Posted in Features on January 8th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
This was a fun one to watch. Yeah, they’re all fun, but as it started to unfold, there were really five records that could’ve run away with it. Then of course, four, then three, two and here we are. I left the poll open a couple extra days, I don’t know, because it seemed like the thing to do? I’ve definitely run it longer, but someone did email — today, after it closed, of course — to tell me it was lame that it was still open. Fair enough, internet.
Thank you to everyone who took part in this poll (even that guy? especially that guy.), and maybe shared the link or spread the word in some way. I pushed this poll less than I have in years past, in part because I hate being on social media any longer than I have to or obsessively inevitably am anyway, and in part because I was busy, but as enjoyable as I think the poll is — it’s always a favorite of the year for me, honestly — I’m pretty turned off at this point by the state of the ‘internet persona’ and have no desire whatsoever to project otherwise about myself. The hi-now-I’m-a-brand thing holds zero appeal for me at this point in my life. Happy to grab band news and go back to perusing who’s selling vintage strategy guides for SNES games, thanks. I’m not trying to sell anything here, and if I was, it would be myself least of all.
Anyhoozle, if you like heavy rock and roll, sit tight because there’s a fair bit of it here. As always with the poll, there are two lists, amd now is where I cut and paste the part about how the weighted results work:
You submit your list of up to 20 favorites. Anything from the start of 2020 to the finish is eligible. There are two lists, one of the raw votes, and one in which a 1-4 ranking is worth five points, 5-8 worth four, 9-12 worth three, 13-16 worth two and 17-20 worth one.
Everybody got it? Me neither, and it’s been years. Onward, to lists! And death!
Top 20 of 2024 — Weighted Results
1. Slomosa, Tundra Rock (404 points)
2. Greenleaf, The Head and the Habit (360)
3. Lowrider & Elephant Tree, The Long Forever (350)
4. Fu Manchu, The Return of Tomorrow (263)
5. Psychlona, Warped Vision (256)
6. Slift, Ilion (244)
7. High on Fire, Cometh the Storm (241)
8. Blue Heron, Everything Fades (208)
9. Rezn, Burden (195)
10. Blood Incantation, Absolute Elsewhere (194)
11. High Desert Queen, Palm Reader (190)
12. 1000mods, Cheat Death (169)
13. Gnome, Vestiges of Verumex Visidrome (167)
14. Sergeant Thunderhoof, The Ghost of Badon Hill (159)
15. Orange Goblin, Science, Not Fiction (137)
16. Valley of the Sun, Quintessence (136)
17. Black Pyramid, The Paths of Time Are Vast (126)
18. Monkey3, Welcome to the Machine (117)
18. Sundrifter, An Earlier Time (117)
19. Heavy Temple, Garden of Heathens (114)
20. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Nell’ Ora Blu (103)
Honorable Mention:
The next 10, in order: Abrams, Sacri Monti, Chat Pile, Delving, The Obsessed, Opeth, Brant Bjork Trio, Lord Buffalo, Mammoth Volume, Thou and Free Ride. That’s more than 10, but there was a tie.
Notes:
One tie on the list, which I actually always kind of like since it lets me sneak another record in. If that sounds crazy for a post that ends with everybody’s individual list — trying to squeeze in one more — I understand that.
This list is different from mine and I have absolutely no qualms with it (the lack of Brume notwithstanding; get on that, people). Slomosa number one? Shit yeah. That record’s great and the next generation of heavy rock is already starting to take influence from the Norwegian four-piece’s warm, organic and upbeat heavy style. Greenleaf after? Well they’re masters of the thing, so shit yeah again. Not lost on me that those two bands co-headlined in Europe this Fall. What a show that would’ve been to see.
It goes from there. The Lowrider/Elephant Tree split, which was my number one, had a solid showing here as well. Wrangling all the entries spelled differently was a task I wasn’t looking forward to, and sure enough, it took some doing, but there and from then on, I stand by the numbers. If you want to do your own tally (you don’t), the lists are after the “read more” jump, as always. Otherwise, I don’t think you can look at that top 10 and, even if it’s not the same as yours, argue too vociferously against it. It is not short on Blues Funeral and Magnetic Eye Records, between Greenleaf, Psychlona, Blue Heron, Lowrider/Elephant Tree, High Desert Queen, Heavy Temple and Mammoth Volume and Abrams in the honorable mentions, but the votes were what they were. I can’t help it if Jadd puts out good shit at such a staggering rate. And I just looked back — apparently I made the same joke last year too.
Moving on.
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Top 20 of 2024 — Raw Votes
1. Slomosa, Tundra Rock (102 votes)
2. Greenleaf, The Head and the Habit (93)
3. Lowrider & Elephant Tree, The Long Forever (88)
4. Fu Manchu, The Return of Tomorrow (71)
4. Psychlona, Warped Vision (71)
5. High on Fire, Cometh the Storm (66)
6. Slift, Ilion (64)
7. High Desert Queen, Palm Reader (57)
7. Rezn, Burden (57)
8. Blue Heron, Everything Fades (55)
9. Gnome, Vestiges of Verumex Visidrome (50)
10. 1000mods, Cheat Death (49)
11. Blood Incantation, Absolute Elsewhere (46)
11. Sergeant Thunderhoof, The Ghost of Badon Hill (46)
12. Valley of the Sun, Quintessence (41)
13. Orange Goblin, Science, Not Fiction (39)
14. Black Pyramid, The Paths of Time Are Vast (38)
14. Brant Bjork Trio, Once Upon a Time in the Desert (38)
14. Monkey3, Welcome to the Machine (38)
14. Sundrifter, An Earlier Time (38)
15. Heavy Temple, Garden of Heathens (36)
16. Ufomammut, Hidden (31)
17. Delving, All Paths Diverge (29)
17. Lord Buffalo, Holus Bolus (29)
17. Sacri Monti, Retrieval (29)
18. Abrams, Blue City (28)
18. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Nell’ Ora Blu (28)
19. Mammoth Volume, Raised Up by Witches (27)
20. Big Scenic Nowhere, The Waydown (26)
20. Free Ride, Acido y Puto (26)
Honorable Mention:
Here’s some more: The Obsessed, The Lunar Effect, Causa Sui, MR.BISON, Thou, Opeth, DVNE, Bongripper and Sons of Arrakis. They were all pretty close. I kind of figured 29 for a top 20 was good and left it at that.
Notes:
Again, I don’t see much to fight with here, and it feels like the poll found a pretty solid representation for things like the crossover appeal of Blood Incantation and Opeth as well as a decent mix of newer and older bands between the two lists. Nothing is ever going to really be entirely comprehensive, but however many years from now when I look back on this and re-read this sentence, at least I can know I was down with it at the time.
The picture isn’t much different between the weighted results and the raw-vote tally, though Psychlona got a boost in the latter, I guess. And I was glad to see Fu Manchu high on the list (I felt like they should’ve been higher on my own) and that stuff like Sacri Monti and Mammoth Volume and Big Scenic Nowhere could get on. I don’t think I missed anyone, but if you do a count and see I’ve got something wrong, just reach out and let me know. I assure you no one has been slighted on purpose.
Not a ton of disparities between the lists — there are more ties here, which happens — but if I walked into your record store, venue, living room, car, etc., and you were playing nearly any of this shit front to back, I’d want to be your friend.
That’s a nice thought. Let’s leave it there.
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Thank you for reading.
I didn’t know what 2024 was going to bring and I am accordingly ignorant of the next 12 months. I wish you health and joy and good music.
Beyond that, I guess that’s it for 2024? Nah, I’ll probably still be reviewing stuff from last year in a Quarterly Review this June, but whatever. Thanks for reading, and before I turn you over to the ‘read more’ doodad and all of the lists that made up this poll — I’m in there too — thank you if you took time out of your day to be part of this. That means everything to me and I do not take it for granted.
Alright, off you go. Thanks again and have a great year. Here’s to whatever’s next.
Posted in Features on December 19th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
[PLEASE NOTE: These are not the results of the year-end poll, which ends in January. If you haven’t contributed your picks yet, please do so here.]
