Zoroaster, Matador (2010)

There’s a repeated line in the opener of Zoroaster‘s Matador (review here) that would seem to sum up the entire attitude of the album. It goes: ‘Don’t tell me how to die.’ I’m not sure if I’d call it part of a chorus, but it comes up once or twice in “D.N.R.” and as the last line of the song, is the lead-in to the bizarro crush that follows throughout the Atlanta-based doomers’ 2010 swansong. I recall when I first heard the record — which arrived just one year after their second outing, 2009’s Voice of Saturn (review here), as their debut on E1 Music — it took a while to settle in, and by that I mean I didn’t completely understand what the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Will Fiore, bassist/vocalist Brent Anderson and drummer Dan Scanlan were doing with their sound. I’d followed their progress since their 2005 self-titled CD demo through the self-released 2007 debut, Dog Magic, and on from there, and everything they did from outing to outing showed clear growth from one to the next, but when the nine-track/44-minute Matador hit with its swirling, Sanford Parker-produced spaciousness, the prevailing vibe was so weird that I was caught almost entirely off-guard. One expected big riffs and grooves from Zoroaster. One didn’t expect the chants and meditations of “Old World.” It took some getting used to.

On the off-chance you clicked the review link in the first sentence of this post, you’ll see I did eventually adjust my consciousness to Matador‘s wavelength. Took me a minute, but I got there. The record came out in July 2010 — I had an interview with Fiore up to mark the release; spoke to him a few times over the years and he never remembered me but was always cool to talk to — and by then I was ready to proclaim it one of the year’s best. Six years later, I stand by that. It would wind up being Zoroaster‘s final album, but at the time, Matador sounded like it was just the beginning, and in that blend of psychedelia and the churning sludge from whence they emerged, Fiore, Anderson and Scanlan discovered a sound that was truly their own — one only bolstered by Parker‘s production. Their years of hard touring paid off in pure aesthetic achievement, and whether it was the rawer thrust of “Ancient Ones,” the soaring leads of “Trident,” the meaner shouts of “Black Hole” or the languid vibes of “Odyssey II,” a companion-piece to righteous and deceptively catchy third cut “Odyssey,” and the final gravity well of its title-track, Matador was immersive across its span in a way that neither Voice of Saturn nor Dog Magic could’ve possibly been. That’s not to say anything against either of those LPs, which I wouldn’t do, just that the effort Zoroaster put into what they did came to fruition in these tracks, and as we moved into the current decade, they seemed poised to be among the forerunners of adventurous, forward thinking US doom. New label, more expansive sound, touring as much as ever — there were few safer bets to make.

Accordingly, that’s not at all how it went. These years later, I’m somewhat amazed that in the array of reunions happening, nobody has kicked around Zoroaster‘s name as one due for a resurgence. Maybe it’s too soon — the last touring I heard of from them was with Church of Misery in 2013; by then, Anderson was out of the band and replaced by Mike Morris — but their laser lightshow was always welcome every time I was able to catch it and I can’t imagine their presentation wouldn’t find favor amid the new generation of heavy aficionados that has surfaced in increasing numbers since the band’s departure. We may or may not get there eventually — you won’t find me daring to predict, having sort of learned my lesson in that regard — but the point is that both live and in the studio, Zoroaster were a special group and delivered something that no one else did in quite the same way. I have to wonder what planes of existence they might’ve moved to had they kept going after Matador, where all this lysergic weight would’ve carried them. As it stands, one can find Anderson in Order of the Owl, who released their We are Here to Collect Our Crown EP earlier this year following up on 2012’s In the Noon of the After Day full-length debut, while Fiore rounds out the four-piece incarnation of Royal Thunder, who will reportedly have a new record out in 2017. Last I heard, Scanlan, who was an absolute difference-maker especially on stage, wasn’t currently with a band.

Whether Zoroaster ever make a return is something the years will tell, but in revisiting Matador so long after the fact, it’s even more obvious to me how much they had to offer. If you were into it at the time or if it’s new to you now, I hope you enjoy.

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It was a quiet week overall, though it hardly started that way on Monday driving back from holiday celebrations with family in New Jersey. Granted we stopped for dinner, but seven-plus hours of a four-hour trip felt perhaps needlessly brutal. Fortunately, I had plenty of time to recover with the week off from work. And that’s exactly what I did. Errands here and there, and it turned out to be the perfect span for the Quarterly Review — which wraps on Monday — since otherwise it was pretty quiet, but in the main it was delicious food prepared not at all in a post-workday panic, hanging out with The Patient Mrs. playing Final Fantasy XV, making our way through the entirety of the Die Hard film franchise, etc.

Call it a reminder of how much I prefer existence when I can wake up and write every day on my own terms; of what I want my life to be. I need weeks like this.

Next week, a return to somewhat frenetic normalcy. Here’s what I’ve got planned so far, subject to change as always:

SUN: Year-End Poll results.
MON: Quarterly Review Day 6 and a new video from The Progerians.
TUE: Sgt. Sunshine review and Drone Hunter video.
WED: Review/premiere from Blood Mist, announcement from Hair of the Dog.
THU: Much-delayed Surya Kris Peters review, video premiere from Drive by Wire.
FRI: Sergio Ch. review slated as of now, but that might shift.

Lots of good stuff to come as we get into 2017. I’ve got my list of most anticipated releases coming together — it’s over 100 strong at this point. I want a week or two to solidify things further and give myself a break from writing lists generally, but it’ll be posted before the end of January.

In the meantime, as noted above, the motherload of lists — the results of the Year-End Poll — goes up this weekend, so stay tuned for that. As of this post, it’s still a really close race as it has been all month, and we’ve totally blown away last year’s number of contributors by nearly 200, so I’m very, very pleased with how it’s all turning out. Of course, everyone’s list will be included as always. It will be massive and probably crash the site, but whatever. Poll-time comes but once a year.

