After traipsing and stomping their way around the US earlier this Spring for a two-leg tour, Sweden’s chief fuzz exports Truckfighters are set to do what they do best this October — come back for another round. With a companion West Coast stint to be announced, the Örebro natives his North American shores starting Oct. 6 in gorgeous Montreal as they continue to support the living crap out of 2016’s V (review here), which also marked the first licensing collaboration between their label, Fuzzorama Records, and Century Media.

Speaking of, one can’t help but wonder how much scouting for Fuzzorama‘s lineup in involved in Truckfighters taking on Midwestern duo Telekinetic Yeti as direct support for the Tone Deaf-presented run. The Iowan two-piece’s Abominable (review here) debut album was rich enough in tone that it would seem to position the band as an excellent fit for Fuzzorama if Truckfighters bassist/vocalist Oskar Cedermalm and guitarist  Niklas Källgren decided to bring them aboard. Either way, seems like a great opportunity for Telekinetic Yeti to reach an audience that should be well favorable to their thickened beardo riffery. I hope they play their asses off and do really well. That album continues to rule.

The PR wire brings dates and promises more to come:

TRUCKFIGHTERS Announce North American Tour Dates in October with Support From Telekinetic Yeti

Lauded as “the best band that’s ever existed” by Queens of The Stone Age’s Josh Homme, Sweden’s fuzz rock charmers TRUCKFIGHTERS are excited to announce a series of headlining dates later this fall across North America. Previously the band has been seen featured as one of the headlining acts of Psycho Fest 2015 and have performed over 700 shows throughout the world.

In continued support of their latest album, “V”, the trio will kick off their upcoming tour on October 6 in Montreal, Quebec – with support provided by stoner doom duo Telekinetic Yeti – until they land in Washington, D.C. on October 16. Full dates can be found in the above admat or listed below. Tickets are on sale now at www.truckfighters.com. Stay tuned for a further announcement with West Coast dates in the coming weeks!

Guitarist Niklas ‘Dango’ Källgren stated: “It was so freakin’ fuzzy awesome last time around so we decided to go back to North America as soon as it was humanly possible – NOW! You demand we obey!”

TRUCKFIGHTER N. American Tour Dates
10/6 Montreal, QC – Foufounes Electriques #
10/7 Quebec City, QC – L’Anti #
10/8 Ottawa, ON – Mavericks #
10/9 Toronto, ON – Hard Luck #
10/10 Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge
10/11 Millvale, PA – Mr. Smalls Funhouse #
10/12 Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups #
10/13 Richmond, VA – Strange Matter #
10/14 Brooklyn, NY – Knitting Factory #
10/15 Philadelphia, PA – Voltage Lounge #
10/16 Washington, D.C. – Black Cat #
# with Telekinetic Yeti

http://www.truckfighters.com
https://www.facebook.com/truckfighters
https://twitter.com/truckfighters
https://www.youtube.com/user/TruckfightersTV
http://www.centurymedia.com/
https://www.facebook.com/tonedeaftouring/

Truckfighters, Live in Glendale, CA, March 16, 2017

Keep your eye on late September. I have the feeling there’s going to be a lot going on and not the least of it will be the release of Radio Moscow‘s first album for Century Media, the suitably-titled New Beginnings. The blazing San Diego three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Parker Griggs, bassist Anthony Meier and drummer Paul Marrone — who are nigh on supergroup status, what with Meier‘s double-duty in Sacri Monti and Marrone‘s participation in Psicomagia, newcomers Birth (demo posted here), etc. — have posted a studio session clip of the opening title-track “New Beginning” from the record.

However, because the internet sucks, that can’t be embedded. It finds them nonetheless in top form and is linked below for your at-the-source viewing enjoyment. And because I’m stubborn, I found a different live clip of album-closer “Dreams” from Texas earlier this year and that’s at the bottom of this post.

In addition, the cover art and tracklisting for New Beginnings is unveiled today and more tour dates in the UK and US have been added. As ever, it’s a go-go-go kind of deal for these guys. That’s how they do, and they do it better than just about everybody on the planet.

The PR wire has it like this:

RADIO MOSCOW Reveal Artwork & Debut Single off “New Beginnings”, Add Fall US & UK Tour Dates

Southern Californian rock trio RADIO MOSCOW has just delivered the masters of its fifth studio album, “New Beginnings”, which is set for release via their new label home, Century Media Records, on September 29, 2017.

