This is just RidingEasy Records doing the universe a solid. Does anyone say ‘do a solid’ anymore? I don’t know. Whatever the Gen-Z equivalent of doing a solid is, then. That’s what’s happening here. Randy Holden‘s 1970 solo album, Population II (discussed here), has long been relegated to being one of those collectors pieces. A record that, if you know, you know. The guitarist, known for his work on Blue Cheer‘s New! Improved! Blue Cheer!, is playing this weekend with no less than Earthless‘ Mario Rubalcaba in Los Angeles, and if that’s not enough badassery for you, consider Holden‘s description of the remaster below.

I know there are a ton of albums from that original heavy era that get saddled with the “lost classic” thing, and many of them earn it to various degrees. Population II is legitimately an offering of continued relevance that listeners across multiple generations — even you kids on the TikToks — should know.

I turn it over to the PR wire for the particulars:

RidingEasy Records to reissue extremely rare 1970 doom album Randy Holden – Population II

Randy Holden (ex-Blue Cheer) playing live December 21st at Whiskey A-Go-Go in L.A. with Mario Rubalcaba (Earthless, RFTC) on drums

RidingEasy Records proudly announce the official reissue on physical and digital formats of the extremely rare 1970 proto-metal album Randy Holden – Population II. Considered one of the first doom metal albums ever, the ex-Blue Cheer guitarist’s solo debut has long been sought out by collectors. The remastered full length will be available on all streaming platforms for the first time, with a master more true to the original mix on LP, CD and streaming.

This weekend, Saturday December 21st, Holden will perform a rare live show at the Whiskey A-Go-Go in L.A. supported by drummer Mario Rubalcaba (Earthless, RFTC, OFF!) It will be a career-spanning set featuring songs from the Fender IV, the Sons of Adam, the Other Half, Blue Cheer, and his solo work, including Population II. Tickets and info HERE.

“Godzilla just walked into the room. People just stood there with their eyes and mouths wide open.”

To hear Randy Holden describe the audience’s reaction in 1969 to his solo debut performing with a teeth-rattling phalanx of 16 (sixteen!) 200 watt Sunn amps is about as close as many of us will get to truly experience the moment heavy metal music morphed into existence. However, at last we have unearthed the proper fossil record.

Population II, the now legendary, extremely rare album by guitarist/vocalist Holden and drummer/keyboardist Chris Lockheed is considered to be one of the earliest examples of doom metal. Though its original release was a very limited in number and distribution, like all great records, its impact over time has continued to grow.

In 1969, Holden, fresh off his tenure with proto-metal pioneers Blue Cheer (appearing on one side of the New! Improved! Blue Cheer album and touring for the better part of a year in the group), aimed for more control over his band. Thus, Randy Holden – Population II was born, the duo naming itself after the astronomical term for a particular star cluster with heavy metals present.

“I wanted to do something that hadn’t been done before,” Holden explains. “I was interested in discordant sounds that could be melodic but gigantically huge. I rented an Opera house for rehearsal, set up with 16 Sunn amps. That’s what I was going for, way over the top.”

And over the top it is. The 6-song album delves into leaden sludge, lumbering doom and epic soaring riffs that sound free from all constraints of the era. It’s incredibly heavy, but infused with a melodic, albeit mechanistic, sensibility.

“At the time, I was hearing these crazy melodies everywhere I went,” Holden says. “I thought I was going crazy.” For example, one day he slowly rooted out a powerful sound that had been nagging him and discovered it coming from a ceiling fan. “Machinery all around us doesn’t turn in a perfect rhythm. That’s what I was tuning into, I heard the music and the discordant sounds coming from the machinery. It was perfect for rendering the machine we built.”

Troubles with the album’s release bankrupted Holden, who subsequently left music for over two decades. It was bootlegged several times over the years, but until now hasn’t seen a proper remaster and has yet to be available on digital platforms. “The original mastering just destroyed the dynamics of it,” Holden says. “They flattened it out. Now we got a really nice remaster that should be the closest thing to the original recording.”

Population II will be available on LP, CD and download on February 28th, 2020 via RidingEasy Records.

