Posted in Whathaveyou on September 18th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Brew-loving Italian heavy rockers Humulus will release their next album, The Deep, in Feb. 2020 through Kozmik Artifactz. Sounds like something that’s going to happen way, way in the future when we have flying cars and colonies on Alpha Centauri and not-at-all a rising tide of right wing fascism? Well, it’s like five months from now, so unless we’re in for the most condensed stretch of awesome progress ever — and not to play the cynic but I’m guessing we’re not — it’ll probably just be more of that rising tide thing. The good part, however, is new Humulus. Keep up. Also, it’s happening on Kozmik Artifactz, which seems like a fair jump for the Bergamo/Brescia three-piece, who’ve worked with Kozmik-offshoot Oak Island Records in the past, including for 2017’s Reverently Heading into Nowhere (review here), as well as with Taxi Driver Records.
Drummer Massimiliano Boventi had some cool stuff to say about The Deep, so you’ll find below what he sent to me. They did some light touring for the last record, so I’d expect no different this time out:
Humulus – The Deep
Our new LP will be out in february 2020 for german label Kozmik Artifactz Records. The title will be “The Deep”.
We started working on this record less or more one year ago between tours and gigs around…one fun fact : when we met the first times for take decision about the direction of the new songs we said like “let’s try to compose shorter songs”, maybe just for make something easier to listen for more people…so not too much later the first 2 songs were ready, the first was 9 minutes long the second 15 minutes — so in a totally spontaneous and natural way we realized that this is our direction… we love to jam and make different atmosphere during our rehears and the result is that we can’t cut our songs.
So I can say the one of the detail of the new record is that more than in the previous one songs are more and more a mix between doom and stoner rock riffs and psychedelic and trippy atmospheres…
For the first time there will be also an acoustic song in the record.
As the last works (Reverently Heading Into Nowhere and Walrus EP) this record was recording during this summer at Indiebox Music Hall in Brescia by Giovanni Bottoglia.
Humulus is: Andrea Van Cleef: guitar, voice Giorgio Bonacorsi: bass Massimiliano Boventi: drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 3rd, 2019 by JJ Koczan
Italian progressive heavy rockers Manthra Dei released their second album, Bipolar Bears, in the stifling heat of Summer 2018, and though it was five years leading to that full-length from its predecessor, a 2013 self-titled (review here), it seems like the Brescia-based four-piece will look to cut that distance with their third record. The band has announced they’ve got new material in the beginning stages of coming together, and they’ll start playing shows with a new lineup that includes Max Boventi of Humulus on drums and Francesco on sax and keys.
The second album was typified by its 18-minute title-track and the 13-minute “The Wicked Tree” earlier on, so it may well be that starting work on something new for Manthra Dei doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to be finishing anytime soon. Fair enough either way, but sometimes having some new personnel involved can light a fire under a band to get things done. With Bipolar Bears still so relatively fresh, though, the good news is Manthra Dei can still focus on playing that material live as the new members continue to get settled into the lineup. If you’re up for it, you can hear that album in full at the bottom of this post.
Whenever the next Manthra Dei shows up, it’ll be interesting to hear how their sound shifts with the players getting adjusted to what will inevitably be a new dynamic for the band.
Their announcement was simple and to the point:
Bipolar Bears was recorded by past members (guitarist and bassist still the same). after the release in July 2018 past drummer and keyboard player left the band…so they take a break to choose what to do. And now that the band is up again we re ready to do some shows in 2019 and start working on something new.
Manthra Dei is: Paolo (guitar) Francesco (Saxophone and Keyboards) Fabio (Bass) Max (drum)
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 17th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Beer-guzzling Italian heavy rockers Humulus might be a little late for Oktoberfest, but one imagines they’ll find plenty to keep their livers busy with anyway as they trek through Germany next week on a Noisolution-booked six-day jaunt supporting earlier-2017’s Reverently Heading into Nowhere (review here). The band offers a quick check-in ahead of the run, and it turns out they’ve almost completely sold through the first pressing of their second long-player, and though more are reportedly 200 more on the way, if you happen to be in the path of the tour and want a copy, now would seem to be the time to pick it up. Fair enough.
