Reunited Maine traditional doom trio Ogre do a pretty comprehensive job of telling their own story below (which is awesome), so I’ll keep it short. Needless to say, the thought of a new Ogre studio full-length — it’ll be their first since Shadow Kingdom released Plague of the Planet in 2009 (review here) right around the time of their initial breakup — is a pleasant one.

The band sent over the following announcement that they’ve signed to the also-reignited Minotauro Records and have much in the works. Behold:

OGRE is psyched to announce that we have signed a deal with the newly recharged Minotauro Records (Italy) to release our as-yet-untitled fourth full-length album. Minotauro, whose history goes back to the mid-1980s, is a well-regarded underground metal label best known for releasing such classic Paul Chain doom metal albums as “Detaching from Satan”, “Alkahest”, and “In the Darkness”. In addition to recently reissuing those Chain albums, Minotauro is now delving into releasing new music, with OGRE being one of the first bands signed.

The impetus for this new album really came from the reunion show that we did back in September 2012. We wrote one new song (“Nine Princes in Amber”) for that show and originally planned just to record that song and one more for a 7” record. However, once we started working on this new material, the ideas kept flowing and, before we knew it, we had enough songs for a full-length. We recorded three songs for the album back in April and are going back into the studio this weekend to record the remaining four tunes. We’re really excited about these songs, which are some of the heaviest we’ve come up with yet.

In addition to the new album, there are a couple of other “new” OGRE releases that have come out recently. Originally available only at our reunion show, the “Secondhand Demons” CD-r compilation has gone into a second pressing of 50 copies, available through our Facebook site. This compilation includes demo tracks, rare songs, live versions, and a bunch of covers (Vitus, Rush, Sabbath, Buffalo). We already are down to our last few copies, so anyone who would like one should act fast. We’ve also made the compilation available for digital download (along with the rest of our catalog) for those who prefer digital files. All proceeds from these sales will go straight to the cost of mixing and mastering the new album.

Last but not least, we have a very unique release to announce. Our 2008 album, “Plague of the Planet”, has just been released in a super limited edition DVD-audio quadraphonic mix! The album was completely remixed from the master tapes into vintage quadraphonic sound (70s style!) and also includes a bonus track of a quad mix of “Colossus” from our first album. This DVD will play in Dolby Surround on any DVD player, provided you have a surround set up (e.g. for movies), but if you have a player that decodes DVD-audio discs, then you will be able to hear the album in hi-resolution, lossless sound. As an added bonus, if your player is hooked up to a TV, the music is accompanied by a visual slideshow that features expanded album artwork by our drummer Will Broadbent, who did the amazing original art for the album.

The quad mix has been released by the Quadro-Surround label out of Germany, which specializes in limited pressing quad mixes of modern albums. Up until now, the label has only released jazz, folk, classical, and Latin music, but it was looking to expand into the rock world, and “Plague” is its first rock/metal release. There were only 100 copies pressed, and the band only has a few to sell at gigs, so if anyone is interested in getting a copy, please order directly from the Quadro-Surround website. The site is rather rudimentary, but Dietrich (who runs the label) is a straight-up guy. E-mail him, pay through PayPal, and he’ll get it right out to you. The mix is definitely pretty wild at times.

That’s about it for now. We’ll make sure to keep our Facebook page updated with info on the new album as it develops. Thanks!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/OGRE/279815828785274
http://ogrereal.bandcamp.com/album/secondhand-demons
http://www.quadro-surround.de/english/avaiable_productions.html

Ogre, Secondhand Demons (2012)

