Posted in Whathaveyou on September 15th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Heavy heavy heavy heavy heavy. You got another word — or five? — for Headless Kross? Dig into the leadoff track from their new album, Projections I, and see what comes to mind first. The record is the beginning of a trilogy according to the PR wire, and in part to herald its coming, they’ve made their 2015 release, Volumes (discussed here), available as a free download. So that’s nice. If you didn’t hear that record, once you get a handle on “…Does Not Equal Time,” by all means, take that one on. I doubt you’ll regret spending the time and complete lack of money.
Projections I is out Nov. 18 on At War with False Noise. Info follows:
Scottish Doomsters HEADLESS KROSS Announce New Album ‘Projections 1’
Projections 1 first part in a trilogy of albums
Within the realms of extreme music, there are paths few bands dare to tread, masochistic auditory experiences enjoyed by a select few, feared and misunderstood by many. Glasgow’s HEADLESS KROSS are terrifying, dishing out grim music that’s an exercise in primeval tension and paranoia. Their forthcoming offering Projections I is released on November 18th via At War With False Noise.
Ahead of their release the band have debuted their track …Does Not Equal Time for listening. Check it out here: https://headlesskross.bandcamp.com/album/projections-i and have made their 2015 album Volumes available for free (grab it here).
Comments Vocalist/Bassist Derek Sexton: “Projections I is the first in a trilogy of albums whose fractured narrative examines this distorted yet strangely cyclical world we live in through equally distorted yet strangely cyclical psychedelic doom. We recorded it as part of a psychogeographical experiment in which we conducted a series of field recordings in various ritualistic areas of Glasgow and we feel we are embracing an increasingly polarised sound – the riffs are heavier, the monolithic groove is catchier, the freak-outs are space-ier and the fragmented lyrics descend into an infinite regress as time seems to collapse in upon itself.”
Recorded and mixed by the band themselves at guitarist Tommy Duffin’s own 16 Ohm Studio in Glasgow and mastered by James Plotkin (Khanate, Isis, Conan, Palms), the result is a menacing album that embodies avant-garde invention and unstoppable aggressive creativity throughout. Envisaged as the first part of a trilogy, this new record sees HEADLESS KROSS heading toward further extremes – heavy bits are heavier, trance-y bits are tranc-ier, this is a band that has honed its sound to vicious effect. The album’s four songs explore ideas related to projectivism, psychogeography and psychochronography. These growing obsessions were reflected in the very recording process of the album, which included a ritualistic tour of various significant areas of Glasgow to both gather field recordings, and map out an altar of sorts across the city, upon which the album could be created.
Having perfected their grippingly bleak and abrasive sound on stages across the country with bands such as Slomatics, Conan, Bast, Jucifer, Samothrace, Inter Arma, Orange Goblin and Ufomammut to name a few, the new year will see the band touring the length and breadth of the UK in support of their trilogy of releases, with parts 2 and 3 being released within the next 12 months.
Projections I will be released on November 18 via At War With False Noise.
Projections I track listing: 1: …Does Not Equal Time 2: Practical Mental Effects 3: Church of the Fifth Season 4: The Map is Not the Territory
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 3rd, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Neither Glasgow’s Ommadon nor Tokyo‘s Legion of Andromeda is any stranger to sonic extremity. It’s not every band or couple of bands who could out put something called Crumbling Existence and not have it seem silly and/or at very least overly-aspirational. These two, yeah, it kind of makes sense. Ommadon have a new self-titled single-song 41-minute full-length out now (review pending), while Legion of Andromeda made their debut last year with the relentless Iron Scorn (review here), which left common decency in the mirror en route to death-doom’s ultra-brutal next step. Heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy. Excruciatingly so.
Crumbling Existence will be out via At War with False Noise presumably by the end of this month, since that’s when the two bands pair up to tour the UK together. So far as I know, it will be Legion of Andromeda‘s first run abroad, and no doubt the craters they and Ommadon leave behind will be tourist attractions for yours to come.
From the PR wire:
The heavy drone-doom of Ommadon (Scotland) and relentlessly primitive sludge of Legion Of Andromeda (Japan) join forces to demolish the UK in June and July 2016. To commemorate this destructive occasion, At War With False Noise are releasing a tour- exclusive, full-length split CD, ‘Crumbling Existence’ (mastered by James Plotkin) with pummelling new tracks from both bands. This will be heavy. This will be loud.