Reverently Heading into Nowhere was released through Taxi Driver Records and Oak Island Records. Here’s that update from the band, some cool art and the dates for next week’s stint:
Humulus – Humulus Germanicus Tour
We really can’t wait to hit the road and have a blast in this 6 days tour in Germany. In the past we had 2 shows in Germany (one at Keep it Low in 2015) and were always very nice situations. When our last LP came out it was well reviewed by German magazines and blogs and our German label (Oak Island Records) and promoting agency (Noisolution) are doing a great work with us. We really expect to having good time, nice shows and meet old and new friends.
We have only few copies left of our last LP in limited edition vinyl for this tour… then new 200 copies will be repressed by the label in black version and they will be available from spring 2018. So don’t be shy German people: come to our shows, enjoy our music, and grab the last copies of our R.H.I.N.O.
20.11.2017 – Munich, Rumours 21.11.2017 – Wiesbaden, Kesselhaus w/ The Flying Eyes 22.11.2017 – Düsseldorf, District 6 23.11.2017 – Berlin, Jägerklause Berlin w/ Dead Kittens 24.11.2017 – Jena, Kulturbahnhof Jena w/ Nap 25.11.2017 – Ulm, Kradhalle
Tour is booked and promote by Noisolution
Humulus is: Andrea Van Cleef: guitar, voice Giorgio Bonacorsi: bass Massimiliano Boventi: drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 6th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Pretty impressive lineup that Italian heavy rockers Humulus have put together in conjunction with Elav Brewery for what’s being called Elav Stoner Open Air 2017, with Monkey3 and Karma to Burn headlining and performances locked in from Humulus themselves as well as Toner Low, My Sleeping Karma, Monte Nero, Ride Paranoia, Elepharmers and Bangarang. It’s a two-night affair, and one assumes that since it’s actually being held at the brewery itself it’ll be as much a party as it is a show, but all the better for the heavy and psychedelic vibe that seems to be the event’s ultimate aim.
Four bands tomorrow, five on Saturday. I know it’s kind of a crapshoot to think you’re going to be able to make it out to this one on such short notice if you didn’t already plan to go, but consider this notice at least that cool stuff like this is happening somewhere on the planet. On the most basic level, ideas like this one seem worth supporting to me. It looks like a good time.
Fest info follows, as run through a major tech firm’s translation matrix from its original Italian:
Elav Stoner- Open Air Festival
The Brewery opens the doors for the Stoner event of the year.
Friday 7 and Saturday, July 8, 2017 will arrive in the year of the ELAV STONER OPEN AIR FESTIVAL at #Bergamo, a two-day stoner music with nine bands, between national and international, which will alternate on stage with: Psych-Stoner , Psychedelic vibrations, garage, rock and some blues notes …
The billboard took shape under the artistic direction of the Humulus, power trio Psych-Stoner of Brescia / Bergamo. Guest star of Karma to Burn, US trio that with their rock instrumental stoner will explode the stage!
Friday, July 7
MONKEY3 (Switzerland) Psychedelic vibrations, stoner rock slides with a twist prog, instrumental music that invites to travel through the mind. During a 14-year career, Monkey3 has released 6 albums. Over the years, the Swiss quartet played everywhere in Europe, taking part in the best festivals: Roadburn, Hellfest, Desertfest, Burg-Herzberg, Freak Valley …
HUMULUS (Italy) A power-trio Psych-Stoner set up in 2009. Their first album of the same name comes out for Go Down Records in December 2012. In 2015, after a change of training, the Humulus are ready to write new songs; An EP of 3 songs entitled “Electric Walrus EP” sees the light in October 2015. 2016 is a year full of important concerts and new ideas for new songs that will compose the new LP entitled “Reverently Heading Into Nowhere.”
ELEPHARMERS (Italy) Stoner rock band from Cagliari, two guitars with heavy tuning, battery and voice. The sound of the trio brings with it the teaching of the Black Sabbath, the “cosmic” blues of the 60s and 70s, the groove of the stoner of the ’90s. The Elepharmers sound continues to have a sabbatical matrix, but with respect to the first album the songs are longer and more dilated, there are more instrumental parts and the arrangements are richer, thanks to the presence of acoustic guitars and synth arrangements and hammond By Matteo “Baro” Paper.
