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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Dan Simone of Slow Wake, Black Spirit Crown & Ohio Doomed and Stoned Fest

Posted in Questionnaire on July 15th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Dan-Simone-Slow-Wake

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: Dan Simone of Slow Wake, Black Spirit Crown & Ohio Doomed and Stoned Fest

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

Musically, I want to create songs that are both devastatingly heavy, and astonishingly beautiful. Avalanches of sound that smash the side of the mountain to dust, and reveal glittering veins of precious metal and gemstones in the strata beneath the surface. I also love the underground stoner/doom/etc scene and the people that are immersed in it.

I came to the scene late, starting my first band Black Spirit Crown in 2016. Pretty soon after that I found the Doomed and Stoned community while trying to network and figure out where in the world of music we would fit in. Billy (Goate, Doomed and Stoned Executive Editor) was looking for people to help with his series of “Doomed and Stoned in …” Compilations and I volunteered to do one for Ohio because I was starting to discover all of these killer bands around me and felt like they really needed to be heard by a wider audience.

I organized 45 bands and suddenly I had networked most of the state of Ohio. After that, inspired by the Doomed and Stoned Indy Fests, it seemed like the next thing to do was put together a fest and have a huge party with all of these rad people and bands I had met. So I organized the first Ohio Doomed and Stoned Fest in the summer of 2018. My mission with that is to shine a light on the incredible bands in Ohio, and get them all together with some excellent bands from beyond the region and have everyone rock out. It will aways be a curated selection of about 60% Ohio bands mixed with an amazing selection of out of state acts chosen to show as wide a cross section as possible from the genres that Doomed and Stoned is about.

Describe your first musical memory.

When I was in elementary school being super irritated at my dad while he played guitar along to Allman Brothers Band records after I was put to bed. I was sleepy!

Describe your best musical memory to date.

The Cleveland date of the last Monolord tour was just incredible. Can’t even say why, it just blew me away.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

My father was a minister so I was raised in the protestant church. I’d say back in middle school in the 80’s when I saw people in our church viciously celebrating the AIDS epidemic and the toll it was reaping on the LGBTQ+ and black communities. I had good friends who were just figuring out their sexuality and plenty of friends of color and it just devestated me that people I’d grown up respecting and trusting on issues of morality, etc. could be so horribly ecstatic at the idea of people like my friends dying.

My beliefs in christianity were sorely tested, and they broke. Thankfully my father was never like that, and he didn’t try to force me back in to the fold either.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Endlessly onward. I don’t think artists ever arrive at the end of their artistic journey. One of the most incredible things about humanity is the sheer amount of ways we’ve developed to express ourselves. I was immeresed in the arts growing up, both of my parents were visual artists and musicians, my mother taught art for many years, I ran an art gallery until recently. In both the visual arts and musical arts you see people who either focus on one medium (or instrument) or people who range across many mediums (or instruments). I think in both cases the artist is constantly striving to perfect their means of expression, and I don’t think it’s possible.

How do you explain happiness or anger to someone else. It can be done in vague terms, certainly the person you’re explaining to has experienced these emotions, but I know my anger is very different than my wife’s, for example. And her idea of happiness is different than mine (oddly enough it doesn’t involve large amplifiers and lots of effects pedals). How can any of us ever perfectly understand another point of view? It’s impossible. There’s a quote out there I’m about to mangle, “(Visual) Art is how we capture emotions in space, Music is how we capture emotions in time”. The artist is forever compelled to progress along the path of expression, but doomed to never reach the end, because there is no end.

How do you define success?

I love it when a plan comes together.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

People die.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

Musically I’m excited about the continuing development of the sounds of both Black Spirit Crown and Slow Wake, so I’m very stoked about the songs we’ll be creating. Artistically, I’ve been concepting a series of large drawings of mythological beings in colored pencil. Someday…

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

As I said before, expressing emotions.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Spending as many summer evenings as possible on the patio with my wife this year. We spent all last summer building it, this year we sit.

https://www.facebook.com/slowwakeband
https://www.instagram.com/slowwakeband/
https://slowwake.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/BlackSpiritCrown/
https://www.instagram.com/bscdoom/
https://blackspiritcrown.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ohiodoomedandstonedfest/
https://www.facebook.com/events/626031698457271

Slow Wake, Falling Fathoms (2022)

Black Spirit Crown, Gravity (2022)

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Quarterly Review: Arð, Seremonia, The Quill, Dark Worship, More Experience, Jawless, The Heavy Co., Sound of Smoke, Red Mesa, Margarita Witch Cult

Posted in Reviews on April 5th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

THE-OBELISK-FALL-2020-QUARTERLY-REVIEW

Well then, here we are. Day two of the Spring 2022 Quarterly Review brings a few records that I really, really like, personally, and I hope that you listen and feel similar. What you’ll find throughout is a pretty wide swath of styles, but these are the days of expanded-definition heavy, so let’s not squabble about this or that. Still a lot of week to go, folks. Gotta keep it friendly.

Deep breath in, and…

Quarterly Review #11-20:

Arð, Take Up My Bones

ard take up my bones

Hard to know at what point Winterfylleth‘s Mark Deeks decided to send his historically-minded solo-project Arð to Prophecy Productions for release consideration, but damned if the six-song Take Up My Bones doesn’t feel quintessential. Graceful lines of piano and strings give way to massively-constructed lumbering funeralia, vocals adding to the atmosphere overall as the story of St. Cuthbert’s bones is recounted through song, in mood perhaps more than folk balladeering. Whatever your familiarity with that narrative or willingness to engage it, Deeks‘ arrangements are lush and wondrously patient, the sound of “Boughs of Trees” at the outset of side B building smoothly toward its deathly sprawl but unrelentingly melodic. The longer “Raise Then the Incorrupt Body” and “Only Three Shall Know” come across as more directly dramatic with their chants and so on, but Arð‘s beauty-through-darkness melancholy is the center around which the album is built and the end result is suitably consuming. While not incomplete by any means, I find myself wondering when it’s over what other stories Deeks may have to tell.

