Day one down, four more days to go. I forget each time how different it is writing shorter reviews as opposed to the usual longer ones, but kind of refreshing to bust through something, force myself to say what needs to be said as efficiently as possible and move on. Reminds me of working in print, with word counts and such. Only so much room on the page. Not something that usually comes up around these parts, but I guess it’s good to keep that muscle from complete atrophy. Though taking that line of thought to its natural conclusion, I have no idea why. Anyway, feeling good, ready to take on another 10 records, so let’s roll.

Fall 2015 Quarterly Review #11-20:

Holy Sons, Fall of Man

It would be hard to overstate the smoothness with which Emil Amos, who serves integral creative and percussive roles in both Grails and Om, brings different styles together on Fall of Man, his second album for Thrill Jockey under the Holy Sons solo moniker and upwards of his 11th overall. An overriding melancholy vibe suits dark, progressive pop elements on the opener “Mercenary World,” Amos at the fore playing all instruments and still vocalizing like a singer-songwriter, while the later wash of “Being Possessed is Easy” takes on ‘90s indie fragility and turns what was purposeful minimalism into an expanse of melody and “Discipline” creeps out lyrically while forming experimentalist soundscapes around a steady line of acoustic guitar. Joined by bassist Brian Markham and drummer Adam Bulgasem on “Aged Wine” – the only other players to appear anywhere on Fall of Man – Amos leads the trio through soaring leads and heavier crashing to give the album a crescendo worthy of its scope, which while astounding on deeper inspection presents itself with simple, classic humility.

Holy Sons on Thee Facebooks

Holy Sons at Thrill Jockey

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WEEED, Our Guru Leads us to the Black Master Sabbath

From the opening drone-groan throat-singing of the 14-minute “Dogma Dissolver,” it seems like not-quite-Seattle trio Weeed are making a run for the title “Most Stoned of the Stoner” with their second full-length, Our Guru Leads us to the Black Master Sabbath. They earn that extra ‘e.’ A double-LP on Illuminasty Records, the album is a 54-minute trip into low tone and deep-running vibe, spaced way out, and well at home whether jamming heavy and hypnotized on “Rainbow Amplifier Worship” – a highlight bassline – or nestling into an ambient stretch like “Bullfrog” preceding. Mostly instrumental, Weeed hit their most active in “Enuma Elish” and then chill and strip back to acoustics and sax (yup) for the Eastern-flavored “Caravan Spliff,” bringing back the throat-singing in the process. How else to finish such a work than with the 15-minute “Nature’s Green Magic,” a 15-minute push along a single build that goes from minimal, pastoral acoustics to nod-on-this megastoner riffing? Weeed might be going for the gold, but they end up in the green, and somehow one imagines they’ll be alright with that. They get super-ultra-bonus points for sounding like Kyuss not even a little.

WEEED on Thee Facebooks

WEEED on Bandcamp

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Mala Suerte, Rituals of Self Destruction

Formed in 1999 and having made their full-length debut a decade later with The Shadow Tradition (review here), last heard from in a 2012 split with Boise’s Uzala (review here), Austin, Texas, doomly five-piece Mala Suerte return with the 10-track Rituals of Self Destruction, which moves past its four-minute intro into chugging The Obsessed-style trad doom with a touch of Southern heavy à la Crowbar and a generally metallic spirit in cuts like “Utopic Delusions” that gets expanded on later cuts like the swirling, crawling almost Cathedral-ish “Labyrinth of Solitude.” Comprised of forward-mixed vocalist Gary Rosas, guitarists David Guerrero and Vincent Pina, bassist Mike Reed and drummer Chris Chapa (now John Petri), Mala Suerte sound as rueful as ever across the album’s span, rounding out with the hardcore sludge of “Successful Failure” and “The Recluse,” which builds from slow, brooding chug to a more riotous finish. It’s been a while, but it’s good to have them back.

Mala Suerte on Thee Facebooks

Mala Suerte on Bandcamp

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Eternal Black, Eternal Black

Guitarist/vocalist Ken Wohlrob leads Brooklyn’s Eternal Black through the riffy doom of their debut self-titled three-track EP. Unpretentious in the style’s tradition, the trio is anchored by Hal Miller’s bass and pushed forward by the drums of Joe “The Prince of Long Island” Wood (also of Borgo Pass), the rolling groove of Sabbathian opener “Obsidian Sky” setting the tone for straightforward, few-frills darkness, and Eternal Black follow it up with the workingman’s doom of “The Dead Die Hard” and “Armageddon’s Embrace,” the former started out with an extra lead layer before it unfurls the EP/demo’s most satisfying crawl, and the latter a little more swinging, but still Iommic metal at its core, Wohlrob’s gruff vocal and Wino-style riff backed by Miller’s deep-mixed rumble as Wood goes to the cowbell/woodblock (it’s one or the other) during the guitar solo. Even if Joe Wood wasn’t one of the best human beings I’d ever met, it would still be pretty easy to dig what these cats are doing, and it’ll be worth keeping an eye for how they follow this first installment.

