Five years after providing the harsh solace of Mothers Weavers Vultures (review here) in the midst of a hellish plague winter, San Francisco’s Grayceon will move forward July 25 with Then the Darkness, their sixth full-length. To be released through Translation Loss on vinyl and their own imprint, We Can Records (DL), I swear to you I’m not going to review the album in this post — I’m not ready and it’s stupid early — but what I’ll tell you is that its 11-song/81-minute run is absolutely all-in.
Whether you’re dug into the 20-minute “Mahsa” or the 13-minute “Forever Teeth,” which as a parent I definitely read as a song about lying to your kids for your own convenience/quality of life and feeling horrible about it — been there — the melodic roll and bite of “One Third” or the stately cello blastthrash and big-riff nod of “Song of the Snake,” Then the Darkness does not shy from being a tour de force of elements that have made this band so special all along. Cellist Jackie Perez Gratz has never sounded more soulful on vocals than in “Forever Teeth,” and the unabashedly sweet, folkish tinge brought to the penultimate “Untitled” feels like an adjustment to the balance of extremity and atmosphere that Grayceon have always managed to strike.
Of course, rhythms are fluid and change on a dime, with guitarist Max Doyle and drummer Zack Farwell as taut as ever whether a part is galloping at a sprint or subdued, ambient and gorgeous as many are. This would be expected of a Grayceon record by now, as the band marks 20 years since their inception as a group, but their intricate, individual and moving craft satisfies and is encompassing on a level all its own. It’s not a minor undertaking and it’s not supposed to be.
“Thousand Year Storm,” with the video by Gratz‘s bandmate in Brume, Jordan Perkins-Lewis, premiering below, is the opening track, and by no means does it speak for the entirety of the record, but it will give you a basic idea of some of the sounds they’re going for this time around in addition to making an enticing first impression for songs like “3 Points of Light” or the instrumental title-track that separates “Mahsa” and “Forever Teeth.” As a fan of the band, I appreciate the chance to host it.
Album info follows the quotes and cover below. Please enjoy:
Grayceon, “Thousand Year Storm” video premiere
“Thousand Year Storm is about breaking — crying out first in pain, then slowly coming to terms, and finally letting go. Like the rest of Then The Darkness, these songs sit in the aftermath — after the damage is done, when all you can do is try to make sense of what’s left and figure out how to keep going.” – Jackie Perez Gratz
“Death is always hard to deal with, but there can also be a comfort to it. The end is often a release of pain and struggle.” – Zack Farwell
Translation Loss Records is proud to announce Then the Darkness, the sprawling and gorgeous sixth full length from Bay-area progressive rockers, Grayceon.
Having meticulously plied their brand of expansive, progressive post metal since 2005, Grayceon have established themselves as a singular entity in the Bay Area scene and beyond. On full length album number six, Grayceon continue to mutate their unique sound and delve even further into the sonic abyss, creating a record of immense vision and gripping emotional peaks and valleys, one that’ll undoubtedly prove to be a cornerstone in their rich, storied history.
Then the Darkness presents Grayceon at their most haunting and visceral. On its eleven tracks, the non-traditional ‘power-trio’ composed of cellist/vocalist Jackie Perez Gratz (Giant Squid, Amber Asylum, etc.), guitarist Max Doyle and drummer Zack Farwell, create labyrinthine yet extremely memorable metallic compositions. Cello and guitar interplay and weave seamlessly to create boundless riffs and rhythms that bore into your psyche, leaving you humming its off-kilter melodies for the rest of the day. Perez Gratz’s vocals act as a guide through the maze of grief and other emotions; anguished shouts and screams give way to folkish singing and are capped off by moments of soaring vocal power. Then the Darkness was masterfully engineered, mixed and mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, etc.), whose natural and roomy production truly brings this powerful album to life.
Album Details: Engineered, mixed and mastered at The Atomic Garden by Jack Shirley from December 2023 to June 2024. Album art/design/photography: General LLC Band photo: Jackie Perez Gratz Video by Jordan Perkins-Lewis, San Francisco, CA.
