[Click play above to hear ‘BVO’tje (1 More 4)’ from The Whims of the Great Magnet’s The Purple and Yellow Album, out April 1.]
Even before the book was closed in 2013 on fuzz rockers Sungrazer, bassist/backing vocalist Sander Haagmans had begun to explore new ground in The Whims of the Great Magnet. The rock was lower-fi, still pulling influence from a ’90s sphere, but rawer in tone and intent alike. Haagmans, alternating between a full-band and completely-solo approach, oversaw the release of several EPs — 2012’s EP being the first, followed the next year by a collection of home recordings, then April Fool in 2015 — and now makes a full-length debut with The Purple and Yellow Album, once more working on his own and in arguably the most intimate incarnation of The Whims of the Great Magnet to-date.
Comprised of 12 self-recorded songs and running a vinyl-ready 37 minutes, The Purple and Yellow Album brings forth an at-times psychedelic vision of grunge folk. Instrumental and vocal layering and arrangement varies as songs like “Falling to Pieces” and the later “Better Stay at Home” might only feature an acoustic guitar while others build further out, whether it’s the howling guitar of “BVO’tje (1 More 4),” the incorporated keys of “As I Felt Alright Before,” the garage psych of “Ow What Have I Done” (which gets an experimentalist reprise at the album’s conclusion), the Mellotron-infused “Debussy” or the six-minute “Slowburner,” which shifts from its solo melancholy into an acoustic/bass/drum progression at the end over a six-minute run that makes it the longest inclusion overall.
Wherever he takes a given track, Haagmans unites the material on The Purple and Yellow Album through his own performance and an overarching sense of honesty in the songwriting. Some songs have a self-aware humor, like “Better Stay at Home” or the preceding “Teen Anger,” but even these are executed with harmonic depth and a resonant emotionalism, and while one can hear shades of Haagmans‘ former outfit in pieces like “As I Felt Alright Before” and “I Could Just Leave it Like That,” that becomes only one context in which his songwriting lives up to the considerable ambition behind the concept of these tracks and the finds balance with the humility with the circumstances of their recording and release, providing a nonetheless rich and engaging front-to-back listening experience.
Below, Haagmans talks about the songs’ making and some of his future plans, threatening a doom record and more.
Please enjoy the following Six Dumb Questions:
Six Dumb Questions with The Whims of the Great Magnet
Tell me about writing for The Purple and Yellow Album. At what point did you know the material would take a more acoustic direction?
Right from the start. It’s a collection of home recordings. And at home I had mainly acoustic guitars, so… But I just moved to a new house where we’re making a rehearsal room in the back, so my next recording might be a doom record.
Home recording is a very intimate process and you’ve decided to really convey something raw in these tracks in terms of sound. How did that come about? What is it you’re looking to say in these songs?
I just wanted to record some songs, sounds and sketches on my four-track cassette recorder (actually it’s my wife’s; thank you, wife). There’s lots of imperfections and vocals out of tune and all. But I wanted it to be loose and whimsical. So I kept many first ideas and mistakes and just played around. Also I used all of my ideas. So the cheesy songs, the sing-a-longs, the quasi serious songs and the slow boring songs are all in there. It’s a pretty good reflection of what music comes out of me at home. And I didn’t leave things out because it might not be cool enough in some setting or whatever.
Why purple and yellow? Is it just the artwork or is there some further significance to using those colors?
I remember I had a period in my childhood that I would only colour and paint with these two colours. And since I’m feeling more and more nostalgic as I’m getting older I went back to this period for the cover. Wish I could do the same with my music. But I will probably never reach the level I had when I was 12.
Will future The Whims of the Great Magnet recordings take a similar direction, or do you see yourself moving back toward a full-band sound again?
I really don’t know where the path will take me. I will keep doing stuff as The Whims of the Great Magnet for sure and it can go in any direction. Maybe a doom record isn’t such a bad idea. Also I really need to get a band together again but that would probably be with a different name.