I say this every week, but if you’re the type to celebrate New Year’s, it’s especially true: Please be safe and have a great time. No DUIs, no fireworks blowing off hands, none of that shit. Not saying you can’t enjoy yourself, just saying no casualties. The universe needs all the rockers it can get.

Alright, that’s it for me. Can’t say I’ll mourn 2016’s passing, as it was a rough one on any number of levels personal and otherwise, but let’s all look forward and hope for better times to come. Please know you have my best wishes.

And please check out the forum and radio stream.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

Please note: This post is not culled in any way from the Year-End Poll, which is ongoing. If you haven’t yet contributed your favorites of 2016 to that, please do.

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Yeah, I know I said as much when the Top 20 Debut Albums of 2016 went up, but I take it back: this is the hardest list to put together. And to be honest, there’s a part of me that’s hesitant even to post it because I know as soon as I do someone’s going to be like, “No way you dick your entire existence is shit because you forgot Release X,” and very likely they’ll be right. Up to the very moment this post is going live, I’ve been making changes, and I expect I’ll continue to do so for a while after it’s out there.

So what’s a “short release?” That’s another issue. Pretty much anything that’s not an album. Singles, digital or physical, as well as EPs, splits, demos, and so on. The category becomes nebulous, but my general rule is if it’s not a full-length, it qualifies as a short release. Sounds simple until you get into things like, “Here’s a track I threw up on Bandcamp,” and “This only came out as a bonus included as a separate LP with the deluxe edition of our album.” I’m telling you, I’ve had a difficult time.

Maybe that’s just me trying to protect myself from impending wrath. This year’s Top 30 albums list provoked some vehement — and, if I may, prickishly-worded — responses, so I might be a bit gunshy here, but on the other hand, I think these outings are worth highlighting, so we’re going forward anyway. If you have something to add, please use the comments below, but remember we’re all friends here and there’s a human being on the other end reading what’s posted. Thanks in advance for that.

And since this is the last list of The Obelisk’s Best-of-2016 coverage, I’ll say thanks for reading as well. More to come in the New Year, of course.

Here we go:

The Obelisk Presents: The Top 20 Short Releases of 2016

1. Scissorfight, Chaos County EP
2. Earthless / Harsh Toke, Split
3. Mars Red Sky, Providence EP
4. Mos Generator, The Firmament
5. Soldati, Soldati
6. Monolord, Lord of Suffering / Die in Haze EP
7. Wren, Host EP
8. Goya, The Enemy EP
9. The Sweet Heat, Demo
10. River Cult, Demo
11. Stinkeye, Llantera Demos
12. Megaritual, Eclipse EP
13. Ragged Barracudas / Pushy, Split
14. Mindkult, Witchs’ Oath EP
15. Iron Jawed Guru, Mata Hari EP
16. Brume, Donkey
17. Bison Machine / Wild Savages / SLO, Sweet Leaves Vol. 1 Split
18. BoneHawk / Kingnomad, The Second Coming of Heavy: Chapter Three Split
19. Wicked Gypsy, EP
20. Love Gang, Love Gang EP

Honorable Mention

An expansive category as ever. In addition to what’s above, the following stood out and no doubt more will be added over the course of the next few days. If you feel something is missing, please let me know.

Presented alphabetically:

Cambrian Explosion, The Moon EP
Candlemass, Death Thy Lover EP
Cultist, Cultist EP
Danava, At Midnight You Die 7″
Dos Malés, Dos Malés EP
Druglord, Deepest Regrets EP
Fu Manchu, Slow Ride 7″
Geezer, A Flagrant Disregard for Happiness 12″
Gorilla vs. Grifter, Split
Holy Smoke, Holy Smoke! It’s a Demo!
Karma to Burn, Mountain Czar
LSD and the Search for God, Heaven is a Place EP
Pallbearer, Fear and Fury
Reign of Zaius, Planet Of…
Sea of Bones / Ramlord, Split
Shallows, The Moon Rises
The Skull, EP
Snowy Dunes, “Atlantis Part I” digital single
Sun Voyager / The Mad Doctors, Split
Valborg, Werwolf 7″

Notes

Was it just the raw joy of having Scissorfight back? No, but that was for sure part of it. It was also the brazenness with which the New Hampshire outfit let go of their past, particularly frontman Christopher “Ironlung” Shurtleff, and moved forward unwilling to compromise what they wanted to do that made their Chaos County so respectable in my eyes. Having always flourished in the form, they delivered an EP of classic Scissorfight tunes and issued a stiff middle finger to anyone who would dare call them otherwise. They couldn’t have been more themselves no matter who was in the band.

At the same time, it was a hard choice between that and the Earthless / Harsh Toke split for the top spot. I mean, seriously. It’s Earthless — who at this point are the godfathers of West Coast jamadelica — and Harsh Toke, who are among the style’s most engaging upstart purveyors, each stretching out over a huge and encompassing single track. I couldn’t stop listening to that one if I wanted to, and as the year went on, I found I never wanted to.

I was glad when Mars Red Sky included the title-track of the Providence EP as a bonus cut on their subsequent album, Apex III (Praise for the Burning Soul), both because it tied the two releases together even further and because it gave me another opportunity to hear it every time I listened to the record. Their short releases have always shown significant character apart from their full-lengths, and this was no exception. I still tear up when I hear “Sapphire Vessel.”

To bounce around a bit: Had to get Mos Generator on the list for the progressive expansion of the live-recorded The Firmament. Stickman was right to put that out on vinyl. Both Monolord and Goya provided quick outings of huge riffs to sate their respective and growing followings, while Megaritual’s Eclipse basked in drone serenity and the debut release from Sergio Ch.’s Soldati provided hard-driving heavy rock with the particular nuance for which the former Los Natas frontman is known. It’s the highest among a slew of first/early outings — see also The Sweet Heat, Wren (Host was their second EP), River Cult’s demo, Stinkeye, Mindkult, Iron Jawed Guru, Brume, Wicked Gypsy and Love Gang.

