Posted in Whathaveyou on September 30th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Once. Exactly one time. That’s how long it took me to hear the chorus of the new Devil to Pay song before it got stuck in my head. The track is called “Heave Ho” and it comes from their new album, Forever, Never or Whenever, which will be released on Nov. 8 through Ripple Music as the follow-up to 2016’s A Bend Through Space and Time (review here). It is their sixth album overall in a tenure that goes back some 17 years, and “Heave Ho” opens.
What that tells you is the band are putting their emphasis right where it belongs, which is on their songwriting. They’ve never been a crazy hyper-stylized kind of outfit, and they’ve never put anything in their approach ahead of the craft of memorable combinations of rhythm, melody and personality in their work. Based in Indianapolis and sharing guitarist/vocalist Steve Janiak with Apostle of Solitude for the last seven years, they’ve gradually garnered broad respect for shining through a sonic realm that’s as immediately familiar as it is their own.
Preorders for Forever, Never or Whenever are up now, and I’ll hope to have more to come before the release date.
For now, the PR wire:
Midwest heavy rock pillars DEVIL TO PAY unleash first track off new album ‘Forever, Never or Whenever’, out November 8th on Ripple Music
Indianapolis relentless heavy rock unit DEVIL TO PAY are set to issue their sixth full-length ‘Forever, Never or Whenever’ this November 8th on Ripple Music. Stream a badass first track now!
Few bands embody the essence of heavy rock like DEVIL TO PAY. These four mercenaries and all-round brilliant songwriters have crafted one air-tight record after another, and sixth studio album ‘Forever, Never or Whenever’ can be easily considered their watermark statement.
Steve Janiak’s powerful gritty vocals take the listener to new heights, while dark, doom-tinged atmospheres are masterfully intertwined with a heavy metal stampede of meaty riffs, for an overall end-of-world feeling. It won’t take long until ‘Forever, Never or Whenever’ drags you to the other side and becomes your new dark heavy rock favorite.
DEVIL TO PAY guitarist and vocalist Steve Janiak experienced life-after-death visions during a hospitalization and deals with this incredible story in his writing. A mystical approach that enshrouds this new album and makes the band sound deeper and darker than ever.
DEVIL TO PAY “Forever, Never or Whenever” Out November 8th on Ripple Music Preorders available here
TRACK LISTING: 1. Heave Ho 2. The Devil’s Barking Up Your Tree 3. The Cautionary Tale of Yen Sid 4. Get On Down 5. Tap Dancing On Your Grave 6. Imminent Demise 7. 37 Trillion 8. Light Sentence 9. The Pendulum 10. Anti-Gravity Depravity
DEVIL TO PAY are Steve Janiak – Vocals & Guitar Chad Prifogle – Drums Matt Stokes – Bass Rob Hough – Guitar
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 30th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
You think by the time Clutch get to Starland Ballroom on Dec. 30 they’ll have any of those vinyl singles left from the Weathermaker Vault Series they’ve been doing? Could go either way, right? I wouldn’t mind finding out though. It’s been a minute since I saw Clutch on one of their annual holiday tours — my fault, not theirs; they do it every year — and as I haven’t gone to pay homage to the groove masters in a little while, it seems only fair to think of myself as due for a good Clutch gig. Might be fun. Philly on New Year’s Eve might be fun too, as I recall it was in 2011 when they rung in 2012 with Earthride and the trio incarnation of Corrosion of Conformity supporting. This time around it’ll be The Steel Woods and Damon Johnson, so yes, a different vibe, but as has been well established, Clutch have no trouble crossing over from one audience to another. They seem to be welcome wherever they go, and for good reason.
The PR wire has the dates:
CLUTCH ANNOUNCE ANNUAL US HOLIDAY RUN TOUR DATES
DECEMBER 27th – DECEMBER 31st 2019
Clutch announce December 2019 tour dates for their annual US Holiday Run Tour. The tour kicks off December 27th at Bogarts in Cincinnati, OH and ends with a special New Years Eve show at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, PA. Main support on all dates will be The Steel Woods from Nashville, TN. Damon Johnson, guitarist/singer songwriter will open all shows except Asheville, NC. Our good friends Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown will open the Asheville, NC show.
Tickets go on sale this Saturday, September 28th at noon ET via www.pro-rock.com.
Clutch Annual Holiday Tour Dates:
Fri/Dec-27 Cincinnati, OH @ Bogarts Sat/Dec-28 Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel (support from Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown) Sun/Dec-29 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club Mon/Dec-30 Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom Tue/Dec-31 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer (New Years Eve Show)
Over the past few months, the band has been releasing a series of new studio recordings that comprise the newly launched Weathermaker Vault Series. This is the first new official music Clutch is making available since the release of their critically acclaimed album, Book Of Bad Decisions.
The first three singles (Evil, Precious And Grace, and Electric Worry) were mixed by 6X Grammy Award winner and Clutch collaborator, Vance Powell (Wolfmother, The Raconteurs, Arctic Monkeys) and are available now on all digital platforms.
Clutch is currently on a US Fall Tour with Dropkick Murphys along with metalcore veterans Hatebreed as direct support.
