The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Ben Lombard of Bog Wizard

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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I play guitar and do most of the vocals for the band Bog Wizard, and usually have at least a hand in the writing process, whether that’s interpreting things Harlen (drummer) is throwing at me or putting together my own riffs.

I’d always sort of had an interest in music, both of my parents played instruments when I was young, but past learning the C-chord on an old acoustic, I didn’t really pick up an instrument until middle school when I started playing snare drum in the school band. That progressed to general percussion, but I’d only ever learned to read music halfway, and to this day can pick out the rhythm but not the note names from a piece of sheet music. Sometime in late high school I got a guitar for my birthday, but ended up quickly trading it for a bass that I began noodling around on.

As far as how the band got started, I met Harlen and some others in college that were in a sort-of band, sort-of looking for a bassist, and I ended up going over to try out, and eventually started to hang with them regularly. It wasn’t too long before someone told me that I played bass like a guitar and I should play guitar, and from there Harlen and I both sort of learned our instruments together I suppose.

From there it took about ten years and half a dozen band names before we actually formed Bog Wizard and stuck with the moniker.

Describe your first musical memory.

I think it would have to be either my mom singing or playing either the piano or the flute. I would always sit next to her on the piano bench and go through all the sheet music books she had, handing her ones that I thought looked interesting and trying to get her to play them. Unfortunately, interesting looking also usually meant difficult, and she would often sigh and laugh a little about what I picked before trying to play it anyway.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

I might just have to throw a couple answers out there for this one, it’s hard to pick favorites! I’ll start with the best concert I’ve been to, had to be the Devin Townsend Project, Gojira, and Opeth together at The Vic in Chicago. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen any of the bands, I’d seen Opeth many times at that point and had even seen Devin open for Gojira before. Devin was great, Opeth was great, but Gojira stole the show, and was hands down the best live set I’ve ever witnessed. Something about their whole presence, the energy and the performance, was just on another level. A close runner-up for the winner here would be the time I saw Dethklok and Mastodon co-headline at the Fillmore in Detroit.

Out of gigs we’ve performed ourselves, our most recent one at Mulligan’s Pub in Grand Rapids with Starman Deluxe (who filled-in last minute) and Iron Mountain stands out. The crowd was there to rock, it was a great lineup, and they gave us our first real mosh-pit, definitely an awesome night.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

I suppose being a teenager and realizing that I might be bisexual or gay instead of straight was a big one. I’m still wrestling with the finer points of that actually, 15 or more years later. Not the question of if I’m straight or not, I’m not, more how far into the gayness spectrum I am, haha.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Hopefully being more satisfied with the work one produces! Being able to express more clearly the thoughts and feelings you want to express, a heightened ability to express yourself in your chosen medium, regardless of what that may be.

How do you define success?

In steps, and there are many, and they depend on your ambitions. A small success for us was getting our music out there in the first place, having a physical thing that we created that we could put into the hands of others. Another might be playing our first gig, and then our first gig outside our hometown. Starting to collaborate with other artists, coming to the realization that there are people out there, maybe even a fair amount of people, that want to hear our music, that are waiting for us to put out more. This all sounds like success to me, with hopefully more to come!

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

The ugliness in some people that the pandemic brought out, their absolute disregard for the wellbeing of those around them.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

There are so many ways this answer could go. I suppose I’ve never really had a plan about where to point my creative interests, I’m pretty happy with where I’m at in Bog Wizard right now, so, further Bog Wizardy things? We do have some things in the works, we might have something going on with some unconventional cover songs in the future, trying to turn non-metal into metal, basic alchemy stuff.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

Expression, whether of self or of an idea, and the ability to put that expression or idea out into the world for others to perceive, perhaps providing a connection between people who would have otherwise never met or interacted.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

I’m looking forward to the weather being consistently warm enough for me to get outside on a regular basis, I spent far too much time cooped up inside over the winter and that needs to change. More specifically, I’ve been getting into disc golf more and more over the past couple years, and I’m going to try to get out and practice a lot more as I’d like to eventually get good enough to play in my local league.

https://www.facebook.com/BogWizardBand/
https://twitter.com/bogwizardband/
https://www.instagram.com/bogwizardband/
https://bogwizard.bandcamp.com/
https://bogwizard.bigcartel.com/

