One might find Ethyl Ether‘s third album, Chrome Neon Jesus, surprisingly clearheaded in its purposes for an offering that begins with a song called “The Smoke Waits for No Man.” That may or may not be — about the smoke, that is — but the South African heavy rockers unfurl a steady presence and sense of control with their songwriting, launching with some atmospherics deriving from late-’80s nighttime-on-wet-pavement dramas and earlier ’70s rock for a sound that’s coherently modern and becomes less predictable as they go on. To wit, the shouts in the subsequent “Ode” or the proggier wash in “Under the Milky Way” as Chrome Neon Jesus moves fluidly along its course each carry an underlying semblance of order even as they set up turns like the more brash stomping of “Therapy” or the all-go motor riffing of “Voodoo,” which (presumably) ends side A and for which you can see a tripped out video premiering blow.
The vibes continue to get richer as Ethyl Ether proceed into the Cantrell-ian guitars of “Diamonds” and the willfully punkier push of “Cold Black Soul,” tapping into dreamy pop grunge on “Faces” ahead of the spacious “Is Anybody Different” and “Higher Than Drugs,” which rounds out, again surprisingly lucid, with a melodic hook worthy of mid-’90s radio even unto its handclaps and gang-chant chorus finish. Self-awareness on the band’s part extends to them referring to themselves as pop, and that assessment is fair insomuch as it extends to the accessibility of what they’re doing and the obvious care they put into making it. While the vocals sometimes drawl out and tempo gets languid, there may be “happy accidents” that happened in the studio, but nothing across the songs is more out of place than it wants to be, and mix is impeccable. In this way, yeah, Chrome Neon Jesus is pop, if you’re using that word as a stand-in for “professionalism.”
And maybe they are — admittedly “pro” is a bit drier and arrogant in terms of self-applied tags for a band. One way or the other, their sound may prove too clean for some, but I suspect those who continue to dig into the tracks will find something to latch onto that justifies the effort. They know what they’re doing, and if you like songwriting, they’re songwriters.
“Voodoo” doesn’t represent the whole of Chrome Neon Jesus — I’d be hard-pressed to pick a single that does — but if you haven’t had a chance to plunge into the full-length, the Bandcamp stream is at the bottom of this post as well, courtesy of Mongrel Records.
Enjoy the video:
Ethyl Ether, “Voodoo” official video premiere
Drawing from a deep well of musical inspiration that blends blues, psychedelia and rock n roll, South African heavy rockers Ethyl Ether have released a video for their latest single Voodoo. The track is taken from the bands well received 2020 release Chrome Neon Jesus.
“Voodoo is a psychedelic trip that takes you back to the good ol’days of rock n roll. No frills, no fancy, just a song to lose your shit to. And then play it all over again.” Comments Pabs (bass/vocals)
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 29th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
This brings us up to seven of the nine total inclusions for PostWax Vol. II, and if I tell you The Otolith‘s debut album is among the outings I’m most looking forward to in this series, I hope you’ll know I’m not exaggerating. Been waiting a couple years for that post-SubRosa outfit to release their first record, so yeah, I’ll take that as soon as humanly possible thank you very much. New Dopelord — their Reality Dagger EP (review here) — shows how far the reach of this project goes. They have a few albums out, of course, but like REZ and Vinnum Sabbathi, who’ll collaborate on a PostWax offering, they represent an up and coming generation of players. I like that they don’t seem to know what they’re going to do in the quote below. How about a film score? Really mess with people.
So, two more announcements to come, and then all will be revealed. I can’t wait to dig into these for the liner notes in the meantime:
DOPELORD and THE OTOLITH confirmed to release new albums as part of PostWax Vol. II vinyl series on Blues Funeral Recordings!
Blues Funeral Recordings announce the next bands to take part in the PostWax Vol. II vinyl subscription series. Polish stoner doom flag-bearers DOPELORD are set to crank their fuzz up to stratospheric levels, and Salt Lake City avant-garde doom unit THE OTOLITH (formed by SubRosa members) will issue their awaited debut album as part of the series.
Between Acid King, Lowrider, Mammoth Volume and Josiah, Blues Funeral Recordings has gathered a wealth of artists who have been hewing riffs from stone, sand and sky for decades, inviting them to bring their immense talents and peerless legacies to their ambitious PostWax series. But, as shown by the inclusions of REZN, Elephant Tree and Vinnum Sabbathi, they also put the spotlight on bands who represent stoner, doom and heavy scene’s present and future, ones with the benefit to peer across the generation of heavy rock greatness before them as they seek to forge enthusiastically forward.
