Posted in Whathaveyou on December 4th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
This is the second announcement from the second year of Obsidian Dust, which will be held in Brussels next May as a Springtime complement to Desertfest Belgium in Antwerp in Fall. The lineup, as you can see in the poster, is compelling. Red Fang will headline — fair — and they and Ufomammut and Gnod are the big names joining here, but you can see The Sword, King Buffalo, Acid King, Earthless, Jarboe, Blackwater Holylight and John Garcia-fronted rockers Hermano already confirmed to take part, and it looks like a banger of a two-dayer perfectly slotted in among the Spring Desertfests (London, Berlin, Oslo) to take advantage of who’ll be touring around that time. Plus, you’ve got Dope Purple, which is really all you need when you get right down to it.
That Taiwan-based outfit’s 2025 noise-psych jam outing, Children in the Darkness, streams below, along with the latest from Ufomammut just for fun. The following came through socials:
My oh my… look at these killer new additions to the Obsidian Dust lineup!
RED FANG is ready to blast the stage with exclusive punk-infused stoner rock dust.
UFOMAMMUT will launch us into the stratosphere with massive psychedelic riffs.
Conjurer brings pure chaos: blood, fire, metal.
Cardiel fires off a tornado of skaterock, sludge and psychedelic dub.
And GNOD, expect a heavy, mind-melting sonic cleanse.
This edition proudly features the cult Californian rock outfit HERMANO, performing with their original band members, alongside the otherworldly guitar magic of The Sword, the soaring psych of King Buffalo, the roaring fuzz of Acid King, the sonic voyages of Earthless, the dark mystique of Blackwater Holylight, the experimental force of Jarboe, the crushing rituals of Cult of Occult, and the psychedelic chaos of Dope Purple.
Like what you see?
Check our website for day or combi tickets and get ready for the Obsidian Dust storm hitting Brussels!
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 17th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
The new single from Wolvennest, who are no strangers either to subtlety or texture, sonically-speaking, doesn’t hit you all at once and doesn’t give away its linear build, but it’s kind of like flood waters coming up through the floor. All of a sudden, your feet are wet and you’re in it.
“Décharné” is the name of the seven-and-a-half-minute cut from the Belgian dark-arts ceremonialists, taken from their upcoming 2LP fourth album, Procession. Also their first for countryman imprint Consouling Sounds, it’s the follow-up to 2023’s The Dark Path to the Light, which I evidently whiffed on completely. Go figure.
Preorders for Procession are up now and the PR wire brought copious lore for your canonizing. Have at it:
WOLVENNEST Announce New Double Album ‘Procession’ Coming Out This October via Consouling Sounds
The occult doom-rock sextet returns with their most ambitious work to date. Check the opening single, ‘Décharné’ available from now on.
After a decade, four full-length offerings, and a string of other releases (EPs, a live ritual, and a collaborative album under The Nest banner alongside members of Ruins of Beverast, Primordial, Dool, and Saturnalia Temple), the occult doom-rock sextet Wolvennest return with their most ambitious work yet: the double album Procession, out October 17th via Consouling Sounds on CD digipack, LP (including a limited edition), and digital formats. The release will be followed by a European tour alongside Dolch and Double Darkness. Forged from backgrounds in Rock, occult Doom, Psychedelia, and Black Metal, the Belgian coven has earned a formidable reputation across Europe through transcendent performances at Hellfest, Roadburn, relentless tours, and fevered club rituals. With three guitars forming a wall of sound, the spectral wail of a theremin, sacred projections, and altar-like stage presences, every Wolvennest appearance becomes less a concert than a ceremony – an offering to Death itself.
“We record when we want, with no pressure and no interference from outside forces. We cultivate our own domain, a sanctum where outcasts and zealots still take the time to listen deeply, to feel the music like a bad trip unraveling,” declares guitarist and synth-conjuror Corvus.
Once more mixed and mastered by Déhà at Blackout Studio in Brussels, Procession approaches eighty minutes of unrelenting atmosphere. “Our previous work was a side A/side B journey, but we all felt that returning to a longer format meant erasing boundaries altogether. Procession is an all-or-nothing offering – it begins with warmth and ascends into death and despair,” continues Corvus.
True to tradition, Wolvennest once again summon a guest voice. “In 2019, we witnessed Adaestuo in Brussels – one of the most harrowing Black Metal rites we have ever seen,” recalls guitarist Michel Kirby. “It became instantly clear that Hekte Zaren was the perfect vessel for the song Tarantism. She is a key to the Otherworld, a rarity in these times. We are blessed, or perhaps cursed, to have her presence woven into our music. In the past we’ve had Dagur from Misþyrming, Der Blutharsch, King Dude, and Alex from Ruins of Beverast – all people who create music for the right reasons. Hekte Zaren is no exception.”
Doom, Black Metal, Rock, ambient, even cinematic echoes – all converge in Wolvennest’s sound, defying genre confines. “It has never been an obstacle, but rather a gift,” says singer and theremin-priestess Shazzula. “It allows us to perform at Doom/Stoner gatherings as well as at Black Metal ceremonies.”
Lyrically, the album’s message is stark. “Strip the word procession of its religious bindings,” explains lead guitarist Marc De Backer. “This world has had its chance, and our species has failed utterly. This procession is the soundtrack of our extinction, plain and simple.”
Procession also marks the first recording with new bassist VaathV. “I’ve known the band from its inception, witnessed its evolution, and was born ready. In the studio, I nearly discovered the songs as I recorded them. A challenge, yes, but that’s Wolvennest. The moment itself carries the magic, both live and behind the veil. We are not a jam band, but the spirit of the 70s, when audacity was exalted, still runs through us.”
Track-list: 1. Another Nail 2. Purple Poison 3. The Shadow Of Your Side 4. Damnation 5. Décharné 6. Things That Breathe Are Death 7. Burial 8. Farmadihana 9. Hunters 10. Tarantism 11. The Last Chamber
As with every release, Procession holds its own addictive hymn – this time, The Shadow on Your Side. “The track wasn’t even supposed to make the album,” reveals drummer Bram Moerenhout. “But I finished my parts earlier than expected, so I gave it a chance, without a guide, without tracks to follow. I trusted the demo, and the final incarnation astonished me. It’s one of those songs that lingers after a single listen, yet it still breathes with Wolvennest’s essence – layered guitars, hidden keys, and an aura that won’t let go.”
Wolvennest have never sought universality. With Procession, they plunge unflinching into the vortex, heedless of outside judgment. “It has always been our creed: we must revel in the entire process to conjure something true. That’s why we entrusted Arts of Maquenda with the artwork and Void Revelations with our image. These are people who know us not only as musicians, but as human beings. We wanted that intimacy to resonate in every facet.”
