Hey alright, here’s some feel-good news for your feel-terrible everything else. Journeymen heavy psych progressives Black Lung, from Baltimore, have signed to Magnetic Eye Records for the release of their next record. Good fit. The band were previously on Heavy Psych Sounds, and they’ve issued through Ripple Music, Noisolution and Grimoire Records as well, so if they’ve got a Bingo card, safe to say it’s probably full by now. Nonetheless, I maintain: good fit.

I was lucky enough to see the band — who were a four-piece for a hot minute there, unless I’m mistaken? — last December in Brooklyn (review here), and having followed their development over the course of the last decade, to finally have occasion to see them bring their songs to life was a treat, existentially, that surely anyone who’s ever seen a band they like kill it onstage can relate to. I look forward to the next one, and the same applies to the album that will mark their Magnetic Eye label debut, which will apparently see release sometime in 2026.

To the future, then:

BLACK LUNG sign with Magnetic Eye Records

American heavy psych rockers BLACK LUNG have signed a multi-album contract with Magnetic Eye Records. The four-piece (with rotating musicians on bass) hails from Baltimore, Maryland and comes with a strong European following. Their upcoming fifth full-length will be released via the label in 2026.

BLACK LUNG have already been announced as one of the headliners at the Subscape Festival in Baltimore, MD to perform on three consecutive days this October. Please see below for all currently confirmed shows.

BLACK LUNG comment: “We are thrilled to join the Magnetic Eye family alongside many bands we already know and respect”, vocalist and guitarist David Cavalier writes on behalf of the band. “The label has been on our radar for awhile, as we’ve watched their importance in the heavy music scene grow over the years. But it was last year when we toured with Howling Giant, who really sang the label’s praises on a personal level, that we decided to propose a partnership. The next album is near and dear to our hearts, and has been ripped screaming from our souls. We trust in Magnetic Eye to do it justice with their release.”

Jadd Shickler adds: “Earlier this year, a trusted colleague mentioned that Black Lung might be looking for a new record label to call home”, the Magnetic Eye director recalls. “I thought for a moment, checked the downloaded tracks on my iTunes, and confirmed that I’d been carrying their song ‘Voices’ around for six years through multiple phone upgrades. It was firmly residing on one of my melancholy heavy playlists, fitting perfectly next to songs from YOB, Mark Lanegan, Torche and ISIS, among others. So, Black Lung is ready for a new label? Well, we’re ready for them too! And I can hardly wait to reveal their amazing new record to the world in 2026.”

Line-up
David Cavalier – vocals, guitar
Dave Fullerton – guitar
Elias Schutzman – drums, keyboard, vocals

https://blacklungbaltimore.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/blacklungband/
https://www.facebook.com/blacklungbaltimore

http://store.merhq.com
http://magneticeyerecords.com/
https://www.instagram.com/magneticeyerecords/
https://www.facebook.com/MagneticEyeRecords

Black Lung, Dark Waves

Before Show

Hey, who wants to talk about the weather? I do. It’s fuggin’ cold. End of conversation.

Live on the scene! Sitting in the car. 43 years old.

Unless my plans change, this will be the last show I attend in 2024, and it’s one I arrive at (existentially at least) with some urgency. Mars Red Sky and Howling Giant were on tour together this past summer — this site co-presented the run — but the East Coast portion of the run got delayed and pushed to December. They started last night in Baltimore, I think, and thereby picked up Black Lung, also playing tonight.

But the reason behind the urgency is two albums: Mars Red Sky’s Dawn of the Dusk (review here) and Howling Giant’s Glass Future (review here). Both were among my favorite releases of 2023, and I mention that not just to drop the link like whoops could you click that thanks, but also to emphasize that now’s the time. Now’s the time to see these bands for these records that, seriously, I had on last week apropos of nothing. Just for enjoyment. I want to see these bands playing this material now. So I’m here.

