New song new song new song. Memphis blues rockers Dirty Streets got a new label — hi there, Blue Élan Records — a tour coming up, and a new record on the way. All of that’s great, but today they’ve also go a new song posted and that’s where it’s at. You might recall their last release was 2020’s live album Rough and Tumble (review here), and the Sept. 29 arrival of Who’s Gonna Love You will mark their first studio offering since 2018’s Distractions (discussed here) — a four-year break that’s the longest of the band’s career, though one could easily chalk that up to either the search for another label, the global pandemic, or, most likely, both and more besides.

Either way, as they look to get out again in June before the album’s release, they would seem to be full speed ahead, and that’s likely a steady, bluesy roll when it comes to them, thoughtful in melody, classically grooving in rhythm, and resting on the borderline between heavy rock, blues, Southern rock and any number of other microgenres. However you want to classify them, they’re killer and they’ve got new stuff coming. And a new song up.

So get on it:

Memphis-Based DIRTY STREETS Joins Blue Élan Records’ Eclectic Roster

New Album – Who’s Gonna Love You – Produced by Grammy award-winner Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price, John Prine) Due September 29, 2022

The Memphis-based rock band DIRTY STREETS spent the last two years of their pandemic-induced forced time off creating new music and finding a new home with the Los Angeles-based independent label, Blue Élan Records. The bluesy rock trio join an eclectic roster, which includes Soul Asylum, KT Tunstall, Liz Brasher, America’s Gerry Beckley, Grammy-Award winning guitarist Eric Johnson, and more. Their new album, Who’s Gonna Love You, is set for release on September 29 with the first musical taste, single “Alright,” out today – Listen HERE: https://dirtystreets.lnk.to/alright

In late 2019, when the band headed into the legendary Sam Phillips Recording studio to record Who’s Gonna Love You, with the Grammy-award winning Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price, John Prine) in the producer’s chair, the band immediately felt the connection. “Matt Ross-Spang is like nobody I’ve ever worked with,” recalls singer/guitarist Justin Toland. “Bringing the songs into the studio, he really listened and sat with them. Most of the time he would be laying on the floor with his eyes closed, or hunched in the corner on a chair, just fully open. He was really into us performing them in the room while he just concentrated and soaked it all in before making any swift judgements.”

Justin continues, “There is a knack some people have for sensing a feeling in one bone of a song and building a whole skeleton. Matt is one of those people. He works more like an artist than a producer, shaping sounds and guiding without effort. It was just such a natural relationship between us that I felt like he was in the band the entire time we were recording. Some of the songs took an entirely different direction from the original concepts we had, but we were able to trust his insights, because they seemed to have an essence of purity and true creativity.”

Writing the album went quickly for the band, using forced time off of the road and their life experiences to carve out most of the material. Says Justin, “Our first single, ‘Alright,’ originally came out of the pressures of everyday life. Working, deadlines, disasters and all the other things you have to fight through. Into the pandemic it seemed to become more of an anthem for the pressure that we feel every day. This all happens while telling ourselves that we are making it just fine. In the end, that’s an attitude I try to stick with. I’m not in denial about what’s going down, but I just think of hardships as a means to grow and learn. The song is sort of a one-two punch against the world falling apart around you. I wanted to create a picture of tenacity against relentless storms so that I could mirror it in myself.”

