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.
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.
Posted in Features, Reviews on September 2nd, 2017 by JJ Koczan
09.02.17 – 00.30 – Friday night/Saturday morning – Sid’s house
First night of an inaugural edition of a festival. I couldn’t help but be affected by a kind of ambient level of anxiety in the room, though I’ll say as well that the hypercaffeination factor probably didn’t help in that regard. It was a cloudy day in Dublin with just a bit of a chill in the air and 10 bands on the bill, and before I put myself in the darkened recesses of the Voodoo Lounge for the evening, I sat at the coffee shop and could see the sundry black-t-shirt-clad weirdos who’d be attending the fest. They were easy enough to pick out.
The show got underway at 19.00 with Elder Druid on The Obelisk Stage, which even though I’m here and have seen it in-person still seems more than a little unreal, and was just about nonstop from there until Wild Rocket finished on the Mother Fuzzers Ball Stage after midnight, so there was plenty to see. I did the best I could with the back and forth and tried not to look like too much of an ass taking notes in between. Here are the results of that effort:
Elder Druid
Well, if you want to get things rolling, you might as well get someone that rolls, and Elder Druid have that part down. The Northern Irish sludgers weren’t heretofore unknown to me, having checked out their 2016 debut EP, Magicka (review here), and they broke out riff after sludgy riff for the early crowd filing in. It hardly seemed like a coincidence they were starting off the show. Although they’re from up north, like a lot of the representation Irish heavy would get throughout the night to follow, they were young and hungry, and looking to establish themselves as a force to the audience assembled. Aggro vocals over Southern-style riffs aren’t necessarily uncharted territory, but for a newer group, they worked quickly to find their momentum and held people in check for the duration, sounding full and mean through the Voodoo Lounge soundsystem with pro-shop lighting flashing behind them. They were angrier than a lot of the vibe would be for the rest of the night, but definitely drew people right into the thick of it with their set. They’re about to release their debut album, Carmina Satanae, on Oct. 6, and I hope I get to dig into it, because it was a fast half-hour from them to start the night.
Blaak Heat
Talk about a band who deserves more respect than they get. I suppose that’ll happen when your stuff is so head-spinningly complex, full of frenetic rhythmic changes, blinding turns, obscure Eastern-inflected scales and progressive melodies, but still. Playing as a five-piece and sharing three members with Abrahma in percussionist Sacha Viken, guitarist Nicolas Heller and bassist Guillaume Theoden — which left just guitarist/vocalist Thomas Bellier and drummer Mike Amster in the lineup from when I last saw them — they opened with “Sword of Hakim” and “Al-Andalus” from their new 7″ The Arabian Fuzz (review here) and proved once again how absolutely underrated they are and have been basically since they started. I had talked to them earlier in the day and Bellier said they had new stuff in the works, demos and whatnot (which I’d love to hear, though he doesn’t seem the type to send something unfinished, even just to check out), and while their 2016 full-length, Shifting Mirrors (review here), was the farthest they’d yet reached, the new single proves they’re still progressing, still pushing themselves, and I hope that will continue, because the results have never been anything less than stellar. They might be underrated, they might deserve more respect than they get, but clearly they’re chasing something within themselves sonically and that journey seems to thrive on the validation from the creativity that results from its undertaking.
Zlatanera
They were the first act upstairs on the Mother Fuzzers Ball Stage, and like much of what followed them in the smaller room, they played a more straightforward vibe and did well representing the native Irish scene. I hadn’t quite realized the shape the evening would take until I actually looked at the schedule, with international bands exclusively downstairs and Irish acts upstairs, but it made sense, and it was clear to see who the locals were once the double-guitar five-piece got going. As had Elder Druid, Zlatanera drew a good early crowd, and though I was kind of in and out for their set as I wanted to catch the end of Blaak Heat back downstairs — conflicts, conflicts, conflicts; back and forth is life at a festival — when I went back down I could still hear them from the back of the bigger room, so they were clearly doing something right. Light on frills, but their sound filled that upstairs room perfectly.
