Pretty easy to imagine the conversation between Connecticut’s Mourn the Light and Massachusetts’ Oxblood Forge went something like, “Yo dudes, split?” and “Yeah,” in that order, before the decision was made. Both bands have songs streaming now, and their wares are likewise straightforward, but at the same time, you can hear the edge each group brings to the proceedings, whether it’s Mourn the Light‘s foundation in bruising metal throughout “Lost all Control” or Oxblood Forge‘s classic doom and harsher bite in the screaming chorus of “Forged in Fire.” The two bands are veterans of the New England Stoner and Doom Festival, but on successive years, though I’d imagine they’ve shared a stage or two just through sheer proximity. Next time that happens they’ll have something new for the merch table.

Info for the split is copious and follows here, as per the PR wire:

U.S. Doom Outfit MOURN THE LIGHT Releasing Split Album with OXBLOOD FORGE on September 13

U.S. Doom outfit MOURN THE LIGHT will release a self-titled split album with Massachusetts Trad-Metal/Doom crew OXBLOOD FORGE September 13 on CD and digital formats. The split album comes in two versions, each with a different cover. The MOURN THE LIGHT version also includes a bonus digital download of Candlemass cover “Bewitched.”

There’s no arguing that Connecticut doom outfit MOURN THE LIGHT has hit the ground running since its inception in early 2018. Focusing on catchy sing-a-long hooks to deliver tales of hopelessness and despair, MOURN THE LIGHT released their debut EP Weight of the World that year, followed by the CD single “Carry The Flame.” Both were incredibly well-received by the underground metal community, but the MOURN THE LIGHT boys were not ones to rest on their riff-hurling asses. The band embarked on a U.S. tour throughout March of 2018, taking them on a 4,500 mile trek with stops including SWSX Stoner Jam ’19 and New England Stoner and Doom Fest 2.

Now on the eve of MOURN THE LIGHT’s much-anticipated split with NWOTHM force OXBLOOD FORGE, excitement is also building for their first Canadian tour this October with power metal juggernaut Firstbourne (featuring 6-string wunderkind Mike Kerr, who played a guest solo on Weight of the World). Along with the upcoming split and tour plans, MTL has released a cover of the Candlemass classic “Bewitched,” featuring a guest solo by Joey Concepcion (The Absence, Sanctuary), available as a bonus download for the MTL version of the split. A special treat is the album’s inclusion of the piano version of 2018 single “Carry The Flame,” featuring Sean OrcAdams (Orcumentary, Virus of Ideals).

Clearly, MOURN THE LIGHT shows no signs of stopping their hostile audio takeover. With a distinctive sound and indomitable work ethic, this band will continue to deliver a unique mark upon the metal landscape for years to come.

OXBLOOD FORGE started in 2016 with the idea of playing heavy music their way, and not following the trends. Their first release, 2016’s self titled EP dabbled in everything from 70’s rock to the Melvins, putting out many fan favorite songs. While their second full length, 2018’s Deal Dealer’s Lament presenting a more unified heavier sound. It’s dark and brooding riffs provided a more doom direction, but still heavily focused on hooks and songwriting.

During this time, OXBLOOD FORGE played in front of audiences all over New England, opening for national acts from Unearthly Trance, to Conan and Mothership, and was also invited to play Doom Over Toronto II festival, in addition to the first annual New England Stoner Doom Festival.

Now, with a revamped lineup, OXBLOOD FORGE is shifting gears stylistically and pushing themselves further with the split with MOURN THE LIGHT, embracing the metal of their youth, and bring about a more NWOBHM onslaught to the songs while keeping to their doom roots. In the coming months, they will be working on branching out even further to metal audiences, pushing beyond the New England area, and working on an upcoming full length release.

With the collaboration of MOURN THE LIGHT and OXBLOOD FORGE, the split release is a grand introduction into the musical excellence of these two talented, passionate bands.

