Keep it Low #11: Lowrider, High Desert Queen, Bongripper, Blue Heron & Kanaan Join Lineup

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 18th, 2025 by JJ Koczan

Five more names for the 11th edition of Munich’s Keep it Low Festival, set for this Oct. 10-11 as part of an always-busy Fall fest season in Europe. You can see the full lineup as it stands on the poster below — pretty gosh-darn sweet; good to see Colour Haze making their regularly scheduled hometown appearance at the fest; they’re kind of the unofficial house band, which is a major part of the reason I’ve always sweated attending this one — and the latest to be added to the mix are LowriderBongripper, High Desert QueenBlue Heron and Kanaan.

It’s ultimately a small contingent of the larger lineup, but a lot of fun to consider on its own, from a veteran act like Lowrider who don’t really tour at this point to the delightful contrast between Bongripper‘s malevolent crush and High Desert Queen‘s posi-outreach vibes, the jazzy instrumental prog of Kanaan and Blue Heron‘s imported-from-New-Mexico heavy desert vibes. Again, it’s part of the greater story of the diverse sounds Keep it Low has on offer for 2025, between Graveyard and The Obsessed and Siena Root and Conan, on and on, but emblematic of the whole just the same.

Confirmation came via the PR wire:

keep it low 11 new poster

KEEP IT LOW FESTIVAL announces HIGH DESERT QUEEN, LOWRIDER, BONGRIPPER & more new band names for 2025!

Keep It Low – THE annual stoner, psych, rock, doom and sludge metal event in the heart of Munich, Germany, has announced new band names for its exciting, 10th anniversary edition in 2025!

High Desert Queen, Lowrider, Bongripper, Blue Heron and Kanaan will be joining previously-announced acts such as Graveyard, Masters Of Reality, Conan, Colour Haze, The Obsessed, Siena Root, Vintage Caravan and many more!

Hosted by Sound Of Liberation (Desertfest Berlin, Up In Smoke, Lazy Bones Fest a.o.), Keep It Low will be taking place between 10. – 11. October 2025 at Backstage.

Join the Facebook event for more updates at:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1200732624331625

Tickets are on sale at: www.sol-tickets.com

https://www.facebook.com/keepitlowfestival/
https://www.keepitlow.de/
https://www.soundofliberation.com/
http://www.sol-tickets.com

Lowrider, Live at Hellfest 2022

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Quarterly Review: Bongripper, Destroyer of Light, Castle Rat, Temple of the Fuzz Witch, State of Non Return, Thief, Ravens, Spacedrifter, Collyn McCoy, Misleading

Posted in Reviews on May 22nd, 2024 by JJ Koczan

The-Obelisk-Quarterly-Review

I wouldn’t say we’re in the home stretch yet, but this 100-release Quarterly Review is more than three-quarters done after today, so I guess it’s debatable. In any case, we proceed. I hope you’ve enjoyed what’s been on offer so far. Yesterday was a little manic, but I got there. Today, tomorrow, I expect much the same. The order of things, as that one Jem’Hadar liked to say.

Quarterly Review #71-80:

Bongripper, Empty

BONGRIPPER empty

Eight albums and the emergence of a microgenre cast partly in their image later, it would take a lot for Chicago ultra-crush instrumentalists Bongripper to surprise their listenership, at least as regards their basic approach. If you think that’s a bad thing, fine, but I’d put the 66 minutes of Empty forward to argue otherwise. Six years after 2018’s two-song LP Terminal (review here) — with a live record and single between — the four new songs of Empty dare to sneakily convey a hopeful message in the concave tracklisting: “Nothing” (20:40), “Remains’ (12:04), “Forever” (12:43), “Empty” (21:24). That message might be what’s expressed in the echoing post-metallic lead guitar on the finale and the organ on the prior “Forever,” or, frankly, it might not. Because in the great, lumbering, riffy morass that is their sound, there’s room for multiple interpretations as well as largesse enough to accommodate the odd skyscraper, so take it as you will. Just because you might go into it with some idea of what’s coming doesn’t mean you won’t get flattened.