Ultimately, there were fewer splits on the list this year than last year, but I’ll credit that to happenstance more than any emergent bias against the form or lack of quality in terms of what actually came out. The BoneHawk and Kingnomad release, the Ragged Barracudas and Pushy split, and that heavy rocking onslaught from Bison Machine and company were all certainly welcome by me, and I’ll mention Gorilla vs. Grifter there too again, just because it was awesome.

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One more time, thank you for reading, and if you have something to add, please do so in the comments below. Your civility in that regard is appreciated.

This is the last of my lists for 2016, but the Readers Poll results are out Jan. 1 and the New Year hits next week and that brings a whole new round of looking-forward coverage, so stay tuned.

As always, there’s much more to come.

We press on with the Quarterly Review and writeups #41-50 of the total 60 to be featured. Some considerable names in this batch, as I suppose there have been all along, but one of the functions this feature has come to serve is to allow me a space to offer some comment on bigger records that, let’s be frank, are being covered everywhere in the universe, while fleshing out coverage elsewhere of things like bands’ debuts and some other less-ubiquitous offerings. That’s become the idea anyway. Doesn’t always go like that, but it’s kind of a relief to have somewhere I can put the extra 200 reviews per year rather than miss out. We’ll wrap this one up on Monday, but just because it’s the end of the week and because it’s my general sentiment, thanks for reading.

Quarterly Review #41-50:

40 Watt Sun, Wider than the Sky

With their second album, the awaited Wider than the Sky, London’s 40 Watt Sun continue to be defined by their depressive expressionism. The six-track/62-minute follow-up to 2011’s The Inside Room (review here) finds guitarist/vocalist Patrick Walker (ex-Warning), bassist William Spong and drummer Christian Leitch opening with the longest inclusion (immediate points) in the gorgeously mournful 16-minute unfolding of “Stages.” Sonically lush but still somehow raw and minimal in its emotionality, a slow drear sets the tone for what will follow in “Beyond You” and “Another Room,” “Pictures and “Craven Road,” which alternate on either side of the 10-minute mark until closer “Marazion” (3:57) seems to resonate a less-hopeless spirit. More than The Inside Room, Wider than the Sky realizes itself in emotional rather than tonal weight, and while one often identifies these feelings with things cold and grey, it would require a willful blindness not to recognize the humanity and warmth coming through in Walker’s delivery of this material. Wide it may be, but not at all distant.

40 Watt Sun on Thee Facebooks

40 Watt Sun website

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Worm Ouroboros, What Graceless Dawn

The duality of Worm Ouroboros’ third album for Profound Lore, What Graceless Dawn, is almost as prevalent as the irony that its title should include the word “graceless” when the 63-minute six-tracker itself is so melodically poised. It’s dark, but hopeful, spacious and compact, challenging but simply and often minimally arranged, patient and emotionally intense, and heavy even as it seems to float from one extended piece to the next on a current of intertwining, nigh-operatic vocals from bassist Lorraine Rath (ex-Amber Asylum) and guitarist Jessica Way (World Eater) while Aesop Dekker (Agalloch, Vhöl) seems just as comfortable in the quiet midsection stretch of 13-minute centerpiece “Ribbon of Shadow” as in the rumbling payoff of “Suffering Tree” just before. Running from opener “Day” to closer “Night,” What Graceless Dawn is nothing if not coherent, and while the band’s core approach has been largely consistent across their 2010 self-titled debut (review here) and 2012’s Come the Thaw, the Bay Area trio maintain a clear commitment to forward-moving artistry that stirs the consciousness.

Worm Ouroboros on Thee Facebooks

Profound Lore Records website

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The Heads, Burning up With: Live at Roadburn 2015

I was fortunate enough to be there when UK heavy psych legends The Heads played the Main Stage set at Roadburn 2015 captured on the Burning World Records release Burning up With…, and indeed the preservation of the band’s utter liquefaction of that large room is well worth preserving across the four sides of a double-LP. The only drawback to a vinyl version of their set is that while the individual songs are presented as side-consuming medleys – “Cardinal Fuzz/KRT,” “Gnu/Legevaan Sattelite/U33,” and so on – that still requires some measure of break to flip from one to the next, whereas in the all-at-once linearity of a CD or digital listen, one finds the overwhelming lysergic proceedings intact as they were from the stage, gloriously molten and entrancingly jammed out by the longtime masters of the form. I won’t even attempt to give its spaciousness a proper assessment since just about anything The Heads do is a gift defying impartiality, especially something like this, but yeah, get on it.

The Heads on Thee Facebooks

Burning World Records website

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Jason Simon, Familiar Haunts

Back in 2010, Dead Meadow frontman Jason Simon released an eponymous solo debut on Tee Pee that found him working in a folkish sphere, and his six-years-later follow-up, Familiar Haunts (on Tekeli-Li, Cardinal Fuzz, Burger Records and Blind Blind Tiger), has some of those elements as well on the twanging, finger-plucking “Pretty Polly” and subdued strum of “Seven Sisters of Sleep,” but Simon has also assembled a four-piece band here, and from the pickup of opener “The People Dance, the People Sing,” through the fuzz experimentalism of “Now I’m Telling You” and the airy linear build of the penultimate 11-minute highlight “Wheels Will Spin,” there’s no lack of fullness in the sound. One finds a particularly engaging blend on “Hills of Mexico,” a six-minute rambler that fluidly brings together neofolk and desert ambience, though as Simon and company play sounds off each other in this material, “engaging blend” would seem to be the underlying theme of Familiar Haunts as a whole.