Abrahma
Parisian progressive heavy rockers Abrahma kept the theme — and the lineup — rolling from Blaak Heat. Viken moved behind the drum kit at the back of the deep downstairs stage, and Theoden and Heller switched sides from left to right as founding Abrahma guitarist/vocalist Sebastien Bismuth took the center spot. I’ve been fortunate enough to catch Abrahma live once before, in the Netherlands for Roadburn 2015 (review here), but neither Theoden nor Viken were in the band at that point, so it was half like seeing them for the first time anyway, even knowing how dynamic a frontman Bismuth is onstage. And he is. They said earlier this summer they’d be recording a new album this Fall as a follow-up to 2015’s Reflections in the Bowels of a Bird (review here), and I hope they get there, because they seemed to be pretty locked in when it came to their presentation, right down to a pleasant-as-hell-surprise cover of Type O Negative‘s “Red Water (Christmas Mourning)” from October Rust. Unexpected, to be sure, and twice as daring without keys, but Bismuth led the charge through a two-guitar interpretation, and it’s worth noting that even after the show that song continues to be stuck in my head, where I hope it will stay for, I don’t know, ever? In all seriousness, I’m very, very intrigued to hear where their new (original) material takes Abrahma. Reflections in the Bowels of a Bird added to much to their sound even compared to the preceding 2012 outing, Through the Dusty Paths of Our Lives (review here), that I can only wonder what the next step in that process will be. One to look forward to for 2018, at the very least.
Mount Soma
I was really hoping they’d be good, because I bought one of their shirts even before they started playing. Long story. Not really, but a boring story, so we’ll call it long and leave it at that. Being there to catch Mount Soma‘s mix of melodic and nasty heavy meant again trodding upstairs in my plodding-old-man kind of way, and again, when I got there, I found the native Dubliners, like Zlatanera before them, giving a right-on impression of Irish underground heavy. The scene representing itself to itself: here we are. Obviously I’m an outsider and no expert to start with, but the understanding I’ve come to is that while the UK has been in something of a boom the last decade or so, that’s kind of overshadowed what’s actually happening here in terms of outside bands coming to tour and native Irish acts garnering wider attention. Efforts like Emerald Haze, particularly backed by the county of Dublin as this event is, are crucial in making that happen, and I didn’t quite realize until I watched Mount Soma that while it’s great to see the international acts downstairs, perhaps even more attention has gone into curating the Irish groups playing here, because a huge part of the message of this festival is that Ireland’s scene is coming into its own, and while there’s still growing to do, the bands are clearly willing to take that responsibility on their shoulders. Mount Soma proved it with volume and force. No regrets on buying that shirt, to be sure.
The Cosmic Dead
The spaced-out Scots started late. Like, way late. Would you expect anything less of The Cosmic Dead than the bending of time? If so, then perhaps you’ve never heard them before, because that’s kind of what they do. Also, bending space. Also, melting brains. In any case, late start or no, once they got going, the Edinburgh four-piece freaked the royal fuck out — immediately and thoroughly. Killer. All the way. No doubter. Front to back. Green lights flashing. Synth blaring. Low end righteousness under wash of swirl. Melt. Melt. Melt. Space. Space. Space. Right frickin’ on. Like a frequency check for your consciousness. A litmus to see how much jam your brain could take before turning into powder. Every level, they were a lysergic win to behold, and while the running theme for the night was holy-crap-I-can’t-believe-I’m-lucky-enough-to-be-here-to-see-this, The Cosmic Dead only underscored the point that, holy crap, I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to be here to see this. I’d already purchased every CD they had for sale and though I didn’t have enough cash, by the time they were done — they had the lights turned out on them because they were running long (that late start coming back to bite them in the collective ass) — I wanted to go back out to the merch area and pick up a t-shirt too. There were times as they were dug in when each member seemed to be on his own out there, floating without gravity and purposefully so, but when they locked step, whoa. Chills up the spine. Hair standing on end. Pick your cliché and roll with it. Whatever you got, The Cosmic Dead earned it. When they were done, they hung their guitars and bass from the ceiling. Room: conquered.
