Somewhere between number-crunching math loops and heavy post-rock float, cascading here and there en route to some yet-unmeasured beyond, one might find Finnish instrumentalist two-piece NYOS‘ 2019 album, Now. The duo of guitarist Tom Brooke and drummer Tuomas Kainulainen have newly signed to Pelagic Records for the reissue this September of Now. and 2016’s Nature — as well as their next album due out in 2022 — and have a video premiering for the title-track of the latter below to mark the occasion. Does it make sense to make a video from an older record? Who cares it’s awesome. Let yourself go for a little while and you might find it’s possible to enjoy the trip without letting something like a release date stand in your way. Plus, nature is gorgeous, and you could do far worse than to take four minutes out of your day to enjoy that. Birds eating, raccoon poking out of a tree, and so forth.

If they had paired “Nature” from Nature with clips of angular buildings — like the cover of Now., for example — you would still say it fit, considering the rhythm underpinning the guitar melody, so kudos to the NYOS on being evocative one way and/or the other. As to where an impending fifth full-length might take them, your guess is as good as mine. Anywhere they want? Yeah, that sounds good.

The PR wire has info on the reissues and the signing announcement. You’ll find it under the video premiere below.

Enjoy:

NYOS, “Nature” video premiere

Pelagic Records Signs Finnish Duo NYOS

We’re excited to announce the signing of loop-driven Finnish instrumental duo NYOS.

To get in the zone for NYOS’ album #5, to be released in the spring of 2022, you can now grab a vinyl copy of their catalogue albums „Nature” (2016) and „Now” (2019) at our shop: https://pelagic-records.com/webshop/

NYOS – Nature – CATALOGUE NUMBER (LP): PEL 198-V RELEASE DATE: 03.09.2021

Nature is the eclectic 2nd album by noisy, loop-driven Finnish instrumental duo NYOS.

Originally self-released in 2016, the band sold over 1.000 albums on tour, but Nature, completely self-released, was never available in record stores. The album was written and recorded with the ambition to capture the atmosphere and vibe of their highly energetic live shows. The 6 tracks on Nature showcase the developing dynamics of the duo, bringing a wide range of influences from math rock to post rock to Lighting Bolt-infused outbursts of noise. Powered by the use of loops, drones and layers of keys and samples, Tom Brooke builds up captivating sonic atmospheres… which are contrasted by the immensely creative and often frenetic and all-over-the-place drumming of Tuomas Kainulainen.

The album was self-released on CD, LP and Cassette. Their third album, Navigation was again recorded and mixed by Tom and mastered by Mandy Parnell (Bjork, Aphex Twin, Sigur Ros), and released in September 2017 via Meta Matter Records.

NYOS – Now CATALOGUE NUMBER (LP): PEL 199-V RELEASE DATE: 03.09.2021

Now is the 4th album by noisy, loop-driven Finnish instrumental duo NYOS.

Originally self-released in 2019, the band sold a fuckton of records on tour, but Now, completely self-released, was never available in record stores. Their most mature album to date, a wide range of influences from math rock to post rock to drum-frenzy reminiscent of Lighting Bolt or Zach Hill is on display here. Listening to the album is another proof that the duo-setup often results in more creative and experimental songwriting, compared to larger ensembles with more musicians in them: there is more space, more room for trying out crazy things, loops, effects, without the risk of overloading the arrangements.

NYOS formed in 2014 when UK-born Tom Brooke and drummer Tuomas Kainulainen met after Tom moved to Finland. Bonded by a mutual love of noisy bands, coffee and playing shows, they quickly wrote their first album, Vltava, a 26-minutes one-track piece. Since 2015, the proactive band has played 200 gigs in over 20 countries, and their top tracks „Haikara“ and „Kelo“ have reached over 400.000 plays on Spotify – a considerable success given the grassroots DYI-approach that the band has taken from day one: they have never been signed with any label, nor any booking agency.

