Posted in Whathaveyou on October 18th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Colorado four-piece Night Fishing debuted earlier this year with an EP called Live Bait (review here) that on Dec. 1 they’ll follow with two more cuts being delivered as a second EP, Yuppie Cortado. The 10-minute title-track of the new offering is streaming now, and it reinforces the feeling I had coming off Live Bait, which is that the band are onto something. There aren’t a lot of American acts who willfully take on a European-style heavy psychedelia, but Night Fishing — in addition to their sportsmanly thematic — do have that going on, and though they’re drawling and mostly spoken, there are vocals on “Yuppie Cortado,” which if I’m not mistaken is a first for the band.
That’s especially noteworthy to me because of the involvement in Night Fishing of Zach Amster, also of Small Stone heavy rockers Abrams. Dude can sing, and that band’s penchant for structure and traditional songwriting isn’t to be understated. If some of those impulses toward craft are bleeding into Night Fishing, then the Monster Magnet-style space heavy of “Yuppie Cortado” might be just the beginning of what they’ll unfurl going forward. Regardless, you should check out the song and maybe preorder a tape. Yeah that’s right, tape preorders. The future is also the past. You get used to it.
From the PR wire:
Instrumental Psych Rockers NIGHT FISHING to Share New EP ‘Yuppie Cortado’
Denver’s newest lords of lysergic, instrumental wizardry, NIGHT FISHING, have released their second EP, ‘Yuppie Cortado’. Guaranteed to bring Ego Death to All (even Yuppie Scum), the EP contains two, new, third eye opening jamz of Rocky Mountain psych rock bliss.
Listen to ‘Yuppie Cortado’ on all streaming services HERE & watch the “Yuppie Cortado” fish enhanced visualizer video HERE. Video edited by Frank Huang (YOB, Full of Hell, END).
‘Yuppie Cortado’ was recorded live by Chris McNaughton at Rocky Mountain Recorders, mixing and mastering also by Chris McNaughton and logo by Roy Jones.
NIGHT FISHING Live: Oct 21 – Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive w/ Acid Mothers Temple
About NIGHT FISHING:
Comprised of four seasoned Rocky Mountain Road Dogs (members of Call of the Void, Green Druid, Abrams, Muscle Beach), NIGHT FISHING exist to explore the boundaries of improvisation, mood and structure within the realms of heavy, instrumental sound. They released their debut EP ‘Live Bait’ in Spring 2023 and have been wowing audiences with their trip-inducing psychedelic live shows around the West since forming.
NIGHT FISHING are: Gordon Koch – Drums Graham Zander – Guitar Zach Amster – Guitar Justin Sanderson – Bass
Didn’t we just do this? Yeah, kind of. It’s been a weird season, but I knew last month when I launched the Spring 2023 Quarterly Review that it needed to be more than two full weeks and given the timing of everything else slated around then and now, this is what worked to make it happen. For what it’s worth, I have QRs scheduled for July and early October, subject to change, of course.
The bottom line either way is it’s another batch of 50 reviews this week and then that’s a wrap for Spring. It’s a constant barrage of music these days anyhow, and I’m forever behind on everything, but I hope at least you can find something here you dig, whether previously familiar or not. We go.
Quarterly Review #1-10:
HIGH LEAF, Vision Quest
An awaited debut from this Philadelphia heavy rock scene outfit, HIGH LEAF‘s Vision Quest makes its home among heavy tropes (also some minute cultural appropriation in the title) with unabashed glee and deceptively sharp songwriting. Certainly opener “Green Rider” is perfectly willing to beat you over the head with its chorus — and rightly so, you have it coming — but the spacious title-track that follows stretches over eight minutes and seamlessly works through drift and heavy psych impulses to get to the post-grunge roll that makes its increasingly aggro presence known past six minutes in, and that’s by no means the final bit of sludge to be had as the later “Hard to Find” leans toward nastiness only to be offset by the funky outset of “Painted Desert,” having pushed deeper from the Kyussery of “Dead Eye” and a swagger in “Subversive” worthy of comparison to Earthride. This lineup of the band has already split (there’s a new one, no worries), and how that reboot will affect HIGH LEAF going forward obviously remains to be seen, but this is a ‘serving notice’-type debut, doubling down on that in closing duo “March to the Grave” and “The Rot,” and the eight songs and 38 minutes commune with groove and riffs like they’ve been speaking the language the whole time. There’s definitely a vision at work. Let’s see where the quest takes them.
Fucking hell I wish this was what the future sounded like. It rocks. It’s interesting. It’s driven to be its own thing despite traceable roots. It’s got edge but it’s not hackneyed. It’s the tomorrow we were promised when industrial rock and metal became a thing in the 1990s and that corporate alt-everything and pop-punk usurped. I knew I wanted to write about it now, because it’s coming out now, but I’ll tell you honestly, I’ve barely scratched the surface of JAAW‘s Svart-issued debut, Supercluster — recorded at Bear Bites Horse in London by Wayne Adams, who’s also in the band alongside Andy Cairns of Therapy?, Mugstar‘s Jason Stoll and Adam Betts (of Squarepusher and others) — and this is the kind of album that’s going to be years in revealing itself. How about this? Sometime in 2028, if this site is still here, I’ll follow-up and let you know what I’ve found digging into the sinister groove of “Rot” or the shout-kraut rumble and noise of “Bring Home the Motherlode, Barry,” “The Dead Drop” going from minimalism to full heavy New Wave wash in five minutes’ time, and so on, but for right now, let it serve as the cannonball to be lobbed at anyone who says there aren’t any acts out there doing new things or pushing different styles forward, because hell’s bells, that’s the only place this goes even as it also seems to go everywhere at the same time, unto closing out with a Björk cover “Army of Me” as imagined by Ministry doing ’90s drum ‘n’ bass. Some things are just bigger than the year of their release, and I look forward to living with this record.