TrackFist: 1-Ommadon: Fundamentalist Drone (36:49) 2-Legion Of Andromeda: Axis Of Torment (05:07) 3-Legion Of Andromeda: Rectum Scrotum Sputum (07:23) 4-Legion Of Andromeda: Warhead Loaded Penetration (05:57)
Tour dates: Saturday 25th June: TBC ((email ommadonmagic@googlemail.com if you’re able to help out) Sunday 26th June: Plymouth, Underground Monday 27th June: Nottingham, The Chameleon Tuesday 28th June: TBC (email ommadonmagic@googlemail.com if you’re able to help out) Wednesday 29th June: Leeds, Chunk Thursday 30th June: Glasgow, Nice N Sleazy Friday 1st July: Newcastle, Head of Steam Saturday 2nd July: Liverpool, Maguire’s Pizza Bar Sunday 3rd July: Edinburgh, The Banshee Labyrinth Monday 4th July: Oxford, The Wheatsheaf Tuesday 5th July: London, The Unicorn
We’re on the downhill swing of this edition of the Quarterly Review, so it’s time to get into some extremes, I think. Today, between death-doom lurch, drone-as-fuck exploring, gritty aggression and a whole lot more, we pretty much get there. I’m not saying it’s one end of the universe to another, but definitely a little all-over-the-place, which is just what one might need when staring down the fourth round of 10 reviews in a row in a week’s time. Feeling good though, so let’s do it.
Quarterly Review #31-40:
Kamchatka, Long Road Made of Gold
It would really be something if Swedish blues rockers Kamchatka released six albums over the course of the last decade and didn’t know what they were doing by now. Fortunately, that’s not the case with Long Road Made of Gold (Despotz Records), their sixth, as the Verberg three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Thomas Juneor Andersson, bassist Per Wiberg (see also: Spiritual Beggars, Candlemass, Opeth, etc.) and drummer Tobias Strandvik modernize classic heavy rock with equal comfort in including a banjo on “Take Me Back Home” and progressive-style harmonies on “Rain.” They seem to get bluesier as they go, with later cuts “Mirror,” “Slowly Drifting Away,” “Long Road” and “To You” rounding out the album with Clutch-style bounce, but the prevailing impact of Long Road Made of Gold is one of unflinching class, the chemistry of its players – not to mention Wiberg’s bass tone – ringing through loud and clear from the material as Kamchatka make their way down that long road to their inevitable next outing.
I said as much when the Tokyo duo released their 2013 debut EP (review here) as well, but their first long-player Iron Scorn (on At War with False Noise) only confirms it: Legion of Andromeda are fucked. Theirs is a doomed-out death metal given further inhumanity by programmed drums and the blown-out growls of vocalist -R-, while guitarist/programmer –M- holds down grime-encrusted chug and dirge riffing. Perhaps most fucked of all is the fact that Iron Scorn uses essentially the same drum progression across its seven tracks/44 minutes, varying in tempo but holding firm to the double-kick and bell-hit timekeeping for the duration. The effect this has not only ties the material together – as it would have to – but also makes the listener feel like they’ve entered into some no-light-can-escape alternate universe in which all there is is that thud, the distortion and the growls. Not a headphone record, unless you were looking to start psychotherapy anyhow, its extremity is prevalent enough to feel like a physical force holding you down.
Relentlessly creative and geographically amorphous drone warriors Queen Elephantine compile eight tracks from eight years of their perpetual exploration for Omen on Atypeek Music, which launches with its titular cut, the oldest of the bunch, from 2007. It’s a gritty rolling groove that, even as nascent and riff-noddy as it is, still has underpinnings that might clue the listener in to what’s to come (especially in hindsight) and comes accompanied by the sludgy “The Sea Goat,” a rawer take recorded the same year in Hong Kong. Newest on Omen is the blissfully percussed “Morning Three” and an 18-minute live version of “Search for the Deathless State” from 2010’s Kailash full-length. Lineups, intent and breadth of sound vary widely, but even into the reaches of “1,000 Years” (2012, Providence, RI) and “Shamanic Procession” (2009, New York), Queen Elephantine remain unflinching in their experimentalism and the results here are likewise immersive. Vastly underrated, their work remains a world waiting to be explored.