Blues Funeral Recordings is happy to welcome Poland’s fuzz-doom emissaries DOPELORD on board today. These masters of monolithic normally follow a deeply DIY path, having self-released almost their entire catalog while still managing to secure worldwide adoration. Albums like ‘Children of the Haze’ and ‘Sign of the Devil’ are absolute monsters of granite-thick hallucinatory riff-tripping.
Dopelord’s Piotr Klusek declares: “We’ve been aware of the PostWax project for a few years now and thought it sounded interesting but wanted to see how it all came together, plus we were focusing on our new album. After releasing our latest record and seeing how the first PostWax series came out, we absolutely wanted to be involved if they did it again. Whatever we end up doing, look forward to something adventurous and fun but still massive and utterly Dopelord!”
As for THE OTOLITH, the new four-piece formed from the ashes of SubRosa, they will release their highly anticipated debut double LP as part of PostWax Vol. II. Those who’ve been following the aftermath of SubRosa’s dissolution know that Kim Cordray, Levi Hanna, Andy Patterson and Sarah Pendleton announced the formation of The Otolith in 2019, and tantalized acolytes of SubRosa’s avant-garde sonic palette with songs on Magnetic Eye Records’ one-off ‘Dirt [Redux]’ and ‘Women of Doom’ compilations.
THE OTOLITH hint: “Our debut album reveals the musical mutations and mystical wanderings of a soul, scanning the edges of the known universe through cracked glass. Ghostly symphonic strings interlace with crushing bass, guitar, and percussion; voices conducting signals across time and space to arrive through cosmic storms to a sea of liquid stars.”
The purpose of Postwax Vol. II is to create a curated series of releases that stand alone yet also connect, both through art elements and a musical throughline. Unearthing forgotten bands, unveiling new ones, and catching icons at the height of their powers, Blues Funeral Recordings are set to deliver yet another set of next level and highly collectible releases for all heavy rock, fuzz and doom fans out there.
Posted in Questionnaire on April 29th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Carsten from Giants Dwarfs & Black Holes
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
Define… I play the drums… accidentally… indescribably pleasant, if someone thinks it’s good.
I started to play drums in the age of 19 or 20 just for fun in a punk band. We where all pretty much unable to play anything. No lessons, no talent… haha! But I played… and played… in many groups and bands, and now, someone likes what I do. Really nice!
Otherwise: I work for money. For bread, water and four walls. Like prostitutes, but cheaper, in a poisonous stalactite cave.
Describe your first musical memory.
My first memory is George McCrae – Rock You Babe. I loved the LP so much that I took it to the sandpit as a toddler… then there were ABBA, ELO, Gilbert O’Sullivan etc. Yeah, I’m a little older…
Describe your best musical memory to date.
My first gig with GdaBH was cancelled because of the corona- lockdown…
But before the lockdown I saw Mother Tongue. They played over three hours and it was indescribably good. They gave a lot of energy to the audience – really great!
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
As my brother died. Extremely horrible situation. It sounds till today… I had no choice. Growing up. Fast. Work. Much work. Work as a therapy killed much of my depressions. Collecting time on every medium as an catalysator.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
In music: The communication within the music.
How do you define success?
Success… is a warm gun. Oh, wait, no. Happiness.
Success… a huge amount of drugs and money.
Err… no, that;s it:
Success is to stay healthy and lovely with your family and friends.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
I already answered the first, the second is:
Real “snuff” movies. One movie was so indescribable extremely brutal, that I got real health problems for three weeks… but I learned something about the deepest negative sides of human beings.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
A full movie with Wenzel Storch. But he doesn’t want to make movies again.
I work on it…
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Impression.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Posted in Questionnaire on April 28th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Matt Whitehead of Shun & Throttlerod
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to it?
I love to stay busy writing songs and stray riffs in my spare time and sing and play guitar in a new band called Shun. We’re a four-piece loud riff-based heavy rock band that also has melodic and moody elements.
How did I come to it? My first job at Little Caesar’s…. [big U.S. pizza chain for our overseas friends who may not be familiar.]