The Bridesmaid, Come on People Now, Smile on Your Brother
From the opening drone-and-toy-chime-forward over industrial black metal of “Leytonstone: Eat Your Landlord” through the sample-fed machine sludge-turned-psych experimentalism that gives way to a shimmering haze of jazz metal in “Cleveland: And the Rain Came Down” and the can’t-fool-me-by-now acoustic strum at the start of “Summerland: A Long, Maintenance-Free Life” that runs a current of cello under its aural collage and low-end lumber early only to bask in news-and-drone departure with percussion later on the way to what post-hardcore could still someday be, the name of the EP is Come on People Now, Smile on Your Brother and The Bridesmaid deliver the proceedings in a manner more suited to Kurt Cobain‘s fuckall rasp of that line rather than the Youngbloods original. So it’s probably the latter. In any case, the UK solo-plus-friends outfit helmed and steered by JJ Saddington are an aural barrage, and while the temptation is to think of the three-song/21-minute offering as a blender on liquefy, the truth is the material is more thought out, more considerately mixed, and more engaging, than that kind of spastic randomness implies. If you can keep up with the changes, the adventure of listening is well worth the ankles sprained in its twists, but you should go into it knowing that the challenge is part of the appeal.
If the hard push and tonal burl of comparatively straight-ahead opener “The Last Witch” aren’t convincing, stick around through “Celestial Bird Spirit” and “Impermanence” on the rest of side A before you resolve one way or the other as regards Milana‘s debut album, Milvus. The Mallorca-based four-piece are for sure in conversation with fest-ready modern European heavy rock, and that’s the thread that weaves throughout the album, but in the 11-minute “Impermanance,” they build on the more temperate rollout of “Celestial Bird Spirit” and find an intriguing blend of atmosphere and dense fuzz, more moody than psychedelic, but smart to hold back its weightiest tonality for the rolling end. Appropriately enough, “Lucid Reality” brings them back to ground at the start of side B, but still has an atmospheric effect in its verse, with vocal layering over open-spaced guitar and an alt-rock pickup as they move toward the chorus, and Howling Wolf gives a class-conscious definition of the blues, in the long intro of “Gray City Lights,” setting a difficult standard for the rest of the song to match, but the organ helps. And all seems well and fine for “Whispering Wind” to wrap up mirroring the rocker “The Last Witch” at the start until the song breaks, the harmony starts, and then the growls and massive fuzz start in the last minute and it turns out they were metal all along. Go figure. There’s growing to do, but there’s more happening on Milvus than one listen will tell you, and that in itself is a good sign.
Swedish upstart four-piece New Mexican Doom Cult offer a distinctly Monolordian weep of lead guitar on “Seven Spirits,” but even that is filtered through the band’s own take, and that’s true of their first full-length, Necropolis more generally, as the Gävle outfit now comprised of guitarist/vocalist/principal songwriter Nils Ahnland, guitarist Johan Klyven Kvastegård, bassist Emil Alstermark and drummer Jonathan Ekvall present seven songs and 48 minutes of dug-in rockers, distortion keyed to its fuzziest degree as Ahnland hints vocally on “Underground” toward a root in darker and more metallic fare ahead of the chugging build that rounds out the eight-minute centerpiece title-track and the make-doom-swing ethic being followed in closer “Worship the Sun.” “Vortex” is a highlight for the melody as much as the double-dose of nodfuzz guitar work, and opener “Architect” sets an atmospheric course but assures that the sense of movement is never really gone, something that’s a benefit even to the righteous Sabbath blowout verse in the penultimate “Archangel.” Much of what they’re doing will be familiar to experienced heads, but not unwelcome for that.
Capable double-guitar heavy rock pervades the 43-minute Gentle Beast by the Swiss five-piece of the same name. Mixed by Jeff Henson of Duel and issued through Sixteentimes Music, the eight-song run is defined by knowing itself as stoner rock, and that remains true as “Super Sapiens” departs into its post-midsection jam, eventually returning to the chorus, which is almost unfortunately hooky. “Greedy Man” is almost purely Kyuss in its constructed pairing of protest and riff, but the “Caterpillar” shows a different side of the band’s character in its smooth volume shifts, winding leads and understated finish, leading into the sharper-edged outset of closer “Toxic Times.” In the forward thrust of “Joint Venture,” the opener “Asteroid Miner” with its gruff presentation, and the speedier swing of “Headcage” reinforcing the vocal reference to Samsara Blues Experiment in the leadoff, Gentle Beast tick all the boxes they need to tick for this debut long-player some four years after the band’s initial 7″ single, setting up multiple avenues of possible and hopeful progression while proving dexterous songwriters in the now. Won’t change your life, but isn’t trying to convince you it will, either.
