I’ve been waiting for this one, honestly. I think I did a Quarterly Review in April, or maybe it was late March, so it hasn’t been that long, but you know how it is with releases now. Every week there’s a ton coming out, everybody’s gotta pump through content to feed the algorithm. If you like sitting with records, if you like getting to know records, it’s still a pretty good era, but you have to understand you’re not going to hear everything. The Quarterly Review is more than a catchall in my mind, but it’s definitely also a place for stuff I can’t fit anywhere else. At this point there are bands who’ve been in QRs their entire lifecycle. I don’t think anybody knows that or cares other than me, but it’s true just the same.

I like doing these, though, and I like the marathon listening sessions that are part of it. Oh yeah asshole, you like writing about music? Well here’s 10 records a day for a week. Hope you slated a single in there somewhere. You’re gonna need it.

Quarterly Review #1-10:

Miss Lava, Under a Black Sun

This fifth full-length from Portuguese psychedelic-inflected heavy rockers Miss Lava sets its own backdrop with breadth of tone. The album is called Under a Black Sun and it is their fourth outing for Small Stone Records, but even the edgiest moments throughout are more colorful than that might indicate. Miss Lava excel — whether it’s the closing title-track or “Neon Gods” earlier or the 1:15 blowout “Chaos Strain” — at creating instrumental tension underneath the forward melodic float of the vocals. From seven-minute opener and longest cut (immediate points) “Dark Tomb Nebula,” the 52-minute/11-song outing takes its time saying what it wants to say, and it might take a couple listens for it to sink in accordingly, but the fuzz in “The Bends” and the tempo-pickup swing in “Blue Sky on Mars” can be landmarks on the path, and the album is worth meeting with the attention it’s due.

Miss Lava website

Small Stone Records website

—

The Cimmerian, An Age Undreamed Of…

To coincide with the righteous pummel of the eight-and-a-half-minute “Silver and Gold,” Los Angeles trio The Cimmerian infuse their first full-length with a thrashing sensibility in pieces like “Neckbreaker of the Mountain” and “Black Coast Tigris,” which are all the more brutal for the guttural vocals of bassist Nicolas Rocha. Guitarist David Gein crushes and slashes enough for “Mournblade” to earn its title, and the extremity is retained even in the slowdown of “Deathstalker” later on, as Gein, Rocha and drummer David Morales seem to hold another level of viciousness in reserve for 10-minute finale “Monarch.” There’s some extrapolation from High on Fire here in the basic math of the band’s makeup, but The Cimmerian push more into thrash as a genre, and come across as more metal in their assault. There’s growing to do, and streamlining the songs may become part of that process, but as an awaited debut album, An Age Undreamed Of… heralds its own devastation and that to follow.

The Cimmerian on Bandcamp

Black Voodoo Records website

—

Nightstalker, Return From the Point of No Return

Athenian heavy rock institution Nightstalker return with their eighth full-length in a 35-plus-year career as led by frontman Argyris “Argy” Galiatsatos, who remains a pivotal presence in the songs. There are eight of those across the down-to-business 38-minute long-player, which opens raucous with “Dust” but settles into a psychedelic meander on “Heavy Trippin'” before “Uncut” finds a catchy space somewhere in the middle, high-energy but not a shove, and welcoming all comers. The title-track follows and takes a noisier tack instrumentally and vocally in its second half, but is a four-minute kick-in-the-pants nonetheless, so one would not accuse it of being an awkward fit here, even as the subsequent “Shipwrecked Powder Monkey” (which I’m assuming starts side B) moves through quiet/loud trades toward a fuzzy surge, “Shallow Grave” basks in melancholy, “Falling Inside” follows the bassline into a shredder of a guitar solo and seven-minute closer “Flying Mode” dares a bit of funk to round out. There’s a reason Nightstalker have stood the test of time. It’s the songs. Yes, still.

Nightstalker website

Heavy Psych Sounds website

—

Whitehovse, The Mighty One

Indonesian doom rollers Whitehovse released the title-track of their first, self-released full-length, The Mighty One, as a standalone single in 2020, and I don’t know that all the songs have been around that long, but every chug in “Falling Crown” sounds like it’s there for a reason and I’m not inclined to argue. Bookended by the nod of “Endless Sorrow” and the blowout, harsh-in-the-cymbals bounce of “Vile Triumphant,” the in-betweens on the eight-track/35-minute LP are light on nonsense and heavy on just about everything else as “Falling Crown” is indicative of the five-piece’s riffy foundations. They declare themselves Sabbathian early, but “Silence of the Soul” has more of a desert bounce transposed onto their own echoing palette and against the wall reminds a bit of the slower moments in whatever kind of metal it is Solace play. Their story isn’t fully written yet, but they put key aspects in place with this material.

Whitehovse on Bandcamp

Whitehovse on Instagram

—

Hashishian, Sand Dragon

I don’t mean this to be an insult, but if you told me Hashishian‘s Sand Dragon was AI, I’d probably believe you. The band, from parts unknown, comprised of anonymous huffer pilgrims, are so steeped in the worship of Sleep, weed, riffs, and such, that the throatsinging vocals are a fit. Sand Dragon is meditative in its way, but it’s more stoned, and that’s the whole idea. What do you do with something that is pure worship? There is an original edge to their approach, though “Sand Dragon” itself is pretty dead-on Om, but if you’re a genre head, you know to which land “Follow the Riff” is going before its meganodder of a riff even departs. But I don’t think you take on Sand Dragon if you’re looking for originality-on-purpose. I think you take it on if you want to join them in their worship, and yeah, if you know what you’re getting going in, the naked, sans-pretense-otherwise homage happening throughout, the riff of “Meggido” just might make you a convert. Hail Cisneros.

