Posted in Whathaveyou on July 11th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Calgary heavy rockers Woodhawk will spend a goodly portion of the coming autumn on the road supporting their new album, Love Finds a Way (review here), which came out in June through Grand Hand Records. The tour is prefaced by an appearance at Alberta’s Loud as Hell Open Air, which is in its 13th edition and, being more of a metal/prog-metal festival, has Revocation headlining and a lot of acts whose logos look like they’d be too sharp to touch.
I don’t see any dates in Nova Scotia, but putting aside that and the Yukon — which has to have a venue or two somewhere, right? — they cover a lot of ground from one end of Canada to the other, and the cause that drives them is worthy indeed. What the world needs now is love, and such. I just made that up.
Dates and details came down the PR wire, and the album stream is at the bottom of the post. Have at it:
WOODHAWK Announces Cross-Canada Tour For New Album “Love Finds a Way” Out Now!
+ LOUD AS HELL OPEN AIR FEST w/ REVOCATION, FIRST FRAGMENT and more!
After five years of anticipation, Calgary’s stoner groove rock trio Woodhawk announces they will be hitting the road this August through October for tour dates across Canada (dates listed below). The show dates are in support of their latest and third album, “Love Finds a Way,” released on June 6th of this year via Grand Hand Records. Fans can expect a high-energy set packed with new material and favorites from their discography that will be delivered with the raw power and passion.
Their most personal and powerful release to date, their new full-length album, “Love Finds a Way”, marks a turning point for Woodhawk. Demonstrating their evolution from early stoner rock roots into something more emotionally complex while maintaining the infectious grooves and memorable hooks that have defined their sound.
“Love Finds a Way” explores themes of darkness, healing, and hope, while still delivering the infectious hooks and thunderous riffs fans have come to expect. With contributions from longtime collaborator Jesse Gander on synth, the band expands their sonic palette without losing their edge. The trio of Turner Midzain (guitar/vocals), Mike Badmington (bass), and Kevin Nelson (drums) poured five years of growth, struggle, and creative evolution into this record.
“We are over the moon to get this album out. Love Finds a Way is easily the hardest we have worked on an album to date. We poured our heart and soul into this one. It really is a journey of getting out of the darkness and into the light. Check in with your friends and loved ones. Hug the ones you love. Be nicer to each other. Love will always prevail and be stronger than anything else. After 10 years of being a band, I feel like we are still just getting started!” adds the band.
After a decade together, Woodhawk is proving they’re just getting started. “Love Finds a Way” is more than an album; it’s a statement of resilience, connection, and the enduring power of rock.
Recommended for fans of The Sword, Red Fang, and Thin Lizzy, the album is a dynamic journey from start to finish, balancing soft and heavy, slow and fast, light and dark. Album order (out June 6th):https://woodhawk.bandcamp.com
In additional news, Woodhawk will be performing on day three of this year’s LOUD AS HELL OPEN AIR FESTIVAL on August 3rd in Drumheller, AB alongside Revocation, Cyborg Octopus, Beguiler, Thirteen Goats, Famous Strangers, and more! Full details on LAH can be found atwww.loudashell.ca.
Show Dates: Aug 3 – Drumheller, AB – Loud As Hell Open Air Aug 27 – Calgary, AB – Ship & Anchor Aug 28 – Lethbridge, AB – The Owl Acoustic Lounge Aug 29 – Regina, SK – The Exchange Aug 30 – Winnipeg, MB – Side Stage Sept 2 – Windsor, ON – Phog Lounge Sept 3 – Hamilton, ON – Club Absinthe Sept 4 – Ottawa, ON – House of Targ Sept 5 – Montreal – Turbo Haus Sept 6 – Toronto, ON – The Monarch Sept 7 – Kingston, ON – The Mansion Sept 9 – Oshawa, ON – The Atria Sept 10 – Sault Ste. Marie, ON – Soo Blaster Sept 11 – Thunder Bay, ON – Black Pirates Pub Sept 12 – Brandon, MB – The 40 Sept 13 – Saskatoon, SK – Black Cat Tavern Sept 25 – Kelowna, BC- Jackknife Brewery Sept 26 – Vancouver, BC – Green Auto Sept 27 – Victoria, BC – Lucky Bar Oct 10 – Red Deer, AB – The Vat Oct 11 – Edmonton, AB – The Aviary
Woodhawk is: Turner Midzain – Guitar & Vocals Mike Badmington – Bass & Vocals Kevin Nelson – Drums
Day three marks the halfway point of this Quarterly Review, unless I decide to sneak in an extra day next Monday. We’ll see on that, but things are moving pretty well so far, so I might just be content to take the win and start slating the next one. Always a choice to be made there.
I hope you’ve found something that hits you thus far, and if not, check the below, because there’s a pretty wide variety of styles under the ‘heavy underground’ umbrella here. Hope one or a few or everything clicks.