Like their previous releases, Now was recorded in October 2018 at Tonehaven Recording Studio by guitarist Tom Brooke and mastered by Mandy Parnell (Bjork, Aphex Twin). We are now making it available on vinyl, along with 2016’s Nature – these 2 great albums shall serve as a foretaste of the band’s upcoming 5th album, to be released in the first half of 2022 via Pelagic.

NYOS are:
Tom Brooke – Guitar
Tuomas Kainulainen – Drums

http://www.facebook.com/nyosband
https://www.instagram.com/nyosband/
https://nyos.bandcamp.com/
https://pelagic-records.com/webshop/
http://www.facebook.com/pelagicrecords
https://www.instagram.com/pelagic_records
https://pelagicrecords.bandcamp.com/

NYOS, Nature (2016)

NYOS, Now. (2019)

Doubly-drummed, doubly-guitarred, quadruply-vocalized UK heavy rock five-piece Our Man in the Bronze Age will release their second album, Hexed Endeavours, on Oct. 8 through Fr33zehead Records. Vinyl, uh, later. The first single is the all-kindsa-catchy “Midnight Lovers,” and that’s out tomorrow, July 30. As somebody who’s a sucker for two-drummer bands in general, and a sucker for melody and songwriting just about all the time, I’ll note outright that those boxes are thoroughly ticked, and since Hexed Endeavours is the band’s first offering since 2015’s Habanero EP, they’re certainly due.

As to what’s behind the delay? Beats me. As to what the rest of Hexed Endeavours sounds like? Also beats me. With drummer/vocalist Tom Platt doubling (tripling?) as recording engineer alongside Angus Wallace, as well as doing the mix and master, “Midnight Lovers” wastes little time in getting down to the business of establishing its riff and rhythmic foundation. In that, and in the Queens of the Stone Age-style hookmaking and age-being-in, the band would seem not to have missed a beat since the four-song EP six years ago. There, on the appropriately preaching “Pastor” or the opening title-track, they give due shove, while “Go Play in the Road” brings a more mellow, almost “Wanna Make it Wit Chu”-esque vibe before its concluding surge, and the finisher “Dos Amigos” puts its two drums to use in brasher form, giving an edge to which Habanero is well suited.

A clash of melody and rhythm? Yeah, but maybe without the “clash” part since they go so well together. Whether familiar or not with Habanero or the prior 2012 debut long-player, The Gallows Tree — less refined in its approach, but still plenty atmospheric with piano and arrangements, flowing on its title-track, crunching hardest on “The Other I,” and so on — “Midnight Lovers” speaks for itself and bodes well for Hexed Endeavours to come, which, duh, is what a lead single should do.

Also, if you find the video somewhat disorienting, twisting around and splashing color here and there in fractal patterns and whatnot as it does, I think that’s the idea too. These guys don’t seem to do much by happenstance.

Dig on this:

Our Man in the Bronze Age, “Midnight Lovers” video premiere

Single pre-save: https://linktr.ee/ourmaninthebronzeage

Formed in Milton Keynes in 2007 by five friends, sonic rockers Our Man in the Bronze Age opted a long-time ago to leave behind the cut and thrust of everything that wasn’t music made exclusively on their own terms.

Tired of all that had gone before, forming a brotherly pact the quintet chose to channel crackling riffs, wizened bones and a dry wit into a cosmic vessel that has strutted its stuff from day one. Year to year, gig to gig, from early releases all the way up to their forthcoming album, Hexed Endeavours, which will receive an official worldwide release this October.

Pouring thirteen tracks of cinematic adventure into a ‘Bronze void, their sound boasts many tentacles, each waving prog, doom, alternative, sludge, stoner and post-rock. From wistful piano to apocalyptic swells of sheer dynamism, Hexed Endeavours is a hugely immersive experience and triumphant return for Our Man in the Bronze Age.