Jason Simon on Bandcamp

Cardinal Fuzz Records

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Danava, At Midnight You Die

Over a decade removed from their 2006 self-titled debut and five years past their third album, 2011’s Hemisphere of Shadows, one might easily argue that Portland, Oregon’s Danava are due for a full-length release. Sure, the band led by guitarist/vocalist Gregory Meleny have toured plenty in that time in the US and abroad, put out splits and so on, and that has consistently and organically grown their fanbase. Sating that fanbase would seem to be the motivation behind the two-song 7” At Midnight You Die (on Tee Pee), on which the titular A-side finds the four-piece making the most of their dual guitars – Meleny and Pete Hughes (Sons of Huns) shredding in proto-NWOBHM fashion – while the B-side takes on the bizarre and foreboding folk ambience of “My Spirit Runs Free,” short at three minutes, acoustic and sourced from 1979’s The Capture of Bigfoot. So yeah, it’s like that. No new record, but a ripper and some delightful weirdness on hand, and I suspect at this point many of their followers will take what they can get.

Danava on Thee Facebooks

Danava at Tee Pee Records

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Pylar, Pyedra

Some bands are just on their own wavelength, and as much as one might be tempted to relate Sevilla’s Pylar to SunnO))) with their robes and their drones, the Spanish troupe’s four-track full-length, Pyedra (on Alone Records), sees them emitting a slew of horrors all their own. Working as a five-piece, Pylar open with “Menga” (10:57), their longest cut (immediate points) and establish a basis of amelodic, largely arrhythmic noise-jazz. There are more straightforward currents in the subsequent rumble and roll of “Megalitos” (10:33), and “Menhir” (9:37) would seem to draw both sides together before “Meteoros” (9:07) rounds out with an airy, horn-topped alternate-universe victory, but the whole of Pyedra remains informed by the way-off-kilter challenge it poses at the outset, and part of the thrill is making your way through with no idea of what’s coming next other than another extended song beginning with the letter ‘m.’ Will be too much for some, but Pylar’s bleak experimentalism assures cultish appeal worthy of those robes the band wears.

Pylar on Bandcamp

Pylar at Alone Records

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Domkraft, The End of Electricity

Proliferating a combination of speaker-punishing low-end riffs and post-rock-derived spaciousness, Swedish trio Domkraft debut on Magnetic Eye Records with the wholesale immersion of The End of Electricity and evoke heft no less substantial than their stated theme. They begin with their two longest tracks (which I guess is double points?) in “The Rift” and “Meltdown of the Orb,” and by the time they’re through them, bassist/vocalist Martin Wegeland, guitarist Martin Widholm and drummer Anders Dahlgren have already doled out a full LP’s worth of nod, which would seem to make what follows after the momentary breather of “Drones” in “Red Lead,” “All Come Hither” the shorter “Dustrider” and closer “We Will Follow” a bonus round – in which Domkraft also dominate. Because its heavy is so heavy and because Wegeland’s vocals arrive across the board as far-back, shouted echoes, it’s easy to lose sight of the ambience that goes with all that roll, but what ultimately gives The End of Electricity such character is that it creates as much of a world as it destroys.

Domkraft on Thee Facebooks

Magnetic Eye Records on Bandcamp

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Picaporters, El Horror Oculto

Back in 2013, Buenos Aires outfit Picaporters made an encouraging debut with Elefantes (review here). They’ve teased the follow-up, El Horror Oculto (on South American Sludge), over the last year-plus with several digital singles, but the album’s arrival hits with a distinct fleshing out of atmosphere, as heard on the grueling second cut “Diferentes Formas de Ostras” or the manner in which the centerpiece title-track departs from its raucous opening into a heavy-psychedelic meander, never to return, feeding off of the structure of “Humo Ancestral” directly before. An interlude “Etude 6” leads into the opening drift of “Ra,” but it’s a ruse as Picaporters offer some of the album’s most driving heavy rock in that cut’s second half, and close out with Sabbath-darkness-via-Zeppelin-noodling on “War is Over,” the trio coming together in a molten psychedelic doom that seems to draw from the various sides they’ve shown throughout without losing sight of pushing further in its summary.

Picaporters on Thee Facebooks

South American Sludge Records on Thee Facebooks

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Deamon’s Child, Scherben Müssen Sein

It would be a mistake to judge Deamon’s Child’s second full-length, Scherben Müssen Sein (on Zygmatron), by any single one of its tracks, as the German trio makes plain in the dramatic shift from the crushing sludge of “Zucker” into the raw punk thrust of the subsequent “Keine Zeit.” Elsewhere, they find funky footing before punking out once again in “Schweinehund, Kimm Tanz Mit Mir!” and rumble the outing to a finish consuming in its largesse on the 10-minute “Nichts,” so yes, as they follow-up their 2014 self-titled debut (review here), Deamon’s Child hold fast to the sense of the unhinged proffered therein while uniting their material through an intensity that comes across regardless of tempo or surrounding purpose. They are on the beat, not behind it, pushing forward always. That can make Scherben Müssen Sein difficult to keep track of as it moves swiftly through the blast of “Monster” and the manipulated samples of “In Kinderschuhen” toward that finale, but the mission here is far, far away from easy listening, so all the better.

Deamon’s Child on Thee Facebooks

Deamon’s Child on Bandcamp

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Fungal Abyss, Bardo Abgrund Temple

Adansonia Records offers a bonus-track-laden revisit of the 2011 debut release, Bardo Abgrund Temple, from Seattle shroom-jammers Fungal Abyss, whose improvisational sensibility comes through the original four extended cuts with no diminishing of their otherworldly trip-out for the half-decade that’s passed since they first surfaced. Those looking for a US counterpart to European psych-improv outfits like Electric Moon or Øresund Space Collective – i.e., me – would do well to dig into opener “Arc of the Covenant” (20:12) or closer “Fungal DeBrist” (24:07) as a lead-in for the earlier-2016 follow-up, Karma Suture (review here), as well as their companion live outings, but whatever contextual approach a listener might want to take, the instrumental stretch of Bardo Abgrund Temple is a serenely heavy and meandering path to walk, given to bouts of space-rock thrust and long passages of low-end droner nod, as heard on the 10-minute “Timewave Zero,” turned on and duly ritualized in its swirl and far-off vocalizations. A reissue well-earned of a gracefully cosmic debut.

