Posted in Reviews on October 1st, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Insomniac are barely a minute into opening track “Meditation” — by then the ceremonial chime has been struck, so they’re officially underway — before their debut album, Om Moksha Ritam has revealed the creation of texture as a core facet of its purpose. The Atlanta-based then-five-piece of guitarist/vocalist Mike Morris — who played for a time in Zoroaster and whose death this past July changes the context of this release entirely — vocalist Van Bassman, guitarist Alex Avedissian, bassist Juan Garcia and drummer/vocalist Amos Rifkin present their first full-length through Blues Funeral Recordings as seven songs across a heady, immersive 47 minutes.
They use this time to reveal a nuance of approach that is as much post-metal as it is meditative doom as it is progressive heavy in its construction, bolstered by themes of journeying as given through the geologic features and biomes of (most of) the tracks themselves, as “Meditation” unfurls a density that’s more about the wash resulting from layering elements rather than simple tonal heft. Semi-spoken, whisper-screamed and clean-sung parts are interwoven, and the sense of communion with the ethereal is prominent almost immediately. This is not a straight-ahead party band. It’s a mystical-doom crashing exploration-type band. I guess that’s still kind of a party.
“Meditation” bookends with pointedly proggy album finale “Awakening” to give a sense of the result of all this astral-projection-via-riffs, a kind of enlightenment won through the undertakings of “Mountain,” “Forest,” “Sea,” and so on. There’s a chime in “Mountain” as well, but the song is not misnamed for its largesse, and as its initial chug opens to a crash-punctuated roll, one is reminded some of Forming the Void‘s airier moments, or the likes of Rezn for the fog that seems to rest between the sound and the listener’s ears.
A gallop emerges, which is sort of a hook in itself, but Insomniac aren’t looking to toss out catchy numbers so much as convey depth (or height, in this case), and “Mountain” somewhat ironically to its title carries a sense of movement in its later twists of guitar and grooving push. The vocal arrangement once again displays a thoughtful creativity, and when they hit into the slowdown toward the finish (classic), the affect is as consuming as would seem to have been intended.
The subsequent “Snow and Ice” is the longest inclusion at 9:53, and comes to offer a more direct and — this isn’t the right word, but it’s the closest I’ve got — stark payoff in its ending, but the hypnotic, aughts-era-Mastodon-derived shimmer of guitar that makes up much of the track is the real highlight. Getting there, in other words. “Snow and Ice” soothes early coming off the finish of “Mountain,” and gradually solidifies around a low groove kept by Rifkin, whose fills grow increasingly intense as the build progresses.
The third cut might be the answer to how heavy Insomniac get on this first record, but if it hasn’t been clear from the first sentence above, I’ll say outright that Om Moksha Ritam is about more than just being heavy. A later example of this is the sense of float that persists in the penultimate “Desert,” which is not ungrounded (it has drums, for example) but lets its acoustic/electric resonance answer the lushness of melody in the earlier centerpiece “Forest,” which answers back to much of what “Mountain” and “Snow and Ice” accomplish in terms of build, but is distilled in the doing across an album-shortest 4:23 runtime; toying with efficiency and structure, letting parts dwell when it feels right; all of this is dug-in in a positive sense.
As given to creating a wash as Insomniac are — and this should be considered something different from ‘crushing,’ which in my stoner headcanon is more definitively about tone — it’s easy to get lost in the proceedings as a listener and sort of snap back with the next change. “Forest” sees this become part of the dynamic of the band in a different way, broadening their reach even as it seems to rein in impulses toward longer-form expression. It’s fluid either way, and almost can’t help but be with its echoing vocals and cave-reverb, and so on.
These also become part of the persona of the release, and as “Forest” starts a mini-trilogy of three shorter tracks, with “Sea” and “Desert” behind, each one offers something distinct from the others — “Sea” starts out like drunken-regret QOTSA in a slog, builds suitable waves of distortion before the tide rolls out, while desert is clearer-eyed in its course toward the concluding payoff, with layers of vocals, sitar-esque guitar, and the full brunt of volume brought to a head before it’s done.
