Punishingly heavy and bleak in its atmospheric density to a point of being oblique, Göden‘s years-in-the-making debut album, Beyond Darkness (review here), arrived amid the somehow-fitting chaos of Spring 2020 through respected purveyors Svart Records. The band, led by guitarist/songwriter Stephan Flam, has been intended since the outset — really, since before the outset — to function as a spiritual successor to Flam‘s prior unit, New York death-doom trailblazers Winter, and the truth of the matter is Göden is simply on another level altogether. Yes, Flam is joined by former Winter keyboardist Tony Pinnisi, who doubles as narrator for the eight spoken interludes — dubbed “Manifestations” — spread across the 2LP, but with an array of drummers and fellow guitarists, violinist Margaret Murphy and vocalist Vas Kallas (best known for her work as a founding member of industrialists Hanzel und Gretyl), the entire scope of the project is different.
Beyond Darkness is an encompassing, engrossing, massive narrative slab of extreme doom, telling the story of humanity’s hubris and downfall in the face of an uncaring universe. It is not easy listening or reading, and in line with the amount of composition and effort that’s gone into its realization is the awareness and forcefulness of its purpose. These songs, as Flam tells it from his home studio in the interview below, push nearly as far back as 30 years to Winter‘s landmark 1990 full-length, Into Darkness (discussed here), and I can remember running into Flam at Roadburn 2011 (review here) when he was there to play the Main Stage with Winter and having him talk about the next phase of the project. In the vein of Triptykon modernizing and expanding on the skeleton that was Celtic Frost, so too does Göden flesh out the devastating possibilities of what could’ve been into what is.
And, of course, what still might be.
Because there is more Göden in the works, continuing the storyline of Beyond Darkness, which ends at a point of death-as-rebirth. Flam is guarded in talking about what might be in store sound-wise, but the basic template for what one might expect is there in the first album, waiting to swallow you entirely for its brazenly grandiose 76-minute span. Heavy like collapsing buildings, it is.
Flam talks past, present and future in the video chat that follows.
Please enjoy:
Göden, Interview with Stephen Flam, Aug. 10, 2021
Göden‘s Beyond Darkness is out now on all formats through Svart Records. More info at the links.
[Click play above to stream Lammping’s Flashjacks in full. Album is out digitally on Aug. 27 with vinyl to follow Sept. 17 on Echodelick Records.]
There is a marked element of studio experimentation throughout Lammping‘s self-produced second full-length, Flashjacks. Also their label debut for Echodelick Records, the Toronto outfit formed by songwriter Mikhail Galkin (vocals, guitar, etc.) and drummer Jay Anderson — plus Matthew Aldred on backing vocals and Scott Hannigan on bass — show this immediately on opening cut “Intercessor,” beginning with a swirling-up-from-the-past echoing sample that speaks to the purported nostalgic sensibility one also sees mirrored in the cover art.
This ‘looking back’ of course has some effect on the mood of the album overall, but as Lammping follow-up Aug. 2020’s righteous Bad Boys of Comedy (review here), which was released by Nasoni Records, these 10 songs across just 33 minutes (read: short songs) use classic ideas as a means to move forward by digging deeper into their sound. Samples, drum machines, varying arrangements of fuzz guitar and bass — the latter of which is positively, gloriously farty on “Jaws of Life,” though whether that’s Galkin or Hannigan playing, I’m not sure — and various effects manipulations result in stretches, like the vocal drone that backs closer “Other Shoe” for its first minute-plus and returns again in its last minute as well, thereby speaking both to the band and Galkin as the main composer following whims of what works in the material as well as thinking in larger terms about the structure of the whole song and, indeed, album.
Flashjacks never repeats itself any more than it wants to, but its choruses are infectious beginning with “Intercessor,” which takes an Om-style tantric ride cymbal for a different kind of meditative trip, abidingly and unflinchingly mellow, like you played your 45 at 33RPM and decided it sounded better that way. It’s a nigh-on-perfect launch for a record full of ready departures from one inclusion to the next, capping with drifting keys and handclaps that foreshadow some of the more funk and soul-derived aspects that come later in pieces like the eponymous “Lammping,” “Jaws of Life” and “The Funkiest.”