With a couple European tours under their belt and a resulting sense of being in full command of their sound, Baltimore four-piece The Flying Eyes make a return with their Kickstarter-funded third album, Lowlands. Released on Noisolution Records, Lowlands doesn’t so much comprise a departure from the ground the band covered on their sophomore outing, 2011’s engaging Done So Wrong (review here), or even for that matter the roots from which they sprung on their 2010 EP compilation that served as their self-titled full-length debut (review here) — formative though that last seems in hindsight — as an arrival at a point of mastery for those ideas that bleeds into nearly every stretch of the record’s 44 minutes. Aligned to producer Rob Girardi (Arbouretum, Double Dagger, etc.) with a clean, dynamic mix from Chris “Frenchie” Smith, to say The Flying Eyes have never sounded better doesn’t really capture what’s working so well throughout Lowlands. They’ve never sounded so in control, or so assured of their approach. Whether that’s a result of working with Girardi or of their road time is ultimately secondary, the fact remains that The Flying Eyes have come of age as a band and that Lowlands makes for one of the best flowing heavy psych LPs I’ve heard yet in 2013. Its fuzz is rich and dense in the guitars of Adam Bufano and Will Kelly (the latter also vocals) and bass of Mac Hewitt, and drummer Elias Schutzman continues to provide able leadership for grooves, whether it’s the ’70s heavy-style rock of “Rolling Thunder” or the semi-grunge acoustic/electric blend of “Comfort Machine.” Whatever else is driving this material, The Flying Eyes have definitely — and perhaps unsurprisingly — taken some measure of influence from the modern European scene in which they’ve immersed themselves several times over. Flourishes of Mars Red Sky-style wah and fuzz show themselves throughout, winding up both in the airier leads of the aforementioned “Comfort Machine” and in the initial unfolding mid-paced comfort groove of opener “Long Gone,” Schutzman‘s snare also sharing some sonic commonality, either by coincidence or intent.

Moods vary within a consistent psychedelic atmosphere, and more than they ever have to date, Kelly‘s vocals have a grounding effect on the material. Like the rest of the instruments on Lowlands, his voice is more his own, having overcome some of the Jim Morrison-isms that showed up on the band’s earlier works to arrive at a natural, bluesy-sound that adds a touch of inadvertent Americana to the deceptively quick push of “Long Gone”‘s verses. He was a more than capable singer to start with, and his voice comes across fitting in smoothly with the touches of electric and acoustic guitar, the spaced-out wah leads and the rhythmic thickness Hewitt‘s bass so provides both on “Long Gone” and “Under Iron Feet,” which is even more commanding and drenched in attitude. Instrumental stops at the ends of the verses let Kelly carry the shift to the chorus — something The Flying Eyes will do again shortly on “Smile,” though in a different context — and upping the tempo in the second half, they border on cacophony making their way to a last-minute boogie chorus before ending cold and leaving Schutzman to announce the foreboding beginning of “Rolling Thunder.” It’s a deception, if a grand one, since “Rolling Thunder” is both the most propulsive rhythm yet and working at a pace more akin to the sort of loud-motor shenanigans the title may or may not be referencing — i.e. classic biker rock. A slowdown as they approach the midsection provides an unexpected turn, and Kelly adjusts his shout to something more reminiscent of West Coast lumber-riffers Snail, but they bring it back to the shuffling progression soon enough and by the halfway point are so deep in a jam that for a moment it seems like there’s going to be no getting out. A dead stop, of course, brings back the verse hook in building form, they riff it out, go back to the slowdown and end with a last push in a maddening series of turns as exciting as they are smoothly executed, Bufano and Kelly and Hewitt locking in with Schutzman‘s half-time stomp to bring the track to its conclusion. A sparser feel pervades throughout the six-plus minutes of “Smile,” but the tension the band creates throughout its linear build makes the darker vibe a highlight of Lowlands nonetheless, Kelly giving a fitting sense of finality in his delivery of the lines, “I’m broke I know to your delight/You want my trust but it’s too late/Wicked deeds have sealed your fate,” after the first swell dies down to start the second from the album’s most silent, brooding moment.

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Well, they said it was coming. Not sure yet if guitarist Joe Hoare will be healed up from his recent Achilles tendon injury (though reportedly he’s doing well and didn’t need surgery), but one way or another, Orange Goblin are once again storming North American shores this fall, this time as headliners on their own tour with Holy Grail and Lazer/Wulf.

