Posted in Whathaveyou on January 23rd, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Cheers to Cleveland, Ohio’s Frayle on getting picked up by Napalm Records for the release of their next album. It was kind of a matter of time for them to be signed by one or the other of the larger metal-world imprints. Kind of inevitable, huh? Frayle have been upward trajectory since the word go, a career-minded act with a defined aesthetic and a fresh-ish take on familiar ideas. They can appeal across subgenres in a way not a lot of doom-adjacent anything ever could.
Frayle‘s latest album, Skin & Sorrow came out in 2022 through Aqualamb and Lay Bare Recordings — both what I’d consider to be labels of marked taste — and while I don’t know if a reissue is in the works and the focus here seems to be on moving forward with new stuff, you wouldn’t blame them if one showed up.
The PR wire, making it official:
FRAYLE Signs Worldwide Contract with Napalm Records
New Music Expected in 2024!
Fast-rising American doom outfit FRAYLE have officially joined forces with Napalm Records, signing a worldwide contract with the premier Austrian rock and metal empire.
Cleveland, Ohio’s FRAYLE crept onto the scene after forming in 2018, helmed by original members Sean Bilovecky (guitars) and Gwyn Strang (vocals). Since then, the band has been lauded by fans and media critics alike, merging the heaviness of occult-driven doom and blackgaze with Strang’s distinctively eerie vocal stylings. FRAYLE has since expanded into a four piece, welcoming drummer Jon Vinson and bassist Jason Knotek to the fold, allowing the band to fully realize their “lullabies over chaos” musical vision. Noted first by Revolver Magazine as a band to watch in 2023, and then again by Knotfest for the coming year, the band continues to invigorate their already buzzing sway on the scene. Following gloomy performances in Europe and the United States at festivals such as Damnation, Desertfest, Soul Crusher, Gloomnar, Post Fest and Inkcarceration, FRAYLE vows to enrapture audiences with new music in 2024.
FRAYLE says about the signing: “We are thrilled to be joining the incredible team at Napalm Records. Napalm has always been the label that artists strive to be a part of and we are honored to bring our unique blend of heavy witch gloom to their impressive roster.
We’d also like to take this opportunity to say we are extremely fortunate to be part of the Oracle Management family, and are grateful for them helping us realize our goal of signing to Napalm Records. It was Oracle’s existing relationship with Napalm that helped to seal the deal. We can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
Sebastian Muench, Senior A&R at Napalm Records, adds: “FRAYLE have been enchanting their fans with their unique way of interpreting doom metal since 2017. Their artistic vision and past live performances have fascinated us and enticed us to work together as partners on the next step in the band’s career. I can guarantee that the new studio album will be simply amazing!”
Stay tuned for more FRAYLE news coming soon!
FRAYLE is: Gwyn Strang: Vocals Sean Bilovecky: Guitar Jason Knotek: Bass Jon Vinson: Drums
Posted in Questionnaire on July 26th, 2023 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: Alex Perekrest of Red Giant
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I WANT to exist as a craftsman of riffage. THAT’S my goal. It’s my heart’s desire to be that. What I am is what’s happening along the twisted way.
This shit started probably like a lot of other folks. Teenage nonsense. And Soundgarden.
Describe your first musical memory.
I truly believed that The Beatles were tiny creatures living inside my sister’s 8 track/bedside table(#128514#). And KISS…
Describe your best musical memory to date.
We did this crazy space rock festival with Hawkwind sometime in the ’90s. At the end of the weekend, Hawkwind is climaxing with “Brainstorm” and the shit builds and builds and then STOPS! The lights come on and one kid in the center of the crowd puts his arms up and screams “YEAAAAHHHH!” And everyone explodes!!! Euphoric…. And seeing Sleep in ’93 with Nik Turner.. And Kyuss on my 21st birthday…. And singing for fucking MONSTER MAGNET…. I could write a book… (#128514#)(#128514#)
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I kinda stopped believing in God in my teens. And then believed again in my late 20s.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Progression implies time. Time implies age. As an artist progresses, time passes. And the situations that arise in life color the shit the artist does. So the race is to get your realest shit to the finish line before you die… I guess death is where it leads. All roads lead to Rome(#128514#)
How do you define success?
Joy.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Any Star Wars movie after Return of the Jedi.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
The Black Rig.. Yep! Amps. I want more amps…
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
To bring joy and to heal. To make a beautiful thing.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Well here we are, at last. A couple weeks ago I looked at my calendar and ended up pushing this Quarterly Review to mid-July instead of the end of June, and it’s been hanging over my head in the interim to such a degree that I added two days to it to cover another 20 records. I’m sure it could be more. The amount of music is infinite. It just keeps going.
I’ll assume you know the deal, but here it is anyhow: 10 records per day, for seven days — Monday through Friday, plus Monday and Tuesday in this case — for a total of 70 reviews. Links and audio provided to the extent possible, and hopefully we all find some killer new music we didn’t know about before, or if we did know about it, just to enjoy. That doesn’t seem so crazy, right?
Quarterly Review #1-10:
Bongzilla, Dab City
None higher. Following extensive touring before and (to the extent possible) after the release of their 2021 album, Weedsconsin (review here), Madison, WI, canna-worship crust sludge-launchers Bongzilla return with Dab City, proffering the harsh and the mellow as only they seem to be able to do, even among their ’90s-born original-era sludge brethren. As second track “King of Weed” demonstrates, Bongzilla are aurally dank unto themselves, both in the scathing vocals of bassist Mike “Muleboy” Makela and the layered guitar of Jeff “Spanky” Schultz and the slow-swinging groove shoving all that weighted tone forward in Mike “Magma” Henry‘s drums. Through the seven tracks and 56 minutes of dense jams like those in the opening title-cut or the 13-minute “Cannonbong (The Ballad of Burnt Reynolds as Lamented by Dixie Dave Collins” (yes, from Weedeater) or the gloriously languid finale “American Pot,” the shorter instrumental “C.A.R.T.S.,” or in the relatively uptempo nodders “Hippie Stick” and “Diamonds and Flower,” Bongzilla underscore the if-you-get-it-then-you-get-it nature of their work, at once extreme in its bite and soothing in atmosphere, uncompromising in purpose. I’m not going to tell you to get bombed out of your gourd and listen, but they almost certainly did while making it, and Dab City is nothing if not an invitation to that party.
