Alright, y’all. This is where it ends. The Quarterly Review has been an absolute blast, an easy, fun, good time to have, but inevitably it must come to close and that’s where we’re at. Last day. Last 10 releases. Thanks if you’ve kept up. I’ll be back I think in September with another one of these, probably longer.

Hope you’ve found something killer this week. I did.

Quarterly Review #41-50:

Katatonia, Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State

Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State is the first long-player in the 34-year history of Katatonia — upwards of their 13th album, depending on what you count — to not feature guitarist Anders Nyström. That leaves frontman Jonas Renkse as the remaining founder of the band, with two new guitarists in Nico Elgstrand and Sebastian Svalland, bassist Niklas Sandin and drummer Daniel Moilanen, steering one of heavy music’s most identifiable sounds in new ways. “Wind of No Change” is duly subversive, and “Departure Trails” basks in texture in a way Katatonia have periodically throughout the last 20 years, but the Opethian severity of they keys in “The Light Which I Bleed” and the declarative chug at the end of opener “Thrice” speak to the band’s awareness of the need to occasionally be very, very heavy, even as “Efter Solen” shifts into dark, emotive electronics ahead of the sweeping finale “In the Event Of…” Renkse has never wanted for expression as a singer. If he’s to be the driving force behind Katatonia, fair enough for how that manifests here.

Katatonia website

Napalm Records website

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Black Moon Circle, A Million Leagues Beyond: Moskus Sessions Vol. I

Trondheim, Norway’s Black Moon Circle recorded the four-song set of A Million Leagues Beyond: Moskus Sessions Vol. 1 at the hometown venue of Moskus, a small bar that, to hear them tell it, mostly hosts jazz. Fair enough for cosmic heavy psychedelic grunge rock to join the fray, I should think. It was late in 2023, so earlier that year’s Leave the Ghost Behind (review here) full-length features readily, with “Snake Oil” following the opener “Drifting Across the Plains” — which is jazzy enough, certainly — ahead of the chunkier-riffed “Serpent” and a 20-minute take on “Psychedelic Spacelord (Lighter Than Air),” which has become a signature piece for the three-piece, suitably expansive. If you know Black Moon Circle‘s studio albums, you know they do as much as they can live. Honestly, A Million Leagues Beyond: Moskus Sessions Vol. I isn’t all that different, but it’s definitely a performance worth enjoying.

Black Moon Circle on Bandcamp

Crispin Glover Records website

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Bloodhorse, A Malign Star

Kudos if you had ‘new Bloodhorse‘ on your 2025 Stoner Rock Bingo card or caught it when they launched an Instagram page last year. I certainly didn’t. The Massachusetts aughts-type prog-leaning riffmakers were last heard from with their 2009 debut album, Horizoner (review here), and the six-song/28-minute A Malign Star serves as a vital return, if not one brimming with good vibes as “The Somnambulist” dream-crushes its four-minute course, the band not so much dwelling in atmospheres like the relatively careening “Shallowness,” but getting into a song, making their point, and getting out. This works to their advantage in opener “Saboteur” and the chuggier title-track that follows, but even six-minute closer “Illumination” retains a sense of immediacy amid the dirty fuzz and comparatively laid back roll. This band was once the shape of sludge to come. 16 years later, the future has taken a different course and everybody’s a little more middle-aged, but Bloodhorse still kind of feel like they’re waiting for the world to catch up.

Bloodhorse on Instagram

Iodine Recordings website

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Aawks, On Through the Sky Maze

Should you find yourself thinking you didn’t remember Canadian riffers Aawks — also stylized all-caps: AAWKS — having quite such a nasty streak, you’re not alone. Their 2022 debut, Heavy on the Cosmic (review here), had a take that seems like fuzzy dream-pop in comparison to “Celestial Magick” and the screamy sludge that populates On Through the Sky Maze, their second LP. The nine-song 48-minute full-length is the first to feature bassist/vocalist Ryan “Grime Pup” Mailman alongside guitarist/vocalist Kris Dzierzbicki, guitarist Roberto Paraíso, and drummer Randylin Babic, and songs like “Lost Dwellers” or the mellow-spacier “Drifting Upward,” with no harsh vocals, seem to hit more directly, in addition to arriving in a different context with the “blegh”s of “Wandering Supergiants” and “Caerdoia,” and so on. In the end, Mailman‘s rasp becomes one more tool in Aawks‘ songwriting shed, and the band have more breadth and are less predictable for it. Call that a win, even before you get to the record being good.

