Posted in Whathaveyou on March 29th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
So I guess playing Psycho Las Vegas worked out for Blue Öyster Cult, huh? As Days of Darkness II, the return autumnal installment from the crew behind the venerable Maryland Deathfest, unfurls its lineup for this October, we see the classic heavy rockers in the top spot — which, hey, is fair enough. A few surprises under them, however. One is thrilled to see logos for Bang, Earth, Earthride and Alcest, but even more fascinating is the inclusion of groups like Front Line Assembly and Die Krupps, and I can’t help but wonder if another one of the headliners still to be announced — because presumably Blue Öyster Cult will close one of the two nights and someone else TBA will close the other — will fit a similar industrial mold, and if that’s one of hte ways in which Days of Darkness will look to expand its identity and stave off the year-after-year redundancies that fests can fall into if they’re not careful.
I know nothing, of course. I’ve never been in touch with the MDF crew, so have zero inside track whatsoever. Just speculating and musing, is all. Just intrigued.
The fest posted the following on social media:
12 more bands have been confirmed for Days of Darkness II, set to take place on October 27 and 28 at Rams Head Live and Baltimore Soundstage.
Earth Front Line Assembly Die Krupps Controlled Bleeding Earth Electric Bang Lazerpunk Child Bite Crazy Bull Rougemarine Electropathic Crud
A third and final round of bands will be announced in the coming weeks! Once again, expect approximately 2 times more bands than last year. Early bird passes sold out a few weeks ago, but all ticket options will go on sale soon. We’ll keep you posted on an exact date and time.
Here is the full list of confirmed bands (in alphabetical order):
Acid Witch Alcest Anna von Hausswolff Bang Blue Öyster Cult Child Bite Controlled Bleeding Crazy Bull Crud Die Krupps Earth Earth Electric Earthride Electropathic Front Line Assembly Lazerpunk Rome Rougemarine Satan’s Satyrs
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 29th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
When Philly heavy rockers High Reeper were announced for a slot at Desertfest Berlin last week, I speculated that European tour dates were forthcoming because they’d previously been confirmed for Tube Cult Fest in Italy. Sure enough, a couple hours later, the dates showed up from the PR wire in a newsletter from the band’s label, Heavy Psych Sounds. Does this make me psychic? Nope. Does it even make me a reasonably thoughtful individual, putting two and two together on the notion that the band probably wouldn’t fly internationally for two shows on concurrent weekends?
Nah. Mostly it makes me forgetful, because when High Reeperposted their video for “Die Slow,” they said Euro dates were in the works. So there’s my big brain. Good thing I saw that in the older post though; I almost had a second there of self-congratulation. Obviously we can’t have that. Ever. Also, my pants don’t fit.
Oh look, I made myself sad. Better cut my losses and head to the PR wire. Let’s do this thing:
Formed in 2016, High Reeper is made up of Zach Thomas, Napz Mosley, Andrew Price, Pat Daly and Shane Trimble. Originally started as just a studio band, it rapidly became apparent that these songs were meant to be heard live and loud. The band made their debut in the Philly/DE stoner rock scene in early 2017 with success which was followed up by the recording of their self-titled debut in May. With a sound deeply rooted in modern stoner rock while still giving a nod to the earliest Sabbath records, High Reeper’s first offering is driven by pounding rhythms, thick guitars and soaring, screeching vocals.
The band has signed with Heavy Psych Sounds Records and released the self-titled debut album in march 2018. The sound of the record is running from uptempo straight ahead rock, to slowed down, heavy, early doom. With a rhythm section throwing down grooves that are deeper than the darkest abyss and guitars big enough to put a hole in your chest. High Reeper is meant to be played loud and to be played often!!!