It’s unsurprising that “Awakening” should pick up from this moment, since it’s not the first time the band has by then employed finishing big and starting subdued going from one track to the next (see “dynamic,” above), but the closer has a sense of patience in its rollout and brings the vocal melody forward, finding Alice in Chainsy resolution after the three-minute mark en route to a resurgent gallop and a solo-topped onslaught finish. Somewhere in there a chime is hit again and it rings out to cap, which is fair for ending the meditation that began with — wait for it — “Meditation.” Although they don’t lack for impact really anywhere on the record, one of the chief accomplishments of Om Moksha Ritam is aesthetic.
The depth of production/mix become an essential piece of the songs’ character, and define a feeling of reaching into the unknown that’s all the more impressive as it seems to be a willfully honed aspect of their sound. It is somewhat inevitable that the band will be changed from here on. They not only have dealt with the trauma of losing Morris in the time leading up to a release that may well define their trajectory going forward, but on a practical level, even if they find another guitarist/vocalist to take up the role, the dynamic as presented across this material will shift as a simple matter of it involving somebody different. Knowing that, and in consideration of Om Moksha Ritam among the most cohesive and engagingly plotted debuts of the year — while at the same time fostering a mystique on a sheer sonic level — the record feels even more special.
Posted in Features on August 21st, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Former Mastodon guitarist and vocalist William Brent Hinds has passed away at the age of 51 years. Reports have been confirmed that Hinds was in a motorcycle crash overnight and, according to atlantanewsfirst.com, was struck by a motorist in a BMW SUV who didn’t yield.
Hinds’ passing is a shock to a community still reeling from his separation from Mastodon earlier this year. As a founding member of one of his generation’s most crucial metal/heavy progressive bands, Hinds was an essential facet in the development of the project he co-founded 25 years ago with Troy Sanders, Brann Dailor and Bill Kelliher.
Hinds released eight full-lengths as a part of Mastodon, and founded side-projects like West End Motel, Giraffe Tongue Orchestra and Fiend Without a Face to run concurrently. The latter were to tour Europe this November into December, first on a UK and Ireland stint supporting CKY and then headlining thereafter.
Since their inception and since their debut full-length, Remission, landed with an all-hail-the-new-flesh thud in 2002, Mastodon has always been a band of strong personalities. Hinds was no exception. His split with the band in March was headlined by the quote, “I won’t miss being in a shit band with horrible humans,” and there seemed to be no love lost on the other side either.
His death forces a new perspective. Whatever Hinds’ relationship with the rest of Mastodon may have been before last night, the fact is that he was one of four people to have lived the experience of being in that band, and whether any of them liked it or not, that bonded them all together. His passing precludes any chance of reconciliation and would seem to leave what feels a bit like an open wound, or at least a fresh scar, in Mastodon’s collective hide.
On behalf of myself and this site, I offer condolences to Hinds’ family, friends, collaborators and fans. I remember speaking to him a long time ago to write a West End Motel bio, and he was kind and expressive, and on stage, he was either destroy or destroyed, no in-between. The legacy he helped shape stands testament to his artistry, and he will be missed. Rest in peace.
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 8th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
As they reel from the passing of guitarist Mike Morris — pictured second from the right in the photo below; backwards cap, sunglasses, beard — just weeks ago, Atlanta’s Insomniac are pushing forward with the ramp-up to the release of their debut album, Om Moksha Ritam, on Blues Funeral Recordings. The record is out Sept. 5 and “Awakening” finds the band paying homage to Morris in a touching and heartfelt manner at the end. This means the clip must be recent, so no doubt it would have been an emotional shoot for the remaining members of the band — vocalist Van Bassman, guitarist Alex Avedissian, bassist Juan Garcia and drummer/backing vocalist Amos Rifkin — and the realization is accordingly bittersweet.
Note they’ll be out with Kal-El following Om Moksha Ritam‘s Sept. 5 release. The PR wire brings the new video and reminds of doings:
Transcendent post-doom unit INSOMNIAC shares new single off upcoming debut album on Blues Funeral Recordings; fall US tour announced!
