I don’t know what day it is so don’t ask me, but on Jan. 22, Wisconsin burl-rocking duo Here you can buy try here written within high academic standards. The Right Place to Order Essay Online Some students find writing essays easy and enjoyable, while other students torture themselves to write even one single sentence. To get a good grade for the assignment, the student needs to fulfill a great list of requirements: follow accepted formatting standards, show brilliant 20 Watt Tombstone — not to be confused with Dna Replication Essay from experienced writers. Now students from all over the globe can buy thesis online. It has never been that easy. And this is a brilliant chance for most students to stop having sleepless and stressful nights and finally enjoy their free time. A thesis paper is one of the core assignments while study, and because of it, it cannot be written poorly. Writing requires some 40 Watt Sun, Best Thesis Papers for Sale for Students. One of the key things that make EduBirdie.com a perfect place to http://www.svrz.ch/uploads/tx_ttnews/?160 is not the quality of thesis help or even not the professionalism of our writers. It is a huge list of services that we can provide to you! While many of our competitors are usually dealing only with a few subjects or Sixty Watt Shaman and/or whoever might dare to shine so brightly as 80 or 100 watts — will release their new two-songer covers EP, PCARRD Youtube Essay Writing PROGRAM The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) thesis Year of the Jackalope. Is a jackalope a totally ridiculous made-up hybrid rabbit/antelope creature the mere mention of which might cause one to roll eyes or think of Bob Saget on old episodes of America’s Funniest Home Videos in the early ’90s? Yes. But one might easily say the same of the beast that was 2020, when these tracks were recorded, so fair’s fair. “Such is life,” as someone once told me.

Now then. The two-piece’s two-songer finds guitarist/vocalist  Reverse outlining helps you to achieve a greater level of objectivity by This may involve a back-and-forth between Mfa Programs Creative Writing Rankings and body Tom Jordan and drummer  If need be, they replace the content with fresh content. This allows you to enjoy plagiarism-free Telstra Business Mobile Plan. The best part about our essay help service is that it allows you to customize the support as per your need. Our essay helpers also provide assistance with topic selection, research work, formatting, citation and referencing, and lot more. You are always welcome to avail our complete essay assistance online. Mitch Ostrowski aligning themselves swiftly with that which is whiskey-soaked and riff-driven, a Southern heavy touch typifying the seven-minute stretch of the outing’s two covers, one of Professional PhD http://www.dart1.net/?homework-help-online-free-chat UK ? come to us and receive your perfect PhD research proposal in a good time for you to go through it as well, ZZ Top‘s “Just Got Paid” and one of country artist Buy Buy Essays Online Canada online from our Essay Writing Service: Discounts, Bonus, Affordable, 100% Original, Nil-plagiarized, Term paper, Reports Chris Stapleton‘s “Midnight Train to Memphis.” Not quite new ground for the pair, who offered heavy blues stylings on their 2016 split with  https://wenxiaow.com/3446.html - Why worry about the essay? order the required help on the website If you want to find out how to compose a top-notch Left Lane Cruiser and debuted in 2014 with  My Thesis Help Is the Eventual Solution to Your Entire Thesis Glitches, We Ensure You Quality Proven http://www.panaceo.de/business-financial-planning-process/ Globally . With a qualified range of writers in different academic disciplines, we have skilled ourselves to provide groundbreaking thesis writing service to help students of Undergraduate, Graduate, Masters, and Ph.D. level. Wisco Disco, which boasted no shortage of slide-fueled weighted twang in “Pa Shot Ma” and the toying-with-country-convention “Shitty Girlfriend.” But while they’re in familiar-enough-for-them stylistic territory, they nonetheless accomplish the task before them with a satisfying heft and a rawer vibe that makes “Just Got Paid” and “Midnight Train to Memphis” sound all the more like songs  recommended you read at affordable rates and secure your degree with good grades, that too, in just 2 weeks, Guaranteed! We know the reasons why you look to buy dissertation online. I won't talk big here. What I will talk is sensible. We believe in each student's ability and back them for all the efforts they make to write their dissertation. However, that doesn't mean every student can manage to 20 Watt Tombstone enjoy jamming on together and decided to put to tape and roll out to let people already following them know they still exist in a world without shows and maybe win a few new ears in the process. Pretense need not apply.