King Witch
To the best of my knowledge, they were the only band on the Mother Fuzzers Ball Stage not from Ireland or Northern Ireland, but while they shared a hometown with The Cosmic Dead in Edinburgh, the four-piece King Witch, whose metallic roots came through clearly in the guitar work of Jamie Gilchrist and the vocals of Laura Donnelly, the straight-ahead groove anchored by bassist Joe Turner and drummer Lyle Brown fit them right in with the likes of Mount Soma and Zlatanera before them. Donnelly was, one should note, the evening’s only standalone frontwoman, and she provided melody and force in kind from the stage. They were going even as The Cosmic Dead were still setting up downstairs, so were easy to hear from the start, and while once more I was up and back down again and back up again, King Witch‘s doom-tinged approach was a welcome preface to some of what tomorrow’s even more extended lineup will bring.
Church of the Cosmic Skull
I have to admit, on paper it looks a little strange. Granted, it was one of 2016’s best debut albums, but still, UK seven-piece cult proggers Church of the Cosmic Skull only have one record out in the stellar Is Satan Real? (review here), so to find them headlining the bigger of the two stages could’ve been taken as something of a surprise. Until about 10 seconds in. I’d watched them soundcheck earlier in the day, and even that did little to prepare me for the righteousness of their presentation. Whether it was the interlude samples timed to videos between their songs or the harmonies between guitarist Bill Fisher, vocalists Caroline Cawley and Jo Joyce, bassist Sam Lloyd and Hammond organist Michael Wetherburn, or the brought-to-life memorability of cuts like “Mountain Heart,” set and album closer “Evil in Your Eye” or personal highlight “Watch it Grow,” they were nothing less than a celebration. A joy to witness. Really. Wetherburn‘s Hammond had been onstage all night, and when they finally broke it out, it was like Chekhov’s gun earning its place. Between that, the cello, and Fisher‘s rainbow guitar and stately manner as a chapeaued otherplanetary-cult leader waiting to take the whole venue away on some spaceship hidden behind a comet — pass that Kool-Aid, I’ll give it a shot, carbs or no — there was no place Church of the Cosmic Skull would have worked except at the top of the bill, and the room, which was the most packed it had been all night, knew it. I felt greedy for thinking to myself I hope I get to see them at some point again in my life, especially when they pulled out what I’m pretty sure was a new song during the middle of their time. They didn’t miss a cue in the harmony arrangements, but that did nothing to undercut their tonal presence or the push in Loz Stone‘s drumming, and as positive and affirming as they were, there was just enough evil underlying their work to be truly sinister. Right on.
Electric Octopus
In order to prepare myself for seeing Electric Octopus live, the other day I undertook the considerable task of listening to their 2017 offering, Driving Under the Influence of Jams, in its nearly-four-hour entirety. And well, I knew they’d jam. And they jammed. What I didn’t realize was that when I went upstairs to catch them in that, they’d be so funky that they literally had people dancing in front of the stage. Think you can funk out improvised space rock? Because Electric Octopus sure as hell can, and the Belfast-based trio of bassist Dale Hughes (who was pulling double-duty, having also played in Elder Druid at the start of the show), guitarist Tyrell Black and drummer Guy Hetherington were a party unto themselves. I’d say outside world be damned, but the truth is, they seemed to feed off the fun the crowd in front of them was having, and it became this awesome conversation, the band playing the music being danced to and then taking the energy from that dance and translating it back into the music. There was something classic and open about it, but still molten and psychedelic at the same time. Wild Rocket, who’d follow, were more directly galaxial in what they were doing, and ditto that for The Cosmic Dead earlier, but Electric Octopus had their own personality that came through in their play and in their chemistry, and while there was nary a hook to be had in their instrumental explorations, their energy was infectious all the same. I didn’t dance. I don’t dance. I didn’t dance at my wedding. I don’t dance. But I grooved and had a hell of a time doing so as Electric Octopus made me want to go back and download every single thing they’ve ever put out, which is convenient because it’s all name-your-price on Bandcamp. They also had three CDs for sale. I bought all three and I’ll rank them among the wiser purchases I’ve made since becoming unemployed this summer.
