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Fuzz Forward Post “She Comes” Visualizer; New Album in 2023

Posted in Bootleg Theater on August 11th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

fuzz forward

Barcelona-based heavy rockers Fuzz Forward posted the single ‘She Comes’ on Aug. 5 and have a needle-on-record (plus some other psychedelic whathaveyou) visualizer to accompany. As to what record is playing, I’m not entirely sure. The mid-paced, mostly mellow ’90s groover — prevailing vibes of Soundgarden, Alice in Chains — has not yet seen a physical pressing that I know of. It follows May’s “Shout to Forget” as a herald of the Spanish four-piece’s sophomore full-length, which is due to release in 2023 with the not insignificant backing of Spinda Records, Red Sun Records, Discos Macarras and Diablero Music Records, but I haven’t heard of that record being pressed yet if it has been — I could be entirely wrong here, of course — but one can hardly call the visual inaccurate since when you put on a record and listen to it, that’s what it looks like. Fair enough.

The song is, of course, the focal point here rather than the video itself, and with Juan‘s coolly crooned lines and the steady instrumental fluidity behind him — live sounding but not overwrought or trying too hard, laid back in the way it wants to be — “She Comes” is about mood and structure alike. Its chorus wants a sing-along, but there’s breadth enough that as it moves through its ultra-grunge midsection into the more spaced-out reaches that follow, the shift is smooth enough to hardly notice it’s happening. This speaks to the intentionality of Fuzz Forward after their 2018 first album, Out of Nowhere (review here), and 2020’s acoustic Revolve EP, the band pushing themselves forward, expanding their sound and progressing as, ideally, they would. In this way, it’s mission-accomplished for the single in building anticipation for the new album — let alone the visual tease for such a thing — when it might surface in the coming New Year.

I asked for a quote about the song, and Fuzz Forward‘s Juan and drummer Marc Rockenberg — the band is completed by guitarist Caio Pastore and bassist Alexander Romero — were kind enough to give background insight on “She Comes” as well as an update on when the next LP, whatever it’s called when it’s actually ready to be pressed, will surface.

Please enjoy:

Fuzz Forward, “She Comes” official visualizer

Marc: “I came up with the idea for the song about four years ago. Wanted to go to some yet unexplored territory for the band with it. Do something different and completely new for us but that at the same time didn’t sound like a total departure from what FF is and sounds like. A song with some of Fuzz Forward’s key elements (like the ’90s influence and riffing) but with a different vibe, atmospheric but not in the spacey sense but more emotionally. I believe we achieved that and I’m very proud with the final result of She Comes.”

About the lyrics Juan says, “SHE COMES talks about inspiration, genius, daemons or the muses, you name it, and tries to describe those moments when music intoxicates our ideas, senses and limbs.”

Marc: “We recorded She Comes and Shout To Forget in two days, with Dani Salat as a producer in his studio. We had been playing these two songs live for quite some time so it was pretty easy and fast. For She Comes we decided to use synthesizers for the first time and that was to intensify the atmospheric part. We then added some layers of noisy guitars and that’s it.”

Marc: “The rest of the album will be recorded and mixed next October and we hope it will be released before the summer of 2023 with Spinda Records, Discos Macarras, Diablero Music Records and Red Sun Records.”

Marc: “We have written a lot of material since our debut album came out in 2018, we have around 30 new songs. We are now in the process of selecting the 10 songs that will make it to the album. We don’t want to do “Out Of Nowhere” part two. We have made a big effort to write the best songs we possibly can and also for them to be different from each other. Our goal is to create a very dynamic album which shows the different sides FF’s has. We don’t want to be stuck with a label, that’s one of the reasons why in 2020 we didn’t hesitate to release an all acoustic ep ‘Revolve’. Some people didn’t expect that and that’s fine. We just want to write songs that we are happy with and we are not afraid to go to wherever they take us to.”

Produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Dani Salat at Dani Salat Studio (Sabadell, Spain) in 2022.

(C) 2022, Fuzz Forward (P) 2022, Spinda Records, Red Sun Records, Discos Macarras & Diablero Music Records

Fuzz Forward:
Juan – Vocals
Alexander Romero – Bass
Marc Rockenberg – Drums
Caio Pastore – Guitar

Fuzz Forward, “Shout to Forget”

Fuzz Forward on Facebook

Fuzz Forward on Twitter

Fuzz Forward on Instagram

Fuzz Forward on Bandcamp

Spinda Records on Facebook

Spinda Records on Instagram

Spinda Records on Bandcamp

Spinda Records website

Red Sun Records website

Red Sun Records on Facebook

Red Sun Records on Twitter

Discos Macarras on Facebook

Discos Macarras on Instagram

Discos Macarras on Bandcamp

Discos Macarras website

Diablero Music Records on Facebook

Diablero Music Records on Instagram

Diablero Music Records on YouTube

Diablero Music Records website

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Friday Full-Length: Magick Brother & Mystic Sister, Magick Brother & Mystic Sister

Posted in Bootleg Theater on May 6th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Drawing on decades of progressive rock history, Barcelona’s Magick Brother & Mystic Sister released their self-titled debut full-length in June 2020 through Sound Effect Records and The John Colby Sect. Appropriate for posterity less than the moment of its arrival, perhaps, the record begins with “Utopia,” which works with deceptive efficiency for being so outwardly mellow in order to establish the patterns that much of what follows will inhabit and flesh out.