Eternal Black on Thee Facebooks

Eternal Black on Bandcamp

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Were-Jaguars, II

Austin, Texas-based trio Were-Jaguars have already issued a follow-up EP to their earlier-2015 second album, II, but from its opening and longest track “Between the Armies” (immediate points), the three-piece dig into weirdo psych vibes and dense tones across their latest full-length, released through respected Russian purveyor R.A.I.G. Not at all a minor undertaking at 13 tracks, 68 minutes, it gets into garage ritualism in “Let My Breath be the Air” and unfolds immediate doomadelia on “Bishop Kills Enchanter,” but if you need confirmation that Were-Jaguars – the three-piece of Chad Rauschenberg, James Adkisson and Rick McConnell – aren’t just screwing around in these songs and lucking into a righteous result, let it come on the later “Lost Soul,” which melds a flowing instrumental roll to a host of spiritual and pseudo-spiritual samples, loses itself completely, and then returns at the end to finish cohesive, engagingly complex and sure in the knowledge that all has gone to plan. Figuring out what that plan is can be a challenge at times, but it’s there.

Were-Jaguars on Thee Facebooks

R.A.I.G.

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Vinnum Sabbathi & Bar de Monjas, Fuzzonaut Split

The Fuzzonaut split between Mexico’s Vinnum Sabbathi and Bar de Monjas takes its name from the closing track, provided by the latter act, but it serves as a fitting title for the work as a whole as well. Vinnum Sabbathi launch the six-track offering with “HEX I: The Mastery of Space,” a slow-rolling instrumental topped by samples pulled from rocket launches, and after the 1:45 droning interlude “Intermission (Fluctuations),” they melt their way into the companion “HEX II: Foundation Pioneers,” doomier in its chug, but similarly-minded overall in intent, with the warm bass, copious samples, and planet-sized riffing. Though their portion is shorter overall, Bar de Monjas answer back with relatively upbeat push in “Hot Rail,” winding up in stoner rock janga-janga before stomping their way into “The Ripper,” cowbelling there as part of an impressively percussed spin and capping with “Fuzzonaut” itself, a shroomy 7:45 creeper with big-riff bursts that rises and recedes effectively, ending with a long residual hum.

Vinnum Sabbathi on Thee Facebooks

Bar de Monjas on Thee Facebooks

Fuzzonaut on Bandcamp

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Black Tremor, Impending

An immediate touchstone for the droning pastoral drear that Saskatoon three-piece Black Tremor elicit on their four-song debut EP, Impending, is Earth’s HEX: Or Printing in the Infernal Method, but the newcomer trio distinguish themselves immediately with an approach that replaces guitar with violin, so that not only can Black Tremor tie into these atmospheres, they can do so in a way that speak to country roots in a way their forebears didn’t at the time date. Bassist Alex Deighton, violinist Amanda Bestvater and drummer Brennan Rutherford have only just begun the work of developing their sound, but already nine-minute opener “The Church” and its buzzing follow-up “Rise” prove evocative and come across as more than exercises in ambience. “Markhor” hits with an even heavier roll and an almost Melvinsy undertone, while the title-track makes its way through horse-trod mud to emerge at the end not only clean but positively bouncing. It’s still pretty dark, but they’ve given themselves a vast Canadian Midwestern expanse to explore.

Black Tremor on Thee Facebooks

Black Tremor on Bandcamp

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Aave, There’s Nothing

A bright tonal bliss pervades There’s Nothing, the Rock Ridge Music debut long-player from Nashville all-lowercase psychedelic post-rockers aave. The band court indie progressivism across the album’s eight component tracks, but with just one song over four minutes long – closer “Turn Me Off” (4:30) – there’s little about it that feels overly indulgent or beyond the pale stylistically. That is to say that while aave set a sonic course for great distances, they get to where they’re going efficiently and don’t hang around too long in one place. That has its ups and downs in terms of vibe, but the resonant vocal melodies of “Nothing Here” – hard not to be reminded of Mars Red Sky’s sweet emotionality, but there are other comparisons one might make – the focus remains grounded in an accessibility that goes beyond getting lost in dreamy guitars. Aesthetically satisfying, they find an intense moment in the later thrust of “Blender,” but even that retains the overarching wistful sensibility of what’s come before and that unites the material throughout.

aave on Thee Facebooks

Rock Ridge Music

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Derelics, Introducing

Spacious, melodic and entrancingly heavy, Derelics’ debut EP, Introducing, indeed makes a formidable opening statement, and in a crowded London scene of post-Orange Goblin burl and Downy sludge, the trio set more progressive ambitions across “To Brunehilde,” “California” and “Ride the Fuckin’ Snake to Valhalla,” psych-funking up the centerpiece after the grooving largesse of the opener en route to the wider-spreading tones of the closer, guitarist/vocalist Reno cutting through his and bassist Nacim’s tones easily with higher-register vocals that push the limits of his range as he encourages one to “ride that fuckin’ snake,” before cutting out to let drummer Rich lead the charge with toms through a build-up bridge that returns to the echoing fullness conjured earlier, ending on a long-fading organ note. An encouraging first offering from the three-piece, and hopefully they continue develop along an original-sounding path as they move ahead. Already they seem to show a knack for melding atmospherics and songwriting toward the same ends.

