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Quarterly Review: Swans, Virus, The Re-Stoned, Castle, Spirit Adrift, Robb & Pott, Family, Les Discrets, Liquido di Morte, Witchskull

Posted in Reviews on October 7th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

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Last day. As ever, I am mentally, physically and spiritually exhausted by this process, but as ever, it’s been worth it. Today I do myself a couple favors in packing out with more familiar acts, but whatever, it’s all stuff I should be covering anyway, so if the order bothers you, go write your own 50 reviews in a week and we can talk about it. Yeah, that’s right. That’s what I said. Today we start with Swans. Everything’s a confrontation.

Once again, I hope you’ve found something somewhere along this bizarre, careening path of music that has resonated with you, something that will stick with you. That’s why we’re here. You and me. If you have, I’d love to know about it. Until then, one more time here we go.

Quarterly Review #41-50:

Swans, The Glowing Man

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Oh fucking please. You want me to try to summarize The Glowing Man – the culmination and finale of an era of Swans that Michael Gira began now more than half a decade ago – in a single review? Even putting aside the fact that the record two hours long, the notion is ridiculous. If there ever was a chart, the scope here is well off it. The material unfolds and churns and is primal and lush at once on “Cloud of Forgetting,” genuinely chaotic on the 28-minute title-track, and it ends with a drone lullaby, but seriously, what the fuck? Some shit is just beyond, and if you don’t know that applies to Swans by now, it’s your own fault. You want a review? Fine. I listened to the whole thing. It ate my fucking soul, chewed it with all-canine teeth and then spit it out saying “thanks for the clarity” and left me dazed, bloodied and humbled. There’s your fucking review. Thanks for reading.

Swans on Thee Facebooks

Young God Records website

 

Virus, Memento Collider

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Oslo trio Virus have long since established that they’re a band working on their own wavelength. Memento Collider (on Karisma Records) is the jazzy post-black metallers’ first album in five years and brings together adventurous rhythms, poetic declarations, dissonant basslines and – in the case of “Rogue Fossil,” the occasional hook – in ways that are unique unto Virus. Look at this site and see how often I use the word “unique.” It doesn’t happen. Virus, however, are one of a kind. Memento Collider makes for a challenging listen front to back on its six-track/45-minute run, but it refuses to dumb itself down or dull its progressive edge, bookending its longest (that’s opener “Afield” at 10:41; immediate points) two tracks around jagged explorations of sound like “Steamer” and “Gravity Seeker,” which engage and intrigue in kind after the melodic push of “Dripping into Orbit” and leading into “Phantom Oil Slick,” a righteous affirmation of the angular thrust at the core of Virus’ approach.

Virus on Thee Facebooks

Karisma Records webstore

 

The Re-Stoned, Reptiles Return

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In 2010, Moscow troupe The Re-Stoned issued their first EP, Return to the Reptiles, and being obviously concerned with evolution, they’ve now gone back and revisited that debut release with Reptiles Return, a reworking of the four studio tracks that made up the initial version – “Return,” “Run,” “The Mountain Giant” and “Sleeping World.” The opener is a straight re-recording, as is one other, where another is remixed and the other two remastered, and Reptiles Return – which is presented on limited vinyl through Clostridium Records and a CD box set with bonus tracks via Rushus Records – pairs them with more psychedelic-minded soundscape pieces like “Winter Witchcraft,” “Walnut Talks,” the proggy “Flying Clouds” and sweetly acoustic “Roots Patter,” that showcase where founding multi-instrumentalist Ilya Lipkin is taking the band going forward. The result is a satisfying side A/B split on the vinyl that delights in heavy riffing for its own sake in the first half and expands the scope in the second, which should delight newcomers as well as those who’ve followed The Re-Stoned along this evolutionary process.

The Re-Stoned on Thee Facebooks

Clostridium Records website

 

Castle, Welcome to the Graveyard

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It may well be the fate of San Francisco’s hard-touring, ass-kicking, genre-refusing duo Castle to be terminally underappreciated, but that has yet to stop them from proliferating their righteous blend of thrash, doom and classic, fistpump-worthy metal. Their latest outing, Welcome to the Graveyard, arrives via respected purveyor Ván Records, and entices in atmosphere and execution, cohesively built tracks like “Hammer and the Cross” and the penultimate “Down in the Cauldron Bog” finding a balance of personality and delivery that the band has long since honed on stage. The Dio-esque barnburner riff of “Flash of the Pentagram” makes that cut a highlight, but as they roll out the cultish vibes of “Natural Parallel” to close, there doesn’t seem to be much on the spectrum of heavy metal that doesn’t fit into Castle’s wheelhouse. For some bands, there’s just no justice. Four records deep, Castle have yet to get their due, and Welcome to the Graveyard is further proof of why they deserve it.