To wit, the casual swing of the rhythm from drummer/sometimes-vocalist Marc Tena and bassist/guitarist Xavier Sandoval, the jazzy and funk aspects brought to the proceedings from Maya Fernández on flute, and the cosmic undertow of Eva Muntada‘s synth, accompanied by her own non-lyric vocals, a kind of soothing “ahh” over the readily flowing movement. All throughout the 10-song/43-minute excursion, the band toys with these pieces one way or the other.

Muntada moves to keyboard here, Mellotron or organ there, piano somewhere along the line. Rhythms grow more or less insistent. Volume comes and goes, as does guitar and either or both of Muntada and Tena‘s voices, resulting in a rich and encompassing otherworldly, semi-psychedelic pastoralia. Dream-prog.

It is a sound full of nuance and detail that nonetheless ably carries the listener across its span, each piece of the entirety offering something of its own — the percussion in and sustained organ sweep of “Waterforms,” the watery post-Floydian turn of  the brief “The First Light,” the flute and bounce of “Yogi Tea” that serves as one of the album’s many reminders of classic prog’s affinity for funk, and so on — but not straying so far as to be disconnected from the whole.

Self-produced with mixing by Tena (who also mastered) and Sandoval, the precision and care with which Magick Brother & Mystic Sister craft and inhabit this world makes it all the more inviting to the audience. They’re not pushing you anywhere, but neither are they leaving you behind. It really is a matter of being invited along with them on this path, complex but organic like walking under a canopy of thoughtfully tangled tree branches and never getting all the way lost.

Their attention to detail and balancing of the mix is essential to the vibe, and in turn, the vibe is essential to the broader listening experience. Clever inclusions like the acoustic strum and cymbal washes in “Waterforms” and the pianoMagick Brother & Mystic Sister self titled and flute interplay in the quiet stretch of “Arroyo del búho” soon met by the creeping bassline, the folkish melodies topping “Echoes From the Clouds” even as the beneath them grows punchier in the track’s subtle volume build, or the Mellotron in “Movement 2” — which like “Waterforms” was released as a standalone single prior to the album — enhance the songs but are neither overwrought nor extraneous feeling.

This at times feels miraculous, considering how much is going on at any given moment, particularly as the hand percussion behind “Movement 2” comes through as so restless and the mellow drifter roll of the subsequent “Love Scene” daydreams into the funkier, penultimate “Instructions for Judgment Visions,” which is instrumental save for its singing flute and midpoint sample, which transitions into a spacious and droning bridge on the way to a jazzy culmination.

But this too is set up through the welcome provided by “Utopia” as voices, flute, guitar, bass, drums and synth combine, swell, recede and lay forth the general dynamic with which Magick Brother & Mystic Sister unfurls. There’s even room for a bit of showy classic guitar soloing. And by the time closer “Les Vampires” — also the longest inclusion at 6:40 — takes the funk of “Instructions for Judgment Visions” not necessarily to the place of’70s horror the title might lead one to believe, but to an open-feeling, breathy la-la-la jam and some Magma-style turns here and there before dropping out to begin its middle movement of Mellotron and flute exploration before again going to ground and letting the rim-click drums and voices carry through the final wash and last fadeout.

It’s as though the band couldn’t decide which part of a song they wanted to finish with, decided to go with all three, and because of the work they’d done over the nine tracks prior to establish a sound able to bend and shape into whatever they want it to express at any given moment, they made it work.

If you’ve got your watch out and you’re waiting for me to tell you how extra-admirable doing such a thing is for a debut full-length, I assure you that particular train is running on time. I’ll confess I don’t know the personal creative histories of the players involved here, but as they come together around these songs, there seems to be a definite ideal for which they are striving, and while their style inherently lends itself to growth — it’s not called progressive rock ironically; it progresses — I have a hard time imagining an ideal conceived that this record doesn’t meet on its own terms.

And the terms are very much its own. One can hear in the melodies and the sundry rhythms throughout lights and shades drawn from the aforementioned Pink Floyd as well as King CrimsonThe Beatles, Iberian folk, British folk, funk (have I mentioned funk? don’t you think it’s interesting that prog has always secretly wanted to dance?), and on and on, but what all of that coming together as it does in this material means is that Magick Brother & Mystic Sister take full advantage of the opportunity their first album represents in telling their listeners who they want to be.

Magick Brother & Mystic Sister, the actual record, puts its rather significant aural ambitions front and center throughout its amorphous movement, and no matter how much it may seem to meander — and sometimes maybe actually do so — it is always guided by careful and attentive hands. It is music made with care. I would only hope that whatever the band do to follow, and whenever they might do it, that that central ethic is maintained. With that, they make it sound like the rest will just magically fall into place.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

Up and down week. I guess most are. Ups: on Wednesday, The Patient Mrs. and I went to see Everything Everywhere All at Once in the theater, which was incredible. As movies go, that’s precisely my kind of absurd genius. And also it wasn’t “dark and gritty” like fucking everything these days, despite featuring a rampage’s worth of violence. I loved it and heartily recommend it. Also up, yesterday was the premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and the season finale of Star Trek: Picard both, and while I’m not all the way thrilled with the way the latter wrapped in terms of some of the characters — I was hoping they’d give Rios a spinoff with Seven, Jurati, Raffi and Elnor — it was at least a satisfying conclusion to the story of the season. Also I streamed the Wo Fat record and the Kungens Män record and got to review Steak and Tau and the Drones of Praise, wrote and posted that Sasquatch album release news, AND time posting my Ufomammut interview to the release date as if to pretend somehow I actually know what I’m doing after 13-plus years of this site. I know. Doesn’t happen often.

