Posted in Whathaveyou on October 28th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Esbjerg Fuzztival has persevered through cancelations and reschedulings and setbacks like everyone else, but they’ve done so without flinching and they’ve done so with a special fervency toward putting on the best show they possibly can under the circumstances. With Bongzilla announced among their first bands — I’m not even sure if they’re headlining — the promise for 2022 to be the Danish two-dayer’s biggest year yet seems like one they’re no less intent to keep. Right on. They’ve built a cult following and what seems to be a supportive community around it and that’s the ideal no matter who shows up on the bill. If you don’t have that vibe, all you’re doing is putting on a show.
They’re set for May 13 and 14 at the Tobakken Esbjerg in — you guessed it — the city of Esbjerg, which is on Denmark’s west coast, about three hours straight shot from Copenhagen. I don’t know where you fly into if you’re flying over, but it sure would be fun to find out. Ha. In any case, these people do good work and are fun to keep up with. I’ll hope to do just that as we get nearer to next Spring.
Tickets go on sale this weekend. Here’s the latest:
Tickets and more band announcements soon! But let’s just say: ’22 will be our BIGGEST festival ever!
Fuzztival proudly presents… KAL-EL!
Do you like to groove and dance and be merry? Then you came to the right place! Nothing better than a day full of stoner rock to get those hips moving.
Hot from the Chilean highlands Fuzztival proudly presents… ARTEAGA!
Their distinct brand of satanic retro acid fuzz is not to be missed at their first show in Denmark!
Full festival partout tickets available October 31st! That’s THIS Sunday! We have plenty of huge bands still TBA! Don’t miss the party of the year!
Posted in Questionnaire on October 27th, 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: Derek Phillips of Daemonelix
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I would have to say I am a musician first. Most things in my life revolve around music and have provided opportunities to connect with a lot of unique individuals.
Describe your first musical memory.
The them to Buck Rodgers.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
A Pantera concert where I met Layne from Alice In Chains and caught Vinnie Paul’s drum stick at the end of their set.
Slayer at the L.A. sports arena. People were tearing the seat cushions off their chairs and tossing them around like frisbees. Biggest mosh pit I have ever seen in my life.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I tend to be rather passive. Playing music with other people, you have to be open to their interpretation of the music you make with them. It’s not going to be exactly how you envision it. That goes for people’s personalities & beliefs as well. Everyone is entitled to their own thoughts. My beliefs have changed over the years. I try to be open minded about life.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Happiness.
How do you define success?
Making a living doing what you love.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
A video clip of a man getting his hand/ foot sliced off for stealing. It ruined my evening.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
The worst album ever created. I’m sure it will be a huge success and that’s what I’ll be known for, that turd of a record, and have to go out and play the worst music ever created for weeks on end.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
To bring people together.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Bluesy Chicago heavy rockers Canyyn release their self-titled debut full-length on Oct. 29. One, two, go. It doesn’t take much more than that for the three-piece of vocalist/bassist Dan Rovak, guitarist/backing vocalist Mike Fetzer and drummer Dan Schergen to establish the root of their methodology across the five songs and 36 minutes of this first album. The band put out a live two-songer late in 2019 called Live at DZ Records that featured “Bring Me Down” and “Wages of Sin,” which open the Canyyn LP in the same successive order, and they’ve been kicking dust since at least 2017, various odds, ends and jams coming and going from their Bandcamp page, along with what may or may not have been another studio EP. Lost to the ether. So it goes.
Accordingly, it’s hard to say how recent this material is, but since it was put to tape more than a year ago — imagine tracking your first record and then sitting on it for upwards of 16 months; no wonder they have the blues — maybe it doesn’t matter anyway. One only brings it up to note the fluidity of the band’s approach, with the solo-prone guitar tossing out leads to back the likewise soul-prone vocals atop swinging drums with an ideology born out of classic power trio-ism and given breadth through fullness of production and an overall modern sound. This isn’t a comparison I make lightly, and I consider it a complement, but in listening to the flowing bass and way-up-top-but-still-not-too-forward-in-the-mix shred in the second half of “Wages of Sin,” I’m reminded of erstwhile Salt Lake City desert bluesers Iota, much missed, and their 2008 outing Tales. It’s true in the lumbering midsection of “Bring Me Down” as well, psychedelia laced with a clear, heavy groove, while centerpiece “Crush Your Bones” takes a more swaggering approach to fuzz riffing, Clutch-style or a less-gritty Egypt for those who’d dig deep. In any case, what Canyyn are doing, if ultimately familiar, works.