The album’s striking cover artwork was created by artist Courtney Cole and photographer Dana Trippe with lettering coming from Robin Gnista. “New Beginnings” was recorded at Lost Ark Studio in San Diego with Mike Butler, produced by the band’s own Parker Griggs and mastered by Mark Chalecki at Little Red Book Mastering.

As a sneak peek at what to expect, check out a video of a radio session take of the album’s first track, “New Beginning”: https://www.vuhaus.com/videos/radio-moscow-new-beginning

“New Beginnings” Track Listing:
1. New Beginning
2. Deceiver
3. Woodrose Morning
4. Driftin’
5. No One Knows Where They’ve Been
6. Last to Know
7. New Skin
8. Pacing
9. Pick up the Pieces
10. Dreams

“New Beginnings” will be released as regular black and limited-edition colored LP+CD (including a poster designed by Robin Gnista) as well as on CD, and all digital/streaming platforms.

Right on time with the release of their new opus, the band has confirmed the “The Drifting Tour”, which will drown Europe from September 26 to October 31 in waves of fuzzy, hard rocking riffs and sweaty, cranked up blues!

Prior to that, RADIO MOSCOW will perform at several European festivals as well as head over to the UK for a mini tour in August with support coming from The Groundhogs. Furthermore, a US west coast tour has been recently added. Full dates can be found listed below.

RADIO MOSCOW LIVE DATES 2017
8/12 Dortmund, DE – Junkyard Open Air
8/13 Cernoy, FR – Celebration Days
8/14 London, UK – Borderline #
8/15 Hastings, UK – Paintworks #
8/16 Bristol, UK – Exchange #
8/17 Birmingham, UK – The Castle & Falcon
8/19 Saint-Nolff, FR – Motorculto Festival
8/25 Costa Mesa, CA – The Wayfarer
8/26 Los Angeles, CA – The Resident
8/27 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
8/29 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
8/30 Vancouver, BC – The Cobalt
8/31 Seattle, WA – Chop Suey
9/1 Boise, ID – The Olympic
9/2 Salt Lake City, UT – Crucial Fest
9/3 Las Vegas, NV – Bunkhouse
9/26 Paris, FR – Backstage ^
9/27 Nantes, FR – Le Ferrailleur ^
9/28 Bilbao, ES – Kafe Antzokia ^
9/29 Gijon, ES – Casino Acapulco ^
9/30 Porto, PT – Hard Club ^
10/1 Lisbon, PT – RCA ^
10/2 Madrid, ES – Caracol ^
10/3 Barcelone, ES – Rocksound ^
10/4 Montpellier, FR – Secret Place ^
10/6 Pratteln, CH – Up in Smoke ^
10/7 Athens, GR – Desertfest ^
10/9 Roma, IT – Traffic ^
10/10 Altroquando, IT – Zero Branco ^
10/11 Torino, IT – Blah Blah ^
10/13 Antwerpen, BE – Desertfest ^
10/14 Groningen, NL – Vera ^
10/15 Cologne, DE – Underground ^
10/16 Wiesbaden, DE – Schlachthof ^
10/17 Vienna, AT – Arena ^
10/18 Innsbruck, AT – PMK ^
10/19 Etagnieres, CH – Croc The Rock Festival ^
10/20 Munich, DE – Keep It Low ^
10/21 Dresden, DE – Beatpol ^
10/23 Hamburg, DE – Hafenklang ^
10/24 Copenhagen, DK – TBA ^
10/25 Stockholm, SE – Undergangen ^
10/26 Gothenburg, SE – Sticky Fingers ^
10/28 Bergen, NO – Garage ^
10/30 Hannover, DE – Chez Heinz
10/31 Berlin, DE – Festsaal
# with The Groundhogs
^ with Kaleidobolt

Radio Moscow line-up
Parker Griggs (vocals, guitar)
Anthony Meier (bass)
Paul Marrone (drums)

http://radiomoscow.net/
www.facebook.com/radiomoscowband
www.instagram.com/radiomoscowband

Radio Moscow, “Dreams” live in Austin, TX

I’ll say this as clearly as I possibly can: If you’re not looking forward to the new Radio Moscow, you’re fucking up. The San Diego bringers-of-heavy-rock-tornadoes will release their fifth album, New Beginnings, on Sept. 9 as their debut for Century Media, just as they wrap a small string of West Coast dates and shortly before they begin a European headlining trek set to feature Kaleidobolt as direct support. The three-piece of Parker Griggs, Anthony Meier and Paul Marrone were recently confirmed for Keep it Low 2017 (info here), Desertfest Athens 2017 (info here), Up in Smoke 2017 (info here) and Desertfest Belgium 2017 (info here), so we knew they’d be in Europe for the Fall, but there’s something to be said for seeing how it all ties together as well. And when it comes to these dudes, the more shows the merrier.

