In the immortal words of one Peter Steele: Happy Halloween, baby. Those playing along at home know that today means one thing to the realms of doom, and it’s that it’s time for Maryland Doom Fest to unveil next year’s lineup. Maryland Doom Fest 2020 has some significant shoes to fill in following up this year’s, which of course was held in June in Frederick, Maryland, and they’ve lined up a full four-dayer onslaught to make a go of it.

Headlining sets from Cirith Ungol, Blood Ceremony, Speedealer and Mondo Generator, with direct killage from The Skull, Victor Griffin‘s Death Row Assembly (this will be incredible, especially there), Witch Mountain and Sorcerer, the fest is pretty much blowing its own prior reach out of the water. I’ll especially look forward to Arduini/Balich and hope that this performance accompanies a new album, but return appearances from The Age of Truth, Bailjack, Earthride (yes!), Shadow Witch, Spiral Grave, Knoxxville and Helgamite will be awesome as well, and I’ve no doubt the likes of Vessel of Light, Galactic Cross (with Dave Sherman of Earthride), Yatra, Black Lung, Plainride, Cavern, Molasses Barge, Admiral Browning, Black Road, Poobah, Omen Stones and Crystal Spiders will be made to feel welcome into the MDDF family vibe, at least those who aren’t already a part of it. I guess particularly in the case of Admiral Browning, it’s more like family reunion.

Keeping with the festival’s no-dragged-out-staggered-announcements spirit, I’ll be up front about this: it’s gonna be a good ‘un. You should do whatever you need to do to make it happen.

Check it:

MARYLAND DOOM FEST Announces 2020 Lineup: June 18-21 – Feat. CIRITH UNGOL, BLOOD CEREMONY, MONDO GENERATOR, SPEEDEALER + MORE! EarlyBird Sales Start Dec. 17!

The Maryland Doom Fest celebrates its 6th anniversary next June and today brings you its confirmed roster of over 50 of today’s heaviest bands to hit its stages in 2020.

Maryland Doom Fest brings both U.S. and international artists from all over the map into Frederick, MD for a full four days of mayhem, featuring the legendary Cirith Ungol and Blood Ceremony, to Speedealer and Mondo Generator set to headline the four nights of top shelf doom metal and heavy underground sounds! This year includes more than fifty bands to cover every dark and dank corner of metal subgenres across every inch of the stage from start to finish each night.

A few words from JB Matson, founder and organizer of The Maryland Doom Fest:

“I simply could not be more excited about the fifty-plus band roster for the Maryland Doom Fest’s 6th annual show in 2020!! This will be a splendid #4daysofdoom!!!”

We invite all to become part of the family at the Maryland Doom Fest 2020 weekend events! Please support the Doom and Heavy Music scene and come share in this epic event with us. We will see you at #4daysofdoom!!

THE MARYLAND DOOM FEST 2020

CIRITH UNGOL + BLOOD CEREMONY + SPEEDEALER + MONDO GENERATOR

THE SKULL + SORCERER + DEATH ROW ASSEMBLY + WITCH MOUNTAIN

Ol’ Time Moonshine + Arduini/Balich + Dirt Eater + Switchblade Jesus
Doperider + Condenados + Cultic + Yatra + Bailjack + Poobah
Earthride + Black Lung + Jake The Hawk + Black Road + Warmask
Admiral Browning + Sourpuss + Molasses Barge + Thunderbird Divine
Dust Prophet + Wolftooth + Vessel Of Light + Wrath Of Typhon + Spiral Grave
Plainride + Mangog + Cavern + Galactic Cross + Shadow Witch + Burgan
Akris + Plague Wielder + The Age Of Truth + Knoxxville + The Astral Void
Serpents Of Secrecy + Omen Stones + Crystal Spiders + Helgamite
VRSA + Conclave + Et Mors + Strange Highways + Alms + Dyerwulf

June 18th – 21st, 2020 + Frederick, MD

www.marylanddoomfest.com

Early Bird Discount tickets are available from December 17th through 31st.

Standard ticket sales start January 2020.