Arð on Facebook

Prophecy Productions website

 

Seremonia, Neonlusifer

seremonia neonlusifer

Oh, Seremonia. How I missed you. These long six years after Pahuuden Äänet (review here), the Finnish troupe return to rescue their cult listenership from any and all mundane realities, psych and garage-fuzz potent enough to come with a warning label (which so far as I know it doesn’t) on “Neonlusifer” and the prior opener “Väärä valinta” with the all-the-way-out flute-laced swirl of “Raskatta vettä,” and if you don’t know what to make of all those vowel sounds, good luck with the cosmic rock of “Kaivon pohjalla” and “Unohduksen kidassa,” on which vocalist Noora Federley relinquishes the lead spot to new recruit Teemu Markkula (also Death Hawks), who also adds guitar, synth, organ and flute alongside the guitar/synth/vocals of Ville Pirinen, the drums/guitar/flute/vocals of Erno Taipale and bass/synth/vocals of Ilkka Vekka. This is a band who reside — permanently, it seems — on a wavelength of their own, and Neonlusifer is more than welcome after their time out of time. May it herald more glorious oddness to come from the noisy mist that ends “Maailmanlopun aamuna” and the album as a whole.

Seremonia on Facebook

Svart Records website

 

The Quill, Live, New, Borrowed, Blue

The Quill Live New Borrowed and Blue

Swedish heavy rockers The Quill mark 30 years of existence in 2022 (actually they go back further), and while Live, New, Borrowed, Blue isn’t quite an anniversary release, it does collect material from a pretty broad span of years. Live? “Keep it Together” and an especially engaging take on “Hole in My Head” that closes. New? The extended version of “Keep on Moving” from 2021’s Earthrise (review here), “Burning Tree” and “Children of the Sun.” Borrowed? Iron Maiden‘s “Where Eagles Dare,” November‘s “Mount Everest,” Aerosmith‘s “S.O.S.” and Captain Beyond‘s “Frozen Over.” Blue? Certainly “Burning Tree,” and all of it, if you’re talking about bluesy riffs, which, if you’re talking about The Quill, you are. In the narrative of Sverige heavy rock, they remain undersung, and this compilation, in addition to being a handy-dandy fan-piece coming off their last record en route to the inevitable next one, is further evidence to support that claim. Either you know or you don’t. Three decades on, The Quill are gonna be The Quill either way.

The Quill on Facebook

Metalville Records website

 

Dark Worship, Flesh of a Saint

Dark Worship Flesh of a Saint

Though it’s just 20 minutes long, the six-song debut from Ohio’s Dark Worship offers dark industrial heft and a grim psychedelic otherworldliness in more than enough measure to constitute a full-length. At the center of the storm — though not the eye of it, because it’s quiet there — is J. Meyers, also of Axioma, who conjures the spaces of “Culling Song” and “We’ve Always Been Here” as a bed for a selection of guest vocalists, including Nathan Opposition of Ancient VVisdom/Vessel of Light, Axioma‘s Aaron Dallison, and Joe Reed (To Dust, Exorcisme). No matter who’s fronting a given track — Reed gets the lion’s share, Dallison the title-track and Opposition the penultimate “Destroy Forever (Death of Ra)” — the vibe is biting and dark in kind, with Meyers providing backing vocals, guitar, and of course the software-born electronic beats and melodies that are the core of the project. Maybe hindsight will make this nascent-feeling, but in terms of world construction, Flesh of a Saint is punishing in its immersion, right up to the howling feedback and ambience of “Well of Light” at the finish. Conceptually destructive.

Dark Worship on Facebook

Tartarus Records store

 

More Experience, Electric Laboratory of High Space Experience

More Experience Electric Laboratory of High Space Experience

Nature sounds feature throughout More Experience‘s 2021 third album, Electric Laboratory of High Space Experience, with birdsong and other naturalist atmospheres in opener “The Twilight,” “Beezlebufo,” closer “At the Gates of Dawn,” and so on. Interspersed between them is the Polish troupe’s ’60s-worship psych. Drawing on sonic references from the earliest space rock and post-garage psychedelics — think Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, King Crimson’s “Epitaph” is almost remade here as the penultimate title-track — band founder Piotr Dudzikowski (credited with guitars, organs, synthesizers, backing vocals, harmonium, tambura, and cobuz) gets by with a little help from his friends, which means in part that the vocals of extended early highlight “The Dream” are pulled back for a grain-of-salt spoken word on “The Trip” and the later “Fairy Tale.” The synthy “The Mind” runs over nine minutes and between that, “The Dream” and the title-track (9:56), I feel like I’m digging the longer-form, more dug-in songs, but I’m not going to take away from the ambient and more experimental stuff either, since that’s how this music was invented in the first place.

More Experience on Facebook

More Experience on Bandcamp

 

Jawless, Warrizer

Jawless Warrizer

Young Indonesian riffers Jawless get right to the heart of heavy on their debut album, Warrizer, with a raw take on doom rock that’s dead-on heavy and classic in its mindset. There’s nothing fancy happening here other than some flourish of semi-psych guitar, but the self-produced four-piece from Bandung kill it with a reverence of course indebted to but not beholden to Sabbathian blues licks, and their swing on “Deceptive Events” alone is enough proof-of-concept for me. I’m on board. It’s not about progressive this or that. It’s not about trying to find a genre niche no one’s thought of yet. This is players in a room rocking the fuck out. And they might have a bleak point of view in cuts like “War is Come,” and one does not have to look too far to get the reference in “The Throne of Tramp,” but that sense of judgment is part and parcel to originalist doom. At 50 minutes, it’s long for an LP, but as “Restrained” pays off the earlier psychedelic hints, “Metaphorical Speech” boogie-jams and “G.O.D.” rears back with each measure to spit its next line, I wouldn’t lose any of it.

Jawless on Facebook

Jawless on Bandcamp

 

The Heavy Co., Shelter

The Heavy Co Shelter

Adding a guest guitar solo from EarthlessIsaiah Mitchell wasn’t going to hurt the cause of Indianapolis duo The Heavy Co., and sure enough it doesn’t. Issued digitally in 2020 and premiered here, “Shelter” runs a quick three minutes of psych-blues rock perfectly suited to the 7″ treatment Rock Freaks Records gives it and the earlier digi-single “Phoenix” (posted here), which had been the group’s first offering after a six-year break. “Phoenix,” which is mellower and more molten in its tempo throughout its six minutes, might be the better song of the two, but the twang in “Shelter” pairs well with that bluesy riff from guitarist/vocalist Ian Daniel, and Jeff Kaleth holds it down on drums. More to come? Maybe. There’s interesting ground here to explore in this next phase of The Heavy Co.‘s tenure.