Of course we have to mention your past playing in Sungrazer and that band’s ongoing legacy (you recently appeared on Spaceslug’s Time Travel Dilemma, for example). The Purple and Yellow Album has a laid back feel but some grunge to it as well. How do you view it in relation to your past work?
Ah the grunge thing! Anything I did in the past is not what I’m doing now. When we were with Sungrazer, we played as a band. We were in that moment together. Now with this album I’m doing something on my own. That’s a difference. But I’m sure it has some similarities as well which is obvious. But because I’m doing this album alone, it’s more personal and closer to me than anything I have done with a band. Because it’s just me, uncompromised and unfiltered. You could be right when you say that this doesn’t necessarily have to be better for the result. But that’s just the way it is (Bruce Hornsby!). And I’m not only into solo and mellow acoustic stuff. Nooooo, no, no, no, no. The other things still attract me just as much but weren’t around when I hit record.
Any other plans or closing words you want to mention?
I would like to thank you and the people so very much who supported my music in the past and especially in the present. Cowabunga dudes!
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 29th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
I would expect nothing less from Stardust Rituals than the title suggests. It’s been I don’t even know how long since the last proper studio offering from German jammers Electric Moon, whose psychedelic explorations show up much more often in the form of live records, but on April 7, they’ll return with this four-track full-length, apparently exploring themes of mortality, space, and the intertwining of these various dimensions in which we exist.
They’ve got opening track “The Loop” streaming now ahead of the release, and aside from their signature psych-wash, the song surprises in its structured feel. In the announcement below, they hint that the rest of the record might follow a similar path — using the basic jams as a foundation for building a song, rather than just seeking to represent the raw process of creation on their own — and I’m excited to hear how that balance shakes out across Stardust Rituals as a whole. Can’t get here fast enough, quite frankly.
Of course, it will be out on Sulatron Records, as the PR wire informs:
Finally it’s happening, and the long awaited 5th studio release of Electric Moon appears to see the light!
4 tracks, which pack a punch and which went a long way to become what they are now. The oldest tune „Stardust (The Picture)“ was already recorded in 2014 and was released as instrumental version on 2 live albums so far. But it got refined with overdubs like vocals and stuff, like all the other tracks, too. This is one of the things which make the difference between live albums and studio albums, by the way; like also, that improvisation and songwriting get mixed-up!
“Stardust Rituals“ is painting a journey through the inner cosmos and wants to deliver the insight, that no-one and nothing gets ever lost, because space is like a jar which keeps us all, in which form ever… We’re all made of stardust so nothing can happen in the end…
Trippy like always, Electric Moon will carry you off on a trip to the deepest depths of the outermost innermost, cause in every one of us is a cosmos and we all are together on this common journey, in the same (space-)ship…
Recorded, mixed and produced by Sula Bassana (Dave Schmidt) and mastered by Eroc!
The beautiful round Cover-Painting was painted by Eriko of Mont Doom Design in Italy and Lulu Artwork! just brought it to shape for the final design and layout.
CD comes in jewel case, LP in fold-out cover with triple-marbled (blue-black-white) 180 grams quality vinyl (made in Germany), limited to 1000 pcs!
Electric Moon is: Komet Lulu: Bass, Vocals, Effects Marcus Schnitzler: Drums Sula Bassana: Guitar, E-Sitar, Organ, Mellotron, E-Piano, Effects
Tracklist: The Loop (08:06) Stardust (The Picture) (10:14) Astral Hitch Hike (04:41) (You Will) Live Forever Now (22:41)
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 28th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
I’m not sure when else one might expect San Francisco’s Brume to release their Billy Anderson-produced debut album, Rooster, other than April 20, but the timing works on multiple levels as that’s just a scant two days before they head overseas for the first time. They’re set to tour the UK with sludgemongers Gurt as a precursor to appearing at Desertfest London 2017 at The Underworld in Camden Town, where they’ll share the stage with Celeste, Scissorfight, Inter Arma and Bongzilla.
