Some off-laptop bumps and unpleasantness yesterday, but nothing to actually derail this process, just to make it both less efficient and less pleasant. I’m grateful for that. Life happens, and what I’ve learned is that there are two ways to be a “lifer” in music or any kind of anything, and the easier and often more celebrated one is to not have a life. “Oh so and so is such a lifer they’ve toured for 30 years and never got famous.” Cool bro. Go coregulate an hour-long throw-furniture tantrum, still manage to handle your business on your own terms, and then call me. The harder-core lifer has a life beyond the work they’re doing, whatever that may be and whatever Gen-X ‘punk legends’ might tell you otherwise.

Today is the penultimate day of the Quarterly Review, bringing us — you, cool, serene, the picture of grace, and me, a sweaty cavetroll of middle age — closer to the stated goal of 50 releases covered by tomorrow. At this point, I like our chances, but you never know what’s coming until you get there. So let’s get there before declaring victory.

Quarterly Review #31-40:

Child, Rebirth

I’m not sure there’s anybody out there right now who does heavy blues as bluesy as Melbourne, Australia’s Child, and even as their fourth full-length, Rebirth, shifts the balance the ‘rock’ end of blues rock, the emphasis on soul remains strong and central in their work. The album runs 35 minutes and six songs, and with no small task in following up 2023’s Soul Murder (review here), the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Mathias Northway, bassist Rhys Kelly and drummer Michael Lowe bring clarity of purpose to material like “Forgot How to Love,” which takes a desert rock riff to the mud, or the catchy four-minute “Heavy Load.” Working in slow tempos isn’t new for Child — they cook, and good cooking takes time — but they’re still able to make “I Tried (Newy)” move under its fuzzy-as-hell solo, while opener/longest track (immediate points) “Woman Like You” sets the stage for tales of heartbreak, boozehounding and other vaguely self-destructive whathaveyou. Northway is an ace on guitar and carries the vocals well, but I’ll put this rhythm section up against just about anybody out there when it comes to sleek, gradual groove. Not a ton of surprises, but still satisfying.

Child website

Heavy Psych Sounds website

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Dr. Space, Dr. Space’s Wicked Sonic Bulls

Regular collaborator Martin Weaver (Wicked Lady, etc.) handles bass while Tom Ashurst (ex-Hawklords) steps in on guitar and Darren Butler takes up drum duties — all of a sudden, opening track “Shouldn’t You Do It?” (18:24) makes it seem like synthmaster and Øresund Space Collective bandleader/producer Scott “Dr. Space” Heller has a whole band together for Dr. Space’s Wicked Sonic Bulls, the four-song/70-miinute outing that isn’t even his latest at this point but is an immersive joy just the same. The drums bring flow to the float, and Heller‘s e’er-molten synthery is sit-and-take-it-all-in hypnotic, weaving drones behind the dream-tone of Ashurst‘s guitar as the band dynamic takes shape. Of course, the fades-in, goes-everywhere, comes-apart-at-the-end closer “The Underside of Your Tongue” (29:56) is a focal point, and feels daring in terms of tempo even with “Splasing, Lashing, Flashing” (10:43) as preface, but the mood across the almost-certainly-entirely-improvisational outing is, duh, exploratory, and nothing in the resultant material takes away from that. Comforting and rad in kind. Put headphones on and get yourself lost.

Dr. Space on Bandcamp

Space Rock Productions website

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Shadow of Jupiter, Bones

The largesse in “Bones” and the dudely swagger of “Rumblestrip” puts Bones squarely in the realm of modern capital-‘h’ Heavy, and Chicagoan four-piece Shadow of Jupiter revel in it accordingly. “Riot Dogs” is cavernous and crushing, while “Whatever God You Fear” moves faster like a beefed-up High Desert Queen but holds to the thickness overarching the seven-song entirety here as the band play to multiple sides here, and while I’m not sure what role faith actually plays in their craft, closer “For Heaven Above” feels duly downtrodden and tired of humanity and is Sabbath-rooted beneath all its tonal hugeness, through which the melodic vocals cut smoothly as they have all along. Burl is a factor, but the songwriting is there beneath the well-produced bluster, and though the prevailing impression is in its sheer heft, Shadow of Jupiter hone a sense of dynamic as they plunge into their own distortion and gravitational nod. Bones is their first album for Ripple Music and second overall, and it sure feels like they nailed it in terms of stepping up to the moment.

Shadow of Jupiter website

Ripple Music website

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Psychedelic Source Records, Pseudopredestinated

Three jams, each hovering on either side of 20 minutes, contemplative and following the stated narrative of casting off mundane woes — busted cars, jobs, etc. — to escape for a bit into the ether. Pseudopredestinated is day-in-the-life psychedelic improvisation, featuring familiar players from the Psychedelic Source Records stable in Bence Ambrus on guitar, Gergely Szabó and David Strausz splitting bass duties and Máte Varga on drums, coming together to headfirst-dive into the aural unknown and see where they end up. In “Protoplanetarian,” that’s a noisier and more active space to answer the graceful build of opener “Precambriality,” and closer “Postpurposes” builds on the low-key shred and pushes further into the far-out. It’s emblematic fare for the Psychedelic Source Records collective, thematically and musically — yes, that is a compliment — and if you find yourself looking also to indulge a bit of escapism from your own mind, immersion awaits. Part of the joy here is never knowing quite where you’ll end up but going, going, going.

Psychedelic Source Records on Bandcamp

Psychedelic Source Records on Spotify

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Fangus, Emerald Dream

Well, you’re a ’70s-sounding heavy rock band with a strong emphasis on Hammond organ, so yes, people are going to say you sound like Deep Purple. The good news is that swinging Montreal five-piece Fangus are too busy dug into their own might-pivot-to-the-next-boogie-at-any-moment, vibe-dense sound to show they care much at all, and a ripper like “Pyre of Love” stands as evidence of this. Keys are a big part of what they do — that Mellotron on the title-track, the organ taking the fore on “Psychoid Telepath,” and so on — but the crunching tone of the guitar and the gutted-out vocals are no less vintage in their mindset, and while I don’t know that it was all recorded live, the band-in-the-room feel is palpable, ditto the chemistry, and that suits them both in the shove of “Time Gambler” and the burgeoning progressivism of “Quest for Fire,” the album as a whole rarely diverting from its sense of movement. Once “Howling Hammer” picks up from establishing its riff, they’re on their way and show little interest in looking back, refusing to be beholden even to the reverence in their sound as they convey freedom and breakout.