***HIGH REEPER EUROPEAN TOUR 2018*** 26.04.2018 IT Roma-Let It Beer 27.04.2018 IT Pescara-Tube Cult Fest 28.04.2018 IT Castelfidardo-On Stage 29.04.2018 IT Castelnuovo del Garda-Secret Show 30.04.2018 IT Zerobranco-Altroquando 01.05.2018 IT Livorno-Secret Show 02.05.2018 IT Torino-Blah Blah 03.05.2018 CH Olten-Coq D’Or 04.05.2018 CH Kreuzlingen-Horst 05.05.2018 DE Berlin-Desertfest 07.05.2018 DE Leipzig-Black Label 08.05.2018 DE Dresden-Chemo w/ Alunha 09.05.2018 DE Erfurt-Tiko 10.05.2018 DE Chemnitz-Zukunft 11.05.2018 DE Mannheim-7er 12.05.2018 DE Frankfurt-Dkk 13.05.2018 looking for show**** 14.05.2018 AT Graz 15.05.2018 AT Salzburg-Rockhouse 16.05.2018 CH Basel-Hirschneck 17.05.2018 looking for show**** 18.05.2018 IT Parma-Titty Twister 19.05.2018 IT Toscana TBA
HIGH REEPER are: Shane Trimble-bass Zach Thomas-vocals Pat Daly-guitar Andrew Price-guitar Napz Mosley-drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 28th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Swedish genremasher John Strömshed, now in his fifth year of operation under the moniker of Lightsabres, has inked a deal to release his next full-length through DHU Records. After a series of outings through STB Records, HeviSike, Medusa Crush and others, DHU will release the forthcoming A Shortcut to Insanity, which is a title that may or may not be final but serves as a reasonably fitting description of what it’s like to try and follow along with Strömshed as he careens between styles, leaving his stamp on them as he goes.
Admirably prolific, Lightsabres issued a split with Blissful Stream last year to follow-up on 2016’s Hibernation (review here), and seems to be on a continuous mission to confuse the crap out of anyone who’d try to slab a label on his work one way or another.
The PR wire made it official:
DHU RECORDS – !!! NEW SIGNING !!!
DHU Records is damn excited to announce the signing of Luleå, Sweden’s own one man stoner punk enigma LIGHTSABRES!
Having released a handful of albums under many great labels, DHU Records will not hold back on this one!
Formed in 2013 with a total DIY ethic John Strömshed set out to make some of the most gnarliest lo fi stoner punk much akin to the sound of 80s and 90s Black Metal, even using a font that is similar as most bands of that genre.
The music however is more like the early punk bands of the 80s, combined with stoner riffage and heavy metal melodies, distinguishing himself and creating his own signature sound.
DHU Records is ecstatic and honored to be working with and releasing LIGHTSABRES new album tentatively called A SHORTCUT TO INSANITY
Presented here is the artwork created by MIDORI HAYASHI for LIGHTSABRES new album A SHORTCUT TO INSANITY
Tracklist 1. From the Demon’s Mouth 2. Breathing Fire 3. Cave In 4. Sweet Oblivion of Sleep 5. Shot in the Head 6. Tangled in Barbed Wire 7. With Horns 8. No Light 9. Shark Eyes 10. Born Screaming
As always with DHU Records you can expect some wild colored Limited Editions to compliment the release. More details and info coming soon.
LIGHTSABRES J. Strömshed: Guitar/Bass/Vocals Anton Nyström: Session Drummer
Posted in audiObelisk on March 28th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Montreal riff metallers Wykan make their debut April 13 with the Solace EP. It is not intended for background listening. Even at three tracks/24 minutes, it’s not the kind of thing you “just put on” while you’re picking up around the house or working or whatever you might be doing. It demands attention and demands it early. Wrapped together in a shroomy, ritualistic thematic, its component pieces are presented shortest to longest — “Lahppon Olmmos” opens at 6:50 with a guest appearance from Cryptopsy‘s Matt McGachy (because Montreal), “The Gathering” (8:00) follows, and “Wykan (The Shamanic Trance)” (9:17) rounds out — and seems to move toward ever more extreme fare as it goes. The opening movement of “Lahppon Olmmos?” It has more in common with Alabama Thunderpussy than anything vicious or brutal, but Wykan get there one way or the other.