A worthy occasion to say the least, and certainly as they go, waving a banner like the frickin’ awesome Sean Beaudry cover art for Rooster won’t hurt. In addition to the April 20 release, which will be CD, tape and download through Doom Stew Records, the plan is to have Rooster out on vinyl through DHU Records over the summer.
Stay tuned because I’ll have more on this one leading up to the release — think, the week before. For now, the PR wire has tour dates, album info and all that good stuff:
San Francisco, California Doom trio Brume announce their debut album ‘Rooster’ out on DHU Records/Doom Stew Records.
Brume’s heaving dose of hallucinogenic heaviness has been crafted since their EP ‘Donkey’ released on CD (When Planets Collide), LP (DHU Records) and Cassette (Transylvanian tapes) in 2015. Returning to Sharkbite studios in Oakland, CA to record their full length but this time working alongside legendary producer Billy Anderson to lay down six songs, 51 minutes of heavy.
Progressing from Donkey’s monolithic focus, Rooster sees Brume evolve to a more dynamic songwriting approach. The west coast debut is a more sonically diverse, crushingly heavy and beautifully conflicted album. To accompany the music, the cover art was created by Savannah illustrator Sean Beaudry, best known for his work with Kylesa.
Brume will bring its riff ritual to Europe for the first time in April with a joint UK tour with Gurt in the run up to there Desertfest London slot alongside the likes of Bongzilla and Inter Arma in The Underworld, Saturday 29th.
Rooster will be available on CD, cassette and digitally on April 20th from Brume drummer Jordan Perkins-Lewis’s fledgling label, Doom Stew Records. The 2xLP will be available in a variety of limited edition variants via DHU in July.
Artist: Brume Album: Rooster Label: DHU Records/Doom Stew Records Release date: April 20th (CD) July (LP) 2017
Tracklist: 1. Grit and Pearls 2. Harold 3. Reckon 4. Call the Serpent’s Bluff 5. Welter 6. Tradewind
Brume & Gurt UK tour dates: 22/04 The Firehouse Southampton UK 23/04 The Stag and Hounds Bristol UK 24/04 Finns Weymouth UK 25/04 Rebellion Manchester UK 26/04 The Phoenix Coventry UK 29/04 Desertfest London 2017 The Underworld London UK (Brume only)
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 28th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Brooklynite duo/live trio Spotlights have basically done nothing but earn accolades since the release last year of their debut album, Tidals. You won’t hear me argue, but it’s kind of rare to find such general consensus on anything these days, let alone new bands. Even their Spiders EP (review here), which was a couple tracks and a remix, came widely hailed.
Sometimes hype like that can be a hindrance, especially in Brooklyn, where if someone knows your name there’s a decent chance you’re already passe, but in the case of Spotlights, they’ve just been signed to Ipecac Recordings, so I guess it’s a double-win. They’ll record a sophomore full-length, yet untitled, later this year with Aaron Harris (ex-Isis) at the helm. As if they were hurting for good-company-type associations.
Kudos to the band and the momentum they’ve built. The PR wire has all the latest info:
SPOTLIGHTS SIGN TO IPECAC; BROOKLYN-BASED BAND WORKING ON NEW ALBUM WITH PRODUCER AARON HARRIS (ISIS/PALMS)
Spotlights, the Brooklyn-based band featuring Mario and Sarah Quintero (formerly of Sleep Lady), have signed to Ipecac Recordings.
The band, who tour as a trio, are working on an as-of-yet untitled full-length with ISIS’/Palms’ Aaron Harris serving as producer. A fall release date is expected.
“It’s such an honor to join Ipecac’s amazing roster,” said the band. “We couldn’t have imagined a better home for the band and our new record.”
“The best part of being a music fan is discovering new artists,” added Ipecac co-owner Greg Werckman. “The best part of being a record label is getting to be the place that introduces music fans to diverse artists. We are thrilled to add Spotlights to the Ipecac family and are sure that a lot of people will share our enthusiasm for their music.”