Atlanta-based transcendent post-doom architects INSOMNIAC (with members of Zoroaster, Deceased and Avedissian Pickups) present their new single “Awakening”, in memory of their recently departed guitarist and vocalist Mike Morris. Their debut album “Om Moksha Ritam” will be issued on September 5th via Blues Funeral Recordings.
“Om Moksha Ritam” (or “Liberation through merging with the Universal Rhythm”) is a concept album that guides the listener through an aural and spiritual journey across multiple extreme environments, testing their resolve, principles, and commitment to adhering to the path.
“‘Awakening’ is the synthesis of this trip and the climax of both our collective spiritual journey and the record. After enduring and ultimately triumphing over the trials and environments traversed across the seven songs, we find ourselves with the time, space, safety, and gained experience to finally connect, with all our focus and intention, to the universe itself,” says the band.
INSOMNIAC’s resolve has certainly been tested lately. After announcing their album, an upcoming US tour with fellow Blues Funeral Recordings artist Kal-El, and being added to this year’s RippleFest lineup, the band experienced the sudden passing of Mike Morris, guitarist and a founding member of Insomniac.
“Mike was one of a kind – a sweet and generous soul that was always there to spread his good vibes and help lift you up to the higher plane that he existed on. A beach bum at heart – never without a cigarette, Tecate, or guitar in hand. We were so incredibly thrilled to have him as a bandmate and a friend. The mark he made on the music we made together is impossible to quantify. The song, this video, and the record are all dedicated to the memory of Mike Morris.”
As is their way, Insomniac has decided to stick to the path and to continue sharing their music with the world, adding another batch of dates around Ripplefest Texas. “This music was so important to him, and to us, that we knew it was exactly what he would have wanted. The path, we must keep on.”
Upcoming fall shows: 9/16 – Birmingham, AL @ Firehouse 9/17 – Memphis, TN @ The Hi-Tone 9/18 – Dallas, TX @ Armoury DE 9/19 – Austin, TX @ Ripplefest 9/20 – Houston, TX @ 19th Hole 9/21 – Pensacola, FL – The Handlebar* 10/16 – Asheville, NC @ The Odd* 10/17 – Raleigh, NC @ The Pour House* 10/18 – Brooklyn, NY @ TV Eye* 10/19 – Cambridge, MA @ Sonia* 10/21 – Philadelphia, PA @ Milk Boy* 10/22 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery* 10/23 – Youngstown, OH @ Westside Bowl* 10/24 – Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary* 10/25 – Chicago, IL @ Reggies Music Joint* 10/26 – Milwaukee, WI @ X-Ray Arcade* 10/28 – Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck* 10/29 – Tulsa, OK @ The Vanguard* 10/30 – Austin, TX @ The Lost Well* 11/31 – New Orleans, LA @ Holy Diver* 11/1 – Panama City, FL @ Mosey’s* 11/2 – Atlanta, GA @ Boggs Social* * with Kal-El
On their debut record “Om Moksha Ritam”, to be released September 2025 via Blues Funeral Recordings, Insomniac delivers a brooding, heavy, and psychedelic journey, both physical and abstract. The duality of the experience is for you to experience. Every trip is different. Every spin reveals another layer. Here exists something new, unique, and incomparable. A band that made the music they wanted to hear because it needed to exist. What you choose to do with this information is your choice alone – but don’t sleep on it.
INSOMNIAC is Alex Avedissian – Guitar Van Bassman – Vocals Juan Garcia – Bass Mike Morris – Guitar, Vocals Amos Rifkin – Percussion, Vocals
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 6th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Moon Destroys already toured with Elder this year, and they’ll be out with Dozer and The Sword before 2025 is done. Significant time on the road and in some decent slots. And yeah, a pedigree that lets them namedrop Torche and Royal Thunder is nothing to sneeze at, but if you heard their 2025 debut album, She Walks by Moonlight (review here), upon its self-release this Spring, you already know that as a band they’re more than the sum of their collective discography.