Whilst you’re pre-booking your liver transplant, dig the following off the PR wire:

ORANGE GOBLIN To Return To North America This Autumn

Britain’s premier stoner metal band ORANGE GOBLIN will return to perform at venues throughout North America this Autumn. Following the band’s huge success earlier this year as main support for Clutch on their Earth Rocker North American tour, the Brits return for a full headlining run. Kicking off in New Orleans on September 27, the band will visit 38 cities around the United States and Canada before concluding in Nashville on November 9. Support on the tour will come from Holy Grail and Lazer/Wulf.

The trek finds ORANGE GOBLIN continuing a year-long commitment to performances in support of their latest studio album, A Eulogy For the Damned (2012), and first live CD/DVD released earlier this year. This rigorous schedule has seen them perform in over 25 countries across the globe, ensuring that the band is firing on all cylinders and maintaining their reputation as one of the fiercest and most exciting live acts on the planet! In fact, Clutch’s own Neil Fallon was recently seen on That Metal Show wearing an ORANGE GOBLIN shirt and proclaiming them to be one of his favorite bands!

Released March 12, A Eulogy For The Fans/Orange Goblin Live 2012 includes ORANGE GOBLIN’s complete performances from England ’s Bloodstock Open Air and France’s Hellfest. The package’s DVD includes the official Tom Cronin directed videos for “Red Tide Rising” and “Acid Trial,” the latter courtesy of Scion A/V. It further includes the Matt Chance directed “Red Tide Rising” documentary and Gaetan Chataigner directed “Highway to Hellfest” documentary. Art and design was provided by Jimbob Isaac under the direction of vocalist Ben Ward. The live album follows the release of A Eulogy For The Damned, now ORANGE GOBLIN’s highest selling album in North America. Produced by Jamie Dodd and mastered by two-time Grammy-nominated engineer Andy Jackson (Pink Floyd), the album entered the UK charts at position 96 and for the US landed on Billboard Magazine’s Heat Seekers chart at position 38.Tickets for the tour are set to go on sale via all appropriate ticket agencies and venue box offices next week. Confirmed dates are below.

ORANGE GOBLIN
w/ Holy Grail, Lazer/Wulf
09/27/2013 One Eyed Jacks – New Orleans, LA
09/28/2013 Red 7 – Austin, TX
09/29/2013 Fitzgerald’s – Houston, TX
09/30/2013 Club Dada – Dallas, TX
10/01/2013 Sister Bar – Albuquerque, NM
10/02/2013 Yucca Tap Room – Tempe, AZ
10/04/2013 The Catalyst – Santa Cruz, CA
10/05/2013 The Satellite – Los Angeles, CA
10/06/2013 Soda Bar – San Diego, CA
10/08/2013 The Observatory – Santa Ana, CA
10/09/2013 Oakland Opera House – Oakland, CA
10/10/2013 Oak Street Speakeasy – Eugene, OR
10/11/2013 Fall Into Darkness Festival – Portland, OR
10/12/2013 The Highline – Seattle, WA
10/13/2013 Rickshaw Theater – Vancouver, BC
10/15/2013 The Palomino – Calgary, AB
10/17/2013 The Pawn Shop – Edmonton, AB
10/18/2013 Amigos – Saskatoon, SK
10/19/2013 Windsor Hotel – Winnipeg, MB
10/20/2013 The Aquarium – Fargo, ND
10/21/2013 Triple Rock – Minneapolis, MN
10/22/2013 Reggie’s – Chicago, IL
10/23/2013 Pyramid Scheme – Grand Rapids, MI
10/24/2013 Now That’s Class – Cleveland, OH
10/25/2013 Rockstar Arena – Dayton, OH
10/26/2013 Rex Theater – Pittsburgh, PA
10/27/2013 London Music Hall – London, ON
10/28/2013 The Opera House – Toronto, ON
10/29/2013 Mavericks – Ottawa, ON
10/30/2013 Foufounes Electriques – Montreal, QC
11/01/2013 Empire – Springfield, VA
11/02/2013 Saint Vitus – Brooklyn, NY
11/03/2013 The Note – West Chester, PA
11/05/2013 Strange Matter – Richmond, VA
11/06/2013 Tremont Music Hall – Charlotte, NC
11/07/2013 Broadway’s – Asheville, NC
11/08/2013 The Earl – Atlanta, GA
11/09/2013 Exit/In – Nashville, TN

