Posted in Reviews on August 15th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
You could sit for a week and get no further than the title. Snakes Bite Tales. Call it ‘grammatical depth.’ If it was ‘Snake Bite Tales’ or ‘Snakes Bite Tails,’ that would be one thing. Snakes Bite Tales refuses not to be both. That petulance is part of its charm. Think of snakes eating multiple stories. As with the cover art, there’s an ouroboros aspect, snakes biting their own tails — I also read snakes biting tails as a warning or a motivation; “better haul ass, you know snakes bite tails”; a way of saying keep moving — and there’s ‘tales’ to imply that the songs themselves are the stories of these self-inflicted bites, which it very much turns out is the case across the nine songs/42 minutes of the fifth Bushfire LP and first since 2017’s When Darkness Comes (review here). The Darmstadt, Germany, five-piece have been around long enough to name their regrets, but with actual-maturity comes the ability to call a thing what it is and move forward (or so I’m told), and with a succession of relatively short, catchy tracks informed by Southern heavy with a burl that’s received as many bruises as it’s dished out, forward momentum is definitely a factor here.
I’ll not feign impartiality on the subject, as I’ve come to consider Bushfire frontman Bill Brown a good friend over the years, and it was with particular joy that I got to see Bushfire play twice at this year’s Freak Valley Festival (review here), playing this album in full between two sets. The setting is relevant because Snakes Bite Tales, in addition to welcoming back bassist Nicolas Kurz to the fold alongside Bill — normally I’d use someone’s last name here, but it feels wrong; this is another way I know I’m not impartial — guitarists Miguel Pereira and Luis Jacobi and drummer Sascha Holz, features near its finish the song “Valley of the Freak,” which is an ode to the fest in question begun with the if-you’ve-been-there-recognizable voice of Volker Fröhmer greeting the crowd with “Liebe freunde!” before the riff kicks in. While right in line with the traditions of the kind of boozy Southern heavy they play, the heart-on-sleeve aspects of “Valley of the Freak” nonetheless come through as sincere, and knowing Bill as I do, I’ll tell you he means it when he talks about finding his place between those hillsides.
If that’s momentum and passion working on Bushfire‘s side, they’re not alone in terms of appeals. “Cult of Conformity” opens with a rasp and a roll, a tight structure and a loose groove, starting the procession through “Force of 1,000 Suns” — slower, chuggier, but still moving — and barreling into “Dead Man’s Hand,” the Motörheady skid of the guitars feeling anything but coincidental. There’s strut in the final slowdown there, vibrant, classic and dirty in kind, that feels particularly Pepper Keenan-esque, but with the raspy shouts over top and the smooth-nodder cymbal crash behind, the feel is a push but not overblown. There’s a lot of record left, after all. “Self-Inflicted Bite” cleans up the vocals momentarily before unveiling more of a bellow atop the driving early verse, a howling midsection solo, and a grungier delve later that prefaces some of the moodier/darker fare to come toward the end of the album — the tail end, specifically — without departing the raw-with-purpose sound fostered by the surrounding tracks. At this point, Bushfire are four songs deep and about to hit into the centerpiece highlight, “Comfort in Silence,” which ends side A of the vinyl and bridges to “Under the Willow Tree,” the longest inclusion at 5:43.
The side B leadoff brings a departure in terms of arrangement, diving further into the Southern side with lap steel and a brooding vocal in the first half, only to break out in the second, volume and distortion taking hold fluidly without sacrificing the emotional crux of the lyrics. It stands to reason that “Watch You Drown,” which follows, would be the hardest hitting inclusion on the record, or close enough to it to make the point — which is to say I haven’t gotten out the ‘how heavy is it’ ruler and measured. A comparative intensity of riff feels like it’s picking up the forward crux of the songs’ structures and adding to the shove, and this sets up a back-and-forth in tempo as the slowdown becomes a hook unto itself, complementing “Under the Willow Tree”‘s branched-out vibe with a drop-everything, down-to-business feel that still manages to hone a sense of dynamic. Some of the grunge of “Self-Inflicted Bite” is echoed toward the end of “Watch You Drown,” and with “Valley of the Freak” after, Snakes Bite Tales holds some of its most memorable stretches in reserve not for the up-front rockers “Cult of Conformity” or “Force of 1,000 Suns” at the start of the record, but for the later reaches, where “Under the Willow Tree,” “Watch You Drown,” “Valley of the Freak” and “InTerrorGate” each give a distinct look at a side of what Bushfire does.
As the last of those, “InTerrorGate” is the darkest and most aggressive, and it stands out from the tracklisting before that. Given the raw, from-the-guts love exuded by “Valley of the Freak” just prior, the closer feels like a stark turn that, although it’s nastier in terms of the execution, pulls back on the emotional impact and so feels somewhat superfluous in terms of the full-album flow. That is, with that succession of three songs on side B, Bushfire are pushing toward the culmination of “Valley of the Freak,” that very-definite declaring of self. “InTerrorGate,” which comes through as less personal and more ‘about a thing’ than speaking right to it in the way of the ode preceding. My sense in listening is it’s there because the band felt it needed to be, and there are a few different levels on which that might be true eight years after the record before it, more than 20 since they started out, among them documentation and preservation. You never know when it’s going to be your last album; so yeah, “InTerrorGate” has something to offer. If Snakes Bite Tales ends up being Bushfire‘s swansong or it doesn’t, in their songwriting and the fervency of its expression — let alone the hours spent analyzing the title — you could only call it representative. This is who Bushfire are.