We proceed.
Quarterly Review #21-30:
Randall Huth, Torched and Coasting
Though he’s probably best known at this point for playing bass in Pissed Jeans for the last 17 years, Pennsylvania’s Randall Huth once-upon-the-aughts played guitar and handled vocals in still-missed pastoral heavy rockers Pearls and Brass, and the new solo EP under his own name will likely be more than enough to trigger nostalgia in remembering that. Torched and Coasting is somewhere between an EP and a follow-up to Huth‘s 2007 solo album as Randall of Nazareth on Drag City, and the self-released tape is clear in its intention, conveying sketches like the finger-plucked movements of “Emptied/Rarified” and “Bursting Smile” and 15-minute closer plunge “Torched and Coasting,” which tube-screams late so stick with it, alongside the drone-meets-zither “The Blind Whale,” and more terrestrial, guitar-and-vocals pieces like opener “Lost in Your Eyes” and the penultimate “Beats Dying,” which — you guessed it — is about getting old. Huth‘s echoing and soft delivery, wit in the lyrics and humble acoustic presentation make that a highlight, but this years-in-the-making offering walks more than a single expressive path. More songs, whatever ‘songs’ means, please. Thanks.
North Carolinian four-piece HolyRoller make their label-debut on Ripple Music with the eight-song Rat King, which puts modern heavy in a blender such that an early piece like “Crunch Riff Supreme” finds its place in sludge rock and heralds screamy things to come but by the time they’ve gotten to “Buried Alone” at the presumed outset of side B, the flow has more in common with Pallbearer than Weedeater or Sleep, who are another key underlying influence. But the emphasis there should be on ‘underlying’ as HolyRoller step beyond the bands that inspired them in fostering progressive songwriting throughout these 35 minutes, with a richly flexible sound — “Heave Ho” sounds like slower Howling Giant, “Forbidden Things” like Spaceslug — and a push into the ether in “Radiating Sacred Light” before they round out with the Clutch-y bounce of “Drift Into the Sun” to highlight the individuality in where they take their approach. The organic production helps it feel like they’re really digging in, but also they are.
Worried ‘Bout Madame is the third long-player from Polish heavy post-rock/psych-gaze outfit Black Mynah, and it would seem to be the first since founding vocalist, bassist and baritone guitarist Joanna Kucharska assembled a full-band lineup around herself and drummer Paweł Rucki, who also appeared on 2020’s II. Vocalist/synthesist Aleksandra Joryn and guitarist Marcin Lawendowski join the stylistically subversive proceedings here, with the garage jangle of “Colleen” at the outset pushed into the frenetic shuffle and hard distortion of “Damaged Goods” ahead of the sweet post-punk verse of “Float,” which has its own grungey volatility. The tonal weight thrown around in closer “Looking at You, Kid,” — not to mention the vocal layering — isn’t unprecedented on the album that comes before it, but “Blue Moon” is more about catching up with the insistence of its snare drum and “The Rite” has its own thing going too with the quieter creeper swing and satisfying wash that pays it off. It won’t be for everybody, but who the hell ever wanted to be?
Last heard from with their before-times 2019 split LP with Un, English death-doom churners Coltsblood make a welcome return with the four-song Obscured Into Nebulous Dusk, their third album overall, first for Translation Loss Records and first in eight years. The years have not been wasted in the sound of bassist/vocalist John McNulty (also keys), guitarist Jemma McNulty and drummer Jay Plested, who foster a ‘beauty in darkness’ sensibility on opener/longest track (immediate points) “Until the Eidolon Falls” before the outright slaughter of “Waning of the Wolf Moon” pushes death metal tempo off a cliff of feedback and raw scathe. “Transcending the Immortal Gateway” makes its presence felt with the mournful lead line topping its later reaches, and “Obscured into Nebulous Dusk” bids farewell in a not-dissimilar fashion, but the particularly agonized vocals prior are a distinguishing feature. Time would seem to have done little to dull the band’s overarching extremity, and so much the better for that.
The two-years-later follow-up to Indianapolis doom rockers Void King‘s 2023 long-player, The Hidden Hymnal (review here), the seven-song The Hidden Hymnal: Chapter II indeed seems to dig into its own kind of storytelling. The proceedings make for a rousing flow, with the two longest tracks, “The Birth of All Things” (8:49) and “A Union of Expired Souls” (9:34) paired at the outset for a duly epic opening statement. I don’t know if they’re a vinyl side on their own or not, but their separation from the rest of the LP is underscored by the remaining three tracks being sandwiched by a “Prologue” and “Epilogue,” so that the burly progressive metal and heavy rock of “Attrition,” “Convalescence” and “Expiration” feel like their own mini-album on the second side. If this wraps up the The Hidden Hymnal cycle for Void King, then the structural nuance here is fair enough, but the real story of the record is the progression of the band itself, which is ongoing.