One might think of it as a new face of sludge, but the sound is too clean, too calculated for that. Sludge is fucked up and just kind of happens — this material has been thought out. For example, the Opeth-gone-black-metal scream along of “The Gathering” carefully melds a post-metallic plod to its raw-throated cruelties, and likewise, “Lahppon Olmos” keeps itself willfully in two worlds in terms of sound, its chug never quite reaching the mathy complexity for which Montreal’s extreme underground is known (one more time: hello, Cryptopsy), but clearly solving its own stylistic equation as it goes. Likewise, “The Gathering” plods through its scream-topped midsection with a particularly charred-sounding lumber, but keeps room for answering back with classic elements like squigglies and a more chug-happy, sample-inclusive ending movement.
The semi-eponymous “Wykan (The Shamanic Trance)” might be the EP’s crowning achievement, however, beginning with sampled spoken word over ambience before a build of quiet guitar starts in, vocalist/guitarist Jeremy Perkins leading bassist Daniel Paras and drummer Morgan Zwicker toward an Ensalved-esque movement of progressive black metal that fleshes itself out with marked flow over the next several minutes as an instrumental before the vocals finally join in following a midpoint slowdown, turn toward chugging plod and shift back into blastbeaten rush just before the six-minute mark. Raspy vocals again scorch the ground before them and at about 7:45, Wykan move into the kind of chug that might, say, have one headbanging in front of one’s laptop, before another speedy verse takes hold and they finish at their rawest and most extreme point.
This linear movement across Solace‘s three tracks might speak to the mindset of Perkins (also of black metallers Eohum) and company when it comes to a full-length release. The hard work before them will be to continue to integrate disparate stylistic elements into a cohesive whole, but they’ve clearly begun that process here, and the results are enticing even in their most purposefully abrasive stretches.
You can listen to “Wykan (The Shamanic Trance)” and get a closer look at the EP’s David Paul Seymour artwork below. PR wire info, as ever, follows.
Please enjoy:
Wykan, “Wykan (The Shamanic Trance)” official track premiere
Hitting the jam space and recruiting some special guests Matt McGachy (Cryptopsy) and Barrie Butler (Eohum), WYKAN’s debut EP “Solace” features three punishing tracks full of atmosphere and mystery where you can hear black metal rage meet the finest components of blues and harsh psych stoner riffs. The theme of the EP follows inspiration of Ethnobotany and magic along with a tribal take on ritual and ceremony. More specifically with the Northern European Tribes known as the Saami from Finland/Norway/Sweden areas of today and their usage of Amanita Muscaria mushroom for Shamanic practices. Overall, the EPs concept is a reminder of the brisk realities of our lives in relation to the spirit world.
“Wykan (The Shaman Trance) is the short-story / poetic take on the ceremony of drinking the brew of clarity (Amanita prepared brew) among the shaman’s hut and the trip commencement under influence of the Amanita Muscaria,” says band founder Jeremy Perkins.
Produced by Sowilo Arts Written by Jeremy Perkins Lyrics and Thematic by Jeremy Perkins Artwork by David Paul Seymour
Recorded & Mixed at Silverwings Studios in Montreal Feb 2018 by Jonathan Lefrancois-Leduc.
Wykan is: Vocals (intro) and Guitars: Jeremy Perkins Drums: Morgan Zwicker Bass: Daniel Paras
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 28th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Holy rat farts that’s a good tour. You’ve got Stoned Jesus, fresh off a year celebrating their 2012 sophomore album Seven Thunders Roar and itching to promote their new album, teaming up with Texas’ Mothership, who by then should be road-testing new material for their next record, and Elephant Tree, who’ll have a new album in the hopper if not already out by the time the tour starts. Three absolutely killer bands, all fired up and ready to bring their best to the assembled masses. It’s an easy one to get excited about, you know, if you like things that are awesome.
