Posted in Whathaveyou on September 26th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Delaware-based heavy rockers Wasted Theory have signed to NoSlip Records and will issue their second album, Defenders of the Riff, on Oct. 30 through the label. I had the fortune of seeing the four-piece outfit at the third night of Maryland Doom Fest back in June (review here), and much of what they played at Cafe 611 in Frederick was new material that presumably will show up on this follow-up to their debut, Death and Taxes (review here), which was self-released in 2014.
It seemed at that show like they’d really stepped up their game in terms of songwriting and the intensity of their performance, and a Judas Priest-referential title would seem to nod further at the more metal take I sensed from their set, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out when Defenders of the Riff hits the inbox, hopefully sooner rather than later.
I asked drummer Brendan Burns for a quote about the new album, and you’ll find that with the band’s announcement below:
*** New Album & Signing Announcement!!! ***
We are absolutely thrilled as fuck to announce our new album “Defenders of the Riff” will be out October 30th!!!
What’s fucking cooler than that? In the coming months we’ll be releasing the vinyl through none other than NoSlip Records!!!
Ten brand new songs to fuck your earholes with. More info coming down the wire soon… until then, be sure to checkout the badass cover art done by the incomparable Alexander von Wieding!
“We had such a great response to the last album that we knew we had our work cut out for us with this one,” says drummer Brendan Burns. “Writing ‘Defenders’ was the first time we had a consistent and solid lineup intact for the entire writing process. The result, we felt, was a more cohesive album from top to bottom.
“It’s definitely heavier, meatier, faster at times, and has way more balls than anything else we’ve ever done. We bolted the doors of our rehearsal room shut for 8 months, and we wrote the best album that we could. I really think everyone will definitely dig the vibe of this one!”
Posted in Bootleg Theater on September 26th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Buenos Aires trio Ararat have released their third and latest album, 2014’s Cabalgata Hacia la Luz (review here), as a limited-edition red vinyl through South American Sludge Records in a pressing of 500 copies. Not a lot of copies, in other words. The record — featuring cover art for which a red platter could not possibly be more appropriate, what with all the red and all — was in many ways a stripping down for the outfit led by bassist/vocalist Sergio Chotsourian (Los Natas, his Sergio Ch. solo work, etc.), taking the thick-toned heavy psych of 2012’s II (review here) and shifting away from a focus on longer-form material and toward driving, classically engaging heavy rock and roll.
To that end, “Los Escombros de Jardin,” for which Ararat have newly issued a video to go with the Cabalgata Hacia la Luz vinyl, represents the album well. The song careens through its five-plus minutes, with Chotsourian, guitarist Tito Fargo and drummer Alfredo Felitte working at a full push throughout, winding into and out of a memorable chorus that speaks to a lot but not necessarily the entirety of what Cabalgata Hacia la Luz has to offer listeners. I’ve been somewhat curious as to Ararat‘s status as Chotsourian has spent the last year-plus seemingly more focused on his solo incarnation and getting the new trio Soldati up and running, but the video and LP seem like a pretty definitive answer that Ararat aren’t done quite yet, and so are all the more welcome.
More info, translated to the best of my/the internet’s ability, follows the clip below. Please enjoy:
Ararat, “Los Escombros de Jardin” official video
This video is a very important part of what the band proposed on “CABALGATA HACIA LA LUZ.”
It’s time we got to the point and place in our lives where there is no choice but to accept the past, the ruins and traces left by our way of living; The place where we are today, to become of force and the need to change things value.
Serenity to accept the things I can not change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference. Without silence our truths, “SPITTING FINALLY TO SAY WHAT YOU HAVE.”
“LOS ESCOMBROS DE JARDIN” is the new video of ARARAT, performed and directed by the Guzman brothers.
It is also the video release of the new “CABALGATA HACIA LA LUZ” LP edition, recently published by SOUTH AMERICAN RECORDS SLUDGE and manufactured in Germany in a limited edition of 500 copies translucent red.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 26th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
The last Spiritus Mortis full-length, The God Behind the God, was released in 2009, but on Nov. 11, the long(est)-running Finnish doom purveyors return with The Year is One, on Svart Records. Their fourth album overall, it’ll be their second behind the aforementioned outing to be fronted by Sami “Albert Witchfinder” Hynninen, formerly of Reverend Bizarre. They’ve put a couple teasers out on their Thee Facebooks page over the last however long — one of which, for the song “Jesus Chris, Son of Satan,” you’l find below — but the PR wire has confirmed the album info and release date, and sent that along with the cover art and tracklisting.
