Posted in Whathaveyou on December 29th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Preorders are up for the fourth full-length from Swedish cult metallers Saturnalia Temple, who present a glimpse at the malevolent churn and gurgle of Paradigm Call by means of the first single “Revel in Dissidence,” which you can check out in the lyric video at the bottom of this post. The album will be out March 1 and is the second release for Saturnalia Temple through Listenable Records, on whose talent roster they are a standout as they’d be on just about anyone’s. Fewer bands sound more like they recorded by candlelight.
I’m assuming “Drakon,” which you can see on the tracklisting below precedes “Revel in Dissidence” and is just over two minutes long, is an intro, which would make “Revel in Dissidence” something of an opener. So as you make your way through the lyric video’s bubbling-mud riffing, throaty grunt, gnarly cosmic vibes and seeming argument for “ugh” as a perspective on the world (not arguing with any of it, mind you), keep in mind that in many cases a band will put their most accessible fare at the beginning of records in order to hook a potential listnership and engage them to take on the rest. Not saying that’s Saturnalia Temple‘s motivation — indeed, more likely it isn’t — but if norms-departure is your launch point, the single is doing its work on its own terms. Little could represent Saturnalia Temple better in my mind.
The PR wire had this, mostly with links:
Saturnalia Temple preorder for ‘Paradigm Call’ are available
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 29th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
If you’re the type who likes to take care of things early, well, you’re apparently in good company with the Munich-based Keep it Low Festival. The two-dayer fest, which is one of many under the umbrella of Sound of Liberation booking, is held annually in October, and that’s when it’s set to take place in 2024 as well, at Backstage in Munich on Oct. 11-12. Tickets, however, are on sale almost 10 full months early.
Why? I’m not sure, but I have a definite answer in “why the hell not?,” and I find that when I try to answer that question, I come up blank. So yeah, it seems like that’s really early, but on the other hand, why not put tickets for next year on sale while people are at the fest this year? It’s different, I don’t know if it’s been done before, but doesn’t that just make it a new idea, and is that something so terrible to be chasing down in a climate where live music is trying to draw people out of the entertainment hotbeds we’ve built in our homes?
I’ve gotten sidetracked from this lineup announcement, which came out the other day from Sound of Liberation and hints toward Fall 2024 European tours for at least Fu Manchu, Monolord, Truckfighters, Greenleaf, Messa and Psychlona, but I like to keep an eye for how things evolve from year to year and for all I know, Keep it Low has been doing this every year for the last decade (happy 10th anniversary, by the way) and I’m just picking up on it now because, well, I’m kinda slow sometimes, but it stood out to me as something you might not see all the time. And maybe you like to make early travel arrangements. I know I do.
From social media:
KEEP IT LOW 2024 – ⚡️FIRST BAND ANNOUNCEMENT & TICKETS ON SALE!⚡️
Hey Keepers,
we are super excited to present you the first bands for next year’s edition of the Keep It Low festival!🔥
Please welcome:
FU MANCHU TRUCKFIGHTERS MONOLORD GREENLEAF MESSA WOLVENNEST PSYCHLONA APTERA DJIIN ZERRE HECKSPOILER MINDCRAWLER & MANY MORE!
Posted in Bootleg Theater on December 28th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Kudos to Massachusetts-based three-piece Benthic Realm — who play both the doom and the metal kinds of doom metal — on not letting 2023 end without reminding any and all in earshot that their debut album came out this year. Five years and one actual plague after their second EP, 2018’s We Will Not Bow (review here), the band comprised of guitarist/vocalist Krista Van Guilder (formerly of Second Grave, Lucubro, WarHorse, etc.), bassist/keyboardist Maureen Murphy (whose fascinating low end path has seen her work with the likes of Negative Reaction and Dimentianon, as well as Second Grave with Guilder, I’m pretty sure Curse the Son for a bit, and a slew of others) and drummer Dan Blomquist (also Conclave) hoisted anchor and took to dark and undulating seas on an hour-long Vessel (review here). Marked by its grim tones, bleak melodicism and downer nods meeting periodically with a growl, a scream, or a particularly deathly riff, the 10-song collection reveals the band’s extreme underpinnings early in the eight-minute “Traitors Among Us” after the intro “Raise the Banners” set the nautical theme.
