My Sleeping Karma, Satya (2008)

I was fishing through YouTube as I sometimes do looking for something to close out the week, and once I got to My Sleeping Karma‘s Satya and got about two seconds into opener “Ahimsa,” I knew I had no reason to search any further. The German heavy psych instrumentalists’ second album, released in 2008, was the first record I ever reviewed for this site (review here; though honestly it’s so needlessly packed with internet snark that I’m almost embarrassed to post the link), so obviously it has sentimental value there, but considering how hard My Sleeping Karma has worked on the two albums since, 2010’s Tri (review here) and their 2012 Napalm Records debut, Soma (review here), to push themselves creatively and further their craft, I think there’s plenty of aesthetic value as well. More than I appreciated at the time, and I liked Satya plenty when I first heard it. I guess I was figuring out how to do this and thought the only way to go about it was to be a wiseass about everything. Hindsight makes fools of us all.

Satya, however, only sounds richer with the context of the subsequent years, the Aschaffenburg four-piece blossoming in that time into one of the forerunners of the European heavy psych movement, moving beyond the jammy Colour Haze influence that marked their earliest work and emerging with a character all their own that, by now, has become a point of influence for others in their wake. I’m not sure they had such lofty ambitions six or seven years ago when Satya was coming together, but listening back to it now, their grip on their aesthetic was firm and they knew how to elicit movement within individual songs while also creating an overarching full-length flow. They had some stuff they were still figuring out — experiments with vocals, samples, etc. — but you can hear the heart of what My Sleeping Karma has become in this material, and more than that, right now, it’s really hitting the spot.

Should go without saying at this point, but I hope you enjoy it.

—

Apologies for the lack of posts today. Not looking for sympathy or “sorry for the loss” or anything like that — just letting you know what’s up — but I had an uncle pass away this week and after driving back up to Jersey last Sunday, had to come back down on Tuesday. Wrote the obituary, actually, and sort of ghost-wrote the eulogy with my cousin, which was an experience. Anyway, this afternoon and this evening was the wake, so pretty much the whole day went to that. Not much I could really do about it and sometimes that kind of thing just needs to take priority. I appreciate the understanding, and if you were looking for more posts, stick around next week because there’s a lot coming.

I’ve been asked to do another Red Kunz premiere. The last one went so awesomely well, that there’s another live video I’m in talks with the labels to get going. It might be Monday or might be later on or of course the whole thing could fall through and they could go a completely different direction, but I’ve got my hopes up it comes together, since that EP has a really cool sound and is worth getting the word out on as much as possible. Anyway, fingers crossed.

Also next week, I’ve got other family stuff going Wednesday, so I’m going to try to put together a podcast and get it posted, but that’ll probably be it for that day. I’m backed up on Radio adds, so those will go up, and I’m planning on posting the bio I wrote for the new Lo-Pan album, and a review of the new Karma to Burn. I’m so backed up on reviews it’s sad. I was thinking maybe of taking one week and just putting up 300 words of everything on the pile, doing that and nothing else, each record its own post, just to plow through everything and get back to square one. Not sure I’ll ever be that brave, but if you’ve sent something in, please know I’m doing my best. It’s been a time the last few months.

After the memorial tomorrow, though, I’m driving back up to Massachusetts. I’ll hopefully have time to stop off at home, or at least empty out the car, but then it’s off to the airport to pick up The Patient Mrs., who returns from Greece tomorrow night. It’s been a long month and I can’t wait to see her. This will have been the longest we’ve ever been apart since we first got together almost 18 years ago, and I survived, me and the dog, but with the move and everything, it’ll be so good to have her home and I feel like I’ll be able to get my head on straight a little bit for the first time in at least a couple weeks. Point is I can’t wait. The thought of seeing her has been carrying me through the past couple days.

Before I forget, I also passed the 1,000 followers mark on Twitter this week. That’s more than I ever thought would care enough to click the button, so thank you to everyone for the support there.

I hope you have a great and safe weekend. I’ll be back home on Monday and we’ll pick up then. Right on.