Wild Rocket
Okay, so first thing. If you haven’t heard Wild Rocket‘s new LP, Disassociation Mechanics, do that. In fact, you’ll note that of the 10 bands who played Emerald Haze 2017 tonight, they’re the only one I’m directly linking to on Bandcamp, and that’s not a coincidence. What a blast they were. Only fitting to have a Dublin outfit close out the evening, and Wild Rocket made sure everyone had a final chance to be launched well beyond the atmosphere. Even the dudes from The Cosmic Dead came upstairs and were throwing down at the front of the stage, and that seemed appropriate enough to the proceedings. Certainly well earned. I had seen them last year in Norway at Høstsabbat (review here), but with a little bit more of an idea of what I was getting this time around, it was a pleasure to watch them flatten the Mother Fuzzers Ball Stage and give the night the best kind finale it could’ve possibly asked for. How much further out could it go than to have Moose, Jon, Bres and Niallo trip so far there was no coming back? I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. Point is, go listen to that fucking Wild Rocket album. I mean it. The review’s pretty much over anyway. Only thing left to reiterate is how well the band did in giving the city of Dublin one more excellent showing of its own homegrown scene, because they were nothing if they weren’t world-class all the way, and unquestionably ready for export. Did you go listen to the record? Did you hear “Into the Black Hole?” Yeah. Good.
—
It’s well past 2AM as I finish writing this and there are still pictures to sort through and a full 15-band lineup for tomorrow, so I’m going to leave it there for the time being. I’ll have this posted hopefully before the day starts up again, but hell, it might be tight. We’ll see how it goes. Would you believe me if I said I was anxious about it? Thought so.
Thanks for reading. More to come and more pics after the jump here.
Can I be brutally honest for just a second here? Just a second — won’t take long. I’m not worthy.
I’m sorry. I’m just not. I look at the lineup that’s come together for the first Emerald Haze on Sept. 1 and 2 in Dublin, I see this site’s name on a stage that will be shared by the likes of The Cosmic Dead, Abrahma, Lord Vicar, Sólstafir, Iron Void, Blaak Heat, Church of the Cosmic Skull, Elder Druid, Gourd, WitchSorrow, Gorilla Pulp and Ten Ton Slug, and I have to just shake my head. I’ve done nothing to deserve to be so honored as to be associated with these people. Nothing. I didn’t earn this. I’m not worthy. Seeing a logo for The Obelisk on the posters below, I feel like I’m getting away with some kind of scam.
Again, I’m sorry, but that’s how I really feel about it. This show is so god damn sick. They need me as a part of it the way they need a hole in the head. If you had told me eight-plus years ago when I started this site (1:) that I’d still be doing it in eight-plus years and (2:) that I’d be co-presenting shows in places like Dublin, Ireland, I’d have immediately and rightly told you to screw off. There’s unbelievable and then there’s absurd, and from where I sit, this falls definitively into the realm of the latter.
My flight’s booked. If you’re going, I’ll see you there. Please let me know if you’d like me to tell you all of this in-person, because I am 100 percent ready and willing to do that at any point. What I can’t do is even begin to properly express how grateful I am to be involved in this.
Okay. That’s my piece.
Full schedule for Emerald Haze 2017 follows here:
Emerald Haze 2017 – Full Schedule
Friday, Sept. 1 Doors – 6.00
The Obelisk Stage 7.00–7.30 Elder Druid 7.45–8.15 Blaak Heat 8.30–9.00 Abrahma 9.15–10.00 The Cosmic Dead 10.30–11.20 Church of the Cosmic Skull
MFB Stage 8.00–8.30 Zlatanera 8.45–9.15 Mount Soma 9.30–10.10 King Witch 10.25-11.05 Electric Octopus 11.20–12.20 Wild Rocket
After Party DJs Til Late – On The Rox
Saturday, Sept. 2 Doors – 2.30
The Obelisk Stage 3.30 – 4.00 Gourd? 4.15 – 4.45 Ten Ton Slug? 5.00 – 5.45 Iron Void? 6.00 – 6.45 Witchsorrow? Break 7.20–8.00 Dread Sovereign 8.15–9.15 Lord Vicar 9.45–10.45 Sólstafir 11.00-11.40 Gorilla Pulp
After Party DJs Til Late – Voodoo Lounge
MFB Stage 3.45–4.15 Korvid 4.30–5.00 Vulpynes 5.15–5.45 Crowhammer 6.00–6.30 The Magnapinna 6.45–7.15 Death The Leveller Break 8.00–8.30 Mother Mooch 8.45–9.40 Nomadic Rituals
EMERALD HAZE takes place on Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd September 2017 over two adjacent venues – Smithfield’s Voodoo Lounge and On The Rox. Performers will be a mix of Irish and international headline acts, alongside established and emerging talent from Ireland and abroad. EMERALD HAZE is a not-for-profit venture, supported by Dublin City Council.