For the first time, the album will be unveiled by Belgian label Consouling Sounds, after years of alliance with Van Records. “Our gratitude to Van is endless – their legacy is monumental. Yet it was time for a new chapter. It means something profound to us to be released by a Belgian label, with vinyl pressed on Belgian soil,” concludes Michel Kirby. Pre-order ‘Procession’ coming out October 17 via Consouling Sounds available from now on here:https://store.consouling.be/collections/wolvennest-procession
Posted in Reviews on October 18th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
So this is it for the second of two Quarterly Review weeks around here, bringing the total to 100 releases covered since last Monday, with 10 more still to come next Monday.
110 releases, mostly (not all) from about April through November.
That’s insane. More, I’m not in any way prepared to call it or any other Quarterly Review comprehensive. It’s nowhere near everything that’s come out or is coming out. It’s a fraction at best. There’s just so much.
I’m not going to attach a value judgment to that. It’s not good, it’s not bad; it simply is. My processes remain largely unchanged, and whether it’s a net positive that the underground is either sparse and fractured or flooded with bands to such a point that Gen-X reunions underwhelm in the face of so much good, new music being made, I’ll be here regardless. And even if there were a fifth as many bands out there as there are right now, no doubt I still couldn’t keep up.
See you Monday.
Quarterly Review #91-100:
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Elder, Live at BBC Maida Vale Studios
While it’s by no means Elder‘s first captured-live release, as they’ve put out festival sets from Roadburn and Sonic Whip in years past, Live at BBC Maida Vale Studios answers any what’s-all-this-about questions with the sound of the performances themselves. It’s a single LP, somewhere about 40 minutes long, and in Elder terms that translates to three songs — “Merged in Dreams/Ne Plus Ultra” (15:33), “Lore” (13:54) and “Thousand Hands” (9:21) — so by no means is it expansive, or comprehensive in representing this era of Elder‘s presence on stage or scope in songwriting. Why put it out instead of some recorded tour night or a compilation of songs from different shows? Same answer as before: the sound of the performances. For sure Live at BBC Maida Vale Studios is a fan-piece, but it is live, and Elder sound fantastic — and it’s probably a pretty decent memory for the band to celebrate — so you’re not at all going to hear me argue.
Simon Price, now formerly of UK heavy psych forebears The Heads, returns with the first Kandodo outing since 2019’s K3 (review here) and a reoriented focus on intimacy rather than operating in a full-band style. That is to say, the five-track/44-minute release sounds like the solo album it is. That, however, doesn’t stop “Fuzzyoceans” from casting an expanse in its just-under-11 minutes, with a central rhythmic bounce around which layers of synth and guitar conjure a wash of experimentalist flourish. Lo-fi beatmaking starts in “Chamba7,” the opener, and sounds higher budget as “Theendisinpsych Pt. 1” borders on psych techno — “Theendisinpsych Pt. 2” follows immediately and moves from sustained keyboard notes and a sampled David Bowie radio interview to an evocative, shimmering drone; it isn’t arhythmic, but it doens’t have a ‘beat’ per se — and becomes part of the avant garde soundscape (the lightning part) in closer “Freefalling,” which unfolds in stages of variable volume and hum with some howling leads snuck in near the end. It’s a deep dive and at times a challenging listen. So yes, exactly what one would hope.
When High Reeper‘s third LP, Renewed by Death, was announced back in July, it was notable how much the album’s narrative seemed to position them as a metal band rather than heavy/doom rock, which even though 2019’s Higher Reeper (review here) had its harder-hitting moments, is kind of how I’d come to think of them. The eight songs of Renewed by Death aren’t hyper-aggressive — though you wouldn’t call “Torn from Within” ‘chill’ by any means — but they feel sharper in their composition than the last record, and if High Reeper want to say that “Lamentations of the Pale” and “Jaws of Darkness” are their take on doom metal, I’d only emphasize how much that take feels like High Reeper‘s own in being cognizant of the traditional metal and doom aspects of their sound and making them groove as fervently as they do. The Eastern Seaboard is lucky to have them.
A low-key highlight of 2024, the collaboration between Norwegian neofolkers Ævestaden and heavy progressive instrumentalists Kanaan — titled Langt, Langt Vekk and comprising nine songs of varied intent, arrangement and origin — resounds with creative depth. It’s in Norwegian, and plays a lot off of traditional folk instrumentation and vocal styles — not to mention the songs themselves, which are also traditionals — but as the two sides come together even just on a three-minute instrumental piece like “Fiskaren,” there’s an organic forested space rock to be found, and whether it’s the somehow-catchy “Farvel” or “Habbor og Signe,” the cosmic-leaning “Vallåt efter C.G. Färje” or the wistful progeadelia that resolves in “Vardtjenn,” the reverence for the material is palpable, and also the reverence for the process itself, for each of these two entities contributing to something grander than either might be able or inclined to conjure on their own. That the collection worked out to be gorgeous, both worldly and otherworldly, and to cast such a breadth while remaining cohesive in mood is a credit to all involved. It could’ve been an absolute mess. It very much is not.
Slugs are Legal Now contains two live sets from experimental doomers MC MYASNOI, one from Harpa and one from R6013, both venues in the band’s hometown of Reykjavík, Iceland. The setlists are identical at six-per, but the performances are varied in a way that becomes part of the personality of the whole, which is immersive in its droning stretches, sometimes harsher in the noise being made particularly on the rougher R6013 songs, but still able to be heavy in a piece like “Step on Ur Neck” in a way that feels conversant with the likes of Ufomammut or Boris, and neither the moody post-darkjazz of “Nytrogen” nor the drums-and-rumble-do-a-minute-or-two-of-free-psych “lea%rdi%rdx2%rcx” a short time later (watch out for your speakers with that one), do anything to dissuade that impression. “Terror Serpentine” finishes both halves of Slugs are Legal Now with 11 minutes of grim sprawl, and in the culmination, that it’s the keyboard that’s shredding instead of one or the other of the guitars feels suitable to the weirdo nuance MC MYASNOI seem to come by so naturally and pair with a progressive will to grow by screwing with convention. Not going to be for everybody, but those ready to take a risk might find the reward waiting.
