Alunah and Samavayo release their split LP, Embers of Belief, on June 5 through Heavy Psych Sounds. I’m honestly not sure what brought the UK doom rockers and Germany-based crunch riff (I had a typo there that said ‘brunch riff’ and I almost left it, because that rules) together, but in a universe of infinite possibility, it could’ve been a show, a bunch of shows, a random online outreach or the fact that both bands have been actively kicking around the underground for the last 20 years or more — Alunah celebrate two decades in 2026, Samavayo marked the 20th anniversary of their first LP last year — and they hadn’t yet gotten to collaborate.
The shape of the thing is thus: Alunah present four tracks. The first two of them, “On Blacklow Hill” and the French-lyric “La Pucelle,” are studio-born, while “Hazy Jane” and “Violet Hour/Hunt” were recorded live. Samavayo answer back with three pieces of their own, including the makes-your-arm-hair-stand-up melodic surge of prior single “Bavar,” the shorter twister/shover “Mottainai” and the nine-minute semi-acoustic sprawler “California Sky,” which premieres on the player below. They’re in and out in a tidy seven songs and 41 minutes.
Whatever the occasion, both bands make it an occasion. For Alunah, “On Blacklow Hill” and “La Pucelle” are especially crucial as they represent the studio debut of the band’s third vocalist, DaisySavage, whose melodic delivery both sustains a thread that’s been an important part of Alunah‘s sound through all their personnel shifts, and feels particularly suited to the swing of the split’s opener while laying claim in “La Pucelle” to something that, to my knowledge, the band haven’t done before, putting a song even partially in a language besides English. Both studio pieces are comfortably paced for groove, and the “Burn the witch” hook in “La Pucelle” seems to harken to earlier days in terms of theme.
Rawer as they would inevitably be, the live tracks feel like they’re there to bolster the declaration Alunah are making of the Savage-fronted lineup, and the new vocalist shows no sign of trouble carrying those melodies or adding flourish to them. Like their studio counterparts, they sound formative, like a beginning, and one hopes that the band continue to grow together in chemistry as they push forward. This is them doing that work, and the results are encouraging.
None of Samavayo‘s three inclusions was recorded live on stage, but to the certain surprise of nobody who’s heard the band, their brash energy holds steady as the tense beginning of “Bavar” unfolds with a rhythm and melody informed by founding guitarist/vocalist Behrang Alavi‘s Iranian background. The embrace of this cultural influence over time has made Samavayo more distinctive in the European underground, certainly, but also so much richer in sound, and able to harness a space in their work that “Bavar” puts to near-perfect use, propulsive but stately and marked later by lead guitar topping the bombastic crash before they turn back to the taut muted ticks of the intro before the last engrossing shove.
Hilariously, “Mottainai” kind of does the same thing, but in three minutes instead of eight. Okay, the lyrics aren’t in Farsi, but if you’re looking for progressive rhythmic and melodic intricacy, plus a banger riff, it’s an easy pick, and they drive the point home with a catchy chorus. “California Sky” reaches almost to 10 minutes and is a post-Kyuss desert mellowing introduced by digeridoo, set to a theme born of the band’s first US appearances in 2025, a tour they began at Planet Desert Rock Weekend V, where I was fortunate enough to see them (review here). Likewise sincere and dug-in, it feels like a meditation on time and place even as it removes you from your own.
The video for “California Sky” has footage from that tour — apparently Alavi was just filming the entire time? also, hi, Manu! — and perhaps you’ll notice the subtle narrative of landscapes that takes them from city to desert to ocean on their journey. Clearly a powerful experience for the band, and a potent homage in song as well.
Look, I like both these bands, so maybe I’m not an impartial observer here, but between Alunah daring to dip back to initial stages and start again with a new singer and Samavayo‘s compositional reach, I hear nothing that’s going to keep this from my list of favorite short releases of 2026 when year-end time comes. It captures both acts at fascinating (if you’re the right kind of nerd) moments in their respective ongoing progressions, and I come out of “Violet Hour/Hunt” and “California Sky” curious about where both are headed. I’m not sure what more you could possibly ask of two bands who have over 45 years of righteous experience between them than to keep their audience guessing.