Likely the Blues Funeral Recordings issue of She Walks by Moonlight set to release this October will be the ‘official’ edition, and fair enough for that since they’ll apparently spend much of 2026 touring to support it. Europe yet? Another record first, maybe, but you never know. They’d be a smart pickup for some Desertfest or other happening in Europe next Spring. Just thinking out loud.
Kudos to the band, cheers to Jadd on his forever-to-the-ground ear, and thanks for reading. Here’s the announcement from the PR wire:
Atlanta alternative psych unit MOON DESTROYS (w/ ex-Torche and Royal Thunder) sign to Blues Funeral Recordings; US tours with Dozer and The Sword coming!
Atlanta alternative psych rock unit MOON DESTROYS have signed to Blues Funeral Recordings for the reissue of their self-released debut “She Walks By Moonlight” as well as their new album release in 2026. The band is ready to embark on their US West Coast tour this week alongside Dozer and Abrams, and will be touring the East Coast with The Sword this fall.
Formed by guitarist Juan Montoya (ex-Torche) and drummer Evan Diprima (ex-Royal Thunder), Moon Destroys released their first EP ‘Maiden Voyage’ in 2020. The 5-song debut featured contributions from Troy Sanders (Mastodon) and Bryan Richie (The Sword) and laid a foundation that would come fully into focus when vocalist/guitarist Charlie Suárez (MonstrO) and bassist Arnold Nese completed the band in 2024.
April 2025 found Moon Destroys thrust into the limelight, supporting Elder on tour just as they were self-releasing their debut full-length “She Walks By Moonlight” in limited form. Despite hurrying to get the new LP ready in time to take on the road, the album inarguably captured the band’s tremendous evolution beyond the connections to the members’ former outfits.
Gritty and distorted yet hazy and hypnotic, “She Walks By Moonlight” shifts from shimmering post-rock to driving riff-doom and back to shoegazy psychedelia. It’s a cinematic and otherworldly journey from a band who breeze easily into the environs of Floor, Mother Love Bone, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Russian Circles and Ride, ultimately collapsing all efforts at categorization into its effervescent, compulsive swirl.
Blues Funeral Recordings is proud to welcome Moon Destroys to the label just in time for a string of US tour dates supporting Swedish icons Dozer alongside labelmates Abrams. The label will bring forth a proper worldwide release of “She Walks By Moonlight” this October as they will hit the stage for a coveted run of dates with The Sword, followed by their next album release and more touring in 2026.
The band says: “We are extremely excited to join forces with Jadd and the Blues Funeral Recordings team to continue the saga of Moon Destroys. It’s an honor to join a roster with great, like-minded artists to keep pushing the heavy underground forward! We will see you out on the West Coast this month supporting fellow label mates and Swedish legends Dozer. After that, we’ll be out supporting our friends and fellow rippers The Sword this October on the East Coast before heading back into the studio to finish a new album. We are looking forward to working hard for the rest of the year to make for an even busier 2026! It’s full steam ahead now with a great team!“
Summer 2025 supporting Dozer w/ Abrams August 7 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Swan Dive August 8 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room August 9 – San Diego, CA @ Brick By Brick August 10 – Palmdale, CA @ Transplants Brewing August 12 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill August 13 – Eureka, CA @ Savage Henry Comedy Club August 14 – Eugene, OR @ John Henry’s August 15 – Portland, OR @ Dante’s August 16 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw August 17 – Seattle, WA @ Substation
Fall 2025 tour supporting The Sword
October 13 – Boston, MA @ Paradise October 14 – New York City, NY @ The Bowery Ballroom October 15 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground October 17 – Buffalo, NY @ Higher Ground October 18 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls October 19 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer October 22 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theater October 23 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse October 24 – Orlando, FL @ The Beacham October 26 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 6th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
There’s some namedrop-connection to defunct aughts-era psych-sludge hopefuls Zoroaster here, but I’m more curious about Insomniac on their own level, to be honest. Listening to “Mountain,” which is the first single from their upcoming debut album, Om Moksha Ritam, the sound is expansive in the way of modern heavy, a style fostered by Blues Funeral Recordings and a thread connecting many of the bands on the label, and melodic to suit the proggier takeoff as the song moves into its second half.
