Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 13th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Edmonton duo Degenerator will issue their self-recorded debut album, The Abyssal Throne, on Nov. 24. My favorite part of the video for second single “Neurotronic” premiering below is when the AI not-Timothée Chalomet, who spends the whole time AI moping against magical AI backdrops just like the real Timothée Chalomet would were he not so busy adding to the canons of various franchises, finally re-meets the AI not-Zendaya, he in a hoodie on a park bench, she because of algorithmic misogyny somehow in evening wear — why can’t a robot think it’s okay for ladies to fall in love in yoga pants? — and she’s actually like the second meet-cute he has but I guess the first one didn’t work out because maybe she was also not-Timothée Chalomet, just in a purple hoodie? I don’t know. I have trouble keeping up with plotlines sometimes.
Thankfully, the barrier to entry on Degenerator‘s “Neurotronic,” audio and visual, is as low as pressing play. The cut culled from the first half of The Abyssal Throne is likewise atmospheric and catchy. In some of its harder moments, there’s a sense of metallic emotionalism that reminds of Katatonia, but by and large Degenerator — that’s vocalist, guitarist and bassist Barrett Klesko and drummer Jonathan Webster — keep the vibe geared toward a heavy alternative rock, not quite stoner or even prog-stoner, but certainly aware of and wiling to be led by its riff, and the melody of the vocals in hook digs into pop hookmaking without sounding ridiculous, and that’s something of a triumph itself. In combination with the sharper-edged “Eternalism,” the album-opener and prior single, it portrays the band as experienced songwriters at the relative outset of developing an already-broad sound.
One thing the robot-brain absolutely nails in the video, though, is the use of color. Degenerator‘s aural largesse is complemented by a shimmer the reflection of which seems only to up its stately impression, and “Neurotronic” leans directly into it, with the video moving from mostly black and white to vivid purples and pinks and deep blues and greens for nighttime that fit the track’s movement. I can’t necessarily speak to how it stands alongside the rest of the 11 tracks on the 47-minute full-length, not having heard it, but the scope is impressive and the structural foundation beneath solid enough to hold it all up. In the builds and crashes of “Neurotronic,” Degenerator present a stylistic amalgam as a cohesive, singular thing, and define a stylistic path that seems ready to be walked, preferably in the listener’s company. That’s you.
So please, enjoy. PR wire text follows after, in blue as always:
Degenerator, “Neurotronic” video premiere
Edmonton’s DEGENERATOR Presents Debut Album “The Abyssal Throne” Out Nov 24th, 2023
Buckle up for a relentless journey into aggressive alt-rock as Edmonton’s sonic titans Degenerator, unveils their latest creation, “The Abyssal Throne.” Led by Barrett Klesko (All Else Fails) on vocals, guitar, and bass, along with drummer Jonathan Webster (Pass of Era, ex-Striker), this highly anticipated debut release takes listeners on an exhilarating ride through stoner, sludge, grunge, and goth rock, pushing the boundaries of alternative music.
Klesko describes the project as a journey to unleash the noise that was haunting his mind. He aimed to capture the essence of the old Smashing Pumpkins, with their distorted and fuzzy guitars, while infusing a touch of gothic darkness that adds a unique and appealing layer to their sound.
Both Klesko and Webster boast prolific careers in the international music community, contributing their talents to bands such as Striker, All Else Fails, The Order of Chaos, Tyler Dory Trio, and more. Together, they form a musical powerhouse that combines their expertise into an extraordinary sonic tapestry.
“The Abyssal Throne” is more than just an album; it’s a testament to the unyielding creativity and dedication of two musicians driven by a shared passion for sonic exploration. It is recommended for fans of Baroness, Type O Negative and Alice in Chains.
Track Listing: 1. Eternalism – 3:42 2. Finality – 4:06 3. The Day That Never Comes – 4:39 4. Darkness Prevails – 3:58 5. Neurotronic – 4:46 6. The Children of the Night – 3:59 7. Hiraeth – 4:06 8. The Spiral – 4:13 9. Heart Like a Hole – 4:15 10. For Every Truth – 5:38 11. A Way Out – 3:52 Album Length: 47:14
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 9th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
There will be much more info to come once they, you know, start listing the names of bands that will be playing the fest next April, but I’m thrilled to have The Obelisk in continued association with The Electric Highway. The site was among the co-presenters (there’s a bunch, so I’m not trying to be Mr. Checkoutmycoolface Face or anything) for the event earlier this year, and while I wasn’t so fortunate as to be there to see it, that Sasquatch video below looks pretty rockin’ and I look forward to learning who’s going to be there in 2024.
Early bird tickets — or as they call them in Europe: earlybird tickets — went on sale the other day and will be out until Nov. 30, so if you want to get together and road trip over to Calgary or something like that, hit me up. Might be fun. Maybe we could take a bus or a train! I hear Canada has those, having invested in public infrastructure and all that.
Looking at AirBNBs in Calgary. Will get back with prices.
