Shovelhead, Red Sky Horizon (2003)

Dig that vibe for just a minute, that’s all I ask. I know dipping back to a record like Red Sky Horizon isn’t exactly high-profile, but man, New Jersey’s Shovelhead could jam. They’d stand on stage at the Brighton Bar in Long Branch, all power-trio style and humble about-to-wreck-the-place swagger, and guitarist Jim LaPointe (also vocals) would unload these space-toned solos that stretched out as much as on, while bassist Sha Zaidi — usually chewing a toothpick, I guess because rockabilly — and drummer Mike Scott with his Vistalite kit set up on the small riser in back would hold down these righteous grooves. You can hear it in the mellow groove after the initial Motörheady thrust of third cut “Bottom,” or get a feel for some of LaPointe‘s power-trio-leading in the opening title-track, but the point is Shovelhead played with so much character, whether it was the take on mellow Sabbath that launched “The Weight” or in the Hendrixed-up instrumental take on “Amazing Grace” that closes out, fittingly enough, after the hard-driving chug of “Bastard.” On stage — usually on that stage — they were utterly at home. I had the pleasure of seeing Shovelhead on multiple occasions and even did shows with them, and it was always a bittersweet experience because I knew no matter how good a show it might otherwise be, Shovelhead were about to blow my band right out of the water.

A bit of nostalgia? Yeah, probably, but I remain a Shovelhead fan even though their last record, the all-lowercase spitting oil, came out in 2007. That was their third outing, and by then, they were long since underrated, having made their debut as Shovelhead with a self-titled CD in 2001 following a name change from their original moniker The Lemmings, which I guess wasn’t stoner rock enough. Maybe? I don’t know what motivated the switch, but they had a disc out called The March of Provocation in ’98 that was pretty good as I recall and I seem to think there was at least one other, maybe an EP? It’s kind of fuzzy two decades later, but either way, they were part of the NJ shore-region cohort of post-Monster Magnet heavy rock and came up roughly around the same time as the likes of The Atomic Bitchwax, Solace, Halfway to Gone, Lord Sterling, Six Sigma, Core, and so on, and while some of those bands would get picked up by labels large and small — Core were on Atlantic, Bitchwax and Solace on MeteorCity, Halfway on Small Stone, etc. — Shovelhead went unsigned for the duration. Fair enough. I don’t think they had particularly huge ambitions for touring or anything like that, so it was just as easy for them to DIY their releases and play where and when they could and felt like doing so. They were a well-kept secret of that scene, and for me, Red Sky Horizon was the album that came closest to capturing what they were able to do live.

To some degree, second track “Crop Duster” is a defining groove in my mind for them. It’s got the speed-punker root in its verses, and LaPointe‘s vocals echo out on top to make even that verse a hook before everything stops and he asks, “Do you know what you’re doing?” and “Do you know what you’re saying?” before they kick full-boar into winding power trio jamming. They mellow out before halfway through the track’s six minutes, but just before hitting the four-minute mark turn to a funky series of starts and stops with Zaidi filling out the space with low and as LaPointe busts out a solo and Scott‘s drums gradually build their way back to the verse and chorus to finish out, the last question, “Do you know where you’re going?” held out with a bluesy soul. Likewise, after the seven-minute nod-fest boogie of “The Weight,” the instrumental “Uncle Jesse” begins a salvo of four shorter tracks that includes “Moon Shine Blind” and “Bastard” ahead of “Amazing Grace,” and what might otherwise be a side B in the second half of the tracklisting winds up efficiently expanding on the adventurous vibe of “Red Sky Horizon,” “Crop Duster,” “Bottom” and “The Weight,” stripping down some of the psychedelic elements at play, but keeping that character in their tones and the classic heavy rock spirit of the instrumentals. And hey, fun fact: when I reviewed Red Sky Horizon for the paper in NJ I worked for at the time, I compared “Moon Shine Blind” to the main song from the movie O Brother Where Art Thou? and LaPointe was the first person ever to tell me I nailed it on getting his inspiration for the vocal melody right. That was at least 15 years ago now and I still feel good about it to this day.

