Despite their melodic foundation and ready use of vocal harmonies, Undersmile never made for easy listening. The Oxfordshire-based four-piece released their debut EP, A Sea of Dead Snakes, in 2010 and followed it with a split with Caretaker in 2011. By the time they got around to issuing 2012’s full-length debut, Narwhal (review here), through Future Noise Recordings and Tartarus Records, their methodology of grim atmospherics, a nautical thematic and duly weighted, undulating, oceanic progressions was well set. That Narwhal peppered its 79-minute run with interludes and shorter pieces did not lessen its impact.

Comprised then and now of vocalist/guitarists Hel Sterne and Taz Corona-Brown, bassist Olly Corona-Brown and drummer Tom McKibbin, Undersmile in 2012 would do something I can think of few other heavy acts doing in quite the same way. They went acoustic. By starting another band. And then they released a split with themselves the next year, with Wood and Wire (review here) appearing through Shaman Recordings and Future Noise.

Eight, nine years later, there’s still a part of me that wonders if Coma Wall needed to be a separate band, and there are arguments to be made on either side. Hel and Taz have done Coma Wall appearances as a duo over the years, and certainly it’s a more attractive moniker for a gig poster than Undersmile (Acoustic) or something like that. At the same time, doesn’t spinning Coma Wall off into another band limit what Undersmile could be? I guess Jo Quail might show up on cello for either incarnation, but what if Coma Wall wants to plug in and get heavy? What if Undersmile wants to do an unplugged set? How strict do the lines become between one and the other?

But they’re not really separate and I don’t think they were intended to be. Otherwise they’d probably have done the split with someone else. With full-band arrangements, Coma Wall made their first offering with Wood and Wire, the title of the six-songer (three tracks per band) hinting at the interplay of acoustic and electric-based fare that played out across its 42-minute span. In “Summer,” “You Are My Death” and “Cutter’s Choice” — the latter an Undersmile cover from the first EP, because of course — Coma Wall put together full-band unplugged arrangements. At the time I likened it to ’90s-era MTV Unplugged — not at all a jibe in my mind — and specifically, to Alice in Chains‘ performance in that series. The harmonies between Sterne and Corona-Brown in “You Are My Death” follow a cascading pattern that a plucked banjo punctuates along with the snare drum set back in the mix, the bass rolling alongside in a way that comes across as not quite as full as “Summer” before it, but still in a similar vein.

Both pieces have hooks to provide memorability despite their slow unfurling, and “Cutter’s Choice” in Coma Wall‘s hands becomes a welcome highlight of intricate guitar work and a roll that immediately calls Sap to mind; dark in atmosphere, organic in execution. When Undersmile take over with “Soil,” “Killer Bob” and “Hives,” the procession is very much one of having been built up — that is, one band is meant to lead to the other — and “Soil” starts quiet before kicking in. Still, that initial burst of tone is jarring — one imagines less so when an actual vinyl platter is flipped between “Cutter’s Choice” and “Soil,” but I spare you pretending I’m not listening to the digital version — and those same harmonies from “You Are My Death” that made the idea seem almost sweet become part of a densely droning effect.

These songs are actually on the shorter end for Undersmile, though “Hives” tops eight minutes. Narwhal readily went past a 10-minute mark without blinking. But what matters is the plod. Undersmile were never just about being slow, and their lumbering on Wood and Wire is essential to creating the particular downer ambience of their style of doom. Even with its all-the-volume-you’ve-got-worthy distortion, “Soil” remains righteously melodic, and the same is true of “Killer Bob,” which turns for seven and a half minutes to a tempo that’s so excruciating you almost have to laugh about it.

The drone, though. It’s the drone. Earth-style drone. That’s what stands out to me in revisiting Wood and Wire, and it comes out in “Killer Bob” and the down-to-minimal stretch of “Hives” that answers its plunging trajectory with further willful plodding — and is that some acoustic guitar to tie it all together? — as the four-piece convey an utterly hopeless landscape. You can see the trees and the water (and the wolves) on the cover art. By the time “Hives” is finished, the feeling is more that the forest in the background has been burned away and ash and trunk parts are all that’s left. Not so much a rising fog as residual smoldering.

No, Undersmile were never easy listening. They were, however, consistently undervalued. In 2015, the band released their second long-player, Anhedonia (review here), through Black Bow Records, having recorded with Chris Fielding at Skyhammer Studio. Broader in scope and massive in sound to match, it would be their final release before their breakup the next year. So it goes, right? Two good records, some cool shows, played Desertfest here and again. A decent run across seven or so years. More than a lot of bands get. Fair enough.