Back after two years with further affirmation of their comfort with the EP format, Connecticut two-piece Turkey Vulture run a condensed gamut in the six songs and 12 minutes of On the List, with the duo of vocalist/guitarist/bassist Jessie May and drummer/backing vocalist Jim Clegg giving specifically Misfits-y early punk impressions on “Fiends Like Us,” which “Untitled” takes more of a garage angle on in following before they metal-up for “Dollhouse” and the 48-second grind-punker “Adults Destroy,” which leads to thrashing in “Harvest Moon” offset by doomly swing, and the closing “Jill the Ripper,” going out on a note that toys with goth Americana in the vein of The Bad Seeds and boasts banjo, guitar, percussion and, crucially, accordion from Steve Rodgers in a multifaceted guest spot. The accordion makes it. Turkey Vulture‘s output is generally pretty raw and that’s true with On the List as well, but there’s character in them coinciding with the flow from one aspect of their sound to the next between the songs, and the EP ends up conveying a lot about what works in the band for something that’s 12 minutes long.
Doubly-bassed Brussels longform doom explorers Ghost:Whale certainly don’t get any less consciousness melting on the second disc of Dive:Two, which manifests its plunge across three extended pieces each given the title “Dub:Whale” and assigned a Roman numeral, but by then the five songs of the album’s first 67 minutes (as opposed to the 57 of the concluding trilogy) have already passed in the hypnotic, cosmic-doom push of “Under Pressure” and the synth-laced chug nod in the second half of “Les Danses des Sorcieres” that seems to come to a head in the speedier “Ultimas Palabras.” The shortest inclusion at nine minutes and by its finish spending some time cruising around a Truckfightersian desert, “Ultimas Palabras” gives over to “Godzilla” and “Eye of the Storm,” a kind of second LP within the first CD, led into by the synth of “Godzilla” — not a cover — and arriving at the farthest reach in the electronics-infused expanses of “Eye of the Storm,” for which the drums mostly sit out and the noise spends 21 minutes venturing into the unknown. Ghost:Whale are not fucking around. And obviously the “Dub:Whale” tracks are a divergence in intention, harnessing the power of repetition in a different way, but either it’s a logical extension or my brain has just gone numb from the low-end. Fine in any case, honestly.
Do I really need to tell you these guys are up to some shenanigans? They called the band Sheepfucker and Kraut, for crying out loud. Heavy rock chicanery ensues over eight tracks rife with willful misbehavior, culminating with “Broner” after turning the album’s progression into a kind of playground running between heavy rock, classic and psychedelic instrumentalism, metal and jams. It’s not a little, and I guess a namedrop for Mr. Bungle is somewhat obligatory, but the Bulgarian outfit make themselves welcome in the swath of ground they cover, punkish in their glee on top of everything else in “Bobanei” and the pop-adjacent “Look at Me,” which would seem to have some satire behind its chorus but is a standout hook just the same. They’re not all nonsense, or at least not at the expense of their songwriting in “Rich Man” and “Jolly Roger,” or “Did You Know” mirroring “Look at Me” in the penultimate spot on side B, but if people having fun while making music is a problem for you, I mean, really, you might want to have a good long think on what that’s all about. Yeah, it’s over-the-top. That’s the idea.
In some ways, LungBurner‘s second LP of 2024, Natura Duale, reminds of earliest Yatra in bringing together vicious sludge metal and a breadth of atmosphere, but the Atlanta outfit have more of a post-metallic bent as the solo of “Barren” nonetheless dares to soar, and opener/longest track (immediate points) “Requiem” establishes the first of the album’s nods in a build of standalone guitar in the spirit of YOB, and in combination with a churn that wouldn’t feel out of place on Neurot and a crush in centerpiece “(Prey) Job” that opens to a classic stoner metal swagger in its verse, the righteousness here takes many forms, most of them dark, grueling and heavy — this definitely applies to the Celtic Frosting put on the proceedings by the finale “Astral Projection” — but not without a corresponding reach or purpose. LungBurner are served by the complexity of character, and Natura Duale grows more vivid as it goes.
With their material steeped in fantasy and horror/sci-fi lore, a goodly portion of it being of their own making, Michigan’s Bog Wizard continue to find the thread between tabletop gaming and sometimes monolithic sludge. The bulk of Journey Through the Dying Lands, which is their second release in a row done in collaboration with a game company, is dedicated to opener “I, Mycelium,” which stretches across 19:50 and unfolds in stages that don’t bother to choose between being brutal or fluid, the band winding up coming across as dug-in as one might expect Bog Wizard to be in the endeavor. There are two more studio tracks, in “Dodz Bringare,” which is black metal until it slams into the doom wall, and “Hagfish Dinner,” on which they depart for two minutes of harmonized chant-like vocals over resonant acoustic guitar. They’re not done yet as Ben Lombard (guitar/vocals), bassist Colby Lowman and drummer/vocalist Harlen Linke offer a glimpse at some live-on-stage banter before tearing into the thrasher “Stuck in the Muck” and backing it with another live track, this one a take on “Barbaria” from 2021’s Miasmic Purple Smoke (review here) that by the time it builds to its galloping finish has already long since demanded every bit of volume you can give it.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 5th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Belgian melodic heavy noise rockers My Diligence will release their fourth album next year as their first offering through Listenable Records. The signing announcement — and in an indictment of my diligence, this news is a couple weeks old — came through posted by the Brussels trio, who in addition to Century Festival and others in their home country have been confirmed for a spot in June at Hellfest in France with more sure to follow, and who were heard from last year with their ripper of third record, The Matter, Form and Power (review here). They played Desertfest Belgium last Fall to support that LP, which was issued like the two before it through Mottow Soundz.
They’ve been doing shows steadily since The Matter, Form and Power came out in June, and it will be interesting to see if they hit the road even more with Listenable behind them, but as of now and like a lot of Belgian acts, they remain something of a well-kept secret, despite the loud-at-any-volume sensibility imbued into their work. I could go on here, but the bottom line is congrats to the band and best wishes on the upcoming dates and making the next record. I’ll look forward to (hopefully) hearing how it comes out when the time is right.
Their post and shows for the next few months follow here, snagged from socials:
We have some exciting news to share: we have joined the esteemed talent at Listenable Records. We look forward to making great sounds together – starting with a new album to be released in spring 2024.
We would like to express our thanks and deep appreciation for the nurturing and support Mathias Widtskiöld at Mottow Soundz has shown us over the past decade. We made 3 great albums together, each of which we are extremely proud.
We owe Jean-Michel Labadie of Gojira a HUGE THANKS for connecting us with Laurent Merle and Listenable Records. We are grateful for your mentoring.
Last but not least a shout out to Christophe Dillen aka Denis Daniel our manager whose steady hand ensures we never lose our sense of humour and love for the music.