Track Listing:
1 Lost All Control – Mourn the Light
2 Drags Me Down – Mourn the Light 3
3 Carry The Flame (Piano version feat. Sean OrcAdams) – Mourn the Light
4 Bewitched (Candlemass Cover) – Mourn The Light*
5 Screams From Silence – Oxblood Forge
6 Forged In Fire – Oxblood Forge

*Bonus Digital Download on MTL Version Only

Mourn The Light Credits:
Recorded at Up Recording Studio Seymour, CT in May 2019
Recorded and Mixed by Simon Tuozzoli
Mastered by Rob Birkbeck at Project 7:06 Sound Services Griswold, CT
Songs written by Dwayne Eldredge
Piano/Strings on “Carry the Flame” performed by Sean OrcAdams
Additional backing vocals on “Carry The Flame” by Simon Tuozzoli
Cover art by Jim Clegg
Inside art by Eryka Fir
Layout by Charlie Platteborze

Oxblood Forge Credits:
Recorded Spring 2019 at Red Devil Studios with Joel Hopkins
Mixed by Glenn Smith at Amps vs Ohms Studio
Mastered at New Alliance East by Nick Zampiello

MOURN THE LIGHT is
Andrew Stachelek – Vocals
Dwayne Eldredge – Guitars and vocals
Kyle Hebner – Drums
Daniel Jackson – Bass

OXBLOOD FORGE is
Ken MacKay: vox
Robb Lioy: Guitar
Greg Dellaria: Bass
Erik Fraünfeltër: drums

mournthelight.com/
mournthelight.bandcamp.com/
facebook.com/MournTheLight/
instagram.com/mourn_the_light/

facebook.com/oxbloodforge/
oxbloodforge.bandcamp.com/
instagram.com/oxbloodforge/

Mourn the Light, “Lost all Control”

Oxblood Forge, “Forged in Fire”

Alcest are one of those bands who, every time they put out a new release, I see the news about it, listen to some new music if I’m lucky, then get all stoked, write about, and get absolutely zero response. I don’t know if there’s just no audience crossover or what, but this is a popular band, and yet each and every time I put up a post about them: crickets. I mean, I know I’m hardly the only one in the universe covering them, and at least in the case of this news, I’m a couple days late with it, but yeah. They’re just one of those bands. There are a few of them, of varying styles.

Still, I like Alcest, so yes, I am posting about how their new album, Spiritual Instinct, is out Oct. 25 as their debut release on Nuclear Blast, and that the lead single “Protection” is surprisingly intense considering where the band’s last two outings, 2016’s Kodama (review here) and 2014’s maligned-but-gorgeous Shelter (review here), took them. Alcest would hardly be the first band to enter into alliance with Nuclear Blast and mark a turning point with their sound on their next LP — think Blues Pills, Kadavar, Graveyard and a bunch of others — but it’s a noteworthy shift, in no small part because the new song sounds so damn good.

It came via the PR wire:

ALCEST TO RELEASE 6TH ALBUM, SPIRITUAL INSTINCT, ON OCT 25TH

WATCH THE VIDEO FOR FIRST SINGLE, “PROTECTION” AND PRE-ORDER THE RECORD NOW

On October 25th, ALCEST will once again open the gateways to the otherworldly and release their sixth studio album titled Spiritual Instinct. Recorded at the French Drudenhaus Studios and written in bursts both during and after a prolonged period of touring in support of 2016’s hugely successful Kodama, the new album – the first to be released via Nuclear Blast – will lead the blackgaze pioneers into dark soundscapes full of spiritual catharsis.

Today, the wait is over as singer/multi-instrumentalist Neige and drummer Winterhalter have revealed the first single “Protection” from the band’s upcoming album.

Frontman Neige comments:
“‘Protection’ is the first track I wrote for »Spiritual Instinct«. It’s probably one of our most heavy, spontaneous songs. It is about inner conflict, the tension between the spiritual and darker sides of a person, facing your own anguishes in order to embrace them and then fight them. Like the other tracks on the album, writing it was a very cathartic, healing process for me.”