Clutch Fall Tour with Dropkick Murphys: (headline** and festival* dates) = no Dropkick Murphys. Clutch headline ** show support below.
Mon/Sep-30 Chicago, IL @ Aragon Tue/Oct-01 Minneapolis, MN @ The Myth Thu/Oct-03 Moorhead, MN @ Bluestem Center For The Arts Fri/Oct-04 Council Bluffs, IA @ Westfair Amphitheatre Sat/Oct-05 Broomfield, CO @ FirstBank Center Sun/Oct-06 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union Tue/Oct-08 Los Angeles, CA @ The Palladium Wed/Oct-09 San Diego, CA @ Park at the Park *Fri/Oct-11 Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock Festival **Sat/Oct-12 Bend, OR @ Midtown Theater (support: Red Fang, Mos Generator) **Sun/Oct-13 Eugene, OR @ McDonald Theater (support: Red Fang, Mos Generator) Mon/Oct-14 Boise, ID @ Outlaw Field at Idaho Botanic Gardens Tue/Oct-15 Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theatre
** = HEADLINE SHOW * = FESTIVAL
CLUTCH: Neil Fallon – Vocals/Guitar Tim Sult – Guitar Dan Maines – Bass Jean-Paul Gaster – Drums/Percussion
Posted in Reviews on September 30th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Call two friends and tell them to tell two friends to tell two friends, because the Quarterly Review has returned. This time around, it’s 50 records front to back for Fall 2019 and there are some big names and some smaller names and a whole lot of in between which is just how I like it. Between today and Friday, each day 10 album reviews will be posted in a single batch like this one, and although by Wednesday this always means I’m totally out of my mind, it’s always, always, always worth it to be able to write about so much cool stuff. So sit tight, because there’s a lot to get through and, as ever, time’s at a premium.
Thanks in advance for keeping up, and I hope you find something you dig.
Quarterly Review #1-10:
Monkey3, Sphere
It’s a full-on Keanu Reeves “whoa” when opening track “Spirals” kicks in on Monkey3‘s sixth album, Sphere (released by Napalm), and that’s by no means the last one on the cinematic six-tracker. The long-running Swiss mostly-instrumentalists have been consistently, persistently underappreciated throughout their career, but whether it’s the aural scope of guitar and keys in “Axis” or the swaps between intensity and sprawl in 14-minute closer “Ellipsis,” their latest work is consuming in its sense of triumph. Even the four-minute “Ida,” which seems at first like it’s barely going to be more than an interlude, finds a thread of majestic cosmic groove and rides it for the duration, while the proggy immersion of “Prism” and the harder drive of “Mass” — not to mention that shredding solo — make the middle of the record anything but a post-hypnosis dip. I won’t pretend to know if Sphere is the record that finally gets the Lausanne four-piece the respect they’ve already well deserved, but if it was, one could only say it was for good reason. Blends of heft, progressive craft, and breadth are rarely so resonant.
When you call your record Mount Crushmore, you need to bring it, and much to their credit, Baltimorean sludge-rocking five-piece Asthma Castle do precisely that on their debut full-length. Issued through Hellmistress Records, the 37-minute/six-track outing is a wordplay-laced pummeler that shows as much persona in its riffing and massive groove as it does in titles like “The Incline of Western Civilization” and “The Book of Duderonomy.” Trades between early-Mastodonic twists and lumbering sludge crash add a frenetic and unpredictable feel to pieces like the title-track, while “Methlehem” trades its plod for dual-guitar antics punctuated by metallic double-kick, all the while the vocals trade back and forth between growls, shouts, cleaner shouts, the odd scream, etc., because basically if you can keep up with it, Asthma Castle wouldn’t be doing their job. One shudders to think of the amount of Natty Bo consumed during its making, but Mount Crushmore is a wild and cacophonous enough time to live up to the outright righteousness of its title. If I graded reviews, it would get a “Fuckin’ A+,” with emphasis on “fuckin’ a.”
Some day the world will wake up and realize the rock and roll powerhouse it had in Brooklyn’s The Giraffes, but by then it’ll be too late. The apocalypse will have happened long ago, and it’ll be Burgess Meredith putting on a vinyl of Flower of the Cosmos in the New York Library as “FAKS” echoes out through the stacks of now-meaningless tomes and the dust of nuclear winter falls like snow outside the windows. The band’s tumultuous history is mirrored in the energy of their output, and yet to hear the melody and gentle fuzz at the outset of “Golden Door,” there’s something soothing about their work as well that, admittedly, “Raising Kids in the End Times” is gleeful in undercutting. Cute as well they pair that one with “Dorito Dreams” on this, their seventh record in a 20-plus-year run, which has now seen them find their footing, lose it, find it again, and in this record and songs like the masterfully frenetic “Fill up Glass” and the air-tight-tense “Like Hate” and “Romance,” weave a document every bit worthy of Mr. Meredith’s attention as he mourns for the potential of this godforsaken wasteland. Oh, what we’ll leave behind. Such pretty ruins.
