Yes, I understand it’s done with blacklight-responsive paint and contact lenses and whatever else, but if you were to ask just how psychedelic Finland’s Death Hawks are, as an answer, “So psychedelic their eyes glow” doesn’t seem like an incorrect response. The four-piece are gearing up to issue their third album, Sun Future Moon, Nov. 13 and I’ll confess that it’s my first exposure to the band, whose natural vibes seem to belong to the future as much as to the past.

My own fault for missing out, as ever. They played Roadburn earlier this year — though in my defense, they were on against the best Enslaved set I’ve ever seen — and their set is streaming here. Sun Future Moon will be their first offering through Svart Records, and to mark its arrival they’ll head out on a tour of Finland with their much-heralded countrymen in Circle, playing shows starting this week and then periodically through the end of next month both before and after the record comes out. As to the album itself, their new video for “Behind Thyme” tells at least a portion of the story — glowing eyes, rolling naked in paint and all — but by no means the whole thing, other pieces throughout given to variations in mood and theme while still based around a sort of classic sunset-orange feel, analog in presentation and melodically engrossing.

I’ll hope to have more to come on Sun Future Moon leading up to the release, and obviously if I’m ever afforded another chance to catch them live it’s not something I’ll let slip if possible, but if you, like me, are just being introduced to the band (and I have Bucky Brown to thank for the tip), then “Behind Thyme” makes for a welcoming opening statement on their part and one that’s both warm enough and freaked out enough to be sure to pique interest in further investigation. You can find the video below, followed by more info on the album from the PR wire.

Enjoy:

Death Hawks, “Behind Thyme” official video

Today, the psychedelic circus known as Death Hawks – known for their innovative brand of modern rock music that’s coated with Aquarian aesthetics – premiere a mind-bending new video for “Behind Thyme.” The track hails from the band’s forthcoming third album, Sun Future Moon, set for international release on November 13th via Svart Records.

“The new album’s sound is even larger, more beautiful and diverse than before,” says vocalist and guitarist Teemu Markkula. “As a band, we’ve strived for a much wider palette in every part of the process, from compositions to instrumentation and themes, and find the results satisfying. The songs deal with, for example, astrological myths of antiquity and the cosmos inside modern man. We consider the album both a logical continuation of the Death Hawks discography and also a step into a new age, in both meanings of the term. But, looking at the album from a simple point of view, we just tried to create a fascinating, melodic, and dignified album.”

Death Hawks are currently working on an European tour, but first, they’ll join legendary Finnish experimentalists Circle on a Finnish tour during November. “Our live experience will be updated, as well,” says Teemu Markkula. “Largely, we’ll concentrate on the new album but with a few older cuts here and there. We’re traveling with our very own visualist and a sound technician wherever possible to give people the best possible show.” Dates are as follows:

Death Hawks & Circle – Finnish tour 2015
31.10.2015 Suistoklubi, Hämeenlinna
06.11.2015 Bar Kino, Pori
07.11.2015 Rytmikorjaamo, Seinäjoki
13.11.2015 Rokumentti, Kerubi, Joensuu
14.11.2015 Rock House Kulma, Kajaani
20.11.2015 Lutakko, Jyväskylä
21.11.2015 Tavastia, Helsinki
26.11.2015 Klubi, Tampere
27.11.2015 Dynamo, Turku
28.11.2015 Torvi, Lahti

Death Hawks website

Death Hawks on Thee Facebooks

Svart Records

Svart Records on Thee Facebooks

Austin trad heavy four-piece Duel began a Halloween tour with Fogg last night that would have taken them all the way up to Day of the Shred were that festival not canceled, but instead will take bring them to a double-dose of Oct. 31 gigs and a killer party the next day in Southern California that’s one of several to surface in the wake of the fest being called off. Should be a cool run either way, and it comes coupled with the news that Duel have signed a deal with ever-expanding Italian label Heavy Psych Sounds to release their debut long-player, Fear of the Dead.

The label says a European run is in the works for early next year as well around the Feb. release of the album, so will be interested to see how that shakes (boogies) out. The PR wire had this to say on the topic:

HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS Records&Booking is stoked to announce the signing of a new killer band!

***DUEL*** (Stoner Metal-Heavy Southern Rock)

Feat 2 ex-members of Scorpion Child.