DIRTY STREETS TOUR w/El Perro
Tue 6/7 – Memphis, TN – Growlers
Wed 6/8 – Lafayette, LA – Freetown Boom Boom Room
Thu 6/9 – Houston, TX – Black Magic Social Club
Fri 6/10 – Dallas, TX – Three Links Deep Ellum
Sat 6/11 – Tulsa, OK – The Whittier Bar
Sun 6/12 – Colorado Springs, CO – Vultures
Mon 6/13 – Denver, CO – HQ
Wed 6/15 – SLC, UT – Garage on Beck
Thurs 6/16 – Boise, ID – The Shredder
Fri 6/17 – Seattle, WA – Funhouse
Sat 6/18 – Tacoma, WA. – The Plaid Pig Live Music Lounge
Sun 6/19 – Portland, OR – High Water Mark
Mon 6/20 – Eugene, OR – Old Nick’s Pub
Tue 6/21 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
Wed 6/22 – Los Angeles, CA – Permanent Records Roadhouse
Thu 6/23 – Palmdale, CA – Transplants Brewing Company
Fri 6/24 – Las Vegas, NV – Count’s Vamp’d Rock Bar & Grill
Sat 6/25 – Tempe, AZ – Yucca Tap Room
Sun 6/26 – Albuquerque, NM – The Historic El Rey Theatre
Tues 6/28 – Oklahoma City, OK. – Blue Note Lounge
Wed 6/29 – Lawrence, KS – Replay Lounge
Thurs 6/30 – Eureka Springs, AR – Chelsea’s Corner Cafe
Fri 7/1 – Louisville, KY – fifteen TWELVE

Photo by @loudandclearphotography

DIRTY STREETS:
Justin Toland – guitar/vocals
Thomas Storz – bass
Andrew Denham – drums

https://www.facebook.com/thedirtystreets/
https://www.instagram.com/thedirtystreets/
https://dirtystreets.bandcamp.com/
http://www.dirtystreetsmusic.com

https://www.facebook.com/blueelan/
https://www.instagram.com/blueelan/
http://blueelan.bandcamp.com/
https://blueelan.com/

Dirty Streets, Rough & Tumble (2020)

I’m not going to attempt to invalidate anyone’s feelings about Pentagram or their founding frontman Bobby Liebling. Not gonna do it. Although it seemed to be the reports of his having punched his mother that actually got him the most flack over recent years, there were prior allegations of sexual harassment on tour and while doom as a genre is pretty conservative, he’s about as close as I’ve seen anyone come to being ‘canceled’ in any form of underground heavy, with maybe one or two exceptions.

So I’m not looking for drama in posting about the band. If you think dude is a scumbag, maybe you’re right. I don’t really know him beyond his reputation as an addict, his undeniable charisma on stage. We’ve never hung out, in other words. But Pentagram are a band whose influence spans generations and continues to set riffers on a doomly course, and that’s not nothing. Lots of famous artists who’ve made significant aesthetic contributions are arguably unworthy of public adoration. If you put Liebling in that category or you don’t, to be perfectly honest I don’t have the energy to fight you either way.

I’ve had a chat or two with Greg Turley though over the years, and “Minnesota” Pete Campbell is a good guy. I don’t really know Matt Goldsborough, but he can sure play. So whatever. Not trying to trigger anybody here — and yeah, I mean that — but a 50th anniversary of a band’s existence, even if that band is long, long, long removed from its original incarnation and has had long, long, long periods of inactivity in that time, isn’t nothing. This is me noting it.

Dates came from social media:

In honor of the band’s 50th Anniversary, heavy metal pioneers PENTAGRAM return to the stage for a handful of select live performances!

You are cordially invited to come celebrate over a Half A Century of doom, hard rock and heavy metal alongside these living legends. The first string of performances break the band’s two and a half year hiatus and pledge to cover fan favorites from the past five decades.

Conceived on All Hallows Eve of 1971 by vocalist / songwriter Bobby Liebling and fellow hard rocker and horror fan Geof O’Keefe, the band had their first rehearsal on Christmas Night of the same year.

Secure your attendance now and partake in this historic soiree in one or more of the fine cities below. Further details and appearances will be revealed over the next days and weeks. Tickets may be obtained on our “Events” page: https://www.facebook.com/pentagramusa/events/

US Dates:
June 7 – Mechanicsburg PA @ Lovedraft’s brewing
June 8 – Boston MA @ Brighton music hall
June 9 – Portland ME @ Genos
June 10 – Brooklyn NY @ Sovereign
June 11 – New Haven CT @ State House
June 12 – Frederick MD @ cafe 611 w/ Bloodshot