The latter two of those — “Jaws of Life” and “The Funkiest” — were featured on earlier 2021’s New Jaws EP (review here), along with “Neverbeen,” the penultimate interlude “Big Time the Big Boss” and “Other Shoe,” and they make up the bulk of side B together, save for “Neverbeen,” which swaps with “Cleaning Up,” the sorry-we-can’t-have-drums-here-they-already-melted progression of which serves as a tie-in with second track “Heartland Rock,” which is more straightforward in structure, perhaps, but which, by the time it lets go into the solo that rounds out about the last 30 seconds (before it cuts to static) of its total 2:13, has already crafted its own idyllic portrait.
There’s a duality of purpose throughout Flashjacks that’s maybe easier to read into the proceedings in part because of some of the material being previously released on its own — and it’s all Lammping, to be sure — but “New October” emphasizes the ultra-laid-back dreamed-out fluidity that coincides with the funk to come on side B that’s prefaced with the transition from the swirling guitar noodling of “Neverbeen” into “Lammping” itself, which is more rhythmically forward, groovier, and, just for a verse or two, playfully makes it hard to tell whether Lammping are drawing influence from ’70s funk or the ’90s hip-hop that sampled it, the chorus, guitar solo, bass and drums all tapping into a flow that’s timeless in its cool, however anchored in odd-numbered decades of yore it may be.
Galkin and Anderson shift back and forth throughout the record, and their sonic persona becomes one more aspect of craft that’s a toy to be molded and shaped as they will, as songs like “Neverbeen” solos out a sub-three-minute stretch of nostalgic yearning and “Cleaning Up” pulls away from the roll of “The Funkiest” for a less tangible psychedelic foray ahead of the effects-laced organ on “Big Time the Big Boss.”
Thus, Lammping‘s sound is not a settled issue, and if “Heartland Rock” and “New October” and “Cleaning Up” are newer, they may indicate some further push into experimentalism to come, but it’s been a year since their debut, so however quickly they may or may not continue to work, they’re still just getting started. Given the underlying clarity and efficiency of their songwriting — and even the placement “Intercessor,” “Jaws of Life” and “Other Shoe” as the side A opener, side B opener and finale, respectively, as the only pieces over four minutes long and anchors around which the other material winds and currents — and the way in which these tracks speak to each other, Flashjacks builds on what the band accomplished with Bad Boys of Comedy and speaks to the longer-term potential of the group.
Maybe it’s ironic that a record geared toward examination of a past — an imagined one? certainly “Neverbeen” seems to remind without saying a word that most nostalgia is false nostalgia, though its title could just as easily be derived from “has-been,” so who knows — should entice one to look ahead and think of what a group might do in the future, but ultimately, Lammping‘s strengths are here, in the present as well. The home-studio intimacy of their experimentalism is nothing if not of-the-moment, as is the willful escapism of their trance-inducing, headphone-ready psychedelia and aural detail and depth. And their fun, which is no less their own than anything else they offer across these songs. Flashjacks, the word which no doubt is some kind of grew-up-in-this-time-and-place reference, is good vibes through and through, even as “Other Shoe” leaves off with its last strum to a few seconds of ominous silence.
And maybe that other shoe will drop their next time out, and will that be in a year, two, three? What will the songs sound like? What will the world be like? Where are we going and who the hell are we anyway? These questions are exactly the kind of needless bullshit Lammping help you leave behind while you listen, and if you want to complain about something, complain the fact that Flashjacks only offers 33 minutes of that utterly necessary serenity. It’s okay. It’s gonna be okay. Just let it be okay. You’re alright.
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 19th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Respect to Umeå, Sweden’s Cavern Deep, who it would seem aren’t wasting any time whatsoever. Less than a month out from releasing their self-titled debut (review here) on Interstellar Smoke, and just two weeks from launching a series of lyric videos for its narratively-constructed tracks, the trio have nonetheless announced their follow-up long-player is recorded. Doom that works at a space rock pace? Sure, that works for me.
Bassist/vocalist Max Malmer posted about this in The Obelisk group on Facebook and noted that it would be a while before it was released — they’re apparently making a video game of some sort to go with; before you ask, yes, I advocated for a classic SNES Final Fantasy-style turn-based battle system; “You spoony bard!” for life — but if the songs are already in the can, how long will it be before they start on a third full-length? They’ve already shown themselves to be the restless type as a unit. Will they have a backlog of material waiting to be released by the end of this year?