RANDY HOLDEN LIVE 2019:
12/21 Los Angeles, CA @ The Whiskey A-Go-Go

Artist: Randy Holden
Album: Population II
Label: RidingEasy Records
Release Date: February 28th, 2020

01. Guitar Song
02. Fruit & Iceburgs
03. Between Time
04. Fruit & Iceburgs (Conclusion)
05. Blue My Mind
06. Keeper of My Flame

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Randy Holden, Population II (original master) (1970)

[Click play above to stream ‘Carrion’ from Yatra’s new album, Blood of the Night, out Jan. 31 digital and Feb. 1 vinyl through STB Records.]

A release in winter suits Maryland trio Yatra, for whom images of red splatter on snow, grey skies, dark nights and raging winds seem only too appropriate. Plus, perhaps, the occasional battle axe. Only a year after crashing the gate and plundering the greater consciousness of the sludge underground — such as it is — with their Grimoire Records debut album, Death Ritual (discussed here), and several US tours and an initial incursion to European shores later, the marauding three-piece return. Now signed to STB Records, they issue Blood of the Night in a host of limited vinyl editions in keeping with the label’s tradition, and thereby hone the bleak, violent, extreme metal-derived intensity of their sound to a new, even sharper focus. Blood of the Night runs for eight tracks and shows no interest in hiding its malevolent purpose, as Yatra careen and lumber between a post-High on Fire medieval deathbringing and neo-primitive riffs that tap into root, essential-in-the-sense-of-essence nod, stripped of unnecessary frills and brought to bear with the harsh-throated screams of guitarist Dana Helmuth.

Their plodding and slog comes through regardless of actual tempo, with bassist Maria Geisbert and drummer Sean Lafferty complementing Helmuth‘s riffs and searing incantations as well as establishing their own presence in the low end and the significant roll each song seems to elicit from the beginning of opener “Sorcerer” onward. Cuts like “The Howling” and “Blood Will Flow” aren’t nearly as slow-paced as some of their counterparts — looking at you, “After the Ravens” — and in some of that speedier material especially, Yatra reveal influences beyond doom and into other forms of perhaps more aggressive metals. I’ve said before that I can’t help but hear mid-’90s Carcass in their sound, and I stand by that. Yatra seem to have found the balance of heft and bite which so many complained Swansong lacked after 1993’s brilliant Heartwork, and as far as I’m concerned, if you’re putting out records that hold up to that standard, as Blood of the Night does, you’re doing something very, very right.

But put the emphasis on “bite.” Gnashing, really. And it’s not just Helmuth‘s vocals either. The guitar line in the chorus of “After the Ravens” — a standout in its hook and also as the longest inclusion at 7:39; Yatra‘s longest track to-date, though the penultimate “Three Moons” here also tops seven minutes — creeps along with an eerie threat, and in its tone, it is a perfect match to the nodule-building vocal delivery. The same can be said of the bass and drums, though for much of the album — recorded July 12-15, 2019, at Developing Nations in Baltimore by Kevin Bernsten and mastered by the esteemed James Plotkin — the riffs set the patterns followed by all. Still, in the mid-paced second track “Carrion” or in side B’s plundering “Burning Vision,” which veers in its second half into a layered solo that makes it something of a highlight for the sheer feeling of noise and chaos contained therein, it is very much a full-band impact being made, and as Blood of the Night progresses through its front-to-back run, that turns out to be the key component of it.

Yatra made an impressive debut, and the follow-up arrives on a quick turnaround all the more considering it’s not like those tracks were sitting around for years before they came out and the new one was essentially put to tape between tours, but if there’s urgency, they use it well. It feeds not only into the forwardness of their aesthetic — have I mentioned they’re not subtle? — and gives material like “The Howling” an extra edge of command, which with Helmuth‘s voice gurgling through a charging riff makes their take so much richer than a simple blend of black metal and sludge or of heavy tones and extreme metal vibe. Blood of the Night affirms what Death Ritual first heralded, which is that Yatra are a band interested in not just presenting these ideas to an audience — regularly, if their schedule is anything to go by — but also in taking the elements that inspire them and making them their own; in carving, or melding, or chipping away, or molding, chainsawing, machete-ing, or simply crafting them by whatever means necessary into what they want them to be. Blood of the Night accomplishes this at the same time it pushes Yatra‘s songwriting to a new level, and for that it feels even more significant.

