I’m pretty sure this Quarterly Review — life eater that it is — is going to wind up being six days long. That means next Monday look for sixth installment, another batch of 10 records, which were not hard to come by among everything that’s come in lately for review. I do my best to keep up, often to little avail — some random act’s Bandcamp page starts trending and all of a sudden they’re the best band ever, which hey, they’re probably not and that’s okay too. Anyhowzer, I’m trying is the point. Hopefully another 10 records added into this Quarterly Review underscores that notion.

More coffee. More albums. Let’s rock.

Quarterly Review #31-40:

Eagle Twin, The Thundering Heard (Songs of Hoof and Horn)

Consuming tones, throat-sung blues, a wash of lumbering doom – yes, it’s quite a first three minutes on Eagle Twin’s The Thundering Heard (Songs of Hoof and Horn). Released by Southern Lord, it’s the Salt Lake City duo’s first outing since 2012’s The Feather Tipped the Serpent’s Scale (discussed here), which arrived three years after their 2009 debut, The Unkindness of Crows (review here). Once again, the four-song outing finds guitarist/vocalist Gentry Densley and drummer Tyler Smith exploring the natural order and the natural world the 11-minute “Quanah un Rama” and the 14-minute “Antlers of Lightning” bookend “Elk Wolfv Hymn” (8:22) and album highlight “Heavy Hood” (7:21), creating an ever-more immersive and grit-laden flow across the album’s span. It’s hard to know if Densley and Smith are the hunters or the hunted here, but the tones are massive enough to make YOB blush, the rhythms are hypnotic and the use they’re both put to is still unlike anything else out there, ending after the chaos and assault of low end on “Antlers of Lightning” with a moment of contemplative guitar lead, as if to remind us of our solitary place in imagining ourselves at the top of the food chain.

Eagle Twin on Thee Facebooks

Southern Lord Recordings website

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Wight, Fusion Rock Invasion

One wonders what it might’ve been like to see Wight on the 2015 tour on which the Bilocation Records-issued vinyl-only Fusion Rock Invasion: Live Over Europe was captured. Still a year out from releasing their third album, Love is Not Only What You Know (review here), the former trio had already become a four-piece with guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist René Hofmann, bassist Peter-Philipp Schierhorn and drummer Thomas Kurek bringing in percussionist Steffen Kirchpfening and already undertaken the funkier aesthetic turn that LP would represent coming off of 2012’s Through the Woods into Deep Water (review here). At least I’d think it would be something of a surprise as the band hit into “Helicopter Mama” and “The Muse & the Mule” and “Kelele,” which comprise side A of Fusion Rock Invasion, but by all appearances listening to the crowd response between songs, they seem into it. Who could argue? Wight’s groove in those songs as well as the older “Master of Nuggets” and Love is Not Only What You Know finale “The Love for Life Leads to Reincarnation” on side B, are infectious in their grooves and the soul put into them is genuine and unmistakable. One more reason I wouldn’t have minded being there, I suppose.

Wight on Thee Facebooks

Wight at Bilocation Records

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Sundrifer, Visitations

Name your bet someone picks up Sundrifter’s Visitations for a proper release. The Boston three-piece of vocalist/guitarist Craig Peura, bassist Paul Gaughran and drummer Patrick Queenan impress in performance, aesthetic and craft across the nine songs and 48 minute of their for-now-self-released debut long-player, and whether it’s Queenan dipping into blastbeats on “Targeted” or Gaughran’s rumble on the Soundgarden-gone-doom “Fire in the Sky” or the fuzz that leads the charge on the Queens of the Stone Age-style “Hammerburn,” Peura doing a decent Josh Homme along the way, each member proves to add something to a whole greater than the sum of its parts and that is able to take familiar elements and use them to hone an individualized atmosphere. In the wake of melodically engaged Boston acts like Gozu, Sundrifter would seem to be a focused newcomer with a solidified mindset of who they are as a group. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised either if they kept growing their sound. Something about the psychedelic distance in “Fire in the Sky” and “I Want to Leave,” says there’s forward movement yet to be had.