In the fine tradition of heavy rock as grown-up punk, North Carolina’s Bask bring progressive edge and rolling-Appalachian atmospherics to the underlying energy of III, their aptly-titled and Season of Mist-issued third album. Their foot is in any number of styles, from Baroness-style noodling to a hard twang that shows up throughout and features prominently on the penultimate “Noble Daughters II – The Bow,” but the great triumph of III, and really the reason it works at all, is because the band find cohesion in this swath of influences. They’re a band who obviously put thought into what they do, making it all the more appropriate to think of them as prog, but as “Three White Feet” and “New Dominion” show at the outset, they don’t serve any aesthetic master so much as the song itself. Closing with banjo and harmonies and a build of crash cymbal on “Maiden Mother Crone” nails the point home in a not-understated way, but at no point does III come across as hyper-theatrical so as to undercut the value of what Bask are doing. It’s a more patient album than it at first seems, but given time to breathe, III indeed comes to life.
Listening to the weighty rollout of opening cut “Bite the Ash” on Faerie Ring‘s debut album, The Clearing (on King Volume Records), one is reminded of the energy that once-upon-a-time came out of Houston’s Venomous Maximus. There’s a similar feeling of dark energy surging through the riffs and echoing vocals, but the Evansville, Indiana, four-piece wind up on a different trip. Their take is more distinctly Sabbathian on “Lost Wind” and even the swinging “Heavy Trip” lives up to its stated purpose ahead of the chugging largesse of finisher “Heaven’s End.” They find brash ground on “The Ring” and the slower march of “Somnium,” but there’s metal beneath the lumbering and it comes out on “Miracle” in a way that the drums late in “Lost Wind” seem to hint toward on subsequent listens. It’s a mix of riff-led elements that should be readily familiar to many listeners, but the sheer size and clarity of presentation Faerie Ring make throughout The Clearing makes me think they’ll look to distinguish themselves going forward, and so their first record holds all the more potential for that.
Begun as the solo-project of London-based multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Mark Walker and presently a trio including Louis Kinder and Jonathan Walker as well, Desert Sands make their recorded debut through A Records with the three-song/half-hour The Ascent EP, a work of psychedelic existentialism that conveys its cosmic questioning even before the lyrics start, with an opening riff and rhythmic lurch to “Are You There” that seems to throw its central query into a void that either will or won’t answer. Does it? The hell should I know, but The Ascent proves duly transcendent in its pulsations as “Head Towards the Light” and 11:45 closer “Yahweh” — yeah, I guess we get there — bring drifting, languid enlightenment to these spiritual musings. The finale is, of course, a jam in excelsis and if drop-acid-find-god is the narrative we’re working with, then Desert Sands are off to a hell of a start as a project. Regardless of how one might ultimately come down (and it is, by my estimation at least, a comedown) on the question of human spirituality, there’s no denying the power and ethereal force of the kind of creativity on display in The Ascent. One will wait impatiently to see what comes next.
Say what you want about New Orleans or North Carolina or wherever the hell else, Midwestern sludge is another level of filth. To wit, the Carcass-style vocals that slice through the raw, dense riffing on “Aspirate on Aspirations” feel like the very embodiment of modern disillusion, and there’s some flourish of melodic guitar pluck there, but that only seems to give the ensuing crunch more impact, and likewise the far-back char of “Freezing in Fire” as it relates to the subsequent “Dead Idles,” as Cavalcade refute the trappings of genre in tempo while still seeming to burrow a hole for themselves in the skull of the converted. “Noose Tie” and “We Dig Our Own Graves” tell the story, but while the recording itself is barebones, Cavalcade aren’t now and never really have been so simple as to be a one-trick band. For more than a decade, they’ve provided a multifaceted and trickily complex downer extremity, and Sonic Euthanasia does this as well, bringing their sound to new places and new levels of abrasion along its punishing way. Easy listening? Shit. You see that eye on the cover? That’s the lizard people staring back at you. Have fun with that.
Long Island chug-rockers Restless Spirit would seem to have been developing the material for their self-released debut album, Lord of the New Depression, over the last couple years on a series of short releases, but the songs still sound fresh and electrified in their vitality. If this was 1992 or ’93, they’d be signed already to RoadRacer Records and put on tour with Life of Agony, whose River Runs Red would seem to be a key influence in the vocals of the nine-track/39-minute offering, but even on their own, the metal-tinged five-piece seem to do just fine. Their tracks are atmospheric and aggressive and kind, and sincere in their roll, capturing the spirit of a band like Down with somewhat drawn-back chestbeating, “Dominion” aside. They seem to be challenging themselves to push outside those confines though in “Deep Fathom Hours,” the longest track at 7:35 with more complexity in the melody of the vocals and guitar, and that suits them remarkably well as they dig into this doomly take on LOA and Type O Negative and others from the early ’90s NYC underground — they seem to pass on Biohazard, which is fine — made legendary with the passage of time. As a gentleman of a certain age, I find it exceptionally easy to get on board.
