Posted in Whathaveyou on May 26th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Word of The Obsessed signing to Relapse Records for a new album tentatively titled Sacred — what, essentially, was going to be a Spirit Caravan record until the trio swapped monikers in February — but today it’s been made official by the PR wire that whatever it ends up being called will be the first new LP from The Obsessed since 1994’s The Church Within. Also the first The Obsessed with Dave Sherman (Spirit Caravan, Earthride, Weed is Weed, etc.) on bass and Brian Constantino on drums alongside founding guitarist/vocalist Scott “Wino” Weinrich, so it’s an exciting prospect really from any angle you want to view it.
All the more so since the new demo “Be the Night” has just been posted ahead of the band entering the studio to record the upcoming outing, which presumably they’ll do after they wrap their current tour with Karma to Burn.
Just off the PR wire:
The Obsessed Sign To Relapse; Release Demo Track + Prepare New Album
Relapse Records is extremely proud to announce the signing of legendary hard rock / doom metal band THE OBSESSED! Formed in 1976 by Scott “Wino” Weinrich (Saint Vitus, Spirit Caravan, Shrinebuilder, Probot etc.), the band recently reformed and are on the road now! The band will enter the studio this summer to record the follow up to 1994’s seminal classic, The Church Within.
Scott “Wino” Weinrich commented on the signing and reformation of the band:
“The time is now for rebirth of THE OBSESSED. Fueled with the anger, wisdom and energy of all things past, this monumental achievement is the culmination of many years of dogged determination and the belief in the music. This music that we and many others find healing and inspirational. At last it sees the light, uncompromising and laden with passion and intensity that we’ll immortalize on our new album. We’re happy to officially announce our signing with Relapse Records. They also believe in the music and are very understanding of our integrity, vision and aspirations. On tour right now in the USA, we are celebrating this experience with glorious sound. Join us on this golden road. Thanks to all who believe!”
THE OBSESSED are currently on tour in the US with Karma to Burn and Sierra. A complete listing of dates is available below. Stay tuned for more info on THE OBSESSED.
THE OBSESSED Tour Dates:
May 26 – Kansas City, MO – Riot Room 28 – Denver, CO – 3 Kings 30 – Seattle, WA – El Corazon 31 – Portland, OR – Dante’s
June 2 – San Francisco, CA – Slim’s 3 – Los Angeles, CA – Complex 4 – San Diego, CA – Brick By Brick 5 – Phoenix, AZ – Club Red 7 – Austin, TX – Dirty Dog 8 – Ft. Worth, TX – Tomcats West 9 – Houston, TX – Walter’s 10 – New Orleans, LA – Siberia 11 – Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn
THE OBSESSED is: Scott “Wino” Weinrich – Guitar & Vocals Dave Sherman – Bass & Vocals Brian Costantino – Drums & Vocals
[Throttlerod release Turncoat on June 24 via Small Stone. Click play above for an exclusive track premiere.]
After a certain point, a band’s new album becomes a believe-it-when-you-see-it prospect. Throttlerod, seven years and one social media revolution removed from the release of their last full-length, 2009’s Pig Charmer (review here), were past that point. Still, they haven’t been completely inactive over that span, playing periodic shows near founding guitarist/vocalist Matt Whitehead‘s home-base in Richmond, Virginia, and apparently crafting enough material so that their fourth outing, Turncoat, clocks in at a considerable 55 minutes with 12 tracks. It’s long. CD long, in a vinyl time, but as ever for these cats, the songwriting holds up. Small Stone Records — which was also behind Pig Charmer, 2006’s Nail, the 2004 Starve the Dead EP and 2003’s Hell and High Water (their 2000 debut, Eastbound and Down, was on Underdogma) — is once again handling the release.
While that’s business as usual for Throttlerod, Turncoat still makes for a departure from their past methods in that instead of working with Andrew Schneider, who helmed all the outings listed above, the three-piece of Whitehead, bassist Jeremy Plaugher (who makes his first appearance here; Schneider also played on Pig Charmer) and drummer Kevin White enlisted J. Robbins to act as producer/engineer at his Magpie Cage Studio. Like a lot of bands, Throttlerod have been through lineup changes and this and that, but swapping producers after 15 years is huge, and Robbins — known for his work with Clutch, The Sword, Murder by Death, among many others, as well as for playing in Jawbox and other projects — makes a mark on this material in a way distinct from anything Throttlerod have done before.