Slept as best I could and took a long shower, but stopped short of blowdrying my beard, which for some reason feels like apex self-indulgence. It was the last day of Freak Valley 2025, and that’s always bittersweet. This place and these people are so special, and I’ve made really good memories here the last four years that I’ve been lucky enough to take part in FVF. It is an honor, and I do not take it for granted.
Made it to the AWO grounds well in time for yoga. That was probably the most direct sunlight I was in on Friday (my days and dates are so screwed up), but the last day of Freak Valley was the solstice too, and for sure there would be sun. The kind of heat that kills old people. A father and his 12-year-old played frisbee on the grass. A small street sweeper went by on the back walking path. The drum riser came out on stage. Sitting in the no-smokers-yet smoking tent for the shade, it was idyllic.
The yoga session was once again fantastic — I even got to sneak in a little boat pose, and you know I’m on board for some shavasana — even without snaily taking part. It finished a couple minutes earlier than the day before, so I didn’t have to run over after hearing Volker Fröhmer’s standard band-intro beginning, a hearty and voluminous “liebe freunde” that is as much a staple of this festival as the word “freak.” I played for a minute in the sprinkler accordingly.
But soon enough, the concluding day of Freak Valley Festival was underway, and I seem to recall it went something like this:
Lurch
The straight-up riff rock aspect of Lurch’s sound took me back to turn-of-the-century European heavy rock, instrumental and otherwise. Thinking ’99-’03 or thereabouts, and all those bands who weren’t shy about having numbers in their monikers. Part of what they did was jam, or at least jam-based — at one point, the bassist threw in the theme from Super Mario Bros., which I’ve had steadily on repeat in my head for the last 40-ish years; if we’ve met and I’ve invariably forgotten your name, it’s because my brain is occupied with doo doo doo do-do doot on an endless loop; I’m not kidding, sometimes it’s torture, but it was cool in the mid-song context — but there was structure there even apart from the one or two songs that had vocals. From Austria, Lurch were unknown to me previously, but they’re playing Hoflärm as well in August and they’ve got a slew of releases that seem pretty dug in and exploratory — and by that I mean you might get a five-minute song or a 39-minute song, depending on the record. Some of that variety made its way into the set as well, and the lesson was quickly learned as they went, pushing into psych with grounded, terrestrial riffing at the forefront. Not the first time I’m writing a note to myself this weekend about a good band. I cannot begin to tell you the value that has for me, though I’ve been trying for a few years now, I guess.
Bushfire
Schedule change! Scott Hepple and the Sun Band were supposed to play second, and Bushfire were to do two mini-sets on the small stage later on, but there was van trouble, so the Darmstadters took the slot and, as frontman Bill Brown told the crowd, “once again Bushfire are the heroes of the universe.” They were playing their new album, Snakes Bites Tales, for its release, and the gritty riffing hit just right. I’m not going to feign impartiality on this one. I consider Bill not just a friend, but a good friend who I’ve known over a decade, and whenever in the day it was happening, I was excited to see his band for the first time. The burl of their records was in full effect, but came through with a fragility live, and as Bill told his tales from the stage between songs, whether it was about drinking and drugs, writing the lyrics on the backs of posters backstage 45 minutes earlier when they were informed of the switch, or it being the end of side A before they turned to “Die Trying” (they would do side B on the small stage later), the crowd filled in on the sun-beat grass and groove was had in abundance. No question dude is a presence on stage, but the two guitars stood up to the throaty vocals and the solos came through with due punch before the drums and bass turned out around back to the verse again. Bushfire have never been about reinventing the wheel of heavy rock, but they roll that wheel in a way that’s expressive and their own, and I didn’t even realize how much I needed that kick in the ass, so thanks. Don’t look for it tomorrow, but I’ll have a review of the album here sooner or later. Honestly, this was more about appreciating the chance to witness a friend kill it in the band’s native habitat, which I was fortunate to do.
Kombynat Robotron
I hit the spritzcannon hard before their set. Had to happen. You could see a rainbow in the spray. I wasn’t quite soaked, but it was worth putting my bag down and standing there for an earth-minute or two, though soon enough it was back at it for Kombynat Robotron. The ascendant heavy space/cosmic rockers are set to issue their new album, AANK, next month — more homework to put in my notes file; not complaining — and if they wanted to put this set out too, that’d be just fine by me. They got the combination of push and swing just right in terms of pace, where you could feel the physical urging of the music within the abiding nod, coming through in a wash of wah with miraculous clarity of intent for something that was so noisy and open-feeling. They had some bliss on offer as well, but once the forward momentum was locked in, so pretty much immediately, it held for the duration. I’d been too in my own head the day before. Getting lost in Kombynat Robotron for a while was refreshing in a different way than having droplets of water launched at my person, but refreshing just the same to stop measuring time in planetary terms. I’m not sure if I enjoyed more the raw moments in Kombynat Robotron — because for sure there are riffs in there — or the tonal wash into which they sometimes veered during the set, but fortunately, there’s zero need for me to choose between them. They were dead on, and I came away with a better understanding of how they work as a group. Total win of a bend for reality.