Pair that next to the maddening tension of “Bastard” — the standout line: “Take all your bullshit, shove it up your ass” — and cap it off with “Amazing Grace” and you’ve got an eight-track/40-minute outing that’s thoughtful but natural sounding and traditionalist in its dynamic, but again, so filled with personality on the part of its players that it almost can’t help but be original. I used to stand in front of the stage at the Brighton, my seventh beer probably in my hand, and you could watch any individual member of Shovelhead at any point in their set and you had at least an 80 percent chance your jaw would drop from what they were playing. That sounds like hyperbole, but these guys were great, and I love this record, so while I know it’s not the biggest release ever and people might prefer something they already know or be hesitant to take on an out-of-print 15-year-old disc from a NJ heavy rock band who once upon a time were really cool, fuck it, it’s my site and I wanted to listen to Shovelhead. I don’t need any more reason than that.

As noted, spitting oil was their third and final album in 2007, so their social media presence is pretty much nil. What was their website would seem to be long gone. I couldn’t even find a MySpace page lingering. But if you’re into Red Sky Horizon, there’s no Bandcamp or anything, but all three of Shovelhead‘s full-lengths are available as downloads from CDBaby — as opposed to being available on CD from DownloadBaby — and there isn’t one of them that isn’t worth time and dime alike.

So dig in, and as always, I hope you enjoy.

—

For the first half-hour I was awake this morning, I thought it was Saturday. I came downstairs, turned on the coffee pot, was all set to start writing stuff for Monday posts in that casual, maybe-I’ll-just-read-about-baseball-for-a-while way of Saturday mornings, when I remembered I hadn’t even done the Shovelhead post yet. Missed a day there, guy. Might want to get on that. In my defense, I’ll note only that said “first half-hour” was the half-hour between 2:30 and 3AM.

Hard week. On Monday I think it was or maybe Sunday, I can’t even remember, we said goodbye to my family and headed north to Connecticut to come back to Massachusetts, pretty much to hunker down for the semester ahead. We moved the coffee pot, so that’s it. We’ve done plenty of back and forth, but where the Chemex goes is home and it’s back in MA now. I have no problem admitting I was sad to go. It was awesome to spend so much time in New Jersey this summer, to see my family, to have The Pecan get to know those cousins, his aunt and uncle, his grandmother, and have him meet assorted friends. I saw Slevin two days in a row this summer! That’s a special event in itself.

We’ll be back down there a couple times over the next few months — once in October for sure, then again for holidays, but in terms of the daily where-I’m-at, it’ll be back here in MA in the townhouse. The Patient Mrs. has a conference this weekend in Boston, so we’re headed there this morning early — it’s quarter to five now, so by “early” I mean in about two hours, maybe a little less — and I’ll be on baby duty. Should be interesting in a hotel room, but weather permitting, which always a gamble in Boston, I’ll take him out and we’ll go somewhere around town. Even if it’s Armageddon Shop or wherever. Just something to do rather than sit on ass and try to stop him from climbing on the furniture — it’s not so much the climbing I’m opposed to as the inevitable falling off that follows — while I try and fail to stare at my phone and be bored. “You old enough to have a conversation yet? No? Okay, let’s go for a walk somewhere.”

We also found out yesterday that The Little Dog Dio has bone cancer. The vet showed us the rather sizable tumor in her shoulder on the x-ray. We knew she wasn’t well — hence going to the vet — and she’s 12, so the possibility that it wasn’t something minor had occurred to us, but it still hit pretty hard. They did a bunch of blood tests to see if it’s in her organs [Update: it’s not.] and the vet gave us some pain meds for her in the meantime. We have a follow-up appointment next week, which looms large and ominous in my mind. He said the treatment was either amputate her leg — she’s 12; so no — or start her on radiation, which would make her miserable and really only help pain management anyway. Light on options. Heavy on grief.

In the meantime, she’s sleeping a lot. She’s lost five pounds in the last month, going from 37 to 32, which is the lowest I can recall her being as a full-grown dog. We’ve had her since she was nine weeks old. She’s the last of the Koczans. My heart breaks.

Monday is Labor Day but I’ll be posting. It’s a busy week because it’s the start of the semester and I’ll be slammed with babytime, so of course I’ve booked a ton of premieres. Here are the notes, with likely changes:

Mon.: Kelly Carmichael track premiere; P.H.O.B.O.S. track premiere.
Tue.: Druglord video premiere/review; Stone Titan track premiere.
Wed.: Stoned Jesus review/album stream.
Thu.: La Chinga review/album stream; LaGoon lyric video premiere.
Fri.: Fuzz Evil review/track premiere; Yung Druid video premiere.