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Whatever  20 Watt Tombstone‘s plans were for last year and whatever they might be going into this year, let’s assume they’ve been fairly well jackaloped, but the EP is seven minutes of listening to a band play songs they dig and whatever the circumstances that made it happen, that’s never something to complain about. You can hear “Midnight Train to Mmphis” from Year of the Jackalope below, followed by copious PR wire info on the band.

Please enjoy:

On the A-side of this record comes a feel-good rocker – the working man’s rock of ZZ Top with their underrated “Just Got Paid”. The effortless slide guitar licks carry the perfect level of twang – while everything has undoubtedly been recorded live as 20 Watt Tombstone’s previous releases, they’ve cleaned up their act and it all sounds much crisper. Mitch Ostrowski’s drumming is no slack either, as he bangs down hard on his kit in perfect synchronicity.

The flipside of the record, however, takes a darker turn; here has a thundering version of “Midnight Train to Memphis” by Chris Stapleton. The name may not mean much outside of Southern rock and Americana circles, but his influence as a songwriter reaches widely into pop, country, and rock n’ roll. As such it’s only fitting to pay tribute to a man who has done so much for music. And tribute is paid – there is a wonderful gritty tone from the voice of the tower that is Tom Jordan, as he stretches out the chorus lines detailing a prisoner’s life.

And that’s all, folks. A small teaser of 20 Watt Tombstone’s heaviness, more focused on the blues side than the death side this time. If it is indeed the Year of the Jackalope and its scary face, then it is with a mixture of trepidation and excitement that we await for further material to emerge. Long live Wisco Disco!

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CB3 will release Aeons Live Session this Friday, Jan. 15, on The Sign Records. And first of all, what you see is what you get. Aeons Live Session. Well, okay. So parse it out. Burgeoning Swedish instrumentalists put out a full-length called Aeons (review here) last year, so this would pretty clearly be a recording of them playing songs from it live. And since it’s a ‘session’ instead of an ‘at’ or ‘in’ kind of live record, it’s clearly live in a studio setting. So there you go. It was Signalverket, in Malmö. Unable of course to play shows to support their LP released by The Sign Records, the trio of guitarist Charlotta Andersson — who, if we’re playing guessing games, one might wager is a Rush fan — bassist Pelle Lindsjö and drummer Natanael Salomonsson did what a lot of bands at various stages in their careers have done and recorded themselves playing live. There are videos to accompany and with Aeons Live Session, CB3 get a chance to air out three of the total five songs from the album in “Acid Haze” (12:15), “Sonic Blaze” (8:11) and “Warrior Queen” (7:36) for a total set of about 28 minutes.

But hold on. Wasn’t Aeons recorded live? Yeah, it was. I raised the issue when Aeons Live Session was announced and Salomonsson was kind enough to offer a bit of an explanation: “Regarding the recording live-part, you are correct that both were recorded live. A more apt description for this might have been ‘concert-form’ rather then live album, but it is what it is. The music and songs keep evolving as we play them and we like to consider each recording more of as a timestamp on where we are at the moment.”

He’s not wrong and he’s not exaggerating. I wouldn’t know, never having been so fortunate as to see the band — who are based in Malmö — live, but the songs are reshaped as they’re played here compared to what they were less than a year ago. “Acid Haze,” which is both opener and longest track (immediate points) becomes a side-A-consuming jam, its midsection stretched with an Andersson-led effects freakout that morphs from a likewise exploratory solo section. Listening to the ensuing shred, one is put in mind of Earthless, but there’s a progressive undercurrent as well in the use of effects from Andersson and Lindsjö, and that comes across as well in “Sonic Blaze” as the various melodic flourishes hint toward what vocals might do in those places, not quite forming words but setting the listener’s brain to the task of hearing them nonetheless.

And with a solid weight of distortion behind them, “Acid Haze” and “Sonic Blaze” — there’s something satisfying about that rhyme; put them together and you actually have a pretty apt description of CB3‘s sound and style; indeed they’re all about acid haze in terms of their heavy psychedelic and sonic blaze in terms of their ability to scorch with various effects and Andersson‘s lead work — offer no shortage of depth for listener immersion. But parts are also maintained to make the songs recognizable, such as the emergent chug in the second half of “Sonic Blaze” or the monolithic plod as “Acid Haze” returns from its jammier stretch.

