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Oryx Premiere “Dios Injusto” from Split LP with Languish

Posted in audiObelisk on March 30th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

oryx (Photo by Eyeworm Photography)

Denver two-piece Oryx and Tucson foursome Languish release their new split LP April 1 on Battleground Records. Aside from both having their roots in the Southwest (Oryx are from New Mexico originally), the bands share an abiding vision of doomed extremity, Oryx tempering their elephantine lumber with a darker, YOB-style cosmosis, and Languish moving between lurch and blasting grind at a moment’s notice. Each act has its own take, but it quickly becomes clear that both earn the blacks and greys of the split’s cover art, which feels obscure and barren in all the right ways.

Included on the A side is a cover of Corrupted‘s “Dios Injusto.” The story goes that when Oryx — guitarist/vocalist Tommy Davis and drummer Abbey Apple — decided to take the track on, Battleground honcho David Rodgers (also of Godhunter) hit up the infamous Japanese doomers, who thought it was a live version of their own. One would be hard pressed to think of a better compliment to pay a cover than to have the original artist think it’s their work, and as legacies oryx languish split covergo, living up to Corrupted is no minor feat. It is third of the three songs Oryx present for the split, a thick tonal concrete poured directly into the lungs, and departs from the more uptempo roll of “The Singularity” and the rumbling plod of “Immune to Light” preceding in favor of an even nastier take.

Over on the B side, Languish meet the challenge head-on in 10 roman numeral-numbered fits of grinding sludge, challenging the listener to figure out where one song/part ends and the next begins with a series of stops and starts, changes in tempo and vibe, growls and shouts bolstering the violent inclinations on display. Deceptively precise as the style they’re working in would demand, Languish nonetheless provide excellent complement to the tonal weight proffered by Oryx, who in kind set the darkened atmospherics that make Languish‘s viciousness feel all the more affecting. One group adding context and richness to the other — it’s pretty much the best case scenario for a release like this one, and as deep as Oryx and Languish go into the tonal and conceptual abyss in which they seem to abide, the more righteous the trip becomes.

Below, you can find the streaming premiere of “Dios Injusto,” followed by Rodgers‘ story about securing permission for the band to use the cover on the LP, as well as the preorder link. Album is out on Friday.

Enjoy:

David Rodgers (Godhunter, Battleground Records) on “Dios Injusto”:

“I went to Nate Carson of Nanotear Booking, who books for Corrupted in the US. He got in touch with Chew through email and there was some confusion at first, mainly due to the language barrier, because Chew thought it was a live song or something unreleased from their catalogue, but once Nate explained that it was a cover, Chew said it was very good and we could do what we wanted with it as far as covering it on the album. It’s pretty nice to get the blessing direct from the band without having to jump through legal hoops and pay expensive fees.”

The ORYX/LANGUISH split LP will see release through Battleground Records on April 1st in a run of 300 copies on 180-gram black wax including a digital download. Preorders are available HERE.

ORYX Live:
4/07/2016 Mutiny Info Café – Denver, CO w/ A Light Among Many, Stone Giant, In Loo, Distended
4/23/2016 Rhinoceropolis – Denver, CO *record release show w/ Athamé, 908, Modok, Hellhound, Alone

LANGUISH Live:
5/06/2016 Club Congress – Tucson, AZ w/ So Hideous, Bosse-De-Nage

Oryx on Thee Facebooks

Oryx on Bandcamp

Oryx/Languish split at Battleground Records

Battleground Records on Thee Facebooks

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Abrahma Post Nazareth Cover “Witchdoctor Woman”

Posted in Bootleg Theater on March 30th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

abrahma

Parisian heavy rockers Abrahma remain among my most positive impressions from last year’s Roadburn festival. I mean, I dug the band before, but their set (review here) last April put that in a new light, and what was so doubly engaging about it was that not only were they heavy — hell, everybody’s heavy, right? — but they were able to really bring to life the atmospheres and open spaces of their second album, Reflections in the Bowels of a Bird (review here), in a manner that made their sound all the more immersive. And to go with that, they had scope, a melodic presence that stayed through the set even in its most aggressive moments. Heavy rock bands sometimes cast all that off in favor of an all-out assault live. I won’t take anything away from that approach when it works, but Abrahma‘s style was right not to sacrifice its dynamic moodiness for impact.