From the sun baked wastelands of Austin, Texas comes the super heavy, tripped out, old school stoner metal sounds of DUEL. Hugely influenced by the darker breed of late 60’s and early 70’s Proto-metal and heavy groove, DUEL casts hard rocking spells of doom, angst, and horror from behind a thick psychedelic haze of pot smoke. Laying it out thick and heavy these purists have become well known for their knock down drag out, beer everywhere, high energy live shows. Balls to the wall with all the cockiness and on your knees train wreck swagger of the MC5 or an evil James Brown. Like the B.O.C. On PCP! Their debut LP “Fears Of The Dead” recorded at the famed Machine Shop Studio (Clutch, Lamb of God, King Crimson etc) captures this perfectly. Listen responsibly.

DEBUT ALBUM “Fears of the Dead” To Be Released in Feb. 2016

European Tour to follow in March

Tom Frank Guitars / Vocals
Shaun Avants Bass / Vocals
JD Shadowz Drums
Derek Halfmann Guitars

Mon 10/26 Rock Candy at The Grand / Austin w/ Bridge Farmers
Wed 10/28 Blue Max / Midland TX w/ Fogg
Thurs 10/29 Mesa Music Hall / El Paso TX w/ Fogg
Fri 10/30 Tempe Tavern / Tempe AZ w/ Fogg, Abrams (CO)
Sat 10/31 Permanent Records / Los Angeles CA w/ Fogg
Sun 11/01 Time Warp Records / Mar Vista CA w/ Slow Season, Fogg, Loom, The Snags

https://www.facebook.com/DUELTEXAS
https://duel3.bandcamp.com/
www.heavypsychsounds.com
www.heavypsychsounds.com/bands/duel.htm

Duel, “This Old Crow”

Four albums deep into their career, Switzerland’s Monkey3 are veterans of Freak Valley, Desertfest Belgium and Berlin, Roadburn (x2), Lake on Fire, Up in Smoke, Hellfest, Keep it Low, among others, but they nonetheless seem to remain somewhat underrated when it comes to the “holy shit!” response factor. Part of that no doubt is being a largely vocal-less outfit, but even so, particularly sitting in the States, it’s easy to feel like if more people knew about this band, more people would flip their gourd at everything they do.

Same could be said of a lot of groups, I suppose. However, it comes to mind as Monkey3 make ready to head out on their 2015 fall European tour. It’s not quite as extensive as they one they did last year at this time, but the difference is they’re road-testing new material for their next album, which will be their second for Napalm Records behind 2013’s The 5th Sun, their fourth overall and the follow-up to 2011’s Beyond the Black Sky (review here), which was released by Stickman.

No word on a release date, or even really a recording date for the new full-length, but sometime in the New Year doesn’t feel like a ridiculous expectation. We’ll find out when we get there. In the meantime, tour dates follow:

Monkey3 Fall Tour 2015

Monkey3 will hit the road from 6th to 15th november 2015. During this tour, we will play, as a preview, some brand new songs! Looking forward to see you all for a trippy jam, Cheers!!!

The show in Mohawk (Mannheim, DE) 7.11 is cancelled due to venue’s unexpected shutdown and is replaced by a show in Augsburg, DE, at Ballonfabrick.

Tour Dates:
06.11.15 CH, Luzern, Sedel
07.11.15 DE, Augsburg, Ballonfabrik
08.11.15 BE, Leuven, Sojo
09.11.15 DE, Hamburg, Rock Cafe
10.11.15 DE, Freiburg, White Rabbit
12.11.15 FR, Clermont-Ferrand, Raymond Bar
13.11.15 FR, Bordeaux, L’Heretic
14.11.15 FR, Nantes, Le Ferrailleur
15.11.15 FR, Paris, La Flèche d’Or

https://www.facebook.com/monkey3band
http://www.monkey3official.com/
http://label.napalmrecords.com/

Monkey3, “Once We Were”

Helsinki classic progressive rockers Malady will make their self-titled debut Nov. 13 through Svart Records. The Finnish five-piece explore an encouragingly broad range of textures across the six-track/39-minute LP’s span, and while definitely nestled into atmospheres bolstered by organic-sounding production and ’70s-style groove, the mostly-instrumental outfit bring a sense of individual presence to the material via song structures that seem to be as much about which parts they’re riding out as which serve as transitional moments. Which is to say that on songs like the opener “Kantaa Taakan Maa” and its side B counterpart, “Unessakävelijä,” they pick their battles well, so that each piece establishes its own flow within the overriding pastoral vibe of Malady as a whole. And while the album has plenty of more upbeat, “active” moments, it’s left just as much to the ambient stretches to set the mood of the release. Together since 2010 and relying on a healthy dose of keys and Hammond from Ville Rohiola to add complexity to their arrangements, Malady offer patience and serenity beyond their years and seem to work directly in contrast to their name.

