Posted in Whathaveyou on December 11th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The debut album from Denver heavy riffers Hashtronaut will be released through Blues Funeral Recordings in early 2024. The record — which begins with a channel-changing media-barrage of dated samples, including the memorable/daily-quotable ‘I learned it watching you!’ of a child speaking to their parent in a War on Drugs PSA from the ’90s — follows the initial 2021 single “Moonquake” (discussed here) and 2022’s potential-wielding Tidal Waves of Ashen Sky four-song EP. Founded by members of Near Dusk and Heavy Eyes, the band roll out big melodies and grooves that will no doubt grab ears caught this year by the likes of Howling Giant and Restless Spirit, while offering something distinct from both.
And not that I’ve heard it or anything as I tell you a spoiler-free bit about what it sounds like, but you’re going to want to keep an ear out for “Dweller” as well.
This announcement came through socials at the end of last week, and I think probably next month, Blues Funeral and the band will start rolling out details like art, title, a first single, release date, preorders and so on. All that ‘putting out a record’ stuff. Word of the signing though is always a good place to start, and that’s right here:
We are BEYOND excited to announce that Hashtronaut will be releasing our debut LP via @bluesfuneralrecordings!!! Thank you so much for this opportunity đ€đŒđ€đŒ
Keep your eyes peeled for pre-sale info coming early 2024!!
From Blues Funeral:
âIn the grand tradition of weed-fiend odysseys from bands like Sleep, Weedeater and Bongzilla, and the hook-doom majesty of Monolord, Windhand and Dopelord, Blues Funeral is stoked as hell to announce the massive, resiny debut of Denverâs Hashtronaut will be our first release in 2024 đȘđžđż
Fans of riff-heaviness in all its glorious forms, prepare to get blazed to infinity with a hungry young band who stands red-eyed at the crossroads of pummeling stoner sludge and towering doom đ€đđ More to come on this early in the new year!â
Hashtronaut is: Dan Smith: bass/vocals, (Alamo Black) Kellen McInerney: guitar (Near Dusk) Eric Garcia: drums (The Heavy Eyes)
Posted in Reviews on December 1st, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Well, this is it. I still haven’t decided if I’m going to do Monday and Tuesday, or just Monday, or Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or the whole week next week or what. I don’t know. But while I figure it out — and not having this planned is kind of a novelty for me; something against my nature that I’m kind of forcing I think just to make myself uncomfortable — there are 10 more records to dig through today and it’s been a killer week. Yeah, that’s the other thing. Maybe it’s better to quit while I’m ahead.
I’ll kick it back and forth while writing today and getting the last of what I’d originally slated covered, then see how much I still have waiting to be covered. You can’t ever get everything. I keep learning that every year. But if I don’t do it Monday and Tuesday, it’ll either be last week of December or maybe second week of January, so it’s not long until the next one. Never is, I guess.
If this is it for now or not, thanks for reading. I hope you found music that has touched your life and/or made your day better.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
—
David Eugene Edwards, Hyacinth
There are not a ton of surprises to behold in what’s positioned as a first solo studio offering from David Eugene Edwards, whose pedigree would be impressive enough if it only included either 16 Horsepower or Wovenhand but of course is singular in including both. But you don’t need surprises. Titled Hyacinth and issued through Sargent House, the voice, the presence, the sense of intimacy and grandiosity both accounted for as Edwards taps acoustic simplicity in “Bright Boy,” though even that is accompanied by the programmed electronics that provides backing through much of the included 11 tracks. Atop and within these expanses, Edwards broods poetic and explores atmospheres that are heavy in a different way from what Wovenhand has become, chasing tone or intensity. On Hyacinth, it’s more about the impact of the slow-rolling beat in “Celeste” and the blend of organic/inorganic than just how loud a part is or isn’t. Whether a solo career under his name will take the place of Wovenhand or coincide, I don’t know.
Whatever led Beastwars to decide it was time to do a covers EP, fine. No, really, it’s fine. It’s fine that it’s 32 minutes long. It’s fine that I’ve never heard The Gordons, or Julia Deans, or Superette, or The 3Ds or any of the other New Zealand-based artists the Wellington bashers are covering. It’s fine. It’s fine that it sounds different than 2019âs IV (review here). It should. It’s been nearly five years and Beastwars didn’t write these eight songs, though it seems safe to assume they did a fair bit of rearranging since it all sounds so much like Beastwars. But the reason it’s all fine is that when it’s over, whether I know the original version of “Waves” or the blues-turns-crushing “High and Lonely” originally by Nadia Reid, or not, when it’s all over, I’ve got over half an hour more recorded Beastwars music than I had before Tyranny of Distance showed up, and if you don’t consider that a win, you probably already stopped reading. That’s fine too. A sidestep for them in not being an epic landmark LP, and a chance for new ideas to flourish.