Adventures await as Redhill, UK, three-piece Trevor’s Head — guitarist/vocalist Roger Atkins, bassist/vocalist/synthesist Aaron Strachan (also kalimba), drummer/flutist/vocalist/synthesist Matt Ainsworth (also Mellotron) — signal a willfully open and progressive creativity through the heavy psych and grunge melodies of lead track “Call of the Deep” before the Primus-gone-fuzz-prog chug of “Under My Skin” and the somehow-English-pastoral “Grape Fang” balances on its multi-part harmonies and loose-feeling movement, side A trading between shorter and longer songs to end with the seven-minute, violin-inclusive folk-then-fuzz-folk highlight “Elio” before “Rumspringa” brings the proceedings to ground as only cowbell might. As relatively straight-ahead as the trio get there or in the more pointedly aggressive shover “A True Gentleman” on the other side of the Tool-ish noodling and eat-this-riff of “What Got Stuck” (answer: the thrashy gallop before the final widdly-widdly solo, in my head), they never want for complexity, and as much as it encapsulates in its depth of arrangement and linear course, closer “Don’t Make Me Ask” represents the band perhaps even more in looking forward rather than back on what was just accomplished, building on what 2018’s Soma Holiday (review here) hinted at stylistically and mindfully evolving their sound.
Born in the ’90s as Amend, turned more extreme as V and now perhaps beginning a new era as Vorder — pronounced “vee-order” — the Dalarna, Sweden, unit return with a new rhythm section behind founding guitarists Jonas Gryth (also Unhealer) and Andreas Baier (also Besvärjelsen, Afgrund, and so on) featuring bassist Marcus Mackä Lindqvist (Blodskam, Lýsis) and drummer Daniel Liljekvist (ex-Katatonia, In Mourning, Grand Cadaver, etc.) on drums, the invigorated four-piece greet a dark dawn with due presence on False Haven, bringing Baier‘s Besvärjelsen bandmate Lea Amling Alazam for guest vocals on “The Few Remaining Lights,” which seems to be consumed after its melodic opening into a lurching and organ-laced midsection like Entombed after the Isis-esque ambience of post-apocalyptic mourning in “Introspective” and “Beyond the Horizon of Life.” Beauty and darkness are not new themes for Vorder, even if False Haven is their first release under the name, and even in the bleak ‘n’ roll of the title-track there’s still room for hope if you define hope as tambourine. Which you probably should. The penultimate “Judgement Awaits” interrupts floating post-doom with vital shove and 10:32 finale “Come Undone” provides a resonant melodic answer to “The Few Remaining Lights” while paying off the album as a whole in patience, heft and fullness. Vorder use microgenres like a polyglot might switch languages, but what’s expressed from the entirety of the work is utterly their own, whatever name they use.
Multi-instrumentalist Beth Gladding (also of Forlesen, Botanist, Lotus Thief, etc.) shares vocal duties in New York’s Inherus with bassist Anthony DiBlasi (ex-Witchkiss) and fellow guitarist/synthesist Brian Harrigan (Grid, Swallow the Ocean), and the harsh/clean dynamic puts emphasis on the various textures presented throughout the band’s debut album. Completed by drummer Andrew Vogt (Lotus Thief, Swallow the Ocean), Inherus reach toward SubRosan melancholy on “Forgotten Kingdom,” which begins the hour-flat/six-track 2LP, and they follow with harmonies and grandeur to spare on “One More Fire” (something in that melody reminds me of Indigo Girls and I’m noting it because I can’t get my head away from it; not complaining) and “The Dagger,” which resolves in Amenra-style squibble and lurch without giving up its emotional depth. “Oh Brother” crushes enough to make one wonder where the line truly is between metal and post-metal, and the setup for closer “Lie to the Angels” in the drone-plus piece “Obliterated in the Face of the Gods” telegraphs the intensity to follow if not the progginess of that particular chug or the scope of what follows. Vogt signals the arrival at the album’s crescendo with stately but fast double-kick, and if you’re wondering who gets the last word, it’s feedback. Beholden may prove formative as Inherus move forward, but what their first full-length lays out as their stylistic range is at least as impressive as it is ambitious. Hope for more to come.
Even in the second half of “Tying Up the Noose” as it leads into “Give it Time” — which is about as speedy as Sonic Moon get on their Olde Magick Records-delivered first LP, Return Without Any Memory — they’re in no particular hurry. The overarching languid pace across the Aarhus five-piece’s 41-minute/seven-tracker — which reuses only the title-track from 2019’s Usually I Don’t Care for Flowers EP — makes it hypnotic even in its most active moments, but whether it’s the Denmarkana acoustic moodiness of centerpiece “Through the Snow,” the steady nod of “Head Under the River” later or the post-All Them Witches psych-blues conveyed in opener “The Waters,” Sonic Moon are able to conjure landscapes from fuzzed tonality that could just as easily have been put to use for traditional doom as psych-leaning heavy rock, uniting the songs through that same fuzz and the melody of the vocals as “Head Under the River” spaces out ahead of its slowdown or “Hear Me Now” eschews the huge finish in favor of a more unassuming, gentler letting go, indicative of the thoughtfulness behind their craft and their presentation of the material. Familiar enough on paper and admirably, unpretentiously itself, the self-recorded Return Without Any Memory discovers its niche and comes across as being right at home in it. A welcome debut.