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Hi, and welcome to The Obelisk’s year in review for 2024. This is a thing that’s kind of developed over the 15-plus years the site’s been in operation, and it’s something that people sometimes tell me has been a help when it comes to finding new music. I know for myself as well, I’ve referred back to these lists a lot in subsequent years, to see where bands were and where my head was, and so on. Are best-of lists meaningful, at all, in any way? Probably to the person making them, and that’s me, so I’ll proceed.
I thought the format last year worked pretty well, so I’ve hijacked it for use here. Not something I expect anyone to notice, but I did want to mention it on the off-chance. I don’t have a best live album of the year, but there are a few worth talking about, surely.
It’s been a busy, fast year. The barrage of music is overwhelming — and as problems go, that’s among the best ones to have — but I do think we’re seeing some tapering off. Generational turnover is, in fact, a constant, but the 2020s are taking shape now with bands who started making their name around the mid-2010s shifting into headliner status, new bands coming up beneath, more diverse in sound and construction, and with new ideas. This isn’t universal, but it is the ideal vision of the thing. Circle of life and such.
But it’s a lot. Including the 50-releases-strong Quarterly Review last week, I’m well north of having reviewed 400 total different mostly-full-lengths since January. That’s insane. The math is obvious, but I’ll point out anyhow that you could buy an album for every day of the year and have enough for an extra month-plus afterward. An astonishing amount of music, and I’m by no means reviewing everything.
Which brings me to the inevitable last point. I haven’t reviewed everything. If you’re here wondering where Opeth and Blood Incantation are landing on my list, they aren’t. Nothing against either of them, I just haven’t dug into the records since I knew I wouldn’t be reviewing them. The regular standard of doing as much as I can, when I can, about as much as I can, applies.
Please if you disagree with some pick below or other — and if you do, that’s healthy — I kindly ask you to keep things civil in the comments. I’m not here to call people out on enjoying things I don’t — fascism aside — and I know it makes me sad when I break my ass for days to put this together and the first comment is, “NO [WHOEVER]. LIST SUCKS. NEVER READING THIS FILTH AGAIN,” etc. Before you comment, please take a second to read what you put back to yourself for kindness. That’s good for spelling too, not that I’d know.
That’s all the stalling I can do. Time to dive in. Happy holidays.
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The Top 60 Albums of 2024
**NOTE**: If you’re looking for something specific, try a text search.
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60-31
60. Psychlona, Warped Vision
59. Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships, The Mind Like Fire Unbound
58. Massive Hassle, Unreal Damage
57. Temple of the Fuzz Witch, Apotheosis
56. Space Shepherds, Cycler
55. Abrams, Blue City
54. Castle Rat, Into the Realm
53. Heath, Isaak’s Marble
52. Weite, Oase
51. Cosmic Fall, Back Where the Fire Flows
50. Troy the Band, Cataclysm
49. Sunnata, Chasing Shadows
48. Skraeckoedlan, Vermillion Sky
47. Acid Mammoth, Supersonic Megafauna Collision
46. Deer Creek, The Hiraeth Pit
45. Big Scenic Nowhere, The Waydown
44. Grin, Hush
43. The Swell Fellas, Residuum Unknown
42. The Gates of Slumber, The Gates of Slumber
41. Coltaine, Forgotten Ways
40. Mountain of Misery, The Land
39. Mammoth Volume, Raised Up by Witches
38. Delving, All Paths Diverge
37. High on Fire, Cometh the Storm
36. Thou, Umbilical
35. The Giraffes, Cigarette
34. Fu Manchu, The Return of Tomorrow
33. Full Earth, Cloud Sculptors
32. Daevar, Amber Eyes
31. Causa Sui, From the Source
Notes:
Just in case you’re the type of person who’d say, “Oh how could you have a top 60? after a certain number it’s all the same,” I’ll admit that’s true, but 60 is apparently nowhere near the ‘certain number’ in question for me this year. I agonized over this part of the list. More than the top 30, and more than picking a best short release, best debut, or anything else. I wanted basically a second top 30, and I feel like if I saw this as that, as 30-1, I’d congratulate whoever submitted it on their taste. But maybe that’s just me agreeing with myself.
I like the mix of up and comers and established acts here. Sunnata and Skraeckoedlan, The Giraffes, of course High on Fire, Deer Creek and so on, mixing with up and comers like Full Earth, Daevar, Acid Mammoth, Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships, Heath, Troy the Band and Weite. I feel somewhat compelled to justify my High on Fire placement, especially looking at the results so far of the year-end poll. They’re amazing, they’re devastating, they’re a singular live act, but I just didn’t listen to the record that much. There. A big part of me feels like it should be top 10 just by virtue of who the band are, but if I did that for everybody who deserved it, I wouldn’t have room for anything new. All I can do is be honest to my own listening habits and opinions. I know High on Fire are really, really good. I know this album is really, really good. That’s why it’s on this list. Should it be higher? Probably. I’m doing my best.
Thank you for your kind attention in this matter. Also, listen to The Giraffes.
You won’t hear me say a downer word about An Earlier Time‘s quieter stretches, but it’s the sweeping moments like “Limitless” that find Boston’s Sundrifter making the most resonant impression. Their third full-length and the follow-up to 2018’s Visitations (review here), it was a strong declaration of who Sundrifter want to be as they continue to grow, and deserved more love than I saw that it got.
Oh, look out for Mr. Blogosphere. He’s out here taking a real risk putting Tranquonauts on the year-end list, like the combining of forces between Melbourne, Australia, heavy psych blues rockers Seedy Jeezus and guitarist Isaiah Mitchell wasn’t gonna work the second time around? Wow, Mitchell‘s and Lex Waterreus‘ guitars sure do sound awesome together. Oh — it’s a hot-take! Better get your react videos ready. The internet is terrible. This album offers escape from it.
At the risk of having to give back my Music-Journalism-Level membership to the Sycophant Society, I’ll dare to point out that Chat Pile are way, way hyped. That happens sometimes. It’s not like they’re out there being like, “Hey we’re the noise rock white dudes shifting paradigms for noise rock white dudes, best in a generation.” It’s people like me with all the hyperbole and comma splicing. I get that too. It’s a sound geared toward inciting a strong reaction, from the sneering sarcasm of the title down. By the way, am I the only one who looks at the title Cool World and thinks of the 1992 semi-animated film of the same name? I kind of hope so. See? Big feelings all around.
Rest assured, I don’t, but if I had any friends, I’d be like, “Hey, you should check out this band Gnome from Belgium. They’ve got fun riffs and they beat you over the head with them until you remember them by heart.” And these ‘friends’ would be all, “Wow man, that sounds definitely like something I would ever want to introduce to the scope of my life experiences! Thank you! I’m so glad to be your friend and the world is definitely a better place with you in it.” And then everybody’s day is better, all because of sharing and the shenanigans-laced riff metal proffered by these three behatted miscreants from Antwerpen.
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26. Brant Bjork Trio, Once Upon a Time in the Desert
Brant Bjork‘s solo band begat Stöner, and Stöner begat Brant Bjork Trio as Bjork, drummer Ryan Güt and bassist Mario Lalli (Fatso Jetson, Mario Lalli and the Rubber Snake Charmers, Yawning Man, etc.). I’ll cop to being a nerd for Brant Bjork‘s output generally — it’s a kind of cool so definitively Californian, my NJ-ass self can’t help but admire it — but the chemistry in Once Upon a Time in the Desert is on point to an undeniable degree, and the songs are a reminder of how the back catalog got so strong in the first place. What else could you want?
Five albums in, a post-arrival Sergeant Thunderhoof stand ready. They know who they are, what they want their songs to do, why and how to make it happen. The Ghost of Badon Hill gives a conceptual focus to unite material intentionally sprawling, and lets listeners immerse in a narrative all the more easily for the quality of its songcraft. Self-recorded, it is masterful in performance and assured of its execution, pored over but not overworked; the happy accidents might have been left in on purpose, but they still sound like accidents. And Sergeant Thunderhoof still sound like a band driving themselves toward the unknown.