Fangus on Bandcamp

Fangus on Instagram

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Hollow Drifter, Colours in Time

With two full-lengths and numerous singles/two-songers to their credit since 2019, Amsterdam psychedelic progressive rockers Hollow Drifter sound duly comfortable dwelling somewhere between the two on Colours in Time, on which the first and last tracks — “Morning Fog” (2:27) and “Cradlesong” (1:48) — complement and enhance the atmosphere of the 14-minute centerpiece, “Seasons, Ages, Legends…,” which tinges toward alt rock momentarily but feels warm and organic in its acoustic-guitar foundations even as it grows more lush with the introduction of electrics. The extended piece ebbs and flows but remains purposeful for the duration, and after the first, willfully gorgeous build ends after six minutes, they remain in control in terms of the direction they’re headed, subtly building again toward repetitions of the EP’s title-lyric over nuanced noodling and steady, tense drums that give hints of the unfolding about to take place as they move into the solo. The harmonized folk of “Morning Fog” and acoustic strum/keys of “Cradlesong” fit and flesh out the atmosphere, and as this is my first experience with the band, the message of homework to do is almost as clear as the evocations of the music itself. Get pastoral.

Hollow Drifter website

Hollow Drifter on Instagram

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Veilcaste, Hellward

Keyed for onslaught, Hellward is the fourth full-length from Indianapolis veteran heavymakers Veilcaste, who bring together doom, sludge and post-metallic atmospheres to create a style that’s almost universally oppressive, even in its moments of foreboding quiet, and able to harness an intensity that extends to the “You don’t belong here” lyrical reptitions of the title-track. How they transposed my inner monologue to fit the song, I don’t know, but kudos. The bellowing “Chains” and worldcrumbling “Worn in Stone” show some influence from ’90s metal, whether that’s Sepultura‘s slowdowns or Godflesh, but at this point Veilcaste have found their niche in consuming aggression, and from the outset-descent of “Embedded” to the oblivion-march into the subdued acoustic finish of “I Am the Guillotine,” they punish aurally and conjure depths of mix in which there’s still intricacy and humanity to be found. I’ve had days that sound exactly like “Anchored.” Maybe you have too, if you’re reading this.

Veilcaste on Bandcamp

Third House Communications on Bandcamp

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Robot God, Onto the Afterlife

Onto the Afterlife makes itself a journey, and maybe that’s not such a deep insight since the title itself does more than hint at it, but the way Sydney heavy rockers Robot God take their fifth album from its relatively straight-ahead beginnings to a gradually broader-reaching mindset across the longer final three tracks — the penultimate “I Am the Night” becoming both a celebration of Sabbathianism and an expansive psychedelic jaunt in its 11 minutes — feels purposeful on the part of the prolific trio, and the procession is all the more a joy to follow after the wakeup crashes of “Soldier of Love” and the semiprog chug of the title-track at the outset, atmosphere being the key to tying it all together. Centerpiece “Cerebral Annihilation” marks the turn, instrumental save for its sample, and the builds of “Long Goodbye” are suited to round out, but it’s the fluidity of the changes within and between the songs and the obvious care put into their craft that lets Onto the Afterlife carry the listener across its 41-minute duration. Without sounding morbid, it’s a trip very much worth taking.

Robot God on Bandcamp

Kozmik Artifactz website

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Mothertomb, Dying to Live

The debut full-length from North Michigan atmospheric doom four-piece Mothertomb, Dying to Live, brims with purpose from the three-minute mood-setting intro “The Summoning” onward. And indeed, mood becomes integral throughout the five-track/39-minute stretch as “Cythraul” picks up from the intro with a 10-minute croon-doom build, unshy in its metal but not anymore beholden to the double-kick than it needs to be to get the point across. The four-piece of vocalist/cover artist Alice Gawlinski, guitarist Chance Gawlinski, bassist Alton Minor and drummer Mike Benitez remind atmospherically of dark-arts practicioners like Second Grave in their ambient take on doom metal — emphasis on both the doom and the metal — in “Beware,” but “Mountain Hag” is more stoned in its first-half roll before the operatics and screams and crush, so I’m not prepared to say the book is closed on what they’re going for sound-wise. Nonetheless, as they end with the also-hard-hitting title-track’s apex screams, the potential for forward growth is easy to hear. Won’t be for everyone, but will land hard with those who can get to its level.

Mothertomb website

Mothertomb on TikTok

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Producer, Three

With two members of Alabama Thunderpussy in the lineup — guitarist Ryan Lake and drummer Bryan Cox — and Fire Faithful‘s Jon Bone on bass, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that Richmond, Virginia’s Producer have more than a tinge of Southern heavy to their sound, but the band completed by guitarist Mike Jarvis and vocalist Kenny Ball run that through a thread of classic heavy metal and find clarity in the slowdown of “The Climb” and the harder push of “The Upper East Side Sadists,” with the two-minute “A Natural Death” fostering swing to follow the AC/DC-ism of opening cut “Nailed to the Cross” before closer/still-under-five-minute longest track “Vengeful God Complex” seems to pull the various sides together. Three takes its title from the fact that it’s the band’s third EP, which I chalk up to a conscious choice because there’s no way they’re not ready for an album if they don’t want to be. I’ll take 18 minutes in the swamp though, to be sure.

Producer on Bandcamp

Producer on Instagram

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Some context in case it seems odd that Amsterdam longform psychedelic heavynauts Temple Fang would release two albums at the same time. First, you should know that Live at dB’s and Live at Sonic Whip are the four-piece’s seventh and eighth — whichever is seventh and whichever is eighth; they came out on the same day — live records in the last six years. A lot of what this band does is on the stage.

Second, the two outings are the first live documents the band has issued since 2025’s excellent studio offering, Lifted From the Wind (review here), and they are comprised almost exclusively of material from that 2LP — Live at dB’s opens with “Gemini,” which also appeared on earlier live LPs/tapes — with Live at Sonic Whip being a 40-minute set with just “The River” (19:40) and “Once” (21:03) played, both of which are taken from Lifted From the Wind. Further, considering that runtime from May 2025’s Sonic Whip Festival in Nijmegen, and the fact that Live at dB’s, which was captured in Utrecht last November, runs 93 minutes and includes a 30-minute version of that same song “Once,” it becomes pretty clear that they’re emphasizing different sides of themselves with each one.

Temple Fang are guitarist/vocalist Jevin de Groot, bassist/vocalist Dennis Duijnhouwer, guitarist/backing vocalist Ivy van der Veer and drummer Daan Wopereis, and without believing in ‘blessed’ yet having been blessed enough to see them on multiple occasions, I can attest to the centrality of flow to what they do on stage as well as on their studio releases. And I mean this not only like the songs are groovy and easy-rolling, but in the psychological, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi sense of the word, which relates to immersion on the part of the band in what they’re doing.