Well, they’d reunite late in 2019, which was great news except that nobody knew the world was about to end. Coma Wall released three songs recorded by McKibbin in 2020’s Ursa Minor EP, but like everybody’s everything, any and all larger-scale 2020 plans were scuttled owing to the pandemic. To my knowledge, the show Undersmile would have played on Oct. 24 as part of a three-day weekend bill dubbed Restart the Heart at Camden Town’s famous The Black Heart (no babies allowed; I’ve tried) venue alongside Jo Quail, Conan, Trippy Wicked, Wren, Gurt and many more, would have been their first post-reunion, but alas, they canceled last month.

So it goes in a time of “another time.” In the meantime, Taz and Olly Corona-Brown, as well as McKibbin and Tom Greenway double (triple?) in the sometimes-banjo-laden hardcore weirdo outfit Drore, who have been releasing tapes since 2016 and whose latest single “Lone Ranger by Kittens,” is up now for streaming at Bandcamp.

Whatever comes, if anything, will or won’t. What is, is.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

—

I don’t remember what had me thinking of Coma Wall and Undersmile this week. Or last week. Probably something in the Quarterly Review put it in my mind, but I can’t recall what off the top of my head. You know, I wrote 70 reviews for that thing. 70. And the first message I got about it was from some dude being like, “So I guess I didn’t make it, huh?”

Yeah, I had said that I’d work his record in. But come on. I didn’t even get a day to feel like I accomplished something when it was over. I’m sorry that the guy was disappointed — now I am too. Because I did 70 records in 10-per-day installments back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back and it wasn’t enough. I said to The Patient Mrs. last night it’s the first time I’ve done a Quarterly Review and felt like it wasn’t worth the effort. I guess after doing it for more than six years, that’s a pretty decent track record though. Enough that I’ll do another in December or January, anyhow.

But god damn, that kind of became the tone for my whole week: “What the fuck am I doing?”

There were so many other releases I didn’t get to either, and more stuff came in all last week through the contact form. I had specifically slated a premiere for Wednesday so I’d have to stop. I wish I hadn’t. I could’ve used the extra day to cover stuff like Enslaved, Ascia, No Mute, Nothing is Real, Doctor Smoke, Dome Runner, Wooden Fields, Wooden Earth, Trip Hill, Octopus Ride — there, that’s 10. And that was a quick glance at my desktop.

It is intensely frustrating. And I know there’s an entire league of stuff out there that I can’t get to. I wish I had an outlet for just putting something there and being like, “okay, this exists,” but I don’t. There’s no keeping up with an algorithm like Spotify or YouTube channels with tens of thousands of subscribers who just put records out there and people get notifications and then watch some record and buy merch or whatever. Even if I had the time I don’t think I’d do that, but shit it looks efficient.

I have the Gimme Metal show, but come on. I don’t have any listener statistics or anything, but I see mostly the same heads in the chat room every other Friday — and I appreciate that, make no mistake — but I can just imagine a whole ton of people clicking right off as soon as the first riff of whatever weirdo shit I’m playing kicks in.

It’s been 12 years of my life. This is my life’s work. For what?

For music, I guess.

Have a great and safe weekend. Have fun, watch your head. Hydrate. Gimme show next week, plus way more premieres than I actually have time to write. Look out for Black Willows on Monday. Record is a beast.

Thanks for reading. Please buy a t-shirt.

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Whatever, it’s my show. I can throw 16 Horsepower in between Genghis Tron and Yawning Sons if I want. I can start with a 19-minute West Coast jam from Terry Gross, followed by a 12-minute Swedish jam from CB3 followed by a 15-minute jam from Croatian bizarros The Freak Folk of Mangrovia followed by nine minutes of pummeling noise from Gangrened. You don’t care. Don’t pretend you do. The weirder this show gets the better it gets as far as I’m concerned.

So yeah, there’s some Ulcerate after Coma Wall. Maybe incongruity is fun sometimes. I think so, and again, even if you’re reading this, you don’t give a crap. You’ll either listen or you won’t. My show’s on after the artist-hosted stretches, which is primo positioning as far as Friday goes — frickin’ drive-time, if such a thing still exists — and most of what I hear from people is that The Pecan sounds cute. Well, he is cute. I’m pretty sure that’s how children don’t get abandoned in the woods more often. They’re cute.

What were we talking about? The show. Right. Whatever. It’s fucking awesome. Yeah, I hope you dig it. Okay. You got me. It matters to me. Fine.