Doom metal is lucky to have Early Moods laying out a template for the next generation to hopefully follow. The Los Angeles five-piece’s second full-length, A Sinner’s Past, refined the lurch of their 2022 self-titled (review here), and the combination of hard touring and progressive craft continues to bode well as they look toward their next offering. They’ve put in their work, however swift their ascent to this point might feel, and they’re about one great record away from standing among the best doom of the 21st century. You could easily argue they’re already there. Every reason is accounted for on A Sinner’s Past.
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23. Morpholith, Dystopian Distributions of Mass Produced Narcotics
Iceland’s Morpholith enter the conversation with Dystopian Distributions of Mass Produced Narcotics, which has cosmic-doom breadth and bong-metal crush to spare in the first four minutes of “Psychophere” alone, never mind anything that surrounds. The band’s debut is a bombastic plodder, beating out the march to a futuristic — and cold — vision of the riff-filled land that may or may not be Reykjavik in the wintertime while simultaneously being both very much of weed and not outwardly about it, seeming to have much more than addled, Mid Atlantic Ridge-heavy riff worship because — look out! — they do. If cosmic doom is ever going to be more than a loose thread connecting YOB and Ufomammut, bands like Morpholith need to keep pushing it forward like this. “Dismalium.” I dare you.
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22. Lamp of the Universe Meets Dr. Space, Enters Your Somas
Lamp of the Universe is multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer and vocalist Craig Williamson, based in New Zealand. Dr. Space is synthesist, keyboardist, producer, bootlegger and bandleader Scott Heller. The ‘meeting’ of these two expanded minds takes place over two extended tracks, one vinyl side per, of lush psychedelic and multi-tiered drones, absolutely perfect for the zone-out hypnosis you’ve been trying to put yourself in all day but for that pesky consciousness. I wish I could come up with some kind of ritual awesome enough for the keyboard textures in “Enters Your Somas” or the propulsive space rock thuddenchug of “Infiltrates Your Mind,” but some sounds are just too cool for the planet. Come see how the freaks get down.
I spent some significant time with Dool‘s The Shape of Fluidity this Spring, before and after seeing them at Roadburn (review here), which was another highlight of the year. The album’s triumph, in songwriting, in transcending genre bounds and in conveying its theme of breaking loose from the gender binary, gave my parent-of-a-trans-kid self a hopeful vision of a future beyond dark, hateful rhetoric or implied/real violence. It showed me a possible path to victory on what will be and already is a hard road. It was there when I needed it, which is a specific ideal of art providing care. I’ll never forget that.
Granted the Western soundscaping at the outset of the eponymous “Buzzard” lays it on thick, but it’s supposed to! We’re talking fire-and-brimstone earthbound Americana folk with a doomly rhythmic cast, given the self-aware title of Doom Folk by the solo artist Buzzard, aka Christopher Thomas Elliott, laying it on thick is the point. Elliott has a follow-up out soon already. Thinking of Doom Folk as the beginning of a creative progression makes its nuance and individualist drive even more exciting, but the rawness of this debut, the straightforwardness of its structures and the resulting memorability are part of the appeal for sure.
Seven bangers. Not a dud in the bunch. Two nine-minute songs and you still couldn’t say a moment of High Desert Queen‘s rightly anticipated sophomore LP is wasted. Not when you’re building up to the roll of “Head Honcho,” certainly. The Texas outfit built on the good-time largesse and party-but-not-a-party-so-cool-you-don’t-feel-welcome vibing of 2021’s Secrets of the Black Moon (review here) and set themselves vociferously to the task of being the change in heavy rock that they wanted to hear. Palm Reader‘s infectiousness is a strength, both in terms of a catchy piece like “Ancient Aliens” or “Time Waster,” and also in the overarching positive-framed mood and heart so clearly put into the material.
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18. Ufomammut, Hidden
Released by Supernatural Cat and Neurot Recordings. Reviewed May 21.
Now a quarter-century on from their start, Italian trio Ufomammut have yet to put out a record that didn’t sound like a forward step from the one before it. And Hidden is their 10th album. The band are progenitors and refiners of a cosmic doom sound that is unto itself, and cuts like “Kismet” and “Leeched” manage to be both lumbering in their massive-tone grooves and sprawling with a synthy ambience that, though certainly influential, is immediately recognizable as Ufomammut. Hidden is part of a creative trajectory, to be sure, and the arc is ongoing, but there’s more than enough substance here to leave a crater behind in the listener’s brain.
In its arrangement as five separate dreams taking place over its component tracks, the only thing Pentasomnia doesn’t take into account is that another Iota LP was a dream all on its own even before music actually happened. A full 16 years after shaking the galaxy’s core with their 2008 debut, Tales (discussed here, and here), the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Joey Toscano (Dwellers, Hibernaut), drummer/producer Andy Patterson (The Otolith, ex-SubRosa, etc.) and bassist Oz Yasri (ex-Bird Eater) making a comeback — let alone it actually being good — was nigh on unthinkable. Then you heard “The Intruder” and reality shifted just a bit. Pretty sweet.
Few albums in 2024 were as entrancing as Langt, Langt Vekk, the hopefully-not-a-one-off collaboration between Norwegian progressive heavy instrumentalists Kanaan and neofolk contemporaries Ævestaden. Both adventurous outfits in their own right, the combination of elements, from live drums and synth to traditional plucked strings and Norwegian-language vocal choruses, works stunningly well. That little bit of fuzz in “Habbor og Signe,” or the cymbal wash behind “Dalebu Jonsson” — the songs are full of these little nuances or flourishes waiting to be found, but even with the most superficial of listens, the achievement resounds, whether one approaches from a viewpoint of heavy rock, prog, folk or psychedelia.
You know, I’ve kind of dug DVNE records all along, and I can’t really call Voidkind a surprise after 2021’s Etemen Ænka (review here), but these songs — “Eleonora,” “Sarmatae,” “Abode of the Perfect Soul,” among others — hit me much harder than I had expected, and the more I listened to try to twist my head around “Reliquary,” the more the album as a whole revealed of its character and detail. I review a lot of stuff, and I hear more than I review, so I don’t always get pulled back by every record, but Voidkind kept calling for return visits.
Look. If you’re reading this, I know I don’t have to tell you about Orange Goblin. Even if you don’t already have a soft spot for the long-running UK doom rockers, they’re perfectly happy to pummel one into you with Science, Not Fiction, their first album since 2018 and a realignment toward a harder-edged heavy rock sound, where the last, say, two records had leaned more metal. I heard some griping about the production not helping, but I heard absolutely nothing to complain about here. The band are on fire and the recording shows it, the songs aren’t necessarily any great progressive leap but for sure they’re Orange Goblin songs, and for a band who owes nobody proof of anything, they set a high standard and deliver accordingly, like god damned professionals should.
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13. Spaceslug, Out of Water
Released by Electric Witch Mountain Recordings. Reviewed May 14.
What I didn’t get about Spaceslug until I finally saw them live at Desertfest New York (review here) was just how metal the impact of their songs can get. It’s not necessarily that they’ve grown more aggressive, unless you want to incorporate harsh vocals or shouting — “Tears of Antimatter” also has gently-delivered barely-there spoken word, so it depends on the story you want to tell — but the blend of melancholic doom, heavy psychedelia and melodic fluidity that has become Spaceslug‘s stylistic wheelhouse is not to be missed. Out of Water finds them at their broadest and least concerned with genre, and brings into relief how special a band they’ve become. Also it rocks.
No secret how Craneium are doing it on Point of No Return; it’s right there in the songs. All of them. “One Thousand Sighs,” “The Sun,” “A Distant Shore,” “…Of Laughter and Cries,” “Things Have Changed” and “Search Eternal.” Texture and hooks, heft and scope and melody and crash and shove, classy progressive execution and swaggering conjurations. Most of all, songs that stay with you. Chances are, if you heard this record and gave it its due attention at some point in your time with it, you didn’t have to do much more than read the titles to have the tracks playing in your head. That’s not a coincidence. It’s craft. It’s a willful outreach on the part of the band and material. It’s what makes you want to sing along. And why would you not?