An eight-piece outfit based in Arvika, Sweden, which is far enough west to be closer to Oslo than Stockholm, Children of the Sün blend the classic heavy rock stylizations of MaidaVale, first-LP Blues Pills and others with a decidedly folkish bent. Including an intro, their The Sign Records debut album, Flowers, is eight track and 34 minutes interweaving organ and guitar, upbeat vibes and bluesier melodies, taking cues from choral-style vocals on “Emmy” in such a way as to remind of Church of the Cosmic Skull, though the aesthetic here is more hippie than cult. The singing on “Sunschild” soars in that fashion as well, epitomizing the lush melody found across Flowers as the keys, guitar, bass and drums work to match in energy and presence. For a highlight, I’d pick the more subdued title-track, which still has its sense of movement thanks to percussion deep in the mix but comes arguably closest to the flower-child folk Children of the Sün seem to be claiming for their own, though the subsequent closing duo of “Like a Sound” and “Beyond the Sun” aren’t far off either. They’re onto something. One hopes they continue to explore in such sünshiny fashion.
Having made their debut with 2016’s There is Nothing (discussed here), Indianapolis downtrodden heavy rock four-piece Void King come back for a second go with Barren Dominion (on Off the Record Label), a title of similar theme that finds them doom riffing through massive tonality on “Burnt at Both Ends,” asking what if Soundgarden played atmospheric doom rock on “Crippled Chameleon” — uh, it would be awesome? yup — and opening each side with its longest track (double immediate points) in a clearly intended vinyl structure hell bent on immersing the listener as much as possible in the lumber and weight the band emit. Frontman Jason Kindred adds extra burl to his already-plenty-dudely approach on “Crippled Chameleon” and closer “The Longest Winter,” the latter with some harmonies to mirror those of opener “A Lucid Omega,” and the band around him — bassist Chris Carroll, drummer Derek Felix and guitarist Tommy Miller — seem to have no trouble whatsoever in keeping up, there or anywhere else on the eight-song/46-minute outing. Topped with striking cover art from Diogo Soares, Barren Dominion is deceptively nuanced and full-sounding. Not at all empty.
Posted in audiObelisk on September 30th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Long Island-based heavy trio Leeds Point will issue their third album, Equinox Blues, on Oct. 4. They’ve been kicking around the NY heavy underground for the better part of six years, with Eddie Combs on vocals and bass, Mike Minolfo on guitar and Anthony Minolfo on drums, and Equinox Blues follows a host of self-released outings; singles and EPs, but also 2016’s Fahnestock Rock and their 2014 debut, The Hooded Ones, which more openly embraced a straight-ahead stoner metal ethic. True to its title, Equinox Blues takes a bluesier approach across its seven-track/39-minute run, and considering the fact that the band record everything they do themselves — this time on analog equipment; self-recording is one thing, self-recording to tape quite something else — one can only think of the shift in sound as purposeful. Combs‘ vocals reside comfortably deep in the mix and are backed by harmonized layers. The guitar sound is wide-open and classic feeling but still weighted, and the drums push ahead through one rolling nodder groove after the next, resulting in a naturalism reminiscent of Mos Generator and Australia’s Child at the same time, but not really sounding like either.
After opening with its longest track (immediate points) in “Elemental Haze,” the album shoves its momentum forward on “Turn of the Wheel” while letting organ and mellotron add shimmer to “Valley of Torches,” managing to keep an organic feel despite obvious and necessary use of layering — otherwise they’d need about six people — but I have to believe some amount of basic tracking was done live given the energy in the build of “Valley of Torches” or the way the boogie of “Elemental Haze” seems to follow the guitar’s direction in its later reaches. The title-cut is the shortest inclusion on the record at 3:34, but proffers a shuffle worthy of any heavy ’70s comparison you’d want to put to it, and still seems to bring a reminder that once upon a time a Cactus grew and a Mountain emerged from Long Island. Leeds Point aren’t doing pure ’70s worship either in songwriting intent or production style, but Equinox Blues tips the balance that’s always been in their sound to that direction, and as they find the right position of elements in the mix such as to maximize the fluidity and hook of “Sunken Mine” without any single piece being too high or too far back, it’s hard to argue with the notion that they nailed the stylistic shift that they undertook with such clearheaded intent.
By the time they get to the rampaging solo in “Sunken Mine,” they know it, and that swagger suits their sound as well, whether it’s the swing in Minolfo‘s drumming or the smooth air push in Combs‘ bass. “Sunken Mine” jams its way into a last roll and leads into “Blood from a Stone,” a more forceful boogie that acts as the penultimate shove before the mellotron drama of “The Ritual” closes out with a fervent final build culminating in tight but still natural twists as the band circle around the crisp rhythm they’re putting forth. They make it easy to imagine seeing that live, which likewise can only be purposeful, and underscores the success of the album as a whole in conveying its intended vibe. I don’t know what gave Leeds Point the blues sometime in the last three years, but it works for them, and seems to have taught them a more patient vision of songcraft and execution that allows parts to breathe without becoming redundant. If nothing else, Equinox Blues seems to be begging for a vinyl release, and if the band don’t do it on their own — they are pretty self-sufficient, remember — no doubt someone out there will pick them up for one.
Happy to premiere the title-track below ahead of the Oct. 4 release. Leeds Point have dates lined up in October around New York and Connecticut and you’ll find those listed below.
