Day III of the Inexplicably Roman Numeralized Winter 2020 Quarterly Review, commence! I may never go back to actual numbers, you should know. There’s something very validating about doing Day I, Day II, Day III — and tomorrow I get to add a V for Day IV! Stoked on that, let me tell you.

You have to make your own entertainment these days, lest your brain melt like wax and drip from your nostrils.

Plurp.

Quarterly Review #21-30:

Fuzz, III

Plenty of heavy rockers can come across sounding fresh. Most of the time all it takes is being young. In the case of III, the third long-player from Fuzz — Charles Moothart, Ty Segall and Chad Ubovich — they sound like they just invented it. Dig the hard-Bowie of “Time Collapse” or the made-for-the-stage opener “Returning,” or the surf-cacophony of “Mirror.” Or hell, any of it. The combination of this band and producer Steve Albini — aka the guy you go to when you want your album to sound like your live show — is correct. That’s all you can say about it. From the ’70s snarl in “Nothing People” to the triumphant melody in the second half of “Blind to Vines” and the back and forth between gritty roll and fragile prog of “End Returning,” it’s an energy that simply won’t be denied. If Fuzz wanted to go ahead and do three or four more albums with Albini at the helm in the next five years, that’d be just fine.

In the Red Records on Facebook

In the Red Records on Bandcamp

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Crippled Black Phoenix, Ellengæst

The narrative (blessings and peace upon it) goes that when after lineup shifts left Crippled Black Phoenix without any singers, founder Justin Greaves (ex-Iron Monkey, Earthtone9, Electric Wizard, etc.) decided to call old mates. Look. I don’t care how it happened, but Ellengæst, which is the likewise-brilliant follow-up to the band’s widely-lauded 2018 outing, Great Escape, leads off with Anathema‘s Vincent Cavanagh singing lead on “House of Fools,” and, well, there’s your new lead singer. Anathema‘s on hiatus and a more natural fit would be hard to come by. Ryan Patterson (The National Acrobat, a dozen others), Gaahl (Gaahls Wyrd, ex-Gorgoroth), solo artist Suzie Stapleton and Jonathan Hultén (Tribulation) would also seem to audition — Patterson and Stapleton pair well on the heavy-Cure-style “Cry of Love” — and there are songs without any guests at all, but there’s a reason “House of Fools” starts the record. Make it happen, Crippled Black Phoenix. For the good of us all.

Crippled Black Phoenix on Facebook

Season of Mist website

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Bethmoora, Thresholds

Copenhagen’s Bethmoora served notice in a 2016 split with Dorre (review here) and their debut full-length, Thresholds hone destructive lumber across four low-toned tracks that begin with “And for Eternity They Will Devour His Flesh” and only get nastier from there. One imagines being in a room with this kind of rumbling, maddeningly repetitive, slow-motion-violence noise wash and being put into a flight-or-fight panic by it, deer in doomed headlights, and all that, but even on record, Bethmoora manage to cull, and when their songs explode in tempo, as the opener does late in its run, or “Painted Man” does, that spirit is maintained. Each side of the LP is two tracks, and all four are beastly, pile-driver-to-the-core-of-the-earth heavy. “Keeper”‘s wash of noise has willful-turnoff appeal all its own, but the empty space in the middle of “Lamentation” is where they go in for ultimate consumption. And yeah. Yeah.

Bethmoora on Facebook

Sludgelord Records on Bandcamp

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Khan, Monsoons

Khan‘s second album, Monsoons is a departure in form from 2018’s Vale, if not necessarily in substance. Heavy, psychedelic-infused post-rock is the order of business for the Melbourne trio either way, but as guitarist Josh Bills gives up playing synth and doing vocals to embark on an instrumental approach with bassist Mitchell Kerr (also KVLL) and drummer Beau Heffernan on this four-track/31-minute offering, the spirit is inescapably different. Probably easier to play live, if that’s a thing that might happen. Monsoons still has the benefit, however, of learning from the debut in terms of the dynamic among the three players, and Bills‘ guitar reaches for atmospheric float in “Orb” and attains it easily, as the midsection rhythm of the closing title-track nods at My Sleeping Karma and the back end of the prior “Harbinger” manages to shine and not sound like Earthless in the process, and quite simply, Khan make it work. The vocals/synth might be worth missing — and they may or may not be back — but to ignore the breadth Khan harness in little over half an hour would be a mistake.

