Argus, Beyond the Martyrs: The Raging Spirits

Posted in Reviews on August 27th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

It’s hard to discern just what Pennsylvania traditional doom metallers Argus intend with the title of their third album, Beyond the Martyrs. On a superficial level, one doesn’t think of a martyr as a place or a level of development to move past, but more than that, what’s supposed to be beyond them? What comes after that? Death? Devastation? Peace? Paradise? Which martyrs are the five-piece talking about? Is it a Christ figure? The al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades? The closing title-track — which arrives eighth on the 42-minute Cruz del Sur LP with cover art by Brad Moore — is instrumental, so that’s not much help in terms of answering the questions of theme. Tracks prior like “No Peace Beyond the Line” and “Trinity,” “Cast out all Raging Spirits” and opener “By Endurance We Conquer” could be read to have elements of religious conflict to them — certainly conflict, anyway — but if there’s a narrative to Beyond the Martyrs, it’s not one as stated by the band so much as one that relies on the listener to plot its course. Maybe that’s on purpose. As a band, Argus seem much more interested in making solid and conscious use of the dual guitars of Jason Mucio and Erik Johnson and one of traditional metal’s most powerful belt-it-out voices in former Penance vocalist Brian “Butch” Balich, who delivers a standout performance here no less righteous than that on 2011’s Boldly Stride the Doomed (discussed here) and 2009’s self-titled debut (review here). Balich is a big part of carrying across the dramas of Beyond the Martyrs — as a standalone frontman should be — and the songs he’s working on top of set a memorable foundation from which to soar as he and a bevvy of guitar solos please, bassist Andy Ramage and drummer Kevin Latchaw hammering out straightforward structures to make “No Peace Beyond the Line,” “Trinity” and “Cast out all Raging Spirits” among the album’s several highlights. That is to say, Argus isn’t just about its singer, despite his considerable presence within these tracks, and Beyond the Martyrs finds a progressive balance between metal and doom that moves fluidly to cast its own personality somewhere between the two.

That process begins immediately with the deceptively catchy chorus of “By Endurance We Conquer.” Latchaw double-times it on his hi-hat to build up tension during the verse before the hook opens up. I don’t know whether it’s because of the arching militaristic bombast of the song or if it’s just the way the epic feel is crafted, but on first impression, “By Endurance We Conquer” stands out more for its voracious chestbeating and listing of virtues than for the delivery of the title line, but after a couple times through, the opener more than justifies its presence at the fore of Beyond the Martyrs, acting as something of a vanguard for the rest of the album to come. Already much of the record’s ethic is established: Balich carries a verse into a memorable refrain and the guitars answer back with accomplished solos and driving riffs underscored by strong, powerful heavy metal rhythms. As far as songwriting methodologies go, you could do a lot worse. “No Peace Beyond the Line” takes more time to unfold, but winds up in a fist-pump chug for its verse as the vocals tease the song’s greater hook still to come in a sort of bridge part that early on substitutes for an actual chorus. They cycle through twice before the guitar solo takes hold, and though it’s not until the last minute that they arrive, it’s the repetitions of “There is no/There is no/There is no peace beyond the line” that ultimately give the song one of Beyond the Martyrs‘ most lasting impressions, the vocals doing a layered call and response to deliver the title and finish with a nailed-it adrenaline-push yell. I don’t know where the line is, but there’s no peace beyond it. The issue is settled. After such a strong opening duo, some comedown is inevitable, but “The Hands of Time are Bleeding” fights redundancy by upping the doom in its slower early going and picking up to an effective linear build in both pace and overall rush. A stop at 3:09 is a startling transition, but I’d guess that was probably the idea, and the solo that continues after stands out all the more for it. Vocals return toward the end, and though the results aren’t quite as instantly engaging as with “No Peace Beyond the Line,” the change in mood is effective leading to “Trinity” which is arguably the darkest moment on the album.