The groove continues to be paramount in “In Deep Water,” but the priority is subtly shifting, and with Schergen‘s insistent push behind the chugging verse, the band would’ve been well within their rights to call the song ‘In Deep Space’ instead, lyrics notwithstanding. As in “Bring Me Down,” Canyyn show their propensity and marked potential for shoving outward from their bluesy ground floor. Guitar, bass, drums and vocals are similarly aligned in their purpose, and the sound is righteous and complete across the five-plus minutes, but it’s a definite, purposeful shift between “Crush Your Bones” and “In Deep Water,” even if it’s also true that deep water can crush your bones. That makes closer “Through the Leaves” — also the longest inclusion at 9:21 — an intriguing proposition. Because where are they going to end up after setting forth on this voyage, or, if you want to look at the cover art, on this multi-hued winged flight?
Well of course they’re gonna jam. How could they not? And further, why would they not? The early verses of the finale, with the repetitions of “calling me,” take my ’90s-child ears back to Nine Inch Nails covering Joy Division‘s “Dead Souls” on the soundtrack to The Crow, but I’ll go ahead and chalk that up to sonic coincidence rather than something purposeful on the part of Canyyn. They wrap the structure up neatly and from about five minutes on let it roll as it will, moving into a heavier procession as they go — some ace bass work circa eight minutes in running alongside the guitar; more please — and to their credit, they bring all that improvised-sounding solo work to a head around some intentional crashes to end, doing more for the song than just completely giving it over until it falls apart, showing respect for their material that suits the performances well. Nothing here is purposefully sloppy, nothing overplayed for what it is, nothing out of place, nothing too perfect. They cap “Through the Leaves” in a way that emphasizes the balance in their style, and more, they make it sound like that’s just the way it worked out in the studio that day. Right on.
A debut of note for those with a mind to note it. I don’t know to what it’ll lead or may have already led to in terms of their songwriting, but Canyyn have set a strong standard for themselves with these tracks and if they can continue along this path, it’ll be as much to their listeners’ benefit as to their style itself. I say again: Right on.
Full album is streaming below, followed by a few words from the band and credits.
Enjoy:
Mike Fetzer on Canyyn:
Thank you for the immensity of support we’ve received about this record so far. We’re just three guys from Chicago trying to make rock and roll music and it’s truly humbling to be so well received already without the album even being out. Enjoy 36 minutes of rock ‘n’ roll firepower on us!
Canyyn’s First Long Play Record
Recorded at Bricktop Recording Chicago in August 2020
Produced by Canyyn and Paul Aluculesei Mixed by Paul Aluculesei and Mike Fetzer Mastered by Carl Saff Art By Jocelyn Wayer Logo by Steven Yoyada
Canyyn are: Dan Rovak – Vocals and Bass Mike Fetzer – Guitars, Backing Vocals Dan Schergen – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 27th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Much-missed Swedish heavy rockers Dozer announce their return after 13 years with a new studio album to be released on Blues Funeral Recordings‘ PostWax subscription vinyl series. Their last record was 2008’s Beyond Colossal (discussed here; reissue featured here), and the band has played intermittently since getting back together alongside Lowrider at Desertfest Berlin and London in 2013, but even that’s eight years ago at this point. Certainly guitarist Tommi Holappa‘s work before and after that time in Greenleaf isn’t to be dismissed, but Dozer‘s work is the stuff of a very particular legend, and having Fredrik Nordin on guitar and vocals alongside Holappa on a full Dozer studio release is a significant happening.
The lineup for Dozer‘s impending PostWax offering will be Nordin, Holappa, bassist Johan Rockner and drummer Olle Mårthans, and that too is exceptionally good news.
Fresh off the PR wire:
Stoner rock legends DOZER to release first studio album in 13 years, as part of PostWax series on Blues Funeral Recordings.
Swedish stoner rock legends DOZER recently entered the studio to record their first full-length album since 2008’s “Beyond Colossal”. It will be released by Blues Funeral Recordings as part of their upcoming PostWax Vol.II vinyl series. Dozer. A band whose name stands alongside the greatest pillars of the European desert rock movement, going back to its earliest genesis. A band whose music evolved, branched and grew over the course of five seminal albums and a wealth of memorable singles and EPs. Their era of peak activity saw them always crafting their sound as they matured and developed, endlessly sharpening their chops with shows and tours alongside Mastodon, Rollins Band, Hellacopters, Spiritual Beggars, Clutch, Nebula, Entombed and more.