The week is full. I don’t like to do more than one premiere a day, and there are two booked for four out of the five days next week. I know there are a lot of releases coming up, but that’s just silly. I may whittle down the amount of news so I can fit it all in and still, I don’t know, exist?, but we’ll see. To be perfectly honest, I’ve kind of pulled the wind out of my sails thinking about it.

It’s a busy weekend though, so I’m going to punch out and get to it. If you need me, I’ll be social media-available intermittently and otherwise around. One never really detaches these days, or if so, not for very long.

I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Thank you for reading, and please check out the forum and the radio stream.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

Portland, Oregon, instrumentalist duo Ramprasad are gearing up for the Sept. 1 release of their debut EP, Ruinenlust, through Anima Recordings. The three-song offering from the two-piece band finds them dug into post-sludge riffing with a willful focus on atmosphere. It’s only about 20 minutes long, and nearly half of that goes right to the 9:45 opening title-track, but is both deceptively patient and purposefully crushing in its tonality. With journeyman guitarist Aaron D.C. Edge — of Lumbar, Iamthethorn, Bible Black Tyrant, Minor Fret and a nearly endless string of others — and the also-pedigreed drummer/noisemaker David Fylstra, it’s not really a surprise they would come into the project with an idea of the sound they want to conjure, though I’d also be willing to believe the two started to work together and Ramprasad was simply what came out.

The songs have a formative, naturalist flow from one into the next, “Ruinenlust” into “Essence of Illusion” (8:26) into the grammatically problematic noise/drone assault “The Woods, She Calls” (1:53) — unless the woods aren’t actually doing the calling there; one could imagine any number of scenarios — and that too feels like more than happenstance. Whether it was written all as one piece and split up in the recording, I don’t know — there’s a stop after “Essence of Illusion” before the sharp, high-pitched frequency that starts the closer takes hold, but even that transition seems surprisingly organic considering the inhuman nature of what follows — but it all comes together to create an overarching impression of oppressive tones and head-down rhythmic pummel.

It’s fucking heavy, is what I’m saying, and it could hardly be more fitting that Edge and Fylstra got together following a recording session for another one of the former’s bands, since that’s kind of how it goes with him. Aaron Edge, despite an MS diagnosis five years ago, has a long string of projects either conceived as one-offs or that simply turn out that way in the end. My mantra with his work is pretty much “appreciate it, but don’t get attached.” Late last year, he unveiled Bible Black Tyrant‘s debut album, Regret Beyond Death (discussed here), which first brought him together with Fylstra, whose sonic history isn’t quite as long but goes back through outfits like Canadensis and Wasting Seasons over the last several years.

Ramprasad might be seen as an extension of some of Bible Black Tyrant‘s grim tonality and bludgeoning mindset, but the shift to Fylstra playing drums instead of guitar and vocals — he and Edge share bass duties — and the elements of noise throughout are distinguishing factors. Coupled with the viciousness of chug and the angular, sharp corners of “Essence of Illusion,” Ruinenlust takes on a controlled-feeling torrential feel, a conscious and thoughtful work but still a collaboration that sounds like it’s just getting started, even if coherently. Will Edge and Fylstra continue to work together, either in Ramprasad or Bible Black Tyrant? Far be it from me to speculate, but the fruit of their work together in these tracks is rich and deep in its mix, and in their full-on brutality and more ambient stretches — thinking of “Essence of Illusion” around the five-minute mark, before the concrete riffing returns — they come across as a vital unit beginning a longer exploration.

After all, the German-language title Ruinenlust does indeed translate to “lust for ruin.” A kind of death wish, maybe? In any case, that feeling of foreboding certainly carries into “Ruinenlust” itself and the sweeping, abrasive consumption of “The Woods, She Calls.” You can stream all three cuts ahead of the Sept. 15 release now on the player below. More background on the recording follows, as well as some word from Edge on plans for the band, courtesy of the PR wire.

Enjoy:

Ramprasad is the collaboration of Portland, OR musicians Aaron D.C. Edge (Lumbar, Bible Black Tyrant, Iamthethorn, etc.) and David S. Fylstra (KVØID, Folian, Canadensis, etc.). The duo met when Aaron came to David’s home studio to record vocals for his Minor Fret project. Just within the weeks to follow, the two were in a small practice space writing music together. Ramprasad was formed in April of 2016.

Ramprasad’s debut effort “Ruinenlust” takes us on a short, yet daringly adventurous and impactful sonic journey. The instrumental music within these three tracks manages to merge elements of metal, sludge, hardcore, doom, and electronic noise. Drums were recorded by Zak Kimball at Nomah Studios in Portland. All other music recorded and finally mixed by David at Candlewolfe Sound in Portland. It was mastered by Zach Weeks at Godcity Studio in Salem, MA.