1. Intro (The Rise of Bronze)
2. The Fall of Athens
3. Midnight Lovers
4. Cramphands
5. Black Widow
6. Ramblings
7. Brutus
8. Bill Odyssey
9. Hexed Endeavour
10. Coma Haircut
11. Out of The Beginning
12. Two Square Meals
13. She

Video Produced by Chiba Film – http://www.chibafilm.com
Shot by Dan Gibling & Lawrence Wheeler
Directed & Edited by Dan Gibling
Animated Effects by G.Hulbert

Music by Our Man In The Bronze Age
Lyrics by T.Platt and G.Hulbert

Our Man in the Bronze Age:
Graham Hulbert – Vocals/Guitars
Tom Platt – Drums/Vocals
Andi Jackson – Bass/Vocals
Jonathan Muston – Drums/Keys/Vocals
Justin Hodges – Guitars

Our Man in the Bronze Age on Facebook

Our Man in the Bronze Age on Instagram

Our Man in the Bronze Age on Twitter

Our Man in the Bronze Age on Bandcamp

Fr33zehead Records on Instagram

Fr33zehead Records on Bandcamp

Who’s ready to get weird? And think before you answer, because Satanic Planet bring the bizarre hard on this self-titled debut full-length that came out in May on Three One G. With an industrial foundation, drums from Dave Lombardo, guests like Cattle Decapitation‘s Travis Ryan and the Satanic Temple’s Lucien Greaves as the founding principle of the band alongside producer Luke Henshaw and Justin Pearson of The Locust (and many others), I can just about guarantee that whatever you’re thinking this might sound like on its face, it still doesn’t sound like that thing. Though if you’re betting on a heaping dose of Satanic imagery and some “six-six-six” chants, you’re on the money there.

I like being surprised. I like being caught off guard. I like weird shit. If you’re feeling adventurous and maybe like bringing some cold air into your life, the new video and the Bandcamp stream of Satanic Planet in its entirety are both below, under the following background from the PR wire:

SATANIC PLANET – “Strangers” from the band’s debut album available from Three One G and The Satanic Temple

Purchase here: https://threeoneg.com/archive/vinyl/self-titled-lp-2

SATANIC PLANET is the creation of Lucien Greaves (The Satanic Temple co-founder and spokesperson), Luke Henshaw (Planet B, Sonido de la Frontera), Dave Lombardo (Slayer, The Misfits, Mr. Bungle, Suicidal Tendencies, Dead Cross), and Justin Pearson (The Locust, Dead Cross, Swing Kids, Deaf Club). With the birth of Satanic Planet, hip-hop producer Henshaw and punk provocateur Pearson joined co-founder and spokesperson of The Satanic Temple, Lucien Greaves– the most prominent and outspoken contemporary Satanist in the world. Greaves has gained international attention as an advocate for religious liberty and the voice of the Satanic Reformation, delivering lectures nationwide and featured in national media outlets including MSNBC, NPR, Huffington Post Live, CNN, Harper’s Monthly, Newsweek, Fox News, Vice, Salon, Rolling Stone, and many more. As the trio were diligently working, and nearly completed with, the music for their debut album, the worldwide pandemic hit, seemingly bringing things to a halt. However, with the onset of this new way of living, the newly-formed band was in a unique position to enlist the legendary Dave Lombardo, who found himself not touring for the first time in years, and suddenly having more time to work in his home studio on projects that interested him. With the addition of this iconic drummer, Satanic Planet was complete.

Here, Greaves moves beyond spoken word and into lyricism, with the experimental musical backing of Henshaw, the demonic vocals of Pearson, and the diverse, score-like approach of Lombardo. Along the way, an eclectic range of guest appearances arise, including Cattle Decapitation’s Travis Ryan, Nomi Abadi, Silent’s Jung Sing, Shiva Honey, Eric Livingston (also known as his artist moniker, First Church of the Void), and Hexa’s Carrie Feller. This collaboration embraces the avant garde to create sci-fi sermons that range from doom and industrial to evil exotica. These dark musical soundscapes serve as a vessel to share the important messages that The Satanic Temple stands for, including religious freedom, highlighting the hypocrisy in dominant organized religions, and the horrific consequences of pseudoscience and malpractice still being utilized today in America.