MY DILIGENCE live: 29.04.23 MOUSCRON (BE) – CENTURY FESTIVAL 06.05.23 IZEGEM (BE) – Headbanger’s Balls Fest 13.05.23 DURBUY (BE) – Durbuy Rock Festival 21.05.23 BÉTHUNE (FR) – Le Poche Béthune 16.06.23 CLISSON (FR) – Hellfest Open Air Festival 08.07.23 TOURNAI (BE) – La Crypte 15.07.23 NOISEUX (BE) – NoiZ’Rock 13.08.23 KORTRIJK (BE) – ALCATRAZ MUSIC
MY DILIGENCE: Cédric Fontaine – Guitars, Vocals François Peeters – Guitars Gabriel Marlier – Drums
Posted in Reviews on January 12th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
We press on, until the end, though tired and long since out of adjectival alternatives to ‘heavy.’ The only way out is through, or so I’m told. Therefore, we go through.
Morale? Low. Brain, exhausted. The shit? Hit the fan like three days ago. The walls, existentially speaking, are a mess. Still, we go through.
Two more days to go. Thanks for reading.
Winter 2023 Quarterly Review #81-90:
Farflung, Like Drones in Honey
No question Farflung are space rock. It’s not up for debate. They are who they are and on their 10th full-length, Like Drones in Honey (on Sulatron, which suits both them and label), they remain Farflung. But whether it’s the sweet ending of the “Baile an Doire” or the fuzz riffing beneath the sneer of “King Fright” and the careening garage strum of “Earthmen Look Alike to Me,” the album offers a slew of reminders that as far out as Farflung get — and oh my goodness, they go — the long-running Los Angeles outfit were also there in the mid and late ’90s as heavy rock and, in California particularly, desert rock took shape. Of course, opener “Acid Drain” weaves itself into the fabric of the universe via effects blowout and impulse-engine chug, and after that finish in “Baile an Doire,” they keep the experimentalism going on the backwards/forwards piano/violin of “Touch of the Lemmings Kiss” and the whispers and underwater rhythm of closer “A Year in Japan,” but even in the middle of the pastoral “Tiny Cities Made of Broken Teeth” or in the second half of the drifting “Dludgemasterpoede,” they’re space and rock, and it’s worth not forgetting about the latter even as you blast off with weirdo rocket fuel. Like their genre overall, like Sulatron, Farflung are underrated. It is lucky that doesn’t slow their outbound trip in the slightest.
Whether you want to namedrop one or another Coltrane or the likes of Amon Düül or Magma or whoever else, the point is the same: Neptunian Maximalism are not making conventional music. Yeah, there’s rhythm, meter, even some melody, but the 66-minute run of the recorded-on-stage Finis Gloriae Mundi isn’t defined by songs so much as the pieces that make up its consuming entirety. As a group, the Belgians’ project isn’t to write songs to much as to manifest an expression of an idea; in this case, apparently, the end of the world. A given stretch might drone or shred, meditate in avant-jazz or move-move-move-baby in heavy kosmiche push, but as they make their way to the two-part culmination “The Conference of the Stars,” the sense of bringing-it-all-down is palpable, and so fair enough for their staying on theme and offering “Neptunian’s Raga Marwa” as a hint toward the cycle of ending and new beginnings, bright sitar rising out of low, droning, presented-as-empty space. For most, their extreme take on prog and psych will simply be too dug in, too far from the norm, and that’s okay. Neptunian Maximalism aren’t so much trying to be universal as to try to commune with the universe itself, wherever that might exist if it does at all. End of the world? Fine. Let it go. Another one will come along eventually.
Four years after their 2018 self-titled debut (review here), Denver heavy rock and rollers Near Dusk gather eight songs across and smooth-rolling, vinyl-minded 37 minutes for Through the Cosmic Fog, which takes its title from the seven-and-a-half-minute penultimate instrumental “Cosmic Fog,” a languid but not inactive jam that feels especially vital for the character it adds among the more straightforward songs earlier in the record — the rockers, as it were — that comprise side A: “The Way it Goes,” “Spliff ’em All,” and so on. “Cosmic Fog” isn’t side B’s only moment of departure, as the drumless guitar-exploration-into-acoustic “Roses of Durban” and the slower rolling finisher “Slab City” fill out the expansion set forth with the bluesy solo in the back end of “EMFD,” but the strength of craft they show on the first four songs isn’t to be discounted either for the fullness or the competence of their approach. The three-piece of Matthew Orloff, Jon Orloff and Kellen McInerney know where they’re coming from in West Coast-style heavy, not-quite-party, rock, and it’s the strength of the foundation they build early in the opening duo and “The Damned” and “Blood for Money,” that lets them reach outward late, allowing Through the Cosmic Fog to claim its space as a classically structured, immediately welcome heavy rock LP.
The 2023 self-titled debut EP from Portland, Oregon’s Simple Forms collects four prior singles issued over the course of 2021 and 2022 into one convenient package, and even if you’ve been keeping up with the trickle of material from the band that boasts members of YOB, (now) Hot Victory, Dark Castle and Norska, hearing the tracks right next to each other does change the context somewhat, as with the darker turn of “From Weathered Hand” after “Reaching for the Shadow” or the way that leadoff and “Together We Will Rest” seem to complement each other in the brightness of the forward guitar, a kind of Euro-style proggy noodling that reminds of The Devil’s Blood or something more goth, transposed onto a forward-pushing Pacific Northwestern crunch. The hints of black metal in the riffing of “The Void Beneath” highlight the point that this is just the start for guitarists Rob Shaffer and Dustin Rieseberg, bassist Aaron Rieseberg and grunge-informed frontman Jason Oswald (who also played drums and synth here), but already their sprawl is nuanced and directed toward individualism. I don’t know what their plans might be moving forward, but if the single releases didn’t highlight their potential, certainly the four songs all together does. A 19-minute sampler of what might be, if it will be.
Probably safe to call Lybica a side-project for Justin Foley, since it seems unlikely to start taking priority over his position as drummer in metalcore mainstays Killswitch Engage anytime soon, but the band’s self-titled debut offers a glimpse of some other influences at work. Instrumental in its entirety, it comes together with Foley leading on guitar joined by bassist Doug French and guitarist Joey Johnson (both of Gravel Kings) and drummer Chris Lane (A Brilliant Lie), and sure, there’s some pretty flourish of guitar, and some heavier, more direct chugging crunch — “Palatial” in another context might have a breakdown riff, and the subsequent “Oktavist” is more directly instru-metal — but even in the weighted stretch at the culmination of “Ferment,” and in the tense impression at the beginning of seven-minute closer “Charyou,” the vibe is more in line with Russian Circles than Foley‘s main outfit, and clearly that’s the point. “Ascend” and “Resonance” open the album with pointedly non-metallic atmospheres, and they, along with the harder-hitting cuts and “Manifest,” “Voltaic” and “Charyou,” which bring the two sides together, set up a dynamic that, while familiar in this initial stage, is both satisfying in impact and more aggressive moments while immersive in scope.