Spotlights’ most recent releases include the Spiders EP and a previously released full-length titled Tidals.
Spotlights, who were handpicked to open on the Deftones’ summer 2016 tour, will return to the road this summer. Tour dates to be announced soon.
Posted in Reviews on March 28th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Feeling groovy heading into Day Two of the Spring 2017 Quarterly Review, and I hope you are as well. Today we dig into a pretty wide variety of whatnots, so make sure you’ve got your head with you as we go, because there are some twists and turns along the way. I mean it. Of all five days in this round, this one might be the most wild, so keep your wits intact. I’m doing my best to do the same, of course, but make no promises in that regard.
Quarterly Review #11-20:
Ulver, The Assassination of Julius Caesar
Norwegian post-everything specialists Ulver have reportedly called The Assassination of Julius Caesar (on House of Mythology) “their pop album,” and while the Nik Turner-inclusive freakout in second cut “Rolling Stone” (that may or may not be him on closer “Comign Home” as well) doesn’t quite fit that mold, the beats underscoring the earlier portion of that track, opener “Nemoralia” and the melodrama of “Southern Gothic” certainly qualify. Frontman/conceptual mastermind Kristoffer Rygg’s voice is oddly suited to this form – he carries emotionally weighted hooks like a melancholy George Michael on the electronically pulsating “Transverberation” and, like most works of pop, shows an obsession with the ephemeral in a slew of cultural references in “1969,” which in no way is likely to be mistaken for the Stooges song of the same name. While “So Falls the World” proves ridiculously catchy, “Coming Home” is about as close as Ulver actually come here to modern pop progression, and the Badalamenti-style low-end and key flourish in “1969” is a smooth touch, much of what’s happening in these eight tracks is still probably too complex to qualify as pop, but The Assassination of Julius Caesar is further proof that Ulver’s scope only grows more boundless as the years pass. The only limits they ever seem to know are the ones they leave behind.
Last year, Louisiana four-piece Forming the Void had the element of surprise working to their advantage when it came to the surprising progressive edge of their debut album, Skyward (review here). Now signed to Argonauta, the eight-song/55-minute follow-up, Relic, doesn’t need it. It finds Forming the Void once again working proggy nuance into big-riffed, spaciously vocalized fare on early cuts “After Earth” and “Endless Road,” but as the massive hook of “Biolazar” demonstrates, the process by which guitarist/vocalist James Marshall, guitarist Shadi Omar Al-Khansa, bassist Luke Baker and drummer Jordan Boyd meld their influences has become more cohesive and more their own. Accordingly, I’m not sure they need the 11-minute closing take on Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” since by then the point is made in the lumber/plunder of “Plumes” and in the more tripped-out “Unto the Smoke” just before, but as indulgences go, it’s a relatively easy one to make. They’re still growing, but doing so quickly, and already they’ve begun to find a niche for themselves between styles that one hopes they’ll continue to explore.
Though it keeps a wash of melodic keys in the background and its approach is resolutely laid back on the whole, “Beautiful Void” is nonetheless a major factor in the overall impression of Hidden Trails’ self-titled debut (on Elektrohasch), as its indie vibe and departure from the psychedelic prog of the first two cuts, “Lancelot” and “Mutations,” marks a major distinguishing factor between this outfit and Hypnos 69, in which the rhythm section of the Belgian trio played previously. “Ricky” goes on to meld acoustic singer-songwriterism and drones together, and “Hands Unfold” has a kind of jazzy bounce, the bassline of Dave Houtmeyers and drumming of Tom Vanlaer providing upbeat groove under Jo Neyskens’ bright guitar lead, but the anticipation of heavy psych/prog never quite leaves after the opening, and that doesn’t seem to be what the band wants to deliver. The sweetly harmonized acid folk of “Leaving Like That” is on a different wavelength, and likewise the alt-rock vibes of “Space Shuffle” and “Come and Play” and the grunge-chilled-out closer “Denser Diamond.” If there’s an issue with Hidden Trails, it’s one of the expectations I’m bringing to it as a listener and a fan of Houtmeyers’ and Vanlaer’s past work, but clearly it’s going to take me a little longer to get over the loss of their prior outfit. Maybe I’m just not ready to move on.