The run is presented by Sound of Liberation, who in addition to umpteen festivals throughout the Spring and Fall seasons, specialize in precisely this kind of righteousness. Still, I didn’t see this one coming.
It was announced thusly:
We are thrilled to unveil today the dates for an incredible 3-band package taking over European clubs in September!
Featuring the Ukrainian much-loved trio Stoned Jesus (working on a new album to be released by Napalm Records in September), along with Texas live-beasts Mothership (who will promote their last-year highly-acclaimed album “High Strangeness”) and Uk-based doom-explorers Elephant Tree (also sharping up some new tunes for an upcoming album), we believe this bill has the potential to rock your nights!
This will happen from September 13th to 29th in the best European dens. Get in touch with your local rock dealer to get your ticket quick!
13.09.18 | DE | Wiesbaden | Schlachthof 14.09.18 | DE | Stuttgart | JH Hallschlag 15.09.18 | CH | Pratteln | Z7 (Up In Smoke Warm-Up) 16.09.18 | CH | TBA 17.09.18 | DE | Munich | Feierwerk 18.09.18 | AT | Graz | PPC 19.09.18 | AT | Vienna | Arena 20.09.18 | DE | Leipzig | Werk 2 21.09.18 | DE | Berlin | Bi Nuu 22.09.18 | NL | Nijmegen | Doornroosje 23.09.18 | NL | Amsterdam | Melkweg 24.09.18 | DE | Cologne | Helios 37 25.09.18 | DE | Bielefeld | Forum 26.09.18 | DE | Brussels | Magasin 4 27.09.18 | FR | Paris | Petit Bain 28.09.18 | UK | London | The Garage 29.09.18 | UK | Sheffield | Doom vs Stoner Fest* (* Stoned Jesus & Elephant Tree only)
I do a pretty fair amount of coverage for the doings of Italian imprint Argonauta Records. Helps that there’s a lot to cover. For the last couple years, the label has been on a spree of picking up bands, releasing new records, hosting showcases and so on. The work ethic of Gero, who heads the company, is second to none and because I admire the crap out of the work he does, I’m all the more thrilled to have The Obelisk among the presenters for Argonauta Fest 2018.
The lineup is set for the one-night event on Saturday, May 12, and Jex Thoth — who isn’t actually on Argonauta Records (yet, I guess; one never knows) — will headline along with label representatives Rancho Bizarro, Di’Aul and Sator.
Tickets are available now and are dirt cheap, so all the better. In addition, all the Argonauta bands will be playing special sets, the details of which you’ll find below. Check it out, and special thanks to Gero and Argonauta for having The Obelisk on board for this event:
Argonauta Fest: JEX THOTH + more!
Saturday, May 12
Officine Sonore
Via caduti sul lavoro 13, 13100 Vercelli
Behold the latest edition of the ARGONAUTA Fest, which celebrates the label’s first five years and features as a special guest and headliner JEX THOTH, the charismatic American singer and author of a high-class psychedelic doom based on occult and mythological themes.
And from the ARGONAUTA RECORDS roster: DI’AUL (Doom / Stoner), RANCHO BIZZARRO (Stoner Rock), SATOR (Sludge).
JEX THOTH will have two exclusive shows in Italy for their new tour, one is at argonauta fest. DI’AUL will present their new album “Nobody’s Heaven” out may 4th. SATOR will perform songs from the album ORDEAL. RANCHO BIZZARRO will present their new EP “Mondo Rancho” and extracts from their previous album.
Posted in Reviews on March 28th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
This year marks a decade of activity for Poland’s Sunnata, who began their career releasing a series of EPs and a full-length under a prior name before beefing up their sound and adopting the new identity for 2014’s Climbing the Colossus. The impressive Zorya (review here) followed in 2016 and expanded their progressive reach, and their apparent penchant for putting out records on even years continues with Outlands, which also continues a theme of vague figures on the cover art, keeping in kind with both LPs prior in that regard.