Pentagram: Bobby Liebling, Greg Turley, Pete Campbell, Matt Goldsborough

http://www.PentagramOfficial.com
https://www.facebook.com/pentagramusa

Pentagram, “The Diver” 2022 Rehearsal

Oslo blues rockers Ole Devil and the Spirit Chasers will make their full-length debut through Apollon Records this September with Apocalypse Blues. It’s a fitting title for the heavy blues rock outfit that first came together during the covid-19 pandemic, born of guitarist/vocalist Ole Teigen‘s oft-divergent musical impulses — he’s currently drumming in Superlynx, released a solo album last year, also on Apollon, has played in the black metal band Den Saakaldte as well as Dødheimsgard, is currently in Midnattsvrede and others; such is the plight of the capable and creative multi-instrumentalist — and one can easily relate to some desire to find comfort in the familiar warmth of classic sounds under those circumstances. Maybe then Apocalypse Blues will be an album for the times. Hard to say for sure, as I haven’t heard it yet.

Before the record-proper shows up, the first single “Long Way Home” finds the band — who very generously abbreviate their moniker as ODATSCH, which is fun — rocking it out live in the studio in the video premiering below. This version of the song is not — repeat, not — the version that will end up on Apocalypse Blues, but it is being paired with that as part of a digital-only two-songer ahead of time. In any case, Teigen, vocalists Anita Antal (also flute) and Ann Christin Willumsen, bassist Artur Gosan and drummer Christian Håpnes Svendsen come across as a band schooled in the style they’re making, but there’s really no attempt being made — at least in the live version of “Long Way Home” — to try to sound vintage. Nor does there need to be. The structure, melodies and groove are classic enough on their own, and one wouldn’t want to risk dulling either the harmonies between Antal and Willumsen, the flourish of psychedelic guitar, or the flute as they appear here.

So while “Long Way Home” as you see it below isn’t the same one you’ll hear on Apocalypse Blues, I wouldn’t expect it to be too far off. It’s interesting to watch the band in the clip in the various split screens, clearly enjoying the process of feeling their way into the bluesy aesthetic. It’s a nascent chemistry taking shape, and there’s a dynamic there worthy of the exploration they’re giving it. This kind of outfit is best suited to the stage, so one wonders how much playing out they’ll ultimately do — not like Teigen doesn’t have anything else going — but consider for a second the put-up-or-shut-up boldness of a group releasing their first single from their first record and instead of doing a lyric video or something say screw it and play the track live. Hard not to respect that, and chops ensue.

Enjoy:

Ole Devil and the Spirit Chasers, “Long Way Home” video premiere

Ole Devil & the Spirit Chasers – Long Way Home

It’s the first single from the upcoming album Apocalypse Blues, coming some time in September.

The single features the album version, plus a live-in-studio version as a B-side – which is the one they made a video for.

The video was recorded in studio Fjærdingen HK 9 january 2022

Mix & master: Ole Teigen, Crowtown Recordings.
Video: Artur Gosan

Ole Devil & the Spirit Chasers are:
Drums: Christian Håpnes Svendsen
Bass: Artur Gosan
Flute/vocals: Anita Antal
Vocals: Ann Christin Willumsen
Guitar/vocals: Ole Teigen

Ole Devil and the Spirit Chasers on Facebook

Ole Devil and the Spirit Chasers on Instagram

Ole Devil and the Spirit Chasers on Bandcamp

Ole Devil and the Spirit Chasers website

Apollon Records on Facebook

Apollon Records on Bandcamp

Apollon Records website

This Friday, April 29, sees the release of Dual Fates, the new EP from Morgantown, West Virginia’s Torrents. It is the second short release for the prog-leaning group behind April 2019’s Totem, and to go with its narrative thematic structure, the five-song/26-minute offering balances melodic flourish with purposefully rougher rhythmic edges, giving a sound that’s both lush and raw, sometimes at the same time — looking at you, “Dream Eternal.”  While the vocals of guitarist Mike Lorenzen bring sharply to mind Jeff Martin of Lo-Pan on “Echoes” or “Redeemer,” he and fellow guitarist Seth Randolph, bassist Ryan Aliff and drummer Brandon Davis might be twisting around a groove that feels born of the Baroness school of new-prog on “Betrayer” or bringing Elderian shimmer to an airier stretch of post-rock guitar. The songs are plotted right unto the harmonies of closer “Beacon” — anyone remember Black Skies? Caltrop? — and for a thread of plot and sound that’s got no shortage of tumult, Dual Fates is striking in its underlying poise and the feeling of control Torrents have over their sound.