“Ruinenlust” will be released digitally and on cassette via David’s label Anima Recordings.

Aaron Edge on Ramprasad’s future:

Until two years ago, and since late 2012, my MS had kept me from playing live music with a drummer. It just wasn’t possible. I was confined to writing and recording records in my home studio, passing tunes ’round with other folks from around the country — projects that I could spend months on, slowly and without wasting money and band member patience — projects that were important for my creative drive and sanity. But, with the help of proper meds, I now have a grip on my chronic hand pain (I suppose there’s a pun there). I’m able to stand and play guitar with a live drummer and it’s huge.

Now, the suffering is worth it in a way, there is not only a release of my sonic historic significance… there is also a live release of energy, volume and emotion. David and I aren’t going anywhere, and though I’ll always work on other musical projects (both Yama-Uba and Canyon of the Crescent Moon to be released this year), Ramprasad is a visual, full-time beast. We have a full-length wrapped up as well, just needs to be mastered, and we are hoping that Ruinenlust is a teaser of what we can’t wait to share. I love Dave like a brother, he’s been very patient with my progress and one of the best musicians I’ve worked with since first strumming in the mid-’80s. He shines here, and though my story is heavy, it’s only made possible by his donation of blood, sweat, tears and bombastic behavior.

Personnel:
Aaron D.C. Edge – guitar
David Fylstra – drums, noise
(bass on “Ruinenlust” performed by Aaron and David)

Ramprasad on Thee Facebooks

Ramprasad on Bandcamp

Anima Recordings on Thee Facebooks

Anima Recordings on Twitter

Anima Recordings on Bandcamp

I have to think a couple of the rooms Eyehategod and The Obsessed are playing together next month won’t be the same after they go. Not that places like Geno’s in Maine and Ottobar in Baltimore haven’t seen their fair share of comings and goings, but if any single gig was going to leave a scar, this pairing might. It’s a pretty insane bill if you think about it. Two legendary bands, from the most dug-in doom of The Obsessed to the history-of-violence sludge of Eyehategod, and yeah, it’s pretty much a two-band festival doing the East Coast circuit. At very least, it’s the kind of show that those fortunate enough to see it talk about incessantly, much to the annoyance of those around them at whatever their next gig is who weren’t so lucky.

Not that that kind of thing has ever happened to me or anything. You know. Hypotheticals. The PR wire has this:

THE OBSESSED: Doom Rock Icons Confirm September Tour With Eyehategod

Doom rock icons THE OBSESSED will take to the streets next month on a near-two-week US tour alongside Eyehategod. The journey kicks off September 12th in Hamden, Connecticut and runs through September 24th in Memphis, Tennessee. See all confirmed dates below.

View a tour trailer, created by Chariot Of Black Moth, At THIS LOCATION.

THE OBSESSED w/ Eyehategod:
9/12/2018 Space Ballroom – Hamden, CT
9/13/2018 Middle East – Cambridge, MA
9/14/2018 Brooklyn Bazaar – Brooklyn, NY
9/15/2018 Ottobar – Baltimore, MD
9/16/2018 The Pour House – Raleigh, NC
9/17/2018 Voltage Lounge – Philadelphia, PA
9/18/2018 Geno’s Rock Club – Portland, ME
9/19/2018 Buffalo’s Mohawk Place – Buffalo, NY
9/20/2018 Northside Yacht Club – Cincinnati, OH
9/21/2018 Sanctuary – Detroit, MI
9/22/2018 Spirit Hall – Pittsburgh, PA
9/23/2018 Cobra Lounge – Chicago, IL
9/24/2018 Growler’s – Memphis, TN

Originally released in 1990 and out-of-print for almost two decades, THE OBSESSED’s now-legendary self-titled debut was completely remastered by Relapse Records last fall. The collection boasts previously unreleased bonus tracks, including the highly-sought after four-track Concrete Cancer demo (1984), expanded artwork, never-before-seen photos, and extended liner notes from frontman Scott “Wino” Weinrich making for a true piece of doom rock history.

The deluxe 2xCD version of the record includes a bonus disc containing the Concrete Cancer demo as well as a full live set from 1985 in Washington, D.C.. The Concrete Cancer demo is also available separately as a limited-edition LP.