The music video for “Protection” was filmed by director Craig Murray (Mogwai, Blood Red Shoes).
Stream or download the new single, here: https://nblast.de/Alcest-Protection

The album is now available for pre-order in the following formats:

– digipak in O-card
– 36 pages earbook including 2 CD + 180g LP (stone effect) (limited to 2000 copies)
– 180g LP in sleeve available in the colors:
black (retail)
ocean green (NB mailorder + wholesale, limited to 500 copies)
burgundy (NB mailorder exclusive, limited to 300 copies)
polar white (Rough Trade exclusive, limited to 300 copies)
royal blue (band shop exclusive, limited to 300 copies)
– Boxset collector’s edition including 2 CDs + 180g LP (stone effect), earbook, bonus mini LP (violet sparkle, etched) in sleeve, art prints and patch (limited to 500 copies)
– Digital

USA exclusive vinyl colors:
mint green (retail, limited to 1.700 copies)
clear+blue/bone splatter (indie exclusive, limited to 300 copies)
blood red (NB mailorder exclusive, limited to 500 copies)

Get your copy of Spiritual Instinct, released on October 25th, here: https://nblast.de/AlcestSpiritInstinct
Pre-save the album on Spotify via this link: http://nblast.de/ALCESTpreSave

ALCEST are:
Neige – vocals, guitars, bass, synths
Winterhalter – drums

https://www.facebook.com/alcest.official
https://www.instagram.com/alcestofficial/
https://www.alcest-music.com/
https://www.facebook.com/nuclearblastusa
https://www.instagram.com/nuclearblastusa/
https://shop.nuclearblast.com/en/shop/index.html

Alcest, “Protection” official video

Italian doomers Bretus will release their new album, Aion Tetra, on Sept. 20 (Sept. 27 in North America). Out as their first offering through Ordo MCM, the 43-minute release collects nine tracks that continue along the sonic path set by 2017’s …From the Twilight Zone (review here), which departed from the sludgier fare of 2015’s The Shadow over Innsmouth (discussed here) and their formative 2012 debut, In Onirica, that followed two demos that were the band’s only releases to that point after forming in 2000. In place of the scream-topped dirges, there has emerged in Bretus‘ sound a traditionalism that calls to mind practitioners of the style’s truest incarnations — the doom metal of Candlemass, of Reagers-era Saint Vitus, of Black Sabbath and Reverend Bizarre, kin to US bands like Orodruin and Ogre and others who might seek to bring doom to bear with as little distraction from their purpose as possible. One wouldn’t say Aion Tetra lacks an individual personality, just that the Catanzaro four-piece — vocalist Zagarus, guitarist Ghenes, bassist Janos and drummer Striges — are clear about what they want that personality to be doing. They want it to be dooming the fuck out. And so it is.

And while I know crazier things have happened in the universe than a sludgy band cleaning up their vocal approach and going in a different direction, among the distinguishing factors in Aion Tetra is just how poised Bretus sound in doing so. Having come through the last record, they would seem to have taken the lessons of that stylistic shift and implemented them into tracks like “Mark of Evil” or earlier cuts like opener “The Third Mystic Eye” (premiering below) or the keyboard-laced second track “Priests of Chaos.” Bretus are able to careen and lumber through an atmosphere of the purest doom simply because they execute their material without any hesitation. They’re all in. Even on the quiet interludes “Aion Tetra” and “Fields of Mars” — the former instrumental, the latter with vocals appearing as an intro for closer “City of Frost” — the brooding execution is paramount, and as they dip into willfully grandiose fare like the centerpiece “Deep Space Voodoo” or the classically metal “Cosmic Crow,” they do so with an underlying sense of the weird that speaks to not only where Bretus are as a band these 19 years after they first got together, but where they still might be going. It is that perspective, the point of view they ultimately will take on doom, that will define their work going forward, and one can hear the foundations of that in this material. It serves to make Aion Tetra an even more exciting listen.

In the chugging verse of “Prisoner of the Night” or the plodding stomp of “The Third Mystic Eye” and its subtly layered hook, Bretus show that they quite simply have figured it out. They know who they are as a band, and more, who they want to be, and they’re putting in the effort to realize that vision. Aion Tetra, like …From the Twilight Zone and their early work before it, demonstrates that their sound is in progress, but nearly two decades on from their start, there’s no way to see that as anything other than admirable. Bretus continue to explore, to grow darker and more efficient in their sonic communication, and Aion Tetra is their finest hour to-date in its manifestation of the tenets of doom. Wherever they might go from here, they’ve very obviously mastered the form. Nailed it.