And not to leave them out, Black Lung only didn’t factor in from the start because they were added later. Their last album, Dark Waves (review here), came out on Heavy Psych Sounds in 2022 and was a big step in their progression and a first with a new lineup. They’re the only band on this bill I’ve never seen. They factor.

This will be my first time at TV Eye — which I’ve already learned today is about as far from my house as Philadelphia, if we’re counting by time in the car; circa two and a half hours — but I’ve been curious to see it and the occasion is right. I’ll go inside in a bit, and break it down by band from there, looking like an asshole all the while as I type on my phone.

—

Black Lung

Haven’t they always had a progressive streak, and a bluesy streak, a thrashy riff here and there? Maybe, but this was the first time Black Lung took all that, rolled it into a ball of heavy darkpsych groove and threw it in the general direction of my head. Turns out I’d been looking forward to seeing them even more than I thought, not the least for the soul. On my head they’re a newish band, but the reality of them on stage — and actual time — says otherwise, even if this was a partially-remade lineup. Like their records, they were both emotionally demonstrative and Elias Schutzman is a master heavy drummer. They plugged an album to come next year and played a fair amount of new material, including the finale “Traveler,” of due breadth and movement. Maybe they’re shifting toward a darker, heavier kind of prog? Then “Traveler” brings out sun. So this is Black Lung. They are more their own thing now in my mind than they’ve ever been. It makes more sense in color, somehow. Note to future self to sit with that record when the time comes.

Howling Giant

What glee. I might’ve been the last one in the room to see Howling Giant this album cycle — they were in Brooklyn earlier this year with The Obsessed and Gozu; I had some valid excuse beyond stoned laziness — as they for sure were a known quantity in the room. And my goodness, they were electrifying. They launched with “Siren Song” and “Hawk in a Hurricane” one into the next, and that was super-fun and my neck will be sore tomorrow. They had some of what guitarist/vocalist Tom Polzine — who nails both guitar face and power stance because he does it from the heart, dammit — called ‘adventure’ in Sebastian Baltes’ bass cutting out and breaking a guitar string, but Baltes and drummer/backing vocalist Zach Wheeler hold down a duo low end stoner jam for just a gosh darn minute while Polzine went to grab a different guitar and the bass came back on quick both times, so there was no sense of tragedy about it. I really, really wanted to see Howling Giant, and they delivered more than I’d hoped for. “Glass Future” and “Sunken City” closed, and between, they played their newly-reissued-for-its-10th-anniversary debut EP in full — “Camel Crusher” still lands — and “Comet Rider” besides. They were a blast and there was still another band I really like playing after them. Why don’t I do this every day?

Mars Red Sky

Speaking of adventure. It was a definite shift in vibe to go from Howling Giant tearing into “Sunken City” to Mars Red Sky’s “Slow Attack,” which lives up to the billing of its title, but 30 seconds later, the Bordeaux trio had both leveled and melted the room, and atmosphere was not in short supply. With the night indeed was three-for-three on killer drummers, with MatGaz making the massive to tone of guitarist/vocalist Julien Pras and bassist/vocalist Jimmy Kinast — the two shared vocal duties much more than last time I saw them, and it worked well, most notably on “The Final Round” from Dawn of the Dusk, and even MatGaz had a mic for parts of “Apex III” — move, whether it was a roll or a turn to something more angular. “The Light Beyond” from 2014’s Stranded in Arcadia (discussed here, review here) was a highlight, as was “Maps of Inferno” with Pras doing his own vocal interpretation of the verses Helen Ferguson aka Queen of the Meadow sings on the record, and when they capped the set with “Strong Reflection” from their 2011 self-titled debut (review here, discussed here) there was just about nothing else I’d have asked of the night except perhaps the proverbial “one more song.” No encore. I think another show was rolling in after, so fair enough. I had two people come up to me and tell me I introduced them to the band. That was really nice to hear. I was just happy to see them since it had been so long, and as they hit into “Strong Reflection” I couldn’t help but remember that The Patient Mrs. saw them before I did (review here) in 2012. That made me smile. So did the entire set.