ORANGE GOBLIN is vocalist Ben Ward, guitarist Joe Hoare, bassist Martyn Millard, and drummer Chris Turner. The band is endorsed by Fender Guitars, Marshall Amps, Meinl Cymbals, Vater Sticks, Lace Pick Ups, Orange Amps, Natal Drums, Rotosound, and Jagermeister.

http://www.orange-goblin.com
http://www.facebook.com/orangegoblinofficial
http://candlelightrecordsusa.com

Orange Goblin, “Aquatic Fanatic” Live in Portland, OR, 2013

Big congratulations to London-based riff purveyors Steak on the announcement of their newly-inked deal with Napalm Records/Spinning Goblin Productions. Among others, the foursome now get to refer to the noble likes of Vista Chino, Monster Magnet and My Sleeping Karma as “labelmates.” Steak‘s second and latest EP, the most righteously titled Corned Beef Colossus (review here), was released earlier this year to well-earned acclaim.

One more time, well done, gentlemen. Here’s the official word for your perusal:

Spinning Goblin / Napalm Records is proud to announce the worldwide signing of UK’s Stoner/Fuzz Rocker Steak!

STEAK have achieved a considerable status playing fuzz dripping Stoner Rock at this years Desertfest London and various Snowboard events throughout Europe.

The band’s first two comic book artwork gatefold Vinyl EP´s will be released later this and will be simply mind-blowing! Welcome to the family!

“We are totally blown away to be part of Napalm Records, and sharing a label with bands such as Vista Chino, Monster Magnet and The Sword is an amazing honour. With our debut album due for the start of 2014 followed by a European tour, we are busy working on new material in the studio. We hold up an ice cold one and say thanks for opportunity Napalm, you obviously know a good thing when they hear and we respect that!!” – Reece

Steak, “Liquid Gold” official video

This one kind of crept up on me. I saw a couple weeks ago we were getting closer to 4,000 posts, but then I guess I forgot to pay attention and looked two days ago and we were there. Time flies when, uh, time is flying.

It’s been a lot of upheaval the last couple weeks for me on a personal level. Buying a house, then not buying it, having to scramble to find a place to live in a state I don’t really know (yet), then finally finding it, maybe not, maybe yes. Yes? I guess so. Seems like it, but that’s hardly the first time. If nothing falls apart and no secret chemical spills come to light, The Patient Mrs. and I will move next Thursday. A week from today.

The point is it’s stressful, and as has become my habit over the last four-plus years, I’ve been using this site as a means for finding some kind of stability in what’s been a teeth-grindingly unstable time. Thank you for continuing to read, to show your support, to be patient in my not answering emails in a timely fashion, to spread links, retweet, like posts, leave comments, whatever it is. Just yesterday, that Monster Magnet stream topped 1,000 Thee Facebooks likes. I try not to define my self-worth by such things, and I know for a fact that the link spreading around has nothing to do with my writing and everything to do with the fact that the song is good and it’s their first US tour in a decade, but this is the internet and I take validation wherever I can get it. So again, thank you.

I never have so I won’t start now to claim to have any idea what the future holds, for me, for this site, for anything. But as we pass 4,000 posts on this site, I’m glad for the things it has been able to accomplish and I have enjoyed watching it become the time-consuming beast it has become. If you’re reading this, then you’re keeping me going, so one more time before I move to the next thing, thank you.