Bog Wizard feat. Froglord, “The Frog Lord” official video

Shenanigans ensue. April 1 is the arrival date for Bog Wizard and Froglord‘s A Frog in the Bog split/collaborative release, and it may just turn out that it’s all an elaborate prank and none of it, none of us, you or me or the bands or the songs or anything at all, actually exist. But, assuming the world is in some cruel way what it seems to be, the five-track outing, which finds Bog Wizard summoning Froglord onto “The Frog Lord” — there’s a “ribbit” there, audible, you can hear it — and the UK-based Froglord bringing Bog Wizard aboard for the closing companion-piece “The Bog Wizard,” there’s clearly a plan at work here. In some of Bog Wizard‘s over-the-top doom-metal melodrama and majickal-or-however-you-want-to-spell-it thematic, the outing brings to mind a rawer, suitably mossier take on Merlin‘s chicanery, but from the moment the listener first faces the “Reptilian Death Squad” through the grueling rumble of “The Bog,” “The Wizard” (not at all a cover) and “The Bog Wizard” — arranged shortest to longest as they are on either side of five and a half minutes long — there’s clearly a plan at work.

The plan is “fuck it.”

Listening to this chirruping reptiles begging for sex at the outset of “The Frog Lord,” which picks up from the ultra-subdued lull-away-your-conscious-mind finish of “Reptilian Death Squad” — god damn these words are fun to write — there’s charm to spare. Bog Wizard and Froglord are a solid match tonally, with the latter more produced with more clarity than the Michigan trio of guitarist/vocalist Ben Lombard, bassist Colby Lowman and drummer/synthesist/vocalist Harlen Linke, but there’s atmosphere to both and the fact that they’re so clearly on the same page in terms of storyline and the overarching riff-what-thou-wilt mindset assures that the 37 minutes of A Frog in the Bog are consistent just the same. And if they weren’t, would it really matter? Do you go into a Bog Wizard and Froglord split — even if you know nothing of either act’s prior work; Froglord‘s entirely new to me if it makes you feel better — expecting clean progressive rock? Hell no you do not. You expect lumbering riffs, abiding murk, and the willful sense that whatever’s going on and however lumbering a given stretch might be, there’s a good time being had. So happens that’s precisely what’s delivered.

You’ll note the videogame-style cover art here; I speak from experience in telling you that neither playing instructions nor controller overlays are included, but they do have the courtesy to tell you that in the fine print. Perhaps next time. I know I’ve got a couple NES controllers laying around, and as merch/sticker ideas go, that’d be a new one as far as I’ve seen. As it stands, A Frog in the Bog is brilliant in its regressive take, refusing to operate on any terms other than those it sets for itself, and engaging its audience with craft and personality alike. It would be dumb to ask more of it than that. Don’t be dumb.

Bog Wizard and Froglord both give a solid idea of where they’re coming from in the clip for “The Frog Lord” below — I’d be interested to know what venue Froglord filmed at — and in the midst of it all, you’ll see somebody’s kid dancing, orb tricks, and so on.

Have fun. Let yourself enjoy a thing.

This, particularly:

Bog Wizard feat. Froglord, “The Frog Lord” video premiere

Preorders UK: https://froglord.bandcamp.com/album/a-frog-in-the-bog

Preorders US: https://bogwizard.bandcamp.com/album/bog-wizard-vs-froglord-a-frog-in-the-bog-split

A Frog in the Bog is a collaborative concept split album. What that means is that this split has been written from the ground up to tell a cohesive story. Both halves of the split feature shared vocal parts between the bands, in the conclusionary tracks.

Bog Wizard and Froglord are both very narratively driven bands, telling tale of their respective characters. The Froglord is a god-like swamp dwelling being with a congregation of worshippers and followers. The Bog Wizard is an angry hermit wizard whos only preferred company is the creatures he summons to do his bidding, and he’s highly protective of his territory.

A Frog in the Bog tells the story of their fateful meeting, as the Froglord encroaches into the Bog Wizard’s well-guarded territory with his congregation, from each of their unique perspectives. It describes the Bog Wizard’s anger as he realizes this being has intruded on his land, the curiosity of the Froglord as to who and what lies in the swamp, their ultimate battle, and face to face meeting. Who will win?