Radio Moscow had a live album out last year that I could’ve cried when I didn’t get sent a download to review — really, my feelings were hurt — and their last studio outing was 2014’s ultra-driving Magical Dirt (review here). Get it if you don’t have it. Get the new one too. Shit, just buy everything Radio Moscow have ever done. You’ll thank yourself for doing so later.

From the PR wire:

RADIO MOSCOW Announce New Album, “New Beginnings”, Scheduled For Release September 9, 2017 via Century Media Records

Reveal Headlining European Tour in September/October 2017 Featuring Special Guests Kaleidobolt

Southern Californian rock trio RADIO MOSCOW are currently putting finishing touches on their much-anticipated fifth studio album, “New Beginnings”, which is set for release via Century Media Records on September 29, 2017.

Right on time with the release of their new opus, the band has confirmed the “The Drifting Tour”, which will drown Europe from September 26 to October 31 in waves of fuzzy, hard rocking riffs and sweaty, cranked up blues!

Formed in 2003, the power trio led by Stratocaster genius Parker Griggs carved their own sonic niche fusing crunching, heavy Sabbath-style chords with fiery ‘Hendrixian’ solos and a raw intensity that is addictive and captivating. From the self-titled debut back in 2007, which was produced by Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, over to last year’s “Live! In California”, RADIO MOSCOW proved to be not just a cheap time machine but a direct descendant from the golden age of rock ‘n’ roll!

Known as a tremendous live act, Parker Griggs (vocals, guitar), Anthony Meier (bass) and Paul Marrone (drums) have hit the road hard in the U.S. and in Europe in past years, touring with the likes of Graveyard, Witchcraft, Joe Bonamassa and Pentagram as well as playing festivals such as Desert Daze (US), the Void Fest (Ger), Electric Funeral (US), Burg Herzberg Fest (Ger), and the Orbital Festival in Santiago, Chile, to name but a few.

Now, RADIO MOSCOW are gearing up for an exciting new chapter in their career with the release of “New Beginnings” and have kicked off another massive touring cycle with a US mini-tour, selected European festivals in August, and a full European tour in September/October. Even more chances to see the band live are currently in the works!

RADIO MOSCOW live
US mini tour
6/30 Phoenix, AZ – The Rebel Lounge
7/1 Santa Fe, NM – The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing
7/2 Oklahoma City, OK – 89th Street Collective
7/3 Kansas City, MO – Riot Room
7/6 Chicago, IL – Reggie’s Music Joint
7/7 Des Moines, IA – Western Gateway Park
7/8 Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge
7/9 Telluride, CO – Fly Me To The Moon Saloon

European festivals
12.08.17 Dortmund (DE) Junkyard Open Air
13.08.17 Cernoy (FR) – Celebration Days
19.08.17 Saint-Nolff (FR) Motorculto Festival

“The Drifting Tour” 2017
with special guests Kaleidobolt
26.09.17 Paris (FR) Backstage
27.09.17 Nantes (FR) Le Ferrailleur
28.09.17 Bilbao (ES) Kafe Antzokia
29.09.17 Gijon (ES) Casino Acapulco
30.09.17 Porto (PT) Hard Club
01.10.17 Lisbon (PT) RCA
02.10.17 Madrid (ES) Caracol
03.10.17 Barcelona (ES) Rocksound
04.10.17 Montpellier (FR) Secret Place
06.10.17 Pratteln (CH) Up In Smoke
07.10.17 Athens (GR) Desertfest
09.10.17 Roma (IT) Traffic
10.10.17 Altroquando (IT) Zero Branco
11.10.17 Torino (IT) Blah Blah
13.10.17 Antwerpen (BE) Desertfest
14.10.17 Groningen (NL) Vera
15.10.17 Cologne (DE) Underground
16.10.17 Wiesbaden (DE) Schlachthof
17.10.17 Wien (AT) Arena
18.10.17 Innsbruck (AT) PMK
19.10.17 Etagnieres (CH) Croc the Rock Festival
20.10.17 Munich (DE) Keep it Low
21.10.17 Dresden (DE) Beatpol
23.10.17 Hamburg (DE) Hafenklang
24.10.17 Copenhagen (DK) tbc
25.10.17 Stockholm (SE) Undergangen
26.10.17 Göteborg (SE) Sticky Fingers
28.10.17 Bergen (NO) Garage
30.10.17 Hannover (DE) Chez Heinz (* no Kaleidobolt)
31.10.17 Berlin (DE) Festsaal (* no Kaleidobolt)