Derelics on Thee Facebooks

Derelics on Bandcamp

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Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor, Desert Brain

True to its krautrock-style cover art, Desert Brain, the third outing from Detroit’s Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor, has an element of prog at work within its psychedelic unfolding. But that’s reasonable. With four years since their second release, Spectra Spirit (review here), and the inclusion of bassist/keyboardist Eric Oppitz and drummer Rick Sawoscinski with guitarist/vocalist Sean Morrow, the dynamic in the band has legitimately shifted, even though Oppitz (who also did the aforementioned cover art) has recorded all three of their records. Still, they keep the proceedings fluid across the two vinyl sides, finding their inner garage on “Major Medicine” and tripping out easy on “What’s Your Cloud Nine, 37?” on side A before digging in with fuzz and push on side B’s “The Prettiest Sounds of Purgatory” and stretching into ritual stomp on the title cut. All the while, they’re drenched in vibe and a flow that’s languid even as it’s running you over, and while some songs barely have a chorus, they implant themselves in the mind anyway, almost subliminally.

Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor on Thee Facebooks

Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor on Bandcamp

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The concept at work behind Unimother 27‘s upcoming fourth full-length, Frozen Information, seems to be that all creatures have some knowledge laying dormant within them. About the universe, maybe. Either way, going from the album teaser posted ahead of the record’s slated Oct. release — you can watch it below — the method for waking up this ancient knowledge is spaced out synth and guitar textures weaved in. As if there was any doubt what the key to enlightenment would be when it finally came down to it.

Pineal Gland Lab will have Frozen Information released sometime next month. More info follows on the offering and project:

The new album of Unimother 27, “Frozen Information”, will be released in October by Pineal Gland Lab…STAY TUNED!!!

METAMORPHOSIS: Unimother 27 is an organism in continuous mutation and movement… through the perception of the endless vibrations of the cosmos and the following transposition in music is trying to wake up some ancestral feelings that are rooted in all the sentient beings of this planet!!!!!!!!! Would you like to give a support to this silent voice???

TRACK LIST:
1. MOKSHA (TO HUXLEY)
2. DANCING THOUGHT
3. THE OBLIVION’S CAGE
4. CLEAR LIGHT HEALING
5. FOR MAD STRAY DOGS ONLY
6. HYMN TO THE HIDDEN GOD
7. BRIEF MOMENTS OF ETERNITY

Unimother 27 is a project by Italian multi-instrumentalist Piero Ranalli. Ranalli explores similar territory to Krautrock adventurers such as Ash Ra Tempel and Tangerine Dream, but in his own unique way. One of the things that makes Ranalli’s music stand out is his penchant for quirky, fascinating rhythms, which give the music a feel not unlike, yet very different from those artists that inspired him.

The first work of Unimother 27 has been released on April 2006 by Pineal Gland Lab. The second album “Escape from the ephemeral mind” has been released on May 2007. “Grin” the third album has been released on June 2008.

https://www.facebook.com/Unimother27/
http://www.pinealgland.it/Discography.htm

Unimother 27, Frozen Information teaser

Okay, so near as I can tell, Spider Goat Canyon‘s admirably titled Always the Heavy (tattoo it on my fucking forehead) is a 20-page art book that includes four seven-inch platters of the album’s 13 tracks, released through Bro Fidelity Records. How that accounts for a 19-minute piece like “Secret Valley (The Ancestors Mix)” from the digital version of the record, I have no idea. None. If I’m right about the format, I have no idea. What do I know? I know the record sounds pretty cool, and I know it was six years in the making, and the sheer fact that they’ve made it happen after more than half a decade is impressive.

Not the more informative of posts, I know, but I’m working under the theory that nobody reads this shit anyway and everybody skips to the links and the audio. So have at it:

Spider Goat Canyon ‘Always the Heavy’ [BroFi013]

‘Always the Heavy’ is a record 6 years in the making. The bands last record as a 3 piece, since the departure of guitarist Steve Brick. The record is a fitting end to that era of the band. The basis for what forms this mammoth release was initially tracked 6 years ago, with new additions to the recording and post production from Steve Brick makes for one heavy and exploratory record. The record is comprised of tracks such as ‘The Drudge, ‘Choking the Masses’ and ‘Secret Valley’ which features a frenzied and powerful vocal track from Ryokuchi (Japan) bass player/singer Harada Hidekazu.

This is by far the most wide-spanning SGC record and fans of ethereal space rock in the vein of Farflung and Hawkwind will dig it as much as the more ferocious sounds on offer which will appeal to those who like their metal black and their riffs gargantuan. Echoes of Amphetamine Reptile pedigree and challenging riffs that bend time signatures create a cavalcade of engulfing sounds and sonic texture that one listen does not suffice.