Track listing:
Baphomet (feat. Jung Sing)
999
Grey Faction
Passage
Invocation
Devil In Me (feat. Nomi Abadi)
Unbaptism (feat. Travis Ryan, Shiva Honey)
Vete al Infierno (feat. Jung Sing, Carrie Feller)
The Hell
Strangers
Exorcism (feat. Travis Ryan, Shiva Honey)
Satanic Planet (feat. Eric Livingston)
Liturgy

https://www.facebook.com/satanicplanet
https://twitter.com/satanicplanet
https://www.instagram.com/satanicplanetofficial/
https://satanicplanet.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/threeonegrecords/
https://twitter.com/ThreeOneG
https://www.instagram.com/threeoneg/
https://threeoneg.bandcamp.com/
https://threeoneg.com/

Satanic Planet, Satanic Planet (2021)

Satanic Planet, “Strangers” official video

Some two years after its original issue in July 2019, Ealdor Bealu‘s Spirit of the Lonely Places (review here) will see release through Metal Assault Records in time for the band to bring the CDs on their newly announced West Coast tour this Fall. The reissue/first-to-my-knowledge-CD-pressing will be the beginning of an ongoing collaboration between the band and the label, and sees the Boise four-piece become labelmates to the likes of Solar Haze, Circle of Sighs, Old Blood, and a varied slew of others. It is a suitable home for a group who just about every time I hear them I think of a different genre tag, most of them rounding out to “a band I think is good.”

The signing announcement and tour dates follow here. They look pleased about all of it, which is understandable:

Ealdor Bealu Sign to Metal Assault Records

Ealdor Bealu are thrilled to announce the signing of a multi-album deal with Metal Assault Records from Los Angeles, CA!! We are honored to be joining the massively diverse, dynamic MA roster including Old Blood, Through the Occulus, Solar Haze, Beekeeper, and many more. Our first order of business together will be a limited run of 4-panel DigiPak CDs of our sophomore album Spirit of the Lonely Places, available this September. We are also very pleased to announce our Fall West Coast Tour today!! We are returning to a lot of our favorite cities on the coast as well as new stops in Sacramento, Los Osos, and Olympia. SEE YOU ON THE ROAD

Ealdor Bealu is a progressive stoner rock quartet from the high desert of Boise, ID. With a focus on shifting dynamics from the ambient to the massive and back again, their sound expands beyond the boundaries of genre to create a mosaic of sonic praise.

The band’s first full-length offering DARK WATER AT THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN (Independent 2017) drew local, regional, and even international praise as a standout debut offering. With the release of Ealdor Bealu’s sophomore full-length album SPIRIT OF THE LONELY PLACES on July 20th 2019 on vinyl/digital the band has seen new levels of success around the globe.

TOUR
9.30 THURS Sacramento, CA Cafe Colonial
10.1 FRI Santa Cruz, CA The Blue Lagoon
10.2 SAT Los, Angeles, CA Old Towne Pub
10.3 SUN San Diego, CA Til Two Club
10.4 MON Los Osos, CA Sweet Spring’s Saloon
10.5 TUES Oakland, CA Elbo Room Jack London
10.6 WED Chico, CA The Maltese Bar
10.7 THURS Portland, OR High Water Mark
10.8 FRI Olympia, WA Cryptatropa Bar
10.9 SAT Seattle, WA Victory Lounge

Ealdor Bealu is:
Carson Russell: Guitar, Vocals
Rylie Collingwood: Bass, Vocals
Travis Abbott: Guitar, Vocals
Alex Wargo: Drums

https://www.facebook.com/ealdorbealu/
https://www.instagram.com/ealdorbealu/
https://ealdorbealu.bandcamp.com/
http://facebook.com/metalassaultla
http://instagram.com/metalassault
https://metalassault.bandcamp.com/

Ealdor Bealu, Spirit of the Lonely Places (2019)

Philadelphia four-piece The Stone Eye will release their sixth album, South of the Sun, on Oct. 15 through Eclipse Records. The sound they’re working with is, as one would hope by their sixth LP, well established in the songs, and the harmonies are right on and the vibe is dug in while still focused on each song as an individual piece of the whole record. I’ve only been through it once, and though the band’s name has popped up here from time to time, I’ve never actually heard them before. The first impression is favorable.