Aawks website

Black Throne Productions website

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Moon Destroys, She Walks by Moonlight

The shimmering, floating guitar in “Echoes (The Empress)” tells part of the story in the deep-running The Cure influence, and the somewhat moody vocals of Charlie Suárez echo that emotional foundation, which is coupled in that song and throughout Moon Destroys‘ debut album, She Walks by Moonlight, with a willful progressivism in the songwriting, attention to detail in the arrangements, melodies, even the mix. Comprised of Suárez, guitarist Juan Montoya (ex-Torche), bassist Arnold Nese and drummer/producer Evan Diprima (Royal Thunder), the band are able to set a wash in place that’s not deceptively heavy in “The Nearness of June” (an earlier demo track) because it’s beating you over the head with tone, but still has more to offer than just its own heft. “Only” sounds like heavied-up proto-emo, while the roll of “Set Them Free” is massive in terms of both its riff and its big feelings. If you’re willing to let it grow on you, She Walks by Moonlight can be a space to occupy.

Moon Destroys website

Limited Fanfare website

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Astral Magic, In Space We Trust

In Space We Trust is one of four-so-far full-lengths that Santtu Laakso — multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer and producer — has out between Astral Magic and related collaborations and projects. It’s not a pace of releasing one can keep up with, but if you need a check-in from the generation ship that is Astral Magic, chances are Laakso is out there on some voyage or other between classic space rock and clearheaded prog, spanning galaxies. The eight-song/42-minute In Space We Trust pairs him with lead guitarist Jonathan Segel (Øresund Space Collective, etc.), and one should not be surprised at the cosmic nature of the resulting music. The pair get into some sci-fi atmospherics in “Ancient Pilots” and “Alien Emperor,” but the synth and guitar are leading the way across the galaxy and the vibe across the board is more Voyager and less Nostromo, so yes, smooth solar-sailing the whole way through.

Astral Magic on Bandcamp

Astral Magic on Facebook

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Lammping x Bloodshot Bill, Never Never

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The dreamy guitar, semi-rapped vocal, and dub backbeat give the opening title-track of Never Never a decidedly ’90s cast, but it’s not the summary of what Toronto’s Lammping have to offer in their collaboration with weirdo-rockabilly solo artist Bloodshot Bill, bringing together their urbane, grounded psych and studiocraft, samples, etc., with the singer/guitarist’s low, sometimes bluesy delivery across seven songs totaling 15 minutes, peppering the vibe-on-vibes of “Never Never,” “One and Own” and “Won’t Back Down” — the longest inclusion at 3:23 — with ramble and flow alike, with experimental jawns like “Coconut,” “0 and 1” or “Anything is Possible” and the closer “Nitey Nite,” all under two minutes long and each going their own way with the casual cool one has come to expect from Lammping, quietly staking out their own wavelength while still sounding like something from a half-remembered soundtrack to a radder version of your life. This is one of four releases Lammping will reportedly have over the next year or so. Way on board for whatever’s coming next.

Lammping on Instagram

We Are Busy Bodies on Bandcamp

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Fuzz Sagrado, Strange Daze

After the disbanding of Samsara Blues Experiment in 2021, guitarist/vocalist Christian Peters — who had already by then moved from Germany to Brazil — unveiled Fuzz Sagrado with EPs in July and October of that year. Fuzz Sagrado‘s 2021 self-titled (review here) and Vida Pura EPs are included on Strange Daze, a new compilation of tracks unified through a remaster by John McBain, showcasing the early outreach of keyboard and guitar that served as the foundation for the project. As Peters readies a live band for an eventual return to the stage, Strange Daze demonstrates how multifaceted the growth has been in terms of songwriting and still feels exploratory in hindsight as it did when the material was first released. Also included is the jammy “Arapongas,” which wasn’t on either EP but was recorded around the same time. Something of a curio or a fan-piece, but I ain’t arguing.