All of which you’ll find immediately following, in case you needed a totta doom fix:
SPIRITUS MORTIS set release date for new SVART album – features ex-Reverend Bizarre member
Finland’s most ancient purveyors of doom metal, Spiritus Mortis are back with a vengeance! Seven years have passed since their previous offering, The God Behind The God, also their first featuring ex-Reverend Bizarre vocalist Albert Witchfinder. Now on their fourth album, The Year Is One is a mirror to your childhood’s occult fantasies. It is what you thought you heard when listening to your favorite headbanging music – even though those bands actually sang about sex and drugs and driving fast cars, whereas Spiritus Mortis’ material really does deal with black magic and necrophilia. It is as heavy and evil as one can get without slipping away from the world of pure old-school heavy metal.
Prepared with the kind of passion and time-consuming concentration that is fitting of the doom metal genre, The Year Is One was several years in the making, and the dedication is palpably present in the music. The band’s roots in Dio-era Sabbath sounds are there, but the men play with a heavy-handed yet melodic vigor rather unusual in the genre. Albert Witchfinder’s voice carries a newfound joy of expression, and he delivers his bedtime stories about demon summoning and corpse violation as if possessed by evil genius.
Svart Records will release this work of supreme darkness on November 11th on CD, digital, and double vinyl. At this point, the only confirmed live appearance will be in November in Helsinki, supporting Satan and Pentagram. The first track premiere shall be announced shortly. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Spiritus Mortis’ The Year is One 1. Robe of Ectoplasm 2. I am a Name on Your Funeral Wreath 3. Babalon Working 4. Jesus Christ, Son of Satan 5. Holiday in the Cemetery 6. She Died a Virgin 7. Black Magic, White Powder 8. World of No Light
Posted in audiObelisk on September 26th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Always one of life’s great pleasures to revisit Roadburn via the subsequent audio streams that emerge from each edition of the Netherlands-based megafest/underground gathering. I’ll admit that most of these acts I didn’t see at Roadburn 2016, but that hardly lessens the appeal at all. If anything, it gives me a chance to hear some stuff I missed like Pittsburgh natives Carousel — whose unceremonious breakup earlier this month was both a surprise and a bummer — playing a set with Alejandro Necochea of Tee Pee labelmates Worshipper filling in on guitar, or Green Carnation, whose adventurous progressive death metal was an unexpected addition and a callback to earlier days.
Of this round though, I did manage to catch Zone Six playing at the Cul de Sac, the second-smallest room at Roadburn 2016 behind Extase. They played late on the first night of the fest (review here) and were a psychedelic joy to behold, with Sula Bassana on drums and synth and Komet Lulu on bass and Rainer Neeff playing guitar. It was an immediately different personality than one might get from seeing Electric Moon, in which Sula and Lulu also play (the former on guitar/synth), but immersive and gloriously spaced out. Goes without saying I recommend you check out all this stuff, but that one for sure, speaking as someone who was there to see it. I’ve been hoping they press it to disc.
Pretty wide gamut covered here as well, so there should be something for everyone:
Carousel – Live at Roadburn 2016
Crumbling Ghost – Live at Roadburn 2016
Green Carnation – Live at Roadburn 2016
Russel Haswell – Live at Roadburn 2016
Lugubrum Trio – Live at Roadburn 2016
Nibiru- Live at Roadburn 2016
Night Viper – Live at Roadburn 2016
Zone Six – Live at Roadburn 2016
Thanks as ever to Walter for letting me host the streams, as I am perpetually honored to do. To hear the first batch of Roadburn 2016 audio streams, click here, to hear the second one, click here, to hear the third one, click here, to hear the third one, click here, the fourth one, click here, and for all of this site’s coverage of Roadburn 2016, click here.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 26th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Italian heavy rockers Isaak took a major step forward late last year with their second album, Sermonize (review here). Released through Heavy Psych Sounds and Small Stone Records — two rousing endorsements to have — it found the band going well beyond the confines of 2012’s The Longer the Beard the Harder the Sound (streamed here) and toward a much more individual approach. After spending a decent portion of the last few years, the band has announced they’ve just swapped out drummers, and while one expects that will change their dynamic some going forward, I’d expect their growth will continue onto whatever it is they do next. Some momentum you just don’t stop.
I got sent a shorter version of the statement below, but wanted to print the thing in full since I think it speaks well of how much this music means to the people who are making it, and I guess that’s really what it’s all about. So here you go:
Isaak line up Change
Loads of things have happened after that dinner in a Mexican restaurant, choosing the name ISAAK after “some” Margarita.