Highway Child
The heavy underground has a long memory, and though Denmark’s Highway Child broke up 14 years ago in 2011 after the release of their self-titled third album, the heavy underground also loves a redemption story, so Highway Child were here and are at a couple other spots this summer. It’s not the five-week comeback tour or anything, but though there’s been a generational turnover since, they would play to an audience who knew and appreciated their work. So far as I know, that’s is the ideal when you’re doing something like this. They put out two records on Elektrohasch, 2008’s On the Old Kings Road (review here, discussed here) and 2009’s Sanctuary Come (review here), right as the label was starting to hit its arguable peak, so yes, I remembered them too, though I’d never seen them before. Rooted in heavy blues, with a swagger that’s apparently been lying in wait for the better part of a decade and a half, they had folks dancing in the sun out front and were a party all on their own on stage as well. Not a band I ever thought I’d see, and not one I’d be likely to catch otherwise. Figures I’d get all emotional on the last day of the fest. Hard not to.
Travo
Let the party continue. From Portugal, Travo turned heads with late-2023’s Astromorph God (review here) and have been spreading the word live since. The KEXP session earlier this year probably helped in that regard too, feather in their collective cap as it was. Even the line check was brash, but that was nothing compared to once they got going. Leaning more into space rock — I’d say neospace, as I do sometimes, but it didn’t feel quite right, despite all the rampant modernity of the wash they set above the classic pulsations of the drums — they had a solid foundation of heavy tone on which to dance, and set themselves to doing exactly that. If you’ve been reading this site for a while, or even a day, you probably already know there’s little I enjoy more than agreeing with myself. Also disagreeing! But man, I was so right to be excited to see Travo. I may not have been able to hang in the sun, but I found a spot for the whole set after taking pictures and set up camp by which I mean put my bag down, for the duration and they hit hard, digging in with all-go energy and a succession of rad effects-topped builds, voice intermittently punching its way through all the shove surrounding. They made me want me coffee, dared to mellow a bit, and ended with the biggest big-rock-finish I’ve caught here so far.
Wucan
With a new album due in August titled Axioms — it’ll be the Dresden four-piece’s fifth LP — Wucan took the stage to herald the release with due veteranly confidence, and held off breaking out either the flute or the theremin (both firsts) until after the first song, which seems classy somehow. A strong thread of heavy ’10s boogie running through their songwriting, but like many who took that path, Wucan are less about vintageism than broadening a palette of classic, heavy and progressive rock. I’ll admit it’s been a while since I last heard them, but the vibe was sleek and the crowd ate it up as perhaps they inevitably would. The longest day of the year still had plenty of sunshine left in it, but the lawn was packed, somebody had an inflatable flying V, which was fun, and Wucan made sticking it out worthwhile, strut or shuffle or twist. The political complexities of stage outfits notwithstanding, Wucan were an unmitigated good time, with melodies and groove they reached out directly to the crowd and hooked people in. I was curious how much of what they played was new as they touched on space rock about halfway through the set, but this too was fair game for the expanded reach of their sound. I’ll be interested to hear where the album goes.
The Devil and the Almighty Blues
This was my third time seeing Norway’s The Devil and the Almighty Blues, after Høstsabbat in Oslo in 2019 (the before-time) and in 2017 at Roadburn in the Netherlands. In January, if all goes according to my evil plans, I’ll see them again at Planet Desert Rock Weekend in Las Vegas. Good thing they rule. The 2019 show was in support of what’s still their most recent record, Tre (review here), and to their credit, vocalist Arnt O. Andersen still came out fully robed like a misfit drunkard priest, even in the heat of the lingering day. Much respect for that, never mind that they opened with “Salt the Earth.” While I might’ve known what to expect going in, unlike with so many of the bands this weekend who’ve been new to me (life bonus to learn), that didn’t make the going any less satisfying. Their self-titled debut (review here) turns 10 this year, but they wear the years easily in the fluidity of their groove, the way they’re both reverent and transgressive of the (almighty) blues, as well as classic heavy rock and probably three or four other microgenres. I could go on about that characteristic nuance — might be fun — but was content to bask in the comedowns and the pickups and follow where they led. To bottom-line it for you, if you’re somewhere this band is, ever, you want to see them. It’s as simple as that, and I’m grateful for the chances I’ve had (and will have) to do so. They capped with a crescendo of dually shredding guitar solos from Peter Svee and Torgeir Waldemar Engen, then still turned it back to the verse to get a couple last lines in. See them.
Scott Hepple and the Sun Band
Their name started appearing in fest announcements last Fall, and not that I’ve heard of every band who plays a given festival — obviously; seeing new bands was the thing all weekend — but there was definitely a curiosity there. They put out two self-released LPs before getting picked up by Rise Above/Popclaw, and if there’s ever been an ear you could trust, it’s Lee Dorrian’s. They’re young, steeped in garage rock and some sweet proto-heavy shuffle. Thick enough in tone to call heavy, but fleet in being able to keep things moving. The fact that the van has broken down, delaying their arrival here and relocating their set from the main stage to the smaller one earned them some sympathy points, but the truth is they didn’t need them. They pulled the crowd over from the (other) lawn and packed the small stage area where I’ve been hiding in the shade the whole day. I’m sure they sold some records after the set, and hopefully they can keep momentum on their side.
