Because I very, very rarely do this kind of thing involving someone else’s work, let me specifically point out I DID NOT TAKE THESE PICTURES. I was not fortunate enough to be at this fest, and even if I had been at Freak Valley in Netphen, Germany, May 29-31, I’m not this good. All the photos in this gallery were by Falk-Hagen Bernshausen, who serves as the festival’s in-house photographer. I don’t even know how many images he sent me, but I’ve gone through and picked out a few from what you can see above was a packed schedule, starting with the headliners and then working by day from there.
If you’re the type who usually does the clicky-makey-biggy thing with the pictures around here, you might notice it doesn’t work on this post. Truth be told, it took me a very long time to get all the photos here to load, and with so many pics, it crashed the site more than once in the making. Resizing the images was the only way I could get it all to fit. I apologize for any inconvenience making it work may have caused.
Still, it’s only through the generosity of Mr. Bernshausen that I’m able to do this, and I thank him profusely for sharing his work. Please note there were more bands he shot than appear, and please also visit his website here, and check out the Freak Valley page as well.
In looking at his work over the course of their collaboration, you can tell that German artist Alexander von Wieding is a fan of Karma to Burn. Not just because he does such excellent work for them — see his prior covers to their V and Appalachian Incantation full-lengths and splits with Sons of Alpha Centauri, ÖfÖ Am, etc. — but to the creativity he brings to their established goat mascot and the level to which he captures what the instrumental West Virginian outfit is all about. The latest partnership between Karma to Burn and von Wieding is the three-piece’s forthcoming album, Arch Stanton, set to release in August.
The album takes its title from the name on the grave in the Sergio Leone classic, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, where a fortune of gold is buried, and almost certainly, if riffs were treasure then Karma to Burn would be millionaires. Von Wieding‘s cover departs from the spaghetti west in favor of the American Civil War, which occurred before the events imagined in the film, and we see Karma to Burn‘s mascot — who’s well on his way to an Eddie-esque number of interpretations — storming a battle line of Union and Confederate soldiers, the flags of both sides represented. All around is chaos and fire and death, rendered with a frightening and otherworldly glow, and both armies recoil in bloody horror as the cigar-smoking beast devastates with a whip for each side.
Karma to Burn‘s Arch Stanton is out this August through Deepdive Records and FABA Records. More to come about it, I’m sure, but until then, check out the tracklisting, take a listen to the prior single “Fifty Three,” which will appear on the record, and click the image below for a closer look:
Tracklist:
1 Fifty Seven 2 Fifty Six 3 Fifty Three 4 Fifty Four 5 Fifty Five 6 Twenty Three 7 Fifty Eight 8 Fifty Nine
Wherever it might be taking place, Desertfest does not waste time. Mere weeks after the 2014 fests in London and Berlin, Desertfest Belgium was announced, Sleep were revealed as the headliners for London next year, and now comes word that tickets for Berlin are already on sale. 11 months out from April 23, 2015, you can get your Desertfest Berlin ticket — and further, if you do, they’ve got a t-shirt to go with it. Not too shabby.
The Berlin Desertfest, which is presented by Sound of Liberation, has tapped French poster art/screenprinting duo Elvisdead to create the official event poster, and you can see the results in the worm-eaten-looking skull below. Elvisdead also did the 2013 poster, which was similarly themed if not necessarily as directly dark (Ammo did this year’s). Nobody’s been revealed for the lineup as yet, but as past years have shown, the poster isn’t necessarily indicative of the brutality level of the fest itself. Probably a good thing or they’d have to rename it altogether, but still, it’s a cool-looking design and it’s probably best to get used to looking at it now, since there are another 343 days until the fest kicks off.
Click the poster for a higher-res look and find the order link for Desertfest Berlin 2015 tickets below, courtesy of Sound of Liberation:
*** DESERTFEST 2015 POSTER – ELVISDEAD ARE BACK ***
Hey Guys,
So far you got a preview on this page, but it’s time now to unveil the whole OFFICIAL POSTER for DESERTFEST BERLIN 2015! As you can see, our great Elvisdead are back!
Anytime I get to post up some art from L.A.-based artist and all-around good guy Sean “Skillit” McEleny, I consider it a good day. The designer of artworks for Fatso Jetson, Dali’s Llama, this very website (note the header) and so many others continues his association with Wisconsin’s Days of the Doomed fest, following up on artwork contributed last year with a badass horizontal design — such is the way of things; an interesting byproduct of what shows up best on Thee Facebooks feeds and profile pictures — for Days of the Doomed IV, which rolls out starting on June 20 with Trouble, Egypt, The Mighty Nimbus and an impressive cast of others.