Just as their moniker might belong to some lost-classic heavy band from 1972 one happens upon in a record store, buys for the cover, and subsequently loves, so too does Naples four-piece Bird tap into proto-metal vibes on their latest single Walpurgis. And that’s not happenstance. While their production isn’t quite tipped over into pure vintage-ism, it’s definitely organic, and they’ve covered the likes of Rainbow, Uriah Heep and Deep Purple, so while “Walpurgis” itself leans toward doom in its catchy and utterly reasonable three-plus minutes, there’s no doubt Bird know where their nest is, stylistically speaking. Given a boost through release by Olde Magick Records, the single-songer follows 2021’s The Great Beast From the Sea EP, which proffered a bit more burl and modern style in its overarching sound, so it could be that as they continue to grow they’re learning a bit more patience in their approach, as “Walpurgis” is nestled right into a tempo that, while active enough to still swing, is languid just the same in its flow, with maybe a bit more rawness in the separation of the guitar, bass, drums and organ. Most importantly, it suits the song, and piques curiosity as to where Bird go next, as any decent single should.
Without getting into which of them does what where — because they switch, and it’s complicated, and there’s only so much room — the core of the sound for Melbourne-based four-piece Pseudo Mind Hive is in has-chops boogie rock, but that’s a beginning descriptor, not an end. It doesn’t account for the psych-surf-fuzz in two-minute instrumental opener “Hot Tooth” on their Eclectica EP, for example, or the what-if-Queens–of–the–Stone–Age-kept-going-like-the-self-titled “Moon Boots” that follows on the five-song offering. “You Can Run” has a fuzzy shuffle and up-strummed chug that earns the accompanying handclaps like Joan Jett, while “This Old Tree” dares past the four-minute mark with its scorching jive, born out of a smoother start-stop fuzz verse with its own sort of guitar antics, and “Coming Down,” well, doesn’t at first, but does give way soon enough to a dreamier psychedelic cast and some highlight vocal melody before it finds itself awake again and already running, tense in its builds and overlaid high-register noises, which stand out even in the long fade. Blink and you’ll miss it as it dashes by, all momentum and high-grade songcraft, but that’s alright. It does fine on repeat listens as well, which obviously is no coincidence.
On. Slaught. Call it atmospheric sludge, call it post-metal; I sincerely doubt Philadelphia’s Oktas give a shit. Across the four songs and 36 minutes of the two-bass-no-guitar band’s utterly bludgeoning debut album, The Finite and the Infinite, the band — bassist/vocalist Bob Stokes, cellist Agnes Kline, bassist Carl Whitlock and drummer Ron Macauley — capture a severity of tone and a range that goes beyond loud/quiet tradeoffs into the making of songs that are memorable while not necessarily delivering hooks in the traditional verse/chorus manner. It’s the cello that stands out as opener “Collateral Damage” plods to its finish — though Macauley‘s drum fills deserve special mention — and even as “Epicyon” introduces the first of the record’s softer breaks, it is contrasted in doing so by a section of outright death metal onslaught so that the two play back and forth before eventually joining forces in another dynamic and crushing finish. Tempo kick is what’s missing thus far and “Light in the Suffering” hits that mark immediately, finding blackened tremolo on the other side of its own extended cello-led subdued stretch, coming to a head just before the ending so that finale “A Long, Dreamless Sleep” can start with its Carl Sagan sample about how horrible humans are (correct), and build gracefully over the next few minutes before saying screw it and diving headfirst into cyclical chug and sprinting extremity. Somebody sign this band and press this shit up already.
This is a rock and roll band, make no mistake. Berlin’s Scream of the Butterfly draw across decades of influence, from ’60s pop and ’70s heavy to ’90s grunge, ’00s garage and whatever the hell’s been going on the last 10-plus years to craft an amalgamated sound that is cohesive thanks largely to the tightness of their performances — energetic, sure, but they make it sound easy — the overarching gotta-get-up urgency of their push and groove, and the current of craft that draws it all together. They’ve got 10 songs on The Grand Stadium, which is their third album, and they all seem to be trying to outdo each other in terms of hooks, electricity, vibe, and so on. Even the acoustic-led atmosphere-piece “Now, Then and Nowhere” leaves a mark, to say nothing of the much, much heavier “Sweet Adeleine” or the sunshine in “Dead End Land” or the bluesy shove of “Ain’t No Living.” Imagine time as a malleable thing and some understanding of how the two-minute “Say Your Name to Me” can exist in different styles simultaneously, be classic and forward thinking, spare and spacious. And I don’t know what’s going on with all the people talking in “Hallway of a Thousand Eyes,” but Scream of the Butterfly make it easy to dig anyway and remind throughout of the power that can be realized when a band is both genuinely multifaceted and talented songwriters. Scary stuff, that.
Based in Kassel with lyrics in their native German, Holz are vocalist/guitarist Leonard Riegel, bassist Maik Blümke and drummer Martin Nickel, and on their self-titled debut (released by Tonzonen), they tear with vigor into a style that’s somewhere between noise rock, stoner heavy and rawer punk, finding a niche for themselves that feels barebones with the dry — that is, little to no effects — vocal treatment and a drum sound that cuts through the fuzz that surrounds on early highlight “Bitte” and the later, more noisily swaying “Nichts.” The eight-minute “Garten” is a departure from its surroundings with a lengthy fuzz jam in its midsection — not as mellow as you’re thinking; the drums remain restless and hint toward the resurgence to come — while “Zerstören” reignites desert rock riffing to its own in-the-rehearsal-room-feeling purposes. Intensity is an asset there and at various other points throughout, but there’s more to Holz than ‘go’ as the rolling “50 Meilen Geradeaus” and the swing-happy, bit-o’-melody-and-all “Dämon” showcase, but when they want to, they’re ready and willing to stomp into heavier tones, impatient thrust, or as in the penultimate “Warten,” a little bit of both. Not everybody goes on a rampage their first time out, but it definitely suits Holz to wreck shit in such a fashion.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 15th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Belgium’s Black Mirrors will release their second album, Tomorrow Will Be Without Us, on Nov. 4 in continued alliance with Napalm Records. What a four years it’s been since the band issued their debut, Look into the Black Mirror, and one gets the sense from the title of the new record, the in-the-crematorium-with-the-body cover art, and the album info wrought by the PR wire below that there’s been some shift in perspective on the part of the group, perhaps pulling back from the Native American-informed imagery and lore in favor of a more real-world outlook.