Downs: Mostly kid-related, honestly. Dude and I had a bumpy week, right up to this morning getting him dressed for school. He’s been in OT for like two and a half years and the only reason I might not get bit on any given day is because I walk on fucking eggshells and/or give him whatever he wants. And he still tells me I’m terrible and he doesn’t love me pretty much every day, just because he can. And he can. We don’t punish, I actively try to stop myself from raising my voice. I just don’t know why putting on a pair of fucking socks needs to be so hard. I don’t know why I need to feel emotions about it. I don’t know why I need to be kicked. It fucking sucks. Yesterday morning? Sucked. Waiting for the bus? Sucks. This week is teacher appreciation week. Fucking hell. Don’t get me wrong — nobody — nobody — nobody — works harder than teachers and nobody — nobody — nobody — deserves to be billionaires more, but man, I felt like I could’ve used a little of that energy this week too and what I mostly got instead was pain in the ass. We went to Wal-Mart on Wednesday. What a wreck. Pulling shit off the shelves, trying to climb out of the cart. He’s like a fucking steamroller. Unstoppable.

And I feel all that shit. The Patient Mrs. brushes it off, looks at me like I’m an asshole. I can’t. When I have to ask a question five fucking times to get an answer, it’s maddening. So yeah, rough.

Fortunately I had the serene flute-laden prog of Magick Brother & Mystic Sister to clear my head over the last few days and fill it with luscious melody and classic bounce. The Patient Mrs. told me before she wasn’t digging the flute. She doesn’t like psychedelic sax either. Can’t win ’em all. Or sometimes really any.

Next week is Desertfest New York. All along I’ve been thinking it’s the week after, just like all along I’ve been thinking Freak Valley and Maryland Doom Fest are the same week in June when apparently they’re not. Whatever. I’m gonna go see bands. Hopefully hug humans. Take pictures. Write reviews. I will have a fair amount to say about the experience, I think, but I’ll try to keep focused on the thing itself.

Which is to say I’ve already begun the writing in my head.

Today’s Bandcamp Friday. The Obelisk Collective on Facebook has a killer thread once again with recommendations. Go forth and do the thing if you’re up for it.

That is to say, you’re not morally obligated. Sometimes cash is hard to come by, sometimes nothing hits you right. That’s okay too.

No Gimme show this week. Next week will be a special for DFNYC, so keep an eye out. Also next week I’ve got a full stream and review of the Ecstatic Vision going up on Tuesday and a bunch of other cool stuff that I don’t want to jinx by plugging.

Until then, great and safe weekend. Watch your head, hydrate, all that stuff. Back on Monday.

FRM.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

The Obelisk merch

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Cachemira to Release New Album on Heavy Psych Sounds

Posted in Whathaveyou on April 25th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Pretty sure my timing on this one is terrible. You see the part down below where it says the presale and first track premiere are April 27? Well that’s what, two days from now? Yeah, I should probably just wait until there’s any details about the new Cachemira album — their first since 2017’s Jungla (review here), which was also on Heavy Psych Sounds — to post about it. But here we are, and at least this way I’m not biting off someone else’s premiere. The yet-untitled (give it a couple days) full-length will be the first since the band, who broke up following that debut LP, reunited during the pandemic era (that’s over, right?) with a revamped one-third of the power trio, bassist/vocalist Claudia González Diaz joining drummer Alejandro Carmona Blanco and Gastón Lainé in the new Mk. II lineup.

If I’m lucky, I’ll have more on this ahead of the release. If not, I’ll do my best anyway. I’m only one person, and barely that.

From the PR wire:

Cachemira

Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking is really proud to present a new band signing

*** CACHEMIRA ***

Heavy psych blues rock from Catalonia – Spain

We are so stoked to announce that the heavy psych blues rock band CACHEMIRA has signed a worldwide deal with Heavy Psych Sounds for their new album !!!

PRESALE + first track premiere: APRIL 27th

SAYS THE BAND:

“We’re super excited and proud to be part of Heavy Psych Sounds family and for everything that is to come from the new record!”

BIOGRAPHY

Cachemira was born in Barcelona after many nights of jams during summer of 2015, originally composed of Alejandro Carmona on Drums & Gaston Lainé on Guitar, later joined by Pol Ventura on Bass, releasing their first title ‘’Jungla’’ 2 years later, they played across Europe before they split up in summer 2018.

When Covid hit the band got back together with Claudia González on Bass and Vocals giving a new powerful voice and sound to the band.

Cachemira is a heavy psych trio influenced by the heavy 60’s and 70’s music from all across the world.