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/827407774319811/

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https://www.facebook.com/MdDoomFest/
https://www.instagram.com/marylanddoomfest/
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Cirith Ungol, “I’m Alive” live at Up the Hammers Festival 2017

Elder Druid will hop islands at the end of November to do a four-show British run of shows with Barbarian Hermit and Satlan. My understanding from this past Spring was that the Northern Irish five-piece were planning to release their new album, Golgotha, before the end of 2019. I haven’t heard word either way as to whether that’s still going to happen as was initially laid out, but figure if it is, this tour would either be the band’s way of celebrating the record’s arrival or maybe heralding it for early next year, barring some kind of more significant delay.

Either way, good for them getting out. Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters will sit in for Satlan on the London show, and there’s local support as well. More on Golgotha when I hear it — either the news or the album, that is. Ha.

Here’s the tour info:

ELDER DRUID – UK TOUR UPDATE – CARDIFF SHOW

Very stoked to finally announce our English tour coming up at the end of November. We’ll be joined by the incredible Barbarian Hermit and Satlan as our main tour supports, with the lads in Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters stepping in for Satlan on the London date.

We can finally announce the last date of our UK shows at the end of November/start of December.

We’ll be playing FUEL ROCK CLUB in Cardiff, Wales on Sunday 1st December with our touring heavyweights Barbarian Hermit, Satlan and Wales’ very own stoner doom/post-metallers Kong Lives.

TOUR DATES:

28.11 • LEEDS • Temple Of Boom Leeds
Elder Druid / Barbarian Hermit / Satlan / Gandalf the Green

29.11 • COVENTRY • The Phoenix
Elder Druid / Barbarian Hermit / Satlan / Slowbro

30.11 • LONDON • The Lounge Promotion: Nightclub Kolis
Elder Druid / Barbarian Hermit / Bad Kush

01.12 • CARDIFF • FUEL ROCK CLUB
Elder Druid / Barbarian Hermit / Satlan / Kong Lives

Elder Druid is:
Gregg McDowell – Vocals,
Jake Wallace – Guitar,
Mikey Scott – Guitar,
Dale Hughes – Bass,
Brien Gillen – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/elderdruidband
https://elderdruid.bandcamp.com/releases
http://www.instagram.com/elderdruidband

Elder Druid, Carmina Satanae (2017)

It should probably (and hopefully) go without saying that the bigger story here will be when Grim Reefer Fest 2020 actually announces its lineup, but that’s not until Nov. 21 and maybe you, like me, enjoy making plans in advance. Though it’s been traditionally held on April 20 going back to its time operating under the banner of Stoned to Death, next year will find Grim Reefer taking place on April 18, once again at The Ottobar. It’s okay, you’re allowed to get high on two days in April, though I say that with zero knowledge of where legalization stands in Maryland.

Just checked: medical, yes, less than 10 grams decrim. There you go. Homework done for you.

So yeah, it’s April 18. Fine. Who do you think will play? Well, Haze Mage run the thing, and they seem to have played all the years, so it’s their party, I wouldn’t be surprised to find them taking part. And Heavy Temple have done at least the last two editions of the gathering as well, so maybe a return and maybe not from the Philly trio, but rest assured, no matter who’s ultimately involved, there will be riffs, there will be volume, and if you, I don’t know, trip and fall maybe?, there will be blood.

Oh, there’ll be a food truck! That’s fun too.

Date reveal was quick and to the point:

Are you ready for next year’s fest? Because we sure are! Join us for the 4th annual Grim Reefer Fest on 4.18.20 at the Ottobar ! The full lineup will be announced next month on 11.21.19!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1016565088689615/

Are you ready to get grim? Because we sure are! Join us for the 4th annual Grim Reefer Fest on 4.18.20 at the legendary Ottobar in Baltimore, MD!

A full day of incredible live music, a food truck, and heavy riffs to keep you in the right head space!

The full lineup will be announced next month on 11.21.19! Help spread the word and get hyped!