You can hear “The Third Mystic Eye” premiering on the player below, courtesy of Ordo MCM. More PR wire info follows.

Please enjoy:

ORDO MCM is proud to present BRETUS’ highly anticipated fourth album, Aion Tetra, on CD and vinyl LP formats. The release date shall be September 20th for Europe and September 27th for North America.

Alas, although it’s only been a couple years since their last full-length, the critically acclaimed …from the Twilight Zone, TOTAL DOOM arrives with BRETUS’ fourth album, Aion Tetra. Sweaty, swaggering, and more than a bit bluesy, Aion Tetra is sound of BRETUS hitting a fever pitch of creativity. Almost effortlessly, the band unload one molten crusher after another, with each opening up to reveal new, deeper corridors to their signature sound.

Tracklisting:

1. The Third Mystic Eye
2. Priests of Chaos
3. Prisoner of the Night
4. Aion Tetra
5. Deep Space Voodoo
6. Mark of Evil
7. Cosmic Crow
8. Fields of Mars
9. City of Frost

Bretus is:
Ghenes (High/Low Guitars and Fx),
Zagarus (Vox),
Janos (Bass),
Striges (Drums)

Bretus on Thee Facenooks

Bretus on Bandcamp

Ordo MCM on Thee Facebooks

Ordo MCM website

Brazilian instrumentalists Psilocibina issued their self-titled debut album (review here) last year through Abraxas in South America and Electric Magic in Europe. Neither is a minor affiliation to have, frankly, and the European tour they’ll undertake beginning next month to support the album is likewise not-minor. The three-piece hit the road in Germany and finish off in Germany — as European tours will these days — but in between, they’ll be there for the entire month of October and then some on a significant run that includes drives across the continent, festival stops, and the full Euro-tour experience all packed into a matter of weeks. Simply put, this is the kind of tour that changes a band. This isn’t just hitting the grindstone — it’s making music your entire life for more than a month. I can’t imagine they’re not excited.

I won’t get to see any of these shows, but what I look forward to is what Psilocibina will learn about themselves as a unit on this run and how it might play into their songcraft on their next release, because it almost invariably will. How could it not, unless they already have a record written? You can hear in the stream of their self-titled, they were already deft of boogie and fleet of rhythm — that bass — but just imagine where they’ll be after this tour. Shit. Never mind their excitement. I’m excited for them. This is how great bands are made.

Dates were posted on social media thusly:

PSILOCIBINA – Euro Tour 2069

Taking off for our first European tour next month. We can’t wait to perform live for you!

Thank you Jonas Gonçalves from Ya Ya Yeah for the invitation and our labels Abraxas and Electric Magic for all the support always.

See you soon!!

SEP 27 – STONED MOUNTAIN – PASSAU, DE
SEP 28 – MUSHROOM GARDEN FESTIVAL CHEMNITZ, DE
SEP 29 – TIEF – BERLIN, DE
SEP 30 – BOSS BAR – PODERBRADY, CZ
OCT 2 – PILSEN BUSKING FEST – PILSEN, CZ
OCT 3 – PILSEN BUSKING FEST – PILSEN, CZ
OCT 4 – ŽiŽKOVŠiŠKA – PRAGUE, CZ
OCT 5 – HEXENHAUS – ULM, DE
OCT 7 – LE CIRCUS – CAPBRETON, FR
OCT 8 – VOID – BORDEAUX, FR
OCT 9 – ROCK BEER THE NEW – SANTANDER, ES
OCT 10 – AVENIDA – AVEIRO, PT
OCT 11 – CARPE DIEM – SANTO DIEGO, PT
OCT 12 – SABOTAGE CLUB – LISBOA, PT
OCT 13 – BARRACUDA – PORTO, PT
OCT 16 – GOLYA – BUDAPEST, HU
OCT 17 – GRAND CAFÉ – SZEGED, HU
OCT 18 – ROCK PE PAINE FESTIVAL – CLUJ-NAPOCA, RO
OCT 19 – MIXTAPE 5 – SOFIA, BU
OCT 23 – SECRET SHOW – VERONA, IT
OCT 24 – RED DOG – REZZATO, IT
OCT 25 – ALBATROS CAFÉ – PISA, IT
OCT 26 – CIRCOLO GAGARIN – BUSTO ARSIZIO, IT
OCT 29 – LE BUNKER – BRUSSELS, BE
OCT 31 – ART CAFÉ KALAMBUR – WRACKLOW, PL
NOV 1 – KUNSTBAUERKINO – GROBHENNERSDORF, DE
NOV 2 – COSMIC DAWN – JENA, DE
NOV 3 – SCHLACHTHOF – WEISBADEN, DE