If they were calling Dual Fates a debut full-length, I don’t think I’d be able to disagree. It’s certainly coherent enough. They’ve thought through the material, patterned out movements like the bridge-to-surge at the halfway point of “Beacon” or the frenetic snare in the early going of “Betrayer,” channeling maximum energy at the outset in order to carry through what follows. And it works. With what sound like expansive pedal boards, Lorenzen and Randolph are at the forefront, pairing leads, coursing riffs or topping crunch with float, and their flexibility in hopping from one progression to the next, the angular turns and moments of stretch-out are a defining feature, though as ever for anything heavy it’s the bass and drums that give the songs their force of movement — Aliff and Davis seek no exception to the rule — resulting in a whole that is fleet and adaptable. And I don’t know if that’s keys or effects on “Echoes,” but if Torrents are signaling they might end up with an organist at some point, that’ll be just fine, thanks. The more’s the merrier to fill the spaces the four-piece so ably craft in the rest of the arrangements.

“Dream Eternal,” the centerpiece, and “Beacon,” the finale, are somewhat longer than the other three inclusions, bordering on seven minutes rather than about four and a half. The former uses that time for an excursion into lucid psychedelia, its midsection building tension under synthy laser fire and a mounting urgency that’s dropped nearly to silence before they come back without a spot on them — totally clean — and finish the remainder of the track, while the latter touches on similar terrain but is more about its forward drive and tonal crunch; however winding the motion might seem on the surface, take a step back and you’ll see its movement is inexorably ahead toward that last payoff hook, unrelenting until, of course, it relents for a final minute of residual comedown noise. There’s a fair amount of bounce and bop in getting from here to there, but like weaving their way through a crowded room, Torrents — whose moniker I’m going to guess has more to do with rainfall than digital piracy, though one never knows — have a plan for the path they’re taking as well as for what they’ll do when they arrive at their destination. Whatever the thing sounds like, Dual Fates is prog for precisely that reason.

The band will take the stage on Saturday in Morgantown to celebrate the EP’s arrival, and you’ll find more info about that, the recording, etc., and some words from the band, under the player below, where Dual Fates is streaming in full.

Please enjoy:

Torrents on Dual Fates:

‘Dual Fates’ is a record about life and death. We wanted to tell a story with this release, and it’s a bit of a hero’s journey. Our hero is betrayed in the beginning and nearly killed.

They wake up with amnesia and are confused and stunned, reaching up from within the shallow grave they were left.

Now in a defeated state, they come to terms with the past and are then given a choice of which path to follow. After making the right decision, they are redeemed and given back lost memories leaving our hero free to follow the beacon back home.”

Torrents are a four-piece rock band from Morgantown, West Virginia. Created in 2018 by close friends from several established regional groups, including Iron Jawed Guru and Hoof, with a common desire to create heavy, dynamic, progressively melodic music.

Fine-tuning their first original songs during their live performances, Torrents set out to record their debut tracks at Zone 8 Studios in their hometown of Morgantown. The following Spring, in April 2019, the band independently released its first EP, entitled ‘Totem.’

We now introduce the upcoming Torrents offering ‘Dual Fates.’ Both heavy and weightless, delicate and rough, dense yet airy, the new EP displays a thoughtfully brazen contrast in Torrents’ interpretation of modern rock music. The band once again put their trust in Mark Poole at Zone 8 Studios to work his recording and mixing magic on their new five-song EP. ‘Dual Fates’ is set for independent release on April 29th, 2022.