Maybe it’s a stop on the way for the bands, but isn’t that what landmarks are?
PR wire info follows the video below. As always, I hope you enjoy:
Samavayo, “California Sky” video premiere
This spring, Heavy Psych Sounds Records is pairing two outstanding acts from the heavy scene, with this one-off split album combining the firepower of Birmingham hard rock pillars ALUNAH and Berlin stoner rockers SAMAVAYO. On Side A, Alunah unveil their first studio material with new vocalist Daisy Savage, blending swagger-laden riff-rock and epic NWOBHM grit, plus two live recordings celebrating their 20th anniversary. Side B sees Samavayo delivering three new fuzzy earworms driven by compelling vocal melodies, sharp riffing and their signature oriental touch. Punchy, rocking and exhilarating!
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 3rd, 2026 by JJ Koczan
I’m biased, but the eight-minute, in-Farsi single from Samavayo is killer. It’s got a rich melody and feels adventurous in its instrumental push but is still tightly played and able to hold tension, mixing the band’s Middle Eastern influences and progressive songwriting penchant. Honestly, their participation would be enough for me to be writing about this split right now, but the fact that they’re paired with the celebrating-two-decades Birmingham heavy rollers Alunah, who are debuting new vocalist Daisy Savage with the release, no less, provides another vivid point of interest. Savage is the third singer Alunah have taken on, and with how far their sound and dynamic have shifted since their outset, I’m curious to find out where they’re headed.
“Bavar,” which is the Samavayo track leading off their side, is at the bottom of this post. Before you get there, you’ll find copious PR wire info, which, well, it’s good to have. The likewise-rad cover art follows immediately, all courtesy of Heavy Psych Sounds:
Heavy Psych Sounds Records to announce ALUNAH and SAMAVAYO split album Embers of Belief – presale starts TODAY !!
Today we are stoked to start the presale of ALUNAH and SAMAVAYO split album EMBERS OF BELIEF !!
10 ULTRA LTD TEST PRESS VINYL 100 ULTRA LTD 3 COLOR STRIPED BLUE/RED/BLACK SPLATTER IN WHITE VINYL 300 ORANGE TRANSPARENT VINYL BLACK VINYL DIGIPAK DIGITAL
TRACKLIST
SIDE A – ALUNAH On Blacklow Hill La Pucelle Hazy Jane (Alive ’25) Violet Hour/Hunt (Alive ’25)
SIDE B – SAMAVAYO Bavar Mottainai California Sky
ALBUM DESCRIPTION
ALUNAH says:
“Embers of Belief” features the first Alunah recordings with vocalist Daisy Savage and continues our long-standing relationship with Heavy Psych Sounds Records. We are both excited and proud to present our contribution to this split release – two brand new studio tracks that give a glimpse into where this new chemistry as a band is taking us creatively, alongside two live recordings which document and acknowledge the incredible job Daisy did in stepping up to tour and promote our previous full-length.
This significant release is part of our “VINGT” celebrations, marking 20 years of Alunah with both new music and festival appearances, including Bloodstock Open Air and Desertfest London. To everyone who’s stood by Birmingham, heavy rock, and doom through the years…this one’s for you!
Tracks 1 & 2 recorded and mixed by Owen Davies at Loud Noises Production Tracks 3 & 4 recorded by Suzanna Rain at Daltons, Brighton – “Doom By The Sea” Festival. Mixed by Chris Fielding All sounds made by Guitar, Bass, Drums and Vocals
Alunah are: Daisy Savage – Vocals Matt Noble – Guitar Dan Burchmore – Bass Jake Mason – Drums
SAMAVAYO says:
Creativity … it burns deep inside, demanding to be heard and when it wants out, ist has to get out. So here we are!
Longing, recklessness and hope—three themes that couldn’t be more human or more relevant right now.