The Heavy Co. on Facebook

Rock Freaks Records store

 

Sound of Smoke, Tales

Sound of Smoke Tales

All that “Witch Boogie” is missing is John Lee Hooker going “boom boom boom” over that riff, and even when opener “Strange Fruit” or “Dreamin'” is indebted to the Rolling Stones, it’s the bluesier side of their sound. No problem there, but Freiburg, Germany, four-piece Sound of Smoke bring a swagger and atmosphere to “Soft Soaper” that almost ’70s-style Scorpions in its beginning before the shuffling verse starts, tambourine and all, and there’s plenty of pastoral psych in “Indian Summer” and 10-minute “Human Salvation,” the more weighted surges of which feel almost metallic in their root — like someone between vocalist/keyboardist Isabelle Bapté, guitarist Jens Stöver, bassist Florian Kiefer and drummer Johannes Braunstein once played in a harder-focused project. Still, as their debut LP after just a 2017 EP, the seven-song/43-minute Tales shows a looser rumble in “Devil’s Voice” behind Bapté, and there’s a persona and perspective taking shape in the songs. It’ll be hard work for them to stand out, but given what I hear in these tracks, both their psych edge and that sharper underpinning will be assets in their favor along with the sense of performance they bring.

Sound of Smoke on Facebook

Tonzonen Records website

 

Red Mesa, Forest Cathedral

red mesa forest cathedral

Coming off their 2020 full-length, The Path to the Deathless (review here), Albuquerque-based trio Red Mesa — guitarist/vocalist Brad Frye, bassist/vocalist Alex Cantwell, who alternates here with Frye, and drummer/backing vocalist Roman Barham, who may or may not also join in on the song’s willfully lumbering midsection — take a stated turn toward doom with the 5:50 Forest Cathedral single. The grittier groove suits them, and the increasing sharing of vocals (which includes backing), makes them a more complex act overall, but there’s not necessarily anything in “Forest Cathedral” to make one think it’s some radical shift in another direction, which there was enough of on The Path to the Deathless to warrant a guest appearance from Dave Sherman of Earthride. Still, they continue to do it well, and honing in on this particular sound, whether something they do periodically to change it up, never touch again after this, or see as a new way to go all-in, I’m content to follow along and see where it goes.

Red Mesa on Facebook

Desert Records BigCartel store

 

Margarita Witch Cult, Witchfinder

Margarita Witch Cult Witchfinder

In keeping with the tradition of over-the-top weed-doom band names, Margarita Witch Cult crawl forth from the birthplace of sonic weight, Birmingham, UK, with their debut two-songer cassingle-looking CD/DL Witchfinder. That’s not the only tradition they’re keeping. See also the classic riffer doom they capture in their practice space on the not-tape and the resulting rawness of “The Witchfinder Comes” and “Aradia,” bot nodders preaching Iommic truths. There’s a bit more scorch in the solo on “Aradia,” but that could honestly mean the microphone moved, and either way, they also keep the tradition of many such UK acts with goofball monikers in actually being pretty right on. Of course, they’re in one of the most crowded heavy undergrounds anywhere in the world, but there’s a lot to be said for taking doom rock and stripping it bare as they do on these tracks, the very least of which is that it would probably work really well on tape. If I was at the gig and I saw it on the merch table, I’d snag and look forward to more. I’ll do the same with the Bandcamp.

Margarita Witch Cult on Facebook

Margarita Witch Cult on Bandcamp

 

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Dark Worship Releasing Debut Album Flesh of a Saint Feb. 25

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 9th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

dark worship

Harsh industrialist outfit Dark Worship will make its debut on Tartarus Records Feb. 25 with the six-song Flesh of a Saint. The project is spearheaded by Cleveland, Ohio-based J. Meyers, also known for his guitar work in Axioma, and though the record only runs 20 minutes long, that’s enough for pieces like “Culling Song” and “Destroy Forever (Death of Ra)” to cast their impression in brutal ambience and grim outlook.

The bite of opener “We’ve Always Been Here” and the sprawl of drone in the subsequent title-cut — for which a video is streaming and on which Aaron Dallison, also of Axioma, guests — isn’t to be understated, and between them they set the scope with which the rest of what follows plays out, from the percussive intensity of “Hollow Body” to the classically cinematic “Well of Light” at the finish, with no shortage of intensity along the way. It’s 20 minutes, but it’s a deep dive just the same.

The PR wire brought details and multi-media fare for the digging:

Dark Worship Flesh of a Saint

Dark Worship – US Post-industrial Practitioners Announce New Album “Flesh of A Saint”

Reveal Visualizer Video For Title Track

Tartarus Records is proud to announce the release of US post-industrial practitioners Dark Worship debut album, “Flesh of A Saint” on February 25th on limited tape cassette and vinyl.

Emerging from the bleak and unsettling landscape of the post-industrial American Midwest in 2020, Dark Worship is a collective orchestrated by J. Meyers (Axioma, Aureae Crucis) with the vocal assistance of Aaron Dallison (Axioma, Keelhaul, Brain Tentacles, Perdition Sect), Nathan Opposition (Ancient VVisdom, Integrity), and J. Reed (Exorcisme, To Dust) as an instrument to conjure the essence of sonic darkness.

Flesh of a Saint is the title track off the upcoming album featuring Aaron Dallison (Axioma, Brain Tentacles, Keelhaul) on vocals and a pulsating industrial soundscape. The accompanying video visualizer is an AI-generated surrealist landscape that was recorded reacting/morphing to the music track.

‘Flesh of a Saint’ embodies the spirit of early Release Entertainment by combining extreme metal’s abrasiveness with the industrious prowess of Scorn, Brighter Death Now, Candiru, and early Swans. Featuring contributions of members from Axioma, Ancient VVisdom, To Dust, Exorcisme, and Perdition Sect – Dark Worship embraces its roots in the industrial metal underground of Cleveland, OH where elements of metal, punk, industrial, and other forms of extreme music have been colliding for decades to form a unique and haunting voice. Reflecting the bleak, daunting, and abysmal environment that spawned its forebearers, Dark Worship erupted during the tumultuous summer of 2020. With an uncertain future musically, socially, and culturally, this collective embarked on a project focused on expressing the horror of the present.