Because Messages From the Mothership stacks its longer songs (six-seven minutes) in the back half of its tracklisting, one might be tempted to say Sun Dial push further out as they go, but the truth is that ’60s pop-inflected three-minute opener “Echoes All Around” is pretty out there, and the penultimate “Saucer Noise” — the longest inclusion at 7:47 — is no less melodically present than the more structure-forward leadoff. The difference, principally, is a long stretch of keyboard, but that’s well within the UK outfit’s vintage-synth wheelhouse, and anyway, “Demagnitized” is essentially seven minutes of wobbly drone at the end of the record, so they get weirder, as prefaced in the early going by, well, the early going itself, but also “New Day,” which is more exploratory than the radio-friendly-but-won’t-be-on-the-radio harmonies of “Living for Today” and the duly shimmering strum of “Burning Bright.” This is familiar terrain for Sun Dial, but they approach it with a perspective that’s fresh and, in the title-track, a little bit funky to boot.
With rampant heavy blues and a Mk II Deep Purple boogie bent, Toulouse, France’s Fuzzy Grass present The Revenge of the Blue Nut, and there’s a story there but to be honest I’m not sure I want to know. The heavy ’70s persist as an influence — no surprise for a group who named their 2018 debut 1971 — and pieces like “I’m Alright” and “The Dreamer” feel at least in part informed by Graveyard‘s slow-soul-to-boogie-blowout methodology. Raw fuzz rolls out in 11-minute capper “Moonlight Shades” with a swinging nod that’s a highlight even after “Why You Stop Me” just before, and grows noisy, expansive, eventually furious as it approaches the end, coherent in the verse and cacophonous in just about everything else. But the rawness bolsters the character of the album in ways beyond enhancing the vintage-ist impression, and Fuzzy Grass unite decades of influences with vibrant shred and groove that’s welcoming even at its bluest.
If you go by the current of sizzling electronic pops deeper in the mix, even the outwardly quiet intro to Morne‘s Engraved with Pain is intense. The Boston-based crush-metallers have examined the world around them thoroughly ahead of this fifth full-length, and their disappointment is brutally brought to realization across four songs — “Engraved with Pain” (10:42), “Memories Like Stone” (10:48), “Wretched Empire” (7:45) and “Fire and Dust” (11:40) — written and executed with a dark mastery that goes beyond the weight of the guitar and bass and drums and gutturally shouted vocals to the aura around the music itself. Engraved with Pain makes the air around it feel heavier, basking in an individualized vision of metal that’s part Ministry, part Gojira, lots of Celtic Frost, progressive and bleak in kind — the kind of superlative and consuming listening experience that makes you wonder why you ever listen to anything else except that you’re also exhausted from it because Morne just gave you an existential flaying the likes of which you’ve not had in some time. Artistry. Don’t be shocked when it’s on my ‘best of the year’ list in a couple weeks. I might just go to a store and buy the CD.
Don’t tell the swingin’-dick Western swag of “Wounded,” but Appalooza are a metal band. To wit, The Shining Son, their very-dudely follow-up to 2021’s The Holy of Holies (review here) and second outing for Ripple Music. Opener “Pelican” has more in common with Sepultura than Kyuss, or Pelican for that matter. “Unbreakable” and “Wasted Land” both boast screams worthy of Devin Townsend, while the acoustic/electric urgency in “Wasted Land” and the tumultuous scope of the seven-plus-minute track recall some of Primordial‘s battle-aftermath mourning. “Groundhog Days” has an airy melody and is more decisively heavy rock, and the hypnotic post-doom apparent-murder-balladry of “Killing Maria” answers that at the album’s close, and “Framed” hits heavy blues Ă la a missed outfit like Dwellers, but even in “Sunburn” there’s an immediacy to the rhythm between the guitar and percussion, and though they’re not necessarily always aggressive in their delivery, nor do they want to be. Metal they are, if only under the surface, and that, coupled with the care they put into their songwriting, makes The Shining Son stand out all the more in an ever-crowded Euro underground.
An invitation to chill the beans delivered to your ears courtesy of Irish cosmic jammers Space Shepherds as two longform jams. “Wading Through the Infinite Sea” nestles into a funky groove and spends who-even-cares-how-much-time of its total 27 minutes vibing out with noodling guitar and a steady, languid, periodically funk-leaning flow. I don’t know if it was made up on the spot, but it sure sounds like it was, and though the drums get a little restless as keys and guitar keep dreaming, the elements gradually align and push toward and through denser clouds of dust and gas on their way to being suns, a returning lick at the end looking slightly in the direction of Elder but after nearly half an hour it belongs to no one so much as Space Shepherds themselves. ‘Side B,’ as it were, is “Void Hurler” (18:41), which is more active early around circles being drawn on the snare, and it has a crescendo and a synthy finish, but is ultimately more about the exploration and little moments along the way like the drums decided to add a bit of push to what might’ve otherwise been the comedown, or the fuzz buzzing amid the drone circa 10 minutes in. You can sit and listen and follow each waveform on its journey or you can relax and let the whole thing carry you. No wrong answer for jams this engaging.