Which means — given the ‘real world’ we’re living in — that maybe they’ve gotten somewhat darker in the last couple years. Black Mirrors are by no means alone in expressing anxiety about the unfolding effects of climate change on the planet, and since damn near everything everywhere is political all the time, I guess on some level Tomorrow Will Be Without Us probably is too, at least if “Anthropocene” and “Ode to My Unborn Child” are anything to guess by. I haven’t heard the record yet, so can’t speak to how it all plays out, but cool that Alain “Never Gonna Hurt a Record to Have Him Involved” Johannes makes an appearance, and if Black Mirrors are expanding in sound and mindset, that’s only going to result in more interesting music as far as I’m concerned. So here’s to that.
Video for “Hateful Hate, I’ll Kill You” is down at the bottom of this post. Preorders are up and the link is in the info here twice, just in case you miss it the first time out:
BLACK MIRRORS Announces New Album, ‘Tomorrow Will Be Without Us’ Out November 4, 2022 via Napalm Records!
Watch the Music Video for First Album Single “Hateful Hate, I’ll Kill You”!
2017 saw Brussels-based rock sensation BLACK MIRRORS take the world by storm with the debut of their awe-inspiring ‘Funky Queen’ EP. Feverishly acclaimed live appearances and a powerful festival showcase later, the band, fronted by extraordinary vocalist Marcella Di Troia, quickly inked a worldwide deal with leading rock and metal empire Napalm Records, soon gaining further praise with the release of their first full-length album, ‘Look into the Black Mirror’.
Continuing to exceed expectations, the unstoppable BLACK MIRRORS have now crafted a new masterpiece and one of rock’s leading highlights of 2022 – their upcoming release, ‘Tomorrow Will Be Without Us’, out November 4, 2022 via Napalm Records!
Are we killing our own planet? No, BLACK MIRRORS don’t believe that we as humans have the power to destroy mother earth. However, as the album cover below portrays, it’s clear who will end up burning – all living creatures, us. ‘Tomorrow Will Be Without Us’ is a clear statement impacting every single one of us living on our planet. As first album single “Hateful Hate, I’ll Kill You” proves, the band pushes their fuzz pedals to the max, delivering a powerful rock anthem you can’t help but move and groove to, yet perfectly showcases BLACK MIRRORS’ unforced, versatile and organic talent.
BLACK MIRRORS about their first single: “‘Hateful Hate, I’ll Kill You’ is one of the first songs we wrote and recorded for this album. We felt the song really helped us to shape the album as it embraces a lot of different influences like Nirvana and Hole, but also Queens of the Stone Age, Jack White and even Radiohead. The song is a shout out to the bitter world we’re living in, a shout out to our consumerist society! Our beautiful planet has its limits! We are on a sinking ship. We have left so many living beings to die, to disappear even. We need to change now more than ever – we have to change our ways.”
About the new video, the band states:
“The energy of “Hateful Hate, I’ll Kill You” video is pretty close to what you can expect from a live show of Black Mirrors. Furthermore, we focused on what’s behind the lyrics. The colors, mainly yellow and red, were used as a symbol of the burning of our forest, our planet. One of the outfits Marcella’s wearing is a nod to the last mass extinction to warn us of the 6th mass extinction we are currently living in. At the end, she even changes into a tree to embody the return to nature.”
BLACK MIRRORS’ sophomore outing is a deep, soulful and vividly textured 90’s inspired rock record with umpteen layers begging to be picked apart with each spin, and lyrically, traverses humankind’s increasing apathy towards the world around them. The grunge-infused guitar lines meld in harmony, giving way to memorable riffs, rhythmic gems, big grooves and the addictive, beautifully unchained vocals of Di Troia. The album fluxes from fierce and blustery to often gentle and calming, channeling the flavor of MTV’s glory era showcasing acts such as Nirvana, Radiohead, Hole, Alain Johannes, Alice in Chains and beyond.
Contrary to the album’s title and its evocative themes about today’s society and a world falling apart, tomorrow does belong to BLACK MIRRORS – there is no doubt they will own the next decade, providing us with the finest in heavy rock and melodic grunge grandeur the world of tomorrow unconditionally needs.
“Like all of us, we had to go through a lot during these past years. ‘Tomorrow Will Be Without Us’ is our answer to all the questions we had during that time, our reflection on the ecological catastrophe we’re all witnessing, our thoughts on our consumerist society, …”, the band comments. “Writing these songs gave us the strength to go forward and to heal us, it was our catharsis. We deeply hope it will bring you some light in these dark times.”
Together with the touch of worldwide-acclaimed producer Alain Johannes (Eagles of Death Metal, Queens of the Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys, No Doubt), BLACK MIRRORS have reset the bar to unexpected heights, and their new album promises to leave its mark on today’s rock scene worldwide! One can be sure, the music world of tomorrow would be a lonely place without BLACK MIRRORS, and ‘Tomorrow Will Be Without Us’ locks them at the top.
‘Tomorrow Will Be Without Us’ will be available in the following formats: – CD Digisleeve – LP Gatefold BLACK – LP Gatefold Marbled BLACK/GOLD (ltd. 300) – Digital Album
Album Track List: 1. Snake Oil 2. Lost in Desert 3. Tomorrow Will be Without Us 4. Hateful Hate, I’ll Kill You 5. Ode to my Unborn Child 6. Through the Eyes of a Giant 7. Collapsology (Raise Your Voice), feat. Alain Johannes 8. Anthropocene 9. Tears to Share 10. Say it Again
BLACK MIRRORS Live: 11/3/22 (DE) Hamburg – Headcrash (Exclusive Album Release Show!) 11/4/22 (DE) Berlin – Cassiopeia (Exclusive Album Release Show!) 11/18/22 (BE) Brussels – Botanique (Exclusive Album Release Show!)
BLACK MIRRORS Current Line-Up: Marcella Di Troia (Vocals) Pierre Lateur (Lead Guitar) Yannick Carpentier (Drums) Pierre Guillaume (Guitar, Synths, Backing Vocals)
Oh we’re in the thick of it now, make no mistake. Day one? A novelty. Day two? I don’t know, slightly less of a novelty? But by the time you get to day three in a Quarterly Review, you know how far you’ve come and how far you still have to go. In this particular case, building toward 100 records total covered, today passes the line of the first quarter done, and that’s not nothing, even if there’s a hell of a lot more on the way.
