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Blaak Heat Reissuing Self-Titled Debut; Premiere Bonus Track “Montaña de Oro”

Posted in audiObelisk, Whathaveyou on October 13th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

blaak heat shujaa 2010 (Photo by Magda Wosinska)

Blaak Heat will reissue their 2010 self-titled debut (review here) through Psychedelic Salad Records on Oct. 20. I’ll admit it’s a little strange to go back and listen to the Scott Reeder-produced first full-length from the then-Parisian progressive desert rock outfit, knowing not only that they’d go on to change their name from Blaak Heat Shujaa to just Blaak Heat, and that guitarist/vocalist Thomas Bellier would change out multiple lineups before putting the band on hiatus in 2018, but also just how expansive they’d become over the course of subsequent releases. Blaak Heat Shujaa‘s Blaak Heat Shujaa, a decade later, can’t help but feel like a portent of things to come and how their work would evolve over subsequent years, touring, and so on, but it’s also a reminder of how much was already there in the sound.

The Eastern-inflected lead work of Bellier and the mellow vocal delivery of “High on Altitude” or the quick fuzzy turns of “The Brown Buffalo” would go on to become a deeply nuanced approach by the time the band got around to 2013’s The Edge of an Era (review here) and 2016’s Shifting Mirrors (review here), but the nascent, sometimes jammy spirit of the self-titled remained a foundation from which they would continue to explore outward. The Morricone-tinged “Montaña de Oro” — presaging some of the collaboration Bellier would go on to do with Western desert obsessives Spindrift — was recorded as a demo in the same era as the self-titled itself, with the 2010 lineup of the band (seen above) of Bellier, bassist Antoine Morel-Vulliez, and drummer Timothée Gacon. It’s instrumental, but the galloping acoustic and plucked lead notes make the point just the same, and in a quick three minutes, Blaak Heat Shujaa remind of the potential they’d go on to fulfill during their time. It feels refreshing in a way to go back to the start.

Bellier has an album out this year with his new outfit Al-Qasar, specifically highlighting the Middle Eastern influences that informed Blaak Heat‘s take on desert rock, and though “Montaña de Oro” is a departure somewhat from that sphere, it nonetheless represents the intersection of ideas and cultural elements that the band explored so well during their time.

PR wire info follows. Please enjoy:

Preorder: http://www.psychedelic-salad.com/product/blaak-heat-shujaa/
European/UK Preorder: https://europe.psychedelic-salad.com/product/blaak-heat-shujaa/

Psychedelic Salad Records brings us the 10-year anniversary, double LP gatefold re-release of Blaak Heat Shujaa’s eponymous debut album, which first came out in October 2010. Remastered, this first ever vinyl pressing of the album also contains “Montan?a de Oro”, an exclusive lost demo tape from the same era!

The album was recorded and produced by Scott Reeder (of Kyuss fame) at The Sanctuary, a ranch nestled in the hills at the edge of the Mojave desert. The recordings musically capture the distance traveled by a then all-French lineup, from Paris to the epic valleys of the high desert, with prior stops in the Los Angeles region.

Blaak Heat Shujaa later shortened its name to “Blaak Heat” and went on to release two more albums, one EP, and one 7″ on the likes of NYC’s Tee Pee Records and Finland’s Svart Records. With a rotating cast of French and American musicians, the band toured Europe and America before going on a partial hiatus in 2018. Blaak Heat members have played or are currently active with Nebula, Mondo Generator, Spindrift, and Al-Qasar.

Out 20 October 2020 on Psychedelic Salad Records.

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