Harnessing stoner metal largesse, doomed thematics and an aggro posture for the delivery that adds to the gnashing feel of the material overall, Bifter‘s debut album, First Impressions of Hell, is a torrential, ferocious offering that hits you on multiple levels before you even realize what’s happened. Interludes, the album intro “Enter Hell” and “Lover’s Quarrel,” the sample in “Mercy” and the post-script “Time to Kill” after “Ball of Burning Snakes” and the seven-minute “Belly of the Beast” give an atmospheric feel, but part of what makes “Doom Shroom” and “March of the Imp” so effective is their directness, so First Impressions of Hell, among the impressions made, can count face-punch in its number. The foundation is metal, but the affect is a party, and however weighted the material gets throughout the 36 minutes of its 12 tracks, Bifter are consistently able to convey a feeling of movement and forward momentum along with all their destructive intent.
Write off Poland’s Fish Basket at your own peril. Yeah, they’ve got the cartoonish art and the silly vibe and the sense of rampant chicanery of sound and nonsense, but check out the proggy push of “Robots” on Fish Basket and His Second Album and the way they suddenly pull the plug on the whole thing and drop to deep-breathing, or the shouts worked into opener “NA-HU-HA-NE” and the birdsong in the psych-drifting “Farewells and Returns,” gorgeous as it is before it looses a bit of crush and winds up in classic heavy psych to end. These and myriad other moments throughout — the folkish strum of “Imaginarium” from some unknown tradition, maybe the band’s own, brought to the head of a linear build with a comedown to finish — work on the Frank Zappa model of progressive rock, which is to say that while shenanigans abound, the trio have the technical chops to back up everything they’re doing, and whether it’s the fuzzblaster of “Cardboard Racer” or the sub-nine-minute meander of “Stray in Chill,” Fish Basket carry the listener from one end of the album to another with deceptive ease. Warning: it might be genius.
Calgary-based trio Woodhawk — guitarist/vocalist Turner Midzain, bassist/vocalist Mike Badmington and drummer Kevin Nelson — offer a sharply-constructed, professional-grade nine songs across the 53 minutes of their third full-length, the encouragingly-titled Love Finds a Way. The organ adds a classic feel to “Strangers Ever After” early in the going, and the fullness and clarity of the surrounding production only increases the trust in the band’s songwriting, which isn’t without aesthetic ambitions despite the straightforward tack, cuts like “Truth Be Told,” “White Crosses” and the dares-to-shimmy-in-the-middle title-track have as solid an underpinning of groove as one could ever reasonably ask. The melody over top in the vocals and guitar shines through accordingly. They’re plenty dug-in, of course, and any record that’s going to push past the 50-minute mark in 2025 better have some perspective to offer, but Woodhawk do. I don’t know if it’ll be enough to save the world, but at least somebody out there is putting love out front with their riffage, duly engaging as that is.
Pathways is a single-song, just-under-14-minute EP from Milwaukee’s Liminal Spirit, the darkly progressive apparent-solo-project of Jerry Hauppa, who embodies a number of characters in the narrative throughout. Presented on a quick turnaround from the band’s late-2024 self-titled debut LP, the one-tracker nonetheless reaffirms the ambitions of the album before it, while also reinforcing the idea of Liminal Spirit as a still-growing, still-discovering-its-sound outfit. The vocals here, intended to embody multiple archetypal characters like The Patriarch, The Child, The Artisan, The Elder and The Apprentice, come through a vocoder-type treatment, and so where multiple points of view might otherwise be fleshed out and conveyed, the voice remains singular. This is the tradeoff for the intimacy of solo creativity, but one gets the sense from “Pathways” and the self-titled that Liminal Spirit is just beginning to explore the stylistic territory the band will ultimately cover.
To follow their 2023 self-titled debut EP (on Addicted Label), Moscow-based doom rocker four-piece Clarity Vision present “Deep Ocean” (or, in Cyrillic:
“Глубокий океан”), a six-minute standalone single that soon makes its way via cymbal-wash from its beginning waves and quiet guitar into a procession of stately classic doom metal, big on swing and bigger on impact. The kind of riff that would make Leif Edling smile. Galina Shpakovskaya‘s voice is suited to the movement of the riffs, floating over with melodic echo but keeping a mystique that reminds of mid-period The Wounded Kings, when all was dark and mystery. Guitarist Alexey Roslyakov, bassist Alexey Roslyakov and drummer Mikhail Markelov hold the march steady for the duration, and although I’ve never come close to knowing even the slightest bit of Russian, Clarity Vision remind that we all speak the same language when it comes to being completely and utterly doomed.