From the PR wire:
The Electric Highway Festival (Calgary, AB) Kicks Off Early Bird Passes For 2024 Lineup
April 4- 6 – Dickens Pub
The Electric Highway Festival has launched early bird passes for their 2024 lineup being held in Calgary, AB on April 4, 5, and 6 at Dickens (1000 9 Ave SW.). Early bird passes go on sale Monday, November 6th at the cost of $65 CAD until November 30th.
The first round of bands for the 2024 lineup will be announced on Friday, December 1st along with advance passes going on sale that same day online.
Those in the Calgary area on Saturday, December 2nd will be able to purchase festival passes in person at the La Chinga CD release show, which is a “Pit Stop on the way to The Electric Highway Festival”.
Dec 2nd Tickets –https://www.showpass.com/lachingacalgary/
The Electric Highway Festival hosts various genres that range from Desert Rock, Stoner Metal, Doom, Sludge, Trippy Psychedelic, Surf Rock, Acid Rock, Noise Rock, Fuzz Rock, Space Rock, Blues Rock, Heavy Psych, Heavy Blues, Southern Rock, Fuzzy Punk, Sludgy Hardcore bands and variations of any of the previously mentioned styles.
The 2023 edition of the festival featured Californian headliners Sasquatch, one of the event’s past favorites, laying down their brand of fuzzy, kick-ass Desert Rock & Heavy Psych with direct support from Vancouver’s La Chinga who returned for their 4th appearance on the Saturday night. Black Mastiff returned to headline the Friday night with Calgary’s Gone Cosmic and HypnoPilot headlined the Thursday show with support from Citizen Rage. These were just a few of the wicked bands that played at this past year’s The Electric Highway.
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 17th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
I didn’t really know Calgary’s Mares of Thrace before this tour announcement, and I’m sure you did because you’re way more on the ball than I am — always — but in case you didn’t hear their 2022 record, The Exile, it’s below with twisting, modern post-Baroness riffing and a nastiness that is both a surprise and a welcome turn from expectation. That kick drum in “In All Her Glory” and the riff it punctuates are both encouraging further dig-ins to the album, so hey, I learned something today. Lifelong process and all that. I say again: nasty. Fucking a.
Vienna-based harsh-vocal nod rockers TarLung, who offered their latest album, Architect (review here), in 2021, are more of a known quantity in their big-toned groove and commanding, death-metal-style vocal. The fact that both bands share a penchant for blending elements from more extreme styles with heavy riffing makes for an enticing combination, leaving one to wonder where, on a given night, the line between metal and rock might exist if it does at all. I already said “fucking a,” so I’ll go with “right on” instead. Right on.
Shows start Oct. 20, as the PR wire tells it:
CANADIAN NOISE-DOOM DUO MARES OF THRACE AND AUSTRIAN SLUDGE-DOOM TRIO TARLUNG ANNOUNCE EUROPEAN 2023 TOUR BEGINNING OCTOBER 20TH
Mares of Thrace will be embarking on their first-ever European tour, joined by TarLung from Austria. Dates are listed below.
On the tour, the band comments:
“We’re delighted to be finally playing Europe; it’s been a major goal since this project’s inception. We’re also super stoked to be joined by TarLung, who are musical (and otherwise) like minds of the highest order.”
Mares of Thrace released their critically-acclaimed third record, The Exile, on Sonic Unyon Records in 2022, and have followed it up with North American tours with the likes of KEN mode, Vile Creature, and Tribunal.
TarLung are widely considered one of the mainstays of Austrian doom, and have shared stages with such genre luminaries as Eyehategod, Crowbar, and Conan; their 2021 record Architect was hailed.
Fri 20.10. Graz (AT) – Club Wakuum Sat 21.10. Alseno (IT) – Tingel Tangel Sun 22.10. (IT) – TBD Mon 23.10. Maribor (SLO) – Dvorana Gustaf Tue 24.10. Budapest (HUN) – Robot Wed 25.10. Krakow (PL) – Pub Pod Ziemia Thu 26.10. Katowice (PL) – Music Hub Fri 27.10. Warsaw (PL) – Chmury Sat 28.10. Berlin (DE) – Köpi Sun 29.10. Praha (CZ) – Modrá Vopice Mon 30.10. Brno (CZ) – Kabinet Muz Tue 31.10. Vienna (AT) – Venster99
Posted in Questionnaire on May 30th, 2023 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: Ross Ferguson of Owls & Eagles
—
How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I like to think of my self as a music maker, I’ve always enjoys the layers you can create with sound. You don’t need to be an amazing musician, you just have to have an ear for what you think sounds good, figure out how to make that sound, find someone else to make it with, and voila, you have yourself a band. Music has always been a part of my life, from when I was a kid going through my parent’s record and cassette collections; to discovering punk and metal for the first time, that’s the first time I remember really listening to music and thinking “…that’s only four chords, I can do that!”. I performed in plays and performance pieces in school as often as I could, so the passion to be a stage musician was born. I find getting along with most people pretty easy, so I don’t think I’m too difficult to be in a band with. It makes a huge difference when all the members really gel and being in a band with your closest homie makes it easy.