Guitarist Steve describes the theme of the record: ‘The theme is largely modern life in an industrialized society. The album finishes on what I would call a very uplifting track that takes an optimistic long-term view, despite the “heaviness” of the present.’ ‘Always the Heavy’ is a triumphant end to a chapter of a band 10 years into their tenure, spanning all the creativity and execution you could hope for from three guys, who for the last decade have created their own space in a world of heaviness which is captured beautifully on this record.

www.spidergoatcanyon.com
https://www.facebook.com/Spider-Goat-Canyon-10681198763
www.spidergoatcanyon.bandcamp.com
http://www.brofidelity.bigcartel.com/

Spider Goat Canyon, Always the Heavy (2015)

Truth be told, I’ve been looking forward to this Quarterly Review since the last one ended. Not necessarily since it clears the deck on reviews to be done — it doesn’t — but just because I feel like in any given week there’s so much more that I want to get to than I’m usually able to fit into posting that it’s been good to be able to say, “Well I’ll do another Quarterly Review and include it there.” Accordingly, there are some sizable releases here, today and over the next four days as well.

If you’re unfamiliar with the project, the idea is over the course of this week, I’ll be reviewing 50 different releases — full albums, EPs, demos, comps, splits, vinyl, tape, CD, digital, etc. Most of them have come out since the last Quarterly Review, which went up early in July, but some are still slated for Oct. or Nov. issue dates. Best to mix it up. My hope is that within this barrage of info, art and music, you’re able to find something that stands out to you and that you enjoy deeply. I know I’ll find a few by the time we’re done on Friday.

Fall 2015 Quarterly Review #1-10:

Steve Von Till, A Life unto Itself

A new Steve Von Till solo outing isn’t a minor happening in any circumstances, but A Life unto Itself reads more like a life event than an album. As ever, the Neurosis guitarist/vocalist puts a full emotional breadth into his material, and as it’s his first record in seven years since 2008’s A Grave is a Grim Horse, there’s plenty to say. Sometimes minimal, sometimes arranged, sometimes both, the seven tracks feature little of the psychedelic influence Von Till brought to his Harvestman project, but use lap steel, strings, electrics, acoustics, keys and of course his meditative, gravelly voice to convey a broad spectrum nonetheless, and cuts like “Chasing Ghosts,” “In Your Wings” and the centerpiece “Night of the Moon” (which actually does veer into the ethereal, in its way) are all the more memorable for it. The richness of “A Language of Blood” and the spaciousness of the drone-meets-sea-shanty closer “Known but Not Named” only underscore how far Von Till is able to range, and how satisfying the results can be when he does.

Steve Von Till on Thee Facebooks

Steve Von Till at Neurot Recordings

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Devil Worhsipper, Devil Worhsipper

Bizarro vibes pervade Devil Worshipper’s debut LP, Devil Worshipper, what may or may not be a one-man project from Jeff Kahn (ex-Hideous Corpse, Skeleton of God; spelled here as Jevf Kon), mixed by Tad Doyle and released on Holy Mountain. Based in Seattle (that we do know), the project wields molten tones and slow groove to classic underground metal, heavy psych and bleary moods to hit into oddly cinematic moodiness on “Ash Brume” and even nod at Celtic Frost from a long ways away on closer “Lurker (Death).” Most of the drums are programmed, save for “New Spirit World Order,” “Ash Brume” and “Lurker,” but either way, they only add to the weirdness of the chanting layered vocals of “New Spirit World Order,” and just when it seems like eight-minute second track “Chemrails” will have been as far out as Devil Worshipper gets, side B’s “Desert Grave” takes hold for a five-minute dirge that turns out to be one of the record’s most satisfying rolls, reminiscent of something Rob Crow might’ve done with Goblin Cock on downers. Unexpected and living well in its own space, the album manages to be anchored by its lead guitar work without seeming anchored at all.

Devil Worshpper on Thee Facebooks

Devil Worshipper at Holy Mountain

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Dr. Crazy, 1,000 Guitars

So, how many guitars on London trio Dr. Crazy’s 13-minute/four-song EP, 1,000 Guitars? Two, I think. The side-project of Groan vocalist Andreas “Mazzereth” Maslen and Chris West, formerly the drummer of Trippy Wicked and Stubb who here plays guitar and bass while Groan’s former guitarist Mike Pilat handles drums, make a bid for the possibility of playing live in bringing in Pilat to fill the role formerly occupied remotely by Tony Reed of Mos Generator on their 2014 debut EP, Demon Lady. Whether that happens will remain to be seen, but they affirm their ‘80s glam leanings on “Bikini Woman” and keep the message simple on opener “Hands off My Rock and Roll” while “1,000 Guitars” makes the most of guest lead work from Stubb’s Jack Dickinson – he’s the second guitar, alongside West – and yet another infectious Mazzereth-led hook, and well, “Mistress of Business” starts out by asking the titular lady to pull down her pants, so, you know, genius-level satire ensues.

Dr. Crazy on Thee Facebooks

Dr. Crazy on Bandcamp

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Linie, What We Make Our Demons Do

An aggressive core lies beneath the progressivism of German five-piece Linie (actually written as ?inie) on their debut full-length, What We Make Our Demons Do, but the material holds a sense of atmosphere as well. Vocalist/guitarist Jörn is very much at the fore of post-intro opener “Blood on Your Arms,” but as the crux of the album plays out on the chug-happy “Lake of Fire” and “No Ideal,” Linie showcase a wider breadth and bring together elements of post-hardcore à la Fugazi, darker heavy rock and purposefully brooding metal. Comprised of Jörn, guitarist/vocalist Alex, bassist/vocalist Ralph, drummer/vocalist Alex and keyboardist Iggi, the band impress on their first offering with not only how assured they seem of their aesthetic, but the expansive manner in which they present it. Their songwriting is varied in approach but unified in mood and while I don’t know what has them so pissed off on a cut like “Inability,” there’s no question whether they’re putting that anger to good use.

