People and faces, horses and wolves in the mind, a tumult of inner and outer overwhelm; it’s no wonder that Greenleaf‘s ninth album, The Head and the Habit, starts with the reminder to “Breathe, Breathe Out” amid all the tumult. There’s more to it as well. 2024 makes it 10 years since 2014’s Trails and Passes (review here) introduced vocalist Arvid Hällagård to listeners. Hällagård stepped in to fill the significant shoes of Oskar Cedermalm (also Truckfighters), who had handled vocals on their two prior outings, and has gradually become a defining presence in the band. Never more so than on The Head and the Habit, which in addition to serving as a handy showcase for how the Swedish four-piece founded by guitarist Tommi Holappa (also Dozer) have taken shape in the last decade, is also the band’s first outing for Magnetic Eye after a trilogy of releases — 2021’s Echoes From a Mass (review here), 2018’s Hear the Rivers (review here) and 2016’s Rise Above the Meadow (review here)  — issued through Napalm Records.

Hällagård fronts the band — Holappa, bassist Hans Fröhlich and drummer Sebastian Olsson — with marked presence in the material, and with the somewhat contrasting pair of shorter, subdued blues cuts “That Obsidian Grin” and “An Alabastrine Smile” positioned at the end of each side, his soulful delivery has become an essential facet in the band’s consistently evolving dynamic, as well as the symmetry of this LP in its own right. Greenleaf has seen a number of vocalists (not to mention bassists or drummers) come and go, between Fredrik Nordin (Dozer), Peder Bergstrand (Lowrider). and Cedermalm, but the nine songs of The Head and the Habit wouldn’t function as they do with another singer. In framing the lyrics around his experience as a counselor, handling the cover art (Lili Krischke also contributed to the layout) and recording whatever of his own performance wasn’t captured by the esteemed Karl Daniel Lidén (who once upon a time drummed in Greenleaf, lest we forget) at Studio Gröndahl in Stockholm, Hällagård‘s work in cuts like the duly charging “Different Horses” or the eight-minute side B apex “The Tricking Tree” cannot be discounted as part of the band’s persona, especially as they lean further into their own version of a heavy blues sound.

That’s not to say The Head and the Habit lacks for thrust, but where Echoes From a Mass edged closer than ever in terms of riffing to the intensity Holappa might proffer with Dozer — whose first album in 15 years, Drifting in the Endless Void (review here), came out in 2023 on Blues Funeral — this 43-minute collection feels more dug into Greenleaf‘s distinguishing elements. The meandering solo before “The Tricking Tree” slams into its final, nodding roll, answering back to the weight wrought in the likely-titled-for-its-tumbling-riff second cut “Avalanche” much as “That Obsidian Grin” and “An Alabastrine Smile” or even the hooky “Breathe, Breathe Out” and its side-B-opening counterpart “The Sirens Sound” serve as complements. The structure of the record puts one additional song on side A, but the cohesiveness and clarity of purpose throughout — as well as the breadth of the mix/master Lidén at his Tri-Lamb Studios — allows Greenleaf to shift intention from one track to the next without losing sight of where they are in the overarching progression.

The result is that The Head and the Habit flows smoothly despite conveying a bumpier path in theme and sound. Part of what makes it a success is the swagger put into a piece like “Oh Dandelion,” with its start-stop verse and twisting chorus, but as Greenleaf once again diverge from Dozer in terms of style, it’s the bluesier nature underlying even the shove of “Different Horses” or the foreboding “A Wolf in My Mind” — the hook of which brings the album’s title line — that comes into focus as being crucial to the songs. From the righteous shaky-cam rumbles of tone in “Avalanche” to Holappa‘s wistful leads in “An Alabastrine Smile,” as heavy and loud and brash or as quiet, lonely and contemplative as they want to get, it all becomes part of a take that is inextricably Greenleaf while reorienting the band’s position in terms of style, pulling in a direction they seem to be charting as they go.