Posted in audiObelisk on August 9th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
As they make ready to embark on a European tour this week, Blaak Heat take nine minutes to massively expand their already significant aesthetic breadth by means of their upcoming single The Arabian Fuzz on Svart Records. Set for issue on Aug. 18 following an appearance at this weekend’s SonicBlast Moledo in Portugal but ahead of slots at Woolstock in the Netherlands and the Obelisk-co-presented Emerald Haze in Dublin on Sept. 1, the follow-up to the somewhat-nomadic and consistently-amorphous four-piece’s 2016 Tee Pee Records third album, Shifting Mirrors (review here), takes on more of a Middle Eastern flair than anything they’ve done before.
That’s not necessarily untrod ground for Blaak Heat, who since making their debut as Blaak Heat Shujaa with their 2010 self-titled (review here) and deep-diving into desert-hued psychedelia across the subsequent 2012 EP, The Storm Generation (review here), and 2013’s The Edge of an Era (review here) that followed have always had some of that minor-key meditative vibe. If accompanied at times by frenetically progressive rhythm-making, blinding turns and effects-laden explorations, this has been part of a modus of unrelenting willful sonic growth that has made Blaak Heat a standout among next-generation heavy psych outfits, and certainly The Arabian Fuzz continues that thread as guitarist/vocalist Thomas Bellier, guitarist Nicolas Heller, bassist Guillame Theoden and drummer Michael Amster bring in Jordanian ethnomusicologist Fareed Al-Madain to contribute guest vocals on the leadoff track “Marr El Kallam” (posted here), which is accompanied by the instrumental “Al-Andalus,” premiering below.
As noted, both cuts work to build on Blaak Heat‘s prior output in atmosphere and approach, and while that’s invariably going to come through most strikingly in “Marr El Kallam,” what with the track being the band’s first in Arabic and all, one can hear it in the tension created throughout “Al-Andalus” as well, the winding path of Bellier‘s guitar taking cues from his oud and the percussion in “Marr El Kallam” to transpose such complexity onto a more Western-feeling traditional rock arrangement of guitar, bass and drums. Both songs run just over four and a half minutes long and they share the atmospheric impression born of the Middle Eastern influence, but as Blaak Heat have since their outset, they make this influence their own and build a context of coexistence that reaches a new level of individualism in the shimmer and crash of “Al-Andalus” that’s as furious as anything they’ve done before and all the richer for the A-side it complements.
By now, one wouldn’t hazard a guess as to where Blaak Heat might go on a given outing of any type, be it a single, EP, LP or something else. Their sound has simply become too open with its jazzy precision, we-can-really-make-this-move-when-we-want-to sonic heft and landscape-building psychedelia, but they’ve proven over the course of this decade time and again that their commitment to an ongoing sonic progression is no fluke, and the safest bet is that whatever they’re up to next, it will be a considerable step forward from where they were previously. That’s a hell of a track record to keep up, but as The Arabian Fuzz demonstrates once again, Blaak Heat are ready to follow their creative path to anywhere and everywhere it might lead them.
More info and tour dates follow “Al-Andalus” below. Please enjoy:
Blaak Heat, “Al-Andalus” official audio premiere
BLAAK HEAT returns with an oriental heavy psych manifesto, THE ARABIAN FUZZ! The band fur thers its signature East meets West grooves by blending intricate Spanish guitars, surf rock, and Middle Eastern psych.
With Jordanian ethno-musicologist Fareed Al-Madain on vocals, MARR EL KALLAM is an homage to 1960s underground Turkish and Persian psychedelic pop. The climactic line of the song, “The shit who owns a weapon will kill”, as performed in Arabic by a US-French-Jordanian-Greek-Canadian lineup, rings ominously true in 2017 America. Along with the traditional lineup of guitars/bass/drums, BLAAK HEAT mastermind Thomas Bellier plays acoustic oud, and percussionist Peter Valsamis rounds up the band on doumbek.