Discography
Radio Moscow (2007)
Brain Cycles (2009)
The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz (2011)
3 & 3 Quarters (2012), early demos recorded in 2003 by Parker Griggs
Rancho Tehama EP (2013)
Magical Dirt (2014)
Live! In California (2016)

Radio Moscow line-up
Parker Griggs (vocals, guitar)
Anthony Meier (bass)
Paul Marrone (drums)

http://radiomoscow.net/
www.facebook.com/radiomoscowband
www.instagram.com/radiomoscowband

Radio Moscow, Live in Costa Mesa, CA, March 18, 2017

San Diego heavy rock forerunners Radio Moscow have inked a deal to release their next album on Century Media Records. The trio will enter the studio soon to record the follow-up to 2014’s Magical Dirt (review here) with an eye toward a summer 2017 release. Given that everything Radio Moscow have put out to-date going back to their 2007 self-titled debut has come out via Alive Naturalsound, I’ll say this one hits as something of a surprise, and I feel like I haven’t even had enough time to process if it’s a bigger get for the label or for the band. Both maybe? I don’t know.

Either way, Radio Moscow definitely mark Century Media‘s biggest foray into heavy rock to-date in the current swing — lest we forget Fu Manchu were a Century Media band for a minute there — and as they were already one of the hardest-working — and, frankly, one of the best — live acts I’ve ever seen, I don’t anticipate this new label deal will slow their momentum any. Can it really be anything other than a win to push them further into headliner status? Not on any level I can think of.

Just off the PR wire:

RADIO MOSCOW Signs Worldwide Deal with Century Media Records

Southern Californian rock trio RADIO MOSCOW and CENTURY MEDIA RECORDS are proud to announce a worldwide partnership to release the band’s upcoming albums. RADIO MOSCOW already started songwriting and will enter the studio soon to release their fifth full length album in late summer 2017.

Guitarist and vocalist Parker Griggs comments: “Radio Moscow couldn’t be more stoked to be joining the Century Media family! When we met these guys we spent hours nerding out on obscure classics from our favorite era of Rock ‘n’ Roll (1965-1974)…. so we feel right at home! Excited to keep writing and working on the next Radio Moscow release on Century Media. Looking forward to 2017 with a new label and album! Peace n Love!”

Jens Prueter, Head of A&R at Century Media Europe adds: “A beautiful summer night at a club in the middle of Germany, some beers, a nice chat about weird 60s stuff and an amazing sweaty show: that’s a good start for a long time partnership. I’m very happy to welcome this highly talented band that is taking the roots to the roof!”
Trends come and go, but the idea of a bunch of guys getting together in a garage and playing the kind of music that makes the neighbors call the cops – that’s forever. And it’s that idea that’s crystallized in the form of Radio Moscow who took their name from an obscure 60s garage punk novelty single. The power trio led by the Stratocaster genius Parker Griggs have found THE formula: Crunching, heavy Sabbath-style chords topped with fiery solos that earn the right to be called Hendrixian. Radio Moscow plants their flag firmly in the territory where psychedelic rock and cranked-up blues meet. The sound is unabashedly retro (think Cream, Blue Cheer, Led Zep or Jimi Hendrix Experience), so it’s easy to see how it caught the ear of the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who produced Radio Moscow’s 2007 self-titled debut.

With “Brain Cycles”, their second album, Radio Moscow proves that they’re not a cheap time machine but a direct descendant from the golden age of Rock ‘n’ Roll. In 2011, Griggs continued his psychedelic trip with “The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz” followed by “Magical Dirt” in 2014.
Parker Griggs (vocals, guitar), Anthony Meier (bass) and Paul Marrone (drums) hit the road hard in the U.S. and in Europe, touring with the likes of Graveyard, Witchcraft, Joe Bonamassa and Pentagram, followed by an appearance on the legendary German television program Rockpalast.

Coming off of what seems like endless touring proceeding and following the recording of the double-live gatefold “Live! In California”, Radio Moscow is ready to hit the studio again. “Live!…” was recorded absolutely live with no overdubs of any kind; New York Music Daily called it the Best Heavy Psych LP of 2016, proclaiming “there’s nothing that’s been released in 2016 that can touch this.”

The band toured the U.S., Europe, South America, and Australia around the release of the live document, landing at such festivals as Desert Daze (US), the Void Fest (Ger), Electric Funeral (US), Burg Herzberg Fest (Ger), and the Orbital Festival in Santiago, Chile, to name a few.