Pre-orders for “Flesh of a Saint” are now available at this location: https://tartarusrecords.com/album/flesh-of-a-saint

https://www.facebook.com/darkworship
https://www.facebook.com/TartarusRecords
https://www.instagram.com/tartarustapes
https://tartarusrecords.com

Dark Worship, Flesh of a Saint (2022)

Dark Worship, “Flesh of a Saint”

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Joe Fortunato of Slow Wake, Sparrowmilk & More

Posted in Questionnaire on February 7th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Joe Fortunato of Slow Wake

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: Joe Fortunato of Slow Wake, Sparrowmilk & More

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

My main motivation is to make music and riffs that I would have loved as a teenager. When I started buying albums for myself vs. just listening to the radio or whatever, I started discovering a new world. Or, a new way of living life – with those songs as my soundtrack and my confidence. They empowered me as a kid, and I keep having that feeling when I hear songs I love. I am forever trying to impress my teenage self. When I was 14 – what would I think of this song I just recorded?

I started playing guitar when I was 13, around early 1985. I was forever hearing lots of classic music in our house. My dad is into rock, classic rock, and he always had music playing. I remember being very young, and deciding I wanted to do that – play music. I had to convince him that I wanted to play guitar and would stick with it. That I wouldn’t give up after a little bit and move on to something else. I made a deal with him – get decent grades in math (my downfall) and he’d consider it. Well, I had a mostly good report card, and then – nothing. No guitar materialized. A bit of time went by, and I figured it just wasn’t gonna happen – until I came home one day, and there was a guitar, amp, strap, and an Ernie Ball lesson book sitting there on the dining room table. It was a no-name Les Paul like Ace Frehley’s, and it was the best thing I’d ever seen.

Describe your first musical memory.

I had teenage uncles as I grew up. This is during the late 70s, so I was indoctrinated with all kinds of great records that they loved. My first real musical memory is listening to Led Zeppelin IV in dark room with those guys. “Stairway to Heaven”. As cliché as that sounds, it was mind-blowing to me at 7 years old. There was a skull candle lighting the room – you know, the sweet 70s kind – and that music sounded so amazing to me. Pink Floyd. Kiss. Black Sabbath. Queen. Nazareth. It started the urge to play music. Everything I do is built from those classic records. If not the sound, then it’s the way they made me feel.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

One of my bands, Venomin James, played the WET Stage at Wacken Open Air in 2011. I’d never experienced playing something that big before, and I felt like I had “made it”. Like, is this what a “real” band feels like? We were treated like a band that was way bigger than we ever were. Our dressing room trailer was right next to Ghost’s trailer – they were on after us on the same stage. They even tried to get us bumped from our slot, which was at 12:15AM on Saturday, because they wanted to play earlier. The Wacken people told them to get bent. So, Motörhead finishes on the Main Stage, right when we’re heading up the ramp to the WET Stage. Then we played to about 8,500 people that were digging us – a bunch of nobodies from Cleveland. It’s hard to top that feeling.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

This is tough, and I could get deep with it, but I’m gonna go light. When I was first starting to play music and form bands, I always thought that “getting signed” was everything. You get a record deal, and your troubles are over – you’ve made it! I have come close a few times to actually getting something fairly big, but it just never happened. As the years have gone by, I’ve known a lot of people that have gotten “big” deals on major labels or larger indies. Not one of them was able to quit having day jobs or had a lavish lifestyle. In fact, most of them had debt and lots of broken dreams and disenchantment. It turns out that getting signed is not the “thing” – being good and writing good music is the thing. Not worrying about getting rich and famous lifts a load off your shoulders. If you’re not seeing that as the end game, but instead see making good music or art as your goal – you’re on the right track in my opinion. Why are you doing this? If the answer is “because I love it and can’t see doing anything else” – I’m right there with you. In today’s world, you can tour and make music very inexpensively and on your own – why fight for the old way? Be good at what you do and be a real human, and there are lots of people that will help you do things.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Self-discovery. That sounds pretentious, but I feel that as you progress as an artist – however you personally define “progression” – it teaches you about yourself. What are you made of? How far are you willing to dive into yourself, expose yourself, in your art? Do you keep it to yourself or let people experience it as well? I feel that making art, and I’m talking about music here, is a very vulnerable act. I feel like I make a fool out of myself constantly. I ask myself, “Does anybody like this music? Do I look stupid up here playing this? Is my record total garbage?” I have pretty high anxiety about it. I still get stage fright after 30-plus years of being in bands and playing out. I feel like an imposter when I play with bands I love and respect – “Do I belong here? Am I good enough to be on this bill?” So, I feel like artistic progression is this journey, and confronting my fears about it and moving through it.

How do you define success?

Success to me is not monetary. It’s not notoriety or fame. It’s respect. I know a lot of people that play music and make art. Some of them are very successful by anybody’s terms, some are actually famous or even infamous. Some of these people I call actual “friends.” I feel like a good number of them respect what I do, what I make, and the projects I’m a part of. That’s success to me. Being counted among “peers” as someone who has something to offer, musically or artistically.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

I watched my beloved boston terrier, Roscoe, get hit by a car. It was right in front of me. I had nightmares and PTSD over that for many years. And this was when I lived in NYC, maybe five months after 9/11. I actually saw the second plane hit the tower from a window on W25th in Manhattan. I guess that whole time is something I wish I hadn’t seen or experienced.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

I’d like to make a film. Two films that I admire immensely are There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men. Incidentally, they came out around the same time, so they’re linked in my mind. Connected by the time they were released. I’d love to make a film like either one, and I consider There Will Be Blood to be perfect. Give me the time, and a camera, and I’m off. I have ideas. Stories to tell. I have ideas for the score and soundtrack as well.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