Sundrifter on Thee Facebooks

Sundrifter on Bandcamp

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Holy Mushroom, Moon

Serenity and presence. There’s no shortage of either on the second Holy Mushroom full-length, Moon. Incorporating the prior-issued digital single “Éufrates,” the five-track/43-minute excursion is rife with natural-toned psychedelic resonance, marked out by organ/piano working alongside the guitar (see “Birdwax Blues”), as well as guest contributions of double bass and saxophone, and other sundry moments of depth-creating flourish. Their trance-effect is palpable, and Moon is an easy album to get lost in, especially as the Spanish three-piece make their way through 12:35 centerpiece “The Preacher,” moving from a dreamy opening line of guitar into funk-laden heft that only pushes forward with Hendrixian abandon through a massive jam before rounding out sweetly with vocals over background organ and sweetly-strummed guitar. “Éufrates” would seem to start the same way, but varies the structure in more of a back and forth format before closer “Grand Finale in the Blind Desert” brings both Holy Mushroom’s most patient execution and their most vibrant jam (sax included), essentially building from the one into the other to end the album in energetic fashion. To say it works for them would be underselling it.

Holy Mushroom on Thee Facebooks

Holy Mushroom on Bandcamp

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Iron and Stone, Petrichor

A debut long-player of no-pretense, no-nonsense sludge-infused doom, Petrichor (on Backbite Records) shows German five-piece Iron and Stone as ready to follow where the riff will lead them. The late 2017 album is a solidly-delivered 10 tracks and 43 minutes that strikes mostly in monochrome intent, save perhaps for the acoustic “Interlude” near the midpoint. Their 2015 EP, Old Man’s Doom (review here), was similarly upfront in its purposes, but carrying across a full-length – especially a debut – is a different beast from a shorter outing. Their heavier push on “Monolith” is welcome and the break-then-chug of “Deserts” does plenty to satisfy, but Petrichor might require a couple concerted listens to really sink in on its audience, though as I’ve said time and again, if you can’t handle repetition, you can’t handle doom. Iron and Stone effectively balance traditional doom and rawer sludge groove, playing fluidly to whichever suits their purposes at a given moment.

Iron and Stone on Thee Facebooks

Backbite Records webstore

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Black Capricorn, Omega

Sardinian doom cult Black Capricorn push well beyond the limits of the manageable with their 95-minute fourth album, Omega (released Nov. 2017 on Stone Stallion Rex), and that’s clearly the idea. The three-piece of bassist Virginia, drummer Rakela and guitarist/vocalist Kjxu offer grim ambience and tempos that sound slow regardless of their actual speed. That said, the 17-minute “Antartide” is an accomplishment as regards crawl. After a sweetly melancholic opening of guitar, it lurches and lumbers out its miserable heft until a return to that intro bookends. Even shorter tracks like “Flower of Revelation” or “Stars of Orion” hold firm to the tenet of plod, and though the results are obviously a lot to take in, the idea that it should be a slog seems all the more appropriate to Black Capricorn’s style. The band, which hits the decade mark in 2018, churn out one last bit of wretchedness in the nine-minute closing title-track before giving way to an acoustic finish, as if to remind that Omega’s sorrows are conveyed as much through atmosphere as actual sonic heft.

Black Capricorn on Thee Facebooks

Stone Stallion Rex website

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Owl Maker, Paths of the Slain

Guitarist/vocalist Simon Tuozzoli, also of malevolent doomers Vestal Claret, leads the new trio Owl Maker, and in the company of bassist Jessie May and drummer Chris Anderson, he embarks on a heavy rock push of six tracks with the debut EP, Paths of the Slain, still holding to some elements of metal, whether it’s the double-kick in opener “Ride with Aileen” or the backing vocals and guitar solo of the subsequent “99.” Songwriting is clearheaded across the EP’s 23 minutes, and in terms of first impressions, “Mashiara” shows a focus on melody that retains a metallic poise without losing its riff-driven edge. The balance shifts throughout “Freya’s Chariot” and the all-go “Witches,” the latter of which touches on black metal in its first half before turning on a dime to mid-paced heavy rock, and closer “Lady Stoneheart” nods in its back end to NWOBHM gallop, as Owl Maker seem to tip their audience to the fact that they’re just getting started on their exploration of the many interpretations of heavy.