Describe your first musical memory.
I remember piano and bagpipe music from very early on. My parent’s music collection was very eclectic, but the intro for Money for Nothing by Dire Straits blasted through Walkman speakers at as loud as you can handle is something I will always remember.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Touring Canada with Dayglo Abortions in our hardcore project Citizen Rage. It gave me a whole new respect for touring musicians, especially those DIYers like us. Holy shit the driving hours and grunt work, but the most rewarding musical experience of my life to this date.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I went down a Qanon rabbit hole during the pandemic. I’ve never trusted the government, wherever I’ve lived. I’m not saying they’re all bad people, but there’s too much chance for corruption with all the closed doors shit they do, and they are only accountable to the corporations and not the people and don’t get me started on the unelected groups that run shit behind the scenes. Short story long, I lost it at a jam going on about baby eating satanists probably lol and was called out, told to step back and look at who I was becoming. It was an interesting time for me personally and I’ve become a little more relaxed in my opinions since then.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Anywhere you want. King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard showed me that as long as the music is good, the fans will accept pretty much anything, regardless of genre. That feels like artistic progression to me, not being held to a specific style or sound, exploring different tones and shapes of sound is exciting to me and naturally leads your forward as a musician.
How do you define success?
Being happy with who you are, what you have and where you are, however you define that.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Nothing comes to mind. I thought of many things I wish hadn’t happened, but I don’t regret seeing them, that is besides every shit movie someone I care about made me watch.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I’ve always wanted to build a house. Create a dwelling and live in it seems like such a basic human ability, it’s a shame most of us are so far removed from the process. If we paid a bit more attention, it might become more equitable and affordable.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
To make people feel or evoke an image or story without direct physical interaction.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Growing old with the love of my life and watching my grandchildren grow up.
Hey there and welcome back to the Spring 2023 Quarterly Review. Today I’ve got another 10-record batch for your perusal, and if you’ve never been to this particular party before, it’s part of an ongoing series this site does every couple months (you might say quarterly), and this week picks up from yesterday as well as a couple weeks ago, when another 70 records of various types were covered. If there’s a lesson to be learned from all of it, it’s that we live in a golden age of heavy music, be it metal, rock, doom, sludge, psych, prog, noise or whathaveyou. Especially for whathaveyou.
So here we are, you and I, exploring the explorations in these many works and across a range of styles. As always, I hope you find something that feels like it’s speaking directly to you. For what it’s worth, I didn’t even make it through the first 10 of the 50 releases to be covered this week yesterday without ordering a CD from Bandcamp, so I’m here in a spirit of learning too. We’ll go together and dive back in.
Quarterly Review #11-20:
Smokey Mirror, Smokey Mirror
Those in the know will tell you that the vintage-sound thing is over, everybody’s a goth now, blah blah heavygaze. That sounds just fine with Dallas, Texas, boogie rockers Smokey Mirror, who on their self-titled Rise Above Records first LP make their shuffle a party in “Invisible Hand” and the class-conscious “Pathless Forest” even before they dig into the broader jam of the eight-minute “Magick Circle,” panning the solos in call and response, drum solo, softshoe groove, full on whatnot. Meanwhile, “Alpha-State Dissociative Trance” would be glitch if it had a keyboard on it, a kind of math rock from 1972, and its sub-three-minute stretch is followed by the acoustic guitar/harmonica folk blues of “Fried Vanilla Super Trapeze” and the heavy fuzz resurgence of “Sacrificial Altar,” which is long like “Magick Circle” but with more jazz in its winding jam and more of a departure into it (four minutes into the total 7:30 if you’re wondering), while the Radio Moscow-style smooth bop and rip of “A Thousand Days in the Desert” and shred-your-politics of “Who’s to Say” act as touch-ground preface for the acoustic noodle and final hard strums of “Recurring Nightmare,” as side B ends in mirror to side A. An absolute scorcher of a debut and all the more admirable for wearing its politics on its sleeve where much heavy rock hides safe behind its “I’m not political” whiteness, Smokey Mirror‘s Smokey Mirror reminds that, every now and again, those in the know don’t know shit. Barnburner heavy rock and roll forever.
Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows, Hail to the Underground
The moral of the story is that the members of Melbourne’s Jack Harlon and the Dead Crows — may they someday be famous enough that I won’t feel compelled to point out that none of them is Jack; the lineup is comprised of vocalist/guitarist Tim Coutts-Smith, guitarist Jordan Richardson, bassist Liam Barry and drummer Josh McCombe — came up in the ’90s, or at least in the shadow thereof. Hail to the Underground collects eight covers in 35 minutes and is the Aussie rockers’ first outing for Blues Funeral, following two successful albums in 2018’s Hymns and 2021’s The Magnetic Ridge (review here), and while on paper it seems like maybe it’s the result of just-signed-gotta-get-something-out motivation, the takes on tunes by Aussie rockers God, the Melvins, Butthole Surfers, My Bloody Valentine and Joy Division (their “Day of Lords” is a nodding highlight) rest organically alongside the boogie blues of “Roll & Tumble” (originally by Hambone Willie Newbern), the electrified surge of Bauhaus‘ “Dark Entries” and the manic peaks of “Eye Shaking King” by Amon Düül II. It’s not the triumphant, moment-of-arrival third full-length one awaits — and it would be soon for it to be, but it’s how the timing worked with the signing — but Hail to the Underground adds complexity to the narrative of the band’s sound in communing with Texan acid noise, country blues from 1929 to emo and goth rock icons in a long-player’s span, and it’ll certainly keep the fire burning until the next record gets here.
Minimalist in social media presence (though on YouTube and Bandcamp, streaming services, etc.), Sardinian one-man outfit Noorag — also stylized all-lowercase: noorag — operates at the behest of multi-instrumentalist/producer Federico “WalkingFred” Paretta, and with drums by Daneiele Marcia, the project’s debut EP, Fossils, collects seven short pieces across 15 minutes that’s punk in urgency, sans-vocal in the execution, sludged in tone, metallic in production, and adventurous in some of its time changes. Pieces like the ambient opener “Hhon” and “Amanita Shot,” which follows headed on the quick into the suitably stomping “Brachiopod” move easily between each other since the songs themselves are tied together through their instrumental approach and relatively straightforward arrangements. “Cochlea Stone” is a centerpiece under two minutes long with emphasis rightfully on the bass, while “Ritual Electric” teases the stonershuggah nuance in the groove of “Acid Apricot”‘s second half, and the added “Digital Cave” roughs up the recording while maybe or maybe not actually being the demo it claims to be. Are those drums programmed? We may never know, but at a quarter of an hour long, it’s not like Noorag are about to overstay their welcome. Fitting for the EP format as a way to highlight its admirable intricacy, Fossils feels almost ironically fresh and sounds like the beginning point of a broader progression. Here’s hoping.
With the notable exceptions of six-minute opener “Era” and the 8:36 “Uhtceare” with the gradual build to its explosion into the “Stones From the Sky” moment that’s a requisite for seemingly all post-metal acts to utilize at least once (they turn it into a lead later, which is satisfying), Sweden’s KOLLAPS\E — oh your pesky backslash — pair their ambient stretches with stately, shout-topped declarations of riff that sound like early Isis with the clarity of production and intent of later Isis, which is a bigger difference than it reads. The layers of guttural vocals at the forefront of “Anaemia” add an edge of extremity offset by the post-rock float of the guitar, and “Bränt Barn Skyr Elden” (‘burnt child dreads the fire,’ presumably a Swedish aphorism) answers by building tension subtly in its first two minutes before going full-barrage atmosludge for the next as it, “Anaemia,” and the closing pair of “Radiant Static” and “Murrain” harness short-song momentum on either side of four minutes long — something the earlier “Beautiful Desolate” hinted at between “Era” and “Uhtceare” — to capture a distinct flow for side B and giving the ending of “Murrain” its due as a culmination for the entire release. Crushing or spacious or both when it wants to be, Phantom Centre is a strong, pandemic-born debut that looks forward while showing both that it’s schooled in its own genre and has begun to decide which rules it wants to break.
Healthyliving, Songs of Abundance, Psalms of Grief
A multinational conglomerate that would seem to be at least partially assembled in Edinburg, Scotland, Healthyliving — also all-lowercase: healthyliving — offer folkish melodicism atop heavy atmospheric rock for a kind of more-present-than-‘gaze-implies feel that is equal parts meditative, expansive and emotive on their debut full-length, Songs of Abundance, Psalms of Grief. With the vocals of Amaya López-Carromero (aka Maud the Moth) given a showcase they more than earn via performance, multi-instrumentalist Scott McLean (guitar, bass, synth) and drummer Stefan Pötzsch are able to conjure the scene-setting heft of “Until,” tap into grunge strum with a gentle feel on “Bloom” or meander into outright crush with ambient patience on “Galleries” (a highlight) or move through the intensity of “To the Gallows,” the unexpected surge in the bridge of “Back to Back” or the similarly structured but distinguished through the vocal layering and melancholic spirit of the penultimate “Ghost Limbs” with a long quiet stretch before closer “Obey” wraps like it’s raking leaves in rhythm early and soars on a strident groove that caps with impact and sprawl. They are not the only band operating in this sphere of folk-informed heavy post-rock by any means, but as their debut, this nine-song collection pays off the promise of their 2021 two-songer Until/Below (review here) and heralds things to come both beautiful and sad.