What is the reason of starting with this sentence? We are going to explain you in a while, but we believe a short introduction is doubtless needed. ISAAK wasn’t just a change of name from Gandhi’s Gunn. Isaak became (and continue being nowadays) a completely different band from that moment. After that dinner we turned the page on the past and we looked forward, we always did it musically and not only. Band has been always more important than the single members and this shared belief has often allowed us to go ahead despite difficulties.
Who has been part of this project is perfectly aware of what we’re talking about. This band survived the distance, the adaptation to changes, the thefts, the necessities of life of the single members. This band has survived to the fact that it was possible to rehearse only during weekends. This situations has lasted for YEARS and only when we managed to be there all together (we also managed to make a record this way!). These are sacrifices that each one of us has done with pleasure and that each one of us would blindly be willing to do it again, from the first to the last.
For those who don’t know , Andre (our drummer) has been living in a city that is nearly 4 hours far away from Genoa. During three years he held it on, giving priority to our band and giving up on many other things. He did it for real. He did his best for the band.
Today Andre leaves the band but he will be always part of this family. He has significantly contributed on this project, he believed in ISAAK and we have been witness of it. He has definitely helped us to make this dream come true.
A simple post on Facebook certainly cannot summarize all this. Andre passes the baton to another great genoese drummer a great friend who will join us on the Isaak path, is name is Davide Foccis! We’ll see you under the stage to give him an eager welcome to the family!
Giacomo H Boeddu – Vocals Gabriele Carta – Bass Davide Fox Foccis – Drums/Vocals Francesco Raimondi – Guitar
Posted in Bootleg Theater on September 23rd, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Reverend Bizarre, In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend (2002)
Finnish doomers Reverend Bizarre were only really around for 11 or 12 years, depending on what you count as their last official release, but their impact was massive in Europe and beyond. I’ll readily admit that for a long time, I didn’t get it. Some stuff resonates, some stuff doesn’t, and for me, Reverend Bizarre were one of those bands that other people really liked. It wasn’t until 2010 — and it’s way easier to remember exact dates on these kinds of things when you have an archive of posts about them — when I put up a short Buried Treasure piece about being in London and buying a copy of Reverend Bizarre‘s 2002 debut, In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend, and discussed how I’d always been relatively lukewarm on them, that I began to come around. The difference was made in a comment that post got from a reader who went by the moniker Shrike who commented around here for a while with much appreciated band recommendations — people come and go; nature of the beast — and what he did was really take the time to help me understand the context in which Reverend Bizarre first arrived. Here’s what he said:
Shrikesays: May 15, 2010 at 3:44 am To me it’s not just the music, which is good, but about the fact that they made their music when nobody else was making it. They wrote music which was a tribute to the masters of the old, very rigidly anchored to the traditions of doom metal and very arrogant in their attitudes towards other modern music.
So I think their influece (sic) was huge and propelled doom metal into the spheres it is today, traditional doom metal in particular. Which also means that their influence and style was significant back then, but doesn’t necessarily translate “to today” as well.
What I’d been neglecting was understanding how little of this kind of thing there really was happening at the turn of the century. Even The Gates of Slumber here in the US, who started roughly concurrent to Reverend Bizarre in 1998, would take another two years to get their first album out, and while there was plenty of heavy rock around the US and Europe alike at that point and the two styles are closely linked in my estimation, in terms of doom by doomers for doomers, the names are fewer and farther between, especially when it comes to new bands (at the time) producing material with the quality of “Burn in Hell!,” “In the Rectory,” “The Hour of Death,” “Sodoma Sunrise,” “Doomsower” and “Cirith Ungol,” as much Saint Vitus as Black Sabbath, but delivered with the vitality and passion of a newer generation that, even 14 years later, is still palpable. I didn’t even respond to that comment at the time, because I’m a dick, but it’s been among the most helpful responses I’ve had to a piece of writing on this site, and it genuinely helped shape my opinion on Reverend Bizarre‘s contributions to the sphere of modern traditional doom.
