Posted in Whathaveyou on June 30th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Brooklyn doomers Clouds Taste Satanic will release their second album, Your Doom Has Come, on Sept. 1. The record follows the band’s 2014 debut, To Sleep Beyond the Earth, which was formatted as a single piece, and is broken down into separate tracks, though the first three of them — as you can see in the tracklisting — are also meant to be taken as a whole.
The instrumental double-guitar four-piece has made the last installment of that three-parter, “Beast from the Sea” available to check out in a new video, and you can find that under the album announcement below, snagged off the PR wire:
Brooklyn-based instrumental doom quartet CLOUDS TASTE SATANIC will release their highly anticipated sophomore full-length on September 1st. Titled Your Doom Has Come, the six-track follow-up to 2014’s critically-heralded To Sleep Beyond The Earth full-length was engineered and mixed by Nadim Issa at Let Em’ In Studios in Brooklyn and mastered by Alan Douches (High On Fire, Mastodon) at West West Side Music.
Thematically, Your Doom Has Come traces its inspiration to the darkest corners of the Book of Revelation. Sonically, Your Doom Has Come finds the band at their fastest and most aggressive. While To Sleep Beyond The Earth took a more Dopesmoker approach (with one forty minute plus song spread over 2 sides of vinyl), Your Doom Has Come takes a more De Vermis Mysteriis approach, compressing its conceptual storytelling into six minute plus songs of riff-filled Armageddon. While all of Side A is joined together thematically to form the title song, the individual pieces work just as well on their own.
CLOUDS TASTE SATANIC formed in Brooklyn, New York in 2013 and have spent the past two years building a reputation as one of the finest underground doom bands playing today. They’ve patiently and deliberately developed a unique sound that melds riff dominated stoner rock with heavy doom. With their live show, they work to create a multi-media mood that offers a true experience and companion piece to their albums. CLOUDS TASTE SATANIC’s debut album, To Sleep Beyond The Earth was released in 2014.
Your Doom Has Come Track Listing: Your Doom Has Come I. Ten Kings II. One Third of The Sun III. Beast From The Sea Out of The Abyss Dark Army Sudden…Fallen
CLOUDS TASTE SATANIC: Steven Scavuzzo – Guitar David Weintraub – Guitar Sean Bay – Bass Christy Davis – Drums
Posted in audiObelisk on June 30th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
I was especially eager to see Bongripper at the Afterburner at this year’s Roadburn. They had played a couple nights before as well (that set is streaming here), performing their 2014 album, Miserable (review here), in its entirety, but I’d had to miss that set and knew going into the fest that I wanted to see them one way or another follow-up on the performance they gave in 2012, which had been chest-shakingly heavy.
No regrets, of course. They proved to be devastating and I’m anxious to revisit the set today via the newly released live stream. Also included in this latest of the four-so-far batches is a bunch of stuff I missed, including two of the most-talked-about bands of the entirety of Roadburn 2015: SubRosa and Thou. The former outfit played the first day and I continued to hear about them through to Sunday, while Thou‘s atmosludge devastated the crowd at Het Patronaat and were bandied about as one of the highlights of the whole fest.
Along with performances by Acid Witch, Death Hawks, Mugstar (another one whose name I kept hearing), Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, Der Weg Einer Freiheit, and KEN mode, this makes for a pretty diverse round of streams. If you get to dig into any or all of them, I hope you enjoy:
Acid Witch – Live at Roadburn 2015
Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell – Live at Roadburn 2015
Bongripper – Live at Roadburn 2015 (Afterburner)
Death Hawks – Live at Roadburn 2015
Der Weg Einer Freiheit – Live at Roadburn 2015
Kenmode – Live at Roadburn 2015
Mugstar- Live at Roadburn 2015
Subrosa – Live at Roadburn 2015
Thou – Live at Roadburn 2015
Special thanks to Walter as always for letting me host the streams. To read all of this year’s Roadburn coverage, click here. For the first, second and third batches of streams, click here and then click here and then click here.
Day one down and feeling good so far. Day two continues the thread of mixing more known quantities with bands either self-releasing or putting out demos, etc., and I like that. More than last time around — last quarter, if you want to use the business-y sounding language for it — I tried to really get a balance across this batch of reviews, posted yesterday and coming up over the next couple days. We’ll see how it works out when it’s over. It remains a ton of stuff, and I hope you dig it. Day two starts right now.