In the spring of 2017, THE OBSESSED unleashed Sacred, the band’s first studio album in over twenty years. With renewed energy and purpose, THE OBSESSED sounds heavier and more relevant than ever before. On Sacred, the band doubles down on enormous, heaving riffs and pummeling low-end across twelve tracks of eternal doom. Rounded out by Wino’s lyrical honesty and iconic throaty vocals, Sacred is an album that further pushes THE OBSESSED into the annals of heavy metal history, well worth the two-plus decade wait. The band performs once again as three piece featuring Wino, Reid Raley and Brian Costantino.

https://www.facebook.com/TheObsessedOfficial
http://relapse.com/the-obsessed-sacred/
https://theobsessed.bandcamp.com/
http://www.relapse.com
http://www.relapserecords.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/RelapseRecords
http://www.twitter.com/RelapseRecords
https://www.facebook.com/tonedeaftouring/

The Obsessed, Sacred (2017)

Eyehategod and The Obsessed tour trailer

A little bit of tried and true Maryland doom history brought to light by Shadow Kingdom Records. Asylum guitarist Dale Flood and drummer Ronnie Kalimon went on to form Unorthodox, and though the band never had an album out, only a collection of demos, their reputation never really subsided. 3-3-88 isn’t the last recording Asylum made before the one band became the other, but it’s never been officially issued before, and you can stream it in full now at the bottom of this post ahead of a Sept. 28 CD issue. It sounds like it’s probably been cleaned up some from the bootleg versions — or at very least mastered — but either way you can hear the grit and roughness of the tracks as well as the bluesy atmospheric jams on songs like “Nowhere.” Killer vibe throughout, and clearly more than just one for archivists and scholars of Maryland doom, though that contingent should also be well pleased.

Info from the PR wire:

Pre-UNORTHODOX band ASYLUM to release lost recordings through SHADOW KINGDOM – streaming in full now

On September 28th, Shadow Kingdom Records is proud to present a special lost recording from cult Maryland doom band Asylum entitled 3-3-88. Circulated amongst diehard collectors for years via MP3 but now finally finding an official physical release on CD format, Asylum’s 3-3-88 is a crucial piece of doom metal history.

Doom aficionados are well familiar with the name Asylum by now. Begun in 1981 and crafting a handful of super-cult demos during the lean years of the 1980s, Asylum eventually became Unorthodox in 1992 and released their classic debut album, fittingly titled Asylum, that year on the pivotal Hellhound label. As such, Asylum had a big hand in shaping the Maryland doom metal scene that would come to fruition in the ’90s and sow its influence worldwide.

But, with the long-lost 3-3-88 recording now unearthed, we begin to see the full depth of Asylum’s eventual transformation into UNORTHODOX. This recording was indeed recorded on March 3rd of 1988, and was the last-known recording under the Asylum moniker. Across its 10 tracks, the listener can feel the full force of the band’s ever-expanding biker rock base, which would later become a hallmark of Maryland doom. Whereas so much doom to come would take heavy cues from Black Sabbath, Asylum instead had more of a Steppenwolf-gone-metal feel, and as displayed by 3-3-88, a penchant for jamming out into spacier realms, including touches of otherworldly synth. And yet, for all this increased ambition – four full instrumentals mark this recording, including the portentous “Unorthodox” – the band’s sound remained remarkably focused, with a clear vision and even clearer execution. You can drift off into far-away lands as easily as you can headbang to this.

Pulled from the original tapes and remastered, Asylum’s 3-3-88 possesses an enduring power which has made it such a highly-sought-after recording all these years. And whether they transformed into Unorthodox or not, this crucial document deserves its rightful place in the doom pantheon.

In the leadup to its CD release, the entirety of Asylum’s 3-3-88 is currently streaming in full HERE at Shadow Kingdom’s Bandcamp, where the album can be preordered. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Asylum (Maryland)’s 3-3-88
1. World In Trouble
2. Mystified
3. Time Bomb
4. Road To Ruin
5. Psyche World
6. Forgotten Image
7. Nowhere
8. Funk 69
9. Indecision
10. Unorthodox

www.shadowkingdomrecords.com
www.facebook.com/shadowkingdomrecords
https://shadowkingdomrecords.bandcamp.com/

Asylum, 3-3-88 (2018)

Looks like good times ahead. I’ve been asked if I’d like to be a media sponsor for Kristonfest 2019 and my answer was pretty much, “duh yes.” I framed it nicer than that, but that was the gist of it. The festival will be held in Madrid on May 10 (a pre-show) and May 11 (the fest proper) and so far four bands have been announced: Kadavar, Arabrot, Turbowolf and Church of the Cosmic Skull, giving an immediate sense of variety in underground heavy from the ultra-harmonies of the latter UK outfit to the mega-hooks of the former to Arabrot‘s noise assault and Turbowolf‘s classic-styled hard rock. Much to dig for just being four acts so far, but I have it on good authority more killer stuff is to be announced, so keep an eye out.