With cosmic doom via YOB meeting with progressive heavy rock à la Elder or Louisiana rollers Forming the Void and an undercurrent of metal besides in the chug and double-kick of “Controlled Burn,” Cleveland’s Slow Wake make their full-length debut culling together songs their 2022 Falling Fathoms EP and adding the prior-standalone “Black Stars” for 12 minutes’ worth of good measure at the end. The dense and jangly tones at the start of the title-track (where it’s specifically “Marrow”-y) or “In Waves” earlier on seem to draw more directly from Mike Scheidt‘s style of play, but “Relief” builds from its post-rocking outset to grow furious over its first few minutes headed toward a payoff that’s melody as much as crunch. “Black Stars” indulges a bit more psychedelic repetition, which could be a sign of things to come or just how it worked out on that longer track, but Slow Wake lay claim to significant breadth regardless, and have the structural complexity to work in longer forms without losing themselves either in jams or filler. With a strong sense of its goals, Falling Fathoms puts Slow Wake on a self-aware trajectory of growth in modern prog-heavy style. That is, they know what they’re doing and they know why. To show that alone on a first record makes it a win. Their going further lets you know to keep an eye out for next time as well.
The Fierce and the Dead, News From the Invisible World
Unearthing a bit of earlier-Queens of the Stone Age compression fuzz in the start-stop riff of “Shake the Jar” is not even scratching the surface as regards textures put to use by British progressive heavies The Fierce and the Dead on their fourth album, News From the Invisible World. Comprised of eight songs varied in mood and textures around a central ethic clearly intent on not sounding any more like anyone else than it has to, the collection is the first release from the band to feature vocals. Those are handled ably by bassist Kev Feazey, but it’s telling as to the all-in nature of the band that, in using singing for the first time, they employ no fewer than six guest vocalists, mostly but not exclusively on opener/intro “The Start.” From there, it’s a wild course through keyboard/synth-fed atmospheres on pieces like the Phil Collins-gone-heavy “Photogenic Love” and its side-B-capping counterpart “Nostalgia Now,” which ends like friendlier Godflesh, astrojazz experimentalism on “Non-Player,” and plenty of fuzz in “Golden Thread,” “Wonderful,” “What a Time to Be Alive,” and so on, though where a song starts is not necessarily where it’s going to end up. Given Feazey‘s apparent comfort with the task before him, it’s a wonder they didn’t make this shift earlier, but they do well in making up for lost time.
Kliwon is the second offering from Indonesia-based meditative psych exploration unit Mud Spencer to be released through Argonauta Records after 2022’s Fuzz Soup (review here), and its four component songs find France-born multi-instrumentalist Rodolphe Bellugue (also Proots, Bedhunter, etc.) constructing material of marked presence and fluidity. Opener “Suzzanna” is halfway through its nine minutes before the drums start. “Ratu Kidul” is 16 minutes of mindful breathing (musically speaking) as shimmering guitar melody pokes out from underneath the surrounding ethereal wash, darker in tone but more than just bleak. Of course “Dead on the Heavy Funk” reminds of Mr. Bungle as it metal-chugs and energetically weirds out. And the just under 16-minute “Jasmin Eater” closes out with organ and righteous fuzz bass peppered with flourish details on guitar and languid drumming, becoming heavier and consuming as it moves toward the tempo kick that’s the apex of the album. Through these diverse tracks, an intimate psychedelic persona emerges, even without vocals, and Mud Spencer continues to look inward for expanses to be conveyed before doing precisely that.
It would seem that in the interim between 2021’s Ocean of Acid EP and this five-song/41-minute debut full-length, Tyhjiö, Finnish psychedelic death-doomers Kita traded English lyrics for those in their native Finnish. No, I don’t speak it, but that hardly matters in the chant-like chorus of the title-track or the swirling pummel that surrounds as the band invent their own microgenre, metal-rooted and metal in affect, but laced with synth and able to veer into lysergic guitar atmospherics in the 10-minute opener “Kivi Puhuu” or the acoustic-led (actually it’s bass-led, but still) midsection leading to the triumphant chorus of bookending closer “Ataraksia,” uniting disparate ideas through strength of craft, tonal and structural coherence, and, apparently, sheer will. The title-track, “Torajyvä” and “Kärpässilmät,” with the centerpiece cut as the shortest, make for a pyramid-style presentation (broader around its base), but Kita are defined by what they do, drawing extremity from countrymen like Swallow the Sun or Amorphis, among others, and turning it into something of their own. Striking in the true sense of: it feels like being punched. But punched while you hang out on the astral plane.
Greek fuzz alert! Heavy rocking three-piece Embargo hail from Thessaloniki with their first long-player, High Seas, using winding aspects of progressive metal to create tension in the starts and stops of “Billow,” “EAT” and “Candy” as spoken verses in the latter and “Alanna Finch” draw a line between the moody noise rock of Helmet, the grunge it informed, and the heavy rock that emerged (in part) from that. Running 10 tracks and 44 minutes, High Seas is quick in marking out the smoothness of its low tonality, and it veers into and out of what one might consider aggression in terms of style, “with 22 22” thoughtfully composed and sharply pointed in kind, one of several instrumentals to offset some of the gruffer stretches or a more patient melodic highlight like “Draupner,” which does little to hide its affinity for Soundgarden and is only correct to showcase it. They also finish sans-vocals in the title-track, and there’s almost a letting-loose sense to “High Seas” itself, shaking out some shuffle in the first half before peaking in the second. Greece is among Europe’s most packed and vibrant undergrounds, and with High Seas, Embargo begin to carve their place within it.