Logo design by Ghostbat

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https://www.facebook.com/GrimReeferFest/
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http://www.grimreeferfest.com/
http://www.theottobar.com/
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Heavy Temple, Live at Grim Reefer Fest 2019

Swiss trio Charlene Beretah will release their debut album, Ram — or, more properly, Charlene Beretah’s Ram — on Nov. 8 through Division Records. Aside from the 2016 two-songer EP Depraved/Very Long Week — granted, each song was 10 minutes long, but there were still just two of them — it’s also the only recorded output from the Neuchâtel outfit, whose style melds grim atmospheric doom with sludgy rawness, a punk undercurrent and a sense of onslaught that’s vital throughout the 40-minute run of five tracks. In terms of aesthetic, it’s more brutalist than brutal, if one thinks of “brutal” in terms of metallic extremity and brutalism as the architectural movement that showed authority could be communicated through harsh corners of institutional building walls, random seeming juts and unexpected line patterns that convey an unshakable sense of resolve. Prisons. Some libraries. Office buildings. They might occasionally be eyesores, and Charlene Beretah are nothing if they’re not caustic as well, but that only becomes part of the statement being made in both cases.

Ram begins peacefully enough, with a quiet line of keyboard/organ before a sample from Full Metal Jacket — “The dead have been covered with lime. The dead know only one thing: it is better to be alive” — before the full breadth of the distortion arrives with the slowly unfolding riff. Bass leads the way through the harshly shouted verses, but that guitar remains a looming threat with background noise and telegraphed reentry while the drums move between midpaced groove and snare fills. Immediately the atmosphere is weighted. Immediately the affect is raw. And immediately the listener knows that this is what Charlene Beretah wanted the album to be. It’s not underproduced, but the material on Ram — which ends its opener in furious fashion and moves into the subsequent “My Dream” for an all-the-more-fucked feel — revels in its own nastiness in such a way that lets the audience join it in scaling these harsh corners and protruding walls. And as it moves into the repetitive chug and starts and stops of the first half of the 11-minute centerpiece “Hurt,” the authoritarian spirit is like having bricks piled on your chest one at a time until you can’t breathe anymore. “Hurt” shifts into a quieter YOBby midsection, and the screaming-mania payoff that follows might be the most satisfying on the record, though there’s plenty enough competition to go around.

Then comes “Amazing Disgrace.” Without listening to the full album — can’t help you there, but you can hear the premiere of “Amazing Disgrace” on the player below, and that’s not nothing — it’s hard to fully understand the role “Amazing Disgrace” plays as the penultimate inclusion. It’s two and a half minutes long, and it owes as much to crust-via-Napalm Death as it does to sludge or doom or any other kind of heavy noise, and while it might be sandwiched between the record’s two most extended tracks in “Hurt” and the 11:43 closer “Kurdes Game,” it’s furious enough to distinguish itself even in those chaotic-seeming surroundings. It’s more than just pure rush, but its thrust is where it most makes its presence felt, and it’s there and gone into the mid-paced start of “Kurdes Game” like a blinding flash of extremity. But both “Hurt” and “Kurdes Game” benefit immensely for its being where it is, since it allows each track to stand on its own while also being a standout itself. It ends up being the point on the album at which everything comes together. And then “Kurdes Game” smashes it all to bits again and that’s about as fitting an end for Charlene Beretah‘s debut as one would dare to imagine.

Vital, destructive, oppressive and cast out with enough force to be an expression in the physical as much as the aural, Charlene Beretah’s Ram is an offering that requires a specific kind of head to appreciate, but that segment of audience ready and willing to be so thoroughly steamrolled will find Charlene Beretah a bone-crunching delight.

Enjoy “Amazing Disgrace” below:

Born at the dawn of the year 2014 in Switzerland, CHARLENE BERETAH initially started out as a duo with Thierry on drums and Arnaud on guitar / vocals. Inspired by styles as sinister and diverse as sludge, blackened crust and doom, in 2016 they recorded their first EP and soon after, in order to increase the levels of heaviness and loudness, the band recruits Guillaume to play bass guitar.