Hashishian on Bandcamp

Hashishian on Instagram

—

Scott Hepple and the Sun Band, English Mustard

Is garage rock inherently retro? Is there a way for a sound that was ‘mod’ when mod was mod to be the sound of the great forgetful now? I don’t know, but the UK’s Scott Hepple and the Sun Band take classic elements from garage, grunge, and heavier rock, and it’s hard to argue with the results of their formula in pieces like “Velvet Divorce” or the sweet acoustic strum of “Blue Door Jimmy,” the boogie of “Lead on Sonny Brown” and “Sweet Sugar High” and the more brash fuzz of “Fake a Smile,” as the 16-song long-player packs its 41-minute stretch tight enough that even the gag interlude “A Brief Advertisement” doesn’t come through as any more in a hurry than the rest of the proceedings. And they are in a hurry. Because they’re young and such is the way of young people. But that’s how it should be, and so, so are Scott Hepple and the Sun Band as they prove you can have ‘brash’ as a defining personality feature without needing to make yourself sound like a monster.

Scott Hepple and the Sun Band on Bandcamp

Rise Above Records website

—

Blind Mess, The Storm Within

Immediacy is the order of the moment on Blind Mess‘ six-song The Storm Within EP, as the hit-hard trio from Munich delve into burl on “The Bell” before the throw-elbows punkthrash of “On the Edge” and the angular “Mirror of My Soul” feels all the more leveled out for the shouts that top it. They’re not without atmosphere, even before the standalone guitar introduces the first 30 seconds of “The Hemlock Cup,” but the idea is for the songs to hit you direct and they do. “The Hemlock Cup” has a burner of a solo later on, and “Sick Society” has its foundation in rock but still sounds like it listened to Megadeth in the 1990s (who among us.) before the shorter closer “Bleeding Hearts” renews the shove of “On the Edge.” It’s a quick 24 minutes and they make it feel quicker with pacing, but it’s still well enough time for the band to showcase a refined attack.

Blind Mess website

Blind Mess on Bandcamp

—

Vordermann, Feeding on Flowers/

Striking a progressive first impression around material still geared for an impact despite all the turns, UK five-piece Vordermann bring elements of alternative rock into the hooks of “Delirium Tremors,” one of the three songs included on their debut EP, the intentionally-slashed Feeding on Flowers/. Intertwining vocals in a quiet stretch, weirdo shifts, post-rock drift and weighted drums beneath, melodies providing the payoff where opener “Cloudpiercer” is more about the heft, and the seven-minute “Saint Banger (The Lars Ulrich Torrent Finder General Drum Circle Experience)” moving through a long, soft-guitar intro — there’s no drum circle; there are samples — before a heavier nod arrives, ebbing and flowing until the shouted vocals arrive late to put it over the top. Look out for these guys. They give a killer showing here and in no way sound like this is the limit for where they want to take their sound. One hopes for more to come. Maybe we can find out what’s on the other side of that slash in the title.

Vordermann on Bandcamp

Vordermann on Instagram

—

Aerolith, II

When Austrian cosmic-rocking instrumentalists — space rock, some My Sleeping Karma-esque keys, almost certainly jam-based, but with fluidity as a compositional priority either way — Aerolith sent their second album, II, in for review, I’ll admit that I didn’t know it came out late in 2017. Going on eight years ago. If you’re wondering, I think that’s the oldest release ever to feature in a Quarterly Review — the band’s latest work, Megalorama Part II, was released in 2023 — which I try to keep at least vaguely current. I don’t know why the 2017 record was sent, but they make it easy to dig the conversation happening between the keys and guitar throughout, and the mellow-heavy mindset of “Rain Walk” and “Aufschub,” that payoff in closer “Bug Nebula,” seems to still inform their sound on the newer offerings as well. I’m not about to start retconning the entire history of the underground in a Quarterly Review, so don’t send me all your old records, but I’m glad to have had the introduction to this band regardless.

Aerolith website

Aerolith on Bandcamp

—

Occult Stereo, A Temporary Utopia

Experimentalism is crucial on this apparently-years-in-the-making second full-length from Athens-based mostly-solo outfit Occult Stereo, driven by self-recording multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/programmer Alex Eliopoulos, who blends electronic and organic instrumentation — the bedroom industrial of “In Between Lines” and “Kiss My Mask,” the acoustics of “A Glow” and “Power,” the variable drones of the otherwise anthemic “New Drip” and “Burn the Manifesto,” the fuzz ultranod of “Same Life Different Face” and the avant-garage “Not Mysterious”; it is a record that sets its own context and goes — to a readily divergent affect, melding styles across genres with expressive weirdness. At 11 songs and 64 minutes, it is a not insignificant undertaking, and surely A Temporary Utopia is not without its challenging aspects, but Eliopoulos isn’t on his own here — there are even guest vocals on “Power” — and as deep as Occult Stereo plunge, the spaces occupied are individual and fascinating.

Occult Stereo website

Occult Stereo on Bandcamp

—

Hyborian-inspired heavy thrashers The Cimmerian have set a Jan. 10 arrival date for their debut LP, An Age Undreamed Of…, following up on two righteous short releases, last year’s two-songer, Sword & Sorcery Vol. 1 (review here) and the prior 2022 EP Thrice Majestic (review here). And as one might expect for a record with a tune on it called “Neck Breaker of the Mountain” — as opposed to all the neck breakers in the plains — it promises pounding intensity as well as density of groove. A first herald of the destruction to come is found in the seven-minute single “Darkwolf,” which introduces the theme based around the 1983 dark-fantasy animated collaboration between Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta, Fire and Ice, which makes a lot of sense when you hear it.