Onward.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

It’s been three years since Cleveland, Ohio, heavy rockers Venomin James released their burly second album, Crowe Valley Blues, a record they supported by playing — among other places — at Germany’s famed Wacken festival in 2011. Just before the release, the band lost drummer Jared Koston to cancer, and late in 2012, Venomin James announced they were parting ways with vocalist Jim Meador as they looked to press on in a new direction. Their new single they released just yesterday, “Sailor’s Grave,” is the first outing with new drummer Eric Matthews and new singer Mike Martini.

The change is clear in the band’s style on the new track. Where Crowe Valley Blues cuts like “Cosmonaut” showed off post-Down Southern metal dude-isms, Meador‘s vocals out front in aggro style, “Sailor’s Grave” is a little less tough-sounding. Tonally, guitarists Joe Fortunato and Tomasz Scull are more rock than metal, and bassist Erin Corcoran is prevalent in the mix, so that the overall effect is still plenty heavy, just not as angry about it. Likewise, although Meador was essentially a melodic singer, Martini‘s vocals take a more soulful approach, sounding early on in “Sailor’s Grave” not unlike Gozu‘s Marc Gaffney in his delivery and yes, winding up throatier as the song hits its apex, but even so not losing sight of where they’ve come from. In short, he’s a different kind of singer.

“Sailor’s Grave” is the first of a couple singles Venomin James have planned for the rest of this year — the next will reportedly be called “33rd Degree” — as they move closer to a full-length with their new lineup. In the meantime, the third LP from the prior incarnation of the band, with Koston and Meador, is due for release by the end of the summer and will be called Unholy Mountain. An instrumental version, which the band says is to honor Koston‘s drumming, will come out concurrent to the album itself. The transition, it seems, isn’t done yet.

Fair enough. There’s plenty that bodes well for the future of Venomin James in “Sailor’s Grove,” and as such, I’m glad to have it included as part of the playlist for The Obelisk Radio. You can check it out there and grab a pay-what-you-want download from the Venomin James Bandcamp. In addition to that, they’ve got a video for the track, which you can dig into below:

Venomin James, “Sailor’s Grave” official video

Venomin James on Thee Facebooks

Venomin James website

Whether or not you take the band’s advice on smoking “a fatty” before you listen, Curse the Son‘s second offering, Psychache (review here), is definitely worth the cranking that the free download they’ve made available is allowing for. The Hamden, Connecticut, trio are proving to be yet-unsung masters of tone, and even as they give Psychache unto the ether that is the downloadable doomsphere, the really good news in their announcement below is that the three-piece — guitarist/vocalist Ron Vanacore, bassist Richard “Cheech” Weeden and drummer Michael Petrucci — have started working on a follow-up, which they’ll look to record in the fall.

Also fortunate is that the good tidings give me an excuse to revisit the album, which I’ve been wanting to do. Find the stream with the news below:

Curse the Son’s 2nd album “Psychache” is FINALLY available for HIGH quality digital download!

If you dug “Klonopain”, you are sure to love this batch of tunes.

Name your price, or if you’re broke…grab it for free, just make sure you share it with some buds. We still have some physical copies left if anyone is interested, as well as 1 sided T-Shirts and stickers.

We have begun work on our 3rd album and hope to begin recording in the fall.