The Helvetians then worked on new titles and tested them on various stages in Switzerland and France. They entered the studio in the summer of 2019 to record their first album in live conditions to maintain the band’s raw feeling and energy. CHARLENE BERETAH offers a heavy and aggressive music with a cocky, sticky and oppressive atmosphere.

On this first album, the trio distills their influences throughout five tracks clearly reeking of the world’s end. The atmospheres are varied, though always tempered by the heaviness and the gloominess inherent to the band’s dark obsessions. Depression, murders and possession (both demonic and chemical) are topics treated in an atmosphere of furious madness and palpable despair. The groove, undeniable, smashing, thunderous, is interspersed with crust-punk accelerations that also recall the great hours of the Scandinavian second wave of black metal. You’ve understood, this first album is not in made of fine lace, and that’s precisely what’s so good about it.

Charlene Beretah is:
Charlene Petit – Guitar/vocals
Thierry Beretah – Drums
Jean Goisse – Bass

Charlene Beretah on Thee Facebooks

Charlene Beretah on Bandcamp

Division Records website

Division Records on Thee Facebooks

Recently enough back from a tour of Europe and already confirmed for a return to that continent in Spring 2020 for an appearance at Desertfest Berlin with presumably more dates to follow, the Wellington, New Zealand-based duo Earth Tongue released their debut album, Floating Being, this past summer through Stolen Body Records, and if their name is somewhat easy to overlook, their sound certainly isn’t. While rife with a heavy fuzz in the opening salvo of “Microscopic God” and “Probing the New Reality,” setting the tone both, well, tonally, and in terms of the album’s sci-fi we’re-all-robots-ish post-New Wave thematic that will soon come to further fruition, there are pop and electro showcases that take hold as the maddeningly catchy and surprisingly aggressive “Hidden Entrance” comes in to unveil a secret Nine Inch Nails influence — shh! don’t tell anybody! — before “Unseen Tormentor” finds a new echelon of vocal righteousness from the two-piece of Gussie Larkin and Ezra Simons, arranging in layers and setting up a duet dynamic that can be switched on and off that only adds character to the proceedings as the rest of the record plays out in chic and effective fashion.

Centerpiece “Astonishing Comet” builds on the sci-fi vibe while “The Well of Pristine Order” digs into deeper-mixed fuzz and melody while setting a forward push of snare for added proto-punk urgency. It’s got a hook, but the greater impression is the riff that resolves itself in the second half, and like much of the half-hour-long LP, it’s over quick and on to “Portable Shrine,” which takes a bit more of a patient roll, but still refuses to waste any of its time, underscoring the tightness of Earth Tongue‘s craft and the unflappable nature of their sound, that fuzz and an earliest-Kadavar-style compression in the drums providing an excellent backdrop for the voices of Simons and Larkin. Floating Being caps with its two longest tracks in “The Dome” (3:52) and “Sentient Sediment” (5:21), with a winding course in the former hitting into a wall of more swinging starts and stops marked by standout drums and even more standout harmonies en route to fuzzo-blivion. It’s awesome. And “Sentient Sediment” backs it up with an almost post-rocking drift initially before finding its core riff around midway through and even slowing down to more of a nod by the time its five-plus minutes are up — a surprising and broad finale for a record that’s spent so much effort on being so efficient, but damned if it doesn’t work for them.

Earth Tongue will tour Australia and New Zealand in November and December, and once again, they’ll be back in Europe come Spring at least for Desertfest and likely more, so keep an eye out. Somehow I doubt this is the last we’ll be hearing from them. In the meantime, the video for “Probing the New Reality” is rife with charm and premiering below. I advise you to do the right thing and dig in accordingly.

Have fun:

Earth Tongue, “Probing the New Reality” official video premiere

Take a trip into Earth Tongue’s astonishing universe in their new music video for ‘Probing the New Reality’. Delicately balancing all-out pop hooks with mind-frying riff action, the New Zealand two-piece take stoner-pop to a new level in this track. ‘Probing the New Reality’ is the third single off their debut album ‘Floating Being’, released in June this year via Bristol-based label Stolen Body.