Please check out the forum and the radio stream.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

A heads up from my beloved Garden State in that Jersey City atmospheric black metallers Hercyn are about to issue a limited split CD with Brooklyn post-metallers Thera Roya. You might recall Hercyn released a 24-minute single-track EP last fall called Magda (review here), which they’ve since followed up with an acoustic version, and the allegiance between the two acts gets even more traction with the fact that Thera Roya used to be known as The Badeda Ladies, whom I was fortunate enough to see late in 2012 at The Grand Victory in Brooklyn (review here).

I’ll be interested to hear what kind of growth the moniker swap has brought that trio, and Hercyn have already proved themselves to be stylistically adventurous, so their inclusion on All this Suffering is Not Enough is one to look forward to as well. It’s out Aug. 5 and they’re playing a release show in Jersey on Aug. 2, should you happen to be in that part of the world:

Hercyn and Thera Roya releasing split CD

This spring, Jersey City’s epic black metal band Hercyn joined together with Brooklyn’s own gloomy doom band Thera Roya to record a a CD split entitled “All This Suffering Is Not Enough” on the DIY outfit Ouro Preto Productions.

The release finds both American bands contrasting Hercyn’s epic atmosphere and weaving black metal with Thera Roya’s gloomy and sorrowful doom / post-metal. Hercyn deliver Dusk and Dawn, a 14 minute sprawling black metal piece with sub-layers of synth and acoustic strings. Thera Roya’s side of the split features Gluttony, a 9 minute slowly thundering song drenched in emotion. Both bands have worked in private on the creation of the split. All production and recording was handled’s by Hercyn’s Tony Stanziano (ex-Annunaki, ex-Blood Feast). “All This Suffering Is Not Enough” follow’s Hercyn’s 2013 self-released 24 minute epic Magda (listen here) and Thera Roya’s self-titled (listen here).

The split will see an official summer release of August 5th in hand numbered CDs and will be highly limited to 333 total copies. Pre-orders will be announced shortly here.

In celebration of the split, both bands will share the same stage August 2nd at the Lamp Post in Hercyn’s hometown (382, 2nd street, Jersey City). The release show is free, music starts at 10pm. Opening the show is special guest, Bible Gun – a dramatic piano and saxophone duo from Montclair, New Jersey (listen here). Early copies of the split CD will be available for purchase at the show.

Follow Hercyn and Thera Roya on Facebook.

Hercyn, Magda (2013)

I might’ve said one or two, but it’s a genuine surprise to realize three years have passed since the release of Sedentary (review here). That record was a vicious return from the Chicago outfit with Georgia roots, and three years between albums for them is down from the five it took to get to Sedentary, so actually that’s even less. I’d say that’s probably a good sign for American Heritage‘s future, as well as the fact that they have a permanent bassist, which they didn’t going into the last record, but apparently guitarist Adam Norden (interview here) has quit the band since Prolapse was recorded, so there might not be a future at all.

That’s how the PR wire has it, anyway. Nonetheless, the band is signed with Solar Flare Records and will have the album out in November:

AMERICAN HERITAGE To Issue Sixth Album Via Solar Flare Records This Autumn

Clermont-Ferrand, France-based Solar Flare Records proudly announces the signing of Chicago-based quartet, AMERICAN HERITAGE, for the release of the band’s recently completed sixth full-length album.