CACHEMIRA is:
Claudia González Diaz – Bass & Vocals
Gastón Lainé – Guitar & Backing Vocals
Alejandro Carmona Blanco – Drums & Percussion

https://www.facebook.com/cachemiraband/
https://www.instagram.com/cachemiraband/
https://cachemira.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS
https://www.instagram.com/heavypsychsounds_records/
http://www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com

Cachemira, Jungla (2017)

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Saturna & Electric Monolith Premiere Turned to Stone Ch. 4 Split in Full

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on April 14th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Saturna Electric Monolith Turned to Stone Ch 4

Tomorrow, April 15, marks the release of the latest installment of Ripple Music‘s split LP series, Turned to Stone. Bringing together two acts out of Barcelona’s underground in Saturna and Electric Monolith, Turned to Stone Ch. 4: Higher Selves, boasts four new tracks from the former and five from the latter, and though one doesn’t necessarily know it yet the first time pressing (clicking, tapping, etc.) play on Saturna‘s “Keep Me Trying,” which opens the proceedings with riffing born of Kyuss and Goatsnake as delivered through fuzz-boogie post-Sabbath-blues tonality, the two bands are more than suitable company for each other, Electric Monolith answering back later with the psychedelic hints at the outset of “By My Side” before they start the Uncle Acid shuffle and dig into a verse that reinvents Led Zeppelin‘s “Dazed & Confused” lumber as a vocal melody and go on to present their own vision of then-meets-now heavy in complement to Saturna earlier. I don’t know if these two bands hang out or what, but if not, they should probably be friends in real life.

The exceptional ease of the transition between one band and the other — and no, that does not mean they sound the same, because they don’t — makes Turned to Stone Ch. 4: Higher Selves a surprisingly smooth listen front-to-back, and while the strikingsaturna cover art might catch the eye, it’s the hints toward Sabbath Bloody Sabbath in “Keep Me Trying” that lock the brain in place. Saturna‘s guitars are thick but not ridiculously so, and neither they nor Electric Monolith are aiming for largesse of sound as much as dynamic and the ability to physically move, a live energy captured on tape for parts active or mellow. “Following the Sun” offers pastoral vibes via electric and acoustic guitar and a melody that vaguely calls out to Blind Melon while foreshadowing the Zeppelinism to come on side B, and “Drowning” makes full use of the deceptive amount of space in the mix for start-stop riffing that is effective both loud and quiet before a highlight climbing solo and a swinging finish. “Don’t Run” rounds out Saturna‘s half of the LP and is a little more theatrical with the organ and piano behind the vocals, almost leaving one to expect a choral backing, but the lead tone later is dead on ’70s and the vocal melodies that cap are sincere and memorable. That track is somewhat buried in the transition, but would well earn a place either on Saturna‘s next full-length or its own 7″. A band doesn’t write a song like that every day.

A quick hum of fading in guitar noise, a drum fill, and Electric Monolith are on their way into “By My Side” with an immediate deftness of rhythm that serves them well throughout their five inclusions. Someone needs to mention Hendrix here, so it might as well be me, but “By My Side”‘s wah heroics give over to the much-more-EddieHazel “I Hope You Feel Better,” which is a sub-two-minute interlude offering with percussive backing and drifting into the boogie at the outset of “Hold Me Again.” If you have a quota for catchy, “Hold Me Again” will see it met, but in its sharp 2:55 electric monolithexecution there’s still room for a bit of prog-rock chase in the middle, which is bookended after by more repetitions of the title lyric and the groove that’s been so reliably locked in all the while. It comes all the way to a close before the drift of “So Lonely Drying” and backing hand drums, watery vocals and soft-noodle guitar does for “Planet Caravan” what “I Hope You Feel Better” did for “Maggot Brain” — namely incorporating it into Electric Monolith‘s own context of songwriting and performance as they make it their own. There’s a 10-seconds-or-so stretch of quiet before “Nightmares” kicks in to put the final stamp on the split and strut out Iommic blues with appropriate showiness as the vocals match the guitar line. The longest track from either band at 6:49, “Nightmares” summarizes Electric Monolith‘s portion well, with a fleet sense of movement and by ending not with a huge crescendo, but a classy kind of drifting out.

In that finish, Electric Monolith tie their half of Turned to Stone Ch. 4: Higher Selves together with a fluidity and a sense of bigger-thinking that mirrors Saturna before them. Neither band here is just throwing tracks on tape to see what sticks. There’s a clear intention to establish a flow such that each side is like a mini-album that ultimately complements the entirety of the release taken together. You’re not going to hear a ton of hype about this one, most likely. For those who’ve followed Ripple‘s splits since the days of The Second Coming of Heavy, that they’d offer a product with such a sense of curation behind it — credit apparently to John Gist of Vegas Rock Revolution — shouldn’t be a surprise, but it is a stirring reminder that these releases aren’t to be taken for granted just because there’s a back catalog of them at this point, and that while the title of the split might be cumbersome, the actual barriers to entry are minimal if not nil and the passion behind the work these two bands from Barcelona are doing more than justifies the showcase.

Speaking of, the entirety of Turned to Stone Ch. 4: Higher Selves can be streamed here on the player below.

Please enjoy:

SATURNA / ELECTRIC MONOLITH
‘Turned To Stone Chapter 4: Higher Selves’
Out April 15th on Ripple Music

PREORDER: https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/turned-to-stone-chapter-4-higher-selves

TRACKLIST:
Side A – Saturna
1. Keep Me Trying
2. Following The Sun
3. Drowning
4. Don’t Run
Side B – Electric Monolith
5. By My Side
6. I Hope You Feel Better
7. Hold Me Again
8. So Lonely Drying
9. Nightmares

Saturna on Facebook

Saturna on Instagram

Saturna on Bandcamp

Electric Monolith on Facebook

Electric Monolith on Instagram

Electric Monolith on Bandcamp

Ripple Music on Facebook

Ripple Music on Instagram

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

Ripple Music website

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Saturna & Electric Monolith Team for Turned to Stone Chapter 4 Split

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 24th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Pairing up two cool bands from Barcelona on a split makes sense, and glad to see Ripple Music continuing the Turned to Stone thread. That’s all well and good. But damn, get a load of the art for Turned to Stone Chapter 4, which is subtitled Higher Selves and out April 15. Unless I missed it — certainly possible — I don’t see the name of the artist behind the work, but goodness gracious, it’s awesome. Of the genre in terms of theme, but the way it’s shaped out like a movie poster with the lines drawing it to the orange background — to say it’s working for me would be an understatement. I’d both see this film and put the poster on my wall, freaking out my kid forever.

