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You’ll be Missed: Sungrazer

Posted in Features on December 30th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

For a while there, it was looking like Sungrazer were the future of fuzz. No shit. After I heard their Mirador album in 2011 (review here), I was all set and in fact did on several occasions count them as one of the brightest hopes in the European heavy psych scene, all the more so as they were brought forth with the endorsement of Elektrohasch Schallplatten, the imprint founded by Stefan Koglak of Colour Haze. The trio of guitarist/vocalist Rutger Smeets, bassist/vocalist Sander Haagmans and drummer Hans Mulders released a split earlier in 2013 with like-minded Dutch trio The Machine (review here) to mark their “Strikes and Gutters” tour together, and then Sungrazer were supposed to play Duna Jam, and Smeets quit. That’s how it went. Here’s his post from Thee Facebooks on June 4:

Dear all,
After having played many years with Sungrazer with great joy I have come to the conclusion that there’s no more future in this band for me. That’s why I quit Sungrazer and so, unfortunately, I can’t come to DunaJam. I’m sorry about this and I want to thank you for the great moments we shared.
Peace,
Rutger

In the months that have followed, there hasn’t been much more said about it than that. Nothing, actually. It’s hard enough to replace any member of a trio without creating an entirely new group dynamic, so I guess Haagmans and Mulders decided without Smeets that was it. It was one of 2013’s biggest bummer breakups, and more so since after their future-classic 2010 self-titled debut (review here), Mirador had expanded their sound into even jammier, more naturalistic vibing, so that cuts like “Mirador” and “Sea” and “Behind” seemed to emerge from a glorious overarching wash of tonal warmth. The self-titled had that as well, and “Zero Zero,” “Common Believer,” “If,” “Somo” and “Mountain Dusk” were even more distinct on their own, so that as much as the record worked as a whole, individual songs flourished as well.

I was fortunate enough to see them twice, first at Roadburn 2011 and then again at London Desertfest 2012, and they’d only gotten better as a unit. It’s always strange to write about a band who’ve decided to hang it up, first because you never know if they’ll get back together, and second because no band breakup has ever proven to be the end of the world, but Sungrazer had a special sound that was increasingly their own, their songs had a character that was their own, and of all the heavy psych to come out of the European heavy underground over the last half-decade or so, theirs showed a quick mastery of creating a peaceful feel with heavy tones. Particularly after the split with The Machine, which brought forth three new tracks in “Dopo,” “Yo La Tengo” and the wonderfully atmospheric “Flow through a Good Story,” my hopes had been high for their third album. Everything seemed to be on track.

That was the real kicker of it — the surprise factor. Some breakups stick, some don’t. I’d hope Sungrazer‘s falls into the latter category, but it’s not something I’ll attempt to predict either way. Late in 2012, Haagmans released an EP under the moniker The Whims of the Great Magnet, and a full lineup of the band with him on guitar and vocals made its live debut on Dec. 19, 2013, in Maastricht. Smeets seems to be playing with the new outfit Cigale (though they haven’t posted an official lineup or band pics as of now), who just released their first audio teaser, and I’m not sure if Mulders has a new project going or has joined another band or what, but it’s hard to imagine a psychedelic drummer of his caliber won’t resurface somewhere down the line if he hasn’t.

And since the best case scenario for any disbanding is output from players’ new projects, at least there’s that to take comfort in, though Sungrazer left a considerable void when their wall of fuzz fell.

Sungrazer, “If” official video

Sungrazer on Thee Facebooks

The Whims of the Great Magnet on Thee Facebooks

Cigale on Thee Facebooks

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Friday Full-Length: Hypnos 69, Legacy

Posted in Bootleg Theater on December 27th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Hypnos 69, Legacy (2010)

This is one of those albums that earned every second of its 2LP length. Brilliant front to back over the course of its seven tracks, I got to the point with Hypnos 69‘s Legacy where it wasn’t so much that I wore the record out as much as it wore me out. The Belgian heavy prog rockers conjured such textures and crafted such gorgeous spaces for their songs to happen in, I still kind of feel unworthy in listening.Elektrohaschreleased this album and I think it’s one of the best things the label ever put out — and if you know anything about this site, you know that’s saying something coming from me.

No real word on if they’re still a band. It was four years between their prior outing — 2006’s also excellent The Eclectic Measure — and Legacy, so even if they were going, it’s entirely possible they wouldn’t be making much noise. There seemed to be mumblings both ways a while back and then things got quiet. I prefer to live in a reality in which there’s a chance for a follow-up to Legacy, and if that reality doesn’t reflect the real reality, so be it. People force beliefs on themselves all the time. It’s how religion happens. Let me and my altar to “The Great Work” have our little moment.