They have a video up for the song “Catatonia” from the album, and its balance between mood and groove represents the collection’s more progressive aspects well. It’s not the most immediate of the various inclusions, and it’s a pretty good mix throughout, but it’s catchy in its own way and the drums come through with underlying complexity of purpose that adds to the inherent prioritization of melody.

In short, you might dig it.

The PR wire has this:

THE STONE EYE go face to face with a rogue police officer in new “Catatonia” music video

Watch the new music video ‘Catatonia’ via YouTube, stream the single on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Deezer, and Amazon Music

The band’s sixth full-length album South Of The Sun is scheduled for release on October 15, 2021.

Pre-order / Pre-save at this location: https://ffm.to/ssun

Watch “Catatonia” by THE STONE EYE now!
Psychedelic sludge-rockers The Stone Eye have revealed a new music video for their latest single “Catatonia”. The video was directed by Stephen Burdick. Watch it right now at this location. “Catatonia” is the second single from the band’s sixth full-length album South Of The Sun which is scheduled for a worldwide release on October 15, 2021 via Eclipse Records.

“Catatonia was our attempt at writing a simple, circular tune with a strong hook that would stick in listener’s minds, like the way Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana does,” says lead vocalist & guitarist Stephen Burdick. ” The idea behind the video wasn’t anything too elaborate, just us trying to be as absurd and ridiculous as possible whilst also making some sense. Why not have a rogue, alcoholic police officer with a handlebar mustache try to dish out a parking meter ticket, then proceed to have the pursuit of his life which ends with him standing face to face with a risqué representation of the devil who proceeds to smack his bum? We’ve never seen that done before, and what’s more ridiculous than that?”

The new record, titled South of the Sun, is one of those gems that is familiar somehow, yet takes the listener on a journey mapped out in new pathways. The album’s music invokes the spirits of Frank Zappa and Kurt Cobain while applying their influence upon music which easily falls alongside the likes of Queens of the Stone Age and Alice In Chains. Heavy with a layer of glorious weirdness, this album combines a raucous, dirty guitar sound with clever musicianship … vocals that are as hypnotic in harmony as they are diverse in range, and a rhythm section as daring as it is ornate and, at times, funk-a-licious. With thirteen mesmerizing songs altogether, the singles from the album certainly showcase the wide range of influences upon the band’s writing. For the first single “Witches & Raptures”, the band sings about being trapped in the big picture of the world around us and how servants eventually are consumed by their social masters after they have served their purpose. The second single “Catatonia” is more of an exercise in meditative songwriting designed to just lose the listener in the lyrics which represent such philosophical questions such as ‘who’s out there, what’s there?’. The third single “Aleutian Summer” can be best described as a scene out of The Shining, going stir-crazy because you’re figuratively trapped in the middle of God knows where. They are soulful songs, and in their own way erotic, both perfect for rock, alternative, stoner, and even metal radio playlists as fuzzy stoner sludge wrapped up in a progressive, pop metal take on the rock genre.