Samavayo present three exceptional tracks on their split release with Alunah:
BAVAR is a crushing heavy piece built on the Fibonacci sequence, featuring Persian lyrics inspired by a poem from Siavash Kasraie. It stands as a defiant cry against grief and mortality—the narrator refuses to accept the death of loved ones, clinging instead to love, shared tears, and the breath of life as proof that loss can neither truly be believed nor surrendered to. Mottainai, the 2nd song takes aim at a reckless, consumption-driven mindset—the relentless pursuit of instant gratification and shortcuts. The song warns that this culture of excess and selfishness will ultimately leave a devastating legacy for future generations.
California Sky is a psychedelic, acoustic ode to Samavayo’s 2025 US tour, captures a paradoxical longing for the American desert landscape. It evokes a sense of spiritual belonging in the vast emptiness of Joshua Tree, while reflecting a deep yet helpless emotional connection to the United States and all its contradictions.
All Songs written by Samavayo Tracks 1 & 2 recorded at Big Snuff Studio Berlin with Richard Behrens. Mixed by Richard Behrens Track 3 recorded and mixed by Samavayo Mastered by Pascal Stoffels
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 31st, 2025 by JJ Koczan
I don’t know when the lineup for Ruination Festival 2026 was actually announced. It could’ve been November. It could’ve been December. It could be tomorrow. In the words of the Bajoran prophets, “it is not linear.” Let’s just assume that, like all things in all realities, it always is, was, and will be, and the only reason time matters to us is we’re scared to die. Oops, I said the thing.
But all of that is a long way of saying if you’ve seen this lineup already, this is probably what you’ve seen. But I hadn’t seen it until the press release showed up on the PR wire and, well, I not only make it an apparent policy to post for every show Slomatics play outside their hometown, but can appreciate the notion of seeing that Belfast trio at the top of a bill also boasting Alunah, Old Horn Tooth, Famyne, Witchsorrow and the others you see below. Note as well the pre-show with Gods of Hellfire, 1968, and so on.
It’s Jan. 30-31, so coming up, but if you happen to be in or near West Yorkshire, it looks like a winner of an evening. Dig it:
RUINATION FESTIVAL @ THE UNDERGROUND, BRADFORD
SAT 31ST JANUARY 2026
Bradford, UK in 2026, Underground Doom festival Ruination Festival returns in 2026, bringing a full day of doom, sludge, and heavy riff worship to The Underground, Bradford. Featuring an expansive line-up led by Belfast’s Slomatics, who recently released their new album “Atomicult”. Hailing from London Old Horn Tooth, a doom/stoner trio, known for heavy, slow, hypnotic riffs and a crushing, fuzz-laden sound that draws comparisons to genre leaders like Monolord, Conan and Electric Wizard. And Witchsorrow who draw influence from the likes of Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, and Pentagram, have carved out a reputation for uncompromising heaviness and powerful live performances.
The 2026 line-up includes: Slomatics, Old Horn Tooth, Witchsorrow, Famyne, Nowt, Warpstormer, Alunah, Tuumanduumband, Dark Fighter, and Whiskeyhead.
With tickets priced at just £20 for the day, Ruination Festival continues its mission of making heavy underground music accessible while spotlighting both established names and rising bands from across the scene.
In addition, Ruination Festival ticket holders can gain discounted £7 entry to Night Of Ruin (Friday 30th Jan), a warm up event celebrating the darker side of heavy music, simply show your festival ticket on the door for the discounted rate.
Set in the heart of Bradford’s live music circuit, The Underground provides an intimate, highimpact venue perfectly suited to Ruination’s raw and uncompromising ethos. Ruination Festival is fast becoming a fixture of the UK doom and heavy underground calendar, known for strong curation, community atmosphere, and unbeatable value.
Tickets: £20 Venue: The Underground, 9 Duke St, Bradford BD1 3QR Date: Saturday 31st January 2026 More info:
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 7th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Am I crazy (granted) or are we a little early arriving at the place where Desertfest throws down 20-someodd bands — in this case 28 — added all at once to the lineup? I mean, 28 bands, even for a four-day festival, would be a festival lineup. So Desertfest London 2026 is basically showcasing an entire fest’s worth of fest as just part of its broader lineup, the first announcement for which came out just a little over a month ago. I’m not worried about the promo plan or anything, you understand. They know what they’re doing. But I usually think of this kind of thing coming in winter as a hopeful portent of spring. Here in the backwater US, we haven’t even changed the clocks yet.