Guitarists Tony Björkman and Babak Issabeigloo (the latter also vocals), bassist Jonni Tanskanen, Rohiola and drummer Juuso Jylhänlehto comprise the lineup, and in true classic prog fashion, their debut is more about what’s created by the whole than a clinic of individual performances. Shorter, acoustic-based pieces like “Loittoneva Varjoni” and closer “Kakarlampi” — the latter caked in Mellotron — speak to some folkish influence, but really it’s more about the front-to-back scope, which is summed up efficiently in the 10-minute “Aarnivalkea” or side A’s “Pieniin Saariin,” which eases its way on with a drum fill before unfolding the album’s most fluid build, peppered early on by verses but immersive instrumentally and geared more toward the peaceful, vinyl-ready naturalism of its ebbs and flows, coming to a head near the midpoint, receding and rising again, the keys and guitars bringing about an apex to pay off Malady‘s first half while leading the way into the jazzy adventurousness of “Unessakävelijä” at the start of the second. Across this current of shifts and changes, Malady retain a sense of control and unpretentious poise that works against “debut” expectation and speaks to their potential going forward, but I won’t take away from their self-titled’s intrinsic value either. Whatever it might lead to, Malady‘s Malady is worth hearing now as well.

Right now, as it happens, is when you can stream “Pieniin Saariin” as a track premiere on the player below. More info on the release follows, courtesy of the PR wire:

Finland has a long-standing tradition of atmospheric, quirky progressive rock, from genre forefathers like Wigwam, Magyar, and Tasavallan Presidentti to modern-day stalwarts such as Sammal and Liekki. Svart Records is proud to present the latest link in the chain: Malady.

When Malady was founded in Helsinki by a bunch of twenty-somethings in 2010, the band members had one goal: to create one album before turning 50. This attitude for making music describes the band quite well. Music is all that matters; stardom is secondary. Svart will release Malady’s self-titled debut album on November 13th on CD, LP, and digital formats.

Even though the band are deeply into the retro aesthetic, and building the album with the right kind of sounds took plenty of effort, the music is not just about being vintage. The storytelling mood of Malady’s meandering songs is supported by an analog soundscape. Malady’s music is, at the same time, subtle and substantial.

After the debut album was completed two decades before the self-imposed deadline, the desire to continue making music lived on. The story will continue.

Tracklisting for Malady’s Malady
1. Kantaa taakan maa
2. Loittoneva varjoni
3. Pieniin saariin
4. Unessakävelijä
5. Aarnivalkea
6. Kakarlampi

Malady on Thee Facebooks

Malady on Soundcloud

Malady at Svart Records

Svart on Thee Facebooks

Slow and low UK skullbashers Bismuth will release their debut album, Unavailing, on Nov. 25. Among the noteworthy factoids concerning the release is the following: There are no fewer than five labels involved. Frickin’ five. Meanwhile, there are only two people actually in the band, which with a bit of quick arithmetic tells us that there are quite literally more than twice as many imprints standing behind Bismuth‘s first album as there are people in the band. It’s not every group who can make such a claim.

A four-track 2LP — presumably that’s one per side — recorded and mixed by Chris Fielding (Conan) at Skyhammer Studio, Unavailing will be out on Dry Cough, De Graanrepubliek, Box Records, Tartarus Records and Viral Age. The band is comprised of bassist/vocalist Tanya Byrne and drummer Joe Rawlings. The numbers do not lie.

Into the void with you:

Bismuth – Unavailing: Double LP and cassette released Nov 25th

Unavailing is the debut album by aptly named Nottingham duo, BISMUTH.

“Bismuth has long been considered as the element with the highest atomic mass that is stable. However, in 2003 it was discovered to be weakly radioactive: its only primordial isotope, bismuth-209, decays via alpha decay with a half life more than a billion times the estimated age of the universe. Bismuth often appears as beautiful iridescent, spiral-stepped crystals.” This sums up the sound of the band well.

Like their namesake, the music that Bismuth create is incredibly dense, slow and heavy, but with moments of subtle, ethereal beauty. Bismuth balance stripped down ‘less is more’ approach to songwriting with a ‘more is more’ approach to amplification, volume and fuzz to create a crushing and monolithic sound.