Principally engaged in the consumption and expulsion of expectations, Fawn Limbs and Nadja — experimentalists from Finland and Germany-via-Canada, respectively — drone as one might think in opener “Isomerich,” and in the subsequent “Black Body Radiation” and “Cascading Entropy,” they give Primitive Man, The Body or any other extremely violent, doom-derived bludgeoners you want to name a run for their money in terms of sheer noisy assault. Somebody’s been reading about exoplanets, as the drone/harsh noise pairing “Redshifted” and “Blueshifted” (look it up, it’s super cool) reset the aural trebuchet for its next launch, the latter growing caustic on the way, ahead of “Distilled in Observance” renewing the punishment in earnest. And it is earnest. They mean every second of it as Fawn Limbs and Nadja grind souls to powder with all-or-nothing fury, dropping overwhelming drive to round out “Distilled in Observance” before the 11-minute “Metastable Ion Decay” bursts out from the chest of its intro drone to devour everybody on the ship except Sigourney Weaver. I’m not lying to you — this is ferocious. You might think you’re up for it. One sure way to find out, but you should know you’re being tested.
Do they pilot, a-pilot, do they the dune? Probably. Regardless, German heavy rockers Dune Pilot offer their third full-length and first for Argonauta Records in the 11-song Magnetic, taking cues from modern fuzz in the vein of Truckfighters for “Visions” after the opening title-track sets the mood and establishes the mostly-dry sound of the vocals as they cut through the guitar and bass tones. A push of voice becomes a defining feature of Magnetic, which isn’t such a departure from 2018’s Lucy, though the rush of “Next to the Liquor Store” and the breadth in the fuzz of “Highest Bid” and the largesse of the nod in “Let You Down” assure that Dune Pilot don’t come close to wearing down their welcome in the 46 minutes, cuts like the bluesy “So Mad” and the big-chorus ideology of “Heap of Shards” coexisting drawn together by the vitality of the performances behind them as well as the surety of their craft. It is heavy rock that feels specifically geared toward the lovers thereof.
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 18th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Colorado four-piece Night Fishing debuted earlier this year with an EP called Live Bait (review here) that on Dec. 1 they’ll follow with two more cuts being delivered as a second EP, Yuppie Cortado. The 10-minute title-track of the new offering is streaming now, and it reinforces the feeling I had coming off Live Bait, which is that the band are onto something. There aren’t a lot of American acts who willfully take on a European-style heavy psychedelia, but Night Fishing — in addition to their sportsmanly thematic — do have that going on, and though they’re drawling and mostly spoken, there are vocals on “Yuppie Cortado,” which if I’m not mistaken is a first for the band.
That’s especially noteworthy to me because of the involvement in Night Fishing of Zach Amster, also of Small Stone heavy rockers Abrams. Dude can sing, and that band’s penchant for structure and traditional songwriting isn’t to be understated. If some of those impulses toward craft are bleeding into Night Fishing, then the Monster Magnet-style space heavy of “Yuppie Cortado” might be just the beginning of what they’ll unfurl going forward. Regardless, you should check out the song and maybe preorder a tape. Yeah that’s right, tape preorders. The future is also the past. You get used to it.
From the PR wire:
Instrumental Psych Rockers NIGHT FISHING to Share New EP ‘Yuppie Cortado’
Denverâs newest lords of lysergic, instrumental wizardry, NIGHT FISHING, have released their second EP, ‘Yuppie Cortado’. Guaranteed to bring Ego Death to All (even Yuppie Scum), the EP contains two, new, third eye opening jamz of Rocky Mountain psych rock bliss.
Listen to ‘Yuppie Cortado’ on all streaming services HERE & watch the âYuppie Cortadoâ fish enhanced visualizer video HERE. Video edited by Frank Huang (YOB, Full of Hell, END).
‘Yuppie Cortado’ was recorded live by Chris McNaughton at Rocky Mountain Recorders, mixing and mastering also by Chris McNaughton and logo by Roy Jones.
NIGHT FISHING Live: Oct 21 – Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive w/ Acid Mothers Temple
About NIGHT FISHING:
Comprised of four seasoned Rocky Mountain Road Dogs (members of Call of the Void, Green Druid, Abrams, Muscle Beach), NIGHT FISHING exist to explore the boundaries of improvisation, mood and structure within the realms of heavy, instrumental sound. They released their debut EP ‘Live Bait’ in Spring 2023 and have been wowing audiences with their trip-inducing psychedelic live shows around the West since forming.
NIGHT FISHING are: Gordon Koch – Drums Graham Zander – Guitar Zach Amster – Guitar Justin Sanderson – Bass
Posted in Questionnaire on October 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: Rory Rummings of Cloud Catcher
—
How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
Cloud Catcher plays heavy music, plain and simple! No gimmicks, no image, just heavy riffs, musical dialogue between the band and cranked amps! This would have never came to be if my parents didn’t play Maiden, Priest, Sabbath, Skid Row and guitar driven tunes on repeat when I was a little kid… I also owe them the world for their endless support growing up and allowing me to continuously blow the tiles off the ceiling in our basement with my shitty Randall half stack hahaha!
Describe your first musical memory.
Setting up pots and pans to drum on in the living room as a 4 year old and pretending I was Clive Burr from Iron Maiden while watching “Video Pieces”
Also playing air guitar with my Dad to “Paris is Burning” by Dokken… George Lynch rules!