While killing time in Berlin between tours, Earth Tongue conceptualised and self-directed the video, alongside Alan Waddingham whose work includes music videos for GUM, Princess Chelsea and LarzRanda. The footage, shot on 33mm film stock was brought to life by animator Neirin Best, who has created videos for names such as The Pixies and Jane Weaver. The music video release follows a successful European tour, where Earth Tongue appeared at festivals from the UK to Poland alongside bands such as Monolord and Radio Moscow.

Created by Earth Tongue and Alan Waddingham
Director of Photography – Alan Waddingham
Animation – Neirin Best
Additional Animation – Ezra Simons
Edit – Ezra Simons
Assistance and BTS Photography – Joel Thomas

EARTH TONGUE AUSTRALIAN TOUR:
Friday 29th November – Adelaide, Wundenberg’s Recording Studios
Saturday 30th November – Melbourne, Sunburn Festival The Tote
Sunday 1st December – Sydney, The Vanguard Supported by Numidia & HEV?

Earth Tongue New Zealand tour:
6/12 – Wellington, SAN FRAN
7/12 – Auckland, WHAMMY
13/12 – Christchurch, DARKROOM
14/12 – DUNEDIN, THE COOK

The band consists of two human beings – Gussie Larkin and Ezra Simons.

Earth Tongue on Thee Facebooks

Earth Tongue on Instagram

Earth Tongue on Bandcamp

Stolen Body Records webstore

Stolen Body Records on Thee Facebooks

Stolen Body Records on Instagram

Monolith on the Mesa, which kind of came out of the gate in full-fledged upstart fashion this year and put Taos, New Mexico, on the map as a destination for heavyheads from all over, continues to announce acts for its follow-up edition in 2020. The fest is set for May 28-30 at Taos Mesa Brewing, same spot it was held this Spring, and is $99 for the weekend, which doesn’t sound cheap, but uh, is, considering what you get. Not exactly slumming it as regards the whole experience of the thing. To wit, the photo below looks like something I would most definitely shell out a hundred bucks to stand in front of for three days and have my ass handed to me by awesome bands. If you disagree, I suggest you take the next few months to reassess your priorities.

But speaking of awesome bands, a bunch more have just joined the lineup, including Maryland’s favorite sons Earthride. They’ll make the trip west and give a bit of East Coast representation out in the desert that I can only imagine will go over like groove-rolling gangbusters. That alone would be worth the $99 in my book, let alone the likes of Yawning Man (always great) and Fatso Jetson (always great) and Wo Fat (always great), who, for those of you who don’t read parentheticals (why not?) are always great, as well as Magic Castles and Great Electric Quest, whom I’ve not yet seen, but whose sounds are most certainly readily diggable.

Cool fest, man. These guys got something going out there in the desert.

From the PR wire:

Monolith On The Mesa prepares for second year bands include Yawning Man, Fatso Jetson, Earthride, Sons of Otis, Ruby the Hatchet, Mondo Generator, Year of the Cobra and more

MONOLITH ON THE MESA OFFERS A “HIGH” DESERT EXPERIENCE THAT DRAWS ROCK FANS FROM ACROSS THE NATION

THE MUSIC FESTIVAL PREPARES FOR ITS SECOND YEAR AND ANNOUNCES SIX MORE BANDS IN THE LINE-UP: Yawning Man, Fatso Jetson, Earthride, Wo Fat, Magic Castles, Great Electric Quest

300 early bird tickets on sale now through Black Friday

May 28-30, 2020 at Taos Mesa Brewing

Monolith on the Mesa, a “High” Desert Experience, is an independent three-day festival entering its second year in 2020. The festival takes place at the Taos Mesa Brewing Mothership, and on the grounds of Hotel Luna Mystica, just outside of Taos, New Mexico. The festival is focused on heavy riff-rock acts from across multiple sub-genres including stoner rock, heavy psych, doom metal, sludge, drone, and retro rock. The festival includes interactive art installations and visual projections throughout the grounds to compliment the mind bending sounds of the bands. Festival capacity is limited to 1,500 to provide an intimate experience. Bands perform on the club-style indoor stage, and the scenic “earthship” outdoor amphitheater stage.