I worked at that pizza chain in high school with a couple of people that were in some really good bands, one of which I joined sometime in early 1995. That band happened to be one of my favorite bands around at the time and it was a real honor to get that opportunity. That experience ultimately helped shape my ideas about songwriting and melody. Whereas I had been primarily into metal and also Nirvana, I became an absolute sponge in college and listened to everything I could get my hands on. That’s when I found everything from The Melvins and Fugazi to Morphine, PJ Harvey, and Jawbox.
After that first band ran its course, I started Throttlerod with two of those same guys, put out a bunch of records, and did a lot of touring. Early on, our friends in ATP and Sunnshine encouraged us to move from Columbia, SC, to Richmond and we did. Not because we didn’t like our hometown (we loved it there). But Richmond had a really unique scene and is well-situated on the East Coast to hit a lot of cities in a short amount of time. Eventually, we recruited the Sunnshine drummer, Kevin White, and the bass player from my first band who moved to Richmond from where he had been living in Chicago.
I moved back to South Carolina in 2011 and put out one more Throttlerod record that J. Robbins produced. I was getting restless as I waited for Kevin to join me, so I started a band called Made of Machines with… a guy from that first job at the pizza place. Another guy from my first band introduced me to Jeff Baucom who played bass with Machines for a couple of years.
Jeff and I really connected personally and musically, and he asked me to come jam with a new project he had going with a drummer and a guitarist who had just moved to the area. Fast forward through a few hurdles with getting together, and we are now on a schedule and having a blast making music. So, in a way all of my connections to music began at Little Caesar’s. Weird.
Describe your first musical memory.
My first musical memory is listening to Beatles and Elton John records with my mom when I was probably four years old. I got really into other artists after that, but it was “Battery” by Metallica led me to go head-first into guitar. I more or less learned the instrument from obsessing over their first three Metallica records. A good friend of mine shared that obsession and we used to stay up all night playing metal covers, and we probably (definitely) knew every Metallica song through Justice at one point. There are a lot worse things we could have been doing! When I went to college though, I was exposed to a whole lot.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
I have been fortunate enough to experience a lot with Throttlerod: playing in front of 19,000 people in Shockoe Bottom; playing HF Festival, CMJ, or SXSW; and playing with all kinds of cool bands ranging from Clutch and Mastodon to Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers. But my best musical memory is much more basic: touring in a van with my friends, seeing the US and Canada, sleeping on floors, and playing music that we loved every night. I was just telling this story a few days ago, but we always prided ourselves on playing the same to an audience of one as we did to an audience of 19,000. Once we played Des Moines, Iowa, early in the week and there was nobody there. Literally nobody. We got on stage and seconds into our set, Matt Pike (who we had met when we played with High on Fire sometime before that) walks in. We played our entire set to him headbanging in front of the stage. Ruled.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I don’t know about that. I try and be open enough to other perspectives to where I don’t get too upset over people challenging me. It’s not a perfect system, but I can’t think of a situation off the top of my head where I got bothered or felt “tested” by someone or something challenging a belief.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Who knows where it will lead? The old cliché “it’s the journey, not the destination” holds true here. People, interests, influences, etc. change over time and that should be ok as long as we’re still excited. I try my best to treat songs as a diary and not mull over them too much. To me, it feels more exciting to have a batch of songs we wrote in a short period of time when we felt a certain way and not overthink them versus mulling over every song for months/years thinking we’re going to make it perfect. The next album will be written with different perspectives because we’ve changed along with everything around us.
How do you define success?
Honestly, we feel like we’ve succeeded just getting to play music together in a new band at this stage in our lives. Having J. Robbins believe in it enough to want to mix our home recordings, having Small Stone Records interested enough to put it out, and Mark Morton (Lamb of God) contributing a solo to a song is a real high-five situation to put it mildly.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
I could get real dark here, but let’s keep this upbeat and positive.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create?
The next album. Upon finishing our last one, it took no more than a week for new riffs to start flying around.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
The most essential function of art depends on the situation. Entertainment, connection, self-awareness… all valid functions in my opinion.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Spending time with my family and traveling are always things I look forward to.