And all that takes is one low, guttural growl from Van Guilder and the entire sphere of death metal is fair game at any point on the record. That’s maybe a little dramatic in terms of the framing, and at least on their first record, Benthic Realm aren’t interested in going full-on slip-a-disc-windmill-headbanging death metal gruntery, but listening to Vessel, there’s always the threat they might, however far to the other side they might go with the acoustic interlude “Set Adrift” that sets up the album’s rolling highlight title-track. Melody holds the day in terms of balance, which “Course Correct” makes plain after “Traitors Among Us” with a faster but still ultimately comfortable push and an arrangement of layered harmonies from Van Guilder in its apex, and whether she’s singing ‘clean’ — often at least double-tracked; in closer “As it Burns” with the video below, or “Summon the Tide,” the quiet-till-it-isn’t post-Metallica‘s “One” brooding in the second half of “Veiled Embrace,” and so on — or the band are dug into the one-two pairing of “I Will Wait” and “Summon the Tide,” both of which are just under nine minutes and each of which lays out its own sprawling but thoughtful path through weighted melodic doom metal that’s more Paradise Lost than Saint Vitus, stately and patient, taking on metal’s symmetry over punk’s urgency, her presence as a songwriter, range as a singer and unafraid-to-be-angular style of riffing are defining factors of the material.
You can’t have heavy without groove, and those among the genre-converted know that’s generally going to come from the rhythm section. What Murphy and Blomquist bring to Vessel is more than tonal oomph to support the melodies and a roll on which to gain momentum, but rest assured, both of those are part of it too. Benthic Realm benefit from a single-guitar configuration in that as Van Guilder takes her solo in the penultimate tempo-kicker chug of “What Lies Beneath,” Murphy and Blomquist are able to hold the rhythm underneath, allowing the song to move forward without giving up one of the record’s most infectious movements, instead working like a classic power trio to build a crescendo that, if “What Lies Beneath” closed, I’d probably tell you had no trouble serving as a payoff for the entirety of the release. Just being honest. Benthic Realm push farther with “As it Burns.”
If you want to think of track 10 as Benthic Realm going to 11, fair enough, but they’re never so over-the-top in “As it Burns” as to sacrifice the poised impression they’ve made over the 50-plus minutes prior (and by mentioning runtime again I’m not ragging on Benthic Realm for making a long record; it’s part of the aesthetic), and it’s once again the vocal melody that distinguishes that last peak the band will hit before the closer’s insistent chug — it sounds like producer Apollo XVII said, “Play it like you’re annoyed waiting for the sound to come out of the speaker,” though that’s not an actual quote — seems to finally decide you’ve had enough and put a couple last holes in the wall on its way out. And there you are, a record that just spent so much time in the water ending with fire and just kind of pulling it off because they do and the songs work and when you have that you’ve got everything.
I’ve gone on for too long. Their debut album was a while in the making, and I’m glad it came out this year. Here’s that video.
Formed in July of 2016 in Worcester, MA, USA, Benthic Realm conjures melodies and crushing rhythms from the dark abyss. The trio consists of former Second Grave members Krista Van Guilder (WarHorse, Lucubro) on vocals/guitar and Maureen Murphy on bass, and Dan Blomquist (Conclave) on drums.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 28th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The following festival announcement — under the poster in the blue text; come on, you know how we do — was put through a major internet company’s translation matrix, so I will not at all vouch for the accurate swapout of English for Swedish generally, though it was kind of fun to see Domkraft called ‘Power of Domination,’ DRÖÖG come up listed as ‘DARE’ and Slôdder become ‘Slodger,’ which at least is pretty close. You might’ve seen the initial lineup reveal for the inaugural Västerås Doomfest in its native Swedish or another language entirely, depending on your preferences/geolocation tracking.