Owl Maker on Thee Facebooks

Owl Maker on Bandcamp

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Troll, Troll

When one considers the multiple connotations of the word, Portland’s Troll are definitely going more for “lives under a bridge” than “meddling in elections” when it comes to their sound. Their self-titled debut EP, issued in 2017 before being picked up by respected purveyor Shadow Kingdom Records for a 2018 CD/tape release, is a highlight offering of classic-style doom worthy of Orodruin and Pilgrim comparisons and headlined by the vocal performance of John, who carries songs like opener “The Summoning” and the later, more swinging “Infinite Death” in a manner impressive in both frontman presence and melodic range. His work is only bolstered by the riffs of guitarist Lou and the consistent groove held together by bassist Wayne and drummer Ryan, whose drive in centerpiece “An Eternal Haunting” is neither overdone nor incongruous with the wall its tempo hits, and who meld shuffle and plod on closer “Savage Thunder” with naturalist ease. Potential abounds, and they reportedly already have new material in the works, so all the better.

Troll on Thee Facebooks

Shadow Kingdom Records website

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Malditos, II

Some bands, you just have to accept the fact that they’re on a different wavelength and that’s all there is to it. Magma. Master Musicians of Bukkake. Circle. Enter Oakland, California’s Malditos, whose sophomore outing, II: La Réve, arrives via Svart Records. From bizarre psychedelic chants to ritualized repetitions that seems to be daring you to play them backwards on your turntable, the spiritual freakout to songs like “Azadeh” and the penultimate “Momen” is palpable. Reach out and touch it and it will ripple like water in front of you. A sense of space is filled with elements alternatingly horrifying and engrossing, and after they make their way through “Le Passage” and centerpiece “Disparu” and wind up in the title-track to close out, the journey to the final wash of noise gives the distinct impression that for neither the listener nor the band is there any coming back. High order head trippery. Will simply be too much for some, will gloriously expand the minds of others.

Malditos on Thee Facebooks

Svart Records webstore

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The Freak Folk of Mangrovia, Sonic Meditations: Live @ Palach

I don’t know how much improvisation is a factor in the sound of The Freak Folk of Mangrovia, but the Croation collective bring an ultra-organic presence to their perhaps-debut release, Sonic Meditations: Live @ Palach. The group, which seems also to have gone under the names Marko Mushan & the Mangrovian Orchestra and The Free Folk of Mangrovia, was opening for Acid Mothers Temple that night, and Sonic Meditations mostly breaks down into parts – “Sonic Meditation I,” “II,” “III” and “IV” – before the band closes out with “’Mangrovian Summer,” all the while with The Freak Folk of Mangrovia making their way through progressive dreamscapes, dripping with effects and spacious enough to house an entire Mangrovian village, however big that might be. It is otherworldly and jazzy and moves with such fluidity that the entire “Sonic Meditation” becomes one overarching piece, complemented by the closing “Mangrovian Summer,” which ebbs and flows through louder, more active jamming before capping in a wash of noise.

The Freak Folk of Mangrovia on Thee Facebooks

The Freak Folk of Mangrovia on Bandcamp

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Long live the Kings! UK heavy psych rockers The Kings of Frog Island have secured an awaited vinyl release for their 2013 album, IV (review here), through Bilocation Records, and preorders are up now. This will mark the first time IV has received a physical pressing, and to be frank I’ll say it’s one well earned for the flowing psychedelia the band brought to it, as you can hear in the video for album highlight “Long Live the King” below. Some records are just a joy. This is one of those.

The Kings of Frog Island followed IV in 2014 with V (review here), another self-release, but this one pressed to a platter on their own. If the photos and vague posts on Thee Facebooks are anything to go by, work may or may not be underway on what I assume will be called VI when it’s done (if, you know, it exists), so I’ll be interested to find out in the weeks and months ahead what might be up in Amphibia these days.