Bangarang! (Italy) Quartet with a loud rhythm, a strong ironic vein and the lyricism of the sampler that becomes a sort of “virtual singer”. The Bangarang Concert! Is littered with voices, noises, quotes, and dialogues around and inside the songs. In 2016 the Bangarang! Come back with a new work in the studio: ten tracks that go to create RELIGION CATODICA, an album that tells the many aspects of Italian television, for good and for evil, and which leads to the extreme consequences of the fusion of the power of a schizophrenic power trio And the quotation of the sampled voices.
Saturday, July 8
KARMA TO BURN (USA) With their rock instrumental stoner they are ready to blow up the stage! For more than 20 years, the US trio proposes a rock stoner that is for all such lovers a solid and historic reference point; With their latest EP “Mountain Czar” Karma To Burn propose another wave of what they like to call “Mountain Rock” … and we are ready to make us invest in this mountain of increasingly aggressive and rhythmic riffs .
MY SLEEPING KARMA (Germany) Aschenburg’s rock psychedelic German group, with 4 studio albums behind and a lot of live experience. With their new album “Moksha” and a series of live sold out across Europe, My Sleeping Karma arrives at the Brewery together with their instrumental rock, a real journey out of the mind: hypnotic atmospheres, engaging guitar riffs and a Massive dose of rock that never breaks.
TONER LOW (Netherlands) Band Doom Stoner who released the third album “III” in April 2013 on Bilocation Records / Kozmik Artifactz and Roadkill Rekordz. The band features a rock stoner characterized by very low and rhythmic obsessive frequencies typical of the doom, which live become a real space trip.
MONTE NERO (Italy) The Monte Nero project is a unique Distinct Music Moloch. After 15/20 years of ripening in various cellars, dance halls and stages throughout Italy, some operative musicians from rock band Bergamo (Gea, Spread, In The Howling Storm) are transferred to the BDC Room by Stefano Locatelli To spend another two years of maturing. Then, when the elements have reached full maturity, they blend together to create rock songs with a rich, intense aroma and full and round flavor.
RIDE PARANOIA (Italy) A rock band from Brescia, born in 2014, is the meeting between the two completely different music companies. Claudio, Davide, Andrea and Marco are part of The Credo band, which has been active since 2006, the fifth element of the band is Giovanni, eclectic guitarist, formerly a member of the French Wine Coca and Waiver. The result of this sound fusion has given rise to the sound of the Paranoia Ride, explosive mix of stoner, garage, rock, embellished with a touch of electro.
You may or may not be overly concerned to find out, but we’re still running on the backup server for The Obelisk Radio while the data is transferred to the new hard drive. Judging by the number of listeners at any given point, you’re not. The numbers are still pretty good. Nonetheless, I cannot express the depth of my appreciation to Slevin for sorting out this mess. I had no idea when I hit him up on a Sunday to be like, “Uh, the stream is down” that it would be a project requiring more than a month of his valuable time. Dude is a godsend. I should send him a cheese basket.
Instead, he gets a zip file with the following releases to add to that temporary stream (they’ll go on the new server as well when that’s operational). Because I am a shitty friend, and because cheese baskets are expensive as hell. Let’s do this.
The Obelisk Radio Adds for April 10, 2017:
Tia Carrera, Laid Back (Frontside Rock ‘n’ Roll)
It’s been a hot minute since last we heard from Austin, Texas, three-piece instrumentalists Tia Carrera. The last offering the heavy psych jammers had out with a 2013 vinyl edition (review here) of their 2011 full-length, Cosmic Priestess (review here). So upwards of six years, if you want to go by the original release date of what was their second album for Small Stone Records. They reportedly have a new one coming this Fall, so one might think of the nine-and-half-minute single “Laid Back (Frontside Rock ‘n’ Roll),” which was recorded live this past January with the lineup of guitarist Jason Morales, bassist Curt Christiansen and drummer Erik Conn, as a lead-in for that. True, Tia Carrera haven’t been completely absent — they played Psycho Las Vegas in 2016 and one sees their name on various SXSW bills each year — but either way, it’s a welcome studio return from a band who were ahead of the post-Earthless curve that has swelled further out West, and who, despite a kind of raw, garage-style recording here, nonetheless showcase the chemistry and fluidity that separated them from the pack to start with. As the title promises, the jam is laid back, rife with swirling guitar, winding basslines and drumming that, while propulsive doesn’t take away from the languid overarching vibe. They’ve made the song a name-your-price download, so all the better should you be inclined to dig in. And you should be.