This is exciting enough in concept — Greenleaf are approaching the 25th anniversary of 2000 their self-titled EP (discussed here); such ongoing creative development is rare regardless of how personnel factors in — but none of it would matter if the songs didn’t hold up. Fortunately, they do. It’s hardly the first time the band have been catchy and able to pack an emotional punch, but they continue to make it sound easier than it actually is from “Breathe, Breathe Out” on. And even in “The Tricking Tree,” with its earlier bashing away and pre-midpoint departure into mellower, jammier, bassier fare, they hold a sense of energy that is individual, unquestionably theirs. Olsson‘s drumming can’t be discounted in keeping the material fluid, but this incarnation of Greenleaf has put in the time on stage and in the studio to win their chemistry as a collective, and the strength of craft across The Head and the Habit feels like its own reward. It’s not just Holappa‘s riffs — though that might be enough, considering — or Hällagård‘s vocals, the character in Fröhlich‘s bass or Olsson‘s drums; it’s how they come together around these songs, which vary in shape but are largely unflinching in quality.

Any album a given band might release is a marker of an ‘era’ in terms of encapsulating a time in that band’s existence — and, obviously, all things end at some point or another; Greenleaf don’t owe anyone anything and have precious little to prove, though they keep proving it anyhow — but The Head and the Habit seems so much to look ahead and to so fervently bask in what makes Greenleaf who they are nearly a quarter-century on that one can’t help but think of it as the realization of what their last decade has been driving toward. A to-date culmination made all the more vital by the high level of performance, the almost deceptively tight songwriting, and the fullness of scope in its component pieces and the flow between them. They’re a special band, and to call The Head and the Habit one of 2024’s best in heavy rock feels like limiting its appeal in terms of time and underselling the growth that’s led Greenleaf to this point — it’s part of a story bigger than itself — but it’s true just the same.

Greenleaf, “Different Horses” official video

Greenleaf, “Breathe, Breathe Out” official video

Greenleaf, “Avalanche” lyric video

Greenleaf, The Head and the Habit (2024)

Greenleaf on Facebook

Greenleaf on Instagram

Greenleaf on Bandcamp

Magnetic Eye Records store

Magnetic Eye Records website

Magnetic Eye Records on Facebook

Magnetic Eye Records on Instagram

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: Olli-Pekka Laine of Octoploid, Amorphis, Barren Earth, and More

—

How do you define what you do, and how did you come to do it?

With Octoploid, I mainly try to express myself during this period of my life. I also try to do a bit of experimentation. Why I did it is that I’ve had it in my mind for a long time already, and now I had the time, resources, and skills to do it.

Describe your first musical memory.

It must be a Finnish tango singer from the ’50s called Olavi Virta, whom my mother used to listen to. He is hands down the best singer from Finland of all time.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Lenny Kravitz at Hamburg’s Grosse Freiheit in 1995 was a pretty rad show.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

In 1997, when I read Peter Singer’s book “Animal Liberation.”

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

It depends on the artist. For some, it could be, for example, technical perfection. For me, it is total honesty and authenticity.

How do you define success?

Being able to do what you want in your life. Looking forward to that, ha ha!

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

We lived in a seedy neighborhood when I was a kid, and I saw a lot of violence. Also, in the ’90s, we visited a slaughterhouse and saw animals having their throats slit and being thrown into boiling water.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

I would like to come up with a non-metal album with psychedelic prog rock and southern rock influences. But it should happen naturally, not forced.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

Art provides an opportunity for self-expression. On the other hand, its function is to entertain and alleviate boredom.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Someday, I’d just like to chill on the beach, hike in nature, and avoid music in all its forms. Even for a couple of weeks, huh!

https://www.facebook.com/octoploidmusic
https://www.instagram.com/octoploidmusic
https://www.tiktok.com/@octoploidmusic
https://open.spotify.com/artist/712moi8jSAse1lYXB6rU4R

https://www.facebook.com/ReigningPhoenixMusicOfficial/
https://www.instagram.com/ReigningPhoenixMusicOfficial
https://www.youtube.com/@ReigningPhoenixMusicOfficial
https://www.reigningphoenixmusic.com/