I imagine it’s hard deciding on a first single from a split. Difficult enough with one band on a release, let alone two, but Saturna‘s “Drowning,” which calls out a classic Colour Haze progression in its pattern (think “Fire” for a direct comparison point), brings engaging and warm heavy psychedelic vibing that, if Electric Monolith are gonna come along and turn it to stone, that’ll be just fine from one side to the next. Note as well that Saturna recently took part in Spinda Records‘ Grados. Minutos. Segundos. split series (discussed here), and recently took on Soundgarden‘s “Outshined,” which is a braver move than you’ll ever see me make, ever, ever, ever.

Here’s that art and the tale to be told from the PR wire:

Saturna Electric Monolith Turned to Stone Ch 4

SATURNA and ELECTRIC MONOLITH team up for ‘Turned To Stone Chapter 4’ split album on Ripple Music; first track and preorder available!

The fourth chapter of Ripple Music’s acclaimed ‘Turned to Stone’ split 12″ series features Saturna and Electric Monolith. The ‘Turned To Stone Chapter 4: Higher Selves’ album will be released worldwide on April 15th, with preorder and a first single “Drowning” available now.

Ripple Music treats heavy rock fans to yet another exciting collaboration on the fourth installment of the ‘Turned To Stone’ split series, with two outstanding bands from the Barcelona rock scene: SATURNA and ELECTRIC MONOLITH. Both bands have specialized in perpetuating the spirit of rock’n’roll in its truest, most boundary-free expression: when Saturna plays a soulful, Southern-infused classic hard rock with gripping, soulful vocals, Electric Monolith operates on the edgier, more psych-laden side of the 70s rock spectrum. A raucous, epic pairing that will skyrocket listeners through a riff-walled time-tunnel to vintage heavy music heaven!

Ripple Music CEO Todd Severin comments: “Saturna and Electric Monolith are two bands that John Gist (from Vegas Rock Revolution) was pimping tirelessly, for good reason. They rock. And the fact that they’re both from Spain just made it a natural fit for a Turned to Stone split. Each band put their own spin on their side, with Saturna aiming for a slightly slower, Chris Cornell-inspired rock, and Electric Monolith simply putting the pedal down. Both sides are completely engaging. I hope the listeners dig these two bands as much as we do.”

SATURNA / ELECTRIC MONOLITH
‘Turned To Stone Chapter 4: Higher Selves’
Out April 15th on Ripple Music

PREORDER: https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/turned-to-stone-chapter-4-higher-selves

TRACKLIST:
Side A – Saturna
1. Keep Me Trying
2. Following The Sun
3. Drowning
4. Don’t Run
Side B – Electric Monolith
5. By My Side
6. I Hope You Feel Better
7. Hold Me Again
8. So Lonely Drying
9. Nightmares

https://www.facebook.com/Saturna777/
https://www.instagram.com/saturnaband/
https://saturna777.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/electricmonolithband
https://www.instagram.com/electricmonolith/
https://electric-monolith.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

Saturna, “Drowning”

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Quarterly Review: Kanaan, Spacelord, Altareth, Negura Bunget, High Fighter, Spider Kitten, Snowy Dunes, Maragda, Killer Hill, Ikitan

Posted in Reviews on December 17th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

THE-OBELISK-FALL-2020-QUARTERLY-REVIEW

Behold, the last day of the Quarterly Review. For a couple weeks, anyhow. I gotta admit, even with the prospect of doing it all again next month looming over my head, this QR has been strikingly easy to put together. Yeah, some of that is because of back-end conveniences in compiling links, images and embeds, prep work done ahead of time, and so on, but more than that it’s because the music is good. And if you know anything about a QR, you know I like to treat myself on the last day. Today is not at all an exception in that regard. Accordingly, I won’t delay, except to say thanks again for reading and following along if you have been. I know my own year-end list won’t be the same for having done this, and I hope the same for you.

Quarterly Review #41-50:

Kanaan, Earthbound

Kanaan Earthbound

F-U-Z-Z! Putting the jazzy drive they showcased on 2020’s Odense Sessions on hold, Oslo trio Kanaan — guitarist/percussionist Ask Vatn Strøm (guitar, percussion, noise), Ingvald André Vassbø (drums, percussion, Farfisa) and Eskild Myrvoll (bass, synth, Mellotron, some guitar) — get down to the business of riffs and shred on the clearly-purposefully-titled Earthbound, still touching on heavy psychedelic impulses — “Bourdon” is a positive freakout, man — but underscoring that with a thickness of groove and distorted tonality that more than lives up to the name. See also the cruncher “Mudbound,” which, yeah, gets a little airy in its back half but still holds that thud steady all the while. Simultaneously calling back to European instrumental heavy of two decades ago while maintaining their progressive edge, Kanaan strike a rare — which is to stop just shy of saying “unique” — balance that’s so much richer than the common Earthless idol-worship, and yet somehow miraculously free of pretense at the same time. 46 minutes of heavy joy.