Distinct, but not outlandishly removed from Pig Charmer. That in itself is something of a change as compared to, say, the sonic jump they made between Hell and High Water and Nail, which, with less than half the time between Pig Charmer and Turncoat, found Throttlerod revamping their sound from Southern heavy rock to angular noise drawing on influence from early and mid-’90s dissonance. Pig Charmer continued that thread, and Turncoat follows suit to an extent, but as opener “Bait Shop” shows in its chorus, the push comes with a heightened sense of melody as well. Whitehead‘s vocals, layered, are less shouted than sung, and as the two in the one-two punch, “Lazy Susan” answers in kind to “Bait Shop,” Throttlerod seem at least on some level to be reconciling their latter day approach with their beginnings, either consciously or not.
Granted, that melody comes off more post-grunge than Southern-inflected, but as they slow the roll on the early parts of the more brooding “Never was a Farmer,” those elements are easy enough to read into the proceedings, even if the context is different these years later. Rhythmic insistence comes back to the fore on “Lima,” with White propelling a middle-paced push as Whitehead squibbles out on guitar late, his vocals buried under the wall of his and Plaugher‘s tones. The title-track follows accompanied by “You Kicked My Ass at Losing,” and both songs tap into the more grunge-laden approach, the latter more raucously and of course with the best title on the record, which the chorus well earns, capping the first half of the record with a sudden stop and quick-fade cymbal ring-out. They have a long way to go, but Throttlerod are working efficiently and effectively, and for a band who’s been more or less absent for the last seven years, there’s little rust to be heard in this material.
Guitar scorches at the beginning of “Gainer,” an angular beginning opening to a more manageable verse and chorus en route to a finish that recalls once-labelmates Puny Human and that band’s frontman, Jim Starace, in whose memory Turncoat is dedicated and presumably not titled after. The subsequent “Every Giant,” “Cops and Robbers” and “Breadwinner” mostly tap into moods that the record showed earlier, but each has something about it to make one understand how it wound up in the final tracklisting, whether it’s the handclaps in “Breadwinner,” the what-if-Weezer-got-really-pissed-off aggro build in “Every Giant” or the frantic, jazzy bassline in the verse of “Cops and Robbers,” which brings to mind the melodic take on classic noise rock of Black Black Black without sounding directly akin.
Crashing and full-sounding, “I Know a Ship” offers one last landmark hook before closer and longest cut (at 6:29) “The Guard” finishes out with what starts as a more atmospheric take and then moves into chugging starts and stops — I’m tempted to call them Tool-esque, but to be fair, let’s make it pre-up-their-own-ass-Tool — that nonetheless drive as White does laps around his toms toward the finish of the record. Ultimately it’s hard to know how much of an effect Robbins‘ production might’ve had in bringing forward the melodic side of Throttlerod‘s approach — it’s not like there’s a version of the record tracked by someone else to do a side-by-side — but one way or another, the band have come back after seven years and made a record that is a definitive step forward from where they were their last time out. It might take a listen or two to sink in, but Throttlerod‘s Turncoat is one that only grows richer from there.
The first-ever The Obelisk All-Dayer is set for Aug. 20, 2016, at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, NY. So far the announced lineup includes Mars Red Sky for their first East Coast appearance, Snail for their first East Coast appearance, Ohio’s EYE supporting their new album, Funeral Horse for their first East Coast appearance and King Buffalo, who’ll be playing the last night of their release tour.
I’m proud and thrilled today to add Kings Destroy and Heavy Temple to the bill.
I can’t say enough about what each of these bands brings to the show, and I couldn’t be more stoked to have them involved. One thing I’ve been trying to do all along is build a genuine flow to the day that I think will make sense as one set leads to the next. It’ll make sense once the full running order is posted, but for the time being, let me just say that both these bands hold a special place in the lineup.