Khan on Facebook

Khan on Bandcamp

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The Acid Guide Service, Denim Vipers

Jammy, psychedelic in parts, Sabbathian in “Peavey Marshall (and the Legendary Acoustic Sunn Band)” and good fun from the doomly rollout of 11-minute opener and longest cut (immediate points) “In the Cemetery” onward, the second full-length from Idaho’s The Acid Guide Service, Denim Vipers, brings considerable rumble and nod, but these guys don’t want to hurt nobody. They’ve come here to chew bubblegum and follow the riff, and they’re all out of bubblegum. Comprised on average of longer songs than 2017’s debut, Vol. 11 (review here), the four-tracker gives the trio room to branch out their sound a bit, highlighting the bass in the long middle stretch of the title-track while the subsequent “Electro-Galactic Discharge” puts its guitar solo front and center before sludge-rocking into oblivion, letting “Peavey Marshall (and the Legendary Acoustic Sunn Band)” pick up from there, which is as fine a place as any to begin a gallop to the end. Genre-based shenanigans ensue. One would hope for no less.

The Acid Guide Service on Facebook

The Acid Guide Service on Bandcamp

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Vexing Hex, Haunt

Based in Illinois, Vexing Hex make their debut on Wise Blood Records with Haunt, and yes, playing catchy, semi-doomed, organ-laced cult rock with creative and melodic vocal arrangements, you’re going to inevitably run into some Ghost comparisons. The newcomer three-piece are distinguished by a harder edge to their impact, a theremin on “Planet Horror” and a rawer production sensibility, and that serves them well in “Build Your Wall” and the buildup of “Living Room,” both of which play off the fun-with-dogma mood cast by “Revenant” following the intro “Hymn” at the outset of Haunt. Not quite as progressive as, say, Old Man Wizard, there’s nonetheless some melodic similarity happening as bell sounds ensue on “Rise From Your Grave,” the title of which which may or may not be purposefully cribbed from the Sega Genesis classic Altered Beast. There’s a big part of me that hopes it is, and if Vexing Hex are writing songs about retro videogames, they sound ready to embark on a Castlevania concept album.

Vexing Hex on Facebook

Wise Blood Records on Bandcamp

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KVLL, Death//Sacrifice

Proffering grueling deathsludge as though it were going out of style — it isn’t — the Melbourne duo KVLL is comprised of bassist/vocalist/guitarist Mitchell Kerr (also Khan) and drummer Braydon Becher. It’s not without ambient stretches, as the centerpiece “Sacrifice” shows, but the primary impression KVLL‘s debut album, Death//Sacrifice makes is in the extremity of crash and heavy landing of “The Death of All That is Crushing” and “Slow Death,” such that by the time “Sacrifice” ‘mellows out,’ as it were, the listener is punchdrunk from what’s taken place on the prior two and a half songs. There’s little doubt that’s precisely KVLL‘s intention here, as the cavernous screams, mega-lurch and tense undercurrent are more than ably wielded. If “Sacrifice” is the moment at which Death//Sacrifice swaps out one theme for another, the subsequent “Blood to the Altar” and nine-minute closer “Beneath the Throne” hammer the point home, the latter with an abrasive noise-caked finale worthy of standard-bearers Primitive Man.

KVLL on Facebook

KVLL on Bandcamp

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Mugstar, GRAFT

Not that the initial droning wash of “Deep is the Air” or the off-blasted “Zeta Potential” and warp-drive freneticism in “Cato” don’t have their appeal — oh, they do — but when it comes to UK lords-o’-space Mugstar‘s latest holodeck-worthy full-length, GRAFT, it’s the mellow drift-jazz of the 12-minute “Ghost of a Ghost” that feels most like matter dematerialization to me. Side B’s “Low, Slow Horizon” answers back later on ahead of the motorik linear build in the finale “Star Cage,” but the 12-minute vibe-fest that is “Ghost of a Ghost” gives GRAFT a vastness to match its thrust, which becomes essential to the space-borne feel. It’s 41 minutes, still ripe for an LP, but the kind of album that has a genuine affect on mood and mindset, breaking down on a molecular level both and remolding them into something hopefully more evolved on some level through cosmic meditation. Fast or slow, up or down, in or out, it doesn’t ultimately matter. Nothing does. But there’s a moment in GRAFT where the one-skin-on-another thing becomes apparent and all the masks drop away. What’s left after that?