Tracklist: 1. Thousand Year Storm 2. One Third 3. Velvet ‘79 4. 3 Points of Light 5. Mahsa 6. Then the Darkness 7. Forever Teeth 8. Song of the Snake 9. Holding Lines 10. Untitled 11. Come to the End
GRACEYON is: Max Doyle (he/him) – guitar Jackie Perez Gratz (she/her) – cello, voice Zack Farwell (he/him) – drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 14th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Well, here we are. The stories are everywhere and varied around the basic theme of ‘Brown person gets illegally disappeared’ and even as the United States postulates to white South African refugees fleeing I’m not sure what for the dickish optics of racism, actual legal residents are having their rights thrown away in favor of harassment and illegal imprisonment. If you were going to travel here for any reason, be it vacation, work, or just to see that big fancy arch in St. Louis, do yourself a favor and stay home. This place is a shithole run by psychopaths who believe in either nothing or nothing other than their own holy ascension and what profit they can make from it. You could easily do better, nation-wise. Canada or Mexico, for example.
Lord Buffalo were ready to go when drummer Yamal Said was grabbed and taken nobody knows where to, let’s assume, catch a ration of bullshit no one has ever needed in their life. Beaten, starved, kept in cages — these are the things the United States does to prisoners. Solitary confinement for days. These are unconscionable acts apart from being immoral, and my greatest fear about this awful moment in US history is that when it’s over — and it will end; all authoritarians die — no one will be held accountable and my countrymen will learn nothing and nothing will get better in any meaningful way.
Because that’s where we are. The fuckups have already happened, are already happening, and to repair trust in basic institutions let alone standing in the rest of the world is going to take decades, probably more than the rest of this century, to happen, if it happens at all. I sincerely doubt I’ll live to see it, not the least from the forward-into-brick-wall trajectory of American foreign and domestic policy, taking institutions that were basically functional and supported the infrastructure of the broader government and axing the people who know how to make them run. An economic approach like bad improv jazz. Still genocide. And at home the roads crumble, the schools get worse, everything gets more expensive and the news blinks when the head of the executive branch takes a $400 million bribe in open public.
We are backward and terrible, and if the experiment of the United States was to coexist and move into the future as a successful multicultural society, that experiment has failed in the face of a few rich white motherfuckers who don’t even have the common decency of past generations to build things like libraries or sculpture gardens. Radical wealth redistribution now. Disband ICE now. Fuck all fascists, including your friends, neighbors, family, cops and local and national government. This is how a halfway decent idea for a country dies and deserves it.
From social media:
[UPDATE 05/15: The word is that Said was picked up for a warrant and taken to local jail, not detained by immigration enforcement. I’m not sure how ‘regular old police state’ is supposed to make me feel better about things, but there you go. The band apparently didn’t know. They did the correct thing and got him a lawyer. People are still being grabbed off the street every day in this country for the purpose of stoking fear and division. It doesn’t just have to happen to someone in a band for you to care.]
We are heartbroken to announce we have to cancel our upcoming European tour. Our drummer, Yamal Said, who is a Mexican citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States (green card holder) was forcibly removed from our flight to Europe by Customs and Border Patrol at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Monday May 12. He has not been released, and we have been unable to contact him. We are currently working with an immigration lawyer to find out more information and to attempt to secure his release. We are devastated to cancel this tour, but we are focusing all of our energy and resources on Yamal’s safety and freedom. We are hopeful that this is a temporary setback and that it could be safe for us to reschedule this tour in the future. In our absence, our touring partners Orsak:Oslo will continue to perform the tour. We urge everyone to go see this amazing band and support them over the next couple weeks.
Affected dates:
15.05 – Heerlen, NL – Nieuwe Nor
16.05 – Aachen, DE – Lolaparoli
17.05 – Nijmegen, NL – Sonic Whip Fest
18.05 – Hamburg, DE – Stubnitz
19.05 – København, DK – Råhuset
20.05 – Oslo, NO – Revolver
21.05 – Göteborg, SE – Fyrens Ölkafe
23.05 – Helsinki, FI – Sonic Rites Fest
LORD BUFFALO is: Daniel Pruitt – guitar, bass, piano, vocals, melodica Garrett Hellman – guitar, sub-bass, piano, synths Patrick Patterson – violin Yamal Said – drums, percussion
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 14th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
This past weekend, Houston’s Stone Nomads took part in the third Gravitoyd Doomfest in their hometown, and they’ve got a weekender in Louisiana coming up, which sounds pleasant whether you’re doing shows or not, frankly. All well and good, but it’s the Southeast that the band will be focused on in July as they make their way to and through the Asheville Doomed & Stoned Fest with a string of club shows subsequent to their July 12 appearance at the festival in North Carolina.