That said, let’s not waste time we don’t have. I hope you find something killer in here, because I already have.
Quarterly Review #21-30:
My Diligence, The Matter, Form and Power
The Matter, Form and Power is the third long-player from Brussels’ My Diligence, whose expansive take on melodic noise rock has never sounded grander. The largesse of songs like the Floor-esque “Multiversal Tree” or the choruses in “On the Wire” and the layered post-hardcore screams in “Sail to the Red Light” — to say nothing of the massive nod with which the title-track opens, or the progressively-minded lumbering with which the 10-minute “Elasmotherium” closes — brims with purpose in laying the atmospheric foundation from which the material soars outward. With “Celestial Kingdom” as its centerpiece, the heavy starting far, far away and shifting into an earliest-Mastodon chug as drift and heft collide, there are hints of Cave In in form if not all through the execution — that is, My Diligence cross similar boundaries but don’t necessarily sound the same — such that the growling that populates that song’s second half isn’t so much a surprise as it is a slamming, consuming, welcome advent. Music as a force. As much volume as you can give it, give it.
Their moniker derived from the initials of the three members — bassist/vocalist/synthesist Pietro Brunetti, guitarist/vocalist Claudio Banelli and drummer Carlo Forgiarini — Italian troupe BBF aren’t through I Will Be Found‘s five minute opener “Freedom” before they’ve transposed grunge vibes onto a go-where-it-wants psychedelia from out of an acoustic, bluesy beginning. Garage rock in “Cosmic Surgery,” meditative jamming in “Rise,” and a vast expanse in “T-Rex” that delivers the album’s title line while furthering with even-the-drums-have-echo breadth the psych vibe such that the synthy take of the penultimate “Wake Up” becomes just another part of the procession, its floating guitar met with percussion real and imagined ahead of the bookending acoustic-based closer “Supernova,” which dedicates its last 90 seconds or so to a hidden track comprised entirely of sweet acoustic notes that might’ve otherwise ended up as an interlude but work just as well tucked away as they are. Here’s a band who know the rules and seem to take a special joy in bending if not outright breaking them, drawing from various styles in order to make their songs their own. To say they acquit themselves well in doing so is an understatement.
Progressive and melodic, the fourth album from Iowan trio Druids is nonetheless at times crushingly heavy, and in a longer piece like “Ide’s Koan,” the band demonstrate how to execute a patient, dynamic build, beginning slow and spaced out and gradually growing in intensity until they reach a multi-layered shouting apex. Drew Rauch (bass), Luke Rauch (guitar) and Keith Rich (drums) all contribute vocals at one point or another, and whether it’s in the plodding rock of “Dance of Skulls” or the not-the-longest-track-but-the-farthest-reaching closer “Cloak/Nior Bloom,” their modern prog metal works off influences like Baroness, Mastodon, Gojira, etc., while retaining character of its own through both rhythmic intricacy and its abiding use of melody, both well on display in “Othenian Blood” and the subsequent, drum-intensive “Traveller” alike. “Path to R” starts Shadow Work mellow after the ceremonial build-up of “Aether,” but the tension is almost immediate and Druids‘ telegraphing that the heavy is coming makes it no less satisfying when it lands.
Though it’s spread across two LPs, don’t think of Kandodo4‘s Burning the (Kandl) as an album. Or even a live album, though technically it’s that. You might not know, you might not care, but it’s a historical preservation. ‘The time that thing happened,’ where the thing is Simon Price of The Heads leading a jam under the banner of his Kandodo side-project featuring Robert Hampson of Loop, and bassist Hugo Morgan and drummer Wayne Maskell — who play in both The Heads and Loop — as part of The Heads‘ residency at Roadburn Festival 2015 (review here). I tell you, I was there, and I’ve seen few psychedelic rituals that could compare in flow or letting the music find its own shape(lessness) as it will. Burning the (Kandl) not only has the live set, but the lone rehearsal that the one-off-four-piece did prior to taking stage at Het Patronaat in Tilburg, the Netherlands, that evening. Thus, history. Certainly for the fest, for the players and those who were there, but I like to think in listening to these side-long stretches of expanse upon expanse that all of our great-grandchildren will worship at the altar of this stuff in a better world. Maybe, maybe not, but better to have Burning the (Kandl) ready to go just in case.
The second EP in about nine months from Los Angeles’ Spencer Robinson — operating under the moniker of Into the Valley of Death — the seven-song Ruthless feels very much like a debut album despite a runtime circa 25 minutes. The songs are cohesive in bringing together doom and grunge as they do, and as with the prior Space Age, the lo-fi aspects of the recording become part of the overarching character of the material. Guitars are up, bass is up, drums are likely programmed, vocals are throaty and obscure at least until they declare you dead on “Ghost,” and the pieces running in the three-to-four-minute range have a kind of languid drawl about them that sound purely stoned even as they seem to reach out into the desert after which the project is seemingly named. Robinson, who also played bass in The Lords of Altamont and has another outfit wherein he fronts a full backing band, is up to some curious shit here, and whether or not it was, it definitely sounds like it was recorded at night. I’m not sure where it’s going, and I’m not sure where it’s been, but I know I’ll look forward to finding out.
Enköping, Sweden’s Stuck in Motion issued their 2018 self-titled debut (review here) to due fanfare, and Still Stuck (changed from the working title ‘Ut på Tur,’ which translates, “on tour”) arrives with a brisk reminder why. Jammy in spirit, early singles “Höjdpunkternas Land,” “Lucy” and “På Väg” brim with vitality and a refreshing take on classic heavy rock, not strictly retro, not strictly not, and all the more able to jam and offer breadth around traditional structures as in “I de Blå” for that, weaving their way into and out of instrumental sections with a jazzy conversation between guitars and keys, bass and drums, percussion, and so on. Combined with the melodies of “Tupida,” the heavier tone underlying “Fisken” and the organ-and-synth-laced shuffle of the penultimate “Tung Sol,” there’s a balance between psych and prog — and, on the closing title-track, horns — which are emblematic of an organic style that couldn’t be faked even if the band wanted to try. I don’t know the exact release date for Still Stuck — I thought it was already out when I slated this review — but its eight songs and 40 minutes are like the kind of afternoon you don’t want to end. Sunshine and impossible blue sky.