Psilocibina is:
Alex Sheeny – guitar / synth
Lucas Loureiro – drums / percursion
Rodrigo Toscano – bass

https://www.facebook.com/psilocibinamusic/
https://psilocibina.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.abraxas.fm/
http://www.abraxas.shop/
https://www.facebook.com/electricmagicrecords/
http://www.electricmagicrecords.com/

Psilocibina, Psilocibina (2018)

Setting forth from their Buckeye homeland with a cache of weirdo riffs to celebrate, three-piece Ghost:Hello will tour the Northeast-plus starting on Sept. 20, which by fabulous coincidence is also the release date of their new album, The Sound of Color in Space (review here). The Akron outfit start in their native burg and then hit Albany, NY, have three shows in New England — Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island — and then bypass NYC, as will happen for a bizarre and yet-unsigned band, en route to Baltimore, West Virginia and finishing in Indiana at the Stoner Flash Tattoo Extravaganza on Sept. 27. Eight shows, eight nights, all good clean fun.

If you missed it, the track “The Mouth of the Gift Horse” was premiered here at the end of last month — if you’d asked me I’d have said it was like three days ago, so take that for what you will — and if you’re feeling too lazy to click the review link above, it’s at the bottom of this post too. Just trying to cover all the bases.

Go get noised:

GHOST:HELLO ANNOUNCE TOUR

Stoner rock band Ghost:Hello are pleased to announce that they will embark on a short East US tour in September.

The band commented “We are super stoked to hit the road and to get to hang with everyone. We’re looking forward to a tour full of the cheapest beers and amicable thumb wars!“

All dates will be in support of the band’s upcoming album The Sound of Color In Space which will be released on September 20th.

Pre-order the album here: https://ghosthello.bandcamp.com/album/the-sound-of-color-in-space

Tour dates:
9/20 Album release & Tour Kick off party The Rialto Theatre – Akron, Ohio
9/21 Pauli’s Hotel – Albany, New York
9/22 The Flask – Portland, Maine
9/23 Midway Cafe -Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
9/24 Dusk – Providence, Rhode Island
9/25 The Depot – Baltimore, Maryland
9/26 The Empty Glass, Charleston, West Virginia
9/27 Tarot Tattoo StonerDoom Tattoo extravaganza Volume II – Richmond Indiana

https://www.facebook.com/Ghosthello/
https://www.instagram.com/ghosthello.band/
https://ghosthello.bandcamp.com/releases

Ghost:Hello, The Sound of Color in Space (2019)

Genuinely curious to hear what this one might sound like. A collaborative release is always an interesting proposition. I think the reason there aren’t more of them is they’re a logistical nightmare — it’s hard enough to get one band in a studio to record, period, let alone all there at the same time to record live, and let alone an entire second band for the same purpose — but in the vast majority of cases, I find a collaboration far more interesting than a split in one band taking advantage of a chance to work directly with another, and there’s an opportunity to really come up with something special in the doing. So, as Chicago’s REZN and LUME joined forces for the two-song outing Live at Electrical Audio that was recorded earlier this year and will see release on Sept. 19, absolutely I’m on board to take a listen when the time comes. Both groups had albums out last year, and certainly, being in Chicago, it’s hard to argue with the location they chose to try out working together this way.