Track Listing for A Frog in the Bog:
1. Bog Wizard – Reptilian Death Squad (8:12)
2. Bog Wizard – The Frog Lord, feat Froglord (12:21)
3. Froglord – The Bog (5:27)
4. Froglord – The Wizard (5:34)
5. Froglord – The Bog Wizard, feat Bog Wizard (5:35)

Bog Wizard is:
Ben Lombard (guitar/vox)
Harlen Linke (percussion, synth, vox)
Colby Lowman (bass)

Froglord is:
Froglord

Froglord, “The Bog” official video

Bog Wizard on Facebook

Bog Wizard on Twitter

Bog Wizard on Instagram

Bog Wizard on Bandcamp

Bog Wizard webstore

Froglord Linktree

Froglord on Bandcamp

Froglord on Facebook

Froglord on Instagram

You don’t need me to tell you about the charm factor here, right? Two bands, disparate in locale, come together to collaborate and unite in creative purpose on a split where they also appear on each other’s tracks, and not only that, but they’re brought together a narrative spanning both of their work, given it 16-bit cover art (that’s right, I’m thinking Genesis-era, or maybe one of those super-underrated SNES RPGs; I’d play it either way) about a Froglord encountering a Bog Wizard. I don’t know how the Bristol, UK, and Michigan-based acts know each other, and frankly, it’s a secondary consideration given the above. However it came about, this sounds pretty awesome.

As someone who appreciates a good story and has dug Bog Wizard‘s work to-date — Froglord‘s various singles on Bandcamp are right on as well, just new to me — this feels like a no-brainer. Hail the reptilian death squad, which I’m sure someone out there believes is a real thing.

To wit:

Bog Wizard/ Froglord to release collaborative concept split, A Frog in the Bog on April 1st, 2022

A Frog in the Bog is a collaborative concept split album. What that means is that this split has been written from the ground up to tell a cohesive story. Both halves of the split feature shared vocal parts between the bands, in the conclusionary tracks.

Bog Wizard and Froglord are both very narratively driven bands, telling tale of their respective characters. The Froglord is a god-like swamp dwelling being with a congregation of worshippers and followers. The Bog Wizard is an angry hermit wizard whos only preferred company is the creatures he summons to do his bidding, and he’s highly protective of his territory.

A Frog in the Bog tells the story of their fateful meeting, as the Froglord encroaches into the Bog Wizard’s well-guarded territory with his congregation, from each of their unique perspectives. It describes the Bog Wizard’s anger as he realizes this being has intruded on his land, the curiosity of the Froglord as to who and what lies in the swamp, their ultimate battle, and face to face meeting. Who will win?

Track Listing for A Frog in the Bog:
1. Bog Wizard – Reptilian Death Squad (8:12)
2. Bog Wizard – The Frog Lord, feat Froglord (12:21)
3. Froglord – The Bog (5:27)
4. Froglord – The Wizard (5:34)
5. Froglord – The Bog Wizard, feat Bog Wizard (5:35)

Preorders for cassettes, vinyl, and CDs available March 4th!

US Shipping merch via Bog Wizard, UK via Froglord

Bog Wizard is:
Ben Lombard (guitar/vox)
Harlen Linke (percussion, synth, vox)
Colby Lowman (bass)

Froglord is:
Froglord

https://www.facebook.com/BogWizardBand/
https://twitter.com/bogwizardband/
https://www.instagram.com/bogwizardband/
https://bogwizard.bandcamp.com/
https://bogwizard.bigcartel.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Froglorddoom/
https://www.instagram.com/froglordband/
https://froglord.bandcamp.com/

Bog Wizard, Miasmic Purple Smoke (2021)

Froglord, “Samhain”

West Michigan sludge purveyors Bog Wizard will release their admirably filthy second full-length, Miasmic Purple Smoke, on Dec. 3 through The Dregs Records. The band lurch into action in following up their earlier-2021 split with Dust Lord (discussed here) and their Summer 2020 debut, From the Mire, as well as 2018’s tellingly-titled Campaign EP, with a collection of six tracks that runs 41 minutes pulling together willful gruel and a guttural sense of the epic.

To wit, “Barbaria” — premiering below — leads the murky dirge procession with eight minutes that find guitarist/vocalist Ben Lombard, drummer/synthesist/vocalist Harlen Linke and bassist Colby Lowman playing howls of its title lyric off of grim, throaty growls, riffs born of the school of Electric Wizard, Windhand, Monolord, etc., readily plodding in raw tones reminiscent of the great history of underrated Midwestern dirt sludge — consider Fistula and the many branches of their dysfunctional family tree, but more doom-informed than punk in the realization.

Though one says that and has to acknowledge Miasmic Purple Smoke‘s tempo outlier in the penultimate “Stuck in the Muck.” So yeah, dudes can play fast when they want to. They can also Sabbath swing like madmen on the title-track or harness cosmic destruction on 12-minute finale “The Void Beckons” — if you’re wondering where the synth is at, there it be — or churn with early-metal ferocity that they just let fall apart like a rehearsal room jam on “The Rogue” (with Linke and Lowman keeping it going; brilliant) or dare some ambience in the interlude “Grimdark” just ahead of the boogie reset at the start of side B, with its “woo!”s and all.