Reverend Bizarre would release two more albums after In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend in 2005’s II: Crush the Insects and their 2007 swansong, III: So Long Suckers, along with an innumerable slew of splits, EPs an singles that actually make up the bulk of their catalog. Today, one can find bassist/vocalist Sami “Albert Witchfinder” Hynninen in Spiritus Mortis (who have a new LP coming), drummer Jari “Earl of Void” Pohjonen in Orne and guitarist Kimi “Peter Vicar” Kärki (Obelisk Questionnaire here) in that band as well as Lord Vicar — who already released an LP this year in Gates of Flesh (review here) — E-Musikgruppe Lux Ohr, his own solo work, and a host of other adventurous projects well worth digging into. That the one-time members of Revered Bizarre would still be contributing to the style these years after the band’s breakup only seems to prove their commitment to doom was no fluke, but a lifestyle choice, and one from which there’s no easy escape. Likewise, the tragic abysses into which In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend so willfully and dramatically plunges will not easily let the listener out again.
It’s autumn, so here’s some doom. I hope you enjoy.
—
This weekend, actually Sunday, marks my 12th wedding anniversary. As of next week, The Patient Mrs. and I will have been together for 19 years. Well more than half of my life. As soon as I get out of work, we’re going to Vermont for the weekend to celebrate. There’s no way you’d recall, and that’s cool, but six years ago, in 2010, we rented a cottage up there for a month (I did some writing while there, a couple posts about the trip) and had what were some of our best times to-date. This time we’re getting a house on the same piece of property just for a couple days, but I expect it will also be awesome. I’ve been very much looking forward to it and feeling generally fortunate to have such love as a defining portion of my life, which is a good way to feel. I’m a lucky, lucky boy. Far luckier than I deserve to be.
Next week, and really the next few weeks, are packed. Monday, a review/stream from Heavy Temple. Tuesday, a Seremonia album stream. Wednesday, a Yeti on Horseback album stream. Thursday, a Nightstalker review/stream. Friday, might post that Truckfighters interview I did at Høstsabbat last weekend. Then the week after that is the Quarterly Review and I have a few streams up my sleeve besides already, so yeah, we’re jammed just about into the middle of next month as it is. Plus there are some tour announcements and things like that slated, videos and so on. Much, much to discuss. I don’t know if the site’s ever had direction so far ahead as it does right at this moment. Then we get into list season as the holidays approach, the next Quarterly Review, the readers poll, etc. It’s madness from here on out, folks. I guess it’s been madness for a while.
But while I’ll spend some time preparing for the week probably early on Sunday, the focus this weekend is on hanging out with The Patient Mrs., basking in good times with her and the little dog Dio, maybe doing a little record shopping and generally feeling excellent about what is unquestionably the best part of my life.
My brain’s kind of all over the place as I wrap up the day/week, but while I mentioned it, I’d like to extend one more round of thanks to Ole Helsted and all involved with Høstsabbat last weekend in Oslo, Norway. I can’t even begin to tell you how validating it is for this entire ongoing project to have people half a world away appreciate the work done on this site enough to extend such a generous invitation and to be so incredibly welcoming and considerate upon my arrival. It was truly humbling and I was honored to be there. Then I met Slomatics. And that fucking ruled too. So yes, thank you again to Høstsabbat for having me.
I can’t help but feel like I’m forgetting something — always — but I think that should do it either way. I hope whatever you’re up to that you have a great and safe weekend. Please check out the forum and the radio stream.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 23rd, 2016 by JJ Koczan
I’m honestly kind of surprised Clutch fans hadn’t already beat the band’s collective door down in order to secure a vinyl release for Full Fathom Five. Or maybe they did, figuratively speaking of course, and that’s why they’re finally doing one some eight years after the original CD/DVD came out, but either way, as the Maryland kings of groove head out once again on their Who-Needs-a-Personal-Life forever-tour (name unofficial), they’ll be taking the first LP copies of Full Fathom Five along for the trip. It’s very, very hard to imagine that many will make it back, if any do at all.
The shows run for just over a month — because of course they do — also feature Zakk Sabbath and Kyng and kickoff in Buffalo, New York, on Sept. 28. If you’re down, the PR wire offers the following:
CLUTCH RELEASE FIRST EVER WEATHERMAKER MUSIC RELEASE “FULL FATHOM FIVE” ON VINYL
Clutch has just released Full Fathom Five on vinyl. Full Fathom Five was Clutch’s first ever release on its own label Weathermaker Music. Released in 2008, it was originally presented on CD (Audio Field Recordings) and DVD (Video Field Recordings). Now it is being released in a double vinyl gatefold format that includes unreleased bonus tracks from the same live shows that previously did not make the original release the first time around.