Consuming undulations of tectonic riffing. Two of them, actually. Watchtower’s Radiant Moon EP serves as their debut on Magnetic Eye, and like their fellow-Melbourne-resident labelmates in Horsehunter, the four-piece Watchtower slam heavy-est riffs into the listener’s cerebral cortex with little concern for lasting aftereffects, all in worship of nod and volume itself. Where the two acts differ is in Watchtower’s overarching sense of grit, harsh vocals pervading both “Radiant Moon” (9:03) itself and the accompanying “Living Heads” (7:09), standalone vocalist Nico Guijt growing through the tonal fray wrought by guitarist Robbie Ingram and bassist Ben Robertson, Joel McGann’s drums pushing the emergent roll forward on “Living Heads,” a High on Fire-style startoff hitting the brakes on tempo to plod over any and all in its path. I’m trying to tell you it’s fucking heavy. Is that getting through? Watchtower had a live single out before Radiant Moon, but I’d be eager to hear what they come up with for a full-length, whether they might shift elsewhere at some point or revel in pure onslaught. Now taking bets.
The use of multiple vocalists gives Roman trio Ape Skull’s ‘70s fetishism a particularly proggy air. Fly Camel Fly is their second full-length for Heavy Psych Sounds behind a 2013 self-titled, and the boogie of “My Way” and “Early Morning,” the solo-topped groove of “Fly Camel Fly,” and the raw Hendrixology of “A is for Ape” position it as a classic rocker through and through. Vocalist/drummer Giuliano Padroni, bassist/vocalist Pierpaolo Pastorelli and guitarist/vocalist Fulvio Cartacci get down to shuffling business quick and stay that way for the 39-minute duration, the Mountainous “Heavy Santa Ana Wind” missing only the complement of a sappy, over-the-top ballad to complete its vintage believability. Even without, the triumvirate stand tall, fuzzy and swinging on Fly Camel Fly, the cowbell of “Tree Stomp” calling to mind the earthy chaos of Blue Cheer without direct mimicry. A quick listen that builds and holds its momentum, but one that holds up too on subsequent visits.
Mad-as-hell trio Hordes have had a slew of releases out over the last eight years or so – EPs, splits, full-lengths with extended tracks – but their experimental take on noise rock topped with Godfleshy shouts arrives satisfyingly stripped down on their latest self-titled five-track EP, recorded in 2013 and pressed newly to tape and CD (also digital). “Eyes Dulled Blind” dials back some of the pummeling after the bruises left by “Cold War Echo,” guitarist/vocalist Alex Hudson at the fore in the JK Broadrick tradition. Centerpiece “Summer” starts with a slow and peaceful ruse before shifting into brash and blown-out punk – Chris Martinez’s hi-hat forward in the mix to further the abrasion – and finally settles into a middle-ground between the two (mind you, the song is four minutes long), and bassist Jon Howard opens “Life Crusher,” which unfolds quickly into the most oppressive push here, while a churning atmosphere pervades the more echo-laden closer “Fall” to reinforce Hordes’ experimentalist claims and steady balance between tonal weight and noise-caked aggression.
There’s a theatrical element underlying Welsh rockers Dead Shed Jokers’ second, self-titled full-length (on Pity My Brain Records). That’s not to say its eight songs are in some way insincere, just that the five-piece of vocalist Hywel Davies, guitarists Nicky Bryant and Kristian Evans, bassist Luke Cook and drummer Ashley Jones know there’s a show going on. Davies is in the lead throughout and proves a consummate frontman presence across opener “Dafydd’s Song,” the stomping “Memoirs of Mr. Bryant” and the swinging “Rapture Riddles,” Dead Shed Jokers’ penultimate cut before the cabaret closer “Exit Stage Left (Applause),” but the instrumental backing is up to its own task, and a clear-headed production gives the entire affair a professional sensibility. They veer into and out of heavy rock tropes fluidly, but maintain a tonal fullness wherever they might be headed, and Cook’s bass late in “Made in Vietnam” seems to carry a record’s worth of weight in just its few measures at the forefront before Davies returns for the next round of proclamations.