I don’t know enough about the film to know if the whole LP is based around it, but I’ve got until Jan. 10 to do my homework in that regard, so hopefully I’ll get there. Black Voodoo Records and Hyborian Rage have the release, as affirmed by the PR wire:

THE CIMMERIAN to Release An Age Undreamed Of… in January; New Song Now Streaming

Prepare for THE CIMMERIAN. This Los Angeles-based doom/thrash trio THE CIMMERIAN will set a crushing tone for the new year with An Age Undreamed Of… On their first full-length, this rogue set conjures images of high adventure and mayhem with an aggressive mix of sludgy-based rumblings, caustic fuzz-filled riffs, and sonorous war drumming.

The premiere of the album’s new single, “Darkwolf,” is now live. Stream the song now at this location: https://thecimmerian.bandcamp.com/track/darkwolf-2

Bassist/vocalist Nicholas Rocha comments on the song, “Borrowing its name from the eponymous hero straight out of Ralph Bakshi’s 1983 visual opus “Fire & Ice”, this thrash-laden track evokes not just the rush of battle but also the weight of consequence and of course, the joy of victory!”

An Age Undreamed Of… will be released on January 10, 2025 via Bandcamp with all streaming platforms to follow. Physical copies will be made available on CD by Hyborian Rage Records with colored vinyl to be released by BVR (Black Voodoo Records).

Follow THE CIMMERIAN, for it is Crom’s will. If you don’t – to hell with you!

Tracklisting:
1) Shadow Kingdom
2) Neck Breaker of The Mountain
3) Silver and Gold
4) Darkwolf
5) Mournblade
6) Black Coast Tigris
7) Deathstalker
8) Monarch

Stream more from THE CIMMERIAN on Spotify and Apple Music.

The groundwork for THE CIMMERIAN was laid in 2021 by guitarist David Gein and bassist Nicholas Rocha – two-thirds of crossover thrash group Septik Onslaught. The two were writing what would become the band’s first EP when a Craigslist ad brought drummer David Morales – armed with unyielding energy and a bag of Halloween candy – to the fold.

THE CIMMERIAN delivers a wall of sound that draws inspiration from the likes of Motörhead, Black Sabbath, Venom, and Gates of Slumber. Lyrical themes informed by a deep understanding of world history, mythology, and historical literature weave throughout this chainmail tapestry.

The band released their debut EP, Thrice Majestic, in the summer of 2022. By early 2023, they returned to Robert Frank’s Minor Chord Studio to record the two-track cassette/digital release, Sword & Sorcery Vol. I.

THE CIMMERIAN is:
Bass/vocals: Nicolas Rocha
Guitars: David Gein
Drums: David Morales

https://www.facebook.com/TheCimmerianOfficial
https://instagram.com/thecimmerianofficial
https://thecimmerian.bandcamp.com/

The Cimmerian, Darkwolf (2025)

[Click play above to stream the premiere of ‘The Horrendous Abyss’ from Shallow Grave’s Threshold Between Worlds. Album is out Oct. 31 on Sludgelord Records, Cursed Monk Records, Black Voodoo Records and Minor Label.]

All that happens in the first 30 seconds of Shallow Grave‘s second album, Threshold Between Worlds, is a fade-in of an introductory riff, and yet even that seems crushing. The Auckland four-piece made 55-minute their self-titled debut (review here) in 2013 via Astral Projection, and while they’ve trimmed the runtime down to an LP-ready 38 minutes for four songs, the sense of impact remains a major concern. Mostly, I’d think, for seismologists. It is not long after that fade-in that Shallow Grave begin the 10-minute “The Horrendous Abyss” in earnest, with a buzzsaw tone worthy of namedrops like Beast in the Field and Swarm of the Lotus from guitarists Tim Leth (also vocals) and Mike Rothwell, furious low end distortion from bassist Brent Bidlake and an almost noise-rocking rhythm from drummer James Bakker, who succeeds in pushing deeper into “The Horrendous Abyss” while cutting through the mire with a snare that seems to hit with no less of a thud than the toms.

Largesse is the order of business, and business is lethal, but in “The Horrendous Abyss” and onward through “Garden of Blood” (9:41) and side B’s “Master of Cruel” (13:11) and “Threshold Between Worlds” (5:31), the band craft an atmosphere of chaotic churn, marked by vicious noise and, for all the madness unfolding, a feeling that the worst violence is still being held back. To wit, “The Horrendous Abyss,” in its eighth minute, pulls back to minimalist guitar notes, but even these are backed with windy drones, giving all the more a feeling of being alone somewhere in the wild. Presumably, we’ve arrived at the titular locale. That’s actually how the track ends, fading out to let the faster start of “Garden of Blood” come on to stomp itself between the line of sludge and brutalist noise. An angularity of rhythm emerges, and Leth‘s largely indecipherable vocals call to mind Tomas Lindberg in their rasp, but the primary impression thanks to a consistency of tone is still one of lumber, and Shallow Grave take due time to revel in it.

And who would argue? The foreboding is palpable early in “Garden of Blood,” as it was throughout “The Horrendous Abyss,” and before it hits the 2:30 mark, “Garden of Blood” slows its pace to a crawl and lurches-out for the next minute, growing an increasing wash of noise as its march leads toward an inevitable decay, drums cutting out just prior to four minutes in and the volume receding to let an airy guitar take hold momentarily before a momentum of riff picks up — exactly the source of the two band-comparisons above, neither of which one is inclined to make lightly — and shoves forward through the next several minutes, once again increasing in wash before the vocals return, caked in echo and even less human/humane for that. It may not be a horrendous abyss, as the first song was, but neither is it a relaxing beach-day getaway.

Instead, it is an apex of pummel that reveals the second movement in “Garden of Blood” for the linear build it’s been all along, cleverly concealed by the surrounding onslaught. The last two minutes of “Garden of Blood” are given to a noisy, mechanical-seeming drone that fades out to conclude side A and prepare the ground for “Master of Cruel,” which in effect is the closing argument Shallow Grave will make here. A swell of low distortion provides a bed for the drums to come forward in the mix — bit of a role reversal there, since it’s been the drums anchoring the proceedings all along throughout “The Horrendous Abyss” and “Garden of Blood” — before an impressive and extended scream from Leth brings with it a surge of guitar.