Posted in Reviews on April 28th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
None crustier. None more stoned. That’s the reputation that precedes Bongzilla headed into Weedsconsin, their first album in 16 years. That’s the standard. And while the Madison, Wisconsin, trio of Michael “Muleboy” Makela (bass/vocals, formerly guitar/vocals), guitarist Jeff “Spanky” Schultz and drummer Michael John “Magma” Henry have no doubt been busy in the intervening years working as high-power lobbyists toward the ultimate goal of marijuana legalization on the federal level in the US — an argument they state efficiently if not clearly in Muleboy‘s rasp on “Free the Weed” — their return to more riff-led weedian proselytizing is notable on its own merits in addition to the influence the band has had largely in their absence on a generation of underground listeners and players who’ve come to prominence in the years since 2005’s Amerijuanican was issued through Relapse Records.
Weedsconsin finds the band aligned with Heavy Psych Sounds, and with production by the late John Hopkins, who passed away in Nov. 2020 following a heart attack, Bongzilla sound utterly unmistakable. Their closest sonic kin have always been Weedeater — they would seem to pay homage with a short interlude that opens side B called simply “The Weedeater” — but the six-song/43-minute run of this collection makes that North Carolinian outfit seem accessible by comparison. Of course, the album arrives some six years after Bongzilla returned to touring, so they’ve had plenty of time work work out material, but the truth is that in 95 percent of cases, the prospect of a new full-length from this band was going to be a no-doubter. What, Bongzilla were going to become math metal? Embrace their inner djent? They’re fucking Bongzilla. The biggest favor they might do their attendant listenership, new and old, is to sound like it, and that’s exactly what they do on Weedsconsin.
The album opens sharp and purposeful with “Sundae Driver.” It’s the shortest inclusion at about four and a half minutes, and it builds a massive wall of lumbering fuzz to set a high tonal standard for the rest of what follows. If the message is to reassure their audience that Bongzilla know what’s expected of them and are ready to deliver, the harsh-lung gutturalism of “Sundae Driver”‘s verse dispenses immediately with all doubt. Atop a chugging riff that opens into a rolling hook, Muleboy earns copious nodules in nothing-too-fancy lines that are made impressive through the excruciating-sounding execution. The great balance of Bongzilla has always been between the stoned and the brutal. “Sundae Driver” calls out both in deceptively clear fashion, and “Free the Weed” follows with a bigger central riff that holds its line out and lets Magma‘s hi-hat hold the procession together until the next round of lurch kicks in. It is pummeling and arguably the highlight of Weedsconsin for how its second half flows into its solo section with the bass and guitar taking their respective whims for a walk, but really, pick your poison. If it’s jams you’re looking for, the best is surely yet to come.
To wit, side A wraps with “Space Rock,” the first of two inclusions on Weedsconsin to top 10 minutes long. Time well spent. A first few minutes lull the listener into hypnotic nod before the full low end weight kicks in circa 2:30 and continues to cycle through until the big slowdown into the stoner softshoe riff about a minute later, all classic swagger as the bed for the verse, echoing and largely indecipherable. They pick up speed, subtly, but ultimately make their way back to the mellower movement and use that as the launch point for a jam that consumes the rest of the song leads the way out of side A, with the 35-second “The Weedeater” following its rumbling end with a slow drum beat, sample and maybe a keyboard of some sort or guitar playing some sparse notes. There’s a hard stop before the subsequent, 15-minute “Earth Bong/Smoked/Mags Bags” arrives, but the two pieces connect just the same, and the three stages of Weedsconsin‘s sprawling exercise in instrumentalist fuckall likewise flow into each other as they inevitably would.
There are tempo shifts throughout — and maybe the coughing 10 minutes in signals a turn to “Mags Bags,” which puts the bass more forward before oozing out its central riff, more stoner than sludge if it even matters by then — but Bongzilla were right to put all this stuff into a single track and just roll it out, because by the time the drums and whatever percussion is included finishes out, they’ve well established they can do whatever the hell they want anyway and still come out on the other end red-eyed but otherwise unscathed. Slow stick-clicks later and the six-minute “Gummies” wraps with more mostly-instrumental plodding — there’s voice there, but it’s buried deep — as the band cap their first album in more than a decade and a half by getting willfully lost in the fog of their own making and inviting their listenership to do largely the same. That’s not to say they’re not following a plan throughout Weedsconsin, but the plan sounds like it was to get high and wander off, letting one heavy riff after the next lead where they will.