They’ve done shows live together as well, so I don’t know how planned out any of this material may or may not be, but it’s an awesome idea one way or the other. Clearly something they’ve put their hearts into, particularly for doing it all on tape.

Info follows from Bandcamp:

LUME and REZN combine minds to create a 7-piece psychedelic doom organism on their upcoming split, ‘Live at Electrical Audio’: a live collaboration featuring two slow-burning, mountainous tracks clocking in at over 20 minutes total. The session was recorded live and mixed direct-to-tape by Broke Mende at Electrical Audio’s Studio B, then mastered by Carl Saff and pressed to vinyl locally at Smashed Plastic for a 100% analog and 100% Chicago sonic creation.

To honor the audio fidelity of this project, the digital album features a unique digital mix by Matt Russell, while the vinyl record exclusively contains the original analog mix by Brok Mende.

Releases September 19, 2019.

Performed live by LUME & REZN on March 17, 2019
Recorded to tape at Electrical Audio – Studio B in Chicago, Illinois

1. HI (Digital Mix)
2. LO (Digital Mix)

Austin Hulett: Drums
Dan Butler: Guitar & Vocals
Dylan Hulett: Bass
Patrick Dunn: Drums
Phil Cangelosi: Bass
Rob McWilliams: Guitar & Vocals
Spencer Ouellette: Modular Synthesis & Saxophone

Engineered by Brok Mende
Vinyl Mix by Brok Mende
Digital Mix by Matt Russell
Photo & Design by Austin Isaac Peters

facebook.com/reznhits
instagram.com/rezzzn
rezzzn.bandcamp.com

http://www.facebook.com/lumeband
http://www.instagram.com/lumeband
https://lume.bandcamp.com/

REZN, Calm Black Water (2018)

LUME, Wrung Out (2018)

It seems unlikely to me, but apparently the last time I was at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, was 2011? Not much has changed. They still have the big screen that comes down between bands to promote upcoming shows — a lot of pop-punk, some bigger metal, and DJ Pauly D will be there in December, just in case you forgot you were in NJ — and they still have the bars liberally strewn about the back and sides of the venue. I feel like I’ve spent significant time in that room in the past, but apparently not in the last eight years. It’s like I lived in a different state for most of that time or something. Huh.

Even the Old Bridge Militia — a name that sounds way more threatening than the reality of being dudes-who’ve-been-going-to-shows-since-probably-before-you-were-born-and-made-shirts-to-prove-it — came out for this one, and fair enough. It was the second to last night of Corrosion of Conformity‘s ‘A Quest to Believe: A Call to the Void’ Tour, an earlier leg of which already saw them on the road with Crowbar. Support this time for the two riffly titans was from Texas four-piece Quaker City Night Hawks and Columbus, Ohio’s own Lo-Pan, who’ve also been doing off-day shows with Crowbar such as that further north in Teaneck, NJ, on July 25 (review here), where they and Crowbar kicked off the tour early with a gig on their own at Debonair Music Hall.

The tour, which C.O.C. and Quaker City Night Hawks joined on July 26 in Poughkeepsie, NY, would wrap up the following evening in Providence, Rhode Island. Starland tapped local progressive rockers Elephant Talk to open, who were young — as in, actually young and no, it’s not just that 30-year-olds are starting to look like kids to me — and tight in kind, with a technical flourish to their play that was well met by the melodies of vocalist Ava Panza. I can’t really say they were my thing, but they held down that stage without question and their bassist’s periodic slaps added a bit of funk to the nuanced proceedings. They also threw in a drum solo, which, for a 20- or 25-minute set felt particularly bold. Kid earned it though, and also nailed it.

I interviewed Lo-Pan drummer Jesse Bartz before the show started (will post probably early next week or later this week; check back, it was a good talk), talking about the tour and a bit of how the different personalities in the band interact in life as well as on stage. I’ll say this, especially for having seen them just a month ago, I can’t remember the last time I caught a band who had their 1,000-yard stare working so hard on stage. Bartz was set up toward the front of the stage in a line with bassist Scott Thompson, vocalist Jeff Martin and guitarist Chris Thompson, and their set too would be short — six songs, all from earlier-2019’s Subtle (review here) — but they were so locked in that the time-to-hit-it feel was automatic.