Quarterly review #11-20:
Horsehunter, Caged in Flesh
Pushing their way to the fore of Melbourne’s heavy surge, double-guitar four-piece Horsehunter proffer oppressive tonal crush on the four tracks of their 2LP Magnetic Eye Records debut, Caged in Flesh. The story goes that, unsatisfied the initial recordings weren’t heavy enough, the band – guitarists Michael Harutyanyan (also vocals) and Dan McDonald, bassist/vocalist Himi Stringer and drummer Nick Cron – went back into the studio and redid the entire thing. Mission accomplished. By the time 16-minute opener and longest track (immediate points) “Stoned to Death” is done, lungs are suitably deflated, spines are cracked, skulls cleaved, and so on. They’re hardly the only ones in the world to conjure formidable tonal heft, but it’s the deft changes in vocals – clean here, shouts there, more abrasive at the start of the title-track – and the sense of atmosphere in the three-minute penultimate interlude that really distinguish Horsehunter, as well as how smoothly that atmosphere integrates with the pummel in the second half of closer “Witchery,” attention to detail and awareness of the need for more than just sonic weight boding well for future progression.
A staggeringly heavy debut full-length from Sacramento, CA, five-piece Church, Unanswered Hymns was initially released digitally by the band and quickly picked up for a cassette issue by Transylvanian Tapes and forthcoming LP through Battleground Records. One gets the sense listening to the three extended tracks – 19-minute opener “Dawning” being the longest of the bunch (immediate points) – that those won’t be the last versions to come. Psychedelic doom blends seamlessly with vicious sludge extremity, creating a morass engulfing in its tones, spacious in its breadth and unrepentantly heavy, making it one of 2015’s best debut releases, hands down, and a glorious revelry in bleak tectonics that challenges the listener to match its level of melancholy without giving into an impulse for post-Pallbearer emotive theatrics. As thrilling as they are plodding, expect the echoes of “Dawning,” “Stargazer” and “Offering” to resonate for some time to come, and should Church show any predilection for touring in the next couple years, they have the potential to make a genuine impact on American doom. Yes, I mean it.
Recorded in a day and released by Grimoire Records, the four-track Without Form is slated as the debut from Baltimore atmospheric doomers Corpse Light, but the band have had tracks come out in drips and drabs since getting their start as Ophidian in mid-2012, even if this is their first proper release. Either way, “The Fool” sets up an immediate and grim ambience, the churning lurch from guitarists Keiran Holmes and Don Selner and bassist Aurora Raiten set to roll by Lawrence Grimes (The Osedax) and given earthy aggression by the vocals of Jim Webb. “Lying in State” fleshes out these morose aggro vibes, but it’s with the drop-everything-and-kill peak of the subsequent “R Complex” that Corpse Light hit their angriest mark. If Without Form was just about that, it would be the highlight, but the album’s 29 minutes have more to offer than pissed off tonally-weighted post-hardcore, as closer “Kenophobia”’s clever turns and deceptive forward momentum demonstrate, though a touch of that kind of thing never hurts either.
Heavy psych four-piece Sunder will make their debut this summer through Tee Pee and Crusher Records with a 7” for “Cursed Wolf,” so consider this notice of the tracks on their not-for-public-consumption demo a heads up on things to come. Their “Deadly Flower” was streamed here this past April, and the band’s previous incarnation, The Socks, released their self-titled debut (review here) on Small Stone in 2014, but with songs like the key-laced stomper “Bleeding Trees,” the ‘70s rusher “Against the Grain,” and the Uncle Acid-style swinging “Daughter of the Snows,” the Lyon, France, outfit continue to refine a style drawing together different vibes of the psychedelic era. “Deadly Flower” was also distinguished by its key work, and as for “Cursed Wolf” itself, the melody reminds of proto-psych Beatles singles (thinking “Rain” specifically), but the groove still holds firm to a sense of weight that’s thoroughly modern, and by that I mean it sounds like 1972. Keep an eye out.
Granted not everyone is going to make this immediate association, but when I first saw the moniker T-Tops, I couldn’t help think of like C-grade generic stonerisms, songs about beer and pretending to be from the South and all that. If you experienced something similar in seeing the name, rest easy. The Pittsburgh trio of guitarist/vocalist Pat Waters (ex-The Fitt, Wormrigg), bassist Jason Orr (Wormrigg) and drummer Jason Jouver (ex-Don Caballero) are down with far more sinister punk and noise on their self-titled, self-released debut full-length, riding, shooting straight and speaking truth on cuts like “Wipe Down” and the catchy “Pretty on a Girl” after the tense sampling of “A Certain Cordial Exhilaration” turns over the power-push to “Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’.” “Ralphie” is probably an inside-joke if not a Christmas Story reference, but point is these guys are way less about-to-sing-about-muscle-cars than the name implies and their tight, crisp rhythmic turns come accompanied by vicious tonal force and an utter lack of bullshit, which is a scenario far preferable to that which one might otherwise expect.