Octoploid, “Human Amoral” official video

Octoploid, Beyond the Aeons (2024)

This Friday, UK longform doomers Old Horn Tooth will release their second album, Mourning Light, via Evil Noise Recordings (tape) and their own London Doom Collective imprint. Prefaced by the 2021 standalone 21-minute-long single, “True Death” (review here), the four-song/68-minute sophomore outing gazes unflinchingly into the void of its own construction — a dark, densely humid weight of tone and purpose likewise realized in terms of the fervency of its riff worship and its downerism — and follows 2019’s debut, From the Ghost Grey Depths, with a strong, plodding and declarative step forward. Through “Precipice,” “No Salvation,” “Mourning Light” and “Invisible Agony,” the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Chris Jones, bassist Ollie Isaac and drummer Mark Davidson (also credited with “griefcase,” which I’m going to assume is a laptop or some other kind of synthesizer apparatus) present themselves as monolithic but not monotonous and extreme in their approach but not without melodic accessibility or emotional resonance. That is to say, yeah, it’s a slog, but it’s very much the slog they intended it to be.

At nearly 17 minutes long, “Precipice” begins with a whole-album ambient intro before giving over to its first distorted rumblings and the march counted slowly in by Davidson‘s ride cymbal. The immediate touchstone in terms of modus is Monolord, but Old Horn Tooth carve their own niche in mountainous sounds as Jones‘ vocals echo in the mix’s deceptively broad space with a sense of longing that calls Warning to mind, and that continues to serve as a defining aspect of what they do as one verse gives way to the next, the trio departs to a more meditative instrumental stretch anchored around Isaac‘s bassline and lumber toward and through a suitable crescendo, fading to silence before the comparatively immediate impact of “No Salvation” arrives, quickly nestling into a grueling and punctuated roll topped with mournful lead guitar as preface for the condemnation narrative of the lyrics. By the time a few more minutes have passed, they’ve gone even further in this grim and consuming plunge, and as “No Salvation” nears its midpoint, the wash of distortion recedes and the drums momentarily depart, leaving a clean line of morose ambience soon given tension through kickdrum lubdubs.

It’s less a build than a setup for a burst, but whatever gets you there. At 9:22 into its total 14:38, “No Salvation” blows its own top (again) and renews the roll. Vocals come and go again in the unmired-but-engrossing nod, which culminates pretty much when they decide to let it come apart, having already given the repetition its due. The title-track follows, with a similar runtime and a smooth shift from its first-minute intro to the melancholic riff that earns the record’s title. “Mourning Light” holds the emotive crux for the album, and doubles as the catchiest of the four inclusions, with room for organ in its mix but an orthodox approach that keeps to some notion of being straight-ahead in its guitar-bass-drums-vocals arrangement despite the fact that nothing on Mourning Light is under 14 minutes long. Maybe it would’ve been too much, since part of what makes “Mourning Light” so effective is how it feels tied to classic and modern doom as Old Horn Tooth mold their niche within the genre. As if to say, “Nothin’ too fancy here, folks. Just some e’eryday dudes bangin’ out lengthy slabs o’ massive riffery.” Likewise humble and flattening.

“Mourning Light” ends quiet on guitar and so the drummed start of 21-minute closer “Invisible Agony” feel duly stark in their setting out before the guitar joins. As they have all along, the band bring a sense of patience to the finale — fairly sure if they weren’t willing to take their time, this music wouldn’t exist at all; the name of the game is ‘gradual’ — but when the bass starts rumbling the threat is clear. Right as they hit the six-minute mark, long after the hypnotic effect has been achieved, the lurch takes its full-toned form, still based around the flowing progression of the drums, but given heft through a semi-drone of low end and the self-assured course led by Jones‘ guitar. The verse starts eight minutes in and becomes part of that same movement, which pushes into a depressive swirl in a bleakly semi-psychedelic conclusion. It’s someplace they haven’t gone yet, so fair enough, but as with the launch of “Precipice,” the ending of “Invisible Agony” feels applied to the entire 2LP as much as to itself. And like much of what precedes it, it is vibrant in its misery without tipping over into actual melodrama or goofy posturing, finding a balance along its own deeply immersive wavelength.