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Touring with Earthless in 2017 was pretty damn cool… here’s to hoping something like that happens again!!
Honestly, thinking of the jams with my friends at our home studio always makes me stoked. Oh and meeting Uli Jon Roth and having dinner with him by chance was so fucking cool too.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Ah man, good question… having to sacrifice a friendship for the pursuit of artistic vision definitely opened my eyes.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Artistic progression leads to the freedom to explore your own voice… I wish more bands were not afraid to take risks like this, instead of pigeon holing themselves into a box where they will always remain the flavor of the week… bands like the Melvins are a tried and true example of sticking to your guns and progressing your sound and vision while not giving a fuck about what others think. The result is priceless and something that will remain eternal.
How do you define success?
Jamming every Friday, being able to play shows and tour all while being a part of the working class. Doing shit yourself and being proud of the work you put in instead of relying on others to hand you things… that’s success to me.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
People still dressing up and pretending like it’s the 70’s in 2023… hahaha!
Honestly the way that social media has spread its psychic illness over the world has been something I wish I never had to see.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
A collaborative album between Cloud Catcher and Blood Incantation and Danava. Atmospheric synth filled riffage that this world needs… perhaps the best modern day prog album? Hmmmm we shall see. Paul, Greg I’m looking at you!!
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
The artist fully embracing who they are and what they like and just fucking going for it!
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Staying at a family friends cabin with my wife and inner circle this upcoming week… few things are better in this world.
Posted in Reviews on October 6th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Last day, this one. And probably a good thing so that I can go back to doing just about anything else beyond (incredibly) basic motor function and feeling like I need to start the next day’s QR writeups. I’m already thinking of maybe a week in December and a week or two in January, just to try to keep up with stuff, but I’m of two minds about it.
Does the Quarterly Review actually help anyone find music? It helps me, I know, because it’s 50 records that I’m basically forcing myself to dig into, and that exposes me to more and more and more all the time, and gives me an outlet for stuff I wouldn’t otherwise have mental or temporal space to cover, so I know I get something out of it. Do you?
Honest answers are welcome in the comments. If it’s a no, that helps me as well.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
—
AAWKS & Aiwass, The Eastern Scrolls
Late on their 2022 self-titled debut (review here), Canadian upstart heavy fuzzers AAWKS took a decisive plunge into greater tonal densities, and “1831,” which is their side-consuming 14:30 contribution to the The Eastern Scrolls split LP with Arizona mostly-solo-project Aiwass, feels built directly off that impulse. It is, in other words, very heavy. Cosmically spaced with harsher vocals early that remind of stonerkings Sons of Otis and only more blowout from there as they roll forth into slog, noise, a stop, ambient guitar and string melodies and drum thud behind vocals, subdued psych atmosphere and backmasked sampling near the finish. Aiwass, led by multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Blake Carrera and now on the cusp of releasing a second full-length, The Falling (review here), give the 13:00 “The Unholy Books” a stately, post-metallic presence, as much about the existential affirmations and the melody applied to the lyrics as it moves into the drumless midsection as either the earlier Grayceon-esque pulled notes of guitar (thinking specifically “War’s End” from 2011’s All We Destroy, but there the melody is cello) into it or the engrossing heft that emerges late in the piece, though it does bookend with a guitar comedown. Reportedly based around the life of theosophy co-founder and cult figure Madame Helena Blavatsky, it can either be embraced on that level or taken on simply as a showcase of two up and coming bands, each with their own complementary sound. However you want to go, it’s easily among the best splits I’ve heard in 2023.
The lines between projects are blurring for Surya Kris Peters, otherwise known as Chris Peters, currently based in Brazil where he has the solo-project Fuzz Sagrado following on from his time in the now-defunct German trio Samsara Blues Experiment. Strange New World is part of a busy 2023/busy last few years for Peters, who in 2023 alone has issued a live album from his former band (review here) and a second self-recorded studio LP from Fuzz Sagrado, titled Luz e Sombra (review here). And in Fuzz Sagrado, Peters has returned to the guitar as a central instrument after a few years of putting his focus on keys and synths with Surya Kris Peters as the appointed outlet for it. Well, the Fuzz Sagrado had some keys and the 11-song/52-minute Strange New World wants nothing for guitar either as Peters reveals a headbanger youth in the let-loose guitar of “False Prophet,” offers soothing and textured vibes of a synthesized beat in “Sleep Meditation in Times of War” (Europe still pretty clearly in mind) and the acoustic/electric blend that’s expanded upon in “Nada Brahma Nada.” Active runs of synth, bouncing from note to note with an almost zither-esque feel in “A Beautiful Exile (Pt. 1)” and the later “A Beautiful Exile (Part 2)” set a theme that parts of other pieces follow, but in the drones of “Past Interference” and the ’80s New Wave prog of the bonus track “Slightly Too Late,” Peters reminds that the heart of the project is in exploration, and so it is still very much its own thing.