For now, here’s the new cover for the record, the info on the vinyl and that video, ready for the digging:

IV now available on vinyl. Exclusive.

THE KINGS OF FROG ISLAND draw on a collective passion for cult movie soundtracks, mammoth riffs and high times. Stashed full of heavy psych rock and fragile laments to love, life and the eternal sleep. Journey across the mountains of madness, beyond the big black to the shores of Frog Island and on to the gates of Amphibia. Come take a trip …

After three successful releases on Elektrohasch Records The Kings Of Frog Island from Leicester, UK recorded their fourth effort – but unfortunately never released it until this day. The album shows the band in best form: tight stoner rock combined with amazing psychedelic touches, but never loosing their unique tone and style. A great blend, very refreshing in these days.

VINYL FACTZ
– Plated & pressed on high performance vinyl in Germany
– 111x green black white marbled (Exclusive mailorder edition, hand numbered)
– 200x transparent green
– 100x black
– matte laquered 300gsm gatefold cover
– special vinyl mastering

https://www.facebook.com/The-Kings-Of-Frog-Island-123205451039992/
http://shop.bilocationrecords.com/index.php?a=56923&lang=eng

The Kings of Frog Island, “Long Live the King” official video

Embed for Watch it Grow

[Click play above to stream the premiere of ‘Watch it Grow’ from Church of the Cosmic Skull’s Is Satan Real?, out Sept. 16 on Bilocation Records.]

I don’t know how many people it takes to constitute a “church” by UK standards, but Nottingham’s Church of the Cosmic Skull most likely hit that standard. The newcomer band brings together seven players from different groups — guitarist/lead vocalist Bill Fisher was in Mammothwing, others come from Pilgrim Fathers, Hellset Orchestra, Iron Swan, Polymath, Club AC30, and so on — and together they take the band beyond clear aesthetic vision into a near-conceptual level of execution. That is, their mission is so firmly in their grasp, their control held so definitively throughout the seven songs/38 minutes of their Bilocation Records debut, Is Satan Real?, that it becomes easy to imagine the band took shape as an idea before anyone actually came on board.

Fisher is joined by vocalists Caroline Cawley and Jo Joyce, electric cellist/vocalist Amy Nicholson, bassist/vocalist Sam Lloyd, Hammond organist/vocalist Michael Wetherburn and drummer Loz Stone, and as one might expect, the album makes its primary impression in lush sounds. Deeply indebted to classic prog rock, it is immediately distinguished by its multi-part vocal harmonies and overall melodic flourish, working with an unabashed poppiness that some will no doubt attribute to Ghost, especially with the underlying Satanic theme of the title, but Church of the Cosmic Skull‘s heavy psychedelic clarity almost can’t help but be distinct, from the opening bounce of “Mountain Heart” through nine-minute progstravaganza closer “Evil in Your Eye.”

And if you’re thinking this might just be another British band with a cumbersome or otherwise silly name, I’d say each work in Church of the Cosmic Skull‘s moniker earns its place. “Cosmic” for the swirling psychedelic aspects of a cut like “Movements in the Sky,” “skull” for the darker aspects in “Black Slug,” minimalist centerpiece “Answers in Your Soul” and the almost Opethian prog (or, more likely, Magma) of the title-track, and “church” for the sense of reverence that emerges from the lush arrangements of vocals, keys and/or cello throughout “Mountain Heart,” album highlight “Watch it Grow” and the aforementioned closer, for how crisp the songs sound and how each manages to establish its own personality while also adding to the overall breadth of the whole work. Is Satan Real?, as a title, also evokes late-’60s cult interest, like Anton Lavey on the cover of Look magazine.

