to ’80s riffing as the lyrics present a more hopeful take.

1000mods

Arrangements are part of it too. As noted, “Bluebird” brings in cello (by Nikos Veliotis), while that same song, “Love,” and “Grey, Green Blues” boast keys/organ from Jiomy Amaranth. The feeling of expansion around the core of what 1000mods do musically is almost immediate on Cheat Death as Godsleep‘s Amie Makris joins Dani on vocals, and while also giving the album a singular heavy blowout, “Götzen Hammer” incorporates the voice of Apollonia “Api” Xylouris from Frenzee, semantron by Panos Z. and guitar by John S. That both of these songs appear early on doesn’t feel like a coincidence, as the procession of cuts across Cheat Death bears out an intentional push-pull dynamic, for example, as “Astral Odor” opens up some of the relative intensity of crush, which is something that “Cheat Death” answers back to later on side B. Most of the lyrical framework is brooding, emotive, longing and questioning, but the album is by no means all-downer in terms of point of view.

“Speedhead” might be almost afraid of its own manic shove, but “Love,” “Cheat Death” and “Grey, Green Blues” remind that it’s not all self-doubt and recriminations, and the music behind, in front of and generally all around the words follows suit. In this way, 1000mods create a diverse impression without ranging so far as to lose the plot or cohesion of the material itself, and their songs, which even in mid-album pieces like “Astral Odor” and “Love” are capable of reaching toward seven minutes long, have a quality underlying construction that not only justifies the breadth, but makes it an important part of the point. Shifts in perspective, subject, riff, whatever it might be become part of the album’s persona, and the included guest appearances do much to showcase 1000mods‘ big-picture considerations in terms of how the songs interact, what each one brings to the album, and why and what that adds to the course of its entirety.

To call the skill with which 1000mods execute Cheat Death anything less than masterful is probably underselling how much actual work the band have put into their growth over the last 15-plus years between the studio and touring, and where from 2014’s Vultures (review here, discussed here) onward, they could have been issuing clones of Super Van Vacation and still be one of the biggest names Greece has ever produced in heavy rock, the fact that they’re so uncompromising in their direction, that they don’t write any songs other than the ones they want to write, that somehow-daring chase toward authenticity, makes them all the more respectable.

They could take a probably an easier path but don’t because it wouldn’t be as fulfilling, and accordingly, their albums play out in succession to tell the story of their evolution in installments. Cheat Death is the latest of these, and that it’s their fifth record and the listener still comes out of it wondering where on earth they might go next should be taken as a sign of how special a band they are in the first place. Their commitment to exploring new ideas in their work is unflinching, paramount, and Cheat Death does this with correspondingly punkish grace and heart.

1000mods, Cheat Death (2024)

1000mods on Facebook

1000mods on Instagram

1000mods on Bandcamp

1000mods on Soundcloud

Ouga Booga and the Mighty Oug on Facebook

Ouga Booga and the Mighty Oug on Instagram

Ouga Booga and the Mighty Oug on Bandcamp

Ripple Music on Facebook

Ripple Music on Instagram

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

Ripple Music website

Tags: , , , , , ,

Friday Full-Length: Dio, Sacred Heart

Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 8th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

While by no means maligned, 1985’s Sacred Heart is very much considered the third-of-three in the Dio band’s holy trinity of releases — Holy Diver (discussed here) in 1983, The Last in Line (discussed here) in 1984 and Sacred Heart in 1985; successive landmarks and, as an era, a commercial peak that Dio wouldn’t hit again — all massive and ongoing in their influence. And fair enough. Some of its highlight material, songs like “Hungry for Heaven” or “King of Rock and Roll” (which were both issued as singles) is also its most radio friendly, playing to a broader audience after the success of the first two albums. I might add “Just Another Day” to that list, though it’s more of a rocker and the later vocal layering is a thing to appreciate. But cuts like “Another Lie,” “Like the Beat of a Heart,” and “Fallen Angels” and “Shoot Shoot” at the end are bruisers, with grittier tone in Vivian Campbell‘s guitar able to transpose itself onto the rush of “King of Rock and Roll” or the keyboardy grandiosity of “Sacred Heart” and “Rock and Roll Children,” to drive a part or take a back seat to Ronnie James Dio‘s vocals, complement Claude Schnell‘s keys or set up bassist Jimmy Bain and drummer Vinny Appice with a righteous classic headbanger groove, and Sacred Heart does all of that, fluidly and with purpose.

