We’re a month away now from the June 25 release of 10,000 Years‘ deceptively-titled debut album, II, and the band have newly unveiled the second of presumably three tracks they’ll showcase before the big day comes. “Gargantuan Forest” is the second of the eight songs on the record and follows behind the previously-streamed “March of the Ancient Queen” with a new video that starts out in the woods and ends up in the band’s rehearsal space — also seen in the photo above (and in color!) as well as here — as they rock out and deal with being haunted by some unknown but apparently highly referential malevolence. You know, like you do.

It is good fun and accompanies the lyrics-when-we-feel-like-itn sludgily-shouted verses of the track well, bassist/vocalist Alex Risberg‘s gruff approach in a higher register but no more off-putting than it necessarily wants to be. His bass gets a highlight moment as the proceedings — the narrative as well as the song — lumbers into its second half and Erik Palm‘s guitar drops out to noise, leaving Espen Karlsen‘s drums and the low end to hold the tension in its place. They pick up again and riff the track to a suitably loud finish, and introduce listeners to the “Espbeast” in the process, finding that rare combination of drummer and mascot that makes the truly special bands stand out.

According to my notes for such things, I’m slated to stream II in its entirety on June 22, three days before it’s out. Stay tuned for that as you enjoy this, and you’ll also find “March of the Ancient Queen” at the bottom of the post for good measure.

Dig:

10,000 Years, “Gargantuan Forest” official video

The second single from our upcoming album ”II”.

In this ABSURD (1981) video 10,000 Years enter a FOREST OF FEAR (1980) as they access THE BEYOND (1981) and enter a BLOODBATH (1971) with THE BOOGEY MAN (1980), otherwise known as the Espbeast. The Espbeast stalks and haunts the bodies and minds of the characters in this C-grade homage to the horrormovies of yesteryear.

The characters FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE (1976) through insane NIGHTMARES IN A DAMAGED BRAIN (1981). If they survive the AXE (1977) they may still end up in an INFERNO (1980) and risk to be EATEN ALIVE (1976). All the same risks face the viewer, so don’t watch with the lights out, don’t watch by yourself and DON’T GO IN THE WOODS ALONE (1981). Because after all, isn’t there an Espbeast in all of us?

Picking up right where the EP left off, “II” continues the story of the ill-fated Albatross-mission and its exploration of time and space through a skullcrushing mixture of stonerrock, doom- & sludge metal.

The album was recorded in the legendary Studio Sunlight with the equally legendary Tomas Skogsberg manning the controls.

10,000 Years:
Erik Palm – Guitars
Alex Risberg – Bass/vocals
Espen Karlsen – Drums

10,000 Years, II (2021)

10,000 Years on Facebook

10,000 Years on Instagram

10,000 Years on Bandcamp

Interstellar Smoke Records on Facebook

Interstellar Smoke Records store

Death Valley Records on Facebook

Ogorekords website

Olde Magick Records on Bandcamp

Tags: 10000 Years, 10000 Years II, II, Interstellar Smoke Records, Ogorekords, Olde Magick Records, Sweden, Västerås

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 25th, 2021 at 9:00 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.