The steady unfolding of the aforementioned “Gemini” leading into the dB’s set or Heath‘s Mees Vullings putting blues harp to “Once” at Sonic Whip are standout moments, but they don’t happen without Temple Fang being dug in deep, and they are on both these releases. The flow that you hear comes from the flow, the semi-conscious instrumental conversation happening between these players and their instruments. As “The River” begins to unfurl with Wopereis‘s subtly shredded drumming, the song shares with its Sonic Whip interpretation a faster-seeming tempo than on the studio LP, but it and the rest of the Lifted From the Wind material that follows — “Harvest Angel,” “Once” and “Josephine” — nonetheless breathe.

I don’t want to pull intention out of the narrative of what I’m hearing, which is to say Temple Fang did not and does not happen by accident. Instead, the willfulness happens on the level of the band giving themselves over to the song, or in this case, the show. The dueling solos in “The River” from van der Veer and de Groot setting up the next verse for Duijnhouwer‘s echoing callouts, leading to the harmony with de Groot: “Nothing worse/To want something so bad/And never notice till it’s gone,” before the heavier turn. These things will be familiar to listeners who took on Lifted From the Wind, but one can hear even between Live at dB’s and Live at Sonic Whip that the song breathes differently at the club show than at the festival, and that’s a big part of what putting out two live records at the same time is doing for Temple Fang, in terms of further (because this isn’t their first time at the live-record dance, as noted) showcasing for listeners the different aspects of their personality that might come out on a given night or in a given situation.

If you’ve got a fest set that’s 40 minutes and a headlining date that’s 90-plus, those situations will each require something different from the other. Temple Fang take on both tasks with grace and openness, and the recordings by Julian “Jonko” Deckert (in the case of Sonic Whip, also Nico van Montfort, Gonny Maas and Petra Randewijk) showcase this with clarity of purpose and execution. There’s never mistaking at any point what band you’re listening to — for sure it’s Temple Fang — but the breadth of what that means is still expanding, and that is due to the purposeful creative drive on the part of the band.

As regards the basic listening experiences, it’s also worth noting that Sonic Whip took place months before the dB’s show, and that time difference can be heard in how Temple Fang dwell in the material. Of course, Live at dB’s has more songs, so there’s that, but the most drastic direct example is in “Once,” which gained nine minutes from one gig to the other, most of which is given to expansions on the song’s jammier explorations. They have more time to spend, and they spend it in a slower, more gradual unfurling, and while de Groot‘s vocals remain tense in the verse, that’s part of his style, as “Harvest Angel” shows just before.

Practically an LP on its own, “Once” becomes an inevitable focal point for anyone taking on these two releases, and its payoff is both in the volume-swell later and in the journey that surrounds, which is broad enough to make the subsequent closer “Josephine” feel straightforward at ‘just’ 17 minutes. Some of it is jamming, but that’s not cordoned off, as in “here’s the verse, here’s the jam, here’s the next verse.” It’s more like parts are fleshed out, lived in, and so expanded. I don’t know that it is, but if the take on “Once” is what convinced the band Live at dB’s needed to come out, they’d be well justified.

Since their outset, Temple Fang have been attentive to limited live albums like these, capturing the band on two nights in different situations that show not only their range but their ability to emphasize different facets and sides of their approach, sometimes with the same songs. If Live at Sonic Whip feels like the band getting down to business and comes across as a brief sampling of what they can do, that relative forwardness complements Live at dB’s, which obviously is a deeper dive on all sides. Either way you go — and here I’ll remind you that you don’t have to choose just one — the only conclusion I’ve been able to draw is “holy crap this is a special band.” It makes me glad to be a Temple Fang fan.

Temple Fang, Live at Sonic Whip (2026)

Temple Fang, Live at dB’s (2026)

Temple Fang on Bandcamp

Temple Fang on Instagram

Temple Fang on Facebook

Dutch atmospheric progressive heavy rockers Iron Jinn will release their second full-length later this year — in September, if the scheduled release show is anything to go by — and the 17:55 “The Futurist” serves as the substantial welcome to/from the new incarnation of the band. Well, partially new incarnation, anyhow. Guitarist/vocalists Wout Kemkens and Oeds Beydals are still at the front, while bassist Gerben Bielderman and drummer Bob Hogenelst lock in intricate but fluid movement. The difference is that where they were a four-piece on their 2023 self-titled debut (review here), now they’ve been joined full-time by keyboardist Jarno van Es, who also appeared with them on 2024’s Live at Roadburn (review here).

It’s not the craziest change in the universe, like now they’re samba or something, but even the floaty notes peppered into the introduction of “The Futurist,” which was recorded by the esteemed Pieter Kloos, demonstrate that indeed the dynamic has shifted. The guitars have more room to breathe, and the band as a whole can occupy a song differently, whether they’re into the incantations of a verse or the chase that ensues a few minutes thereafter, like King Crimson charging in pursuit of Pink Floyd. They mark the occasion by coining the term “reich and roll,” which I’m not going to use and sounds like the kind of thing where no one asked the question, “Is minimalist US composer Steve Reich everybody’s first association with this word?,” but in sound they remain in a kind of swirling darkprog. There’s no cultish posturing, but the world is still a bit tilted sideways, aesthetically speaking.

And yes, “The Futurist” does have its minimal stretch, some drone later on, but it’s by no means inactive, even then. Rhythmic tension is persistent and among the proggier elements in the construction is that Iron Jinn manage to keep the energy level up while riding an evolving, winding groove as they pass through the midsection, not only to not getting lost, but conveying that the song actually needs this time to build itself up in this way. So, of course, they’re right about that. Plus that solo has some sunny island vibes and, well, summer’s coming.

In all seriousness, I had a hard morning yesterday after a largely sleepless night. To give the full background would take too long and derail the post, so I won’t, but suffice it to say, it was in that long instrumental stretch in the middle of “The Futurist,” in an unexpected flash of power-noodling and jazz-bouncing from one measure to the next, building and receding, that I found comfort. It wasn’t necessarily where I’d expect, but with Kemkens and Beydals leading the way to and through the 13-minute mark en route to the eventual verse return, I couldn’t help but smile. That seems like such a simple thing and yet it’s absolute fucking magic.

Art affects life, and engagement with creativity, passive or active, is an almost universal positive. If there is a central thesis of this shitheel blog, let it be that.