Dead Meadow
When you absolutely need to mellow the vibe, accept no substitutes. Dead Meadow, also fresh off releasing Voyager to Voyager (review here) this Spring on Heavy Psych Sounds, lost bassist Steve Kille to cancer last year. With founding principle Jason Simon on guitar/vocals and I’m pretty sure Mark Laughlin on drums, they did indeed have bass, but I don’t know who was providing it. The sound was there though, that warmth of bottom end that puts your brain in a bathtub. And Simon’s strum, fuzz, quiet-voiced delivery were as immersive as one would hope, so although Kille contributed to the new record, and regularly recorded the band as well, they sound like they’ll continue, which I take as good news. There’s still more day to go, but the chill was infectious, even at their most active. They’re not the inventors of heavygaze, but they might as well be, and frankly, the world needs the kind of drift they bring. So much of this era is intensity, furious, raging. Algorithms. Fascism. Dead Meadow fit just right by going the other way completely, and with Lance Gordon of Mad Alchemy’s oil lightshow, the psychedelia in their sound came through as a multi-sensory experience. They’re still a thrill to watch live, but it’s a quiet thrill. I was quietly thrilled accordingly.
Bushfire
Look, I already reviewed Bushfire once, but having seen and heard half the new record earlier in the day, I wasn’t about to miss the other half, not the least as it includes “Valley of the Freak,” which is about this fest and the people here. Bushfire played the first however-many years of Freak Valley, were a staple of those lineups, but kind of stepped back. Having them present their new full-length, even in two halves, felt fitting. They had a screen in front of the stage before they went on with an animated ouroboros, but took the screen away before they actually started. The projection stayed on and the effect worked. I assume some of those standing by me over by the craftbierhaus and the stage had seen Bushfire before, but I hadn’t until today.
The Sword
I could not tell you when the last time I saw The Sword was, but the prevailing memory I have of them live is wandering into a Relapse Records showcase at SXSW in their hometown of Austin, Texas, and watching a demo riff band lay waste to a show that I’m pretty sure featured Cephalic Carnage later on, but don’t quote me on that, because I was drunk and the only thing I remember for sure was The Sword throwing down a gauntlet for what was then the next generation of heavy rock. The ensuing 21 years and a breakup later (hooray for me, being old), The Sword have returned and claimed their place once again among headlining acts. Their evolution can be charted across their records, but on stage it was more about them being back, good times, and so on. Again, I didn’t stick around (I fly out early tomorrow afternoon and it’s two hours to Frankfurt airport), but I got to hear “Freya,” and that’s always a blast, and I put on the Rockpalast stream when I got back to the room to watch the end, and zero regrets. They seemed to be picking up where they left off, maybe a little more into it for the time away — to wit, they didn’t sound like they were about to break up — and definitely appreciative of the crowd. The Sword are among the most revered US heavy rock bands of the last 25 years, easily, and it’s a boon to the genre that they’re back at it.
—
I can’t believe how fucking ridiculously fortunate I am. It is beyond silly. Like I said once already, or like 10 times, I don’t know, it was an early flight in the morning, so I crashed out as quick as I could in order to be up at seven to shower, finish packing, etc. I may or may not have time for a full wrap-up post, but if I end up saying thanks to Jens, Alex, Marcus, Jara, Basti, Volker, Pete, Bill, Judith, Ralf, and all in the backstage for making me feel so welcome.
It’s a long year till FVF 2026 and one never knows what the future will bring, but if you take anything away from the glut of words that have shown up in this space over the previous three days, take that Freak Valley is something very, very special, and it’s not at all a coincidence that it sells out every year as soon as tickets go on sale. And it’s the people that make it. I’m pretty sure Bill said that in “Valley of the Freak.”
So, if I do or don’t have time for a proper epilogue, we’ll see, but as always, thank you to my wife, The Patient Mrs., for making this and everything else possible for me. Thank you to my mother, and to my sister, as always, for their unending, unconditional support.
And thank you for reading. Won’t be the last time this week I say it.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 24th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
That’s it for Freak Valley 2025 as regards lineup adds — a special moment in the cycle of any annual festival, as the complete shape of the thing is revealed for the first time to the people who’ll be attending — though the Germany-based festival set for June 19-21 on the gorgeous AWO grounds in Netphen apparently couldn’t resist sneaking a few names in under the wire. Seeing Bushfire added brought a smile to my face, as they’re something of a house band at Freak Valley that, in the now-several years I’ve been lucky enough to attend the festival, haven’t played. So much the better as they’ll do so with the occasion of a new album.