Since 1996, AMERICAN HERITAGE has relentlessly dispatched their ripping concoction of technical, mangled metal/hardcore backed with their cynical, lowbrow music and human relations, both on record and on the stage. Their self-titled 1998 debut EP released on The Rosewood Union was chased by the full-length, Why Everyone Gets Cancer, released in 1999 on the same label, and their Through The Age Of Quarrel And Into The Era Of Putting Up With It album released in 2001 by Troubleman Unlimited, and then the Bipolar album through Escape Artist in 2004. Two subsequent albums on Translation Loss followed — 2006’s Millenarian and 2011’s Sedentary, the latter released in Europe via Solar Flare Records — among EPs on Class-B Records, Delboy Records and more including split 7″ releases with Thee Plague Of Gentlemen, Mastodon and others. Their most recent Sedentary album, recorded while the lineup was void of a full-time bassist, included guest contributions on each track, involving their partners in crime, collectively hailing from Sulaco, Murder Construct, Exhumed, D.I.S., Fight Amp, Nachtmystium, Buried At Sea, Mastodon, Primate, Lioness, Sweet Cobra, Dark Fog, Plague Bringer, Black Cobra, The Swan King, Beak, Surachai and others. On the road, AMERICAN HERITAGE has toured and performed alongside the likes of Baroness, Black Cobra, Floor, Mastodon, Pelican, Burnt By The Sun, Misery Index, Coliseum, Dysrhythmia, Saviours, Origin and countless others.

Following the departure of original guitarist Andrei Cabanban back in 2002, through a continually revolving array of bassists, AMERICAN HERITAGE has been steadily comprised of drummer Mike Duffy, vocalist/guitarist Adam Norden and guitarist Scott Shellhamer, and for the past several years, completed by bassist Erik Bocek. This lineup raided SOMA Studios in March of this year with producer Sanford Parker, with additional recording by Che Arthur and Mike Lust, to record their sixth full-length, Prolapse. Once the caustic madness of the bruising album was recorded, Parker mixed the final product, the thirty-three minute album displaying some of the band’s most diverse material to date. After the recording of Prolapse, core member Adam Norden left the band, and after eighteen years of abuse and racket, this move makes it foreseeable that this will be the final album from AMERICAN HERITAGE.

Prolapse will be let out of the cage this November, on digital, CD and vinyl formats via Solar Flare Records, home to Pigs, Sofy Major, The Great Sabatini, Pord, Stuntman and other high-quality acts from the noisier end of the underground rock/metal community. A confirmed street date and additional release details will be announced in the coming weeks.

https://www.facebook.com/americanheritageband
http://americanheritage.bandcamp.com
http://www.twitter.com/fuckingheritage
http://solarflarerds.blogspot.com
http://facebook.com/solarflarerecords
http://solarflarerds.bigcartel.com

American Heritage, Sedentary (2011)

Just before the song starts, there’s a backwards vocal sample at the start of The Golden Grass‘ “All You Have Grown,” and I won’t spoil the party by giving away what it says when you reverse it, but the band make it easy to agree with the sentiment. The track comes from Who Can You Trust? Records‘ upcoming Sweet Times Vol. 2 release, a four-way split with the Brooklyn trio share with Italy’s Sultan Bathery, Metalleg (which features members of Dirty Fences) and The Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell-offshoot Gorilla. It’s a lot of lovin’ to pack onto a 7″ platter, but it’ll be out by the end of August, and as the first recording from the feelgood rockers since their self-titled debut (review here) was released earlier this year on Svart, it offers an interesting look at where they might be headed from here.

First of all, it’s short. With four bands sharing a 7″ release, everybody’s gotta keep it brief, so if you’re coming into “All You Have Grown” looking for a 12-minute jam à la “Wheels” from the self-titled, that’s not what’s going on here. In the quick three minutes, though, The Golden Grass — guitarist/vocalist Michael Rafalowich, drummer/vocalist Adam Kriney and bassist Joe Noval — do manage to create an awful lot of texture. The song itself is still structured for maximum hookage, but some upped psychedelic wash in the guitar layering sits gorgeously alongside the vocal harmonies, making the band’s approach sound even brighter than before. Naturally, it’s a sound that’s perfect for summer, and while I’d never expect these guys to do one thing exclusively for a whole album’s duration, they’re already showing a desire to reach beyond what they’ve already done stylistically.

You can listen to “All You Have Grown” to get a sense of the progression, or listen because it’s a good time. That’s up to you. Either way, it’s three minutes you won’t regret. Thanks to the band and Who Can You Trust? Records for letting me host the premiere.