Please enjoy:
LEEDS POINT is a heavy rock band from New York, bent on doing things the old way. Drawing inspiration from many different eras of music, Leeds Point has used this as a foundation to create its own unique, timeless sound. With only three members, the band still manages to pack a punch utilizing a deep, heavy groove, and powerful riffage.
Tracklisting: 1. Elemental Haze 2. Turn of the Wheel 3. Valley of Torches 4. Equinox Blues 5. Sunken Mine 6. Blood From a Stone 7. The Ritual
Leeds Point live: 10.07 Tipperary Huntington NY 10.08 Mr. Beery’s Bethpage NY 10.21 Lucky 13 Brooklyn NY 10.28 Outer Space Ballroom Hamden CT 11.18 Mr. Beery’s Bethpage NY
Leeds Point are: Eddie Combs – Vocals/Bass Mike Minolfo – Guitar Anthony Minolfo – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 30th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
I admit, I’m going to miss seeing the poster art for Desertfest Berlin 2019 around thee social medias, but if there’s one thing that eases that loss, it’s the poster art for Desertfest Berlin 2020. It’s like something out of a cel-shaded JRPG, but, you know, awesome, and an airship is always welcome as far as I’m concerned. Will this be the year I finally get my ass to Berlin? I’d be lying if I said that their having Masters of Reality — who’ll also be in London — on the bill wasn’t a significant draw in my head. I’d wonder if they won’t do New York as well, but they don’t do a lot of shows at all, so I’m not going to bank on that. Of course, having Corrosion of Conformity, Brant Bjork, Orange Goblin, Papir, Minami Deutsch, SÅVER, Earth Tongue and Dhidalah certainly doesn’t hurt the argument either, but it’s just the beginning of Spring fest-announcement season, and so there’s much more to get all giddy-hyperbole about to come in the next few months. Hell, they haven’t even held Desertfest Belgium yet.
Bottom line: expect this airship to circle around many more times before May 1.
Finally, we are thrilled to announce the first batch of (outstanding!) acts for our 9th edition, taking place at the ARENA BERLIN May 1st – 3rd 2020. You may not believe your eyes, but it’s a dream come true: Palm Desert scene icons, Masters Of Reality – Official, are finally playing Desertfest! Fronted by Chris Goss, renowned producer of legendary bands such as Kyuss, Queen of the Stone Age and many more, with their Black Sabbath-inspired sound MASTERS OF REALITY will take you on an unforgettable trip through the desert. A true milestone in the eclectic live history of Desertfest Berlin!
It’s been a dozen years since Southern Rock legends, Corrosion Of Conformity, would reunite with Pepper Keenan to blow the doors off the whole damn scene again. In 2014, after nearly a straight decade traversing the globe as a guitarist with New Orleans supergroup DOWN, Keenan reconnected with the core C.O.C. trio of Woody Weatherman, Mike Dean and Reed Mullin to hit the road hard. And the long wait is over, we will give them a warm and heavy rocking welcome in 2020!
The Godfather of Desert Rock, Brant Bjork, will return to the Desertfest Berlin stage and revive your spirit! Brant has spent over a quarter-century at the epicenter of Californian desert rock. From cutting his teeth alongside Fatso Jetson’s Mario Lalli in hardcore punkers De-Con to drumming and composing on Kyuss’ landmark early albums, to propelling the seminal fuzz of Fu Manchu from 1994-2001 while producing other bands, putting together offshoot projects like Ché, embarking on his solo career as a singer, guitarist and bandleader, founding his own record label and more, his history is a winding narrative of relentless, unflinching creativity. Expect timeless classics and a new album next Spring, and lay back to get into the groove with the one & only, Mr. BRANT BJORK live at the Arena Berlin!
Widely admired as one of the most ludicrously thunderous and entertaining live bands on the planet, longtime Desertfest comrades Orange Goblin, are on their unstoppable mission to bring us joyous, blood ’n’ thunder metal! With a steady stream of critically acclaimed albums that boldly and gleefully blurred the lines between stoner, doom, black, crust and southern rock, while always fervently saluting the old school heavy metal flag and the sacred Sabbathian code. 2020 will celebrate their 25th anniversary, still ORANGE GOBLIN is an inspiration, full of power and ready to unleash their thunder over Berlin!
Hailing from Japan, kraut rock masters Minami Deutsch have been finally confirmed for the Berlin edition of Desertfest! After their highly acclaimed show at Desertfest Belgium two years ago, desert festers in Berlin will be finally able to witness their unique, mesmerizing live performance. Kraut rock may be alive heavier than ever, but this Tokyo trio proves they are way more than just a revival act. Don’t miss this EXCLUSIVE show of the fantastic MINAMI DEUTSCH!
Sometimes music is supposed to feel weird and indescribable. It’s the moments of clarity within the dense, sonic mess that often feels the most satisfying. That’s the space that New Zealand prog-rockers Earth Tongue occupy. With their 2016- debut EP and a just released full-length album, these guys quickly became one of NZ’s most exciting underground live acts and it wasn’t long until they were playing alongside international touring bands like Red Fang, Beastwars or Monolord. We are thrilled to welcome EARTH TONGUE live in 2020, taking us all on raw and fuzzy journey into psych-rock with a sound that weaves between melodic and jarring, with unexpected turns leaving us in a disoriented, euphoric haze.