AL-ANDALUS is a heavy surf rock explosion, a mind-blowing exploration into reverb fuzz wilderness led by astounding musicianship. It’s retro, yet futuristic – dig it!
The songs were recorded in Los Angeles by Jason Schimmel (of Secret Chiefs 3) and produced/mixed/mastered by Bellier.
THE ARABIAN FUZZ comes out via Svart Records on August 18, 2017. You can pre-order it here.
We have a number of festival & club dates for August & September 2017 – Come party, more TBA !
Aug 12 Sonic Blast Moledo – Moledo (PT) Aug 25 Woolstock Festival – Tilburg (NL) Aug 27 Blaak Heat DJ Set @ Le Glass – Paris (FR) Aug 30 The Black Heart – London (UK) Sept 1 Emerald Haze Fest – Dublin (IRL) Sept 2 Festival Arteficial – Ribadavia (ES) Sept 3 Filho Sarilho – Alcobaça (PT) Sept 4 Cine Incrivel – Lisbon (PT) Sept 5 Cave 45 – Porto (PT) Sept 6 Rock Beer The New – Santander (ES) Sept 8 Bucéphale – Draguignan (FR) Sept 9 Cheapstock Fest – Barcelona (ES) Sept 10 Supersonic – Paris (FR) Sept 11 Blaak Heat DJ set @ Pigalle Country Club – Paris (FR)
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 31st, 2017 by JJ Koczan
I hope you’ll pardon me if I step back from the precipice of yet another here’s-me-daydreaming-about-being-independently-wealthy-and-spending-my-days-countryhopping-from-one-awesome-European-fest-to-the-next post — I don’t even know how many there have been at this point; frickin’ countless; this isn’t even the first one today — to note instead that along with the more familiar names included in the lineup for Barcelona’s Cheapstock Vol. 4 like Libido Fuzz, Belzebong, Blaak Heat, Cachemira, Lewis and the Strange Magics, Abrahma and Witchthroat Serpent, there are a slew of others with whom I at least am less introduced. Eve, Udol, Paz, Mad Macius, Kamadeva, and so on — most of the bottom half of the bill is new to me, and I think that’s awesome. It’s my favorite kind of homework. More music to explore. Whether or not you can make it to the fest, I hope you’ll likewise take advantage of the checklist below.
Cheapstock Vol. 4 — including a bong giveaway and a Kyuss tribute for the aftershow — is put on by Solo Bongs Records and takes place Sept. 9 and 10 at Pineda de Mar in Barcelona, Spain. Doesn’t that sound nice? I think so.
Here’s all the info, including directions how to get there:
We are glad to announce the fourth edition of the Cheapstock festival, Cheapstock Vol4 is an outdoor festival for lovers of cosmic environments, heavy riffs and loud sounds. As new this year the festival will last two days and will feature camping for the 2-day pass.
We repeat site, in the football field of the foundation, this is the LINE UP for Cheapsock vol4:
Belzebong (Stoner, doom), first time in Spain! Only show! BLAAK HEAT (Psych, Progressive, Stoner) Witchthroat Serpent (DOOM) Libido Fuzz (Heavy Psych/ Stoner) ABRAHMA (Psychedelic/Atmospheric Heavy Doom Rock) Cachemira (70’S Retro Rock / heavy psych) MadMacius (Garage Punk) Lewis and the Strange Magics (Heavy Psych Occult) Nerobambola (experimental Jazz, math psychedellic duo) EVE (Progressive, psych-doom, Rapsodia) Electric Valley (Stoner) Kamadeva (Heavy Psych, Stoner) UDOL (Psych, Doom, Sludge) Paz (Doom)
Afterparty BASTARDS OF KYUSS (Kyuss Tribute)
Stands: Branca Studio Doom in aeternum Anskar Tattoo&Piercing +Tbc
Foodtrucks: El alma-zen de los montaditos. + TBC
Cheapstock does not disgust anyone or anything, so you will be able to attend being under age or accompanied with your pet (or with your faithful bong). As it’s tradition, we’ll giveaway a fucking bong!! Courtesy of maxupixu smokers.