If you can think of a more fitting showing for Bongzilla to make than to return with a six-track album and jam out for more than half its runtime, I’d love to hear about it. The fact of the matter is Bongzilla after a quarter-century since their inception know what they’re about, and Weedsconsin is Bongzilla being Bongzilla. I don’t know what various hyperbole has been tossed the album’s way, but its central achievement is that it is Bongzilla. If you know the band, you know what they do, and this is what they do. If you’re new to the band, then consider Weedsconsin your representative start as you head deeper into their catalog. It’s not that they’re not trying anything new here, but the overarching context is so much the band’s own that it is simply inescapable. And that’s the point. You would ask no less of Bongzilla. That’s their standard, and they meet it dead-on, without flinching.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 28th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
This album was released in February and is massively destructive charred industrial whatnot, just as harsh as you please. I know precious little about Lung Knots as a project, who’s behind it — seems like one person, as many such outfits are — and how long it’s been going, etc., but the word from the PR wire that Tartarus has LP preorders up I’m taking as a reminder to self to find out all that kind of stuff in addition to further exposing my skull to Golden Dirges, Molten Larynges, which is wonderfully claustrophobic from what of it I’m hearing so far.
For those vinyl-averse — and I know you exist — CDs and tapes are out, respectively, through Trepanation Recordings and Total Dissonance Worship. The stream from Bandcamp you’ll find at the bottom of this post, if you’re feeling brave.
Lung Knots is a vessel of auditory violence whose sole purpose is to exist in this place and moment in time. It is an overwhelming form of aural terror conveyed through primal and mechanical means, conjoining visceral matter of an organic origin with that of an abiotic one. These together fabricate an entity focused on the seething aspects of interminable dread and the humiliation of flesh. Lung Knots’ essence can be summed up as the channeling of hate and disgust towards man and its progeny, and the very construct of humanity in its current, turbulent state, by weaving together textures that vary from harsh noise to black metal and carefully crafted sound design-like sonical scapes, and everything falling in between.
The territory from where these scraps are gathered is a profound, hopeless, and lightless hole, familiar to every single being in one sense or another. Golden Dirges, Molten Larynges is a meditative work uniting the mentioned stylistical leanings by methodical yet momentarily improvised, and above all, uncompromising means. While the instrumental execution is composed and executed with precision, the vocal and lyric territory is delivered in the heat of the moment, to denote the raw emotion and agony in as primitive manner as possible. The result is a rewarding and enjoyable effort in a rather grotesque sense, as while the atmosphere is highly tangible and immersive, it’s equally painful and unpleasant to take in. Golden Dirges, Molten Larynges was released on CD and Tape through Trepanation Recordings and Total Dissonance Worship in February, with a limited run of vinyl coming up via Tartarus Records.
Release date: End of May
Pressing info 150 copies on black/white marbled vinyl heavy cardboard sleeve insert sheet download card included
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 28th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Fresh off the release this month of their new album, Monuments, Icelandic heavy rockers The Vintage Caravan are looking to return to the road and make it count. The three-piece have newly announced two rounds of touring through Europe that will take place across early Spring and Fall 2022, and neither stint is what you’d call a cheapie. They’re going for it.
Of course, like everyone else, their plans have been usurped by circumstances beyond their control, but The Vintage Caravan have been a hard-touring band for years across Europe, and good for them reclaiming that title and a headliner spot in the early offing of potential live music being on the horizon. If it needs to be said — it doesn’t — no one knows what next year will bring, but god damn, is it so wrong to want to look forward to a thing? Are we allowed to do that? I won’t even see this tour and I’m just looking forward to it happening.