And I said it at the time as well, but man, if Legacy is it for Hypnos 69 for real, what a note to end on. Just a dream of a record. I know capping the week with the expectation that you’re actually going to sit and listen to all 72 minutes of an album is probably a ridiculous thought, but even if you just get a taste now and check out the rest later, I hope you’ll listen, and of course, that you’ll enjoy.

Kind of a non-week, this one. Having the holiday right in the middle there more or less shot the whole thing. I’ll die happy knowing I didn’t miss Wino Wednesday though just because it also happened to be Xmas. I was down in New Jersey at that point; The Patient Mrs. and I drove down Tuesday night after having dinner with her grandmother in Connecticut and stayed there until last night, family stuff front to back over those days — hence the general lack of posts — then back up to Massachusetts last night. We rolled in just before 12:30AM. Tomorrow we’re back to Connecticut for more family whathaveyou. I shouldn’t complain. I’m happy these people want to spend time with me (mostly they want to spend time with my wife, but I can’t argue with their point — she’s the draw for sure), the road time just adds up is all.

Even though next week is New Year’s, things should be a little bit closer to normal at least in terms of posts. I’m not traveling, so there’s that. New Year’s Day I might take it easy, but otherwise there’s still stuff I want to do to wrap up the year that I didn’t get to do this week — song of the year, comeback of the year, Top 20 EPs, singles, etc. — and I’ve got an Obelisk Questionnaire waiting to go up from Acid King‘s Lori S. and that rules, so I’m looking forward to it as well. I like that feature. I hope to keep it going indefinitely. The pace will probably slow somewhat over time, but at this point I’ve got a decent backlog to get up, so we’ll do at least one a week for now.

Next week I’m either going to review the new Truckfighters or the new Alcest, or maybe both if I’m feeling fancy, and I’ve got a tape from We are Oceans to check out and some vinyl in the stack waiting for a writeup as well, so in addition to that year-end silliness, the format wars will continue unabated.

I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Entirely likely you don’t give a crap, but this week I finished watching the entire original series of Star Trek and there were recaps on the forum that were good fun, if you have the chance to check them out. Please also hit up the Radio stream.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

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Harvest Bell Sign to Bloodrock Records

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

Few phrases in the heavy underground offer as immediate an association as “Finnish trad doom,” and while if you weren’t thinking about Reverend Bizarre before, you probably are now, Turku five-piece Harvest Bell are on something of a different wavelength, avoiding some of the Sabbath worship in favor of more classically progressive fare. It’s a fine line, maybe, but the distinction works out to be somewhat less minute with the actual audio itself, as Harvest Bell showcase in “Salutation” below. Word has just come down the PR wire that the band will release their next outing, an EP called Wheel of Foretaste, through Italy’s Bloodrock Records.

Bloodrock Records — of course named for the heavy ’70s rock band from Texas — is somehow affiliated with Black Widow Records, but I don’t know exactly what the nature of that relationship is. Both seem to put out some cool stuff. While I dig into that matter and see what I can find out, dig the announcement of the signing and Wheel of Foretaste release below, which the band sent over:

HARVEST BELL has made a record deal with Italian BLOODROCK RECORDS

Finnish doom rock group Harvest Bell has made a record deal with Italian BloodRock Records. As a result the band will be releasing an EP called Wheel of Foretaste in both vinyl and CD formats.

Founded in 2006, Harvest Bell combines heavily rolling riffs with atmospheric melodies strewed with a touch of psychedelia. Harvest Bell has previously released Wooden Stone EP. The band’s lineup is Jussi Helle (vocals), Petri Härmä (guitar), Tuomas Heinonen (guitar), Jarno Mäkinen (bass) and Juho Alhola (drums).

www.facebook.com/harvestbell
https://www.facebook.com/pages/BLOODROCK-RECORDS/219395768131029
http://bloodrockrecords.blogspot.com/

Harvest Bell, “Salutation”

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The Obelisk Radio Add of the Week: Sleestak, Live at the Cactus Club

Posted in Radio on December 27th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

One thing about Wisconsin progressive doomers Sleestak: You never quite know what they’re going to do next. This minute, they’re putting out a pro-studio EP like earlier 2013’s Book of Hours (review here) and the next they’re giving a behind-the-scenes insight into their processes with something like last year’s Altrusian Moon collection of rehearsal recordings that followed their 2011 full-length, The Fall of Altrusia (review here). To their credit, they’re both prolific in their output and varied in what they issue, sonically and methodologically, and their latest outing, Live at the Cactus Club, is no different. Released just yesterday as a post-Xmas holiday special and made available for a pay-what-you-want download through the Milwaukee outfit’s Bandcamp, the four-track offering checks in at well over two hours of material.