I haven’t heard the rest of Iron Jinn‘s apparently-70-minutes-long sophomore record yet, but the story in my mind is already of evolution, of exploring new spaces, and actively building on the atmospheres and accomplishments in craft of the first album. If maybe you’re not the kind of person who’s generally inclined to dig into an 18-minute single just for its own sake — I know it seems unfathomable, but those people do exist — the band do have a crescendo in their pocket all the while for the final moments as “The Futurist” sweeps into its cold finish, and if you’re the type who can just go with a journey, for sure this is one to go with. Vibrant even at its darkest.

As always, I hope you enjoy:

Iron Jinn, “The Futurist” lyric video

Iron Jinn releases the first single of their upcoming album and simultaneously coins ‘Reich & Roll’ as their new genre. On the 19th of September Iron Jinn present their new album at Doornroosje, Nijmegen. They invited the legendary kraut duo zZz as a special guest.

Iron Jinn release show w/ zZz tickets: https://www.doornroosje.nl/event/iron-jinn/

In the 18-minute epos ‘The Futurist’ you hear jazzy McCoy Tyner chords and riffs like molochs roll into a Steve Reich-ian minimal music jam, where guitars, cellos and keys subtly build a cathedral of sound; brick by brick. A lot of bands are psychedelic in sound, but Iron Jinn excels in mind-bending ideas. A distorted banjo is used to churn out rapid rolls like machine gun fire, while the voices of singers Wout Kemkens and Oeds Beydals reverberate their words about a world where technology is seen as salvation and models and data as messiahs. A reality where people are expected to adapt to the systems instead of the other way around. Later in the song Kemkens croons and echoes the words of Oppenheimer and Plato and just a few moments later (in the closing seconds of the track) you hear the most balls out version of Iron Jinn yet. This band is all about contrasts and it really shows in ‘The Futurist’. Yes, if you want to be hard as a rock you also have to be sweet as silk.

New album

Iron Jinn’s upcoming studio album (september 2026) is their first as a fivepiece. Within the new compositions, seven pieces in 70 minutes, the band places a strong emphasis on dynamics and musical interplay. Unlike their debut album (2023), an ambitious studio project as a trio, this new studio album was refined and deepened on stages through Europe. It introduces new colors in the form of two adventurous players: bassist Gerben Bielderman and keys player Jarno van Es, the latter debuted with Iron Jinn on Roadburn and luckily never left. The album recordings – under the helm of Pieter Kloos (Motorpsycho/The Devil’ Blood/DOOL) – took place in a former dance studio, quite fitting since the band plays more light-footed than on Iron Jinn’s former heavy, sometimes doomy, studio work.

Iron Jinn are:
Wout Kemkens – guitar/vocals
Oeds Beydals – guitar/vocals
Gerben Bielderman – bass
Bob Hogenelst – drums
Jarno van Es – keys

[Band photo by Louise te Poele.]

Iron Jinn on Bandcamp

Iron Jinn on Instagram

Iron Jinn on Facebook

Amsterdam progressive psych explorers Temple Fang aren’t yet finished touring in 2025. They have November dates listed below with Sowt and others on a tour specifically localized to the Netherlands. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if a live record (at least one) came out of that stint, but even a month ahead of going, the four-piece who earlier this year released a bona fide masterpiece in Lifted From the Wind (review here) through Stickman Records are unveiling the string of dates that will carry them from Hellseatic Fest in Germany back toward Desertfest Berlin, where headliners Crippled Black Phoenix will feature. I haven’t seen a confirmation yet for Temple Fang at DF, but it wouldn’t be shocking if they’re added later, so that asterisk on the poster might disappear.

Lifted From the Wind is one of a handful of records I’ve heard this year — Year of the Cobra, Author & Punisher, Stoned Jesus, etc. —  that’s contending hard for my album of the year pick, which, yes, I think about all year because I’m a nerd. Not going to apologize at this point; it’s been too long for that anyway. But the record’s on my mind, is what I’m saying, and it has been since before it came out at the end of April. I don’t expect that to stop between now and December. And I know my year-end list is nobody’s be-all-end-all, except perhaps my own — and even that, some years, I’m like, “Ah screw you, jerk” to myself (forever 2015) — but I hear a fair amount of music in a given day, week, month, decade, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to say these guys were an absolute standout in 2025.

So here’s dates from socials:

We’re stoked to announce we’ll be joining Crippled Black Phoenix on their European run in May 26, see y’all there! 🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

More TBA.

01-05 DE Bremen, Hellseatic
03-05 FR Paris, Petit Bain
04-05 NL Nijmegen, Doornroosje
05-05 DE Bielefeld, Forum
06-05 DE Køln, Volta
07-05 DE Karlsruhe, Substage
08-05 DE Aschaffenburg, Colos Saal
09-05 DE Lindau, Vaudeville
10-05 DE Reutlingen, Franz K.
11-05 DE München, Backstage
12-05 AT Vienna, Arena
13-05 HU Budapest, A38
14-05 CZ Prague, Rock Cafe
15-05 DE Dresden, Beatpol

For the upcoming NL tour, we’re psyched to be joined by some amazing bands, Eindhoven’s noise-mongers @sowt.band, Rotterdam’s dreamgazers @dazeinbed and our dear friend @ismenamusic_ . See y’all on the road! 🌈🌈🌈

Tix: https://linktr.ee/templefang

Temple Fang NL Tour 2025:
09-11 Victorie, Alkmaar w/ @sowt.band
14-11 Metropool, Hengelo w/ @sowt.band
20-11 Nobel, Leiden w/ @sowt.band
21-11 Mezz, Breda w/ @sowt.band
22-11 Willemeen, Arnhem w/ @sowt.band
28-11 Het Podium, Hoogeveen w/ @dazeinbed
29-11 dB’s, Utrecht w/ @sowt.band @ismenamusic_

Temple Fang:
Dennis Duijnhouwer – Bass, Vox
Jevin de Groot – Guitar, Vox
Ivy van der Veer – Guitar
Daan Wopereis – Drums

https://templefang.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/templefang/
https://www.facebook.com/templefangband

http://www.stickman-records.com/
http://stickmanrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Stickman-Records-1522369868033940/

Temple Fang, Lifted From the Wind (2025)

Amsterdam-based longform heavy psychedelic rockers Temple Fang release their new album, Lifted From the Wind, April 25 through respected purveyor Stickman Records. Below, they’re premiering a video for “The Radiant,” and below that, in the blue text you’ll see kind of a brief background on the record that the band asked me to write a couple months ago. It’s not the story of how they got together, or the partnership of bassist Dennis Duijnhouwer (also synth) and guitarist Jevin de Groot (also percussion) going back to their time together in cosmic celebrants Mühr and probably well before that — both on vocals, they are more in harmony than they’ve ever been here, figuratively and literally — or of the deepened collaborative feel as the four-piece have solidified the lineup with guitarist Ivy van der Veer (also Myriad’s Veil) and drummer Daan Wopereis, both of whom also contribute backing vocals.