Berlin’s These Hands Conspire aren’t through the two-minute instrumental “Intro” before they’re showing off the heft of tone that pervades their metallized debut album, Sword of Korhan, but as they demonstrate throughout the following seven tracks and the total 45-minute runtime, there’s plenty to go around. Vocalist Felix delivers an especially noteworthy performance over the dual-guitars of Tom and Stefan, the bass of Paul and Sascha’s drums, but heavy metal storytelling – the sci-fi narrative seems to be a battle in space – is just as much a part of the record’s progressive flow, longer cuts like “Praise to Nova Rider,” “The Beast Cometh,” which directly follows, and “Ambush at Antarox IV” feeding one into the next sonically and thematically. The penultimate title-track brings swinging apex to an ambitious first outing, but the foreboding, winding guitar echoes of “Outro” hint at more of the tale to be told. Could be that Sword of Korhan is just the beginning of a much longer engagement.
Maybe it doesn’t need to be said, since if it weren’t the case, they wouldn’t have paired at all, but Enos and Mangoo pair well. The UK chimp-obsessed space metallers – that’s Enos, on side A – and the Finnish modernized classic heavy rock outfit – that’s Mangoo, on side B – don’t ask much of the listener across their Son of a Gun/The Grey Belly split (on H42 Records) beyond a little over 10 minutes of time and a willingness to follow a groove. “Son of a Gun” finds Enos blending particularly well with Mangoo’s methodology via the inclusion of organ in their swinging but still forward-directed movement, and after that, it’s an easy mesh to flip the platter and find Mangoo’s “The Grey Belly” waiting, its own keys playing a huge role in carrying across the ‘70s-via-‘90s vibe the band projects so well. Flourishes of percussion in the former seem to complement the progressive guitar work in the latter, and whichever side happens to be spinning, it all works out just fine.
Born in 2007 as Spice and the RJ Band and rechristened Band of Spice in 2010 prior to their third album, Feel Like Coming Home, the Swedish unit boasting vocalist Christian “Spice” Sjöstrand (founding vocalist of Spiritual Beggars, also Mushroom River Band, currently also in Kayser) release their fourth full-length half a decade later in the form of Economic Dancers on Scarlet Records. It’s a straightforward heavy rocker in the organ-laced European tradition that Spice helped create, with some shades of quirk in the intro to “The Joe” and the arena-ready backing vocals of “In My Blood,” but mostly cutting its teeth on modernized ‘70s jams like “On the Run,” “Down by the Liquor Store” and “True Will,” though the six-minute centerpiece “You Will Call” touches on more psychedelic fare and is backed immediately by two metallers in “You Can’t Stop” and “Fly Away,” so it’s not by any means one-sided, even if at times the mix makes it feel like the 11 tracks are a showcase for the singer whose name is on the marquee.
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 25th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
I do not know down what horrific avenues Legion of Andromeda‘s first album, Iron Scorn, will take listeners upon its release in Feb. 2015, but I do know that the Tokyo-based death-doom-death-doom — they’re extreme enough to warrant two of each — two-piece served vicious notice with their 2013 self-titled demo (review here), and that their sound is based around unbridled aural punishment. So yeah, I’m expecting Iron Scornwill be pretty heavy.
Two early preview tracks, “Overlord of Thunder” and “Scourge of Pestilence,” providing lumbering, gurgling indication of the same. Check them out below if you dare, along with info on the release that came down the PR wire:
LEGION OF ANDROMEDA to release debut album, recorded with Steve Albini
Today, At War With False Noise and Unholy Anarchy announce February 20th, 2015 as the international release date for Legion of Andromeda’s debut album, Iron Scorn. Conceived, constructed, and assembled in 2012 by the demented minds of -M- (axe/machinery: Japanese) and -R- (vokills: Italian) and lurking within the inhuman megalopolis of Tokyo, Legion of Andromeda is blessed by the will of total war.
Sculpted in reiteration, repetition, and cyclical rotation, Legion of Andromeda’s impenetrable cacophony outbursts the breath of cosmic frost: raw, minimal, brutal; primitive, obtuse, barbaric. Albeit genuinely inspired by such diverse acts as Big Black, Suicide, Godflesh, Ildjarn, Swans, Khanate, VON, and Pan Sonic, among others, the band have crafted a totally original and unique sound.