Read more »

Tags: , , , , ,

The Heads to be Artist in Residence at Roadburn 2014; Mikael Akerfeldt to Curate

Posted in Whathaveyou on August 27th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

The psychedelia fetish that led to reuniting Loop to play as headliners for Roadburn 2014 now enters its next phase with the announcement that The Heads will act as Artists in Residence, playing three separate sets over the course of the fest. The first will be Kandodo, a solo-project from The HeadsSimon Price, and that’s followed by two sets from The Heads proper, who’ll be joined for both by former Monster Magnet and Wellwater Conspiracy guitarist John McBain and for the second by Carlton Melton for a one-off collaborative freakout. One of those “you’ll only ever see this at Roadburn and be thankful everything is recorded” kind of situations. An endless flow of badassery continues.

In recent days, Conan, Locrian, True Widow and Freedom Hawk have also been added to the fest. For those fortunate enough to attend Roadburn in 2014, here’s who you’ll be relaxing with:

Beginning a new chapter of their ongoing legacy, Bristol’s psych rock band The Heads will follow in the footsteps of Enslaved, Circle, Justin K Broadrick and Neige (Alcest) as Artist In Residence at the 2014 Roadburn Festival.

With Heads’ members recording and releasing solo albums – Simon Price focusing on his solo project Kandodo (roping in Wayne Maskell and H O Morgan to augment the Kandodo live performance) and Paul Allen leaving the fold to focus on his solo venture ANTHROPROPH, it seemed that The Heads might be on a constant hiatus. However, rehearsals for Kandodo’s forthcoming live shows made the remaining trio – Simon, Hugo and Wayne – to reconsider The Heads as a band, and start working out new jams with a view to recording new Heads material purely as a studio project.

The band’s idea was to record some new tracks with various guest lead guitarists and re-connecting via mutual friends (having briefly met in Seattle in 2000 where they all shared the same bill) it was a proverbial lightbulb flash moment: ”Ask John McBain!” – a man who’s work with early Monster Magnet, was a major influence on the Heads in their formative years. Having recorded and toured with Hater and Wellwater Conspiracy and guested on recent Carlton Melton recordings, John McBain, now based in San Francisco, was immediately excited by the proposition and agreed to jump onto the ride.

Roadburn is The Heads’ spiritual home, and they are honoured to be asked to be the Artist in Residence and are excited to have John McBain join them for this and new recordings. As part of the Artist in Residence, Kandodo will perform as a three piece on Friday April 13th at Het Patronaat. The Heads will play a live set for the first time with John McBain on Saturday April 12th at the Main Stage. The Heads (ft. John McBain)’ residency will lead in to a collaboration with fellow psychedelic travellers Carlton Melton in a one-off Roadburn exclusive performance on Sunday April 13th at the Main Stage as well.

Carlton Melton will also be playing their own set at Roadburn (scheduled for Saturday April 12th)

Of course, the fact LOOP are headlining, well, that makes it even more amazing, over three days at Roadburn 2014.

Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt To Curate 2014 Roadburn Festival

We’re elated to announce that Mikael Åkerfeldt has agreed to curate Roadburn Festival 2014 on Friday, April 11th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands. As curator, Mikael will personally select the bands for his special event, and play a headline show with Opeth, too!

Musically, Mikael has consistently pushed the boundaries. Over the last two decades, he guided Opeth‘s evolution, drawing the band out from under the doom-laden shade of occult-infused Scandinavian death metal and into a place in the sun as revered progressive rock / metal innovators, never once sacrificing the authentic spirit of previous artistic endeavours.

Mikael‘s steadfast devotion to aesthetic progression and perfection has proven ground-breaking and highly influential for an entire new generation of musicians practicing the art of progressive rock and psychedelica. At the same time, he has steadfastly honoured the mystical pioneers of late 1960s and early 1970s psychedelic folk, rock and prog — some of Opeth‘s albums are named after obscure psychedelic prog outfits or song titles — all of which is in perfect sync with Roadburn Festival.