Castle website

Ván Records

 

Spirit Adrift, Chained to Oblivion

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One can hear a new wave of modern doom taking shape in Chained to Oblivion, the Prosthetic Records debut from Arizona one-man outfit Spirit Adrift. The work of Nate Garrett alone in the studio, the full-length offers five mostly-extended tracks as a 48-minute 2LP of soaring, emotional and psychedelic doom à la Pallbearer, but given even further breadth through progressively atmospheric passages and a marked flow in its transitions. To call it personal seems superfluous – it’s a one-man band, of course it’s personal – but Garrett (also formerly of metallers Take Over and Destroy) brings a palpable sense of performance to the songwriting, and by the time he gets to the 11-minutes-apiece finale duo of the title-track and “Hum of Our Existence,” it’s easy to forget you’re not actually listening to a full band, not the least because of the vocal harmonies. Calling Chained to Oblivion a promising first outing would be underselling it – this is a project with serious potential.

Spirit Adrift on Thee Facebooks

Prosthetic Records website

 

Robb & Pott, Once upon the Wings

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Unpredictable from the start of opener “Flesh ‘n’ Steel,” Once upon the Wings is a first-time multinational collaborative effort from Robbi Robb of California’s 3rd Ear Experience and Paul Pott of Germany’s The Space Invaders. Its five tracks/42 minutes arrive through no less than Nasoni Records, and provide a curious and exploratory blend of the organic and the inorganic in sound, as one finds the 11-minute “Grass” no less defined by its percussion solo, guitar line and ‘60s-style vocal than the electronic drums that underscore the layered wash of noise in its midsection. Further definition hits with the 16-minute centerpiece “Prophecy #1,” which works in a space-rocking vein, but the shorter closing duo of the catchy “Looney Toon” and darkly progressive “Space Ear” show a creative bent that clearly refuses to be tamed. Robb & Pott, as a project, demonstrates remarkable potential throughout this debut, as they seem to have set no limits for where they want their sound to go and they seem to have the command to take it there.

Robb & Pott on Bandcamp

Nasoni Records website

 

Family, Future History

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Most of the tracks on Brooklyn progressive noise rockers Family’s second album and Prosthetic Records debut, Future History, come paired with interludes. That cuts some of the growling intensity of winding pieces like “Funtime for Bigboy” and “Floodgates,” and emphasizes the generally experimental spirit of the record as a whole, broadening the scope in sound and theme. I’m somewhat torn as to how much this actually works to the 51:50 outing’s benefit, as shorter pieces like “Prison Hymn” and “Transmission,” while adding dynamic to the sound and narrative drama, also cut the immediacy in impact of “The Trial” or closer “Bone on Bone,” but it’s entirely possible that without them Future History would be an overwhelming tumult of raw prog metal. And while the play back and forth can feel cumbersome when one considers how effectively “Night Vision” bridges the gap between sides, I’m not sure that’s not what Family were going for in the first place. It’s not supposed to be an easy record, and it isn’t one.

Family on Thee Facebooks

Family website

 

Les Discrets, Virée Nocturne

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France’s Les Discrets haven’t had a studio offering since 2012’s Ariettes Oubliées (review here), and while they released Live at Roadburn (review here) last year documenting their 2013 set at that festival, there’s little there that might presage the stylistic turn the Fursy Teyssier-led outfit takes on their new EP, Virée Nocturne (on Prophecy Productions). With four tracks – two new, complete recordings, one demo and the last a remix of the opener by Dälek and DeadverseLes Discrets attempt to find a stylistic middle ground between post-rock and trip-hop, and for the most part, they get there. “Virée Nocturne” itself leads off and can be jarring on first listen, but successfully blends the lush melodicism for which the band is known with electronic-driven beats, and both “Capricorni. Virginis. Corvi” and even the demo “Le Reproche” continue to build on this bold shift. The finale remix adds over two minutes to “Virée Nocturne,” but uses that time to make it even more spacious and all the more immersive. For anyone who thought they might’ve had Les Discrets figured out, the surprise factor here should be palpable.

Les Discrets on Thee Facebooks

Prophecy Productions website

 

Liquido di Morte, II

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Presented across four tracks beginning with the 12-minute and longest-of-the-bunch (immediate points) “The Corpse of Dr. Funkenstein” (double points for the reference), II, the aptly-titled second album from Liquido di Morte expands the progressive atmospherics of the Italian four-piece’s 2014 self-titled debut (review here) without losing sight of the performance and spirit of exploration that helped bring it to life. Isaak’s Giacomo H. Boeddu guests on brooding vocals and whispers for “The Saddest of Songs I’ll Sing for You,” which swells in seething intensity as it moves forward, while “Rodents on the Uphill” casts a vision of post-space rock and closer “Schwartz Pit” rounds out with crash and wash that seems only to draw out how different the two halves of II actually are. Not a complaint. Liquido di Morte make their way across this vast span with marked fluidity, and if they prove anything throughout, it’s that they’re able to keep their command wherever they feel like using it to go.