Bongripper on Facebook

Bongripper BigCartel store

Destroyer of Light, Degradation Years

destroyer of light degradation years

My general policy as regards “last” records is to never say never until everybody’s holograms have been deleted, but the seven songs and 39 minutes of Degradation Years represent an ending for Destroyer of Light just the same, and the Austin-based troupe end as they began, which is by not being the band people expected them to be. Their previous long-player, 2022’s Panic (review here), dug into atmospheric doom in engrossing fashion, and Degradation Years presents not-at-all-their-first pivot, with post-punk atmospherics and ’90s-alt melodies on “Waiting for the End” and heavy drift on “Perception of Time.” “Failure” is duly sad, where the shorter, riffier “Blind Faith” shreds and careens heading into its verse, and the nine-minute “Where I Cannot Follow” gives Pallbearer‘s emotive crux a look on the way to its airy tremolo finish. Guitarist/vocalist Steve Colca has a couple other nascent projects going, guitarist Keegan Kjeldsen and drummer Kelly Turner are in Slumbering Sun, and Mike Swarbrick who plays bass here is in Cortége, but Destroyer of Light always stood on their own, and they never stopped growing across their 12-year run. Job well done.

Destroyer of Light on Facebook

Destroyer of Light on Bandcamp

Castle Rat, Into the Realm

castle rat into the realm

If you take away the on-stage theatricality, the medieval/horror fetish play, and all the hype, what you’re left with on Castle Rat‘s first album, Into the Realm is a solid collection of raw, classic-styled doom rock able to account for the Doors-y guitar in the quiet strum of the gets-heavy-later “Cry for Me” as well as the shrieks of “Fresh Fur” and opener “Dagger Dragger,” the nod and chug of “Nightblood” and the proto-metal of “Feed the Dream” via three interludes spaced out across its brief 32-minute stretch. Of course, taking away the drama, the sex, and aesthetic cultistry is missing part of the point of the band in the first place, but what I’m saying is that Into the Realm has more going for it than the fact that the band are young and good looking, willing to writhe, and thus marketable. They could haunt Brooklyn basements for the next 15-20 years or go tour with Ghost tomorrow, I honestly have no clue about their ambitions or goals in that regard, but their songs present a strong stylistic vision in accord with their overarching persona, resonating with a fresh generational take and potential progression. That’s enough on its own to make Into the Realm one of the year’s most notable debuts.

Castle Rat on Instagram

King Volume Records store

Temple of the Fuzz Witch, Apotheosis

Temple of the Fuzz Witch Apotheosis

With their third full-length and first for Ripple Music, Detroit trio Temple of the Fuzz Witch — guitarist/vocalist Noah Bruner (also synth), bassist Joe Peet and drummer Taylor Christian — follow their 2020 offering, Red Tide (review here), with a somewhat revamped imagining of who they are. Apotheosis — as high as you can get — introduces layers of harsh vocals and charred vibes amid the consuming lumber of its tonality, still cultish in atmosphere but heavier in its ritualizing and darker. The screams work, and songs like “Nephilim” benefit from Bruner‘s ability to shift from clean to harsh vocals there and across the nine-songer’s 39 minutes, and while there’s plenty of slog, a faster song like “Bow Down” stands out all the more from the grim, somehow-purple mist in which even the spacious midsection of “Raze” seems to reside. The bottom line is if you think you knew who they were or you judged them as a bong-metal tossoff because of their silly name, you’re already missing out. If you’re cool with that, fair enough. It’s not my job to sell you records anyway.