Linie on Thee Facebooks

Linie on Bandcamp

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The Heavy Minds, Treasure Coast

Austrian trio The Heavy Minds make their full-length debut on Stone Free with Treasure Coast, a seven-cut LP that fuzzes up ‘70s swing without going the full-Graveyard in retro vibe. “You’ve Seen it Coming” seems to nod at Radio Moscow, but a more overarching vibe seems to share ideology with Baltimore three-piece The Flying Eyes, the classic rock sensibilities given natural presentation through a nonetheless modern feel in the tracks. The bass tone of Tobias (who also plays guitar at points) alone makes Treasure Coast worth hunting down, but doesn’t prove to be the limit of what the young outfit have to offer, drummer Christoph swinging fluidly throughout “Diamonds of Love” in a manner that foreshadows the emergent roll of “Seven Remains.” That song is part of a closing duo with “Fire in My Veins,” which boasts a satisfying bluesy howl from guitarist Lukas, rounding out Treasure Coast with an organic openness that suits the band well.

The Heavy Minds on Thee Facebooks

Stone Free

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Against the Grain, Road Warriors

Momentum is key when it comes to Road Warriors, the new full-length from Detroit four-piece Against the Grain. They amass plenty of it as they thrust into the 12-track/38-minute rager of an outing, but there are changes to be had in tempo if not necessarily intent. Comprised of bassist/vocalist Chris Nowak, guitarist/vocalist Kyle Davis, guitarist Nick Bellomo and drummer Rob Nowak, the band actually seems more comfortable on fifth-gear cuts like “’Til We Die,” “What Happened,” the first half of “Afraid of Nothing” or the furious “Run for Your Life” than they do in the middle-ground of “Guillotine” and “Night Time,” but slowing down on “Sirens” and “Eyes” allows them to flex a more melodic muscle, and that winds up enriching the album in subtle and interesting ways. If you want a clue as to the perspective from which they’re working, they start with “Here to Stay” and end with “Nothing Left to Lose.” Everything between feels suitably driven by that mission statement.

Against the Grain on Thee Facebooks

Against the Grain on Bandcamp

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Angel Eyes, Things Have Learnt to Walk that Ought to Crawl

With the ‘t’ and the ‘ought’ in its title, Angel Eyes’ posthumous third full-length, Things Have Learnt to Walk that Ought to Crawl, brims with oddly rural threat. Like the things are people. The Chicago outfit unfold two gargantuan cascades of atmosludge on “Part I” (15:54) and “Part II” (19:18), pushing their final recording to toward and beyond recommended minimums and maximums as regards intensity. They called it quits in 2011, so to have the record surface four years later and be as blindsidingly cohesive as it is actually makes it kind of a bummer, since it won’t have a follow-up, but the work Angel Eyes are doing across these two tracks – “Part I” getting fully blown-out before shifting into the quiet opening of “Part II” – justifies the time it’s taken for it to be released. They were signed to The Mylene Sheath, but Things is an independent, digital-only outing for the time being, though its structure and cover feel ripe for vinyl. Who knows what the future might bring.

Angel Eyes on Thee Facebooks

Angel Eyes on Bandcamp

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Baron, Torpor

Textured, hypnotic and downright gorgeous in its psychedelic melancholy, Baron’s Torpor is a record that a select few will treasure deeply and fail to understand the problem as to why the rest of the planet isn’t just as hooked. A thoroughly British eight-track full-length – their second, I believe, but first for Svart – Torpor creates and captures spaces simultaneously on organ-infused pieces like “Mark Maker,” executing complex transitions fluidly and feeding into an overarching ambience that, by the time they get around to the eight-minute “Stry,” is genuinely affecting in mood and beautifully engrossing. The Brighton/Nottingham four-piece fuzz out a bit on “Deeper Align,” but the truth is that Torpor has much more to offer than a single genre encapsulates and those that miss it do so to their own detriment. I mean that. Its patience, its poise and its scope make Torpor an utter joy of progressive flourish and atmosphere with a feel that is entirely its own. I could go on.

Baron on Thee Facebooks

Baron at Svart Records

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Creedsmen Arise, Temple

So get this. For their first EP, Swedish trio Creedsmen Arise – guitarist Emil, drummer Simon and bassist Gustaf (since replaced by Jonte) – have taken it upon themselves to pen a sequel to Sleep’s Dopesmoker that, “tells the story about what happened centuries after the Dopesmoker Caravan and it’s [sic] Weedians reached their destination.” Admirably ballsy terrain for the three-piece to tread their first time out. It’s like, “Oh hey, here’s my first novel – it’s Moby Dick from the whale’s perspective.” The three tracks of the Temple EP are fittingly schooled in Iommic studies, but the band almost undercuts itself because they don’t just sound like Sleep. They have their own style. Yeah, it’s riffy stoner metal, but it’s not like they’re doing an Al Cisneros impression on vocals, so while the concept is derived directly, the sound doesn’t necessarily completely follow suit. Between the 10-minute opening title- and longest-track (immediate points), “Herbal Burial” and “Circle of Clergymen,” Creedsmen Arise make perhaps a more individualized statement than they intended, but it’s one that bodes well.