Dig it:

Sweet Times Vol. 2 will be out late August in an edition of 500 copies. First 100 include 3D glasses. The Golden Grass are shortly to announce a European tour for November and have a few upcoming gigs in the meantime:

Aug 2 – Brighton Bar, Long Branch, NJ w/ BANG + YEOMAN
Sept 12 – Bar Matchless, Brooklyn, NY w/ MIDNIGHT GHOST TRAIN + KING BUFFALO + GEEZER
Oct 3 – No Problemo, New Bedford, MA w/ KIND (members of ELDER)
Oct 4 – Acheron, Brooklyn, NY w/ ANCIENT SKY + KIND (members of ELDER)
10/17 – Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia, PA w/ NEEDLE POINTS + THE ORANGE DROP

European Fall Tour
11/13 – 11/30
Currently being organized by Swamp Booking.

The Golden Grass on Thee Facebooks

Who Can You Trust? Records

They’ve been on hiatus since releasing a split 7″ with Trophy Wives (review here), but Louisville heavy rockers The Glasspack have announced a return from hiatus to be marked by the release of their fifth album, Moon Patrol. Frontman “Dirty” Dave Johnson has spent the last couple years tearing it up with poli-punkers The Decline Effect, who released their self-titled debut last year (review here), and while The Glasspack have always had more than a dash of punk to their sound, Johnson says they’re moving more toward the open psychedelia of cuts like “Louisiana Strawberry” (video here) from 2007’s Dirty Women.

Seven years have passed since that album came out on Small Stone, so if nothing else, The Glasspack are definitely due. The plan is reportedly for Moon Patrol to be entirely instrumental. They’re eyeing a 2015 release, and don’t seem to be in any rush, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the plans changed somewhat along the way. But the good news is The Glasspack are back and looking to wreak havoc once more.

Get the full story below:

THE GLASSPACK V: “MOON PATROL”

After nearly three years of hiatus, the Glasspack (formed 1999 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA) is active once again and finishing up writing their 5th full-length record.

The Glasspack’s last release was the “If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say…” single of 2010. This release was a one-off product for Noise Pollution Records of Louisville, split with Louisville band the Trophy Wives, and produced on orange 7-inch vinyl. Along with the vinyl came a free download card for unreleased Glasspack material which included part of the Glasspack’s sold-out headlining performance at the 2008 Roadburn Festival Afterburner in Tilburg, Holland in support of the Glasspack’s 2007 full-length release, “Dirty Women,” on Small Stone Records of Detroit.

The new Glasspack full-length record will likely be entitled “Moon Patrol.” It is also very likely to be all instrumental tracks with no vocals. Instead, the band wishes to focus on and emphasis sonic psychedelic exploration in heavy Glasspack fashion. It is no surprise looking back at prior Glasspack releases that bands such as Hawkwind, Chrome, Monster Magnet, and even Pink Floyd have played parts of inspiration for the band. Have a listen to Glasspack tracks “Jim Beam and Good Green,” “Louisiana Strawberry,” and “If You Don’t have Anything Nice to Say…” to get a feel of the possible direction the band is heading into now.

Johnson has stated that the record “will be less punk and a little slower than usual, but just as brutal and fuzzy. What will be different mostly is the complexity of the songs. We are looking to humble ourselves, the band, and others who listen with the sublime fear of psychedelia, not that happy hippy shit.”

The band has stated that the release will take some time, will be done right, and with 100% artistic direction in every way by the band members. The band has no potential record label in mind yet and is prepared to release the record itself if need be. There is even talk of it possibly being free. The bands believe release will be sometime in 2015. Most of the writing work is already finished.

In spring of this year while relocating in Louisville, Johnson retrieved his guitar equipment from storage, as well as the Glasspack’s extensive library (which has recently become part of the University of Louisville archives department). Johnson has stated, “I was moving all my stuff for the first time in a decade or two to under one roof. There was the Glasspack’s library and there was the old red bastard of an American Telecaster that a few years ago I sort of considered cursed. One day I was bored, picked up the Tele, and told myself ‘no Glasspack riffs,’ but that is exactly what came out. Only this time, the riffs were new and different. Most importantly, they were fun, powerful, and ‘Glasspack worthy.’ I told a couple friends that I would jam and all of a sudden, it seemed like everyone close to me wanted to do the Glasspack or hear new Glasspack. So, I started thinking.”