And have I ever told you I used to daydream about writing ridiculous RPG plots? Also children’s books. Also Star Trek fanfic. Also poetry. Also pretty much anything. Alas, time.
I digress. To the PR wire:
Doom Metal Act Cavern Deep Are Back In The Studio!
Doom act Cavern Deep has just finished recording their second album. It continues the tale of the archeologist of the first album with 6 crushing new songs. All engineering, mixing and mastering is done DIY, same as the first album. More news to come very soon!
Cavern Deep is a slow, heavy band, founded 2019, by members from Zonaria and Swedish retro riffsters Gudars Skymning.
The debut self-titled album is about one archeologist and his crew of ambitious henchmen and their descent into the cavernous realm below the crust of the earth. Learn about their fate and listen to some heavy, gloomy riffs along their slow path downwards.
Cavern Deep is: Kenny-Oswald Duvfenberg – Guitars and Vocals Max Malmer – Bass and Vocals Dennis Sjödin – Drums, Backup Vocals and Keys
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 18th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
These dates? Old news. I’ve been should-I-or-shouldn’t-I-post-them for the last week, looking at rising case numbers every day particularly in the Southeast and in the Midwest where ‘owning the libs’ is apparently worth potentially setting your lungs on fire. Enjoy that. Every time I post tour dates at this point I feel compelled to offer some sort of Covid disclaimer. “Hey this shit might not happen.” “Please check with your local service provider to confirm participation.”
Well, fine. If that’s what life has to be from here on out, okay. Heavy Temple currently hold place as my top debut of 2021 with June’s Lupi Amoris (review here) — don’t tell them I said so — so the way I’ve ultimately come down on the issue of whether or not to post the following tour dates is this: If it’s an excuse to tag the band in another social media blech, a chance to put up the Bandcamp streamer again and maybe catch an ear that hasn’t yet heard the album, then it’s worth it. I wasn’t gonna see these shows anyway. But maybe you hear the record and you live somewhere they’re hitting this time around. That’d be neat. Wear a mask. Get your shot. All that shit.
And listen to the record either way.
From the PR wire:
HEAVY TEMPLE announce US tour dates 2021
Pennsylvania’s psychedelic doomsters HEAVY TEMPLE have announced the first 2021 US tour dates in support of their acclaimed debut album “Lupi Amoris”. Please see below for a complete list of shows.
HEAVY TEMPLE comment: “We were fortunate enough to be able to put out an album during a time of much uncertainty, especially regarding live shows, so needless to say we’re excited to get back in the van”, writes frontwoman High Priestess Nighthawk. “Music, especially for us metalheads, is such a huge part of our lives. The last year and a half has been rough, to say the least, without any shows. We’ve been practicing the songs from ‘Lupi Amoris’ this whole time, and we’re ready for people to hear them the way we always intended, live and in person, even if we all have to take a few extra precautions to keep ourselves and our fans safe when we get there.”
“Lupi Amoris” was released on Friday June 18, 2021. Cover art, tracklist, and further details of “Lupi Amoris” may be viewed below.
HEAVY TEMPLE US TOUR DATES 26 AUG 2021 Pittsburgh, PA (US) Preserving Underground 27 AUG 2021 Detroit, MI (US) Sanctuary 28 AUG 2021 Columbus, OH (US) Ace of Cups 29 AUG 2021 Harrisonburg, VA (US) The Golden Pony 30 AUG 2021 Columbia, SC (US) Art Bar 31 AUG 2021 Atlanta, GA (US) Boggs & Social 01 SEP 2021 Chattanooga, TN (US) JJ’s Bohemia 03-05 SEP 2021 Cookeville, TN (US) Muddy Roots Music Festival
Line-up High Priestess Nighthawk – vocals, bass Lord Paisley – guitar Baron Lycan – drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 18th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Indeed, they’ve got riffs by the coven-full. Brazilian three-piece Riffcoven have offered up two live recordings in the last nearly-two years, and neither one is mincing words in stating the band’s purpose. They’re both called Raw. And yes, they both hit that mark to be sure. Eguchi Estúdio, where the video below for “Morte Hiboriana” was filmed, was the site of the first Raw outing, and sure enough, the same song was featured on that as well (it was on both), and as they note, it appeared on their 2018 debut, Crown of Darkness as well. The version here would seem to be new, from a 2021 live session.