The live album wrapped up the first chapter of the band’s career, playing highlights from their first four studio albums. As Rolling Stone’s Dave DiMartino cited, “I would be lying if I did not say I have been completely taken with this…The band actively evokes all that was great about hard-rock trios, but does it with such gleeful abandon you’ve got to admire both their spirit and whatever time capsule they rode in on. Great fun.”
The story continues with a new chapter in 2017.
Discography:
Radio Moscow (2007)
Brain Cycles (2009)
The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz (2011)
3 & 3 Quarters (2012), early demos recorded in 2003 by Parker Griggs
Rancho Tehama EP (2013)
Magical Dirt (2014)
Live! In California (2016)

RADIO MOSCOW line-up:
Parker Griggs (vocals, guitar)
Anthony Meier (bass)
Paul Marrone (drums)

http://radiomoscow.net/
www.facebook.com/radiomoscowband
www.instagram.com/radiomoscowband
http://www.centurymedia.com/
https://www.facebook.com/centurymedia

Radio Moscow, Live in Fullerton, CA, May 21, 2016

The poll is closed, the results are counted and the top 20 albums of 2016 have been chosen. Hard to argue with the list as it’s shown up over the course of the past month, so I won’t try. Instead, let me just say thanks to incredible amount of participants who contributed this year.

All told, between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31, 612 people added their picks to the proceedings, compared to 388 in last year’s poll. Considering how much that number blew my mind on Jan. 1, 2016, I’m sure you can imagine how I feel about adding another 200-plus lists to the pot. In short, I’m astounded, deeply humbled and so, so, so grateful. I feel like we got enough of a sampling this year to give a genuinely representative showing for where people’s heads have been at, so thank you if you were a part of it.

Thank you as well as always to Slevin for running the poll’s back end and tabulating the results. As ever, the weighting system is one in which a 1-4 ranking is worth five points, 5-8 worth four, 9-12 worth three, 13-16 worth two and 17-20 worth one. You’ll find that list (plus some honorable mentions) below, followed by the raw-vote tally.

And after the jump, as has become the tradition, are the full lists of everyone who submitted, alphabetized by name. I’m in there too. It’s a huge amount to wade through, and even if you thought you heard everything in 2016, it should be more than enough to keep you busy for the next year.

One last note: I’m no statistician. Please allow for these numbers to change over the next couple days on some small level.

Let’s go:

Top 20 of 2016 — Weighted Results

1. Wo Fat, Midnight Cometh (375 points)
2. Greenleaf, Rise Above the Meadow (368)
3. Elephant Tree, Elephant Tree (324)
4. Asteroid, III (302)
5. Brant Bjork, Tao of the Devil (295)
6. Gozu, Revival (274)
7. Neurosis, Fires Within Fires (253)
8. King Buffalo, Orion (244)
9. Mars Red Sky, Apex III (Praise for the Burning Soul) (238)
10. Conan, Revengeance (232)
11. Cough, Still They Pray (228)
12. Holy Grove, Holy Grove (218)
13. SubRosa, For this We Fought the Battle of Ages (213)
14. Truckfighters, V (206)
15. Blood Ceremony, Lord of Misrule (200)
16. Khemmis, Hunted (192)
16. Red Fang, Only Ghosts (192)
17. Inter Arma, Paradise Gallows (181)
18. Witchcraft, Nucleus (174)
19. Opeth, Sorceress (173)
20. Church of Misery, And then there Were None (159)

Honorable mention to:
Causa Sui, Return to Sky (157)
Goatess, II: Purgatory Under New Management (157)
Black Mountain, IV (148)
Mos Generator, Abyssinia (144)
Wretch, Wretch (140)

Look at those tallies for number one and two. That race was close all month. Wo Fat kept out front for the most part, but Greenleaf kept it interesting and Elephant Tree’s debut snuck in there at third, which I love to see, both because it’s their first album and because that record was indeed so great. King Buffalo, another debut, also made the top 10, underscoring those two as bands to watch, and though Brant Bjork, Conan, Asteroid, Neurosis, Gozu and Mars Red Sky might be more expected names, they still certainly delivered excellent records, so again, nothing to fight with here. Things flesh out a bit in the 10-20 range, but I don’t think there’s one album on this list you could call is “miss.”