Temple of the Fuzz Witch on Facebook

Ripple Music website

State of Non Return, White Ink

State of Non Return White Ink

Among the final releases for Trepanation Recordings, White Ink is the years-in-the-making first LP from Bologna, Italy’s State of Non Return — and if you’re hearing a dogwhistle in their moniker for meditative fare because that’s also the name of an Om song, you’re neither entirely correct or incorrect. From the succession of the three circa-nine-minutes-each cuts “Catharsis,” “Vertigo” and “White Ink,” the trio harness a thoughtful take on brooding desert nod, with “Vertigo” boasting some more aggro-tinged shouts ahead of the chug in its middle building on the spoken word of the opener, and the intro to the title-track building into a roll of tempered distortion that offers due payoff in its sharp-edged leads and hypnotic repetitions, to the 15-minute finale “Pendulum” that offers due back and forth between minimal spaces and full-on voluminosity before taking off on an extended linear build to end, the focus is more on atmosphere than spiritual contemplation, and State of Non Return find individualism in moody contemplation and the tension-release of their heaviest moments. Some bands grow into their own sound over time. State of Non Return, who got together in 2016, seem to have spent at least some of that span of years since doing the legwork ahead of this release.

State of Non Return on Facebook

Trepanation Recordings on Bandcamp

Thief, Bleed, Memory

thief bleed memory

Writing and recording as a solo artist under the banner of Thief — there’s a band for stage purposes — Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Dylan Neal (also Botanist) pulls back from the ’90s-attitudinal industrial and nü-metal flirtations of 2021’s The 16 Deaths of My Master (review here) and reroutes the purpose toward more emotive atmospheric ends. Sure, “Dead Coyote Dreams” still sneaks out of its house to smoke cigarettes at night, and that’s cool forever and you know it, but with an urgent beat behind it, “Cinderland” opens to a wash that is encompassing in ways Thief had little interest in being three years ago, despite working with largely similar elements blending electronica, synth, and organic instrumentation. The narrative — blessings and peace upon it — holds that Neal‘s father’s onset of dementia inspired the turn, and that’s certainly reason enough if you need a reason, but if there’s processing taking place over the 12 inclusions and 44 minutes that Bleed, Memory spans, along with its allusions to James Joyce, Vladimir Nabokov, etc., that does not at all make the work feel anymore lost than it’s intended to be in the post-techno of “Paramnesia” or the wub-and-shimmer of “To Whom it May Concern” that rounds out. I’ll allow that being of a certain age might make it more relatable.

Thief on Facebook

Prophecy Productions website

Ravens, Ravens

ravens ravens

New Jersey’s Ravens mark their first public offering with this seven-song self-titled debut, spacious in its vocal echo and ostensibly led by riffs though that doesn’t necessarily mean the guitar is foremost in the mix throughout. The guitar/drum duo of Zack Kurland (Green Dragon, ex-Sweet Diesel, etc.) and drummer Chris Daly (Texas is the ReasonResurrection, etc.) emerges out of the trio Altered States with grounded rhythmic purpose beneath the atmospheric tones and vocal melodies, touching on pop in “Get On, Get On” while “New Speedway Boogie” struts with thicker tone and a less shoegazing intent than the likes of “To Whom You Were Born,” the languid “Miscommunication” and “Revolution 0,” though that two-minute piece ends with a Misfits-y vocal, so nothing is so black and white stylistically — a notion underscored as closer “Amen” builds from its All Them Witches-swaying meanderings to a full, driving wah-scorched wash to end off. Where they might be headed next, I have no idea, but if you can get on board with this one, the songs refuse to be sublimated to fit genre, and there are fewer more encouraging starts than that.

Ravens on Instagram

Ravens on Bandcamp

Spacedrifter, When the Colors Fade

Spacedrifter When the Colors Fade

Each of the 10 songs on Spacedrifter‘s first full-length, When the Colors Fade, works from its own intention, whether it’s the frenetic MondoGenerator thrust of “(Radio Edit)” or the touch of boogie in opener “Dwell,” but grunge and desert rock are at the root of much the proceedings, as the earliest-QOTSA fuzz of “Buried in Stone” will attest. But the scope of the whole is richer in hearing than on paper, and shifts like the layered vocal melodies in “Have a Girl” or the loose bluesy swing of the penultimate “NFOB,” the band’s willingness to let a part breathe without dwelling too long on any single idea, results in a balance that speaks to the open sensibilities of turn-of-the-century era European heavy without being a retread of those bands either. Comprised of bassist/vocalist/producer Olle Söderberg, drummer/vocalist Isac Löfgren guitarist/vocalist Adam Hante and guitarist John Söderberg, Spacedrifter‘s songwriting feels and organic in its scope and how it communes with the time before the “rules” of various microgenres were set, and is low-key refreshing not like an album you’re gonna hear a ton of hyperbole about, but one that’s going to stay with you longer than its 39 minutes, especially after you let it sink in over a couple listens. So yeah, I’m saying don’t be surprised when it’s on my year-end debuts list, blah blah whatever, but also watch out for how their sound develops from here.

