2:11AM: Here’s a quick story. Before I got in the car to go to work this morning, I got a thorn in my thumb. It’s not really important how, or at least it’s a longer narrative than I care to relate, but the point is, this tiny piece of thorn was lodged in my thumb all day, until finally, just now, I went in the bathroom and did some minor surgery with a pair of rusty tweezers to extract it. Every time I hit the spacebar today, my thumb hurt, and I knew that there was just about no way in hell I’d be able to get to sleep until I dug the fucker out, so there it is.

Similarly, I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep without posting the following Hexvessel video for the song, “I am the Ritual.” The song comes from the Norwegian outfit’s debut, Dawnbringer, which was released earlier this year on Svart Records, and the clip was directed by Canadian director Justin Oakey of the production company Burial Offerings, who previously filmed the video for the song “Bent” from Toronto weirdo noisemakers Godstopper, and who sent over the link this afternoon.

Though Hexvessel is steered by British transport Mat McNerney (aka Kvohst, ex-Dødheimsgard vocalist), the woodsy psych folk sounds of Dawnbringer feature a host of collaborations with Norwegian artists, including links to Ulver, Virus and Dark Buddha Rising, among others. The video for “I am the Ritual” brings visual manifestation to the song’s pagan forest worship and foreboding title, and thinking about it now, perhaps a layer of protective furs would be just the thing to protect my poor thumbs on my way to the car in the morning.

Good night:

For more on Hexvessel (who are on the bill for Roadburn next year), click here. For more on Oakey‘s work, check out Burial Offerings here.

It’s a rare band that will have me throwing the horns at my desk, but so help me Robot Jeebus, the first time I listened to the self-titled EP from Detroit five-piece Knife, up they went at the end of opening track, “The Mess.” It was a gut reaction. No choice in the matter. The song is the perfect balance of catchy choruses and bearded burl, like the first Queens of the Stone Age record after getting its ass kicked a couple times.

As much as Detroit has seen the growth of a hipster culture the last few years, Knife have nothing to do with any of that. In the same vein as like-minded heavy Motor City bastards Chapstik and Mean Mother, they rock straightforward and more than a bit angry, pulling back some on the aggression for “Lake of Tar” (especially as compares to “This Field was Made for Killing” preceding) but giving little slack in the momentum. Knife is only six songs, 25 minutes, but in that time, the band establishes a firm pattern of riffs and solos, earning their two guitars and still leaving room for the standalone vocals of Curt Massof, which more than earn it.

Whether it’s the start-stop semi-Southern chugga groove of “Outrider” (little Danzig in there) or the unbridled energy of “Lineage,” Knife make sure their foot is right at home in the ass of their listener, and though I don’t know what the deal is with them and a label, them and a full-length, them and touring, them and their lineup, etc., I just wanted to put these songs on here because I actually dig the music. Figure the rest will work itself out.

If you want to hit the band up, do so on their Thee Facebooks profile or buy the EP via Bandcamp. Enjoy this stream of Knife‘s Knife, courtesy of the latter portal:

Two full decades of doing anything is impressive, and what separates British doom mainstays Cathedral’s 20-year tenure from that of many others is that they never really stopped. Until now. The 2CD live album Anniversary – their first live record in all that time, released through frontman Lee Dorian’s own Rise Above Records (Metal Blade in North America) – captures a special show they did to mark 20 years on Dec. 3, 2010, at the 02 Academy Islington in London, and it’s part of the band tying up the loose ends of their existence, which they reportedly plan to end in 2012 with a final studio offering to be called The Last Spire and another London show Dec. 3, 2011. The Last Spire will be Cathedral’s 10th full-length, and though their catalog has had its ups and downs as far as fan reception, their stamp on the genre of doom is cast if only in the fact that when they started out, there was hardly a genre to speak of. As time passed and their catalog grew, landmark releases like 1993’s The Ethereal Mirror and 1995’s The Carnival Bizarre helped not only grow the band’s legacy, but that of doom at large, and through his work with Rise Above, Dorian in particular has been placed at the fore of tastemakers when it comes to what the term “doom” means and can be expanded to incorporate. That has little to do with the sound of Anniversary, but is relevant for context if nothing else.