The Ocean are the last headliner to be announced Freak Valley‘s long-since-sold-out 2025 edition, and they join Motorpsycho and the reunited The Sword at the head of a significant bill bolstered by the classic boogie of Sacri Monti and London punkers Jools. I’ve never seen The Ocean, though I know Pelagic Records does a lot of killer, important work, so that will be an interesting first-time experience, and taking in the full bill from the poster below, it looks like it’s going ot be a wild couple days out in that field. Fingers crossed for good weather.
From social media:
Freaks, it’s time!
Our sold-out Freak Valley Festival 2025 is adding the last pieces to the puzzle, and it’s gonna be MASSIVE!
🔥 THE OCEAN – will be headlining Freak Valley Festival! Prepare for an epic sonic journey through crushing heaviness and deep atmospheres!
🔥 SACRI MONTI – Heavy-psych riff madness straight from California!
🔥 JOOLS – The UK punk collective bringing raw energy and rebellion! This one’s gonna be wild!
🔥 BUSHFIRE – Our longtime friends are bringing the heat to Freak Valley Festival with a Record Release Show!
Heavy, soulful, and packed with pure, unfiltered energy – their new album is ready to shake the valley, and you’ll be the first to experience it live!
The Valley is calling, and you’ve answered! Let’s make this one for the books.
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 5th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
At this point it’s been over six years since Darmstadt, Germany, heavy rockers Bushfire put out their last album, 2018’s When Darkness Comes (review here), and it seems like if a follow-up is something that’s ever going to happen, now’s probably a good time. The long-running troupe sent word that they’ve welcomed bassist Nicolas Kurz back into the fold and they don’t go so far as to announce recording plans or say a thing is done, but they do say flat out they’re targeting a 2024 release, and there’s a lot of year left, so they might even get there.
The band released their Live at 806qm recording in 2020 and played Desertfest Belgium last year. I’d assume any future live plans will come together around the recording, whenever that happens, so it might be a bit before they’re out for anything more than a getaway, but that they’re moving forward is still good news. Proceedings proceeding, and so on.
Frontman Bill Brown checked in on socials:
Yo, BILL here, on behalf of BUSHFIRE.
Well, you might have noticed we’ve been off the radar for quite some time. And trust me, it’s not been easy.
Understanding. For me this means in these almost 20 years as a BUSHFIRE member, in this band you must have a love for music and share with other musicians, musical ideas, a common ground and goal so to say. Sometimes that’s tougher than you’d think. As a lyricist, I depend on the music to drive me into the emotional journey so I can reflect and convey, if nothing but, a feeling. I can only assume every musician has exactly that feeling no matter the instrument. Dependance, on one another. We take a journey together and it’s tough sometimes. I’m nothing without my band. Well ok, a poet maybe.
As always in life, things change. Our bassist and good buddy Vince, has decide to depart from the BUSHFIRE saga, on his own terms and personal reasons. It lay heavy in our hearts but understanding is key. We wish him nothing but the best.
From Vinz:
“When I joined Bushfire I was a fan of the band. I had seen them in 2012, playing a gig in Das Bett in Frankfurt and I thought “This is the music I would like to play!”. Fast forward a couple of years and I was waking up at 6 every morning to practice dozens of songs after Billorone had asked me: “Do you have time for a 2 weeks tour of the Balkans?”. It has been 10+ years of efforts and rewards, sacrifices and satisfactions, sweat and thrills, passionate fights and passionate harmonies, crazy highway trips, long stage-time waits, amazing concerts. I leave now because I need to find a new perspective, you know when sometimes a cycle must close? I will stay a Bushfire fan. I wish you good luck, guys, and I bow one last time to all the people that have been supporting us all along. Rock on!”
As bittersweet as this may be, we are excited to announce and love to re-welcome, NICK. (Nicolas Kurz)
Nick has shared the stage with us through the years with countless heroes of music.
We have a history, it’s comforting. Between (2011-2013) (recorded: Heal Thy Self), we’ve crossed Europe, destroying minds and ears along the way. It’s amazing to have him back for the support and journey. So let’s raise a glass to our brother’s return!
That being said, we’ve been focusing on our new album diligently. Our goal is to record, produce and release this album this year. Determined to take a new journey and return to the light, love, family, friends and stage that we’ve been so greatly missing.
Understanding is key. See you very soon. Love. BUSHFIRE
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 28th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Man this looks like a wild time. Desertfest Belgium 2023 has just about finalized its lineup, bringing Enslaved, Quicksand, Black Mirrors, Khan, Iron Jinn, Bushfire and a host of others to the bill and teasing that there’s still one more to add. Belgian native. A surprise. You’ll note below that it says “artist” instead of “band.” Could it be a solo act? Curious.
Whoever it is, they’ll join a packed bill that stands out even among the crowded European Fall festival circuit. You can see the list of names below and I sincerely doubt you need me to tell you how badass an assemblage it is, so I won’t. I will point out that it’s a great mix of European and American acts with representatives from Australia in Khan and South Africa in Ruff Majik. If you’re keeping score at home, that’s four continents accounted for across the three days of the fest. Not too shabby.