A covers record can be a unique opportunity for an artist to convey something about themselves to fans, and while I consider Evert Snyman‘s 12-track/38-minute classic pop-rock excursion All Killer Filler to be worth it for his take on Smashing Pumpkins‘ “Zero” alone, there is no mistaking the show of persona in the choice to open with The Stooges‘ iconic “Search and Destroy” and back it cheekily with silly bounce of Paul McCartney‘s almost tragically catchy “Temporary Secretary.” That pairing alone is informative if you’re looking to learn something about the South African-based songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and producer. See also “The Piña Colada Song.” The ’90s feature mightily, as they would, with tunes by Pixies, Blur, Frank Black, The Breeders and Mark Lanegan (also the aforementioned Smashing Pumpkins), but whether it’s the fuzz of The Breeders’ 1:45 “I Just Wanna Get Along,” the sincere acoustic take on The Beatles “I Will” — which might as well be a second McCartney solo cut, but whatever; you’ll note Frank Black and Pixies appearing separately as well — or the gospel edge brought to Tom Waits‘ “Jesus Gonna Be Here,” Snyman internalizes this material, almost builds it from the ground up, loyal in some ways and not in others, but resonant in its respect for the source material without trying to copy, say, Foo Fighters, note for note on “The Colour and the Shape.” If it’s filler en route to Snyman‘s next original collection, fine. Dude takes on Mark Lanegan without it sounding like a put on. Mark Lanegan himself could barely do that.
Virginian heavy doom rockers Book of Wyrms have proved readily in the past that they don’t need all that long to set up a vibe, and the standalone single “Storm Warning” reinforces that position with four-plus minutes of solid delivery of craft. Vocalist/synthesist Sarah Moore Lindsey, bassist Jay “Jake” Lindsey and drummer Kyle Lewis and guitarist Bobby Hufnell (also Druglord) — the latter two would seem to have switched instruments since last year’s single “Sodapop Glacier” (premiered here) — but whatever is actually being played by whoever, the song is a structurally concise but atmospheric groover, with a riff twisting around the hook and the keyboard lending dimension to the mix as it rests beneath the guitar and bass. They released their third album, Occult New Age (review here), in 2021, so they’re by no means late on a follow-up, and I don’t know either when this song was recorded — before, after or during that process — but it’s a sharp-sounding track from a band whose style has grown only more theirs with time. I have high expectations for Book of Wyrms‘ next record — I had high expectations for the last one, which were met — and especially taken together, “Storm Warning” and “Sodapop Glacier” show both the malleable nature of the band’s aesthetic, the range that has grown in their sound and the live performance that is at their collective core.
Following on from their declarative 2022 debut, Mile High Downer Rock (review here), Denver trio Burning Sister — bassist/vocalist Steve Miller (also synth), guitarist Nathan Rorabaugh and drummer Alison Salutz — bring four originals and the Mudhoney cover “When Tomorrow Comes” (premiered here) together as Get Your Head Right, a 29-minute EP, beginning with the hypnotic nod groove and biting leads of “Fadeout” (also released as a single) and the slower, heavy psych F-U-Z-Z of “Barbiturate Lizard,” the keyboard-inclusive languid roll of which, even after the pace picks up, tells me how right I was to dig that album. The centerpiece title-track is faster and a little more forward tonally, more grounded, but carries over the vocal echo and finds itself in noisier crashes and chugs before giving over to the 7:58 “Looking Through Me,” which continues the relatively terrestrial vibe over until the wall falls off the spaceship in the middle of the track and everyone gets sucked into the vacuum — don’t worry, the synthesizer mourns us after — just before the noted cover quietly takes hold to close out with spacious heavygaze cavern echo that swells all the way up to become a blowout in the vein of the original. It’s a story that’s been told before, of a band actively growing, coming into their sound, figuring out who they are from one initial release to the next. Burning Sister haven’t finished that process yet, but I like where this seems to be headed. Namely into psych-fuzz oblivion and cosmic dust. So yeah, right on.
In some of the harsher vocals and thrashy riffing of Cult of Oblivion‘s opening title-track, Massachusetts’ Oxblood Forge remind a bit of some of the earliest Shadows Fall‘s definitively New Englander take on hardcore-informed metal. The Boston-based double-guitar five-piece speed up the telltale chug of “Children of the Grave” on “Upon the Altar” and find raw sludge scathe on “Cleanse With Fire” ahead of finishing off the four-song/18-minute EP with the rush into “Mask of Satan,” which echoes the thrash of “Cult of Oblivion” itself and finds vocalist Ken McKay pushing his voice higher in clean register than one can recall on prior releases, their most recent LP being 2021’s Decimator (review here). But that record was produced for a different kind of impact than Cult of Oblivion, and the aggression driving the new material is enhanced by the roughness of its presentation. These guys have been at it a while now, and clearly they’re not in it for trends, or to be some huge band touring for seven months at a clip. But their love of heavy metal is evident in everything they do, and it comes through here in every blow to the head they mete out.