“Then, Nick Hall came over. He was the lead guitarist for the Glasspack before hiatus in 2010. He played lead guitar and synth keys on ‘If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say…” We jammed at my home and it was amazing. Nick is a trained musician and words cannot describe just how great he is. I had once tried to describe him as Frank Zappa, Robert Fripp, and Eddie Hazel rolled into one and though this is true in a sense, he is even more than that. He makes the Glasspack fun, complex, and fresh, and ten times more powerful. Just see the Noise Pollution single from 2010. After jamming, we decided it was time to act.”

“Before hiatus Nick and I had discussed my desire to one day make an instrumental space-rock record for the Glasspack. Nick had not forgotten and was all for bringing this idea to back to life. This idea had stemmed from the beginning of the Glasspack. I initially in 1999 had two ideas and band names: ‘the Glasspack’ and “Moon Patrol.” The Glasspack is the Glasspack, but the other was intended to be mutually exclusive from the idea of the Glasspack. It was to be a space rock band. I obviously went with the Glasspack. However, I now know that the only constant in this universe is change and that which is will one day become that which it is not, if it is to survive at all. It is inevitable. Therefore, the Glasspack is back, it will change, and change for the better because I will let it now. Moreover, there was always a hint of space-rock in the Glasspack anyway.”

The Glasspack will release more information on the upcoming album soon. The full band for the release is as follows:

“Dirty” Dave Johnson – vox, guitars (Decline Effect, Muddy Nasty River, and Dirty Bird)
Nicolas Hall – lead guitars, synth keys (Graffiti, Zach Longoria Project)
Rodney Roads – guitars, bass (The Hookers, Brothers of Conquest, Blade of the Ripper, and Purple Jesus)
Billy Lease – guitars, bass (Graffiti, Zach Longoria Project, and The Broken Spurs)
Mark Campbell – drums, percussions (Muddy Nasty River, Purple Jesus, Opposable Thumbs, and Strike City)

https://www.facebook.com/theGlasspack
http://www.youtube.com/user/theglasspack
http://theglasspackkentucky.blogspot.com/

The Glasspack, “If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say…”

The Pewt’r Sessions collaboration between Danish heavy psych explorers Causa Sui and Ron “Pewt’r” Schneiderman, known for his work with Massachusetts’ improvisers Sunburned Hand of the Man and his label, Spirit of Orr, traces back to live shows performed in 2006. In 2009, the two entities got together for a couple days’ worth of recording, and that resulted in the first two installments, and the new Pewt’r Sessions 3 was put to tape by Causa Sui guitarist Jonas Monk during Summer 2013, just as they were issuing the stellar Euporie Tide full-length on their own El Paraiso Records imprint. With the lineup of Schneiderman, Monk, bassist Jess Kahr, drummer Jakob Skøtt and keyboardist Rasmus Rasmussen, Pewt’r Sessions 3 fills out two vinyl sides with just three tracks, and stands in the spirit of Sessions 1 and 2 by being completely improvised. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of all is that four years had passed from when the other two releases were tracked and when this one came to be, considering the smoothness of the pieces — “Abyssal Plain” (8:29), “Eutopia” (5:03) and “Incipiency Suite” (26:34) — and the flow that Causa Sui and Schneiderman are able to elicit over the course of the release. It’s not quite a full-length album feel, and being the third installment of what’s so far a trilogy, there’s a bit of a work-in-progress spirit behind the music, but they leave little to question why they’d want to document the renewed collaboration, and Pewt’r Sessions 3 engages gorgeous washes of psych/Krautrock wanderings delivered with a rare spirit of spontaneity.