Here’s more on each:
Kings Destroy
There isn’t a band today I feel closer to than Brooklyn’s Kings Destroy. If you read this site at all, you probably already know that. I’ve been a nerd for these cats since their first 7″ and I’m fortunate today to consider them as friends and the bottom line is there’s just no way in hell I’d put on this show and not have them involved. They were out on tour earlier this year with Black Cobra, Lo-Pan and Bongzilla supporting their 2015 self-titled third album, for which they’ve already started writing the follow-up. They have a new 15-minute song that last I heard was about half done and they don’t know it yet, but I’m calling them out to play it at this show. The gauntlet is thrown down, gentlemen.
Heavy Temple
Oh my god, the new Heavy Temple is so good. Don’t get me wrong, I knew before I heard it that I wanted them on this bill — I’ve known it since Vultures of Volume last year, but the Philly trio have a new EP in the can and it’s absolutely stellar. They’ll open the show hopefully playing tracks from it and I expect by the time August comes around, there will be some official announcement as to the release, but even if you don’t know it yet, you’re in for a treat as they kick things off at The Obelisk All-Dayer. I shouldn’t have to tell you to get there early — looking like a 2:30PM start — but I will anyway, just to reinforce the importance of the issue. Get there early.
The Obelisk All-Dayer is Aug. 20, 2016, at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn, New York, and will feature full sets, after-show DJs, food truck on-hand, live recordings, limited edition merch and much more. One more band to be announced in June, along with DJs and the running order.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 26th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Austin heavy rock outfit Bellringer has gradually been making its way toward a debut full-length with a series of digital singles released over the last year-plus, and the mainman behind the project, Mark Deutrom (Clown Alley, ex-Melvins), has already seen a rotating cast of players in and out of the band. Word has come down about new releases from Bellringer — the aforementioned first LP, out this summer on Rock is Hell — and Deutrom as himself, who will have a split out with Australia’s Dead next month and a new solo offering this fall, currently slated for a November release.
The info below, in addition to giving a rundown of the new/current Bellringer lineup, also makes some mention of touring later in the year. To my knowledge, that would be a first run for the project.
From the PR wire:
I’m pleased to announce the release of a split LP from Mark Deutrom and Austrailan band DEAD from WeEmptyRooms Records June 24 2016.
The release will be limited to 250 copies on 180g vinyl with a hand screened cover. This will be a vinyl only release, with no digital available in any form.
The preorder is up here for USA customers, and here for Australia/Oceania customers .
A promo video is the only way to hear any audio from the release online.
The Bellringer LP is mastered and will be released mid summer from Rock is Hell. The album will feature 6 tracks recorded in Austin, Texas earlier this year. The album will be available on limited 180g colored vinyl and there will be a hand screened edition also. There will be a download available.
Bellringer is the live music vehicle for the music of Mark Deutrom, and currently features James Flores on Drums, Aaron Lack on Drums and vocals, Monique Ortiz on bass and vocals, and Brian Ramirez on Bass and Vocals.
Bellringer plays regionally in Texas, and will be touring in the fall.
Mark Deutrom’s fifth solo release is due in November.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 26th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Berlin’s Earth Ship are touring on a new album released by Napalm. Hamburg’s High Fighter are touring on a new album released by Svart. Mammoth Storm are supporting their late-2015 release, also on Napalm. Safe to say this upcoming run for the three bands through Germany, the Netherlands and France will be time well spent in terms of getting the word out. And doubtless that’s the whole idea, but I wouldn’t be surprised if any or all of these bands had further plans to announce for the summer leading into the fall as well — all seem ripe to take part in any number of coming Euro fests, especially with new or still-relatively-new LPs — but I guess we’ll see what shakes out as we get there.
Just by way of a heads up, I’ve got a video premiere from High Fighter coming tomorrow morning. Scars and Crosses is a beast.
Until then:
EARTH SHIP, HIGH FIGHTER & MAMMOTH STORM: On tour this summer!
In support of their upcoming and hotly anticipated releases, EARTH SHIP have teamed up with HIGH FIGHTER and MAMMOTH STORM for an album release summer tour, kicking off in July!