Posted in Questionnaire on May 17th, 2023 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: Balmer from Hiram-Maxim
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
My dating profile says “Piercer by day; Keytar demon by night”, which is pretty accurate but also a little too specific. In reality, I just can’t help but apply a reeeaaal thick layer of my personality to whatever I can get my hands on. Sometimes it’s a musical thing or a silly lil outfit. Sometimes I’m literally smearing fake blood on the bathroom mirror. It’s like I’m just out here walkin around with sticky fingers touchin everything, makin it sticky (or in some cases, bloody). I’ve been this way since I was beamed onto this planet; these things are almost compulsive for me. But to be more specific, I’ve been playin music for about 18 years, prop-making and special FX makeup for about 10, and piercing for 3 years and I came to do them because I… felt like it?
Describe your first musical memory.
When I was growin up, it was still pretty uncommon for people to have a decent stereo setup in their homes. Most-a my friends were still rockin battery-operated boomboxes. My father (who probably considered himself an audiophile, but was more like the shoulda-left-the-fringe-jacket-back-in-the-80s, mullet-wearin type) had a pretty decent set of speakers in the living room, so I spent my whole childhood believing his favorite 90’s/early 2000’s nu-metal bands were, like, GOD-tier compared to the other music I was hearin on whatever shitty speakers I’d heard it on. These days the phones in our pockets probably have better speakers than the ones my dad garbage-picked, and it turns out there’s a whole universe of music better than nu-metal. No offense nu-metal fans.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
I’m happy to say that I have experienced many a musical high in my life. It’s a dragon I think all musical humans are familiar with chasing. I have a recent favorite from a drag show here in Cleveland: Intermission had just ended and the host was gettin everybody geared up for the second half of the show. However, when the next performer was called… they didn’t show up. Time to stall. The host called on me in the audience and asked what song I’d do if I were performing next. I scanned my drag playlist in my head and called out “I dunno, probably something by Oingo Boingo”. Without skipping a beat, the DJ called up “Weird Science” and the crowd parted around me, more or less insisting that I dance. So I did. Surrounded by all my beautiful queer friends. Being showered in dollar bills. Dancing to a song I didn’t write at a show I wasn’t meant to perform at. Funny thing is that song has been on my drag playlist for ages, but I’ve never performed it because the lyrics are too tricky.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I was wonderin if I was gonna make it thru this questionnaire without talkin about being trans. Here we go: My journey on the yellow brick road of queerness has not been a linear one. I know today that I exist in the gray area in between/adjacent to the L and G and B and all the other letters, but that wasn’t always so clear to me. Every time I learned somethin more about who I wasn’t, I’d be that much more desperate to declare who I was. So I tried on a whole lotta titles, claimed numerous sexualities n genders, and ultimately wound up “coming out” as about a million things before I found a few that felt right. This meant admitting I was wrong about myself over n over, but it’s also what lead me to be the most authentic version of myself I’ve known to date.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
I feel like progress (particularly in creative pursuits) can be quite elusive. Sometimes it’s a one-step-forward-two-steps-back kind-a ordeal. Sometimes it just leads ya in circles and brings ya right back to where ya started. So I guess I’d say artistic progression can lead just about anywhere but also nowhere over and over. If you’re lucky, the trip’s enjoyable more often than it sucks.
How do you define success?
Success in creative endeavors is pretty tough to define. Presenting something to other humans and receiving positive feedback can be considered a success. Creating something that communicates exactly the message you wanted to? Sure. I know there are a lotta humans out there that quantify success in dollars as well. At the end of the day, I feel like artistic pursuits rarely reward us for our efforts, so it’s important to loosely interpret words like “success” and allow one’s self as many victories as possible.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
I feel like this one has the potential to be really grim, so I’m gonna keep it light. My first apartment was across the street from where my mom lived. I woke up one mornin (Mother’s Day? Easter?) n thought it might be cute to bring my pet rabbits over to the house to say hi. Anyway I throw on a pair of slippers n head across the street with these bunnies up under each of my arms like two little footballs. I go inside. I’m sure you’ve guessed it by now: my stepdad’s fucking my mom. And I’m just standin in the doorway, horrified, with these two rabbits. They too lost their innocence that day. Definitely wish I hadn’t seen that.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I’ve always wanted to buy a house so I can build a bunch-a tunnels n passages between the rooms for my cats to run around in. Y’know, like little bridges n stuff.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
For me, art is a verb that describes all the ways in which I feel compelled to appease my own personal Mental Health Gods. It’s a way to open up my skull n let the bees out, y’know? Playin a lil song always gives me a good brain squeeze, but sometimes (a lot of the time), stickin a rusty nail in a barbie doll’s temple gets the job done. It’s all artful and it all serves the function of making sense of the messy emotions we all deal with.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Honestly I’m just lookin forward to corndogs and funnel cakes at the drive-in next spring.
Coming at you live and direct from the Wegmans pharmacy counter where I’m waiting to pick up some pinkeye drops for my kid, who stayed home from half-day pre-k on Monday because the Quarterly Review isn’t complicated enough on its own. It was my diagnosis that called off the bus, later confirmed over telehealth, so at least I wasn’t wrong and shot my own day. I know this shit doesn’t matter to anyone — it’ll barely matter to me in half an hour — but, well, I don’t think I’ve ever written while waiting for a prescription before and I’m just stoned enough to think it might be fun to do so now.
Of course, by the time I’m writing the reviews below — tomorrow morning, as it happens — this scrip will have long since been ready and retrieved. But a moment to live through, just the same.