Creedsmen Arise on Thee Facebooks

Creedsmen Arise on Bandcamp

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Deadly Sin (Sloth), Demo Discography

Nola’s cool and all, but when it comes to the nastiest, most misanthropic, fucked-up sludge, choosy moms choose Ohio, and Deadly Sin (Sloth) are a potent example of why. Their Demo Discography tape revels in its disconcerting extremity and seems to grind regardless of whether the Xenia, OH, trio are actually playing fast. Comprised of Jay Snyder, Wilhelm Princeton and Kyle Hughes, Deadly Sin (Sloth) cake themselves in mud that will be familiar to anyone who’s witnessed Fistula on a bender or Sloth at their most pill-popping, but do so with sub-lo-fi threat on the tape and are so clearly intentional in their effort to put the listener off that one could hardly call their demos anything but a victory. Will not be for everyone, but of course that’s the idea. This kind of viciousness is a litmus test that would do justice to any basement show, maddening in its nod and mean well beyond the point of reason.

Deadly Sin (Sloth) on Thee Facebooks

Deadly Sin (Sloth) on Bandcamp

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Well shit. I guess, if you’re Goatsnake, and you’ve never played Chicago before, the band you want to team up with to do so is Pelican. The reunited riffers’ sporadic touring to support their 2015 return full-length, Black Age Blues (review here), will continue in December as they hit spots in the Midwest to coincide with their previously announced West and East Coast shows. Europe next year? I wouldn’t be surprised to find them at Temples or some other fests around in the spring, but nothing’s been revealed in that regard as yet. Seems like they have plenty to keep them busy in the meantime.

And fucking Pelican. You’d think they would get exhausted being awesome all the time, but nope. Their latest EP, 2015’s The Cliff, is right on as ever.

To the PR wire:

GOATSNAKE And PELICAN Confirm Midwest December Tour Dates

Southern California’s raging doom quartet, GOATSNAKE, will join up with atmospheric post-rock artisans and Southern Lord labelmates, PELICAN, for a run of tour dates through the Midwest US together this December, marking GOATSNAKE’s first time performing in the region.

The GOATSNAKE and PELICAN tour festivities will begin in Indianapolis on December 12th, the show also featuring Bongripper and more. Post-show, an afterparty has been scheduled to take place at the local Kuma’s Corner spot, where the bands’ prior special burgers will be made available as a trio of miniatures, the event also featuring DJ Sets by Greg Anderson of GOATSNAKE and Dustin Boltjes of Skeletonwitch. The next show takes place on December 13th in Columbus, followed by Ferndale on the 14th and Chicago for the final show on the 15th with Cloakroom and Canadian Rifle.

GOATSNAKE Tour Dates:
9/24/2015 Catalyst Atrium – Santa Cruz, CA w/ Black Breath, Battalion Of Saints, Obliterations
9/26/2015 Highline – Seattle, WA w/ Black Breath, Battalion Of Saints, Obliterations
9/27/2015 Hawthorne Theater – Portland, OR w/ Black Breath, Battalion Of Saints, Obliterations
10/11/2015 TRIX – Antwerp, BE @ Desertfest
10/13/2015 Kung Fu Necktie – Philadelphia, PA w/ YDI, Big|Brave
10/14/2015 Black Cat – Washington, DC w/ YDI, Big|Brave
10/15/2015 Saint Vitus Bar – Brooklyn, NY w/ YDI, Big|Brave
11/19-22/2015 Le Guess Who? Festival – Utrecht, NL
12/12/2015 5th Quarter Lounge – Indianapolis, IN w/ Pelican, Bongripper, Rlyeh, Sacred Leather
12/13/2015 Ace of Cups – Columbus, OH w/ Pelican
12/14/2015 The Loving Touch – Ferndale, MI w/ Pelican
12/15/2015 ThaliaHall – Chicago, IL w/ Pelican, Cloakroom, Canadian Rifle

PELICAN Tour Dates:
10/25/2015 High Noon – Madison, WI w/ Zebras, Jon Mueller
12/12/2015 5th Quarter Lounge – Indianapolis, IN w/ Goatsnake, Bongripper, Rlyeh, Sacred Leather
12/13/2015 Ace of Cups – Columbus, OH w/ Goatsnake
12/14/2015 The Loving Touch – Ferndale, MI w/ Goatsnake
12/15/2015 Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL w/ Goatsnake, Cloakroom, Canadian Rifle
12/18/2015 Sticky Fingers – Gothenburg, SE @ Scorched Tundra Festival

https://goatsnakesl.bandcamp.com/releases
https://pelicansl.bandcamp.com/releases
http://www.southernlord.com
http://www.southernlord.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/SLadmin

Goatsnake, Black Age Blues (2015)

Pelican, The Cliff EP (2015)

Relocated from Brittany in France to Barcelona, Spain, heavy rock trio Brain Pyramid have made their second long-player, Magnetosphere, available to preorder from Vincebus Eruptum Recordings. A vinyl/download available either on black or green wax, it’s their follow-up to 2014’s Chasma Hideout (stream here; review here) as well as a split with French act Missingmile and finds guitarist Gaston Lainé and drummer Baptiste Gautier-Lorenzo joined by new bassist Paul Arends. One doubts it’s completely attributable to the lineup change, but the difference between the first album and the sophomore outing is palpable, Brain Pyramid departing from structured songwriting in favor of instrumental heavy psych sprawl, Magnetosphere made up of just three tracks totaling 43 minutes.