—

The satnav took me back across Manhattan from the Midtown Tunnel. It seemed like a trap, and it was. I sat for an hour trying to get out of town via the Lincoln. No clue what was going on at the Holland or up at the Bridge. I just sat there, drank some water that I brought with me, and waited. It was not as relaxing as it sounds, but I don’t regret having carted myself to Brooklyn for this one. Now I’ve been to TV Eye — aesthetic is new American old-timey; it’ll wear in; the sound is great and the lighting isn’t exclusively terrible — and I knew this show was something I needed to see. I’ll continue to be glad I did.

Thanks for reading. More pics after the jump.

Read more »

I was lucky enough to attend the April 2023 edition of the Baltimorean all-dayer Grim Reefer Fest (review here), which featured Bongzilla as headliners and the likes of Sun Voyager and Holy Fingers, among others. Returning from last year’s bill for 2024 are Haze Mage, who are involved in organizing the fest — fair’s fair — and that’s it so far, though there are still two bands TBA, which tells me there’s probably a tour waiting to be announced or something like that. Sometimes it’s logistics as much as teasing with these lineup reveals.

But with the undebatable Weedeater in the top spot for 2024 backed by the atmospheric heavy rock of Black Lung, Yatra‘s we’re-the-death-metal-band-the-heavyheads-like extremity and Leather Lung‘s sludge metal party, along with High Leaf coming down from Philly, Foehammer up from VA and Bleak Shore, who just played their first show this past December, the day seems pretty packed even before you get to the two TBAs. It’ll be a fun one if you’re in the neighborhood on April 27, which you might consider being.

The announcement came down the PR wire thusly:

This April we return to the legendary Ottobar in Baltimore on Saturday April 27th for our 5th annual fest, bringing a very full day of the dankest & heaviest riffs around!

This year’s lineup includes:
Weedeater
Black Lung
Haze Mage
Yatra
Leather Lung
High Leaf
Foehammer
Bleak Shore

Plus we’ve got a couple more to still announce! Stay tuned!

Once again, the amazing Golden Grillz food truck will be parked outside all day and night to take care of all of your munchie needs!

Tickets are now available here: https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/62386586

Early birds get your tickets now! Prices for tickets go up after March 1st!
More details at GrimReeferFest.com

Poster by John DeCampos aka @ghost_bat_

Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/4LgCZ1iCo

https://www.facebook.com/GrimReeferFest
https://www.instagram.com/grimreeferfest/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3BL9lkMWbIC2qaqWZ4LH8g
https://www.grimreeferfest.com/

Sun Voyager, Live at Grim Reefer Fest 2023

Two bands left to announce, huh? Well, having been in Baltimore earlier this month to see them, Holy Fingers would sure as shit be a welcome addition to this bill, and if Heavy Temple are back from Europe by then (and I’m not sure they will be), they’d be my other pick, though certainly Heavy Psych Sounds wouldn’t be out of line to tap either Ecstatic Vision or Ruby the Hatchet for those spots, again pending their availability.

Whoever remains to be added, it’s already a pretty sick bill for Heavy Psych Sounds Fest 2023 in New York and Baltimore. Bongzilla‘s new record will be out by then, The Golden Grass put out a banger this year, that Gozu album is a beast, so yeah, toss in Lüger from Montreal and The Atomic Bitchwax who are always welcome, add even more cool bands, and it’s a Heavy Psych Sounds Fest. At the Saint Vitus Bar. I remember a time when nobody went to heavy rock shows in New York. Not a label from Italy is hosting a festival in Brooklyn. Time is very, very weird.

I’m gonna say that’s enough since you probably stopped reading anyhow, skimmed the lineup and clicked off, either to buy tickets or elsewhere. Safe travels, either way.