We hit halfway today. Hope your week’s been good so far. Mine’s kind of a mixed bag apart from the music, which has been pretty cool.
Quarterly Review #21-30:
Yakuza, Sutra
Since it would be impossible anyway to encapsulate the scope of Yakuza‘s Sutra — the Chicago-based progressive psych-metal outfit led by vocalist/saxophonist Bruce Lamont, with Matt McClelland on guitar/backing vocals, Jerome Marshall on bass and James Staffel on drums/percussion — from the transcendental churn of “2is1” to the deadpan tension build in and noise rock payoff in “Embers,” the sax-scorch bass-punch metallurgical crunch of “Into Forever” and the deceptively bright finish of “Never the Less,” and so on, let’s do a Q&A. They still might grind at any moment? Yup, see “Burn Before Reading.” They still on a wavelength of their own? Oh most definitely; see “Echoes From the Sky,” “Capricorn Rising,” etc. Still underrated? Yup. It’s been 11 years since they released Beyul (review here). Still ahead of their time? Yes. Like anti-genre pioneers John Zorn or Peter Brötzmann turned heavy and metal, or like Virus or Voivod with their specific kind of if-you-know-you-know, cult-following-worthy individualist creativity, Yakuza weave through the consuming 53-minute procession of Sutra with a sensibility that isn’t otherworldly because it’s psychedelic or drenched in effects (though it might also be those things at any given moment), but because they sound like they come from another planet. A welcome return from an outfit genuinely driven toward the unique and a meld of styles beyond metal and/or jazz. And they’ve got a fitting home on Svart. I know it’s been over a decade, but I hope these dudes get old in this band.
The second offering from Philadelphia multi-instrumentalist Heath Rave (Altars of the Moon, former drums in Wolvhammer, etc.) under the banner of Lotus Thrones, the seven-song/38-minute The Heretic Souvenir (on Disorder and Seeing Red) draws its individual pieces across an aural divide by means of a stark atmosphere, the post-plague-and-the-plague-is-capitalism skulking groove of “B0T0XDR0NE$” emblematic both of perspective and of willingness to throw a saxophone overtop if the mood’s right (by Yakuza‘s Bruce Lamont, no less), which it is. At the outset, “Gore Orphanage” is more of an onslaught, and “Alpha Centauri” has room for both a mathy chug and goth-rocking shove, the latter enhanced by Rave‘s low-register vocals. Following the Genghis Tron-esque glitch-grind of 1:16 centerpiece “Glassed,” the three-and-a-half-minute “Roses” ups the goth factor significantly, delving into twisted Type O Negative-style pulls and punk-rooted forward thrust in a highlight reportedly about Rave‘s kid, which is nice (not sarcastic), before making the jump into “Autumn of the Heretic Souvenir,” which melds Americana and low-key dub at the start of its 11-minute run before shifting into concrete sludge chug and encompassing trades between atmospheric melody and outright crush until a shift eight minutes in brings stand(mostly)alone keys backed by channel-swapping electronic noise as a setup for the final surge’s particularly declarative riff. That makes the alt-jazz instrumental “Nautilus” something of an afterthought, but not out of place in terms of its noir ambience that’s also somehow indebted to Nine Inch Nails. There’s a cough near the end. See if you can hear it.
Realized at the formidable behest of Heavy Psych Sounds, the seventh installment of the Doom Sessions series (Vol. 8 is already out) brings together Sweden’s strongly cinematic sludge-doomers Endtime with fire-crackling North Carolinian woods-doomers Cosmic Reaper. With two songs from the former and three from the latter, the balance winds up with more of an EP feel from Cosmic Reaper and like a single with an intro from Endtime, who dedicate the first couple of minutes of “Tunnel of Life” to a keyboard intro that’s very likely a soundtrack reference I just don’t know because I’m horror-ignorant before getting down to riff-rumble-roll business on the righteously slow-raging seven minutes of “Beyond the Black Void.” Cosmic Reaper, meanwhile, have three cuts, with harmonized guitars entering “Sundowner” en route to a languid and melodic nod verse, a solo later answering the VHS atmosphere of Endtime before “Dead and Loving It” and “King of Kings” cult-doom their way into oblivion, the latter picking up a bit of momentum as it pushes near the eight-minute mark. It’s a little uneven, considering, but Doom Sessions Vol. 7 provides a showcase for two of Heavy Psych Sounds‘ up-and-coming acts, and that’s pretty clearly the point. If it leads to listeners checking out their albums after hearing it, mission accomplished.
Don’t skip this because of High Priest‘s generic-stoner-rock name. The Chicago four-piece of bassist/vocalist Justin Valentino, guitarists Pete Grossmann and John Regan and drummer Dan Polak make an awaited full-length debut with Invocation on Magnetic Eye Records, and if the label’s endorsement isn’t enough, I’ll tell you the eight-song/44-minute long-player is rife with thoughtful construction, melody and heft. Through the opening title-track and into the lumber, sweep and boogie of “Divinity,” they incorporate metal with the two guitars and some of the vocal patterning, but aren’t beholden to that anymore than to heavy rock, and far from unipolar, “Ceremony” gives a professional fullness of sound that “Cosmic Key” ups immediately to round out side A before “Down in the Park” hints toward heavygaze without actually tipping over, “Universe” finds the swing buried under that monolithic fuzz, “Conjure” offers a bluesier but still huge-sounding take and 7:40 closer “Heaven” layers a chorus of self-harmonizing Valentinos to underscore the point of how much the vocals add to the band. Which is a lot. What’s lost in pointing that out is just how densely weighted their backdrop is, and the nuance High Priest bring to their arrangements throughout, but whether you want to dig into that or just learn the words and sing along, you can’t lose.