Mourning Light streams in its entirety below, followed by more from the PR wire. Please enjoy:

Last heard slinging low slung fuzzed-out doom on their 2019 album, From the Ghost Grey Depths, this July will see the official worldwide release of Mourning Light, the brand-new studio album from London-based trio, Old Horn Tooth.

For any fans of the genre that have stalked the capital in recent years, chances are London Doom Collective has supplied you with ample opportunity to sample some of the finest underground bands in a live setting. Since 2020 – Ollie, Chris Jones, Mark Davidson, and Sean Durbin – have flexed their DIY muscle as friends, promoters, and three-quarter members of Old Horn Tooth to devastating effect. Now, with the band’s new album on the horizon, they finally turn their hand toward a new endeavour, releasing music on vinyl.

“Putting out a record ourselves through London Doom Collective is our own personal statement of independence,” explains bassist, Ollie Isaac. “It’s a testament to the power of the underground and a direct connection with the scene, people and international doom community that has supported, guided and helped us grow.”

Due for release on 5th July 2024, Mourning Light can be pre-ordered via London Doom Collective here: https://oldhorntooth.bandcamp.com/

The album will also be accompanied by the release of a limited-edition tape from Norway’s Evil Noise Recordings here: https://evilnoiserecordings.bigcartel.com/

And an exclusive beer in collaboration with Black Iris Brewery here: https://blackirisbottleshop.co.uk/

Live Dates
24th August – Cambridge (w/The Grey)
25th August – Cosmic Vibration Fest, Sheffield
28th September – Riffolution Fest, Manchester
16th November – Tonehenge, Kent

Track Listing
1. Precipice (16:55)
2. No Salvation (14:38)
3. Mourning Light (14:42)
4. Invisible Agony (21:52)

Old Horn Tooth:
Chris Jones – Guitars, Vocals
Mark Davidson – Drums, Griefcase.
Ollie Isaac – Bass

Old Horn Tooth on Facebook

Old Horn Tooth on Instagram

Old Horn Tooth on Bandcamp

London Doom Collective on Facebook

London Doom Collective on Instagram

London Doom Collective on Bandcamp

Evil Noise Recordings on Facebook

Evil Noise Recordings on Instagram

Evil Noise Recordings store

Some October touring for Dutch-native cosmic explorers Temple Fang is welcome news, not the least because with eight shows they’ll probably manage to get a live release or two out of the run, whether that manifests now or at some point in the future. The four-piece will appear in Hamburg at the Sound of Liberation-backed Lazy Bones Festival and have organized the run to lead toward that, making stops in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on their way, and they’ll close out with a gig in Düsseldorf that’s sure to be a blowout as Temple Fang make ready to head home.

If you’ve never seen them, I’ll tell you from experience they make it an immersive pleasure. It might take you a minute or two to get to a place where you can kind of close your eyes and let go a little, but it’s more than worth doing so for the spiritual force of Jevin de Groot‘s guitar playing alone, never mind the slow-sweeping groove emitted by the band as a whole. Their last three releases have all been live albums — April’s Live at Krach am Bach (discussed here) followed behind Live at Freak Valley (review here) and Live at Schlacthuis, both issued in 2023 — which has made it easy to be spoiled by their textured delivery and trance-inducing, jam-based far-outitude. If you think you can hang, they make it a pleasure to do so.