Hailing from Germany’s capitol Berlin, on their upcoming new album ‘Hollowed’ which is set to be released June 24th on Napalm Records, once again EARTH SHIP celebrate the power of riffs in all shapes and sizes. They’re not just delivering a finest sludge record, but it has been also written to be made for eternity in doom and beyond. Watch out when EARTH SHIP is going to perform their walls of tunes live!
With HIGH FIGHTER on the bill, a volatile cocktail of heavy as hell riffs fuelled by beer and the mighty weedian riffs is already guaranteed, as these guys and girl offer something special to the Sludge, Blues and Stoner Scene! After their critically acclaimed debut EP ‘The Goat Ritual’ released end of 2014, followed by numerous shows over Europe including UK dates, festivals, gigs and tours with bands such as Ahab, Mammoth Storm, Crowbar, Corrosion of Conformity, The Midnight Ghost Train & many more, HIGH FIGHTER will release their first & full length album ‘Scars & Crosses’ by June 10th 2016 with Svart Records.
But who would mess with a MAMMOTH STORM. These Swedish label mates of EARTH SHIP have already made their name and left a stamp in the worldwide doom scene! With their latest and highly acclaimed release ‘Fornjot’ (November 2015, Napalm Records), MAMMOTH STORM toured with bands such the likes of AHAB and already gained lots of praise from fans and press all over the world of doom and heaviest riffs.
Catch this exciting doom & sludge steamroller live, this summer!
EARTH SHIP, HIGH FIGHTER & MAMMOTH STORM 22.07.: Kiel, DE – Kieler Schaubude 23.07.: Naaldwijk / Den Haag, NL – De Flatertheek 24.07.: Le Havre, FR – Mac Daid’s 25.07.: Nantes, FR – Le Ferrailleur 26.07.: Köln, DE – Underground 27.07.: Weinheim, DE – Cafe Central 28.07.: Berlin, DE – Badehaus Szimpla 29.07.: Erfurt, DE – From Hell 30.07.: Hamburg, DE – Fundbureau
One month from today, on June 25, Melbourne cosmic sludgers Merchant will celebrate the official release of their debut album, Suzerain (review here), with a hometown show at Bendigo Hotel. The Obelisk is presenting the gig with the lineup of Merchant as well as YLVA, BØG and Roundtable for a four-band Saturday night of punishing riffing showcasing some of the lengths to which Melbourne will go these days to brutalize its own contingency.
Merchant — vocalist Mirgy, guitarist Ben, bassist Wilson and drummer Nick — recently announced that Suzerain would come out June 25 via the East Coast US-based Snake Charmer Coalition. Comprised of four extended tracks including the 20-minute “Suzerain” for which the album is named, the record is a beast of atmospheric, psychedelic doom that shows the beginnings of a band looking to set themselves apart from the crowded scene that birthed them. It is a foundation on which to build, and I’m very excited to be presenting the release party.
“After a brutal first year and an explosion onto the heavy underground of Melbourne,” says the band, “we’re excited to release our debut album Suzerain through Snake Charmer Coalition. The CD release will be available on June 25 and we join a solid list of bands on the SCC roster, who have helped immensely to get this beast into physical form. YLVA, BØG and Roundtable will join us for the release show and were handpicked as we consider them to be some of the best genre bending bands in the local landscape.”
Thanks to Merchant, Bendigo Hotel and Snake Charmer Coalition for having The Obelisk on board as presenter. Goes without saying that if you find yourself in that part of the world, this one gets a hearty recommendation. Show info follows:
The Obelisk Presents: Merchant: Suzerain Release Show
With YLVA / BØG / Roundtable
June 25, 2016 – 8PM – 18+
Bendigo Hotel
125 Johnston Street
Collingwood, Victoria
Australia 3066
[It’s Not Night: It’s Space release Our Birth is but a Sleep and a Forgetting on June 24 via Small Stone. Click play above to stream an exclusive premiere from the album.]