This is another place where “After the Ravens” serves as example, and not just because of its chorus. It’s true of lurching, mega-nodding closer “Surrender” as well, and “The Howling” earlier and plenty of others throughout that Yatra show little interest in sacrificing song for style’s sake. That is, as much as Blood of the Night is an aesthetically sure work, it’s also a showcase of the progression in Yatra‘s ability to write memorable material. The structures underlying all that viciousness, all that sharpened-fang gnash, are firm enough to contain the madness that ensues, and that plays a large role in the album’s overall success. It’s the difference between Yatra being fully capable of wielding their sound like the weapon they do and floundering at the mercy of their own aggression. I don’t know if that’s a self-awareness they’ve purely gleaned from their time on the road, but they clearly have a sense of what works in their material, even if the standard they’re working with is “what feels right” for them.

As they claw their way through “Three Moons” ahead of “Surrender,” the risks they take are there beneath the surface, but their grip on their sound is unyielding, and their confidence is justified not only by what they’ve done to that point on the album, but what they’ll do on the subsequent finale. The story of Death Ritual was that of a band loaded with potential working hard to realize that. The story of Blood of the Night remains in some contexts to be written, but what’s without question is that it builds on the achievements of its predecessor and conveys in no uncertain terms that Yatra‘s intent to conquer is unwavering. I’ll say it as plainly as I can: if Relapse Records isn’t already eyeing them, they’re dropping the ball. What Yatra‘s impact on the heavy underground and the wider sphere of metal will be is still unknown, but the fact that they bridge that gap so organically on Blood of the Night makes them even more lethal than they already were. And if there’s a running theme for Yatra to this point in their career, “lethal” might be it.

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Rituals is the former Windup Space in Baltimore, or so I’m told, and will play host to Grim Reefer Fest 2020 next April 18. The all-dayer will be headlined by Destroyer of Light from Austin, TX, and in addition to them and fest-organizers Haze Mage — credit where it’s due — the lineup boasts an impressive range of mostly regional denizens like Philly’s High Reeper and Green Meteor and Maryland-based acts like Asthma Castle, Cavern and Alms. Hyborian will be in from Kansas City which leaves me wondering if perhaps they’ll be on tour at the time, but either way, they’re keeping good company to be sure. If you’re the type to celebrate the Stoner New Year or just the type to celebrate riffs, seems to me there are far worse ways to spend your Saturday. They’ve got a food truck and everything.

Tickets are on sale now. Here’s the info:

Are you ready to get grim? Because we sure are! Join us for the 4th annual Grim Reefer Fest on 4.18.20 at Rituals (The new and improved former Windup Space location) in Baltimore, MD!

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

Here’s the full 2020 lineup!

Destroyer of Light (ATX) – Heavy crushing doom with the heart of rock from Austin, Texas here to obliterate your minds

Hyborian (KC) – Hard-Hitting heavy and stunning riffs from Kansas City to melt your faces

Asthma Castle – Heavy stoner sludge from the depths of Baltimore

Haze Mage – A blend of stoner, doom, and classic heavy metal with epic vocals

HIGH REEPER (PHI) – Heavy pounding rhythms, thick guitars, and soaring screeching vocals

Cavern – Heavy prog rock from Western MD

Green Meteor (PHI) – Psychedelic sonic warriors from outer space

Alms – Classic 70’s style hard-rocking heavy metal with entrancing harmonized vocals

Tombtoker – Dirty and heavy doom forged with the soul of punk

Compression – Recently reforged, a unique blend of thrash, metal, hardcore, and everything inbetween.

Tickets are $25 in Advance and $30 the day of the event!
Get yours at www.grimreeferfest.com!

Logo and Poster by Ghostbat

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https://www.facebook.com/GrimReeferFest/
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http://www.grimreeferfest.com/

Destroyer of Light, Mors Aeterna (2019)

If you needed further evidence of the legitimacy the Greek heavy underground has long since deserved but finally actually begun to receive from the wider European sphere — and I’m not sure you were standing around waiting for said evidence, and really, what is truth anyway but a series of convenient constructed narratives intended to serve a momentary purpose? — I humbly submit Villagers of Ionnina City, who’ve inked a deal with Napalm Records after releasing their lush and conceptual masterwork Age of Aquarius, on Mantra Records this past Fall. Napalm will issue the album on vinyl April 3 — preorders are up, because why the hell not — and I suspect that for those who’ve already heard it, it’s a pretty easy sell.