Spacedrifter on Facebook

Spacedrifter on Bandcamp

Collyn McCoy, Night of the Bastard Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Collyn McCoy Night of the Bastard Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Assembled across varied movements of synthesizer ranging from half-a-minute to a bit under four minutes long, the score for the indie horror film Night of the Bastard finds L.A.’s Collyn McCoy (also of Circle of Sighs, bassist for Unida, etc.) performing under his experimental-and-then-some electronic alias Nyte Vypr, and if that doesn’t telegraph weirdness to come, well, you can just take my word for it that it should. I can’t claim to have seen the movie, which is reportedly available hither and yon in the clusterfuck that is the modern streamscape, but ’80s horror plays a big role in pieces like “Shards and Splinters” and the opening “Night of the Bastard” itself, while “If We Only Had Car Keys” and “Get Out” feel even more specifically John Carpenter in their beat and keyboard handclaps. Closer “The Sorceress” is pointedly terrifying, but “Turtle Feed” follows a drone and piano line to more peaceful ends that come across as far, far away from the foreboding soundscape of “Go Fuck Yourself.” Remember that part where I said it was going to get weird? It does, and it’s clearly supposed to, so mark it another win for McCoy‘s divergent CV.

Collyn McCoy website

Collyn McCoy on Bandcamp

Misleading, Face the Psych

Misleading Face the Psych

I hate to be that guy, but while Face the Psych is the third long-player from Portugal’s Misleading, it’s my first time hearing them, so I can’t help but feel like it’s worth noting that, in fact, they’re not that misleading at all. They tell you to face the psych and then, across seven cosmos-burning tracks and 54 minutes in an alternate dimension, you face it. Spoiler: it’s fucking rad. While largely avoiding the trap of oh-so-happening-right-now space metal, Misleading are perfectly willing to let themselves be carried where the flow of “Tutte le Nove Vite” takes them — church organ righteousness, bassy shuffle, jams that run in gravitational circles, and so on — and to shove and be shoved by the insistence of “Cheating Death” a short while later. The centerpiece “Spazio Nascoto” thickens up stonerized swing after a long intro of synth drone, and 12-minute capper “Egregore” feels like the entire song, not just the guitar and bass, has been put through the wah pedal. As likely to make you punchdrunk as entranced, willfully unhinged, and raw despite filling all the reaches of its mix and then some, it’s not so much misleading as leading-astray as you suddenly realize an hour later you’ve quit your job and dropped out of life, ne’er to be seen, heard from or hounded by debt collectors again. Congrats on that, by the way.

Misleading on Facebook

Misleading on Bandcamp

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Bongripper to Release Empty April 19

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 26th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

The microgenre of ultra-thick sludge worship now called ‘bong metal’ has emerged largely in the six years since Chicago instrumental crushers Bongripper issued their most recent LP, 2018’s Terminal (review here), so a return from them with the impending Empty has some contextual differentiation in this not-yet-half-over decade, but beyond that, one kind of expects and looks forward to not much radical change on the part of the band, whose crushing ethic has united their output all along. I’m not saying they can’t grow or shouldn’t, haven’t, etc. (I haven’t even heard the thing), but if they were suddenly going to go ska they probably would mention it at some point and if it’s business as usual as they lower killer riffs with prejudice upon the skulls of the willing, would that really be a thing to complain about? Whatever new ideas they may or may not bring to their new material, it’s not like their core approach was ever broken.