This all feeds into a comprehensive aesthetic ideal to which the band ascribes, “Mountain Heart” and “Black Slug” setting up a play back and forth between lighter and darker sounds while maintaining a steady thread through them of complexity and textured prog rock, the rolling riff of “Black Slug” coming about as close as they ever do to a doomed vibe. That threat does a lot of work in the subsequent tracks, as “Movements in the Sky” picks up with quiet guitar and organ and brings an underlying chug to a brief but effective three-and-a-half-minute linear build, the vibe has clearly switched back toward brighter fare, but the context has shifted, expanded, and that’s something Church of the Cosmic Skull continue to toy with as the album proceeds forward. After the lustrous finish of “Movements in the Sky,” “Answers in Your Soul” picks up with subdued acoustic guitar and Fisher‘s voice alone — a stark contrast to the rest of the record before and after, but obviously intended to be just that. The relative minimalism and still-on-point melody only further highlight just how broad the spectrum at play in Church of the Cosmic Skull‘s sound can be and can continue to become.

I suppose their potential going forward is a major appeal of this first outing, and for a first outing, that’s fair — it’s easy to be excited about a band starting what seems like it could be a fruitful creative progression — however, in the case of Is Satan Real?, that excitement shouldn’t be taken as a knock on the current accomplishment. As “Is Satan Real” serpentines through a winding prog structure, largely instrumental for the first three-plus of its total four minutes save for some whispers, then dives at 3:31 into organ-laced gospel verse, the sense of realization the band brings to their work already is palpable, and in its engagement and confidence, their material soars when it wants to soar, broods when it wants to brood, and in “Watch it Grow,” kind of engages all sides with a max-efficiency hook, gorgeous arrangement, heavy thud and fluid build. With a foundation of bass and drums, the band construct a landmark chorus and continue to add depth to it as they move forward, dedicating the second half of the song to pure revelry that provides an absolute standout moment leading into “Evil in Your Eye,” which answers back with the most complex structure on hand, keys emphasizing urgency early but the vocal chorus taking hold with next to no backing before the push resumes.

Near the halfway point, they shift into a more subdued psychedelic jam and loosen some of the structural reins for what feels like genuine exploration. Naturally, they bring it back to the chorus for a final build before they’re done, but it’s a welcome moment of play and speaks to the possibility of structural changes being as fluid as mood and vibe are all across the record. A quiet hidden track finds Fisher accompanied by piano — perhaps in answer to “Answers in Your Soul” — and once more underscores just how wide open Church of the Cosmic Skull have thrown the doors with this debut full-length. The fact that their range comes with a corresponding cohesion of sound and purpose makes Is Satan Real? even more impressive. Its shining moments blind and its darker moments pull downward, but it’s in being able to pull off both and craft such seamlessness between the two sides that the band truly begin to make their mark.

Church of the Cosmic Skull on Thee Facebooks

Church of the Cosmic Skull website

Church of the Cosmic Skull on Bandcamp

Church of the Cosmic Skull on Instagram

Church of the Cosmic Skull on Twitter

Bilocation Records webstore

Bilocation Records/Kozmik Artifactz on Thee Facebooks

 

Michigan four-piece Bison Machine recently welcomed new guitarist Casey O’Ryan into the fold. The Hamtramck natives released their debut LP, Hoarfrost (review here), earlier this year on Kozmik Artifactz, and have been basking in the warmth ever since. O’Ryan coming aboard alongside bassist Anthony Franchina, vocalist Tom Stec and drummer Breck Crandell is no minor change for such a riff-driven band, so it should be interesting to hear when they get around to whatever they wind up putting out next (an introductory 7″, maybe?) how the dynamic of the group has shifted or if fuzz still holds the day as firmly as on the first record.

Intrigue, intrigue. While you revisit Hoarfrost via the Bandcamp stream below and think it over, feel free as well to peruse the dates of Bison Machine‘s newly-announced Oct. tour with Grand Mammoth:

Bison Machine Fall Tour

Burning bright with lysergic energy Bison Machine’s Hoarfrost – the band’s debut album originally self-released to notable acclaim among the stoner rock community earlier this year – had an official release this July through Germany’s Kozmik Artifactz/Bilocation Records, Europe’s leading purveyor of heavy psych, blues and stoner rock.