Cumbersome in its title and awaited in its arrival, Our Birth is but a Sleep and a Forgetting is the second full-length and Small Stone Records label debut from New Paltz, New York, heavy psych instrumentalists It’s Not Night: It’s Space. The guitar-bass-drums trio issued their first full-length, Bowing Not Knowing to What (review here), in 2012, and were picked up by Small Stone the next year, and since then it seems to have been a process of letting the band’s slow-motion space rock congeal to a point where it’s able to be processed by human minds, which is apparently where we are now. Beaming in from cosmic depths with six tracks — an intro and five cuts between seven and nine minutes a pop — Our Birth is but a Sleep and a Forgetting offers sonic immersion and atmospheric scope in kind with a patient, hypnotic front-to-back flow that adds rich tonality to what guitarist Kevin Halcott, bassist Tommy Guerrero and drummer Michael Lutomski accomplished their first time out.
Parts may have been born of improvisations, but the finished product doesn’t feel like a collection of jams. Rather, a series of interconnected pieces correctly positioned to guide the listener through this aural expanse. Spiritualism, contemplation, philosophy, space itself — all of this seems to be in play for It’s Not Night: It’s Space, as the samples in three-minute opener “Nada Brahma” demonstrate and cuts like “Across the Luster of the Desert into the Polychrome Hills” and “Starry Wisdom” answer back. The material is dynamic, particularly so the build in “Pillars of the Void,” but the key is in the motion of the record as a whole, and It’s Not Night: It’s Space succeed in holding their course while showing varied sides of their approach.
They have some help in that regard from Rick Birmingham, who recorded and mixed and who adds fiddle to “The Beard of Macroprosopus” and closer “The Black Iron Prison and the Palm Tree Garden,” but though the expanse they conjure throughout feels wider than something a trio might be able to craft, mostly it’s Halcott, Guerrero and Lutomski here. Should probably go without saying that effects have a considerable role to play in Halcott‘s approach, but ultimately the album is as rhythmically hypnotic as it is otherworldly of vibe. “Nada Brahma” fades in on voices that sound like chanting mantras to ease the way into the expanded consciousness that follows. An acoustic guitar line, bass, percussion and swirl give an immediate impression like the kind of ritual Om might enact, but the samples and emergent lead electric guitar assure It’s Not Night: It’s Space maintain their own direction from the outset. They’ll continue to do so as “The Beard of Macroprosopus” takes hold with a kosmiche push that grows more and more resonant before it pays off in echoing, winding guitar the tension its early moments have built.
Much to their credit, It’s Not Night: It’s Space avoid the trap of loud/quiet trades for the most part that seem to be so core in a lot of heavy psychedelia, and instead offer linear fluidity with movement of tempo and mood, and a depth of mix through layers of rhythm and lead guitar, effects and spacious drumming. Ending with more sampled chanting, “The Beard of Macroprosopus” echoes into the start of “Across the Luster of the Desert into Polychrome Hills,” for which it doesn’t seem like an accident that “desert” made it into the title. A patient fuzz unfolds in the bass beneath manipulated drone and a subtle build of guitar and drums. The central line that arrives past two minutes in seems born of a surf tradition — as is desert rock — and if the “Polychrome Hills” are being represented in Halcott‘s lead in the second half and the deeply satisfying roll that follows, I’d say they’re being done justice.
A cold end brings the guitar intro to “Starry Wisdom” — I’ll assume that’s where the A/B vinyl split is as well, but it’s the digital version I’m reviewing — which spends its first couple minutes in a post-rock stoner nod before opening to more driving territory, locked in in a fashion that a low of Our Birth is but a Sleep and a Forgetting has shown little interest in being, but still atmospheric on the whole. A big slowdown and blissout awaits in the second half, but the swing never departs entirely as Lutomski plays between crash and snare to ensure the rhythm holds together until the guitar is left to fade on its own into the start of the penultimate “Pillars in the Void,” the subdued opening of which is perhaps all the more effective for how little It’s Not Night: It’s Space have toyed with minimalism throughout.