But can you blame them for being excited? If I had Hermano, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Solace, Causa Sui, High Desert Queen, Steak, Abrams, Alunah, Moundrag, Bismut and the rest of this cohort — Dandy Brown pulling double-duty between Hermano and Lorquin’s Admiral; nice — locked in, I might splurge too. And hopefully I’ll have more to say on this subject, but Solace‘s booked return to the UK has me convinced their new album will be out by the time they go. Do me a favor and don’t prove me wrong.
There’s a lot to like here, and also just a lot for what’s a relatively straightforward list of names. Read ’em and weep:
OUR SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT IS HERE! We’ve got 28 juicy additions to our 2026 edition and this announcement one is truly one for the DF OGs right here: desert legends HERMANO will headline the Electric Ballroom at Desertfest 2026.
Back to show us all how it’s done, John Garcia and the California cult icons will be playing their first UK show in almost two decades and we know that they’ll receive the homecoming they deserve at Desertfest London.
↠ Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – returning to Desertfest stage for the first time in 8 years.
↠ Danish heavy psych heroes turned instrumental wizards Causa Sui make their Desertfest London debut!
↠ New Jersey stoner-doom veterans Solace playing their first UK show in over a decade.
And that’s not all, folks! We’ve still to announce our final headliner for our second stint at the Roundhouse, but in the meantime we’ve prepared a mighty offering that we know you’ll love in our latest round of artists set for 2026:
HERMANO Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Causa Sui Zig Zags Steak Band Solace Deaf Club Witchsorrow High Desert Queen MOUNDRAG KOMODOR Alunah CULT OF OCCULT Forlorn LORQUIN’S ADMIRAL OMO ALPHAWHORES Abrams Bismut Okay You Win UK Ironrat Kannabinõid MOLTEN SLAG HASHTRONAUT ISAK SUPERNAUGHTT Teiger Nomadic Reign
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 20th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
This isn’t the first time UK doom/psych rockers Alunah have been in the position of replacing a vocalist. It was something of a shock last August when Siân Greenaway announced her departure from the band to pursue other projects, but Greenaway herself had taken on the lead singer role after founding bassist/vocalist Sophie Day left, so Daisy Savage comes to the group as the third lead singer in their 19-year history.
Alunah‘s final album with Greenaway was 2024’s Fever Dream (review here), about which the story very quickly became the departing singer. The band have done a couple shows with Savage already and what video I could find is below, but it’s hard to really get a full sense of what she’s bringing to the band from somebody’s social media story (as grateful as I am to that same person for posting the clip in the first place). The real tell will be when and if they get to work on their next recording, which feels both like it should happen quickly since there’s a new lineup to embark on and solidify, and too soon because a record just came out.
A pickle in time and space, but again, Alunah are pros and can be trusted to steer through the change with veteran maturity. I look forward to hearing Savage in action with the band. Continued best wishes, onward ever forward, all that get-out-there-and-kill-it-type stuff.
Their announcement and a new show confirmation are below, posted successive days on socials:
Today we’re announcing Daisy Savage as the permanent singer of Alunah.
After having opened for us in her previous outfit Hot Little Hands on our Strange Machine hometown launch show three years ago, and more recently having joined the live fold for two hugely successful festival dates in Leeds and London, the time feels right to announce her as our official bandmate!
Daisy has brought a new energy, charisma and grit to our set that’s made the future feel very exciting, just ahead of our run of festival dates in the UK and Europe this spring and summer.
We’ve got a few aces up our sleeve still to tell you about in good time, but our first show with Daisy officially in the band will be with Brant Bjork and Earl Of Hell in Birmingham on February 1st.