Issued by Aqulamb in the imprint’s standard 100-page art book/download format, the self-titled debut from fellow Brooklynites The Space Merchants seeks to draw a line between psychedelic rock and country. And not pretend country like people with a Johnny Cash fetish because he covered that Nine Inch Nails song one time – actual, bright, pastoral, classic country. Call the results psychtwang and applaud the effort, which works oddly well in a thoroughly vintage context to come across on “Mainline the Sun” like something from a lost ‘60s variety show. Parts of “One Cut Like the Moon” and the later fuzz of “One Thousand Years of Boredom” give away their modernity, but The Space Merchants’ push toward a stylistic niche suits them well, and the intertwined vocal arrangements from guitarist Michael Guggino, bassist Aileen Brophy and keyboardist Ani Monteleone – Carter Logan drums to round out the four-piece – add to the rich, welcoming feel that remains prevalent even as the eight-minute “Where’s the Rest of Life” slips into wah-soaked noise to finish out.
The undercurrent of black metal coursing beneath the surface of Etiolated’s debut full-length, Grey Limbs, Grey Skies, eventually comes to the surface in 10-minute opener “Internal Abyss” and 16-minute eponymous closer, which bookends, but in part it’s the tension of waiting for those rampaging surges that keeps one hooked to the Armus Productions release. Guttural death growls echo up from dense tonal reaches, and tempo shifts, whether in those longer tracks or three-minute lumbering slice “Futility” are fluid, the North Carolina five-piece executing a slow-grinding chug in centerpiece “Exsanguinate,” which seems like a murk without end until the 1:47 “For Your Hell” kicks into a speedier, more blackened rush, guest vocalist Ryan McCarthy joining guitarist/vocalists James Storelli and Walls, bassist Cody Rogers and drummer Elliot Thompson in furthering the already prevalent sense of extremism before “Etiolated,” after a surprisingly peaceful if brooding midsection, plods the album to a close. To say “not for the faint of heart” would be putting it lightly, but if I had a vest and if Etiolated had patches, the two parties would definitely meet up at some point in the near future.
It has not taken long for the discography of UK psych jammers Blown Out to become a populated murky cosmos of its own. Planetary Engineering is released on Oaken Palace Records and finds the three-piece of guitarist Mike Vest (also Bong, etc.), bassist John-Michael Hedley (also Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs) and drummer Matt Baty (also the head of Box Records) exploring two mesmeric and sprawling instrumentals – one per side – that bend and flourish and hypnotize in organically-concocted swirl. Side A’s “Transcending Deep Infinity” tops 20 minutes and shifts from its spacey build to a low key groove at about 7:30 in, pulsing forward once more amid head-turning repetition, deep echoes and longform nod, culminating in a two-minute fadeout that brings forward “Thousand Years in the Sunshine,” an immediate bass groove and interstellar swirl no less trance-inducing than its predecessor. Cyclical drum fills morph over time behind the guitar and bass, and Planetary Engineering seems to push continually further out until, of course, it disintegrates, presumably as it crosses the galactic barrier.
I was fortunate enough to have been in attendance at Het Patronaat in Tilburg when French post-black metallers Les Discrets took the stage at Roadburn 2013. As such, it’s with some trepidation I approach their Live at Roadburn recording on Prophecy Productions – the impression they made live wasn’t something I’d want potentially spoiled or brought to earth by a document proving it was just another set. With Neige of Alcest on bass with guitarist/vocalist Fursy Teyssier, Les Discrets proved to be something really special to those who, like me, were there to catch them, and the eight-track Live at Roadburn – fortunately – captures both the majestic lushness they brought with them and the underlying weight that seemed to add impact to the material. What might sound like post-production mixing on “L’Echappée” or the wash of “Chanson D’Automne” isn’t – it really was that beautiful and that perfectly balanced coming from the stage. A vastly underrated act and a document that reminds of how stellar they were without sullying the memory in the slightest.