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11. Guhts, Regeneration
Released by Seeing Red Records and New Heavy Sounds. Reviewed Feb. 5.
More on it below, but for the moment, suffice it to say that the bludgeoning and/or scathe of Regeneration at its most intense and the depths its mix seemed to find, the debut full-length from New York post-metallers Guhts dared visceral emotionality in a way few records so heavy could or would hope to. The willing-to-break-her-voice-if-necessary performance of Amber Gardner and the weighted undulations surrounding from guitarist Scott Prater, bassist Daniel Martinez and drummer Brian Clemens, the open sway, unfettered crush, and quiet spaces offsetting all that bombast result in both a chaotic feel and an applicable world. Therefore it must be modern. Fine. It sounds like the future.
As to how Philadelphia’s Heavy Temple managed to fit so much swagger onto a single platter, you’d have to ask them, but their second album, Garden of Heathens, landed hard in tone and attitude alike. Songs like “Extreme Indifference to Life,” “House of Warship” and the galloping payoff of “Jesus Wept” ahead of the thrashy finale “Psychomanteum” affirmed what was set out in 2021’s Lupi Amoris (review here) and their earlier short releases while marking out and conquering decisively new territory in their sound. I know it was recorded two years ago or something like that, but it’s still a band beginning to realize their potential in craft and performance, and if a third LP happens sooner than later, so much the better.
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9. 1000mods, Cheat Death
Released by Ouga Booga and the Mighty Oug and Ripple Music. Reviewed Nov. 11.
Whether one embraces Cheat Death because the songs kick ass or because 1000mods are so vivid and uncompromising in pushing themselves forward from release to release, I don’t think you’re wrong. The forerunners of their generation in Greek heavy rock remain among the finest Europe’s heavy underground have to offer, and the atmosphere they’re able to conjure alongside the straight-ahead Matt Bayles-produced punk-metal hooks of these songs is emblematic of why. Without ever giving up their foundation in heavy rock, 1000mods have consistently refined their processes and grown as songwriters. The joke of Cheat Death is how alive the material feels.
Faced with the considerable task of following up the to-date album of their career, Elektrik Ram (review here), just one year later, South African heavy rockers Ruff Majik did not flinch. Instead, Moth Eater takes the outright charge and sharpness-minded efficiency of its predecessor in a stated trilogy that began with 2020’s The Devil’s Cattle (review here) and sets it as the foundation for a confident, creative growth and sustainable expansion of sound. They’re a little more willing to dwell in parts, and they’re well aware of how catchy they can be, but also, they know the power of momentum and they’re fully in control of the narratives they’re telling. As Moth Eater readily demonstrates, it’s hard to know which of that it is that makes them most dangerous.
It’s hard to overstate the accomplishment of Nell’ Ora Blu, and I’m well aware that the critical sphere is full of plenty who’ve spent the better part of 2024 trying. Reasonable. The completeness of the world Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats built in the work based around the concept of soundtracking a giallo film that didn’t exist was singularly evocative. With original dialogue recorded (in Italian) specifically for ‘movie’ ambience, Uncle Acid took what had always been an influence on the band’s sound within genre-cinema and its methods of storytelling, and flipped the process on its head by creating its own story. Their influence is already well spread throughout the heavy underground, for sure, but in bringing a vision to life, this might be the album Uncle Acid have been working toward all along.
A forward-thinking masterwork from even before “Deadname” sneaks a layer of acoustic guitar under the mountain of distortion in the verse lines and “Arrival” and “Transitions” give evocative chronicle to the album’s trans-experiential theme — it is the band’s first since guitarist/vocalist Simona Ohlsson transitioned, and admirable for both its projected triumph and vulnerability around that — the fifth full-length from Vokonis continues the progressive path they have walked for the last decade-plus. A lineup change has brought some shift in dynamic, but a new strength of voice behind the material that makes “Phantom Carriage,” “Chrysalis,” and, suitably enough, “Arrival,” feel like a declarative pinnacle, and having something to say makes the raw impact of its heaviest moments all the more powerful.
There’s little funnier to me about heavy rock as it exists in 2024 than the idea that Greenleaf would be a band people take for granted. “Oh, Tommi Holappa and Company putting out another collection of classic-heavy and blues-rocking bangers? Business as usual, I guess.” Until you listen to the album, maybe. Then you get the tumble of “Avalanche,” the hooks in “Breathe, Breathe Out,” and “A Wolf in My Mind,” the subdued-bluesy pair “That Obsidian Grin” and “An Alabastrine Smile” to remind how you much this band has been able to grow since Arvid Hällagård made his first appearance with them a decade ago, the way they’re able to move through a jam and land in a groove as solid as “Oh Dandelion,” reminiscent of Clutch in its start-stop funk but defined by its own persona. Every Greenleaf record is a gift. If feeling that way means I’m not impartial, good. We understand each other.
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4. Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, Big Dumb Riffs
Promises made, promises kept. Austin-based crunch purveyors Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol stripped any and all excess out of their approach on Big Dumb Riffs, resulting in a quick-feeling collection of memorable, heavy tracks that, whether fast like “1800EATSHIT” or slow like “In a Jar,” are united in the album’s central stated purpose. Already an established brand of heavy revelry, the three-piece didn’t change anything radically in aesthetic terms, but the songs found their target one after the other, front to back, and were clever and well composed, however willfully lunkheaded the central riffery might have been. They’re headed to Europe in Spring, and I’m already hearing rumors of a next record, so keep an eye out in 2025.
Slomosa‘s released-in-2020 self-titled debut (review here) was a salve to many in troubled times, representing a next-generation hope for underground heavy in energetically-delivered, classic-feeling songs. Tundra Rock, which gives a name to the band’s style seemingly in direct answer to anyone who might class them as ‘desert,’ confirms the Norwegian four-piece at the forefront of an up and coming cohort of younger acts beginning to find their expressive modus and step beyond their root influences. Tundra Rock finds Slomosa doing this while giving their dual-vocal live dynamic vibrant studio representation and growing their material in character and melody alike. Heavy rock and roll is Slomosa‘s for the taking.
A record that didn’t need to be loud to be heavy, Brume‘s Marten is without question my most-listened-to album of 2024. That needs no qualifying. I had high expectations going into it after seeing the San Francisco band at Desertfest New York 2022 (review here), and Marten surpassed every hope I might’ve been able to harness for it and then some. The collective voice of the band incorporating multiple viewpoints from bassist/vocalist/keyboardist Susie McMullan, guitarist/vocalist Jamie McCathie, drummer Jordan Perkins Lewis, and in her first appearance as a full-on member of the band, cellist/vocalist Jackie Perez Gratz (Grayceon, Amber Asylum, etc.), resulted in a fluid but deeply divergent collection, comprised of songs that went where they wanted to go — or didn’t, thank you very much — according to their own whims and purposes. It is a landmark for Brume and, if any number of subgenres are lucky, a blueprint from which others will hopefully learn.
I acknowledge breaking my own rules here — splits are always, until and including this year, categorized as short releases in these lists — but when it came to it, the thought of putting Elephant Tree and Lowrider‘s The Long Forever anywhere else, considering it as anything else, seemed ridiculous. Especially if you count writing the liner notes for it, I’ve gone on at length about the release as an intersection of crucial moments for the respective bands, with Lowrider following their first album in 20 years, Refractions (review here), and Elephant Tree answering the progressive statement of their own second LP, Habits (review here), both released in 2020. The storyline gets deeper as Elephant Tree also look to reestablish themselves following a near-fatal accident suffered by guitarist/vocalist Jack Townley, melding rawness of tone with lush vocal harmonies, and Lowrider drag fuzz-rock traditionalism kicking and screaming into a reality of being both fun and intelligent. There ultimately was nothing else to call The Long Forever than the album of the year. If that comes with an asterisk because it’s a split, it doesn’t lessen the effect of hearing it at all. So yeah, I’m breaking the rules of the game. I’m inconsistent. Unprofessional. Biased. I don’t know what to tell you except love makes you do crazy things. In these songs themselves — do I even need to talk about the collaboration — and in the drive behind them, that’s what most resonates here.