Posted in Questionnaire on June 16th, 2025 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: Turner Midzain of Woodhawk
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
We’re a rock band. We’ve always loved that. We never liked being a ‘stoner rock’ band. We were always inspired by the ’70s, so it just connected with us. But modernized a bit, and heavy.
Describe your first musical memory.
I had an electric keyboard when I was 7. I wanted to play piano so badly. But I sucked at it. I still suck at it. But I would make noise on that thing and thought it was cool. But I enjoyed the electric guitar and drum sounds on it more than the piano.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
The first time I was out of school and started touring. I still remember the first time we rolled the window down on our 15 passenger van and started our longest drive to our first far-away gig. To be young and free for the summer, just travelling the country. And we weren’t a very good band!
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
We were given guidance on how we could be a radio rock band to reach success back in 2018. We had honest discussions about changing what we were doing to try and cater to that. But we just couldn’t do it. If it came naturally, we would roll with it. But to write with people who would tell us what to do, and how to make a 3-minute song, wasn’t for us.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Always grow. Always learn and challenge yourself. That is the best part. Nothing comes easy. And it shouldn’t. I like a challenge as it keeps me thinking and engaged.
How do you define success?
Happiness. It shouldn’t be financial to be successful. Just be happy. We have done this for 11 years now and I love it. I can’t imagine not doing this with my best friends. People keep buying our records, streaming our songs and coming to our shows. That is unreal.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
I was on a city bus that ran over someone when I was 15. I would be okay with letting that one go.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
The next album. Writing keeps us driven and we love it. I just want to keep writing, recording, and releasing music.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Connection. It’s how we all connect. You put 20,000 people in an arena and they all have a connection. We speak to strangers through music. You connect through artwork, sound, and the touch of a record. It’s just what keeps us human.
Say something positive about yourself.
I’m really proud of myself and our band. I work hard and so do the other guys. I am really proud of us.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
The movie Friendship. This is right up my alley as we are all huge I Think You Should Leave fans. So a Tim Robinson film is gold. A few of my friends saw it at the underground film festival and I missed it. So that is really on my mind lately.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 16th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Calgary trio Woodhawk have got that swing on their new single “Strangers Ever After,” which is the first single to come from their aspirationally-titled new album, Love Finds a Way, due out June 6 on Grand Hand Records. There’s classic-style, organ-enhanced boogie meeting with a modern production and tonal fullness, all aligned around a central push and tense sections of chug — skillfully wrought, melodic, clear in its intention to engage but not without expressive purpose either. It keeps its balance after spinning around in a few circles, and the solo is class before the bluesy verse returns to round out.
Been six years, but that happens sometimes. Cool to have a new one coming from these guys either way. Here’s the info from the PR wire, and of course the song with all its bodes-well vibes:
WOODHAWK Reveals First Single “Strangers Ever After” From New Album “Love Finds A Way” Out June 2025
Canadian stoner rock powerhouse Woodhawk returns with the announcement of their highly anticipated third studio album, “Love Finds A Way,” set for release on June 6, 2025, via Grand Hand Records. The Calgary trio of Turner Midzain (guitar/vocals), Mike Badmington (bass), and Kevin Nelson (drums) are also dropping the record’s first single, “Strangers Ever After,” today, giving fans their first taste of new Woodhawk material since 2019’s acclaimed “Violent Nature”. The band comments on the new single:
“This was the first song we wrote for this album. And I think we reworked it more than any song. It started out with a completely different feel and timing than what we ended up with. It was way darker. But we kept coming back to it and really loved the result. Strangers Ever After is a kind of demise of a relationship. The farewell to someone that maybe…you were better off never knowing. This is dark and honest.”
“Love Finds A Way” marks an evolution in the band’s creative journey. Their earlier work was very much influenced by bands like The Sword and Black Sabbath, with lyrics about wizards and goblins, but they’ve worked hard on bringing more emotion to their writing. The nine-track album promises to deliver the dynamic range fans have come to expect from Woodhawk, featuring what Midzain describes as ‘some really riff-rocking songs, but also a lot of hardship and honesty’.
“Strangers Ever After” showcases the band’s signature blend of classic hard rock sensibilities and modern stoner metal influences, delivering the infectious grooves and memorable hooks that have earned Woodhawk a devoted following since their formation in 2014. They are recommended for fans of The Sword, Red Fang, and Thin Lizzy.