The band promise more shows to be announced, and with a slot already confirmed at Ripplefest Texas in September and Tampa Doom and Gloom later this Fall, they’ll for sure have other opportunities for get-outs. Their next album may or may not be out by then as well, as they’re recording and dropping hints of a release plan to unfold in the coming months for what will be their third long-player.
Poster and dates off the PR wire:
Texas powerhouse sludge metal trio STONE NOMADS announce the first leg of their 2025 US Tour, with 11 dates spanning the southern US in May and June. The trek features 2 festival appearances – DOOMED & STONED fest in Asheville NC and GRAVITOYD DOOM fest in Houston TX. The band is also scheduled to appear later in the year at RIPPLEFEST TX (Sept) and TAMPA DOOM & GLOOM (Nov). More dates and a full second leg to be announced in the summer.
May 16th – Midcity Ballroom – Baton Rouge, LA May 17th – Santos Bar – New Orleans, LA July 11th – Al’s Bar – Lexington, KY July 12th – Doomed & Stoned fest – Asheville, NC July 13th – The Den – Winston Salem, NC July 15th – The Cobra Lounge – Nashville, TN July 16th – Sweetwater – Atlanta, GA July 17th – Jack Rabbits – Jacksonville, FL July 18th – Deviant Libation – Tampa, FL July 19th – Poor House – Ft Lauderdale, FL
The band is currently in the studio with legendary producer RANDY BURNS (Megadeth, Death, Possessed) putting the finishing touches on their 3rd album, scheduled to be released in the fall of 2025.
Here’s a quote from the band:
“We have been hard at work in the studio the past few months putting together a banger of an album (our first on a yet-to-be-announced label…more info coming soon…), can’t wait for the world to hear it later this fall! In the meantime we are super stoked to get back out on the road this summer and do what we do best with in front of all of our rowdy friends across the southern US.”
Austrian heavy rockers Grey Czar released their third album, Euarthropodia, last month through Octopus Rising/Argonauta Records. Running nine tightly-composed songs and 38-minutes, it’s a versatile collection themed around the well-earned fall of homo sapiens and the ascent of a new insectoid primacy. Then you get into “Ballad of Propellerheads” and “Queens of the New World” and there’s more going on than that, but suffice it to say: people out, bugs in. It’s like exactly what happened with the bees in my dining room when I went on vacation last summer. They had an entire civilization going.
But whatever it’s about, the record moves. Each track is somewhere between a little under four and a little under five minutes long — this is roughly consistent with their prior two LPs, though their second, 2018’s Boondoggle, ranged a bit around that — and the Salzburg four-piece revel in the ability to execute different moods and ideas around structural shifts. “Eschaton” starts off with reminding of earlier Kadavar in its roll and proto-metallic urging, while introducing the pointedly garage-y guitar tone, a thinner fuzz than one is used to — that sounds like a criticism; it isn’t; it sounds cool, just different than the heavy rock norm — that the band will build around. In a welcoming hook, they purposefully lay out what they want to do and how they’ll do it, and you’ll never guess what happens next but yes then they go ahead and do the thing.
“Withered World” is an immediate shift in atmosphere after the finish of the sweeping opener, but still resolves in a heavy-enough push to carry momentum into the piano-inclusive start of “Insects Took Over” (video premiere below). Like “Withered World,” “Insects Took Over” takes a minute or so to get going, but it boogies once it’s there, with a modern-sounding take on Heavy ’10s nod that gives over to “Trooping for Euarthropodia,” where things continue to get weirder. At 4:51, “Trooping for Euarthropodia” is one of the longest songs, and it’s inarguably progressive in how it’s built up around the central chug and flow into the chorus, Spidergawd-esque or maybe that’s a Motorpsycho influence, but it’s catchy either way and moves through its big finish into the quieter start of “Ballad of Propellerheads,” a harmony-over-strum centerpiece that becomes a fuller-buzz-toned push and winding proggy twists.
Wolfgang Brunauer‘s bass holds it together, but Grey Czar — with drummer Wolfgang Ruppitsch (also other percussion), vocalist/guitarist Roland Hickmann and keyboardist/vocalist Florian Primavesi — have already proven by the time the album’s halfway over that there’s no real danger of derailing. Like the guitar tone, the songwriting is sharp throughout Euarthropodia, and that aids the transition in vibe as “Queens of the New World” injects ’80s keyboard-inclusive metal vibes — think Ozzy circa ’83, plus buzz and some more of that Kadavarian roll — breaking into oddball nuance in the solo, suitably circus-like and otherworldly, nigh on theatrical.