A total of 35 bands will play over three days from May 28-30, 2020. Festival promoters Dano Sanchez and Roman Barham are excited to reveal the names of five more bands today including Yawning Man; Fatso Jetson; Earthride; Wo Fat; Magic Castles; Great Electric Quest. The thirteen bands already made public online include: Sons of Otis; Ruby the Hatchet; Mondo Generator; Duel; Mark Deutrom; Year of the Cobra; Mountain of Smoke; Destroyer of Light; Love Gang; Black Maria; Prism Bitch and Sun Dog. Tickets cost $150 for three-day passes. A limited release of 300 early bird tickets for $99.99 are on sale now through Black Friday (midnight on November 29, 2019).

Dano Sanchez says “We are inspired to continue on our path with Monolith II. We want fans to come to Taos and let go of technology and constraints of urban living for three days. Let your soul breathe! What we offer is unique but still linked musically to festivals like Psycho Las Vegas, Levitation and Stoned and Dusted. We think festival goers will appreciate what we are doing here.”

Monolith on the Mesa is produced as a “destination” festival offering attendees music as well as the unique and mystical Taos experience which includes crisp, clean air on the high desert mesa, surrounded by unobstructed views of the Sangre de Christo Mountains. The festival is located adjacent to the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. This enables festival goers to enjoy activities such as hiking, river rafting, bike trails, natural and resort hot springs — all making for an immersive experience unlike any other music festival.

DATES AND TIMES:
Box office opens at 9 a.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
May 28th doors at 4 pm til 1:30 am
May 29th doors at 12 noon; outside stage til midnight; indoor stage til 1:30 am
May 30th doors at 12 noon; outdoor stage til midnight; indoor stage til 1:30 am

VENUE INFORMATION:
Taos Mesa Brewing: The Mothership
20 ABC Mesa Rd.
El Prado, New Mexico 89529
https://www.taosmesabrewing.com/

TICKET INFORMATION:
Rain or shine event! No refunds!
https://tickets.holdmyticket.com/tickets/344140

https://www.monolithonthemesa.com
https://www.facebook.com/monolithonthemesa
https://www.instagram.com/monolithonthemesa

all that much.

Yeah, I’ll readily admit that I’ve largely slept on the progression of Brooklyn instrumental heavymakers Clouds Taste Satanic. No one’s fault but my own. Of course, I’ve seen their name bandied about the New York-region doomosphere for years, but the last time I actively wrote about them was 2015, and frankly, I didn’t write all that much. My loss? As usual, most definitely. The double-guitar four-piece played Maryland Doom Fest this year and made a splash — it was the venue I couldn’t get into because of a lost (misplaced, not DUI or anything) drivers license — to the point that people seemed genuinely excited about them, and I don’t think I’ve ever casually perused a record of theirs without being like, “Yeah, this is cool,” before going about my business. Well, Second Sight is their sixth album overall and their second of 2019 behind April’s Evil Eye, and it’s out tomorrow to finish out the complementary Walpurgis and Halloween releases — spooky times indeed — and it brings together two extended, side-consuming tracks each broken into multiple parts that stand on their own almost as individual collections of ideas.

“Second Sight (The Seer)” is the new video, and with its righteous solo and driving Northeastern aggro groove beneath, it definitely makes an impression, but really it’s just the first stage of a larger movement. Positioned on side A — which itself is called ‘Lesser Magic’ — “Second Sight” (21:20) breaks down into ‘The Seer (Vision),’ ‘The Psychic (Mist),’ and ‘The Pythia (Blood)’ while side ‘Greater Magic’ is consumed by “Black Mass” (21:06), which in turn divides into ‘The Goat (Dawn),’ ‘The Demon (Star),’ and ‘The Devil (Templar),’ thereby ensuring that even though there aren’t lyrics or vocals to dig into, the proceedings are well complicated enough to keep listeners occupied until a follow-up seventh LP happens along. Bullet points and outline structure notwithstanding, what Clouds Taste Satanic do over the course of these pieces is bring together a progressive take on heavy riffing that’s both of doom and willing to look outside it when called for. Past its halfway point, “Second Sight” turns to a swaggering bluesy swing for just a moment and the resulting impression is that not only are there multiple parties contributing to the songs — something I don’t know for sure, so don’t quote me on it — but that their interest lies in building a sonic complexity to match that of their structural presentation.