Copenhagen trio, Papir, might be the ultimate expression of the Danish creative soul: distinctively modern, deceptively minimalistic, and stylish yet understated. A band of virtuoso musicians who move between psychedelic rock, jazz and krautrock seamlessly with the ability to hypnotize you at the Arena Berlin; PAPIR are the real deal for fans of bands alike Causa Sui, and could easily become the showboats of the scene!
Dhidalah burst into the fuzz rock scene in 2013, and has hailed from the Tokyo underground as a space rock power trio. The band name derives from the Japanese legend of the Giant Gods — known as the creaters of mountains, lakes and islands. DHIDALAH plays improvisational music performances inspired by various genres from stoner and doom to kraut rock. Give these Japanese Giant Gods a very warm welcome next Spring, when the Arena will be turned into a psychedelic wonderland!
Norway’s hottest underground act, SÂVER, is the new project of Ole Christian Helstad, Ole Ulvik Rokseth and Markus Støle of TOMBSTONES and HYMN. The band delivers an astounding sound of sublime heaviness, shimmering moogs, abrasive vocals and a devastating, gnarly bass. SÂVER’s tunes can be characterized by a strong component of apocalyptic synths and textural electronics hovering above the base of heavy guitars and bass – a mélange that works incredibly well, and has seen SÂVER rising up and being no longer just one of the world’s best kept music secrets!
Friends, we hope you enjoy this first round of bands as much as we do, with many more killer names to come. After last year’s changes of a new sound system, the “Black Box“, that many of you seem to appreciate, we will also again provide a lot more specials, space, and again a chill- and live zone on the ubercool Hoppetosse boat! Don’t miss THE fuzz rock party of the year, at the capitol of the almighty riffs: DESERTFEST BERLIN 2020 is ready to roll!
Posted in Bootleg Theater on September 27th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Witchcraft, The Alchemist (2007)
I never liked Witchcraft‘s The Alchemist. Listening to it now, I can’t help but wonder why the hell not? In the narrative I’d constructed in my head, it was too clean, too much trying to be prog, and it had lost the simple charm of their 2004 self-titled debut (discussed here, albeit briefly) and its 2005 follow-up, Firewood — both records to which I feel some pretty significant fan attachment — and I recall being disappointed in the title-track, thinking it was boring and too long and pretentious in its forced-seeming 14-minute sprawl.
But wow, was I wrong.
I’m not sure the Magnus Pelander-led Swedish classic heavy rockers could ever have put out another album I’d reach for as often as the self-titled, but The Alchemist stands some 12 years later as testament to how prescient the band was in their craft, finding a way forward for retro rock that didn’t betray the vintage aesthetic but allowed for growth in songwriting. They didn’t quite “go prog,” but having recently given Black Sabbath‘s Technical Ecstasy (discussed here) a fair shake, The Alchemist doesn’t feel like an entirely dissimilar vision of creative evolution, whether it’s the referential nods in “Hey Doctor” — which seems not only to allude to Sabbath in its drum fills in the speedier second half, which is a compliment to the work of Fredrik Jansson, but indeed to Witchcraft‘s own prior work as well in its earlier riff — or the saxophone worked into the penultimate “Remembered.” Even the acoustic guitar John Hoyles (later of Spiders and now in Big Kizz as well) brings to “The Alchemist” itself and the flourish of organ from Tom Hakava deep in the mix alongside the bass of Ola Henriksson (now in Troubled Horse) make that song a richer experience in concept and execution alike. I won’t say it’s void of self-indulgence, but neither is it defined by that on an expressive level across its three-part spread. That middle section is gorgeous. I feel like I’ve been missing on enjoying it for over a decade.
Opener “Walk Between the Lines” launches the album with a strong sense of movement, something to sweep the listener into the proceedings with a clarity of strum front and center that even Firewood couldn’t claim in terms of production value, sharper as that record was than the debut. Layers of acoustic and electric intertwine in the solo section, perhaps prefacing the title-track on the album’s other end or at very least sounding cool, and rather than make their way back to the stomp of the song’s early going, they bend strings to twist their way to the song’s finish and instead pick up the thread with “If Crimson was Your Colour,” which was released as a standalone 7″ by Rise Above before The Alchemist came out, and remains one of the catchiest tracks they’ve ever written. “Leva” delves into Swedish-language lyrics for not the first time — recall “Schyssta Lögner” from the first album — and does so atop a creeping blues riff that’s a hook unto itself, while also subtly shifting the mood from the all-go momentum of the opening duo to the more rolling vibe that will continue to proliferate through “Hey Doctor” and “Samaritan Burden,” which brings a turn to gorgeous and folkish tonal wash that fades gently as it moves toward its conclusion and only leaves one wanting more.