Denver four-piece Bloodsports — also stylized all-lowercase: bloodsports — give a heavygaze impression with “Sky Mall” at the launch of their self-titled debut EP that the subsequent “Crimp” gleefully pulls the rug right from under with a solo section like All Them Witches grew up listening to The Cure after its Weezery verse, and the proceedings only gets grungier from there with the low-key Nirvana brooding of “Sustain” (also issued in 2022 as a standalone single) and its larger-scale, scorch-topped distorted finish and the shaker-inclusive indie ritual that is “Carnival” until it explodes into a blowout ending like the release of tension everyone always wanted but never actually got from Violent Femmes. Some noisy skronk guitar finishes over the hungover fuzz, which is emblematic of the way the entire release — only 11 minutes long, mind you — derives its character from the negative space, from its smaller moments of nuance, as well as from its fuller-sounding stretches. They’re young and they sound it, but there’s a sonic ideal being chased through the material and Bloodsports may yet carve their aural persona from that chase. As it is, the emotive aspects on display in “Sustain” and the volatility shown in the roll of “Sky Mall” make in plain that this project has places it wants to go and areas to explore, and one hopes Bloodsports continue to bring their ideas together with such fluidity.
Recorded seemingly almost entirely live on audio and video, vibrancy would seem to be the underpinning that draws Night Fishing‘s Live Bait together, if fishing isn’t. The Denver four-piece are a relatively new formation, with guitarists Graham Zander (also Green Druid) and Zach Amster (Abrams), bassist Justin Sanderson (Muscle Beach) and drummer Gordon Koch (Call of the Void) all coming together from their sundry other projects to explore a space between the kosmiche, heavy rock and semi-improv jamming. The turns and fills and crashes that round out the second of three cuts, “No Services,” for example, feel off-the-cuff, but throughout most of “Alone With My Thoughts” and at least in the initial Slift-like shuffle at the start of “Slapback Twister,” there’s a plan at work. At 25 minutes, they’re only about a song shy of making Live Bait a full-length — though another track might mess up the shortest-to-longest and alphabetical ordering Live Bait has now, which are fun — but the instrumentalist exploration is suited to the nascent feel of the outfit, and while I don’t think Night Fishing is anybody’s only band here, if they can build on the sense of purpose they give to the jangly rhythm and airy solo of “Slapback Twister” and the right-on push of “Alone With My Thoughts,” they can make their records as long or as short as they want and they’re still bound to catch ears.
Following last year’s self-titled debut EP, Indianapolis solo-project Wizard Tattoo cuts itself open and bleeds DIY on the seven songs and 40 minutes of the self-recorded, self-released Fables of the Damned, beginning with distinct moments of departure in opener “Wizard Van” and “The Black Mountain Pass,” the latter of which returns to its gutted-out chorus with maestro Bram the Bard (who also did the cover) cutting through the tonescape of his own creation to underscore the structure at work. There are stories to be told in “The Vengeful Thulsa Dan” and the folkish “Any Which Way but Tuned,” which brings together acoustics and chanting like a gamer version of Wovenhand, deep-mixed tom thud peppered throughout while the chimes are more forward, while the seven-minute “The Ghost of Doctor Beast” picks up with the slowest and most doomed of the included rollouts, “God Damn This Wizard Tattoo” ups the tempo with a catchy chorus, a little bit of mania in the hi-hat under the guitar solo, and hints dropped in the bassline of the grunge aspects soon to be highlighted in instrumental closer “Abendrote.” The sense of character is bigger than the production, and that balance is something that will need to be ironed out over time, but the dug-in curio aspects of Fables of the Damned make it engaging, whatever it may or may not lead toward.
I’ll never claim to be anything more than a dilettante when it comes to noise rock, and I’ll tell you outright that Kansas City’s Nerver are new to me as of this Brothers in Christ split with Oklahoma City’s Chat Pile, but both acts are coming from a strong Midwestern tradition of post-industrial (talking economy not genre) disaffection and building on momentum from strong 2022 releases, those being Nerver‘s even-the-CD-sold-out (aha! but not from the label! got it!) sophomore full-length CASH and Chat Pile‘s much-lauded debut, God’s Country (review here), and the scream-topped bombast of the one and volatile emotive antipoetry of the other make fitting companions across the included four songs, as Nerver‘s “Kicks in the Sky” underscores its jabs with deep low rumble as a bed for the harshly delivered verse and “The Nerve” shoves itself faceward in faster and less angular fashion, consuming like Chicago post-metal but pissed off like Midwestern hardcore while Chat Pile build through “King” en route to the panicked slaughter of “Cut,” which is sure enough to trigger fight-or-flight in your brain before its sub-five-minute run is up. Neither arrives at this point without hype behind them, both would seem to have earned it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go put on that Nerver album and play a bit of catchup.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 6th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
A fascinating turn here for Denver guitarist Zach Amster, whose other outfit Abrams recently announced a tour for May in the company of BleakHeart (dates here), and joins members of Green Druid, Muscle Beach and Call of the Void in the new instrumentalist four-piece Night Fishing. One doesn’t even have to get through the nine-minute entirety of “Alone With My Thoughts” — which one surely is when fishing at night; I’d also like to mention that my phone corrected ‘thoughts’ to ‘thighs’ there, which would be a winner as regards typos — to get the sense of shift that Night Fishing‘s impending Brutal Panda-delivered three-songer, Live Bait (getting the theme?), is playing toward. There’s some of Slift‘s Euro-style space boogie in there, along with a touch of psychedelic atmosphere, but a solid rhythm lies beneath the sprawl of its exploration, and you would definitely still call it rock rather than a loose lysergic jam. There’s a plan at work.