Included in the download — in addition to the cover, of course — are two complete shows from the titular venue in the Bay View section of Milwaukee. The first took place Oct. 4, 2013, and the second Nov. 15. There are two audio sources for the Oct.  4 show, which makes the release even more fascinating, and the whole thing is rounded out with a 33-minute rehearsal-space recording from early in September. Four tracks, all over half an hour long. While one might think that’d put Live at the Cactus Club right into not-for-the-faint-of-heart territory, the psychedelic explorations they get up to in the Oct. 4 show and the natural vibe that persists throughout make it such that Sleestak even at their heaviest are hypnotic in their psychedelia. Guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist Matt Schmitz gets into some growling after the ultra-patient build that starts the set, but even then, it’s easy to get lost in the track, and the whole thing unfolds so naturally that before you know it, they’ve heavy-jammed their way past the 30-minute mark, ebbing and flowing, staying mostly instrumental, but never losing a sense of progression.

The second audio source of the Oct. 4 show has crowd noise, which probably means it’s an audience recording and not the direct feed from the soundboard, but it’s interesting to hear the differences between them anyway, and though the Nov. 15 show at the Cactus Club was nearly five minutes shorter, it follows a similar instrumental flow. I don’t know if the difference in timing means the parts are improvised on or at least stretched out and random, but the jam is no less immersive a month later as it’s presented here. In its heavier parts, the rehearsal room version of the same material comes across as a little blown out, but that’s bound to happen with that kind of thing, and in any case, it’s up there with the soundboard source of the Oct. 4 show in being the best presentation of the work itself, whether it’s all intended to be one song or smaller individual pieces just put together here for the ease of being released as a whole. If you told me it was one 30-plus-minute song, I wouldn’t argue there was anything to stop it from being one, since the smoothness of the transitions and the ease with which Sleestak execute it are such that it works well on that level. I might, however, ask what it’s called.

Presumably these things will be revealed in due time, and until then, to have four probably-formative versions here on Live at the Cactus Club follows suit with Altrusian Moon in giving some transparency to the creativity at work within the band’s songwriting. I won’t dare predict where Sleestak might be headed after this, but it seems likely we haven’t heard the last of this jam.

Check out Sleestak‘s Live at the Cactus Club now as part of the 24/7 streaming rotation of The Obelisk Radio and get a sampling from the Bandcamp player below:

Sleestak, Live at the Cactus Club (2013)

Sleestak on Bandcamp

Sleestak on Thee Facebooks

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Age of Taurus Added to Days of the Doomed IV Lineup

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

London-based heavyweights Age of Taurus, who formed in 2009 and made their full-length debut earlier in 2013 with Desperate Souls of Tortured Times on Rise Above/Metal Blade, have been announced as the first non-US band to take part in the Days of the Doomed festival. Days of the Doomed IV is set to be held June 20 and 21 at The Metal Grill in Cudahy, Wisconsin (formerly The Blue Pig), and Age of Taurus join the previously announced ranks of BlackfingerThe Mighty Nimbus and Wasted Theory, among others.

Full word from the fest follows here, complete with the band’s take and hinting at other North American dates around the Days of the Doomed appearance. Dig it:

One thing that has always eluded Days Of The Doomed Fest was a little European flavor. Well, that is about to end! You may have seen their album “Desperate Souls Of Tortured Times” on a lot of 2013 “Best Of” lists, and for just reason… it absolutely slays! So with that, it is an absolute honor to announce that Rise Above Records/Metal Blade recording artist Age of Taurus will be making the trip across the pond to join us at Days Of The Doomed Fest IV!!!

Says Age of Taurus:

We’re extremely proud to announce that we’ll be crossing the Atlantic next Summer for the Days of the Doomed Festival in Cudahy, Wisconsin! Set for the weekend of 20th-21st June, the fest is going to be a truly killer weekend of all things heavy!

We’re very grateful to Mercyful Mike for this great opportunity & it’s safe to say that we can’t wait to get over there!

In addition to the fest, we’ll also be playing some other US dates – more info to follow soon.