The info below was run through a major internet company’s translation matrix, so keep that in mind as you peruse, but I think the point gets across. Tickets are on sale now:

Kristonfest 2019

FRIDAY, MAY 10 | WARM UP PARTY KRISTONFEST 2019
SALA CARACOL (MADRID)

SATURDAY MAY 11 | KRISTONFEST 2019
SALA LA RIVIERA (MADRID)

For this 2019, the main novelty is that the next edition will be composed of 2 days: A first day framed in a Warm Up Party or party presentation in the Caracol Room and a second day in the usual La Riviera, both in Madrid.

Having said that, the eighth edition of the Kristonfest will be held on May 10 and 11, 2019 and as the first round of confirmations we are proud to present the KADAVAR Germans, who in a short time have become the spearhead of a new generation of artists who have revived and refreshed the most classic sounds of legends like Black Sabbath or Pentagram, adding rhythms more typical of psychedelia or stoner-rock.

Another great confirmation is the TURBOWOLF, English quartet that burst with great force with the edition of its first disc in 2011 and that dragged a debt after having recorded 3 discs and still not to come to Madrid to present it. The wait has been long but we are sure it will be worth it!

In similar circumstances we find CHURCH OF THE COSMIC SKULL, a kind of hippie commune formed by 7 musicians reminiscent of the Electric Light Orchestra, Deep Purple or Fleetwood Mac and that in the European scene is one of the sensations of the moment, Mission fulfilled! It will be the first time they have performed in Spain and we are sure that their show will be one of the highlights of Kristonfest 2019.

To close this first round of confirmations, we are especially excited to announce ARABROT, one of the successful bands of the past Roadburn and that will delight us with their vision of the darker side of rock, evoking the icy landscapes of their native Norway and reminding us of brushstrokes of artists that we admire a lot like Wovenhand, Neurosis or Melvins to name a few.

TICKETS ALREADY ON SALE: WWW.KRISTONFEST.COM

https://www.facebook.com/events/391742591310823/
http://www.kristonfest.com
https://www.facebook.com/kristonfest
https://twitter.com/Kristonfest
https://www.instagram.com/kristonfest

Church of the Cosmic Skull, “Evil in Your Eye” official video

You know what new Lair of the Minotaur is bound to be heavier than? Just about everything that’s not new Lair of the Minotaur, thank you very much. The two-songer streaming at the bottom of this post, titled Dragon Eagle of Chaos, which — wait, yes, I’m getting confirmation now — is awesome, is the band’s first offering of any sort since their 2013 Godslayer single, and they’ll make a return to live activity this weekend as well in Chicago, playing Scorched Tundra X with Monolord, Sumac, Yakuza and a very, very heavy host of others.

They’ll have a 7″ of the release with them that will no doubt be gone before they actually take the stage, so if you’re at the Empty Bottle and manage to snag one, kudos.

From the PR wire:

LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR: Dragon Eagle Of Chaos EP Out Now; Band To Play Exclusive 2018 Show At Scorched Tundra Fest This Week

Chicago’s crushing trio LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR has released Dragon Eagle Of Chaos, a new two-song EP, through all digital platforms. The new record marks the band’s first new material to see release in five years. LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR will unleash a very limited version of the EP on 7″ this week at their first show in five years and their sole performance of 2018, at Scorched Tundra Fest this Friday, August 31st.

Following an extensive hiatus sharpening their axes, the Gods have called LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR back to battle. The classic “road dog” lineup of guitarist/vocalist Steven Rathbone, bassist Donald James Barraca, and drummer Chris Wozniak reunited in May of this year to record the first new material since their 2013-released Godslayer 7″. LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR hammered out the title track “Dragon Eagle Of Chaos” at Horse Drawn Studios with John E. Bohmer, after which it was mixed by Bohmer and Wozniak. The B-side bears the previously-unreleased “Kunsult The Bones,” which was recorded in January of 2010 at Semaphore Studios by Sanford Parker, mixed by Parker and Rathbone with assistant engineering by Pablo Roman, the track recorded with bass and backing vocals by Nate Olp. The tracks were mastered by Steve Rathbone, and the EP was completed with cover art by Unexpected Specter.

LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR collectively offers of the release, “In an effort to release everything that was written for this band, our new EP is two older tracks. One we had never properly recorded and one we had recorded, but never released. Cheers!”

LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR presents Dragon Eagle Of Chaos through their own The Grind-House Records; the EP can be purchased at iTunes HERE, Bandcamp HERE, and through all other digital providers.

Dragon Eagle Of Chaos Track Listing:
Side A – Dragon Eagle Of Chaos
Side B – Kunsult The Bones

Dragon Eagle Of Chaos is released in conjunction with LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR’s first performance in five years and their sole show of 2018. The band plays Scorched Tundra X in Chicago this Friday, August 31st, the two-day event also featuring Monolord, Sumac, Yakuza, In The Company Of Serpents, Telekinetic Yeti, Couch Slut, and more. This sold-out performance will see LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR selling an extremely limited edition 7″ vinyl version of Dragon Eagle Of Chaos, pressed in a run of only 33 hand-numbered copies.

LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR Live:
8/31/2018 Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL @ Scorched Tundra X w/ Monolord, Telekenetic Yeti

Formed in Chicago in 2003, LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR has released four full-length LPs, and two EPs through Southern Lord as well as their own label, The Grind-House Recordings, all interconnected concept recordings based on the bloodier tales of Greek mythology. The band has toured extensively across North America and Europe, crushing all in their path with their own brand of heavy fucking metal that has been likened to being beat to death with a spiked club.

LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR:
Donald James Barraca – bass
Steve Rathbone – guitar/vocals
Chris Wozniak – drums

http://www.lairoftheminotaur.net
https://lairoftheminotaur.bandcamp.com

Lair of the Minotaur, Dragon Eagle of Chaos (2018)

Fuck yes. I remember when New Jersey death-doomers Evoken got going again in the latter half of the aughts and I was fortunate enough to catch them live a few times being as we share a home state. They were awesome then. They were awesome when they put out Atra Mors (review here) on Profound Lore in 2012, and I have zero reason to think they’d be anything but awesome now. You want a herald for winter’s darkness late in the Fall? Here’s the first Evoken record in more than half a decade. It’s called Hypnagogia, it’s a concept record and it finds the band heading toward the quarter-century mark since they got their start in 1994. If you get to see Evoken — should you be so god damned lucky — do it.

The PR wire sounds the alarm and brings some background on the story being told. Art is by Adam Burke, because who else?

Doom:

EVOKEN: Legendary Death/Funeral Doom Legion To Release Hypnagogia Full-Length Via Profound Lore This November; Record Marks Band’s First Release In Six Years

Legendary death/funeral doom legion EVOKEN will unleash theirHypnagogia full-length November 9th via Profound Lore Records. Recorded, mixed and mastered at Sound Spa studios in New Jersey by Steven DeAcutis, the record comes swathed in the artwork of Adam Burke (Artificial Brain, Mos Generator, Hooded Menace) and marks the band’s first new output in six long years.

Known as one of the founding fathers of the American death/funeral doom metal scene, New Jersey’s EVOKEN have been a long-standing pillar over the band’s twenty-five-year pillage. The followup to their landmark Atra Mors full-length, Hypnagogia is a towering monolith that develops and redefines the band’s sound that will only strengthen their position within the death/doom metal hierarchy where EVOKEN have always reigned.

Hypnagogia is an expression of doom metal artistry where the listener will bear witness how EVOKEN can create a new and even more daring expression with a monument that will be recognized as a landmark. This tends to happen regardless with every EVOKEN release, but Hypnagogia sees the band expand their musical dynamics even more through the meticulous care and discrimination of the band’s song writing process, Hypnagogia being a listening experience through a multitude of varying yet flourishing emotions. Pushing both their penchant for grandiose melodicism and their trademark aura of pulverizing supreme unparalleled heaviness even more, it is the base of this repercussion that makes Hypnagogia one of the most intense, compelling, and soul crushing EVOKEN listening experiences yet; one of euphoria, desperation, and hopelessness. As drummer/lyricist Vince Verkay says, “As we do on every record. we definitely wanted to avoid repeating ourselves. We wanted to keep it EVOKEN of course, but go a little deeper with melody and arrangement and also try new things; to present the listener with an emotionally exhausting record.”