Dates follow as per socials:

TEMPLE FANG TOUR OCT ’24

poster by Right On Mountain

18.10 Alte Hackerei Karlsruhe DE
19.10 Caves du Manior Martigny CH
21.10 Feierwerk München DE
23.10 Arena Vienna AT
24.10 Zauberberg Passau DE
25.10 Vortex Surfer Siegen DE
26.10 Lazy Bones Festival Hamburg DE
27.10 Pitcher Düsseldorf DE

Temple Fang:
Dennis Duijnhouwer – Bass, Vox
Jevin de Groot – Guitar, Vox
Ivy van der Veer – Guitar
Daan Wopereis – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/templefangband
https://www.instagram.com/templefang/
https://templefang.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Stickman-Records-1522369868033940/
https://www.instagram.com/stickmanrecords/
https://www.stickman-records.com/

Temple Fang, Live at Krach am Bach (2024)

I didn’t see Tony Reed (Mos Generator, Big Scenic Nowhere, much else) or Henry Vasquez (Legions of Doom, Saint Vitus, Blood of the Sun, much else) joining Pentagram coming. The guitarist and drummer, respectively, as well as bassist Scooter Haslip (also Mos Generator and sundry other adjacent projects) have signed on as the latest incarnation of the long-running and crucial Bobby Liebling-fronted doomers, replacing guitarist Matt Goldsborough, drummer “Minnesota Pete” Campbell and bassist Greg Turley, all of whom recently departed the band. I am genuinely surprised.

Interesting that what I’m not seeing below is any talk of retirement, which as I previously understood it was the endgame following the touring Pentagram have already undertaken and will continue to undertake this year, mostly in Europe. That would make this potentially the last lineup of the band, and if you know any of these guys’ work — anyone remember Reed‘s “Forever My Queen” cover? — you know it would be a hell of a way to go out. But that doesn’t seem to be what’s happening anymore.

Instead, there’s a headlining slot at Levitation Fest this Fall in Austin, forthcoming reissues (which to be fair would’ve likely happened anyway) and talk, albeit loose, of a new studio album, though I think it’s understood that the one end to the other on that, in any context, is subject to change. Whether a new LP happens, when and how, will shift the story of the band, with its many ups and downs across more than five decades. The moral of the story seems to be that at least in some manner — and that could still include continuing to record without major touring from this point forward — Pentagram are going to continue despite the fact that their retirement tour had already begun. Very Pentagram of them.

From the PR wire:

US doom metal legends PENTAGRAM reveal new lineup; first studio album in a decade and exclusive reissues announced on Heavy Psych Sounds!

The doom metal pioneers reveal a brand new lineup for their upcoming new album and tours. PENTAGRAM have recently signed to Heavy Psych Sounds for the reissue of their “Review Your Choices” and “Sub-Basement” albums as well as the long-awaited follow-up to their 2015 full-length “Curious Volume”.

A new chapter dawns on the mighty PENTAGRAM, and the modern lore unfolds with the arrival of an electrifying new lineup. Around legendary frontman and band founder Bobby Liebling comes the melodic power of guitarist Tony Reed — known for fronting Seattle rock stalwarts Mos Generator as well as producing and engineering some of the modern heavy scene’s cornerstone releases from Electric Wizard to Blues Pills — and the sheer grooves of bassist Scooter Haslip, also of Mos Generator and former Saltine. The new lineup is rounded out by scene heavyweight and internationally renowned drummer Henry Vasquez of Saint Vitus, Spirit Caravan, The Skull/Legion Of Doom and Sourvein.

Recently signed to European powerhouse Heavy Psych Sounds Records, PENTAGRAM is currently entering the studio, poised to usher in a bold era with a new album and tours that will see the band traveling to distant ends of the globe.

The band’s return to the States will be elevated by a headline performance at Levitation 2024 on November 3rd in Austin, TX. The night’s stage will be honored by a live resurrection of hometown legends The Sword.

PENTAGRAM is set to reissue the “Review Your Choices” and “Sub-Basement” albums (originally released in 1999 and 2001 via Black Widow Records) in a fully remastered version engineered by Tony Reed, with preorders starting on July 2nd via www.heavypsychsounds.com.