Unavailing consists of four epic tracks recorded and mixed at Skyhammer Studios by Chris Fielding, and mastered by James Plotkin. It will be presented as a double LP in an edition of 300 copies as a cooperative release between the band, De graanrepubliek, dry cough, box records and viral age, with tartarus records handling the cassette version.

https://www.facebook.com/bismuthslow
www.bismuthslow.bandcamp.com
www.degraanrepubliek.com
www.drycoughrecords.com
www.box-records.com
www.tartarusrecords.com
viralagerecords.blogspot.com

Bismuth, Live at SOAN 25/07/2014

Back at the start of the year, I had Floridian sludge-slingers Hollow Leg‘s next opus on my list of 2015’s most anticipated albums. Curiosity played no small part in that since, after their digital single “God Eater” came out, I’ve been somewhat curious to find out what direction their next batch of material might take.

The difference? Well, Hollow Leg‘s last full-length was 2013’s Abysmal (review here), which stomped and stormed through torrents of aggressive, heavy sludge. Sure enough, “God Eater” covered some of the same ground — that is to say, if it had appeared on Abysmal, it would’ve been a turn but not completely out of place — but did so in a way more indebted to thickened Southern heavy grooves, less outwardly pissed off, with the screaming, and so on.

How does that translate to the new, as-yet-untitled record? That’s the question. If “God Eater” was a one-off experiment and Hollow Leg are back to their throat-ripping habits as usual, I don’t think we’ll lose out, but I’m curious to know one way or the other. As such, they go on the already-well-populated list of 2016‘s most anticipated albums, and a year later, we sort of wind up where we started.

Only thing that’s changed is now they’ve actually recorded. Sanford Parker will mix, Collin Jordan will master. That’s right, Hollow Leg‘s third offering is done being recorded and will be out on Argonauta Records next year. That seems like much more solid footing than where we were back in January.

They posted the following at the recording process’ completion:

We have officially finished work on LP#3! The record has now moved from our cave at high five audio in Deland, and gone to Chicago where it will be mixed by SANFORD PARKER, and then mastered once again at the boiler room by COLLIN JORDAN, before reaching its home at Argonauta Records.

We’re extremely pleased and excited by our tracking results, and now to have the record worked over by these 2 talents, we are just really looking forward to this one in every way, and can’t wait for it to be available for all of you! cheers!

https://www.facebook.com/hollowlegfl
http://hollowleg666.bandcamp.com/

Hollow Leg, “God Eater”

As it happens, I’m slated to be in Chicago for work the night that Corrections House bandmates Scott Kelly (also Neurosis) and Bruce Lamont (also Yakuza) play the second night of their upcoming solo-set tours. I wouldn’t mind seeing Lamont in front of a hometown crowd, and I’d presume that with Corrections House‘s new album, Know How to Carry a Whip, newly released, a decent portion of what they play when they get together on stage will be drawn, one way or another, from that. Plus, it’s Chicago, so Sanford Parker might be there. Sounds like a good time to me.

Should probably see if I’m actually going to be there before I start solidifying plans, but either way, this one seems like a win:

Neurosis’ SCOTT KELLY And Yakuza’s BRUCE LAMONT Join Forces For November Tour Run

Neurosis’ SCOTT KELLY and Yakuza’s BRUCE LAMONT will join forces later this Fall for a special stretch of US live dates. Set to commence November 10th in Detroit, Michigan, the pair will traverse eleven cities, with the trek coming to a close on November 21st in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Both Kelly and Lamont will be performing material from their respective solo projects as well as tunes from CORRECTIONS HOUSE.

SCOTT KELLY/BRUCE LAMONT:
11/10/2015 Majestic Café – Detroit, MI
11/11/2015 Drawing Room @ The Chicago Athletic Club – Chicago, IL
11/12/2015 Double Happiness – Columbus, OH
11/13/2015 The Acheron – Brooklyn, NY
11/14/2015 Gorman Bros. Music – Syracuse, NY
11/15/2015 Middle East (upstairs) – Boston, MA
11/17/2015 Kung Fu Necktie (late show) – Philadelphia, PA
11/18/2015 Ottobar- Baltimore, MD
11/19/2015 The Funhouse – Jersey City, NJ
11/20/2015 Alternative Gallery – Allentown, PA
11/21/2015 Smiling Moose (late show) – Pittsburgh, PA

SCOTT KELLY (Neurosis, Corrections House) will deliver his signature hymns of pain, reflection and redemption with tracks off his solo outings — the bleakly atmospheric Spirit Bound Flesh and starkly minimalist The Wake as well as The Forgiven Ghost In Me album, released in 2012 under the moniker SCOTT KELLY AND THE ROAD HOME and tunes from the moving Songs Of Townes Van Zandt collection. With a sound that’s at once soulful, morose and healing few artists can manifest with such devout sincerity, when KELLY sits quietly, with his guitar, there’s rarely a dry eye in the room when he bows out at the end.