Brooklynite foursome Beast Modulus seem to care less about meshing with ideas of genre than sticking them in a meatgrinder and seeing what comes out. To wit the riotous chugging of “Cowboy Caligula,” and the blackened thrust of “WaSaBi!” on their self-released, self-titled outing, which leads to dueling growls and screams on the tonally weighted post-hardcore “Fabulous,” and the appropriately mathy turns of the thrashing “Tyranny of Numbers.” Inventive in their stylizations and in where the six songs included on the release actually go – hint: they go to “heavy” – the lineup of vocalist Kurt Applegate, guitarist Owen Burley, bassist Jesse Adelson and drummer Jody Smith have some post-Dillinger Escape Plan vibe in the calculated chaos of “Kalashnikov,” but closer “Killing Champion” is too impatient to even be held by that, the prevailing manic angularity of Beast Modulus ultimately crafting its own identity from the physical assault the music seems intent on perpetrating upon the listener.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 30th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Two and a half decades after getting their start, UK morose doom pioneers My Dying Bride are getting ready to release their 12th full-length. Titled Feel the Misery, the new record will follow 2012’s A Map of Our Failures and its subsequent EP companion, The Manuscript and is set to arrive via Peaceville on Sept. 18. A band who, even 25 years later, continue to polarize audiences, no doubt My Dying Bride will make the titular misery palpable across the included eight tracks, their long-established theatrical sensibilities remaining perpetually dark, no matter where their sound actually takes them.
An offering then, from the PR wire:
MY DYING BRIDE ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM “FEEL THE MISERY”
12th studio album out September 18 on Peaceville
My Dying Bride’s latest opus and 12th full studio album, Feel the Misery, is set for release on September 18 on Peaceville Records. With crushing epic doom spanning eight tracks, and featuring the return of original guitarist Calvin Robertshaw to the fold, this is undoubtedly amongst the band’s heaviest, darkest and most majestic works to date, marking My Dying Bride’s 25th anniversary in punishing style, with the title track also set to feature as the album’s debut video.
Feel the Misery sees a notable return to the band’s old haunt, Academy Studios in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, for recording where all of My Dying Bride’s classic early albums were produced. Mixing once more takes place at Futureworks in Manchester, U.K. with the band’s long-time studio engineer/producer, Mags.
The band commented on the themes of Feel the Misery: “Contained within are all the grandeur and mastery of the melancholic one would expect to find on a recording from this group of musicians.
“The crushing of hearts and the solemn farewells to friends and lovers twinned with the destruction of flesh and the passions of cruelty are laid neatly for the listener to devour and savour.
“Eight new compositions detailing the path of life through dark doors and the burdens we all must endure simply to make it to the end, My Dying Bride have returned with a foreboding new album which may enlighten, delight and consume the soul in one epic sitting.”
Feel the Misery will be released on CD, vinyl, plus a special edition 2CD/2×10 vinyl set in deluxe earbook format with exclusive music and expanded booklet.
1. And My Father Left Forever 2. To Shiver in Empty Halls 3. A Cold New Curse 4. Feel the Misery 5. A Thorn of Wisdom 6. I Celebrate Your Skin 7. I Almost Loved You 8. Within a Sleeping Forest
My Dying Bride has been the leading light of doom metal since its debut album, As the Flower Withers, was released on Peaceville Records back in 1992, and the band’s heavy atmospherics and expertly crafted compositions makes it among the most essential and legendary acts of the gothic doom/death genre.
My Dying Bride will play festivals in Europe over the summer. A full list can be seen below.
Stay tuned for more information on My Dying Bride and Feel the Misery, out this September on Peaceville.
My Dying Bride live…
7/31 – Wacken Festival – Germany 8/02 – Rock Off Festival – Istanbul, Turkey 8/07 – Rock Part Festival – Lake Balaton, Hungry 8/08 – Party San Metal Open Air – Schlotheim, Germany 8/29 – Seinajoki Metal Festival – Rytmikorjaamo, Finland
My Dying Bride is… Aaron Stainthorpe – Vocals Andrew Craighan – Guitar Calvin Robertshaw – Guitar Lena Abé – Bass Shaun MacGowan – Keyboards / Violin
High impact heavy rockers Space Fisters released their debut full-length, Vol. 1, late in 2014, giving nodders what for with a sound setting together a blend of fuzzy riffs and more spacious psychedelics. Prone to fits of crunch and hooks, neither are they shy about fleshing out a track like “Short Daze” or “Bozz,” their jams based around movement — guitarist Robin Pruchon, bassist/vocalist Clément Baltassat and drummer Léo Mo see to it there’s plenty, regardless of tempo or the largesse of the riff they happen to be jamming around in a given stretch — but executed with a deceptive underlying patience. From a distance or a superficial listen, they might seem repetitive, but rarely are the four tracks of Vol. 1 actually standing still.