Even before Vermont freak-psych two-piece MV & EE — Matt Valentine and Erika Elder, both credited with a whole bunch of stuff including, respectively, ‘the real deal’ and ‘was’ — are nestled into the organic techno jam of 19-minute album opener “Free Range,” their Green Ark full-length has offered lush lysergic hypnosis via an extended introductory drone. Far more records claim to go anywhere than actually do, but the funky piano of “No Money” and percussion and wah dream-disco of “Dancin’,” with an extra-fun keyboard line late, set up the 20-minute “Livin’ it Up,” in a way that feels like surefooted experimentalism; Elder and Valentine exploring these aural spaces with the confidence of those who’ve been out wandering across more than two decades’ worth of prior occasions. That is to say, “Livin’ it Up” is comfortable as it engages with its own unknown self, built up around a bass line and noodly solo over a drum machine with hand percussion accompanying, willfully repetitive like the opener in a way that seems to dig in and then dig in again. The 10-minute “Love From Outer Space” and nine-minute mellow-psych-but-for-the-keyboard-beat-hitting-you-in-the-face-and-maybe-a-bit-of-play-around-that-near-the-end “Rebirth” underscore the message that the ‘out there’ is the starting point rather than the destination for MV & EE, but that those brave enough to go will be gladly taken along.
Israeli trio The Great Machine — brothers Aviran Haviv (bass/vocals) and Omer Haviv (guitar/vocals) as well as drummer/vocalist Michael Izaky — find a home on Noisolution for their fifth full-length in nine years, Funrider, trading vocal duties back and forth atop songs that pare down some of the jammier ideology of 2019’s less-than-ideally-titled Greatestits, still getting spacious in side-A ender “Pocketknife” and the penultimate “Some Things Are Bound to Fail,” which is also the longest inclusion at 6:05. But the core of Funrider is in the quirk and impact of rapid-fire cuts like “Zarathustra” and “Hell & Back” at the outset, the Havivs seeming to trade vocal duties throughout to add to the variety as the rumble before the garage-rock payoff of “Day of the Living Dead” gives over to the title-track or that fuzzier take moves into “Pocketknife.” Acoustic guitar starts “Fornication Under the Consent of the King” but it becomes sprinter Europunk bombast before its two minutes are done, and with the rolling “Notorious” and grungeminded “Mountain She” ripping behind, the most unifying factor throughout Funrider is its lack of predictability. That’s no minor achievement for a band on their fifth record making a shift in their approach after a decade together, but the desert rocking “The Die” that closes with a rager snuck in amid the chug is a fitting summary of the trio’s impressive creative reach.
Following-up their 2017 debut, Stoner Circus, Austrian trio Swanmay offer seven songs and 35 minutes of new material with the self-issued Frantic Feel, finding their foundation in the bass work of Chris Kaderle and Niklas Lueger‘s drumming such that Patrick Àlvaro‘s ultra-fuzzed guitar has as strong a platform to dance all over as possible. Vocals in “The Art of Death” are suitably drunk-sounding (which doesn’t actually hurt it), but “Mashara” and “Cats and Snails” make a rousing opening salvo of marked tonal depth and keep-it-casual stoner saunter, soon also to be highlighted in centerpiece “Blooze.” On side B, “Stone Cold” feels decidedly more like it has its life together, and “Old Trails” tightens the reins from there in terms of structure, but while closer “Dead End” stays fuzzy and driving like the two songs before, the noise quotient is upped significantly by the time it’s done, and that brings back some of the looser swing of “Mashara” or “The Art of Death.” But when Swanmay want to be — and that’s not all the time, to their credit — they are massively heavy, and they put that to raucous use with a production that is accordingly loud and vibrant. Seems simple reading a paragraph, maybe, but the balance they strike in these songs is a difficult one, and even if it’s just for the guitar and bass tones, Frantic Feel demands an audience.
“Death will come swiftly to those who are weak,” goes the crooning verse lyric from Garden of Ash‘s “Death Valley” at the outset of the young Edmonton, Alberta, trio’s self-titled, self-released debut full-length. Bassist Kristina Hunszinger delivers the line with due severity, but the Witch Mountain-esque slow nod and everybody-dies lyrics of “A Cautionary Tale” show more of the tongue-in-cheek point of view of the lyrics. The plot thickens — or at very least hits harder — when the self-recorded outing’s metallic production style is considered. In the drums of Levon Vokins — who also provides backing vocals as heard on “Roses” and elsewhere — the (re-amped) guitar of Zach Houle and even in the mostly-sans-effects presentation of Hunszinger‘s vocals as well as their placement at the forefront of the mix, it’s heavy metal more than heavy rock, but as Vokins takes lead vocals in “World on Fire” with Hunszinger joining for the chorus, the riff is pure boogie and the earlier “Amnesia” fosters doomly swing, so what may in the longer term be a question of perspective is yet unanswered in terms of are they making the sounds they want to and pushing into trad metal genre tenets, or is it just a matter of getting their feet under them as a new band? I don’t know, but songs and performance are both there, so this first full-length does its job in giving Garden of Ash something from which to move forward while serving notice to those with ears to hear them. Either way, the bonus track “Into the Void” is especially notable for not being a Black Sabbath cover, and by the time they get there, that’s not at all the first surprise to be had.