The acoustic beginning of “Nutritional Protocol” brings Sweden’s Asteroid to mind, which is an impression bolstered by the vocal melody, but the sense of something strange remains, held over from “Queens of the New World,” so while the plucked strings tap almost wistful emotionality, the fluid riffing that ensues, breaks for the verse, and resumes, there’s still the story being told and a suitable instrumental backdrop for it. The grounded chorus finishes out before “Arthrobotic Liberty” brings electric organ forward to complement the shuffle in the guitar, bass and drums, threatening to rest in the midsection ultimately not giving up the energetic charge as it comes out of its solo into the last crashout ahead of the closing cut “Aeon.”
For the scope of the plot they’re conveying, Grey Czar don’t do much throughout Euarthropodia that one would really call self-indulgent on a musical level. Their parts aren’t held down by needless flourish, and though they can give a feeling of expanse when they want to, they’re always doing so in service to the song itself and its place in the succession of the whole. That applies to “Aeon” as well, but I’d be surprised if the last cut on the record wasn’t put together specifically to be the closer. It brings keyboards to the forefront to add more drama and once again finds movement and noteworthy melody in the proceedings. They finish with a bit of shove but never ‘break character’ in terms of the character of the album itself and the methods employed, and that cohesion makes Euarthropodia‘s world all the more vivid.
And after all that? The video premiere. You’ll find the clip, which was directed by Brunauer, in the embed below, followed by some words from the band about it, some PR wire background, the audio for the album (again, it’s out, so have at it), and the lyric video for “Withered World,” in case you’d like to search out the easter egg noted in the band quote.
As always, I hope you enjoy.
Grey Czar, “Insects Took Over” video premiere
Grey Czar on “Insects Took Over”:
“Insects Took Over” is the third track on our new album Euarthropodia. It describes the uprising new species, soundscapes of myriads of creatures forming shifting landscapes and floating clouds, leaving the fallen world in fear and faint. On the album we tried to sketch this horror scenario in a concrete way but open it up to give space for interpretation and a critical view on us human beings and our ruthlessness in relation to our base of needs and environment.
The video takes on this main idea and shows the transformed beings got stuck in the same patterns. The idea for the screenplay is leaned to David Lynches “The Rabbits” and sets a counterpart to the serious and heavy approach of the music, in a slightly humoristic way. We all are existing, each and everyone of us in his surrounding, doing things. Like cutting a cucumber, hoovering, caressing the tablet, watching TV … essential things.
Our bassist Wolfgang shot the film, and he build the “Living room scene” in his garage, got all the props, like the couch, the carpet floor, the lamps and self-designed wallpaper and we shot the scene in a one take. After that we transferred the whole setting to our rehearsal room for the performance video part and Wolfi assembled the video. We also placed an easter egg, for those who watched our lyrics video for “Withered World”.
Hailing from Salzburg, Austria, GREY CZAR is a four-piece heavy rock outfit featuring two guitars, keys, bass, drums and up to three vocals. Their music is melodic and riff-driven, oscillating between heavier and mellow sounds, while having a flair for progressive elements.
The band was founded in 2010 when its four members came together to share their mutual passion for music. Taken by the idea to play stoner rock the band quickly discovered new grounds and as the group’s personalities evolved so did the music, which continues its natural development.
Since their self-titled debut LP in 2012, GREY CZAR has released an EP „The Men Who Harvest the Sea” in 2014, and their session-recorded sophomore long player „Boondoggle“ in 2018, which was well received in the scene.
Grey Czar are: Roland Hickmann – vocals/guitar/percussion Florian Primavesi – vocals/guitar/keys Wolfgang Brunauer – vocals/bass Wolfgang Ruppitsch – drums/percussion
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 13th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Hard-distortion-wielding Phoenix, Arizona, stoner crushers Daytripper will make their way to the Eastern Seaboard next month to play June 19 at Maryland Doom Fest. They come in herald and support of their 2024 debut album, Book I: The Trip, which is likewise molten, addled, and punishing, bringing together classic stoner metallurgy with sludgier and more guttural impulses, riffly worship and a heroic dose of nod. As I invariably would, I whiffed on the record last year, but take a listen to “Staff of the Bog,” “Jarl’s Eyes” and the death-lurch-into-keyboardy-sprawl “Marijuanakon” are deceptively engrossing. The AdamBurke cover art is not at all misplaced.