Those twists of guitar — what are those leading to? What about the galloping groove that takes hold, almost at a wash? The backing vocals? The song’s seven and a half minutes long, so there’s plenty of chance for it to edge up to the line on metal then hit a doomly slowdown that’s both bigger and broader than the shove that brought the band to that point. This is track two (the opener might be an intro; you never know) of seven. I’m ready for more.
And just as a side-note, if you saw the news of Kal-El‘s forthcoming US tour the other day, Insomniac will support for that run. Dates are included below, along with all other info courtesy of the PR wire:
INSOMNIAC: new album + single announced on Blues Funeral Recordings
Atlanta, Georgia’s transcendent post-doom architects INSOMNIAC (with members of Zoroaster, Deceased and Avedissian Pickups) have signed to Blues Funeral Recordings for the release of their debut album “Om Moksha Ritam” on September 5th and reveal entrancing first single “Mountain”. The band also announce an extensive fall tour in support of Scandinavian cosmic doom unit Kal-El on their first official US run.
Insomniac coalesce onto our plane like a third eye opening into the beyond. A bouncing ball on the rhythm of the universe. An aural guide past the edges of perception. The band took form in Atlanta, Georgia, like-minded explorers of sound and mind writing songs in the frequency of the earth. Featuring members of Zoroaster, Deceased, and Avedissian Pickups, the quintet’s transcendent, mind-expanding psychedelic heaviness casts light on the magic and strange beauty balanced between unconsciousness and dreams.
Debut record “Om Moksha Ritam” takes its name from a Buddhist mantra, in which Om is the universal heartbeat, Moksha is freedom, and Ritam is the rhythm of the universe. It’s a brooding and enlightening journey, physical and abstract, towering and transcendent. Insomniac drift between this world and the next, hovering at the periphery of consciousness. REZN, King Buffalo and Dead Meadow are names that arise if trying to fit them into familiar confines, though it’s clear that fitting within confines isn’t really what they do.
“Om Moksha Ritam” is an album which needed to exist, made by a band formed through trust in cosmic harmony. Every trip is different. Every spin reveals another layer. Something new, unique, and incomparable resides here, and Insomniac, calibrated to the rhythm of the universe, release themselves into the ether, spilling back transportingly heavy brilliance in their wake.
Insomniac US tour 2025 with Kal-El: 10/16 Thu – Asheville, NC @ The Odd 10/17 Fri – Raleigh, NC @ The Pour House 10/18 Sat – Brooklyn, NY @ TV Eye 10/19 Sun – Cambridge, MA @ Sonia 10/21 Tue – Philadelphia, PA @ Milk Boy 10/22 Wed – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery 10/23 Thu – Youngstown, OH @ Westside Bowl 10/24 Fri – Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary 10/25 Sat – Chicago, IL @ Reggies Music Joint 10/26 Sun – Milwaukee, WI @ X-Ray Arcade 10/28 Tue – Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck 10/29 Wed – Tulsa, OK @ The Vanguard 10/30 Thu – Austin, TX @ The Lost Well 10/31 Fri – New Orleans, LA @ Holy Diver 11/1 Sat – Panama City, FL @ Mosey’s 11/2 Sun – Atlanta, GA @ Boggs Social
INSOMNIAC is Alex Avedissian – Guitar Van Bassman – Vocals Juan Garcia – Bass Mike Morris – Guitar, Vocals Amos Rifkin – Percussion, Vocals
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 25th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
There’s no audio on their website or Bandcamp — the latter has shirts if you find yourself digging the logo — but I managed to find a snippet of Insomniac music on their Instagram, included in a Reel plugging their tour with Dead Register that ended last week. It’s just a few seconds, teaser of a teaser, but better than nothing. And even from that, I think you can get a sense that space is important in their sound, and that there’s a melody/heft collusion happening in that open-feeling expanse. I’m not gonna tag them with a genre or anything based on eight-to-10 seconds of hearing them, but that post is below, or a link to it is below, or whatever I can’t embed shit anymore the internet is broken if I could abandon ship and jump off the planet I’d already be gone.