Fuzz Sagrado website

Electric Magic Records website

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When the Deadbolt Breaks, In the Glow of the Vatican Fire

A couple different modes on When the Deadbolt Breaks‘ In the Glow of the Vatican Fire, which is the long-running Connecticut malevolent doomers’ umpteenth album, running 63 minutes and eight songs. Some of those are longer pieces, like opener “The Scythe Will Come” (12:24), “The Chaos of Water” (14:02), “The Deep Well” (10:42) and “Red Sparrow” (10:57), but interspersed with these are a succession of shorter tracks, and the breakdown between them isn’t just that the short songs are fast and the long songs are slow. Certainly the ripping early portions (and the later, more minimalist spaciousness) of “The Chaos of Water” argue against this, and the dynamic turns out to be correspondingly complex to suit the abiding murk of mood, as founding guitarist/vocalist Aaron Lewis and co-singer Cherilynne provide foreboding croon to suit the lo-fi, creeping, distorted terrors of the music surrounding. This is When the Deadbolt Breaks absolutely in their element; bleak, churn-chaotic, expressive, immersive. They’re able to put you where they want you whether you want to go or not.

When the Deadbolt Breaks on Bandcamp

When the Deadbolt Breaks on Instagram

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A/lpaca, Laughter

It may have sat on the shelf for two years since recording finished in 2023, but don’t worry, it’s still from the future. Laughter is the second-on-Sulatron full-length from Italian experimentalists A/lpaca, and it sees them push deeper into electronic elements and ambiences, keeping some of the krautrock elements of their 2021’s Make it Better, but with songs that are shorter on average and that stand ready to convey a sense of quirk in the keyboard elements or the Devo verses of the title-track, which isn’t without its aspect of shove. Does it get weird? You bet your ass it does. “Bianca’s Videotape,” “Who’s in Love Daddy?,” the post-punk synthery meeting doomed fuzz on “Empty Chairs,” the list goes on. Actually, it’s just the tracklisting and it’s all pretty freaked out, so as long as you know going in that the band are working from their own standard of weirdoism, making the jump into the keyboardy gorge of “Kyrie” or the new wave-y “Don’t Talk” should be no problem. If you heard the last record, yeah, this is different. Seems like the next one will probably be different again too. Not everyone wants to do the same thing all the time.

A/lpaca on Bandcamp

Sulatron Records store

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Those of you playing along at home with your The Obelisk Brand™ Calendar of Such and Sundry will want to take out your secret-code invisible ink pen and keep an eye for more to come, because I’m trying to line up a stream ahead of the May 16 release date of Black Moon Circle‘s A Million Leagues Beyond – Moskus Sessions: Vol. 1 studio session. Whether or not that comes together — I’m always hopeful, but sometimes there’s a plan already unfolding — the captured-live outing is the first release from the Trondheim, Norway-based outfit since 2023’s Leave the Ghost Behind (review here), which was a righteously cut gem of cosmic origin. Three of the four tracks that feature on A Million Leagues Beyond, for example, come from that record. So yes, relevant.

I asked bassist/vocalist Øyvin Engan for some background on the release, and he was kind enough to offer a bit of insight, which you’ll find below, along with the release info that I assume will be on the Bandcamp page when preorders go up. All follows the cover art:

BLACK MOON CIRCLE – A Million Leagues Beyond

A Million Leagues Beyond will be out May 16th and as always it will be released on vinyl by Torgeir and Crispin Glover Records. In addition the record will also be out on digital platforms, and finally, it will be printed on CD which will be sold through Bandcamp.

Usually I wouldn’t say anything about the music, but this will be an exception. The record is not an effort to make a documentation of that night at Moskus. Sure, the songs were played that night, but not in this order and many were left out for this release. So this is not a classic ‘Live at…’ record, like Thin Lizzy in Live & Dangerous, Steve Ray Vaughan in Live at El Mocambo, etc. So what is it?