“The tracks on Full Fathom Five were recorded in the fall of 2007 and the spring of 2008 during Clutch’s From Beale Street to Oblivion tour” states frontman Neil Fallon. “These 19 tracks, recorded in Sydney, New Jersey, Colorado, and Pennsylvania, are typical of our set lists at that time. Naturally, there are a lot of tracks from FBSTO, but there are also tracks from Robot Hive / Exodus, Blast Tyrant, Elephant Riders, and the Self-Titled LP, Clutch. It’s a bit of a snapshot of where we were nearly ten years ago. Clutch has a reputation for being a relentless touring band. I suppose we are. But really, it’s the fans that pack clubs time and time again that make it all possible. We are stoked to have Full Fathom Five available now on vinyl.”
Clutch continues their Psychic Warfare World Tour 2016. The band will be headlining tour dates in September and October with Zakk Sabbath and Los Angeles based metal band Kyng. Including 2 festival appearances, the trek will begin in Buffalo, NY at the The Town Ballroom on September 28th and conclude in Worcester, MA at The Palladium on October 30th.
Psychic Warfare is the latest and eleventh studio effort from Clutch. The disc debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200, No. 2 on the Billboard Independent, No. 1 on the Billboard Hard Rock and Billboard Rock charts. On Record Store Day this past April 16th Clutch released a limited edition numbered etched vinyl 12 inch that included two previously unreleased tracks from the Psychic Warfare sessions: “Mad Sidewinder” and “Outland Special Clearance”. Psychic Warfare was produced by longtime producer Machine (Lamb Of God, Every Time I Die).
Clutch, Zakk Sabbath, Kyng 2016 Tour Dates: 09/28 – Buffalo, NY @ The Town Ballroom 09/30 – Lakewood, NJ @ First Energy Park – Rock Carnival * 10/01 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE 10/02 – Louisville, KY @ Champions Park – Louder Than Life * 10/04 – Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues 10/05 – Atlanta, GA @ The Buckhead Theatre 10/07 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre Street Stage 10/08 – Columbus, OH @ Express Live 10/10 – Little Rock, AR @ Metroplex 10/11 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom 10/12 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater 10/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo 10/15 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl 10/16 – San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom 10/18 – Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater 10/20 – Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater 10/21 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue 10/22 – Sioux City, IA @ Anthem at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 10/24 – Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note ** NO Zakk Sabbath 10/25 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues 10/27 – Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theater 10/28 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore 10/29 – Clifton Park, NY @Upstate Concert Hall 10/30 – Worcester, MA @ The Palladium * festival appearance
CLUTCH: Neil Fallon – Vocals/Guitar Tim Sult – Guitar Dan Maines – Bass Jean-Paul Gaster – Drums/Percussion
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 23rd, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Revitalized psychotronic wizards Terminal Cheesecake have announced that their first studio album in 22 years, Dandelion Sauce of the Ancients, will be released on Nov. 11 via Box Records. The band has been kicking around live shows for a while now — they played Yellowstock in Belgium this August, for example — and last year they released the Cheese Brain Fondue live outing on Artificial Head, but their last actual full-length was 1994’s King of all Spaceheads, so yeah, it’s been a minute.
To advance the coming of Dandelion Sauce of the Ancients, Terminal Cheesecake are streaming the new track “Song for John Pt. 1” that you can check out below, along with the cover art, tracklisting, lineup info and other sundry thisses and thats that tend to provide useful when one is, say, reviewing an album later and wants to look back and see where it was recorded. Ha.
From the PR wire:
Terminal Cheesecake announce new album – Dandelion Sauce Of The Ancients
Terminal Cheesecake return with ‘Dandelion Sauce Of The Ancients’, the band’s first studio album since 1994!
Forming in London in 1988 Terminal Cheesecake made waves releasing an uncompromising blend of psych, dub and industrial grooves across two EPs, six albums and a now infamous session for John Peel.
Last year the band celebrated their reincarnation with the release of an outstanding and deservedly praised live album ‘Cheese Brain Fondue’ released on US based label Artificial Head.
‘Dandelion Sauce Of The Ancients’ will be released on Orange Crush colour vinyl via Box Records on 11th of November.
1. Birds In 6/8 2. Poultice 3. The Winding Path 4. Dandelions 5. Mr. Wipey’s Daytrip To Guilford Haven 6. Song For John Pt. 1 7. Lord Jagged (The Chemical Teacake Quintet)
Terminal Cheesecake are Russ Smith, Gordon Watson, John Jobbagy, Neil Francis and Dave Cochrane Cover Design/Layout by Dave Cochrane Artwork Photography by Craig Earp Recorded at Runway Studios and Bear Bites Horse Studios