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The Top 60 Albums of 2024: Honorable Mention
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If the 60 above wasn’t enough, here are more leads to chase down, alphabetical but in kind of a hyper-specific, ass-backwards-seeming way:
Acid Rooster, Alber Jupiter, Altareth, Alunah, Astrometer, Bismarck, Black Capricorn, Blasting Rod, BleakHeart, Blue Heron, Bongripper, Boozewa, Caffeine, Carpet, Castle, Cleen, Clouds Taste Satanic, Codex Serafini, Cold in Berlin, Cortez, The Cosmic Dead, Crypt Sermon, Daily Thompson, Deadpeach, Deaf Wolf, Demon Head, Destroyer of Light, Dopethrone, Duel, Earth Ship, Elephant Tree, Emu, Familiars, Bill Fisher, 40 Watt Sun, Ghost Frog, Goat Major, Guenna, Heath, High Reeper, Hijss, Horseburner, Ian Blurton’s Future Now, Insect Ark, Inter Arma, Kelley Juett, Juke Cove, Kalgon, Kandodo, Kant, Kariti, Kungens Män (x2), Kurokuma, Leather Lung, Legions of Doom, Lord Buffalo, Magic Fig, Magick Brother & Mystic Sister, Magick Potion, Magmakammer, Mammoth Caravan, Massive Hassle, MC MYASNOI, Merlin, Methadone Skies, Monkey3, Morag Tong, The Mountain King, Mount Hush, MR.BISON, My Dying Bride, Myriad’s Veil, No Man’s Valley, Norna, The Obsessed, Oryx, Pallbearer, Patriarchs in Black, Pia Isa, Planet of Zeus, Red Mesa, Rezn, Rifflord, Sacri Monti, Sandveiss, Satan’s Satyrs, Saturnalia Temple, Scorched Oak, Sheepfucker & Kraut, Slift, Slower, Slow Green Thing, SoftSun, The Sonic Dawn, SONS OF ZÖKU, Spacedrifter, Spiral Grave, Spirit Mother, Stonebride, Sun Blood Stories, Sunface, Sun Moon Holy Cult, Swallow the Sun, The Swell Fellas, Swell O, Temple Fang, 10,000 Years, Thomas Greenwood and the Talismans, Thunderbird Divine, Tigers on Opium, Traum, 24/7 Diva Heaven, Valley of the Sun, Vlimmer, Void Commander, Weather Systems, The Whims of the Great Magnet, Whispering Void, White Hills, Per Wiberg, Esben Willems, Worshipper, WyndRider…
Notes:
With the eternal caveat that I’ll be adding to the honorable mentions for the next few days as people drop names they remembered and I forgot, I’ll say I can live with the list as it is now. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m happy with it, but I’ll live. I felt like there was just too much good stuff in the 60-30, stuff that deserved a better look, and god damn, look at the honorable mentions. You’re gonna tell me Rezn wasn’t top 30 material? Or Inter Arma, or 10,000 Years (who I still need to review), or Kandodo or Cortez, or Bongripper, Blue Heron, Merlin, Slower? Mount Hush, Vlimmer, Destroyer of Light — I could do this all day. That Carpet record. That MR.BISON record. Valley of the Sun. I see these names and want to punch myself. Then I see the names in the top 30 and I go, “Well…” and kind of have to hold off. I guess that means it turned out to be a pretty fantastic year.
I know for a fact I didn’t hear everything that came out, and I’m willing to bet that any number of people who see this will have their own opinions on the best albums of 2024 from top to bottom. I celebrate this difference and look forward to being exposed to new sounds because of it. Let comments fly, please. Once again, my only ask is that you keep it kind as relates to my own list(s) and any other picks someone might offer. If I’ve got facts wrong, something was a Dec. 2023 release instead of Jan. 2024, whatever, by all means, let me know. But we’re all friends here and being a jerk about it solves nothing.
And yes, I’ll admit to projecting some self-criticism in the Elephant Tree/Lowrider selection for album of the year. All I can tell you is I stand by that pick. It’s that because when I was putting together the list, it couldn’t have been anywhere else. I don’t love breaking my own arbitrary rules nearly as much as I love imposing those arbitrary rules in the first place, but sometimes apparently one is forced from one’s comfort zone to their own general betterment. Who knew?
Of course we’re not done yet.
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Debut Album of the Year 2024
Guhts, Regeneration
Other notable debuts (alphabetical):
Azutmaga, Offering
Buzzard, Doom Folk
Castle Rat, Into the Realm
Cleen, Excursion
Coltaine, Forgotten Ways
Full Earth, Cloud Sculptors
Goat Generator, Goat Generator
Goat Major, Ritual
Grave Speaker, Grave Speaker
Guenna, Peak of Jin’Arrah
Hashtronaut, No Return
Heath, Isaak’s Marble
Hijss, Stuck on Common Ground
Kalgon, Kalgon
Kant, Paranoia Pilgrimage
Kitsa, Dead by Dawn
Leather Lung, Graveside Grin
Legions of Doom, The Skull 3
Magic Fig, Magic Fig
Magick Potion, Magick Potion
Morpholith, Dystopian Distributions of Mass Produced Narcotics
Myriad’s Veil, Pendant
Neon Nightmare, Faded Dream
Plant, Cosmic Phytophthora
Rabid Children, Does the Heartbeat
Saltpig, Saltpig
Semuta, Glacial Erratic
SoftSun, Daylight in the Dark
Spacedrifter, When the Colors Fade
Sun Moon Holy Cult, Sun Moon Holy Cult
Ten Ton Slug, Colossal Oppressor
Tet, Tet
Tigers on Opium, Psychodrama
Tommy and the Teleboys, Gods Used in Great Condition
Troy the Band, Cataclysm
Weather Systems, Ocean Without a Shore
Esben Willems, Glowing Darkness
Young Acid, Murder at Maple Mountain
Notes:
First about Guhts: From the Andy Patterson recording and parts of the songs themselves, Guhts weren’t hiding influence from the likes of SubRosa or Julie Christmas, Made Out of Babies, etc., but what Regeneration did so well — and what I was trying to convey above — was take those recognizable elements and redirect them toward an expressive individuality. That album could be punishingly heavy or sweet and soothing and the fact that you never quite knew which was coming next was a major asset working in the band’s favor. There are a lot of killer debuts on this list, and plenty I’m sure that I’ve left off because, well, I’m inept, but Regeneration was so sure of what it was about and so crisp in making that real through sound that it’s still stunning.
A lot to celebrate on this list. Full Earth at the outset of a hopefully long-term progression. Tigers on Opium with attitude and craft. Castle Rat giving stage drama studio life. Weather Systems picking up where Anathema left off. Promising starts for Pontiac, Hashtronaut, Neon Nightmare, Cleen, Coltaine, Troy the Band, Buzzard, Magic Fig, Legions of Doom, and Heath, among others. If you’re worried about the state of underground heavy music, you don’t need to be. Granted the future of anything is unknowable even before you apply “uncertain times” caveats and all the rest, but bands are stepping up to carry the torch of established sounds and pushing themselves to realize new ideas — whether that’s Guhts and Magic Fig or Tigers on Opium, or Legions of Doom, Ten Ton Slug, Weather Systems and Monolord’s Esben Willems, new players or ones who’ve been around for decades.
If you want a top ten — and who doesn’t? — in addition to Guhts, make your way through Full Earth, Sun Moon Holy Cult, Morpholith, Guenna, Coltaine, Troy the Band, Young Acid, Emu, Buzzard and Kant to start, and you can dig deeper from there. That’s actually 11, but I don’t care. More new music won’t hurt you.
We press on.
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Short Release of the Year 2024
Moura, Fume Santo de Loureiro
Other notable EPs, Splits, Demos, Singles, etc.