Moskus is a small bar located in Trondheim that hosts about 70 concerts every year, in genres as diverse as jazz, country, americana, rock, progressive jazz and occasionally psychedelic hard rock. You can cram 80 people into the venue, with their backs against the wall — which, by the way, is covered with vinyl records — the audience faces the stage which barely has room for drums and a couple of amplifiers. Obviously, when the band is done playing, the staff lower the needle into the groove, and music pours out from the speakers. It is ‘vinyl-only’ at Moskus.

This session was recorded in front of an enthusiastic crowd, on the 18th November 2023, by Åsmund Arnesson Rise. The album was mixed in Nautilus Studio by Øyvin Engan, and mastered by Helge Sten at Audio Virus Lab. The rattle-can stencil art, ‘Cosmic Divah’, was painted by Paul, and photographed by Thor Egil Leirtrø. The cover art was designed by Håvard Gjelseth. This release is supported by Trondheim Kommune. Tomas expresses his gratitude for the support from Frank Jacobs at Pearl Drums Europe, Jarle Johansen at CRS and Vidar Kolberg at 4Sound Trondheim. We say: Thank you Torgeir Lund (Crispin Glover Records) for releasing the music, and providing help in every possible way. Thank you Magnus Lykkelig and Tor Schølberg for your continuous support of live music. It is never taken for granted.

Tracklisting:
01. Drifting Across the Plains
02. Snake Oil
03. Serpent
04. Psychedelic Spacelord (Lighter Than Air)

Black Moon Circle:
Øyvin Engan: vocals bass
Vemund Engan: guitar, backing vocals
Tomas Järmyr: drums
Dr. Space: synth

http://facebook.com/blackmooncircle
https://instagram.com/blackmooncircle/
http://blackmooncircle.bandcamp.com

Black Moon Circle, Leave the Ghost Behind (2023)

[Click play above to stream Black Moon Circle’s Leave the Ghost Behind in its entirety. Album is out tomorrow on vinyl through Crispin Glover Records and available to order from the band as well as from the label.]

The feeling of sprawl is almost immediate on Black Moon Circle‘s Leave the Ghost Behind. It’s been half a decade since the Norwegian trio last released a full-length, and 2018’s Psychedelic Spacelord (review here) served as the single-song culmination of a wildly productive few years for the band led by brothers Øyvin Engan (bass/vocals) and Vemond Engan (guitar/backing vocals). In 2019, they collected the three The Studio Jams LP releases — 2017’s The Studio Jams Vol. III: Flowing into the 3rd Dimension (review here), 2016’s The Studio Jams Vol. II (review here), 2015’s The Studio Jams Vol. I: Yellow Nebula in the Sky (discussed here) — and a bunch more into a 5CD box set, and they count Leave the Ghost Behind as their ’10th effort,’ which is fair enough, but in the lineage of albums, it follows Psychedelic Spacelord, 2016’s Sea of Clouds (review here), 2014’s Andromeda (review here) and self-titled debut EP (review here), and 2019’s collaboration with Øresund Space Collective, Freakout in the Fjord (review here), which likewise was more of a jam-based release.

Why does that matter? Because since their outset, there have always been two forces at work in Black Moon Circle between improvised space-jamming and more structured songwriting, and in Leave the Ghost Behind, the two ends come together in a way that feels new for the band. Coming together with the lineup of the Engans, drummer Tomas Järmyr (ex-Motorpsycho, Årabrot, etc.) and Portugal-based synthesist Scott “Dr. Space” Heller (also Øresund Space Collective), the now-four-piece are vibrant across the four sides of a massive 85-minute 2LP that smooths out all the back and forth with washes of guitar, of synth, of the wandering grooves in extended pieces like the 18:29 “Psychedelic Spacelord (Lighter Than Air)” — yes, a take on the title-track of the 2018 LP; just go with it — and closer “Radiant Sun,” which at 22:52 is a multi-tiered universe of heavy psychedelic exploration. But it’s opener “Snake Oil,” with that sprawl noted at the outset, that sets the scene for what follows. Its 11 minutes are hypnotic at the start, Sabbathian doom wrought across the first minute or so with synth laid over top before the bass leads the way into the nodding repetitive chug that serves as the bed for the verse.