Art delivers emotion. Or it allows someone to experience emotion. Some might say it’s there to examine society or examine politics – to me it’s all related. Good art lets emotions come to the surface. You experience the emotion of the creator, or experience the emotion that the creator is hoping you feel based on your own life, your own experiences. What are you bringing to it? How does your mind color or define the art you’re experiencing? Because you experience art vs. consuming it. A song might unlock memories or cement moments that you’ll replay every time you hear it. Music, paintings, films, poetry, photos, or any art – it’s all of the things that make life worth living. Without that, what do we have? Survival? Our jobs? Boring.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Turning 50. I turned 50 on November 5. I worked my ass off, and went through a lot of bullshit for a long time to get right to this spot, in this time. Divorce. Unemployment. Debt. Long stretches of not having a great income. I finally got to a place where things are working out, and it’s allowing me to do what I want. It’s allowing me to realize my projects, get gear, and be who I’m supposed to be. I guess you could say I’m actually looking forward to what’s coming for once. That, and I’m psyched up for all the Star Wars we’re getting! Ha!

https://www.facebook.com/slowwakeband
https://www.instagram.com/slowwakeband/

https://www.facebook.com/sparrowmilkband/
https://sparrowmilk.bandcamp.com/

Sparrowmilk, LP2 Demos 07.09.2021 (2021)

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Frayle European Tour Starts Oct. 27; Playing Desertfest Belgium and More

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 7th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

frayle (Photo by Paul Verhagen)

Kudos to Cleveland’s Frayle on getting out of the country. I didn’t even know the EU was taking us filthy, disease-spreading Americans at this point, and now that I think about it, it’s kind of a surprise they ever did. Nonetheless, supporting last year’s 1692, the witchly outfit head abroad starting at the end of this month for shows in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, where they’re set to make a return to Desertfest Belgium at its first Ghent edition — they also played in 2018. I guess Sean Bilovecky and Gwyn Strang have a knack for paperwork as well as atmospheric heavy. Fair enough.

They also have a new cover of Bauhaus‘ best known track, “Bela Lugosi’s Dead,” which was posted last week to go with this announcement. Yes, I’m still getting caught up after the Quarterly Review. Sue me. That’s a lot of paperwork too, you know.

Hey, Frayle. Safe travels and have a great time for all us poor bastards who don’t currently have flights booked.

From the PR wire:

frayle tour

Cleveland Heavy Witch Doom Act FRAYLE Announces European Tour Dates For This Fall!

In support of their latest 2020- album, 1692, Cleveland, USA- based heavy witch doom act FRAYLE has announced a series of European tour dates, and no, not for 2022 but kicking off THIS October!

FRAYLE makes music for the night sky. 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. Ever since their 2018- debut EP The White Witch, 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. With its first full-length, 1692 (Aqualamb Records, Lay Bare Recordings), FRAYLE pushes the immense intensity and gorgeous ache of its unique sound and style through to uncompromising new plateaus. While there is much darkness on the record, it’s also contrasted superbly with beauty, both fragile and fierce, in a way that feels weightless rather than plummeting, as if release truly is a possibility.

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. Extraordinary vocalist Gwyn tells stories of heart break, anger, hypocrisy and resolution, asking the audience for empathy, and in turn inspiring vulnerability. Drawing inspiration from bands like Sleep, Portishead, Beastwars, Blonde Redhead, Kyuss, Massive Attack, Down, Chelsea Wolfe, and many more, FRAYLE exists at the intersection of doom and dream pop.

Today, the band has not only announced to hit the European roads in just a couple of weeks, but also released a gripping cover version of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” by British dark wave giants BAUHAUS. Says vocalist Gwyn Strang:

“I was nervous to cover “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”.

It’s what I consider a perfect song; ambient and creepy and it crawls along, keeping your attention the entire time. I wanted to make sure we did it justice so we took some extra time with it to make it something we’re happy to share. The first half of our version pays homage to the original while the second half is definitively “Frayle”.

“We are excited and eager to get back to Europe,“ The band comments. “The past few years were spent crafting our sound and building upon what was started with our debut release “The White Witch”. The pandemic halted our plans to tour our most recent record “1692” so this will be the first time we have been able to fully support our record. Also expect some surprise material that we have been working on.”

Make sure to catch FRAYLE live on their upcoming Isolation’s End Tour at the following dates this Fall:

27-10-2021 Cologne DE @ Sonic Ballroom
28-10-2021 Nijmegen NL @ Merleyn*
29-10-2021 Utrecht NL @ DB’s*
30-10-2021 Ghent BE @ Desertfest
31-10-2021 Breda BE @ Mezz*
1-11-2021 Bilzen BE @ South of Heaven*
4-11-2021 Stuttgart DE @ Club Cann*
6-11-2021 Terneuzen NL @ The Pit*
7-11-2021 TBA
* with THE FIFTH ALLIANCE + MOULD

https://www.frayleband.com
https://www.facebook.com/frayleband
https://www.instagram.com/frayle_band
http://www.frayle.bandcamp.com
https://www.laybarerecordings.com
https://www.aqualamb.org

Frayle, “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Zach Germaniuk of Pillärs

Posted in Questionnaire on September 1st, 2021 by JJ Koczan

pillars zach germaniuk (Photo by Little Blackbird Photo)

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: Zach Germaniuk of Pillärs

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I define what I do as trying my best to help people and do something meaningful with my time here. That attitude came directly from exposure to DIY underground heavy music and hardcore punk that laid the blueprint for my life out at a fairly young age, like 14-15. I know that sounds cliché, because our society demands that our identity be solely determined by how we earn a living. I reject being put in that box. The core driving force of all the things I’m involved in now, which include bands and touring, working at a nonprofit that helps people with housing issues, teaching at Cleveland State University – it all stems back to that initial exposure to a different view of how things could or ought to be, as envisioned by the community of bands and activists that blazed the DIY path. Having that music in my life really helped me to stay grounded and focused on my goals. Playing, touring, all of it helps me to stay connected with this path that I’m on. It guides my work and I’m grateful to have it in my life.

Describe your first musical memory.