To make matters even more spaced out, 25 of those 43 minutes are dedicated to the title-track, which serves as the entirety of side A. On side B, Lainé, Gautier-Lorenzo and Arends offer up two more jams, “Solar Wind” and the closing “Electric Spell,” each running the better portion of nine minutes. All told, Brain Pyramid retain the natural tones and stoner grooves of their debut but branch way out into improv psychedelics, and while it may be a one-off — that is, they’ll get back to verses and choruses sooner or later; unless they don’t — if the three-piece were looking to demonstrate their newfound chemistry, they do so across these songs in the rawest form possible. Their weighted jams swell in volume and recede over the solid foundation of Gautier-Lorenzo‘s drumming, and Lainé runs through extended solos that only make the proceedings more molten as they go, each cut operating with the same live-style warmth that, whether or not Brain Pyramid decide to return from the lysergic region of subspace they’re inhabiting here will serve them well as a stylistic groundwork from which to build.

As a way of heralding Magnetosphere‘s arrival, you can stream “Electric Spell” on the player below. Something of an outlier for not being completely improvised, it nonetheless represents the general methodology well. Album info and preorder links follow. Please enjoy:

Brain Pyramid was formed in November 2012, in Rennes (Brittany—France). This is the initiative of the actual lead guitarist Gaston Lainé and the drummer Baptiste Gautier-Lorenzo.

Influenced by the sweet old Rock n Roll (Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, Sabbath, Motörhead, Blue Cheer, etc.) but also by stoner rock and actual psychedelic scene (Kyuss, Sleep, Fu Manchu, Earthless, Orange Goblin, etc.) they decided to create a band to play like these masters. After the release of their first EP «Magic Carpet Ride», the former bassman left his place to Ronan Grall from the doom band Huata. The band recorded it’s first LP called «Chasma Hideout» and release it on Acid Cosmonaut Records. After the 2014 European tour, the band proceed to another line-up change, to welcome a new bass player: Paul Arends. They made a Split with the french stoner band Missingmile, and they recorded an other LP in 2015, based on free jams, called Magnetosphere. They are now beginning a new era in the city of Barcelona.

Brain Pyramid is a Heavy Bluesy Stoner Psychedelic Rock And Roll band. They play loud enough to make you feel like blown by a lsd dose. They are actually searching for lots of gigs to expend their experience and grow up to the sun.

Brain Pyramid on Thee Facebooks

Brain Pyramid on Bandcamp

Vincebus Eruptum on Bandcamp

Vincebus Eruptum Recordings

Big-toned aggro-doomers Reptile Master will issue their debut long-player, In the Light of a Sinking Sun, on Oct. 23 via Blues for the Red Sun Records. The five-piece outfit hail from Tromsø in the north of Norway and before you’re assaulted with a barrage of cliches about how cold their sound is, I’ll go the opposite route and say rather that it’s magmic, a vicious roil no less brutal in intent than what Aussie destruction specialists Horsehunter made such a splash with earlier this year, and akin in its extremity to the drone-evil riffing that’s made Bongripper a household name among doomers.

I looked up how to say “thunder plod” in Norwegian. If you’re wondering, it’s “torden traske.” Good to know — especially as I’ve been given permission to host the title-track, “In the Light of a Sinking Sun,” for its streaming debut!

You’ll find the song under the PR wire info below. Thanks to the label for letting me host it:

Reptile Master In The Light Of A Sinking Sun (LP/CD/Digital) BFTRS 003

Debut album out October 23rd 2015

Filled with a passion for everything evil, Reptile Master from Tromsø / northern Norway is on a mission to spread the gospel of doom. With strong roots in both traditional heavy metal, post-metal and sludge, they create a new sound composed of the outermost extremes found in aggression and sorrow. Reptile Master, in cooperation with the label Blues For The Red Sun from Tromsø/Norway, now present their first full length album, which has recently been recorded and is expected to be released in October. The result is far from becoming a commercial radio hit. This is probably one of the most heavy and doomy records ever to be released from the dark north!

If you like Bongripper, OM, Indian, Thou or bigger bands like Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard or Sleep you probably will find something to dig on Reptile Master’s debut album “In The Light Of A Sinking Sun”.