The Nazareth cover “Witchdoctor Woman” was put to tape last July and is set to be included on the Go Down Fighting tribute that’s been in the works for a while now from Underdogma Records (info here). I’m not sure what led to Abrahma posting it on their own, whether or not it’s in advance of a release for the compilation that will also include CalamusLångfinger and Against the Grain, but having enjoyed the excuse to revisit how much ass they kicked when I was fortunate enough to see them last Spring, I’ll take what I can get. You’ll hear pretty quickly that Abrahma manage to make the song their own, lending a deep-toned psychedelia to the original, which opened Nazareth‘s 1971 self-titled debut.

Enjoy:

Abrahma, “Witchdoctor Woman” (Nazareth cover)

Discover our cover track of “WITCHDOCTOR WOMAN” from NAZARETH

Soon to be released on “Go Down Fighting” a riff rock tribute to Nazareth!

Song recorded in 2015 by Benjamin Colin at HAKESOUND STUDIO (Romainville, FR)
Produced by ABRAHMA
Mixed by Benjamin Colin
Mastered by James Plotkin @ PLOTKINWORKS

Coming soon
“Go Down Fighting” – a riff rock tribute to Nazareth!
Limited Edition Colored Vinyl.

Track List:
“Miss Misery” – The Rubes
“Sunshine” – Calamus
“Razamataz” – The Humanoids
“Changing Times” – The Heave-Ho
“Please Don’t Judas Me” – Argus
“Whiskey Drinking Woman” – Shatner
“Witchdoctor Woman” – Abrahma
“Expect No Mercy” – Against The Grain
“Empty Arms, Empty Heart” – Resande Man
“Alcatraz” – Wild Eyes
“Light My Way” – Långfinger
“Beggar’s Day” – Bozeman’s Simplex

Also possible contributions from RAGING SLAB, Left Lane Cruiser, Solace, Daniel Davies, Gideon Smith, Contra, Mothership, Magic Jove, and surprise special guests!

Abrahma on Thee Facebooks

Abrahma website

Underdogma Records on Thee Facebooks

Underdogma Records website

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Rhin Announce Passenger Album Details and Weekender Tour

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 30th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

rhin (Photo by Brendan Foster Fieldhouse)

More details have started to surface about Rhin‘s upcoming album, Passenger. Set for release May 6 as first announced herePassenger is the West Virginian noisemakers’ second LP on Grimoire Records, recorded in the label’s traditional manner by Noel Mueller and topped with art by Rhin‘s Ben Proudman. The three-piece have announced a weekender run of shows the week before the LP is out that will take them through Philadelphia, Brooklyn and New Haven, Connecticut. Based on their history, one assumes it won’t be the only time they head out, but the first one is always worth noting.

The six-minute cut “Clay” that was premiered with the announcement linked above is also available to stream below, because I know how hard it is sometimes to open a new tab. I’m not being sarcastic, by the way. I mean that.

To the PR wire:

rhin-passenger

RHIN: West Virginia Noise/Stoner Metal Troupe Preps Passenger LP For Release Via Grimoire Records

Baltimore-based Grimoire Records is preparing the upcoming third album by West Virginia stoner/noise metal trio RHIN for release in April, with the diverse and damaging Passenger.

Passenger will see release on random splatter vinyl, cassette, and digital formats on May 6th, with a CD pressing coming a bit later. Preorders are available through Grimoire Records RIGHT HERE.

Following their well-received 2014-released Bastard LP, the third album from RHIN sees the band delivering just under thirty-four minutes of pummeling new riffery. Passenger shows these three super talented dudes – bassist/vocalist Dom, drummer Ben, and guitarist Tuck — rip through seven tracks of grungy rock n’roll reminiscent of The Melvins, Fu Manchu, The Sword, Unsane, and early Helmet. Tempos range from punk fast to doom slow and everything in between, while always keeping it ultra-heavy and catchy. Passenger was recorded in one day in October 2015 by Noel Mueller, in basically one take, resulting in an exceptionally live and legit sounding recording. The record was then mixed and mastered by Mueller, and fitted with artwork by Ben Proudman.

RHIN has a mini-tour planned for the week preceding the release of Passenger, where they’ll appropriately pair up with Connecticut’s Grizzlor for shows in Philadelphia April 28th, Brooklyn April 29th, and New Haven on April 30th. Stand by for updates on live performances, additional samples from Passenger to be released, and more in the weeks ahead.