Tracklist:
01. Betrayer
02. Echoes
03. Dream Eternal
04. Redeemer
05. Beacon

To celebrate the release, Torrents will gather on stage for a Dual Fates EP Release Show on April 30th at 123 Pleasant St in Morgantown, WV, along with Horseburner, Cavern, and Pants Queen for a night of thunderous melody.

TORRENTS Live Events:
– Apr. 30 – Morgantown, WV @ 123PleasantSt – Torrents EP Release Show (w/ Horseburner, Cavern, Pants Queen)
– May 27 – Pittsburgh, PA @ 222 Ormsby – Hope For The Day Benefit (w/ Gator Shakes, Fortune Teller, Cutting Ties)

TORRENTS is:
Mike Lorenzen: Guitar, Vocals
Seth Randolph: Guitar
Ryan Aliff: Bass
Brandon Davis: Drums

Torrents on Bandcamp

Torrents on Facebook

Torrents on Instagram

Torrents on Spotify

Today, Philadelphia instrumental heavy post-rockers Hiroe open preorders for their debut album, Wrought, through Pelagic Records ahead of a July 8 release date. To celebrate, the triple-guitar five-piece are unveiling their video for “Black Mountain,” which if you read the words “instrumental heavy post-rockers” in the sentence prior to this one you’ve probably already guessed is atmospheric as all get-out. Kudos to you and your deductions, but let’s talk about what that means for a second.

Hiroe is a new amalgam of players but not without its own pedigree. Crucially, guitarist Eric Kusanagi — originally from San Diego, California — was a founder and spearhead of post-rockers Japanese Sunday, in which he sang in addition to playing guitar. Hiroe‘s TJ Schilling was in the live lineup for that band as well as playing in the mathier Carved Up in Philly — if you haven’t heard their “Riffer Phoenix,” it’s what you’d call a good time — and Japanese Sunday recorded with Mario Quintero (also of Spotlights), who likewise helmed the forthcoming Wrought, while Matt Bayles (Isis, Sandrider, etc.) mixed and Will Yip (Caspian) mastered. The bottom line of all that is there are connections here that go beyond “here’s a new band with their first album,” and frankly, Hiroe sound like it.

“Black Mountain” — presumably unrelated to the Canadian band of the same name — isn’t some random junkified exploration of atmospheric ideas. There’s a melodic vision playing out between Schilling, Kusanagi and Jef Dent‘s guitars, bright and crisp at the outset and building tension quickly with the sturdy low end of bassist Jill Paslier arriving even before Jon Van Dine‘s drumming. Repititions are hypnotic. They’re nearly halfway into the six-minute piece before the full tonal breadth is revealed, and Hiroe at their heaviest are up there with whoever in this sphere you want to namedrop — Russian Circles‘ builds and textures, Pelican‘s classic pastoralia-as-urban-escapism or Red Sparowes‘ wordless storytelling — but the point here pushes past being heavy. “Black Mountain” is a steep climb that hints at the broader view of Wrought. A slice of the greater whole, but for taking a relatively short amount of time, it is nonetheless engrossing right up to its rumbling, noise-laced crescendo.

If you think three guitars is over the top, well, maybe it is, but boundaries were never pushed by holding back and Hiroe aren’t the first. Start a band with four and see if you can get anyone to agree on anything. Hiroe are admirably on-point in this first single, focused beneath the wash of their own making and mindful of the structure they convey. And though we’re just beginning to learn what their plan might actually be, they leave no doubt after listening that they have one.

Video is by Chariot of the Black Moth, and more PR wire info follows the clip below.

Enjoy:

Hiroe, “Black Mountain” video premiere

Eric Kusanagi on “Black Mountain”:

When we all decided to play music together, Black Mountain was the first song that was put together. Our bassist, Jill Paslier, introduced me to home recording, and I rang up my old friend, Mario Quintero, who taught me how to record demos during the pandemic. Recording was a new challenge for me, and Black Mountain is a song that relates to seeing a challenge and taking it head-on. Thematically, the record was reflective of all the emotions that we all faced when the world shut down. We wanted to create a soundtrack for a pandemic.