The titular rhythmic counting in Austrian heavy-prog quirk rockers High Brian‘s Five, Six, Seven (on StoneFree Records, of course) doesn’t take long to arrive, finding its way into second cut “Is it True” after the mild careening of “All There Is” opens their third full-length, and that’s maybe eight minutes into the 40-minute record, but it doesn’t get less gleefully weird from there as the band take off into the bassy meditation of “The End” before tossing out angular headspinner riffs in succession and rolling through what feels like a history of krautrock’s willful anti-normality written into the apocalypse it would seemingly have to be. “The End” is the longest track at 8:50, and it presumably closes side A, which means side B is when it’s time to party as the triplet chug of “The Omni” reinforces the energetic start of “All There Is” with madcap fervor and “Stone Came Up” can’t decide whether it’s raw-toned biker rock or spaced out lysergic idolatry, so it decides to become an open jam complete people talking “in the crowd.” This leaves the penultimate “Our First Car” to deliver one last shove into the art-rock volatility of closer “Oil Into the Fire,” where High Brian play one more round of can-you-follow-where-this-is-going before ending with a gentle cymbal wash like nothing ever happened. Note, to the best of my knowledge, there are not bongos on every track, as the cover art heralds. But perhaps spiritually. Spiritual bongos.
Shimmering, gorgeous and richly informed in melody and rhythm by South American folk, BĂșho Ermitaño‘s Implosiones revels in pastoralia in opener “Herbie” before “Expolosiones” takes off past its midpoint into heavy post-rock float and progressive urgency that in itself is more dynamic than many bands even still is only a small fraction of the encompassing range of sounds at work throughout these seven songs. ’60s psych twists into the guitar solo in the back half of “Explosiones” before space rock key/synth wash finishes — yes, it’s like that — and only then does the serene guitar and, birdsong and synth-drone of “Preludio” announce the arrival of centerpiece “Ingravita,” which begins acoustic and even as it climbs all the way up to its crescendo maintains its peaceful undercurrent so that when it returns at the end it seems to be home again at the finish. The subsequent “Buarabino” is more about physical movement in its rhythm, cumbia roots perhaps showing through, but leaves the ground for its second half of multidirectional resonances offered like ’70s prog that tells you it’s from another planet. But no, cosmic as they get in the keys of “Entre los Cerros,” BĂșho Ermitaño are of and for the Earth — you can hear it in every groove and sun-on-water guitar melody — and when the bowl chimes to start finale “Renacer,” the procession that ensues en route to the final drone is an affirmation both of the course they’ve taken in sound and whatever it is in your life that’s led you to hear it. Records like this never get hype. They should. They are loved nonetheless.
Octonaut, Intergalactic Tales of a Wandering Cephalopod
In concept or manifestation, one would not call Octonaut‘s 54-minute shenanigans-prone debut album Intergalactic Tales of a Wandering Cephalopod a minor undertaking. On any level one might want to approach it — taking on the two-minute feedbackscape of “…—…” (up on your morse code?) or the 11-minute tale-teller-complete-with-digression-about-black-holes “Octonaut” or any of their fun-with-fuzz-and-prog-metal-and-psychedelia points in between — it is a lot, and there is a lot going on, but it’s also wonderfully brazen. It’s completely over the top and knows it. It doesn’t want to behave. It doesn’t want to just be another stoner band. It’s throwing everything out in the open and seeing what works, and as Octonaut move forward, ideally, they’ll take the lessons of a song like the mellow linear builder “Hypnotic Jungle” or nine-minute capper “Rainbow Muffler Camel” (like they’re throwing darts at words) with its intermittent manic fits and the somehow inevitable finish of blown-out static noise. As much stoner as it is prog, it’s also not really either, but this is good news because there are few better places for an act so clearly bent on individualism as Octonaut are to begin than in between genres. One hopes they dwell there for the duration.
Six years and a rhythm section later, Cloud Catcher are back with a third full-length, Return From the Cauldron released on their own Cauldron Audio Works imprint. The follow-up to 2017âs Trails of Kozmic Dust (review here) arrives three years after the Denver trio offered their split with alter-ego outfit Tricoma, Royal Flush Sessions Vol. I (review here), which makes it four since founding guitarist/vocalist Rory Rummings dismantled the band in 2019 after canceling a tour and an EP The Whip. Rummings ended up revamping Cloud Catcher, with Matt Ross on bass and Will Trafas on drums, and Return From the Cauldron is the first long-player from this version of the three-piece.
The consistency of songcraft, then, and of Cloud Catcher‘s stylistic niche between classic heavy rock, proto-metal boogie and NWOBHM — not to say the whole album is all three at the same time all the time, but “Wield the Blade” certainly is and it still nods at Black Heaven-era Earthless — one might credit to Rummings as a principal songwriter. Certainly to go back to “Visions” from Trails of Kozmic Dust and put it next to some of the boogie on Return From the Cauldron, the style is recognizable.
Though never quite as willfully dizzying as The Atomic Bitchwax, Cloud Catcher are no strangers to making heads spin, and they do so across the first half of Return From the Cauldron while also finding themselves dug into a sludgier-rocking vibe, the verses of “I Am the Storm” calling to mind Backwoods Payback or early Alabama Thunderpussy as “Burning Might” will again soon enough, which the hot-shit noodling and Sabbath-blues shoftshoe of “Boundless Journey” only echo, Rummings‘ solo casting space outward from the cyclical riffs. Also consistent with the last album is a studio sound, by which I mean they have one.