That’s something Night Fishing shares with Abrams, but the absence of vocals is interesting. They could probably tour Europe on these songs for two months, hit festivals and whatnot, and never look back, and nor could they be faulted for doing exactly that if it came to it. Of course, I don’t know what they will or won’t — I haven’t even heard the other two tracks here yet, so any assessment of aesthetic is partial at best — but when I think about Abrams poppish aspects next to this, let alone the other members’ main projects, it feels like a change that’s worth noting and I look forward to where it might lead, even if that’s just a lot of riffs about fishing. Here for it, in the parlance of our times, or, more likely, a couple years ago. I’m always behind on that shit.
The PR wire has the AI art, release info and the song stream. Live Bait is out April 21. Enjoy:
Instrumental Psych Rockers NIGHT FISHING Share New Single, “Alone With My Thoughts”, + Video
New EP, ‘Live Bait’, Out April 21st via Brutal Panda Records
Brutal Panda Records will release ‘Live Bait’, the debut EP from Denver, CO’s NIGHT FISHING, on April 21st. Comprised of four seasoned Rocky Mountain Road Dogs (members of Call of the Void, Green Druid, Abrams, Muscle Beach), NIGHT FISHING exist to explore the boundaries of improvisation, mood and structure within the realms of heavy, instrumental sound. Today, they’re revealing the music video for “Alone With My Thoughts,” the record’s second single.
Across three tracks and 25+ minutes of fuzzed-out Heavy Psych, hypnotic Krautrock and free-form jazz, NIGHT FISHING seamlessly weave together a melting pot of brain-liquifying sonic euphoria. An experience that could only be formulated live in the studio and within the confines of the moment…NIGHT FISHING is for lovers and will take you where the vibe wants to go.
Drummer Gordon Koch, who also created the album’s trippy artwork via Artificial Intelligence, commented on how the project came together:
“NIGHT FISHING is a Heavy Psych/Krautrock improv concept I mulled over during the lockdown period of the initial COVID-19 outbreak. My longtime touring metal band (Call of the Void) had just broken up (December 2019) and my jazz connection had moved out of state so I had no musical prospects while I was held up in my apartment. I wanted to combine elements of improv jazz into a rock format using light song structure to allow for more natural flow of solos, giving each player room to breathe and express themselves. Once the city opened back up a little bit I hit the pavement looking for players. I found 3 friends from the Denver metal scene who were looking for something different and could handle the riffage!
“This EP was recorded live, as both an audio and visual experience, by Chris McNaughton at Rocky Mountain Recorders. We sat in the round with a full camera crew in the studio, led by Alex Pace, to capture the moment and energy, bouncing solos off each other all in one take. I feel like these first songs are a more “live” experience so I wanted the video crew there to allow everyone to join us. We were mostly familiar with all the hits but use a lot of eye contact and musical cues to move things along. This session was a BLAST to record, I think about 4 hours total in the room.”
He elaborated further on their second single “Alone With My Thoughts”, saying:
“This was our first song written as a group that took the NIGHT FISHING idea to fruition. Once we played it live in front of people we knew we had a great formula to expand on.”
‘Live Bait’ will see an April 21st release on tape, CD and digital formats.
A super limited deluxe, tackle box edition complete with a one-of-a-kind fishing certificate will also be available along with a gently used fishing vessel, limited to 1, for the TRUE DIE-HARDS ONLY!
NIGHT FISHING will be performing a record release show at The Crypt on April 28th in Denver, CO
‘Live Bait’ Track List: 1. Alone with My Thoughts 2. No Services 3. Slapback Twister
About NIGHT FISHING:
Four Denver road dogs (Call of the Void, Green Druid, Abrams, Muscle Beach) having a good time in the space of improvisation and slight structure. Heavy psych and Krautrock with jazz rules, a project meant to include both listeners and musicians.
We go where the vibe is pushing us. NIGHT FISHING is for lovers.
NIGHT FISHING are: Gordon Koch – Drums Graham Zander – Guitar Zach Amster – Guitar Justin Sanderson – Bass
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 4th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Based in Miami and Atlanta, the Southeastern two-piece of Juan Montoya (ex-Torche) and Evan DiPrima (ex-Royal Thunder) form the core of Moon Destroys, and their mission, at least judging by the bit of their aptly-titled debut EP, Maiden Voyage, that I’ve had the chance to hear, would seem to be to further blur the line between heavy and prog, which is a barrier that over the last several years has only become increasingly obscure. Inevitably that will lead to a snap-back/regression sooner or later, but that’s years away, frankly, and in the interim, an outfit like Moon Destroys, which brings shades of Montoya‘s brighter-tinged guitar work along with guest vocals from Cynic‘s Paul Masvidal and Mastodon‘s Troy Sanders — working that prog angle — makes for a fascinating as well as head-spinning listen. You can stream “Blue Giant” below, which is the cut with Sanders, and it’s one to keep up with, but it proves worth the effort to do so.
Something cool to check out that doesn’t sound like everything else? Yeah, I’ll give that upwards of four minutes out of my day, thanks. Preorders are also a thing.
Dig:
MOON DESTROYS (ex-TORCHE, ex-ROYAL THUNDER): Announce Debut EP Maiden Voyage coming March 27th
MOON DESTROYS is the brainchild of guitarist Juan Montoya (ex-Torche) and drummer Evan Diprima ( Brother Hawk, ex-Royal Thunder). Having written together in various configurations for over a decade, they now come together under the auspices of celestial forces with a new project to unveil their mesmerizing debut EP Maiden Voyage.
An experiment of truly galactic proportions, MOON DESTROYS blend heavy riffage with psychedelic flourishes and vivid imagery across two intricately designed centerpiece tracks; “Blue Giant” along with “Stormbringer” featuring the gorgeous vocals of Paul Masvidal (Cynic) and layers of synths from Bryan Richie (The Sword). Three instrumental bursts connect the pieces together to create one mind-melting trip across the cosmic highway! Maiden Voyage is an absorbing, dynamic and forward-thinking debut that explores the new frontiers of heavy music in the 21st century.