Of course, the reason I spent upwards of seven earth minutes actually looking for a thing — in this case an Insomniac song — was because the band’s newly signed to Blues Funeral Recordings and Jadd‘s on a roll for the post-pandemic 2020s. Will be looking forward to hearing this one when the time comes.
From social media, which, sadly, is where these kinds of things are still posted:
We rarely get the chance to sign bands in person, so our founder was immensely grateful to meet and witness the extraordinary INSOMNIAC perform here in the desert last week, and we’re tremendously stoked to welcome them to the label! 🗿🌙🌵
Atlanta’s INSOMNIAC blend mind-expanding psychedelia with cosmic atmospherics and drony post-metal in a way that’s utterly transporting. Featuring members of Zoroaster, Hank III and Deceased, INSOMNIAC will guide you on an aural trip through your mind’s peaks and valleys toward enlightenment. Fans of REZN, Dead Meadow, King Buffalo and Russian Circles, prepare to journey within and ascend toward enlightenment when Blues Funeral presents INSOMNIAC’s debut LP this year! 🤘
Insomniac: Juan Garcia – Bass Guitar Mike Morris – Guitar, Vocals Van Bassman – Vocals Amos Rifkin – Percussion, Vocals Alex Avedissian – Guitar
Posted in Reviews on December 13th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Posted in Reviews on October 18th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
So this is it for the second of two Quarterly Review weeks around here, bringing the total to 100 releases covered since last Monday, with 10 more still to come next Monday.
110 releases, mostly (not all) from about April through November.
That’s insane. More, I’m not in any way prepared to call it or any other Quarterly Review comprehensive. It’s nowhere near everything that’s come out or is coming out. It’s a fraction at best. There’s just so much.
I’m not going to attach a value judgment to that. It’s not good, it’s not bad; it simply is. My processes remain largely unchanged, and whether it’s a net positive that the underground is either sparse and fractured or flooded with bands to such a point that Gen-X reunions underwhelm in the face of so much good, new music being made, I’ll be here regardless. And even if there were a fifth as many bands out there as there are right now, no doubt I still couldn’t keep up.
See you Monday.
Quarterly Review #91-100:
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Elder, Live at BBC Maida Vale Studios
While it’s by no means Elder‘s first captured-live release, as they’ve put out festival sets from Roadburn and Sonic Whip in years past, Live at BBC Maida Vale Studios answers any what’s-all-this-about questions with the sound of the performances themselves. It’s a single LP, somewhere about 40 minutes long, and in Elder terms that translates to three songs — “Merged in Dreams/Ne Plus Ultra” (15:33), “Lore” (13:54) and “Thousand Hands” (9:21) — so by no means is it expansive, or comprehensive in representing this era of Elder‘s presence on stage or scope in songwriting. Why put it out instead of some recorded tour night or a compilation of songs from different shows? Same answer as before: the sound of the performances. For sure Live at BBC Maida Vale Studios is a fan-piece, but it is live, and Elder sound fantastic — and it’s probably a pretty decent memory for the band to celebrate — so you’re not at all going to hear me argue.
Simon Price, now formerly of UK heavy psych forebears The Heads, returns with the first Kandodo outing since 2019’s K3 (review here) and a reoriented focus on intimacy rather than operating in a full-band style. That is to say, the five-track/44-minute release sounds like the solo album it is. That, however, doesn’t stop “Fuzzyoceans” from casting an expanse in its just-under-11 minutes, with a central rhythmic bounce around which layers of synth and guitar conjure a wash of experimentalist flourish. Lo-fi beatmaking starts in “Chamba7,” the opener, and sounds higher budget as “Theendisinpsych Pt. 1” borders on psych techno — “Theendisinpsych Pt. 2” follows immediately and moves from sustained keyboard notes and a sampled David Bowie radio interview to an evocative, shimmering drone; it isn’t arhythmic, but it doens’t have a ‘beat’ per se — and becomes part of the avant garde soundscape (the lightning part) in closer “Freefalling,” which unfolds in stages of variable volume and hum with some howling leads snuck in near the end. It’s a deep dive and at times a challenging listen. So yes, exactly what one would hope.