Nothing raises the spirit like the soaring guitars and evocative atmospheres of post-rock, and in the past 2 years we needed it more than ever: to be dragged out of the quicksand of apathy, to be reminded of what it means to feel alive… Philadelphia-based five-piece HIROE (pronounced ‘hero-way’) deliver 5 stunning tracks that serve this purpose more than anything else we’ve heard this year.

Wrought is an ode to the resilience and power of the human individual, carrying over feelings of anger, anxiety, and loss, but also hope, optimism and self-discovery from the throes of the pandemic era. Main songwriter Eric Kusanagi explains: “I personally felt lost when the whole world shut down. There wasn’t a roadmap or handbook on how to manage emotions in such an unprecedented situation.”

The word ‘wrought’ refers to the act of hammering something into shape, but also to fabricating something in the way that it is supposed to be made. In the same way metals can be hammered into shape, humans can also be painfully changed and shaped by the overwhelming roughness and intensity of certain life events. With their debut album, HIROE created a lasting testament to the resilience that results from this hammering and shaping.

HIROE’s architecture is built over the walls of sound created by the band’s three guitarists Eric Kusanagi, T.J. Schilling, and Jef Dent, towering over the foundation of the huge sounding bass of Jill Paslier and the powerful drumming of Mike Norris. The larger-than-life sound of the band is forged by a carefully selected all-star line up of producers, their debut being recorded by Mario Quintero (Spotlights), mixed by Matt Bayles (Caspian, Mono, Russian Circles, Isis, Pelican) and mastered Will Yip (Caspian, Circa Survive).

“We wanted to hold ourselves to a very high standard, so to sonically achieve our goals, we enlisted the help of Mario, Matt, and Will,” explains Kusanagi, indicating that this is a production team HIROE will likely continue to employ in the future. “Mario was essentially another member of the band in the studio,“ continues Kusanagi. “They all brought their ideas to the table to help us achieve something greater than just recording a band in a room.”

Somewhere within the soaring riffs and the crushing heaviness of Wrought lies a moment in which the listener will find a sonic manifestation of the sublime, a place of reassured hope as well as a thrill of possibility that makes the album an immensely uplifting experience to propel us all through the despondent aftermath of the pandemic era. With these five fiery tracks, HIROE position themselves as an exciting new player in the heavy instrumental rock world.

Tracklisting:
A1. “Irusu”
A2. “The Approach”
A3. “Everything is Fine”
B1. “Black Mountain”
B2. “Doom Moon”

HIROE is:
TJ Schilling – Guitar
Jef Dent – Guitar
Eric Kusanagi – Guitar
Jill Paslier – Bass
Jon Van Dine – Drums

Hiroe on Facebook

Hiroe on Instagram

Hiroe on Bandcamp

Pelagic Records website

Pelagic Records on Facebook

Pelagic Records on Instagram

Pelagic Records on Bandcamp

This is my favorite kind of news these days. Band makes good record, is going abroad to tour. It’s been known for some time that New York’s Geezer would head overseas to play in support of their forthcoming LP, Stoned Blues Machine — I’ll be streaming it in full on May 18; tune in — as the three-piece were announced early on for Heavy Psych Sounds Fest in Switzerland and Austria. They’ll also be at Freak Valley and GockelScream, which makes this a pretty efficient run. There are still a couple TBA dates, so if you happen to live between Salzburg and Mannheim or between Mannheim and Berlin — or at least somewhere nearby — and can help out, maybe hit up Total Volume Agency to let them know, but even if they end up with two days off, seems like this one is well worth the journey. Stay safe, gents. I’ll see you at Freak Valley.

As such, I can only hope they’ll bring their bong spaceship as depicted in this most righteous poster art below by Steven Yoyada. Imagine a nug-powered FTL engine rolling lazily out of drydock and crossing the subspace threshold while expanding your mind. Think of the aliens you’d meet in that thing. We on Pluto, and so forth. Right on.