Lifted From the Wind isn’t the first Temple Fang studio LP, even if it feels like the beginning of their future. One might be forgiven for thinking of it as a kind of debut since it seems both so fresh in its delivery and so much like a moment of arrival and declaration for the band. And neither 2021’s Fang Temple (review here) nor any of the handful of live outings they’ve done since manifests their sound in the way Lifted From the Wind does.

This happens across an encompassing five-song/74-minute sprawl, and that is going to be an attention test for some listeners to be sure — I don’t know when the last time you tried to concentrate on anything for an hour was, but I’ve made a recent attempt and the results were nowhere near as gorgeous as the expansive verse and proggy twisting riffery, lush melody, heavy underpinning and welcoming grace of “The River,” which both gets outwardly heavier than Temple Fang have ever been and aligns their ethic of massive jamming around a structure of verses, allowing the band to tell their story in a different way than they have to this point.

If you’re worried, I get it. The jams are still there. We’re talking about a question of balance of the elements in Temple Fang‘s sound, and yes, as discusssions go, it’s heady, nerdy shit. Know this: If you’ve never heard Temple Fang before there’s still a decent chance Lifted From the Wind ends up on your list of 2025’s best albums, unless you have some moral objection to life-affirming heavy psychedelia, spiritual realization or, like, sunshine. I’m not saying the album is without its challenging aspects.

The 2LP puts “The River” and “Once” on the A and B sides, respectively, with de Groot‘s lyrics around the nine-minute mark in the latter, “Once you feel the sadness/You become the sadness/When you let it go/It finds another home/Shackles will explode,” leading into a tempo kick of swirl nonetheless plotted in its trajectory before the flow ebbs and the ebb flows, the build builds and they cruise, backing vocals arriving in a call and response on repeated lines until another starburst after 13 minutes in. Speedier solocraft and rhythmic rush ensues, but the last five minutes of Lifted From the Wind‘s longest track, summarized by the lyric, “Once you feel this way, then you surrender,” move into cymbal wash and ethereal noodling around this repeated mantra. Surrendering advised.

A belly breath starts “Harvest Angel” at the outset of side C, and fair enough. “Harvest Angel” bring shorter than “Once” by eight minutes gives it a more straightforward initial impression, but don’t be fooled, there’s a whole infinite of ‘far out’ in/out there to be explored. Languid at the start, and almost a little like ‘Temple Fang does the blues,’ the song transitions to a speedier, jazz-proggier stretch in its second half, everybody singing overtop, and though they give the listener a moment to recover afterward — nothing if not considerate — the intention behind the placement of the centerpiece feels all the more purposeful.

“Harvest Angel” and “The Radiant” are the only two inclusions to share a side, and de Groot‘s guitar-following vocals at the end of the former give the standalone drums at the beginning of the latter clear reign to create a feeling of movement. If you haven’t already stopped reading this and listened to the song — thanks, but don’t feel obligated to make the blah-blah journey — you’ll find it a resoundingly efficient encapsulation of what Lifted From the Wind is doing in terms of not grounding the band’s sound but giving new and solid shape to the skies in which they’ve largely heretofore floated. There’s an engaging hook delivered in harmonized layers, and with “The Radiant,” Temple Fang position themselves among Europe’s finer prog-psych .

Could it be a sign of a transition to a more verse/chorus approach? Hell if I know, and just at this moment it doesn’t matter. “The Radiant” is Temple Fang announcing themselves. They’re ready, and since the circa-2019 inception of the band, Lifted From the Wind is what they’ve been working toward. 15-minute capper “Josephine” gives serenity of guitar, gentle cymbals and vocals up front, moves with patience (and choice backing vocals throughout; not gonna spoil it) into a section of intertwining guitar reachout, purposeful twists and pulls somehow not struggling because the pace is so fluid.

They’re not a third of the way through when a more prominent lead takes over, beginning to shift in a section of all-in Dutch prog. It stops, it turns, and it’s precise instrumentally in a way Temple Fang have not been until this record. Closing the album with a love song is reasonable for an offering that has so much heart at root across the board, and in both the forward emotional expression of the lyrics and the takeoff of the instruments accopanying them, “Josephine” resolves in gorgeousness as it invariably must, piano lines in among the dream of guitar and light-bouncing groove that takes the record into its final fadeout.

Granted, if they were arrogant about it, the whole thing would fall flat, but my only gripe with Lifted From the Wind is how obviously its finished form wasn’t. By implying communion with the otherwordly in the making of the songs — which the sonic aesthetic reinforces; I am a firm believer in the jam-room conversation between instruments as a moment with something beyond oneself — the band skillfully redirects the conversation around the material from the clear work they have done, not only in nailing their performances in the studio, but in undertaking a willful aural growth and progression over the last six years that’s brought them to this moment of triumph. That harmony in “Harvest Angel” and that shuffle in “The Radiant” didn’t happen by accident. These are works of craft, of mastery, and deserve consideration as such, even if the four-piece aren’t going to lay them out that way for you.

With a few weeks still to go before the release, I offer the video for “The Radiant” premiering below, and encourage you to enjoy. Thanks for reading:

Temple Fang, “The Radiant” video premiere

With ‘Lifted From the Wind,’ Temple Fang posit their creativity not only as a communion with each other — a conversation of instruments — but with something more ethereal.

Their psychedelia is one of soul as much as sound, and where plenty of bands out there cast their songs as rituals, Temple Fang convey the joy of true reverence in the name of sonic exploration and, now more than ever, craft.

That’s right, kids. They’re still plenty sprawling, but these are the most refined songs Temple Fang have wrought to-date from their particular corner of the cosmos (somewhere in Amsterdam), digging into repetition for hypnosis and emphasis alike, and remaking various notions of heavy in their image.

‘Lifted From the Wind’ helps give shape to the trajectory Temple Fang have been on from their outset, and feels like a moment of arrival in terms of manifesting a vision of who they want to be. It’s a special, deeply honest record, and whatever Temple Fang do from here on out, a Landmark in the life of this band. You’d be lucky to see others working under its influence. – JJ Koczan, Feb. 2025.