You will recall that last week, Maryland Doom Fest announced this would be their final edition. Take Daytripper‘s inclusion in it as a sign of the festival commitment to embracing newer acts right up to the end. That’s only part of what makes Doom Fest special, but it’s a big part.
From the PR wire:
DAYTRIPPER ANNOUNCES “DESERT DWELLERS” TOUR
Listen to Book I: The Trip on all major streaming platforms.
Phoenix, AZ’s rising force in desert stoner doom, Daytripper, is hitting the road this June for a five-date run across the South and East Coast, in support of their debut album, Book I: The Trip. The Desert Dwellers Mini Tour will bring the band’s crushing riffs, immersive live show, and psychedelic desert energy to select cities.
With a sound rooted in the heavy traditions of doom, wrapped in storytelling and ritualistic atmosphere, Daytripper has crafted a debut that’s already turning heads in the underground scene. Book I: The Trip is the band’s official debut album, originally released in March of last year and later issued on vinyl by California-based Wet Records. It’s a raw and passionate record built on deep grooves, hypnotic atmosphere, and a genuine love for the craft — a bold testament to the spirit of Arizona Desert Doom and the band’s dedication to pushing the genre forward.
“This album is what AZ Desert Doom is all about. This community has inspired us, and we put everything we had into making this record. We hope everyone can sit back, spark up, and join us on this trip.” said the band.
“We have paused our recording and composition process to make these dates. But we hope to bring more news soon.”
Don’t miss your chance to experience Daytripper live on this limited run:
DESERT DWELLERS TOUR DATES June 15 – Austin, TX – Valhalla June 16 – New Orleans, LA – The Goat June 19 – Frederick, MD – Maryland Doom Fest June 21 – Raleigh, NC – Kings June 22 – Lexington, KY – Al’s Bar
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 13th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
New Mooch tune is a banger. It’s called “Sunburner,” like the headline said, and it’ll be released on June 20 through Black Throne Productions along with the rest of the Canadian riffers’ new long-player, Kin. Coming out in June puts it at 13 months’ remove from the band’s last outing, 2024’s Visions (review here), but if you think that’s me complaining you’re reading it wrong.
The three-piece — who I don’t think have always been partly-based in Yellowknife (Northwest Territories) in addition to Montreal, but are now — will play Rhüne Mountain Fest (June 26-28) to celebrate the release, and they are already confirmed to appear at 2026’s Planet Desert Rock Weekend VI in Las Vegas (info here). The announcement below comes from social media and the album credits and such are from Bandcamp. I snagged the top line from the preorder page. Just trying to pack as much information in as I can. Have I told you I’ve started to think of these things as archival? At very least centralized info I’ll probably want later.
Here you go:
“KIN” is MOOCH’s desert-rock odyssey – their fourth studio album, and is available on 180g fireburst swirl vinyl and CD format – due for release on June 20.
The record’s first single “SUNBURNER” dropped this week. Go give it a listen and tell us what you think. Lots of really good stuff in the works for MOOCH and we have another big announcement for Monday- stay tuned! 🤘
KIN’ is the fourth full length LP by heavy psych band MOOCH. It is the first album to be released in collaboration with Canadian Indie label, Black Throne Productions.
Tracklisting: 1. YR4 2. Meteor 3. Sunburner 4. Hang Me Out (False Sun) 5. Prominence 6. Lightning Rod 7. Gemini 8. Zenith
Produced By MOOCH Mixing: Julian Iac Mastering: Richard Addison At Trillium Mastering Recorded By: Julian Iac At Icebox Studio And Clayton Dupuis At Holy Mountain Studio Vocal Coach, Vocal Arrangement, Slide Guitar On Gemini : Joe Segreti Additional Arrangement: Clove Lombardi Album Artwork: Deliriavision
KIN Canadian Tour 2025 🌑
We’re proud to present the summer tour for our upcoming album KIN.
June 11 – Kingston June 12 – Ottawa June 19 – Kitchener June 20 – Toronto June 21 – Barrie June 27 – Oshawa June 28 – Dunnville
July 4 – Montreal July 5 – Quebec City July 19/20 – Yellowknife July 23 – Lethbridge July 24 – Edmonton July 25 – Red Deer July 26 – Calgary
We’re lucky to be sharing the road with friends old and new.