No warm up, no getting their feet under them, nothing. Not playing, then playing; in that order. They looked and sounded like a band who’d been on the road for four weeks, in that they were doing their set, hell or high water, and that even if the power had gone out, I don’t think that would’ve stopped them. They were their own generators, and their output was as pro-shop as I’ve ever heard them sound in the last decade-plus. The material on Subtle was well suited to such a sharpened execution and it was enough to wonder which came first, the songs being so on point or the on point-ness of the band resulting in the songs.

A couple minutes maybe to breathe, but not much more than that before Quaker City Night Hawks took the Starland stage, playing classic-style Southern blues boogie, not afraid to throw in a little twang or a slow jam here and there amid all the soulful guitar and periodic three-part harmonies. I’d purposefully gone into their set not knowing much of their stuff, but they released the acronymically-titled QCNH in back in March and sounded fluid easing into the sleek groove of “Fox in the Henhouse” from that record, which closed their set and featured a jump-on appearance on stage from C.O.C.‘s Pepper Keenan. It being C.O.C. and Crowbar‘s crowd primarily, some of the more country aspects went over a few heads in the crowd, but I suspect Quaker City Night Hawks made a lot of new friends on this tour, bands and fans alike.

Central Jersey’s special brand of shitkickers was out in full force by the time Crowbar went on, and the mosh that ensued kept up for Corrosion of Conformity as well. Of the New Orleans sludge legends, I’ll note that this was the third time I’ve seen them this year, and if they were coming around again, I’d think long and hard about going. Inimitable frontman Kirk Windstein ignited a couple chants of the band’s name and between familiar inclusions like “Walk with Knowledge Wisely,” “All I Had (I Gave),” “Cemetery Angels” and “Planets Collide,” as well as “To Build a Mountain” — always a highlight — and “To Carry the Load,” the latter taken from 1998’s Odd Fellow’s Rest, which Windstein noted from stage that they rediscovered an affection for as a result of playing the album in full for its 20th anniversary last year.

Crowbar‘s legacy goes without saying, but with Tommy Buckley on drums, Matt Buckley on guitar and Shane Wesley on bass, it was a vital impression the whole band made, not just Windstein. You just can’t, can’t, can’t fuck with seeing Crowbar live. It’s like a natural event. Creature in its habitat and whatnot. Further, when Kirk Windstein, who’s been at the heart of the band for 30 years, tells the crowd he loves them, I believe it. I don’t think he’s selling a line, or just filling dead air. This wasn’t the most thoroughly attended show I’ve ever seen Crowbar play, and neither was Teaneck, but they still absolutely crushed as only they could. Working band, giving the people what they want. The story would be simple as that if it wasn’t so rarely done at their level.

And as was the case earlier this year when I caught them in Boston, you’d be hard-pressed to come up with a better complement to close the night than Corrosion of Conformity playing after Crowbar. Though the long-running North Carolinian outfit are still ostensibly supporting 2018’s No Cross No Crown (review here), it’s worth noting that the set didn’t actually feature any songs from that record. Instead, it was heavy on Deliverance (discussed here) and Wiseblood (discussed here), with dips into America’s Volume Dealer for “13 Angels,” “Diablo Blvd.” and “Who’s Got the Fire” later on. Naturally, “Vote with a Bullet” from 1991’s Blind was aired — a song that, like the Old Bridge Militia, was made in a much, much different time than that in which we currently live — and “Stonebreaker” from 2005’s In the Arms of God got the crowd riled up early for a payoff that seemed to come with “The Door” from Wiseblood further into the set. “Albatross,” Born Again for the Last Time,” “Seven Days,” “King of the Rotten,” “Shake Like You,” “Wiseblood,” “My Grain” — these were the bulk of their time, and I’d like to think that’s because the band knows their regional audience has been with them for those decades. Maybe that’s just the idea for this leg of the tour.