Track Listing 1. Grave Shaker – 4:41 2. Strangers Ever After – 4:24 3. Truth Be Told – 7:21 4. White Crosses – 6:10 5. The Unholy Hand – 5:21 6. No Place For Hate – 5:18 7. Love Finds a Way – 6:16 8. Relapser – 4:52 9. Killing Time – 8:37
Woodhawk is: Turner Midzain – Guitar & Vocals Mike Badmington – Bass & Vocals Kevin Nelson – Drums
I’ve been fortunate enough to have The Obelisk among the slew of included presenters for Calgary’s The Electric Highway festival, and I’m glad to be able to continue the thread in 2025. The site’s logo is down there on the poster, keeping company both good and plentiful, but if you’re drawn to the lineup itself rather than the ‘sponsors,’ that’s only reasonable. Bison will headline alongside Castle — two righteous Canadian exports, the latter with a new album out this past Fall — and Fever Dog wlil make the trip from California while Buffalo Bud Buster, The Getmines, Blacksmith and Brewer and La Chinga return, and others, including two Calgary locals to start each night, make first appearances.
It’s a rad mix and, again, thanks to The Electric Highway for letting The Obelisk have anything to do with it whatsoever. I’ll do an oldschool hip-hop shoutout to Billy Goate and Steve Howe. Woop woop and such.
Details as per the PR wire:
The Electric Highway Festival (Calgary, AB) Announces 2025 Lineup w/ BISON, CASTLE, LA CHINGA, BUFFALO BUD BUSTER and more!
The Electric Highway Festival is excited to announce the full lineup for the 2025 edition of the Festival being held in Calgary, AB on April 4 & 5 at Dickens (1000 9 Ave SW).
Canadian veteran sludge metal band BISON headlines the whole festival while doom metal band CASTLE headlines Friday night. They will be joined by Southern California band FEVER DOG, and various Western Canadian bands including LA CHINGA, BUFFALO BUD BUSTER, THE GETMINES, 88 MILE TRIP, and more. The Final Full Line Up by Day: Friday, April 4, 2025 Castle (San Francisco/ Vancouver) Buffalo Bud Buster (Calgary) Blacksmith and Brewer (Vancouver)) CHÛNK (Vancouver) Hydracat (Edmonton) The Astral Prophets (Calgary) BUNS (Calgary) Doors 5pm – Show 6pm Saturday, April 5, 2025 Bison (Vancouver) La Chinga (Vancouver) Fever Dog (Southern California) The Getmines (Vancouver) 88 Mile Trip (Vancouver) Lover (Calgary) GEOFF (Calgary) Doors 5pm – Show 6pm
Advance 2-day passes are available for $75. Advance single-day tickets are $40 for Friday and $45 for Saturday
The Electric Highway Festival hosts various genres that range from Desert Rock, Stoner Metal, Doom, Sludge, Trippy Psychedelic, Surf Rock, Acid Rock, Noise Rock, Fuzz Rock, Space Rock, Blues Rock, Heavy Psych, Heavy Blues, Southern Rock, Fuzzy Punk, Sludgy Hardcore bands and variations of any of the previously mentioned styles. The festival includes a vendor area with interesting goods for attendees to take home with them.
Previous editions of the festival featured one of the event’s past favorites Californian headliners Sasquatch, Juno Award-winning Canadian band ANCIIENTS, Vancouver’s La Chinga, Space Queen, Dead Quiet, and more, Gnarwhal from Yellowknife, NWT, Calgary’s Gone Cosmic, Hombre, Flashback among many more, and a whole host of other great bands.
Canadian metallers Anciients rest atop the bill for The Electric Highway 2024, the Calgary-based three-dayer festival co-presented by The Obelisk along with a slew of others. After the date reveal and ticket-onsale in November, the fest has now begun to unveil its lineup, which is probably fortunate because it’ll be April before you know it. Vancouver’s Dead Quiet and Empress are also included, as well as Darty from Chron Goblin‘s ambient project Musing, the returning hardcore-born heavy of Owls and Eagles and I think a few other repeat offenders. Hell, Anciients played Calgary 420 Fest in 2017, which was the precursor to The Electric Highway, so there’s history here if you want to find it.
There will be more as well, so sit tight. Canadian heavy is its own ecosystem distinct from the US underground, and I always look forward to seeing who’s going to be at The Electric Highway as a great way of finding new bands and checking in on those regulars. I’ve never been to Alberta and don’t harbor any delusions that I’ll be at The Electric Highway — though it’d be fun — but I’m glad to support this fest with this site and dig into some of the finest in heavy that the Great White North (and maybe a few American bands by the time they’re done; you’ll recall last year Sasquatch headlined) has to offer.
The PR wire puts it thusly:
The Electric Highway Festival (Calgary, AB) Announces First Round of Bands For 2024 Lineup
w/ Anciients, Dead Quiet, Empress, Flashback, Buffalo Bud Buster and more!
The Electric Highway Festival is excited to announce the first round of bands for the 2024 edition of the festival being held in Calgary, AB on April 4, 5, and 6 at Dickens (1000 9 Ave SW).
Canadian Juno Award-winning Vancouver band Anciients will headline the whole festival. They will be joined by various Western Canadian bands including Dead Quiet, Empress, Flashback, Buffalo Bud Buster, and more.