Top 20 of 2016 — Raw Votes

1. Wo Fat, Midnight Cometh (109)
2. Greenleaf, Rise Above the Meadow (92)
3. Brant Bjork, Tao of the Devil (87)
4. Elephant Tree, Elephant Tree (82)
5. Asteroid, III (80)
6. Gozu, Revival (76)
7. Conan, Revengeance (73)
8. Cough, Still They Pray (70)
9. Mars Red Sky, Apex III (Praise for the Burning Soul) (68)
10. King Buffalo, Orion (67)
11. Truckfighters, V (62)
12. Red Fang, Only Ghosts (61)
13. Khemmis, Hunted (60)
14. Blood Ceremony, Lord of Misrule (59)
14. SubRosa, For this We Fought the Battle of Ages (59)
15. Holy Grove, Holy Grove (58)
16. Church of Misery, And then there Were None (53)
17. Inter Arma, Paradise Gallows (49)
17. Witchcraft, Nucleus (49)
18. Opeth, Sorceress (47)
19. Mos Generator, Abyssinia (45)
20. Black Mountain, IV (44)
20. Causa Sui, Return to Sky (44)
20. Wretch, Wretch (44)

Honorable mention to:
Goatess, II: Purgatory Under New Management (43)
Mondo Drag, The Occultation of Light (43)
Geezer, Geezer (41)
Crowbar, The Serpent Only Lies (41)
Gojira, Magma (37)
Slomatics, Future Echo Returns (36)
Graves at Sea, The Curse that Is… (35)
Black Rainbows, Stellar Prophecy (33)
Beastmaker, Lusus Naturae (32)
Vokonis, Olde One Ascending (31)

Left a few more honorable mentions in the raw-vote count, just for fun and so you could get more of a feel beyond the top 20 itself, which you’ll notice has a couple ties in it as the raw votes usually do and reorganizes a bit from the weighted results. One and two remain the same, however, and in the same order, and you’ll see Wo Fat was the only album that scored more than 100 votes on its own. As a whole, there were over 2,400 separate entries for albums this year, which is by far the most spread out that the voting has ever been. Frankly, with so many people involved and such a variety of stuff being voted on, I’m amazed anyone managed to agree on anything at all, but of course they did and once again a stellar list is the result.

—

Well, Happy New Year.

Before I go, thanks again to Slevin for the work put into running the back end of this site and this poll particularly. I show up with the finish lists, but it’s his code that makes it happen, and his efforts are appreciated more than I can say. Dude has never asked me for anything in the nearly eight years I’ve been a constant pain in his ass.

After the jump, you’ll find everybody’s list, alphabetized by name. Please enjoy browsing. I hope you find something awesome, because there’s certainly plenty in there that qualifies, and if you see something that looks like it appears often enough that it should be included in one or both of the counts above, let me know in the comments.

Thanks.

Read more »

Those keeping an eye out have been expecting another round of tour dates from Sweden’s Truckfighters since they made a point to announce ‘Leg 1’ of their US tour (info here) — which will start Jan. 18 in Somerville, Massachusetts, and feature Kings Destroy — but the fact that the West Coast run that begins March 15 features the first US dates that countrymen outfit Greenleaf have ever played seems like an added bonus. Truckfighters of course come over supporting 2016’s V (review here), while Greenleaf break this new ground heralding their Rise Above the Meadow (review here) — both highlights of the year as far as I’m concerned.

We Hunt Buffalo also join in for the Canadian dates, which you can find among the shows listed for both legs below, the tours put on by Tone Deaf. Dig it:

LEG 2/LEG TWO!!! USA/CAN we are doing another bunch of gigs in March, West Coast people etc. This time with our friends in Greenleaf. Also We Hunt Buffalo will join us on the western CAN dates! Hurrah!!! It’s going to be a blast!

Truckfighters with Kings Destroy:
01.18 Somerville MA Once Ballroom
01.19 Montreal QC Bar Leritz
01.21 Ottawa ON House of Targ
01.22 Toronto ON Hard Luck
01.23 Pittsburgh PA Cattivo
01.24 Chicago IL Reggies
01.25 Minneapolis MN 7th St. Entry
01.26 Kansas City MO Riot Room
01.27 Tulsa OK Downtown Lounge
01.28 Dallas TX Curtain Club
01.30 New Orleans LA Siberia
01.31 Atlanta GA Drunken Unicorn
02.01 Richmond VA Strange Matter
02.02 Philadelphia PA Kung Fu Necktie
02.03 Brooklyn NY Goldsounds