Aktopasa, Ultrawest
Alreckque, 6PM
Bog Wizard, Journey Through the Dying Lands
Conan, DIY Series Issue 1
Cortége, Under the Endless Sky
Cult of Dom Keller, Extinction EP
Michael Rudolph Cummings, Money EP
Deer Lord, Dark Matter Pt. 2
Eagle Twin & The Otolith, Legends of the Desert Vol. 4
Fuzznaut, Wind Doula
Fuzzter, Pandemonium EP
Geezer & Isaak, Interstellar Cosmic Blues and the Riffalicious Stoner Dudes
Harvestman, Triptych EP(s)
Hermano, When the Moon Was High
Hollow Leg, Dust & Echoes
Holy Fingers, Endless Light Infinite Presence
King Buffalo, Balrog
Lurcher, Breathe EP
Okkoto, All is Light
Ord Cannon, Foreshots EP
Orme, No Serpents No Saviours
Pelican, Adrift/Tending the Embers
Pontiac, Hard Knox EP
Rope Trick, Red Tide EP
Sacred Buzz, Radio Radiation
Smoke & Doomsday Profit, Split
Spiral Guru, Silenced Voices EP
Toad Venom, Jag har inga problen osv...
Trigona & IO Audio Recordings, Split
Various Artists, International Space Station Vol. 2
Notes:
This category includes so much and can range so vastly between an EP that’s about 30 seconds short of being a full album to a standalone single released just for the hell of it to a band’s first rehearsal room demo. “Short releases” encompasses a lot, and as noted above, I’ve already broken my rules about where splits go. What about The Otolith and Eagle Twin? Geezer and Isaak? Smoke and Doomsday Profit? Trigona and IO Audio Recordings? The International Space Station four-wayer? If I’m crossing lines, don’t these also need to be considered as full-lengths?
You know what really sucks about it? This is an argument I’m going to have with myself for probably the next year. An existential crisis playing out in the back of my mind. More important? The Moura EP. The soundtracky textures the Spanish folk-informed progressive psychedelic rockers brought to the follow-up for their second album were both otherworldly and ground-born, and the material put emphasis on how much care and craft goes into their work while retaining the organic core against the threat of pretense. It was my most listened to short release of 2024, followed by Pelican, Holy Fingers, Pontiac, Toad Venom, Hollow Leg (x2), and Sacred Buzz. A new King Buffalo single was a late-year boon, that Hermano was worth it for the previously-unreleased studio track alone, and strong showings from Michael Rudolph Cummings, Deer Lord, Conan and Cortége, along with the aforementioned splits, assured that through the entire year, attention spans would receive consistent challenge in the movement from one thing to the next.
By way of a familiar confession, my list of short releases is nowhere near complete. It never is, and it never really could be. I’m sure there will be some I left out that I’ll add in for honorable mentions, etc., but I stand by the Moura pick for best short outing. They brought a soul to it that put the lie to the notion of EPs as between-album gap-fillers, and in a year that didn’t lack substance among its brevity-focused options, Fume Santo de Loureiro stood out in character, aesthetic and songwriting. Nobody else is making music quite like Moura.
If you have more to add here, by all means, please and thank you. Comments are below.
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Live Albums
Live Album of the Year 2024
Temple Fang, Live at Krach Am Bach
Castle, One Knight Stands: Live in NY
Danava, Live
Elder, Live at Maida Vale
Snail, Thou Art There
Stöner, Hittin’ the Bitchin’ Switch
Sula Bassana & Skyjoggers, Split
The Whims of the Great Magnet, Live at Bankastudios Maastricht 22-12-2023
Notes:
Fewer releases listed here than last year, but some killer ones for that. I put Temple Fang out there as live album of the year, and since we’re late in the post I’ll tell you honestly that it probably could be any of these on a given day. Danava’s live record crossed decades in badassery, the Sula/Skyjoggers split captured the vibe of a club night in Germany, the Whims of the Great Magnet’s live release made an excellent predecessor to their out-this-month studio album, Snail recorded theirs at a show I put on, Stöner capture the end of their two-album cycle with an awesome set, and Elder are Elder. The Maida Vale recording is short, and their songs are long, or you probably would’ve heard a lot more about that this year. If/when they do a proper live album, it will be a no-brainer.
But the Temple Fang has it all in molten progressivism, heavy tones, immersive psychedelia and outright soul, and of the bands I’ve managed to list here — if you want to add to the list, please do — there’s nobody who so much defines what they do by its live incarnation. Temple Fang’s music changes every night. They follow where it leads in a different way, and the ritualization of their performance comes through in Live at Krach Am Bach resoundingly. I’m not saying a bad word about their studio work to this point, but their heart manifests in a different way and at a different level onstage. They’re a great band and this shows a big part of why.
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Looking Ahead to 2025
Names, right? This one’s all about the names? Get to the names, jack? Okay, calm down.
With eternal appreciation to the folks of fine, upstanding moral character in the ‘The Obelisk Collective’ group on Facebook for the assistance, here’s a smattering of what one might look forward to in 2025:
Aawks, After Nations, All Them Witches, Amber Asylum, Author & Punisher, Bandshee, Black Spirit Crown, Bog Wizard, Bone Church, Borracho, Bronco, Buzzard, Dee Calhoun, Causa Sui, The Cimmerian, Clutch, Conan, Corrosion of Conformity, Daevar, Dead Meadow, Dead Shrine, Demons My Friends, Dream Unending, DUNDDW, Dunes, Flummox, Fuzz Sagrado, FVZZ POPVLI, Gaytheist, Gin Lady, Gnarled, Gnod & White Hills, Gods and Punks, Godzillionaire, Haze Mage, Kaiser, Kal-El, King Buffalo, Lamassu, Lo-Pan, Madmess, Mantar, Masters of Reality, Messa, Seán Mulrooney, Mouth., New Dawn Fades, Nightstalker, Øresund Space Collective, Pentagram, Pesta, Pothamus, Dax Riggs, Seedy Jeezus, Slomatics, Slow Wake, Stoned Jesus, Stone Machine Electric, Temple Fang, 3rd Ear Experience, Triptykon, Trouble, Turtle Skull, Warlung, Weedpecker, Yawning Balch, Year of the Cobra, YOB… and because it still hasn’t happened and someone invariably calls me out if they’re not listed: Om.
If you have names to add, “smash that comment button,” in the parlance of our times. Only don’t really smash it because you might hurt your hand or break your phone with your awesome strength.
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THANK YOU
It was among my primary goals for this post that it should be shorter than last year’s, and it looks like I’ll achieve that with room to spare, so I’m glad. Sometimes I get carried away, I think I probably don’t need to tell you.
Before I let go of 2024 — actually I still want to review that The Whims of the Great Magnet studio release and I’ve got a Darsombra video premiere set before the end of the year, news to catch up on from like the last two weeks and a whole lot more to cover — I’d like to take a moment to thank you one more time for reading and for being part of this project this year and each year it’s been ongoing. Your support is absolutely what keeps this site going and it means more to me than I can ever hope to comprehend.
Thank you to The Patient Mrs., who in the course of a given week let alone year puts up with more of my bullshit than any human being should ever have to. “Yes, love, the world’s ending and we have no money and the house is falling down around us and the dog needs to pee, but I just need two or three hours to go sit and write about riffs — is that cool?” Or better, when I’m pissy about it. The “my wife is a saint” routine is pretty played out as far as dudely excuses for being selfish, lazy and/or dumb go, but well, I am all of those things on the extreme regular and she hasn’t booted my ass to the curb yet. I find this to be a reason to celebrate and a thing to appreciate. I am loved and cared for in ways I could never hope to earn.
Thank you to my family for their support, year in and year out. They’ve all got Obelisk shirts and they all wear them, and while I’m not sure they understand the true depths of egoistic depravity involved in this project, they’ve been on board with it since the start, and this includes my wife’s side of the family as well. I am incredibly lucky to have the life I have.