Thanks for listening and/or reading.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at http://gimmemetal.com

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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Feb. 19 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

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Last time I recall Coma Wall doing a release was when the group — an alter-ego of recently-reunited UK crushers Undersmile — put out a split (discussed here and here) with their own, much-more-plugged incarnation. That was 2013. And, well, Undersmile are back together, so I guess it follows that Coma Wall would do something as well, and as more groups are digging into their archives as a result of not being able to play shows for the last several months, Coma Wall‘s Ursa Minor EP feels plenty timely even if the original basic tracks were put together during Undersmile‘s initial run.

The sound, of course, is far enough removed from Undersmile to be a different band, and the voices of Hel Sterne and Taz Corona-Brown lock into harmony early and stay that way for the duration, calling to mind a gorgeous redux of any number of grunge acts’ unplugged performances. As these are demos at their foundation, the three songs have a live feel underscoring them, but they’re not necessarily raw, either in the recordings (which have been mixed and worked on) or in the structures of the material itself. Mostly it’s just beautiful and sad.

They’ve got it up on Bandcamp now, and I’ve included the last Undersmile too, both for context and because I like it:

With 2020 plans curtailed by the global pandemic, we decided to look through the Undersmile archives and found these demos which we recorded in 2012. These 3 songs were originally written for Taz and Hel’s pre-Undersmile bands Skylla and Ursa Minor (hence the name of the EP) and date back to around 2007/2008. The performances were recorded live with bass and string overdubs added at a later date.

Although these recordings are just demos, the songs hold a special place in our hearts and so we dusted them off, remixed them, and now unleash them into the world. We hope you enjoy them.

Available here: https://comawall.bandcamp.com/releases

Tracklisting:
1. Breathe in the Ether
2. Wiretaps
3. Already Dead

All songs written by Taz Corona-Brown and Hel Sterne. Lyrics by Taz Corona-Brown.

Taz Corona-Brown – vocals and guitar
Hel Sterne – vocals and guitar
Olly Corona-Brown – bass
Tom McKibbin – keys

Recorded and mixed by Tom McKibbin.
Mastered by Joe Proudlove.
Artwork by Tom McKibbin.

Release date: 28th August 2020

https://www.facebook.com/ComaWall/
https://comawall.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/Undersmile
https://undersmile.bandcamp.com/album/anhedonia
http://blackbowrecords.bigcartel.com/product/bbow007-undersmile-anhedonia-double-lp

Coma Wall, Ursa Minor EP (2020)

Undersmile, Anhedonia (2015)

04.11.15 — 04.00 — Late Sat./Early Sun. — Hotel

It was a misguided attempt at sleep that led me to bed after watching Coltsblood to round out my night. Didn’t work beyond the apparently standard three hours, which is what I’ve gotten give or take each night since Wednesday. When I lie down, my head hears parts of songs, David Eugene Edwards saying, “You don’t know me from Adam, down here in the lamp light,” or Sæþór Sæþórsson of Sólstafir‘s banjo in the back half of “Ótta,” among others. One day bleeds into the next. I dragged ass most of the afternoon and evening, to be perfectly honest, and given the tossing and turning I’ve just done and the fact that I’m up two hours before I set the alarm, I expect the trend to continue. Still, when you’re here, you have to keep going. There’s more to see and more to hear.

We finished the third issue of this year’s Weirdo Canyon Dispatch on schedule, folding and all. It’s online here if you get the chance to check it out.

The weather, which had been gorgeous enough to boast some restorative effect of its own, has turned. I could just as easily call it “yesterday,” but for the purposes of review, I hope you’ll allow the editorial decision to keep current: “Today.” The weather turned today. As though it knew Undersmile, Urfaust, and Fields of the Nephilim were all on the bill and decided “enough of this sunny shit, let’s get down to business for real.” It cleared up later, but was still colder than it had been, and early in the afternoon, I looked outside at one point and saw waves of rain coming down. That was right after Coma Wall, which, you know, fair enough.