Mugstar on Facebook

Centripetal Force Records website

Cardinal Fuzz Records BigCartel store

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Wolftooth, Valhalla

Hooks abound in power-stoner fashion throughout Indiana four-piece Wolftooth‘s second album, Valhalla, which roughs up NWOBHM clarity in early-Ozzy fashion without going overboard to one side or the other, riffs winding and rhythms charging in a way not entirely unlike some of Freedom Hawk‘s more recent fare, but with a melodic reach of its own and a dynamism of purpose that comes through in the songwriting. Grand Magus‘ metallic traditionalism might be an influence on a song like “Fear for Eternity,” but “Crying of the Wolfs” has a more rocking swagger, and likewise post-intro opener “Possession.” With tightly constructed songs in the four-to-five-minute range, Valhalla never feels stretched out more than it wants to, but “Molon Labe” pushes the vocals deeper into the mix for a bigger, more atmospheric sound, and subtle shifts like that become effective in distinguishing the songs and making them all the more memorable. Recently signed to Napalm after working with Ripple, Ice Fall, Cursed Tongue and Blackseed, they seem to be poised to pay off the potential here and in their 2018 self-titled debut (review here). So be it.

Wolftooth on Facebook

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

Cursed Tongue Records BigCartel store

Ice Fall Records BigCartel store

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Starmonger, Revelations

Parisian riff-blaster trio Starmonger have been piecemealing tracks out for the last five years as a series of EPs titled Revelation, and the full-length debut, Revelations, brings these nine songs together for a 49-minute long-player that even in re-recorded versions of the earliest cuts like “Tell Me” and “Wanderer” show how far the band has come. It’s telling that those two close the record out while “Rise of the Fishlords” and “Léthé” from 2019’s Revelation IV open sides A and B, respectively, but older or newer, the band end up with a swath of stylistic ground covered from the more straightforward and uptempo kick of the elder tracks to the more progressive take of the newer, with plenty of ground in between. Uniting the various sides are strong performances and strong choruses, the latter of which would seem to be the thread that draws everything together. Whether or not it takes Starmonger half a decade to put out their next LP, one can hardly call their time misspent while listening to Revelations.

Starmonger on Facebook

Starmonger on Bandcamp

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2020, if you can believe it, has started to wind down. The year-end poll is up, and it’s time for the Apparently-Annual The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal’s Some of the Best of 2020 Two-Part Extravaganza Blowout Supershow How Can I Possibly Make the Title Even Longer Oh Wait I Got It: The Next Generation.

That’s right, friends and neighbors, this show and the next one — which is on frickin’ Xmas Day; love it — bring just a smattering of some of 2020’s highlights. Voice tracks and playlists are in for both episodes, and this one airs today as the first of the two-parter, acknowledging the utterly spectacular time it’s been for death-doom particularly. I guess Atramentus are doing some heavy lifting there, but to listen to that track, I think you’ll agree they’re up to the task.

Beyond that, space rock, prog-heavy, psychedelia, and good ol’ riffs pervade, thriving despite the hardest and most surreal times. If you get to listen, I very much hope you enjoy it. I’ll be in the Gimme chat if you want to say hi.