Fungal Abyss on Thee Facebooks

Adansonia Records on Thee Facebooks

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From the Finnish hotbed of Tampere comes word that heavy rock trio Rückwater will issue a new EP on Feb. 24. Their third, it’s titled Bonehead and will be released via Secret Entertainment. The three-piece are streaming the track “Once More with Feeling” — in fact, if you check out their YouTube channel, they seem to be streaming the whole thing, but there’s nothing wrong with staying focused — and one gets a pretty strong Roadsaw/Orange Goblin-style vibe from it, which of course is nothing to complain about.

With so much of Finland’s heavy underground devoted to weirdness of various stripes, that Rückwater offer something so straightforward is almost bizarre in itself, but if it’s a trap, it’s one well-laid, and I remain a sucker for riffs and hooks, so here’s this from the PR wire:

Rückwater to release an EP in February!

Rückwater is a three-headed stoner rock monster hailing from Tampere, Finland. Their new EP named Bonehead is released February 24th 2017 by Secret Entertainment. Heartfelt lyrics, strong tunes, two asskickin’ lead singers and the boogie that varies from furious to mellow makes this record worth of listening.

Rückwater has shared a stage with names like Joey Belladonna and stoner legend Karma To Burn, so this really is a band to watch out for.

Track list:
01. Once More With Feeling
02. No Gain
03. Labyrinth
04. Super Frustration
05. Bonehead
06. Flame Doesn’t Cast A Shadow

Line-up:
-Jussi Vehman / Vocals / Bass
-Make Makkonen / Vocals / Guitars
-Jape Makkonen / Drums

Discography:
-So far out… -EP (2011)
-What’s in the box? -EP (2013)
-Bonehead -EP (2017)

Bio:
This 3-headed stoner rock monster was born in 2010. Its first recording session took place in the same year. 7 songs were recorded during 3 burning hot summer days. The masterpiece is called “So Far Out…”. It was a huge review success… Well, it would’ve been if we had sent it to somewhere. But we don’t give a fuck! Since then we’ve been giggin’ and rockin’ our asses off. And of course we’ve written some new classics meanwhile. Early in 2013 we started began making our second record. This time the process was much more diligent and it took many months to get the new 5 classics ready. But result was worth the patience. “What’s In The Box?” is probably the best EP ever!!!

https://twitter.com/ruckwater
https://soundcloud.com/ruckwater
https://www.facebook.com/ruckwater/
https://www.youtube.com/user/Ruckwater
https://twitter.com/SecretEntLabel
https://www.facebook.com/secretentertainmentfinland
http://secretentertainment.fi/

Rückwater, “Once More with Feeling”

We continue with day four of the Quarterly Review. This batch is numbers 31-40 of the total 60, not that the numbers really mean anything. I know it’s list season — believe me, I know — but there’s no actual ranking going on. It’s just basically so I can keep track and remember what day it is. That’s not to say this is done off the cuff. Actually, there’s an embarrassing amount of planning behind these things. Months. And when I start actually getting the posts ready and realize I’ve slated the same record on two different days — something that’s happened no fewer than three times so far, needing each time to be corrected — it’s a clear demonstration of the value of my planning. Ha. Anyway, we press on. Together. Into the thick of it. Thanks for reading.

Quarterly Review #31-40:

Crowbar, The Serpent Only Lies

More than 25 years and 11 albums into a landmark career that helped prove the existence of the hairy beast known as “sludge metal,” Crowbar don’t owe anyone anything, and since returning to activity with 2011’s Sever the Wicked Hand (review here) and 2014’s Symmetry in Black, they’ve played like it. Their third post-resurgence outing is The Serpent Only Lies (on eOne Heavy), and though it works largely to form – that is, Crowbar are going to sound like Crowbar: low, slow, seeming to lurch even when dug into fits of gallop on “I am the Storm” or the early going of “The Enemy Beside You” – one still finds progression especially in the vocal approach of frontman and founder Kirk Windstein, who self-harmonizes effectively on the title-track’s standout hook as well as the later pair “On Holy Ground” and “Song of the Dunes,” the latter also resoundingly spacious in a way that offsets much of The Serpent Only Lies’ head-down intensity. This might be flourish or a companion to the core Crowbar sound that remains intact throughout, but the truth is it’s not like it needs to be there – Crowbar’s audience would still go to the shows even if the band stopped growing – but it’s entirely to the credit of the New Orleans legends that more than a quarter-century later they continue to progress. I guess that’s how Crowbar gets to be Crowbar.

Crowbar on Thee Facebooks

eOne Heavy on Thee Facebooks

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Katatonia, The Fall of Hearts

Depending on what you count as a full-length, The Fall of Hearts (on Peaceville) is either the 10th or 11th studio record from Sweden’s Katatonia. It follows 2013’s acoustic Dethroned and Uncrowned, which reenvisioned 2012’s Dead End Kings and brings forth over an hour of new material from founding duo Jonas Renkse (vocals/guitar/etc.) and Anders “Blakkheim” Nyström (guitar/backing vocals), as well as Niklas Sandin (bass) and Daniel Moilanen (drums), who, working with engineer Karl Daniel Lidén (ex-Greenleaf, Demon Cleaner), continue to proffer resonant melancholy in abundance. As a band, Katatonia have had a number of different phases over the years, from their deathly beginnings through the later moves into melody, but as it stands on songs like “Decima,” with its acoustic and mellotron arrangement, and the seven-minute “Serac,” which plays back and forth between serene and some of The Fall of Hearts’ most intense thrust, they remain among heavy metal’s most recognizable acts. There is no one else who sounds like them, and they sound not quite like anyone else. This collection might be more about gradual steps forward than radical shifts in approach, but Katatonia have found a way to preach to their converted and keep growing at the same time, and that’s to be commended.