Kanaan on Facebook

Jansen Records website

 

Spacelord, False Dawn

Spacelord False Dawn

Not to be confused with Germany’s The Spacelords, Buffalo, New York’s heavy blues purveyors offer a melody-minded eight songs across the 44 minutes of their third self-released long-player, with the vocals of Ed Grabianowski (also guitar) a distinct focal point backed by Rich Root‘s guitar, bass, drums and production. The two-piece deftly weave between acoustic and electric guitar foundations on songs like “How the Devil Got Into You” and “Breakers,” with a distinctly Led Zeppelin-style flair throughout, the Page/Plant dynamic echoed in the guitar strum as well as the vocals. “Broken Teeth Ritual” pushes through heavier riffing early on, and “All Night Drive” nears eight minutes with a right-on swinging solo jam to follow on the largely unplugged “Crypt Ghost,” and “M-60” nears prog metal in its chug, but the layering of “Starswan” brings a sweet conclusion to the proceedings, which despite the band’s duo configuration sound vibrant in a live sense and organic in their making.

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Altareth, Blood

Altareth Blood

The opening title-track of Altareth‘s debut album, Blood, seems to be positioned as a direct clarion call to fellow Sabbathians — to my East Coast US ears, it reminds of Curse the Son, which should be taken as a compliment to tone and melody — but the Gothenburg five-piece aren’t through “Satan Hole” before offering some samples and weirdo garage-sounding ’60s keyboard/horn surges, and the swirling lead that consumes the finish of “Downward Mobile,” which follows, continues to hint at their developing complexity of approach. Still, their core sound is slow, thick, dark and lumbering, and whether that’s coming through in centerpiece “Eternal Sleep” or the willful drudgery that surrounds the quiet, melodic break in “Moon,” they’re not shy about making the point. Neither should they be. The penultimate “High Priest” offers mournful soloing and the nine-minute closer “Empty” veers into post-Cathedral prog-doom in its volume trades before a solo crescendo finishes out, and the swallowed-by-sentient-molasses vibe is sealed. They’ll continue to grow into themselves, and Blood would seem to indicate that will be fun to hear.

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Magnetic Eye Records store

 

Negură Bunget, Zău

Negură Bunget Zău

The closing piece of a trilogy and reportedly the final offering from Romanian folk-laced progressive black metallers Negură Bunget following the 2017 death of founding drummer Gabriel “Negru” Mafa, Zău begins with the patient unfolding and resultant sweep of its longest track (immediate points) in “Brad” before the foresty gorgeousness of “Iarba Fiarelor” finds a place between agonized doom and charred bark. Constructed parabolically with its longer songs bookending around the seven-minute centerpiece “Obrazar,” Zău is perhaps best understood in the full context in which it arrives, as the band’s swansong after tragic loss, etc., but it’s also complex and engrossing enough to stand on its own separate from that, and in paying homage to their fallen comrade by completing his last work, Negură Bunget have underscored what made them such a standout in the first place. After the wash of “Tinerețe Fără Bătrânețe,” closer “Toacă Din Cer” rounds out by moving from its shimmering guitar into a muted ceremony of horn and tree-creaking percussion that can only be called an appropriate finish, if in fact it is that for the band.

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Prophecy Productions store

 

High Fighter, Live at WDR Rockpalast

high fighter live at wdr rockpalast

High Fighter — with guitars howling, screams wailing and growls guttural, drums pounding, bass thick and guitars leading the charge — recorded their Live at WDR Rockpalast set during lockdown, sans audience, at the industrial complex Landschaftspark Duisburg- Nord depicted on the cover of the LP/DL release. It’s a fittingly brutal-looking setting for the Hamburg-based melodic sludge metal aggressors, and in their rawest moments, tracks like “When We Suffer” and “Before I Disappear” throw down with a nastiness that should raise eyebrows for any who’d worship the crustiest of wares. Of course, that’s not the limit of what High Fighter do, and a big part of the band’s aesthetic draws on the offset of melody and extremity, but to listen to the 34-minute set wrap with the outright, dug-in, At the Gates-comparison-worthy rendition of “Shine Equal Dark,” it’s hard not to appreciate just how vicious they can be as a group. This was their last show with founding guitarist Christian “Shi” Pappas, and whatever the future holds, they gave him a fitting sendoff.

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Argonauta Records website

 

Spier Kitten, Major Label Debut

Major Label Debut by Spider Kitten

This is fucking rad. Long-running Welsh trio Spider Kitten probably don’t give a shit if you check it out or not, but I do. Major Label Debut runs less than half an hour and in that time they remind that there’s more expressive potential to heavy rock than playing to genre, and as cuts like “Maladjusted” reinvent grunge impact and the brooding “Hearts and Mindworms” blend Melvins-born weirdo impulses and naturalize Nine Inch Nailsian lyrical threat, there’s a good sense of doing-whatever-the-hell-they-want that comes through alongside deceptively thoughtful arrangements and melodies. The weight and post-Dirt sneer of “Sandbagged (Whoa, Yeah)” may or may not be parody, but hell if it doesn’t work, and the same applies to the earlier blast-punk of “Self-Care (Makes Me Wanna Die),” both songs in and out in under three minutes. Give it up for a band dwelling on their own wavelength, who’ve been hither and yon and are clearly comfortable following where their impulses lead. This kind of creativity is its own endgame. You either appreciate that or it’s your loss.