Tracklisting:
1. The River (18:24)
2. Once (21:11)
3. Harvest Angel (12:34)
4. The Radiant (7:26)
5. Josephine (15:00)

Temple Fang are:
Dennis Duijnhouwer: Vox, Bass, Synth
Jevin de Groot: Vox, Guitar, Percussion
Ivy van der Veer: Guitar, Vox
Daan Wopereis: Drums, Vox

Temple Fang, Lifted From the Wind (2025)

Temple Fang on Bandcamp

Temple Fang on Instagram

Temple Fang on Facebook

Stickman Records on Facebook

Stickman Records on Instagram

Stickman Records website

Heads up on one of the best records you’ll hear this year. At least one of the best records I’ll hear. A Spring release suits Lifted From the Wind, which breathes new life into Temple Fang‘s sound and heavy progressive rock more broadly, the Amsterdam-native four-piece developing their craft a new degree of refinement without giving up the expansive feel of their work to-date — that sense of having gone far out one time a long while ago and stayed there to beam back soulful and immersive psych jams.

I was asked to do a bio for the record, and I did ultimately donate a few thoughts to the cause — the band sent me a file with a bunch of my quotes about them; turns out I’ve said some very nice things about Temple Fang since their inception; I stand by all of it — to go along with a piece they wrote in their own words. The bottom line narrative of the album though is that they’ve moved deeper into traditional songwriting without necessarily giving up the longform methodology of their work to this point, and oof, does it ever work.

If I’m lucky, I’ll get to do a premiere or something from Lifted From the Wind before it’s out April 25, but either way keep an eye for a review. This is a band actively pushing themselves to the next level creatively, and it’s not a thing to be missed. Once you hear “Once.”

The following came down the PR wire and includes dates for the band’s Spring tour:

We are proud to announce the release of our new album ‘Lifted from the Wind’ on Stickman Records on April 25th.

Our most ambitious and realized work yet, we can’t wait for y’all to hear it.

Pre-order starts on March 13th. XO TF

With ‘Lifted From the Wind’, Temple Fang posit their creativity not only as a communion with each other — a conversation of instruments — but with something more ethereal. Their psychedelia is one of soul as much as sound, and where plenty of bands out there cast their songs as rituals, Temple Fang convey the joy of true reverence in the name of sonic exploration and, now more than ever, craft.

That’s right, kids. They’re still plenty sprawling, but these are the most refined songs Temple Fang have wrought to-date from their particular corner of the cosmos (somewhere in Amsterdam), digging into repetition for hypnosis and emphasis alike, and remaking various notions of heavy in their image. ‘Lifted From the Wind’ helps give shape to the trajectory Temple Fang have been on from their outset, and feels like a moment of arrival in terms of manifesting a vision of who they want to be. It’s a special, deeply honest record, and whatever Temple Fang do from here on out, a landmark in the life of this band. You’d be lucky to see others working under its influence. — JJ Koczan, Feb. 2025

‘Lifted From the Wind’
01. The River
02. Once
03. Harvest Angel
04. The Radiant
05. Josephine

Produced by Sebastiaan van Bijlevelt

29/03 Terneuzen, NL Terneuzen on Fire
23/04 Køln, DE Sonic Ballroom
24/04 Duisburg, DE Bora
25/05 Münster, DE Rare Guitar
26/04 Jena, DE Kuba
27/04 Dresden, DE Chemiefabrik
28/04 Hamburg, DE Markthalle
30/04 Amsterdam, NL Secret Show w/ Heath
02/05 Eindhoven, NL Effenaar w/ Mojo & the Kitchen Brothers
03/05 Haarlem, NL Slachthuis w/ Heath
05/05 Augsburg, DE Soho Stage
06/05 Salzburg, AT Rockhouse Bar
07/05 Stuttgart, DE Goldmarks
08/05 Winterthur, CH Gaswerk
09/05 Seewen, CH Gaswerk
10/05 Delémont, CH SAS
11/05 Barberaz, FR Brin de Zinc
13/05 Esch-Alzette, LUX Kulturfabrik w/ Elder
14/05 Tourcoing, FR Le Grand Mix w/ Elder
15/05 Rotterdam, NL Baroeg @ Rotown
16/05 Groningen, NL Vera w/Heath
17/05 Nijmegen, NL Sonic Whip
19/05 Frankfurt, DE Das Bett w/ The Devil and The Almighty Blues
20/05 Karlsruhe, DE P8 w/ The Devil and The Almighty Blues
21/05 Bielefeld, DE Forum w/ The Devil and The Almighty Blues
22/05 Leipzig, DE Werk 2 w/ The Devil and The Almighty Blues
23/05 Oldenburg, DE Cadillac Club

Temple Fang:
Dennis Duijnhouwer – Bass, Vox
Jevin de Groot – Guitar, Vox
Ivy van der Veer – Guitar
Daan Wopereis – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/templefangband
https://www.instagram.com/templefang/
https://templefang.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Stickman-Records-1522369868033940/
https://www.instagram.com/stickmanrecords/
https://www.stickman-records.com/

Temple Fang, Live at Krach am Bach (2024)

As just about the whole world sat down and took a break in 2020, Molassess were just getting going. The band’s debut album, Through the Hollow (featured here), marked a return for vocalist Farida Lemouchi of The Devil’s Blood, and alongside members of Iron Jinn/Death Alley, Astrosoniq, Rrrags and others, the band set out on a course that, well, didn’t see them bring that triumphant return to the stage because of the plague and then in the meantime, guitarist Oeds Beydals kind of got it going with Iron Jinn, and I think maybe just what might’ve otherwise become a real band fizzled out. It happens.

Lemouchi will appear with another project, Gott, as part of the lineups for Roadburn in Tilburg this April and, in September, Into the Void in Leeuwarden (info here). I don’t know if that band has other plans or songs or what, but the fest billed it as “the reincarnation of The Devil’s Blood,” and that for sure was enough to raise my eyebrows.

So, even as one band is put to rest, another proceeds out. There’s a cycle to that, but for sure I’m way too dumb to see it.

From Molassess on socials:

Dear friends, supporters, and fellow travelers,

With hearts full of gratitude, we share that the journey of **Molassess** has come to its close. This chapter, though brief, has been a profound one, woven with moments of creativity, resilience, and connection that we will forever cherish.

Fate allowed us only two fleeting moments on stage, and we never had the opportunity to evolve in the way a band does—through the alchemy of live performance and the crucible of the road. Still, the unwavering support, belief, and love you have shown us breathed life into what we created, even as it remained unfinished. For that, we are eternally grateful.

Yet, an ending is not a lament; it is a transformation. It clears the way for something new to emerge, for fresh dreams to take root. This is not a farewell cloaked in sorrow, but a hopeful pause—a reminder that the echoes of what was will always reverberate in the paths ahead.

We will meet again, in one form or another—perhaps onstage, perhaps in the audience, perhaps somewhere unseen but deeply felt. Until then, we carry your support with us, and we send you ours in return.