Checking in at one second less and 15 minutes flat, “The Bends” is the first release from Milwaukee-based three-piece Tidal, and it’s almost immediately expansive. With shades of El Paraiso-style jazz psych, manipulated samples and hypnotic drone at its outset, the first two minutes build into a wash with mellow keys/guitar effects (whatever, it sounds more like sax and they’re all credited with ‘noise,’ so I’m doing my best here) and it’s not until Sam Wallman‘s guitar steps forward out of the ambience surrounding at nearly four minutes deep that Alvin Vega‘s drums make their presence known. Completed by Max Muenchow‘s bass, which righteously holds the core while Wallman airs out, the roll is languid and more patient than one would expect for a first-release jam, but there’s a pickup and Tidal do get raucous as “The Bends” moves into its midsection, scorching for a bit until they quiet down again, only to reemerge at 11:10 from the ether of their own making with a clearheaded procession to carry them through the crescendo and to the letting-go-now drift of echo that caps. I hear tell they’ve got like an hour and a half of this stuff recorded and they’re going to release them one by one. They picked an intriguing one to start with as the layers of drone and noise help fill out the otherwise empty space in the instrumental jam without being overwrought or sacrificing the spontaneous nature of the track. Encouraging start. Will be ready when the next jam hits.
Obviously I’m stoked to have a logo for The Obelisk on the poster for The Electric Highway 2023, to be held in Calgary, Alberta, later this month. Goes without saying. Honestly, even if this was just a Sasquatch and/or La Chinga show and I was asked to present it, I would, so yeah, there’s a lot to dig here and I’m pleased to be keeping good company, tucked away in the bottom right-hand corner well below the likes of Canada itself — I had no idea they gave grants for this kind of thing, but I’m not surprised; other countries don’t hate creative people nearly as much as the US seems to — and with 24 bands spread out over three days, there isn’t a doubt that state-support will be put to good and voluminous use.
The fest is March 23-25 — Thursday, Friday, Saturday — and along with familiar faces like Gone Cosmic and Black Mastiff, who were playing this thing when it was the Calgary 420 Fest, before it became The Electric Highway ahead of an ill-fated 2020 edition, there’s a bunch of bands I don’t know like Space Queen, Molten Lava and No More Moments, so you’ll pardon me if I have a bit of homework to do. Unfortunately, I won’t be in Calgary to see the fest in-person, but I’m happy and proud to support the work they’re doing and to take the poster below as a checklist of stuff to dig into.
So, off I go to do that, and off you go to the PR wire for the full lineup, links and so on:
Calgary’s The Electric Highway Festival Announces Lineup For Its Returns In 2023 – March 23 – 25
Full lineup can be found below.
3-day festival pass holders can pick up their wristbands at Dickens at any time during the event. Pre-order merch sales will also be available for pickup throughout the weekend too. Don’t be disappointed. Order your merch ahead of time.
The Electric Highway is a fully immersive festival experience and offers much more than just music. The festival also features an art and vendor exposition during all three days at Dickens, March 23 – 25, 2023.
Festival passes are on sale starting Jan 25th – 10AM MT; check www.TheElectricHighway.ca to purchase and for more festival information.
All tickets and pass holders will be receiving instructions by email on how to transfer their 2020 tickets for 2023 ones. As well, all vendors will receive an email to confirm their attendance. Anyone that cannot attend this year – both ticketholders and vendors – can transfer their attendance to a future year.
The Electric Highway looks forward to bringing this year’s festival to you, and can’t wait to see everyone in March!
Saturday, March 25th – Festival headliner: Sasquatch (Los Angeles, CA) with direct support from La Chinga (Vancouver, BC) Friday, March 24th – Headliner: Black Mastiff (Edmonton, AB/Vancouver, BC) with direct support from Gone Cosmic (Calgary, AB) Thursday, March 23rd – Headliner: HypnoPilot (Lethbridge, AB) with direct support from Citizen Rage (Calgary, AB) All other festival bands are: Brown Dwarf (Red Deer, AB) Buffalo Bud Buster (Calgary, AB) Destroy My Brains (Lloydminster, AB) Empress (Vancouver, BC) Father Moon (Calgary, AB) Garuda (Cranbrook, BC) Hombre (Calgary, AB) Iron Tusk (Siksika, AB) Molten Lava (Vancouver, BC) Musing (Calgary, AB) No More Moments (Siksika, AB) Owls & Eagles (Calgary, AB) Set & Stoned (Crossfield, AB) Space Queen (Vancouver, BC) Tebby & the Heavy (Edmonton, AB) The Astral Prophets (Calgary, AB) The Basement Paintings (Saskatoon, SK) The Sleeping Legion (Winnipeg, MB)
Ticket Information:
Advance 3-day Festival Passes are $75. Advance passes go on sale from January 25, 2023, until March 22 or while quantities last.