Playing as a five-piece with their usual two couples plus a cellist, the mostly-acoustic alter-ego of Undersmile started my day off at Stage01. I got there early, which you have to do, and I wasn’t the only one. Taz Corona-Brown, Olly Corona-Brown, Hel Sterne and Tom McKibbin, plus Tom Greenway on the cello spread out over the stage, McKibbin behind, pulling double-duty on drums and banjo. With Taz and Hel in dresses and quickly sliding into the sort of drawling dual vocals that are a trademark of both Coma Wall and Undersmile, there was a theatrical element to it, but the thickness of the atmosphere spoke for itself as they hit into “Summer” from their 2013 Wood & Wire split with, who else?, their other band. Off to the side of the stage, Olly sat on bass facing the others, kind of overseeing the whole thing with one leg crossed over the other. He looked managerial, but the low end filled the room well, and Coma Wall eased my way into the Roadburn Saturday better than I could’ve asked.

I’d still like to hear them take on “Rotten Apple” or “Don’t Follow” — something off Jar of Flies — which I think they’d nail in the vocals and really be able to darken the mood on, but wouldn’t you know they weren’t taking requests. Couldn’t argue, anyway. Over in the main hall, Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin were well into a live soundtrack to 1978’s Dawn of the Dead, which played on the big screen behind them, audio and all. I saw them here for a bit last year, and sure enough parts of the score were recognizable from that set as well as the movie. Like with Sólstafir‘s live soundtrack on Thursday, there were spaces without any music at all, but of course the difference is that Goblin also wrote the score originally, so to see them do it live to the film was something extra special.

Perhaps most impressive about it was the timing, which they nailed. Keeping pace to scene changes and the film’s quick cuts, they ran through various pieces and themes, the quick bursts for tension as everything goes to crap with all the zombies at the mall, the biker gang showing up and bringing Tom Savini, and so on. It’s been a while since I saw it, and I’d forgotten how many classic lines there are in the film, about Hell being full and the dead walking the earth, and “Operator dead, post abandoned.” There were some times where the balance of audio was lopsided one way or another — hard to match up a film and a live band on stage — but it smoothed out, and I can’t imagine it was many attendees’ first time seeing the movie. That said, I’ve never watched Suspiria, which Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin are scoring as part of the Afterburner, so who knows? When they were done, the four-piece came to the middle of the stage from their spread-out positions, two on one side, two on the other, the middle open to allow the eye to watch the movie, and took a bow. A few seconds before, the credits rolled past with their name listed as The Goblins. So be it.

Next up on the Main Stage was a second go for Enslaved. I tried before they went on to calculate in my head how many Enslaved-related sets there were this year in comparison to 2010, when they were the official artist-in-residence and did sets with offshoot projects like Trinacria and their collaboration with Shining. Between their set last night, the Skuggsjá collaboration with Wardruna that followed, guitarist Ivar Bjørnson ‘s BardSpec set and today, I think they might have 2010 beat. I’m not sure if Bjørnson curating with Wardruna‘s Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik counts for double or anything — you’d have to get into percentages and it proved too much for my feeble brain to take. In any case, today’s Enslaved set focused much more on newer material. Fair after last night. The recently-issued In Times (review pending) featured heavily with “Thurisaz Dreaming,” “Building with Fire,” “In Times” and “Daylight,” but there was still room to dip back to 2001’s Monumension for “Convoys to Nothingness,” or 2003’s progressive turning point Below the Lights for “As Fire Swept Clean the Earth,” and a balance was struck between the older and newer.

Further distinguishing today from yesterday, though, were the guests. When they got to “Daylight,” bassist/vocalist Grutle Kjellson announced they’d be joined by Selvik, Aðalbjörn Tryggvason from Sólstafir and Per Wiberg, now in Candlemass but known also for his work in Opeth and Spiritual Beggars. The three contributed on vocals at the beginning and end of the song, and Selvik came back out for a longer, soulful guest spot on “Convoys to Nothingness,” while Enslaved proper delivered again the kind of set that brought the crowd back from last night, “Isa” tossed in as a bonus and a cover of Led Zeppelin‘s “Immigrant Song” with more guest guitar included to add even more intrigue. It was not as intense as Friday had been, their newer material offering a more intricate but decidedly less raging style, but they handled it professionally, and seemed to be having as much fun as the audience while they ran through their second of the weekend’s two full sets. The Heads, who followed, are the official artists-in-residence this year, but Enslaved always seem to find welcome at Roadburn.