The Stone Eye lineup
Stephen Burdick (lead vocals, guitar), Jeremiah Bertin (drums), Christian Mechem (vocals, guitar), Mike Pacca (bass, vocals)

https://www.facebook.com/TheStoneEye
https://twitter.com/thestoneeye
https://instagram.com/thestoneeyeband
https://www.eclipserecords.com/band/the-stone-eye/

The Stone Eye, “Catatonia” official video

UK doom-rocker four-piece Alunah recently reissued their 2018 Amber & Gold EP (review here) on CD through Solitude Productions, and word has come of Majestic Mountain Records following up with a corresponding vinyl issue due out at the end of next month. Preorders soon, so hold your doomly horses. This was of course the release that saw the band introduce Siân Greenaway on vocals, her striking first impression made across three originals and a cover of Chris Isaak‘s “Wicked Game” that has become something of a landmark for this version of Alunah, who have also already been confirmed for Desertfest London 2022.

Way back in 2019 — which somehow seems longer ago than 2018; go figure — Alunah offered up Violet Hour (review here) on Heavy Psych Sounds as their full-length answer to Amber & Gold, and you’ll find both EP and LP streaming at the bottom of this post, because, well, one likes to be thorough. And one likes Alunah. So there.

One, in this case, is me. If that wasn’t clear.

Okay. Good talk. Here’s PR wire:

The Majestic Mountain Newswire is at it again with a truly scintillating treat for you all!

It is our great pleasure to announce a Majestic Mountain Records re-issue of Alunah’s stunning, long sold out 2018 EP, ‘Amber & Gold.’

The re-release will be very limited to 300 copies in two editions of 150 copies each. The pre-order will take place in August with details soon to come- the test pressing is already approved on this so vinyl will be shipping at the end of the month!

‘Amber & Gold’ is a beautifully captivating, four track EP full of spellbinding, impactful lyricism and melancholic tension communicated by vocalist Siân Greenway who gives an incredibly soulful and commanding, yet fluidly sensual performance. Her vocals ring ethereally forward, crystal clear and melodically mesmerizing through a richly woven and hook laden tapestry of primal, crunchy, chugging riff mastery, thick, burly bass tones and thundering drums. This ep is a treasure trove of highly emotive and groove laden doom sauce poured on thick and in the highest quality with a cavernous grandiosity that almost sounds live from the heart of some ancient druidess’s temple and is capped off by a brooding cover of the classic track “Wicked Game” by the one and only Chris Isaak.

Yes, you know the one.

Keep an eye out for more info about the presale to come as this release without question will not stick around long once it hits the ground in August.

Amber & Gold CD edition: https://solitude-prod.com/releases/solitude-productions/alunah-amber-and-gold/
https://alunah.uk/

Alunah is:
Siân Greenaway – Vocals
Dean Ashton – Guitar
Daniel Burchmore – Bass
Jake Mason – Drums

http://www.facebook.com/alunah.doom
http://twitter.com/#!/alunah_doom
http://alunah.bandcamp.com
http://www.alunah.co.uk
http://majesticmountainrecords.bigcartel.com
http://facebook.com/majesticmountainrecords
http://instagram.com/majesticmountainrecords

Alunah, Amber & Gold (2018)

Alunah, Violet Hour (2019)

[Click play above to stream the premiere of ‘Reaper’s Scythe’ by Green Lung. Black Harvest is available to preorder here.]

Green Lung on “Reaper’s Scythe”:

Some key elements of ‘Reaper’s Scythe’ were actually written when we were putting together our first EP Free the Witch, but we couldn’t quite find a way to bring them together. Soon after Woodland Rites came out we were playing around in our studio and added a sinister intro and an epic King Diamond-esque middle 8, and suddenly it all clicked. It’s the first song we’ve written with that old school Maiden gallop, and horror fans will spot lots of references in the lyrics, from the familiar (Stephen King’s Children of the Corn) to the obscure (Thomas Tryon’s Harvest Home). It’s fast becoming our favourite song to play in the practice space. We can’t wait to unleash it live!