Katatonia on Thee Facebooks

Peaceville Records website

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Ethereal Riffian, I am Deathless

Issued via Robustfellow in a range of physical editions from an oversized CD digipak to cassette bundles, the two-song I. AM. Deathless EP from yet-underrated Ukrainian progressive ritualists Ethereal Riffian warrants the ceremony with which it arrives. Its two tracks, “Drum of the Deathless” (6:19) and “Sword of the Deathless” (9:57) closed and opened, respectively, the prior 2016 live outing, Youniversal Voice (review here), and in their studio form they bring to bear a vision of psychedelic metal given to atmospheric breadth that comes at the expense neither of purpose nor impact. The opener proves the more immediate of the pair, but as “Sword of the Deathless” plays out, it finds prog-metal swirl amid low-end starts and stops intertwined layers of multi-channel spoken word, acoustic and electric guitar and percussive tension, so that as it heads into its payoff and melodic finish, the resolution is both satisfying and something of a relief from the cacophony preceding. Forward-thinking and of marked substance, I. AM. Deathless offers a quick glimpse at the band’s scope and invites listeners to dive deep therein.

Ethereal Riffian on Thee Facebooks

Robustfellow Productions on Bandcamp

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Dot Legacy, To the Others

There isn’t much that’s off-limits to Parisian heavy rockers Dot Legacy. To wit, the near-rap-rock mania of opener “Horizon” from their second LP, To the Others (on Setalight Records), and the laid-back psych-lounge vibes that follow on “Grey Cardinal,” only to be swept away in crashes and chants later, leading to the driving desert punkery of “211.” Three songs, three distinct feels, and Dot Legacy only get weirder from there as they toy with fuzzed momentum on “5314” and “Dakota” before the dreamy post-rock meandering of “The Twelve,” the prog-pop of “Story of Fame” and piano-laden psych-drama of closer “Pioneer.” In 35 minutes, the four-piece cover more ground than most bands do in their whole careers, but that becomes even more admirable in that they manage not to just be all over the place, but to provide a consistent quality of songwriting to complement all that quirk. Add to that the attention to detail in vocal harmonies and arrangements, and as they follow-up their 2014 self-titled debut (review here), they reveal a clear sense of a master plan at work under all the brashness and genre-hopping.

Dot Legacy on Thee Facebooks

Setalight Records website

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Salem’s Bend, Salem’s Bend

Self-released by the Los Angeles trio in late-2015 and picked up for a vinyl issue through Ripple Music, the self-titled debut from Salem’s Bend leaves little wonder as to why with its classic sensibility and the vibe proliferated by the natural-toned nod of a song like “Silverstruck.” Though still prone to a bit of Hendrix-style shred when it comes to lead guitar, the three-piece of Bobby (guitar/vocals), Kevin (bass) and Zach (drums) depart from some of the post-Radio Moscow all-thrust boogie in favor of more laid back fair and on that cut and the later “Sun and Mist,” which hits into a satisfying apex in its second half without feeling overcooked, as well as the six-minute finale “A Tip of Salem,” which nods through its initial movement before bursting out toward the end. In a crowded SoCal scene, just about anything Salem’s Bend can do to stand apart will serve them, and the fluidity they hone across these seven tracks sets them up to do just that.

Salem’s Bend on Thee Facebooks

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

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Thonian Horde, Thonian Horde

Given the personnel involved, the black ‘n’ roll extremity of Thonian Horde’s self-titled debut full-length will no doubt come as a surprise to listeners. Formed in Boonsboro, Maryland, by bassist/vocalist Ron “Fezz” McGinnis (Pale Divine, Admiral Browning, etc.), guitarists Darren “Dirty” Waters (Weed is Weed) and Dan “D-Mize” Mize (Faith in Jane), and drummer Tyler “The Beast” Lee (Weed is Weed), one might expect high-order Frederick-style post-The Obsessed doom. Thonian Horde have more in common with Immortal on their centerpiece track “Darkest Nights Shadow,” and even as the closing “Psychonaut” finds a rock groove in its chorus, it does so with the hooky edge of Satyricon more than any of the members’ other outfits. No doubt that’s the point: doing something different. Indeed, the nine-tracker is a refreshing aesthetic reboot for the scene from whence it comes, holding fast to their region’s crucial lack of pretense even as they brazenly walk their own path – left-hand, of course.

Thonian Horde on Thee Facebooks

Thonian Horde on Bandcamp

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Second Sun, Tachyonregenerator

I don’t know about you, but I missed out on Hopp/Förtvivlan, which was the 2015 debut full-length from Swedish rockers Second Sun, so to have Gaphals provide gentle encouragement to check it out by getting behind the two-songer single Tachyonregenerator is most welcome. Both cuts included – “Tachyonregenerator” and “Tror Faktiskt På Dig” – bask in classic vibe without being overly showy when it comes to retroism, and are marked out by the inclusion of organ amid the natural-sounding guitar, drums and bass, the vocals presented in Swedish across both pieces. It’s a quick eight-minutes perfect for the 7” pressing it’s been given, but again, makes enough of an impression that one is inclined toward further investigation, and given that, I can’t call it anything other than a success. I’ll go ahead and chalk up one more quality Swedish act to keep track of, because Second Sun offer tight-knit progressive leanings in a crisp package on Tachyonregenerator, and even if I’m late to the party, I’m glad I got to hear it.