I’m going to keep listening to music, keep writing about it as much as I can. I’m not quite as generally panicked about it as I used to be — older, busier in different ways, over the FOMO, maybe a little more discerning in terms of taste? — and I’m significantly less likely to break my brain answering email, but I’m doing my best.
The Obelisk presses on into what will be a busy 2025. I’ve got trips slated to Planet Desert Rock Weekend in Las Vegas this January, Desertfest Oslo in May, Freak Valley in Germany in June, Bear Stone in Croatia in July, and Desertfest New York in September, with more hopefully to come. I look forward to these adventures and to doing the writing that will happen as part of them, and one more time, I thank you for your time and attention in reading, in the past, now, and in the future. I’m taking tomorrow off. All the way off. Back on Monday for more.
Posted in Features on December 2nd, 2024 by JJ Koczan
[PLEASE NOTE: This post will remain on top of the page until the poll ends in January. New posts follow underneath. Thanks.]
I have to admit to feeling somewhat clueless as to where this poll is headed. Some years it’s so blanket obvious that I feel silly even putting it up — though even then it’s fun, which is why I do anyhow — but there seem to be so many different directions this year’s poll could go between traditional styles in stoner, doom, etc., and the experimental, established acts and generational newcomers. There are more than a few acts I’m very curious about and have been for months now, and some records I feel like I’ve been sweating about all year that need more love. What’s it gonna be?
Rules and whatnot follow the form below:
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Thanks for reading and taking part. Please share the link if you can.
The rules don’t change, and like most of the post, they’re cut and pasted from last year: Anything from Jan. 2024 to whatever’s coming out between now and Dec. 31 is eligible. If something is out digitally now and physical later and you want to include it, do so. Two lists are tabulated; one of the raw votes, and one in which a 1-4 ranking is worth five points, 5-8 worth four, 9-12 worth three, 13-16 worth two and 17-20 worth one.
If you’re not sure what counts or what to include, remember this is for your enjoyment. Stress about your top 20 if you want — I know I’m stressing about mine — but remember that the point here is to enjoy the thing. Debate is great, passion is the driving force of everything, but let’s keep debate civil and don’t give yourself too hard a time either.
As ever, I extend deepest gratitude to you for participating and to Slevin, who put together this poll and every year fields the “hey it’s poll time” text from me with grace and kindness and generosity. Thank you.
Poll runs until Dec. 31, 2024. Barring disaster or if I decide to let it go a couple extra days, results will be out Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, along with individual lists.
Posted in Questionnaire on November 26th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Hellfire 76
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
We do a fuzzed out type of Southern Stoner Metal. Simply came about from the ashes of another band. I was sitting on a bunch of riffs and wanted to do something heavy and stripped down. I reached out to Mike whom I’ve known for a minute. Seeing we like the same stuff and he got the direction right away. We started writing what has become HELLFIRE 76.
Describe your first musical memory.
Oddly enough, my older sister had a record by Cliff Richards. It had a song on it called “Devil Woman”. I used to play that song over and over. I guess it gave me a lasting impression.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Seeing Siouxsie and the Banshees when I was a kid. I knew at that moment I would be a musician.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Hmmmm….seems my beliefs are constantly being tested!
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
To an output of creative greatness. As we keep creating, we keep progressing!
How do you define success?
Doing what we want. As far as band/ music, etc., every show we play where people came out – Success! Every time we sell an album or merch – Success! Great press – Success! Being relevant and continue to inspire others – Success!
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Jail……
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
A concept album… but just might one day.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
To challenge opinion, make one think differently.
Say something positive about yourself.
I keep my word!
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
I help with a dog/ cat fostering network. Getting as many dogs/ cats into new homes. ADOPT-Don’t buy!!!
Posted in Questionnaire on November 21st, 2024 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Alan Strathmann of Ohpen Ahrms
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
In specific, Ohpen Ahrms is making music as a collaborative. And we’ve come to it from a need I had for an outlet to explore song writing and the music that was being stockpiled coming out of a long period of isolation. It is also something I very much look at as the result of working with the band and that is an important part of it, maybe the most important part. It’s a cast of great players, individuals that genuinely like to make music together and even if the cast changes, it is something I hope can continue as an evolving entity. I don’t have any plans to stop writing material that can be developed by Ohpen Ahrms. There are other things that I do, more records in the pipeline, and some are more solitary, more of an investment in looking inward, developing new tools or skills, that sort of thing. So for the foreseeable future there will always be ways for me to be puttng out music.
Describe your first musical memory.
I guess some of my earliest memories are those of listening to music when I was pretty young, maybe 7-10 years old. My family had records like Taj Mahal, The Beatles (’65, Rubber Soul, Sgt.Pepper’s…) Pink Floyd, show-tunes and soundtracks like Saturday Night Fever, Jesus Christ Superstar. And lots of Bach, Beethoven and classical music as well. Then soon enough it was rock, punk and metal. I would play records when my parents were out and get in trouble when they would come home to me playing the stereo too loud. I got into singing and performing pretty early on, joining choir and community theater, that sort of thing. Yeah, I was that nerd.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
I have so many great musical memories. I am extremely lucky in that way. I guess if I think about recency and not necessarily order things qualitatively, I’d have to say that having been able to progress professionally as an educator and producer directly as a result of pursuing art and music has been very meaningful to me. Imposter-syndrome is something I think others may relate to, and there are moments – maybe small or less obvious from the outside – that have shown me that the things I believe in can have some value, in ways that I may never have conceived of while pursuing them.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Living in the charged violence of 2020/21 had me questioning the means of longterm survival in ways I hadn’t before. It was hard not to be hyper-aware of things like the potential for mass-collapse of our infrastructures and social values. When you see keystones move, systems of order fail, it is impossible to look away, to not become nervous. I know this sounds naive in the global context but it was localized for me in ways that were new and disturbing.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
That’s a tricky question. Challenging, in that I believe progressing as an artist can take you in a lot of directions. If progress means proficiency or being prolific then this can mean growth and discovery. You may find that you can express yourself more thoroughly or in more detail, or you could do things that you previously weren’t able to. You can also find out things about yourself and those can be different kinds of challenges. I guess when you reach a plateau or find yourself asking new questions some of those questions may be harder to answer, or they may present problems that are difficult to solve. I guess it is a very personal thing. If you’re being honest with yourself you find your limitations and your strengths, and adapt and progress to – and then forward from – who you are as an artist and where you are in your practice.
How do you define success?
I guess success can be thought of as how you feel about yourself and what you do. Some definitions of success are obviously more linked to external perceptions, and I suppose it is hard to avoid the fact that these things are intertwined. But we have many examples of what we perceive to be success that are objectively failures of sorts. Like burnout or even self-destruction. I don’t think you can have success without being able to look at how you’ve failed and persevere towards something that brings satisfaction. And I don’t mean ‘making it’ or being satisfied with any particular achievement.
I guess for me I’ve always tried to look at the past and actively link it to what the future can be. Every time I finish a record or a project I think: “I hope I get to do another, and make it even better”. In some ways getting to the next thing, being able to continue is success. And I do believe that there are larger factors that allow us to continue or not. Being able to make art requires that you are not preoccupied with survival and are not being deprived of basic needs.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
I wish I hadn’t seen the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election. Not that I wish it had happened and that I’d somehow missed it – I wish it hadn’t happened the way that it did.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
There is something more extreme – for me, musically – that I am working on. I can’t really articulate it yet because it isn’t fully formed and I would just be spouting a list or painting some kind of abstract. And when I say “extreme” I don’t necessarily mean ‘brutal’ or ‘heavy’- which isn’t to say that I will ever deny my roots in heavy music. But it is about growth and pushing past limitations and exploring new things. It’s personal to me and something that I am trying to process, but I do see a place for it in the not-too-distant future.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
At the social level art should allow us to see things differently, share perspectives and move us forward together. To think of it as personal or individual, art should function as a means of growth, healing, and self-actualization. No matter your politics or your perception in isolation we are in a constant state of decay in all senses of the word: bodily death, spiritual decay, emotional and intellectual depletion. Art is essential to the pursuit of balance with regard to these things.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
I am looking forward to traveling and spending time with close friends. Coming up I am going to travel here in the US and to Japan which is something I’ve been planning and looking forward to for a long time. I feel like most of my life is work, some of which – a great deal, actually – I enjoy. But downtime is not work…and sometimes I have trouble telling the difference, but purposefully taking time to go away and be with people I care about is a way to extract myself from all of these other things. I expect that my mind will still occasionally wander to things I want to do or create, but being technically ‘away’ will mean I can also be present.