Wherever you’re coming from, those three — Domkraft headlining, and well they should — will be joined by 10,000 Years, who have a new record coming and whose Alex Risberg is among those putting the event together, as well as Mushroom Caravan Overdrive, Steel Freight and Käpprätt, rounding out a seven-band all-dayer on June 1 at O’Leary’s (a fine Swedish name if e’er my American ears heard one) as a beginning, a testing of concept and waters, and what looks like a hell of a show.
Kudos to Risberg and company (assuming he’s got some in the endeavor) on getting a thing going, and in the spirit of well wishes on a first-fest, here’s the lineup announcement and appropriate linkage:
Västerås Doomfest 2024
Death Valley Productions presents, in collaboration with O’Learys, the Contact Network and Merchprint, the first edition of Västerås Doomfest! This year’s big gathering, and definitive highlight, for all worshipers of the Riffet and all lovers of heavy, hard underground metal. A delight for both eyes (? ) and ears are promised!
Domkraft is one of Sweden’s biggest bands in the genre and one of the best and most respected worldwide. With their latest masterpiece “Sonic Moons”, and three more modern classics, in the luggage, they honor the festival’s first edition Västerås with a visit for the first time. As everyone who has seen Domkraft before can attest, it is a special experience to be crushed by Domkraft’s gravity in the live format and thus nothing you want to miss when the opportunity is given. We are therefore extremely proud to present Domkraft as the main act at Västerås Doomfest 2024! Riff hook repeat until numb.
10,000 YEARS
Västerås own stonermetal heroes! This trio has gone from clarity to clarity since the start of 2020. So far, they have gotten three shelved plates and a new one is on the way in 2024 via a new, exciting record contract. This together with intensive live performances around Sweden has made 10,000 Years a hot name in the heavy underground and now they finally make their home debut with us at Västerås Doomfest!
DRÖÖG
These Dalmas themselves call their music lumberjack jazz, and there’s something to it. Slightly retro-scented doomrock with prog vibes is also close to the truth, a bit like Witchcraft but better. But to really understand Dröög, you have to hear and see them yourself, and dive into Dröög’s dark tales.
MUSHROOM CARAVAN OVERDRIVE
Mushroom Caravan Overdrive worships daily life at Riffet’s altar and delivers heavy, draggy and psychedelic stonerdoom in Sleep school. Transcendental from start to finish and twenty-minute songs are promised. Did we mention that they are also the brains behind the legendary Krökbackenfestivalen?
SLÔDDER
Did you know that Värmland’s deep forests double as Sweden’s New Orleans? Well, that’s the truth. The Yankees have Eyehategod and we have Slôdder, that’s proof enough. With the fantastic “A Mind Designed To Destroy Beautiful Things”, Slôdder delivered one of the best albums of 2023 and their dirty sludge metal does not leave many listeners consciously after completed acquisition.
STEEL FREIGHT
Is it hardcore? Is that death metal? No, it’s steel freight! It’s a hell of a hard, angry and unique blend of said genres, perfect for those who are not afraid of the mosh pit.
KÄPPRÄTT
The raw punk swingers from Västerås open the festivities with dist, dance and a fist in solar plexus at the establishment.
See you in front of the stage, because in the beginning there was Riffet. And nothing would ever be after the Riffet.
Posted in Reviews on December 27th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Headphones on, folkz — that was a typo but I’m leaving it — because we’re diving in. Or out. Up? Or some fifth dimensional combination of them all plus time, gravity and consciousness? And if we begin with the central question, “What is float?” — in my head that’s very much asked in the vein of Funkadelic’s “What is Soul,” but you may or may not hear it that way and that’s fine — then Grace and Space‘s wildly syllabic Floatospherofonica is both instructive and cosmically worldmaking. Because without float there can be no ‘floatosphere’ from which the properties might be derived to define something as ‘floatospherophonic,’ probably something related to sound, therefore giving rise to an oeuvre or genre of ‘floatospherofonica,’ as the thing representative of the place.