Multi-instrumentalist and vocal sorcerer BRUCE LAMONT (Yakuza, Corrections House, Led Zeppelin 2) has performed/collaborated with an array of artists throughout his storied career. On this run, Lamont will be performing versions of some of the material on his 2011-issued debut solo album Feral Songs For The Epic Decline as well as newer/unreleased material. As with his previous solo outings, LAMONT will be executing multiple instruments and a plethora of vocal styles, with an incredibly layered looping system that culminates into some of the most entrancing live solo artist work one could ask for.

In addition, both KELLY and LAMONT will unite each evening following their respective sets to deafen the masses with renditions of various CORRECTIONS HOUSE hymns. CORRECTIONS HOUSE – which features within its ranks KELLY, LAMONT, Sanford Parker (Buried At Sea), Mike IX Williams (Eyehategod) and recently institutionalized minister of propaganda, Seward Fairbury — unleashed their long-awaited sophomore full-length, Know How To Carry A Whip, TODAY via Neurot Recordings. A nine-track, forty-five-minute exercise in sonic indecency, the record was captured by Parker alongside Fairbury in a subterranean bunker complex in Vietnam and dispels a disconcerting air of danger, paranoia and looming defeat marked by an inexplicable sense of catharsis.

http://www.facebook.com/ScottKelly.official
http://www.facebook.com/brucelamontmusic
http://www.facebook.com/CorrectionsHouse
http://www.neurotrecordings.com/
http://www.facebook.com/neurotrecordings
neurotrecordings.bandcamp.com/

Corrections House, Know How to Carry a Whip (2015)

It has been almost two years since Young Hunter first unveiled their Embers at the Foot of Dark Mountain EP — which at surfaced on its own initially and then served as the band’s half of a split tape with Ohioan (review here) last year — and a busy two years at that. Guitarist/vocalist Benjamin Blake relocated from Tucson, Arizona, to Portland, Oregon, and at least in concept, brought the band with him. Young Hunter as they appear on the new single “Nothing Shakes the Void” have a new lineup in the form of Blake, Sam Dean, Grant Pierce, Sara Pinnell and Erik Wells, and the shift in personnel is manifest in the song’s breadth, pulling a broad range of influences together so that the beginning seems to owe its unfolding to Pallbearer-style doom while the ending melody, served up duet-style with Pinnell and Blake feels tagged from Nirvana‘s “Something in the Way.”

Fluid interplay of varying moods and styles could easily be considered a holdover from Young Hunter Mk. I, but “Nothing Shakes the Void” — which is set to appear on the upcoming Doomed and Stoned regional compilation, Doomed and Stoned in Portland — pushes further into a cohesive blend, so that as the slow progression of the opening gives way to a chug that seems to nod simultaneously at ’80s metal and goth rock, Young Hunter retain their sonic identity and overarching sense of purpose to the whole affair. That is to say, it’s not just that the band are bringing contrasting sounds together, which is something they’ve been doing since their 2012 debut, Stone Tools (discussed here), but that they’re bringing them together for a reason, and that reason is creating something of the band’s own from them. “Nothing Shakes the Void” is not without a sense of drama, and neither were the tracks on Embers at the Foot of Dark Mountain — which I still keep on regular rotation — but Young Hunter offer songcraft enough to easily sustain any and all theatrics so that they too seem to be serving the overriding listening experience.

After successfully raising funds through a Kickstarter, Young Hunter will release their second album in March 2016 on vinyl. More on that to come as we get closer, but for now, you can check out the premiere of “Nothing Shakes the Void” and get some background from Blake on the song below.

Please enjoy:

Young Hunter’s Benjamin Blake on “Nothing Shakes the Void”:

Since the recording of Embers at the Foot of Dark Mtn, I moved to Portland and restarted the band. A YH v2 of sorts, with some incredible people who I feel deeply fortunate to be working with. We’ve been playing together for almost two years-writing new material, making this album, and playing often in Portland, honing our craft as a live band.

One interesting aspect of this song is that the quiet ending part was sort of the seed for the rest of the song, and it came to me in a dream. I was able to write down the lyrics when I woke up and recall the melody later, and then it grew into what it is now. That’s the only time that’s ever happened to me.

Young Hunter on Thee Facebooks

Young Hunter on Instagram

Young Hunter on Bandcamp