I must have been about 3 years old: my first musical memory was a music box my Mom had. Every time it played, the music sounded just so sad, so lonely. It was a haunting song and it kind of freaked me out as a kid. I would love to find it again, it’s probably buried in her house somewhere. I think it might be interesting to re-record it and put it on an album at some point.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

The spring 2017 tour I did playing guitar with the Cleveland noise-punk band Rubber Mate and our buddies Nag is the BEST that sticks out, out of a lot of good ones and a few bad ones. It was just an absolute blast every single night, which is rare because usually on tour there is at least one or more nights where something fucks up: van issues, gear trouble, personality conflicts, burnout, whatever. But that tour was flawless from first show to last, and was a really memorable time.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

There was a moment when the whole belief of music being a positive experience and driving force in my life stopped being real for me. My Dad died on the last day of the Pillärs 2018 tour, literally just hours before we were set to play; at the same time work stress pushed me to a place therapists sometimes describe as ”the call of the void” – as I understand it from my own journey that means not thinking about the “how” of suicide directly, but starting to think about the concept. Would it really be that bad? What would that be like to just not exist? It was a dark place to be, and I stayed there for a long time, almost two years. I divorced in that same time period, and as I peeled back the layers of where I was in my own life through those moments it revealed a level of toxicity in my life that made music, and everything that flowed out of that, seem like it was no longer a worthwhile activity or a meaningful part of my existence. I guess you could say I got hollowed out by it all. Without a doubt the time from his passing in April 2018 to just before the start of COVID lockdown in March 2020 was the worst period of my life. I didn’t even touch a musical instrument from November 2019 to April 2020. My musical life fell apart, and I was in a pretty bleak place. Then about a year ago, right around April into May 2020, ironically just as shit was really shutting down and it seemed like the musical world was collapsing, my longtime friend Chadd B. (Mockingbird, Cultist, Enhailer, among others…) reached out asking if I wanted to jam. Then another friend reached out, and another, and before I knew it not only was Pillärs writing a new record but I found myself in a gnarly DIY punk band called TV Drugs with another longtime friend. As I kept cutting the toxicity out of my life, I found work stress became more manageable. I was blessed to find myself in a much healthier relationship with my partner, who is also an active artist and performer. If I have to look for bright spots on the otherwise bleak canvas that has been the last few years, this whole period has been a huge test for my belief about music really truly being something that gives me meaning and purpose.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

For me, artistic progression (and that includes music, visual art, film, theatre, etc.) should lead to an understanding of this thing we call life and how to communicate ideas and experiences. It’s like the difference between listening to a piece of music that you just appreciate as well executed versus a song or album that makes your hair stand up or give you some kind of emotional response, if that makes sense. I think just like kids learn how to speak, then make words, then move forward to be able to articulate themselves, that’s kind of how I look at artistic progression. I always remember the story about Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address: There was a speaker before him at the battlefield who spoke at great lengths, using all this complex vocabulary, etc. OK fine, great. Then Lincoln got up and spoke for 3 minutes. Nobody remembers the dude who gave the long-winded exhortation, but Lincoln’s simple words are universally recognized as one of the greatest speeches of all time. So I mean, as that relates to artistic progression, it just tells me that it’s not always about technical complexity. It’s about expressing an idea. Some ideas might take whole symphonies full of intricacies to express. Some ideas can be expressed in ninety seconds using two chords.

How do you define success?

Having the personal freedom to do what you love to do; and make the area around you a better place while having a way to pay your bills that doesn’t kill your creativity.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

The “two girls one cup” video. That was fucking gross.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

We need more DIY spaces, especially in the Rust Belt, and I would love to be a part of some project that makes DIY spots in Cleveland more permanent and protected from gentrification. These places are incredible incubators for awesome music, art of all kinds, and largely responsible for creating the community and network that keeps our little alternate universe running. We’ve lost so many spaces over the last 20 years due to the fact that the people doing amazing things in those spaces had no control over the buildings. We need to own the spaces where we create, or else we are going to be forever on the losing end of battles with landlords and the powers that be, and having to constantly rebuild from scratch every time some developer wants to put up $500k condos and kick out all the freaks and weirdos who are creating the very art and music that these gentrifying motherfuckers try to appropriate and then colonize.
Ownership of land is the first step towards fighting back and drawing that line in the sand. And helping to build spaces that are protected from or resilient in the face of those kinds of forces; that’s a dream I would love to have a hand in creating.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

The expression of some idea and emotion that leads essentially to some shared understanding between the creator of the artistic piece and the audience. Art is the vehicle for the creation of empathy.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Since saying the end of COVID is almost cliché now I will instead say getting through the last few years of public service loan forgiveness at my job to wipe out these student loans and then hopefully be in a position to start helping to build something.

https://pillrs.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/PillarsOHIO/
https://www.thetruetapehaus.com/
https://www.facebook.com/thetruetapehaus/
http://www.instagram.com/tapehaus
https://tapehaus.bandcamp.com/

PILLÄRS & Wallcreeper, Split (2019)

PILLÄRS, Abandoned (2018)

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Quarterly Review: The Vintage Caravan, Oslo Tapes, Filthy Hippies, Dunbarrow, Djinn, Shevils, Paralyzed, Black Spirit Crown, Intraveineuse, Void Tripper

Posted in Reviews on July 7th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

the-obelisk-fall-2016-quarterly-review

Day Three. The kinds of material covered have varied, but it’s been pretty good so far, which as you can probably imagine makes this whole process much, much easier. Today would traditionally be hump day, where we hit and surpass the halfway mark, but since this is a double-size Quarterly Review, we’re only a quarter of the way there. Still a long way to go, but I’ve got decent momentum in my head at this point and I’ve taken steps not to make the workload crushing on any given day (this mostly involved working last weekend, thanks to The Patient Mrs. for the extra time), so I’m not feeling overly rushed either. Which is welcome.

In that spirit, let’s get to it.

Quarterly Review #21-30:

The Vintage Caravan, Monuments

the vintage caravan monuments

To every sorrowful head who bemoans the state of rock and roll as being dead, who misses big songs, bands unafraid to groove, to engage their audience, to change things up and stay anchored to a vital spirit of the live experience, the answer is The Vintage Caravan. Monuments is the Icelandic trio’s follow-up to 2018’s Gateways (review here) and it opens with a righteous four-song mission-statement salvo from “Whispers” to “Dark Times” before mellowing out in “This One’s for You” and diving into the eight-minute centerpiece “Forgotten” — later answered by the more subdued but likewise proggy closer “Clarity” — before the hard-hitting shuffle renews on side B with “Sharp Teeth,” “Hell” and “Torn in Two” try to outdo each other in has-the-most-swagger and “Said & Done” sneaks in ahead of the finale to walk away with that particular title. Suitably enough. Momentum is almost a detriment to the proceedings, since the songs are worth individual attention, but among the classic tenets here is leave-’em-wanting-more, and The Vintage Caravan do, no question.