Certainly the 19-minute title-track is a place to start, but it’s not actually where this collaboration between members of California-based acid experimentalists 3rd Ear Experience — Robbi Robb, credited here with guitar, bass and production, Sam Wilmore on drums and, crucially, Amritakripa on synth, what minimal vocals there are, as well as percussion and banjo — and the galaxy’s own Scott “Dr. Space” Heller, known for his synth wizarding in Øresund Space Collective, Black Moon Circle, Doctors of Space and others, as well as past teamups live and/or in-studio with the likes of JOY and Carlton Melton and KG West and on and on.
For Heller, Floatospherofonica arrives as part of an ongoing creative supernova. I asked him to send me his full discography which, thankfully, he kept and was kind enough to lend for my personal reference. A couple stats from it: First, the last time he had fewer than 10 releases out in a single year was 2018. In 2023, Heller contributed to or spearheaded 17 albums with various outfits, among them Albinö Rhino, the aforementioned Øresund Space Collective, Doctors of Space and Black Moon Circle, and extensive solo work as Dr. Space. And that’s actually down from 18 in 2022. It would be an impressively broad catalog for a lifetime. It’s more than most ever do. I am fortunate to call this man a friend.
Grace and Space isn’t the first time Robb — whose history goes back 40-plus years to South Africa’s punk underground and includes Tribe After Tribe and sundry other much-respect-to-you-sir-type collabs; which is to say I’m not trying to shine a light on Dr. Space‘s level of output in the paragraph above and discount what Robb, Amritakripa or Wilmore bring to Floatospherofonica, at all, because the truth is it’s probably the bulk of it — and Heller and Amritakripa have worked together. All three were on 2019’s Ear to Space (review here) by a unit listed as 3rd Ear Experience with Dr. Space, as well as 2021’s Danny Frankel’s 3rd Ear Experience (review here), and their shared openness to improvisation resonates through each of the album’s six pieces spread across a hypnotically-broad soundscape anchored but not defined in its 61 minutes by its two longest inclusions: “Floatospherofonica” (19:19) and “Rabjut” (13:17).
These two don’t necessarily define the rest of what surrounds. “Time Disappear” leads off, is six minutes of minimalist acid wash guitar and proggy keyboardery with the most discernably-human vocals, and the title-track follows, with “Not Ever Nowhere” offering a nine-minute meditation set to a casually kosmiche throb of a groove before the shimmer takes it to an ice planet, “Rabjut” perhaps embodying it at some point in the distant future before the more grounded feeling “Hydro Blap” gives brief repositioning ahead of the sprawling krauty drones of “Overture” at the finish. Everything is in conversation here with itself, occupying its corner of a fluid universe and letting it make sense in its own way.
Which is far enough out to circle back around to the original question at the start: What defines ‘float’ as the root of Floatospherofinica? I use the term pretty commonly in reviews, and I know when I say something floats, it’s usually referring to a feeling of something being unlatched to a clear rhythm; in the context of pieces like “Rabjut” and “Not Ever Nowhere” and the synth layers of “Overture” put as the apparent foundation of the project from Amritakripa, there is plenty throughout that meets any standard of ‘float’ I can think of to apply, but that’s not necessarily all that’s happening in its ambience, despite being a prevalent enough notion for the album to work around, maybe willfully contradict in a couple spots.