Its circumstances don’t do justice to the listening experience. Seems simple enough that Causa Sui and Schneiderman got together for a day or two and jammed out and kept what they wanted to keep, but it’s the open, creative atmosphere in which Pewt’r Sessions 3 was crafted that the recording most conveys. “Abyssal Plain” winds its way to life with some faded-in feedback and cymbal and tom hits, ambient, swirling guitars, and it liquefied before it’s even really underway, one movement flowing from the next as the jam begins to take shape. Distortion hums behind, but if there’s a threat, it’s vague and far off, and Causa Sui and Schneiderman gradually make their way into a build, languid and tripped out as it is, but with the guitars weaving lines around each other, that initial feeling of spaciousness is never lost, even as Skøtt starts to move to more solid drum progressions, keeping a beat, jazzy and loose as it is. A free-jazz feel is a good starting point, since while a definite riff emerges for a time in “Abyssal Plain,” the vibe persists, and carries into both “Eutopia” and especially “Incipiency Suite” as well. But immediately the feeling is smooth, comfortable, the chemistry familiar. I’m sure there was more to it, but if you told me these guys just flipped a switch, hit it and this is what came out, I’d believe you. The central guitar line of “Eutopia” seems more plotted, but the dreamy atmospherics built up around it in guitar and keys carry the experimentalism forward, the drums stay calm, and a course of-the-moment is worked through before a fade brings it to a close for a moment of serenity before the go-anywhere-do-anything trip-out of Pewt’r Sessions 3‘s second side.

“Eutopia” is distinct enough from what Causa Sui do on their own — so is “Abyssal Plain,” for that matter — but “Incipiency Suite” is a different beast altogether, and it’s fitting it starts out with some funky-style wah since the mix plays such a large role in it. At over 26 minutes, it was pieced together by Monk after the recording was complete from various parts recorded throughout the day. One might expect this to lead to a jumpy feel, but “Incipiency Suite” flows well enough to be its own album. I don’t know how involved Monk was in arranging which movement went where, or if he just transitioned between parts as they happened, but the end result is utterly hypnotic — a dead-on jam of molten psychedelia that on its own is worth the price of admission. As for the switches between one part to the next, they’re subtle and they create an overarching progression that’s as organic as the improvisations themselves. It’s here that Causa Sui and Schneiderman come across with their jazziest influence, the guitars spacing out with echoing twirls of notes while Skøtt drives the freakout on drums. It gets noisy and it gets to be a wash, and it moves into empty minimalist space and sun-baked pastoralia in a gorgeous summary of what it is to be psychedelic, and by the time it’s over, they’ve all gone so far out that the song seems to just float away into its own gorgeousness. Both Causa Sui and Ron Schneiderman have plenty of experience with improvisational music, and to hear that play out over these 40 minutes feels like a glimpse into a raw creative process at work. Pewt’r Sessions 3 covers a lot of ground, especially in “Incipiency Suite,” but if there’s more from these recordings or if they have to get together again to make it happen, one just hopes it’s not long before Pewt’r Sessions 4 comes to fruition, because Causa Sui and Schneiderman sound ready to keep exploring.

Causa Sui and Ron Schneiderman, “Incipiency Suite”

Causa Sui on Thee Facebooks

El Paraiso Records website

I think maybe the corporate sponsors haven’t yet gotten the hang of naming releases. Yeah, I understand everybody’s gotta get their name and their brand in there, but at some point, someone should look at a title like TeamRock.com Presents an Absolute Music Bunker Session with Red Fang and realize that maybe, just maybe, it’s a bit on the long side. I guess if the tradeoff is it’s free, then a long title is probably a small enough hill to climb.

That cumbersomely-titled release is available now to snag via Bandcamp, and Red Fang — who are about to head back to Europe, like, tomorrow — also have a new video in the works. They’ve set a pretty high standard in that regard, and it’s always fun to see what they’ve come up with. Just to throw everyone for a loop, they should do a deadpan band-in-warehouse performance clip. Totally boring, totally straightfaced. No one’ll see it coming.

On second thought, that’s a terrible idea.