Dozer has been playing festivals and reissuing a handful of their classic releases for nearly a decade, but the world has been without a proper new album for some time. Now, Dozer is well underway on a new studio album, which will be presented by Blues Funeral Recordings as part of its exclusive PostWax Vol. II series, as well as in a worldwide format to follow. It’s a homecoming, as Blues Funeral’s founder originally released Dozer on his first label, MeteorCity, on both the ‘Welcome to MeteorCity’ compilation and the Unida/Dozer double EP. Time passes, creativity re-ignites, friends circle back.
Says singer/guitarist Fredrik Nordin about Dozer’s return to the studio: “Cancelled gigs. Isolation. Many full moons have passed since we were last creating music together. We came to the conclusion that we should make something positive of all this… so we started to create. The ball was in motion. Made a post on Instagram which caught the attention of our old friend Jadd. He asked if we were writing an album? Yes, we said. PostWax and Record deal? Hell yes, we said. The ball was rolling. 2022 will be one hell of a year. How it will sound? No one knows. All we can tell you is that it will be something to look forward to, because it’s gonna be one hell of a trip.”
To subscribe to PostWax Vol. II and receive Dozer’s forthcoming album in a stunning collector’s format alongside PostWax releases featuring Acid King, Dead Meadow, Josiah, Dopelord, Elephant Tree, Lowrider, REZN, Mammoth Volume, The Otolith and Vinnum Sabbathi, visit Bluesfuneral.com.
DOZER is: Tommi Holappa – Guitar Fredrik Nordin – Guitar/Vox Johan Rockner – Bass Olle Mårthans – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 27th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Brooklyn doomers Eternal Black played their last show this past Saturday. I didn’t go. I wanted to go. Family stuff. It happens. Eternal Black were the last indoor show I saw, as it happens. That was in Jan. 2020 (review here), at Ode to Doom in Manhattan. Seems like a lifetime ago, because it was. I’ll miss them as a band, and not just because their drummer, one Joe Wood — soon to relocate to South Carolina, or so the rumor has it — is one of the finest individuals I’ve ever met, in music or out of it. In fact, all three of these guys are stellar in my experience. I had forgotten about the thing at Doom Fest where guitarist Ken Wohlrob had to drive me back to the venue to get my backpack. He probably could’ve told me to screw off, but, you know, didn’t. Ace individual. And every time I wear my Obelisk sweatpants with the elephant on them, I think about how it was Eternal Black bassist Hal Miller who did the design.
Eternal Black‘s 2019 second album, Slow Burn Suicide (review here), put a particularly Northeastern spin on traditional doom, adding a bit of concrete confrontationalism to the mix that set them apart from the hordes of Sabbath/The Obsessed worshipers (nothing against them), while refining the songwriting from their impressive 2017 debut, Bleed the Days (review here). I had been expecting a third full-length to serve as a definitive moment. So much for that, I guess.
They were kind enough to mark their passing on social media, so here it is for however much this might pass for posterity:
THE FINAL WORD: A big heartfelt thank you to everyone who came out to the final Eternal Black show this past Saturday in Brooklyn. It meant a lot to us to have everyone there and to know that after six years we weren’t just shouting into the void. To have so many old friends and fans in the same room one last time was a special moment for us. We tried to give off every last bit of energy in our bones and the response back from everyone was phenomenal. A big roar to our brothers in Clothesline (pay attention to what they’ll be bringing), our new friends in KIND (a bombastically good live show) who somehow we never got to share a stage with until Saturday, and the mighty Geezer who we’ve always looked up to as one of the true heavyweights. You guys are all examples of why it was an honor to be a part of this scene.
Six years is a long time music-wise. But we feel like we did a lot with that time. Our music is exactly what we wanted it to be and we still stand by every note. It allowed us to connect with fans from around the globe and to play shows with bands that we considered compatriots, heroes, and forefathers. Most importantly, we got to bow out when we were still proud of what we had achieved as a band and could still call one another brothers. There was no big argument or musical differences. Life just changed and we had to go with it. But we can look back on the last six years with absolute pride. We were a DOOM band and we played it as ugly as we possibly could.
Thank you to everyone who supported Eternal Black in a larger way: Joe Kelly and Kol Marshall who produced all our music and made it sound bigger; Vadim Dyadyuk of MIBK Silk Screeners who served as de facto advisor in all things; JJ Koczan of The Obelisk who, despite us almost causing the loss of his laptop at Doom Fest back in 2016, helped spread the myth; and finally all the bands we called friends and brothers: Geezer, FALSE GODS, Shadow Witch, Matte Black, Clamfight, Thunderbird Divine, Clothesline, Solace, Curse the Son, Clouds Taste Satanic, Begotten, River Cult, and Leeds Point. We’ll miss playing with you all, but now we get to enjoy just watching you throw down.