The thing about it is there isn’t much that it introduces that’s new to the actual sound of the band. The Last in Line expanded on what Holy Diver had on offer, with a conversation happening between songs like “Egypt (The Chains are On)” and “Holy Diver” itself as much as Black Sabbath‘s “Heaven and Hell” from when Dio fronted doom’s progenitors from 1979-’82, and Sacred Heart continues that conversation. But “Sacred Heart” appears second in the tracklisting, precisely where both “Holy Diver” and “The Last in Line” could be found, after a raucous opener, and where Holy Diver offered “Rainbow in the Dark” for late-album punch and The Last in Line put “Egypt (The Chains are On)” in the role of big-finish-closer, Sacred Heart offers “Just Another Day,” “Fallen Angels” and “Shoot Shoot” back-to-back-to-back, all of which have something to offer listeners and fans either of the Dio band or Ronnie James Dio‘s work more broadly, be it in Sabbath, alongside Ritchie Blackmore in Rainbow, in Elf before that, etc., but none of which is a landmark even at the level of “Egypt (The Chains are On),” which is preceded by “Mystery” and “Eat Your Heart Out” on The Last in Line.

But even as third-of-three, the bulk of what Sacred Heart does remains inarguable. The title-track is forward-looking enough to the rougher edges Dio‘s vocal delivery would take dio sacred hearton in the ’90s, the coming of a new kind of heavy rock, while “King of Rock and Roll” lives up to Rainbow‘s “Long Live Rock and Roll” or Dio‘s own “We Rock” in putting the live experience and energy at the forefront. There’s even a crowd sample at the start of “King of Rock and Roll,” to underscore the point. And some of what Sacred Heart does best is in its biggest moments reaches further than Dio could on either Holy Diver or The Last in Line. “Rock and Roll Children” and “Hungry for Heaven,” right next to each other at the end of side A and the start of side B, expand the melodic reach of the heavy metal genre, not just for Dio as a singer or the band as a whole. Sure, glam was ascendant in the mid-’80s, but so was thrash, and Dio were neither; if you wanted to place this record in a niche today, would it be classic heavy rock, proto-power metal and doom? Sacred Heart could never catch listeners off guard and create a sensation in the way Holy Diver did, but when it came out in 1985, it had still only been two years since the debut. While a lot of the moves the band makes are familiar in the context of the two LPs before, Dio must have seemed unstoppable at least to some degree.

And yeah, the back half of the record has some filler. You might recognize “Just Another Day” or “Fallen Angels” when they’re on, but I doubt you’re already hearing them in your head just by reading the titles (and if you are, by all means, I welcome your comment giving yourself credit for it; well earned). Consider “Like the Beat of a Heart” here next to “Straight Through the Heart” on Holy Diver and you’ll see what I mean. But at least it’s heavy. If you’re gonna have filler, make it rock. Dio would’ve been grinding out tours upon tours at this point, and of course this lineup would unravel after this record, leading to a revamped Dio band issuing Dream Evil in 1987 with new vigor, so if the band was tired when it was time to knuckle down and pen album three, fair enough for it not being their greatest achievement in craft, but as a band, the lineup of DioGoldy, Schnell, Bain and Appice were never tighter or more in command of their material. Sacred Heart is a dynamic listen, able to evoke both a sense of ’70s strut in “Shoot Shoot” and a feeling of epic urgency in “Rock and Roll Children,” to ride a hard-hitting groove or set up high-stakes dramas one after the other. Sometimes both.

It’s true Sacred Heart doesn’t do a ton that Holy Diver and/or The Last in Line don’t do, but at this point that’s part of why I like it. It’s more of that thing. I’ll readily admit to going to the first half more than the second, but listening front-to-back to its 39-minute entirety, it feels like a necessary end to a trilogy. You wouldn’t have ended The Lord of the Rings without crowning Aragorn, right? Maybe there’s a bit of reaffirmation going on here — okay, more than “maybe” — but there’s expansion too around what’s been done before, and even as third-of-three in the Dio Trinity, it remains in a class of its own.

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

Definitely picking Dio for some comfort to end the week. Which was not comfortable. Sad. Angry. Confused. Hurt. But not comfortable.