I won’t claim to know Cloud Catcher‘s ethic as regards attempting to capture live energy in a recording. For sure they don’t sound like they’re trying to make it boring, but whether or not they’re specifically geared toward conveying stage-sound on record, I’ve no idea. But they use the studio space. You can hear the separation of the instruments in “Gemini’s Ascent,” the echoing layers of lead guitar taking off around the barebones psych expanse after two minutes in, room left for verse and flute alike. Fleet as “Wield the Blade” and “Wretched Moon” are, there’s nothing about them to muddy the clarity of their impression.
This is a mature Cloud Catcher. They are cognizant of what their songs are doing and how they relate to each other, the double-kick of “Wretched Moon” and motorshove of “Magician’s Chariot,” for example. And while there are parts that can and do sound raw, whether that’s the bassy fuzz of “Burning Might” or the chase in the guitar and bass after two and a half minutes into the closing title-track, that suits the band’s style, which is impressive enough in technique if not overly technical in what is being played.
But the amalgam of nod and thrust, within the earlier tracks (side A) leaning toward the lumber and in the back end delving deeper into the metallurgics of the thrashy “Wield the Blade” and “Wretched Moon,” which gallops later and crunches like ’90s doom in its first verses, drums building in intensity in the latter like they’re ending the album, even though that doesn’t actually happen for another eight minutes or so with “Return From the Cauldron,” with its creeper and obscure-samples intro and ensuing janga-janga chug, a slower-developing riff than many here that leads to plenty of gallop later. But if Cloud Catcher are going to take their time anywhere, the closer is the place to do it, and their patience is rewarding in the central groove and the twisting payoff alike.
I would love to go on about the band’s accomplishments a decade on from their start, but I’m sick. I can’t keep my eyes open and can’t keep food or water in me and I need to go to bed, now. But please don’t take that as a slight against Cloud Catcher or their achievements in this material, the efforts on Rummings‘ part to find and gel with a new bassist and drummer, and the resulting righteousness of the songs. That I managed to be upright at all to talk about them should be seen as a sign of respect for their work.
You can hear the entirety of Return From the Cauldron on the player below, followed by tour dates and whatnot off the PR wire.
Please enjoy:
CLOUD CATCHER has toured the US several times, including one run with Earthless and an appearance at Psycho Vegas 2017. The power trio has also had the pleasure of sharing the stage with the likes of such stoner/doom luminaries as Dead Meadow, The Obsessed, Danava, Acid King, Lecherous Gaze, and Pike Vs The Automaton. The band is set to embark on a West Coast tour in the Fall in support of Return From The Cauldron. See all confirmed dates below.
CLOUD CATCHER – Live From The Cauldron Tour 2023: 9/30/2023 Hi-Dive – Denver, CO * Return From The Cauldron Record Release Show 10/06/2023 TBA – Fort Collins, CO 10/07/2023 Ernie November Record Store – Cheyenne, WY 10/12/2023 Aces High Saloon – Salt Lake City, UT 10/13/2023 Artifice – Las Vegas, NV 10/14/2023 Poor House – Oceanside, CA 10/15/2023 Knucklehead – Hollywood, CA 10/16/2023 Cocktail Lounge – Ventura, CA 10/17/2023 Thee Stork Club – Oakland, CA 10/18/2023 Cafe Colonial – Sacramento, CA 10/20/2023 High Watermark – Portland, OR 10/21/2023 The Shredder – Boise, ID
CLOUD CATCHER: Rory Rummings – guitars, vocals Matt Ross – bass Will Trafas – drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 14th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Heavy Denver’s Love Gang wrapped up their European tour last month at SonicBlast Fest in Portugal, and I’m sorry to report that I missed them there. I dig their early 2023 album, Meanstreak (review here), plenty, and I’ve got no problem with them otherwise, but it was like two in the morning or something and I’m lame. I felt bad, making the trip and all, but at some point I need to go back to the room and sort photos or I’m not going to get the review done in time for the next day to start. Fests mean hard choices.
But in light of that guilt gnawing the back of my amygdala, I figured I’d put up their first East Coast shows, which are set to take place for four nights next month. They’re playing Brooklyn, Philly, TBA and Asbury Park, and I don’t know what brings them to the Eastern Seaboard other than the general demands of touring and supporting the record, but no doubt their classic style will find warm reception when they arrive. The four-piece also have a show in Denver before they head out, so whether that’s travel time and they’re driving east or flying and figuring out the rest when they get there, I have no idea. But good for them touching new ground, and if you’re on the East Coast and mad they’re not coming to you, I get that, but there’s always next time and maybe on the internet we can be happy a thing’s happening at all even if it’s not happening to ourselves. Maybe.
Dates follow, posted with minimal comment on social media:
Playing our first ever shows on the East Coast next month. Tickets on sale now.