The poster itself calls to mind Madballs (dating myself) and any number of video game monsters, but notice the mountain druids in the background and things get even weirder and more complex. If you don’t at first see it, look on the bottom right side for where it’s noted that Days of the Doomed IV is honoring the late Jason McCash, who headlined the fest last year with The Gates of Slumber.
Click the image to enlarge for a better look:
Days of the Doomed IV is set for June 20 and 21 at The Metal Grill (formerly The Blue Pig) on Packard Ave. in Cudahy, Wisconsin, and is dedicated this year to the memory of The Gates of Slumber‘s Jason McCash. The lineup and runtimes are as follows:
Friday, June 20th, 2014 – Doors Open At 3:00 PM 3:00 – 4:00 Metal DJ 4:00 – 4:40 Ancient Dreams 5:00 – 5:40 Stasis 6:00 – 6:45 Wasted Theory 7:05 – 7:50 Witchden 8:10 – 9:00 The Mighty Nimbus 9:20 – 10:20 Orodruin 10:40 – 11:40 Blackfinger (featuring former Trouble vocalist Eric Wagner) 12:00 – 1:00 Las Cruces
Saturday, June 21st, 2014 – Doors Open At 11:30 AM 12:00 – 12:40 Flying Medusa 1:00 – 1:40 Moon Curse 2:00 – 2:45 Sanctus Bellum 3:05 – 3:50 Brimstone Coven 4:10 – 4:55 Spillage (featuring Earthen Grave guitarist Tony Spillman) 5:15 – 6:00 Stone Magnum 6:20 – 7:05 Egypt 7:25 – 8:10 Devil To Pay 8:30 – 9:15 Beelzefuzz 9:35 – 10:35 Jex Thoth 10:55 – 11:55 Age Of Taurus 12:15 – 1:30 Trouble
God. Damn. Quite a lineup, quite a poster. I’ll give credit to Hollow Leg‘s Brent Lynch who first brought my attention to the poster for his band’s March 26 gig at St. Vitus Bar in Brooklyn. The evening, on which Kings Destroy (fresh off their West Coast tour) headlines with Hollow Leg, Holly Hunt, Clamfight and The Scimitar supporting, is a benefit for Aaron Edge, the Seattle-based graphic designer and former Roareth (etc.) guitarist, whose struggle with multiple sclerosis led to the creation last year of Lumbar‘s The First and Last Days of Unwelcome(review here) and whose medical bills continue to accumulate.
True to oblivious form, I actually wasn’t aware The Obelisk was sponsoring the show or I’d have been plugging it much sooner. There were some discussions earlier on and I had thought it just kind of petered out as these things sometimes do, but I’m honored to have the name of this site associated with such a lineup, with War Crime Recordings who released Kings Destroy‘s A Time of Hunting last year, and of course with St. Vitus Bar, whose reputation at this point spreads well beyond the bounds of Brooklyn. I won’t be sorry to catch Hollow Leg and Holly Hunt when they come through Boston with Ichabod and Balam, but no doubt this is something special, and the poster, by Searing Limb‘s Connor Anderson, certainly lives up to the occasion.
Behold:
Click the image to enlarge for a more detailed look (click it again to remove). For more on the Anderson‘s work, this show, the Holly Hunt/Hollow Leg tour dates and how you can contribute to Edge‘s continuing fight, check the links below.
Reunited New York doomers Blood Farmers are taking orders now for their sophomore album, Headless Eyes. A self-release, Headless Eyes is the first Blood Farmers long-player to surface in the 19 years since their self-titled debut came out on Hellhound, and it has been awaited since the band first started doing shows again a few years back. Their fetish for all things horror comes through both in the title of the album and its graphic design, handled by drummer Tad Leger, who’s given a sampling of the art for anyone who’s yet to pick up a copy of the CD. He’s joined in the band by vocalist Eli Brown and guitarist/bassist Dave Szulkin.
Blood Farmers‘ debut was reissued on Japan’s Leaf Hound Records in 2008 with a bonus track — their 1991 demo, Permanent Brain Damage, had been put out by the same label in 2004 — and the band has toured and made fest appearances leading up to the Headless Eyesrelease, hitting Europe in 2011 alongside Black Pyramid and also playing Days of the Doomed in Wisconsin.
Click the image below to get a feel for the art — front and back cover, plus liner, etc. — for Headless Eyes, which comes with an update from Leger and the tracklisting. I’ve also included a clip of the title-track so you can have a taste of Blood Farmers‘ grainy, VHS-style doom. Enjoy:
Here’s a peek at some of the sickening art that houses each copy of the new Blood Farmers album, Headless Eyes. It’s not pretty but that was our goal when creating it really. Thanks to all the kind folks who have supported this release. All sales go straight to the band. NO labels, distributors or anyone involved in this. So please help us spread the word. Our sincere thanks to the TRUE Doom culture!