I’ve gotten so used to feeling disappointed in America that I forgot it can sting. Did we learn nothing in the last eight years? Do these people, people who look, sound and talk like me — my county went republican by 9,000 fucking votes! 9,000! — really just hate women and black people that much? Is that who we are?

Yeah, I guess it is. I guess we’re fascists. I’m not surprised at how the election turned out, but if you’re the type to drink liberal tears, I’ve got plenty for you. I genuinely think the country and the world are about to become worse places to be because of this result. The environment alone.

It’s astonishing. But expected? And consistent? With awfulness? And the last 50 years of the right in this country dismantling public education, actively dumbing down a populace while teaching them not to trust government? But isn’t that just about racism too?

Shit. Would a black woman have been so fucking terrible? Can someone tell me why?

People are mad about the direction the country is going in. Whatever that fucking means; it’s a poll question that gets cited all the time. So people are mad. Look back at every president we’ve ever had and look at who was running for the democrats. That’s new.

I swear it’s gonna blow when Nikki Fucking Haley becomes the first female US president. Our own Thatcher; embarrassingly late to the game.

But yeah, that was pretty much where the week stopped in my head — Tuesday night. Wednesday I didn’t wanna do or say or think fucking anything. Just dissociating — a full dedication of my mental and emotional faculties to not processing what had just happened or what it meant for me and my family. Yesterday was sad. Today’s sad and kinda angry and confused. We started paperwork to change The Pecan’s name, which is unaligned with her gender on her birth certificate, passport, etc., so there are ducks to get in a row there before these states’ rights advocates get their hands on federal proclamation power again. I don’t trust New Jersey being blue for a minute. These people are fucking psychopaths. And they’re in your neighborhood.

Have a great and safe weekend. Hopefully you’re somewhere else, but stay safe out there regardless and don’t forget to hydrate. I’m back Monday for more of this, which today feels somewhat empty as a thing to do in the face of such dark, stupid times.

FRM.

The Obelisk Collective on Facebook

The Obelisk Radio

The Obelisk merch

Tags: , , ,

Rope Trick: November Northeastern Shows Begin This Weekend; “Neptune” Live Video Posted

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 8th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

It’s familiar enough ground that Philadelphia’s Rope Trick will cover this month with four dates in their hometown, NYC, Boston and Providence — the two-piece with members of Queen Elephantine did a Northeastern tour this Spring, for example — but following up on their appearance at Somergloom in August, Rope Trick have a new live video out to mark the occasion of getting going on the first of the two weekender-type undertakings. Tomorrow, Nov. 9, they’re at Silk City Diner in Philly, and Sunday is New York. Boston — hey O’Brien’s; been a minute — and Providence follow in about two weeks.

They go supporting earlier-2024’s two-songer Red Tide (discussed here), which is raw in sound but expansive in ideology, and if you can get your head in just the right place, even the short release is a journey with Rope Trick as a guide.

Dates and the “Neptune” live video follow, courtesy of the PR wire:

rope trick nov shows

“Neptune” Live Video + Northeast US shows

Riding into No Hope November like 💥 with a noisy lil northeast loop through Philly, Brooklyn, Boston, and Providence. Join us as we ring in the end times with excellente troublemakers up the coast. Show details below — starting this Saturday in Philly and Sunday in NYC.

We are also excited to share a live video of “Neptune.” Check out the full video at youtube.com/@ropetrickband.

It was recorded in Boston’s Rockwell Theater in April at an epic show with Major Stars, Minibeast, and Endorphins. Huge thanks to Stephen LoVerme (video), Moobly Krew (sound), and to ONCE and Somergloom for having us.