The duo’s first offering, released in November 2013 and quickly sold out within a few months, was a four-track/32-minute self-titled demo comprising total aural disintegration, and was recorded, mixed, and mastered in August 2013 by Shigenori Kobayashi (Coffins/Sete Star Sept) at Noise Room Studio in Tokyo for maximum audial displeasure.
In July 2014, Legion of Andromeda recorded their first proper full-length with the legendary Steve Albini (Neurosis/High On Fire/Nirvana) at his own Electrical Audio in Chicago. Titled Iron Scorn, the album is colossal, punishing, and devastating in terms of production, dynamics, and sound. Albini’s extraordinary engineering skills and unique genius brought to life a real monster, a huge sonic crusher of devastating proportions. The record, mastered by John Golden (Melvins/Om/Sleep/), will be released on February 20th, 2015 on vinyl format only by At War With False Noise in the EU and Unholy Anarchy in the US. On the artwork side, the insanely talented Tony Roberts (Conan/Electric Wizard/Unearthly Trance) provided visual aggression to the album. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Legion of Andromeda’s Iron Scorn 1. Transuranic Ejaculation (05:43) 2. Cosmo Hammer (06:21) 3. Overlord Of Thunder (06:01) 4. Scourge Of Pestilence (04:04) 5. Sociopathic Infestation (07:30) 6. Aim At The Starless Sky (06:13) 7. Fist Of Hammurabi (07:03)
Live to hate. Cosmo Hammer Master Of The Universe.
Posted in On Wax on August 19th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
The swing and analog garage fuzz of Ragged Barracudas‘ debut 7″ are immediate. Putting on “Living the Dream,” the A-side, is like unearthing a relic. Something you stumbled on from the stage just before punk became punk, when rock was heavy without realizing it, and the drugs were friendly but the vibe still a touch dangerous. They’re a modern trio from Germany, and you’d be right if you called them retro, but Ragged Barracudas sidestep most of the tropes and Sabbath/Graveyard-isms of the modern European throwback movement in favor of an acid rock sound more obscure, and ultimately, more original. Vocals and drums are blown out and the bass and guitar — layered in the first quick solo part — are warmly toned and more or less daring your stereo system to be older, but drummer/vocalist Christian Dräger, guitarist Janik Ruß and bassist Tom Weiten show off something of a jammy sensibility as well, both in the later stretches of “Living the Dream” and deeper into side B’s “Cheap Allure/Motor Jam.”
Pressed in an edition of 600 black-vinyl copies and released through an assortment of labels that includes Unholy Anarchy, Cardinal Fuzz, At War with False Noise, and Who Can You Trust? Records, the 7″ really gets down and dirty on the B-side. Listening to the record — that is, the physical version — I couldn’t even tell where “Cheap Allure” ended and “Motor Jam” started, but it became clear with the stream on Who Can You Trust?‘s Bandcamp. “Cheap Allure” slows down some of the jet-engine stutter in the main riff of “Living the Dream,” but is catchy in a subtler way and, with a stop preceding an instrumental finale, puts its boogie tradeoffs into a different perspective — just because you see the shuffle coming doesn’t mean you don’t still want to get down. Ruß trips out a psychedelic soul-o and Dräger holds back on vocals to dedicate himself more fully to the forward drive, which stomps to a finish before “Motor Jam” announces its arrival proper with dueling layers of ultra-buzzsaw riff fuzz with some sweet low end buried underneath. That part of the B-side is less than two minutes long, but I’d have been fine if Ragged Barracudas had filled the whole side with it. That’s not to take away from “Cheap Allure,” which most definitely lives up to its title, just to say that “Motor Jam” — named for the Netherlands’ Motorwolf Studios in Den Haag, where the single was recorded — gets locked in during its short runtime and sounds like the band could’ve easily carried that vibe further.
They don’t, however, and ultimately, “Living the Dream and “Cheap Allure/Motor Jam” conk out after 11 minutes or so of raw righteousness. Probably best for Ragged Barracudas to keep it short, since the classic spirit they’re going for — and, I’d argue, attain — did likewise, but I’d be interested to hear how they manage over the course of a longer release, even if it’s just a 10″ EP, and if their analog-worship holds up as their methods expand. For now, and for this single, the simpler they go, the better off they are, and in capturing a raw, heavy, proto-punk sound, Dräger, Ruß and Weiten show that there’s room for nuance both in primitivism and in traditional structures. Bonus points for the killer Adam Burke cover art.