From the PR wire:

Heavy Psych Sounds Fest New York & Baltimore to take place on November 10-11th with Bongzilla, The Atomic Bitchwax and more; tickets on sale

In cooperation with Saint Vitus Bar and Savage Party, Heavy Psych Sounds Records take over the East Coast with the first edition of Heavy Psych Sounds Fest New York & Baltimore, to take place respectively at Saint Vitus Bar and Metro Gallery on November 10-11th, 2023. Ten bands are already confirmed, don’t wait to get your tickets!

“We are stoked to organize one of our HPS Fests on the US East Coast for the very first time! After conquering the West Coast in March, we are ready to rock the East Coast too!” says Rajko Dolhar from Heavy Psych Sounds.

Heavy Psych Sounds Fest New York 2023
Saint Vitus Bar – 1120 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222
BUY TICKETS

Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Baltimore 2023
Metro Gallery – 1700 N Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21201
BUY TICKETS

With BONGZILLA
THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX
HIGH REEPER
THE GOLDEN GRASS
GEEZER
BLACK LUNG
WITCHPIT
COSMIC REAPER
GOZU
LÜGER
+ two more bands TBA

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

The Atomic Bitchwax, Live at Freak Valley 2022

Based in Seelbach, Germany, the Hoflärm Festival will host its fifth edition this August, as seemingly every weekend of Europe’s Spring and Summer fest season seems to increasingly have something going on somewhere at sometime. A glut of cool events is nothing to complain about for anyone who remembers a couple years back when there was nothing — which, as much as one tries to repress those particular memories, I still do — and the lineup here is right on in terms of vibe with Acid King, Mars Red Sky, Messa and Elephant Tree so far at the top of the bill with Rotor, Swan Valley Heights, Mondo Generator, Grin, Black Lung, Eremit, Madmess, Old Horn Tooth and Kvinna rounding out and a few black boxes on the poster like the rest of the lineup has been redacted for the purposes of protecting classified information.

And I won’t argue with Hoflärm adding another six or seven bands, but, I mean, this is already pretty killer on first blush. You’ll note this takes place over three days, so spreading the 20 bands out over that long, it seems like a pretty laid back kind of deal — at least until Mondo Generator starts ripping into Kyuss tunes, but that’s fun too — and not necessarily as overwhelming as some multi-stage fests in Europe and elsewhere. This is the five-year anniversary of the fest, and to see Acid King and Mars Red Sky alone, it’s already got me daydreaming, so I take that as a win.

Details follow as per Hoflärm‘s socials:

Hoflärm – 5th Anniversary – GO FOR THE RIDE

Join us this year for the 5th stony ride to Hoflärm 2023! We are very happy to announce the first bands of the line-up today! We also announce the start of the presale for 05.02.2023 at 5 pm!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hoflarm-2023-tickets-532032201637

Started in 1993, we are more than proud to welcome Acid King! The band around Lori S. looks back on 30 years of band history and will bring their new Album to Marienthal in August.

Mars Red Sky and Elephant Tree will drive you into the sunset with their all time classics like Strong Reflection or Wither! We’re already feeling the vibe around the yard!

A very special highlight we are looking forward to is Messa. The Italian doom band combines the raw and rough sides of doom with the warm summer evenings of the Hoflärm.

Just last year, stoner legend Nick Oliveri visited us with his band Stöner. Nick liked it and had reason enough to come knocking on our door again in 2023. We are looking forward to Mondo Generator, Mr. Oliveri!

We also have visitors from Berlin again, on the one hand we are happy to welcome Rotor, our tractors are running at Vollast! But on the other hand also Grin! We can’t imagine a Hoflärm without Jan, Sabine and Andre! In 2021 the three played with Earth Ship, in 2022 with Slowshine. This year, however, only Sabine and Jan will be on stage, Andre will mingle with the audience while Grin plays their crushing riffs.

Black Lung and Madmess will bring you through our hot afternoons with their heavy psych rock!