11.09 — PHILADELPHIA
Silk City Diner
w. Minibeast, Writhing Squares, Bitter Wish

11.10 — NEW YORK
Our Wicked Lady
w. Yuvees, Loveletter, Big Band

11.22 — BOSTON
O’brien’s Pub
w. Lunar Ark, Psychic Weight, Cazador

11.23 — PROVIDENCE
Getties @ Fete
w. Mirror Men, SWRM, Snowplows

Rope Trick are:
Guitar + Vocals by Indy Shome
Drums by Nate Totushek

https://www.instagram.com/ropetrickband/
https://www.facebook.com/ropetrickband
ropetrickband.bandcamp.com
http://ropetrickband.com

Rope Trick, “Neptune” live at Somergloom 2024

Rope Trick, Red Tide (2024)

Tags: , ,

Jarzmo Release Debut Album Antropocean

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 8th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

jarzmo (Photo by Kuba Kazanowski)

Comprised of Piotr Aleksander Nowak on nyckelharpa and vocals and drummer Katarzyna Bobik, who also adds vocals and various percussive whatnot, the Kraków-set two-piece Jarzmo have released their debut album, Antropocean through Interstellar Smoke Records, with an aim toward bringing together traditional Polish folk elements with the groove and tonal presence of heavy rock and roll.

It’s not an idea without conceptual precedent — I can’t think of another specifically Polish outfit who’ve done the same, but countries like Finland and Spain have certainly managed successful folk/heavy fusions, and there’s the entire genre of folk metal itself, if you want to talk about that — but the sound of the nyckelharpa brings an unique range of tones to Antropocean‘s dense-feeling 11-track/52-minute course, and Nowak and Bobik incorporate live sessions and guests into the proceedings, so in addition to their own ability to explore different ideas in songwriting — without which I expect the band wouldn’t exist in the first place; the whole idea is an experiment — and shifts between instrumental and periodic vocal arrangements and outwardly heavier distortion like “Court Dances” that makes for such a highlight, there are layers of change to be found throughout.

This makes Antropocean a work of scope as much as it’s proof-of-concept for what Jarzmo are doing aesthetically. Would you be surprised if I told you “Twin Peaks” reminded me a bit of the Melvins? Probably you shouldn’t be.

Info came down the PR wire, but it’s the audio you want here. If you don’t want the Bandcamp player, the streaming link is right under the headline below. Can’t miss it. If you’ve got thoughts on what you’re hearing and want to share in the comments, I’m curious to know for sure:

jarzmo antropocean

JARZMO – Debut Album of the polish stoner etno duo “Antropocen”

Streaming link: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/jarzmo/antropocen

Emerging from a fusion of medieval resonance and modern grit, Jarzmo’s debut album, “Antropocen”, unveils 11 progressive compositions that blend stoner rock/metal with folk sounds.

This ethno-stoner duo Jarzmo is based in Kraków. They center their music around the unique tones of the nyckelharpa (or keyboard viola), played by Piotr Aleksander Nowak, who also provides vocals. The beat and pulse come from Katarzyna Bobik on drums, who completes the duo with her distinct vocal contributions.

With each track, “Antropocen” explores the pressing themes of today’s world, addressing issues like overproduction, overpopulation, and the climate crisis, encapsulating the challenges of our overstimulated, technology-dependent era.

Jarzmo’s sound takes listeners into a pre-apocalyptic realm—one that is foggy, cold, and heavy with electronic waste, yet echoing with the spirit of traditional folk.

https://www.facebook.com/wearejarzmo
https://www.instagram.com/_jarzmo_/
https://jarzmo.bandcamp.com/
https://tiny.pl/c6p1p
https://www.youtube.com/@jarzmomusic
http://www.vinted.pl/member/148484276-jarzmoekomerch

https://www.facebook.com/Interstellar-Smoke-Records-101687381255396/
https://www.instagram.com/interstellar.smoke.label/
https://interstellarsmokerecords.bigcartel.com/
https://linktr.ee/ISR666

Jarzmo, Antropocean (2024)

Tags: , , , , ,

Astral Kompakt Premiere “Batavische Träne II” Video; Goldader Out Nov. 22

Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 8th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

astral kompakt goldader

German heavy instrumentalists Astral Kompakt will release their full-length debut, Goldader, on Nov. 22 through Tonzonen Records. And from opener “Pirsch” onward, the record is plenty heavy — the lead cut, first of seven total on a 40-minute front-to-back, kicks in from its quiet intro at right around 1:40 — and that’s all well and good, but Goldader is working toward more than just that standard. There are flourishes, pieces of pieces, that seem to come from more progressive fare, even prog-metal in “Batavische Träne I,” where the prior “Welwitschie” offers fluid rumination early and builds in stages, unveiling a plus-sized roll en route to a stop in its final minute from which a Truckfighters-y fuzz-run takes off to end.