Particularly having missed The Heads when they played at Het Patronaat last night — Roadburn means hard choices — I knew I wanted to see them today. They were supposed to be here last year, and played in 2008, but with Walter doing live visuals and the four-piece of lead guitarist Paul Allen, guitarist/vocalist Simon Price, bassist Hugo Morgan and drummer Wayne Maskell (the latter three who played as Kandodo on Thursday and joined forces with Loop‘s Robert Hampson at Het Patronaat), it was unmissable. A righteous set boasted jam-laden takes on “Gnu,” “Legavaan Satellite,” “U33” and “Spliff Riff,” the effect positively molten as they enacted space rock supremacy and handed Roadburn its ass over the course of 75 minutes. For me, they were the day’s hypnotic highlight, and I don’t think I was the only one. The crowd cheered as they went into and out of jams, builds paying off and starting anew. As I stood in the back and watched, next two me, two dudes were arguing in German and a third turned around and told them, in accented English, “Please, no politics while The Heads are on.” All laughed. Peace on Earth and goodwill to all Roadburners.

As with Kandodo the other night, The Heads‘ set made me want to head over to the merch area and go, “Just give me everything,” though they have enough live albums over there that to try it and I’d be broke(r) in no time flat. I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to expect from them, knowing records like Everybody Knows We Got Nowhere, which was just recently reissued, At Last and their 1995 debut, Relaxing With…, but they were molten on stage, one song bleeding into the next in a consuming entirety that, even after they’d long since gone, kept the crowd howling. It was fucking awesome. I don’t know how many times I’ll get to see The Heads in my life, but I’m not likely to forget the first, in any case, and if I take nothing else away from Roadburn this year, I’ll take a new touchstone for heavy psych live performance. “It’s good, but is it The Heads good?” will prove a hard standard for most to meet.

Over in the Green Room, Black Anvil were finishing up a punishing set and I watched for a minute through the door as they pummeled away. Undersmile were on next in there, and I’ve been following them since their split with Caretaker in 2011 (review here), so I didn’t want to miss it. They have a new full-length out called Anhedonia, and while I’m a little heartbroken at not having heard it — I loved 2012’s lung-filling debut LP, Narwhal (review here), and thought I had a pretty good relationship with the band — it still seemed prudent to show up early for a dose of their grueling, claustrophobic-but-melodically-brilliant doom, especially as a crushing companion piece to Coma Wall earlier in the day, a sort of bookend with the same lineup minus Greenway‘s cello. They were heavy enough to feel the sound in your chest. I give McKibbin credit for being able to push the tones of Hel, Taz and Olly along, even at such a lumbering pace. By the sound alone, it seems like a task more suited to the crane outside working on the addition to the 013, but the drums do drive Undersmile‘s material forward, and they packed out the Green Room to the point where even the space to watch through the door was full. I felt equal parts lucky to see them, bummed I haven’t heard the new album, and glad I showed up early while they were setting up. It was quite an emotional rollercoaster. Maybe that’s why I had to come back to the hotel and go to sleep afterwards.

Or maybe I was just rendered unconscious by fucking Coltsblood who — holy shit — took Stage01, removed all its fillings and performed a root canal with a safety pin. It was fucking ridiculous. Hyperbole-worthy madness that even H.P. Lovecraft himself would stare at and be like, “Damn, that’s horrifying.” I watched the final few minutes of synth-heavy proggers Zoltan before the UK trio of bassist/vocalist John McNulty, guitarist Jemma McNulty and drummer Jay Plested (also of Black Magician, who played Het Patronaat at Roadburn 2013) went on, but god damn. Even before they started, as Jemma checked her guitar and John ran the line on his bass, you knew it was going to be filthy. Their 2014 full-length debut, Into the Unfathomable Abyss (review here), seemed all the more aptly named as they got underway, and even though John had some technical trouble early on, they shared a bottle of mead on stage and absolutely laid waste to the smaller of the rooms at the 013. I say in full knowledge of John‘s prior association with the band that they were the heaviest thing I’ve seen in that space since Conan made their Roadburn debut there in 2012. They were unbelievable.

And it became quite clear that they’ve earned some loyalty of fanbase as well. The front of Stage01 was crowded with UK types, one of whom took on the solemn duty of making sure that Coltsblood‘s incense (of which I was markedly downwind) stayed lit. Another dude next to me alerted John when the sound guy called for him to start checking his bass. This is a band that people are obviously taking very seriously. The deathly rumble of their extreme, dark, sludgy doom made earplugs a futile exercise, and especially in a one-two with Undersmile, they justified that reaction. With John shouting and growling into the mic while Plested slammed away behind and Jemma, entranced, riffed out a viscous, oil-thick morass, it made sense. I’d want to keep the incense lit too.