Posted in Questionnaire on November 4th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Chris Morrison from Mother of Graves
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
For the sake of this question, what I do is be in a band called Mother of Graves. I’d define Mother of Graves as a group of friends who play death/doom metal as a cathartic and creative release. I’ve always loved to write music since I was kid. I suck at playing other people’s music, so I started writing my own. I’ve been in several bands throughout the years, but Mother of Graves was formed later in life after a great friend tragically passed. The early songs were a way to directly deal with that loss and since then it has become a way for us all to process whatever we are going through. Also, it is just plain fun to play music with your friends. We wanted to try our hand at, in a way, bringing back the sounds we loved from the early and mid 90s.
Describe your first musical memory.
My earliest musical memories are sitting on the carpet listening to the radio and waiting for my favorite Duran Duran and Michael Jackson songs to play. Then taking a cassette deck and recording them so I could listen over and over.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
There’s been so many great memories that it is hard to pick just one. The tour I did with my old band Harakiri along with Commit Suicide and Kalibas in 2002 is unforgettable for many reasons; however, more recently a couple killer shows stand out: Decibel Metal and Beer Fest in Denver and Northwest Terror Fest in Seattle. These were two of the bigger shows I’d ever played, we were received really well, had a beer collaboration, and made some great friends. I will never forget those shows and am grateful for the opportunities. The greatest memory is even more recent, and I won’t get into details. This has happened a few times, but we got a message from a supporter who told us how much our music meant to them and how it helped them get through some rough times. That is what it’s all about.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I used to work a job in the criminal court system here decades ago. Straight out of college, I firmly believed that I could make a meaningful difference in people’s lives who were stuck in the CJ system. I had a shitty experience with the criminal justice system when I got in trouble as a kid which made me want to make a difference. I was motivated by the idea that guiding individuals who had made mistakes, or faced other issues, could help them reintegrate into society and lead productive lives. However, as I began my work, my belief was significantly tested.
I saw so much bullshit from policies that prioritized punishment over rehabilitation to instances of misconduct from cops, PO’s, correctional officers, etc. I saw firsthand how self-serving interests of politicians and judges could overshadow the needs of individuals caught up in the system. I witnessed so many cases where individuals were set up to fail due to systemic issues rather than receiving the support they needed. I had entered the system with hope and optimism, only to confront a reality that often felt disheartening and beyond my control. I knew I could not change the entire system, but I still strived to advocate for the individuals I worked with. The belief that I could actually make a positive impact was definitely challenged because of the systems in place. I know I made some positive impacts on people’s lives because they made sure I knew it, but the system is totally messed up. I had to bail on that career path as I could not stand to be aligned with what I saw go down. It paid like shit anyway.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
That’s a hard one as it could go in many directions. To me artistic progression leads to a deeper music in general. As I get better, and evolve as a songwriter, I feel like can foster a deeper emotional resonance in what I create. It gets easier to find more nuanced ways to convey emotion and other ideas.
How do you define success?
Musical success to me is defined by personal fulfillment and impact on others. Ultimately, we make music for ourselves. So when we write an album that we really like to listen to, are proud of, and feel that we put everything we could into the songs, that is a success. When we write we also hope that by being 100% authentic and true to ourselves, that it will also resonate with others. So when our songs have a positive impact on others that is also a huge success.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
The removal of the 7-layer burrito from the Taco Bell menu.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
Probably have to say about 5 more Mother of Graves albums. We were talking about this last night after rehearsal. We are curious as to how our sound will evolve.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Art is a way to express emotion, right? That’s how I see it at least. It allows one to dig deep and use one’s imagination to communicate our thoughts and feelings about whatever we want.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Well as I type this, I am looking forward to celebrating my wedding anniversary with my amazing wife this weekend. Thanks for the questions!
Posted in Questionnaire on September 5th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Christoph Henning of The Antikaroshi
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
For me, it’s basically an outlet for the things that I personally can’t deal with so easily, through an electrical device. Be it on a small or large scale. Most of the time it’s very rewarding.
How I got into it? Purely by chance. I grew up in a small village and my father was kind of worried that his only son would get lost in the local soccer team. So he allowed me to buy a drum kit when I was 15. From that point on, he couldn’t turn it back.
Describe your first musical memory.
Seeing “village people” on the television. It must have been 1979 and I liked all their costumes and that there were so many people on stage playing instruments or not.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Tough one. There were a few. Hm seeing Shellac on 9/11 in Berlin was intense. No one knew if they were going to play or not, and Steve did an improvised monologue for what felt like 20+ minutes in one song. It had all the tension and desperation of the moment and set an artistic standard for me.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
There have been a few times when you’ve put on a DIY show for one of your “heroes”, whose records you’ve listened to endlessly, and it turns out that the people involved are just “human beings” after all ;-)
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
I don’t get the question but I recently read an interview by a very cool band called all structures align and they said something like “to at least avoid to make the same mistakes again” – totally agree.
How do you define success?
Taking seriously what you do. Condensing honestly into words and sounds what you feel. If in that sense the music adds something to our normal everyday experiences then we have achieved our goal and we have been “successful”. If it resonates with others, that’s cool, but it’s not part of our definition of success.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Murder city devils in 2003(?) supporting At the drive-in in Dublin. I guess it was their final show of the tour and for some reason the singer decided to drink a bottle of Jack Daniels in 1 sip. You can imagine what happened next..
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I wish I could built my own instruments not necessarily a guitar. But it’s either the lack of time or laziness.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
The ability to abstract
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Posted in Questionnaire on August 27th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Serge Skrypniczenka of Stonerhenge
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I started putting together my first “basement” rock bands when I was 14-15 years old. And even earlier I composed all kinds of “rock operas” and other works of “large scale”. At the age of 17, I formed my own real, full-fledged rock band, we had completely our own musical material. It was the group žygimont VAZA and we were among the first Belarusian rock groups who performed their songs in the Belarusian language. Now it’s hard to imagine, but at that time (late 1980s) in the Soviet Union it was very, very unusual and bold.
Describe your first musical memory.
OL, this is hard for me to do. Because I’ve been surrounded by music since I was born. My mother played the piano, and I sang and held a pencil in my hand like a microphone.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
In the life of every person, sometimes situations happen that from the outside do not look like anything unusual. But for that person, at that very moment, they can be indescribably special. I could experience catharsis at an ordinary classical music concert at the Philharmonic. Or when listening to Pink Floyd’s Comfortable Numb for the first time.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I don’t think there can be one clear answer to such a question. Each person can change his beliefs during his life – change to a greater or lesser extent. I also had such stages.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
I think that the question is not entirely correct. If creative progress occurs, then the important thing is to realize it first. And secondly, try not to lose this state, this feeling. Any success can disappear. People who have achieved success can sometimes simply “flush this success down the toilet,” destroying themselves using a whole arsenal of different methods.
How do you define success?
The question seems trivial. However, I will try to answer. Probably, this is the general fulfillment of a person – personal and professional fulfillment.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
My country is now embroiled in a most shameful war. And I see what terrible things the Russians are doing in Ukraine. In Ukraine, where my relatives and friends live.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
Oh, I’m really interested in a variety of topics in my life. But still, as a possible example, I would like to see our band’s performance one day published as a full-fledged live video concert.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
I think art has only one function. Art makes us HUMANS.
Say something positive about yourself.
Well, I’m not an evil person in general :) But seriously, I’m not envious at all and always rejoice at other people’s successes. I rejoice consciously and sincerely.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
I will not be original if I say that I expect an end to the war in Ukraine and the repressions in Belarus.