Do they get there? Yeah, I think they do. It’s subtle, but as “Second Sight” shifts into what would seem to be its final movement with a sleeker, bass-led section of brooding, the build that ensues is both effective and accounting for the piece as an entirety as well as its own movement. The payoff, in other words, more than justifies the journey to it, and as “Black Mass” crashes in to start the second leg of Second Sight, the momentum has hardly subsided, carrying through a patient unfolding toward some classic stonerly fuzz-wah lead work and plays back and forth in tempo and roll as (perhaps) ‘The Demon (Star)’ takes hold amid more driving fare in the middle third of the track, eventually giving way to long crashes and dueling leads, post-Sabbath starts and stops and a long fadeout that has a due dirge vibe given the progression still underway. At two songs/42 minutes, it’s not a minor undertaking, but it’s clearly not supposed to be, and Clouds Taste Satanic live up to the weighty goals they’ve set for themselves, practically in terms of making two records in a year and creatively in terms of crafting something forward-thinking at the same time as it is heavy, doomed and all that other vibed-out stuff that essentially means “heavy” and “doomed.”

So yes, it’s to my regret that it took me this long to really dig into what Clouds Taste Satanic were up to. Better late than never, I guess? Despite the urgency created by Pokemon to do so, you can’t really ever catch them all, and I do the best I can. Bottom line is this is a cool record and I gave myself another reason to feel like a yutz today, so that’s one box ticked for my morning. Time to chase down some older records, I suppose.

They play a release show tomorrow in Brooklyn and the lineup is awesome, Eternal Black and a bunch of others. More info on thee social medias here.

Enjoy the video:

Clouds Taste Satanic, “Second Sight (The Seer)” official video

Guitarist Steve Scavuzzo states:

“Despite the mystical mellowness the name implies, Second Sight is actually the most aggressive Clouds Taste Satanic record to date. Not sure when that happened, but at some point the doom turned angry.”

CLOUDS TASTE SATANIC formed in Brooklyn, New York in 2013. These Post-Doom Instrumentalists have steadily built a reputation as one of the few truly great DIY riff-heavy underground bands playing today. Patiently and deliberately developing a unique sound that melds riff-dominated Stoner Rock with Heavy Doom, their live show is a multi-sensory atmospheric display, offering a true experience and companion to their albums.

In 2014, the band released their debut album, ‘To Sleep Beyond the Earth’. The debut, along with second album ‘Your Doom Has Come’ (2015), third album ‘Dawn of the Satanic Age’ (2016), fourth full-length ‘The Glitter of Infinite Hell’ (2017), and their most recent ‘Evil Eye’ (2019) all demonstrate the band has no intentions of slowing down. The band celebrated its fifth year anniversary in 2018 by releasing ‘In Search of Heavy’, a four CD Box Set.

In 2019, the band has retained solid footing without falter, soon to achieve a bold goal of releasing two albums in one year. ‘Evil Eye’ came out April 30th (Walpurgis Eve), and we now await ‘Second Sight’ on October 31st (Halloween).

Steve Scavuzzo – Guitar
Sean Bay – Bass
Greg Acampora – Drums
Brian Bauhs – Guitar

Clouds Taste Satanic website

Clouds Taste Satanic on Bandcamp

Clouds Taste Satanic on Thee Facebooks

Clouds Taste Satanic on Instagram

Had the chance earlier this year to check out NY trad metallers Tower at the inaugural Desertfest New York (review here), and having done so, and in light of their new EP, Yesterday and Tomorrow — kudos to whoever in the band came up with that title; it’s a perfect summation of what they do — I’ll say that yeah, Cruz Del Sur makes sense as a label home for them. This is the label, after all, that puts out Slough Feg, and if you ever need know-your-shit-about-traditional-heavy-metal cred, putting out something by Slough Feg is about as much as you can do to argue in your own favor. Tower join those esteemed ranks, as well as those of Argus, Apostle of Solitude, Ogre and Orodruin, and come aboard as being tight with Twisted Tower Dire and Sanhedrin, so clearly, clearly in good company, and they’ll reportedly work to have a new full-length out sometime in the middle of next year.