Worshippers of volume, Bison Machine have gained a reputation for their frenzied, high velocity live shows, welding Graveyard and Pentagram influenced shuffles onto the back of 70s Motor City rock and 90s stoner grooves. If you’re a fan of pounding, colossal blues and heavy Zep-driven riffs then the Hamtramck four-piece’s gnarled and muscular guitar and vocal work on tracks like ‘Cosmic Ark’, ‘Gamekeeper’s Thumb’ and ‘Viking Hand’ will leave you floored, broken and bloodied.

Hoarfrost by Bison Machine was released on CD and limited, high performance 180g vinyl on 10th July via Kozmik Artifactz/Bilocation Records.

HARVEST MOON TOUR
w/ Bison Machine and Grand Mammoth
Oct 15th – Dayton, OH @Blind Bob’s
Oct 16th – Covington, KY @The Backstage (Bison Machine only)
Oct 16th – Indianapolis, IN @ Melody Inn (Grand Mammoth only)
Oct 17th – Fort Wayne, IN @ Skeletunes w/ Beast in the Field
Oct 18th – Chicago, IL @ Livewire w/ Dead Feathers
Oct 19th – Detroit, MI @Corktown Tavern

https://www.facebook.com/americanbison
https://bisonmachine.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/bisonmachine
http://shop.bilocationrecords.com/

Bison Machine, Hoarfrost (2015)

We’re getting closer to the July 10 release date for Michigan four-piece Bison Machine‘s debut LP for Kozmik Artifactz/Bilocation Records, Hoarfrost (review here). That album, initially a digital self-release, will get its first physical pressing from the German imprints — when will they finally join forces as Kozmik Location Records? — and the Hamtramck outfit have already been on the road to herald its coming; in May, they were out alongside New Yorkers Geezer for a run of shows on the Eastern Seaboard. Given that and the obvious drive to spread the word about what they’re doing, maybe a new video isn’t such a surprise, but it’s a welcome arrival anyway, as it gives more of a look at what Bison Machine are all about.

To that end: Guns, motorcycle riding through scenes of urban decay, antlers on drums, bone-handle hunting knives, wah pedals, weirdly opaque and murderous woodland rituals, fuzz and memorable songwriting. I mean, there’s probably more there, but between the live footage from Smalls in Detroit and the sort of atmospheric visuals set against it, the band present a sense of mood that’s perhaps severe next to the song “Viking Hand” itself, but not necessarily out of place. It gets awfully cold in Michigan, after all. Seems likely that one way or another somebody would wind up with a knife in their back after running into a shrouded tree-worshiper someplace deep in the forest. Oh, and did I mention antlers on drums? Because that’s particularly awesome.

Video is below for the in-digging. Hope you enjoy:

Bison Machine, “Viking Hand” official video

Stream and share the official video for ‘Viking Hand’ by Michigan’s Bison Machine | Debut album Hoarfrost released 10th July

Burning bright with lysergic energy Bison Machine’s Hoarfrost – the band’s debut album originally self-released to notable acclaim among the stoner rock community earlier this year – will get an official release this July through Germany’s Kozmik Artifactz/Bilocation Records, Europe’s leading purveyor of heavy psych, blues and stoner rock.

Worshippers of volume, Bison Machine have gained a reputation for their frenzied, high velocity live shows, welding Graveyard and Pentagram influenced shuffles onto the back of 70s Motor City rock and 90s stoner grooves. If you’re a fan of pounding, colossal blues and heavy Zep-driven riffs then the Hamtramck four-piece’s gnarled and muscular guitar and vocal work on tracks like ‘Cosmic Ark’, ‘Gamekeeper’s Thumb’ and ‘Viking Hand’ will leave you floored, broken and bloodied.