Of the three inclusions, “Warrior Queen” is the closest to how it appeared on Aeons proper, but the organ-style melodic effects still manage to shimmer through its earlier heavier parts and the kind of manic rush as it moves toward its midpoint — a proggy freneticism that “Sonic Blaze” also tapped, suitably enough — and there are still spaces being explored that the original dared not tread, the band seemingly bolder in this live show-esque context, though it could also be a case of the rougher sound generally adding edge to their style. One way or the other, it works in the songs’ favor.

Each of CB3‘s to-date three studio offerings — Aeons, 2018’s From Nothing to Eternity (discussed here) and 2015’s CB3 — has had a companion live release. So in a way, Aeons Live Session is right on form, but it still manages to reveal a different side of the band, and more importantly, it demonstrates their ongoing evolution as players and as a unit. I would not be at all surprised if their next full-length pushed even further into prog-psych adventures, since what CB3 show most of all with Aeons Live Session is that it isn’t just the songs themselves that grow and change, but the chemistry of the band as well.

More PR wire/pressing info follows the stream of Aeons Live Session below.

Please enjoy:

CB3 released their second studio album Aeons in February 2020, right before the pandemic hit. The essence of the band is the live concert experience; every song becomes different and new, solos are improvised, and the intensity is ever-shifting. With limited opportunities for gigs, the band decided to capture the live experience on record, so that fans can experience the music the way it’s meant to be heard.

Aeons Live Sessions will be available on Youtube, streaming platforms, and as a limited edition 12” vinyl. Recorded live at Signalverket in Malmö, the tracks “Sonic Blaze,”, “Acid Haze,” and “Warrior Queen” add up to almost half an hour of intoxicating, instrumental jamming. Close your eyes, set your mind free, and drift away into the musical universe of CB3!

Aeons Live sessions will be released January 15 on The Sign Records on digital and 12? vinyl format. The physical release is limited to 300 copies.

CB3 are:
Charlotta Andersson – Electric Guitar
Pelle Lindsjö – Electric Bass
Natanael Salomonsson – Drums

CB3, “Sonic Blaze” from Aeons Live Session

CB3, Aeons (2020)

CB3 website

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CB3 on Instagram

CB3 on Bandcamp

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The Sign Records website

[Click play above to stream Kabbalah’s The Omen in its entirety. Album is out Jan. 15 on Rebel Waves Records.]

Though they’ve been brewing potent etherealities in the Kingdom of Navarre for the better part of a decade, it was not until 2017 that Spanish trio Kabbalah made their full-length debut with Spectral Ascent. That album, released through Twin Earth Records, solidified the first-name-only — Alba on vocals and guitar, Marga on bass, Carmen on drums — three-piece’s approach around classic proto-heavy and cult rock, not quite bent as closely to pop as Ghost, but ready and able with a waiting supply of hooks for those willing to be indoctrinated. The Omen is the follow-up. Its eight tracks arrive through Ripple imprint Rebel Waves Records without pretense — which is no small feat considering the inherent theatricality of the witchy, be-robbed aesthetic — and run a tight-knit 29 minutes, showcasing growth in melody and construction generally while digging further into a classic-minded near-doom style of heavy rock, most typified by the ’70s tapes of Pentagram but by no means exclusive to that or strictly vintage in sound.

Unlike the first LP, there is no intro on The Omen, which begins with the creeper riff of your fuzzy Halloween daydreams, set to an immediately accessible pace that tells you plenty but still only a piece of what you need to know about the record that ensues. At 3:57, lead cut “Stigmatized” is second in length only to closer “Liturgy,” which is the only song here over four minutes long. Kabbalah are traditionalists in structure, and though their cultish take draws on the heavy ’70s as it almost invariably would, their tones are not purely vintage and particularly the manner in which vocal melodies/harmonies are layered is a giveaway of their modernity. Not that they’re trying to hide it. Rather, these melodies, beginning in “Stigmatized” but perhaps even more so in the catchier second track “Ceibas,” become a crucial aspect of the band’s approach. I don’t know if it’s only Alba singing or if Marga or Carmen add their voices, but as The Omen begins to unfold, the vocals help set the atmosphere no less than any of the other instruments being played, even the church organ that takes hold as the first track fades out ahead of the grungy-strummed start of the second.