See y’all on the road ✌️
*ticket links will be rolling out this week for various legs of the tour. By the end of the week you should be able to find your city in our Linktree ✅
Poster: @deliriavision
Mooch are: Ben Cornel (Guitar, Bass, Vocals) Julian Iac (Guitar, Bass, Vocals, Keys, Percussion) Alex Segreti (Drums, Percussion, Vocals)
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 13th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Lay Bare Recordings will present the first-to-my-knowledge Lay Bare Fest in London on Sept. 27, with the five-so-far acts playing The Black Heart to be joined by I don’t know how many more. The forward-thinking Netherlands-based label will showcase acts from its international roster of artists including Germany’s Coltaine — whose new album is set to release through Lay Bare in September — as well as Rosy Finch from Spain, the industrialist Mrs Frighthouse from Scotland, and the dark folk of Kariti and the post-metallic The Answer Lies in the Black Void, making for a lineup-thus-far that’s as broad stylistically as it is geographically.
And I guess even if you’re not going to be traveling to Camden Town to check out the show at The Black Heart, the underlying message here is that digging into these acts — each for different reasons, each offering something of their own — is advisable. Lay Bare consistently backs bands who prize their creative individuality across genre lines, and it seems accordingly like the show’s ‘Frequencies Across Borders’ subtitle — which is awesome; more unity, less division — will likewise transcend methodologies. If you’re curious to know who else will be added, the label’s roster is something of a weirdo dream-team, so take your pick. I’ll forego speculation so as not to feel silly later.
But this is awesome and worth knowing about whether you will see it or not. That’s all. It came from social media:
Tickets are now live for Lay Bare Fest – Frequencies Across Borders at The Black Heart!
Line-up so far:
Coltaine (DE)
Rosy Finch (SP)
Mrs Frighthouse (UK)
kariti (RU/IT)
The Answer Lies In The Black Void (HU/NL)
The label showcase festival will feature exclusive album release shows from some of the Lay Bare Recordings roster. More announcements coming soon…
I don’t know what it was that Agriculture were soundchecking when I walked into John Dee from upstairs at Rockefeller, but it sure sounded a lot like CKY’s “96 Quite Bitter Beings,” which was cool because I just got that song out of my head last week for the first time since like 2003. So I was due.
Sleep did happen — the state, not the band — and I woke up two hours after my alarm to discover I hadn’t actually finished setting it. Didn’t matter; plenty of time to sit around and be anxious for the start of the day. I video called home — the house is a mess, which very much is how it goes when I’m gone — and all is well. Ate a couple bites and tried to sleep a bit more, but the three double espressos tearing ass through my bloodstream weren’t having it. Sometimes living in the moment means calling yourself dumb later.
Agriculture’s lights were going to be too much for my brain. I knew that going into the set, because soundcheck, but when it happened, it was still punishing. The overwhelm is part of it, purposeful. Part of what you sign up for. But the sandblasting and the immersion, coinciding, is why you stay. Watching them, I couldn’t get the parallel out of my head between the traditions of Norwegian black metal and their subversion in terms of weather. That is, if the ‘trvest’ of black metals was born in this place — and they have it scrawled on that basement wall for people to take pictures with, so it’s arguable — in the dark and cold of winter here, then the aural brightness of Agriculture, the natural-light-reflecting-on-water of their post-rock-style guitar floating above all the pummel and screech, feels correspondingly climate-born to Los Angeles, where the band are from. To paraphrase George Carlin, the sun probably sets 10 minutes from their rehearsal space. Of course they’d make black metal beautiful.
That’s a generalization, obviously. Broad strokes to cover lack of insight. The truth of their presentation is more emotionally complex and less niche-declarative, but transgressing just the same, though maybe black metal is used to it by now; a punching bag catchall genre to push against the borders of. The tie with Agriculture is in tonal heft and the honesty of their scathe and the atmospheres they build around it, and they’d be a sore thumb in the lineup if Desertfest was stoner-only, but neither day was. It’s all one big heavy melting pot, and genres evolve. Always cool to see it happen on the stage right in front of you, though.
But the lights got me, so I headed upstairs to the Rockefeller balcony ahead of Slift. I know. Not like Slift were going to take it easy on visuals. Still. The French heavyspace trio are riding the course of 2024’s Ilion (review here), and the fact that they’ve spent the better part of the last three years touring was not lost on their stage presence.
The story of their set was kind of that I blew it there as well. Got my photos and moved on. I was dragging, had basic human needs to attend to in food, water, bathroom, so broke out of Rockefeller a bit into the set in an effort to get my head right. I was saving the second half of Friday’s weedy muffin for later in the day, but there’s nothing like when the check-into-your-flight notification comes in while you’re trying to enjoy a busy afternoon of writing, taking photos, and general sonic obliteration.