Thanks for listening and reading.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at http://gimmemetal.com

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 12.11.20

Forming the Void	Manifest	Reverie	0:05:22
Rezn	The Door Opens	Chaotic Divine	0:07:33
King Buffalo	Dead Star Pt. 1 & 2	Dead Star	0:16:21
VT
Big Scenic Nowhere	Mirror Image	Vision Beyond Horizon	0:05:41
Kind	Bad Friend	Mental Nudge	0:07:42
Yuri Gagarin	The Outskirts of Reality	The Outskirts of Reality	0:08:32
Six Organs of Admittance	Two Forms Moving	Companion Rises	0:04:39
Bethmoora	Painted Man	Thresholds	0:09:05
My Dying Bride	Your Broken Shore	The Ghost of Orion	0:07:43
Paradise Lost	Forsaken	Obsidian	0:04:30
Deathwhite	A Servant	Grave Image	0:04:42
Atramentus	Stygian I: From Tumultuous Heavens… (Descended Forth The Ceaseless Darkness)	Stygian	0:16:28
VT
Colour Haze	I’m With You	We Are	0:07:47
Lowrider	Red River	Refractions	0:05:11

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Dec. 25 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gimme Metal website

The Obelisk on Thee Facebooks

Belgian post-metallers Dorre and Danish sludge brutalizers Bethmoora will release their split LP Nov. 1 in a limited physical pressing of 500 LPs. Divided between 300 black and 200 swirled in black and green, mixed by Chris Fielding (Conan) at Skyhammer Studio, mastered by James Plotkin (everybody, also Khanate) and topped with striking Diaz Inigo cover art, the self-released outing comprises three tracks — two on side A from Dorre, one longer one on side B from Bethmoora — and is bound to make short work of whatever quota you might have for pummel. Dorre, a trio from Leuven, follow their half-hour/single-song One Collapsed at the Altar EP with “Three Fell from the Sky” (8:31) and “Four Walked into the Ocean” (7:15), leaving one to wonder what happened to “Two,” while Copenhagen’s Bethmoora leave far less to mystery with the 17-minute “Succumb,” which, while atmospheric in a manner not wholly dissimilar from their compatriots, is more brazen in its extremity, thanks in part to screaming and growling vocals where the Dorre tracks on side A have none at all.

That in itself is a considerable divide between the two bands, but as much as they both demonstrate clear patience through their material, there are also marked aesthetic differences. Dorre begin “Three Fell from the Sky” with peaceful atmospheric guitar, while Bethmoora start “Succumb” with an immediate tension in the drums. Working bassless, Dorre use the guitars of Adriaan De Raymaeker and Erik Heyns to add psychedelic flourish and construct atmospheres in the vein of Cult of Luna or maybe peak-era Isis, while drummer Wolf Overloop carefully avoids patterning the rhythm after that same group, and rightly so. Not easy work, but they establish a linear build through “Three Fell from the Sky” and carry some of the momentum into “Four Walked into the Ocean,” which has its own payoff and arrives at it through tempo switches and some more rock-based push. Once Bethmoora slam into “Succumb,” on the other hand, there’s little doubt as to the doom of their intent. Their single, extended inclusion is vicious even when vocalist Anders Kofod takes a break from the layered death-growls, sounding raw and brutal over the foundation of Martin Korff‘s crash and thud.

Comprised of Kofod, Korff, guitarists Morten Leerhøy and Henrick Lyck, and bassist Sune Westh Svendsen, Bethmoora lack nothing for fullness of sound on “Succumb,” somebody or other moving into manipulated noise as the song lurches along in its second half, but they too bring a sense of ambience and spaciousness to the proceedings, however grueling that spaciousness might be. They finish with two-plus minutes of quiet guitar, not quite drone but not far off from it, in a last-minute expression of minimalism that, for those who want to bring the 12″ full circle, might find it feeds nicely back into the start of “Three Fell from the Sky” on side A. Whether that was coordinated between Bethmoora and Dorre or a happy accident, I don’t know, but it works to the advantage of emphasizing a sense of cohesion between the two acts, drawing them together despite any disparities of sound that might otherwise separate their output.

Both are relatively new bands. Dorre issued One Collapsed at the Altar about a year ago and Bethmoora put out their first demo in March, so it’s probably fair to think of the split as an early expression on both their parts, but something else that unites them is a clear sense of purpose.