Bookended by the longer “Short Daze” (9:10) and “Bozz” (14:30), middle cuts “Yellow Hills” (7:10) and “Goddess of Love/Priestess of Pain” (6:01) play one side off the other fluidly, the latter touching on moaning Electric Wizardry before shifting into boogie shuffle and spacebound jive then making the same tradeoff again, while “Yellow Hills” lets its fuzzy tone and crash blow the roof off before mellowing out to start a build that rises in the middle, recedes, and rises again near the finish, Baltassat‘s vocals a watery echo all the way. As a sampler piece of what Vol. 1 has to offer, “Yellow Hills” makes a particularly good slice, and no doubt that’s at least part of the motivation behind selecting it as the first video to come from the album.
Directed by Jul’ Silva, the clip for “Yellow Hills” boasts footage of the band jamming out and some strange kind of checker-pattern interpretive dancing going on, but one way or another, it’s going to grab attention. I’m happy today to be able to host the premiere of the clip, which you’ll find on the player below, followed by some more about the band from the PR wire:
Space Fisters, “Yellow Hills” official video
Formed in 2012 in the heights of Savoy, French power trio SPACE FISTERS produces a highly volcanic kind of stoner rock, that could be described as a threesome between Sleep, Earthless and The Melvins.
Their debut album « Vol.1? is a 36 minute long heavy psych uppercut delivered without any hesitation or concession. The tone in there is roaring, the rhythm section is vibrantly dauntless, while riffs regularly take off to bluesier skies, all towered by an unprecedented amount of fuzz… to make the Earth’s crust shake.
SPACE FISTERS skyrocket your minds into another dimension, and the live experience literally seizes you to the guts, as the band puts on infectiously fervent performances. Within three years, the trio already shared the stage with the likes of Red Fang, Kadavar, Earthless, Mars Red Sky, and more recently Stoned Jesus on their French tour.
Clément Baltassat – Bass & Vocals Robin Pruchon – Guitar Léo Mo – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 29th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
It’s been the better part of two years since Kentucky heavy rockers Moonbow made their debut with 2013’s The End of Time (review here), but the four-piece are back with the forthcoming Volto del Demone, an acoustic LP they’ve put together over the course the stretch since the debut’s arrival. Where The End of Time‘s centerpiece “Take it for Granted” boasted a guest appearance from John Garcia, with whom drummer Steve Earle played in Hermano, the new outing features Hank 3, in whose band guitarist David McElfresh also plays.
The PR wire brings art and info:
MOONBOW ANNOUNCE RELEASE OF ACOUSTIC ALBUM & UNVEIL COVER, TRACKLIST + RELEASE DATE!
US-based heavy stoner rock band MOONBOW are finally back but with a very special record, the band just announced the release of an upcoming acoustic album titled “Volto del Demone” – set to be released worldwide on August 28th 2015!
Back in August of 2013, Moonbow released their critical acclaimed debut album ‘The End of Time’. For the last 2 years, they have been writing a lot of material and playing shows in between David McElfresh’s touring with his other and well-known band Hank 3. During Moonbow’s writing process, vocalist Matt Bischoff and guitarist David had the idea to put out an acoustic record of songs that were very personal to them and what later would become “Volto del Demone”. The songs were recorded between December 2013 and April 2015 at The Den recording studio in Petersburg, KY. Now Moonbow finally unveiled their upcoming album artwork & tracklist for “Volto del Demone”, that also features a very special guest appearance of Hank 3 himself on vocals, drums, bass, keyboards & bizarre atmospheric sounds on the song “Face of the Demon”!
Artwork and Creative Direction by Ryan McAllister
The tracklist of Moonbow’s upcoming record reads as follows: 1) Devils Floor 2) Take me Home 3) Volto del Demone 4) The Wait 5) Memories Ahead 6) Mission 35 7) One Way to Die 8) Face of the Demon (Featuring Hank 3)
MOONBOW are: Matt Bischoff: Vocals David McElfresh: Guitars, Fiddle, Vocals, Mandolin, Steel Guitar Ryan McAllister: Bass Steve Earle: Drums
I said back in March that I was going to try to make the Quarterly Review a regular feature around here, and once it was put out there, the only thing to do was to live up to it. Over the last several — like, five — weeks, I’ve been compiling lists of albums to be included, and throughout the next five days, we’re going to make our way through that list. From bigger names to first demos and across a wide swath of heavy styles, there’s a lot of stuff to come, and I hope within all of it you’re able to find something that hits home or speaks to you in a special way.
No sense in delaying. Hold nose, dive in.