I dug No Cross No Crown a lot, but I would, being a fan. It’s interesting to think they might already be moving past that album in favor of more familiar fare, considering that the more touring they do, the more they move beyond “reunion band” and into “working band” in their four-piece incarnation with Pepper Keenan alongside bassist/vocalist Mike Dean, guitarist/vocalist Woodroe Weatherman and drummer/vocalist John Green holding the spot for Reed Mullin. Still, I’d have to think some of the newer material, even if just a single, would make it into the set over the longer term, but the ‘A Quest to Believe: A Call to the Void’ Tour has newly announced a third leg, so maybe more of the No Cross No Crown stuff will pop back up for that. Could happen.

Somewhere right toward the end of Crowbar, I hit the wall h-a-r-d, and though I caught a second wind with about 10 minutes left, the ride home was far from my most graceful. I’d been up since 4AM, it was coming on midnight. No regrets though. Between seeing Crowbar and Lo-Pan on the front and back ends of the tour, getting to hear Quaker City Night Hawks for the first time and the ever-reliable righteousness of C.O.C., it was my little welcome-back-to-Jersey present to myself. Sure enough, it felt like home.

More pics after the jump if you’re interested. Either way, thanks for reading.

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On Sept. 27, the fourth full-length from Mars Red Sky, titled The Task Eternal, will be released through Listenable Records. The label has been their home since their second long-player, 2014’s Stranded in Arcadia (review here), which followed their 2011 self-titled debut (review here) and set the band on a road of progression that The Task Eternal seems only to continue. In answering back the expansive forward steps of 2016’s Apex III (Praise for the Burning Soul) (review here), the new album retains the Bordeaux-based trio’s penchant for songwriting that’s been so central to their purposes since the start, while drifting even further into otherworldly and psychedelic expanses. It is a colorful swirl throughout The Task Eternal, and I won’t tell you how to listen to it, but as much fun as it might be to get lost in the experience, there’s a good chance you’ll retain more than you think afterward, whether that’s from the fading lines of opener “The Proving Grounds” or the hooks of tracks like the marching “Hollow King” or “Collector.”

The latter also serves as the title-track of a newly issued EP intended as a lead-in for the LP to come. Collector bundles two versions of itself with two versions of “Soldier On,” also the penultimate cut on The Task Eternal, including a demo with guitarist/vocalist Julien Pras as a multi-instrumentalist, and a guest appearance from Igor Sidorenko of Stoned Jesus, the album versions, etc. It’s a welcome piece perhaps aimed at the people who might fit the description of its title, but most importantly, it introduces the listener to the atmosphere that The Task Eternal broadens in songs like “Recast” and “Reacts,” “Crazy Hearth” and even the instrumental closer “A Far Cry,” which, when it’s done, just might be where you feel like you are in relation to from where you started. All told, the album is 49 minutes across eight songs that is unmistakably the work of Mars Red Sky — Pras, bassist/vocalist Jimmy Kinast, drummer Matieu “Matgaz” Gazeau — and yet works to further the reach of that very definition. Like what’s come before it, it is the output of a constantly-refining creative unfolding.

At some point before the release date, I’ll put up a review, which I guess will probably just say that in wordier fashion, but among the topics I wanted to discuss with Pras and Kinast in this interview was the notion of The Task Eternal being the band’s creativity itself: that constant hunt for an ideal vision that’s a moving target from release to release as the band develops. In addition to that, the fact of Mars Red Sky‘s heavy touring and upcoming Fall European run (including shows with Kadavar) had me wondering if they might make it back to the US anytime soon — you might recall they were here in 2016 to play Psycho Las Vegas and made a stop at The Obelisk All-Dayer in Brooklyn beforehand (video here). They let it drop that they’ve got some stuff in the works, and indeed talked about the process of working with a different recording engineer each time out in an effort to capture different sounds, and how the change itself is a part of chasing that ideal. We also spent a good amount of time talking about the castle where they jammed, finished writing and started recording The Task Eternal, which, really, had to be done, when you think about it.

Interview follows here on the player below.

Enjoy:

Interview with Julien Pras & Jimmy Kinast

 

Mars Red Sky on Thee Facebooks

Mars Red Sky website

Listenable Records website

Listenable Records on Thee Facebooks