Second Sun on Thee Facebooks

Gaphals Records website

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Ten Ton Slug, Brutal Gluttonous Beast

Some pretty clear self-awareness demonstrated in Ten Ton Slug’s self-released debut EP, Brutal Gluttonous Beast. The Galway, Ireland, five-piece had a prior live-recorded two-tracker, but these four songs mark their first studio outing, and as they draw together massive sludge riffing and more extreme, death metal-style growls, there’s precious little one might say to more accurately describe a track like “Trollhunter” – the opener and longest on the release (immediate points) – than that it lives up to the title, its second-half slowdown lurch prefacing a similar move in “Bloodburns” before the more rampaging “Subterranean” and noise-soaked burl of “Unit” take hold. Intense and vicious, but not necessarily unhinged, Brutal Gluttonous Beast finds Ten Ton Slug sounding remarkably sure in their approach, and one will await the news of their traveling to England to record with Chris Fielding at Skyhammer, since that seems to be the kind of presentation for which the tonal onslaught here is begging.

Ten Ton Slug on Thee Facebooks

Ten Ton Slug on Bandcamp

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Komatsu, Recipe for Murder One

A half-decade after releasing their self-titled EP (review here), Eindhoven heavy/noise rockers Komatsu reemerge on Argonauta Records with the follow-up full-length, Recipe for Murder One. Boasting a guest appearance from Nick Oliveri on the suitably tumultuous “Lockdown,” the album leaves little to wonder what’s in that recipe in the darker-desert vibe of “So How’s About Billy” and “There Must be Something in Your Water,” which teases airy serenity in its first half only to go full-throttle for the second, but as the bass-driven lumber of the title-track and subtle melodic expansion of “The Sea is Calm Today” show, Komatsu haven’t wasted the last five years, instead constructing their own take on sonic density and sludge impulses that seems to hit with formidable impact regardless of tempo or tension level, both of which prove to be fluid elements at the four-piece’s disposal. They get the point across quickly in the stomp of “The Long Way Home,” but find suitable resolution in the nod of closer “Breathe,” rounding out a debut of significant character and depth with one last surprise in ambience it’s only fair to call progressive.

Komatsu on Thee Facebooks

Argonauta Records website

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The Blue Sunshine Family Band, The Blue Sunshine Family Band

A double-guitar instrumental four-piece from Santa Rosa, California, The Blue Sunshine Family Band make their debut with a six-song/51-minute self-titled. Tracks presented as Roman numerals “I” through “VI,” though whether or not they’re actually the first six pieces the band has written, I couldn’t say. Either way, the impression immediately draws from “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” – that great king of nod riffs – and first-name-only guitarists Billy and Kevin, bassist Matt and drummer Quinten build outward from there, dipping below the eight-minute mark only on “V” (7:14) as they unfurl solid grooves and tonal heft, seeming to leave room for vocals either consciously or not. The converted will find engagement and immersion in the crash and swinging turn of “IV,” as well as the David Paul Seymour cover art, and if The Blue Sunshine Family Band is the sound of this foursome getting their feet under them, they manage to accomplish that preliminary feat and then some in these tracks.

The Blue Sunshine Family Band on Thee Facebooks

The Blue Sunshine Family Band on Bandcamp

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Last heard from this past Fall when they headed out on tour in support of their 2016 album, We’re Already Inside Your Mind, Cardiff-based Lacertilia have put out word of a follow-up short UK run in April 2017. The Fall stint was with Cybernetic Witch Cult and the Spring one will find them out with mischievous sludge rock purveyors Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters, so they continue to keep good company as they go and spread the word on their LP, which was released on Red Sound Records in July.

In the meantime, Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters have dropped hints of new stuff to come in 2017, including a split with I-don’t-know-who-yet and potentially a debut album follow-up on 2015’s Earth Hog EP (review here). Whether or not that first long-player will show up before the end of the year, I don’t know, but if it does, I’ll take it. They’re currently signed to Riff Rock Records, having signed with the imprint in November and announced it here while also premiering their video for “Mother Chub,” which if you haven’t seen it is a damn good time.

Dates and info follow, as seen on the internets:

LACERTILIA & CHUBBY THUNDEROUS BAD KUSH MASTERS – BRING FOURTH 2017

We’re heading out on tour with our brothers of the riff, Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters in April!

Lacertilia // Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters hit the road in April 2017:

19/04- Arches Venue Coventry // Coventry
20/04- Mulberry Tavern // Sheffield
21/04- Opium – Alternative Club & Bar // Edinburgh
22/04- Rebellion Manchester // Manchester
23/04-The Stag and Hounds // Bristol

Lacertilia are a cosmic blend of primal rock ‘n’ roll energy, heavy psychedelia and sludgy groove rock. Their new album ‘We’re Already Inside Your Mind’ is out now on Red Sun Sounds and is available to buy via their Bandcamp page https://lacertilia-uk.bandcamp.com

Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters: Tie dye Fuzz & Stoner.

https://www.facebook.com/LacertiliaUKBand/
https://lacertilia-uk.bandcamp.com/releases
https://twitter.com/LacertiliaUK
https://www.facebook.com/chubbythunderousbadkushmasters/
http://chubbythunderousbadkushmasters.bigcartel.com/
https://chubbythunderousbadkushmasters.bandcamp.com/
http://riffrockrecords.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/RiffRockMusic/

Lacertilia, We’re Already Inside Your Mind (2016)

Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters, Earth Hog (2015)

I’ve been doing my best to keep up with the impending 2017 resurgence of Berlin heavy psychedelic rockers Samsara Blues Experiment, who by next Spring should be back in full swing after a couple years of relative inactivity. First came word in October they would play Desertfest London 2017 (info here). Just days later, the trio confirmed they were preparing a fourth album for release to follow-up on 2013’s excellent Waiting for the Flood (review here). After that, it was Desertfest Berlin 2017 (info here), Barcelona’s Riff Ritual Fest (info here) — also in April — and a South American tour presented by Abraxas to take place in March (info here).