We’ll see you on the road….

https://www.facebook.com/AgeOfTaurus
http://www.daysofthedoomed.com
https://www.facebook.com/events/407651189366176/

Age of Taurus, “Embrace the Stone”

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The Loomis Fargo Gang, The Prettiest Shade of Blue: A Brief Sojourn

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

The peaceful character that permeates Virginian folk/alt. country outfit The Loomis Fargo Gang‘s second self-released album is immediate in the unassuming digipak of the CD itself. No plastic tray houses the disc, just a nub to perch it, and soft photos credited to Iva Nash appear on the front and back cover and with the lyric notes. Names are given — the band is listed as Michael Bosler, Winky Nash, Michael Pilapil, Matthew Michels and Brad Martin — and the band as a whole is credited with writing, recording, mixing and mastering The Prettiest Shade of Blue, but no individual roles are noted; i.e., who plays the loosely-strummed acoustic guitar on “She Will be Mine” or adds pedal steel to the lightly rambling “Hazy, Lazy, Blue.” If The Prettiest Shade of Blue, which follows The Loomis Fargo Gang‘s 2008 debut, Humans, Nature and Human Nature, is meant to be taken as a whole, with focus not on the specifics of where each element is coming from, but rather the overarching effect those elements have when used in combination, the eight songs themselves are certainly amenable to that. Totaling just under half an hour, The Prettiest Shade of Blue is as friendly a listen as one could ask, and while its sense of twang will probably put off some listeners, particularly in longer songs like opener “Seventeen White Azaleas” and the aforementioned “She Will be Mine” (tied for the longest at 5:20; partial points), which acts as an opener for what would be side B of an evenly-split vinyl, have room for greater depth of mood, and variety in vocal styles if not vocalists and instrumental arrangements makes The Prettiest Shade of Blue a quick but endearing listen that straddles several genre lines.

In terms of folk, pick a Guthrie and you’ll probably be able to pinpoint somewhere on the album the influence appears, but of course The Loomis Fargo Gang have a much richer sound overall than a solo singer-songwriter would, and that shows itself in the variety throughout. “Seventeen White Azaleas” sets the tone in being based around acoustic guitar, but its far-back, echoing shoegaze vocals are a standout, and the flourish of piano gives another component to the space created. To contrast, the rest of the first half of The Prettiest Shade of Blue is comparatively lighthearted. It’s entirely possible that “Trampoline”‘s chorus and title were inspired by the bounce of the music itself, and the key work, plucked strings, later electric guitar solo and loose vocal harmonies further its natural warmth, “Hazy, Lazy, Blue” following suit with multiple voices and a fuller arrangement still very much in a traditional style. Quiet drums and a light bass rhythm give it a toe-tap readiness, and while “Birds” has a more distinct solo feel to start, as its quick 90 seconds unfold it comes to play no worse with others. The divide between sides is clear particularly looking at the runtimes of the songs, with “She Will be Mine” matching “Seventeen White Azaleas,” but the feel of the songs follows suit as well, though where “Trampoline” and “Hazy, Lazy, Blue” meandered into a kind of pastoral traditionalism, “Tootsie in the Breeze” and “Sugar Cane” veer more toward quiet indie; the former of the two particularly sounds like it’s waiting for Wes Anderson to transpose its wistful nostalgia onto a closeup of some determined adolescent. As a group, The Loomis Fargo Gang are just as able to work in one sonic feel as the other.

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The Myrrors to Release Burning Circles in the Sky on Jan. 1

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

True, 2013’s just about over, but as we start to look ahead to 2014, there’s a ton of cool stuff coming and this reissue of Arizona outfit The Myrrors‘ 2008 debut, Burning Circles in the Sky, seems to be first in line. I’ll admit to not knowing much about the desert-psych wanderers prior to getting word of the impending Rewolfed Gloom Records vinyl, but the album has the kind of open-spaced vibe that’s perfect for imagining vast sands and the arm of the Milky Way dividing a night sky. Goes without saying, but I dig it.

Here’s word of the release with the Bandcamp stream. Check out the record and see if you dig it. Interesting that it’s half a decade old, since if you told me it was recorded in September I’d probably still call it forward thinking:

The Myrrors – Burning Circles In The Sky (LP)

File Under: Heavy Psych / Desert Rock

We proudly present the first release on “Rewolfed Gloom Records”; THE MYRRORS! Merlins Nose’ new sublabel Rewolfed Gloom Records is dedicated to Heavy Psychedelia / Desert Rock / Stoner / Space Rock / Jam / Experimental etc.