Regular Festival Passes are $95 at the door if quantities are available.
Posted in audiObelisk on January 26th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Calgary-based sludge rockers Owls and Eagles will make their debut on June 1 through Moments Records with the narrative album, Patience Vol. 1. You’ll find the first single from the record, “Enlightenment,” streaming on the Bandcamp embed below, and if you want to skip over the rest of my blah blah and just hit up the audio, I won’t be offended. I get it.
For those sticking around, a bit of context. Owls and Eagles is comprised of vocalist/drummer Mark Russell and guitarist/vocalist Ross Ferguson. Russell is the founding frontman of the crossover hardcore outfit Citizen Rage, whose latest EP, called simply Black EP and the band’s sixth such short release named for a color — in 2017, they put out five of them: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green and Pink — was issued in 2020. Making his first appearance in Citizen Rage on Pink was Ferguson. And he wasn’t the only swap-out in the band during those years either.
Now, Citizen Rage are still active — they’ll play 2023’s The Electric Highway festival alongside Sasquatch, Black Mastiff, La Chinga, and others. Indeed, Owls & Eagles will play as well. All of this is to tell you that it’s probably fair to call Owls and Eagles a side-project, but as “Enlightenment” informs, it’s more than enough of a stylistic turn from the other band to make sense as its own thing. The six-minute-long track starts minimal and slow, a creeping intro with vague echoing whispers spoken over, unveiling its crunch-toned nod of a groove at 1:19 with a riff that reads like a declarative sentence. It comes on, sets up shop, and the roll it begins holds for the duration.
Russell and Ferguson share vocals in the verses and chorus, complementing each other not so much in harmony or direct call and response, but in dueling shouts into the proverbial void that remind a bit of Sweden’s Cities of Mars if more prone to a bit of barking by the finish. Their two-piece configuration gives an edge of rawness to their sound — producer Jamie Kovalsky at Prohibitor Studios also helmed Citizen Rage‘s Black, so there’s another thread linking the two bands — but that suits the sludgier vibe well and the echo on the vocals allows a sense of room to permeate just the same. It’s not a huge giant lumber, but neither is it in any danger of not getting the point across.
I haven’t heard all of Patience Vol. 1 as yet and honestly I don’t even know if it’s done, but “Enlightenment” came my way and I dug the groove and thought you might too. Simple as that. You’ll find the song and a bit more about it from the band below. Hope you enjoy:
Owls & Eagles on “Enlightenment”:
Our story starts with Patience realizing her home has become poisoned by hate, greed, and corruption. She makes a choice; she chooses to leave this place she has called home since birth. For once in her life, she sees everyone for who they really are, liars, cheaters, destroyers, killers of the land, pure evil at its fullest. She leaves and never turns back.
Produced and engineered by Jamie K at Prohibitor Studios Calgary. Artwork by Tannis Paige. Scheduled to release June 1st 2023 on Moments Records.
Owls & Eagles are: Ross Ferguson – Guitar/Vocals Mark Russell – Drums/Vocals
Recorded in 2020, the second full-length from Calgary heavy rockers Gone Cosmic, titled Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling, arrives on Sept. 2 through Grand Hand Records. Premiering below, “For Sabotage” is the third single from the impending LP behind the opener “Crimson Hand” (which it also follows on the record) and the side B leadoff “Endless,” and it brings into focus the underlying progressivism of the band’s approach. Oh they’re a rock band, make no mistake, but if you take a listen to the King Buffalo-y guitar in “For Sabotage” or any of the three singles, more generally the message is there waiting to be heard — Gone Cosmic are the kind of band who blow other bands off the stage.
In 2019, the four-piece made their debut on Kozmik Artifactz with Sideways in Time (review here), and even two years after the fact, the urgency that they put into getting back into the studio for the follow-up resonates. Vocalist Abbie Thurgood is a classic heavy rock belter, and from “Crimson Hand” through the sci-fi funk of closer “The Future’s Calling,” her performance is likewise dynamic and forceful. To wit, the three-minute “To Refuse Compromise.” That’s it. That song is the sentence. But guitarist Devin “Darty” Purdy, bassist Brett Whittingham and drummer Marcello Castronuovo are more than a backing band to showcase the talent of their frontperson. It’s Castronuovo who fires the first shots, launching “Crimson Hand” with a drum fill that — once you’ve actually listened to the rest of what follows — is revealed as a signifier of intent. And whether it’s the buildup of “Envy Thrives” or the plotted post-apex comedown of “Causeway,” Gone Cosmic interpret progressive heavy rock as a means to generate movement, to energize and excite.
Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling was produced and mixed by Josh Rob Gwilliam at OCL Studios, and what a task that must’ve been. Thurgood‘s voice is at the forefront — it could hardly be anywhere else — but to listen to the glorious punch of Whittingham‘s bass on “For Sabotage” or the centerpiece “The Wrong Side of Righteous” as Purdy‘s guitar weaves around it in Elderian noodling style, or the way in which Castronuovo‘s fill seems to roll downhill as “Endless” begins to move toward its payoff at around the 2:40 mark, and the balance of elements at play is striking. Understand, Gone Cosmic aren’t playing expansive, dug in progadelia for their own indulgence. The longest song here is the semi-titular closer “The Future’s Calling” at an airier 6:22, until the penultimate “Taste for Tragic,” the album shifts back and forth between three-minute and four-minute tracks, and for seven of nine inclusions, that pattern results in a raucous, largely uptempo rager.
But there’s no dumbing-down happening anywhere. Gone Cosmic aren’t trying to curb their impulses — again, the ethos “To Refuse Compromise” — so much as bring the listener to their level. And Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling can be challenging to keep up with as it moves from one side to the other on diagonals, angular corners, forward thrust, reverse transwarp and all this, but the songwriting on the whole is no less a consideration than the instrumental contributions — vocals included — on which it’s built. Even as “Taste for Tragic” gallops to its finish to let the swaying shove of “The Future’s Calling” take hold for an early throwdown before the space-out begins, there’s intent if not staid poise — there isn’t really staid anything — and by the time the album gets to that point, you’re either on board with the band having earned enough trust to believe they’ll make it work, which they do, or you’ve already stopped listening and it doesn’t matter anyhow, except to say you’re missing out and it’s your loss, etc.
One way or the other, Gone Cosmic‘s 39-minute stretch on Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling draws from multiple sides, and if I’ve focused on the progressivism above, it’s because that’s the underlying foundation, but be sure, there’s plenty of blues rock, psychedelia and outright heavy-heavy to go along with that, and the band’s sense of fluidity emerges from the interaction of elements, stylistic and practical, as they recast genre to suit their purposes. Is it the future? I don’t know. It’s born of the past but not hindered by sentimentality for it, and the command of craft certainly comes across as forward-thinking, but one generally thinks of the future these days as a dark and dystopian place — you know, like the present — and Gone Cosmic here are pushing a brighter but nonetheless realistic vision. I wouldn’t know the future if it punched me in the throat, and maybe that’s what’s going on with “The Wrong Side of Righteous,” but I’ll say that I wouldn’t mind if this was it.
Preorder link and sundry PR wire info follow the premiere of “For Sabotage,” which is on the player below.
Enjoy:
Gone Cosmic, “For Sabotage” track premiere
Abbie Thurgood on “For Sabotage”:
“We are constantly challenged by competitive societal attitudes such as ‘at all costs’ and ‘must win’ mentalities. ‘For Sabotage’ explores stepping outside of these norms and expectations that are ingrained in us encouraging the ability to see consequential thought processes and objectively view one’s path rather than being reactionary. ‘For Sabotage’ is a call to be more kind to oneself and to listen pursue and trust our own individual thought processes.”
Gone Cosmic – For Sabotage Written and performed by Gone Cosmic from album ‘Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling’ releasing on September 1, 2022 Produced, Recorded, and Mixed by Josh Rob Gwilliam at OCL Studios in Calgary, Alberta, Canada Mastered by Brian “Big Bass” Gardner Art by Brock Lefferts Album release via Grand Hand Records. Copyright and Publishing 2022 Gone Cosmic Entertainment
Championed by a soaring songstress Abbie Thurgood (The Torchettes), whose boldly evocative tones recall Skunk Anansie chanteuse Skin and Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard, and accompanied by an agile and aggressive psych-rock outfit, composed of guitarist Devin “Darty” Purdy (Chron Goblin), bass player Brett Whittingham (Chron Goblin), percussionist Marcello Castronuovo (Witchstone), Gone Cosmic has carved out an expansive domain that stretches from sweltering Southern sludge pits to breath-stealing sonic spacewalks.
A blood (orange)-scented breeze that bows the trees, Gone Cosmic chases the infinite haze from the skies and puts it right back in your eyes. Groove-mining breakdowns become the stuff of legend as the four pieces’ floor-thudding tail kick and hellfire halo holler originates a whole that is far more potent than the sum of its individual elements. Meet your new astromancers, the phase-shifting and hard-rocking force that channels the empyreal sounds of heaven on Earth. – Christine Leonard (Beatroute AB, Canada)
metallic emotionalism that reminds of Katatonia, but by and large Degenerator — that’s vocalist, guitarist and bassist Barrett Klesko and drummer Jonathan Webster — keep the vibe geared toward a heavy alternative rock, not quite stoner or even prog-stoner, but certainly aware of and wiling to be led by its riff, and the melody of the vocals in hook digs into pop hookmaking without sounding ridiculous, and that’s something of a triumph itself. In combination with the sharper-edged “Eternalism,” the album-opener and prior single, it portrays the band as experienced songwriters at the relative outset of developing an already-broad sound.