Arrival: By Train, R1 Pineda de Mar, there will be a carrilet at the station that will take you directly to the festival compound and back. By Car, by c32 exit 122, until we reach nii and continue direction girona until the exit of the motorway By Bus, Pineda de mar train station and carrilet to the venue. For the most adventurous to say that there are about 25 minutes walking from the pineda de Mar station. BUS NIT: To get back to bcn at night you need to take the n82 by Solo Bongs Collaborate jäger music
It’s easy when you’re putting one of these things together to get locked into a headspace and all of a sudden everything you’re putting next to each other kind of sounds the same, kind of blurs together. I’m immensely pleased to say that’s not at all what happened this time around. The sounds throughout vary from heavy psych to rock to proggy jams to Blaak Heat who are on their own wavelength entirely to doom and space rock and so on. It flows though. I’m really happy with how it flows.
That includes the second hour, which has a couple different vibes as opposed to just the usual all-psych head-trip. Also, as you make your way through, keep in mind that a lot of this stuff is coming from debut albums. Moon Rats, Kabbalah, Eternal Black, Mindkult, The Raynbow, Bees Made Honey in the Vein Tree. Hell, Steak’s track is their second album, and Youngblood Supercult too, so yeah, there’s a lot of fresh stuff included from newer bands. I didn’t come into it with a plan at all. This is just how it worked out, which of course is more fun anyway.
As always, I hope you enjoy.
Track details follow:
First Hour:
0:00:00 Moon Rats, “Highway Lord” from Highway Lord
0:03:36 Youngblood Supercult, “The Hot Breath of God” from The Great American Death Rattle
0:07:31 Kabbalah, “Phantasmal Planetoid” from Spectral Ascent
0:12:11 Wretch, “The Wretch” from Bastards Born
0:20:25 Steak, “Creeper” from No God to Save
0:24:28 Eternal Black, “Stained Eyes on a Setting Sun” from Bleed the Days
0:31:44 Mindkult, “Howling Witch” from Lucifer’s Dream
0:36:51 Shooting Guns, “Flavour Country” from Flavour Country
0:45:04 Endless Boogie, “Vibe Killer” from Vibe Killer
0:53:22 Blaak Heat, “Marr El Kallam” from The Arabian Fuzz 7”
0:57:55 The Grand Astoria, “The Sleeper Awakes” from The Fuzz of Destiny
Second Hour:
1:02:45 Eggnogg, “Overture / Wild Goose Chase” from Rituals in Transfigured Time – Prologue
1:16:06 Elara, “Harmonia” from Deli Bal
1:31:41 Bees Made Honey in the Vein Tree, “Sail Away I” from Medicine
1:45:50 The Raynbow, “Changes” from The Cosmic Adventure
Transient heavy psych rockers Blaak Heat will release their new single, The Arabian Fuzz, Aug. 18 via Svart Records. It’s just two songs — one per side, of course — and they’re both only four and a half minutes long, but I feel like one would be hard-pressed to overstate just how far the release goes in expanding what was already the broad palette of Blaak Heat‘s sound. Now a four-piece led by founding guitarist/vocalist Thomas Bellier with Nicolas Heller on guitar, Guillame Theoden on bass and Michael Amster on drums, they follow last year’s Shifting Mirrors (review here) third full-length on Tee Pee Records by delving even further into the Middle Eastern influences that they’ve paired with desert rock tonality and groove since making their self-titled debut (review here) in 2010.
Simple truth of the matter is that from that point on, whether it was the EP The Storm Generation (review here) that marked their arrival on Tee Pee in 2012 or the subsequent 2013 long-player, The Edge of an Era (review here), Blaak Heat have never failed to engage in willful progression from release to release. Part of that has involved looking outside the band for guest contributions. On The Storm Generation, it was beat poet Ron Whitehead ranting away. On The Edge of an Era, Mario Lalli of Fatso Jetson made a landmark of a guest spot on the memorable “Pelham Blue.” Shifting Mirrors got away from that in terms of performers — one could argue that the band’s working with producer Matt Hyde would invariably result in an outside perspective influence of a different kind — but The Arabian Fuzz brings them together with Jordanian ethnomusicologist Fareed Al-Madain, who contributes Arabic-language vocals to the A-side of the 7″ on a song called “Marr El Kallam.”