Anciients (Vancouver) Dead Quiet (Vancouver) Empress (Vancouver) Buffalo Bud Buster (Calgary) Flashback (Calgary) Pharm (Kelowna) Owls & Eagles (Calgary) Gnarwhal (Yellowknife) Solid Brown (Calgary) The Getmines (Vancouver) Tebby And The Heavy (Edmonton) Musing (Calgary) Blacksmith & Brewer (BC Sunshine Coast) Stone Spear (Kelowna) Black Daggers (Red Deer) Atomic Yeti (Saskatoon) Conjure Hand (Victoria)
Limited Early Bird passes are on sale for $65 until the rest of the bands are announced or the early bird passes sell out. Regular advance passes will be available at that time. There will also be a variety of single-day tickets available as well as 2-day passes.
Posted in Reviews on November 28th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Day two and no looking back. Yesterday was Monday and it was pretty tripped out. There’s some psych stuff here too, but we start out by digging deep into metal-rooted doom and it doesn’t get any less dudely through the first three records, let’s put it that way. But there’s more here than one style, microgengre, or gender expression can contain, and I invite you as you make your way through to approach not from a place of redundant chestbeating, but of celebrating a moment captured. In the cases of some of these releases, it’s a pretty special moment we’re talking about.
Places to go, things to hear. We march.
Quarterly Review #11-20:
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Primordial, How it Ends
Excuse me, ma’am. Do you have 66 minutes to talk about the end of the world? No? Nobody does? Well that’s kind of sad.
At 28 years’ remove from their first record, 1995’s Imrama, and now on their 10th full-length, Dublin’s Primordial are duly mournful across the 10 songs of How it Ends, which boasts the staring-at-a-bloodied-hillside-full-of-bodies after-battle mourning and oppression-defying lyricism and a style rooted in black metal and grown beyond it informed by Irish folk progressions but open enough to make a highlight of the build in “Death Holy Death” here. A more aggressive lean shows itself in “All Against All” just prior while “Pilgrimage to the World’s End” is brought to a wash of an apex with a high reach from vocalist Alan “A.A. Nemtheanga” Averill, who should be counted among metal’s all-time frontmen, ahead of the tension chugging in the beginning of “Nothing New Under the Sun.” And you know, for the most part, there isn’t. Most of what Primordial do on How it Ends, they’ve done before, and their central innovation in bridging extreme metal with folk traditionalism, is long behind them. How it Ends seems to dwell in some parts and be roiling in its immediacy elsewhere, and its grandiosities inherently will put some off just as they will bring some on, but Primordial continue to find clever ways to develop around their core approach, and How it Ends — if it is the end or it isn’t, for them or the world — harnesses that while also serving as a reminder of how much they own their sound.
With a partner in drummer Johnny Kelly (Type O Negative, Danzig, etc.), guitarist/songwriter Dan Lorenzo (Hades, Vessel of Light, Cassius King, etc.) has found an outlet open to various ideas within the sphere of doom metal/rock in Patriarchs in Black, whose second LP, My Veneration, brings a cohort of guests on vocals and bass alongside the band’s core duo. Some, like Karl Agell (C.O.C. Blind) and bassist Dave Neabore (Dog Eat Dog), are returning parties from the project’s 2022 debut, Reach for the Scars, while Unida vocalist Mark Sunshine makes a highlight of “Show Them Your Power” early on. Sunshine appears on “Veneration” as well alongside DMC from Run DMC, which, if you’re going to do a rap-rock crossover, it probably makes sense to get a guy who was there the first time it happened. Elsewhere, “Non Defectum” toys with layering with Kelly Abe of Sicks Deep adding screams, and Paul Stanley impersonator Bob Jensen steps in for the KISS cover “I Stole Your Love” and the originals “Dead and Gone” and “Hallowed Be Her Name” so indeed, no shortage of variety. Tying it together? The riffs, of course. Lorenzo has shown an as-yet inexhaustible supply thereof. Here, they seem to power multiple bands all on one album.
Just because it wasn’t a surprise doesn’t mean it’s not one of the best debut albums of 2023. Bringing together known parties from Boston’s heavy underground Jim Healey (We’re All Gonna Die, etc.), Doug Sherman (Gozu), Bob Maloney (Worshipper) and J.R. Roach (Sam Black Church), Blood Lightning want nothing for pedigree, and their Ripple-issued self-titled debut meets high expectations with vigor and thrash-born purpose. Sherman‘s style of riffing and Healey‘s soulful, belted-out vocals are both identifiable factors in cuts like “The Dying Starts” and the charging “Face Eater,” which works to find a bridge between heavy rock and classic, soaring metal. Their cover of Black Sabbath‘s “Disturbing the Priest,” included here as the last of the six songs on the 27-minute album, I seem to recall being at least part of the impetus for the band, but frankly, however they got there, I’m glad the project has been preserved. I don’t know if they will or won’t do anything else, but there’s potential in their metal/rock blend, which positions itself as oldschool but is more forward thinking than either genre can be on its own.