The title-track is the longest inclusion at 7:42, and comes off “Pirsch” with a more expansive, psychedelic vibe, but there’s purpose behind everything Astral Kompakt do. These aren’t jams. It’s not unstructured. There’s a plot to each of these tracks — even the wailing feedback and fuzzy comedown leads of the penultimate “Ruin” brim with intent — and while the band make a point of their complexity and are clearly ambitious in terms of challenging themselves as players and writers, that doesn’t come at the cost of the material’s raw impact.

Of course, a production and mix from Jan Oberg at Berlin’s Hidden Planet (see also current releases from Daevar, CaffeineOberg‘s own Grin, etc.) isn’t going to hurt the prospect of aural largesse, and Goldader, whether it’s the midsection of the title-track, the immersion of “Pirsch” or the way “Batavische Träne II” (video premiering below) seems to do honor to Karma to Burn‘s central ethic of here’s-the-riff-now-eat-it when it came to groovemaking, but tone and tempo variation assures that not every song has the same goals or winds up in the same place. It is not a collection of linear builds, though “Batavische Träne II” has a doozy after its rocking opening section gives way to a quieter middle before its held-in-pocket nod is laid bare, soon to be topped with a duly airy solo.

But “Ruin” shifts theastral kompakt structure away from that build and works around its core progression with a rocker’s intention and Conan-style tonality underpinning a markedly doomed — and by that I mean grunge — riff. “Ruin” stones out, throws a little wah on the bass even, later on, but ends crushing, and drops to a silence, which the barely-there-at-first ambient opening of “Levitas” gets moving before a cymbal wash marks the arrival point of bloodrush punctuated lumber that ultimately opens to a transposed desert rock riff — (only) in my head, vague echoes of being told I don’t seem to understand the dee-yal — rolled out in a way that’s straightforward enough but doesn’t let go of the mood of its mellower launch.

And do they bring back the crashes and the slammy-slammy and the heavy-heavy whatnot? Well of course they do; rest easy. Shifting from roll to nod and stomp between, Astral Kompakt are once again following a plot, but what distinguishes “Levitas” from “Ruin” before it or even Goldader‘s title-cut, which is the only piece here over seven minutes long, is the clever way the parts are charted and interact with each other. You think one change is coming, another comes, and this is a strength. It’s not that Astral Kompakt are pulling cheeky switcheroos, but instead that the material is interesting enough and executed well enough to stand up to defying the expectations of genre.

In this way, Goldader seems very much to have accomplished what Astral Kompakt set out for it to do, building something that is progressive in construction, rich in atmosphere/mood, diverse in sound and a push in playing if not raw technique for its own sake. There are reaches here, and as sparse as some moments are, the band wield density with cleverness and skill as one of the tools used, and when they hit into a payoff like that of “Pirsch” after spending a minute or so in a welcoming La-La Land of dreamy ’90s-alt lead guitar, they make it physically affecting.

It might take a couple listens to let Goldader sink in completely, and I can’t help you there — it’s not out yet and this is a video not an album premiere; I didn’t even see another single streaming — but the album’s out in two weeks, and I believe strongly in your ability to keep these things in mind. Until it’s out, keep in mind “Batavische Träne II” is riffier on average than some of what Astral Kompakt do in other tracks, but represents well the heavier side without giving up mood.

PR wire info follows the video on the player below. As always, I hope you enjoy:

Astral Kompakt, “Batavische Träne II” video premiere

A video by Astral Kompakt and Solid Waste

Astral Kompakt carefully dissect the psych metal blueprint laid out by Sleep and Electric Wizard, slowing it down, spacing it out and abstracting its essence. Creating a new conversation in which heaviness is not a goal but a means to an end, Goldader, out November 22 via Tonzonen Records, perfects the art of making complexity comprehensible and sonic violence sophisticated.

Stoner rock leans heavily on its psychedelic imagery and lyrics for its allure, leaving a small number of artists capable of writing captivating instrumental music that still fits the bill. Where other acts turn to humorous tropes or excessive layers of fuzz, Germany-based instrumental outfit Astral Kompakt resort to reducing things to a minimum, keeping a tight formation as a trio. With their debut album Goldader they have perfected the art of making complexity comprehensible and sonic violence sophisticated.