Congrats to the band, and respect for guitarist Danzo in what he says about image in the PR wire info below. Anyone who claims they’re not conscious of how they’re perceived by others is fucking lying to you and probably trying to sell you something. Likely clothing.

Dig:

New York City Metal Brigade TOWER Joins CRUZ DEL SUR MUSIC

Cruz Del Sur Music is proud to announce the signing of New York City’s own TOWER. The label will release the band’s sophomore full-length in mid-2020.

Formed in 2015, TOWER plays a brand of classic, traditional metal inspired by legends such as JUDAS PRIEST and SCORPIONS, further propelled by the imitable, almost Pat Benatar-esque vocals of Sarabeth Linden. To date, TOWER has one studio album to their credit, 2016’s self-titled, as well as this year’s “Tomorrow & Yesterday” EP.

Shortly after the release of the video for “Run For My Life”, multiple record companies came calling for TOWER, including Cruz Del Sur. What sealed the deal for TOWER and Cruz Del Sur, though, was the good word put in by some of the label’s existing bands.

“We’re close friends with Nate Honor and Jim Hunter, whose bands SANHEDRIN and TWISTED TOWER DIRE are/were on Cruz Del Sur,” says guitarist James Danzo. “We heard so many good things about Cruz that it was pretty clear from the beginning which route we should take. In the few years we’ve been a band, we’ve learned not to rush into things and to be very deliberate, but we know we made the right choice!”

Danzo describes the first four years of TOWER’s existence as a “real wild ride,” with the band (who is rounded out by second guitarist Zak Penley, bassist Jeff Filmer and drummer Claire Vastola) going from formation to the demo stage, to playing shows, then scoring their first record deal for the release of their self-titled album. “In this crazy world of ours not everything is ice cream sundaes and cherries on top — we’ve been through some changes with lineups and labels when it became clear we had different goals in mind. We look back with pride on our debut album and especially the new EP. It’s been a huge boost in morale and poured gasoline on the fire inside us!”

The origins of TOWER date back to when Linden and Danzo were playing in THE PSYCHO HIPPIES, a group that primarily played ’50s, ’60s and ’70s pop covers, along with some RAMONES songs to boot. Because of her experience playing such music, Linden brings a unique brand of soul and style to metal, with Danzo noting she even sang at the legendary Apollo Theater as a teenager. Fret not true metal believers: Linden’s vocal idol happens to be Ronnie James Dio, further rounding out a band who is equal in music and image.

“Metal bands love to say, ‘we hate image!’” notes Danzo, “but truth be told, we have a vision and are very protective of it. It’s important to us to come across as real, first and foremost. Everyone in the band has a unique style and persona and we aren’t about to mess with it. We try to avoid clichés when it comes to album covers, too — so far photographs have worked, they’re just classic and real. We’re just here to kick some ass and I think that comes across clear as day.”

TOWER will fill up the rest of 2019 with occasional live duty, but the priority remains to get ready for their forthcoming second studio album. Danzo says “lack of material has never been a problem” for TOWER: The band has three songs leftover from the “Tomorrow & Yesterday” session, as well as another cut that has already been aired live.

“Unlike the last two releases which took forever in spaced-out sessions from weekend to weekend, we plan on blocking out 7-10 days of studio time and doing it as a concise and complete project like a band would do in the old days. Onward and upward!”

Tower is:
Sarabeth Linden: VOCALS
James Danzo: GUITAR
Zak Penley: GUITAR
Jeff Filmer: BASS
Claire Vastola: DRUMS

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