With nodding groove, fuzzed tonality and, for good measure, flourish of psychedelia, Brescia, Italy, trio Humulus may be working amid familiar elements on their second long-player, Reverently Heading into Nowhere (on Taxi Driver and Oak Island Records), but the results are impeccably constructed. The album, which follows their 2015 Electric Warlrus EP (review here) and 2012 self-titled debut, offers six tracks that carefully balance atmosphere and heft, cuts like “Catskull” digging into classic desert rock sensibilities via the modern European approach of a band like 1000mods while longer pieces like opener “Distant Deeps or Skies,” “Anachronaut” and the 11-minute finale “Rama Kushna” save room for increasingly expansive jamming, the latter the most spacious of all with floating guitar over a satisfyingly warm bass in its midsection leading to an instrumental apex that, while predictable, is no less engaging for that upon its arrival. Even shorter pieces like “The Gold Rush” and “The Great Hunt” find a balance between rolling rhythm and broader psychedelic consciousness, and when guitarist/vocalist Andrea Van Cleef, bassist Giorgio Bonacorsi and drummer Massimiliano Boventi lock into a slowdown, as at the end of “The Great Hunt” or in the Snail-esque“Anachronaut” earlier, the effect is duly massive to fit with the rhinoceros on the album’s cover. Their reverence is palpable, and throughout the 43-minute outing, Humulus make it plain that wherever they’re actually heading, they welcome their audience to come along for the trip.
King Buffalo, Live at Wicked Squid Studios (6.16.16)
It’s nothing more or less than a live set, but as King Buffalo have already wrapped a round of US touring and were recently announced as support for Stickman Records labelmates Elder on their next European run, it seems only fair to grab the name-your-price Live at Wicked Squid Studios (6.16.16) while the grabbing’s good and consider the four-track/29-minute release a document of their chemistry as a live band as they marked the release of their debut album, Orion (review here), last summer. Not everything they play comes from that record — “New Time” was featured on their 2015 STB Records split with Lé Betre (review here) — but in their tone, breadth and expanse, they represent the full-length all the same. The psychedelic wash of “New Time” leads the way out of opener “Orion” and into a one-two medley of “Kerosene / Goliath Pt. 2,” and they finish by setting the controls for the heart of a nine-minute rendition of “Drinking from the River Rising,” which also closed Orion and proves no less immersive in this setting than it did on the studio offering. I’ve made no secret of the potential that I think resides in the Rochester, NY, three-piece, and as they move further into becoming a touring band, they’re only doing the work of bringing that potential to life. It may be that at some point we’ll look back on Live at Wicked Squid Studios as a kind of primitive beginning — I don’t want to predict where they’ll go or how their sound will continue to develop — but even so, it’s fortunate that we’ll have it to look back on at all.
This shit is like catnip for riff-hounds. Iowan two-piece Telekinetic Yeti stoner-march their way into the hearts and minds of the converted and onto the list of 2017’s best debuts with Abominable (on Sump Pump Records), a clean eight-track/41-minute long-player marked out by its tonal thickness and shifts between using it for Sleep-style roll and fuzzier fare, perhaps most directly and efficiently summarized on the single “Stoned and Feathered,” but in fluid proportion throughout cuts like the lumbering “Lightbearer” and the neo-stoner-delic chug of “Beneath the Black Sun” as well. Comprised just of guitarist/vocalist Alex Baumann and drummer Anthony Dreyer — though I’ll be damned if somebody isn’t playing bass on “Electronaut” — Telekinetic Yeti seem to burst out of the gate with a solid idea of who their audience is and what their audience wants, and to their credit, they deliver just that and have been met with a flurry of hyperbole for their efforts. I can’t really argue with the heft or cohesion of the material on Abominable, and the willingness on the part of Baumann and Dreyer to inject some atmospheric depth into the aptly-named nine-minute tour de force “Colossus” and closer “Himalayan Hymn” bodes well for their chances of leaving a mark over the longer term, even if there’s growing to be done before they get there. Still, as their first time out, Telekinetic Yeti‘s Abominable signals a righteousness of intent and wholly succeeds in capturing the attention it plainly seeks. The next few years will write their story, but if these guys take this show on the road, they could indeed turn into a monster.