But even underneath that is the already-noted shared affinity between the two parties involved here — that’s Amritakripa and Robb and Wilmore as a group in 3rd Ear Experience in California, and Heller working in his studio in Portugal — for improvisation and for letting the music wander into its own moment of discovery as much as one can. The cinematic way “Floatospherofonica” brings in its initial keyboard line atop the windy drone behind and unfolds in movements makes me think there was some measure of plan at work, somewhere along the line, even if that’s one layer of synthesizer playing off the layer before just recorded, or Heller answering something Amritakripa is doing, maybe vice versa (I don’t know how much back and forth there was), and so on, but I assure you I don’t know that this wasn’t all just made up as it was tracked and if you told me it was, I can’t really see myself offering much of a fight either way.
The inclusion of vocals at all gives Grace and Space an identity separate from most of what Heller does, and the focus on synth pulls to the side of some of the more guitar-led output of 3rd Ear Experience, though if you’d take any of it on between that band, Grace and Space, or pretty much anything any of these cats are involved in, you should be aware you’re headed into the farther reaches of far out. I’ve said on multiple occasions — usually Friday Full-Lengths and the like — that I consider writing about Dr. Space‘s stuff a favor to myself and that’s the case here too, precisely because this project is so able to find its place as distinct from the rest of it. I don’t know that it will be an ongoing thing and I don’t know that it won’t, and while it’s playing out, I’m perfectly willing to accept the fact that some things you don’t always get to know completely and maybe that’s okay.
Also the universe is a hologram and whales are sentient. Happy trails!
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 27th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Belgian festival Down the Hill has begun to unveil its lineup for Aug. 30-31, 2024, with Rotor at the top of a bill that, as the fill-in-the-blank-style poster (which I dig) underscores the point there’s more to come. Not that Rotor couldn’t headline, but yeah. They’re joined in this announcement by Full Earth, the Kanaan offshoot who don’t have a record yet but are popping up on bills up, down, here and there, Fuzzy Grass, Briqueville, Vandal X, Kozmotron and Cuberdon, which is less than half of the total number of acts who will play. There are 17 TBAs on the poster below. Yes, I counted before I saw the number in the festival’s post.
I’ve been writing about Down the Hill for a few years now, and I’ve never been or anything like that, but all accounts I’ve seen and heard tell me that it’s a laid back, vibe-centered time, and in theory and practice I think that’s a thing worth supporting. August is a while off, so I don’t know when the next reveal will be made, but tickets are on sale as of Dec. 27, which might be today by the time this gets posted — it’s 4AM Xmas Eve as I write; I have no answer for why I’m awake but at least I’m getting shit done — and if you’d like to keep up also, the fest’s Facebook and site are linked below.
To wit:
Down the Hill 2024
Here they are, the first small load of bands for Down The Hill 2024
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 26th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Who wants to fly my grumpy, middle-aged ass to Paris in April to catch a show? No one? Maybe Bordeaux? Porto? Lisbon? Madrid? Barcelona? I’ll go pretty much anywhere that has an airport for this one. Stoned Jesus have had a particularly fucked couple of years, as their home in Kyiv, Ukraine, has been subject to invasion from neighboring Russia and the ensuing proxy war between Ukrainian forces with NATO backing and the monolith that is Russian imperialism. I’ve been saying for the last two years I don’t know how that war’s gonna end, and could go on and on about it, but it’s war. It would be a welcome change if humans stopped slaughtering each other, and at no point in the history of the species from voles hiding in the ground when the asteroid offed the dinosaurs to right this fucking moment has that not been true.
That’s not to make light of modern warfare’s particular horrors or the struggle undertaken by Ukrainians on behalf of their home/the Western liberal democratic ideology, mind you. Stoned Jesus in early 2023 nonetheless issued one of the year’s best albums in their Season of Mist debut, Father Light (review here), and were set to tour Europe this past Spring when Ukraine imposed travel restrictions, undercutting the band’s ability to promote their work as intended. I guess that’s ended or some special dispensation has been made — White Ward also seem to be getting out, so it seems less likely to be wishful booking — because in April 2024, Stoned Jesus are set to head west to France, Germany, Portugal and Spain.