Naturalist vibes pervade immediately from this late-2016 self-titled Svvamp debut (on RidingEasy Records) in the bassline to “Serpent in the Sky,” and in some of the post-Blue Cheer heavy blues sensibility, the Swedish trio bring to mind some of what made early Dirty Streets so glorious. Part of the appeal of Svvamp’s Svvamp, however, is that among the lessons it’s learned from heavy ‘70s rock and from Kadavar‘s own self-titled is to keep it simple. “Fresh Cream” is a resonant blues jam… that lasts two and a half minutes. The bouncing, turning “Oh Girl?” Three. Even the longest of its cuts, the slide-infused “Time,” the subdued roller “Big Rest” and the Marshall Tucker-esque finale “Down by the River,” are under five. This allows the three-piece of Adam Johansson, Henrik Bjorklund and Erik Stahlgren to build significant momentum over the course of their 35-minute run, casting aside pretense in favor of aesthetic cohesion and an organic sensibility all the more impressive for it being their first record. Sweden has not lacked for boogie rock, but even the most relatively raucous moments here, as in the winding “Blue in the Face,” don’t seem overly concerned with what anyone else is up to, and that bodes remarkably well for Svvamp’s future output.
There are few songs ever written that require whoever’s playing them to “bring it” more than MC5’s “Kick out the Jams.” True, it’s been covered many, many times over, but few have done it well. Belgium’s Black Mirrors signal riotous intent by including it as one of the four tracks of their Napalm Records debut EP, Funky Queen, along with the originals “Funky Queen,” “The Mess” and “Canard Vengeur Masqué,” and amid the post-Blues Pills stomp of “The Mess,” the mega-hook of the opening title-track and the more spacious five-plus-minute closer, which works elements of heavy psych into its bluesy push late to welcome effect, “Kick out the Jams” indeed brings a moment of relative cacophony, even if there’s no actual threat of the band losing control behind the powerful vocals of Marcella di Troia. As a first showing, Funky Queen would seem to be a harbinger, but it’s also a purposeful and somewhat calculated sampling of Black Mirrors’ wares, and I wouldn’t expect it to be long before an album follows behind expanding on the ideas presented in these tracks.
No doubt that for some who’d take it on, any words beyond “members of Monarch!” will be superfluous, but Bordeaux three-piece Endless Floods, who do indeed feature bassist/vocalist Stéphane Miollan and drummer Benjamin Sablon from that band, as well as guitarist Simon Bedy, have more to offer than pedigree on their three-song sophomore full-length, II (on Dry Cough vinyl and Breathe Plastic cassette). To wit, 24-minute opener and longest track (immediate points) “Impasse” rumbles out raw but spacious sludge that, though without keys or a glut of effects, and marked by the buried-deep screaming of Miollan, holds a potent sense of atmosphere so that the two-minute interlude “Passage” doesn’t seem out of place leading into the 19-minute lumber of “Procession,” which breaks shortly before its halfway point to bass-led minimalism in setting up the final build of the record. Slow churning intensity and longform sludge working coherently alongside ambient sensibilities and some genuinely disturbing noise? Yeah, that’ll do nicely. Thanks.