Maiden Voyage will be released on March 27th on LP/Digital via Brutal Panda Records and is available for pre-order at this LOCATION.
Tracklisting: 1. At The End Of Time 2. Blue Giant (feat. Troy Sanders) 3. The Shores Of The Cosmic Ocean 4. Stormbringer (feat. Paul Masvidal) 5. The Edge Of Forever
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 5th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
We can probably still be friends if you can’t get down with tape reissues of Ruby the Hatchet‘s discography, but as your friend, I’d probably want to sit you down and pull your head out of your ass. The Philly/Jersey natives launch a tour with Germany’s Kadavar this very evening — T-O-N-I-G-H-T — and in addition to the tapes out tomorrow and available to order now through Brutal Panda Records, they have a new Uriah Heep cover of “Easy Livin'” they’ve debuted in a video. I recognized part of the footage from Roadburn, which was fun, and it was awesome to see that photographer-of-whom-I’m-constantly-in-awe Dante Torrieri filmed the studio portions as well. That dude gets around.
Ruby the Hatchet do likewise, and the tour dates to prove it are below, as well as the video, links and all that happy whatnot. I mean, if you’re not down, it’s okay, but seriously. Come on. Listen to that cover. Hell, go back and listen to the albums. You want those tapes. It’s okay to admit it. I think we all want those tapes.
The PR wire adds clarity:
RUBY THE HATCHET: Release Uriah Heep Cover; Set to Kick off Tour with Kadavar
Cassette Discography to be Released by Brutal Panda Records
Philadelphia psych rock quintet RUBY THE HATCHET has premiered a cover of Uriah Heep’s 1972 “Easy Livin’” via a new music video HERE. A staple of their recent live sets, the band recorded the cover at Retro City Studios in NJ. The group commented on the cover:
“Uriah Heep is a band favorite and still an unsung hero of sorts in our opinion. Many of their songs make our karaoke cuts, but Easy Livin’ was especially fun to figure out now that we have been toying with live three part harmonies. All of the high notes in our cover are vocally supported by Johnny, and of course Owen…still trying to put a mic in front of Lake. Plus, when you have someone like Sean playing organ, a Heep cover is a must.”
RUBY THE HATCHET will kick off an upcoming North American tour with Kadavar this Thursday December 5th in Atlanta, GA. The tour runs through December 21st and a full list of dates is available below.
Additionally, RUBY THE HATCHET will release their three full-length albums and EP on limited edition, colored cassette via Brutal Panda Records. The cassettes will be available on December 6th and can be ordered at this LOCATION.
RUBY THE HATCHET are currently writing their follow-up to 2017’s celebrated album Planetary Space Child. A 2020 release is expected with more info to follow.
RUBY THE HATCHET TOUR DATES: 12.05 Atlanta, GA • The Earl 12.06 Nashville, TN • Exit/In 12.07 Asheville, NC • The Mothlight 12.08 Richmond, VA • Richmond Music Hall 12.09 Baltimore, MD • Metro Gallery 12.11 Pittsburgh, PA • Spirit Hall 12.12 Brooklyn, NY • Saint Vitus 12.13 Philadelphia, PA • Johnny Brenda’s 12.14 Boston, MA • Once Ballroom 12.15 Montreal, QC • Foufounes Electrique 12.16 Ottawa, ON • Cafe Dekcuf 12.17 Toronto, ON • Lee’s Place 12.18 Detroit, MI • El Club 12.19 Cleveland, OH • Grog Shop 12.20 Chicago, IL • Avondale Music Hall 12.21 Minneapolis, MN • Fine Line Music Hall
“Easy Livin'” recorded May 21st, 2019 by Joe Boldizar at Retro City Studios in Germantown, PA. Original song by Uriah Heep (1972).
Video directed and edited by Todd McConnell and Jillian Taylor.
Live studio footage and photography by Dante Torrieri (Germantown, PA). Roadburn live footage by Volksradio Moos (Tilburg, Netherlands). Live at the Echo footage by Arturo Gallo (Los Angeles, CA).
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 23rd, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Kind of hard to argue with the melodic noise rock Dead Now bring forth with their new single, particularly for anyone who’s ever shown concussion symptoms following a bout with the riffing of Torche. That band’s former guitarist, Andrew Elstner, features in Dead Now as the frontman alongside bassist Derek Schulz and drummer Bobby Theberge, who double as the exploratory duo Day Old Man, also based in Atlanta, Georgia. And while they may join the family tree of Cavity/Floor/Torche that seems to stem upward from Miami, they do so with their own take on noise rock and melodic vocals, pulling back on some of the poppier elements in favor of more crunching fare, catchy as it is.
Dead Now will be on tour with Red Fang and Big Business in September, which, frankly, is about the best place I can think of them to be, and you can stream the song “Ritchie Blackmourning” at the bottom of this post. Info follows courtesy of the PR wire:
DEAD NOW: Announce Debut Album; Premiere First Single “Ritchie Blackmourning”
Self-Titled Debut coming Sept 7th via Brutal Panda Records
See them on tour with Red Fang and Big Business 9/7 – 9/28
Brutal Panda Records is proud to announce the signing of Atlanta, GA’s DEAD NOW. Consisting of current and former members of Torche, Riddle of Steel, Tilts and Day Old Man, DEAD NOW are a veritable power-trio who play dynamic, melodic heavy rock that is best enjoyed LOUD!