Opeth‘s body of work is highly respected by Roadburn audiences, which makes Mikael the ideal choice to carry on the tradition that began in 2008 with David Tibet / Current 93, and continued with Neurosis, Tom G Warrior, Sunn 0))), Voivod and Jus Oborn / Electric Wizard.

“It’s with great honour that I accepted the invitation to be the curator for the 2014 Roadburn festival”, says Mikael Åkerfeldt, “I’m pretty damn far from being a professional booker / promotor, and I’ve never been part in choosing bands for an event apart from bands that Opeth has toured with. So this is a first for me, but I have to say I’m very excited.”

“I’ve reached out to a handful of my favourite bands from the past and present. As of now it looks like it will be an amazing musical event. Still brainstorming about possible bands for this glorious festival but I already know that I’m going to be like a kid at Christmas. It will be amazing! Plain and simple. Obviously Opeth will perform as well, but to be quite honest with you, our own performance doesn’t get me nearly as excited as the thought of experiencing the bands that have shown interest. It will be remarkable and memorable. A celebration, bitches!”

We are so excited and proud to be working with Mikael and to have Opeth headline his curated Roadburn 2014 event. It will truly be a celebration of progressive rock, psychedelic folk, the heavy 70s and beyond. We look forward to this collaboration and cannot wait to see how he will expand Roadburn Festival‘s musical horizons as well as explore more familiar territory from new angles. We will definitely be in for some artistic surprises.

Roadburn Festival 2014 will run for four days from Thursday, April 10th to Sunday, April 13th, 2014 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Steak to Issue EPs on Vinyl through Napalm Records

Posted in Whathaveyou on August 26th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

A month after the announcement of their having signed to Napalm Records, word has come down that London-based heavy rockers Steak will issue/reissue their two to-date EPs, 2012’s Disastronaught (review here) and 2013’s Corned Beef Colossus (review here), in a variety of limited vinyl editions that are now available to pre-order at the links below. The red-meat riffers will also take part in the 2013 Blizzard Mountain’s multi-city fest alongside Samsara Blues Experiment and others at the end of November.

More info on that at the Steak Thee Facebooks, and you can check out the sundry vinyls for the EPs with the news below:

Check it, both of our Ep’s are being released on limited edition vinyl! Available for pre order now. Nice!

London based Stoner Rock newcomers Steak will release their much celebrated EPs “Disastronaught” and “Corned Beef Colossus” for the for the first time on vinyl on Sept 27th.

Expect a highly limited gatefold edition which includes the beautiful comic album artwork and will be made available exclusively through the Napalm Records Webstore!

Disastronaught – Limited to 100 copies gatefold edition in Transparent Blue: http://tinyurl.com/SteakDis-blue & 100 copies in Copper! http://tinyurl.com/SteakDis-cop
Corned Beef Coloss: Limited to 100 copies gatefold edition in Transparent Blue: http://tinyurl.com/SteakCBC-blue & 100 copies in Copper! http://tinyurl.com/SteakCBC-cop

Steak, Corned Beef Colossus (2013)

Tags: , , , , , , ,

On the Radar: Cold Blue Mountain

Posted in On the Radar on August 26th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Though it could’ve come just easily from the side of a can of cheapshit beer, the moniker Cold Blue Mountain nonetheless evokes a sense of something big, covered in snow and unconquerable. It’s as though the members of the NorCal fivesome were boozing it up while trying to think of a name for the band and had an epiphany moment. Whether or not that’s how it went down ultimately matters little when it comes to taking on their 2012 self-titled debut, released on Gogmagogical Records, because the impression you go into it carrying is the same either way. Expect largesse and bludgeonry and you’ve got at least a beginning understanding of where the Chico-based group are coming from, although that’s by no means the limits of what the lineup of screamer Brandon Squyres, guitarists Will McGahan and Sesar Sanchez, bassist Adrian Hammons and drummer Daniel Taylor have to offer.