Boasting four eight-plus-minute instrumentals, Couldn’t Handle… The Heavy Jam finds New Jersey trio Tarpit Boogie rife with classic style heavy rock chemistry, bassist John Eager running fills around the dense-toned riffing from guitarist George Pierro as drummer Chris Hawkins propels a surprising thrust on opener “FFF Heavy Jam.” I’ve been a fan of Pierro and Eager’s since we were bandmates a decade ago, so to hear them unfold “Chewbacca Jacket” from its tense opening to its righteously crashing finale is definitely welcome, but the 37-minute offering finds its true reasoning in the swing and shuffle of the eponymous “Tarpit Boogie,” which digs into the very challenge posed by the title – whether or not anyone taking on the album can handle its balance of sonic impact and exploratory feel – inclusive, in this case, of a drum solo that sets a foundation for a moment of Cactus-style rush ahead of a return to the song’s central progression to conclude. They round out with “1992 (Thank You Very Little),” Chevy Chase sample and all, bringing more crashing nod to a massive slowdown that makes it feel like the entire back half of the cut is one big rock finish. And so it is. A well-kept secret of Garden State heavy.
The self-released Dead Seeds, Barren Soil is Horseburner’s second full-length, and it arrived in 2016 from the four-piece some seven years after their 2009 debut, Dirt City. They’ve had a few shorter outings in between, demos and 2013’s Strange Giant EP, but the West Virginia four-piece of Adam Nohe, Chad Ridgway, Jack Thomas and Zach Kaufman seem to be shooting for a definitive statement of intent in the blend of heavy rock and modern, Baroness-style prog that emerges on opener “David” and finds its way into the galloping “Into Black Resolution,” the multi-tiered vocals of “A Newfound Purity” and even the more straight-ahead thrust of “The Soil’s Prayer.” Marked out by the quality of its guitar work and its clearly-plotted course, Dead Seeds, Barren Soil caps with “Eleleth,” which at just under eight minutes draws the heft and the complexity together for a gargantuan finish that does justice to the ground Horseburner just flattened as they left it behind.
Lafayette, Louisiana, five-piece Vermilion Whiskey telegraph participation in the New Wave of Dude Rock to the point of addressing their audience as “boy” in second cut “The Past is Dead,” and from the cartoon cleavage on the cover to the lack of irony between naming the record Spirit of Tradition and putting a song called “The Past is Dead” on it, they sell that well. The Kent Stump-mixed/Tony Reed-mastered six-tracker is the band’s second behind 2013’s 10 South, and basks in dudely, dudely dudeliness; Southern metal born more out of the Nola style than what, say, Wasted Theory are getting up to these days, but that would still fit on a bill with that Delaware outfit. If you think you’re dude enough for a song like “One Night,” hell, maybe you are. Saddle up. Listening to that and the chunky-style riff of closer “Loaded Up,” I feel like I might need hormone therapy to hit that level of may-yun, but yeah. Coherent, well written, tightly performed and heavy. Vermilion Whiskey might as well be hand-issuing dudes invitations to come drink with them, but they make a solid case for doing so.
If the cover art and a song title like “I Swear I’m Not My Thoughts” weren’t enough of a tip-off, there’s a strong undercurrent of the unsettled to Hex Inverter’s second long-player, Revision. The Pennsylvania-based experimentalists utilize a heaping dose of drones to fill out arrangements of keys, guitar and noise that would otherwise be pretty minimal, and vocals come and go in pro- and depressive fashion. Texture proves the key as they embark on the linear centerpiece “Something Else,” with a first verse arriving over a sweetened bassline after four minutes into the total 9:58, and the wash of noise in “Daphne” obscures an avant neo-jazz groove late, so while opener “Cannibal Eyes” basks in foreboding ambience prior to an emotionally-driven and explosive crunch-beat payoff, one never quite knows what to expect next on Revision. That, of course, is essential to the appeal. They find an edge of rock in the aforementioned “I Swear I’m Not My Thoughts,” but as the loops and synth angularity of closer “Fled (Deadverse Mix)” make plain, their intentions speak to something wider than even an umbrella genre.