Its catharsis laced in every stretch of the skin-peeling tremolo and echoing screams of “Altar of Liar,” Season Unknown arrives as the first release from Poland’s MiR, a directly-blackened spinoff of heavy psych rockers Spaceslug, whose guitarist/vocalist Bartosz Janik and bassist/vocalist Jan Rutka feature along with guitarist Michał Zieleniewski (71tonman) and drummer Krzystof Kamisiński (Burning Hands). The relationship to Janik and Rutka‘s other (main?) band is sonically tenuous, though Spaceslug‘s Kamil Ziółkowski also guests on vocals, making it all the more appropriate that MiR stands as a different project. Ripping and progressive in kind, cuts like “Lost in Vision” and the blastbeaten severity of “Ashen” are an in-genre rampage, and while “Sum of All Mourn” is singularly engrossing in its groove, the penultimate “Yesterday Rotten” comes through as willfully stripped to its essential components until its drifting finish, which is fair enough ahead of the more expansive closer “Illusive Loss of Inner Frame,” which incorporates trades between all-out gnash and atmospheric contemplations. I won’t profess to be an expert on black metal, but as a sidestep, Season Unknown is both respectfully bold and clearly schooled in what it wants to be.
Recorded by esteemed producer Martin Bisi (Swans, Sonic Youth, Unsane, etc.) in 2021-’22, Colder is Hiram-Maxim‘s third full-length, with hints of Angels of Light amid the sneering heaviness of “Bathed in Blood” after opener/longest track (immediate points) “Alpha” lays out the bleak atmosphere in which what follows will reside. “Undone” gets pretty close to laying on the floor, while “It Feels Good” very pointedly doesn’t for its three minutes of dug-in cafe woe, from out of which “Hive Mind” emerges with keys and drums forward in a moody verse before the post-punk urgency takes more complete hold en route to a finish of manipulated noise. As one would have to expect, “Shock Cock” is a rocker at heart, and the lead-in from the drone/experimental spoken word of “Time Lost Time” holds as a backdrop so that its Stooges-style comedown heavy is duly weirded out. Is that a theremin? Possibly. They cap by building a wall of malevolence and contempt with “Sick to Death” in under three minutes, resolving in a furious assault of kitchen-sink volume, that, yes, recedes, but is resonant enough to leave scratches on your arm. Don’t let anyone tell you this isn’t extreme music just because some dude isn’t singing about killing some lady or quoting a medical dictionary. Colder could just as easily have been called ‘Volcanic.’
Seeming always to be ready with a friendly, easy nod, Lafayette/Indianapolis, Indiana’s The Heavy Co. return with “Brain Dead” as a follow-up single to late-2022’s “God Damn, Jimmy.” The current four-piece incarnation of the band — guitarist/vocalist Ian Daniel, guitarist Jeff Kaleth, bassist Eric Bruce and drummer TR McCully — seem to be refocused from some of the group’s late-’10s departures, elements of outlaw country set aside in favor of a rolling riff with shades of familiar boogie in the start-stops beneath its solo section, a catchy but largely unassuming chorus, and a theme that, indeed, is about getting high. In one form or another, The Heavy Co. have been at it for most of the last 15 years, and in a little over four minutes they demonstrate where they want their emphasis to be — a loose, jammy feel held over from the riffout that probably birthed the song in the first place coinciding with the structure of the verses and chorus and a lack of pretense that is no less a defining aspect than the aforementioned riff. They know what they’re doing, so let ’em roll on. I don’t know if the singles are ahead of an album release or not, but whatever shows up whenever it does, The Heavy Co. are reliable in my mind and this is right in their current wheelhouse.
The intervening year since L.A.’s The Cimmerian made their debut with Thrice Majestic (review here) seems to have made the trio even more pummeling, as their Sword & Sorcery Vol. I two-songer finds them incorporating death and extreme metal for a feel like a combined-era Entombed on leadoff “Suffer No Guilt” which is a credit to bassist Nicolas Rocha‘s vocal burl as well as the intensity of riff from David Gein (ex-The Scimitar) and corresponding thrash gallop in David Morales‘ drumming. The subsequent “Inanna Rising” is slower, with a more open nod in its rhythm, but no less threatening, with fluid rolls of double-kick pushing the verse forward amid the growls and an effective scream, a sample of something (everything?) burning, and a kick in pace before the solo about halfway into the track’s 7:53. If The Cimmerian are growing more metal, and it seems they are, then the aggression suits them as the finish of “Inanna Rising” attests, and the thickness of sludge carried over in their tonality assures that the force of their impact is more than superficial.
Released as an offering from the amorphous Hungarian collective Psychedelic Source Records, the three-song Protoaeolianism arrives under the moniker of Nepaal — also stylized as :nepaal, with the colon — finding mainstay Bence Ambrus on guitar with Krisztina Benus on keys, Dávid Strausz on bass, Krisztián Megyeri on drums and Marci Bíró on effects/synth for captured-in-the-moment improvisations of increasing reach as space and psych and krautrocks comingle with hypnotic pulsations on “Innoxial Talent Parade” (9:54), the centerpiece “Brahman Sleeps 432 Billion Years” (19:14) and “Ineffable Minor States” (13:44), each of which has its arc of departure, journey and arrival, forming a multi-stage narrative voyage that’s as lush as the liquefied tones and sundry whatever-that-was noises. “Ineffable Minor States” is so serene in its just-guitar start that the first time I heard it I thought the song had cut off, but no. They’re just taking their time, and why shouldn’t they? And why shouldn’t we all take some time to pause, engage mindfully with our surroundings, experience or senses one at a time, the things we see, hear, touch, taste, smell? Maybe Protoaeolianism — instrumental for the duration — is a call to that. Maybe it’s just some jams from jammers and I shouldn’t read anything else into it. Here then, as in all things, you choose your own adventure. I’m glad to be the one to tell you this is an adventure worth taking.