Does that mean there’s another Raw collection coming, a second one from Eguchi Estúdio? I genuinely have no idea. Maybe? What’s clear though in listening to Raw I – Live at Eguchi Estúdio and Raw II – Live at Aurora Studio 2019 is that rawness works for Riffcoven. I won’t claim to know the circumstances under which they tracked Crown of Darkness or the subsequent 2019 EP, Cursed — one wouldn’t exactly call either lush in terms of production — but for a band who are clearly comfortable showing up to a place, plugging in and hitting it, doing something similar for a next ‘proper’ album might be something to think about. Just putting it out there. Not trying to tell anyone their business.
“Morte Hiboriana” follows “Feiticeiros do Riff,” which opened Cursed, as the second video to emerge from this apparent series, so it could well be they’re working their way up to Raw III. Either way, the lesson here is that plundering doom with a hard-hitting traditionalist edge ensues, and delivered barebones it acquits the band well. If you need more convincing than that, I can’t imagine why.
Enjoy:
Riffcoven, “Morte Hiboriana” Live Session 2021
In the last Friday (13) the brazilian heavy/doom metal band Riffcoven presented their new recorded session. After the release of the mighty “Feiticeiros do Riff” through Sesc Jundiaí medias the band present now a track recorded in the same session, and the chosen if “Morte Hiboriana”. The music is originally present in their 2018 monolithic album “Crown of Darkness”, based in a mix of stoner metal, doom and heavy metal talking about the hyborian theme.
As say the band “Morte Hiboriana” comes from their 2018 debut album “Crown of Darkness” and is a song that crush enemies and ears with evil monolithic fuzz tones following the king Conan armies in a battle against a ancient dark sorcerer.
Recorded and Mixed by Eguchi Estúdio Photography and Editing by Allamute Filmes Promoted by Bruxa Verde Produções
LINE UP: Reverendo Bode – guitar and vox Lord Python – bass Old One – drums
Riffcoven, “Feiticeiros do Riff” Live Session 2021
Riffcoven, Raw II – Live at Aurora Studio 2019 (2020)
Finland’s Craneium release their third album, Unknown Heights, on Oct. 15 as their label debut on The Sign Records. The Turku-based four-piece were last heard from with late-2018’s The Narrow Line (review here) on Ripple Music, and they’ve quite clearly learned a few lessons from one to the next. With a consistent lineup of guitarist/vocalists Andreas Kaján and Martin Ahlö, bassist Jonas Ridberg and drummer Joel Kronqvist — somebody’s also playing keys, or something that sounds like them on “Somber Aeons,” and the Mellotron contributed by Axel Brink to “Weight to Carry,” also elsewhere — the band present a sharpened take on their particular sonic meld that is able to be both heavy and fluid as it will. Among their three LPs to-date, the confidence with which they execute their melodies and the tightness of their songcraft across the six tracks of Unknown Heights is striking, and to call it anything other than their finest hour is underselling it.
Each side of the album opens with a big hook, with “A Secret Garden” putting to immediate use the Kaján and Ahlö arrangement dynamic — this will come up again on the closing title-track — and side B’s “Shine Again” (premiering below) offering a six-minute summation of many of the album’s strengths in its volume shifts, overarching patience of delivery, exceptional pacing, depth of mix, flowing progression and, when it’s ready, outright heft. “A Secret Garden” is very much the traditional rocking opener transposed to suit Craneium‘s purposes, running a focused four and a half minutes that establishes the tones, melodic reach and underlying psychedelic drift of the proceedings to follow.
“Somber Aeons” and “Weight to Carry” are both longer at six and seven minutes, respectively, but effectively hold onto the clarity of structure that “A Secret Garden” lays forth, the former surging with fuzz in rolling fashion after a more subdued opening, making the most of Ridberg‘s bassline for the ensuing thickness that will seem to swallow the song even as a spoken-word sample about darkness cuts through at the finish, shifting easily into “Weight to Carry,” with a more forward guitar solo later, the aforementioned Mellotron flourish and its own structural presence highlighted by the chorus.