So if the first song establishes the mood and the second reaffirms the trio’s penchant for hookmaking, its chanting final chorus likewise peppered with organ lines and vocal bounce, then the subsequent “Night Comes Near” brings a greater sense of complexity in progression and arrangement, vocal parts woven over each other in a pace that’s deceptive only for how unhurried it actually is while sounding more intense and busier than the previous two songs. As side A finishes with “The Ritual,” the fuzz thickens, the bell ride tolls your march, and the flow resimplifies without giving up the impression of a proggy undertone. The guitar solo is short but effective and sets a bed for the vocals to rejoin the apex of the song in a chorus return, bringing to light the sheer efficiency of Kabbalah‘s work here. It’s not that they’re restrained in some way, just that they’ve come to a place of knowing what they want these songs to do — or sounding that way, anyhow — and making them do that. Lessons understood from prior experience; this is why it can take a band five years to put out a debut album and several more for a follow-up. Because there’s genuine growth taking place.

“Lamentations” begins side B with the bulk of its first minute dedicated to a gradually unfolding riff, but when the drums kick in, they’re double-timed on the hi-hat to bring some feeling of urgency, even if the following first verse oozes out smoothly in dynamic, harmonized fashion. A play on structure, “Lamentations” doesn’t have a chorus as such, but it accomplishes what it sets out to do in leading off the second half of the record with a purpose that mirrors that of “Stigmatized” at the outset. It’s not quite Kabbalah looking to knock their listener off balance — which they never really do — but hinting that the whole story of The Omen hasn’t yet been told. Distant echoes in the verses “Labyrinth” and a more forward chorus would seem to confirm this, making the track a highlight in the process as it willfully marches into highlight bass tone at its pulled-apart finish. Feedback. Darker atmospherics. Still, Kabbalah aren’t offering any drama that feels unearned by the music itself, and in traditional LP form, the penultimate “Duna” returns the album to ground ahead of the aforementioned finale in “Liturgy.”

In another context one might call “Duna” a kind of heavy post-rock, but after its first minute, a weightier riff serves as a kind of instrumental chorus and offsets the garage doom of the verse before they make the interesting turn of finishing the track without a final return to that same verse. It’s too short to really be a jam, but Alba‘s guitar is tasked with leading the outward movement of “Duna,” which it does ably, bringing the song to a close ahead of the actual march rhythm that begins “Liturgy” and the guitar, bass and drums soon join. More spacious in the guitar and vocals initially, “Liturgy” does have a kind of chanting verse, but it never quite gives up that beginning rhythm, which of course doubles as an ending for the record after the closing solo finishes. Even there, Kabbalah‘s melodic intent holds firm and is the essential component.

It’s not, however, the only one to which due attention has been paid, and the recording — the production style — of The Omen helps too in bringing a vitality that underscores the songwriting shown throughout. Kabbalah emerge somewhat out of place and out of time, but no more than they would seem to want to be, and there is no point at which their devotionalism overwhelms their craft. A burgeoning individuality holds further promise for growth, but one would be remiss not to note the confidence and righteous poise with which this material is — still organically — delivered.

Kabbalah, “Ceibas” official video

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Hey, look who’s got 50 episodes of his silly little show? Crazy, right? I’ll be honest, I was genuinely surprised when it lasted five. I expected and still kind of expect to get an email or a phone call from Program Director Brian Turner (also of WFMU fame; remind me to tell you sometime how badly I continue to dream of DJing on that station) or CEO Tyler Lenane saying, “Yeah, sorry but this just isn’t working for us.” I wouldn’t even be able to blame them. I play some pretty weird, not-at-all-metal shit for a station that nowadays calls itself Gimme Metal instead of Gimme Radio.

It goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway how deeply I appreciate Gimme giving me the outlet that the show has become. Heartfelt thanks to Lenane and Turner and to the regular crew of listeners who check in via the Gimme chat during the show. I know not everybody’s into everything that gets played (I mean, except me, ha) but the openness and willingness to try new things is humbling.

This stuff was all culled from the recent Quarterly Review. As I explain in the lone voice break, doing the show is enough celebration for me, so that’s how I wanted to mark 50 episodes.

Thanks for listening and/or reading. New art (still) coming soon.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at http://gimmemetal.com

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 01.08.20

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Jan. 22 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

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The ethic is laid forth immediately: skate fast, die hard. Such is the title and repeated opening lyric of the first track on Snow‘s debut album, Fast ‘n’ Heavy Loud ‘n’ Slow, and over the next two minutes or so, the quarantine-era project headed by Rodrigo Neves with Rodrigo Borba and Andrez Machado elbow their message into the consciousness in a fashion that’s likewise catchy and blown out. In a time of limited movement due to pandemic lockdowns, it’s not hard to see what might’ve been the motivation behind Neves getting the band “together” — in the socially-distant sense, anyhow — in that the eight-track release runs a brash and bruised 24 minutes and purposefully aligns itself with a heavily distorted skate punk attitude. Though by no means emotionally driven in surface theme, there’s a palpable sense of release across the board.

That’s true in the post-early-C.O.C. chug and scorched lead work of “Prensado,” the pick-slide-into-full-sprint of “Perfect Lies,” the knuckledragging lumber of “Nowhere Fast” and the feedback wielded so capably in the crunch of “Paradoxical Conflicts.” Tracks are blown out and laden with intent, and because of the latter, I’m not willing to simply write this off as a case of fuckall and leave it at that. “Escape From Brasil,” the longest cut at 3:44 (the version on Bandcamp is 5:11, and also the running order is different), brings a deceptive depth of mix with guitars ringing behind the central stomp like a siren unless I’m hearing things and in that song and the subsequent “Good Vibez From Hell” there are undertones of almost proto-metal, the latter coming through in its back end with the album’s slowest crawl as though to make sure all sides of the title were duly represented before “Crying Lies” rounds out with one more sub-three-minute primitive blast.

All of Snow‘s social media aligns around the ID ‘snow.hates.you,’ which is kind of a downer sentiment, but fair enough. In addition to living up to the four descriptors of their debut album in the music, I guess they’re also willing to make the URL real, since the track that’s supposed to be a premiere below has been on Bandcamp already for I don’t know how long. Does it matter? Not really. This is the third single from the record and they’ve got a stream booked for the full LP, so at best it’s a stopgap I pushed for because I wanted something cool to accompany a few words about the album coming out and I dug the sound. If anyone feels like calling it out that the song’s already out there, you earn a hearty shrug from me. I ain’t in charge of everything.

But the record’s right on and that’s what matters. And you can hear “Prensado” in the player below, and I’ve included the Bandcamp stream for the other tracks as well. Whole thing’s due out Jan. 20.

Enjoy:

Snow, “Prensado” official track premiere

SNOW will release the heavy and energic debut album “Fast N´Heavy Loud N´Slow” on January,20 ; listen “Prensado”

On the next 20th of January, the project SNOW will release their first studio album. “Fast N´Heavy Loud N´Slow” brings eight tracks of a sound divided between the speed and the frenetic weight of Hardcore and Skate Punk, and the slow and dense slowdown of tempo of Stoner and a little Sludge, in just over half an hour of release.

A project headed by Rodrigo Neves (from the band Tigersharks) and recorded / performed during the quarantine, SNOW also has the participation of Andrez Machado and Rodrigo Borba, each one contributing with a part of the sound recorded at distance. The influences according to Rodrigo range from Black Flag to Eyehategod, and also include names like Revolution Mother, Nebula and The Shrine. A perfect soundtrack for a Skate ride packed with lots of smoke.

“Fast N´Heavy Loud N´Slow” will be available on the main digital platforms on January, 20.