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Spider Kitten on Bandcamp

 

Snowy Dunes, Sastrugi

snowy dunes sastrugi

Even discounting the global pandemic, it feels like an exceptionally long four years since Stockholm’s Snowy Dunes issued their sophomore album, 2017’s Atlantis (review here). “Let’s Save Dreams,” which is the second cut on Sastrugi, was released as a single in 2019 (posted here), so there’s no question the record’s been in the works for a while, but its purposefully split two sides showcase a sound that’s been worth the wait, from the straightforward classic craft of the leadoff title-track to the dug-in semi-psychedelic swing of 11-minute capper “Helios,” the four-piece jamming on modernized retro impulses after dropping hints of prog and space-psych in “Medicinmannen” (9:14) and pushing melancholy heavy blues into shuffle-shove insistence on side A’s organ-laced closer “Great Divide” with duly Sverige soul. Pushes further out as it goes, takes you with it, reminds you why you liked this band so much in the first place, and sounds completely casual in doing all of it.

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Snowy Dunes on Bandcamp

 

Maragda, Maragda

Maragda Maragda

A threat of tonal weight and a certain rhythmic intensity coincide with dreamy prog melodies in “The Core as a Whole” and “The Calling,” which together lead the way into the self-titled debut from Barcelona, Spain’s Maragda, and an edge of the technical persists despite the wash of “Hermit,” a current perhaps of grunge and metal that’s given something of a rest in the brightness of “Crystal Passage” still to come — more than an interlude at three minutes, but instrumental just the same — after the sharply solo’ed “Orb of Delusion.” Payoff for the burgeoning intensity of the early going arrives in “Beyond the Ruins,” though closer “The Blue Ceiling” enacts some shred to back its Mellotron-y midsection. There’s a balance that will be found or otherwise resisted as Maragda explore the varied nature of their influences — growth to be undertaken, then — but their progressive structures, storytelling mindset and attention to detail here are more than enough to pique interest and make Maragda a welcome addition to the crowded Spanish underground.

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Spinda Records on Bandcamp

Nafra Records on Bandcamp

Necio Records on Bandcamp

 

Killer Hill, Frozen Head

Killer Hill Frozen Head

Extra super bonus points for Los Angeles heavy noise rockers Killer Hill on naming a song “Bullshit Mountain,” and more extra for leaving the incidental-sounding feedback in too. Frozen Head follows behind 2019’s About a Goat two-songer with six tracks and 22 minutes that pummels on opener “Trash” and its title-track in a niche thick-toned, hardcore-punk born — the band is members of Helmet and Guzzard, so tick your ‘pedigree’ box — and raw, churning metal raised, “Frozen Head” veering into Slayery thrash and deathly churn before evening out in its chorus, such as it does. Sadly, “Laser Head Removal” is instrumental, but the longer trio that follow in “Bent,” the aforementioned “Bullshit Mountain” and the all-go-until-it-isn’t-then-is-again-then-isn’t-again “Re Entry” bask in further intentional cross-genre fuckery with due irreverence and deceptive precision. It sounds like a show you’d go to thinking you were gonna get your ass beat, but nah, everyone’s cool as it turns out.

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Killer Hill on Bandcamp

 

Ikitan, Darvaza y Brincle

ikitan darvaza y brinicle

Distinguished through the gotta-hear-it bass tone of Frik Et that provides grounding presence alongside Luca “Nash” Nasciuti float-ready guitar and the cymbal wash of Enrico Meloni‘s drums, the Genoa, Italy, instrumental three-piece Ikitan make their first offering through Taxi Driver Records with the two-track cassingle Darvaza y Brincle. The outing’s component inclusions run on either side of seven minutes, and the resultant entirety is under 14, but that’s enough to give an impression of where they’re headed after their initial single-song EP, Twenty-Twenty (review here), showed up late last year, with crunch and heavier post-rock drift meeting in particularly cohesive fashion on “Brincle” even as that B-side feels more exploratory than “Darvaza” prior. With some nascent prog stretch in the soloing, the complete narrative of the band’s style has yet to be told, but the quick, encouraging check-in is appreciated. Until next time.

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Taxi Driver Records store

 

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Thermic Boogie Premiere “A Herdhead” From Final LP Sheer Madness

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on November 12th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

thermic boogie is over

Over a year ago, Barcelona two-piece Thermic Boogie posted the above text image saying simply that the band was ‘over.’ Well, sometimes over means ‘done’ and sometimes over means ‘we’re still putting out one more record.’ The latter is the case for Albert Martínez-López and Baptiste Gautier-Lorenzo, and the title of their third and final studio outing — following 2019’s Fracture EP (review here) and the 2016 debut LP Vastness and Matter (review here) — is Sheer Madness. As sendoffs go, the very least one can say about the seven-song/62-minute offering is that it’s comprehensive, the duo bringing a vibrant noise-metal cacophony that reminds here and there of Mastodon‘s early pummel but works in flourish of psychedelia (“Song to the Mineral”), thermic boogie sheer madnessas well as massive swaths of feedback and drone (KT88_6550″). With only the 5:59 “Phobosophy” under eight minutes long and the 10-minute “The Drum Horse” leading off, an angular onslaught takes hold at a deceptively lurching pace — huge, it is — but ultimately Thermic Boogie are more manic than one tempo or modus operandi can contain.