The story goes that Cinderland was recorded in Wyoming in a refurbished schoolhouse by the duo of ambient multi-instrumentalist Scott Morgan and classical cellist Mark Bridges — working together under the moniker High Plains — and composed very much with that high-altitude, utterly empty landscape in mind. Represented in a pervasive minimalism that makes every swell of volume on “The Dusk Pines” stand out and shifts between piano, cello, guitar, drone and electronics cinematic in their drama like the soundtrack to one of those foreboding Westerns where nobody talks because they’re afraid that if the earth hears them speak it will open up and swallow them whole — which it might — it is an immersive, resolutely melancholy execution across nine tracks and 36 minutes that is likewise stark and beautiful. “A White Truck” and “Hypoxia” carry some nuance of the paranoid, but there’s resolution in “Blood that Ran the Rapids” and “Song for a Last Night” that, like the high desert itself, teems with life while giving the impression of being a void for the lack of human presence. Mood-affecting in its atmospherics, Cinderland draws the listener into this world that is both gorgeous and threatening, and fits itself to the narrative that birthed it with resonance and depth. One hopes it is not a one-off collaboration between the Canadian Morgan and Wisconsin-based Bridges and that wherever their next trip together takes them — go to New Mexico! — they’re able to likewise capture the setting in such evocative fashion.
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 7th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
After locking in releases through Oak Island Records and Taxi Driver Records for the LP and CD pressings, respectively, Italian heavy rockers Humulus have newly unveiled the cover art and tracklisting for their forthcoming second full-length, Reverently Heading into Nowhere. Those who’ve followed the band will note it’s of an animalized theme with their prior EP, 2015’s Electric Warlrus (review here), and their 2012 self-titled debut album before that, but to take it one step further, we can see the quote below from drummer Massimiliano Boventi potentially coming to fruition in the tracklisting itself.
My basis for comparison there is the fact that Humulus‘ Humulus — now five years old — had nine songs and Reverently Heading into Nowhere, which is out March 24, tops out at six. Entirely possible the record’s just shorter overall, but in light of what Boventi says about following-up the EP, I’d expect it means the cuts themselves are somewhat longer, allowing for that more psychedelic feel to take hold. Boris from Monkey3 showing up for a guest spot is also a pretty good sign of that direction.
Either way, we’ve got a while to go before we find out, but you can check out the art and so forth below:
Humulus – Reverently Heading into Nowhere
Release date is fixed for 24th march (vinyl and digital for Oak Island Records and CD for Taxi Driver Records). The vinyl will be in transparent green and white w/ pink/purple splatter, strictly limited.
Tracklisting: 1- Distant Deeps Or Skies 2- Catskull 3- Anachronaut (feat Boris from Monkey3) 4- The Gold Rush 5- The Great Hunt 6- Rama Kushna
First gigs: 14th april @ Lio Bar (Brescia, Italy) 17th april @ Clock Tower Pub (Treviglio – BG, Italy)
“So… the new record is recorded at Indiebox Music Hall in Brescia,” says Massimiliano Boventi, “and all the tracks are passed into an analog tape before been mixed and mastered. These new six tracks are the spontaneous sequel of the sound of our last EP (went out last year). Humulus sound becomes more and more a mix between psychedelic dispositions and heavier doom stuffs.”
Andrea Van Cleef: guitar, voice Giorgio Bonacorsi: bass Massimiliano Boventi: drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 3rd, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Italian heavy rockers Humulus will release their second long-player, Reverently Heading into Nowhere, next year. It’ll be out on Oak Island Records, the emergent Bilocation Records offshoot also responsible for recent offerings from Nightstalker, Swan Valley Heights and Spaceslug. No date determined as yet, but if you told me it was Spring 2017, I’d believe it. Following up last year’s Electric Walrus EP (review here), the band spent this past Halloween weekend holed up in IndieBox Music Hall in their native Brescia to put the album to tape, even bringing in Monkey3 guitarist Boris for a guest spot, so while there’s probably still work to be done mixing or mastering, it seems like the basic tracks are finished, which, you know, is an important step.