Doom over Marienthal: Eremit and Old Horn Tooth will be blasting the darkest riffs into your ears! Live Slow Die Old!

Last but not least, we are happy to welcome 2 bands that have played at the Hof in the past! Swan Valley Heights and Kvinna! Kvinna was the band that opened the first Hoflärm, who of you was there and can remember?

Stay tuned for even more announcements! We have more Bands, as well another Headliner & Co Headliner to announce!

Event page: https://facebook.com/events/s/hoflarm-2023-5th-anniversary/583432620099196/

https://www.facebook.com/Hofcafe.Hoflaerm
https://instagram.com/hoflaerm/
https://www.hoflaerm.de/

Mars Red Sky, “Strong Reflection” official video

The below update from the 2023 Krach am Bach Festival was posted with the emoji penguins, and hell’s bells, I’m leaving them there. Why would I take them out? Sometimes bands, labels, etc., go over the top and there’s 75 horns-ups or black hearts or whatever else. Not Krach am Bach. Three penguins on each side of their headline, and that’s it. They keep it classy, and I’ll say that mentality extends to the fest’s lineup as posted as well. Joining the ranks of the previously announced Russian Circles, Temple Fang, Slift, Zement, Elephant Tree, Glasgow Coma Scale and Slomosa are the five listed above: Elder, Minami Deutsch, Black Lung, Psychlona and Baron Crâne, and, well, if that doesn’t say “VIBE” to you with six-penguin clarity, I’m not sure what to tell you. I hear it comes in waves, and this is one worth surfing.

I guess class is one of those things that happens when you put on a festival 28 times. Wouldn’t know personally, but that class extends to having donated some 27,000 Euros to various organizations in Germany of funds collected in 2022, and that’s perhaps even more badass than the 2023 lineup below, which it should be noted isn’t finished. I’ve never really written about Krach am Bach before — nothing personal, I’m just only one person and they seem to have done fine without my blah blah — but looking back at their lineup history, I probably should have. And if you happen to be in Beelen come August, it seems like the kind of place you’d probably be welcome even as a stranger. Again, “VIBE.”

So vibe on it:

Krach am Bach 2023 – 04 + 05 August 2023

Beelen, Hörster 7

(#128039#)(#128039#)(#128039#) It Comes In Waves (#128039#)(#128039#)(#128039#)

Hot news for the 28. Krach am Bach Festival

Newly included:

Elder [US | Progressive Stoner]
Minami Deutsch [JP | Herb/ Psyche]
BLACK LUNG [US | Doom/ Fuzz]
Psychlona [GB | Stoner]
Baron Crâne [FR | Heavy Psychedelic]

… and who else is like this?

Russian Circles [US | Post Rock/ Metal]
Elephant Tree [UK | Psych/ Doom]
SLIFT [FR | Space/ Stoner]
Slomosa [NO / Desert Rock]
Glasgow Coma Scale [GER / Post Rock]
Temple Fang [NL / Psychedelic]
Zement [DE / HERB]

Tickets: https://shop.paylogic.com/3a7c6c2b810e424fb99f31ba88d14927/

Event: https://fb.me/e/2nDQTPftp

Thank you for the amazing artwork by Missfelidae Illustration

https://www.facebook.com/krachambach
https://instagram.com/krachambach
https://krachambach.de/

Elder, Innate Passage (2022)

It’s a big ‘un. And if you’re like me, there are a couple names that stick out from the poster below, particularly Earthride and The Skull. Both are tribute sets, of course. The Skull frontman Eric Wagner passed away in 2021 after complications from a covid-19 infection and the loss of Earthride‘s Dave Sherman just a couple months ago continues to be keenly felt in and beyond the confines of the scene he called home. Karl Agell (ex-C.O.C.) will step in for The Skull, while Scott Angelacos of Hollow Leg is set to front a rotating cast of players for Earthride. You would be hard-pressed to find a more fitting occasion for honoring one’s own, except perhaps this gig in a couple weeks.