By the time they’re past three minutes deep, the drums are gone entirely, and is the guitar, as they recede completely to a drone as the foundation for a line of standalone guitar soon enough met with cymbal wash. Just when you might think you have them figured out and that they’re starting another forward build in the vein of the preceding cut, instead of making their way through with deceptive patience, they thrust ahead all at once into a huge-sounding plod, brutally delivered before evening out to a steady hi-hat-punctuated roll. They are not yet, it’s worth noting, at the midpoint of “Master of Cruel,” the title of which would seem to betray its ambitions.

That steadying transition leads to a push-pull nod that will consume much of the second half of the track, as the vocals show up amid a proceeding decrease in tempo and increase in noise. By the time they’re 11 minutes deep, the direction is set and telegraphed to the listener: once more into the morass. Undulations of harsh frequencies mark the noisy finish, less about feedback directly than one might think, but still working on another long fade into a drone that shifts directly into the shorter closing title-track, which executes a tonal deathblow in a midsection surrounded on either side by noise. The effectiveness of those elements isn’t to be understated. Drones in the transitions, long fades, etc. — these are the things that help craft the atmosphere that winds up playing such a significant role in the effect of Threshold Between Worlds on the listener.

I won’t take away from the force of their delivery or the intensity of their heaviest moments — how could I? — but it’s the ambient factors that let Shallow Grave‘s sophomore release become more than just a very heavy sludge record and really begin to find its own personality in terms of style. And that personality may be psychopathic, but that still counts. With a half-decade between their debut and Threshold Between Worlds, it doesn’t seem fair to anticipate a follow-up anytime soon from Shallow Grave, but when/if it does happen that they put out a third release, one might expect them to continue to toy with this balance, as it seems so crucial to their purposes overall. At the same time, to think at all of Threshold Between Worlds, it feels less safe making predictions of any sort for what might come. Other than darkness, which most certainly is lurking on the horizon for all.

Shallow Grave on Thee Facebooks

Shallow Grave on Bandcamp

Sludgelord Records on Bandcamp

Cursed Monk Records on Bandcamp

Black Voodoo Records on Bandcamp

Minor Label website

So Day 1’s done and it’s time to move on to Day 2. Feeling stressed and totally overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff still to be done? Why yes, I am. Thanks for asking. In the past, I used to handle the Quarterly Review well ahead of time. It’s always a lot to get through, but the week before, I’d be setting up back ends, chasing down links and Bandcamp players, starting reviews, etc., so that when it came time, all I had to do was the writing and plug it all into a post and I was set.

There was some prep-work done this past weekend, but especially this time, with my old laptop having been stolen in May, it’s all been way more jazz-improv. I was still adding releases as of last Friday, and writing beforehand? Shit. With the baby having just figured out how to climb? Not bloody likely. Accordingly, here we are, with much to do.

It’ll get done. I haven’t flubbed a Quarterly Review yet, and if I took an extra day to get there, I’m under no delusion that anyone else would care. So there you go. Let’s hit it for Day 2:

Quarterly Review #11-20:

Glanville, First Blood

First Blood is the aptly-titled five-song debut EP from Glanville, a newcomer dual-guitar outfit with established players Philip Michel (The Earwix) on lead and Christopher West (Named by the Sun, ex-Stubb, etc.) on rhythm, Wight’s Peter-Philipp Schierhorn on bass and René Hofmann on vocals, and Thomas Hoffman (ex-Bushfire) on drums. Based in Germany and the UK, the group present 23 minutes of material on their first outing, drawing from the guitar-led likes of Thin Lizzy and Judas Priest to capture early metal and present it with a heavy rocking soulfulness and modern production. The most raucous of the cuts might be centerpiece “Durga the Great,” but neither “God is Dead” nor “Dancing on Fire” before nor “Demons” and “Time to Go” after want for action, and especially the latter builds to a furious head to close out the release. Hofmann as a standalone singer wants for nothing in range or approach, and the band behind him obviously build on their collective experience to dig into a stylistic nuance rarely executed with such confidence. They’ve found a place willfully between and are working to make it theirs. Can’t ask for more than that.

Glanville on Thee Facebooks

Glanville on Bandcamp

—

 

Destroyer of Light, Hopeless

Having just recently signed to Argonauta Records for a new album in 2019, Austin doomers Destroyer of Light follow their 2017 long-player, Chamber of Horrors (review here), with a further auditory assault in the lumbering Hopeless. Psychedelic and yet still somehow traditional doom lingers in the brain after “Nyx” and “Drowned” have finished – the latter with an Alan Watts sample discussing alcoholism – and the band moves into demos for Chamber of Horrors cuts “Into the Smoke,” “Lux Crusher” and “Buried Alive.” Between the two previously unreleased songs and those three demos, Hopeless pushes to 39 minutes, but it’s probably still fair to call it an EP because of the makeup. Either way, from the miserable plod of “Nyx,” in which each chug in the riff cycle seems to count another woe, to the rolling nod early and surprising melody late in “Drowned,” Hopeless is anything but. Anticipation was already pretty high for Destroyer of Light’s next record after the last one, but all Hopeless does is show further depth of approach and more cleverly-wielded atmospheric murk. And the more it sounds like there’s no escape, the more Destroyer of Light seem to be in their element.