Across its 40-minute long runtime Goldader reveals itself as a lexicon of anything prog and stoner, touching upon and playing with stylistic devices that also characterise the metal genre as a whole. From from the jagged start-stop riffing of Pirsch through the subtle polyrhythms of Welwitschie to the repeating motifs of Batavische Träne II, Astral Kompakt prove they understand the elements of the genre and know how to use them in refreshing ways.

The inconspicuous way in which they open the album in 10/8 but make it seem like the most normal stoner riff ever, attests to the ability of Astral Kompakt to make music that is both fun and engaging. The title track innovatively juxtaposes the summer vibes of indie rock with exuberant blast beats, while album closer Levitas skilfully anatomizes the art of melting face, creating an experience in which the real heaviness is found in the space between the distorted chords.

With Goldader Astral Kompakt have indeed struck gold, creating a record you can spend endless moments with, digging around and unearthing all its intricacies. The songwriting is serious but also has a sense of humour, the riffs are both brain-heavy and face-melting, while the album sounds phenomenal thanks to Jan Oberg at who recorded, produced and mixed the album at his Hidden Planet Studio in Berlin.

Astral Kompakt Goldader is out November 22, 2024 on Tonzonen Records. It can be pre-ordered on limited edition vinyl here: https://www.tonzonen.de/shop/p/astral-kompakt-presale-061024-

Tracklist
1. Pirsch
2. Goldader
3. Welwitschie
4. Batavische Träne I
5. Batavische Träne II
6. Ruin
7. Levitas

Astral Kompakt’s Linktr.ee

Astral Kompakt on Bandcamp

Astral Kompakt on Instagram

Astral Kompakt on Facebook

Tonzonen Records website

Tonzonen Records on Facebook

Tonzonen Records on Instagram

Tonzonen Records on Bandcamp

Tags: , , , , ,

Place of Skulls Albums to Be Reissued on Ripple Music

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 7th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

In addition to an on-off relationship with Pentagram that had him touring with that band a decade ago before leaving not yet to return, much of Victor Griffin’s time since the turn of the century, musically speaking, has been dedicated to Place of Skulls. And reasonably so. Griffin, known for his time in Death Row in addition to Pentagram, for working with Joe Hasselvander, Wino, and others, established Place of Skulls in 2000, and whether viewed as a vehicle for Griffin’s riffcraft or a classic doom band bold enough to put its faith front and center in the tradition of Trouble, the band left an impression.

The most recent Place of Skulls album is 2010’s As a Dog Returns (review here), which like the rest of the band’s catalog was issued through Stone Groove Records in 2016. As Griffin‘s then-post-Place of Skulls unit, In~Graved, had their 2013 self-titled (review here) included in that batch — interestingly, it seems to have been rebranded as a Place of Skulls release in 2016; fair enough — it seems likely it will be included in the Ripple bunch as well.

It’s all part of the label’s ‘Beneath the Desert Floor’ series, which is ongoing. And if they’re gonna start doing catalogs, look out. There’s a lot of underrated shit in this little niche of heavy music that no one gave a crap about until like 2013. Not likely to run out of source material anytime soon, is what I’m saying.

Label head and soon-to-be published author Todd Severin had this to say:

place of skulls ripple music

Been dying to let this one out of the bag!

“Ripple is thrilled to announce that we’ll be working with the legendary Victor Griffin for reissues of the classic Place of Skulls and In-Graved albums. Victor, the inventor of Drop B tuning, was an early member of Pentagram before forming Place of Skulls with bassist Lee Abney and drummer Tim Tomaselli. Expect to see the Place of Skulls catalog as part of the Beneath the Desert Floor series!!

Please welcome them to the family!”

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063178960941
https://placeofskulls1.bandcamp.com/

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

Place of Skulls, As a Dog Returns (2016)

Place of Skulls, In~Graved (2013/2016)

Tags: , , , , , ,

Album Review: Slower, Rage and Ruin

Posted in Reviews on November 7th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

slower rage and ruin

Maybe Slower‘s first record turned out better than was planned? What started as a Slayer covers project — the conceptual basis of playing the seminal thrash outfit’s songs… wait for it… slower — formed at the behest of prolific guitarist Bob Balch (Fu ManchuBig Scenic NowhereSun and Sail Club, Yawning Balch, Minotaur, etc.), released their self-titled debut (review here) back in January, taking on all-time metal classics like “Dead Skin Mask” and “South of Heaven” with righteous nod and atmospheric doom tonality. Granted it hasn’t been all that long, but their version of “War Ensemble” that opened the self-titled has resonated through much of the year that’s followed it.