Liquido di Morte on Thee Facebooks

Sstars BigCartel store

 

Witchskull, The Vast Electric Dark

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Canberra, Australia, trio Witchskull initially released their debut full-length, The Vast Electric Dark, last year, and caught the attention of the cross-coastal US partnership between Ripple Music and STB Records, who now align for a reissue of the eight-tracker. Why is quickly apparent. In addition to having earned a fervent response, The Vast Electric Dark basks in quality songcraft and doomly, heavy vibes, keeping a consistent pace while rolling through the semi-metallic push of “Raise the Dead” or the later rumble/shred of “Cassandra’s Curse.” All the while, guitarist/vocalist Marcus De Pasquale provides a steady presence at the fore alongside bassist Tony McMahon and drummer Joel Green, and what’s ultimately still a straightforward rocker of an album finds a niche for itself between varies underground styles of heavy. Between the balance they strike across their 37 minutes and the energy that courses through their songs, Witchskull’s The Vast Electric Dark proves easily worth the look it’s getting.

Witchskull on Thee Facebooks

STB Records webstore

Ripple Music website

 

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Castle Premiere Video for “Down in the Cauldron Bog”; European Tour Starts Tonight

Posted in Bootleg Theater on October 5th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

castle

Tonight begins heavy duo Castle‘s latest European tour. Less than a week ago, they finished a run that took them coast to coast in Canada, rounding out in Toronto on Sept. 30. A little while after they return from overseas, they’ll do the West Coast with Mos Generator. After that? Japan.

If you don’t respect the living shit out of that, then I don’t know what you’re doing on this site.

To mark the occasion of Castle ending one tour and starting another, they today present a new video for “Down in the Cauldron Bog.” The track comes from 2016’s Welcome to the Graveyard (review pending, by which I mean it’ll be up with the batch on Friday), which was released by respected purveyor Ván Records in the dead heat of summer. The hard-touring outfit had of course already crossed coasts by then, appearing at Maryland Doom Fest (review here) at the end of June to sear the crowd with their signature blend of thrash, classic metal, eerie vibes and doom. The album, unsurprisingly, represents those perfectly as well.

And “Down in the Cauldron Bog” definitely shows it. With death as the central theme for its imagery, the track offers hooks, shred, groove and melody all in kind, all in a package of songwriting that most bands would collapse on themselves even trying to replicate. I’m sorry, but after seeing them live this summer, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to talk about Castle again without thinking of them as being woefully underappreciated (I know the review certainly doesn’t; keep an eye out for it), and if you don’t believe me, just do yourself a favor and really dig into Welcome to the Graveyard and go catch them when they invariably roll through wherever you live, if not on this tour, then the next one or the one after that. They’ll get there sooner or later, no doubt.

Some comment from the band on the track and video and the upcoming tour dates follow the clip below.

Enjoy:

Castle, “Down in the Cauldron Bog” official video

Castle on “Down in the Cauldron Bog”:

“It’s fitting that we’re releasing the video for ‘Down in the Cauldron Bog’ as we kick off our European tour, since we actually wrote it while we were here in Europe last year. It was the first track we wrote for the new album and was really the catalyst that set the mood musically. The haunted melody seemed to come from the landscape and the inspiration for the words were from a book we were reading at the time, The Bog People. That idea mushroomed into a larger concept of death and rebirth that we used throughout the album and also serves as a backdrop to the video.”

Video directed by Jaan Silmberg for Pistoltrixx.

CASTLE European Tour Dates:
5.10 Prague, CZ – Modra Vopice
6.10 Budapest, HG – Durer Kert
7.10 Bucharest, RO – Old Grave Fest V
8.10 Volos, GR – Lab Art
9.10 Athens, GR – Death Disco
11.10 Parma, IT – Titty Twister *
12.10 Milan, IT – Lo Fi Club *
13.10 Freiburg, DE – White Rabbit Club *
14.10 Kassel, DE – Hammerschmeide *
15.10 Tilburg, NL – Little Devil *
16.10 Antwerp, BE – Desertfest Belgium
17.10 Aachen, DE – AZ *
18.10 Berlin, DE – Urban Spree
19.10 Olten, CH – Coq d’Or
20.10 Leipzig, DE – UT Connewitz (w/ Conan)
21.10 Hamburg, DE – Bambi Galore
22.10 Gothenburg, SE – Truckstop Alaska ^
23.10 Copenhagen, DK – KB18 ^
25.10 Gottingen, DE – Freihafen
26.10 Weimar, DE – Gerber3
27.10 Wroclaw, PL – Ciemna Strona Miasta
28.10 Poznan, PL – U Bazyla
29.10 Zielona Gora – Jazzkino
* w/ Universe217
^ w/ Year of the Goat