Quarterly Review #1-10:
Foehammer, Foehammer
Relatively newcomer trio Foehammer specialize in grueling, slow-motion punishment. Their self-titled debut EP follows a well-received 2014 demo and is three tracks/34 minutes released by Grimoire and Australopithecus Records of doomed extremity, the Virginian three-piece of guitarist Joe Cox (ex-Gradius), bassist/vocalist Jay Cardinell (ex-Gradius, ex-Durga Temple) and drummer Ben “Vang” Blanton (ex-Vog, also of The Oracle) not new to the Doom Capitol-area underground by any stretch and seeming to pool all their experience to maximize the impact of this extended material. Neither “Final Grail,” “Stormcrow” nor 14-minute closer “Jotnar” is without a sense of looming atmosphere, but Foehammer at this point are light only on drama, and the lower, sludgier and more crushing they go, the more righteous the EP is for it. Stunningly heavy and landing with a suitable shockwave, it is hopefully the beginning of a long, feedback-drenched tenure in death-doom, and if the EP is over half an hour, the prospect of a follow-up debut full-length seems overwhelming. Easily one of the year’s best short releases.
It’s not like they were lying when they decided to call a song “Shroom Doom.” Melbourne double-guitar four-piece made their self-titled debut as Holy Serpent last year, and the five-track full-length was picked up for release on RidingEasy Records no doubt for its two-front worship of Uncle Acid’s slither and jangle – especially prevalent on the eponymous opener and closer “The Wind” – and the now-classic stonerism of Sleep. That blend comes together best of all on the aforementioned finale, but neither will I take away from the north-of-10-minute righteousness of “The Plague” preceding, with its slow roll and malevolent vibe that, somehow, still sounds like a party. Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Scott Penberthy, guitarist Nick Donoughue, bassist Michael Macfie and drummer Keith Ratnan, the real test for Holy Serpent will be their second or third album – i.e., how they develop the psychedelic nodes of centerpiece “Fools Gold” along with the rest of their sound – but listening to these tracks, it’s easy to let the future worry about itself.
There are a variety of influences at work across Wicked Inquisition’s self-titled debut long-player, from the Sabbath references of its eponymous closer to the earlier thrashery of “In Shackles” and “Sun Flight,” but the core of the Minneapolis four-piece resides in a guitar-led brand of metal, whatever else they decide to build around it. Guitarist/vocalist Nate Towle, guitarist Ben Stevens, bassist Jordan Anderson and drummer Jack McKoskey align tightly around the riffs of “M.A.D.” in all-business fashion. Shades of Candlemass show up in some of the slower material, “M.A.D.” included as well as with “Crimson Odyssey,” but the start-stops of “Tomorrow Always Knows” ensure the audience is clued in that there’s more going on than just classic doom, though a Trouble influence seems to hover over the proceedings as well, waiting to be more fully explored as the band moves forward.
Clocking in at an hour flat, Sydney all-caps riffers AVER construct their second album, Nadir, largely out of familiar elements, but wind up with a blend of their own. Fuzz is prevalent in the extended nod of opener “The Devil’s Medicine” (9:46) which bookends with the longest track, finisher “Waves” (9:48), though it’s not exactly like the four-piece are shy about writing longer songs in between. The production, while clear enough, lends its focus more toward the low end, which could be pulling in another direction from the impact of some of Nadir’s psychedelia on “Rising Sun” second half solo, but neither will I take anything away from Jed’s bass tone, which could carry this hour of material were it asked. The vocals of guitarist Burdt have a distinct Acid Bathian feel, post-grunge, and that contrasts a more laid back vibe even on the acoustic-centered “Promised Lands,” but neither he, Jed, guitarist Luke or drummer Chris feel out of place here, and I’m not inclined to complain.
Sweet, classic and very, very British folk pervades the gorgeously melodic and meticulously arranged Silence and Tears by London six-piece Galley Beggar, released on Rise Above. The eight-track/40-minute album packs neatly onto a vinyl release and has near-immediate psychedelic underpinnings in the wah of opener “Adam and Eve,” and side B’s “Geordie” has some heavier-derived groove, but it’s the beauty and lushness of the harmonies throughout (finding satisfying culmination in closer “Deliver Him”) that stand Galley Beggar’s third offering out from worshipers of a ‘60s and ‘70s era aesthetic. The highlight of Silence and Tears arrives early in nine-minute second cut “Pay My Body,” a wonderfully swaying, patient excursion that gives equal time to instrumental exploration and vocal accomplishment, but to a select few who let themselves be truly hypnotized and carried along its winding course, the album’s entire span will prove a treasure to be revisited for years to come and whose sunshiny imprint will remain vivid.