Hoarfrost by Bison Machine will be released on CD and limited, high performance 180g vinyl on 10th July via Kozmik Artifactz/Bilocation Records
Bison Machine:

John deVries – Guitar
Breck Crandell – Drums
Tom Stec – Vocals
Anthony Franchina – Bass

Bison Machine on Thee Facebooks

Kozmik Artifactz

Initially released by the Michigan outfit earlier this year to much hullabaloo, Bison Machine‘s full-length debut, Hoarfrost, has been tapped for a release through Kozmik Artifactz in July on CD and 180g vinyl. Not sure how that will mesh with the May 27 gig the band had slated as the release show as a part of their “Mind over Mountain” tour with NY blues rockers Geezer, but it’s their hometown show — Detroit, at Small’s — so they can do whatever the hell they want, regardless of whether or not the LPs are back from the plant. If you didn’t hear it, their “Gamekeeper’s Thumb” opened the latest podcast.

The official release date for Hoarfrost is July 10, as the PR wire informs:

Michigan’s BISON MACHINE announce debut release and US tour dates | Stream and share new song ‘Cosmic Ark’

Hoarfrost is out 10th July 2015 on Kozmik Artifactz/Bilocation

Burning bright with lysergic energy Bison Machine’s Hoarfrost – the band’s debut album originally self-released to notable acclaim among the stoner rock community earlier this year – will get an official release this July through Germany’s Kozmik Artifactz/Bilocation Records, Europe’s leading purveyor of heavy psych, blues and stoner rock.

Worshippers of volume, Bison Machine have gained a reputation for their frenzied, high velocity live shows, welding Graveyard and Pentagram influenced shuffles onto the back of 70s Motor City rock and 90s stoner grooves. If you’re a fan of pounding, colossal blues and heavy Zep-driven riffs then the Hamtramck four-piece’s gnarled and muscular guitar and vocal work on tracks like ‘Cosmic Ark’, ‘Gamekeeper’s Thumb’ and ‘Viking Hand’ will leave you floored, broken and bloodied.

Along with news of their official album release Bison Machine take to the road this month for a run of five dates alongside New York’s heavy bluesers Geezer as part of their Mind Over Mountain tour. (For full list of dates see below.)

Hoarfrost by Bison Machine will be released on CD and limited, high performance 180g vinyl on 10th July via Kozmik Artifactz/Bilocation Records.

Bison Machine/Geezer’s Mind Over Mountain Tour Dates:
Tues, 26/5 – 31st St Pub, Pittsburg (w. Sinister Haze)
Wed, 27/5 – Small’s, Detroit, Michigan (w. Wild Savages & SLO)
Thurs, 28/5 – Blind Bob’s, Dayton, Ohio (w. Grand Mammoth & Zuel)
Fri, 29/5 – The Living Room, Stroudsburg Pennsylvania (w. Wizard Eye)
Sat, 30/5 – Lucky 13 Saloon, Brooklyn, New York (w. The Golden Grass & Wolf Blood)

Bison Machine:
John deVries – Guitar
Breck Crandell – Drums
Tom Stec – Vocals
Anthony Franchina – Bass

https://www.facebook.com/americanbison
https://bisonmachine.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/bisonmachine
http://shop.bilocationrecords.com/

Bison Machine, Hoarfrost (2015)

Cool bands playing good shows, there’s nothing not to like about New York blues rockers Geezer heading out for a run of gigs alongside Michigan four-piece Bison Machine. The tour is five dates and it starts in Pittsburgh on May 26 with Sinister Haze on the bill, and wraps in Brooklyn on May 30 with The Golden Grass and Wolf Blood. Right on.

Geezer recently parted ways with bassist Freddy Villano and added Richie Touseull to the lineup, so they’ll no doubt be looking to continue to refine the new trio chemistry between Touseull, guitarist/vocalist Pat Harrington and drummer Chris Turco following a weekender April 24 and 25 alongside D.C. heavy rollers Borracho, who are also Geezer‘s compatriots in the first installment of Ripple Music‘s The Second Coming of Heavy series of splits. That’s out in June.

For Bison Machine, they’ll head out from their native Hamtramck (and why isn’t there a band called Hamtramck?), MI, to support their early 2015 release, Hoarfrost, which was put out by the band digitally in February but will be released in Spring on Bilocation Records. They’ll play the release show for the Bilocation vinyl as part of the tour, on May 27 at Small‘s in Detroit.