By the time I split out from Stage01, the air had more or less been driven out of the room. It was hot, sweaty, smelly — Roadburn means fart clouds — and suitably oppressive. Outside smelled like french fry grease from the food tent, but even that seemed like fresh air. I made my way back to the hotel and started to sort pictures out and get everything ready to review, but noticed after a few minutes that my head was down on the table and I couldn’t seem to pick it back up. I stared up at the laptop monitor for a little bit and decided to crawl into bed.

Wasn’t a crawl. More of a lurch. Either way, about three and a half hours later, I gave up the ghost and decided the middle of the night would be a perfect time to recount the day’s varying destructive encounters. Tomorrow — Sunday, which now that it’s after 06.00, I’m about ready to call the new “today” — is the Afterburner, also plenty busy with Lo-Pan and Abrahma and Argus and Bongripper, Anathema and The Golden Grass. Work on the final issue of the Weirdo Canyon Dispatch starts in about four hours and it will be here and gone before I know it. At least that’s how it usually seems to go.

More pics after the jump. Thanks for reading.

Read more »

The only thing I find debatable about Arik Roper‘s poster art for Roadburn 2015 is whether or not it was ethical of him to use so much awesome in one sitting. It is a gluttony of awesome. We’re getting into the high season of lineup additions, which means over the next couple months, the festival will really start to take shape around the previously announced headliners, other headliners still to come, new acts, curated picks, and so on. So far it’s looking once again like the theme is diversity. Even between the groups most recently added — Mugstar, Pyramidal, Domo, Undersmile and Coma Wall — there’s a huge stylistic variation. Hell, Undersmile and Coma Wall are on opposite ends of the spectrum alone, and they’re made up of the same people.

Here’s Roper‘s poster as big as I can make it on the page (click to make it bigger), and details on the newest bunch to join the Roadburn 2015 lineup, courtesy of the fest’s website:

Mugstar To Put Glistening And Outerworldly Sonic Glory On Display At Roadburn 2015

Heavily influenced by psychedelia, Krautrock and even Post Rock, Liverpool UK’s beloved Mugstar are in the vanguard of modern psych rock, just in case you were unfamiliar with them.

Infusing their brooding moodiness, minimal psych rock mesmerism and propulsive, hypnokraut grooves with seriously psychedelic ferocity has propelled Mugstar to stand alongside such well-regarded contemporaries as Circle, Bardo Pond and Oneida.

The band distil the wordless core of Hawkwind, Neu! and Sonic Youth and their highly recommended albums Sun Broken, Lime and Axis put transcendent, glistening and outerworldly sonic glory on display.

So, for Roadburn 2015, Mugstar will explode into an interstellar, total drugpsych tripout on Thursday, April 9 at the 013 venue, and we’re equally excited to announce that the band will also play the soundtrack to Ad Marginem on Saturday, April 11 at Het Patronaat in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Pyramidal and Domo To Represent Spanish Heavy Psych at Roadburn Festival 2015

Spanish heavy psych has long been overdue at Roadburn, so we’re thrilled to announce that Pyramidal and Domo, both hailing from Alicante, will bring their stoner inspired heavy Space Rock with progressive and Krautrock leanings to the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival, set for April 9 -12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Channeling the undiluted spirit of King Crimson, Hawkwind and Neu! on debut album Dawn In Space, and critically acclaimed follow-up Frozen Galaxies, Pyramidal will take you to the farthest reaches of outer space, propelled by otherworldly sounds, obscure psychedelia and hypnotic grooves.

Domo harkens back to the heyday of the gonzoid power trio’s of the hazy late 60s and early 70s, anchored to heavy clouds of screaming, wah wah driven psychedelia. If you love (early) Gary Moore, or you’re a fan of Tony McPhee (like most of us at Roadburn), and massively worship The Groundhogs‘ Split, then Domo will be surely a must for you.

Word on the street is that Domo‘ S/T debut album will be finally released on vinyl soon.

Sirens Of Sludge Undersmile To Bring Doom And Despair To Roadburn 2015

Undersmile will bring their hypnotic, soul crushing blend of doom and despair to the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival on Saturday, April 11, 2015 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Featuring the unique dual vocal interplay of singer-guitarists Hel Sterne and Taz Corona-Brown, Undersmile combine tortuously slow tempos, discord and stomach-churning melody to create an intense listening experience, both live and on record.

Having released an EP, three splits (with Caretaker, Bismuth and their own alter-egos, Coma Wall) and 2012’s epic debut album Narwhal, the band will be supporting their as-yet untitled second album which they will be previewing at the festival.