The video below translates at least some of the lyrics he’s singing, and a social theme permeates, but I’m not sure exactly what the title would be in English. Doesn’t matter, ultimately. What’s more important on both “Marr El Kallam” and its accompanying organ-laced instrumental B-side “Al-Andalus” is that Blaak Heat are continuing to push themselves into new sonic territory, and in just a span of nine minutes, they offer something to their listeners/viewers they’ve never done before in a fashion that’s as bold as it is mature as it is confident of its own approach. There are very few bands in the US or European heavy psychedelic underground willing to take such chances, let alone see those chances so thoroughly pay off.
Blaak Heat have a host of festival appearances coming up, including SonicBlast Moledo in Portugal next month and a stop at the inaugural Emerald Haze festival — co-presented by The Obelisk — the first weekend in September. Dates, complete performing lineup on “Marr El Kallam” and other info can be found under the video below.
Please enjoy:
Blaak Heat feat. Fareed Al-Madain, “Marr El Kallam” official video
Fareed Al-Madain – Vocals Thomas Bellier – Oud, Guitars Michael Amster – Drums Guillaume Theoden – Bass Nicolas Heller – Guitars Peter Valsamis – Doumbek
Recorded at The Bunker LA (Los Angeles, CA) Engineered by Jason Schimmel Produced, mixed and mastered by Thomas Bellier
Cole Jenkins & Thomas Bihoré – Image Mathieu Baillargeon – Videography & Editing Produced by The Phantasma Company
THE ARABIAN FUZZ comes out via Svart Records on August 18, 2017. You can pre-order it here.
We have a number of festival & club dates for August & September 2017 – Come party, more TBA !
AUG 12 – Sonic Blast Moledo, Moledo (PT) AUG 25 – Woolstock Festival, Tilburg (NL) SEPT 1 – Emerald Haze Fest, Dublin (IRL) SEPT 2 – Festival Arteficial, Ribadavia (ES) SEPT 4 – Cine Incrivel, Lisbon (PT) SEPT 8 – Bucéphale, Draguignan (FR) SEPT 9 – Cheapstock Vol4, Barcelona (ES) SEPT 10 – Supersonic, Paris (FR)
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 3rd, 2017 by JJ Koczan
It says something about the adventurous nature of the inaugural Emerald Haze festival — set for Sept. 1-2 in Dublin, Ireland and co-presented by The Obelisk — that it will be headlined by Sólstafir and Church of the Cosmic Skull. The former, a genreless Icelandic outfit, specialize in a highly individualized brand of melodic melancholia. The latter are an almost brand new UK outfit whose debut, Is Satan Real? (review here), came out last year and was rife with proggy flourish in keys and vocal arrangements. Both are legit choices, but neither is quite what you’d expect for a festival centered around heavy psych and rock, and as someone fortunate enough to be involved in the fest in the tiny, infinitesimally small fashion I am and who will also be fortunate enough to be there to cover it, I appreciate that unexpected nature of the goings on.
And as I’m pretty sure I’ve said in every single post about Emerald Haze 2017, I’m really, really looking forward to it.
Here’s the breakdown, courtesy of the fest:
EMERALD HAZE ANNOUNCE DAILY LINE-UPS
EMERALD HAZE, Dublin’s brand new heavy psych festival has announced the daily line-ups for the inaugural edition which takes place on Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd September.
Friday will see main stage headliners Church of the Cosmic Skull joined by The Cosmic Dead, Wild Rocket, Abrahma, Blaak Heat, Electric Octopus, Elder Druid, King Witch, Mount Soma and Zlatanera while Saturday sees Sólstafir, Belzebong, Lord Vicar, Dread Sovereign, Bad Boat, Nomadic Rituals, Gorilla Pulp, WitchSorrow, Electric Taurus, Ten Ton Slug, Iron Void, Mother Mooch, Death the Leveller, The Magnapinna, Vulpynes, Gourd and Korvid across two stages in Voodoo Lounge and On The Rox.
EMERALD HAZE takes place on Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd September 2017 over two adjacent venues – Smithfield’s Voodoo Lounge and On The Rox. Performers will be a mix of Irish and international headline acts, alongside established and emerging talent from Ireland and abroad. EMERALD HAZE is a not-for-profit venture, supported by Dublin City Council.