Pack your bags:

Total Volume Agency presents

*** Geezer – ATOMIC MORONIC EUROPEAN TOUR 2022 ***

01/06 Nantes FR: Little Atlantique Brewery
02/06 Chambéry FR: Brin De Zinc
03/06 Winterthur SW: Heavy Psych Sounds Fest
04/06 Luzern SW: Bruch Brothers
05/06 Salzburg AT: Heavy Psych Sounds Fest
06/06 TBA
08/06 Mannheim DE: Alter
09/06 TBA
10/06 Berlin DE: Wild at Heart
11/06 Dresden DE: GockelScream Festival
12/06 Karlsruhe DE: P8
14/06 Strasbourg FR: Molodoi
15/06 Netphen DE: Freak Valley Festival
16/06 Ghent BE: Kinky Star
17/06 Liège BE: KulturA
18/06 Paris FR: Supersonic

NEW ALBUM Stoned Blues Machine coming out May 20th on Heavy Psych Sounds !!!

ALBUM PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop.htm#HPS229

USA PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm

GEEZER is
Pat Harrington – vocals/guitar
Richie Touseull – bass
Steve Markota – drums

https://www.instagram.com/geezertown/
https://www.facebook.com/geezerNY/
http://geezertown.bandcamp.com/

heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/

Geezer, Stoned Blues Machine (2022)

Spanish heavy progressive rockers Moura are approaching the May 27 release of their second LP, Axexan, Espreitan (review here), through Spinda Records. “How gloriously classic prog is it,” you ask? Well, glorious enough to pair violin and Hammond organ, if that answers your question. It’s so glorious I kind of can’t believe it’s not out yet. Look. I’ll be as straight with you as I can: I fucking love this record. You can see subtitles in English below in the video for “Romance de Andrés d’Orois,” which gives a sense of the band on stage — god I’d love to see them play these songs — while also looking like one of those classic promo videos from old rock shows pre-MTV, but even not knowing what the lyrics are about, watch the band play. Look at that celebration. God damn. I don’t even believe in authenticity and that shit looks real to me.

You can see Diego Veiga (who recently took the Obelisk Questionnaire) out front as the kind of wrangler of the sound, and the group that surrounds — introduced in the fashion of one of the aforementioned old shows — create such a world over the course of the seven minutes of “Romance de Andrés d’Orois,” drawing from psychedelia, Galician lyrics and folk traditions making themselves felt almost immediately, that it’s impossible not to be drawn in. In my review of the record, I compared the vocals on “Romance de Andrés d’Orois” to Death Hawks, and I stand by that, at least as regards melodic inflection, but Moura are on their own wavelength here, and god damn, I just want to put on the rest of the album listening to this again. So I think I’ll do precisely that.

I don’t always tag albums with “recommended” when I review them. If you follow this site at all, you know that. But when I do, I mean it universally. Recommended for one and all toward the improvement of life in general and the forward development of aesthetic. This is only their second album. Think of what Moura might do from here.

The mind boggles. Joyously.

Enjoy:

Moura, “Romance de Andrés d’Orois” official video

Preorder links:
https://spindarecords.bandcamp.com/album/axexan-espreitan
https://spindarecords.com/product/moura-axexa-espreitan

Music by Moura, featuring Irmandade Ártabra
Lyrics by Diego Veiga

VIDEO CREDITS
Recorded at Estudios Mans (A Coruña, Spain) in April 2022
Filmed by Leo López
Video Edition by Hugo Santeiro, assisted by Fernando Vilaboy
Production Assistant: Gloria Campello, Yago Corral, Alberto Castaño & Marcos García
Liquids Light Show by Alex Canoura
Subtitles by Adrian McManus
Supporting Cast: Sandra Mätzler (TV Show presenter)
Photographs courtesy of Museo do Pobo Galego
Special thanks to Inés Vázquez García, Antía Ameixeiras, Miguel Vázquez, Elena Vázquez, Alex Canoura & Berto Cáceres