Based in Oakland and making their debut with the significant endorsement of Small Stone Records and Kozmik Artifactz behind them, atmospheric post-heavy rock five-piece Haurun tap into ethereal ambience and weighted fuzz in such a way as to raise memories of the time Black Math Horseman got picked up by Tee Pee. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. With notions of Acid King in the nodding, undulating riffs of “Abyss” and the later reaches of “Lost and Found,” but two guitars are a distinguishing factor, and Haurun come across as primarily concerned with mood, although the post-grunge ’90s alt hooks of “Flying Low” and “Lunar” ahead of 11-minute closer “Soil,” which uses its longform breadth to cast as vivid a soundscape as possible. Fast, slow, minimalist or at a full wash of noise, Haurun‘s Wilting Within has its foundation in heavy rock groove and riffy repetition, but does something with that that goes beyond microniche confines. Very much looking forward to more from this band.
Its point of view long established by the time they get around to the filthy lurch of “Hesher” — track three of seven — Cabin Fever is the first full-length from cultish doomers Wicked Trip. The Tennessee outfit revel in Electric Wizard-style fuckall on “Cabin Fever” after the warning in the spoken “Intro,” and the 11-minute sample-topped “Night of Pan” is a psych-doom jam that’s hypnotic right unto its keyboard-drone finish giving over to the sampled smooth sounds of the ’70s at the start of “Black Valentine,” which feels all the more dirt-coated when it actually kicks in, though “Evils of the Night” is no less threatening of purpose in its garage-doom swing, crash-out and cacophonous payoff, and I’m pretty sure if you played “No Longer Human” at double the speed, well, it might be human again. All of these grim, bleak, scorching, nodding, gnashing pieces come together to craft Cabin Fever as one consuming, lo-fi entirety, raw both because the recording sounds harsh and because the band itself eschew any frills not in service to their disillusioned atmosphere.
There’s an awful lot of sex going on in Splinter‘s Role Models, as the Amsterdam glam-minded heavy rockers follow their 2021 debut, Filthy Pleasures (review here), with cuts like “Soviet Schoolgirl,” “Bottom,” “Opposite Sex” and the poppy post-punk “Velvet Scam” early on. It’s not all sleaze — though even “The Carpet Makes Me Sad” is trying to get you in bed — and the piano and boozy harmonies of “Computer Screen” are a fun departure ahead of the also-acoustic finish in closer “It Should Have Been Over,” while “Every Circus Needs a Clown” feels hell-bent on remaking Queen‘s “Stone Cold Crazy” and “Medicine Man” and “Forbidden Kicks” find a place where garage rock meets heavier riffing, while “Children” gets its complaints registered efficiently in just over two boogie-push minutes. A touch of Sabbath here, some Queens of the Stone Age chic disco there, and Splinter are happy to find a place for themselves adjacent to both without aping either. One would not accuse them of subtlety as regards theme, but there’s something to be said for saying what you want up front.
Beginning with its longest component track (immediate points) in “Asteroid,” Terra Black‘s All Descend is a downward-directed slab of doomed nod, so doubled-down on its own slog that “Black Flames of Funeral Fire” doesn’t even start its first verse until the song is more than half over. Languid tempos play up the largesse of “Ashes and Dust,” and “Divinest Sin” borders on Eurometal, but if you need to know what’s in Terra Black‘s heart, look no further than the guitar, bass, drum and vocal lumber — all-lumber — of “Spawn of Lyssa” and find that it’s doom pumping blood around the band’s collective body. While avoiding sounding like Electric Wizard, the Gothenburg, Sweden, unit crawl through that penultimate duet track with all ready despondency, and resolve “Slumber Grove” with agonized final lub-dub heartbeats of kick drum and guitar drawl after a vivid and especially doomed wash drops out to vocals before rearing back and plodding forward once more, doomed, gorgeous, immersive, and so, so heavy. They’re not finished growing yet — nor should they be on this first album — but they’re on the path.
Sometimes the name of a thing can tell you about the thing. So enters Musing, a contemplative solo outfit from Devin “Darty” Purdy, also known for his work in Calgary-based bands Gone Cosmic and Chron Goblin, with the eight-song/42-minute Somewhen and a flowing instrumental narrative that borders on heavy post-rock and psychedelia, but is clearheaded ultimately in its course and not slapdash enough to be purely experimental. That is, though intended to be instrumental works outside the norm of his songcraft, tracks like “Flight to Forever” and the delightfully bassy “Frontal Robotomy” are songs, have been carved out of inspired and improvised parts to be what they are. “Hurry Wait” revamps post-metal standalone guitar to be the basis of a fuzzy exploration, while “Reality Merchants” hones a sense of space that will be welcome in ears that embrace the likes of Yawning Sons or Big Scenic Nowhere. Somewhen has a story behind it — there’s narrative; blessings and peace upon it — but the actual music is open enough to translate to any number of personal interpretations. A ‘see where it takes you’ attitude is called for, then. Maybe on Purdy‘s part as well.