Plenty of familiar, returning acts as well as newcomers. Hippie Death Cult and will travel from the Pacific Northwest, Switchblade Jesus and Doomstress make an appearance (not the first for either) from Texas, and Red Mesa come straight out of the capital-‘desert’ Desert. Meanwhile, Faith in Jane, Black Lung, Bloodshot, Mangog, Mythosphere, Thonian Horde, Spiral Grave and plenty of others represent the Maryland home team, High Leaf and Thunderbird Divine trip down from Philly, Curse the Son (CT) and Guhts (NY) come from farther north, Hollow Leg make the trip out from Florida, and Lo-Pan, Doctor Smoke and Brimstone Coven head over from the Midwest. That’s just off the top of my head. I’m not sure there’s ever been a MDDF pulling so many bands from different parts of the country, though of course international bands have featured in the past as well.

There are always some shakeup between the first announcement and the final lineup, but so far so good here. Any way it works out, Maryland Doom Fest has nothing to prove at this point. Guaranteed banger.

Here’s the poster (oy) and the lineup, the latter in alphabetical order:

Maryland Doom Fest 2023

June 22-25 – Frederick, MD

We are proud to present to you The Maryland DooM Fest 2023 lineup roster and 2023 promotional art!!!!

We showcase over 50 kickass bands bringing you heavy riffs over these #4daysofdoom!!

The centerpiece art was created by Joshua Adam Hart (Earthride, Unorthodox, Revelation, Chowder, Stout, to name a few).

Josh is a career tattoo artist and is currently scheduling appointments at Triple Crown Towson Tattoo. Schedule to get ink from him at info@triplecrowntowson.com

The incredible flyer layout, coloring, and design is by our very talented Bill Kole (make sure to check out his band Ol’ Time Moonshine)!!

Above the Treachery, Akris, Black Lung, Bloodshot, Bonded by Darkness, Borracho, Brimstone Coven, Cobra Whip, Conclave, Crowhunter, Curse the Son, DeathCAVE, Doctor Smoke, Doomstress, Double Planet, Dust Prophet, Earthride, Faith in Jane, False Gods, Flummox, Fox 45, Future Projektor, Gallowglas, Grim Reefer, Guhts, Helgamite, High Leaf, Hippie Death Cult, Hog, Hollow Leg, Hot Ram, Las Cruces, Leather Lung, Lo-Pan, Mangog, Mythosphere, Orodruin, Red Mesa, Severed Satellites, Shadow Witch, Smoke the Light, Spiral Grave, Switchblade Jesus, The Skull, Thonian Horde, Thousand Vision Mist, Thunderbird Divine, Unity Reggae, VRSA, Weed Coughin, Wizzerd

https://www.facebook.com/MdDoomFest/
www.marylanddoomfest.com

Lo-Pan, “Ascension Day” live at Maryland Doom Fest 2019

Well, in the aftermath of reviewing 100 albums over the span of 10 days, there was just about no way I wouldn’t have enough to fill out a Gimme Metal playlist, and hey guess what? I was only like six days late turning it in! At least the playlist. Voice tracks I think I cut on Tuesday. I honestly have no idea.

But in any case, it didn’t feel as late as last time because it wasn’t, and I’m glad to be featuring a smattering of some of what stood out to me from the finished-today QR, plus a new Dreadnought track that I got excited about because the album announcement came in while I was putting the playlist together and I couldn’t not include it. Probably won’t be the last time.

But if you see/hear/want to dig more on any of this stuff, you can either look for the review or just tap and Google that shit. I think there were maybe two (maybe) bands who weren’t on Bandcamp easily accessible, so everyone else, it’s all right there for you. Plus here, all newly written up in my typical turnt-brain-to-goo Quarterly Review style.

Thanks if you listen and thanks for reading.

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

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 07.08.22 (VT = voice track)

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is July 22 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

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