I was already looking for Villagers of Ionnina City to make something of a splash in 2020 after they recently signed with Sound of Liberation for European booking, and the fact that they’ve now joined the ranks of Stoned Jesus, Greenleaf, Monkey3 and recent Grammy nominees Candlemass certainly isn’t going to hurt their cred as they venture forth into the New Year. Best of luck to them, and congrats all around.

More to come, I’m sure. The PR wire has the official word:

VILLAGERS OF IOANNINA CITY Signs Worldwide Contract With Napalm Records

Physical Re-Release Of Latest Album, Age Of Aquarius, Out April 3, 2020

A psychedelic mantra for the new age!

Experimental psychedelic rock standouts VILLAGERS OF IOANNINA CITY have officially signed a worldwide contract with Napalm Records.

Since their formation in 2007, VILLAGERS OF IOANNINA CITY have drawn listeners into the heat – their sound slowly flowing melancholically yet booming with irrepressible energy and wildness. With a sonic synthesis of post and stoner rock influences and waving yet vibrant soundscapes topped by a large dose of Greek-folk elements, the quintet precisely hits the mark.

VILLAGERS OF IOANNINA CITY released their atmospheric debut, Riza, in 2014 followed by the sophomore digital album, Age of Aquarius (2019), which was enthusiastically received by critics and audiences.

Napalm Records is thrilled to announce the physical re-release of Age of Aquarius on April 3, 2020.

VILLAGERS OF IOANNINA CITY on the signing:

“We are very happy and thrilled to announce the beginning of our collaboration with Napalm Records! One of the leading rock/metal labels in the world. You can only be honored to be a part of such a great roster of artists and we are looking forward to our collaboration, which came at the right place and the right time to spread the message and the music of our new album “Age of Aquarius” all around the world.”
Age of Aquarius available on CD and Vinyl soon!

About Age of Aquarius:

The region of Epirus is famous for its landscape of mammoth mountains and holy rivers – and now experimental heavy rock. VILLAGERS OF IOANNINA CITY are deeply influenced by Greek nature and cosmic phenomena and infuse their unique brand of heavy psychedelic rock with folk instruments such as bagpipes, flutes and didgeridoos. Their second album, Age of Aquarius – originally released in September 2019 – will now be reissued by Napalm Records. Epirus may become the unlikely epicenter of the heavy rock universe: A mantra for the new age!

The first physical edition of Age of Aquarius will be exclusively available on the band’s upcoming tour!

Providing more proof of the budding Greek rock scene is this year’s music documentary, “Greek Rock Revolution”. VILLAGERS OF IOANNINA CITY and six other bands discuss their music and the eternal inspiration for the Greek musical movement – an unstable social situation boosting artistic expression.

More to be announced …

VILLAGERS OF IOANNINA CITY are:
Alex (guitar/vox)
Akis (bass)
Aris (drums)
Kostantis (clarinet, winds)
Kostas (bagpipe)

https://www.facebook.com/villagersofioanninacity/
https://www.instagram.com/villagersofioanninacity
https://vicband.bandcamp.com/
www.napalmrecords.com

Villagers of Ionnina City, Age of Aquarius (2019)

The news out of Pittsburgh is doomy as word comes through the PR wire that Molasses Barge have signed to Argonauta Records for the release of their second album, A Grayer Dawn. The record’s not due out until April 10 — which is far enough in the future that my feeble brain can barely comprehend it — and yet not only are we getting the news that the band have been picked up, but also the record’s cover art, tracklisting, and a streaming track. No one-at-a-time trickle of information here. Molasses Barge are laying it on the line and with “Control Letting Go” as the first impression they’re making, frankly, they’re not wrong to do so. You can hear the track at the bottom of this post, and from its kind of raw coming together at the start, it sets an organic atmosphere that I have the feeling the band are going to toy around with a lot in the surrounding material. We’ll see though.

I’d expect to hear more about A Grayer Dawn in the New Year, and in the meantime, as the kind of guy who has a running list of 2020’s anticipated releases, I’ve got another name to jot down in my notes.

Here’s all the whatnot:

MOLASSES BARGE Sign To Argonauta Records For Release Of Brand New Album + Share First Single!