MUSIC CREDITS
Diego Veiga: vocals, guitar
Hugo Santeiro: guitar
Fernando Vilaboy: organ
Luis Casanova: drums
Pedro Alberte: bass
Belém Tajes: vocals, percussion
Antía Ameixeiras: violin

Produced by Moura & J. Gutiérrez AKA “Guti de Cangas”
Recorded by J. Gutiérrez in Summer 2021 in Moruxo (Spain)
Mixed by J. Gutiérrez in Autumn 2021 in Cangas (Spain)
Mastered by Álvaro Gallego at Agmastering (Spain)
(C) & (P) 2022, Spinda Records

Moura, Axexan, Espreitan (2022)

Moura on Faceboook

Moura on Instagram

Moura on Bandcamp

Spinda Records on Facebook

Spinda Records on Instagram

Spinda Records on Bandcamp

Spinda Records website

At the end of last month, Crippled Black Phoenix shared a live double-album capturing their sets at Roadburn Festival from 2017 and 2019. I don’t think either of those represent the current lineup of the band, but hell, while the getting’s good, get. They follow that bit of good news with more in announcing both a new album on the way and the first round of touring they’ll do to support it like it ain’t no thing. Their last full-length was 2020’s Ellengæst (review here), and they followed it last year with the two-songer Painful Reminder / Dead is Dead EP (discussed here), continuing a run of downerist post-rock the likes of which, 20 years from now, other bands will be ripping off wholesale and forgetting to cite as an influence. Come back in two decades and prove me wrong.

Season of Mist will have the release on Sept. 9, and the UK/Euro stint will be with Impure Wilhelmina and MØL, as the band posted on social media:

YO! ‘Banefyre’! The new full-length is set for worldwide release on September 09, 2022 via Season of Mist and new music will be released soon!

Also.. after reuniting with our friends at Avacado Booking we are simultaneously announcing new European tour dates in support of the new album, together with label mates Impure Wilhelmina and MØL. A full list of confirmed shows can be found below.

The band comments on the album:

“So yeah, this announcement is a pretty special one. The album and the tour! They’re finally happening!

Banefyre, The Musical!

CBP is still alive. Still predictably unpredictable, doing our own thing. Accept no imitation. If you find it necessary to indulge yourself with a full dose of “the Musical!”, you’ll find a fantastic dance of triumph and defeat amongst a starlit atmosphere of deviant Magik. A congregation of outland dwelling characters in tales of caution and of hope, a reflection of human nature, ‘This, a journey through OUR world which only we understand but strikes a chord of lightning blue recognition amongst the crowd.
As satisfying as the longest and most perfect shit.
To coin a phrase.
The Scene.
The Prophet.
The Clown.
The End.”

CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX – BANEFYRE EUROPE MMXXII
Special Guests: MØL Impure Wilhelmina
25.08.22 Germany Hannover @ Faust
26.08.22 Germany Hamburg @ Bahnhof Pauli
27.08.22 Denmark Copenhagen @ Hotel Cecil
28.08.22 Germany Berlin @ SO36
29.08.22 Germany Leipzig @ Täubchenthal
30.08.22 Germany Munich @ Backstage
31.08.22 Hungary Budapest @ A38
01.09.22 Austria Vienna @ Chelsea
02.09.22 Italy Bologna @ Link
03.09.22 Switzerland Winterthur @ Gaswerk
04.09.22 France Paris @ Backstage
05.09.22 Germany Cologne @ Essigfabrik
06.09.22 Netherlands Zoetermeer @ Boerderij
07.09.22 UK London @ The Dome
08.09.22 UK Bristol @ The Fleece
09.09.22 UK Manchester @ Rebellion
10.09.22 UK Glasgow @ Classic Grand
(Tickets will be on sale on April 28)

https://www.facebook.com/CBP444/
https://www.instagram.com/cbp_444/
https://crippledblackphoenixsom.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/seasonofmistofficial
http://www.season-of-mist.com/

Crippled Black Phoenix, Roadburn – Live Echoes (2019 & 2017)