And golly, that’s a lot of feedback.

The noise, of course, only adds to the sense of Sheer Madness living up to its name. The band use it as a means of transition from one song to another, and it only makes the winding progressions that ensue feel more unhinged. There are moments of stretch-out of where the intensity is pulled back somewhat, earlier in “Crystal Clear” or the more subdued “Song to the Mineral,” but the crux of Sheer Madness finds Thermic Boogie at the most surging they’ve ever been (or ever were, as the case might be) and with the elephantine plod they evoke alongside their rushing tempos, the intricacy with which they execute the material and the fluidity they bring in moving from one part to the next, the only thing one can really say about the listening experience across Sheer Madness is it’s too bad they’re not a band anymore. This isn’t a half-assed we-had-leftover-material-so-here-it-is record. They sound like a band with more to say.

To wit, the various assaults in “A Herdhead” and “Sheer Madness” itself, as well as, say,thermic boogie (photo by Nicolas Hyvoz) everywhere. With ace performances from Gautier-Lorenzo and Martínez-López and unpredictable turns abounding from part to part as the tracks play out, Sheer Madness manifests the shift in sound Thermic Boogie made with Fracture, and they cap with what’s unquestionably their most aggressive statement, making seem entirely possible a scenario in which even with just the two of them the sound became too volatile to hold together. That’s not really how things work, of course, but even as “Song to the Mineral” strums its way through toward its melodic wash finish, there’s a sense that the rug might get pulled out from under the whole thing at any minute and the rained-down destruction will begin anew.

Which it does, but only because you hit play on the album again to continue to try to get your head around it.

With a farewell at least for now to Thermic Boogie and this closing chapter, I’m happy to host “A Herdhead” for your premiere-streaming pleasure below, followed by some explanatory words from the band.

Please enjoy:

Thermic Boogie on Sheer Madness:

Sheer Madness is the fruit of an idea, as we wanted to create a whole album, with soul, and messages. We both stated that the present times looked like a complete mess, and talked a lot about the random bullshit that happened around us. It was around 2019, and after all the financial and personal efforts that we had to provide, that we finally succeeded to gather obscure riffs, attempting to reproduce the shapes and feelings of the kind of black cloud in which we had the impression to be. We also had in mind that the band had to come to its end, and it carried us to give a strong last shot.

The fierce impression that this album may give at first, is the result of our vicissitudes and concerns. We wanted the tracklist to be harsh and torturous to crush our thoughts and act as a painkiller. The recording took place in the studio we were renting. The sound is like our perspective about music: it is straight, as close as possible from the reality, and without any loop or extra bass. We so invite you to play it LOUD! We’d like to thank all our friends from Barcelona who helped us to play the gigs we had the chance to play, and those in France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Germany who helped us on tour. But also, our parents, record label mates, our families, and every person which is reading this article and giving life to Thermic Boogie. Cheers from Albert and Baptiste

Tracklisting:
1. The Drum Horse
2. Phobosophy
3. A Herdhead
4. Crystal Clear
5. KT88_6550
6. Sheer Madness
7. Song to the Mineral
Thermic Boogie was:
Albert Martinez-Lopez – Kramer guitars and throats
Baptiste Gautier-Lorenzo – Ludwig drums and throats

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Lewis and the Strange Magics Post New Single Eva in St. Tropez / Cluttered Room

Posted in Whathaveyou on July 1st, 2020 by JJ Koczan

lewis and the strange magics

In their newly-unveiled two songs, Lewis and the Strange Magics manage to tell us two important things about their forthcoming full-length, The Gloomy Corner. “Eva in St. Tropez” brings confirmation that at least on some level, the Barcelona weirdo psychedelic rockers will continue the narrative methodology of last year’s delightful and strange third album, Melvin’s Holiday (review here), which was their first LP with a direct story centered around a main character. That was Melvin. This is Eva. Melvin, meet Eva. Eva, meet Melvin. Did I just write the plot of their next record? Sorry for the spoiler, if so.

So that’s one. Second thing comes particularly with “Cluttered Room,” which is an instrumental cut and speaks to some of the more cinematic elements at play. This isn’t necessarily new ground for Lewis and the Strange Magics, whose craft is certainly thoughtful if not pretentious enough to be considered progressive, but the hypnotic and psychedelic aspect of it, the jam-meets-drone feel of “Cluttered Room,” is an engaging slice of natural-feeling exploration and it suits the band well. I’m left wondering how much of that will feature on The Gloomy Corner and where the balance will ultimately tilt between the impressionistic versus the structured.

And of course, that’s the point of the teaser in the first place, so at very least, the band chose their lead tracks well. “Summer 2020” is what they have listed as a release date for The Gloomy Corner, so I’ll hope for more to follow soon.

Till then:

lewis and the strange magics eva in st tropez

Lewis and the Strange Magics NEW SINGLE

Listen to our new double single Eva in St. Tropez / Cluttered Room, taken from our upcoming fourth LP, The Gloomy Corner, and immerse yourself in a psychedelic nostalgia.

New single from our upcoming fourth LP out now!

Artwork by Marta N. Lloret – Art and Luis Pomés.

Lewis and the Strange Magics, Eva in St. Tropez / Cluttered Room

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