All three tracks are streaming below ahead of the Nov. 1 release, followed by some comment from De Raymaeker about how it came together and more bio-type background. Please enjoy:

Adriaan De Raymaeker of Dorre on the split:

“Creating this split LP together with Bethmoora was a very easy decision. We’re both passionate bands with a drive to create, go further and invest in the quality of our music. I’ve known Morten for a couple of years now, having met at Roadburn. We’ve been wanting to do something together for a while and decided to just get started and make it happen, and here we are!”

Dorre was born at the Rock Café in Leuven when Adriaan De Raymaeker and Wolf Overloop decided to head up to the attic that Pektop (Adriaan’s former band) used to rehearse. Deep, dark, heavy riffs were made and quite possibly enjoyed by several blocks of flats and houses around the building. Deciding that the time had come to widen the scope of Dorre, a more serious approach was taken to write long pieces of music that incorporated every aspect of each musician. A cohesion of doom, noise, psychedelic rock, blues and stoner was organically formed between the two guitars and the drums.

Copenhagen based sludge/doom 5 piece Bethmoora, has existed for about a year in its current form, all members with experience from previous bands. Huge riffs, bludgeoning rhythms and disturbing vocals are key elements of the slow descent. The lyrics of Bethmoora’s tracks revolve around a common theme – a mythos that singer Anders has created. Deities, entities, occult rituals and eternal strife are all key ingredients of this vast, ever expanding, imaginary dark world.

Dorre & Bethmoora Split LP preorder

Dorre on Thee Facebooks

Dorre on Bandcamp

Bethmoora on Thee Facebooks

Bethmoora on Bandcamp

The common thread between Dorre and Bethmoora is an affinity for the extreme. Dorre, from Belgium, showed it with noisy post-metallic edge that they brought to their 2015 half-hour-long single-song EP One Collapsed at the Altar, while Denmark’s Bethmoora seem to be geared toward a rawer onslaught of sludge and doom, topped by vicious screams and growls as evidenced in their Demo 2016, which is comprised of two songs.

Their contribution to the split, “Succumb,” consumes a single side on its own, while Dorre have two tracks on offer. Both groups mixed with Chris Fielding at Skyhammer Studio. No audio yet, so I included both bands’ latest releases from their respective Bandcamps:

Dorre/Bethmoora split LP

In 2015 Dorre played a select set of shows as build-up towards an EP release in December. The EP was made and released following a first stint outside of the borders, touring throughout England and Scotland in January of 2016 and sharing the stage with many great bands. Now, more than ever, Dorre is focused on creating dark, heavy music and playing immense live sets. Dorre have been confirmed for another show in London with Serpent Venom and are headlining the mainstage of Somatic Festival in Wakefield in November.

Copenhagen based sludge/doom 5 piece Bethmoora, has existed for about a year in its current form, all members with experience from previous bands. Huge riffs, bludgeoning rhythms and disturbing vocals are key elements of the slow descent.

The lyrics of Bethmoora’s tracks revolve around a common theme – a mythos that singer Anders has created. Deities, entities, occult rituals and eternal strife are all key ingredients of this vast, ever expanding, imaginary dark world.

Tracklist:
Side A:
Dorre – Three Fell from the Sky
Dorre – Four Walked into the Ocean
Side B:
Bethmoora – Succumb

Dorre:
Adriaan De Raymaeker (Guitars)
Erik Heyns (Guitars)
Wolf Overloop (Drums)

Bethmoora:
Anders Kofod (Vocals)
Henrick Lyck (Guitars)
Martin Korff (Drums)
Morten Leerhøy (Guitars)
Sune Westh Svendsen (Bass)

Dorre’s tracks recorded at Magnet Records by Jean-Pol Van Ham and Johan Breton. Bethmoora’s tracks recorded at Wolf Rider Sound Production by Patrick Fragtrup. All tracks mixed at Skyhammer Studio by Chris Fielding. All tracks mastered by James Plotkin. Cover artwork by Diaz Inigo.

Please note that ALL pre-orders will be online on http://shop.dor.re.

http://www.facebook.com/dorreofficial
http://dor.re
http://dorre.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/doomedbethmoora
http://www.bethmoora.com
http://doomedbethmoora.bandcamp.com

Dorre, One Collapsed at the Altar (2015)

Bethmoora, Demo 2016