TRACKLIST:
SNOW – “Fast N´Heavy Loud N´Slow” (2021)
1. Skate Fast Die Hard
2. Prensado
3. Perfect Lies
4. Nowhere Fast
5. Paradoxical Conflicts
6. Escape From Brasil
7. Good Vibez From Hell
8. Crying Lies

Snow is:
Guitars, Drums, Vocals – Rodrigo “Rod“ Neves
Lead Guitar – Andrez Machado
Bass – Rodrigo Borba

Snow, Fast ‘n’ Heavy Loud ‘n’ Slow (2021)

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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based heavy rockers Jakethehawk will release their third album, Hinterlands, on Feb. 19 as their first offering through Ripple Music. It is the follow-up to 2018’s To Build a Fire (discussed here) and pushes outward into new ranges of progressive melody driven both by airy guitar effects for a post-rock vibe and the vocals of guitarist/keyboardist John Huxley — joined by guitarist Josh Emery and bassist Justin Lober on vocals here and there throughout, while Jordan Lober rounds out the four-piece on drums — across six songs and a dynamic 38 minutes that build on influences from the likes of The Ocean, Opeth and maybe even Between the Buried and Me as much as Elder or any number of their acolyte heavy-made-prog outfits.

Most of all what Jakethehawk do throughout Hinterlands is distinguish themselves. Each track is between five and a half — the shortest is the penultimate “Uncanny Valley” at 5:31 — and about seven minutes long, but how that time is used varies widely and creates an full-album immersion that speaks to the root intent of the band. That is, Hinterlands should be taken as a whole, or at very least as its two three-song halves on an LP. In any case, the overarching flow is established early in “Counting” as the carefully controlled rhythm brings to mind a patience of songwriting that resists the urge to fully break out and run, even at its max-weight apex in the second half.

Instead, it’s the subsequent “Ochre and Umber” that starts off at a sprint, but even that’s momentary, as the band instead turns to a drift and floating progression as setup for the central riff that emerges complemented/contrasted by acoustic strum in the verse. Hooky and revealing of the band’s metalloprog leanings, “Ochre and Umber” is backed by “Interzone Mantra,” which is fuzzed, stretched, intense and patient all at the same time, a consuming highlight for a record that’s already shown marked grace and only continues to do so throughout side B, as “Still Life” (lest we forget Opeth) leans more toward the acoustics in longer subdued stretches before unveiling its full doomly march.

Somewhere between weighted prog and heavy post-rock, Jakethehawk stand out because of their underlying punk influence without being at all punk. As the bass rumbles in “Uncanny Valley” and the guitars once more embrace a wider breadth intertwined with acoustics, the atmosphere is central in a way that most heavy rock doesn’t dare toward, while keeping a sense of not just continuity with the material surrounding, but a point of arrival at the album’s crescendo, which it might be were it not for “June” at the end crashing in with its initial roll, the opening riff familiar but hard to pick out of a half-remembered ether as the band twist it into their own and proceed to summarize the blend of craft and mood they’ve harnessed all along throughout Hinterlands, culminating in a significant round of pummel and shouts before rumbling to the album’s finish.

Jakethehawk were announced as signing to Ripple last September as part of a cohort that includes Thunder Horse, Starified and Appalooza. As records have started to arrive from this set, they each bring something new to the label’s aesthetic, and Jakethehawk‘s penchant for heavy and progressive melody does likewise. Parts may ring recognizable, but they’re no one here so much as themselves.

“June” is premiering below, followed by the album preorder link and more info from the PR wire.

Please enjoy:

Album preorder: https://ripplemusic.bigcartel.com/products?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search=jakethehawk

Formed in 2016, Jakethehawk has always sought to synthesize the classic, riff-centric sound of proto-metal’s pioneers with the textures of psychedelic rock and progressive rock. Additionally, heavy influence is drawn from the band’s home turf… both from the the lush, wooded river valley and from the rich tradition of folk music that still blossoms here. Really, it would be disingenuous for a band from this place to call themselves “desert rock”… much as the landscape and the culture shaped the music of the Palm Desert scene in the early 90’s, so too does Jakethehawk embrace the influence from their homeland. The band embrace their self-given, oxymoronic moniker, “Appalachian Desert Rock” because, they feel it sums these things up… but more importantly than that.. they like it.

2020 sees core members Huxley, Lober and Lober adding guitarist and “sometimes vocalist” Josh Emery to the band as a permanent member to expand their sonic palette in both a live and studio setting.