Fuckery abounds amid stylistic shifts, and that shouldn’t be terribly surprising for a band who’ve branded themselves ‘nerd doom’ and tout their love of Dungeons and Dragons, and so on — context for that Campaign EP — but while they’re having a good time in their D&D-meets-ADHD-doom, Bog Wizard‘s sophomore long-player subtly melds sounds and purposes. Whether it’s in the buried-in-mud riffery of “The Rogue” or the somehow-deeper low end that pervades throughout “The Void Beckons,” their passion for what they’re doing is infectious, and the barebones recording becomes an aesthetic unto itself that, again, is part of a long tradition.

You can see in the quote under the track the band talking about the escapist aspects of a song like “Barbaria,” and Bog Wizard are hardly the first to embrace storytelling as a mode of transporting oneself to another world. That they do so in such delightfully gruesome fashion serves to make Miasmic Purple Smoke even more charming in its dungeon-esque atmosphere. Dungeon doom. Cave doom.

Max experience points for those who listen.

Enjoy:

Bog Wizard, “Barbaria” track premiere

Barbaria, the first single off Miasmic Purple Smoke, Bog Wizard’s sophomore full length release, out Dec 3rd 2021.

What the band has to say about the track:

“The album Miasmic Purple Smoke was written and recorded over the course of the last year. The process of this and playing the music itself has been our bit of escapism to keep sane. Much as we have done in the past with our D&D characters and the stories we put ourselves into, and often write our songs about. Using escapism and fantasy in tumultuous times.

“The song Barbaria is embracing this escapism, and allowing our inner barbarian rage to bubble over a bit. It represents the anger and frustration felt over the last year and a half, and provides a way to vent those darker thoughts. And of course, as is our method of operation, channeling the barbarian characters we have played over the years. Gotta keep the nerd in our nerd doom.”

Bog Wizard is a Doom/ Sludge/ Stoner metal band riffing off the satanic panic era with heavy fantasy/ D&D themes. NERD DOOM.

Track Listing for Miasmic Purple Smoke
1. Barbaria [8:30]
2. The Rogue [10:08]
3. Grimdark [1:46]
4. Miasmic Purple Smoke [7:16]
5. Stuck In The Muck [1:19]
6. The Void Beckons [12:26]

Run time: 41:25

Bog Wizard is:
Ben Lombard (guitar/vox)
Harlen Linke (percussion, synth, vox)
Colby Lowman (bass)

Bog Wizard on Facebook

Bog Wizard on Twitter

Bog Wizard on Instagram

Bog Wizard on Bandcamp

Bog Wizard webstore

The Dregs Records on Facebook

The Dregs Records on Instagram

The Dregs Records on Twitter

The Dregs Records webstore

Fresh off the announcement of their impending split with Dust Lord, and even fresher off doing a livestream a couple days ago, Michigan’s Bog Wizard have signed to newcomer Boston-based imprint The Dregs Records. It’s not yet known what they’ll be putting out through the label, but the band’s debut long-player, From the Mire, came out in 2020, and a reissue of that or some pressing of a follow-up doesn’t seem out of the question, considering a long lockdown Michigan winter of writing new material and/or playing D&D, if it needs to be one or the other. And I’m not sure it does when it comes to these guys.

Anyhoozle, even without specific word of what’s coming, the fact that Bog Wizard will mark the first release for The Dregs Records brings an added level of intrigue, as it’s one of two planned offerings for the label in 2021. Whatever it is. Sometimes you see it’s kind of rough to go without info, but if all you take away from this is band-gets-signed and maybe listen to the album or check out the livestream below, I frankly wouldn’t consider that a loss.

The label posted the following on thee social medias:

Bog Wizard – The Dregs Records

“This is no ordinary mire, these wetlands are home to the Bog Wizard!”

Somewhere between a snort and a laugh your companion proclaims “Those are just local tales, to spook the-” You spin around feverishly. The lantern in hand gradually illuminating three shadowy figures where none had once been. The center and tallest of the three cricks it’s neck back to let out a banshee’s wail!! And that was the last that your memory can serve you.