Are Bongripper bong metal? Are Bongzilla? Are you? It would be in celebration of their uncompromising fuckall if they came to be viewed as figureheads, but ultimately it’s academic as relates to the record itself — something dudes like me think about likely much more than the band actually does, and fair enough — which will be out April 18 with a hometown release show booked for May 3 ahead of a lot at Desertfest London.

Preliminaries are below — read the tracklisting as a sentence and you almost get a sense of hope — and were offered with a suitable amount of flourish via socials. Behold:

BONGRIPPER empty

BONGRIPPER – “Empty” 2LP/CD/Digital – 4/19/24

1. Nothing
2. Remains
3. Forever
4. Empty

Recorded at Comatose Studio. Artwork by Sam Alcarez.

Vinyl pre-sale begins 3/15/24. Tickets are now on sale for the Empty record release show at Metro via the link in our profile: https://metrochicago.com/event/bongripper-record-release/metro-chicago/chicago-illinois/

BONGRIPPER – Empty Record Release Show at Metro Chicago on May 3, 2024 with @Pinebender Immortal Bird Bleached Cross

$20 adv. – $25 day of / 18+ / Doors: 7PM / Show: 8PM

https://www.facebook.com/bongripperdoom
https://instagram.com/bongripperdoom
https://bongripper.bandcamp.com/
https://bongripper.bigcartel.com/
https://linktr.ee/bongripper

Bongripper, Terminal (2018)

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Desertfest London 2024 Makes Second Lineup Announcement

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 1st, 2023 by JJ Koczan

The names here are really the thing. Suicidal Tendencies, Cancer Bats, Nightstalker, Ozric Tentacles, Mondo Generator, Sunnata, Kal-El, Psychlona, Kadabra, Saint Karloff, Ashenspire, WAKE, Bongripper, Gozer, Orme, Borehead, Sagan, Acid Throne — did I miss anybody? Hell, probably. Every year, Desertfest has a couple announcements like this where they add basically an entire festival to their festival and it’s always kind of staggering to consider the scope, never mind what Desertfest has become, particularly with London as an epicenter. One of these years I’ll get back over. It’s been too long.

Also, told you Psychlona had more news. They’ve still got more to come.

The latest word follows from the PR wire:

desertfest london 2024 second announce

Desertfest London welcomes Roundhouse headliners Suicidal Tendencies plus Ozric Tentacles, Cancer Bats, Bongripper and 15 more artists for 2024

Friday 17th May – Sunday 19th May 2024 | Weekend Tickets now on sale

Desertfest London proudly welcomes the legendary Suicidal Tendencies to their 2024 event as Roundhouse headliners. Celebrating 40 years since their genre-defying first album, prepare to have your mind Institutionalized! Whilst Desertfest remains synonymous with showcasing the best of stoner, doom and psych for over twelve years, Suicidal Tendencies’ headlining performance will add a new dimension to the festival, bridging the gap between the punk and metal scenes that have inspired countless bands worldwide.

Hailing from the sun-soaked streets of Venice, California, Suicidal Tendencies frontman Mike Muir helped shape a cultural landscape, whilst simultaneously pioneering a new genre. Taking the essence of skating, surfing and the Dogtown scene & infusing it with a unique style of hardcore punk. Their seamless un-apologetic musical blend, breaking of conventions and fearless take on challenging socials issues changed the landscape of heavy music forever. Suicidal Tendencies’ performance at Desertfest not only welcomes the band back to London for the first time in seven years, but marks a new point in the festival’s evolution as a celebration of underground counter-culture.

The icons keep rolling in as Ozric Tentacles join the bill, also celebrating a monumental 40 years, Ozrics’ unique lysergic soundscapes helped merge the worlds of psychedelia, progressive rock and dance music. Formed during a solstice at Stonehenge in 1983, Ozric Tentacles are true trailblazers – laying the tripped-out road which so many acts in the Desertfest-sphere now follow.