In launching the second half of Unknown Heights, “Shine Again” pulls together many of the strengths of the first, taking the directness of “A Secret Garden,” the volume trades of “Somber Aeons” and the instrumental gracefulness and ending build-up of “Weight to Carry” and putting them to a single purpose. This is offset by the righteously bassy and brazenly hooky “The Devil Drives,” which follows and is the shortest inclusion on the album at 4:22. It wouldn’t be appropriate to call anything Craneium present here stripped-down — the sound remains lush and the melodies, rhythms and structures thoughtful — but “The Devil Drives” is as straightforward as they get in the offering, with verses and choruses going back and forth setting up dual-leads in the back end of the song that should, must and inevitably do make their way back to a final run through the chorus to finish out.
Needs to happen, has to happen, happens, and like the best of heavy rock songcraft, it’s no less satisfying because you know what’s coming. Momentum carries into “Unknown Heights” itself, making the opening hits feel somewhat impatient, but the chill that comes with the first verse sets its own atmosphere and allows the track to unfold in its own manner.
Is that slide guitar just past the midpoint drifting over the quieter stretch? I don’t know, but it works as a proggy nuance, hypnotic and wistful in kind, and helps the transition to an even more subdued stop before the shove that will consume the last minute and a half of the song takes hold, eventually fading out in such a way that underscores the vague ’80s metal underpinnings of “The Devil Drives” — someone in this band likes NWOBHM — and that feels quick given the flow they’re leaving behind, but ultimately makes sense considering the overall efficiency they’ve wrought throughout. They’re simply not willing to waste the time, and at a crisp 36 minutes, Unknown Heights is that much more able to offer spaciousness without indulgence for the decisions the band have made.
This album is a realization for which Craneium have worked hard over the last half-decade-plus — and a mention for Joona Hassinen (MaidaVale, Domkraft, Skraeckoedlan, many others) at Studio Underjord in Norrköping, Sweden, is only appropriate as well — and the payoff is in the songs waiting to be heard.
“Shine Again” premiere follows, with PR wire info after.
Please enjoy:
Craneium, “Shine Again” lyric video premiere
Craneium on “Shine Again”:
This is the third time we collaborate on a video with our friend Oliver Webb from the awesome band Sunniva. This time we talked a lot about that we wanted to bring the artwork to life. About what it would look like if you were to step through the keyhole and into the world of the artwork to the single. We think Oliver did an amazing job and he really has an eye for weird symbolism and trippy storytelling. We think it suits this song, an ode to freedom and solitude, perfectly.
Lyric video for “Shine Again”, the second single from Craneium’s 2021 album “Unknown Heights”. Video by Oliver Webb.
Finnish fuzz-rock outfit Craneium have released their new single ”Shine Again”. Shifting from massive, distorted passages to blissful, psychedelic soundscapes, ”Shine Again” highlights the dynamic and experimental nature of Craneium, while presenting a new musical dimension of the band. The group explains:
”No friends but the mountains…With ‘Shine Again’, it really feels like we’ve taken our songwriting to the next step. This is the direction we want to take Craneium in from now on. We are quite happy with the vocal harmonies and lyrics, as it turned out to be both a love song and an ode to freedom. In the studio our producer and engineer Joona Hassinen from Studio Underjord got us to perform at a level we feel we haven’t reached before. The mellotron strings added by Axel Brink (our former bass player and forming member) really gave it that little extra kick.”
Craneium is: Andreas Kaján – Guitar & Vocals Martin Ahlö – Guitar & Vocals Jonas Ridberg – Bass Joel Kronqvist – Drums, Percussion
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 17th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Optimists in spite of their sound, it would seem, Boise, Idaho’s Ghorot announce today a stretch of tour dates to take place in October supporting their recently-issued debut album, Loss of Light (review here), meeting up with the likes of Brume and Old Blood along their nine-day course. I mean, hey, could happen, right? I think when you scorch earth as hard as these dudes do, you’ve pretty much disinfected everything anyhow.
Wouldn’t that be fun? If you could cure plague with riffs? Alas.