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

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

Pentagram, Live at Desertfest Berlin 2024

Life, man. This was my first night back in Jersey after being away for I think what ended up being nine days. Yesterday was a flight from Vegas to Providence via Baltimore, after driving from the Grand Canyon to Vegas the day before, from Mesa Verde to Grand Canyon the day before, Moab to Mesa Verde, Arches, etc., Zion to Moab and Vegas to Zion way back like a million years and a week and a half ago. The short version of the story is I was fucking exhausted. But, Freedom Hawk and The Bitchwax. In Clifton. At a brewery. It’s not like it was literally happening in my back yard, but it was as close to it as I could reasonably ask.

First heavy show at Ghost Hawk Brewing, and sold out to boot, so there’s a chance of it not being the last. Mellow vibe, dudes getting casually lager-drunk; I’ll call it relatable on demographic terms and stroke my graying beard. Food truck right there with the empanadas. I wasn’t in the door before I saw familiar faces. I’m pro-heavy rock in my beloved Garden State across a wide variety of situations, but if the Powers That Book wanted to make Ghost Hawk a stop on the circuit for bands coming through on tour now or ever, I’d call myself lucky. I neither drink alcohol nor eat cubanos at this point in my life, but the spot is pretty rad. Two bands, 7:30 start, a DJ playing cool whathaveyou in one of those turntable setups that are performative but kinda neat just the same. A fellow could get used to these things.

Freedom Hawk went on and were a couple songs in before the fuse or whatever it might’ve been blew — that whole ‘first heavy show here’ thing coming into play; bound to happen — but were back into it soon enough as the members of The Atomic Bitchwax and about 120 others looked on, surrounded by big-vat brewing machines and kegs with Ghost Hawk stickers on them, a tent outside with hightop tables and the smell of Jersey weed in the parking lot; a lovely evening on all accounts. And though they had that unexpected break, it’s not like Freedom Hawk were going to have trouble picking it up after the power came on. Too much groove to lose it so easily. And they’re all smiles on stage, having a good time, maybe a few drinks as well, and there’s no pretense and nobody’s arguing about absolutely nothing and the music started and I got a loud and clear reminder that that’s when things start to make sense. Well, loud and fuzzy anyhow.

By 10 after eight, the crowd was singing along with the riff to “Inside Out,” and that felt about right. “Indian Summer” followed, which is a signature piece for Freedom Hawk at this point, with a tense NWOBHM chug in its verse en route to an open hook that a fair but not at all exclusive swath of their work since has boasted and expanded on — the kind of tune a band writes and learns from, as they did. Catchy. Crazy catchy. Threatens metal but is a rocker all the way, representative of Freedom Hawk more broadly. And no bullshit. That was the theme for the night. Sans. Bull. Shit. It would take more time or energy than I have to convey how much I needed that. That might just be what ultimately got me to Clifton.

The semi-slowdown of “Stand Back” — I’d been listening to Brant Bjork in the car; decent fit — and “Land of the Lost” rounded out the set that had started raging with “Executioner” and “Under a Blood Red Sky.” The Bitchwax, meanwhile, kicked off with “Frankenstein” and “Hope You Die,” as they will, and went into “45” and “So Come On” directly thereafter, so yes, rock and roll was had. New or old, fast or not-quite-as-fast, The Atomic Bitchwax are a reason unto themselves why New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the union. Founding bassist/vocalist Chris Kosnik asked the crowd how many people had heard of the band; honestly I think most had. Then he said 2024 is their 30th year as a band and they tore into “Birth to the Earth.” Hell yes. What a way to announce yourself. Hi we’ve been here for three decades pardon us while we melt your face. Could only be an improvement, dudes. By all means.

Recent favorites like “Ninja” and “Coming in Hot,” “War Claw,” and so on found the apparently-been-at-it-for-30-years-almost-time-for-reissues-I-guess trio very much in their element as regards speed, and the fun they seemed to have bashing away at high velocity and volume was duly infectious as the songs came and went. Many fuck yeahs were had, from all sides. Kosnik on mic: “This one’s for all the girls…” followed by counting. “1.. 2… 6… If we get up to 10, that’s the most we’ve ever had!” Almost made it. Time for “Kiss the Sun,” the Core cover that might as well be an original by now. Let up on the throttle a bit so Garrett Sweeney’s shred feels all the more soulful, Kosnik and drummer Bob Pantella lockstep in holding the riff for the turn back to the verse and chorus, then on to the heavy boogie finish. Not unexpected, but definitely welcome.