Truckfighters with Greenleaf & We Hunt Buffalo:
Mar 15 Brick by Brick San Diego, CA
Mar 16 Complex LA Los Angeles, CA
Mar 19 Ash Street Saloon Portland, OR
Mar 20 El Corazon Seattle, WA
Mar 21 Rickshaw Theatre Vancouver, Canada*
Mar 24 The Starlite Room Edmonton, Canada*
Mar 25 Amigos Saskatoon, Canada*
Mar 26 The Exchange Regina, Canada*
Mar 28 Moon Room Denver, CO
Mar 29 Low Spirits Albuquerque, NM
Mar 31 Club Red Mesa, AZ
* w/ We Hunt Buffalo

http://www.truckfighters.com
https://www.facebook.com/truckfighters
https://twitter.com/truckfighters
https://www.youtube.com/user/TruckfightersTV
http://www.centurymedia.com/
https://www.facebook.com/tonedeaftouring/

Truckfighters, Live in London (full concert video)

Click Here to Download

Consider this your usual disclaimer that, like any of this site’s coverage of year-end whatnottery, this podcast is by no means attempting to capture all of 2016’s best tracks. It is, however, over four hours long, and frankly that seems like enough to ask. If you decide to take it on and sample what I found to be some of the best material to come down the line over the last 12 months, please know you have my thanks in advance. For what it’s worth, it was a lot of fun to put together, and that’s not always the case with these.

But about the length. I’ve done double-sized year-end specials for a while now. It’s always just seemed a fair way to go. And the last few at least have been posted the week of the Xmas holiday as well, which for me is of dual significance since it just so happens four hours is right about what it takes to drive from where I live to where my family lives, so when I look at this massive slew of 34 acts, from the riff-led righteousness of Wo Fat and Curse the Son to the crush of Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard and SubRosa to the psychedelic reaches of Zun and Øresund Space Collective (who probably show up in podcasts more than anyone, oddly enough), I also think of going to see my family, which has become my favorite part of the holidays.

Whatever associations you might draw with it, I very much hope you enjoy listening. Thanks for taking the time.

Track details follow:

First Hour:

0:00:00 Wo Fat, “There’s Something Sinister in the Wind” from Midnight Cometh
0:09:35 Greenleaf, “Howl” from Rise Above the Meadow
0:14:57 Elephant Tree, “Aphotic Blues” from Elephant Tree
0:20:49 Brant Bjork, “The Gree Heen” from Tao of the Devil
0:26:27 Sergio Ch., “El Herrero” from Aurora
0:29:44 Child, “Blue Side of the Collar” from Blueside
0:35:31 Geezer, “Bi-Polar Vortex” from Geezer
0:43:59 Zun, “Come Through the Water” from Burial Sunrise
0:49:27 Baby Woodrose, “Mind Control Machine” from Freedom
0:54:11 Curse the Son, “Hull Crush Depth” from Isolator
0:59:31 Borracho, “Shot down, Banged up, Fade Away” from Atacama

Second Hour:

1:05:50 Scissorfight, “Nature’s Cruelest Mistake” from Chaos County
1:09:19 Truckfighters, “The Contract” from V
1:16:30 Spidergawd, “El Corazon del Sol” from III
1:21:24 Fatso Jetson, “Royal Family” from Idle Hands
1:26:13 Worshipper, “Step Behind” from Shadow Hymns
1:30:57 Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, “Y Proffwyd Dwyll” from Y Proffwyd Dwyll
1:39:42 Druglord, “Regret to Dismember” from Deepest Regrets
1:46:34 Moon Coven, “New Season” from Moon Coven
1:52:03 Gozu, “Tin Chicken” from Revival
1:59:49 Year of the Cobra, “Vision of Three” from …In the Shadows Below

Third Hour:

2:06:53 The Munsens, “Abbey Rose” from Abbey Rose
2:14:56 Lamp of the Universe, “Mu” from Hidden Knowledge
2:21:26 1000mods, “On a Stone” from Repeated Exposure To…
2:26:45 Church of the Cosmic Skull, “Watch it Grow” from Is Satan Real?
2:30:43 Vokonis, “Acid Pilgrim” from Olde One Ascending
2:37:35 Slomatics, “Electric Breath” from Future Echo Returns
2:43:02 Droids Attack, “Sci-Fi or Die” from Sci-Fi or Die
2:47:20 King Buffalo, “Drinking from the River Rising” from Orion
2:56:51 Comet Control, “Artificial Light” from Center of the Maze

Fourth Hour:

3:06:37 Øresund Space Collective, “Above the Corner” from Visions Of…
3:22:51 Naxatras, “Garden of the Senses” from II
3:33:14 SubRosa, “Black Majesty” from For this We Fought the Battle of Ages
3:48:23 Seedy Jeezus with Isaiah Mitchell, “Escape Through the Rift” from Tranquonauts