London’s Green Lung return on Oct. 22 with Black Harvest, their second full-length and label-debut for Svart Records. It is an especially pivotal moment for the UK five-piece, arriving after pandemic-delay as the follow-up to 2019’s Woodland Rites (review here), which was the finest debut album released that year, fueled by massive choruses and an underlying classicism of approach blending organ and guitar lines, thoughtful melodies and arrangements, and an on-the-beat vitality that spoke of the live experience even through the clarity and fullness of its studio presentation. Black Harvest, in that regard, does not attempt to fix the unbroken in Green Lung‘s approach.

The band — guitarist Scott Black, vocalist Tom Templar, bassist Joseph Ghast (who steps in following the departure of Andrew Cave), organist John Wright and drummer Matt Wiseman — continue in this crisp 10-song/43-minute collection their collaboration with Wayne Adams as producer, and the overarching presentation they concoct together builds on what they began to offer with 2018’s Free the Witch EP (review here), digging into various metals and heavier rocks such that Black‘s solo in “Leaders of the Blind” can soar like, suitably enough, Blind Guardian, even as Tom Templar‘s vocals find their way into a post-Sabbathian niche while feeding into the semi-cult, goth-tinged atmosphere and horror/folk-derived themes. An October release is only appropriate for a record of such rich, earthy hues and dappled light, and across two clearly delineated sides, Green Lung not only justify the hype that’s surrounded them since before their first record, but demonstrate their readiness to push themselves as songwriters and performers in order to best serve their songs.

Even on a record that boasts hooks like those of “Old Gods,” “Reaper’s Scythe,” “You Bear the Mark” and “Doomsayer” — see also: the rest — atmosphere plays a central role in Green Lung‘s craft. Each half of the LP begins with an intro, with the call-to-ritual “The Harrowing” jumping headfirst into organ-led theatrics at the outset met by side B’s foreboding chant in “Black Harvest,” which gives way to a momentary shred-fest surge before receding again into softer spaces ahead of “Upon the Altar.” This balance, between Black on guitar and Wright on organ, is crucial to Black Harvest and to Green Lung‘s execution of their songs overall. Within solidified structures of verses, choruses — have I mentioned the choruses yet? good — solos, etc., the back and forth dance between guitar and keys becomes a central defining factor no less than Templar‘s vocals.

That would seem to put Ghast and Wiseman in supporting roles on bass and drums, but the classic truth of heavy rock holds firm as “Old Gods” unfurls its first thuds, crashes, and thickened groove; heavy is born in the low end and the punctuation is its essence and its volume. “Old Gods” is a well-chosen post-intro opener — everything here is well-chosen, and the mix is gorgeous — and as the band builds Jerusalem on English ground, there’s boogie and momentum immediately on their side, the sing-along-ready hook just the first of more to come as “Leaders of the Blind,” “Reaper’s Scythe” and “Graveyard Sun” follow on the first half of Black Harvest, with the last of them seeming to acknowledge its own autumnal nature, in conversation with mid-period and later Type O Negative without trying to sound like that band or anything so much as itself, again adjusting that balance between guitar and organ to get there as it reaches toward 5:42, the longest cut on the record.

“Doomsayer” and “Born to a Dying World” likewise top five minutes, and like so much else throughout Black Harvest, that would seem to be by design in terms of their serving as a formidable closing pair, which they do. Before they get there, though, Green Lung answer the momentary shove of the title-track with “Upon the Altar,” a worthy companion-piece to “Old Gods” in theme and delivery alike, with a festival-ready payoff in its second half bringing on “You Bear the Mark” in one of several one-sided conversations with a lyrical “girl,” as in, “Girl, you bear the mark” or the “autumn girl” from “Graveyard Sun.” So be it.

Speedier than the song before it, “You Bear the Mark” is a beginning point for the outward journey the band make with their final tracks, a grounding that shifts into the longer-and-still-maddeningly-catchy “Doomsayer” and the broader-reaching “Born to a Dying World,” still memorable in both its burst of life and its quieter stretches, but making the conscious choice to pull back from trying to give a grand finale in its last moments as so many of Black Harvest‘s tracks have done to this point, instead letting its concluding minute-plus resolve in soft organ and vocal, folkish if not hymnal, raising the question if nature is the church, is there really a difference between the two? Given the largesse of “Doomsayer” — that stretch before it loops back around to the chorus — and, for that matter, any number of other stretches throughout, the decision to end atmospheric makes a bookend with how they started on “The Harrowing,” and that too would seem to be something of which Green Lung are cognizant.