But what’s the future of a band like that? Especially since Slower‘s Slower got a decent response, had a proper release on Heavy Psych Sounds and people wondering loudly when the band would start to play live, etc., it seemed like Slower needed a path forward. Rage and Ruin, the band’s second full-length in less than a year’s time, is it. Balch‘s assembled band, with vocalist Amy Tung Barrysmith (Year of the Cobra) and drummer Esben Willems (Monolord), working remotely in Washington and Sweden, respectively, appeared as the central trio on Slower as well, but where that LP brought in Laura Pleasants of Kylesa and Scott Reeder (Kyuss, The ObsessedGoatsnake, et al) for high-impact guest spots, the new six-song/42-minute collection chooses instead to focus on the BalchBarrysmith and Willems trio, and to be honest, there’s not much more you need than what you get throughout.

That’s a decent-sized shift in policy, establishing a lineup, deciding in essence to make Slower a band rather than a project. Fall European touring to support both releases furthers the impression of finding ways to keep Slower going, but the most crucial change between Slower and Rage and Ruin is the creation and incorporation of original material alongside covers. In this way, with two originals and one sandwiched Slayer tune on each side — manifest as a 10-minute version of “Chemical Warfare,” languid and sinister in the spirit of the first record, and “Haunting the Chapel,” which doesn’t feel quite as dense atmospherically but nonetheless establishes a dark current of malevolent distortion in the guitar and bass (I’m not sure who’s handling bass between Barrysmith and Balch, but it’s somebody) — Slower honor where they’ve come from while still being able to move forward as an original collaboration between these three players. And if the message of Slower‘s Slower was anything, it was that that collaboration was worth whatever the ‘band’ could do to pursue it. Well, that and Slayer rules, well written songs are well written regardless of tempo, metal be like that, and so on.

The challenge the band seems to have issued themselves in this is to remain in line aesthetically with Slayer at least to some degree, and what that means in terms of the actual listening experience is that “Hellfire,” “Gates of Hell,” “Sins of the Dead” and the closing title-track, “Rage and Ruin” are playing with intention behind their aesthetic. This is a band with a goal in mind, even if that goal just got a lot more nebulous with the choice to write their own material. Of course, there’s no lack of creativity to be mined between Amy Tung Barrysmith, who plays bass and fronts a two-piece and has contributed to numerous other projects, and whose lyrics are her own as “Rage and Ruin” and “Sins of the Dead” readily demonstrate, Willems, whose drumming in Monolord taught a generation to nod in the ’10s, and Balch, who’s formed at least three likely-killer bands as I’ve been sitting here typing this review, and one shouldn’t go into Rage and Ruin thinking the band itself doesn’t have a personality to show.

slower

Is this the part where I tell you Rage and Ruin is like a second debut? Nah. You can read it that way if you want, and the arguments are viable since we do find out so much about the character of Slower as “Hellfire” sets itself to the work of expanding on the foundation of the first album’s arrangements, with creeper riffs and a villainous, lurching groove, washes of noise cut through by echoing vocals and Willems‘ self-recorded snare punishment. But no, it’s not a second debut. It’s a second record, and bolstered by the context of Slower before it, still only months old, since as much as “Sins of the Dead” seems to roll toward the howling fuzzer solo in its back half and the chorus arrives with that particular ritualistic grandiosity, it ultimately has little to do with Slayer‘s sound as the band actually was.

Far from being a weakness, this is what makes Rage and Ruin possible in the first place, and while “Chemical Warfare” and “Haunting the Chapel” are of course recognizable from their original versions, they’re set-pieces for each of the two sides, rather than the sole focus as was the case on the all-covers release. This is not an easy shift to make. Maybe since at this point Slower is nobody’s ‘main band’ and it’s not likely to be at any point, or maybe because they’re still a relatively new advent, the pressure of expectation doesn’t loom in quite the same way, but to say, “We play Slayer covers,” and come back less than a year later with original material “in a Slayer style” that’s also atmospheric doom is no minor thing. That they could do it should come as little surprise to listeners familiar with who these players are and what they’ve done before, but that they would should be taken as a particular sign of boldness, taking ownership of the project and direction in a way that echoes the purpose with which they initially embarked on the band as covers-only.