That proves to be the perfect setup for “Remembered” to revive the thrust of the initial salvo, which it does while also leaving room for the aforementioned sax — courtesy of Anders Andersson — as well as some mellotron from Hakava, thereby working as well as a transition into “The Alchemist” via the added arrangement elements, broadening listener expectation again in subtle ways. And when they get there, the title-track is consuming in narrative and its patient delivery, with its long, open-feeling midsection, later return, and post-silence epilogue as it makes its way to its 14-minute finish. It wasn’t the first time Witchcraft surpassed the 10-minute mark — that would be Firewood closer “Attention!” — and they’ve done it a few times since, but “The Alchemist” is nonetheless a standout moment amid their work before or after, a complete idea realized at a new level of complexity and presentation.
So what was it that didn’t let me see that at the time? I’ve always been a first-two-records-only Witchcraft fan, and I guess when The Alchemist came out, I was too busy resenting the indie cred they’d amassed to appreciate the sonic progress they were making. It has been my loss, but I’m glad to have taken the opportunity to correct my error. It won’t make up for the 12 years over which I might’ve dug putting it on from time to time, but at least I know going forward that it’s a more than suitable follow-up to the brilliance of those other offerings I’ve so enjoyed for the last decade and a half. Never stop learning.
TheAlchemist was Witchcraft‘s last outing through Rise Above and the last to feature Hoyles on guitar. Henriksson would hold out on bass through 2012’s Nuclear Blast debut, Legend (review here), which greatly modernized their sound, and then indeed split with the band as well, leaving Pelander as the remaining founder. In 2016, they issued Nucleus (review here), which built on the steps that Legend had taken, and later that same year, Pelander under his own name released Time (review here), a solo full-length following a 2010 EP that seemed to preface more to come. Not to say it couldn’t happen, but Witchcraft have steadily been performing shows and at festivals — they flew to New York last Fall to play Le Poisson Rouge — and may or may not have new material in the works, which is to say I have no idea what’s going on with them.
Either way, The Alchemist isn’t the departure I’d so long thought it was, turning its back on the rawness of its forebears in Witchcraft‘s discography. It’s an outgrowth of those crucial first accomplishments, and an essential third in what’s been a trilogy all along. It’s not dropping off, it’s soaring.
As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.
—
By Wednesday morning I was pretty ready to die. The Pecan was out of his mind. He’d had a cold earlier in the week and was getting over it but clearly not back up to 100 percent yet. And ugh. Hitting and biting and mad and not eating and just going from one thing to the next that he knows he’s not supposed to be doing. My laptop, the kitchen cabinets, slamming the fridge door, pulling on the oven — for which we’ve had to get a lock — just one to the next to the next without stopping. It gets so overwhelming. Pulling his mother’s laptop charger out of the wall. Trying to climb up behind the tv. Grabbing burning hot coffee. Climbing on me while I’m on the can. Dude, just bash my brains in and be done with it. Please. Please. I give. Mercy. Just kill me.
It was so bad that it was my 15th wedding anniversary and I told The Patient Mrs. that I found running a stoner rock blog more satisfying than parenting.
I said that shit.
Out loud.
And meant it.
And worse: I feel like I made a convincing case.
It took basically spending two hours at the park with the sandbox to set him right. Yesterday was better to some degree. It would almost have to be. Today he has baby-gymnastics, so I’m hoping that can take it out of him a little bit, let him work off some of whatever residual fuckall remains. We shall see. My severed head, on a pike made by Melissa & Doug.
He’s not yet two.
We were going to start potty training this weekend. No fucking way. I can’t even get the kid to sit down to put shoes on.
So that’s life. Real life.
No new episode of The Obelisk Show today on Gimme Radio. They had some production stuff going on this week and were overwhelmed and asked if I minded if we skipped the episode. Being overwhelmed myself, I said fine. Next week is the Quarterly Review anyhow, so yeah, plenty going on. I’m also flying to Norway for Høstsabbat. And I need to get those Acrimony liner notes finally done this weekend. So yes, I didn’t need to be cutting Gimme voice breaks yesterday afternoon, fun as that is to do.
I needed to sleep.
Which is probably what I should’ve done this morning when the alarm went off as well. Took me about three minutes to get up and flick the on switch for the coffee pot, giving myself a little pep talk in the meantime. “Come on Cocksan, it’s just one post. Get off your ass and make that coffee and write it.” And here we are.
No rest this weekend, no rest next week with the Quarterly Review and the fest after that. I’m also going (I hope) to Acid King on Monday in Brooklyn, so I’ll have a live review of that. And yeah. I don’t know. The whole thing just feels overwhelming and supremely dumb to me at this point, but I keep going. And I guess by the whole thing I mean life. But hey, the new Iguana record is good.
Kaboom.
Thanks for reading. Great and safe weekend. Forum, radio, merch.
Not much is known at this point about El Perro. Pages on Thee Facebooks and Instagram went up on Wednesday afternoon and there’s a short teaser on the latter with a floating logo and a righteous riff, but not much else to go on. A new band getting together is cool, don’t get me wrong, but the reason it’s news is because the brains behind the outfit happen to be those of Parker Griggs, founding guitarist/vocalist of heavy psych blues and speed boogie masters Radio Moscow. Griggs has assembled the new outfit as a means of exploring some influences beyond what Radio Moscow does, specifically looking to bands who blended funk and heavy and/or psychedelic rock in the early ’70s like Cymande, Black Merda and others in the sphere of what was called Black rock at the time, as well of course as the work Jimi Hendrix was doing a few years prior.