Prepare For Despair As Coma Wall Bring Acoustic Death Folk To Roadburn Festival 2015

Coma Wall, the acoustic alter-ego of Undersmile, will bring rustic downbeat blues and folk to the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival on Saturday, April 11, 2015 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

The very notion of unplugging a band as monstrously heavy and doomladen as Undersmile seemed almost ludicrous before we actually heard what it entailed, as the band replaced sludgy distortion with banjos and acoustic guitars in their alter ego Coma Wall guise.

Taz Corona-Brown and Hel Sterne’s haunting close harmony singing still brought a tingle to the spine as the band dredged southern gothic creeping dread and spectacularly outdid their electric selves on their split Wood & Wire EP (released by Shaman Recordings), bringing a bit of black sun gloom to sunny spring days and making for one of the most uncompromisingly powerful records to come out of Oxford (UK) in years.

Taking influence from artists such as Nick Cave, 16 Horsepower, Neutral Milk Hotel, Bob Dylan, Low, Mark Lanegan, Nirvana and Alice in Chains, Coma Wall will play songs from an upcoming EP, as well as tracks from Wood & Wire.

Roadburn Festival 2015 will run for four days from Thursday, April 9 to Sunday, April 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

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Mugstar, Ad Marginem (2012)

It was The Sleeping Shaman who premiered the dreary Chris Purdie-directed video for the even-drearier Coma Wall track “Summer,” and rightly so, since Wood and Wire, the split with Undersmile from whence “Summer” comes, was released on Shaman Recordings. The brilliance of that split was in the fact that Coma Wall and Undersmile are the same people, the acoustic project is an alter-ego of Undersmile, so they essentially released a split with themselves. I’ll give you a second to pick up the pieces of your shattered psyche.

Now then. Check out the clip for “Summer” below and prepare for maximum atmospherics and Sap-style harmonies. Also watch out for the bear about two minutes in.

Coma Wall, “Summer” official video

The band are now looking forward to returning to the stage in 2014 and are taking bookings. They’ve recently been confirmed for ‘Kin Hell Fest in May 2014, and have already announced gigs supporting Beehoover in Oxford in March, Dopethrone at the Underworld in June and The Rigger, Stoke with Space Witch, full dates below. They are also in the process of planning their first trip to France so if you would like to help with a date, please contact the band.

In COMA WALL news, the band recently enlisted doom-cinematic director Chris Purdie (of MERRIN) to produce an atmospheric video for Wood & Wire’s opening track ‘Summer.’

Director Chris Purdie had this to say about the video: “I just tried to capture the essence of both Wood & Wire’s sleeve imagery and the recorded sounds using a combination of stock footage mixed with bits I shot myself. The aim was to create a film that looked warm, but felt cold. Inviting, yet dangerous. In a way, it’s a continuation for the video I put together for Thine which was also comprised of stock. The process is more involving because when you begin putting a video like this together, you really don’t have any idea of where to start or what footage you can use. The process of finding the perfect combination of imagery for the sounds can take time, but you earn a greater understanding for both mediums through the process. I try to take this approach with all my film/music work, that’s just how my brain works, I guess.”

Undersmile on Thee Facebooks

Shaman Recordings

Future Noise Recordings

I’ve been trying to get this one on the page for a couple weeks now — really since last year if you want to go back that far — and I finally just decided to do it. Granted, it’s already 2014, but I’m pretty used to being behind the times, so I hope you’ll indulge me on this one.

The thing is, of course we already did the Top 20 Albums of 2013, but that leaves an awful lot out in terms of quality shorter releases. Demos, singles, EPs, splits — whatever it might be — there’s a lot more to the story of a year in music than who’s putting out what full-length. That might be true now more than ever, with digital releases and artists having the ability to more or less give a song-by-song feed of new material should they so choose. Since this is the first time I’ve done this list, I’ve kept the presentation pretty basic, but there’s a lot to dig into here anyway in terms of the quality of the music and what people were able to accomplish in, in some cases, just one or two tracks.

My basis for judgment here is basically the same as with the full-albums list, and by that I mean how much I listened to something played a huge role, and it’s not just how important I think an EP or a split or a demo was that got it included on this list — though of course that stuff matters as well. Like spelling, repeat listens count. And it goes without saying these are my picks and have nothing to do with the Readers Poll, the results of which are here.