I honestly don’t have it in me to check the balance of new vs. old in the set, let alone lay out the parameters of what counts as what, but it felt right on with where they were at last time I saw them, and “Ninja,” “Live a Little” and “Force Field” felt ace in setting up “Shitkicker” (plus a little more “Frankenstein” to cap) closing out. No bridges. No tunnels. No bullshit anywhere to be found. An evening of rare luxuries.

Back on Rt. 3 headed west to go home, I came upon the offramp for Nutley, and as I do nearly every time I pass by that exit on that road, I thought of my friend Gina Brooks, who lived in that area and is buried at a cemetery a bit down the way. She was someone deeply passionate about music, and supportive and kind to me when she really had no particular reason to be. A friend I’ve missed for over a decade now, and a chance to remember that I appreciated. She would have loved this show. I saw fireworks through the trees after I got on Rt. 80 a short time later. It was a good night.

Thanks for reading. More pics after the jump.

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German psychedelic/garage rockers Vibravoid mark their 35th anniversary as they invariably would: with a new album. We Cannot Awake will be released on Aug. 23 through Tonzonen, and it’s the latest in a flurry-rush of 2020s outings from the Düsseldorf trio, whose 2023 full-length, Edge of Tomorrow, can be streamed at the bottom of this post. There’s no audio from the new one yet, but preorders are up now and if you think they’re about to radically depart from the lysergic vehemence they’ve proffered for the last three and a half decades, cosmic and steeped in late-’60s traditionalism, well, I haven’t heard it yet, but that doesn’t strike me as particularly likely.

The band, via the PR wire, offer some perspective on their 35 years below, and you’ll find the release announcement for We Cannot Awake, including the e’er crucial preorder link, thereafter. Turn on, dig in:

Neo-Kraut/ Psychedelic Rock Outfit VIBRAVOID Announces New Album We Cannot Awake.

35 YEARS OF MAXIMUM VOID VIBRATION – About 35 years of Vibravoid.

“We were incredibly lucky that we were able to do all this as teenagers. It was this “teen anti-attitude” that no longer exists today. Kraut rock, fuzz effects, light shows, ’67 psychedelic rock and therefore real hippie culture were completely out or dead – so we thought it was “cool”. Here in Düsseldorf, kraut rock and psychedelic records, including record players, were lying around in the bulky waste, nobody wanted them anymore. That was underground. Even vinyl records were only really “cool” when nobody wanted them anymore – today it’s lame mainstream.”

Those were all unique moments back then and we were somehow always in tune with the times and were able to help shape them. Back then, we wanted to be pioneers of a new “beat and psychedelic movement”, just as a naive teenager would imagine. We really lived it all, for us there was no world after 1970… I really didn’t think it would be such a crazy trip back then. It’s all really crazy!”

– Dr. Koch, Vibravoid

Vibravoid – We Cannot Awake

+++ RELEASE DATE | 23.08.24 +++

Preorder: https://www.tonzonen.de/shop/p/vibravoid-coming-soon-

New album We Cannot Awake is the perfect soundtrack for THC legalization and Vibravoid is the essence of Düsseldorf genetics. They create musical fever dreamscapes that are stronger than LSD. We Cannot Awake is the In A Gadda Da Vida of Generation X. Vibravoid haven’t released a real longtrack for several records, but now the band is making up for this and adding a few more hits.

With Get To You, Vibravoid deliver the psychedelic earworm for every large-space disco. Grooving pop music with hymnic hooks meets the effects wall of the 1960s. The ideal music for any highway.