Destroyer of Light on Thee Facebooks

Destroyer of Light on Bandcamp

—

 

The Re-Stoned, Stories of the Astral Lizard

The inevitable question is “Why a lizard?” and if you make it four minutes into 11-minute opener “Fractal Panorama” and don’t have your answer, go back ad start over. Moscow heavy psych instrumentalists The Re-Stoned intend the reptile as a spirit guide for their new outing Stories of the Astral Lizard (on Oak Island Records), which follows quickly behind their late-2017 offering, Chronoclasm (review here), and given the ultra-patient desert vibes in the opener, the acoustic-laced folk-prog of “Mental Print for Free,” the languid meander of “A Companion from the Outside,” the swirling sprawl of the 16-minute “Two Astral Projections” and the final cowpoke drift of “The Heather Carnival,” one might indeed just find a lizard sunning its belly amid all the atmospheric evocations and hallucinatory vibes. I’ll take “Two Astral Projections” as the highlight, but mostly because the extra length allows the band to really dig in, but really the whole album feeds together gorgeously and is a new level of achievement when it comes to atmosphere for The Re-Stoned, who were already underappreciated and find themselves only more so now.

The Re-Stoned on Thee Facebooks

Oak Island Records on Thee Facebooks

—

 

Ruff Majik, Seasons

Right on fuzz, right on groove, right on vibe – there isn’t much else one might say about Ruff Majik’s Seasons (on Rock Freaks Records and Forbidden Place Records) beyond “right on.” Heavy rock with twists of psychedelia, the Pretoria, South Africa, three-piece of Johni Holliday, Jimi Glass and Benni Manchino make their home on the lines of various subgenres, but wherever they go, the proceedings remain decisively heavy. To wit, a cut like “Breathing Ghosts” or the later “Birds Stole My Eyes” might dig into shuffle boogie or extreme-metal-derived thrust, but there’s a chemistry between the members and a resonant looseness that ties the material together, and as the last 14 of the total 66 minutes are dedicated to “Asleep in the Leaves,” there’s plenty of progressive weirdness in which to bask, one song moving through the next such that neither “Hanami Sakura (And the Ritual Suicide” nor the semi-doom-plodding “The Deep Blue” nor the funky twists of “Tar Black Blood” come across as predictable. Seasons might take a few listens to sink in, but it’s easily worth that effort.

Ruff Majik on Thee Facebooks

Ruff Majik at Rock Freaks Records webstore

Forbidden Place Records on Bandcamp

—

 

Soldat Hans, Es Taut

Hyperbole-worthy post-ism from Switzerland’s Soldat Hans makes their sophomore outing, Es Taut – on Wolves and Vibrancy Records as a 2LP – a forward thinking highlight. As rich in atmosphere as Crippled Black Phoenix and as lethal as Converge or Neurosis or anyone else you might dare to put next to them, the six-piece made their debut with 2014’s Dress Rehearsal (review here) and served notice of their cross-genre ambitiousness. Es Taut finds them four years later outclassing themselves and most of the rest of the planet across three extended tracks – “Story of the Flood” (26:15), “Schoner Zerbirst, Part I” (8:03) and “Schoner Zerbirst, Part II” (18:56) – that sprawl out with a confidence, poise and abrasion that is nothing short of masterful. Es Taut may be a case of a band outdoing their forebears, but whatever their legacy becomes and however many people take notice, Soldat Hans singlehandedly breathe life into the form of post-metal and prove utterly vital in so doing, not only making it their own, but pushing forward into something new in ambience and heft. This is what a band sounds like while making themselves indispensable.

Soldat Hans on Thee Facebooks

Wolves and Vibrancy Records website

—

 

High Priestess, High Priestess

Calling to order a nod that’s immersive from the opening strains of leadoff/longest-track “Firefly” (still immediate points), Los Angeles trio High Priestess build out the psych-doom ritualizing of their 2017 demo (review here) to make their self-titled full-length debut through Ripple Music. The difference between the demo and the album in terms of what’s included comes down to artwork and the track “Take the Blame,” which adds its bell-of-the-ride swing between the atmosphere and melodic focus of “Banshee” and the spacious roller “Mother Forgive Me.” Potential is writ large throughout from guitarist/vocalist Katie Gilchrest, bassist/vocalist Mariana Fiel and drummer Megan Mullins, as it was on their demo, and even the harsh growls/screams on “Despise” seem to have found their place within the proceedings. As they wrap with the guitar-led jam of “Earth Dive,” High Priestess put the finishing touch on what’s hands-down one of 2018’s best debut albums and offer a reminder that as much potential as there is in their sound for future development, the accomplishments here are considerable unto themselves.

High Priestess on Thee Facebooks

Ripple Music website

—

 

Weed Demon, Astrological Passages

Four tracks of gurgling riffy plunder pervade Astrological Passages, the 41-minute – longer if you get the digital version or the tape/CD, which includes the 7:24 “Dominion of Oblivion” – debut album from Columbus, Ohio’s Weed Demon. Delivered on vinyl through Electric Valley Records, the nodder/plodder carves out a cave for itself within a mountain of tonally thick stoner metal riffing, infusing a sense of sludge with shouted and growled vocals from guitarists Andy and Brian and bassist Jordan – only drummer Chris doesn’t get a mic – and an overarching sense of bludgeoning that’s Sleep-derived if not Sleep-adjacent in terms of its actual sound. Nasty? Why, yes it is, but as “Sigil of the Black Moon” heads toward the midpoint of its 10-minute run, the repetitive groove assault makes the band’s intention plain: worship weed, worship riff. They get faster on “Primordial Genocide” and even sneak a bit of speed in amidst the crawl before the banjo takes hold in the second half of 12-minute closer “Jettisoned” – more Americana sludge please; thank you – but they never lose sight of their mission, and it’s the uniting factor that makes their debut hit like the brick to the head that it is.