The latest from the fest is below, as per social media:
We are excited to announce the following final bands. Some are big, some badass, some barbaric, some boisterous, and some all of the above! (#129304#) We are talking about:
Enslaved – Quicksand – Kid Congo and The Pink Monkey Birds – Khan – Black Mirrors – LA MUERTE – Fire Down Below – BUSHFIRE – Red Sun Atacama – Iron Jinn – Astodan – Witch Piss
Unfortunately REZN’s European tour was cancelled, so they won’t make it to this year’s Desertfest. We sure hope to welcome them back somewhere in the near future.
On the bright side, we have one final, very talented Belgian surprise artist tugged away in our sleeve! The project is so secret that we can’t say much more just yet, but we will be lifting a corner of the veil pretty soon…
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 7th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Bringing together players from Germany, the Netherlands, France, the UK, Austria, Northern Ireland, Italy, Greece, Sweden, the US and Brazil, the Stoner Rock Worldwide Community Album 2021 boasts seven tracks of remote compositions and recordings, with the songs emerging from members having participated in a call to arms during the pandemic. It’s a hugely ambitious project. In regular circumstances, it would be impressive enough to curate a series of bands and players coming together on a new anything. To sort various parties across international borders into working units even in the age of social media, and then to have them work together creatively, is an oh-hell-no kind of job. Kudos to Felix Melchhardt on making it happen.
Pretty astounding stuff. Vinyl’s in the works as we speak, and the stream went live this past Friday. You’ll find it at the bottom of this post, and considering the amount of effort that seems to have gone into every level of making it, the download is dirt-frickin’-cheap.
More info:
Stoner Rock World Wide Community Album Digital Release out now! 35+ Musicians, Remotely composed and recorded.
Remotely composed, recorded and finally pressed on vinyl together as a worldwide community of heavy rock lovers – The Stoner Rock World Wide Community Album.
26. May 2020: “What if we release an album remotely composed, recorded and finally pressed on vinyl together as a worldwide community of heavy rock lovers? Musicians world wide writing an album for our lovely world wide community, that’s the deal and we think we could make this happen.” – And we did so.
Key Facts – 7 Tracks – Remotely composed, recorded and mixed by more than 35 musicians spread over the globe. Magic definitely happened, friendships were made. – Mastered by Niklas Källgren (Truckfighters). – Once pressed, worldwide distribution via various heavy rock labels. – Special guests: Bob Balch (Fu Manchu), Papanikolaou Babis (Planet of Zeus), Tolis Motsios (Nightstalker). – People participating in the project did not know each other before. Only the love for heavy rock connects them. They were brought together by an open call-out to the community by SRWW 2 years ago. – Groups were brought together via Facebook. They internally organized themselves on how to approach the songwriting process, exchanged ideas and finally put together 7 unique songs. – Anything that could go wrong, went wrong (really) – but we made it. **ck COVID. – Pressed on vinyl right now. – Bandcamp digital release co-finances the master, distribution and further costs. – Endurance was key. Shoutout to all the people involved. – Coordinated by Felix Melchhardt in the name of SRWW. (Cone (Band), Blackdoor Music Festival, SRWW)
Personnel: Track 1 – Dreams of Space Francesco Bonardi – Guitar (Hackberry, Netherlands) Eric Frantzen – Bass (Mantra Machine, Netherlands) Drev – Vocals (Descarado, Sweden) Miguel Pereira – Guitar (Bushfire, Germany) Sascha Holz – Drums (Bushfire, Germany)
Track 2 – Remain Martin Frank – Bass / Vocals (White Noise Generator, Germany) Thomas Berger – Drums (Timestone, Austria) Tony Hochhuber – Guitars (Germany)
Track 3 – The All Seeing Sun Diamond Pr – Guitar / Vocals (The Same River, Greece) Oscar Flanagan – Guitar (Insonika, Sweden) Armin Lehner – Keys (Ozymandias, Austria) Brien Gillen – Drums (Elder Druid, Northern Ireland) Rafael Denardi – Bass (Rafael Denardi, Brazil) Special Guest: Papanikolaou Babis (Planet of Zeus, Greece)
Track 4 – Raw Luke Taylor – Drums (White Noise Generator, Germany) Derek Fisher – Guitar (Moth66, USA) Niels van Eldijk – Bass (Ramkoers, Netherlands) Ben Plochowietz – Guitar / Vocals (Scorched Oak, Germany) Christoph W. – Vocals (Ozymandias, Austria) Special Guests: Tolis Motsios Nightstalker (Greece)
Track 5 – Calypso Tom Maene – Guitar (Motsus, Belgium) Jeroen Schippers – Drums (Mantra Machine, Netherlands) Linda Hackmann – Bass / Vocals (Scorched Oak, Germany) Dimitris Vardoulakis – Vocals (Honeybadger, Greece) Jonas Hartmann – Keys (Willow Child, Germany) Special Guest: Bob Balch (Fu Manchu, US)
Posted in Questionnaire on November 19th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Bill Brown of Bushfire
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
Vocalist in BUSHFIRE. My mother had music in the house constantly, all genres from a-z and movie musicals. No matter how hard times were or how much trouble I was in… we could sing. (Even at the dinner table) my first band was with 15/16.
Describe your first musical memory.