The Vintage Caravan on Facebook

Napalm Records website

 

Oslo Tapes, ØR

Oslo Tapes ØR

First thing to note? Oslo Tapes are not from Oslo. Or Trondheim, for that matter. Founded by Marco Campitelli in Italy, the band is a work of homage and exploration of ideas born out of a trip to Oslo — blessings and peace upon the narrative — and ØR, which is Norwegian for “confusing,” is their third album. It arrives loaded with textures from electro-krautrock and ’70s space modernized through to-day’s post-heavy, a breathy delivery from Campitelli giving a song like “Kosmik Feels” an almost goth-wave presence while the harder-landing “Bodø Dakar,” which follows, shifts with pointed rhythm into a textured percussion jam in its second half, with ethereal keys still behind. The shimmering psychedelia of “Norwegian Dream” comes paired with “Exotic Dreams” late in the record’s eight-track procession, and while the latter emphasizes Oslo Tapes‘ can-go-anywhere sensibility with horn sounds and vague, drumless motion, the hard dance in closer “Obsession is the Mother of All” really seems to be the moment of summary here. That must’ve been some trip.

Oslo Tapes on Facebook

Pelagic Records on Bandcamp

 

Filthy Hippies, Departures

filthy hippies departures

Clocking in at 15 tracks and 77 minutes of deeply varied cosmic fuckery, from the motorik push of “Your Are the Sun” to the ’90s Britgaze stylizations of “Mystified” to the twanging central guitar figure of “The Air is Poison” and onward into the blowout kosmiche echo “Sweet Dreams and Nicotine” and chic the-underground-is-actually-made-of-velvet “Like a Halo” ahead of the Hawkwind-on-ludes “I’m Buggin’ Out,” Filthy HippiesDepartures at very least gets points for having the right title. Departs from everything. Reality, itself, you. The whole nine. The good news is the places it goes have a unifying element of grunge laziness woven throughout them, like Filthy Hippies just rolled out of bed and this material just happened — and maybe that’s how it went — and the journey they make, whistling as they go on “Among the Wire” and ending up in the wistful wash of “Empty Spaces” is a joy to follow. Heady. More purposeful than it’s letting on. Not a minor investment, but not a minor reward either.

Filthy Hippies on Facebook

Mongrel Records website

 

Dunbarrow, III

Dunbarrow III

Long since in command of their aesthetic, Norway’s Dunbarrow embark on III, their third long-player, with a full realization of their purpose. Recorded by the five-piece in Spring 2020 and left to gestate for a year’s time, it’s having been unearthed is suitable to the classic doom vibe wrought throughout the eight tracks, but Dunbarrow‘s sound is more vintage in structure than production at this point, and the shifting balance between ‘then’ and ‘now’ in what they do imagines what might’ve been if self-titled era Witchcraft had retained its loyalty to the tenets of Sabbath/Pentagram while continuing to grow its songcraft, such that “Worms of Winter” both is and is decidedly not “Snowblind,” while “Lost Forever” embarks on its own roll and “Turn in Your Grave” makes for an organ-laced folkish highlight, fitting in its cult atmosphere and setting up the rawer finish in “Turns to Dust.” This is who Dunbarrow are, and what they do, they do exceedingly well.

Dunbarrow on Facebook

Blues for the Red Sun Records on Facebook

 

Djinn, Transmission

Djinn Transmission

The year is 2076. The world’s first Whole Earth parliament has come together to bask in the document Transmission, originating in Gothenburg, Sweden, at the behest of an entity known only as Djinn and respected purveyor Rocket Recordings. It is believed that in fact Transmission and its eight component freak jazz psychedelia tracks were not written at the time of their first release some 55 years earlier, but, as scholars have come to theorize after more than a half-century of rigorous, consistent study, it is a relic of another dimension. Someplace out of place, some time out of time as humanity knows it. So it is that “Creators of Creation” views all from an outsider’s eagle eye, and “Urm the Mad” squees its urgency as if to herald the serenity of “Love Divine” to come, voices echoing up through the surcosmic rift through which Djinn sent along this Transmission. What was their purpose? Why make contact? And what is time for such creatures? Are they us? Are we them? Are we alone? Are we “Orpheus?” Wars have been fought over easier questions.

Djinn on Bandcamp

Rocket Recordings website

 

Shevils, Miracle of the Sun

shevils miracle of the sun

Their third album, ShevilsMiracle of the Sun renews the band’s collaboration with producer Marcus Forsgren, which obviously given the sound of the record, was not broken. With a tidy 10 songs in 32 minutes, the Oslo-based four-piece deliver a loyal reading of heavy hardcore riffing minus much of the chestbeating or dudely pretense that one might otherwise encounter. They’ve got it nailed, and the break as “Monsters on TV” squibblies out is a forceful but pleasant turn, especially backed by the pure noise rock of “Scandinavian Death Star.” The band plays back and forth between heft and motion throughout, offering plenty of both in “Wet Soaking Wet” and “Ride the Flashes,” hitting hard but doing more than just hitting at the same time. Topped with fervent shouts, Shevils feels urgent in manner that to my ears recalls West Coast US fare like Akimbo, but is nonetheless the band’s own, ranging into broader soundscapes on “No More You” and anti-shred on “It Never Ends,” the only two cuts here over four minutes long. No time to screw around.

Shevils on Facebook

Shevils on Bandcamp

 

Paralyzed, Paralyzed

paralyzed paralyzed

If they haven’t been yet — and they may have — it’s entirely likely that by the time I’m done writing this sentence some record label or other will have picked up Paralyzed to release their self-titled debut album on vinyl. The Bamberg, Germany-based four-piece bring classic heavy metal thunder to still-Sabbathian doom rock, casting their lot in with the devil early on “Lucifer’s Road (My Baby and Me),” which feels like as much a statement of aesthetic purpose as it does a righteous biker riff. It’s by no means the sum-total of what’s on offer in a more extended piece like “Prophets” or side B’s rumble-and-roll-plus-wah-equals-doom “Mother’s Only Son,” but the brash fare they bring to light on “Green Eyes” and the post-lizard king-turns-Purple spirit of “Golden Days” tie in well with the toss-your-hair-in-the-wind, how’d-that-hole-get-in-my-jeans spirit of the release on the whole. They start instrumental with the eponymous “Paralyzed,” but vocals are a focus point, and as they round out with the rawer “Parallel,” their command of ’70s heavy is all the more evident. They signed yet? Give it another minute, if not.