They’ll be keeping company with Bordeaux’s Mars Red Sky — speaking of 2023’s best albums, they had one too — and I don’t know anything about anything about the paperwork involved, but for the sake of all involved, including the heads who’ll actually get to see these shows unlike my daydream-jetsetter self, I hope they happen.
From the PR wire:
Stoned Jesus are celebrating 15 years of doomy, heavy-hitting progressive rock this April with fellow stoners Mars Red Sky.
16 April: Strasbourg FR @ La Laiterie 17 April: Karlsruhe DE @ Alte Hackerei 18 April: Paris FR @ Le Trabendo 19 April: Bordeaux FR @ Le Royal 20 April: Hondarribia ES @ Psylocibenea* 21 April: Porto PT @ Hard Club* 22 April: Lisbon PT @ Lisboa ao Vivo* 23 April: Madrid ES @ Nazca* 24 April: Barcelona ES @ Razzmatazz 3* 25 April: Touluse FR @ Le Rex* 26 April: Toulon FR @ Omega Live* 27 April: Lyon FR @ Le Transbordeur *w/ Mars Red Sky
Stoned Jesus are: Igor Sydorenko – guitar, lead vocals Dmytro Zinchenko – drums and percussion, backing vocals Sergii Sliusar – bass, backing vocals
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 26th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Announced last week as signing to Heavy Psych Sounds with intention toward a debut album, Mario Lalli and the Rubber Snake Charmers, will release Folklore From the Other Desert Cities on March 19 as their recorded debut. The four-jam outing was recorded in Gold Coast, Australia, as part of a video stream for Desert.TV that you can see below, and was originally pressed to a limited-to-50-copies cassette called Forgetting Out Loud by Northern Haze Records.
I’m pretty sure ‘Other Desert Cities’ is what it says on some highway sign or other — the 101? the 10? — but the bottom line here that you’re getting a couple of Californian desert rock’s most primo ambassadors caught in the act pursuing their integral diplomatic function. And if you’d be like, ‘well how come they’re releasing a thing under a different name when it was already out and why would I buy it when I can stream it and and and…,” relax. They’re releasing a thing under a different name because it’s worth releasing and they wanted to give it what they felt would be a representative package for CD/LP distribution in more than 50 copies — that’s not a rag on Northern Haze at all; those tapes are beautiful and I could spend hundreds of Canadian dollars on that site if only I had them — and you should buy it even though you can stream it because that’s how everybody keeps getting to do what they do. You gotta put the coin in the hat.
Here’s the info and the video, which, duh, is groovin’. Have fun:
Heavy Psych Sounds to announce MARIO LALLI & THE RUBBER SNAKE CHARMERS – ‘Folklore From The Other Desert Cities’ !!!
New super-band featuring desert rock legends Mario Lalli, Brant Bjork, Sean Wheeler and Ryan Güt !!!
The first release from this band of pioneering Desert rock musicians captures the band and its purest form exercising the desert born ethic and approach of rock improvisation, psychedelic and flowing, heavy and explorative.
The foundation of Mario Lalli’s grooving heavy bass lines and meditative themes with a intuitive guitar work with Brant Bjork and percussion of Ryan Güt set the scene for Sean Wheeler’s poems and songs capturing the dark and beautiful stories and images of life in the Mojave desert of Southern California.
Tracklisting:
1. Creosote Breeze 2. Swamp Cooler Reality 3. Other Desert Cities 4. The Devil Waits For Me
Recorded live at Mo’s Desert Clubhouse, Gold Coast Australia by Guy Cooper and mixed and mastered by Mathias Schneeberger at Donner & Blitzen Studios, California. The band’s first release features BRANT BJORK, SEAN WHEELER, RYAN GUT and MARIO LALLI, capturing the band in a engaging special performance in Gold Coast Australia.
MARIO LALLI & THE RUBBER SNAKE CHARMERS is: Mario Lalli – bass and vocal Sean Wheeler – vocals and poetry Brant Bjork – Guitar Ryan Güt – Drums Mathias Schneeberger – keys