Hammons and Squyres were formerly to be found in Seventh Rule Recordings hardcore-infused crushers The Makai, but Cold Blue Mountain are coming from somewhere much sludgier in terms of the overall base of influence. The self-titled, which comes on blue and white vinyl, on tape or in disembodied mp3s, begins with “Branch Davidian Compound,” and the oppressive tonality of the guitars is immediate. A dense recording by Scott Barwick at Origami Lounge in Chico gives a kind of claustrophobic feeling as Squyres switches between lower growls and higher-pitched screaming, gradually layering the two over a slowdown for extremity’s sake, but the low end is where the heaviness resides, and Taylor‘s drumming does a well in complementing. At 4:01, “Branch Davidian Compound” is the longest song on the album (immediate points), but it’s hardly a summary of everything Cold Blue Mountain get up to stylistically, as “Time Flies Like an Arrow” quickly shows with a brooding but tense guitar intro, hinting at not only post-metal ambience, but also some of the terra-worship that has become an essential part of the genre these last few years. They’re not country twanging by any stretch, and sure enough, the song takes off brutally around the halfway mark — the toms fill a break with a sound no less thick than any of the other tones presented — but it’s there underlying and it shows up again later in the piano of the finale, “MK Outro.”

Perhaps the most post-metallic of all in terms of its basic riff and structure is “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,” which measures out a jagged rhythm in starts and stops for its verse progression and builds on them with post-rock noodling in a more open-feeling chorus, Squyres topping both with searing screams. There aren’t verses and chorus as such, but the parts fit together well one to the next, and lighter flourish in the guitar during a brief break stands as precursor to some of what’s to come on later cuts like “Lone Pine” and “Comatose,” though the subsequent “White North” does an even better job at that, making me wonder if perhaps multiple songwriters are at work in Cold Blue Mountain — the band’s interplay of the sonically dark and light being contrasting enough between tracks, despite the band having positioned songs well throughout. “White North” is short at 2:36, but though they don’t waste time in the material there or really anywhere else throughout the record, Cold Blue Mountain‘s tracks are in no way lacking presence, “MK Ultra” taking hold from “White North” with an ambient pulse that you could almost call psychedelic were it not so vehemently grounded. A build brings on more post-rock guitar and growling over a slow, nodding groove and a sudden switch to quiet noodling interplay between McGahan and Sanchez, soon to be accompanied as well by Squyres. The return to full-brunt is well announced, but still satisfies, and though “Dark Secret” tosses in some more upbeat metallized riffing in its midsection, the momentum of the songs is set by then.

That riffing in particular should stand out as something Cold Blue Mountain haven’t done before on the album when it arrives, and it’s a sequence that — though contrasted in the same song by a stretch of ambient echoing guitar and bass-driven groove — continues to be developed over the remainder of the album. “Dark Secret” also boasts one of Cold Blue Mountain‘s most satisfying payoffs; an undulating riff played out patiently and at a tempo so fitting its largesse as to border on the masterful. There are those who immediately shun screamed vocals. Off you go. I think they add to a track like “Dark Secret” a level of expression that clean singing couldn’t, and that, like everything else, a good scream has its place. Whether or not that place is over an upbeat, major-key bopper like “Lone Pine,” I don’t know, but it’s genuinely a take on Torche‘s style that I’ve yet to hear and for that alone I’m inclined to go with it. A slowdown offsets the initial bounce and once more Cold Blue Mountain‘s wall of riff nestles into a patient chug as Squyres meets it head on with noduled vocal cords. The subsequent “Comatose” — which is really the proper closer since the reprise “MK Outro” is just that — continues the lighter feel (though there’s still plenty of weight in the low end) the lead lines in the guitars reminding of the time Slow Horse took on Chris Isaak‘s “Wicked Game,” though at 2:31, the entire thing is shortlived, however satisfying its stomp may have been. Piano makes an already noted appearance on “MK Outro” with lines echoing out into suitably chilled atmospheres and Cold Blue Mountain finish by giving a sense of just how little of their overall breadth they may have shown their first time out.