When High Reeper‘s third LP, Renewed by Death, was announced back in July, it was notable how much the album’s narrative seemed to position them as a metal band rather than heavy/doom rock, which even though 2019’s Higher Reeper (review here) had its harder-hitting moments, is kind of how I’d come to think of them. The eight songs of Renewed by Death aren’t hyper-aggressive — though you wouldn’t call “Torn from Within” ‘chill’ by any means — but they feel sharper in their composition than the last record, and if High Reeper want to say that “Lamentations of the Pale” and “Jaws of Darkness” are their take on doom metal, I’d only emphasize how much that take feels like High Reeper‘s own in being cognizant of the traditional metal and doom aspects of their sound and making them groove as fervently as they do. The Eastern Seaboard is lucky to have them.
A low-key highlight of 2024, the collaboration between Norwegian neofolkers Ævestaden and heavy progressive instrumentalists Kanaan — titled Langt, Langt Vekk and comprising nine songs of varied intent, arrangement and origin — resounds with creative depth. It’s in Norwegian, and plays a lot off of traditional folk instrumentation and vocal styles — not to mention the songs themselves, which are also traditionals — but as the two sides come together even just on a three-minute instrumental piece like “Fiskaren,” there’s an organic forested space rock to be found, and whether it’s the somehow-catchy “Farvel” or “Habbor og Signe,” the cosmic-leaning “Vallåt efter C.G. Färje” or the wistful progeadelia that resolves in “Vardtjenn,” the reverence for the material is palpable, and also the reverence for the process itself, for each of these two entities contributing to something grander than either might be able or inclined to conjure on their own. That the collection worked out to be gorgeous, both worldly and otherworldly, and to cast such a breadth while remaining cohesive in mood is a credit to all involved. It could’ve been an absolute mess. It very much is not.
Slugs are Legal Now contains two live sets from experimental doomers MC MYASNOI, one from Harpa and one from R6013, both venues in the band’s hometown of Reykjavík, Iceland. The setlists are identical at six-per, but the performances are varied in a way that becomes part of the personality of the whole, which is immersive in its droning stretches, sometimes harsher in the noise being made particularly on the rougher R6013 songs, but still able to be heavy in a piece like “Step on Ur Neck” in a way that feels conversant with the likes of Ufomammut or Boris, and neither the moody post-darkjazz of “Nytrogen” nor the drums-and-rumble-do-a-minute-or-two-of-free-psych “lea%rdi%rdx2%rcx” a short time later (watch out for your speakers with that one), do anything to dissuade that impression. “Terror Serpentine” finishes both halves of Slugs are Legal Now with 11 minutes of grim sprawl, and in the culmination, that it’s the keyboard that’s shredding instead of one or the other of the guitars feels suitable to the weirdo nuance MC MYASNOI seem to come by so naturally and pair with a progressive will to grow by screwing with convention. Not going to be for everybody, but those ready to take a risk might find the reward waiting.
Back after two years with further affirmation of their comfort with the EP format, Connecticut two-piece Turkey Vulture run a condensed gamut in the six songs and 12 minutes of On the List, with the duo of vocalist/guitarist/bassist Jessie May and drummer/backing vocalist Jim Clegg giving specifically Misfits-y early punk impressions on “Fiends Like Us,” which “Untitled” takes more of a garage angle on in following before they metal-up for “Dollhouse” and the 48-second grind-punker “Adults Destroy,” which leads to thrashing in “Harvest Moon” offset by doomly swing, and the closing “Jill the Ripper,” going out on a note that toys with goth Americana in the vein of The Bad Seeds and boasts banjo, guitar, percussion and, crucially, accordion from Steve Rodgers in a multifaceted guest spot. The accordion makes it. Turkey Vulture‘s output is generally pretty raw and that’s true with On the List as well, but there’s character in them coinciding with the flow from one aspect of their sound to the next between the songs, and the EP ends up conveying a lot about what works in the band for something that’s 12 minutes long.