Paralyzed on Facebook

Paralyzed on Bandcamp

 

Black Spirit Crown, Gravity

Black Spirit Crown Gravity

Admittedly, I’m late to the party on Black Spirit Crown‘s 2020 debut full-length, Gravity, but as one will when in orbit, it’s easy to be pulled in by the record. The Ohio-based two-piece of Dan Simone (vocals, guitar, theremin, dulcimer) and Chris Martin (vocals, keys & programming, bass) — plus guitar spots from Joe Fortunato (Doomstress, ex-Venomin James) — flourish over longform progressive heavy rock pieces like “Doomstar” and “Orb,” both over eight minutes, and the 21:10 closing title-track, which well earns having the album named after it for its consuming balance between aural weight, darkness of atmosphere and tone, and breadth. Before the last several minutes give way to droning noise, “Gravity” counterbalances the metallic underpinning of “Saga” and the rush of the penultimate “Teutates,” its patience singular even among the other longer cuts, balanced in alternating fashion with the shorter. Peppered-in growls make the proceedings less predictable on the whole, and feel like one more strength working in favor of these complex compositions.

Black Spirit Crown on Facebook

Black Spirit Crown on Bandcamp

 

Intraveineuse, Chronicles of an Inevitable Outcome

intraveineuse chronicles of an inevitable outcome

Parisian instrumentalists Intraveineuse make a strong statement with their 32-minute/single-song debut EP, Chronicles of an Inevitable Outcome, the feeling of aftermath — regret? — permeating the goth-doom atmosphere coming through in tectonically-dense riffs as well as the piano that offsets them. France would seem to have a post-Type O Negative standard-bearer in Hangman’s Chair, but to discount Intraveineuse on that basis is to miss out on the flowing, immersive progression the band emit on this already-sold-out tape, working in three distinct movements to find their own place within the style, building momentum gradually until the last payoff cuts itself short, as if to emphasize there’s more to come. Hopefully, anyhow. EP or LP, debuts with this kind of scope are rare and not to be overlooked, and though there are stretches where one can hear where vocals might go, Intraveineuse ably steer “Chronicles of an Inevitable Outcome” through its various parts with natural-sounding fluidity.

Intraveineuse website

Intraveineuse on Bandcamp

 

Void Tripper, Dopefiend

Void Tripper Dopefiend

Grim, gritty and ghastly, Void Tripper is the debut full-length from Brazil’s Void Tripper, comprised of five tracks marked by the shared/alternating vocals of guitarists Mário Fonteles and Anastácio Júnior. The former gurlges on opener “Devil’s Reject” while the latter complements with a cleaner take on the subsequent “Burning Woods,” setting up the back and forth that plays out in the remaining three tracks, “Hollow,” “Satan & Drugs” and “Comatose.” With the lumbering bass and drums of Jonatas Monte and Gabriel Mota, respectively, as the thickened foundation beneath the riffs, there are shades throughout of Electric Wizard and other acts to be heard, but it’s Sabbath-worshiping sludge one way or the other, and Void Tripper willingly head into that void with a dense fog preceding them and a bleak mood that does nothing if it doesn’t feel suited to our times. Riffy disaffection writ large. You wouldn’t call it groundbreaking, but you’d nod the fuck out.

Void Tripper on Facebook

Abraxas on Facebook

 

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Ancient VVisdom Announce New Album Mundus Due This Fall; “Human Extinction” Video Posted

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 14th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

Ohio cultists Ancient VVisdom were holed up earlier this year in Mercinary Studios putting together what will be their follow-up to 2017’s 33, which was their label debut on Argonauta Records that also saw release through DHU Records and Magic Bullet Records. In the two years since, AVV frontman Nathan Opposition has made a go of it alongside Dan Lorenzo of Hades in the band Vessel of Light, and that also-righteous cause taken up a bit of time that otherwise might’ve gone toward Ancient VVisdom‘s dark and disturbing psychedelic mindfuckery, but the announcement that the band will return with a new album through Argonauta bodes well (bodes grim?) as a sign of things to come.

The album is called Mundus, and they’ve got a new video for the track “Human Extinction.” The album is due out in Fall, and the announcement of it is fresh off the PR wire:

ancient vvisdom

ANCIENT VVISDOM return with brand new album this Fall on Argonauta Records; + premiere first single ‘Human Extinction’!

A dark, enlightening foresight into the future of humankind dictated by singer/songwriter Nathan Opposition. Ancient VVisdom was founded in Austin, TX in late 2009 with the order consisting of Nathan Opposition (ex-integrity drummer 2005-2010), Justin “Ribs” Mason (iron age bassist) on second acoustic guitar, and Nathan’s brother, Michael Jochum (ex-integrity guitarist 2003-2010) on electric guitar. This Fall, Ancient VVisdom will finally return with a brand new album on Argonauta Records!

To shorten your wait, the band is already sharing with us a first track, Human Extinction. Just exclusively premiered on Revolver Magazine, you can now watch Ancient VVisdom brand new video HERE!

Band mastermind Nathan Opposition comments: “Our new album is titled Mundus. We put our heart and soul into this. This album speaks volumes both sonically and philosophically.

Engineered by Noah Buchanan, mastered by Arthur Rizk, artwork by Karmazid and music by Ancient VVisdom, we had quite the amazing team of talented individuals who helped shape what is now our favorite AVV album to date! Thank you all very much for your help.

The world we live in is so fucked up and there is so much to write about, its sad for me to see how many artist these days have the amps and the platform but nothing to say. The lyrics on Mundus have something very powerful to say. The music, the message, the vision and the voice. I hope in years to come the music community can come together, be enlightened, and take a stance against the hypocrisy, the bigotry, the hate, the injustices of our modern society. We all have a voice now lets band together and use it to change the world. Extinction is the rule, survival is the exception.“

https://www.facebook.com/AVVFB/
https://ancientvvisdom.bigcartel.com/
https://www.instagram.com/officialancientvvisdom/
www.argonautarecords.com
https://www.facebook.com/ArgonautaRecords/
https://www.instagram.com/argonautarecords/

Ancient VVisdom, “Human Extinction” official video

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