We hope you’ll all make her feel welcome as we embark on this new chapter. 🤘
—
‼️GIG ANNOUNCEMENT‼️
Leicester! Following yesterday’s exciting news, we’re pleased to announce a one-off headline show at Duffy’s Bar as a warmup for our run of festivals in the UK and Europe.
We’re working on a set at the moment with old classics, new favourites, and perhaps something we haven’t played live before? 👀
Resin Events is helping to put this one together and we’ll have some special guests opening the night that we’ll let you know about very soon.
Mark your calendars and we’ll see you very soon! Until then, our next show is with ex-Kyuss legend Brant Bjork in Birmingham two weeks today via Rawk Promotions / DJ Harris, and then after this Leicester date we’re in Greece for HPS Athens 🤘
Posted in Reviews on October 11th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
I got a note from the contact form a bit ago in my email, which happens enough that it’s not really news, except that it wasn’t addressed to me. That happens sometimes too. A band has a form letter they send out with info — it’s not the most personal touch, but has a purpose and doesn’t preclude following-up individually — or just wants to say the same thing to however many outlets. Fair game. This was specifically addressed to somebody else. And it kind of ends with the band saying to send a donation link, like, “Wink wink we donate and you post our stuff.”
Well shit. You mean I coulda been making fat stacks off these stoner bands all the while? Living in my dream house with C.O.C. on the outdoor speakers just by exploiting a couple acts trying to get their riffs heard? Well I’ll be damned. Yeah man, here’s my donation link. Daddy needs a new pair of orthopedic flip-flops. I’ma never pay taxes again.
Life, sometimes.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
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Alunah, Fever Dream
The seventh full-length from UK outfit Alunah, Fever Dream, will be immediately noteworthy for being the band’s last (though one never knows) with vocalist Siân Greenaway fronting the band, presiding over an era of transition when they had to find a new identity for themselves. Fever Dream is the third Alunah LP with Greenaway, and its nine songs show plainly how far the band has come in the six-plus years of her tenure. “Never Too Late” kicks off with both feet at the intersection of heavy rock and classic metal, with a hook besides, and “Trickster of Time” follows up with boogie and flute, because you’re special and deserve nice things. The four-piece as they are here — Greenaway on vocals (and flute), guitarist Matt Noble, bassist Dan Burchmore and founding drummer Jake Mason — are able to bring some drama in “Fever Dream,” to imagine lone-guitar metal Thin Lizzy in the solo of the swaggering “Hazy Jane,” go from pastoral to crushing in “Celestial” and touch on prog in “The Odyssey.” The finale “I’ve Paid the Price” tips into piano grandiosity, but by the time they get there, it feels earned. A worthy culmination for this version of this band.
Swiss heavy post-hardcore unit Coilguns‘ fourth LP and the first in five years, though they’ve had EPs and splits in that time, Odd Love offers 11 songs across an adventurous 48 minutes, alternately raw or lush, hitting hard with a slamming impact or careening or twisting around, mathy and angular. In “Generic Skincare,” it’s both and a jet-engine riff to boot. Atmosphere comes to the fore on “Caravel,” the early going of “Featherweight” and the later “The Wind to Wash the Pain,” but even the most straight-ahead moments of charge have some richer context around them, whether that’s the monstrous tension and release of capper “Bunker Vaults” or, well, the monstrous tension and release of “Black Chyme” earlier on. It’s not the kind of thing I always reach for, but Coilguns make post-hardcore disaffection sound like a good time, with intensity and spaciousness interwoven in their style and a vicious streak that comes out on the regular. Four records deep, the band know what they’re about but are still exploring.
Subconscious Awakening is Robot God‘s second album of 2024 and works in a similar two-sides/four-songs structure as the preceding Portal Within, released this past Spring, where each half of the record is subdivided into one longer and shorter song. It feels even more purposeful on Subconscious Awakening since both “Mandatory Remedy” and “Sonic Crucifixion” both hover around eight and a half minutes while side A opens with the 13-minute “Blind Serpent” and side B with the 11-minute title-track. Rife with textured effects, some samples, and thoughtful melodic vocals, Subconscious Awakening of course shares some similarity of purpose with Portal Within, which was also recorded at the same time, but a song like “Sonic Crucifixion” creates its own sprawl, and the outward movement between that closer and the title-track before it underscores the progressivism at work in the band’s sound amid tonal heft and complex, sometimes linear structures. Takes some concentration to wield that kind of groove.