Heavy music’s hardest-working, and hardest-partying, road dogs Cancer Bats will up the ante with their rock’n’roll shenanigans as they bring the energy. Satan Worshipping Doom, three words that need no explanation to Desertfesters’ as Bongripper make their first appearance at the event since 2013. Plus, the prodigal son returns as Nick Oliveri’s Mondo Generator showcase their immense catalogue of desert-drenched tones.

Elsewhere the festival announces Greek stoner-Gods Nightstalker, avant-garde-jazz meets black-metal mania from Ashenspire, a spellbinding ritual from Sunnata and further melting-pot madness from crushing Canadian’s WAKE.

Additionally, Psychlona, Kal-El, Kadabra, Saint Karloff and Lord Elephant bring the grooves, whilst heaviness reigns with homegrown talent Gozer, Acid Throne & Orme. And finally rounding things off Desertfest warmly welcomes, Borehead & Sagan.

Weekend Tickets for the event are on sale now via www.desertfest.co.uk with more artists, day splits & day tickets released in January.

Full line-up
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES | MASTERS OF REALITY | GODFLESH | OZRIC TENTACLES | BONGRIPPER | MONOLORD | ACID KING | UFOMAMMUT | BRANT BJORK TRIO | MASERATI | MANTAR | MONDO GENERATOR | CLOAKROOM | MONKEY3 | NIGHTSTALKER | BLANKET | ASHENSPIRE | DOMKRAFT | ASTROQUEEN | PIJN | SUNNATA | WAKE | SUGAR HORSE | STINKING LIZAVETA | WET CACTUS | PSYCHLONA | KADABRA | DARSOMBRA | SERGEANT THUNDERHOOF | SAINT KARLOFF | KAL-EL | GOZER | LORD ELEPHANT | GOBLINSMOKER | ACID THRONE | DUSKWOOD | BOREHEAD | ORME | CLOUDS TASTE SATANIC | SAGAN | WARPSTORMER | SONIC TABOO | WIZDOOM

TICKETS ON SALE – www.desertfest.co.uk

http://www.desertscene.co.uk/support
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_london/
https://www.desertfest.co.uk/

Suicidal Tendencies, “How Will I Laugh Tomorrow”

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Høstsabbat 2023: Bongripper Added as Headliner

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 30th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Høstsabbat 2023 follows its first announcement of the year, which brought Green Lung, Alastor, Cult Member and Witch Club Satan to the bill, with Bongripper. And as Bongripper will, the news lands with a rather significant thud when one imagines the long-running Chicago crush-minded instrumentalists stepping on the altar of the Kulturkirken Jakob and laying waste with tonality to shake the floor and the kind of volume you feel in your chest. Clearly for the festival’s 10th anniversary they’re going all out.

That’s gonna be good and I’ll tell you outright I hope I’m there to see it, though I acknowledge that as the festival grows, expands in sound, adds venues, etc., and becomes part of the cultural fabric of its host city — which it will continue to do as it enters its second decade, no doubt — my small-fry ass is at best tagging along. There are videographers filming sets with meaningful slow motion headbanging and actual photographers to take pictures, so having me hobble around between stages feels superfluous. For me, that’s all the more reason to appreciate being there. For them, it’s less of a reason to have me. Those two lines invariably intersect at some point.

Nonetheless, whether I end up going or not, this is a great fest put on by wonderful people — Ole, Jens, Vesper, and their crew — and I’m happy to support as best I’m able. This news landed Friday and I didn’t see it until the week was already closed out, but if you missed it or just want to listen to some Bongripper — reasonable — here it is, as per social media:

hostsabbat 2023 bongripper

When we first got hold of the church as our venue in 2018, there was a few bands that instantly came to mind. The acoustics, the setting, the space. Everything about it. It almost felt like the church was longing to be crushed by certain bands itself. One of those bands is Bongripper.

For our 10-year anniversary the stars aligned, and BONGRIPPER is flying out from Chicago to give Høstsabbat a masterclass in pure, distinct and emotional heaviness. Chicago seems to be our go-to city in the US these days, and it feels great to follow up the performances with REZN and Indian from last year, with the purveyors of instrumental, thundering, monstrous doom.