Total running time: 4:07:32

Thank you for listening.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 060

A three-song pro-shot live video from Hexvessel is a pretty easy sell as far as I’m concerned, but it seems like an especially worthy endeavor in this case since it allows the Finnish weirdo-prog forerunners to not only highlight their latest work and Century Media debut, When We are Death (review here), but to tie it back directly to their prior output. That matters because while just their third album, When We are Death represents a significant sidestep and broadening of their aesthetic, so to have them sandwich “Hunter’s Prayer” and “Earth over Us” from the new offering around “Woods to Conjure” from 2012’s No Holier Temple on stage gives their audience — at the show and watching online — a chance to better understand how the band feels the songs intertwine.

I guess that’s a far cry from, “Dude — it rocks!” but that kind of simplicity has never been Hexvessel‘s thing, though I’ll say that some of the tracks on When We are Death strip song structures down to their essential verse/chorus core. But even then, there are layers of melody and mood built on top of it, not to mention the variety in sound across the whole run of the record, that add complexity. One finds in watching this clip that the sense of ritual that has been at the core of Hexvessel‘s approach since their beginning is well intact as they push into these new avenues of expression. True till death, as the metallers might say, but with an expanding (and cosmic) version of the truth that they continue to refine as they go.

Hexvessel will tour in Finland early next year joined by Death Hawks — which, goodness gracious, is a pairing I’d very much like to see — as well as Kairon Irse. They also managed to sneak out a limited tape called Unfurled in 2016 that, sad to say, is already sold out. Too bad.

More info and some comment from the band follow the clip below, courtesy of the PR wire.

And as always, please enjoy:

Hexvessel, Live at Menuo Juodaragis Festival 2016 official video

HEXVESSEL release concert shortfilm and announce Finland headline tour

In January 2016 HEXVESSEL released their 3rd album “When We Are Death”, and were praised by media, worldwide. The band just calls it psychedelic forest folk.

One of the many live gigs in support of the new album was at the Menuo Juodaragis Festival in the national forest of Lithuania. Finnish filmmaker (and former Sentenced drummer) Vesa Ranta filmed this special event with help from Jaime Gomez Arellano (previously worked on the Hexvessel albums as well as producing bands like Solstafir and Paradise Lost) who took care of the audio live mix.

Songs:
Hunter’s Prayer (from the album “When We Are Death”)
Woods To Conjure (from the album “No Holier Temple”)
Earth Over Us (from the album “When We Are Death”)

The band comments: “Our idea was to try to capture a sense of the transcendental nature of one of our live shows, when you set our music to the backdrop of the forest at an event that has great meaning for us spiritually. There are a few events that have enabled this perfect conjuration of what Hexvessel means to happen. Menuo Juodaragis is one of those such magic events. A pagan festival held deep in the wilds of Lithuania on a beautifully lush island surrounded by forests, It is an event which celebrates our culture and heritage and it is utterly unique in Europe. We were so proud to go there and play the main stage and in our own way offer a sacrifice of sound to the great transformation that was taking place within people at the festival. It’s a place where you can feel the ancients breath, you can sense a great unity of spirit and mind and it’s a very warm and inclusive, familiar atmosphere. We were delighted to feel bound and compelled together with people from all parts of the world who had travelled there to get some sense of an old and almost forgotten religion. When you are there, really brought out of yourself and back into your more primitive awareness, you know that the old religion still exists only waiting to be pulled out again from the earth, the ash and the roots of age-old trees. Here you know the real meaning of what it was to truly know the earth and the universe. It was a beautiful and life-changing event that we are very happy to have this visual and resonant memento of.”

Next step? Three enigmatic pioneers of the current and modern psych rock movement in Finland, take to the roads in February 2017!

HEXVESSEL, Death Hawks, Kairon Irse FINLAND 2017 Tour:
02.02.2017 45 Special, Oulu
03.02.2017 Bar 15, Seinäjoki
04.02.2017 Tanssisali Lutakko, Jyväskylä
09.02.2017 Tavastia-klubi, Helsinki
10.02.2017 Suistoklubi, Hämeenlinna
11.02.2017 Olympia-kortteli, Tampere
17.02.2017 Ravintola Torvi, Lahti
18.02.2017 Dynamo, Turku
24.02.2017 Ravintola Kerubi, Joensuu
25.02.2017 Bar Downtown Kouvola, Kouvola

Hexvessel on Thee Facebooks

Hexvessel Tumblr

Hexvessel at Century Media