That shift, nod to nod, is huge in setting the expectation for Black Moon Circle to go where they will, because that’s exactly what they proceed to do, both in that song and over the rest of the record. “Bubbles in the Air” is duly floating ’90s post-grunge psych, and the shortest cut at 5:17, a drumless dream, while “Serpent” gives the proggier side of King Buffalo a burst of cosmic radiation, with Heller‘s synth running alongside the steady line of guitar even before the jazzy build begins on the drums, the song emphasizing both the instrumental dynamic of the band and the gruff melody in Øyvin‘s vocals as set forth in “Snake Oil” before it.

After deep-diving into “Psychedelic Spacelord (Lighter Than Air)” and “Bubbles in the Air,” side C’s “Cohiba” (9:20) feels absolutely grounded at the start, but is dug into a particularly improv-sounding jam with the bass as the foundation by the time they’re halfway in, and after they bring it back down to just that same guitar line and synth, its final minute becomes a willful drone and feedback — maybe some seagull sounds or just bird-esque synth? — that fades out before “Magellanic Cloud” announces its presence with further sci-fi ambience and drone for about the first two of its 10 total minutes, from there following a psych-bluesy course, guitar leading, bass underscoring, drums meeting back at the start of the measure but doing their thing along the way, the trajectory plotted but the journey duly winding, vocals never left entirely behind even in its synth-laced crescendo starting at around its final 90 seconds and just long enough for that to feel classic in its payoff.

“Magellanic Cloud” is a fitting analogue for what Leave the Ghost Behind as a whole accomplishes in bringing together the heretofore more divergent aspects of Black Moon Circle‘s aural persona. Certainly their willingness to experiment is nothing new, and that’s heard at the start, and they’ve had verses and choruses and jams a-plenty throughout the last nine years — if not so much the last four — but it’s the manner in which they’re assembled and the cohesion that emerges in the material as a result that is such a step forward, both in the songs themselves, whether it’s “Magellanic Cloud” or “Snake Oil” or “Psychedelic Spacelord (Lighter Than Air),” or “Serpent” and “Bubbles in the Air” and “Cohiba.” The balance has become a malleable thing.

And given the band’s ever-outward course, the finish that “Radiant Sun” provides is a letting-loose that draws from all sides, melts it all down with the scorch of its various solos, grows moss with its wash circa 14 minutes in, and from there becomes a cinematic weirdscape as Järmyr drops out on drums with a few crashes about a minute later, leaving amp noise, organ and synth to rule the day for a few minutes while sneaking back in on the ride cymbal after the vocals return at 19:10, beginning the transition to the largesse of the capstone movement, a cleareyed chorus taking hold after 21 minutes as a genuine surprise of airy heavy rock that earns the song’s title before giving over to the concluding noise; a snare snaps and then it’s drone to an ending that somehow feels quick after the long path walked to get there.

Leave the Ghost Behind is not at all a minor undertaking, and its exultation could be rooted in a call for self-actualizing post-trauma as much as letting go of one’s expectations for oneself — if those aren’t the same thing — but one way or the other, what Black Moon Circle leave behind is the sense of being one thing or the other between songwriters and a psychedelic jam band. These seven songs are substantial and drawn wide over the distances they conjure, but switched on in terms of more than just their effects pedals, and they represent a pivotal moment for the band in laying claim to the entirety of their process as one engrossing whole from which they can still expand.

I’m not saying they’ll never do a collection of jams again, or that they’ll never put out a record that’s eight songs and 38 minutes long, I’m saying the fun part is they can do either, both, or neither and that those who take them on won’t know what’s coming until they get there. If Leave the Ghost Behind represents a return to activity on the part of Black Moon Circle after a few years’ absence, or if it’s the culmination of work done throughout those few years — I honestly don’t know which, if it’s even one or the other — it’s a vital showcase of the promise laid out across their earlier run, approached with a vision and consciousness behind it that makes it all the more a triumph.