The always-on-point Pat Harrington shared the following info and super-stoner-rock-booby-lady show poster via the PR wire:

 

Geezer/Bison Machine Tour

We’re real excited about this upcoming excursion, which we dubbed the Mind Over Mountain Tour. Highlights include Bison Machine’s vinyl release party in Detroit and a killer lineup to close out the week with Wolf Blood and The Golden Grass at Lucky 13 Saloon in Brooklyn! All the bands along the way are sick, but we are especially jazzed about sharing the stage with Wizard Eye and Sinister Haze!

It’s the first proper tour (longer than a weekender) for both Bison Machine & Geezer. Geezer has been working out a bunch of new material since the arrival of our new bass player Richie Touseull and we’ll be taking this opportunity to try it all out live. We also will be playing songs from our upcoming split with Borracho, The Second Coming Of Heavy: Chapter One, which is slated for release in June through Ripple Music.

Please see the full listing of dates below and the attached Brooklyn show poster by Kim Zangrando (https://instagram.com/kimzang/).

Tuesday May 26th @ 31st St Pub, Pittsburg, PA w/ Sinister Haze & TBA
Wednesday May 27th @ Small’s, Detroit, MI w/ Wild Savages & SLO (Bison Machine: Hoarfrost vinyl release party)
Thursday May 28th @ Blind Bob’s, Dayton, OH w/ Grand Mammoth & Zuel
Friday May 29th @ The Living Room, Stroudsburg PA w/ Wizard Eye
Saturday May 30th @ Lucky 13 Saloon, Brooklyn, NY w/ The Golden Grass & Wolf Blood

https://www.facebook.com/geezerNY
https://geezertown.bandcamp.com/
http://stbrecords.bigcartel.com/
https://www.facebook.com/americanbison
http://bisonmachine.bandcamp.com/
http://bisonmachine.bigcartel.com/

Geezer, Live! FULL Tilt Boogie (2014)

Bison Machine, Hoarfrost (2015)

Led by “Minnesota” Pete Campbell, who now counts Pentagram on his already formidable resume alongside Place of Skulls, In~Graved, and the ever-volatile The Mighty Nimbus, the trio Buzzard have signed a deal to release their debut album on Bilocation Records. Titled Sonic Renaissance, the full-length will be out later this year via the German imprint on CD and vinyl. No specific date given yet, but sometime later this year.

As you can hear in “Let’s Get Gone” below, the band kind of runs a middle-ground between heavy rock and doom, but riffs is riffs as they say, and Buzzard‘s got riffs. The PR wire brought word of the Bilocation alliance:

BUZZARD (Minnesota) are signing with Bilocation Records.

Debut album release in 2015.

We are proud to announce that Minnesota’s riff-rockers BUZZARD signed with Bilocation Records for their upcoming debut ‘Sonic Renaissance’ on CD & limited vinyl.

BUZZARD is a down-tuned juggernaut of heavy riffs, groovy beats and a melodic low end. Fans of such bands as: Down, Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Queens of the Stone Age, Robin Trower, Mountain, Pentagram, Saint Vitus, Spirit Caravan, and Black Sabbath will find homage in Minnesota’s BUZZARD!

Formed in 2009, singer and guitar player Minnesota Pete Campbell (The Mighty Nimbus, Pentagram, Place of Skulls, Victor Griffin’s Ingraved, and Sixty Watt Shaman) and bass player Gene Starr (The New Suns) put this monster on hiatus until the fall of 2012 when Big Andy Campbell (The Mighty Nimbus) added his take on drum duties. Since then, the power trio has found their path and has been spreading the word playing shows & writing songs for their debut album, scheduled for release in early 2015. Leaving no stone unturned, BUZZARD will carry the torch of rock and roll and reintroduce metal fans to the power of the riff!

BUZZARD:
Pete Campbell – vocal & guitar
Andy Campbell – drums
Gene Starr – bass

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Buzzard, “Let’s Get Gone”