He’s gotten a full four-piece together and they’ll play their first three shows as a weekender at the start of November, beginning as support for none other than Brant Bjork in Las Vegas at a gig presented by Vegas Rock Revolution, and continuing through two subsequent nights in Costa Mesa and Los Angeles. Griggs, of course, is no stranger to touring with Radio Moscow, but it’s early days with El Perro, so probably best to start out with the weekender rather than hit the road for a month right off the bat. Makes sense if you think about it, especially as no one has heard any of the material in question.
There are songs, though. About a set’s worth. I’ve heard two demos from the band with the working titles “New One” and “Sitar Song” and the percussive groove is met by Griggs‘ spacey shred and bluesy vocal delivery. It’s a different vibe from Radio Moscow in that it’s a little more jam-ready — at least “New One” is; “Sitar Song” is a tight two and a half minutes, but damn that’s a funky two and a half minutes — and as Griggs notes, a little more based around the groove rather than the frenetic movement of his longer-running outfit. I’ll take it happily and look forward to more in 2020.
It’s a short interview because, well, Griggs isn’t really Mr. Chatty and the band hasn’t played a show yet, but if you’ve got a few minutes, he talks about putting the band together, what he’s going for with the sound, the upcoming shows and how El Perro relates to Radio Moscow in the grand scheme of Griggs‘ style.
Please enjoy:
Interview with Parker Griggs of El Perro
A brand new cosmic and groovy music ensemble formed and led by Parker Griggs of Radio Moscow. We are here and we’re coming to GETCHA!
First shows!
November 1st in Las Vegas @ Counts Vamp’d with Brant Bjork
November 2nd in Costa Mesa @ The Wayfarer with LOVE (revisited)
November 3rd in LA @ The Viper ROOM with Deathchant
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 27th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Oh hey, what’s Shadow Witch up to? If that’s the question you’re asking, you probably already know the answer: “Something.” These cats are almost always up to something. They must be itching to get their new album, Under the Shadow of a Witch, released by now, as it was first announced late last year when they signed to Argonauta Records, it’s been given a still-kinda-nebulous “early 2020” due date, and they’re posting a song from it anyhow at least three months in advance of its actual arrival. Understandable. Nobody likes sitting on new material. And frankly, if I had a song sitting around that sounds as cool as “Wolf Among the Sheep” — as much classic metal as it is dark heavy rock — I’d probably want people to hear it too. And longer-term marketing concerns aside, the track is certainly welcome.
And okay, a word about the cover art for Under a Shadow of a Witch. “Nightmarish.” I guess that’s the one word. It’s not the kind of thing I’d want on a t-shirt, but they have a history of striking art one way or another, it’s bound to be noticed, and it’s oddly appropriate to the vibe of “Wolf Among the Sheep.” But yeah. Nightmarish. I have to think that’s what they were going for.
Here’s the announcement from the PR wire and the stream of the track:
Kingston, New York, doom rock collective SHADOW WITCH premieres single of upcoming album!
Under The Shadow Of A Witch will haunt you in early 2020 on Argonauta Records!
Kingston, New York, dark ‘n doom heavy rockers Shadow Witch, have finally revealed the first details about their upcoming, third full length titled Under The Shadow Of A Witch! Set for a release in early 2020, today the music veterans collective has shared the album artwork, created by Shadow Witch’ voice and primary lyricist Earl Lundy, as well as a first single to the track Wolf Among The Sheep.
Says the band:”We’re very excited about this release, and the new partnership with Argonauta Records. The record takes SHADOW WITCH places we haven’t ventured before, both sonically and emotionally. There’s a lot of vulnerability in the lyrics and the vocal performance, and the band worked hard to match that. We’re very proud of the results. This first taste of the album, “WOLF AMONG THE SHEEP”, stands alone in that it’s the only song with possible political overtones. Production-wise though, it very much flows with the rest of the material. We’re really psyched for y’all to hear what we’ve been up to.”
Listen to the appetizer, Wolf Among The Sheep, that makes hunger for more!
SHADOW WITCH is: Scott Wadowski – drums David Pannullo – bass Earl Lundy – voice / mellotron / loops Jeremy Hall – guitars
center that even Firewood couldn’t claim in terms of production value, sharper as that record was than the debut. Layers of acoustic and electric intertwine in the solo section, perhaps prefacing the title-track on the album’s other end or at very least sounding cool, and rather than make their way back to the stomp of the song’s early going, they bend strings to twist their way to the song’s finish and instead pick up the thread with “If Crimson was Your Colour,” which was released as a standalone 7″ by Rise Above before The Alchemist came out, and remains one of the catchiest tracks they’ve ever written. “Leva” delves into Swedish-language lyrics for not the first time — recall “Schyssta Lögner” from the first album — and does so atop a creeping blues riff that’s a hook unto itself, while also subtly shifting the mood from the all-go momentum of the opening duo to the more rolling vibe that will continue to proliferate through “Hey Doctor” and “Samaritan Burden,” which brings a turn to gorgeous and folkish tonal wash that fades gently as it moves toward its conclusion and only leaves one wanting more.