Bongripper hits you like a steamroller, and will leave no ear drums unmarked.

We couldn’t be more stoked.

Please welcome Bongripper as one of our headliners!

Hail Satan, Worship Doom!

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST
https://spoti.fi/3tkuMZl

NEWSLETTER
https://bit.ly/HostsabbatNews

https://www.facebook.com/hostsabbat/
https://www.instagram.com/hostsabbat/
http://hostsabbat.no/

Høstsabbat Spotify Playlist

Bongripper, Miserable Live at Roadburn 2015 (2019)

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Bongripper to Headline Høstsabbat 2020

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 23rd, 2020 by JJ Koczan

Let’s put an asterisk there, maybe. Or at least an ellipsis followed by some kind of if-there-is-such-a-thing statement. Even the kind folks behind the Oslo-based Høstsabbat Festival, which I’ve been sort of hanging my hat on as other shows, tours and fests have been canceling as a result of COVID-19’s barely-contained spread — saying to myself, “Well at least Høstsabbat is far enough away that it might still happen — are acknowledging that they’re announcing the intention to bring Bongripper over as a headliner with a spirit of optimism. And hey, why not, right? What the fuck else is going on? Everyone knows the situation. If it happens, it’ll be great — the fucking Høstsabbat is so god damned good that, frankly, it’s worth having as something to look forward in all this — and if it doesn’t happen, well, we’ll know well in advance.

What’s the worst scenario? You buy a ticket and support people who make amazing crap happen when circumstances like global pandemics allow? You could do far worse while social distancing.

I don’t know if I even need to convince you of that, but that’s my case, anyhow. I think I made it well enough. Fucking Bongripper, dude.

I edited their post but didn’t write it:

hostsabbat 2020 bongripper

HØSTSABBAT 2020 – BONGRIPPER (US)

As we said in our last post, our everyday lives have been turned completely upside down recently.

After some discussion, we’ve decided to move ahead as planned. If nothing else, we want to try to add some sparkle to the end of the tunnel everyone seems to be in. We reckon you, as much as us, need something to look forward to, something that can make this surreal struggle a tiny, tiny bit easier to cope with. So yes, here it is:

BONGRIPPER will headline Høstsabbat 2020.

As you know, we always try to choose headliners suitable for the church acoustics. Since we started our collaboration with Kulturkirken JAKOB, this very band has been on the top of our wishlist of invitees. It is a massive joy to finally be able to announce Bongripper for our sabbathian crowd. For the first time in Norway, no less.

Bongripper is a band staking out new paths. They’re leaders of the pack, inspiring younger bands with their unearthly rumble and distinct riffs. Their instrumental, miserable Chicago doom has taken them all over the world, and they’ve been featured on every significant festival there is, building a solid and loyal fanbase throughout their seven full-length career. Finally the time has come for Høstsabbat.

The chapel stage will hold the presence of a band with sudden changes, blasting drums and a heaviness so impeccable, you’ll have a hard time standing up straight in front of it. This gig will mark a highlight in the history of Høstsabbat. Please welcome Bongripper, the headliners of this year’s heaviest event!

TICKETS
http://bit.ly/hostsabbat2020

HØSTSABBAT 2020 SPOTIFY PLAYLIST
http://bit.ly/SFhostsabbat2020

NEWSLETTER
http://bit.ly/NLhostsabbat

Artwork: Trine Grimm Tattoo / Linda K Røed

https://www.facebook.com/events/431138574088425/
https://www.facebook.com/hostsabbat/
http://hostsabbat.no/

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Desertfest Belgium 2019: Eyehategod, Bongripper, Nebula, High Reeper, Fireball Ministry and Crypt Trip Added

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 1st, 2019 by JJ Koczan

desertfest belgium 2019 banner

I went back and looked, and on the posters for Desertfest Belgium 2018, every band’s logo appeared. It looked pretty crowded by the time their full lineup was announced, but that’s how it was. This year, it’s the second announcement for 2019, and already they’re showing some names written out in regular, non-logo letters. What does this tell you? Well, it might mean they’re going to add even more bands than last year. It might mean they want to highlight some of the bigger names, like Sleep, Eyehategod, Bongripper, Nebula, and so on. Or it might just be that they got someone new in to do the graphic design and that’s how they wanted to do it. Always possible to be reading too much into anything. Or everything, as it were. Hi. I look at a lot of festival posters. One tends to notice these things.