Or hell, maybe that’s everything they’ve got, who knows? Somehow though, I doubt it. Cold Blue Mountain have plenty of familiar aspects in their sludge, post-metal and ambient take, but there’s a personality underlying that emerges on cuts like “Lone Pine,” “Comatose” and even “White North” that taken in combination with the rest provides a sense of individuality that hopefully the band will continue to refine as they move forward. Until then, their debut effectively blends atmospherics and tonal push so as to not necessarily rely on big riffs to get its point across, but certainly be able to capitalize on them when it so chooses.

Cold Blue Mountain, Cold Blue Mountain (2012)

Cold Blue Mountain on Thee Facebooks

Gogmagogical Records

Tags: , , , , ,

Noctum Unveil Art, Tracks and Audio from Final Sacrifice

Posted in Whathaveyou on August 26th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Swedish trad metal/doomers Noctum will release their Metal Blade debut, Final Sacrifice, on Oct. 29. In accordance with the bylaws and procedures of such events, the Uppsala four-pice have begun to drop hints as to where the follow-up to 2010’s The Seance and 2011’s The Fiddler EP might take them, alluding to a horror narrative running throughout the songs as well as actually going so far to release one of those songs for free stream and download through Metal Blade‘s Soundcloud. You can hear that following the info below, freshly dragged in from the PR wire.

Boogie:

NOCTUM Reveal Album Artwork and Track Listing for New Full-Length Album Final Sacrifice

Available October 29th on Metal Blade Records

Swedish rockers NOCTUM have confirmed an October 29th release date for their Metal Blade Records debut Final Sacrifice. Today the artwork and track listing have been revealed. The cover art was painted by Timo Ketola (Sunn o))), Arktau Eos) and fits perfectly with the album’s raw, natural sound.

In the town of Uppsala, Sweden in the year 2009 a band called Séance was formed. Moving at breakneck speed the band formed in September, recorded a two-song demo after adding guitarist Per Wikström to the lineup in October, and by November had changed their name to NOCTUM. Within those three months, the band signed an LP deal with High-Roller Records, and a CD deal with Stormspell Records.

NOCTUM’s debut album, The Séance, was released in September 2010 via High-Roller and in December by Stormspell. The band finally embarked on their first European tour in July of 2011, and followed that up with a new EP, The Fiddler.

By August of 2011, NOCTUM created enough buzz in the underground to gain the attention of Metal Blade Records, which led to a new worldwide record deal.

With a new record deal in place with a global label, NOCTUM spent the majority of 2012 refining their sound and writing new songs. Their search for original and interesting material led them to a heavier and darker sound. The progression came very naturally for the band and differs from the typical 70’s vibe. The new material successfully evokes a heaviness and emotion one might not expect from a “retro” sounding band.

Noctum toured Europe again in 2012, and then welcomed the addition of drummer Fredrik Jansson after Gustaf’s departure. Jansson, who spent time in Witchcraft, Count Raven, and Abramis Brama, was added to the lineup in time to record Final Sacrifice in April 2013.

Final Sacrifice is a fictional horror story where each song communicates a portion of the overall narrative. The “final sacrifice” is like a red thread that ties the songs together and is the concept behind the art. Final Sacrifice is an analog piece of art in both audio and visual aspects.

Final Sacrifice Track Listing:
1. Conflagration
2. Liberty in Death
3. Resurrected in Evil
4. Deadly Connection
5. Void of Emptiness
6. The Revisit
7. A Burning Will
8. Temple of the Living Dead
9. Azoth

Noctum Lineup:
David Indelöf – Guitar/Vocals
Daniel Johansson – Guitar
Tobias Rosén – Bass
Fredrik Jansson – Drums

For More Info Visit:
http://www.noctumofficial.com
https://www.facebook.com/Noctumofficial
http://www.metalblade.com

Noctum, “Liberty in Death” from Final Sacrifice

Tags: , , , , ,

Caveman Voicebox Get Moving in New Video

Posted in Bootleg Theater on August 26th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