Especially for an experimentalist, drone-based act who relies on audience theater-of-the-mind as a necessary component of appreciating its output, Pittsburgh solo outfit Fuzznaut — aka guitarist Emilio Rizzo — makes narrative a part of what the band does. Earlier this year, Fuzznaut‘s “Space Rock” single reaped wide praise for its cosmic aspects. “Wind Doula” specifically cites Neil Young‘s soundtrack for the film Dead Man as an influence, and thus brings four minutes more closely tied to empty spread of prairie, perhaps with some filtering being done through Earth‘s own take on the style as heard in 2005’s seminal Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method. One has to wonder if, had Rizzo issued “Wind Doula” with a picture of an astronaut floating free on its cover, it would be the cosmic microwave background present in the track instead of stark wind across the Great Plains, but there’s much more to Fuzznaut than self-awareness and the power of suggestion. Chalk up another aesthetic tryout that works.
Trad metal enthusiasts will delight at the specificity of the moment in the history of the style Void Moon interpret on their fourth album, Dreams Inside the Sun. It’s not that they’re pretending outright that it’s 1986, like the Swedish two-piece of guitarist/bassist Peter Svensson and drummer/vocalist Marcus Rosenqvist are wearing hightops and trying to convince you they’re Candlemass, but that era is present in the songwriting and production throughout Dreams Inside the Sun, even if the sound of the record is less directly anachronistic and their metallurgical underpinnings aren’t limited to doom between slowed down thrash riffs, power-metal-style vocalizing and the consuming Iommic nod of “East of the Sun” meeting with a Solitude Aeturnus-style chug, all the more righteous for being brought in to serve the song rather than to simply demonstrate craft. That is to say, the relative barn-burner “Broken Skies” and the all-in eight-minute closer “The Wolf (At the End of the World,” which has some folk in its verse as well, use a purposefully familiar foundation as a starting point for the band to carve their own niche, and it very much works.
Best known for slinging his six-string alongside brother Kyle Juett in Texas rockers Mothership, Kelley Juett‘s debut solo offering, Wandering West pulls far away from that classic power trio in intention while still keeping Juett‘s primary instrument as the focus. Some loops and layering don’t quite bring Wandering West the same kind of experimental feel as, say, Blackwolfgoat or a similar guitarist-gonna-guitar exploratory project, but they sit well nonetheless alongside the fluid noodling of Juett‘s drumless self-jams. He backs his own solo in centerpiece “Breezin’,” and the subsequent “Electric Dreamland” seems to use the empty space as much as the notes being cast out into it to create its sense of ambience, so if part of what Juett is doing on Wandering West is beginning the process of figuring out who he is as a solo artist, he’s someone who can turn a seven-minute meander like “Lonely One” (playing off Mos Generator?) into a bluesy contemplation of evolving reach, the guitar perfectly content to talk to itself if there’s nobody else around. Time may show it to be formative, but let the future worry about the future. There’s a lot to dig into, here and now.
With vocalists Kristian Eivind Espedal (Gaahls Wyrd, Trelldom, ex-Gorgoroth, etc.) and Lindy-Fay Hella (Wardruna, solo, etc.), guitarist Ronny “Valgard” Stavestrand (Trelldom) and drummer/bassist/keyboardist/producer Iver Sandøy (Enslaved, Relentless Agression, etc.), who also helmed (most of) the recording and mixed and mastered, Whispering Void easily could have fallen into the trap of being no more than the sum of its pedigree. Instead, the seven songs on debut album At the Sound of the Heart harness aspects of Norwegian folk for a rock sound that’s dark enough for the lower semi-growls in the eponymous “Whispering Void” to feel like they’re playing toward a gothic sentiment that’s not out of character when there’s so much melancholy around generally. Mid-period Anathema feel like a reference point for “Lauvvind” and the surging “We Are Here” later on, and by that I mean the album is intricately textured and absolutely gorgeous and you’ll be lucky if you take this as your cue to hear it.