Ragged Barracudas, “Living the Dream” b/w “Cheap Allure/Motor Jam” (2014)
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 13th, 2013 by JJ Koczan
As far as I’m concerned, this one gets a twofold fucking a: It exists and you can hear it now. Disgruntled sludgers Bismuth and drone-minded nightmare-conjurers Undersmile have partnered, each with a vinyl side of their own brand of sonic madness. Put some Tony Roberts art on it, press it to tape and LP, and you’re good to go. Tartarus Records has the beast available for preorder and that’s great, but what’s even better is being able to listen to its low end drag before you make your purchase.
This is the first I’m hearing of Bismuth and it’s pretty clear from “Collapse” that I need to go back and check out their 2012 Eternal Marshesdemo. For Undersmile, they follow-up the split with their acoustic alter ego, Coma Wall, with a 23-minute behemoth of a track as tonally huge as it is melodically disturbed. It’s not easy listening, but I dig the challenge.
Preorder link, Tony Roberts artwork and the standard Bandcamp player follow, hot off of the PR wire:
TAR023 Bismuth / Undersmile split
Amp worship meets agonizing doom. Finally a split release between two of UK’s heavyweights in female fronted doom and sludge. Bismuth from Nottingham offer Collapse, a worthy follow-up to the Eternal Marshes demo tape, released last year. More bleak drone landscapes and torturous vocals by Tanya. Undersmile from Witney chose for an atmospheric approach on their side of the split and came up with Titanaboa; a dark, nightmarish beast of a track. Truly their best offering so far. The artwork was made by the amazing Tony Roberts, which fits perfectly with both bands.
FFO: Khanate, Corrupted, Bell Witch, Ensorcelor.
The LP is a co-release between Graanrepubliek Records, Tartarus Records and At War With False Noise
Posted in Buried Treasure on October 18th, 2013 by JJ Koczan
Weymouth, Massachusetts, is about two minutes down the road from me. I could go out to the road, hang a louie, and be there in three traffic lights. Most of the time, this is knowledge that doesn’t really have any bearing on my day one way or another, but when I put on Nightstick‘s unearthed 2012 album, Rock + Roll Weymouth, and it’s hard not to be taken aback by my proximity to such fucked-up sonics. The local trio — four-piece if you count Padoinka the Clown, credited with “improvisational movement, interpretive dance” — released three LPs on Relapse between 1997 and 1999 and then came back last year on At War with False Noise with the twisted reveries of this work, which may or may not have been recorded circa 2000, but was never released at the time. At the beginning of September, they did a run of shows with Fistula, and it had been my intent to catch them in Allston or Providence (which are further away, but still pretty nearby) on that tour. When that didn’t happen owing mostly to job loss on my part and I happened to be in Providence the next week at Armageddon Shop, it seemed like the least I could do to pick up Rock + Roll Weymouthand get to know the band better.
At 43 minutes that runs a gamut from sludge rock to sample-laden guitar wankery, acoustic sweetness to drones to piano-topped bizarro shenanigans and on to the sludge the Melvins might’ve made if they hadn’t been called geniuses for two and a half decades, Rock + Roll Weymouthmakes little attempt to tie together, instead, as the second song title urges, the album lets its “Freak Flag Fly.” Actually, the complete name of that song, which is the longest at a smidgen under 11 minutes, is “(Let Your) Freak Flag Fly (featuring Kenny’s Cancellation Message).” That’s right, a rare double-parenthetical in the title. One might expect all kinds of resounding progressive indulgence as a result, but Nightstick don’t seem to have time for it. “Kenny’s Cancellation Message,” which is legitimately hilarious, is a sample of someone in another band or maybe a promoter more or less kicking Nightstick off a bill because of the potential for violence to erupt at the show from Nightstick‘s crowd and the band being generally unhinged. Probably a fair concern, though neither the pretty acoustic “Lila Claire Blues” — written by guitarist Cotie Cowgill for his daughter — nor the band’s closing cover of “Also Sprach Zarathustra (Theme from 2001)” does much to justify it.