Hippie Death Cult ruled last year at Desertfest New York (review here) and with their new live album, Live at Star Theater (review here), it felt like half the point of the damn thing was to argue in favor of showing up when the band inevitably comes through where you live — Parsippany, New Jersey, if you’re tour planning — when the opportunity presents itself. So there I was. I’d already bumped into guitarist Eddie Brnabic and drummer Harry Silvers at the hotel, and they and bassist/vocalist Lauren Phillips would soon take the stage to unroll a blanket of riffs onto the crowd, roll that same blanket back up again with the crowd in it, and then send it careening down the side of a mountain. I’m really, really looking forward to their next album.
Nothing against 2023’s Helichrysum (review here), mind you, but — and I think this is something the live LP posited as well — they sound like they’re just getting started. The lineup change that resulted in Phillips taking the lead vocal role, plus bringing Silvers in on drums, made them a different band. On the record and live, they’ve explored harsher, more direct and classic feeling ideas, but at the same time, begun to develop a character for themselves separate from what it was just a few years ago. This is a strength. Some bands would just fall apart. Hippie Death Cult have figured, are figuring out, how to make it work and progress from their new starting position.
And since much of this work has happened on tours, yes, I am very much convinced their best work is ahead of them. They can be warm and bluesy — Brnabic’s shred suits all sides — or sludge-nasty and it doesn’t matter. Songs like “Arise,” “Red Giant,” “Toxic Annihilator,” as they’re playing them now, are paving the way for a band who can crush or boogie or gallop at a measure’s whim.
Phillips let out a couple Tom Araya-esque screams while Silvers was on the double-kick, and they’re getting more comfortable bringing that kind of metal into their foundation in capital ‘h’ Heavier groove. They’re a monster band. They should get monstrous, and I think they just might continue to do that. This was their first time in Norway. Someone in the crowd shouted, “What took you so long?” Near-total reset takes some time, I guess, but it’s done Hippie Death Cult well in terms of the intensity level. They finished big and noisy — at some near-final point, I looked up and Phillips’ mic stand had disappeared — and I watched the whole set and wouldn’t have wanted it another way.
Back upstairs to Rockefeller for Finland’s Oranssi Pazuzu. True, I saw them a couple weeks ago, playing their latest album, Muuntautuja, in full, no less, but whatever. I dug it then and wanted to investigate the band further. Seeing them again felt like a half-decent way to do that. The balcony was full before the floor, which the lightshow would soon justify, but the room was full by the start of the set.
The thing was, they’re a name I’ve seen around for well over a decade, and a band I’ve listened to before and appreciated for what it was but soon enough moved on. But after that Muuntautuja set at Roadburn, they kind of took up residence in the back of my head. I was glad to recognize a few songs from one show to the next, including the opener, and while they’re not usually the kind of band I’d go all-in on, and I’m positive I don’t know enough of their music to call myself a fan, after seeing them these two times, I do feel compelled to dig further.
There’s enough going on at any given moment in their songs to trace threads of influence and constantly end up in a different place. That’s black metal, straight up, but then there comes a synthier part, or a drone stretch, or some Ministry-style keyboard thrash. Krautrock guitars might meet up with some soul-grinding ferocity, and the band seem to delight in precisely that manner of fucking with norms; picking apart ideas about style and what the rules are, cherrypicking which ones they want to uphold and which they want to break and then breaking most of them anyway. Like Agriculture, they’re in-genre outsider art, but whatever the stylistic cast, Oranssi Pazuzu refuse and refute pigeonholing.
My scheduled break was next. I went back to the room, had that half a weedy muffin — I could not tell you the last time I ate an actual muffin; nine years at least; I don’t normally do breadstuffs — drank a bunch of water and took some ibuprofen, tried and failed to check in for my flight because my town has both a different mailing address and a hyphen in it (not joking) and confirmed an earlier decision about the course of my night.
Chat Pile were sub-headlining the Rockefeller, and Whores. would be on at 22.00 in John Dee. I skipped both in favor of Villjuvet at St. Edmund’s Church right around the corner from Revolver. I had gotten to see the inside of the church earlier in the day — it was active-catholic enough to give yer boy eucharistic flashbacks — and been told a bit about the project, the visual component and the work of Ruben Willem, who in addition to operating as Villjuvet is a producer and has either mixed or mastered releases for an entire slew of bands from Lonely Kamel to Håndgemang who were in Friday’s lineup, to Gluecifer, Suncraft and Kal-El. I could go on.