Anyway, the dates follow here, as posted by the band earlier:
THE VINTAGE CARAVAN – TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT
We are beyond stoked to announce our European headline tour dates for next year! We can’t wait to finally tour again and to play songs of our latest album ‘Monuments’! Tickets:www.thevintagecaravan.eu/tour
Fri, AUG 20 Festival ‘t zeeltje Deest, Netherlands Sat, FEB 26, 2022 Q-Factory Amsterdam, Netherlands Sun, FEB 27, 2022 Das Bett Frankfurt Am Main, Germany Tue, MAR 1, 2022 Cassiopeia Berlin, Germany Wed, MAR 2, 2022 Headcrash Hamburg, Germany Thu, MAR 3, 2022 Little Devil Tilburg, Netherlands Fri, MAR 4, 2022 Poppodium Bolwerk Sneek, Netherlands Sat, MAR 5, 2022 Ancienne Belgique Brussels, Belgium Sun, MAR 6, 2022 Artheater Cologne, Germany Mon, MAR 7, 2022 Backstage Halle Munich, Germany Wed, MAR 9, 2022 Orpheum Extra Graz, Austria Thu, MAR 10, 2022 PMK Innsbruck, Austria Fri, MAR 11, 2022 Spielplatz OKH Vöcklabruck, Austria Sat, MAR 12, 2022 Papiersaal Zurich, Switzerland Sun, MAR 13, 2022 CCO Villeurbanne, France Mon, MAR 14, 2022 Backstage Paris Paris, France Tue, MAR 15, 2022 Le Grand Mix Tourcoing, France Wed, MAR 16, 2022 Le Ferrailleur Nantes, France Fri, MAR 18, 2022 O2 Academy Islington London, United Kingdom Sun, MAR 20, 2022 THE LIVE ROOMS Chester, United Kingdom Mon, MAR 21, 2022 KK’s Steel Mill Wolverhampton, United Kingdom Tue, MAR 22, 2022 The Globe Cardiff, United Kingdom Wed, MAR 23, 2022 The Warehouse Leeds, United Kingdom Thu, MAR 24, 2022 Manchester Academy Manchester, United Kingdom Wed, SEP 14, 2022 Helitehas Tallinn, Estonia Thu, SEP 15, 2022 Palladium Riga Riga, Latvia Fri, SEP 16, 2022 Progresja Warsaw, Poland Sat, SEP 17, 2022 A2. Sp. z o.o. Wroclaw, Poland Mon, SEP 19, 2022 Forum Karlín Karlín, Czechia Tue, SEP 20, 2022 Arena Wien Wien, Austria Wed, SEP 21, 2022 Barba Negra Budapest, Hungary Fri, SEP 23, 2022 The Roman Arenas Bucharest, Romania Sat, SEP 24, 2022 SFC Universiada Sofia, Bulgaria Mon, SEP 26, 2022 Tvornica kulture Zagreb, Croatia Tue, SEP 27, 2022 Arcimboldi Theater Milan, Italy Wed, SEP 28, 2022 Ostia Antica Città Metropolitana Di Roma, Italy
THE VINTAGE CARAVAN is: Óskar Logi Ágústsson – lead vocals, electric guitar Alexander Örn Númason – bass guitar, backing vocals Stefán Ari Stefánsson – drums, percussion
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 28th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Catchy song, definitely in a heavy rock vein, but with an undercurrent of more extreme fare in its tones, and yeah, dig a little bit and you’ll find that Polish trio Grieving, who are set to make their debut through Interstellar Smoke Records and Godz ov War Productions in July with Songs for the Weary — have played together in various combinations and in various other outfits like Mentor or Thaw or others in a more charred aesthetic, black metal, thrash, and so on. Vocalist Wojciech Kaluza, in addition to doubling as King of Nothing in Mentor is also known as Susel in long-running Polish Southern metal outfit J.D. Overdrive, and you can hear some of that too. But Grieving have their own approach, as “A Crow Funeral” demonstrates, and it reminds how fluid the line between what’s “metal” and what’s not can be when put on a foundation of solid songwriting.
The clip for “A Crow Funeral” is by Chariot of Black Moth — watch out if flashing lights are a thing for you — and can be seen at the bottom of the post, and Songs for the Weary is out July 26, no doubt with preorders coming sometime earlier.
Interstellar Smoke sent the following along the PR wire:
Grieving – Songs for the Weary – July 26
GRIEVING are following the footsteps of their forefathers, with sounds of doom accompanying them as they weave stories of devils, witches, ghouls and the endless capacity for evil in the heart of every human being. Singing songs for the weary, they grieve over this dying world.
“Songs for the Weary” tracklisting: 1. Crippled by the Weight of Powerlessness 2. This Godless Chapel 3. A Crow Funeral 4. Foreboding of a Great Ruin 5. Witch Hunt Eternal 6. Lucifer Wept
The album, recorded and mixed at Satanic Audio, will be released on July 26th, 2021 by:
Interstellar Smoke Records (vinyl) Godz ov War Productions (CD/digital/t-shirt)
Human cruelty, unnecessary death, grieving witches, bloody revenge. Welcome to a crow funeral, courtesy of Chariot Of Black Moth.
Line-up: Artur Ruminski – guitars/bass/synth Bartosz Licholap – drums Wojciech Kaluza – vocals