Tracks are: 1.Gut Shot (6:17) 2.Headless Eyes (10:49) 3.The Creeper (4:51) 4.Thousand-Yard Stare (6:34) 5.Night Of The Sorcerers (10:15) 6.The Road Leads To Nowhere (5:59)
Posted in Visual Evidence on February 12th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
Today I have the extreme pleasure of premiering the artwork for Wo Fat‘s forthcoming fifth album, The Conjuring. Set for release on June 17 through Small Stone — though from what I hear it’ll be available at the merch table on the Dallas trio’s upcoming European tour — the cover art to The Conjuring arrives courtesy of none other than Alexander von Wieding, who has outdone himself in capturing the album’s brooding and dark psychedelia. Von Wieding did the cover as well for 2012’s The Black Code(review here), and of course counts Karma to Burn, his own Larman Clamor, Black Thai, Manilla Road and many others among his clientele. Samples of his work are available at his website.
Click the image below for a more detailed look, and just for kicks, I’ve also included the Wo Fat bio for The Conjuring, which I wrote:
Wo Fat – The Conjuring Bio
You can wade through as many press quotes about “Texas-sized” as you want or see how many top-whatever lists Wo Fat have made since the Dallas trio got started in 2003, but none of that is going to be the same as staring down their swampadelic fuzz groove for yourself. If you want to know the monster, shake its hand.
In 2014, Wo Fat will release The Conjuring, their fifth full-length and second through Small Stone. Like their last two, 2012’s The Black Code and 2011’s Noche del Chupacabra, it’s a heavy-riff/heavy-jam blast of a time – the kind of record that turns the vaguely interested into converts and that makes the corners on squares look even sharper. Guitarist/vocalist Kent Stump, bassist Tim Wilson and drummer/backing vocalist Michael Walter are jazz-combo tight and their roll is easy and natural, like you remember Fu Manchu being, but bigger-sounding and in the case of The Conjuring, darker as well.
There’s been a creature lurking in the woods since Wo Fat’s 2006 debut, The Gathering Dark – their second album, 2009’s Psychedelonaut, pulled back on the threat some to lighten the mood – but whether it’s the motor-driven rush of “Read the Omens” or the you’re-already-lost-in-it riff-exploration of 17-minute closer “Dreamwalker,” The Conjuring is indeed a backwoods ritual. Bluesmen have sold their souls for less.
Veterans of Roadburn, slated for Freak Valley 2014 and self-sufficient with Stump handling the recording at the band’s own Crystal Clear Sound in Dallas, Wo Fat push their jams farther than they’ve ever gone before on these five tracks. Topped off with a mastering job from Nolan Brett at their studio and an otherworldly cover courtesy of Alexander Von Wieding, the beast that Wo Fat’s tectonic riffage calls to earth has never seemed more real or more alive than it does on The Conjuring.
The Conjuring tracklisting: 1. The Conjuring 2. Read the Omens 3. Pale Rider from the Ice 4. Beggar’s Bargain 5. Dreamwalker
Wo Fat: Kent Stump: Guitar/vocals Tim Wilson: Bass Michael Walter: Drums/backing vocals
Posted in Visual Evidence on January 14th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
They’ve been out for a minute at this point, but I had to get these up. Small Stone Records will host showcases in Boston and Brooklyn March 28 and 29, respectively. Roadsaw, Lo-Pan, Gozu, and Neon Warship will play both in Boston at the Middle East and in Brooklyn at the St. Vitus bar, and both shows also mark the Northern debut of Texas fuzz-giants Wo Fat! The Dallas trio will be touring to herald the coming of their fifth album, due in June. If you couldn’t tell by the exclamation point, I’m excited to be seeing them again.
Mellow Bravo (whose lead guitarist, Jeff Fultz, will now be pulling double duty as a member of Gozu) also feature in Boston, while Geezer will add some New York heavy blues to the Brooklyn lineup. Both posters come courtesy of Chris Smith, whose DeviantArt page is here. As you can see below, the two posters are set up to complement each other, and the Boston one is angrier. That more or less sums up the relationship between Boston and NYC as I currently understand it. Extra kudos to Smith for the subtle social commentary.
Click either poster to enlarge, and check out the lineups and other sundry information about both shows below, along with the Bandcamp stream of Wo Fat‘s The Black Code (review here), just for the hell of it:
Small Stone Showcase Boston- March 28th
THE MIDDLE EAST RESTAURANT & NIGHTCLUB www.mideastclub.com/ 472-480 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139
Mellow Bravo Wo Fat Lo-Pan GOZU Roadsaw Neon Warship