RHIN w/ Grizzlor:
4/28/2016 The Fire – Philadelphia, PA
4/29/2016 Grand Victory – Brooklyn, NY
4/30/2016 Three Sheets – New Haven, CT

Tracklisting:
1. Uncle Tuck
2. Unwell
3. Drag My Feet
4. Snivlem
5. Clay
6. Basement
7. Bad Timing

http://rhin.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/rhinwv
http://grimoirerecords.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/GrimoireRecords

Rhin, “Clay”

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Quarterly Review: Sunn O))), Swallow the Sun, Beesus, Giöbia, Decasia, Sonic Mass, Wolvserpent, Delouners, Dead East Garden, Pearl Handled Revolver

Posted in Reviews on March 30th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk quarterly review spring 2016

The Wednesday of a Quarterly Review is always special to me. In the six, maybe seven, times I’ve done this now, Wednesday has always been the marker of turning to the second half of the week. Hump Day in a bizarre context. That said, I feel good about how it’s gone so far and I feel very good about the stuff that’s being written about in more than just that getting-it-out-of-the-way spirit. Still, we start today with something that should’ve been reviewed months ago, and I’ll admit to being glad to have such a formidable weight off my chest.

Quarterly Review #21-30:

Sunn O))), Kannon

sunn kannon

Sunn O))) are without question among the most integral bands of their generation. I don’t feel like it’s going even remotely out on a limb to say that. With the three-song full-length, Kannon (on Southern Lord), they go back to exploring the waveforms and ritualistic atmospheres that helped their influence spread in the first place, after several years of collaborating with others like Scott Walker and Ulver. Kannon is the first Sunn O)))-proper LP since 2009’s orchestral Monoliths and Dimensions (review here), and while I understand any and everything I might have to say about it is barely a drop in the bucket compared to the from-all-sides laudits founding guitarists Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson have received, its three parts nonetheless demonstrate the fact that with Sunn O))), there is never any backward looking, and that even as they strip away elements that made Monoliths and Dimensions as expansive as it was in favor of the claustrophobic rumble and chants of “Kannon 3,” they move relentlessly forward. They remain necessary.

Sunn O))) on Thee Facebooks

Southern Lord Recordings

 

Swallow the Sun, Songs from the North I, II & III

swallow the sun songs from the north i ii iii

Hey, I like Swallow the Sun. I’ve dug the Finnish outfit since their debut, The Morning Never Came, but I gotta say, maybe a triple album, which Songs from the North I, II and III is, is a bit much? The concept is awesome – one record of light/dark, one record of light, one record of dark – but in practice it’s about a 160 minutes long and a considerable investment to ask of their audience. When it comes to repeat listens, I can’t help but continually go to Songs from the North III, the most extreme installment, which still has plenty of spacious guitar melodies to go with its death-doom emotional and tonal crush, and while I’m not sure that Swallow the Sun would’ve been doing themselves any favors if they spaced out three separate releases rather than bundling them together as they have, it’ll be years before a release of this scope can be properly digested, if it can at all, and for a band whose work is as complex and often lush as Swallow the Sun’s, one wants to absorb it in a way that such a massive offering doesn’t allow.

Swallow the Sun on Thee Facebooks

Century Media

 

Beesus, The Rise of Beesus

beesus the rise of beesus

Italy’s heavy rock boom continues with the debut album from Roman riffers Beesus. The four-piece nod at desert grunge with “6 Ft. Under Box” and roll out thick, loosely-psychedelic vibes on the opening title-track, but The Rise of Beesus primarily tells its story in its plays of density and spaciousness – see “Waltzer” and the later “Sonic Doom/Stoner Youth” – and one is reminded a bit of Snail circa Blood in that, but a sense of variety brings moments like the quiet opening stretch of “Kusa” and the bass-led thrust of “Mata la Verguenza,” making The Rise of Beesus not as easy to predict as it might first appear. When it does indulge its heft, as on “Beesus in Dope,” it satisfies, but while consistent, it is by no means unipolar. It seems to set Beesus up for future expansion on any number of lines, but as their first outing, it also has a noteworthy sense of itself, carving out an identity from diversity of songcraft and an abidingly chaotic vibe.