There is much to dig into on the second full-length from Toledo, Ohio, duo Hope Hole — the returning parties of Matt Snyder and Mike Mulholland — who offer eight originals and a centerpiece cover of The Cure‘s “Sinking” that’s not even close to being the saddest thing on the record, titled Beautiful Doom presumably in honor of the music itself. Leadoff “Spirits on the Radio” makes me nostalgic for a keyboard-laced goth glory day that never happened while also tapping some of mid-period Anathema‘s abiding downer soul, seeming to speak to itself as much as the audience with repetitions of “You reap what you sew.” Some Godflesh surfaces in “600 Years,” and they’re resolute in the melancholy of “Common Sense” until the chugging starts, like a dirtier, underproduced Crippled Black Phoenix. Rolling with deceptive momentum, the title-track could be acoustic until it starts with the solo and electronic beats later before shifting into the piano, beats, drift guitar, and so on of “Sinking.” “Chopping Me” could be an entire band’s sound but it’s barely a quarter of what Hope Hole have to say in terms of aesthetic two records deep. “Mutant Dynamo” duly punks its arthouse sludge and shreds a self-aware over-the-top solo in the vein of Brendan Small, while “Pyrokinetic” revives earlier goth swing with a gruff biker exterior (I’d watch that movie) and a moment of spinning weirdo triumph at the end, almost happy to be burned, where the seven-minute finale “Cities of Gold” returns to beats over its gradual guitar start, emerging with chanting vocals to become its own declaration of progressive intent. Beautiful Doom ends with a steady march rather than the expected blowout, having built its gorgeous decay out of the same rotten Midwestern ground as the debut — 2021’s Death Can Change (review here) — but moved unquestionably forward from it.
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 23rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
So, the debut album from Cleveland, Ohio, atmospheric heavymakers Slow Wake, apparently titled Falling Fathoms, isn’t mentioned by name in the press release below, though the new video from it for the 10-minute simmerer “Controlled Burn” is. Meantime, if you pop over to the band’s Bandcamp, you’ll find the five-tracker streaming in its sprawling entirety with the release date of Feb. 21, 2023. If you’re keeping up, that was three days ago.
I don’t know if that was intentional, if it will still be true by the time this goes live, or if it’s just a matter of some miscommunication between promotional concerns around the band, but the record sounds cool — for some reason, their doom-adjacent, metal-rooted, progressive-leaning take on heavy reminds on first impression of Boss Keloid and Sergeant Thunderhoof, both UK acts and nowhere near the US Midwest at all; go figure — but I’ve barely started to dig in and with breadth as a focus I’m not prepared to define their aesthetic even just for my own purposes, so don’t quote me on that or anything. Maybe it’s just that there’s a lot going on, which is a common trait for all three acts. Slow Wake don’t seem to be shy about letting the guitars do a bit of dreaming either, which rests organically alongside the corresponding heft.
Maybe they decided to just put it all out there at once, and maybe they’ll pull the record off Bandcamp to allow the whole promo cycle to play out as it will. I have no idea and it’s not up to me. I take what I can get when I can get it. Later than you think, and all that.
Here’s what the PR wire had to say about the band signing to Argonauta:
US Psych Post-Doomsters SLOW WAKE sign with ARGONAUTA Records and share debut single and video
Says the band: “We are incredibly excited to partner with Argonauta Records to release our debut album! Being part of such a strong and passionate label with an incredibly rich and diverse roster – many of whom we’re big fans of – is simply thrilling. We’re stoked to work with Gero to bring you all our signature brand of beautiful heaviness!”
Slow Wake was conceived in Cleveland, Ohio amidst the chaos and turmoil of the Covid pandemic by guitarists Dan Simone (Black Spirit Crown) and Matt Merchant. As the world seemed to collapse around them, the two long-time friends convened to process what they were experiencing by finally starting that band they’d been talking about for years. What emerged from those first few jam sessions was an intriguing blend of styles, Matt’s post-rock/americana and Dan’s stoner doom offering compelling counterpoint to each other in passages that were simultaneously ethereal and psychedelic, yet powerful and cathartic.
The duo were soon joined by bassist Joe Fortunato (Sparrowmilk, Venomin James) and drummer Jeff Larch (Black Spirit Crown, Reginleif) and the riffs did flow. What emerged was a blend of post-rock, doom, heavy psych and outer space that’s been described as “Like staring out into the abyss of Lake Erie at sunset on a few hits of acid as the sun burns the water.”
The band hit the ground running with their first show in June of 2021 and proceeded to play relentlessly throughout the region with heavy hitters such as Lo-Pan, Frayle, Telekinetic Yeti, Heavy Temple, Caustic Casanova and Argonauta Records alumni The Lucid Furs, as well as an appearance at the Ohio Doomed and Stoned Fest. Independent label and co-organizers of the “Post.Festival” and “dunk!USA”, A Thousand Arms Music, included the song “In Waves” on their “Open Language: Volume VII” compilation to a wide audience of post fans.
Stay tuned for more news to be revealed soon!
Slow Wake is: Jeff Larch – Drums, Backing Vocals Matthew Merchant – Guitar, Guitar Synth Dan Simone – Vocals, Guitar, Guitar Synth Joe Fortunato – Bass, Bass Synth
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 9th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Frayle just wrapped the UK portion of their Fall 2022 European tour, and are currently kicking around the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and more Germany to wrap up. No doubt Damnation Festival was a highlight, but it inevitably would be. As they go, continue to go, the Cleveland, Ohio, witch doomers and apparent light-bondage aficionados — not shaming, judging, particularly caring; it’s just a thing to mention as it’s clearly a part of their aesthetic and live presentation, like the one dude’s dreadlocks — further announce they’ll re-press their two full-lengths, the latest of which, Skin and Sorrow, was released in September, to rectify prior sell-throughs. That’s the EP, The White Witch, Skin and Sorrow, and their debut LP, 1692. Sometimes a band moves records. Kind of nice when it happens, actually.