Jakethehawk is:
John Huxley (Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards)
Jordan Lober (Drums)
Justin Lober (Bass, Vocals)
Josh Emery (Guitar, Vocals)

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Jakethehawk on Instagram

Jakethehawk on Bandcamp

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Ripple Music website

I was kicking around the idea of not doing a year-end list for 2020. Honestly, between this episode of The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal and the last one, that pretty much covers my picks, and who the hell cares about what order they’re in? It’s December and everyone and their brother has a list out. Do we really need another one? I’m doing a Quarterly Review right now, covering more music. To me, that seems like a more righteous cause.

Of course, I’ll probably end up doing a list anyway next week, but in the meantime, if you’re looking for a soundtrack to your in-quarantine holiday experience, the second half of the ‘Some of the Best of 2020’ spectacular should do well in getting you through the evening. I’m to understand we’ll be breaking travel protocols myself, so if I get the plague that is even as we speak ravaging my homeland, at least I will have deserved it. Firelung and whatnot.

Thanks for listening and reading. New art coming soon.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at http://gimmemetal.com

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 12.25.20

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Jan. 8 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

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Guided by multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Elliott Miskovicz, Portland, Oregon’s A Stick and a Stone will release Versatile on Jan. 15 through Anima Recordings with vinyl reportedly to follow the tape/DL edition via Blast First Petite. Also stylized all-lowercase — versatile — it is the fourth full-length from Miskovicz and various assembled company, and if you’d like a quick lesson in urgency of expression, I’ll direct you to the quote below wherein Miskovicz describes the process of playing album opener “Husband of Wind” (also premiering below) live. Consider hitting a bass drum with one hand and playing organ with the other while singing in harmony with someone also playing viola. Rhythm, melody and purpose collide in this way all throughout Versatile, across 11 songs and 47 minutes exploring themes of love, nature, queer experience, and identity in songs striking in their human presence and ethereal atmospheres alike.

From the tense unfolding of “Husband of Wind,” “Horsetail” finds lighter resonance in its second half melody while cello adds Americana severity to “Monster Men” and “Hunter” makes a background drone from what sounds like the howling of wolves. The narrative of Miskovicz as trans living off-grid in rural (presumably) Oregon is powerful in terms of both escape and confrontation, but there is an engagement with totality the comes through in the breadth of arrangements on Versatile even as the record stays unified and in no small part defined by Miskovicz‘s vocals. The relative minimalism in the first half of “Meridians,” for example, uses open space as effectively as “Husband of Wind” casts its wash of melody, and that makes the wrenching second half of the later track all the more agonized and jarring, which it’s every bit intended to be.

Marimba percussion adds a counterpoint to more cello in the centerpiece “Timelapse” as Miskovicz asks, “What makes you so different from the red blooded ones?” in gaunt, throaty fashion, but “Timelapse” finishes on a gentler note with solo vocal. That brings about the 6:18 “Languages Unspoken,” the longest cut on Versatile, with distorted pedal harp and wood flute amid harmonized voices, backing drone, what seems to be a manipulated sample of a siren or something, and an almost scratchy melody line later that might be kalimba and might not — ultimately I suppose what matters more is it’s gorgeous.

While we’re talking about what matters, Miskovicz, who is by no means alone throughout Versatile despite the sometimes solitary feel in the songs themselves, does not simply use these varied arrangements for niche-hunting. Four albums into A Stick and a Stone‘s tenure, this is not I’m-going-to-put-a-wood-flute-on-my-record-and-then-I’ll-sound-like-me novelty, and it’s not spaghetti-at-wall experimentalism either. The abiding notion here is purpose, and while each piece throughout Versatile might seem to bring another element or side of the delivery, there’s a reason these things are there, and they serve the songs throughout, even unto the 82-second guitar-and-voice interlude “Oslo in Snow” and the taped nighttime-crickets and a pitch-shifted alouatta sounding like dog barks that back the subsequent “Heart of a Whale,” viola, violin and layers of harmonized vocals emerging like ghosts en route to the penultimate “Sullivan,” a somewhat back to ground emotive, stately piece on which one can hear what might’ve made Miskovicz approach Amber Asylum‘s Kris Force for mastering.