Beesus on Thee Facebooks

Beesus on Bandcamp

 

Giöbia, Magnifier

giobia magnifier

Fall 2015’s Magnifier (on Sulatron Records) is the fourth LP from Italian psych/space rockers Giöbia, who launch with the ominous cosmic thrust of “This World was Being Watched Closely” and make their grandest statement on side B with the 15-minute lysergic noise excursion of “Sun Spectre.” There and elsewhere in “The Pond,” “The Stain” and the closing “The Magnifier,” Giöbia pursue shroomy sonic enlightenment through soaking reverb and wah, Moog, synth, bouzouki and so on – a somewhat kitchen sink approach resulting in a joyous front-to-back wash of spirited energy and engaging depth. The follow-up to 2013’s Introducing Night Sound (review here), Magnifier finds synth-laden prog swing in “Lentamenta la Luce Svanirà” and pushes air with the low end of its finale title-cut, a right-on dripper that’s round enough to make the world seem square by comparison. The place Giöbia inhabit between psychedelia and space rock is fast becoming a planet all their own, and for ambassadorship of their sound, Magnifier thrills.

Giöbia on Thee Facebooks

Sulatron Records

 

Decasia, Decasia

decasia decasia title=

Recorded by the band in 2014 and issued in 2015 as their debut EP, Decasia’s Decasia flows more like a long-player, with five cuts that unfold from the tanpura and didgeridoo immersion of opener “Halo,” but I won’t argue. While rawer than what one might commonly expect out of European heavy psychedelia, the French trio nonetheless cull aspects of that sound into their own, so that centerpiece “Blue Love” is right at home with its Hendrixian guitar swing, and closer “Dive” feels within rights to demonstrate a touch of Colour Haze in its initial rhythm, though on the whole Decasia are less laid back and more grunge-informed, resulting in an intriguing blend that, from the burst at the open of “Sherpa” through the crashing finish of “Dive,” shows them as a group able to play to either side at will. They’ve already followed up with the jam “Moodoo Majja,” but I wouldn’t speculate which side will win out as they continue to develop, if indeed any single one does.

Decasia on Thee Facebooks

Decasia on Bandcamp

 

Sonic Mass, You People Never Learn

sonic mass you people never learn

The second long-player from London sludgers Sonic Mass, You People Never Learn… would seem immediately to be positioning itself as punishment. Fair enough – there’s certainly some abrasive aspect to its overriding rawness and liberal feedback – but the huge groove that pays off the build in the second half of “Butcher of Brogdael” is more righteous inclusion than it is masochistic, and even faster, shorter cuts like the blown-out punk of “Biker Satania” or “Toga”’s unhinged dual-guitar thrust feels more about a raucous vibe than putting someone off. In the title-track, they move from a wash of distortion into some caustic feedback by the end, but by then the context of You People Never Learn… is such that the nodding push of eight-minute closer “Quadranoid” is more a celebration than a beating, even if it does round out with two minutes of amp crackle, effects and feedback. If it was coming from a stage, you’d raise a pint to it.

Sonic Mass on Thee Facebooks

Sonic Mass on Bandcamp

 

Wolvserpent, Aporia:Kala:Ananta

wolvserpent aporia kala ananta

Longform material is nothing new for Boise, Idaho-based duo Wolvserpent. Both of their two full-lengths to-date, 2010’s Blood Seed and 2013’s Perigaea Antahkarana, have found the ritual drone-doomers working in extended contexts. However, the newly-issued Aporia:Kala:Ananta EP (on Relapse) pushes that line even further. It is a single-song work running 40 minutes of spacious, sometimes grueling, thrillingly challenging heft, marked by a cinematic sense of drama in its use of violin, blackened extremity and striking depth. Drummer/violinist Brittany McConnell and guitarist/vocalist Blake Green aren’t so much taking any huge stylistic leaps from what they’ve done before, but the scope of “Aporia:Kala:Ananta,” as well as the overarching flow of the piece, its patient execution, and the masterful hand with which they guide it, cannot be called anything but progression. The only question I have is why they’re not calling it an album. Considering both its runtime and its breadth, to consider it anything less feels like selling it short.