The PR wire:

RED FANG: Release Free Acoustic EP; Shoot New Music Video

Band Launches UK/European Tour this Friday

In celebration of the band’s upcoming European Tour, Portland, OR’s huggable hard rock supervillains RED FANG have released a free acoustic EP via Metal Hammer, Bandcamp, Amazon MP3 and all streaming portals. The EP was recorded this past March in London as an Absolute Music Bunker session for TeamRock.com. The songs mark the first time the band recorded any acoustic interpretations of their material and the EP includes the original album versions of each track as well. A complete tracklisting is available below.

Additionally, the band recently shot a music video for their new song “The Meadows” from their Scion A/V 7” released in May. The video was directed by David Brodsky (Kylesa, Helmet, Municipal Waste) and will premiere shortly.

RED FANG are gearing up for another month long European tour including numerous festival appearances like Pukkelpop, Lowlands Festival and Reading and Leeds Festival. The shows kick off on July 25th at Rock Im Wald in Germany and end August 23rd at Leeds Festival in the UK. Upon their return, the group will be playing Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle, WA alongside Elvis Costello, Wu-Tang Clan, The Replacements and many others.

RED FANG have been making waves with their latest album,Whales and Leeches, recently performing their single “Blood Like Cream” on The Late Show With David Letterman and releasing another one of their signature, hilarious music videos directed by longtime collaborator Whitey McConnaughy for the same song.

Red Fang Tour Dates
Jul 25 Neuensee GER Rock Im Wald
Jul 26 Lichtenvoorde NL Zwarte Cross Festival
Jul 27 Saarbrücken GER Garage
Jul 28 Milan IT Magnolia
Jul 29 Rome IT Traffic
Jul 31 Viveiro ESP Resurrection Festival
Aug 01 Nantes FR Le Ferrailleur – SOLD OUT
Aug 02 Albi FR Xtreme Fest
Aug 03 Colmar FR Grillen
Aug 05 Giessen GER MUK
Aug 06 Augsburg GER Kantine
Aug 07 Jaromer CZ Brutal Assault
Aug 08 Waldhausen AUT Lake On Fire
Aug 09 Chemnitz GER Rock Im Betonwerk
Aug 10 Saint Maurice de Gourdans FR Sylak Open Air
Aug 12 Martigny CH Les Caves du Manoir
Aug 13 Martigny CH Les Caves du Manoir
Aug 14 Pisa IT Musica W Festival
Aug 15 Le Locle CH Rock Altitude
Aug 16 Hasselt BEL Pukkelpop
Aug 17 Biddinghuizen NL Lowlands Festival
Aug 19 Osnabrück GER Bastard Club
Aug 20 Bochum GER Matrix
Aug 21 Charleville Mezieres FR Cabaret Vert
Aug 22 Reading, UK Reading Festival
Aug 23 Leeds, UK Leeds Festival
Aug 31 Seattle WA Bumbershoot Festival – Fisher Green Stage

http://redfang.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/redfangband
http://twitter.com/redfang

Red Fang, TeamRock.com Presents and Absolute Music Bunker Session with Red Fang (2014)

Here’s what I know: I know that between having Enslaved‘s Ivar Bjørnson and Wardruna‘s Einar Kvitrafn Selvik curating and having The Heads as artist-in-residence, Roadburn 2015 is going to make for one adventurous weekend. The craziest thing about it? It’ll totally work. It’ll be amazing. Don’t doubt it. At this point Roadburn‘s vibe is so dead-on that if, say, you want to have a day hand-picked by dudes in black and folk metal bands while off in a corner somewhere there’s a handful of British psych rockers jamming out, rest assured, the crowd’s gonna have no problem rolling with the spirit of the event. Further, it’s stuff like this that makes Roadburn what it is.

Looking forward particularly to seeing what Bjørnson adds to his curated day, since my understanding is he’s into heavy rock of various stripes, but special performances by both Enslaved and Wardruna as a part of the evening’s events is an excellent way to start while we wait for further announcements.