I’m guessing impressions? I guess it would have to be Kris Kristofferson ripping off his mask singing “go to hell” (hellacious acres) in the Barbra Streisand remake of A Star is Born in a movie theatre when it was released.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
That’s a tough one because I love to perform, so I guess it’s just being out with my guys rocking it out with my band and the crowd, every and anywhere.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I’m quite stubborn, open but stubborn. What I believe is just that and I won’t be swayed. Sadly the some of the world doesn’t comply with my beliefs of humanity, charity and brotherhood. Greed and power seem to be more important for some.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Mine? I love to turn the stone and see what’s lurking, stabbing into the dark and going to uncomfortable places to reveal possibly more to myself about myself. The bonus is recording it, rereading it, transforming it into something, in this case a song/album.
How do you define success?
Being happy doing what you do and what you have done.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
My mother’s last breath. Don’t get me wrong, it was a privilege to comfort her on her way out but that last second just haunts me to this day.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
A German Schlager song… more for just the humor of it. And a really over the top trippy psychedelic album, possibly spoken word.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Expression and inspiration.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Okay then. We got past the first day and I thought it went reasonably well. No casualties. Nobody’s brain melted from trying to find another word for “riffs” for the 19th time, so yeah, mark it a win. There’s a good spread of stuff in today’s batch — a little of this, a little of that — so hopefully somewhere in the mix you’re able to run into something you dig. Hell, I’ll say the same for myself as well. Come on, let’s go.
Quarterly Review #11-20:
The Sword, Used Future
Now-veteran Austin heavy rockers The Sword have gotten a mixed response to the more progressive approach their recent work has taken, and I doubt Used Future (on Razor & Tie) is going to be any less polarizing, but its crisp 13 tracks/43 minutes are pulled off with professionalism. Yes, it has its self-indulgent aspects in “Sea of Green” or the earlier instrumental “The Wild Sky,” but The Sword have never done anything other than deliver accessible heavy rock and tour like hell, so while I get the mixed response, at this point I think the band has at very least earned a measure of respect for what they’ve accomplished as ambassadors of underground heavy. They wanna throw a little John Carpenter influence into “Nocturne?” Fine. They’re not hurting anybody. The unfortunate truth about The Sword is that neither polarized side is right. They’re not the end of heavy metal as we know it; some crude ironic take on what metal should be. And they’re not the greatest band of their generation. They have a good record deal. They write decent songs. Where’s the problem with that? I don’t hear it on Used Future.
If it was Mountain Tamer’s intention to get listeners excited about the prospect of a second full-length from the Santa Cruz, CA three-piece, then the Living in Vain demo serves this purpose well. Their 2016 Argonauta Records self-titled debut (review here) expounded on the potential they originally showed with 2015’s Mtn Tmr demo (review here), and though it’s only two songs, Living in Vain would seem to do the same in building on the accomplishments of the album before it. The opening title-track is labeled “Living in Vain Pt. 1” and nestles easily into a mid-paced shuffle before shifting into psychedelic lead layering and a more jammed-out spirit, from which it returns in the last 30 seconds to hit into a more solidified ending riff, leading to the immediately slower “Wretched.” More spacious, more of a march, it plays into an instrumental hook and holds to its structure for its entire 5:40, ending with guitar on a quick fade. Obviously the intention with a release like this is to entice the listener with the prospect of the band’s next album. Living in Vain does that and more.
Returning just about a year after issuing their second album, Thunder on the Fields (review here), Copenhagen-based proto-metallers Demon Head offer a new two-songer single titled The Resistance that at least to my ears speaks to the current political moment of populism opposing liberalism – as much at play in Europe as in the US, if not more so – and the fight for an open society. They present it as a six-plus-minute languid groove with flashes of militaristic snare; something of a turn from the cult rock of their two-to-date long-players. One could say the same of the sci-fi themed “Rivers of Mars,” though like its predecessor, it remains sonically on-point with the band’s vintage aesthetic, fostered through naturalist guitar and bass tones, bluesy, commanding vocals and classy, creative drumming. Actually, apply that “classy” all around. As Demon Head continue to come into their own sound, they do so with poise that’s all the more striking for how raw their presentation remains.
When Darkness Comes is German heavy rocking five-piece Bushfire’s follow-up to late-2013’s Heal Thy Self (review here), and it retains the Darmstadt-based outfit’s penchant for quality riffcraft and a showcase for the vocals of frontman Bill Brown, which hit in bottom-of-the-mouth melodies and gruff shouts fitting to cuts like “The Conflict” and the swinging “Shelter.” Bushfire are no strangers to a semi-Southern element in their sound, and that remains true on When Darkness Comes from the opening title-track through the later “Another Man Down” and closer “Liberation.” Somewhat curiously, that closer is instrumental, and where the vocals play such a role in the overarching impression the record makes, it’s an interesting twist to have them absent from the final statement, leaving guitarists Marcus Bischoff and Miguel Pereira, bassist Vince and drummer Sascha to finish out on their own. If groove is the measure, they’re certainly up to the task, but then, that was never really in doubt.