Download it, smoke a fatty and CRANK IT!!!
Enjoy……..

http://cursetheson.bandcamp.com/album/psychache

Curse the Son, Psychache (2013)

It has been a turbulent decade-plus for Chicago doomers Trouble. Their lineup came apart following the release of 1995’s Plastic Green Head, ending a run that established a loyal fanbase and cemented their legacy in doom and heavy rock as one of the most powerful two-guitar acts ever to wield a riff. A 2002 live reunion started rumors swirling about a new album, and in 2005, a series of show recordings and compilations began to surface, culling together old bootleg-style releases and demos in self-released, for-fans style. Label drama surrounded the release of 2007’s seventh album, Simple Mind Condition, which added to apparently already-present tensions in the band, and though the record was able to update the spirit of Trouble‘s earlier works without sounding either clownish or like it was trying to recapture something that wasn’t there anymore, the group languished, the album went unappreciated by most save for the most cultish of Trouble followers — they’re out there — and eventually, founding frontman Eric Wagner split (again; having left the first time in ’95 to front the psychedelic rock project Lid). Trouble replaced him with Kory Clarke of Warrior Soul and pressed on, but the magic that characterized the band at their best was long gone, guitarists Rick Wartell and Bruce Franklin left as the only remaining founding members, drummer Jeff “Oly” Olson also having resigned in 2008 and a series of bassists having followed in the wake of Ron Holzner leaving in 2002, including Chuck Robinson and Shane Pasqualla — all the while a growing league of bands coming up as side-projects and ex-members reasserted themselves; see Retro Grave, Earthen Grave, This Tortured Soul, Blackfinger, Wet Animal. It’s telling that even as they release their eighth album and first studio outing in six years, The Distortion Field, through Austrian label FRW Records, Trouble lists no permanent bassist in its lineup, otherwise comprised of Wartell, Franklin, vocalist Kyle Thomas and drummer Mark Lira, as if to indicate that the drama that’s surrounded them for the last 18 years isn’t quite over yet. Even The Distortion Field itself began its life in 2009, initially announced as The Dark Riff but subject to a fortunate title change at some point along the way, so one imagines that with a four-year holdup and the personnel shifts that have played out as well, Trouble are at very least living up to their name.

The most glaring issue with The Distortion Field and a hurdle I suspect many listeners simply won’t be able to overcome is the lack of Wagner‘s ultra-distinct vocals in these songs. To Thomas‘ credit, he is a proven, powerful, accomplished and technically precise metal singer, and on cuts like “Sucker,” “Hunters of Doom,” “The Broken Has Spoken” and “Paranoia Conspiracy,” the former Exhorder and Floodgate frontman (who also stepped in to lead the charge on Alabama Thunderpussy‘s metallized 2007 swansong, Open Fire) gives as vigilant a performance as one could ask. Lyrics here and there lack perspective, and how the ballad “Have I Told You” made it onto the album, I’ll never know, but if The Distortion Field sinks, it’s not because of Thomas‘ singing. At 57:50 and 13 tracks deep, Trouble‘s return hones directly in on the band’s trad metal lurch with the searing beginning leads giving way to chugging riffs of “When the Sky Comes Down.” Thomas is distinct on one of The Distortion Field‘s best choruses, and his time fronting the band live between 1997 and 2000 seems to have paid off in how naturally he fits himself in with Franklin and Wartell‘s tones. Sure enough, the album’s highlight material — most of it, anyhow — is up front, “Paranoia Conspiracy” adding some grit to the momentum and “The Broken Has Spoken” rounding out a strong opening trio with a gang-shout chorus and classic riff that acts as a prelude to the ’70s swagger later to come on “Glass of Lies.” Structures are traditional verse/chorus exclusively, and though by the end of the Dio Sabbath-ian “Sink or Swim,” the crux of what works best about The Distortion Field is set, there’s still a long, long way to go, “One Life” working to “bring it down” en route to “Have I Told You,” which is a dip in heaviness and with rock-dudes-can-feel-feelings-too-you-know lyrics that, while sweet, are so within the stereotypical power ballad sphere despite being underproduced that I’ve come just to skip it — something I almost never do — and move on to “Hunters of Doom,” a lyric no less generic but one of the album’s heaviest riffs. Immediate motoring chug, headbanging groove, bluesy solos and a raging finish, it’s a fitting centerpiece and manages to recover some of the momentum that “Have I Told You” so willingly relinquishes seemingly for the sake of formality.

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