Black Moon Circle on Facebook

Black Moon Circle on Instagram

Black Moon Circle on Bandcamp

Crispin Glover Records on Facebook

Crispin Glover Records on Instagram

Crispin Glover Records website

It’s a pretty minimal amount of information here, and I’ll readily admit that Black Moon Circle‘s tour dates that are starting this week have already been posted. While we’re being honest, this post is basically me trying to give you a heads up on a record that goes places. I’m streaming the album in full on April 20 — so mark your calendar for that if your calendar wasn’t yet marked — and that’s pretty much the only thing keeping me from doing the review today. Well that and time, but still. I’m getting to know these songs and they’re pretty vast already. It’s wild.

They’ve got opener “Snake Oil” streaming on Bandcamp and of course there’s a player below, and the song 11 minutes long, so it’s not an insignificant sample to give out ahead of time, but I think it definitely explains some of what I mean by “goes places” above even if it should come with the disclaimer that these are not nearly all the places gone to on the cuts that follow. It’s a weird one. I still feel like I’m just getting to know it, but I also kind of feel like maybe it’ll be that way forever? I dig it already though. All trends positive for that to continue.

So yeah, a post to say that and have the track and art and so on. These guys outdid themselves.

Here’s the info:

Preorder of Leave the Ghost Behind double colored vinyl is now up on bandcamp. Check it out, cd is also included: https://blackmooncircle.bandcamp.com/album/leave-the-ghost-behind

Tracklisting:
1. Snake Oil
2. Serpent
3. Psychedelic Spacelord (lighter than air)
4. Bubbles in the Air
5. Cohiba
6. Magellanic Cloud
7. Radiant Sun

Black Moon Circle live:
16.06 SE Malmö Plan B
17.03 DK Copenhagen Råhuset
18.03 DE Kiel Schaubude
19.03 DE Münster Rare Guitar
23.03 NL Eindhoven Club Void
24.03 FR Paris L’International
25.03 BE Leuven Sojo (w/ Bismut & Shift)
01.04 NO Oslo Vaterland

Black Moon Circle:
Øyvin Engan: vocals bass
Vemund Engan: guitar, backing vocals
Tomas Järmyr: drums
Dr. Space: synth

http://facebook.com/blackmooncircle
https://instagram.com/blackmooncircle/
http://blackmooncircle.bandcamp.com

Black Moon Circle, Leave the Ghost Behind (2023)

Well, Black Moon Circle joining forces with former Motorpsycho drummer Tomas Järmyr certainly isn’t going to hurt the band at all. The Trondheim, Norway, and Portugal-based heavy psychedelic rockers are closing in on a half-decade since their last proper studio album, 2018’s Psychedelic Spacelord (review here), though they’ve had other offerings in the interim, a 2019 collab with Øresund Space Collective called Freakout in the Fjord (review here) and a box set collecting five discs’ worth of studio jams called, wait for it, The Studio Jams; they also played Desertfest Belgium that Fall. But they’re due for getting out so it’s only a good thing that they are.

And, it’s their first tour with Järmyr and with Scott “Dr. Space” Heller (also Øresund Space Collective, et al.) handling synth and, one assumes, general wizardry as he will. I don’t know what their studio plans are, if they’ll record at Dr. Space‘s place in Portugal, which is idyllic, or in Norway, or not at all, or when, but I’d be interested to hear what they come up with after a few years of silence, as readily-accounted-for as those years are. I’d take another record, I guess is what I’m saying.

The tour starts in Sweden on March 16 and kind of plays out like two long weekenders with another show a week later, but they’re covering a good amount of ground in their time.