The Anniversary show itself saw Cathedral basically play two concerts. The first, captured on the first disc here, brought back the original two-guitar lineup for a full front-to-back performance of their 1991 classic, Forest of Equilibrium. The second was Cathedral’s current incarnation – Dorian and guitarist Garry “Gaz” Jennings being the remaining founding members – doing a selection from the rest of the band’s discography. Disc one is an hour and disc two is just under 80 minutes, so the sheer amount of material on Anniversary is staggering, and for someone unfamiliar with the band, probably too intimidating to take on completely blind – but one doesn’t release something like Anniversary for the casual fan. Anniversary is for those who’ve stuck with the band through the highs and lows, or for the late comers whose appreciation for Cathedral is seen in the band’s influence on doom both British and worldwide. And as much as they’ve come to personify the band over the years, to hear Dorian and Jennings joined by guitarist Adam Lehan, bassist Mark Griffiths and drummer Mike Smail for a full run-through of Forest of Equilibrium is a fitting way to celebrate Cathedral’s time together, though the sound between the studio versions and their late-2010 live interpretations is more than a little different. Dorian’s vocals – though he’s obviously performed much of this material all along – have developed considerably since 1991, and though he’s always been more of a frontman than a technically-minded singer, his range and use of cleaner vocals can easily be heard progressing from album to album. Forest of Equilibrium was never going to be what it is on the record itself, but whether it’s “Commiserating the Celebration (of Life)” or the show highlights “Serpent Eve” and “Equilibrium,” Cathedral as They Were do the album justice and leave a high mark for Cathedral as They Are to live up to.

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Good news today for anyone who’s going to be in London come next Easter. German heavy prog instrumentalists Rotor are the latest band to be added to the lineup of Desertfest 2012, a fraction of which you can see in the banner above. I’ll be having more on the fest as we get closer to next April, leading up to actually covering the thing when the time comes. Can’t friggin’ wait.

Here’ the latest from the Desertfest website:

Desertfest are proud to announce Berlin-based psychedelic, stoner groove beasts Rotor. They are joining the already amazing line up at Desertfest, and we are made up to have these guys back in the UK. They are going to be playing on Friday 6th April.

The connection between Scott “Wino” Weinrich and Texan classic heavy rockers Blood of the Sun is simple: Henry Vasquez. The frontdrummer of Blood of the Sun also serves in Saint Vitus as the replacement for Armando Acosta, who left the band in 2009 owing to health issues and passed away last Thanksgiving, almost exactly one year ago. Blood of the Sun haven’t had a record out since 2008’s Death Ride on Brainticket, and though Vasquez‘s obviously been busy since then, they’re due.

Vasquez toured on drums with Dave Chandler‘s Debris Inc. project with Trouble‘s Ron Holzner (as did Eyehategod‘s Jimmy Bower), which is how he came to the Vitus gig, but Blood of the Sun have been kicking up riff rock dust since the release of their self-titled record in 2004. Their live show is incendiary, and though Death Ride got a modicum of positive reception among the right people, no doubt the new album, Burning on the Wings of Desire, will see even higher profile thanks to Vasquez‘s ongoing tenure in Saint Vitus.

And rightly so, because they’re a good band. Bringing Wino in on guest vocals always helps as well, and as it happens, Tony Reed (of Stone Axe, Mos Generator and HeavyPink fame) is playing guitar for Blood of the Sun these days too, in addition to having recorded Burning on the Wings of Desire, which is due out sometime next year. Since it was Reed who put up a clip of “Good & Evil” on the TuberYous earlier this week, I figured all the better to make it this week’s Wino Wednesday cut and celebrate another killer cameo from the man himself.

Hope you enjoy:

If you dig that Blood of the Sun song (and I can’t see any reason why you wouldn’t), they’ve also put another one up here that you can check out, featuring the same Alabama Thunderpussy, Staring at the Divine-esque booby-lady art. Sorry to anyone for whom “SFW” is a concern, but rock is rock, and sometimes there’s nipples in rock. Hazards of the trade.

On the player below is an audio sampler of HeavyPink‘s HeavyPink 7″ that features both tracks included on the physical record itself, “Flower and Song” and “There is a Light.” There are currently 88 copies of the vinyl left, and if you haven’t yet made a purchase, you can do so using the PayPal button above or at The Maple Forum‘s store at BigCartel. Whether or not you buy the platter, I hope you enjoy the audio, which is followed by some refresher info in case you’ve missed the story so far:

[mp3player width=460 height=120 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=heavypink-sampler.xml]

HeavyPink is the new solo project of T. Dallas Reed, the multi-instrumentalist and driving force behind Port Orchard, Washington, rock revivalists Stone Axe and the guitarist and principle songwriter for Mos Generator, among other acts. Ever self-motivated, Reed performed all the instruments on HeavyPink‘s self-titled debut 7″ and recorded the songs himself at his own HeavyHead Studio earlier this year.