CASTLE w/ MOS GENERATOR:
11/25/2016 Funhouse – Seattle, WA
11/26/2016 The Shakedown – Bellingham, WA w/ Year Of The Cobra
11/27/2016 Obsidian – Olympia, WA w/ Year Of The Cobra
11/28/2016 High Water Mark – Portland, OR
11/29/2016 Old Nick’s – Eugene, OR
11/30/2016 G Street – Grant’s Pass, OR
12/01/2016 Thee Parkside – San Francisco, CA
12/02/2016 Blue Lagoon – Santa Cruz, CA
12/03/2016 The Garage – Ventura, CA
12/04 /2016The Complex – Los Angeles, CA

CASTLE w/ Guevnna:
12/08/2016 El Puente – Yokohama, JP
12/09/2016 Earthdo – Tokyo, JP
12/10/2016Osaka – Hokage, JP
12/11/2016 Huck Finn – Nagoya, JP
12/12/2016 Ruby Room – Tokyo, JP

Castle website

Castle on Thee Facebooks

Castle on Twitter

Ván Records on Thee Facebooks

Ván Records website

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Castle Announce New Album Welcome to the Graveyard and US Headlining Tour

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 28th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

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Note: I don’t think there’s much Castle do these days without announcing a coast-to-coast tour. Castle go grocery shopping and it turns into a two-week run. Castle go put gas in the van and do 10 dates in California. Whatever it is, the thrash-doom two-piece have a tendency to make a string of gigs out of it. It’s kind of become their thing. So when they announce the July 12 release of their fourth album, Welcome to the Graveyard, through Ván Records, it only makes sense there’d be a corresponding tour to go with it. Because what’s one more?

Castle head out on the first of what will no doubt be several runs to support the Billy Anderson-captured Welcome to the Graveyard in mid-June, which is plenty of time for them to gig their way East to take part in Maryland Doom Fest 2016 in Frederick, MD. Not a doubt in my mind that’ll be a good time.

The PR wire brings details and dates:

castle tour

CASTLE: Doom-Tinged Metal Unit Reveals Album Details + US Tour Dates Confirmed

Doom-tinged metal unit CASTLE is pleased to announce the release of their fourth full-length this Summer via Ván Records worldwide.

Titled Welcome To The Graveyard, the follow up to 2014’s critically-lauded Under Siege was captured by Billy Anderson (Sleep, Neurosis, Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth, Eyehategod, Ommadon et al) at Type Foundry Studios in Portland, Oregon this past Winter. Welcome To The Graveyard is set for official unveiling July 12th.

Leading up to the release of Welcome To The Graveyard, CASTLE will embark on an eighteen-date headlining tour from June 15th through July 2nd with an included stop at this year’s edition of the Maryland Doom Fest where the band will be performing alongside The Obsessed, Mos Generator and others. Expect more North American dates in support of Welcome To The Graveyard to be announced in the coming weeks.

CASTLE:
6/15/2016 Yucca Tap – Phoenix, AZ
6/16/2016 The Sandbox – El Paso, TX
6/17/2016 Paper Tiger – San Antonio, TX
6/18/2016 Rudyards – Houston, TX
6/19/2016 Siberia – New Orleans, LA
6/20/2016 New World Brewery – Tampa, FL
6/21/2016 Burro Bar – Jacksonville, FL
6/22/2016 The Jinx – Savannah, GA
6/23/2016 Reggies – Wilmington, NC
6/24/2016 Maryland Doom Fest – Frederick, MD
6/25/2016 Ace of Cups – Columbus, OH
6/26/2016 5th Quarter – Indianapolis, IN
6/27/2016 Skeletunes – Ft. Wayne, IN
6/28/2016 Vaudeville – Des Moines, IA
6/29/2016 O’Leaver’s – Omaha, NE
6/30/2016 Flux Capacitor – Colorado Springs, CO
7/01/2016 Metro Bar – Salt Lake City, UT
7/02/2016 Chateau le Punk – Las Vegas, NV

http://www.heavycastle.com
http://www.facebook.com/CastleSF
http://ww.twitter.com/heavycastle
http://www.facebook.com/Vánrecs/
http://www.ván-records.de

Castle, “Evil Ways” official video

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