I am super excited to announce that West Michigan’s Bog Wizard will be the first to join us at The Dregs Records. Last Sunday they were able to put down the dice and pick up the pen, binding us together to release some sludge soaked and doom covered riffage.
This was an incredibly easy decision to collaborate together. I have a long lasting love for D&D and tales of fantasy. Tied with their ability to combine sludge, doom, and stoner metal in fresh yet familiar ways.

“We’re excited to announce that we have officially signed with The Dregs Records and are looking forward to growing together with this partnership!” says the band. “Our fondness of both fantasy tabletop roleplaying games and doomy sludgy music made it an easy decision! We’ve got some big stuff planned with them for later this year, and we’ll be announcing it soon. Be sure to follow them to keep an eye out on future news!”

I can not wait till we can release more information to you all about this project. Make sure to follow the page so you don’t miss anything!

Bog Wizard is Ben Lombard (guitar/vox), Harlen Linke (percussion, synth, vox), and Colby Lowman (bass)

https://bogwizard.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/bogwizardband/
https://www.facebook.com/BogWizardBand/
https://www.instagram.com/bogwizardband/
https://www.youtube.com/bogwizard
https://bogwizard.bigcartel.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0mooueq4AqCcD9cZ6yfV2B
https://linktr.ee/thedregsrecords

Bog Wizard, From the Mire (2020)

Bog Wizard and Dust Lord both made their debuts last year, the former with From the Mire and the latter with Machine Cult. Both records — because it’s the future — can be streamed below. Now, under normal circumstances, it’d be easy to imagine that two bands with first albums out from vaguely the same part of the country (that is, the Middle part) teaming for a split probably met playing a show together somewhere as they each supported their album. Well, obviously that’s not the case here, so how exactly Bog Wizard met Dust Lord — like When Harry Met Sally, but with riffs — I have no idea.

It is a formidable pairing though, and the two bands complement each other well on the four-tracker split, suitably enough dubbed Four Tales of the Strange. Dust Lord are nastier in terms screaming and general sludgy harshness, and Bog Wizard are a little more doomed but rawer in production value, so they hit with a sludge vibe as well that way. One way or the other it’s 36 minutes of mess-up-your-afternoon distortion and downward vibes, united by legitimate disaffection.

No audio yet, but it’s out March 5 and the PR wire brings forth the following:

Dust Lord & Bog Wizard – Four Tales of the Strange

Four Tales of the Strange was created with publishing help from The Swamp Records and The Cosmic Peddler. Put together out of love and appreciation for both bands successful 2020 full length album debuts. The album weaves a blend of sludge, doom, and psychedelic material including some of the heaviest, sludgiest, fuzzed-out riffs created by either band.

The split will be released on CD, cassette, and vinyl pressing in transparent blue with light blue splatter, and transparent red with gold splatter. Releasing with help from The Swamp Records and The Cosmic Peddler.

Album art by Marinko Milosevski, most well known for his work on the cover art for the game Red Dead Redemption 2, among many other widely known games, shows, and movies.

Bog Wizard is a three-piece West Michigan based doom/ sludge/ stoner metal band, inspired by Dungeons & Dragons and fantasy literature. Dust Lord hails from Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is a heavy stoner rock band in the vein of Bongzilla, Weedeater, Eyehategod, Buzzoven.

Bog Wizard is Ben Lombard (guitar/vox), Harlen Linke (percussion, synth, vox), and Colby Lowman (bass)

Dust Lord is Spike Whirley (guitar/ vox), Peter Low Frequency (bass), Rob Deadraiser (percussion)

Bog Wizard vs Dust Lord
Four Tales of the Strange
Out March 5th 2021
Published with help from The Swamp Records & The Cosmic Peddler
Bog Wizard: West Michigan, US
Dust Lord: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Track Listing:
1. Dust Lord – Not Men, Not Women, Not Beasts (6:38)
2. Dust Lord – Career Opportunities (9:37)
3. Bog Wizard – Paladin of Death (9:12)
4. Bog Wizard – Gelatinous Cube (10:26)
Run time: 35:53

Album art by Marinko Milosevski https://marinkoillustration.com/

https://bogwizard.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/bogwizardband/
https://www.facebook.com/BogWizardBand/
https://www.instagram.com/bogwizardband/
https://www.youtube.com/bogwizard
https://bogwizard.bigcartel.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0mooueq4AqCcD9cZ6yfV2B

https://dustlordpartydoom.bandcamp.com/
https://facebook.com/dustlordpartydoom/
https://www.instagram.com/dustlord_official/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1AcNF4c7i4GuekqeTZadQ1

Dust Lord, Machine Cult (2020)

Bog Wizard, From the Mire (2020)