We head into an unknowable Fall coming out of an unknowable Summer, living in an uncertain present born of fake past looking ahead to a disastrous future. You want me to tell you this tour will happen? Fine, I will. I certainly hope it does, for the band’s sake as well as anyone who might show up — I’ve never seen any of these bands, and I’d like to — but I admit that every time I post a stretch of tour dates at this point there’s that little voice-o’-trauma in my head going, “Yeah, really? You think?”
So I don’t know. I’m not a fucking epidemiologist. How about you check before you go and let’s leave it at that?
From the PR wire:
Ghorot – Fall 2021 Western US Tour Announcement
“We’re thrilled to announce Ghorot will be bringing the blackened-doom punishment to the Western US this October! Joining us for select dates will be San Francisco’s internationally-recognized doom trio BRUME (Magnetic Eye Records) and Los Angeles’ occult rock/acid doom quintet OLD BLOOD (Metal Assault Records). Our debut album Loss of Light (Transylvanian Recordings/Inverse Records) has been receiving killer press around the globe, and we can’t wait to share this filth live and in person with you all!”
Fall 2021 Western US Tour Dates
10.21 THURS Sparks, NV The Elbow Room with Brume 10.22 FRI Sacramento, CA Cafe Colonial with Brume 10.23 SAT Oakland, CA Elbo Room Jack London with Brume 10.24 SUN Eugene, OR Old Nick’s Pub with Old Blood 10.25 MON Portland, OR High Water Mark 10.26 TUES Olympia, WA Cryptatropa Bar with Old Blood 10.27 WED Seattle, WA Substation with Old Blood 10.28 THURS Bellingham, WA Karate Church 10.29 FRI Spokane, ID The Viking 10.30 SAT Moscow, ID Revolver
Hey, Boozewa! I don’t know how to tell you this, but you’re a band. I know you’re all recording on your four-track in your house, having a good time thinking it’s all toss-off this, super-casual that, but nah. You’re a real band. Two releases in the span of a year, the second markedly developed from the first — that’s the new two-songer Deb (review here) preceded by the demo First Contact (review here) in February — mastered by Tad Doyle and a cinematic narrative-style video for the title-track that features actual people who also don’t play an instrument in the group? Selling shirts? Yeah, that’s band stuff. What’s next? An album? Shows? Doing a Zoom interview that I haven’t yet hit you up for but probably will by the time this is posted? You’re a band. Tough break. That’s how it goes sometimes when you don’t suck.
“Deb,” from Deb, was posted last week ahead of the 7″ coming out, and as noted, it’s a step forward from the prior demo in sound. Still good and tracked-in-the-attic (basement? living room?) raw, but there’s melody peaking through “Deb” and the accompanying “Now. Stop.,” which is shorter and more punk but still nestled into a groove ahead of its belter finish, and “Deb” even dares a bit of atmosphere in its brooding vibe, which is complemented by the dark psychology of the video, which was directed by drummer/vocalist Mike Cummings and features him in the title role as the bartender/waitress Deb being stared at by the clip’s protagonist, who, again, isn’t in the band. You’ll see bassist/vocalist Jessica Baker among the crowd, and guitarist/vocalist Rylan Caspar is working the door, but “Deb” is a video with acting. A setting. Thought put into what people are wearing.
Band stuff.
I know it can be hard to accept, but don’t fight it. You can’t anyway. Write enough songs together, start playin’ and recordin’ ’em, and you’re gonna end up a band one way or the other. Might as well roll with that and make the most of it.
Video follows here. Enjoy:
Boozewa, “Deb” official video
Boozewa (Featuring members of Backwoods Payback) have unleashed a video for their song “Deb”. The track is taken from their upcoming EP of the same name mastered by Tad Doyle of the legendary band TAD at Witch Ape Studio in Seattle Washington.
The band commented “By the end of 2020 we had written roughly 20 songs and with ‘Deb’ I think we really started to settle into what I guess you could say is our ‘sound.’ It’s off, it’s catchy, it’s heavy, it’s Boozewa. We recorded the tune on the four-track cassette machine again, and this time sent it off to Tad Doyle (Tad/Witch Ape Studio) for mastering. If there’s a light in the dark year that was 2020 it was definitely getting to work with someone I’ve been a giant fan of for the better part of the last 20 years, that being Tad!”
BOOZEWA is Jessica Baker – bass/hollering Rylan Caspar – guitar/hollering Mike Cummings (mRc) drums/hollering