The HeavyPink 7″ is the fourth release on The Maple Forum (forum040) and finds Reed branching out from the straightforward nature of his past offerings and into more psychedelic territory — still maintaining his penchant for memorable verses and choruses, but crafting them into warm walls of sound that are deeply layered and richly toned. HeavyPink is unlike anything Reed has done in the past, and yet definitively his own, bearing the mark of his songwriting through both included cuts, “Flower and Song” and “There is a Light.”

All purchases of HeavyPink‘s HeavyPink 7″ come with a sticker and download card, and included in the download is the bonus track “Long Live the Mellotron,” on which Reed pays homage to the titular instrument and uses it to near-symphonic effect. Whispered vocals and other noises ensure that even those who’ve been a longtime follower of the man’s work are in for a genuine surprise.

Purchases can be made using the PayPal button above or at the Maple Forum store. Thanks as always for your support of The Obelisk and The Maple Forum.

In what will reportedly be their last string of shows for 2011, Pennsylvanian dirt rockers Backwoods Payback are hitting the road for the early part of December with the Virginian duo Akris. Backwoods Payback‘s debut, Momantha, was a bit of a sleeper, but the honesty and integrity behind the music shone through nonetheless, and they’re quickly becoming an excellent live act. Not to be missed if they’re coming through your town, I guess is the short version.

Emissions from the PR wire:

Backwoods Payback will head out on the road this December for one final run in 2011. The tour will take them through the Southeast and wrap up with their final show of the year in Columbus, Ohio, with labelmates Lo-Pan.

Along for much of the trek will be drum and bass noise machines Akris from Virginia.

The tour wraps up a year of the highest of highs and most earth-shattering of lows for the band. The shows promise a mix of tacks from their Small Stone Records debut, Momantha, and a preview of brand new music written since its release this past August.

Backwoods Payback on tour:

11/30 Harrisonburg, VA Blue Nile
12/01 Durham, NC Casbah
12/02 Charleston, SC Jimbo’s Rock Lounge
12/03 Savannah, GA The Wormhole
12/04 Atlanta, GA TBA
12/05 Nashville, TN Springwater
12/06 Birmingham, AL The Nick
12/07 Johnson City, TN The Hideaway
12/08 Blacksburg, VA 130 Jackson
12/09 Cleveland, OH Now That’s Class *
12/10 Columbus, OH Carabar w/ Lo-Pan *
* No Akris

Put to press less than a year after the band played its first show in 2010, the Superwizard 7” is the first official outing for Seattle fuzzsome foursome Ancient Warlocks. The band offer no excuses for their stonerly ways on the self-released Superwizard, instead riffing with Fu Manchu-esque abandon on the two included cuts, “Into the Night” and “Superwizard.” A smattering of demo tracks preceded that one can hear on the band’s ReverbNation page, and the song “Killer’s Moon” – very much in the same vein as the material on Superwizard – is streaming at their Bandcamp site, but the 7” marks a physical debut nonetheless and is limited to 300 copies, hand-silkscreened and numbered with righteous cover art by Eric Pruyn. The music of the band itself is rudimentary in its form enough to match Pruyn’s inked lines, and similarly minded when it comes to lyrics about space wizards and mysterious creatures. The single’s lack of pretense in being anything other than what it is makes up a big part of its charm, but if you’re into familiar riffs and grooves, Ancient Warlocks have plenty of accessibility and appeal for the converted.

That’s not to say the songs don’t have their own personality, just that it’s a personality that you – if you’ve found your way to reading this – already know. The band already knows it as well, and that works much to their credit. Bassist Aaron Krause (also vocals) and guitarists Dan Beloit and Darren Chase provide amply thickened fuzz, with Beloit veering into lead lines throughout the longer “Into the Night.” Krause‘s bass underscores the janga-janga shuffle of that song’s main riff, with drummer Steve Jones keeping the march straightforward on the hi-hat and snare, until after halfway through the song, there’s a slowdown and solo section from Beloit that brings a bluesy side not yet shown. Interestingly, that shift happens at about 2:50, and since Superwizard’s title-track is 2:54 and doesn’t have such a break, you could almost say the structures of the two songs on the single are the same, but with the extra piece added to Side A to bring it to about five minutes. It doesn’t offend, in any case. The release in total is about eight minutes long, so Ancient Warlocks would have to work pretty hard to come off as more redundant than they mean to be in that time, and they don’t.

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