With no shortage of riffy burl and good humor at their disposal, L.A.-based heavy rockers Caveman Voicebox recently digitally released their second EP, Facial Hair and Harmonies. The follow-up to the foursome’s late-2011 debut, Stippers, Mullets and Beer (review here), it keeps to more or less a similar approach of straightforward riff-led traditionalist heavy grooves, and that suits the band pretty well. Once more driven by bassist/vocalist Graham Wilson, they cut their teeth on memorable, sans-frills hooks and thickened shuffling riffery, knocking every now and then into dual-guitar harmonies that lead the way strongly into some call-and-response vocal interplay in the chorus.

The clip itself is likemindedly straightforward. Wilson shows up and finds the rest of the band — guitarists Karl Caleb and Mike McKnight and drummer Matt Merrow — in a practice space or studio room, and they proceed to rock it out. Behind the scenes footage, presumably from the recording of the EP, is spliced in for flavor, but really, it’s the song itself that’s the draw as it nestles into an entirely unpretentious, welcoming vibe. To put it in what have unfortunately become political terms, they’re a band you could want to have a beer with.

Enjoy:

Caveman Voicebox, “Move it Up” official video

Caveman Voicebox on Thee Facebooks

Caveman Voicebox on CDBaby

Tags: , , , , ,

Renate/Cordate, Renate/Cordate: Conjuring the Climb

Posted in Reviews on August 26th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

What makes the self-titled, self-released debut EP from Oulu instrumental four-piece Renate/Cordate intriguing isn’t so much that it’s breaking new ground nearly as much as it’s setting up a fluidity between several familiar styles. The four-song, 28-minute release follows a 2010 demo from the Finnish group, and finds them fleshing out flowing heavy psychedelia that can alternately be traced back to instrumentalists like Pelican, earlier Red Sparowes and Russian Circles, with rougher traces of heavy psychedelia à la My Sleeping Karma or even elements at work from Isis-style post metal, but it’s all very well balanced so that Renate/Cordate don’t seem overly adherent to one school of method or another. I wouldn’t call Renate/Cordate revolutionary, but it’s clear the band — bassist Aki, guitarists Ville and Samuli (who’s also credited with vocals, though I’ve heard none on the release) and drummer Antti-Pekka — are in the process of establishing an individual style for themselves, and that comes across in both the hypnotic droning moments of third cut “Conjuring Power” or the post-metal ambience in the midsection of “Calumet.” The results are noble in kind to the mission, and though it’s short, I’m more inclined to think of Renate/Cordate as a full-length, both for the flow it demonstrates between its tracks and for the subtle stylistic turns that each piece represents. In fact, I’d gladly argue that Renate/Cordate makes a better album than an EP, because where an EP is generally geared toward giving a band rein to make an initial statement, feel out a shift in aesthetic or provide listeners with a sample of what they do, Renate/Cordate feels complete in its ideas and gives a much richer impression than a phrase like “self-titled, self-released debut EP” used above might imply. Ultimately, it’s a minute distinction between one or the other in terms of how you actually listen to the release, but hopefully it gives some impression of the overarching effectiveness the band displays in terms of feeding one song into the next and tying the whole work together as one cohesive expression.