Pittsburgh PA’s Molasses Barge have inked a worldwide deal with rising cult label Argonauta Records, who will release the band’s sophomore album in the Spring of 2020! Titled A Grayer Dawn and set for a release on April 10th, since their critically acclaimed 2017- self-titled debut album Molasses Barge are following their path in the name of doom metal and finest heavy rock grooves, creating a blistering, raw and authentic sound.

“We are very excited to bring this new album to our friends and fans around the globe in 2020.” The band comments. “We were first fortunate to have the engineering and mastering expertise of Jason Jouver and Jack Endino for this recording, and secondly to have Argonauta Records sign us on to be a part of their burgeoning label. Thank you to everyone who has supported us for all of these years!”

The A Grayer Dawn tracklist reads as follows:
1. The Snake
2. Desert Discord
3. Control Letting Go
4. Holding Patterns
5. Black Wings Unfurl
6. Distant
7. A Grayer Dawn
8. Reprise

Molasses Barge were formed in 2008 by Wayne Massey (drums), Brian “Butch” Balich (vocals), and Justin Gizzi (guitar). Originally intended as a side project with designs on recording an EP and making a few live appearances, the group picked up momentum following the additions of second guitarist Ken Houser in 2009, and bassist Amy Bianco at the outset of 2010, recording a pair of EPs and playing numerous shows in PA, Maryland, and New York. After Ken Houser and the group parted ways in 2014, David Fresch was brought aboard and the band released a self titled double-CD through Blackseed Records in 2017. Now entering 2020, with their core still intact and mainstays of Pittsburgh PA’s heavy music scene, Molasses Barge are set to release their second full length album via Italy’s Argonauta Records, featuring the addition of new guitarist Barry Mull.

A Grayer Dawn will see the light of day on April 10th, the band has also been confirmed to play Maryland Doom Fest in 2020. Watch out for more news and album tunes to follow in the weeks ahead!

Molasses Barge is:
Brian “Butch” Balich – Vocals
Amy Bianco – Bass
Justin Gizzi – Guitar
Barry Mull – Guitar
Wayne Massey – Drums

www.facebook.com/molassesbargedoom
www.molassesbarge.bandcamp.com
www.argonautarecords.com
www.facebook.com/argonautarecords

Molasses Barge, “Control Letting Go”

I’m a little curious at this point how long Corrosion of Conformity‘s touring cycle for their early-2018 album, No Cross No Crown (review here), is going to grow. Granted, they’ve been flying other banners along the way, such as the 25th anniversary of Deliverance (review here) this year, but still, they were regularly touring before No Cross No Crown for a couple years, and they’ve only been at it harder ever since. They were already announced for Desertfest in London and Berlin, so a trip back to Europe was bound to happen, but now we have the dates. It’s Western Europe, which makes me think that they might get back at some point for the eastern half of the continent, but there’s also been word in the interim that guitarist/vocalist Pepper Keenan will head out this summer for festival dates with his other band, the supergroup Down, as they in turn celebrate the 25th anniversary of their debut album, Nola. So many anniversaries! I’m gonna run out of greeting cards.

So maybe after the early-2020 trip to Australia and New Zealand and the return to Europe around Desertfests, that’s a wrap for C.O.C. for now. For those curious — which is apparently an entire contingent on the band’s social media — I wouldn’t expect drummer Reed Mullin to be making either trek, but they’ve certainly done nothing but kick ass in his absence, if my own experience is anything to go by. Nothing against the dude, but C.O.C. aren’t taking the stage to deliver anything less than a stellar product, and sure enough, they don’t.

Here are the current upcoming dates. Spirit Adrift aren’t on all of the Euro shows, so check the poster too. Click either one to enlarge:

EUROPE DATES SPRING 2020 with Spirit Adrift
SAT Apr 25 Dublin Ireland Academy
SUN Apr 26 Belfast Limelight 2
TUE Apr 28 Glasgow Scotland Garage
WED Apr 29 Manchester UK
FRI May 01 London UK Camden DesertFest
SAT May 02 Izegem Belgium Headbangers Balls Festival
SUN May 03 Berlin Germany Desertfest Berlin
TUE May 05 Salzburg Austria Rockhouse
WED May 06 Munich Baskstage Halle
THU May 07 Milan Italy Legend
SAT May 09 Madrid Spain Sala Riviera
SUN May 10 Barcelona, Spain Razmataz 2
TUE May 12 Paris, France le petit bain
WED May 13 Rouen France Le 106
FRI May 15 Southhampton UK Engine rooms
SAT May 16 Birmingham UK 02 institute 2