With inspiration reportedly from the 1977 demon-possession horror flick Alucarda, Las Vegas doomers Demon Lung return with A Dracula, their second offering via Candlelight Records after 2013’s The Hundredth Name, and as the movie begins with a birth, so too do we get “Behold, the Daughter” following the intro “Rursumque Alucarda,” later mirrored by a penultimate interlude of the same name. Billy Anderson produced, so it’s not exactly a surprise that the slow, undulating riffs and the periodic bouts of more upbeat chug, as on “Gypsy Curse,” come through nice and viscous, but vocalist Shanda brings an ethereal melodic sensibility, not quite cult rock, but on “Mark of Jubilee” presenting momentarily some similarly bleak atmospherics to those of the UK’s Undersmile, her voice seeming to command the guitars to solidify from their initial airiness and churn out an eerie apex, which closer “Raped by the Serpent” pushes further for a raging finale.
Spirit Division’s self-titled debut full-length follows a 2014 demo that also hosted three of the tracks – opener “Spirit Division,” “Through the Rounds” and “Mountain of Lies” – but is fuller-sounding in its post-grunge tonality and doomly chug than the earlier offering, guitarist/vocalist Stephen Hoffman, bassist/vocalist Chris Latta and drummer/vocalist David Glass finding a straightforward route through moody metallurgy and weighted riffage. Some Wino-style swing shows up on “Bloodletting,” and “Cloud of Souls” has a decidedly militaristic march to its progression, while the later “Red Sky” revels in classic doom that seems to want to be just a touch slower than it is, but what ultimately unites the material is the strong sense of purpose across the album’s span and Spirit Division’s care in the vocal arrangements. The production is somewhat dry, but Spirit Division walk the line between sludge rock and doom and seem comfortable in that sphere while also sparking a creative progression that seems well worth further pursuit.
I was all set to include a different Space Mushroom Fuzz album in this roundup, but then I saw that the project was coming to an end and Until Next Time was issued as the band’s final release. The deal all along with the band headed by guitarist/vocalist Adam Abrams (also Blue Aside) has been that you never really know what he’s going to do next. Fair enough. Abrams brings it down in suitably bizarre fashion, a keyboard and guitar line backing “Class Onion” in direct mockery of Beatlesian bounce, where “The DeLorean Takes Off!” before compiles five-plus minutes of experimental noise and “Follow that DeLorean” answers with another round after. Elsewhere, opener and longest cut (immediate points) “Here Comes Trouble” resonates with its central guitar line and unfolds to further oddity with a quiet but gruff vocal, while “The Rescue” vibes like something Ween would’ve conjured after huffing roach spray (or whatever was handy) and closer “Back in ‘55” moves from progressive soloing to froggy singing and weirdo jangle. All in all a strange and fitting end to the band.
Santa Cruz trio Mountain Tamer have been kicking around the West Coast for the last several years, and since they released a full-length, Liquid Metal, in 2013, and a prior EP in 2012’s The Glad, it’s tempting to try to read some larger shift sonically into their MTN TMR Demo, as though having completely revamped their sound, the trio of guitarist/vocalist Andru, bassist/vocalist Dave Teget and drummer/vocalist Casey Garcia trying out new ideas as they redirect their approach. That may well be the case, with “Satan’s Waitin’,” “Sum People” and “Dunes of the Mind” each standing at over five-minutes of neo-stoner roll, more psychedelic than some in the growing fuck-it-let’s-skate oeuvre, but still plainly born after, or at least during, grunge. The finisher comes to a thrilling, noisy head as it rounds out the short release, and if Mountain Tamer are taking on a new path, it’s one well set to meander and I hope they continue to follow those impulses.
Like their late-2014 debut, Bloom, OHHMS’ sophomore outing, Cold, is comprised of two extended tracks. Here the Canterbury five-piece bring “The Anchor” (18:30) and “Dawn of the Swarm” (14:27), blending modern prog, sludge and post-metallic vibes to suit a melodic, ambitious purpose. Atmosphere is central from the quiet drone starting “The Anchor” and remains so as they lumber through a linear build and into an apex at about 13 minutes in, dropping out to quiet only to build back up to a striking melodic push that ends on a long fade. Side B, “Dawn of the Swarm” is more immediately post-rock in the guitar, the lineup of vocalist Paul Waller, guitarists Daniel Sargent and Marc George, bassist Chainy Chainy and drummer Max Newton moving through hypnotic sprawl into angular Isis-ism before finding their own way, the second cut pushing structurally against the first with loud/quiet tradeoffs in a well-timed back half. Clearly a band who arrived knowing their purpose, but not so cerebral as to detract from the heavy landing of the material itself.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 29th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
As he continues to support the solo album Leave Me Alone (streamed here) released under the moniker of Nick Oliveri and the Uncontrollable, the persistently raucous Oliveri is set to embark in July on a month-plus of European touring, acoustic style. This incarnation of the former Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age bassist — whose resumé also includes The Dwarves, his own Mondo Generator and a slew of contributions to others, up to and including Vista Chino — is dubbed Death Acoustic after a 2009 album of the same name (review here), and Oliveri will begin the tour with a slot at the Stoned from the Underground festival in Erfurt, Germany.