10.14 Denver, CO – @lostlakedenver 10.18 Brooklyn, NY – @saintvitusbar 10.19 Philadelphia, PA – @ortliebsphilly 10.20 TBA (lovegangco@gmail.com to book) 10.21 Asbury Park, NJ – @houseofindependents
Fliers by @shit_leopard
LOVE GANG is Kam Wentworth – Guitar & Vocals Leo Muñoz – Organ Grady O’Donnell – Bass Shaun Goodwin – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 24th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The forthcoming Return From the Cauldron by Cloud Catcher will be the Denver-based headspinner-rockers’ first full-length since 2017’s Trails of Kozmic Dust (review here). But if you’re feeling like six years is a long time, it’s actually not a terrible turnaround when one considers that the band broke up in 2019 and wound up back together with a new lineup behind founding guitarist/vocalist Rory Rummings — that’d be bassist Matt Ross and drummer Will Trafas — putting out a split in 2020 with their alter-egos Tricoma called Royal Flush Sessions Vol. 1. Three years on from that, releasing on their own label, yeah, that sounds about right.
But if you’d like to know a bit more of what’s to come with Return From the Cauldron — more than you might glean from the first single, “I Am the Storm,” streaming below — it’s that split that you’re going to want to dig into, because “Boundless Journey,” “Magician’s Chariot” and “Wield the Blade,” which all appear on the album’s tracklisting, were all featured on the 2020 release as well. So if you play it right, you’ve got the first three tracks and a cut from side B — four songs. That’s probably a more significant advance listen than will otherwise be available, even if the recordings are different.
West Coast tour lined up, of course. Release show is Sept. 30 in Denver, then they’re off and running. I wouldn’t mind seeing them again. Last time I did, they were a whole different band. Funny how that happens sometimes.
The PR wire has it like this:
CLOUD CATCHER: Denver Power Trio To Release Return From The Cauldron September 29th; New Track Streaming, Preorders Available, And Fall Tour Announced
Denver heavy rock power trio CLOUD CATCHER will release their third full-length, Return From The Cauldron, on September 29th via their own Cauldron Audio Works.
CLOUD CATCHER is guitarist/vocalist Rory Rummings with bassist Matt Ross and drummer Will Trafas, a rhythm section akin to Geezer Butler and Mitch Mitchell. With two albums and two EPs already under their proverbial belts, CLOUD CATCHER has been dispensing their own brand of guitar driven, heavy rock to the masses for over a decade. The bandâs 2017 released Trails Of Kozmic Dust full-length reaped critical accolades both stateside and abroad.
With Return From The Cauldron, the Rocky Mountain riff merchants continue to push their signature sonic assault forward. An album about emerging positively from hard times and negative experiences, itâs a collection of songs where the themes are perseverance, growth, and hope. Most of the tunes were written when CLOUD CATCHER went on hiatus for the better part of 2019 and during 2020 when the world was slipping into pandemic madnessâŠ
âReturn From The Cauldron is what I would consider the first true CLOUD CATCHER album,â elaborates Rummings. âWe have found our sound and the material present is a further expanse on what we are capable of.â
In advance of the recordâs release, today the band unveils first single, âI Am The Storm.â Notes the band, ââI Am The Stormâ is a song about crushing negativity and overcoming hard times with the power of self-realization and riffs. This song was inspired by some of the bands we all know and love such as Iron Maiden, ZZ Top, and of course, Black Sabbath. This song has been chosen as the first single because we feel it is a great introduction to those who donât know of CLOUD CATCHER.â
Return From The Cauldron was self-recorded by Riley Rukavina, mixed and mastered by Greg Wilkinson at Earhammer Studios, and comes swathed in the cover art of Christina Hunt of Heavy Metal Talisman.
The record will be available digitally and limited-edition vinyl via the CLOUD CATCHER Bandcamp page HERE:
Return From The Cauldron Track Listing: 1. I Am The Storm 2. Boundless Journey 3. Magicianâs Chariot 4. Burning Might 5. Geminiâs Ascent 6. Wield The Blade 7. Wretched Moon 8. Return From The Cauldron
CLOUD CATCHER has toured the US several times, including one run with Earthless and an appearance at Psycho Vegas 2017. The power trio has also had the pleasure of sharing the stage with the likes of such stoner/doom luminaries as Dead Meadow, The Obsessed, Danava, Acid King, Lecherous Gaze, and Pike Vs The Automaton. The band is set to embark on a West Coast tour in the Fall in support of Return From The Cauldron. See all confirmed dates below.
CLOUD CATCHER – Live From The Cauldron Tour 2023: 9/30/2023 Hi-Dive – Denver, CO * Return From The Cauldron Record Release Show 10/06/2023 TBA – Fort Collins, CO 10/07/2023 Ernie November Record Store – Cheyenne, WY 10/12/2023 Aces High Saloon – Salt Lake City, UT 10/13/2023 Artifice – Las Vegas, NV 10/14/2023 Poor House – Oceanside, CA 10/15/2023 Knucklehead – Hollywood, CA 10/16/2023 Cocktail Lounge – Ventura, CA 10/17/2023 Thee Stork Club – Oakland, CA 10/18/2023 Cafe Colonial – Sacramento, CA 10/20/2023 High Watermark – Portland, OR 10/21/2023 The Shredder – Boise, ID
CLOUD CATCHER: Rory Rummings – guitars, vocals Matt Ross – bass Will Trafas – drums