Corrosion of Conformity – Australian & New Zealand Tour
Tour Dates:
Tue 4 Feb – Auckland, Galatos
Wed 5 Feb- Adelaide, Lion Arts Factory
Thu 6 Feb – Perth, Amplifier Capitol
Fri 7 Feb – Melbourne, Max Watt’s House of Music
Sat 8 Feb – Brisbane, Crowbar Brisbane
Wed 12 Feb – Sydney, Crowbar Sydney

http://www.coc.com
http://www.facebook.com/corrosionofconformity
http://www.nuclearblast.com
http://www.facebook.com/nuclearblastusa

Corrosion of Conformity, “The Luddite” official video

Guitarist Alberto Piccolo is probably best known in heavy circles for his work with Messa, whose atmospheric and moody take on doom has found resonance with an international audience grown outward from their homebase in Treviso, Italy. Piccolo earlier this year unveiled something of an alter-ego in Little Albert, a solo-project exploring bluesy textures without some of the posturing that so, so, so often comes along with even a mere association with the style. I’ve only heard the single “Hard Times Killing Floor Blues” on Bandcamp, but putting it on was an immediate relief when Piccolo, who very clearly is not an 80-year-old Black dude, was also not trying to sound like one. There are an awful lot of players out there who can’t say the same.

The same Bandcamp page that hosts that track — you can go there if you want, but the track is streaming at the bottom here; just under the link, as it happens — makes mention of a debut EP in progress. By contrast, the announcement that follows here that Little Albert have signed to Aural Music talks about releasing a first album in March. I’m not sure if the one grew out of the other or what — I’d assume, but I don’t know that — but either way, so long as Piccolo wants to go about purveying his blues sans racialized caricature, that record’s more than welcome by me, whatever shape it might ultimately take.

The announcement is pretty light on album details, but there’s plenty of time for such things. Here’s what came down the PR wire:

LITTLE ALBERT SIGN WITH AURAL MUSIC

Little Albert is the Hard Blues project of Alberto Piccolo, lead guitarist of Scarlet Doom disciples MESSA.

The debut album is titled “Swamp King” and will be released worldwide in March 2020.

here’s what Alberto had to say: “Signing for Aural Music seemed to me the best way to give credit to the union between blues and doom permeating Little Albert project. In addition, being Aural Music Messa’s label, the collaboration was born naturally.”

Artwork, tracklist and more details will be revealed in the coming weeks.

http://www.facebook.com/littlealbertblues
https://littlealbertblues.bandcamp.com/

Little Albert, “Hard Times Killing Floor Blues”

[Click play above to stream the premiere of ‘Warrior Queen’ from CB3’s Aeons. Album is out Feb. 28 on The Sign Records.]

They never approach what-you-see-is-what-you-get level simplicity in terms of sound, but at least some of what you need to know about CB3 is there in the name. The acronym, which they seem to prefer to go by, stands for Charlotta’s Burnin’ Trio. Sure enough, there are three of them. They’re led by guitarist Charlotta Andersson. And they burn. Their style is rooted in heavy rock as some of Andersson‘s riffing and certainly her tone demonstrate, but there is a willful-sounding embrace of the progressive as well on their The Sign Records label debut and third album overall, Aeons. Andersson and fellow-founding member Natanael Salomonsson started out in jazzier territory on their 2015 self-titled debut, and across a 2016 live offering, the 2017 short release Adventures, early 2018’s sophomore LP, From Nothing to Eternity (discussed here), and the subsequent live EP, Cult of the Crystals, the Malmö, Sweden, outfit have continually ventured into broader and more psychedelic and weighted ground.