Wolvserpent on Thee Facebooks

Relapse Records

 

Delouners, Family

delouners family

Swapping back and forth between Spanish and English lyrics adds variety to Family, the 13-song/45-minute debut long-player from Uruguayan foursome Delouners, but they weren’t short on it anyway. Spacious, echoing guitars and a languid psychedelia-gone-heavy-blues carry across laid back blowout rolls like “Low” and the more uptempo “Secreto,” and all the more in the side A-ending “Mistery Caravan,” the lazy, hazy, take-it-way-down groove feels derived from an All Them Witches influence. There are more garage rock moments, as on the title-track, the earlier “Los Dormidos,” “Alain Delon” and closer “Mirtha Legrand,” and the shoegazing tropicality of “Sea/Side” furthers an individualized sensibility overall, but that naturalist spirit never departs completely. So be it. Delouners drench this central inspiration in their own sonic persona, and so come off influenced rather than derivative, setting themselves up to branch out their progression as they see fit on whatever they might do next.

Delouners on Thee Facebooks

Delouners on Bandcamp

 

Dead East Garden, Dead East Garden

dead east garden dead east garden

There are five songs on the self-titled debut EP from Cleveland, Ohio’s Dead East Garden and three of them could be said to have something to do with cars – “Starting Line,” “El Camino Rock” and “Straight Burning Road.” That’s not a judgment, just a statement of fact. From the post-Pepper Keenan chug of opener “The Lurker,” one kind of knows what’s coming from the workingman’s heavy rockers, but “Mother’s Disease” fleshes out a less dudely aggro spirit with a more patient initial roll and satisfying lead work from guitarist Ryan Scheel. The beer-soaked vibes resume as “Straight Burning Road” comes on to close, vocalist Pat Homolish layering spoken and belted-out hooks as bassist John Roach (since out of the band) and drummer R.J. Drenski hold down one more straightforward groove, and Dead East Garden reinforce the plainspoken intent on display across the short release, as light on pretense as it is heavy on testosterone.

Dead East Garden on Thee Facebooks

Dead East Garden website

 

Pearl Handled Revolver, If the Devil Cast His Net

pearl handled revolver if the devil cast his net

As with their 2013 sophomore outing, This Mountain Waits (review here), the third album from UK heavy blues/classic rockers Pearl Handled Revolver, titled If the Devil Cast His Net, uses synth, Mellotron, electric piano and organ to explore a wide variety of moods, from the soft-guitar blues of “Someone Like You” to the rambling “Absinthe in Adelaide.” All throughout, the band reaffirm their mastery of these styles as they go, be it the boogie shuffle of “Loverman” or the side A closing title-track, which sets forth one of the record’s most engaging bass grooves under gravelly verse before moving into an extended instrumental jam, no less poised than anything preceding or following. That plotted feel is at the core of Pearl Handled Revolver’s approach – nothing is here by accident – and it makes their songcraft all the more inarguable, taking in a post-The Doors bounce on closer “Into the Blue” as they mirror the end of the album’s first half for another striking finish.

Pearl Handled Revolver on Thee Facebooks

Pearl Handled Revolver website

 

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Denver Electric Funeral Fest Completes Lineup

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 29th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

To the best of my limited capacity for finding this kind of thing out, June will mark the first edition of the Denver Electric Funeral festival. Maybe it’s just because I’ve got Psycho on the brain, but I can’t help but wonder if by putting the name of the city that will act as host — Denver, Colorado — promoter Dust Presents is keeping an eye toward franchising or keeping mobile for future editions. That’s speculation of course. It could just as easily be like Southwest Terror Fest or, more specifically, Maryland Deathfest and L.A. Murderfest, and simply showing regional pride and letting people know where they should go if they want to see it. In this case, you go to Denver.

Wherever the next one will take place — how do I even get on a tangent like that; oh yeah, extreme exhaustion — the lineup for what I still think is the first Denver Electric Funeral is pretty sick, and matches a healthy portion of locals in bands like Cloud CatcherSugar Skulls and Marigolds and Malahierba is met with a range of others from farther out, whether that’s West Coast outfits like Radio MoscowMondo Drag and Sacri Monti, East Coast sludgers Sourvein and Toke, or Texas troublemakers Mothership. Looks like it’s gonna be a good time.