Doubly-bassed Brussels longform doom explorers Ghost:Whale certainly don’t get any less consciousness melting on the second disc of Dive:Two, which manifests its plunge across three extended pieces each given the title “Dub:Whale” and assigned a Roman numeral, but by then the five songs of the album’s first 67 minutes (as opposed to the 57 of the concluding trilogy) have already passed in the hypnotic, cosmic-doom push of “Under Pressure” and the synth-laced chug nod in the second half of “Les Danses des Sorcieres” that seems to come to a head in the speedier “Ultimas Palabras.” The shortest inclusion at nine minutes and by its finish spending some time cruising around a Truckfightersian desert, “Ultimas Palabras” gives over to “Godzilla” and “Eye of the Storm,” a kind of second LP within the first CD, led into by the synth of “Godzilla” — not a cover — and arriving at the farthest reach in the electronics-infused expanses of “Eye of the Storm,” for which the drums mostly sit out and the noise spends 21 minutes venturing into the unknown. Ghost:Whale are not fucking around. And obviously the “Dub:Whale” tracks are a divergence in intention, harnessing the power of repetition in a different way, but either it’s a logical extension or my brain has just gone numb from the low-end. Fine in any case, honestly.
Do I really need to tell you these guys are up to some shenanigans? They called the band Sheepfucker and Kraut, for crying out loud. Heavy rock chicanery ensues over eight tracks rife with willful misbehavior, culminating with “Broner” after turning the album’s progression into a kind of playground running between heavy rock, classic and psychedelic instrumentalism, metal and jams. It’s not a little, and I guess a namedrop for Mr. Bungle is somewhat obligatory, but the Bulgarian outfit make themselves welcome in the swath of ground they cover, punkish in their glee on top of everything else in “Bobanei” and the pop-adjacent “Look at Me,” which would seem to have some satire behind its chorus but is a standout hook just the same. They’re not all nonsense, or at least not at the expense of their songwriting in “Rich Man” and “Jolly Roger,” or “Did You Know” mirroring “Look at Me” in the penultimate spot on side B, but if people having fun while making music is a problem for you, I mean, really, you might want to have a good long think on what that’s all about. Yeah, it’s over-the-top. That’s the idea.
In some ways, LungBurner‘s second LP of 2024, Natura Duale, reminds of earliest Yatra in bringing together vicious sludge metal and a breadth of atmosphere, but the Atlanta outfit have more of a post-metallic bent as the solo of “Barren” nonetheless dares to soar, and opener/longest track (immediate points) “Requiem” establishes the first of the album’s nods in a build of standalone guitar in the spirit of YOB, and in combination with a churn that wouldn’t feel out of place on Neurot and a crush in centerpiece “(Prey) Job” that opens to a classic stoner metal swagger in its verse, the righteousness here takes many forms, most of them dark, grueling and heavy — this definitely applies to the Celtic Frosting put on the proceedings by the finale “Astral Projection” — but not without a corresponding reach or purpose. LungBurner are served by the complexity of character, and Natura Duale grows more vivid as it goes.
With their material steeped in fantasy and horror/sci-fi lore, a goodly portion of it being of their own making, Michigan’s Bog Wizard continue to find the thread between tabletop gaming and sometimes monolithic sludge. The bulk of Journey Through the Dying Lands, which is their second release in a row done in collaboration with a game company, is dedicated to opener “I, Mycelium,” which stretches across 19:50 and unfolds in stages that don’t bother to choose between being brutal or fluid, the band winding up coming across as dug-in as one might expect Bog Wizard to be in the endeavor. There are two more studio tracks, in “Dodz Bringare,” which is black metal until it slams into the doom wall, and “Hagfish Dinner,” on which they depart for two minutes of harmonized chant-like vocals over resonant acoustic guitar. They’re not done yet as Ben Lombard (guitar/vocals), bassist Colby Lowman and drummer/vocalist Harlen Linke offer a glimpse at some live-on-stage banter before tearing into the thrasher “Stuck in the Muck” and backing it with another live track, this one a take on “Barbaria” from 2021’s Miasmic Purple Smoke (review here) that by the time it builds to its galloping finish has already long since demanded every bit of volume you can give it.