Weed Demon on Thee Facebooks

Electric Valley Records website

—

 

Desert Storm, Sentinels

With Sentinels, Oxford, UK, five-piece Desert Storm pass a decade since making their self-titled debut in 2008. They followed that with 2010’s Forked Tongues (review here), 2013’s Horizontal Life and 2014’s Omniscient (review here), and though they had a single out in 2014 on H42 Records as a split with Suns of Thunder (review here) in 2016, Sentinels is their first outing on APF Records and their first long-player in four years. Burl has always been an important factor in what they do, and the High on Fire-meets-Orange Goblin slamming of “The Brawl” backs that up, but Desert Storm have left much of the hyper-dudeliness behind in favor of a more complex approach, and while Sentinels isn’t a minor undertaking at 10 songs and 51 minutes, longer cuts like “Kingdom of Horns” and “Convulsion” demonstrate the maturity they’ve brought to bear, even as the one-two punch of “Drifter”  and “The Extrovert” offer swinging-fist hooks and beard-worthy chug that assures any and all testosterone quotas are met.

Desert Storm on Thee Facebooks

APF Records on Bandcamp

—

 

Ancient Altar, Cosmic Purge/Foie Gras

Based in Los Angeles, Ancient Altar — Scott Carlson (bass/vocals), Barry Kavener (guitar/vocals), Jesse Boldt (guitar) and Etay Levy (drums) – were last heard from on 2015’s dug-in atmosludger Dead Earth (review here), and they return lo these several years later with the two-tracker Cosmic Purge/Foie Gras, pushing into more extreme crush-of-riff with an abandon that’s anything but reckless. On the contrary, there’s some clear development in the 10-minute “Cosmic Purge” and 13-minute “Foie Gras,” rolling out oppressive grooves with blended screams/shouts and cleaner vocals. As with the last album, a drive toward individuality is central here, and Ancient Altar get there in tone while bringing forth a sense of scope to a sound so regularly thought of as closed off or off-putting in general. In its early going, “Foie Gras” hypnotizes with echoing melody and spaciousness only to resolve itself in a deeply weighted dirge march, furthering the pummel of “Cosmic Purge” itself. I don’t know if the EP – on vinyl through Black Voodoo Records, CD on Transcendental Void Records – will lead toward another album or not, but the sense of progression in Ancient Altar’s style is right there waiting to be heard, so here’s hoping.

Ancient Altar on Thee Facebooks

Black Voodoo Records on Thee Facebooks

—

 

Black Box Warning, Attendre la Mort

Listen to it on headphones and the kickdrum on Black Box Warning’s Attendre la Mort is downright painful. Next-level blown-out aggro pulsations. Brutal in a physical sense. The rest of the band doesn’t follow far behind in that regard. Riffs are viscous and violent in noise rock tradition, but denser in their tone despite some underlying punkishness, and the vocals are likewise distorted and abrasive. The five-song/23-minute EP’s title translates to “Waiting for Death,” and each of the tracks is a dose: Opener “5 mg” is followed by “4 mg,” “1 mg,” “2 mg” and “3 mg.” Unsurprisingly, pills are a theme, particularly on “4 mg,” and the sense of violent threat is clear in “2 mg” and 3 mg,” which boast lines like, “Watch them all scream/Watch your enemy bleeded,” and “You are the pig/I am the butcher,” respectively. Between the lyrical and the general aural cruelty, the dis-ease is consuming and unmitigated, sludge becoming a slow-motion grindcore, and that’s clearly the point. Not stabbing, but gouging.

Black Box Warning on Thee Facebooks

Black Box Warning on Bandcamp

—

 

Tonight, Los Angeles doom metallers Yidhra hook up with Wisconsin sludgers Attalla for a stint of Southwestern tour dates running through the weekend. Attalla are on a longer stretch, having looped around the Pacific Northwest to meet up with Yidhra in L.A., and together they’ll head into Arizona and Nevada before Attalla continue on back home toward the upper Midwest. If that geography is confusing, it’ll make more sense when you see the routing of the tour (the rest of Attalla‘s dates are here).

Yidhra of course head out supporting their late-2015 Cult of Bathory EP (review here), which as the PR wire informs is now also available on tape:

YIDHRA: Stoner/Doom Alchemists Announce Southwest Tempest Tour With Attalla; Signature Fuzz Pedal Launched + Cult Of Bathory EP Available On Limited-Edition Cassette

California stoner/doom alchemists YIDHRA will join Attalla for a short run of live dates later this week. The Southwest Tempest Tour will run from July 20th through July 24th hitting Los Angeles, San Diego, Tucson, Phoenix, and Las Vegas.

The band will be touring in support of their Cult Of Bathory EP. Initially released this past Winter via Black Voodoo Records on limited ten-inch vinyl and digital formats, the follow-up to 2013’s critically-lauded Hexed full-length was captured live with master engineer and producer Bill Metoyer (Slayer, Corrosion of Conformity, Trouble, etc.) at Skull Seven Productions and boasts four dark, lead-footed hymns centered on the occult, witchcraft, life, death and imminent destruction. Cult Of Bathory is now available on cassette through The Harmacy Records’ Giallo imprint. Limited to fifty-five units worldwide, it can be obtained at THIS LOCATION.