Dig:

See you on the Road in March.. First proper tour since 2019! Going to be some awesome jamming with the new BMC drummer, Tomas (Årabot, Sunswitch, Yodok, WERL, ex-Motorpsycho)…

Black Moon Circle – Leave the Ghost Behind Tour 2023
16.03 SE Malmö Plan B
17.03 DK Copenhagen Råhuset
18.03 DE Kiel Schaubude
19.03 DE Münster Rare Guitar
23.03 NL Eindhoven Club Void
24.03 FR Paris L’International
25.03 BE Leuven Sojo (w/ Bismut & Shift)
01.04 NO Oslo Vaterland

Black Moon Circle:
Øyvin Engan: vocals bass
Vemund Engan: guitar, backing vocals
Tomas Järmyr: drums
Dr. Space: synth

http://facebook.com/blackmooncircle
https://instagram.com/blackmooncircle/
http://blackmooncircle.bandcamp.com

Black Moon Circle, The Studio Jams Vol. 1-3 (2019)

Not that we weren’t going to have anything to talk about otherwise, but to give me a heads up for this interview, Scott Heller — better known to the psychedelic underground as Dr. Space himself — sent me a list of recent and upcoming outings from this and next year. There were more than 30 of them.

Consider that for a second.

I would post the list but I’m not sure they’ve all been announced yet.

Of all the people I’ve met through music — and I have met Heller in-person many times; I consider him a friend and talking to him about music for over an hour the other day was something I did largely as a favor to myself; a similar mentality to that which I approach writing about much of his output — Heller‘s creativity and work ethic is singular. As synthesist and band-leader for Øresund Space Collective, he has spearheaded a school of “totally improvised space rock” that’s grown in influence throughout Europe and beyond, and more recently, monthly jams as a part of the duo Doctors of Space with Martin Weaver of Wicked Lady — who happens to live relatively nearby in Portugal, to which Heller moved some four and half years ago after leaving Denmark — have seen release through Bandcamp in ongoing fashion. He’s meeting up with Weaver today, in fact. No doubt something will come of it.

But that’s barely a chip in the iceberg of his career. Going back to before his time managing Gas Giant and recording every show ØSC play — they’ll be in Oslo at Høstsabbat in a couple weeks — working with former Elder drummer Matt Couto in Aural Hallucinations, putting together his own Alien Planet Trip series of solo releases and collaborations, running the active label Space Rock Productions or contributing to acts like Black Moon Circle, 3rd Ear Experience and Albinö Rhino, among I don’t even know how many others, Heller has a history of writing and documenting his experiences with music that extends across four decades. With an autobiography and a studio build on his property between the two largest mountains in Portugal currently in progress, tour dates upcoming and those 30 offerings in progress or on the way, he simply is one of a kind, and even with so much behind him, is at his most productive ever right now.

I don’t even know how many times I said the word “amazing” in this interview, but it might also be over 30, and none of them were unearned on his part. I’m honored he took the time to talk and amazed he found it.

Please enjoy:

Interview with Scott “Dr. Space” Heller, Sept. 27, 2021

More info on Heller and his many, many, many doings is available at the links.

Doctors of Space, Studio Session July 2021 (2021)

Øresund Space Collective, Fuzz Fest 2021 (2021)

Dr. Space, Dr Space’s Alien Planet Trip Vol. 4: Space with Bass (2021)

Black Moon Circle, The Studio Jams Vol. 1-3 (2019)

Øresund Space Collective website

Øresund Space Collective on Bandcamp

Black Moon Circle on Bandcamp

Aural Hallucinations on Bandcamp

Doctors of Space on Bandcamp

Writing About Music blog

Space Rock Productions website

I like the themed lineup additions. Last time around from Desertfest Belgium 2019, it was the Belgian bands being highlighted. This time, it’s stuff in more of a psychedelic vein, though how much that might apply to the hard-nosed boogie of Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell is debatable. Still, it shows Desertfest Belgium is beginning to think of itself in a different way — not just as a meeting of bands, but a meeting styles as well, and a place where different notions of heavy, whether aesthetic or geographical, can intermingle and hopefully all come out better for it at the end of the weekend. It’s re-framing of the conversation of, “Oh hey, here are some more bands playing, get your tickets,” in a way that makes it more than just that. As somebody who reads his fair share of lineup announcements for various events, I’m hard pressed to think of someone else doing this thing in this way, and as always, I’m curious to see what it leads to.