Hypnagogia also sees EVOKEN delve into their first concept album. Relays Verkay of the themes and lyrics surrounding the record, “Hypnagogia is based around World War I and its physiological impact on those who fought. It’s used metaphorically about events that impacted me the past three years, which I will keep to myself. But the story behind this World War I theme is based on a soldier who was so bitter about being lied to and is losing his life. He’s wounded in battle and decides to write a journal of his final hours, describing what he sees and what he feels as his life is slipping away. Feeling cheated, he makes a pact with a sadistic god that he can leave a part of his soul, which contains all of his suffering, within this journal. To feel some sort of vengeance, anyone who reads this journal releases that part of his soul and it attaches itself to the reader like a host. Each emotion being experienced as if they too where there. As the reader descends into a deep despair, they cannot handle this suffering, deciding to take their own life. Once gone, that part of their soul, containing all the misery is taken by the writer’s misery-laden soul and attaches itself to this journal again, increasing its powerful grip onto the next reader and each time its read with its power increasing.”

Further Hypnagogia info, including teaser tracks and preorders, will be unveiled in the weeks to come.

Hypnagogia Track Listing:
1. The Fear After
2. Valorous Consternation
3. Schadenfreude
4. Too Feign Ebullience
5. Hypnagogia
6. Ceremony Of Bleeding
7. Hypnopompic
8. The Weald Of Perished Men

EVOKEN on Hypnagogia:
John Paradiso – vocals/guitar
Chris Molinari – guitar
Dave Wagner – bass
Don Zaros – keyboards
Vince Verkay – drums

https://www.facebook.com/evokenhell
http://www.profoundlorerecords.com
http://www.facebook.com/profoundlorerecords
http://www.profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/profoundlorerecords

Evoken, Atra Mors (2012)

With their apropos-of-everything Crazy World (review here) album still fresh in minds hip enough to get down in the first place, The Freeks will leave their Californian confines and head into the Midwest for a five-date run that starts in St. Louis on Oct. 3. The desert-blues-punker-whatever-else rockers go with the hearty encouragement of Heavy Psych Sounds, which issued Crazy World as the follow-up to 2016’s Shattered (review here), which was their third album.

The Freeks have done regular gigs around Los Angeles and the Pacific Coast, but as multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Ruben Romano (ex-Nebula) notes in his comments below, it’s been a little bit since he was last in the neighborhood. All the better then that they’re getting back out.

The PR wire puts it like this:

*** THE FREEKS – MIDWEST TOUR 2018***

THE FREEKS announce Midwest fall tour; new album “Crazy World” still available on HPS Records!

L.A. heavy rock ’n’ rollers The Freeks have just confirmed five Midwest shows taking place from October 5th to October 9th.

Says head Freek Ruben Romano: “I haven’t played a show in the Midwest since about 2006 when Nebula toured with the Hellacopters. Only this time I’ll be showing up with a bunch of FREEKS! So, Hell Yeah! I’m really looking forward to this and I am so amazed at the venues we got booked into. It’s not just returning to the region to get loud but also to have the pleasure of reuniting with all the great people I have met in the past, with further intentions on meeting many many more. I have always had such a great time in these cities!”

Come and join the party on one of the dates below:

The Freeks Midwest Tour:
03/10 – Fubar – St Louis, MO
04/10 – Reggie’s Music Joint – Chicago, IL
05/10 – The Nightshop – Bloomington, IL
06/10 – The Grog Shop – Cleveland, OH
07/10 – Small’s Bar – Detroit, MI

The band recently released their fourth full-length “Crazy World” via Heavy Psych Sounds Records. You can stream it and order it at this location: https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-freeks-crazy-world or https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm#HPS077

Los Angeles’ THE FREEKS know that as the Earth revolves, the Sun and the Universe infinitely expand, it must be shared with as many different kinds of life as there are stars. A bold statement coming from a bunch of Freeks. This is not a new concept, however, an ever recurring one, dating back to Ezekiel’s biblical account to even further back with evidence from ancient Egypt and Mayan times. After 4,000 years, the theory continues strong as we enter 2018.

THE FREEKS ARE:
Ruben Romano – Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Percussion
Jonathan Hall – Vocals, Guitar, Bass,
Esteban Chavez – Keys, Synth
Ray Piller – Bass
Bob Lee – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/TheFreeks/
https://twitter.com/The_Freeks
http://www.thefreeks.com/
http://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm#HPS044