With love, gratitude, and endless possibility,
**Molassess**

For those that are still in need: all remaining merchandise will be sold in the upcoming sale on www.thedevilsblood.com (not through our own webstore!) starting on the 4th of March!
📷 @ravenvandorst

https://www.facebook.com/Molassessofficial
https://www.instagram.com/molassessofficial/
https://molasses-vanrecords.bandcamp.com/

Molassess, “Through the Hollow”

It’s been almost too easy, this week. Like, I was running a little later yesterday than I had the day before and I’m pretty sure it was only a big deal because — well, I was busy and distracted, to be fair — but mostly because the rest of the week to compare it against has been so gosh darn smooth. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. This is the last day. The music’s awesome. Barring actual disaster, like a car accident between now and then or some such, I’ll finish this one with minimal loss of breath.

Set against the last two Quarterly Reviews, one of which went 10 days, the other one 11, this five-dayer has been mellow and fun. As always, good music helps with that, and as has been the case since Monday, there’s plenty of it here. Not one day has gone by that I didn’t add something from the batch of 50 releases to my year-end list, which, again, barring disaster, should be out next week.

Quarterly Review #41-50:

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Cosmic Fall, Back Where the Fire Flows

After setting a high standard of prolific releases across 2017 and 2018 to much celebration and social media ballyhooing, Berlin jammers Cosmic Fall issued their single “Lackland” (review here) in mid-2019, and Back Where the Fire Flows is their first offering since. The apparently-reinvigorated lineup of the band includes bassist Klaus Friedrich and drummer Daniel Sax alongside new guitarist Leonardo Caprioli, and if there was any concern they might’ve lost the floating resonance that typified their earlier material, 13-minute opener and longest track (immediate points) “Lucid Skies Above Mars” allays it fluidly. The more straightforwardly riffed “Magma Rising” (4:31) and the tense shuffler “Under the Influence of Gravity” (4:38) follow that leadoff, with a blowout and feedback finish for the latter that eases the shift back into spacious-jammy mode for “Chant of the Lizards” (12:26) — perhaps titled in honor of the likeness the central guitar figure carries to The Doors — with “Drive the Kraut” (10:34) closing with the plotted sensibility of Earthless by building to a fervent head and crashing out quick as they might, and one hopes will, on stage. A welcome return and hopefully a preface to more.

Cosmic Fall on Facebook

Cosmic Fall on Bandcamp

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Weather Systems, Ocean Without a Shore

It doesn’t seem inappropriate to think of Weather Systems as a successor to Anathema, which until they broke up in 2020 was multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Daniel Cavanagh‘s main outlet of 30 years’ standing. Teamed here with Anathema drummer/producer Daniel Cardoso and producer Tony Doogan, who helmed Anathema‘s 2017 album, The Optimist (review here), Cavanagh is for sure in conversation with his former outfit. There are nuances like the glitchy synth in “Ocean Without a Shore” or the post-punk urgency in the rush of highlight cut “Ghost in the Machine,” and for those who felt the Anathema story was incomplete, “Are You There? Pt. 2” and “Untouchable Pt. 3” are direct sequels to songs from that band, so the messaging of Weather Systems picking up where Anathema left of is clear, and Cavanagh unsurprisingly sounds at home in such a context. Performing most of the instruments himself and welcoming a few guests on vocals, he leads the project to a place where listening can feel like an act of emotional labor, but with songs that undeniably sooth and offer space for comfort, which is their stated intention. Curious to hear how Weather Systems develops.

Weather Systems on Facebook

Mascot Label Group website

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Legions of Doom, The Skull 3

Assembled by bassist Ron Holzner and his The Skull bandmate, guitarist Lothar Keller, Legions of Doom are something of a doom metal supergroup with Henry Vasquez (Saint Vitus, Blood of the Sun) on drums, Scott Little (Leadfoot) on guitar alongside Keller, and vocalists Scott Reagers (Saint Vitus) and Karl Agell (Leadfoot, Lie Heavy, C.O.C.‘s Blind LP) sharing frontman duties. Perhaps the best compliment one can give The Skull 3 — which sources its material in part from the final The Skull session prior to the death of vocalist Eric Wagner — is that it lives up to the pedigree of those who made it. No great shocker the music is in the style of The Skull since that’s the point. The question is how the band build on songs like “All Good Things” and “Between Darkness and Dawn” and the ripping “Insectiside” (sic), but this initial look proves the concept and is ready and willing to school the listener across its eight tracks on how classic doom got to be that way.

Legions of Doom on Facebook

Tee Pee Records store

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Myriad’s Veil, Pendant

The first offering from Netherlands mellow psych-folk two-piece Myriad’s Veil brims with sweet melody and a subtly expansive atmosphere, bringing together Utrecht singer-songwriter Ismena, who has several albums out as a solo artist, and guitarist Ivy van der Meer, also of Amsterdam cosmic rockers Temple Fang for a collection of eight songs running 44 minutes of patiently-crafted, thoughtfully melodic and graceful performance. Ismena is no stranger to melancholia and the layers of “When the Leaves Start Falling” with the backing line of classical guitar and Mellotron give a neo-Canterbury impression without losing their own expressive edge. Most pieces stand between five and six minutes each, which is enough time for atmospheres to blossom and flourish for a while, and though the arrangements vary, the songs are united around acoustic guitar and voice, and so the underpinning is traditional no matter where Pendant goes. The foundation is a strength rather than a hindrance, and Ismena and van der Meer greet listeners with serenity and a lush but organic character of sound.

Myriad’s Veil on Facebook

Myriad’s Veil on Bandcamp

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Michael Rudolph Cummings, Money

Never short on attitude, “I Only Play 4 Money” — “If you take my picture/Your camera’s smashed/You write me fan mail/I don’t write back,” etc. — leads off Michael Rudolph Cummings‘ latest solo EP, the four-track Money with a fleshed out arrangement not unlike one might’ve found on 2022’s You Know How I Get (review here), released by Ripple Music. From there, the erstwhile Backwoods Payback frontman, Boozewa anti-frontman and grown-up punk/grunge troubadour embarks on the more stripped down, guy-and-guitar strums and contemplations of “Deny the World” and “Easier to Leave,” the latter with more than a hint of Americana, and “Denver,” which returns to the full band, classic-style lead guitar flourish, layered vocals and drums, and perhaps even more crucially, bass. It’s somewhere around 13 minutes of music, all told, but that’s more than enough time for Cummings to showcase mastery in multiple forms of his craft and the engaging nature of what’s gradually becoming his “solo sound.”