I’m sorry. I don’t see how you could dig anything calling itself “stoner” and not be down with what Motherslug are doing with their second long-player, The Electric Dunes of Titan. Plus-sized riffing all over the place, languid rollouts, excursions into psychedelic splendor (see “Followers of the Sun,” etc.), explosions into massive groove (see “Staring at the Sun”), a nod to High on Fire in “Tied to the Mast” and a Sleep-style march on closer “Cave of the Last God” that’s probably the best I’ve heard since the Creedsmen Arise demo in 2015. Really, if Motherslug doesn’t do it for you, nothing will. Five years after they initially released their self-titled EP (review here), which was later expanded into their debut album for NoSlip Records (review here), the Melbourne outfit charge back with what should be a litmus test for riff-heads. In all seriousness, from tone to structure to songwriting to production to the cover art, there’s just nothing here that doesn’t deliver the message. Should’ve been on my best of 2017 list.
In the wake of Floor’s disbanding, drummer Henry Wilson formed Dove. They were around for about five years, did some touring (one remembers picking up their self-titled in a Manhattan basement with $2 Rolling Rocks calling itself The Pyramid), and disbanded to a cult status not so different from that which Floor enjoyed prior to their own reunion, if to something of a lesser degree. As the title indicates, Dove Discography compiles “every listenable track” the band ever put out, including their self-titled, Wilson’s original demo for the project, compilation and 7” material. All told, it’s 20 tracks and just under an hour of documentation for who Dove were and the kind of punk metal they were about, never quite stoner, but heavy rock to be sure, and definitely of the Floridian ilk that produced both Floor and Cavity and a style Wilson has progressed with House of Lightning. Dove could be blazingly intense or they could plod out a huge riff, holding a deceptively wide purview that was only part of the reason they were so underrated at the time.
To anyone who might complain that all sludge sounds the same, I humbly submit Treedeon, whose second album for Exile on Mainstream, Under the Manchineel, is a work both noise-laden and righteously avant garde. Perhaps even more ferocious than its 2015 predecessor, Lowest Level Reincarnation (review here), the seven-track/44-minute outing offers a touch of melody in “Breathing a Vein” and buried deep in the midsection of 16-minute closer “Wasicu,” and arguably in guitarist Arne Heesch’s delivery in opener “Cheetoh” as well, but he and bassist Yvonne Ducksworth mostly keep to harsh shouts as they create consuming washes of noise over the madcap drumwork of newcomer Andy Schuenemann, who punctuates every punch of Ducksworth’s gotta-hear-it bass tone on album centerpiece “No Hell” as Heesch goes lands the chorus with the line “No hell can hold me” as its standout line. Bringing a sense of themselves to an established style to a degree that’s rare, rarer, rarest, Treedeon are no less aggressively weird than they are aggressive, period.
There are some post-Electric Wizard shades that emerge in the debut single from London’s Falun Gong by the time it reaches its feedback-soaked finale, but really, “Figure 1” is much more about digging into its own cultistry than that of the Obornian sort. Still, the overarching impression is somewhat familiar, and will be particularly to those who were fans of The Wounded Kings, but the duo who remain anonymous present themselves with a clearheaded intent toward maximum sonic murk, and with the lumbering misery they trod out in “Figure 1,” they seem to achieve what they’re going for. I don’t know who they are, but I’d guess this isn’t their first band, and as crowded as London’s heavy underground has become over the course of this decade, acts like Falun Gong are fewer and farther between than some others, and during these 10 minutes, they make a striking first impression. One hopes for “Figure 2” sooner rather than later.
Intended as a thematic continuation to some degree of 2016’s Ark of Oktofelis, the four-song Concise and Sinister finds long-running multi-genre UK outfit Spider Kitten bookending two extended crushers around two shorter pieces, one of which is a cover of Hank Williams’ “Alone and Forsaken” (also memorably done by 16 Horsepower) and the other of which is a noise-punk assault that lasts 46 seconds and is called “I’m Feeling So Much Better.” Whether fast or slow, loud or quiet, the intention of Spider Kitten doesn’t seem even at its most abrasive to be to punish so much as to challenge, and whether it’s the cinematic elements dug into the march of opener and longest track (immediate points) “A Glorious Retreat” (11:33) or the harmonies that accompany especially-doomed 10-minute closer “Martyr’s Breath,” Spider Kitten and founder Chi Lameo demonstrate a creativity acknowledging that bounds exist and then simply refusing to accept them, making even the familiar seem unfamiliar in the process.
Comprised of guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Lukas, bassist Martin and drummer Jakub, Greynbownes hail from Moravia in the Czech Republic and the moniker-explaining Grey Rainbow from Bones is their self-issued debut full-length. It is comprised of nine tracks of inventive heavy rock, pulling elements from grunge and ‘90s-era stoner noise on cuts like “Across the Bones” while veering into fare more aggressive, or psychedelic or jammy in the trio of six-minute tracks “Seasons,” “Death of Autumn Leaves” and “B 612” that precedes the closing duo of the funky “Sitting at the Top” and the mellow-but-still-heavy finisher “Weight of Sky,” which feels far removed from the opening salvo of “Boat of Fools,” the fuzz-punker “Madness” and the fuckall-chug of “What is at Stake.” Yes, it’s all over the place, and one might expect Greynbownes’ sound to solidify over time, but to the trio’s credit, Grey Rainbow from Bones never flies apart in the way that it seems at multiple points it might, and that’s an encouraging sign.