If one were to look at the many faces and arms/branches of the person/alien/deity on the front of Outlandsand think Sunnata — the lineup of vocalists/guitarists Szymon Ewertowski and Adrian Gadomski, bassist Michal Dobrzanski and drummer Robert Ruszczyk — might be shooting for something to convey a multifaceted existence of some sort, their sound bears that out across the eight-song/47-minute release, which is comprised of nothing less than brilliantly composed progressive post-heavy rock, so spacious that one can hardly see from one end of it to the other, and encompassing enough to genuinely feel like it’s creating its own world as it plays out.
Consistent in overall largesse, it varies in songcraft so that a piece like the nine-minute post-intro opener “Lucid Dream” and the later thrust of “Gordian Knot” hit their own targets, but the underlying force of the production and the expansiveness of the sounds being created tie the songs together and create an overarching flow that moves the listener carefully along Outlands‘ otherwise tumultuous path. If Climbing the Colossus was about Sunnata establishing what was then a new identity and Zoryaabout expanding their reach into new cross-genre territories, then Outlands feels like the realization of Sunnata of something unto itself, born of but not necessarily beholden to its influences and expressive on both emotional and cerebral levels.
It’s not every band who is able to make that leap, but Sunnata have quite clearly dedicated themselves to pushing ahead creatively, and that seems to guide the Warsaw four-piece’s craft on Outlands, be it the subtle build and surge of volume and groove in “Lucid Dream” that provides the record’s first payoff and arguably most effective moment of consumption, or the Alice in Chains-style harmonies and layering that tops the blastbeats of “Scars,” which follows. More even than their last time out, there’s a prevalent sense of ritual to Outlands — with some of the Eastern inflection in the guitar work, one is almost reminded of a less Om-derived Ethereal Riffian — but the real key to the album is patience.
Even when they’re playing fast, as on “Scars” or in “The Ascender,” they’re in no rush, and suitably enough, the best example — if it’s not “Lucid Dream” — might be Outlands‘ side-A-capping title-track, which begins with an underlying tension of drums and whispers and moves fluidly through hypnotic repetitions through its early verses; the bottom-of-the-mouth vocals vague but working in intertwined layers to mask the build happening beneath them. Finally, at about the five-minute mark and in a mirror of “Lucid Dream” before it, “Outlands” slams into a massive groove that only grows larger when the drums slow to half-time. That would usually be enough to end on, but Sunnata push through the crescendo and dip back into atmospheric reaches and rebuild a progression that’s never really meant to take off in the way of the prior movement, but ends with acapella harmonies to give way to the low-end heft of “The Ascender” at the start of side B, which will ultimately be defined by the album’s 12-minute finale, “Hollow Kingdom” but still has plenty of crunch to offer along its path toward that ending.
To wit, the pairing of “The Ascender” and “Gordian Knot” at the start of side B doesn’t seem accidental. I’m not sure I’d all either track straightforward, but with some harsher vocals included in both — shouts that in the first verse of “Gordian Knot” are metallic enough to remind me of the last Amebix record (which I liked) — and shorter runtimes (5:33 and 4:21, respectively) compared to everything on side A except Outlands‘ 40-second noise-build “Intro,” the impression is still of a more direct methodology. Fortunately, Sunnata handle the intensity of “Gordian Knot” with no less grace than they did the worldbuilding of “Lucid Dreams,” and there are still all manner of backing vocal layers and other noises to contend with, so it’s not like the depth has disappeared, it’s just being used toward rawer ends. “Gordian Knot” caps at full-throttle and gives way to the manipulated guitar noise (and maybe keys?) of “Falling (Interlude),” which serves as a direct lead-in for “Hollow Kingdom,” the 12:35 run of which begins minimal, quiet and spacious, before moving through early sections that are more chants than verses but engagingly melodic nonetheless and serving as something of a hook anyway with the repetition of the word “hollow” as a kind of mantra.