A blurb posted by Spanish instrumentalists Sageness — also written SageNESS — with the release of Tr3s reads as follows: “The future seen from the past, where another current reality is possible, follow us and we will transfer to a new dimension. (Tr3s),” and fair enough. One could hardly begrudge the trio a bit of escapism in their work, and listening to the 36 minutes across four songs that comprises Tr3s, they do seem to be finding their way into the ‘way out.’ Though if where they’re ending up is 12-minute finale “Event Horizon,” in which the very jam itself seems to be taffy-pulled on a molecular level until the solid bassline and drums dissipate and what takes hold is a freakout of propulsive, drift-toned guitar, I’m not sure if they do or don’t ultimately make it to another dimension. Maybe that’s on the other side? Either way, after the scope of “Greenhouse” and the more plotted-seeming stops of “Spirit Machine,” that end is somewhat inevitable, and we may be stuck in reality for real life, but Sageness‘ fuzzy and warm-toned heavy psychedelic rock makes a reasoned argument for daydreaming the opposite.
You think you’re up for Kaleidobolt, and that’s adorable, but let’s be honest. The Finnish trio — whose head-spinning, too-odd-not-to-be-prog heavy rock makes This One Simple Trick laughable as a title — are on another level. You and me? They’re running circles around us in “Fantastic Corps” and letting the truth about humans be known amid the fuzz of “Ultraviolent Chimpanzee” after the alternately frenetic and spaced “Borded Control,” momentarily stopping their helicopter twirl to “Walk on Grapes” at the album’s finish, but even then they’re walking on grapes on another planet yet to be catalogued by known science. 2019’s Bitter (review here) boasted likewise self-awareness, but This One Simple Trick is a bolder step into their individuality of purpose, and rest assured, they found it. I don’t know if they’re a “best kept secret” or just underrated. However you say it, more people should be aware. Onto the list of 2022’s best albums it goes, and if there are any simple tricks involved here, I’d love to know what they are.
It probably wouldn’t fit on a 7″, but The Tazers‘ Outer Space EP isn’t much over that limit at four songs and 13 minutes. The Johannesburg trio’s melodicism is striking nearly at the outset of the opening title-track, and the fuzz guitar that coincides is no less right on as they touch on psychedelia without ever ranging so much as to lose sight of the structures at work. “Glass Ceiling” boasts a garage-rocking urgency but is nonetheless not an all-out sprint in its delivery, and “Ready to Die” hits into Queens of the Stone Age-esque rush after an acoustic opening and before its fuzzy rampage of a chorus, while “Up in the Air” is a little more psych-funk until solidifying around the repeated lines, “Give me a reason/Show me a sign,” which culminate as the EP’s final plea, like Witch played at 45RPM or your favorite stoner band’s cooler cousin. Four songs, it probably took more effort to put together than they’d like you to think, but the casual cool they ooze is as infectious as the songs themselves.
Bong-worship sludge from London. It’s hard to know the extent to which Obelos — which for some reason my fingers have trouble typing correctly — are just fucking around, but their dank, lurching riffs, throaty screams and slow-motion crashes certainly paint a picture anyhow. Paint it green, with maybe some little orange or purple flecks in there. Interludes “Paranoise” and “Holy Smokes” bring harsh noise and a kind of improvised-feeling, also-quite-noisy chicanery, but the primary impression in Green Giant‘s six tracks/27 time-bending minutes is of nodding, couchlocked stoner crush, and I wouldn’t dare ask anything more of it than that. Neither should you. I’d argue this is an album rather than the EP it’s categorized as being, since it flows and definitely gets its point across in a full-length manner, but I’m not even gonna fight the band on that because they might break out a 50-minute record or some shit and, well, I’m just not sure I’m ready to get that high this early in the morning. Might have to reserve an entire day for that. Which might be fun, too.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 13th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
After their self-titled debut in 2015 and 2019’s Sun Rose (review here), Brussels-based now-three-piece My Diligence will release their third album, The Matter, Form and Power, on June 3 through Mottow Soundz. The streaming track below/first single is called “On the Wire” — and if they’re talking about the PR wire, which of course they are, I’ll note that indeed, that’s where this news came from — and it’s a bright-toned heavy progressive rocker that’s catchy and broad-reaching in kind. Not apparently content to sit out the pandemic resting on laurels, the band harness new largesse of tone in part thanks to the recording job of Francis Caste, and encompassing melody. I haven’t heard the full thing yet, but I’d like to.
Preorders are up, song’s at the bottom of the post, album cover and info follow here, right off the aforementioned wire.
Here you go:
Belgian Heavy Psych Trio MY DILIGENCE Return with New Album on MOTTOW SOUNDZ | Stream New Single ‘ON THE WIRE’
The Matter, Form and Power will be released 3rd June via Mottow Soundz
Rising from the streets of Brussels, My Diligence is a band that in recent years have come to transcend rock in their native Belgium with a skill and ease reminiscent of their transatlantic peers.
The success of their 2019 album, Sun Rose, helped raise the band even higher, securing new fans who instantly recognised in their sound the huge, progressive rock aplomb of established acts like Torche, Helmet and Elder. Big, bold, and charged with intensity, the Belgian trio delivered a non-stop, ass kicking brand of no-nonsense rock ‘n’ roll that scorched the sky and levelled the playing field.
This June, their eagerly awaited follow-up will be released worldwide on Mottow Soundz. Produced by Francis Caste (Hangman’s Chair, Regarde les Hommes Tomber) and mastered by Raphaël Bovey (Gojira, Dirge, Monkey3), The Matter, Form and Power features a heavier mix of riffs – bigger and more imposing than ever – interwoven with intense, immersive, and spontaneous compositions that truly capture the trio’s exciting ideas around how they believe rock should be.
“While the world as we knew it ground to a halt, we started to explore new horizons,” explains drummer, Gabriel Marlier. “Taking advantage of the vacuum of ‘normal’ life, we started to conceive an album informed by hope and the unknown.”
Fully realised and an unquestionable return to their power-trio origins exploring psychedelic doom; The Matter, Form and Power is a remarkable take on twenty-first century rock ‘n’ roll and one that will capture the hearts and ears of those seeking more.
The Matter, Form and Power by My Diligence will be released on 3rd June 2022 and can be pre-ordered via Mottow Soundz here: https://www.mottowsoundz.com/md-the-matter-form-and-power
Stream new single ‘On the Wire’ here: https://snd.click/OnTheWire
Album art by Elzo Durt (http://www.elzodurt.com)
TRACK LISTING: 1. The Matter, Form and Power 2. On the Wire 3. Sail to The Red Light 4. Celestial Kingdom 5. Multiversal Tree 6. Embers 7. Elasmotherium
MY DILIGENCE: Cédric Fontaine – Guitars, Vocals François Peeters – Guitars Gabriel Marlier – Drums