The band sent the following background and comment along the PR wire:
Humulus is a Psych-Stoner power trio from Brescia/Bergamo (Italy), formed in 2009. Their first self titled album is released by Go Down Records in December 2012. The ten tracks of this first work fully reflect the stoner attitude of the band and their aggressive sound that is best expressed during their live shows.
In 2014 another great project, made of love and passion, sees the light: beer! Humulus produce their eponymous black stoner IPA, brewed in collaboration with ELAV Independent Brewery. In 2015, after a change in the line-up, Humulus are ready to write new songs. A 3 songs EP called “Electric Walrus EP” sees the light in October 2015. The new Ep shows the new attitude of the band: more psychedelic and more dynamic than before. The EP release is immediately followed by a series of new live shows, including the gig at the Keep It Low Festival in Munich, that confirm the tightness and power of the renewed line-up. 2016 is full of live gigs, and new songs are written and played on big and small stages.
The new LP “Reverently Heading Into Nowhere”, more psychedelic AND heavier than ever, will be out next Spring, to mark Humulus’ debut with the German label Oak Island Records.
“So… the new record is recorded at Indiebox Music Hall in Brescia,” says Massimiliano Boventi, “and all the tracks are passed into an analog tape before been mixed and mastered. These new six tracks are the spontaneous sequel of the sound of our last EP (went out last year). Humulus sound becomes more and more a mix between psychedelic dispositions and heavier doom stuffs.”
Andrea Van Cleef: guitar, voice Giorgio Bonacorsi: bass Massimiliano Boventi: drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 3rd, 2013 by JJ Koczan
If perhaps you’re like me and you’re an eternal sucker for a heavy psych jam, you might want to tune your mind into what Italian foursome Manthra Dei have going on. The Brescia outfit have signed to Acid Cosmonaut Records for the CD release of their self-titled debut, and they’ll match that with a vinyl issue through Nasoni. Two rousing endorsements, and with the laid back exploration of “Stone Face,” the recently revealed first audio from the album, I’m happy to add my endorsement as well, whatever it might be worth.
Don’t get lulled too far to sleep, because “Stone Face” picks up to some pretty killer space rock (the synth!) and I wouldn’t want you to miss out.
Info and of course the track follow, per gentile concessione di the PR wire:
We’re really happy to announce our next CD release, the homonymous album by Italian Heavy-Psych masters Manthra Dei! Coming this october, also on vinyl by Nasoni Records!
Here’s the first track off the album, Stone Face, a majestic trip into space/psych/prog areas. Enjoy it!
More than a band, Manthra Dei are a bunch of friends in love with lysergic deserts and forged by nights spent listening cassettes of teenage idols. Spontaneous, raw and mind-tripped tunes get pierced together by their bipolar personalities and become straight as headbanging on a kick-ass riff. Michele, Paolo and Brano started back in 2009 as an instrumental power-trio that brought them to self-produce an EP with two log trips for almost 40 minutes of improvisations. Soon after, Maestro Paolo T. (yes, a real Maestro) joined them to start a long list of live-shows with Karma to Burn, Yawning Man, Vibravoid among many others up to a memorable Pietrasonica Festival in 2011.
After that the band decided to fix their jams into an album and consequently to get closed in a rehearsal room for almost two years … at least up to 2013, when Nasoni Rec – Colour Haze, Machine, Siena Root anyone? – decided to cast on vinyl their recordings. CD edition was taken in charge by a young Italian label, Acid Cosmonauts, that spread the world with a limited edition of 300 copies of their first full-length.
What to find in the album? Hawkwind, Causa Sui, Can, Kyuss, Earthless, Black Sabbath, Colour Haze, King Crimson, Motorpsycho, Popol Vuh, Sleep, Goblin, Hypnos69, Jethro Tull, Ozric Tentacles mashed-up with no criteria but with horns up against the sky.