So if Rage and Ruin is Slower finding a path and embarking on it, it seems reasonable to think they’ll continue along the grim, brooding lines of the title-track, which makes an impact even as Willems sits out the long intro and build through the first verse before the sharp-cornered riffing and the resultant hell-yes-stinkface march. At the same time, haven’t they kind of blown the doors off the original idea? If Slower had a three-minute interlude of nothing but creepy keyboard, would gatekeeping blogbros say it didn’t work because Slayer didn’t do it? Of course not. Part of what Rage and Ruin does is set Slower up to continue a progression that is their own. Will the third album — mind you I have no sense on the timing of such a thing; I only know they sound like they have more to say — have a Slayer cover at all? Will it need one? Why or why not? Are they necessary here?

I don’t know. They seem to highlight the transition taking place in terms of Slower‘s overarching crux, the covers, and they make sense coming off the first record, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if they were dropped entirely next time, or maybe halved to just one. In any case, I didn’t expect to enjoy Slower‘s Slower nearly as much as I did, and while Rage and Ruin has neither the novelty nor the surprise-factor on its site, it’s a more satisfying listen, shows the band has more to offer, and sets them off on a course of forward growth just 10 months after the debut came out. I’m not sure if doomers are the type to carve a logo in their arm, but if Slower keep this up they’ll be engendering loyalty just the same.

Slower, Rage and Ruin (2024)

Slower on Facebook

Slower on Instagram

Slower’s Linktr.ee

Heavy Psych Sounds on Facebook

Heavy Psych Sounds on Instagram

Heavy Psych Sounds on Bandcamp

Heavy Psych Sounds website

Tags: , , , , ,

Iron Blanket Post 25-Minute ‘Live at Red Belly Records’ Session Video

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 7th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

Look, it’s been a rough couple days where I’m at. I know that doesn’t have jack shit to do with Iron Blanket, who are from Australia and who put out their Astral Wanderer LP earlier this year on Copper Feast and Sound Effect Records, and who are from Australia. I know. Unrelated. But man, everything just feels like a drag. Existing got heavier, and not in a good way.

So I’m not saying don’t watch Iron Blanket‘s ‘Live at Red Belly Records’ live session. At all. I’m saying stop whatever else you’re doing and immerse in it. Don’t just watch it. Maybe put some headphones on, turn the volume up and really let go for a while. I don’t know where you are or your situation, but if you actually make it through all 25 minutes with some kind of mental escape, isn’t that automatically a win? Just a couple minutes of being someplace else in your head?

The video has four songs, three of which were on Astral Wanderer and the concluding “Jam Sandwich,” which, yes, has plenty of jam. Maybe it’s what you need today and maybe it isn’t. I don’t know. But sitting here doing this feels stupid and listening to music doesn’t, so I’m gonna put on some tunes and try to check out for a while.

Peace:

iron blanket

Sydney powerhouse IRON BLANKET slithered their way up into the into Redbelly studios after their Album release after ‘That’ night at the Northern in Byron Bay.

Here’s:
Mystic Goddess 00:45
Visions of the End 05:20
Kookaburra Nightmare 11:11
Jam sandwich 20:25

Filmed: 47 Studio
Edited: 47 Studio / Red Belly Records
Recorded: Red Belly Records
Mixed + Mastered: Iron Blanket

Iron Blanket is:
Mark Lonsdale – Guitar
Nick Matthews – Drums
Tom Withford – Guitar
Charles Eggleston – Bass
Johann Ingemar – Vocals

https://www.facebook.com/Ironblanket
https://www.instagram.com/iron_blanket/
https://ironblanket.bandcamp.com/

http://www.facebook.com/SoundEffectRecords
https://soundeffectrecords.bandcamp.com
https://www.soundeffect-records.gr/

http://facebook.com/copperfeastrecords
http://instagram.com/copperfeastrecords
https://copperfeastrecords.bandcamp.com/
http://www.copperfeastrecords.com/

Iron Blanket, Live at Red Belly Records

Iron Blanket, Astral Wanderer (2024)

Tags: , , , , , , , ,