YIDHRA w/ Attalla – Southwest Tempest Tour:
7/20/2016 Complex – Los Angeles, CA w/ Sisters Ov The Blackmoon, Ancient Spell
7/21/2016 The Merrow – San Diego, CA w/ Great Electric Quest, Supersonic Dragon Wagon
7/22/2016 SurlyWench Pub – Tucson, AZ w/ Abhorrent Contagion, Blacklidge
7/23/2016 The Sandlot – Phoenix, AZ w/ Tombstalker, Goya, Grey Gallows
7/24/2016 The Warehouse – Las Vegas, NV w/ The CG’s, The VD’s, Duct Tape Shoes, Commital, Grim Reefer, Wax Pig Melting

In other YIDHRA news, the band recently launched their own “signature” pedal, the Hexed Fuzz Custom through Arts In Bloodshed Custom Effects. There is a music realm made of heaviness, where goblins dwell and witches prepare their potions in wicked cauldrons. A doomed land where the trees are evil and the sky’s dark green. If you belong in here, then the Hexed Fuzz Custom is for you. Built according to the specs of YIDHRA guitarists Dave Krocker and Ted Venemann, the pedal provides an extra thick yet detailed high gain fuzz distortion perfect for extra low tunings. The fat and squished texture is filtered through a custom three band EQ and features a soft action true bypass switch as well as a bright creepy green led. Switchcraft jacks complete the high quality hardware. Heavy, extra gainy, and quiet. Now’s the time to get your hoof on it and begin to compose your malevolent chant. For more info visit THIS LOCATION.

http://www.yidhra.com
http://www.facebook.com/YidhraWitchQueen
http://www.yidhra.bandcamp.com
http://www.blackvoodoorecords.myminto.com

Yidhra & Attalla tour trailer

Los Angeles-based doomer foursome Yidhra release their new EP, Cult of Bathory, on Friday through Black Voodoo Records. The four-songer arrives pressed up in 300 copies on a 10″ platter with digital and CD versions to follow (a rare swap in pressing order), and sees the band take a step further thematically from their 2013 full-length debut, Hexed, exploring modern/current subjects through a veil of coded references and metaphor.

One wouldn’t exactly call Cult of Bathory subtle as it mines desolate landscapes and pummels front-to-back in a burled-out assault of sludge riffs atop rolling doom grooves, but in its imagery and atmosphere, its songs give a glimpse at a world gone dark, and the brutality they emit almost immediately as the opening title-track unfolds from its swinging intro into the aggressive, guttural first verse en route to a chorus in which vocalist/rhythm guitarist/thereminist Ted Venemann seems to nod directly at Metallica — see pronunciation of “Bathory” vs. Master of Puppets‘ “Battery” — mirrors the brutality their songs would seem to be interested in portraying.

The lineup of Venemann, lead guitarist/vocalist Dave Krocker, bassist Thomas Harris (since replaced by Erik Brasher) and drummer Chris Hannan use “Cult of Bathory” to establish a uniformly grim vision that persists throughout the subsequent three tracks, “Iron Mountain,” “The Adversary” and “Reign of Terror” exhibiting a sonic breadth in kind with the underlying dedication to weighted spirits and sonics. “Iron Mountain” is the longest of the four inclusions at 8:11 and uses its added space for a subdued, semi-psychedelic midsection jam that holds its underlying tension in Hannan‘s toms and some spacious volume-swell swirling.

They build their way back to the full-toned assault, naturally, and finish side A with a few measures of extra bashing. The thread continues as “The Adversary” launches side B with gruff chugging in tradeoff with quieter verses and dudely roll that gives way after the halfway mark for a briefer sojourn into minimalism that, similar to “Iron Mountain,” kicks back to maximum heft, en route to “Reign of Terror,” which is more uptempo but still unabashedly driven by the lower end of the tonal spectrum. A late solo feels in its element over the faster backing, and “Reign of Terror” justifies its closer position through a general uptick in the energy level that hits its apex in a post-slowdown fit of chugging and pace build, cutting out to finish cold, which is suitable enough to the preceding vibes.

Produced and engineered by Bill Metoyer (Slayer, Trouble, many others) at Skull Seven Productions, where Yidhra also recorded Hexed, Cult of Bathory is a strong follow-up to that full-length release, showing that the style the band proffered there and on the prior self-titled EP in 2009 was the ground floor of a development that remains underway. Crisp in sound and pointed even in the bluntness of their execution, the EP’s tracks are available to stream now on the player below ahead of Friday’s release date. Please enjoy:

Black Voodoo Records will release YIDHRA’s Cult Of Bathory on December 18th, 2015 on 10-inch vinyl in three limited edition color variants: 100 blood red splattered, 100 purple sold exclusively through Black Voodoo Records, and 100 standard black. Cult Of Bathory will be available on CD and digitally in early 2016. Stay tuned for details. Teaser tracks to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Yidhra website

Yidhra on Thee Facebooks

Yidhra on Bandcamp

Black Voodoo Records

It was noted in this space back in 2013 when Los Angeles Theremin-inclusive doomers Yidhra released their full-length debut, Hexed, so it seems only fair to post word of the follow-up 10″ EP, Cult of Bathory, which comes out next month. Like its predecessor, the new offering features a veiled lady in sepiatone, though I guess the difference is this time she’s got no clothes on other than the veil — always the last to go…? — and is engaged in some creepy ritual whatnot, as the band themselves seem to be. The four-songer is out Dec. 7, and like the album before it, was tracked by Bill Metoyer in L.A.

Word follows from the PR wire:

YIDHRA: Los Angeles-Based Stoner/Doom Bringers To Release New 10-Inch EP This December Via Black Voodoo Records

Los Angeles-based stoner/doom volume abusers will release a new 10-inch EP this Winter via Black Voodoo Records. Titled Cult Of Bathory, the followup to 2013’s critically-lauded Hexed full-length was captured live with master engineer and producer Bill Metoyer (Slayer, Corrosion of Conformity, Trouble, etc.) at Skull Seven Productions and boasts four rumbling, lead-footed anthems centered on the occult, witchcraft, inhumanity, life, death and imminent destruction.