MotherSloth‘s new album, Moon Omen, is a weird one. Issued through Argonauta Records at the beginning of the month, it brings forth a cultish vision of doom that dips into influences from Alice in Chains to Danzig as it traverses a dark path of six deceptively memorable tracks — the sort of earworms that don’t beat you over the head with hooks, but wind up replaying themselves on the mental jukebox anyway in a “what just happened?” kind of retread. From the title-line howls in the opening cut “Shadow Witch” to the ambient unfolding of nine-minute closer “Moon Omen” and across the melodically resonant “Doomsday Cyborg” and mournful Cantrell-style churn of “Once Human” between, it’s a record that brings a deeply individualized context to a style of doom that draws from both modern and classic spheres. Also from who knows where else.
One would expect for any visual representation of Moon Omen to be accordingly bizarre, and the dark-hued video for “Shadow Witch” most certainly is that. I’m pretty sure the band is in there somewhere, but the whole affair is pretty obscure and willfully vague, and where later in the album, the Madrid three-piece dip into progressive melodies underscored by melancholy lead guitar on “The Firemill,” with “Shadow Witch,” it’s more about the dirge and the ritual, even unto the quiet, whispering break in the song’s second half that leads to the surprising, if brief, apex of all-out cacophony. I’m telling you, and I’m not lying, they do it strange and they do strange well. Moon Omen finds MotherSloth as much centered around atmosphere as basic songwriting, but both work together to serve an overarching purpose of bizarre evocation that’s almost bound to stay with you after the record is done, which of course is the whole idea.
If you haven’t heard Moon Omen in its entirety as yet, it’s available now through Argonauta and streaming in full on MotherSloth‘s Bandcamp page — both of which are linked at the bottom of this post. More background on the band and the video credits follow the clip itself, which you’ll find immediately below.
Hope you enjoy:
MotherSloth, “Shadow Witch” official video
Directed by: Hugo “Brutal Panacota” Martín Production/ Film making/ Post production: Iván “Lobo” Moreno Camera , Edition and VFX : Iván ”Lobo” Moreno Production assistant: Malina Gancarz Make up: Andrea Mena / Iris “Assa” Erza Actors: Druid: Juan Carlos Zar Punk guy: Jimmy Jazz Witch: Leila Díaz Witch Follower 1: MOnica Garcia . Witch Follower 2: Iris ”Assa” Erza Special thanks to Gloria Crespo and Mayte Moraleda for their support
MotherSloth is a Madrid-based band formed in 2008. In the band’s style, you can find several influences – ’70s inspired sounds combined with heavy guitar riffs and open chords, blended with spirally progressive melodies. After various formations, the band records demos under the title “Death Flowers” (2009), and plays live throughout Madrid with other avant-garde stoner bands. In 2012, with a more defined musical path, MotherSloth recorded their debut EP “Hazy Blur Of Life“, edited in 2013 by Peruvian underground label Dooom Records.
In late 2013, MotherSloth decided to focus on the instrumental songs they had been writing throughout the years, recording their new LP “Moribund Star” (2014), edited in 2015 with Germany’s Voodoo Chamber Records. In 2016 the band entered the studio to record their next album, consisting of 6 brand new songs, released by ARGONAUTA Records in CD/DD during Spring 2017.
MotherSloth is: Dani – guitars and vocals Moline – bass guitar and vocals Oscar – drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 28th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
As far as gigs in doom go, opening for Saint Vitus is close to as good as it gets. That’s the situation in which Oslo’s Tombstones find themselves as they continue to support their 2015 album, Vargariis (review here), released by Soulseller Records. Between the two, it’s a doomed-as-hell combo that will plod its way around Europe in May, and with Vitus continuing to work with original vocalist Scott Reagers, all the more an event for those fortunate enough to be in their path.
Can’t help but wonder too if Tombstones might have some new material on offer as we get a little further out from the Vargariis release. I asked bassist/vocalist Ole Helstad for some comment on doing the tour and he was tight-lipped on the possibility, but not mentioning it isn’t necessarily a no.