Just before two minutes in, Sunnata shift into the next section of the song, but instead of continuing to build forward, cut back again after this verse and return to the patience shown in “Lucid Dreams” and the title-track. A chorus is established and while it seems like “Hollow Kingdom” is headed for an inevitable payoff, just before its halfway point, the song breaks — the kick drum and some sparse guitar letting you know it’s still there at all — and turns to a completely different progression. It’s a little out-of-nowhere, but one suspects that’s the whole idea. They’re building again, patiently, subtly, and they do indeed move into an apex for “Hollow Kingdom” with lumbering crashes that begin just passed nine minutes in, but to my mind, the real confirmation of the band’s achievement with Outlands is what follows, when they return to the original chorus to close out. By then, they’ve shifted so far away from where they originally came that it’s completely unexpected, and the turn is pulled off flawlessly as a final confirmation of the level of craft that Sunnata have been executing all along.
One wonders if, 10 years ago, the members of Sunnata might have had any sense of the accomplishments in style and substance they would ultimately attain, but whether Outlands is the result of a conscious evolutionary process or an organic growth from release to release, the fact remains that it stands in a place all its own.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 27th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Next month, as Los Angeles one-woman outfit Black Mare — aka Sera Timms of Ides of Gemini, Zun, Black Math Horseman, etc. — hits the road for a run up to Portland and back, she’ll release a new vinyl edition of last year’s Death Magick Mother (review here). That album was fairly magnificent, so I’m just going to assume the last pressing sold out and this one will as well. Timms under the Black Mare guise also has a split out with Russian atmospherists Offret via Dark Operative that’s available now both digitally and as a 7″ that can be ordered through the label’s Bandcamp page.
The PR wire very kindly offers the following details:
BLACK MARE Releases Split With Offret Via Dark Operative; Death Magic Mother Full-Length To Be Issued On Limited Edition Vinyl This April + Live Dates Confirmed
Los Angeles, California’s BLACK MARE and Russia’s Offret recently united to release a split seven-inch via Dark Operative.
Titled Alone Among Mirrors, BLACK MARE’s “Woman The Throne” occupies side A. Bleak, cold opening riffs chip against the previous silence like hammered chisel into centuries-old slabs of ice before opening up just before the two-minute mark, eventually revealing the cavernous domain of sonic textures beneath the dense exoskeleton. This track was conceived, written, and recorded around the sessions that produced the band’s recently issued Death Magick Mother full-length album. “Woman The Throne” was written and recorded by Sera Timms and mastered by Dan Randall at Mammoth Sound.
Side B features Offret’s “We Are Waiting,” an ominous summoning that its title infers. Air-siren-conjuring drones and deep, guttural organ tones topped with rattlesnake percussion instantly transport the ear and the mind to another land in another time. Russian lyrics effectively drive the concept home, as most listeners will find themselves strangers in an ominous setting before a triumphant second and third act unfolds from the midpoint on. “We Are Waiting” written and recorded by Offret with additional saxophone performed by Ksenia Balashovich and mixed and mastered by Sasha Sidorov at Crushed Wafers Sound.
To stream and purchase Alone Among Mirrors visit the Dark Operative Bandcamp page at THIS LOCATION.
In conjunction with the vinyl release, BLACK MARE will take to the streets on a California mini-tour with Los Angeles’ Glaare. The journey will run from April 17th through April 25th and includes a performance at Stumpfest. See all confirmed dates below.
BLACK MARE w/ Glaare: 4/17/2018 Moroccan Lounge – Los Angeles, CA 4/18/2018 DNA – San Francisco, CA 4/19/2018 Press Club – Sacramento, CA 4/20/2018 Stumpfest – Portland, OR * No Glaare 4/23/2018 Crepe Place – Santa Cruz, CA 4/25/2018 Trichromatic Gallery – Modesto, CA