Dig it:

IVAR BJØRNSON OF ENSLAVED AND WARDRUNA’S EINAR KVITRAFN SELVIK TO CURATE ROADBURN FESTIVAL 2015

(Special shows by Enslaved and Wardruna)

We’re beyond thrilled to announce that Ivar Bjørnson of Enslaved and Wardruna’s Einar Kvitrafn Selvik will curate the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival, on Friday, April 10, 2015 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

As curators, both Ivar and Einar will personally select the bands for their curated Roadburn event, named ‘Houses of the Holistic’, and play special shows with Enslaved and Wardruna respectively as well.

The Norwegian pair, both former Roadburn performers, have played an important role in bringing together the past, present and future sounds of hard rock, progressive metal, and alternative scenes, which makes them the ideal choice to carry on the tradition that began in 2008 with David Tibet of Current 93, and continued with Neurosis, Tom G. Warrior, Sunn 0))), Voivod, Jus Oborn of Electric Wizard and Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth.

One of the most hard-hitting and progressive bands to come out of Norway, Enslaved has drawn other musical genres and artistic expressions into the realm of metal, while being recognized for merging tradition and modernity in a unique blend of rock, prog and black metal, earning them Spellemann Awards (Norwegian Grammys) for much acclaimed and groundbreaking albums such as ‘Isa’, ‘Ruun’, and ‘Vertebrae’ among others.

Enslaved’s performance, dubbed ‘House of Northern Gods’, will consist of a set list specially put together for ‘Houses of the Holistic’, featuring songs from the band’s entire catalogue that embody the Norse gods, with accompanying visuals created by revered Romanian artist, Costin Chioreanu. Be prepared for a surprise or two, or even more.

Ivar Bjørnson comments: “To say that my dream as a kid was to one day curate the Roadburn Festival would perhaps be to take it a tad too far – but it isn’t that far from the truth. There’s some ridiculously big shoes to fill, but luckily negative pressure, idea draught and performance anxiety aren’t something I’m into. It is my favourite festival in one of my favourite parts of the world; so this is nothing short of one the biggest honours I’ve been given! It is a privilege to undertake this challenge in twosome with Einar; an artist I truly feel in tune with artistically and philosophically – now it is all about hard work and dedication to ensure that the audience and the festival itself is given a Friday to enjoy, experience and remember. I for one can’t wait!”

Winning the award for Best Underground Band at the 2104 Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards, Wardruna has taken Einar Kvitrafn Selvik’s musical visions out of the contemporary framework and back into the authentic sounds and instrumentation of ancient Northern Europe. Wardruna (featuring Gaahl and Lindy Fay Hella, alongside Einar) received rave reviews for their mesmerizing 2009 debut ‘Gap Var Ginnunga’ and equally exciting follow up, ‘Yggdrasil’, the first two albums in the planned ‘Runaljod’ trilogy that interprets the ancient runic alphabet of the Elder Futhark.

Wardruna’s special ‘Houses of the Holistic’ performance will definitely add another dimension to the kaleidoscope of styles and sounds associated with Roadburn.

“It is such a great honour for me; to be awarded the responsibility of carrying out the traditional role of the Roadburn curator”, says Einar Kvitrafn Selvik. “Doing it together with Ivar makes it even more special. Roadburn is in my opinion such a high-level music festival – all quality to the fingertips. It is also a festival where presenting high quality musical art is more important than anything else, such as genre distinctions and scene divisions. We will work hard to deliver a program that both explore territories one has come to expect at Roadburn, while at the same time continue to expand its boundaries into new sonic realms.”

While the two curators’ musical output differs instrumentally and stylistically, Bjørnson and Selvik have a common direction towards the primeval and undiluted, not only in their own artistic expressions but also in their taste for other music, which is ultimately what they wish to present at Roadburn 2015 during ‘Houses of the Holistic’. We look forward to this collaboration and cannot wait to see how both Ivar and Einar 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, and Norway’s Norse history, too!

Roadburn Festival 2015 (including The Heads as Artist In Residence) will run for four days from Thursday, April 9 to Sunday, April 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

http://www.roadburn.com/
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Enslaved, “Thoughts Like Hammers” official video