By the time they’re done with it, I think Samsara Blues Experiment will have already had a pretty busy Spring, but as they bridge the gap from one run to the next, they now present a home-country weekender of German shows that will fall after their return from South America and before the trips to Spain and London/Berlin for Riff Ritual and the two Desertfests (not that Berlin is much of a voyage for them, but you know what I mean). It’s just three dates, but it carries them from March into April and centers around a slot at the Under the Black Moon Festival in Munich on April 1, where they’ll join the likes of Mantar, High Fighter, Dune Pilot, 1000mods and others.

Still no solid release date for the album so far as I know, and at this point that’s the news I’m waiting for, but it continues to be a thrill to see Samsara Blues Experiment coming to life again in such a big way and I hope it’s a theme for the rest of 2017 as well. Dates follow for the German and South American shows:

Samsara Blues Experiment – Osnabrück / München / Leipzig

Samsara Blues Experiment live!

Exclusive Germany Short Tour to the start of the fourth album announced for spring 2017.

31. March Westwerk Osnabrück
01. April Under The Black Moon Festival München
02. April Werk 2 Leipzig w/1000mods

Coming soon, let´s have a party…

SAMSARA BLUES EXPERIMENT – SOUTH AMERICA TOUR – MARCH 2017
03/02 – Santiago, CL @ La Capilla
03/03 – Buenos Aires, AR @ The Roxy Live
03/04 – Montevideo, UR @ Bluzz Live
03/05 – Córdoba, AR @ Refugio Guernica
03/08 – Porto Alegre, BR @ RIFF.E Bar
03/09 – Florianópolis, BR @ Célula Showcase
03/10 – Belo Horizonte, BR @ Stonehenge Rock Bar
03/11 – São Paulo, BR @ Inferno Club
03/12 – Rio de Janeiro, BR @ Hocus Pocus Fest

https://www.facebook.com/events/385024388507943/
https://www.facebook.com/samsarabluesexperiment/
http://sbe-official.tumblr.com/
http://instagram.com/samsarabluesexperiment
https://samsarabluesexperiment.bandcamp.com/

Samsara Blues Experiment, Waiting for the Flood (2013)

Rest assured that although Austin’s Evil Triplet put forth a track on their forthcoming Super Secret Records debut called ‘Get a Job,’ the sundry freakouts on offer across the 2LP are way more likely to make you want to quit the one you’ve already got than pretend on any level you’re a productive member of society. I’m not saying I’ve heard the thing or that I’m listening to it as I type this or whatnot, but it’s pretty telling that “Get a Job” is followed by “Planet I’m On.” That basically sets up the dichotomy right there. Dudes are tripped out, is what I’m saying. Immersive like heavy psych should be, but with some raw underpinnings that convey the punk lineage of guitarist/vocalist Steve Marsh without — miraculously without — aping The Stooges any more than anyone does by simply existing. Again, not saying I’ve heard it, but I dig the vibe.

There’s some live video below you can check out if you’re so inclined, and abundant background from the PR wire to dig into. Have at it:

Evil Triplet – Heavy psych by Austin punk pioneer ex-Terminal Mind, w/ mbrs of My Education, Cinders

Austin trio Evil Triplet announce their forthcoming double LP debut album Otherworld on Super Secret Records.

Evil Triplet is a heavy psych trio from Austin, TX. The space rock behemoth is comprised of Steve Marsh (guitar and vocals), Kirk Laktas (drums), and Joe Volpi (bass).

Marsh traces back to Terminal Mind, a seminal band in the Austin punk scene of the late 70s that spawned The Big Boys and The Dicks (Super Secret offshoot Sonic Surgery Records will be reissuing Terminal Mind’s original recorded output, plus unreleased studio and live tracks, later in 2017). He then led Miracle Room, a psychedelic industrial hoedown that shared stages with Snakefinger, Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid, Negativland, and Sonny Sharrock, among others, and morphed into Wisdom Tooth, which released a CD on Knitting Factory’s imprint.

Kirk is the keyboard wizard in post-rock bands My Education and Cinders, and was an early member of Stars Of The Lid. He has worked sessions with Acid Mothers Temple, Shearwater, Pauline Oliveros and ST37.

Mr Volpi toured and recorded with Primordial Undermind, as well as lending his chops to countless other Austin bands, including The Flood and Reverend Glasseye. He also performs a dark acoustic song cycle solo as Kaiser Soze, and plays standup bass in Cinders.

Evil Triplet recorded their debut opus at Sonic Ranch Studios, in the desert outside El Paso, TX. The sound is lush, lysergic and overpowering. In addition to the solid foundation of classic heavy guitar rock, there are multiple points of experimentation, with Marsh attacking the electric guitar with vibrator, drill, electric razor and music box. There are also underlying synth loops, piano and organ, all in service to the tripped-out material, with lyrics covering such topics as space, mushrooms, human consciousness as alien possession, and a plea from Lucifer to his minions to stay in school.

The record will be distributed by Revolver USA and available in 180g vinyl and CD at record stores and by mail order from Super Secret Records. The band will be touring to support the record release this Spring, so get ready to be absorbed into Evil Triplet’s Otherworld!

Otherworld will be available on LP, CD and download on February 10th, 2017 via Super Secret Records.

Artist: Evil Triplet
Album: Otherworld
Label: Super Secret Records
Release date: February 10th, 2017

01) Star Ladder
02) Fungus
03) Get a Job
04) Planet I’m On
05) Post Group Date Scene
06) Pyramids
07) We Are The Aliens
08) Worship Satin
09) Road Trips

facebook.com/eviltriplet
supersecretrecords.com

Evil Triplet, Live in Austin, TX, July 23, 2016