That leaves “Homewrecker” to close out with lever harp and a surge of threat that is mirrored by strings and shouts in the midsection of its brief run, the melody building behind and taking over to slowly fade out as the last notes are struck. Beautiful, sad, immersive, challenging — Versatile, sure enough, is all of these things, and it still finds its core in Miskovicz‘s performance throughout as the compositional center around which the songs are collaboratively built.

It’s the nature of a release working in this way that no single song will really be able to sum it up, but in terms of ambience and melodic reach the opener seems a fitting enough place to start. Accordingly, you’ll find the premiere of “Husband of Wind” below — note the contradiction in opening with “Husband of Wind” and ending with “Homewrecker” — followed by the aforementioned quote from Miskovicz and more background from the PR wire.

Please enjoy:

Elliott Miskovicz on “Husband of Wind”:

“As a song about the element of air, I really wanted to record ‘Husband of Wind’ on the pump organ, an instrument that really breathes with its whole body. After searching for almost a year, I finally found a church that would let me record on theirs with no one around. I wrote this song during a time when I was dealing with relentless panic attacks, and when becoming more conscious of breathing was a constant process. This song is one of the most challenging to play on tour, because I play organ with one hand and bass drum with the other while singing harmonies with Billy Ray. Meanwhile, Billy Ray sings the vocal harmony while simultaneously playing their viola part which harmonizes with Myles and Stelleaux’s string parts. In this recorded version, I appreciate how much fuller David’s drumming sounds, along with the deep undertones of the pump organ.”

Formed in 2007 by transgender vocalist/composer Elliott Miskovicz, A Stick And A Stone crafts dark, minimalist, choral-ridden song-spells laced with ambient field recordings and poetic imagery. After a decade of Miskovicz touring the underground circuit as a solo artist while recording with a steady flow of guest musicians, A Stick And A Stone expanded in 2015 to include core collaborators Billy Ray Boyer (Aradia), Stella Peach (Sweeping Exits), Myles Donovan (Disemballerina), and Sei Harris (Mind Parade). Performing as an openly trans and disabled artist, Miskovicz’s work sheds light on the unseen and unheard, calling out to mysterious forces with vital inquiries into surviving and restoring our often fractured world.

Versatile, the upcoming fourth album by A Stick And A Stone, explores the versatility of queer love with songs for friends and freedom fighters, woodlands and waterways, trans ancestors and survivors. Diverging from the heavy doom-shaded opus of their previous release, Versatile is a vivid experimental album home-recorded in remote forested hideouts. While the thread of A Stick And A Stone’s lush, ethereal vocals and minor-key fervency endures, off-kilter compositions of harp, layered strings, pump organ, found sounds, and crystal glass breathe new organic life into the band’s distinctive sound.

Written after Miskovicz’s relocation to living off-grid in the woods after a lifetime in the dense Philadelphia area, these 11 songs follow the journey of the sacrifices we make in the name of solace. When multiple health conditions began exacerbating in urban environments, it became imminently necessary for him to relocate to quieter landscapes. Although rural life was not always easy as a transgender gay male, his songwriting there evolved from a tool for coping with chaos into an expression of reverence for the ecosystems surrounding him.

Mastered by Kris Force of Amber Asylum, with evocative cover art by renowned queer metal artist Stephen Wilson, Versatile comes January 15th on cassette and digitally via Anima Recordings. Blast First Petite (UK) will issue the vinyls when the peak of the plague passes, and everything becomes viable again.

Album Credits:
Elliott Miskovicz – Vocals, Composition, Pump Organ, Piano, Marimba, Kalimba, Classical Guitar, Wood Flute, Percussive Branches, Bass Drum, Found Sound Excavation, Home Recording, Production.

Billy Ray Boyer – Viola
Stelleaux Peach – Violin, Cello
Myles Donovan – Viola, Lever Harp, Crystal Glass
Sei Harris – Cello
Darian Scatton – Pedal Harp, Harp Recording
David Fylstra – Mixing, Tape Manipulation, Percussion, Percussion Recording
Kris Force – Mastering
Stephen Wilson: Cover Art

Photo by Yaara Valey, Tender Heart Productions.

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