Hail! Ken
Eternal Black was: Ken Wohlrob – guitar/vocals Hal Miller – bass Joe Wood – drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 27th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
As you can below the inaugural lineup for Desertfest Belgium’s Ghent edition is solid. They’ve gone so far as to reinforce it by importing King Buffalo across the Atlantic, resulting in a ‘Desert Stage’ schedule that about as far removed from fuckwithable as one could reasonably ask. Then you fill it out with, you know, the rest of the festival, and you’ve really got something going.
Well, you have a festival I guess. That’s definitely not nothing, especially these days.
Good show if you’re in the neighborhood. I’m not, but still good show.
Last word from the PR wire:
DFBE21 Ghent: Last Names & Countdown to Zero!
Can we all agree that Desertfest Antwerp was a resounding success, and dare we say: a return to form? Great! Now get in line because the party’s not over: the first edition of DF Ghent is nearly upon us! We have added a last handful of local talent to round out the line-up that already includes Motorpsycho, 1000Mods, Stoned Jesus aaaaand KING BUFFALO!
The Antwerpian psych slackers Fake Indians made a great impressions opening the Canyon stage at DF Antwerp, with a mindblending show of heavy drones and visual pyrotechnics. That was fun, so let’s do it again! They’ll make their welcome return at DF Ghent.
Fire Down Below is a Ghent-based stoner band with a great connection to our scene’s homebase with a signing on SoCal’s Ripple Music imprint. They guarantee an amp-ripping fuzz-hugging good time, and we’re stoked to have them playing their hometown for us.
And finally, Beaten By Hippies will bring you a solid reminder of everything that is good about straight-up no-frills stoner, with a stonking live act that has already earned them plenty of accolades on our local stages.
And there we have it – that will be the first chapter of our story in Ghent. Come and witness the birth of a new legend, and get your tickets! TICKETS FOR DF GHENT ARE AVAILABLE HERE:https://www.desertfest.be/ghent/information/ticketing/
Posted in Questionnaire on October 26th, 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: Sebastián Bruna of Ocultum
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
What we do is the sound of the edification of a crumble… we play a hard mix between sludge, doom and stoner, resulting in a very own way to play this music. We’re Ocultum, you wouldn’t find something like this easily out there.
Describe your first musical memory.
My father’s vinyls: Pink Floyd, Chicago, ELP, etc.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
There’s more than one: to know that Residue (our last album) will be released on vinyl, have been play live with Belzebong and see Black Sabbath live twice.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I think that everyday is a test to what we thought, the world is very fucked up and changing every day, fortunately I don’t have a lot of beliefs, so I don’t have a lot to lose.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
I think time can mold what we do and find the very soul of our music. Just time and perseverance can sculpt this into his flawless form (or de-form).
How do you define success?
Nothing that have to do with money or people. Just being you as thou wilt, and achieve some heaviness that no one can deny.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
All I have seen has its own meaning and it have forged a sick mentality and understanding. We are all sick. We have to see more. Puke and then drink again, the trip never ends.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I’m creating an horror tale album that will be released some day… is very sick and creepy, have a hallucinating atmosphere and dismal passages. Is in process of creation.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
To keep you sane into insanity, to endure life inside an asshole society and to help to turn off your brain.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Yeah, I‘ll like to kill the president of Chile, plant a tree and write a book.
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 26th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
It’s good to know the pandemic has not dulled the ambitious nature of Roadburn Festival. Earlier this year, the long-running Netherlands-based festival held Roadburn Redux and set a high standard for the notion of a “virtual event” could be. Whether or not Roadburn 2022 will have an online component as well, I simply don’t know, and frankly, I can see arguments either way. On the one hand, it sure was nifty for everyone who couldn’t travel to a real-life Roadburn to be involved in that special community. On the other hand, for next year that’s production effort and budget that could probably otherwise go to an actual stage.
The initial lineup for Roadburn 2022 contains a broad mix of styles, as one would expect/hope, including a few carryovers from 2020/2021 and some newbies. Familiar faces and not. The recently robbed Russian Circles, whose subsequent GoFundMe was super-heartening. I hope conditions in the world are such that I can be there to see them and all their new gear.
Anyway, love this. All love. Warms my heart. I don’t know all these artists. Doesn’t matter. All love.