Michael Rudolph Cummings on Instagram

Michael Rudolph Cummings on Bandcamp

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Moon Destroys, The Nearness of June

Basking in a heavygaze float with the lead guitar while the markedly-terrestrial riff chugs and echoes out below, Moon Destroy‘s “The Nearness of June” is three and a half minutes long and the first single the Atlanta outfit founded by guitarist Juan Montoya (MonstrO, ex-Torche, etc.) and drummer Evan Diprima (also bass and synth, ex-Royal Thunder) have had since guitarist/vocalist/synthesist Charlie Suárez joined the band. Set across a forward linear build that quickly gets intense behind Suárez‘s chanting intertwining vocal lines, delivered mellow with a low-in-mouth melody, it’s a tension that slams into a slowdown in the second half of the song but holds over into the solo and fadeout march of the second half as well as it builds back up, the three-piece giving a quick glimpse of what a debut full-length might hopefully bring in terms of aural largesse, depth of mix and atmospheric soundscaping. I have no idea when, where or how such a thing would or will arrive, but that album will be a thing to look forward to.

Moon Destroys on Facebook

Moon Destroys on Bandcamp

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Coltaine, Forgotten Ways

Billed as Coltaine‘s debut LP — the history of the band is a bit more complex if I recall — Forgotten Ways is nonetheless a point of arrival for the Karlsruhe, Germany, four-piece. It is genuinely post-metallic in the spirit of being over genre completely, and as Julia Frasch makes the first harsh/clean vocal switch late in opener “Mogila,” with drummer Amin Bouzeghaia, bassist Benedikt Berg and guitarist Moritz Berg building the procession behind the soar, the band use their longest/opening track (immediate points) to establish the world in which the songs that follow take place. The cinematic drone of “Himmelwärts” and echoing goth metal of “Dans un Nouveau Monde” follow, leading the way into the wind-and-vocal minimalism of “Cloud Forest” at the presumed end of side A only to renew the opener’s crush in the side B leadoff title-track. Also the centerpiece of the album, “Cloud Forest” has room to touch on German-language folk before resuming its Obituary-meets-Amenra roll, and does not get less expansive from that initial two minutes or so. As striking as the two longest pieces are, Forgotten Ways is bolstered by the guitar ambience of “Ableben,” which leads into the pair of “Grace” and “Tales of Southern Lands,” both of which move from quieter outsets into explosive heft, each with their own path, the latter in half the time, and the riff-and-thud-then-go 77 seconds of “Aren” caps because why the hell not at that point. With a Jan Oberg mix adding to the breadth, Coltaine‘s declared-first LP brims with scope and progressive purpose. It is among the best debuts I’ve heard in 2024, easily.

Coltaine on Facebook

Lay Bare Recordings website

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Stonebride, Smiles Revolutionary

Zagreb-based veteran heavy rockers Stonebride — the four-piece of vocalist/guitarist Siniša Krneta, bassist/vocalist Matija Ljevar, guitarist Tješimir Mendaš and drummer Stjepan Kolobarić — give a strong argument for maturity of songwriting from the outset of Smiles Revolutionary, their fourth long-player. The ease with which they let the melody carry “In Presence,” knowing that the song doesn’t need to be as heavy as possible at all times since it still has presence, or the way the organ laces into the mix in the instrumental rush that brings the subsequent “Turn Back” to a finish before the early-QOTSA/bangin’-on-stuff crunch of “Closing Distance” tops old desert tones with harmonies worthy of Alice in Chains leading, inexorably, to a massive, lumbering nod of a payoff — they’re not written to be anything other than what they are, and in part because of that they stand testament to the long-standing progression of Stonebride. “Shine Hard” starts with a mosh riff given its due in crash early and late with a less-shove-minded jam between, part noise rock, answered by the progressive start-stop build of “March on the Heart” and closer “Time and Tide,” which dares a little funk in its outreach and leaves off with a nodding crescendo and smooth comedown, having come in and ultimately going out on a swell of vocals. Not particularly long, but substantial.

Stonebride on Facebook

Stonebride on Bandcamp

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Toad Venom, Jag Har Inga Problen Osv…​

Toad Venom will acknowledge their new mini-album, Jag Har Inga Problen Osv…, was mixed and mastered by Kalle Lilja of Welfare Sounds studio and label, but beyond that, the Swedish weirdo joy psych rock transcendentalists offer no clue as to who’s actually involved in the band. By the time they get down to “Dogs!” doing a reverse-POV of The Stooges‘ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” in classic soul style, they’ve already celebrated in the rushing bliss and Beatles-y Mellotron break of opener “Jag har verkligen inga problem (så det måste vara du),” taken “One Day You Will Be Perfect” from manic boogie to sunny Californian psych/folk rock, underscoring its chorus with a riff that could easily otherwise be black metal, dwelled in the organ and keyboard dramaturge amid the rolling “Mon Amour” — the keys win the day in the end and are classy about it afterward, but it’s guitar that ends it — and found a post-punk gothy shuffle for “Time Lapse,” poppish but not without the threat of bite. So yes, half an album, as they state it, but quite a half if you’re going by scope and aesthetic. I don’t know how much of a ‘band’ Toad Venom set out to be, but they’ve hit on a sound that draws from sources as familiar as 1960s psychedelia and manages to create a fresh approach from it. To me, that speaks of their being onto something special in these songs. Can’t help but wonder what’s in store for the second half.

Toad Venom on Facebook

Toad Venom on Bandcamp

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Sacred Buzz, Radio Radiation

Following up on the organ-and-fuzz molten flow of “Radio Radiation” with the more emotive, Rolling Stones-y-until-it-gets-heavy storytelling of “Antihero,” Berlin’s Sacred Buzz carve out their own niche in weighted garage rock, taking in elements of psychedelia without ever pushing entirely over into something shroomy sounding — to wit, the proto-punk tension of quirky delivery of “Revolution” — staying grounded in structure and honoring dirt-coated traditionalism with dynamic performances, “No Wings” coming off sleazy in its groove without actually being sleaze, “Make it Go Wrong” revealing a proggy shimmer that turns careening and twists to a finish led by the keys and guitar, and “Rebel Machine” blowing it out at the end because, yeah, I mean, duh. Radio Radiation is Sacred Buzz‘s first EP (it’s more if you get the bonus track), and it seems to effortlessly buck the expectations of genre without sounding like it’s trying to push those same limits. Maybe attitude and the punk-born casual cool that overrides it all has something to do with that impression — a swagger that’s earned by the time they’re done, to be sure — but the songs are right there to back that up. The short format suits them, and they make it flow like an album. A strong initial showing.

Sacred Buzz on Facebook

Sacred Buzz on Bandcamp

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