The official releasedate is 01.01.2014. Coloured copies (limited to 100) are almost gone, but a handfull is still available for dealers. First come, first served! Orders will be processed on 01.01.2014!

Comes in a 350gsm Gatefold and on 180g vinyl! The desert lives and within it a few wild creatures, some of them are rock-musicians if it happens to work out geographically just as it does with the Phoenix / Arizona based outfit THE MYRRORS. And the desert with it’s supernatural, magical atmosphere was a huge influence on the four teenagers along with all kinds of psychedelic rock, Arabian, Latin American, Turkish and Indian folk music and mind bending free-jazz. And therefore the music sounds like a journey into the deep solitude of the desert in peace with oneself but still boiling and simmering hot, engrossedly floating fraught with visions and ghostly hallucinations from a strange world., even sometimes like taking a stroll in the garden of Eden.

The stereoscopic, vivid and sometimes washy sound brings a trance like mood. Desert sounds like a cricket’s chirring and spiritual chants, as to be found in the long track „Mother of all living“ intensify the hypnotic effect further on. The band formed by high school friends in 2005 recorded it’s only album in 2008 with rather elementary equipment and prepared the privately released Cdr in manual labour not long before falling apart due to the usual reasons such as work and studies. The incredible success of their peace anthem „War paintings“ as Youtube clip came after the break and posthumously brought the band well deserved publicity and appreciation, what conserves their music for all fans of psychedelic desert rock and smoothes the way for a reissue in an adequate sound carrier format.

http://themyrrors.bandcamp.com/
http://rewolfed-gloom-records.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Myrrors/143463825723725

The Myrrors, Burning Circles in the Sky (2008/2014)

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Black Sabbath, Live… Gathered in Their Masses: Transfer from Reality

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

In the introduction to the DVD, we see Ozzy OsbourneTony Iommi and Geezer Butler driving to the Rod Lever Arena in Melbourne. There are backstage shots of the crew, the soundboard monitors, the dressing rooms where the three legendary players warm up, Butler with his bass, Iommi working out a riff and Osbourne on a stationary bike. There are fan testimonials, parents in Venom t-shirts talking about how Sabbath is the best thing that ever happened to rock and roll and whatnot. For some reason, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from Aerosmith are there — I guess they were in town. Then the siren blares, the screen goes black and as the drums start the intro to “War Pigs,” the band’s logo appears on screen in its wavy Master of Reality font: Black Sabbath. With Live… Gathered in Their Masses (Vertigo/Republic Records), the forefathers of doom chronicle two nights in Melbourne on their Spring 2013 Australian tour. It was the first round of dates they did to herald the arrival of the Rick Rubin-produced 13 (review here), the first Osbourne-fronted Sabbath album since 1978’s Never Say Die. Alongside such classics as “Into the Void,” “Black Sabbath” and “Symptom of the Universe,” 13 cuts “Loner,” “Methademic,” “End of the Beginning” and “God is Dead?” are aired, totaling about an hour and 43 minutes of footage — more if you get the deluxe edition, which also has “Under the Sun” and CD version of the release, etc.

Anyone who followed Sabbath in 2013 or approached the new album with realistic expectations should probably know what they’re getting. This isn’t a warts-and-all kind of bootleg, it’s a commercial live release culled from two distinct shows. It’s been gone over in the studio, cleaned up. Its sound is crisp, its editing is tight, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler are brilliant, Ozzy does his best with the voice he has left, and they are, of course, well received by the Aussie crowd(s). Like 13 itself, Live… Gathered in Their Masses was never going to be anything innovating, but it’s a set-piece for fans and there you go. Most of the shots of drummer Tommy Clufetos — listed as a “guest musician” along with keyboardist Adam Wakeman (son of YesRick Wakeman) — are from behind when they’re just of him, and the stage design is the same large oblong triple-screen they had on their subsequent US arena run. Are they the original Sabbath? Nope. Any mention of drummer Bill Ward? Nope. Does Live… Gathered in Their Masses stack up to, say, the utter brilliance of their Paris 1970 bootleg? Nope. Is it as close as you’re ever going to get at this point? Yeah, probably. Much as with the gig I caught on the US tour (review here), by the time they played “Into the Void,” I felt like I got what I came for. The difference was that with Live… Gathered in Their Masses, it’s the second song, though the highlight of the whole release might just be an up-close look at Butler stomping his wah pedal at the start of “N.I.B.,” near the halfway point of the set.

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