The group recently recorded their self-titled debut with Who Cares at None Of Your Business with album art designed by Orion Landau (Red Fang, YOB). The self-titled debut will see a September 7th release on LP/Digital formats via Brutal Panda just in time for their upcoming tour with Red Fang, Big Business and Monolord. Additionally, a record release show in Atlanta with noise rockers Metz has been announced. A complete listing of dates is available below.
Physical pre-orders are available at this LOCATION with digital pre-orders at Bandcamp HERE. The song can be heard via all streaming outlets HERE.
DEAD NOW frontman Andrew Elstner commented on the signing and new material:
“Myself, Derek and Bobby couldn’t be more hyped for this. Killer label, amazing people and now we’re desperate to get the jams in front of some faces and just crush. Things came together so quickly, it feels like the Gods are pleased.”
Stay tuned for more info and music from DEAD NOW.
DEAD NOW TOUR DATES: — All Dates Sep 11 – 28 w/ Red Fang & Big Business — Sep 07 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Music Hall * Sep 08 Richmond, VA Capital Ale House * Sep 09 Washington, DC Rock & Roll Hotel Sep 11 Pittsburgh, PA Spirit Hall Sep 12 Columbus, OH A&R Music Bar Sep 13 St. Louis, MO Firebird Sep 14 Omaha, NE The Waiting Room Sep 15 St. Paul, MN Turf Club + Sep 16 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon Sep 18 Harrisburg, PA Stage on Herr @ HMAC Sep 19 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg Sep 20 Hamden, CT Space Ballroom Sep 21 Boston, MA The Sinclair Sep 22 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts Sep 24 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom Sep 25 Grand Rapids, MI Pyramid Scheme Sep 26 Detroit, MI El Club Sep 27 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle Sep 28 Indianapolis, IN The Hi-Fi Sep 30 Atlanta, GA 529^
* w/ Monolord, No Big Business + w/ Cro-Mags, Dillinger Four, Blind Approach; No Big Business & Dead Now ^w/ Metz
DEAD NOW IS: Bobby Theberge – Drums (Day Old Man) Derek Schulz – Bass (Day Old Man) Andrew Elstner – Vocals / Guitar (Ex-Torche, Tilts, Riddle of Steel)
Dead Now Tracklist: 1. Brunette 2. Ritchie Blackmourning 3. Bird Leaf 4. Powershapes 5. Motorekt
It turns out that, yes indeed, I will be able to add another day to the Quarterly Review this coming Monday. Stoked on that. Means I’ll be trying to cram another 10 reviews into this coming weekend, but that’s not exactly a hardship as I see it, and the stuff I have picked out for it is, frankly, as much of a bonus for me as it could possibly be for anyone else, so yeah, look out for that. In the meantime, we wrap the Monday-to-Friday span of 50 records today with another swath of what’s basically me doing favors for my ears, and I hope as always for yours as well. Let’s dig in.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
Ecstatic Vision, Raw Rock Fury
Hard touring and a blistering debut in 2015’s Sonic Praise (review here) quickly positioned Ecstatic Vision at the forefront of a Philadelphia-based mini-boom in heavy psych (see also: Ruby the Hatchet, Meddlesome Meddlesome Meddlsome Bells, and so on), and their Relapse-issued follow-up, Raw Rock Fury, only delves further into unmitigated cosmic swirl and space-rocking crotchal thrust. The now-foursome keep a steady ground in percussion and low end even as guitar, sax, synth and echoing vocals seem to push ever more far-out, and across the record’s four tracks – variously broken up across two sides – the band continue to stake out their claim on the righteously psychedelic, be it in the all-go momentum building of “You Got it (Or You Don’t)” or the more drifting opening movement of closer “Twinkling Eye.” Shit is trippy, son. With the echoing-from-the-depths shouts of Doug Sabolik cutting through, there’s still an edge of Eastern Seaboard intensity to Ecstatic Vision, but that only seems to make Raw Rock Fury live up to its title all the more. Still lots of potential here, but it’ll be their third record that tells the tale of whether they can truly conquer space itself.
Issued through Brutal Panda, Too Many Winters is the second full-length from Portland five-piece Norska, and its six tracks/48 minutes would seem to pick up where Rwake left off in presenting a progressive vision of what might be called post-sludge. Following an engaging 2011 self-titled debut, songs like the title-track and “This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” churn and careen through Sourvein-style abrasion, vaguely Neurosis-style nod and, in the case of the latter or closer “Fire Patience Backbone,” soundscaping minimalism that, in the finale, is bookended by some of the record’s most intense push following opener “Samhain” and the subsequent “Eostre.” That salvo starts Too Many Winters with a deceptive amount of thrust, but even there atmosphere is central as it is to the outing as a whole, and a penultimate interlude in the 2:22 “Wave of Regrets” does well to underscore the point before the fading-in initial onslaught of “Fire Patience Backbone.” Having Aaron Rieseberg of YOB in the lineup with Jim Lowder, Dustin Rieseberg, Rob Shaffer and Jason Oswald no doubt draws eyes their way, but Norska’s sonic persona is distinct, immersive and individualized enough to stand on its own well beyond that pedigree.