From the PR wire:
ROADBURN 2022: first names announced including curators and artist in residence
Redefining heaviness
Roadburn Festival has today made its first line up announcement for the 2022 edition, which will take place between April 21-24 in Tilburg, The Netherlands. The majority of tickets to the festival have already been sold, but a limited number will go on sale today (October 26) at 7pm (CEST) via Ticketmaster.nl.
Roadburn’s artistic director, Walter Hoeijmakers comments: “After two years of not being able to host a physical festival, we’re extremely excited to actually return in 2022. Given the circumstances, everything about this has been a real challenge, but we wanted to make sure that next year’s Roadburn will be a stronghold for the forward-thinking artists we all love so much – whether genre-defining established acts or young, up-and-coming artists. We really want to reconnect them with our international community – artistically, musically and physically – and to see them do what they do best: be on stage. We want to give them a platform in front of a live audience again, as it’s time to celebrate the music they’ve written over the past two years, or the much acclaimed albums that helped us through these strange, unprecedented times.
“It’s equally exciting to have Milena Eva and Thomas Sciarone as our 2022 curators; their commissioned music project for Roadburn Redux, This Shame Should Not Be Mine, elevated GGGOLDDD to a whole new level, as it made such a huge impact – musically, emotionally, and spiritually. The intimate connection felt by everyone online will be greatly amplified at Roadburn 2022, and we could think of no one better than Milena and Thomas to get us all reconnected.”
Line Up Information
ULVER will be performing a special set to mark their return to the live arena, focussing on their most recent release, Flowers of Evil. Their headlining performance will be a continuation of Ulver’s unpredictable yet thrilling career arc and of the passion for innovative music that fuels Roadburn.
Roadburn’s 2022 curators are Milena Eva and Thomas Sciarone of the Dutch band GGGOLDDD; as well as hand-picking elements of the festival line up, they will join the rest of the band to perform the commissioned music they wrote for this year’s Roadburn Redux event – a piece entitled This Shame Should Not Be Mine.
As part of the curated element of Roadburn, LITURGY – the avant-garde black metal band – will be performing their 2019 album H.A.Q.Q in full, as well as bringing to life their 2020 album Origin of the Alimonies, performing it as an opera on the main stage in sync with a film created by Hunter Hunt-Hendrix, accompanied by a chamber orchestra. Milena and Thomas will also present the European debut of BACKXWASH – the celebrated artist fuses rap and metal, and will perform two special sets at Roadburn – and performances from DIVIDE AND DISSOLVE, and MIDWIFE.
Further commissioned projects – originally planned for 2020 – will finally see the light of day as JAMES KENT (PERTURBATOR) joins forces with JOHANNES PERSSON (CULT OF LUNA) to perform Final Light. Cellist JO QUAIL will perform her commissioned piece, entitled The Cartographer, and VILE CREATURE and BISMUTH will unite to perform A Hymn of Loss and Hope.
Elsewhere on the bill Roadburn welcomes back some familiar faces such as RUSSIAN CIRCLES and PRIMITIVE MAN, whilst also inviting some new and mysterious members to the Roadburn family, such as underground black metal bands LAMP OF MURMUUR and KOLDOVSTVO. For full details of what has been announced so far, please see the links below. Stay tuned for more line up announcements in the coming weeks.
ALCEST – performing Écailles de Lune
BACKXWASH – performing two special sets; European debut
BIG BRAVE
BLAK SAAGAN – performing Se Ci Fosse La Luce Sarebbe Bellissimo
DIVIDE AND DISSOLVE
DÖDSRIT
FACELESS ENTITY
FULL OF HELL – Artists in Residence, performing four sets
GGGOLDDD – performing commissioned music, This Shame Should Not Be Mine
GREEN LUNG – performing Black Harvest
HELMS ALEE
JAMES KENT & JOHANNES PERSSON – performing commissioned music, Final Light
JO QUAIL – performing commissioned piece, The Cartographer
KOLDOVSTVO – performing Ни царя, ни бога
LAMP OF MURMUUR – European debut
LILI REFRAIN
LITURGY – performing H.A.Q.Q and Origin of the Alimonies
MIDWIFE
MILENA EVA & THOMAS SCIARONE – Roadburn 2022 curators
NOTHING
PRIMITIVE MAN
RUSSIAN CIRCLES
SÓLSTAFIR – performing Svartir Sandar
SPIRTUAL POISON
THE HOLY FAMILY
TRIALOGOS
ULVER
VILE CREATURE & BISMUTH – performing commissioned music, A Hymn of Loss and Hope