You know how sometimes in a workplace where there’s a Boss With Personality™, there might be a novelty sign or a desk tchotchke that says, “The beatings will continue until morale improves?” Like, haha, in addition to wage theft you might get smacked if you get uppity about, say, wage theft? Fine. Orme sound like what happens when morale doesn’t improve. The 24-minute single-song No Serpents, No Saviours EP comes a little more than a year after the band’s two-song/double-vinyl self-titled debut (review here) and finds them likewise at home in longform songwriting. There are elements of death-doom, but Orme are sludgier in their presentation, and so wind up able to be morose and filthy in kind, moving from the opening crush through a quiet stretch after six minutes in that builds into persistent thuds before dropping out again, a sample helping mark the transitions between movements, and a succession of massive lumbering parts trading off leading into a final march that feels as tall as it is wide. I like that, in a time where the trend is so geared toward lush melody, Orme are unrepentantly nasty.
Budapest instrumentalist duo Azutmaga make their full-length debut with the aptly-titled Offering, compiling nine single-word-title pieces that reside stylistically somewhere between sludge metal and doom. Self-recorded by guitarist Patrik Veréb (who also mixed and mastered at Terem Studio) and self-released by Veréb and drummer Martin Várszegi, it’s a relatively stripped-down procession, but not lacking breadth as the longer “Aura” builds up to its full roll or the minute-long “Orca” provides an acoustic break ahead of the languid big-swing semi-psychedelia of “Mirror,” informed by Eastern European folk melodies but ready to depart into less terrestrial spheres. It should come as no surprise that “Portal” follows. Offering might at first give something of a monolithic impression as “Purge” calls to mind Earth‘s steady drone rock, but Azutmaga have a whole other level of volume to unfurl. Just so happens their dynamic goes from loud to louder.
After trickling out singles for over a year, including the title-track of the album and, in 2022, an early version of the instrumental “The Freaks Come Out at Night” that may or may not have been from before vocalist Virginie D. joined the band, the hashtag-named #chaleurhumaine delights in shirking heavy rock conventions, whether it’s the French-language lyrics or divergences into punk and harder fare, but nothing here — regardless of one’s linguistic background — is so challenging as to be inaccessible. Catchy songs are catchy, whether that’s “Fada Fighters” or “La Diable au Corps,” which dares a bit of harmonica along with its full-toned blues rock riffing. Likewise, nowhere the album goes feels beyond the band’s reach, and while “La Ligne” doesn’t sound especially daring as it plays up the brighter pop in its verse and shove of a chorus, well made songs never have any trouble finding welcome. I’m not sure why it’s a hashtag, but #chaleurhumaine feels complete and engaging, at once familiar and nothing so much as itself.
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 26th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Kind of a surprise to see vocalist Siân Blu Greenaway departing from Alunah, and that’s in no small part because the band are about to release a new album, titled Fever Dream, on Sept. 20 through Heavy Psych Sounds. They have shows coming up, too. At least a slot at Heavy Psych Sounds Fest in London this November. I don’t know what’s going to happen with that or with the band going forward, but one assumes Greenaway will shift her focus to her glam rock project Bobbie Dazzle, whose debut LP, Fandabidozi, will be out Oct. 4 on Rise Above Records.
One recalls vividly when Greenaway joined the band in 2017, taking on a standalone-singer role in place of guitarist/vocalist Sophie Day. That was after Alunah‘s 2017 album, Solennial (review here), came out through Svart and reaffirmed the forest-worship doom of the band’s earliest work. The addition of Greenaway would coincide with a shift away from the natural themes that were so much a part of the band’s original persona, and when guitarist David Day followed Sophie out, the metamorphosis was complete. Drummer Jake Mason, bassist Dan Burchmore and guitarist Matt Noble have said that the band will continue, but in just what form or incarnation remains to be seen. Can Alunah pull off remaking themselves twice? Why not?