That duty is left up to cuts like the gleefully strange opener, “Nightstick a.) ‘Call Me… Nightstick!’ b.) Outtro c.) Requiem,” which takes lo-fi garage sludge rumble from bassist Alex Smith (also vocals), feedback from Cowgill and punkishly intense drumming from Robert R. Williams (also formerly of Siege) and devolves initial push first into solo-topped chaos, then sample-infused plod, Smith‘s bass coming even more to the front while periodic bursts of gunfire and sirens gradually take over. Together with the following “(Let Your) Freak Flag Fly (Featuring Kenny’s Cancellation Message),” the first two cuts of Rock + Roll Weymouthcomprise nearly half of the runtime, but if you’re looking to make sense of the proceedings in a traditional fashion, you’re doing it wrong. Weird out. In the context of Nightstick‘s three prior outings, the subtitled tracks, unexpected covers (in the past they’ve done Funkadelic and Discharge, both of whose influence is also audible on the 2012 album) and the Star Wars homage, “Ode to Lord Vader a.) ‘The Circle is Now Complete’ b.) ‘Now… I am the Master'” are about in line with where Nightstick left off on 1999’s Death to Music; operating on a plane all their own.
I was bummed out to miss those gigs when I had the chance to see them, and I’m bummed out more now that I’ve had some time to spend with Rock + Roll Weymouth, but hopefully my path and Nightstick‘s will cross at some point soon. Probably at the grocery store, they’re so damn close, but maybe at a show too. In the meantime, continuing to decipher the aural hieroglyphs of the record seems like a worthy pursuit.
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 30th, 2013 by JJ Koczan
If you see a trail of slime across the Northeastern portion of the United States at the end of next week — I’ve no doubt it will be visible from space — don’t sweat it, it’s just Fistula and Nightstick touring. The two bands will start out at O’Brien’s in Allston, Massachustts, on Labor Day and wind up in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, leaving I’m sure a slew of blown eardrums and feedback echo behind when they’re done. If it clues you in any further, they’re calling it “Rock ‘n’ Roll Vermin.”
Fistula will make the trip out from Ohio to support a slew of splits and EPs released over the last couple years, while Nightstick will be out behind their 2012 At War with False Noise full-length, Rock ‘n’ Roll Weymouth, named in honor of their hometown of Weymouth, MA, which I’m pretty sure is the next town over from me. If that makes it seem like I don’t know for sure whether or not it is, then please rest assured, I don’t.
Here’s the news off the PR wire:
FISTULA: Cleveland Sludge Kingpins To Kick Off Shows With Nightstick Next Week
Long-running Cleveland ministers of sludge, FISTULA, are preparing to spread their aural disease along the East Coast with a short stretch of live assaults. Scheduled to commence on Monday September 2, the Rock ‘N’ Roll Vermin Tour 2013 will filthify its way through Allston, Providence, Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Allentown. FISTULA will be joined by their diseased brethren, Nightstick. Hearing will be damaged. Feelings will be hurt.
FISTULA – Rock ‘N’ Roll Vermin Tour 2013
w/ Nightstick 9/02/2013 Obrien’s – Allston, MA 9/04/2013 Dusk – Providence, RI 9/05/2013 Acheron – Brooklyn, NY 9/06/2013 The Mill Creek Tavern – Philadelphia, PA 9/07/2013 Sportsman’s Café – Allentown PA
In other FISTULA activities, the band has a host of resinated new offerings on the rise including the brand new Vermin Prolificus LP set to detonate via To Live A Lie early next year. FISTULA will be crash-test driving the tunes “Smoke Cat Hair and Toe Nails,” “Pig Funeral” and “Goat Brothel” throughout next week’s live takeover. Additionally, FISTULA will appear on a split cassette with Radiation Sickness to be unleashed through Die Song this October as well as a split 12″ with Ravens Creed through Doomentia in 2014. Finally, the band will be featured on the forthcoming release from XXX-rated funk legend Blowfly. Dubbed Black in the Sack, the eight track offering marks Blowfly’s first studio album in seven years and includes a curious collaboration with team FISTULA, Dave Szulkin (Blood Farmers) and Tesco Vee (The Meatmen) on the track “Dick Stabbath.” Black in the Sack will see release via PATAC Records this Fall.