The band’s love of The Byrds is obvious from tracks like Nothing Is Wrong or A Comment On The Current Times – but the combination with Düsseldorf’s “Motorik Sound” is a completely new level on which psychedelic music can work. The End Of The Game still shows Vibravoid as the German masters of the fuzz effect. Ultra psychedelic guitar sounds and echo effects create a maelstrom that pulls the listener into the spell of the complex rhythm. Vibravoid are not stingy with creative ideas, but still shake themselves out of their sleeves after 35!

Side A closes with On Empty Streets and paints a dystopian picture, yet Vibravoid manage to crank up the pop factor so high that the riffs almost burn themselves into your consciousness… expanding it. All the sound effects are perfectly embedded, you hardly notice that this is actually highly experimental music in the sense of the Düsseldorf school.

We Cannot Awake completely fills side B with over 20 minutes. Musically, the listener is in for a very special experience. Vibravoid fuse their Düsseldorf sound with the year 2024 at the highest level. We Cannot Awake is a journey into the abysses of human existence and other depths of the outer cosmos. Driving beats and interstellar frequencies channel the primal fear of the unknown, because this music is dangerous. Sonic carpets of strychnine and psylocibin. Magical mushrooms. Time is running out. We cannot awaken!

Pre-save the album right here: https://bfan.link/we-cannot-awake

Tracklist
1. Get To You
2. Nothing Is Wrong
3. The End Of The Game
4. A Comment Of The Current Times
5. On Empty Streets
6. We Cannot Awake

https://facebook.com/vibravoidofficial
https://vibravoidofficial.bandcamp.com/
https://youtube.com/@VibravoidOfficial
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5qXFseejEDd3JvZqap38os?si=p80o7SP4ReKjHnvYIl9YPw

https://www.facebook.com/Tonzonen/
https://www.instagram.com/tonzonenrecords/
https://www.tonzonen.de

Vibravoid, Edge of Tomorrow (2023)

The part of the new Mountain of Misery single that really hits me is right around the midpoint, circa four and a half minutes in, where the steady roll that multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Kamil Ziółkowski (also Spaceslug, Palm Desert, and so on) has built up kind of starts to let itself come apart a bit. It’s the transition to a stretch of not-quite-minimal atmospherics, and of course “Valley of Light” has a crash-in waiting on the other side with due heft behind it, but that moment where Ziółkowski, as a full band might, is able to hone an organic band-in-room feel on his own, to me emphasizes a strength in both the production and writing processes. Might’ve just been one of those things that happened as the recording was underway, but it’s in there, it sounds natural, and the track is stronger for it.

Perhaps so much the better, then, that “Valley of Light” is featured on the preorders-up LP edition of Mountain of Misery‘s earlier-2024 sophomore full-length, The Land (review here). It seems to have been recorded after the album, which makes it the latest work from Ziółkowski‘s solo outfit, and all the more encouraging for the sense of progression accompanying its fluidity and dreamy/dreary melody.

Single and album stream at the bottom of the post. Info below comes from Bandcamp:

Here is The “Valley Of Lights”, the heaviest and the longest song of Mountain Of Misery. Hope you enjoy it.

This song is an addition and the last track to the vinyl version of THE LAND album. Pre-order for “The Land/Valley Of Light” (circa 46 minutes of music) is out now: https://mountainofmisery.bandcamp.com/merch

VINYL “THE LAND/VALLEY OF LIGHTS” PRE-ORDER in 2 colors (White & Transparent Pink) available at the merch site and at THE LAND site album.
Everyone who purchases Vinyl THE LAND will receive a free code to download “Valley Of Light” song via e-mail.

released June 28, 2024

Recorded by Kamil Ziółkowski at Electric Witch Mountain Recordings (March/June 2024)
Mixed & Mastered by Haldor Grunberg (Satanic Audio)
Music & Lyrics by Mountain Of Misery
Cover photo by Joshue Earle

https://www.facebook.com/p/Mountain-Of-Misery-61553104355582/
https://mountainofmisery.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552988139323

Mountain of Misery, “Valley of Light”

Mountain of Misery, The Land