Think about the two choices. You are Not the Ocean You are the Patient. Isn’t it the difference between something acting – i.e., an object – and something acted upon – i.e., a subject? As British Columbian heavy rockers Bison return after half a decade via Pelagic Records, their fourth album seems to find them trying to push beyond genre lines into a broader scope. “Until the Earth is Empty,” “Drunkard,” “Anti War” and “Raiigin” still have plenty of thrust, but the mood here is darker even than 2012’s Lovelessness found the four-piece, and “Tantrum” and closer “The Water Becomes Fire” bring out a more methodical take. It’s been 10 years since Bison issued their debut Earthbound EP and signed to Metal Blade for 2008’s Quiet Earth, and the pre-Red Fang party-ready heavy rock of those early works is long gone – one smiles to remember “These are My Dress Clothes” in the context of noise-rocking centerpiece “Kenopsia” here, the title of which refers to the emptiness of a formerly occupied space – but if the choice Bison are making is to place themselves on one side or the other of the subject/object divide, they prove to be way more ocean than patient in these songs.
With its churning, swirling waves of cosmic death, one almost expects Valborg’s Endstrand (on Lupus Lounge/Prophecy Productions) to be more self-indulgent than it is, but one of the German trio’s greatest assets across the 13-track/44-minute span of their sixth album is its immediacy. The longest song, “Stossfront,” doesn’t touch five minutes, and from the 2:14 opener “Jagen” onward, Valborg reenvision punk rock as a monstrous, consuming beast on songs like “Blut am Eisen,” “Beerdigungsmaschine,” “Alter,” “Atompetze” and closer “Exodus,” all the while meting put punishment after punishment of memorable post-industrial riffing on “Orbitalwaffe,” the crashing “Ave Maria” and the noise-soaked penultimate “Strahlung,” foreboding creeper atmospherics on “Bunkerluft” and “Geisterwürde,” and landmark, perfectly-paced chug on “Plasmabrand.” Extreme in its intent and impact, Endstrand brings rare clarity to an anti-genre vision of brutality as an art form, and at any given moment, its militaristic threat feels real, sincere and like an appropriate and righteous comment on the terrors of our age. Fucking a.
Probably fair to call the current status of German post-doomers Obelyskkh in flux following the departure of guitarist Stuart West, but the band has said they’ll keep going and their fourth album, The Providence (on Exile on Mainstream) finds them capping one stage of their tenure with a decidedly forward-looking perspective. Its six-song/56-minute run borders on unmanageable, but that’s clearly the intent, and an air of proggy weirdness infects The Providence from the midsection of its opening title-track onward as the band – West, guitarist/vocalist Woitek Broslowski, bassist Seb Fischer and drummer Steve Paradise – tackle King Crimson rhythmic nuance en route to an effects-swirling vision of Lovecraftian doomadelia and massive roll. Cuts like “Raving Ones” and 13-minute side B leadoff “NYX” play out with a similarly deceptive multifaceted vibe, and by the time the penultimate “Aeons of Iconoclasm” bursts outward from its first half’s spacious minimalism into all-out High on Fire thrust ahead of the distortion-soaked churn of closer “Marzanna” – which ends, appropriately, with laughter topping residual effects noise – Obelyskkh make it abundantly clear anything goes. The most impressive aspect of The Providence is that Obelyskkh manage to control all this crunching chaos, and one hopes that as they continue forward, they’ll hold firm to that underlying consciousness.
Former Mayhem/Aura Noir guitarist Rune “Blasphemer” Ericksen leads breadth-minded Portuguese four-piece Earth Electric, and their devil-in-the-details Season of Mist debut, Vol. 1: Solar, runs a prog-metal gamut across a tightly-woven nine tracks and 35 minutes, Ericksen’s vocals and those of Carmen Susana Simões (Moonspell, ex-Ava Inferi) intertwine fluidly at the forefront of sharply angular riffing and rhythmic turns from bassist Alexandre Ribeiro and drummer Ricardo Martins. The organ-laced push of “Meditate Meditate” and “Solar” and the keyboard flourish of “Earthrise” (contributed by Dan Knight) draw as much from classic rock as metal, but the brew Earth Electric crafts from them is potent and very much the band’s own. “The Great Vast” and the shorter “Set Sail (Towards the Sun)” set up a direct flow into the title cut, and as one returns to Earth Electric for repeat listens, the actual scope of the album and the potential for how the band might continue to develop are likewise expansive, despite its many pulls into torrents of head-down riffing. Almost intimidating in its refusal to bow to genre.
After debuting in 2014 with I (review here), Toronto’s Olde return via STB Records with Temple, proffering sludge-via-doom vibes and a center of weighted tonality around which the rest of their aesthetic would seem to be built, vocalist Doug McLarty’s throaty growls alternately cutting through and buried by the riffs of guitarists Greg Dawson (also production) and Chris “Hippy” Hughes, the bass of Cory McCallum and the rolling crashes of drummer Ryan Aubin (also of Sons of Otis) on tightly constructed pieces like “Now I See You” and the tempo-shifting “Centrifugal Disaster,” which reminds by its finish that sometimes all you need is nod. Olde have more to offer than just that, of course, as the plodding spaciousness of “The Ghost Narrative” and the lumbering “Maelstrom” demonstrate, but even in the turns between crush and more open spaces of the centerpiece title-track and the drifting post-heavy rock of closer “Castaway,” the underlying focus is on capital-‘h’ Heavy, and Olde wield it as only experts can.