Dates and whatnot follow for the converted and soon to be converted:
Tombstones – Tour Supporting Saint Vitus
We’re hitting the European roads alongside Saint Vitus in May. Come bang your head!
TOMBSTONES live with SAINT VITUS: 08.04 Copperfields Stockholm SWE 02.05 Helvete Oberhausen DE 03.05 Schlachthof Wiesbaden DE 04.05 Backstage Munich DE 05.05 Kammgarn Schaffhausen CH 06.05 Little Devil Tilburg NL 07.05 Patronaat Haarlem NL 08.05 Day off 09.05 Bastard Club Osnabruck DE 10.05 Hafenklang Hamburg DE 11.05 Voxhall Aarhus DK 12.05 Nojesfabriken Karlstad SWE 13.05 Pokalen Oslo NO 14.05 Pumpehuset Copenhagen DK
Says Ole Helstad:
“We are extremely thrilled to finally go on tour with Vargariis. It’s been a while since last time, and we miss meeting our friends and fans around Europe. It’s such a huge honor to be able to share stages with such legends as Saint Vitus. It’s a dream come true for us.”
Tombstones has taken up on their Norse heritage, evolving from their previous stoner-influenced sound, now descending into the dark side of the gloom.
“Vargariis” finds the band leaning towards the bleak and desperate, assaulting the listener with their blackened, thunderous wall of fuzz and despair.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 27th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Because I’m interested in these things, I looked up the driving time between Wapakoneta, Ohio, and Frederick, Maryland. That’s the trip that San Francisco heavy rockers The Watchers — who debuted on Ripple Music last year with their Sabbath Highway EP (review here) — will make on June 24 to take part in this year’s Maryland Doom Fest at Cafe 611. According to the robots that rule our existence, it’s about six hours and 45 minutes. Doable in a day but not insubstantial by any means. They’ll probably want to split after their set in Ohio the night before and get at least two or three hours of that down and finish the trip in the morning. Life of a touring band. They don’t need me to tell them that.
Maryland Doom Fest, incidentally, is the only gig The Watchers have booked on (or near, anyway) the East Coast, and immediately following it, they whip a 180 and head back to the Midwest for a show in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 26. Go go go.
Not a small amount of ground to cover, even with a day between, and before they do it, they’ll reportedly hit the studio to work on their first full-length, tentatively due in Sept., also on Ripple. Oh, and they have a new video as well.
The PR wire keeps us informed:
The Watchers hit the road in support of their critically-acclaimed debut EP on Ripple Music
S.F. Bay Area rock heavyweights, The Watchers, hit the road this summer in support of their debut Ripple Music release, their “Sabbath Highway”.
Starting this June, the “Sabbath Highway Tour” will see the band hitting the highways of the American heartland, crossing from their West Coast homes all the way to their pinnacle stop at The Maryland Doom Fest #3, where they’ll lay waste to waiting audiences along side such heavyweights as The Skull, Wo Fat, and Bang.
6/17 Nevada • Reno / Jub Jubs Thirst Parlor 6/18 Utah • SLC / The Urban Lounge 6/19 Colorado • Ft Collins / Surfside 7 6/20 Kansas • Lawrence / Replay Lounge 6/21 Illinois • Chicago / Reggies 6/22 Indiana • South Bend / Smiths Downtown 6/23 Ohio • Wapakoneta / Route 33 Rhythm & Brews 6/24 Maryland • Frederick / Cafe 611 (Maryland Doom Fest) 6/26 Oklahoma • Tulsa (TBA) 6/27 Texas • San Antonio / Limelight 6/28 Texas • Austin / The Lost Well 6/29 Texas • El Paso / Rock House 6/30 Arizona • Tempe / Yucca Tap Room
Before the Tour commences, The Watchers will enter the studio to record their next full length offering anticipated to be released by Ripple Music in Sept. 2017.
Finally, to rev up for the tour, The Watchers just released a new video from the “Sabbath Highway” EP, “Just A Needle.” Check it out and prepare for the Sabbath Highway!