A heavy and Sabbathian rock forms the underlying foundation of Spiral Shades‘ sound, and the returning two-piece of vocalist Khushal R. Bhadra and guitarist/bassist/drummer Filip Petersen have obviously spent the nine years since 2014’s debut, Hypnosis Sessions (review here), enrolled in post-doctoral Iommic studies. Revival, after so long, is not unwelcome in the least. Doom happens in its own time, and with seven songs and 38 minutes of new material, plus bonus tracks, they make up for lost time with classic groove and tone loyal to the blueprint once put forth while reserving a place for itself in itself. That is, there’s more to Spiral Shades and to Revival than Sabbath worship, even if that’s a lot of the point. I won’t take away from the metal-leaning chug of “Witchy Eyes” near the end of the album, but “Foggy Mist” reminds of The Obsessed‘s particular crunch and “Chapter Zero” rolls like Spirit Caravan, find a foothold between rock and doom, and it turns out riffs are welcome on both sides.
The closing “Sex on a Grave” reminds of the slurring bluesy lasciviousness of Nick Cave‘s Grinderman, and that should in part be taken as a compliment to the setup through “Black Cat” — which toys with 12-bar structure and is somewhere between urbane cool and cabaret nerdery — and the centerpiece “Bad Day,” which follows a classic downer chord progression through its apex with the rawness of Backwoods Payback at their most emotive and a greater melodic reach only after swaying through its willful bummer of an intro. Last-minute psych flourish in the guitar threatens to make “Bad Day” a party, but the Louisville outfit find their way around to their own kind of fun, which since the release is only three songs long just happens to be “Sex on a Grave.” Fair enough. Rife with attitude and an emergent dynamic that’s complementary to the persona of the vocals rather than trying to keep up with them, the counterintuitively-titled second short release (yes, I know the cover is a Zeppelin reference; settle down) from Bandshee lays out an individual approach to heavy songwriting and a swing that goes back further in time than most.
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 9th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
There will be much more info to come once they, you know, start listing the names of bands that will be playing the fest next April, but I’m thrilled to have The Obelisk in continued association with The Electric Highway. The site was among the co-presenters (there’s a bunch, so I’m not trying to be Mr. Checkoutmycoolface Face or anything) for the event earlier this year, and while I wasn’t so fortunate as to be there to see it, that Sasquatch video below looks pretty rockin’ and I look forward to learning who’s going to be there in 2024.
Early bird tickets — or as they call them in Europe: earlybird tickets — went on sale the other day and will be out until Nov. 30, so if you want to get together and road trip over to Calgary or something like that, hit me up. Might be fun. Maybe we could take a bus or a train! I hear Canada has those, having invested in public infrastructure and all that.
Looking at AirBNBs in Calgary. Will get back with prices.
From the PR wire:
The Electric Highway Festival (Calgary, AB) Kicks Off Early Bird Passes For 2024 Lineup
April 4- 6 – Dickens Pub
The Electric Highway Festival has launched early bird passes for their 2024 lineup being held in Calgary, AB on April 4, 5, and 6 at Dickens (1000 9 Ave SW.). Early bird passes go on sale Monday, November 6th at the cost of $65 CAD until November 30th.
The first round of bands for the 2024 lineup will be announced on Friday, December 1st along with advance passes going on sale that same day online.
Those in the Calgary area on Saturday, December 2nd will be able to purchase festival passes in person at the La Chinga CD release show, which is a “Pit Stop on the way to The Electric Highway Festival”.
Dec 2nd Tickets –https://www.showpass.com/lachingacalgary/
The Electric Highway Festival hosts various genres that range from Desert Rock, Stoner Metal, Doom, Sludge, Trippy Psychedelic, Surf Rock, Acid Rock, Noise Rock, Fuzz Rock, Space Rock, Blues Rock, Heavy Psych, Heavy Blues, Southern Rock, Fuzzy Punk, Sludgy Hardcore bands and variations of any of the previously mentioned styles.
The 2023 edition of the festival featured Californian headliners Sasquatch, one of the event’s past favorites, laying down their brand of fuzzy, kick-ass Desert Rock & Heavy Psych with direct support from Vancouver’s La Chinga who returned for their 4th appearance on the Saturday night. Black Mastiff returned to headline the Friday night with Calgary’s Gone Cosmic and HypnoPilot headlined the Thursday show with support from Citizen Rage. These were just a few of the wicked bands that played at this past year’s The Electric Highway.