Tracklist:
Hekseprosessen I
The Sorcerer’s Weed
Butcher’s Boogie
Verdict
From Crown To Dagger
Hekseprosessen II
Moon Ritual
In The Light Of A Sinking Sun

Guitar – Markus Kjelstrup Andreassen
Bass and vocals – Nicolay Tufte Østvold
Drums – Steinar Haugan
Guitar – Øystein Midtgård Johansen
Bass and vocals – Rolf Ole Rydeng Jenssen

http://www.reptilemaster.com/
https://www.facebook.com/reptilemasterNO
https://www.facebook.com/BLUES-FOR-THE-RED-SUN-645295312258485/

Reptile Master, “In the Light of a Sinking Sun”

Bulbous Creation, You Won’t Remember Dying (1970)

Put Bulbous Creation in the same league as Jerusalem, Suck, Weed, Fresh Blueberry Pancake, Orang-Utan and countless other righteous acts who came along in the heavy ’70s, released one or two albums and succumbed to the passage of time and never wound up going further than that. Based out of Kansas City, their debut LP, You Won’t Remember Dying, was issued either in 1969 or 1970 on private press, and was the only full-length the band — its lineup comprised of vocalist Paul Parkinson, guitarist Alan Lewis, bassist James Wine and drummer Churck Horstmann — would release in their time, though Wine and Lewis would continue with a different lineup as Creation afterward. Nonetheless, with Parkinson‘s charismatic frontman presence and underlying organ on “Fever Machine Man,” Bulbous Creation and You Won’t Remember Dying stand alone, singled out by a psychedelic blues weirdness and overarching languid stoner groove that serves them well across the record’s eight tracks. With Wine‘s bass as the anchor for much of the material, Lewis‘ guitar is free to roam through darker fuzz kept in motion through Horstmann‘s swinging drums, and an organic lo-fi style only adds to the enduring appeal.

They start off somewhat proggy on “End of the Page,” but by the time they get around to the wide-open jamming of “Let’s Go to the Sea,” they’re entrenched in heavy blues groove. Parkinson, who’d go on to perform as a singer-songwriter, isn’t over-the-top as a vocalist, but he gets his jibes in and he seems all the more in command of the songs for the restraint he shows. One might dig into the paired-off “Having a Good Time” and “Satan” and hear shades of Black Sabbath‘s “Hand of Doom,” but while Sabbath‘s self-titled debut seems an atmospheric touchstone for You Won’t Remember Dying, it’s worth remembering that Paranoid wouldn’t show up until Sept. 1970, and it’s more likely both groups were taking influence from Ten Years After, of whose “Sugar the Road” Bulbous Creation are covering with “Having a Good Time.” “Satan,” on the other hand, is an original worthy of the cult rock tag with which it would be saddled if it came out today, and seems to find a druggy companion in the slower buzzsaw shuffle of “Hooked” on side B, almost Alice Cooper-esque, though Billion Dollar Babies wouldn’t surface until 1973.

That doesn’t mean You Won’t Remember Dying is the secret touchstone of ’70s heavy by any means, but it’s a badass record front to back and soaked in a vibe that many who attempt to take on the tape-recorded spirit of its era would die to capture. I’m amazed no one has taken on the Zep-blues of “Stormy Monday” as a lost-classic of heavy jams, but so it goes. If they had three soundboard-quality bootlegs of live shows out there, Bulbous Creation would be legends.

Barring that, You Won’t Remember Dying has been reissued by Numero Group and is available as a vinyl/download as of this post. As noted, half of this band would continue on as Creation, but Lewis died of esophageal cancer in 1998 and Parkinson of leukemia in 2001, so Bulbous Creation will sadly remain a group who never had their day, even despite the album’s current availability.

Hope you enjoy.

—

I sent notice via the social medias — the Instagrammaphone, thee Facebooks — but all next week I’ll be doing the next Quarterly Review. If you don’t know what that means, no sweat, I won’t take it personally. It’s 50 reviews over the course of Monday to Friday, broken up into five installments of 10 reviews each day. It is a massive undertaking, but the last two (three really, if you count the end of last year) have been very satisfying for me both in the actual doing and on an existential level that there aren’t just 50 records I’m ignoring because I don’t have time to cover them, so it is very much a thing that’s happening. I’ve been getting album cover images and setting up posts the last couple days so I can get down to writing this weekend. It will be fun.

Also next week: On Monday, a track premiere from Brain Pyramid, who have a new album coming out through Vincebus Eruptum Recordings, and at some point an interview with Neil Fallon of Clutch that I’m hoping to get posted before their next tour starts. Fingers crossed.

Other than that, what, 50 frickin’ reviews isn’t enough for you?

Ha.

I’d like to note that today is my 11th wedding anniversary. The Patient Mrs. and I have been together for 18 years, more then half of our lives, and I am incredibly lucky and grateful that she even wants to have anything to do with me at all, let alone be married to my unprofitable, difficult-to-live-with, complains-all-the-time-and-does-nothing-to-better-his-existence, can’t-hold-a-note-but-won’t-stop-singing, doesn’t-do-nearly-as-much-laundry-as-he-used-to, consumes-way-too-much-garlic ass.

Before I go, I want to say thanks again to Doug Sherman, Darryl Shepard, Dave Jarvis and Mike Nashawaty for having me as a guest on Show Sucks on WEMF radio last weekend. If you missed it, you can listen here, and thanks if you do. It was a lot of fun to sit in with those guys and bum the room out with my opinions of local athletes and venues. I felt like a jerk later, and rightly so.

Thanks everyone for reading. I hope you have a great and safe weekend, and please check out the forum and the radio stream.

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