June 4 and 5 are the dates, 3 Kings Tavern in Denver is the place, ticket link is below, and here’s the lineup:

denver electric funeral fest 2016

DUST Presents: Denver Electric Funeral Fest
June 4th-5th, 2016

Denver Electric Funeral Fest will be a two-day offering of all things heavy, featuring 20 of the best rock n’ roll / metal bands in the country. Instagram: @dustpresents.

Tickets and more info @ www.3kingstavern.com/event/243343

Lineup:
Radio Moscow
Sourvein
Mothership
Mondo Drag
Goya
Sweat Lodge
Sacri Monti
Cloud Catcher
Toke
Crypt Trip
Greenbeard
The Munsens
Space in Time
Poison Rites
Malahierba
Tricoma
Ghosts of Glaciers
Warhawk
Love Gang
Sugar Skulls & Marigolds

http://www.3kingstavern.com/event/243343
https://www.facebook.com/events/1550753005249293/
https://www.facebook.com/DUST-Presents-1003880426336204/

Cloud Catcher, Live at Borderland Fuzz Fiesta 2016

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Desert Suns Premiere New Single “The Haunting”

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 29th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

desert-suns

San Diego four-piece Desert Suns will release their new single, The Haunting, on March 30 via Ripple Music. If you want to be technical about it — and I know you do — it’s the first new music to come from the wave-making heavy rock outfit since their self-titled debut in mid-2014, though to be fair, that self-titled has continued to gain traction more or less since it was issued, with pressings through HeviSike Records and Ripple issued this January. The band, comprised of bassist/vocalist Dave Russell, guitarists Woogie Maggard and Anthony Belluto and drummer Ben McDowell, made several striking impressions throughout that album, and “The Haunting” pushes the group’s stylistic reach further into a blend of desert-hued heavy rock, doom and psychedelic blues.

If it sounds like a lot of space to cover — oh yeah, sometimes they talk about space, too — it is. Clocked in at just under seven minutes, “The Haunting” ties these various sides together via an earthy, Sabbathdesert suns the hauntingderived traditionalism, so that even as the track offers something new, there’s an underlying familiarity that allows the listener, whether long-time convert or newcomer after the self-titled, to follow along with the fluid and deceptively atmospheric build throughout. The poise of the central riff as it takes hold after a quiet opening stretch and the molten solo in the track’s second half are out of an Iommic text, no doubt, but in the context of the initial unfolding, with its far-back, headphone-worthy strings, patient guitar lines, stellar snare work, warm bass and bluesy vocals, and it’s clear there’s something richer going on in “The Haunting” than trying to recast “Hand of Doom.”

That eerie but somehow welcoming ambience comes and goes throughout “The Haunting,” true enough to the song’s title, but do the honor of ending out the track after all the crash and heft has receded, and they give a suitably ghostly impression.

“The Haunting” will be available to download tomorrow from Ripple Music‘s Bandcamp page. Please find the track below for your streaming enjoyment, followed by Desert Suns‘ upcoming live dates.

Dig it:

 

Desert Suns live:
Apr 09 The Bancroft Spring Valley, CA
Apr 21 Ken Club San Diego, CA
May 27 The Merrow San Diego, CA
Jun 03 Back Bar SoFA San Jose, CA
Jun 24 Tower Bar San Diego, CA

Desert Suns:
David Russell – Bass/Vocals
Woogie Maggard – Guitar
Anthony Belluto – Guitar
Ben McDowell – Drums

Desert Suns on Bandcamp

Desert Suns on Instagram

Desert Suns on Thee Facebooks

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

Ripple Music website

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Musket Hawk Releasing Desolate May 6

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 29th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

musket hawk

Unholy Anarchy Records will issue Desolate, the second album from Baltimorean groovegrinders Musket Hawk, on May 6. I’ll admit, this one’s a little out of my usual purview, but the PR wire isn’t kidding around when it puts the words sludge and grind next to each other in describing the band. They’ve got a tonal thickness and overarching sense of groove derived from the former and the intensity and blast of the latter, so what the hell, yeah, I’ll post about that. Who said it was all stoner rock around here anyway? Gotta mix it up every now and again.

If you’re not awake yet, you will be:

musket hawk desolate

MUSKET HAWK: Baltimore’s Sludge/Grind Assassins To Release Sophomore Full-Length Desolate Via Unholy Anarchy; New Track Playing

Baltimore, Maryland-based sludge/grind assassins MUSKET HAWK will spew forth their sophomore full-length, Desolate, later this Spring via Unholy Anarchy Records.