Cult Of Bathory Track Listing
1. Cult Of Bathory
2. Iron Mountain 1
3. Theadversary
4. Reign Of Terror

Since their inception in 2009, YIDHRA have drawn comparisons to the likes of Electric Wizard, Saint Vitus, Trouble and Candlemass. But there’s something singularly hypnotic about YIDHRA; an intangible allure slithering beneath the doom and gloom. Literally formed by the fates of tragedy, life and death, they’ve been able to rise above their roots of despair and use those experiences to forge a massively heavy, dark and catchy arsenal of material. Lyrically and visually, YIDHRA conjure strong horror and occult themes that yield a seductive sense of foreboding. Musically they build a mountain of distortion, groove, thunder and a haunting ambiance that can only be attributed to true devotees of the almighty riff, master practitioners of tone worship and a spiritual relationship with the Theremin. Though there’s been a steady evolution within the band over the years, YIDHRA’s approach has always been focused on true expression; raw emotions and creating powerfully catchy kick ass songs.

YIDHRA will bring their smokey odes to the stage with two newly confirmed performances including a show tonight opening for New Orleans sludge kings, Crowbar with additional live abrasions in their plotting stages.

YIDHRA:
11/20/2015 Sweet Springs Saloon – Los Osos, CA w/ Behold! The Monolith, Inferos, Lesions

Black Voodoo Records will release YIDHRA’s Cult Of Bathory on December 7th, 2015 on 10-inch vinyl in three limited edition color variants: 100 blood red splattered, 100 purple sold exclusively through Black Voodoo Records, and 100 standard black. Cult Of Bathory will be available on CD and digitally in early 2016. Stay tuned for details. Teaser tracks to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

YIDHRA is:
Ted Venemann – vocals/rhythm guitar/theremin
Dave Krocker – lead guitar
Thomas Harris – bass (on the recording/since resigned)
Erik Brasher – bass (new/current)
Chris Hannan – drums

http://www.yidhra.com
http://www.facebook.com/YidhraWitchQueen
http://www.yidhra.bandcamp.com/merch
http://www.blackvoodoorecords.myminto.com

Yidhra, Hexed (2013)

Los Angeles sludgers Ancient Altar will release their sophomore full-length, Dead Earth, on Sept. 1. The 300-pressed vinyl comes courtesy of Black Voodoo Records, and there’s reportedly a tape to follow through Midnite Collective, which also released the band’s 2014 self-titled debut, the response to which was fervent enough to earn the four-piece a slot on the May 2015 Psycho California festival. Dead Earth makes no secret of its grim purposes across its four tracks and 41 minutes, but much to its success, the band manages to conjure a vision of atmospheric sludge that’s neither redundant in its methods nor specifically derived from the post-Neurosis school of undulation. Make no mistake, at some point along the way, someone in Ancient Altar probably heard Through Silver in Blood — whether that’s bassist/vocalist Scott Carlson, guitarist/vocalist Barry Kavener, guitarist Jesse Boldt or drummer Etay Levy, I wouldn’t speculate — but it’s by no means a defining influence, and Dead Earth seems much more geared toward innovation than emulation, or at very least the creation of an individualized identity from a variety of stylistic elements.

What the hell does that mean? In terms of the front to back listening experience, it means Ancient Altar are particularly adept at tipping their aesthetic to one side or another. Obviously the split between vinyl sides is a factor, but listening to Dead Earth digitally, its four cuts right in a row, the album moves almost seamlessly from one piece to the next, two longer cuts, opener “Leader, Liar” (12:38) and closer “Void” (12:48), sandwiching the shorter “Albion” (8:34) and “Dead Earth” (6:55), as all work in various levels of thoughtful abrasion toward a full-album flow, somewhere between aggro and a pervasive resignation that feeds into the titular theme — it’s too late to think about saving anything except ourselves. The bulk of the record is screamed, and “Albion” and “Dead Earth” especially dip into black metal atmospheres, but even in those moments, Ancient Altar refuse to be so easily categorized, and by the time they’re through the immersive beginnings of “Leader, Liar,” and they’ve trudged through “Albion” and the nadir of “Dead Earth,” they open up, not to a resounding hopelessness as the title “Void” might hint, but to a feeling of potential from within that despair. Amid clean vocals and a heightened melodic sensibility, the “Void” may be empty, but it’s also the only hope.

All of this ties in with the stated theme of the record, which is loosely that the planet is beyond saving and if our species is to survive, we’ll have to enter that void and find hope elsewhere. Of course, Ancient Altar do a better and more descriptive job on conveying it, so perhaps it’s better to leave it to them. Ahead of the album’s Sept. 1 arrival, I have the pleasure today of hosting the premiere of “Void,” which in addition to being the longest inclusion on the outing is also the richest in terms of the emotional and thematic drive on display.

You’ll find it on the player below, followed by tour dates for a run that begins tonight and more album info. I hope you enjoy:

Ancient Altar hails from the land of the unrelenting sun, crippling drought, and excess known as Los Angeles, born of arcane philosophy and a stripped-down approach to bristling, daunting, towering doom. Formed in late 2013, the band features bassist Scott Carlson and guitar player Barry Kavener splitting vocal duties, along with second guitarist Jesse Boldt and drummer Etay Levy.

Dead Earth is the band’s sophomore effort, coming just a year after their 2014 eponymous debut, which was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews, and just a few months after a devastatingly stunning set at Psycho California in May. Dead Earth is a loose concept album based on war, corrupt leaders, and religion destroying planet Earth as we speak—which is happening, and only getting worse. The album depicts the only way for humanity to survive: leaving this dead earth and starting over somewhere else. The record dips and dives between themes of the utter despair of the human race’s impending doom—and a sense of hope as we triumphantly make our terrifying yet absolutely necessary escape toward a fresh start and a new future.

Track Listing:
1. Leader, Liar
2. Albion
3. Dead Earth
4. Void

Ancient Altar Tour Dates:
8/6 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Bar
8/7 – Colorado Springs, CO @ Flux Capacitor
8/8 – Santa Fe, NM @ The Cave
8/9 Tempe, AZ @ 51 West

Ancient Altar on Bandcamp

Ancient Altar on Thee Facebooks

Ancient Altar tour event page

Black Voodoo Records

Midnite Collective