Ultimately, Greenaway would front Alunah for three albums, including Fever Dream, and the 2018 EP that introduced her to the band’s established listenership. One looks forward to hearing what the future brings for Greenaway with Bobbie Dazzle and for Alunah, and certainly the upcoming LPs from both are given a different contextual shine from the announcement you’ll find below as it appeared on social media this past Friday:
ALUNAH – Announcement
Sian after 7 years with the band is hanging up her velvet catsuits and leaving Alunah.
“Thank you so much to all the fans for the years of love and support and thank you from me to Jake, Dan and Matt for the music we created together. Alunah isn’t over and I wish the boys all the luck as they go forward. I of course have my solo music so I’ll still be performing and I look forward to seeing the next phase of Alunah as they continue.”
Siân’s swansong is released September 20th so preorder “Fever Dream” from HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 24th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Oh, you know, no big deal. It’s just Desertscene (the folks behind Desertfest London) and Heavy Psych Sounds (the foremost European heavy imprint and booking concern) pairing up for a London-based Heavy Psych Sounds Fest this November with Dozer, Black Rainbows, Lord Dying, Black Tusk, Alunah, The Cosmic Dead, Margarita Witch Cult, Child, Josiah, MR.BISON and The Clamps at The Underworld and The Black Heart. Oh wait, that is a big deal, and awesome besides. Like a mini-Desertfest, tucked right in there after the end of the always-busy Eurofestival October. Killer bill, killer clubs. Dozer and Josiah in the same lineup alone. Total no-brainer. If you can go, just go. Trust me, the rest of us will wish we could too.
From the PR wire:
*** HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST LONDON 2024 ***
– LINEUP + TICKETS PRESALE ANNOUNCED –
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST returns to London after four years this fall to make Camden Town rumble and crumble under the mighty fuzz assault of some of the most revered bands in the stoner, doom, psych and heavy rock scene!
The festival will proudly welcome Swedish stoner rock royalty Dozer, Portland genre-bending heavy metallers Lord Dying, and Savannah swamp sludge specialists Black Tusk for the first time. Fuzz and buzz will be supplied by some of the finest live acts from the HPS roster with stoner rock icons Black Rainbows, Scottish space rock explorers The Cosmic Dead, Birmingham’s soulful proto-rock merchants Alunah and occult doom revelers Margarita Witch Cult, Italian heavy psych goldsmiths Mr.Bison and speed stoner’n’roll unit The Clamps, as well as UK heavy psych veterans Josiah. Fans of the finest psychedelic blues be delighted by an exclusive UK appearance of Australia’s own Child.
Curated by two major players of the European & UK heavy rock scene with London’s fuzz-worshipping Desertscene and leading independent heavy rock label Heavy Psych Sounds, this decibel-charged weekender promises to be one for the books, so don’t wait to book your ticket!
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST LONDON 2024 @ The Underworld // 2nd November 2024 @ The Black Heart // 3rd November 2024
– LINEUP – DOZER BLACK RAINBOWS LORD DYING BLACK TUSK THE COSMIC DEAD ALUNAH MARGARITA WITCH CULT CHILD JOSIAH MR.BISON THE CLAMPS
twister/shover “Mottainai” and the nine-minute semi-acoustic sprawler “California Sky,” which premieres on the player below. They’re in and out in a tidy seven songs and 41 minutes.
same thing, but in three minutes instead of eight. Okay, the lyrics aren’t in Farsi, but if you’re looking for progressive rhythmic and melodic intricacy, plus a banger riff, it’s an easy pick, and they drive the point home with a catchy chorus. “California Sky” reaches almost to 10 minutes and is a post-Kyuss desert mellowing introduced by digeridoo, set to a theme born of the band’s first US appearances in 2025, a tour they began at Planet Desert Rock Weekend V, where I was fortunate enough to see them (review here). Likewise sincere and dug-in, it feels like a meditation on time and place even as it removes you from your own.