I’ve seen Chat Pile, again recently. It was cool. I’ve never seen Whores., and frankly part of the reason why is the danger of liking them and then having to admit to myself I like a band with that name, but I know people who swear by them, and I actually did end up watching them for a few minutes and they were killing to a packed room. But I was told ahead of time, “Villjuvet might be just your speed,” and was happy to take the recommendation to a path less traveled before finishing the night off back at Rockefeller for Elder. Slow and weird, you say? That sure does sound like my speed.
At 9PM, it was still pretty broad daylight, but the church was dark, the door ominously left open. I took a seat in the second pew — was not at all the first one there — and waited as more people came in. There was some white noise drone, but I’ll be honest and say a big part of me wanted to hear “Holy Diver,” though that went away when the actual show started.
You could follow the projections — branches and the like, nighttime ambience, loosely creepy but mostly for the soundtrack — up the white wall with the stained glass windows onto the wood ceiling as Villjuvet turned out to be very much indeed my speed. Willem played facing the projections before a sprawling pedal board, often kneeling as if to a true god being revealed. His drones came through in looped layers and hit high and low through guitar and bass amps. It was not a tune to take out earplugs, despite the lack of percussion. A couple popes later, church has really changed since I was last forced to go, probably around three decades ago. I recall a good time this January sharing religious traumas over a breakfast in Las Vegas. Life takes you weird places when… you expressly make it do that because you enjoy it.
Rockefeller was filling up quickly for Elder and I knew the second Whores. finished downstairs that crowd would flood out, which was exactly what happened. I was at the bar at John Dee at the time, chatting amiably as one does, and then it was time to head upstairs to cap the evening. A 6AM wakeup loomed large over the 11PM start-time — hazards of the trade at the end of a fest; it’s part of the thing — but with the band celebrating the anniversary of 2015’s Lore (review here), and having missed them when they came through Brooklyn with Sacri Monti, there was imperative.
I could go — and have gone! — on about Lore as both a creative statement and a breath of daring fresh air operating in an underground genre that can at times pride itself on traditionalism. I’ll gladly argue its influence is still felt and spreading, even as the band have continued to move forward. But there’s no denying it was a special moment for them, a progressive breakout in craft to which their work before had been leading. So, 10th anniversary it is. Not unreasonable.
Guitarist/vocalist Nick DiSalvo got on mic before they started and thanked the crowd, thanked the fest, said it was an honor to close it out, and explained what they were going to do, and soon enough they were off into “Compendium” and on from there. I always loved “Deadweight” but I knew I wouldn’t make it that far into the set and I didn’t. I was glad to see them though, even briefly as I felt the pull of getting back to finish work and crash out ahead of the early start. The responsible thing. The me that knows I can’t sleep on planes would thank me in the morning, but it was a hard sell to the me looking down the ramp to walk out of Rockefeller and be done with the night and Desertfest Oslo more broadly.
But I did. If I’m fortunate enough to come back next year, I’ll try not to make it so tight, but that’s kind of how it has to be for me to be here in the first place, and a couple Elder songs is better than no Elder songs, so I guess my old-ass punk-rock guilt can fuck off. Time to crawl out of my own head a little bit.
Thank you to Desertfest Oslo for having me. Thank you Ole and Preben for the invitation and thank you to everyone who has worked here to make this happen. The sound, the lights, everything has been spot on, and for this being the second year this festival has taken place, they’d be entitled to a few screwups. I saw none. I did, however, see a bunch killer bands, a bunch of old friends, and some things I wouldn’t have been able to see anywhere else. I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity.
It is not lost on me that in the US this weekend, today, is Mother’s Day. Thank you to The Patient Mrs. for the work she does as a mother always, and for the sheer indulgence that allows me to exist as I do both at and away from home. She is so much more than the love of my life that is humbling she would deign to be it. I know I’ve said this before, but I am the luckiest boy you know.
Thank you to my mother, Pamela Koczan. Thank you to my sister, Susan Wright. Thank you to Cate Wright and Samantha Wright.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for saying hi, for giving a shit after so many years and so many typos and run-on sentences. Dumbassed blocks of text, just endless. Thank you for being here for it in some way at some point, maybe now. The support this site gets is what sustains me doing it. One more time, thank you.
More pics after the jump. No posts tomorrow (Monday) while I get caught up writing/living. Thanks again.