For now, it’s leading to an increasingly badass lineup. From the PR wire:

PSYCH GALORE AT DFBE’19! RUFF MAJIK, BLACK MOON CIRCLE & MORE

This round of names is for all the fuzzheads out there! We have gathered a great selection of crunchy grooves for you, grounded as well as spaced-out – let’s get to it…

First off, we are so glad to have Ruff Majik on board. Hailing from Pretoria, they’re best proof that South-African stoner didn’t end with ‘The Big Heavies’, carrying the torch of bands like Suck and Freedom’s Children. Their recent outing ‘Tårn’ shows the band heavy as ever, and we’re excited to see them blast Desertfest!

We are also happy to see Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell return to our stage. New things are afoot, or so it seems… but whatever they’ve got in store for us you can rest assured it’s gonna be groovy to the max. It’s just how they roll.

Trip into hyperspace and take a hard left – that’s where you’ll find Black Moon Circle. A super freaked-out jam band with ties to the mighty Øresund Space Collective, BMC offers the finest in Nordish psychedelia through an ever expanding catalogue of records and exhilarating live shows.

Finally, get psyched for the appearance of Rrrags at DFBE’19! The unholy alliance of Ron Van Herpen (ex-The Devil’s Blood), Rob Zim (Lords of Altamont) and Rob Martin (former Bliksem) completely channels the spirit of all the mighty Power Trios that came before them. Classic rock and roll done right that has earned them accolades galore.

We’re nearing the finish line, but we’re not quite there yet! Stay tuned for a new update soon, and in the meantime… we already let you know the amount of combi tickets is dwindling fast so be safe not sorry, check the link below!

http://www.desertfest.be/tickets
https://www.facebook.com/desertfestbelgium/
https://www.facebook.com/events/2260579413999993/

Ruff Majik, Tårn (2019)

Mostly-Norwegian kinda-trio/kinda-four-piece Black Moon Circle — who extend that willful nebulousness to their sound, rest assured — are currently in the midst of wrapping up a Spring tour with Øresund Space Collective, with whom they share synth wizard and regular fixture around these parts, Dr. Space. They’ve been through Germany and Denmark and Poland and Lithuania and have just a few more shows to go as they make their way to Finland (tonight and tomorrow) and Sweden to close out the run. Going by the pictures on social media, it looks like it’s been a good tour.

Though they reportedly have copies on the road, they’ll get back home to Trondheim just in time for the June 7 release of their new 5CD box set, The Studio Jams 1-3, which collects the three previously-vinyl-only jam releases they’ve done with two more discs’ worth of bonus material for a one-time blowout on CD. Sounds friggin’ awesome to me, and I already have and have reviewed all those records. It’s gotta be upwards of six hours of stuff, or at least five. That’s a killer way to spend your day, as far as I’m concerned.

Crispin Glover Records has the release. Here’s info:

Black Moon Circle- The Studio Jams 1-3 Box Set

Crispin Glover Records
5 CD box set with booklet

From 2015-2017, the Trondheim based psychedelic Space Rock band, Black Moon Circle released 3 vinyl albums containing studio jams recorded from 2013-2016. These albums are now sold out.

This box set includes the albums specifically mastered for CD, including the original LP artwork in single CD sleeve format. This is the first time they appear on CD. As a bonus, 7 unreleased jams spread over 2 CDs from this same time period are included. One of these amazing jams features Snah, guitarist from Motorpsycho.

An 8 page booklet telling the history of the band so far, as well as details of all the albums, recordings, jams, and pictures are included as well. The box is limited to 500 copies.

Release date is June 7th.

Remaining live dates:
Fontaine Palace, Liep?ja, Latvia May 31st
Ääniwalli, Helsinki, Finland June 1st
Vastavirta, Tampere, FIN June 2nd
Melody Box, Stockholm, Sweden June 4th
Sonic Rock Solstice, UK June 23rd 2019

Black Moon Circle:
Bass, Vocals – Øyvin Egan
Drums – Per Andreas Gulbrandsen
Guitar – Vemund Egan

http://blackmooncircle.bandcamp.com
http://facebook.com/blackmooncircle
http://crispingloverrecords.com
https://www.stickman-records.com/

Black Moon Circle, “Plains” live rehearsal for Spring tour