Still not sure what’s up with Oliveri‘s rumored collaboration with Wino in Royale Daemons, but when and if I hear of anything in that regard I’ll let you know. In the meantime, the PR wire brought this announcement:
Nick Oliveri embark on summer acoustic tour across Europe in support of his new album Leave Me Alone, dates and festival appearances announced.
Nick Oliveri is one of the most dexterous and versatile journeyman musicians in the underground rock scene. His work with such bands as Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age and Mondo Generator has made him an iconic figure in the heavy music scene while his persona as long time Dwarves bassist Rex Everything and current bass playing duties with newly reformed hardcore act Bl’ast have anchored him as a force to be reckoned with in the punk/hardcore realm. His songwriting has appeared in landmark albums such as Wretch and Blues For The Red Sun (Kyuss) and Rated R and Songs For The Deaf (Queens Of The Stone Age).
His body of work and catalog is vast and respectable with contributions to such artists as Turbonegro, Eagles Of Death Metal, Mark Lanegan Band, Winnebago Deal, Rollins Band, Masters of Reality and the legendary Desert Sessions recordings.
From July till mid August, Nick will be travelling across the Old World on a special acoustic tour in support of his latest release entitled Leave Me Alone that was recorded by his new project and debut solo effort (he literally played every instrument on the album, minus some guest appearances) called Nick Oliveri’s Uncontrollable. The tour kicks off in Erfurt (Germany) at the long running Stoned From The Underground festival alongside the likes of Electric Wizard, his old friend John Garcia, Radio Moscow and Danava and concludes August 16th at Leperfest (Belgium) where he’ll share the stage with hardcore icons Sick Of It All, doom pioneers Pentagram, and cult-like Brujeria.
He’s coined the name of his acoustic tours as “Death Acoustic” tours and they’ve always been an intimate experience with him and his fans, where he ‘s known to interact with the audience directly in the middle and between songs throughout the his sets, take requests and invite the whole audiences to get involved with the set, rowdy or not!
Full list of dates:
July 10th: Stoned From The Underground Festival (Erfurt, GER) July 11th: Panic Room (Essen, GER) July 12th: Fleece (Bristol, UK) July 13th: Gypsy Rose (Dublin, UK) July 14th: Voodoo (Bellfast, UK) July 15th: Audio (Glasgow, UK) July 16th: Portland Arms (Cambridge, UK) July 17th: The Corporation (Sheffield, UK) July 18th: The Boston Music Room (London, UK) July 19th: Moon Club (Cardiff, UK) July 20th: Glazart (Paris, France) July 21st: Le Ferrailleur (Nantes, France) July 22nd: TBC July 23rd: Raindogs (Savona, Italy) July 24th: Sunride Festival (Pesaro, Italy) July 25th: Zara Spiaggia Bar (Pescara, Italy) July 26th: Nano Verde (Follonica, Italy) July 27th: Festa Dell’ Unita (Canonica, Italy) July 28th: Freak Out Club (Bologna, Italy) July 29th: Parco Della Musica (Padova, Italy) July 30th: Vintage Industrial Bar (Zagreb, Croatia) August 1st: Viper Room (Vienna, Austria) August 3rd: Backstage (Munich, GER) August 4th: Rockhouse (Salzburg, Austria) August 5th: Jagerklause (Berlin, GER) August 6th: Ostpol (Dresden, GER) August 7th: La Casa (Cottbus, GER) August 8th: TBA (Bucarest, Romania) August 9th: Chez Heinz (Hannover, GER) August 10th: Hafenklang (Hamburg, GER) August 11th: DB’s (Utrecht, NL) August 12th: Gebr De Nobel (Leiden, NL) August 13th: De Pul (Uden, NL) August 14th: The Lane (Oostburg, NL) August 15th: De Hip (Deventer, NL) August 16th: Leperfest (Leper, Belgium)
Leave Me Alone by Nick Oliveri’s Uncontrollable is out now on both regular LP/CD and collectible leather sleeve LP through Schnitzel Records and is available for streaming at the linkhere.