Anyway, six new bands added to Desertfest Belgium 2019 and nary a clunker to be found in the bunch. Info came down the PR wire:

desertfest belgium 2019 poster

DFBE’19 NEW NAMES! EYEHATEGOD, BONGRIPPER, NEBULA & MORE

We’re back, kickin’ butt and dropping names!

We have a couple of hard-hitting sludge and doom monsters added to our line-up, beginning with the absolute trailblazers of them all: EYEHATEGOD from New Orleans has been at it for over thirty years, and their most recent tour showed them in prime form. We’re excited to welcome them to our Antwerp Fest for the first time! Hailing from Chicago, BONGRIPPER is not a band of many words but their colossal and thoroughly evil riffage speaks big and loud volumes. And to complete this Unholy Triad, how about the legendary NEBULA who are back in the game with a new album that will be aptly named ‘Holy Shit’, and we have nothing further to add.

But of course, that’s only half the story… if you’re looking for some straight-up no-frills rock with killer hooks and catchy shout-along choruses, FIREBALL MINISTRY is your ticket – classic hard rock done right! And since no Desertfest would be complete without some proper Sabbath worship, we’re delighted to have HIGH REEPER on board, the proto-metal alliance from Reeperville (or so they claim). And finally, the glorious sound of the West Coast will be revived with CRYPT TRIP, sweet grooves and harmonies with just a touch of classic Dead.

Some old, some new, all fresh… we think this is is shaping up to be another DFBE line-up for the books, and we hope you all agree! More to come in 2 weeks time, stay tuned…

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

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Keep it Low 2019 Announces Day Split; Adds The Obsessed, Bongripper & Mantar

Posted in Whathaveyou on April 23rd, 2019 by JJ Koczan

keep it low 2019

Well, if we’ve learned anything so far in 2019, it’s that The Obsessed will be spending significant amounts of it in Europe. The Maryland doom forebears have already been confirmed for Freak Valley and SonicBlast Moledo this summer, and they’ll be back this Fall — assuming they ever leave — with slots at Up in Smoke and now Keep it Low 2019. This is in addition to July UK dates with Alunah and an appearance next month in New Mexico for Monolith on the Mesa. Oh yeah, and there was that tour they did in March with C.O.C. and Crowbar too, so, you know, not a little bit of touring in general.

Their joining the ranks for Keep it Low 2019 comes with the festival’s announcement of the day splits — that’s who plays when — and the further confirmations of Bongripper and Mantar, thereby assuring the ground will shake and fury (and spit) will be spit with aggressive purpose as the fest plays out. There are a host of other righteous acts confirmed — Lo-PanNebulaThe Machine! etc. — so check out the lineup below, and here’s the latest from Sound of Liberation, which is presenting the whole affair:

keep it low 2019 poster

As promised, here come the day-split, the single-day tickets and 3 new awesome bands!

We thought it was about time to bring more darkness and ferocity into our 2019 line-up, and therefore we are proud to tell you that German heaviest duo MANTAR, Illinois’ monster of riff BONGRIPPER & Maryland’s doom pioneer The Obsessed join the bill today! We still have a few bands to announce, but this 7th edition of Keep It Low Festival 2019 is shaping up nicely, isn’t it? :)

Check out the poster below to know the day-split, and get your tickets here https://www.keepitlow.de/tickets-keep-it-low while you still can! 2-day passes are gone, it was faster than ever, and we’re sure those day tickets won’t last until the Summer!

https://www.facebook.com/events/250328939168797/
https://www.facebook.com/keepitlowfestival
https://www.facebook.com/Soundofliberation/
https://www.soundofliberation.com/

The Obsessed, Sacred (2017)

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