Aeons, which runs an utterly manageable 32 minutes across five tracks, continues this push into the uncharted cosmos perhaps most of all on its nine-minute centerpiece “Acid Haze” — an obvious focal point for the record — but also more generally throughout, as Andersson, Salomonsson and bassist Pelle Lindsjö enact organic-sounding instrumentalist fluidity and give their listeners a range of depths/reaches to explore in kind with the band. Songs are arranged for a journey, parabolically or like a mountain being climbed — though, again, at such a gracefully flowing 32 minutes, it’s not exactly a strenuous uphill — with opener “Zodiac” (3:51) and “Sonic Blaze” (6:50) which follows, building in runtime up to the already-noted longer stretch of “Acid Haze” (9:08), and “Warrior Queen” (7:26) and “Apocalypse” (5:00) paring back down from there in length if not in style or breadth.

Indeed, if anything, “Warrior Queen” answers the sprawl of “Acid Haze” with its own outbound push, particularly over the course of its first five minutes moving further and further from the ground as Andersson‘s guitar soars and shimmers above the solidified but still jammy groove beneath. From there, CB3 come together around a sequence of riffs, one into the next, and resolve the track’s final moments with a straightforward thrust that’s a standout moment even amid the sax and mellotron psychedelic wash of “Apocalypse” that follows — turns out the end of the world is kind of pretty; certainly much prettier than it feels living through it. The point, however, is that the second half of Aeons‘ unfurls itself no less gracefully than does the first. Listening to “Zodiac” at the record’s outset, the groove seems more grounded, toying around with a winding blues riff that wouldn’t seem out of place on a Clutch record even as CB3 manipulate it in various ways via shifts of tempo and effects wash, synth (or synth sounds), and so on, eventually finding their way into a slower nod that only pulls itself further down as it proceeds toward its own end and the more active start of “Sonic Blaze.”

One would hardly call these tracks grounded, even in relation to “Acid Haze” or the first half of “Warrior Queen,” and yet, the temptation to put a first/then narrative — as in, first they’re on the ground, then they’re not — to the progression of Aeons is hard to resist, especially with the sax and mellotron so clearly purposeful in their positioning in the final track. But the truth is more complicated, and, honestly, richer in terms of scope. “Sonic Blaze” flirts with some ambient drone before finding footing in a crash-laden YOB-style triplet gallop, which Andersson then moves up the fretboard before finally releasing into the ether, and eventually returns to the central riff of the track before capping with a winding conclusion on the way into the patient start of “Acid Haze” itself.

And yes, “Acid Haze” go-go-go-goes to new degrees of galaxial spaciousness in a way that CB3 didn’t do even a year ago, the guitar in eyes-closed-Hendrixian-style echo-shred leading the hypnotic wash that ensues on what is a genuinely gorgeous and singular moment on the album, running as far out as it can before Salomonsson‘s popping snare returns to bring momentum and set the stage for the more sweeping second half of the song, though that too has its due portion of noise before the last live-style crashout and the triumphant guitar intro of “Warrior Queen” commences.

Flow becomes central to the penultimate inclusion on Aeons, and in that regard CB3 are right at home, with some joyful headspinning solo fare after the three-minute mark and a generally languid vibe earlier on before, as noted, the more grounded, chugging end takes hold and builds up to the last charge, leaving just “Apocalypse” to round out, its strumming intro and quiet rim-tap snare serving as the initial foundation on which the fuller tonal impact is made. The aforementioned mellotron arrives earlier than the sax, which doesn’t come until just after the halfway mark and seems to show up in layers when it does, but both are central to the song’s statement and the album’s conclusion, bringing together CB3‘s jazz roots with their intent toward classic progressive rock in a way that, thanks to its atmospheric stylization, avoids the self-indulgence one might commonly associate with fusion or such jazzy impulses.

That is a line that CB3 walk well throughout Aeons, grounding themselves at the beginning and periodically afterward even as they venture into new, more cosmic and psychedelic places. Particularly as an instrumental unit, they’re able to bring an imaginative sense to what they do, but they don’t ever seem to lose focus on their central purpose either, and Aeons is a stronger record on the whole for it. I’m left wondering if there isn’t a storyline taking place between the songs as “Sonic Blaze” and “Acid Haze” and “Warrior Queen” flow in succession toward, well, the end of all things, but perhaps that’s a concern best left for the inevitable sequel. For now, Aeons clearly demonstrates CB3‘s ongoing commitment to evolving their sound, and their ability to meld progressive and psychedelic impulses with a rare and well-harnessed vitality. Would seem that’s plenty to ask of a record that’s just over a half-hour long, no?

CB3, Aeons (2020)

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