Given that and the level of work they’ve done in the constructing and recording of this material, it’s hard to think of Black Harvest as anything other than masterful. It has a grandiose instrumental sensibility, to be sure, but still manages to offset that with its organic style and themes, and it engages the audience without capitulating to genre-based expectation, outdoing its predecessor while reaffirming the band’s strengths and forward potential to continue to develop these textures, atmospheres, and to toy with the balances at the core of their sound. From here, they wouldn’t be any more out of place in acoustic-based English folk than in full-on traditional doom riffing or psychedelic expanse. That they’ve chosen most to embody an aesthetic of their own, born of familiar elements and shaped as they will it, is perhaps an even greater strength than their songwriting. It has helped make Black Harvest one of 2021’s finest releases.

Green Lung, Black Harvest (2021)

Green Lung on Facebook

Green Lung on Instagram

Green Lung website

Green Lung on Bandcamp

Svart Records website

Svart Records on Facebook

Los Angeles trio Sasquatch and Columbus, Ohio four-piece Lo-Pan will team up for a handful of tour dates making a long weekender of their respective appearances at Maryland Doom Fest in Frederick, MD, on Oct. 29. Sasquatch will be supporting 2017’s Maneuvers (review here) as well as heralding their next release, yet unannounced, while Lo-Pan, who were last seen on the road with Crowbar and C.O.C. in 2019, will support Subtle (review here), issued that same year through Aqualamb.

Though obviously this four-date Northeastern stint marks a return to the road in the most significant manner both acts will have performed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, considering travel and all, Lo-Pan and Sasquatch both have shows booked for before they set out for Philadelphia to begin the run. Lo-Pan join Valley of the Sun for a weekend of shows in Ohio on Sept. 3-5, and are slated to play the annual Blackout Cookout in Youngstown on Oct. 23 alongside Rebreather, Midnight and a host of others.

Sasquatch, meanwhile, will make their way to San Diego on Aug. 25 to join headliners The Sword, as well as ASG and Deathchant for a show presented by Psycho Las Vegas.

As to what either act might have planned for after this Fall, either in terms of writing/recording or releasing new material, returning to longer touring schedules, and so on, your guess is as good as mine. Probably better. But both are veteran acts at this point and any sense that they’re getting back to some semblance of being able to play live again — that’s not to say “normalcy” — is obviously welcome.

Dates follow:

SASQUATCH & LO-PAN tour dates:

10.28 Philadelphia PA Kung-Fu Necktie
https://sasquatch102821.eventbrite.com/

10.29 Frederick MD Cafe 611 *Maryland Doom Festival*
https://www.marylanddoomfest.com/tickets-2021/

10.30 Brooklyn NY Saint Vitus
https://www.venuepilot.co/events/42586/orders/new

10.31 Cambridge MA Middle East Upstairs
https://www.ticketweb.com/event/sasquatch-lo-pan-middle-east-upstairs-tickets/11242305?pl=mid

SASQUATCH is:
Jason Casanova – bass
Keith Gibbs – guitar/vocals
Craig Riggs – drums

LO-PAN is:
Jeff Martin – vocals
Skot Thompson – bass
Jesse Bartz – drums
Chris Thompson – guitar

www.sasquatchrock.us
www.facebook.com/sasquatchrocks
http://store.sasquatchrock.us/
http://www.madoakrecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MadOakRecords/

http://www.lopandemic.com
http://www.facebook.com/lopandemic
http://www.aqualamb.org
http://www.aqualamb.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/aqualambrecords

Sasquatch, Maneuvers (2017)

Lo-Pan, Subtle (2019)