A vile, near half-hour-long exploration into the underbelly of sonic filth, MUSKET HAWK’s self-produced, fittingly-titled Desolate was mastered by Dan Randall (Ghoul, Annihilation Time, Impaled etc.) and delivers eight decaying tracks of chaos, disorder and monolithic gloom.

Check out the caustic sounds of “Space-Ray Houska” HERE.

Desolate Track Listing:
1. Pollute Your Throat
2. Reluctant Punk
3. Jeweler
4. The Grove
5. Connois Sewer
6. Space-Ray Houska
7. Tweed After Dark
8. Candidate For The Knife

MUSKET HAWK formed from the ashes of A Warm Gun in 2011. After self-producing a series of demos, the band’s debut full-length The Form Of Disgust, which Disposable Underground hailed for being, “heavy, but not in a jovial way,” further elaborating, “You might find yourself bobbing your head or pounding your fist to the band’s jams, but with a furrowed brow instead of a smile,” was released via SMS Records in November 2013. Since then, MUSKET HAWK has released a live demo and a 7″ split with Philadelphia’s Sunburster (2015, Unholy Anarchy Records).

The band continues to refine and explore the depths of extreme music, and in conspiracy with Baltimore’s Unholy Anarchy Records and Australia’s Goodtimes Records, offer up their long awaited sophomore effort, Desolate set for release on May 6th, 2016.

MUSKET HAWK will be on tour supporting the Desolate release alongside longtime friends and Aussie grind miscreants Disparo! in late May and June. Stay tuned for dates and venue information. Future rituals include a split release with Disparo!, which will be recorded at The Jam Room in South Carolina while on tour this Summer, as well as a split release with New York City’s Sangharsha, which will be recorded at Electrical Audio in Chicago.

MUSKET HAWK is:
Gary – screams and bass
Martin – growls and guitar
Jason – drums

http://www.muskethawk.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/MusketHawkBaltimore
http://www.facebook.com/Unholy-Anarchy-Records-Distro

Musket Hawk, Live Demo (2013)

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The Obelisk Presents: Bongzilla, Black Cobra, Kings Destroy and Lo-Pan at ONCE Ballroom, Somerville, MA, 04.02.16

Posted in The Obelisk Presents on March 29th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

bongzilla black cobra lo pan kings destroy poster

Holy crap that’s a stacked bill. Show is this Saturday, April 2, at the all-caps ONCE Ballroom in Somerville, Massachusetts, and it’s a stop on the second full-US reunion run from Wisconsin sludge megastoners Bongzilla. They hit Massachusetts for the second time since getting back together, having rolled through nearby Allston with Spirit Caravan, Dirty Streets and local destroyers Rozamov supporting last fall. The lineup this time — Bongzilla, Black Cobra, Kings Destroy and Lo-Pan — brings together four acts who each deliver a different take on heaviness, and four acts whose reputation for killing it should at this point precede them.

This tour began more than a month ago, on Feb. 28, with a hometown Madison, WI, show for Bongzilla, and has continued forth since. They covered the West Coast with Against the Grain before a stop at Heavy Metal Parking Lot 3 at SXSW found that band and New York’s Kings Destroy swapping out, and head east with the promise of locked-in furies and massive tones to come, Black Cobra raging in support of their new album, Imperium Simulacra (review here), as both Lo-Pan and Kings Destroy herald new material from yet-unannounced next albums. Simply put, it’s the kind of gig you’d much rather be at than not be at.

Deep thanks to Grayskull Booking for having me involved and giving me the chance to talk about it, as well as, you know, for putting it on. And just so we’re all on the up and up, the tour is sponsored by Cvlt Nation and I’m not trying to bite a piece off anyone’s contractual anything. Show info follows:

The Obelisk Presents:
BONGZILLA
BLACK COBRA
KINGS DESTROY
LO-PAN

April 2nd, 2016
ONCE Ballroom
156 Highland Ave
Somerville, MA

18+ Doors at 7:30pm, show starts at 8:30pm
$18 adv – $22 dos

Tickets here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2478127

Bongzilla at ONCE Ballroom teaser

Event page on Thee Facebooks

Grayskull Booking

Bongzilla on Bandcamp

Black Cobra website

Kings Destroy website

Lo-Pan website

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