Perhaps as one might expect, repetition and tonal weight are go-to elements of Renate/Cordate‘s approach. Riffs get pretty big when the band wants them to, but it’s important to remember that it’s the dynamic and the smoothness which with Renate/Cordate turn from loud to quiet and execute their builds that stands the EP out among its many peers working under similar influence. Beginning with “The Climb,” they commence a patient groove as a bed for the aptly-named progression that ensues. Aki‘s bass is an immediate standout factor, rich and warm in its tone, and Antti-Pekka‘s subdued ride work keeps a sense of movement to the quiet initial moment while the guitars slowly come more and more to prominence. A stop at 2:30 drops out everything but the bass, and an effects whistle after three minutes in hints at the impact to come — almost like a bomb dropping. The build-up happens in tense measures from there and at 4:48, the track explodes to its apex, hitting a peak that rounds out in chugging, churning riffs marked out by a wash of cymbals and an ever-faster pulse that continues to rise — or climb, as it were — until there’s about 20 seconds left in the seven-minute piece and it finally, inevitably must subside, feedback leading straight into “Calumet,” the march of which is more immediate in its motion. In the background, a subtle swirl plays out behind to add heavy psychedelic flourish to layered wah guitar. Another, less telegraphed, full-toned heavy section takes hold after roughly a minute and a half — all the tracks hover on either side of seven minutes long — and breaks gradually to atmospheric jamming. Here too, it’s not like the band has stopped, but as the rhythm section holds together and develops the relatively straightforward line that acted as the center of the song since its start, both Ville and Samuli are given room to play out in serene, proggy explorations. It becomes hypnotic quickly, and is the kind of thing Ufomammut might counter with a grand cosmic bludgeoning. Renate/Cordate don’t get quite that far, but a quick switch to heavier lines gives breadth to the listening experience and highlights the fact that just because they can be patient doesn’t mean they always will.

Read more »

Tags: , , , , , ,

Mamont and Mud Walk Team up for September Tour

Posted in Whathaveyou on August 26th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Who doesn’t like to go for a ride in the fall? That at least seems to be the theory that Swedish heavy rock acts Mamont and Mud Walk are going for. The two bands will team up — Mamont continuing to support their 2012 Passing through the Mastery Door full-length (review here) and Mud Walk riding the bluesy grooves of their 2012 sophomore EP, The Drifter’s Forgotten Lore (discussed here) — for what’s been dubbed a “Stoner Ride” throughout Europe, hitting their native Sweden as well as Germany (where they’ll support Radio Moscow), Poland, the Czech Republic and Denmark on the way over the course of 10 days.

Mud Walk‘s grooves are more blues-based than Mamont, who revel in heavy psych and fuzz, but for anyone lucky enough to catch them on this run, the two bands should provide excellent complement for each other stylistically, making for a well-rounded bill. I wouldn’t be surprised either if they both had some new material to show off on the tour, as it’s been a while since both of their last releases. Mud Walk also just completed a European tour where they played with Siena Root and others, and apparently have their own “Barefoot Beer” in honor of their 2011 Barefoot Band debut EP.

Here’s the poster and tour dates:

MUD WALK & MAMONT ON TOUR IN SEPTEMBER 2013

SWEDEN – GERMANY – CZECH REPUBLIC – POLAND – DENMARK – SWEDEN

For every gig, there will be a private event!
More info, pics and videos from our StonerRide throughout Europe will follow … stay put ppl!!

Dates:
31.08.2013 Stockholm (SWE) – Nalen Klubb (with Kansas City Shuffle Umeå and Mushroom Caravan Overdrive !)
04.09.2013 Lund (SWE) – Hemgården (with Vidunder !)
05.09.2013 Berlin (DE) – Jägerklause
06.09.2013 Lichtenfels (DE) – Paunchy Cats (with Radio Moscow !!)
07.09.2013 Beroun (CZ) – / Psy – High \
08.09.2013 Beroun (CZ) – / Psy – High \
09.09.2013 tba
10.09.2013 Prauge (CZ) – Klubovna
11.09.2013 Wroclaw (PL) – Alive Wroc?awski Klub Muzyczny
12.09.2013 Copenhagen (D) – Stengade (with Lewd Flesh !)
13.09.2013 (SWE) tba
14.09.2013 (SWE) Jönköping

See ya there!

https://www.facebook.com/events/666841953345625/

MUD WALK:
https://www.facebook.com/mudwalkswe
https://myspace.com/mudwalk

MAMONT:
https://www.facebook.com/mamontsweden
http://mamont.bandcamp.com/

Mamont, Passing through the Mastery Door (2012)

Tags: , , ,