True there’s still plenty going on as the track gets underway, but the central guitar figure and drum and basslines are more sparse than, for example, “Starry Wisdom” preceding, and the effect is to enact a linear payoff, then drop back to quiet before unfurling the highlight progression of the album as it moves toward and past the six-minute mark. No less immersive than anything before it, “Pillars in the Void”‘s concluding movement showcases a feel for songwriting and linguistic expression (still without lyrics or samples, mind you) that stands it out from its surroundings. One might think that would leave “Between the Black Iron Prison and the Palm Tree Garden” as an afterthought, but that winds up not at all the case, as It’s Not Night: It’s Space close out with a darker mood and straightforward but still trance-inducing groove, bass and echoing guitar giving an impression like Yawning Man by night early before moving into the Spaghetti West in the midsection and reintroducing Birmingham‘s fiddle as they gracefully build their way into the song and the record’s final push, ending noisy and sudden.
As the material comprises it feels worked over, hammered out, and shaped into what the band wants it to be, it makes sense that Our Birth is but a Sleep and a Forgetting might show up four years after It’s Not Night: It’s Space‘s debut, but as a front-to-back listen will attest, time comes to matter little once you dig into that wash and find yourself consumed by it. Fuller in its sound and more clearheaded in its purpose, the album shows definitive growth on the part of Halcott, Guerrero and Lutomski, but manages to do so without sacrificing the exploratory feel that helps make it so engaging and meditative. Similar to the chanting that starts off, the record itself seems to be a mantra. Perhaps It’s Not Night: It’s Space have found wisdom in the stars.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 25th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
The forthcoming Longing for Infection is reportedly one of two long-players that filth-coated, lock-up-the-meds Ohio sludgers Fistula will issue this year, to be followed by The Shape of Doom to Cumm))) this fall, which will also correspond to a return trip to Europe in October. Knowing the festival of festivals happening in Europe during that time — Up in Smoke, Desertfest Athens, Desertfest Belgium, Keep it Low — I can’t help but wonder if they might get picked up for any of them. The Desertfest(s) would seem the most likely candidates, but you never know.
In any case, Longing for Infection will be out July 15 and lead track “Too Many Devils and Drugs” is streaming now. Unsurprisingly, it sounds completely fucked.
From the PR wire:
FISTULA: Ohio Kings Of Sludge-Fueled Miserycore To Release Longing For Infection Full-Length; New Track Streaming + Preorders Available
Long-running Ohio volume abusers, FISTULA, will self-release their Longing For Infection full-length this Summer. The scathing follow-up to the band’s critically-adored 2014 sludge opus, Vermin Prolificus, Longing For Infection was recorded and engineered by Dave Johnson (Midnight, Incantation, Soulless) and features the return of FISTULA founding member Bahb Branca on second guitar, furthering the band’s already torrid brand of sonic violence.
Set for mass contamination on July 15th, 2016, the first pressing of Longing For Infection will be limited to one-thousand copies housed in digipak packaging bathed in the abysmal artwork of Jason Barnett. Preorders are currently available atTHIS LOCATION.
Longing For Infection Track Listing: 1. Too Many Devils And Drugs 2. Morgue Attendant 3. The Big Turnout 4. Destitute 5. Smoke Acid Shoot Pills 6. Loyal To The Foil 7. Detox
Nearing two decades of ear bleeding, FISTULA remains the kings of doomed-out “miserycore.”
2015 saw the band at its creative peak, headlining the Het Patronaat stage at Roadburn Festival and recording the Destitute demo as well as the new full studio album Longing For Infection. In addition to Roadburn, FISTULA recently played the Haunted Hotel 13th Anniversary Fest as well as the Berserker III Fest. FISTULA will return to Europe (Bloodshed Festival) in October 2016 to bring their ultimate onslaught of pure, unbridled hatred, and negativity. FISTULA will release another full-length this Fall coinciding with the tour on Totem Cat Records. Entitled The Shape Of Doom To Cumm ))), the record will feature guest guitarist David Szulkin from Blood Farmers and Church Of Misery. Stand by for details.
Personnel responsible for all that racket: Corey Bing – guitar/backups Bahb Branca – guitar/backups Dan Harrington – vocals Buddy Peel – bass Jeff Sullivan – drums