Based in Athens and self-releasing their debut album, Alarm, in multiple vinyl editions, the four-piece of Panos Gklinos, Dimitris Sakellariou, Antonis Mantakas and George Diathesopoulos – collectively known as Deaf Radio – make no bones about operating in the post-Queens of the Stone Age/Them Crooked Vultures sphere of heavy rock. To their credit, the songwriting throughout “Aggravation,” “Vultures and Killers” and the careening “Revolving Doors” lives up to that standard, and though even the later “Oceanic Feeling” seems to be informed by the methods of Josh Homme, there’s a melodic identity there that belongs more to Deaf Radio as well, and keeping Alarm in mind as their first long-player, it’s that identity that one hopes the band will continue to develop. Rounding out side B with the howling guitar and Rated R fuzz of the six-minute “…And We Just Pressed the Alarm Button,” Deaf Radio build to a suitable payoff for the nine-track outing and affirm the aesthetic foundation they’ve laid for themselves.
The further you go into Saturndust’s 58-minute second LP RLC, the more there is to find. At any given moment, the São Paulo, Brazil-based outfit can be playing to impulses ranging from proggy space rock, righteously doomed tonal heft, aggressive blackened thrust or spacious post-sludge – in one song. Over longform cuts like “Negative-Parallel Dimensional,” “RLC,” “Time Lapse of Existence” and closer “Saturn 12.C,” the trio cast a wide-enough swath to be not quite genreless but genuinely multi-tiered and not necessarily as disjointed as one might expect in their feel, and though when they want to, they roll out massive, lumbering riffs, that’s only one tool in a full arsenal at their apparent disposal. What tie RLC together are the sure hands of guitarist/vocalist Felipe Dalam, bassist Guilherme Cabral and drummer Douglas Oliveira guiding it, so that when the galloping-triplet chug of “Time Lapse of Existence” hits, it works as much in contrast to the synth-loaded “Titan” preceding as in conjunction with it. Rather than summarize, “Saturn 12.C” pushes far out on a wash of Dalam’s keyboards before a wide-stomping apex, seeming to take Saturndust to their farthest point beyond the stratosphere yet. Safe travels and many happy returns.
Massachusetts doomers Birnam Wood have two prior EPs under their collective belt in 2015’s Warlord and a 2014 self-titled, but the two-songer single Triumph of Death (kudos on the Hellhammer reference) is my first exposure to their blend of modern progressive metal melody and traditional doom. They roll out both in able fashion on the single’s uptempo opening title-track and follow with the Black–Sabbath-“Black-Sabbath” sparse notemaking early in their own “Birnam Wood.” All told, Triumph of Death is only a little over nine minutes long, but it makes for an encouraging sampling of Birnam Wood’s wares all the same, and as Dylan Edwards, Adam McGrath, Shaun Anzalone and Matt Wagner shift into faster swing circa the eponymous tune’s solo-topped midpoint, they do so with a genuine sense of homage that does little to take away from the sense of individuality they’ve brought to the style even in this brief context. They call it stoner metal, and there’s something to that, but if we’re going on relative balance, Triumph of Death is more doom-stoner than stoner-doom, and it revels within that niche-within-a-niche-within-a-niche sensibility.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 3rd, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Oregonian sludge rockers Norska have posted the opening track from their impending second album, Too Many Winters. It’s a bit of a rager, and it definitely carries with it the uptempo push for which the Pacific Northwest has become so widely characterized over the course of this decade — that, in itself, is something of a departure from what I recall of their self-titled debut, self-released in 2011 with later issue through Brutal Panda — but “Samhain” intrigues in dynamic as well, and if you make your way through its five minutes, make sure you stick around to the end, because there’s a triumphant kind of turn there that leads me to wonder how it will play out over the rest of the record that follows. If you’re wondering when we might find that out, the record hits May 26, also via Brutal Panda.
You can check out “Samhain” below, as well as the art and track info for Too Many Winters, which came down the PR wire. Norska play this year’s Stumpfest on April 22:
‘NORSKA: Announce New Album ‘Too Many Winters’; Stream New Song
Coming May 26th via Brutal Panda Records
Portland, OR doom / sludge juggernauts NORSKA (featuring members of YOB) have announced their sophomore full-length, Too Many Winters. Their first full-length since 2012, Too Many Winters will see its release on May 26th via Brutal Panda Records. Stream the opening track “Samhain” at this location.
Too Many Winters ebbs and flows across 6 songs and 40+ minutes of dark, bludgeoning, cosmic doom. Whether trapping the listener with waves of mounting dread and choking darkness or offering glimmers of hope through psychedelic, atmospheric flourishes, NORSKA have created a sonic landscape that is as heavy, claustrophobic and otherworldly as the cover art suggests. Too Many Winters was recorded by Adam Bradley Pike (RED FANG) at Toadhouse Studios in Portland, OR and mastered by Billy Barnett (YOB) at Gung Ho Studios. Cover art by Mark McCormick (Red Fang, YOB, Witch Mountain).
The band commented on the new album:
“Too Many Winters is a collection of our thoughts and musical ideas over the span of 5 years. It reflects our influences in and outside of the band.”
Physical pre-orders are available via this location while digital pre-orders are available here.
NORSKA recently performed with legendary TOOL drummer Danny Carey in Portland, OR at a benefit for YOB frontman Mike Scheidt. Video footage may or may not be available on YouTube. The band is also set to play at this year’s Stumpfest in Portland, OR on April 22nd alongside Elder and Intronaut. Additional dates will be announced shortly.
NORSKA Live: April 22 Portland, OR Stumpfest w/ Elder, Intronaut, etc.
Too Many Winters Tracklist: 1. Samhain 2. Eostre 3. Too Many Winters 4. This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things 5. Wave of Regrets 6. Fire Patience Backbone