Info, preorder links and whatnot all came down the PR wire:
Frayle announces the repress of The White Witch, 1692 and Skin & Sorrow for their European tour
Cleveland based Heavy Witch Doom coven are excited to announce that they will re-pressing all 3 of their albums on vinyl to co-coincide with the band’s European Tour which they are currently on.
Formed in Cleveland in 2017 by Sean Bilovecky and Gwyn Strang they band made their debut with the ‘The White Witch’ EP in 2018 released on vinyl by Lay Bare Recordings. The White Witch was followed by two full length albums: ‘1692’ and ‘Skin & Sorrow.’
Frayle’s “lullabies over chaos” approach to songwriting allows them the freedom to explore what is possible with heavy music. They strive to balance the heaviest of riffs with the approachability of Gwyn’s haunting vocal melodies. Complex layering and tone stacking is a hallmark of their music. Each musical element is thoughtfully composed resulting in a unique combination of midrange-heavy guitars, syncopated rhythms, and unexpected vocal progressions. Gwyn tells stories of heart break, anger, hypocrisy and resolution, asking the audience for empathy, and in turn inspiring vulnerability.
The coloured vinyl comes with full colour inlay (300pcs). A repress of the ‘White Witch’ CD (300pcs) will be available at Lay Bare Recordings and on Frayle’s bandcamp (300 vinyl, 200 CD) and available EXCLUSIVE on their EU/ UK tour.
In this 2nd repress version of 1692 ‘Ring of Fire’ from Johnny Cash is added. Frayle delivers their own epic version of the song written by June Carter Cash and Merle Kilgore and popularized by Johnny Cash in 1963.This version comes in a/ side b/side: white/ gold colored vinyl.
This is the first repress of the critically acclaimed album that was released 23rd of September 2022.The new version come on heavy weight 180g 12” coloured vinyl (grimace purple / sea blue) in a gatefold cover.
Tour Dates 9th November 2022 – Alte Meierei – DE 10th November 2022 – Stengade – Copenhagen – DK 11th November 2022 – Plan B – Malmo – SE 13th November 2022 – Revolver – Oslo – NO 16th November 2022 – Backstage – Munich – DE 17th November 2022 – Comma Club – Gera – DE 18th November 2022 – Zolkatine – Bremen – DE 19th November 2022 – Gloomar Festival – Neunkirchen – DE 20th November 2022 – MTC – Cologne – DE
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 11th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
In what I seriously doubt will be their last trip abroad supporting their new album, Skin & Sorrow, Ohio witch doomers Frayle have announced a stretch of European tour dates for next month. That includes a stop at Damnation Festival in Manchester, UK, and the Gloomar Festival in Neunkirchen, Germany, for which I’ve no doubt they’ll be suitably gloomy. They’re fresh off a run with Cradle of Filth, and I could be wrong, but I think that officially puts them in the realm of ‘kind of a big deal,’ so as their audience increases thanks to crisp songwriting and striking visuals like those in the video for “Bright Eyes” at the bottom of this post, the chance to see them at spots like The Black Heart in London and Backstage in Munich — these venues very much on the circuit for heavy underground touring acts — may be limited. That is to say, the rooms are only going to get bigger.
I don’t know that I’ll review the album or not — I’m challenging myself on why I wouldn’t, other than the usual crunch of time and space — but Frayle have a thing and are clearly making a go of it and from where I sit you have to respect the hustle. Safe travels and well wishes, and so on. The dates came from the PR wire:
Heavy Witch Doom quartet Frayle set to embark on a European tour in November
Frayle makes music for the night sky.
Hot off the heels of their latest release Skin & Sorrow, Cleveland’s Frayle have announced a European tour kicking off on November 1st, 2022. The tour will see the band playing shows and festivals in the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, UK, and Germany.
The group was formed in 2017 by guitarist Sean Bilovecky (formerly of now-defunct Man’s Ruin recording artists Disengage) and vocalist Gwyn Strang, a singer with an alluring voice and an equally compelling flair for imagery. Frayle’s “lullabies over chaos” approach to songwriting allows the group the freedom to explore what is possible with heavy music; its gorgeously ominous sound a result of complex layering and tone stacking while simultaneously overseeing the perfectly delicate balance between heaving, heavy riffs and haunting vocal melodies.
“We look forward to seeing everyone again in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium as well as meeting new fans and friends in the UK, Denmark and Sweden. This album has been a long time in the making and we can’t wait to share these new songs with our fellow Heretics.” – Frayle
Tour Dates 1st November 2022 – Willemeen – Arnhem – NL 2nd November 2022 – Patronaat – Haarlem – NL 3rd November 2022 – VII – Rotterdam – NL 4th November 2022– Ragnarök – Bree – BE 5th November 2022 – Damnation Festival – Manchester – UK 6th November 2022– Black Heart – London – UK 8th November 2022 – Simplon – Groningen – NL 9th November 2022 – Alte Meierei – DE 10th November 2022 – Stengade – Copenhagen – DK 11th November 2022 – Plan B – Malmo – SE 13th November 2022 – Revolver – Oslo – NO 16th November 2022 – Backstage – Munich – DE 17th November 2022 – Comma Club – Gera – DE 18th November 2022 – Zolkatine – Bremen – DE 19th November 2022 – Gloomar Festival – Neunkirchen – DE 20th November 2022 – MTC – Cologne – DE