Okay, let’s do this:

The Top 20 Short Releases of 2013

1. The Machine/Sungrazer, Split
2. Dozer, Vultures
3. Mars Red Sky, Be My Guide
4. Black Thai, Seasons of Might
5. Wo Fat/Egypt, Cyclopean Riffs Split 12″
6. Young Hunter, Embers at the Foot of Dark Mountain
7. Shroud Eater, Dead Ends
8. Steak, Corned Beef Colossus
9. Geezer, Gage
10. The Golden Grass, One More Time b/w Tornado 7″
11. Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight, Underground
12. King Buffalo, Demo
13. Groan, Ride the Snake
14. Crypt Sermon, Demo MMXIII
15. Stubb, Under a Spell b/w Bullets Rain 7″
16. Salem’s Pot, Watch Me Kill You Tape
17. Undersmile/Coma Wall, Wood and Wire Split
18. Second Grave, Antithesis
19. Sinister Haze, Demo
20. Olde Growth, Owl

—

Honorable mention has to go to the Fatso Jetson/Yawning Man split, C.O.C.‘s Megalodon EP, which was right on but which I didn’t really hear enough to include. The Gates of Slumber‘s Stormcrow as well.

Just a couple notes: In the case of Olde Growth, putting them last was actually more about not being sure when the official release date of Owl was than anything else. I actually listened to that quite a bit, and “Tears of Blood” remains my favorite work of the duo’s to date. In terms of demos, it was a good year for doom debuts, with Crypt Sermon and Sinister Haze both showing some malevolent classicism, and King Buffalo‘s demo grew on me almost immediately upon hearing it and right away made me look forward to whatever might come next from them.

I was a little hesitant to put a split in the number one spot, but The Machine‘s riff for “Awe” alone made it necessary. I’ve kept this disc on my person for almost the entire year and continue to have no regrets in doing so. For Dozer, yeah, it was a collection of older material, but I still enjoyed the crap out of it. Both Mars Red Sky and Black Thai signaled considerable creative growth in four-song EPs, and the Wo Fat and Egypt split more than lived up to its mission. The riff lives in bands like that, and as we get further into stylistic nuance and subgenre development, it’s those groups who are holding on to the Heavy.

Young Hunter are one of the most promising bands I’ve heard in the last three years. Flat out. Killer release. Ditto that in a much different context for Shroud Eater, whose take on heavy only got more sinister and more effective with Dead Ends. Steak emerge as tops among the five British bands — a quarter of the list! — here. Their Corned Beef Colossus also had the best title I heard all year, and though Trippy Wicked, Groan, Stubb, and Undersmile/Coma Wall (the latter earning bonus points for putting out a split with themselves) all thrilled, Steak‘s potential got them that spot. Time for a full-length, guys.

Not to leave out New York — though the geographical alignment is a coincidence — Geezer‘s Gage tapped into a jammier feel that I thought suited the band remarkably well, and The Golden Grass‘ debut single offered one of the most charming irony-free good times I’ve heard in a long while. The Salem’s Pot cassette was one of my most-listened-to tapes this year, last mentioned but not at all least, Second Grave‘s Antithesis probably would’ve clocked in higher if I’d had more time with it, but was definitely one I wanted to put in here anyway.

As I said, a lot of really astounding shorter outings, and worthy of attention in their own right. If I missed anything, I hope you’ll let me know in the comments.

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There was a point during the making of this podcast when I stepped back for a second realized, “This is getting really heavy.” It kind of happened out of the blue, but it definitely happened, and though the thought occurred to me to maybe pull it back and get into some more rocking stuff in the second hour again, I decided instead to just run with it and have fun and go as all-out ridiculously heavy as I could think of. That’s when we get to Beast in the Field‘s 22-minute “Oncoming Avalanche.” I know I’ve had them in before, but if you’re going all out in 2013 releases, that’s where you’re gonna end up.

Plus, I figured there’s plenty of rocking stuff up front, starting with At Devil Dirt and the subsequent riff pushers in the first hour, and the whole thing rounds out with the psych-hypnosis of The Cosmic Dead, so though it’s far out by the conclusion, it does manage to come back from the ultra-weighted tones somewhat. Screw it. I was having a good time stringing together heavy songs. The bottom line of this whole thing is for it to be fun, and I was having fun, so there you go.

I hope you have fun with it too. Once again, we come in just under two hours with a slew of newer cuts and some stuff from earlier this year that maybe got missed along the way. Considering there’s so much pummel, it flows pretty well.

First Hour:
At Devil Dirt, “Don’t See You Around” from Plan B: Sin Revolucion No Hay Evolucion (2013)
Pigs, “Elo Kiddies” from Gaffe (2013)
Mutoid Man, “Scavengers” from Helium Head (2013)
Viper Fever, “Summer Time” from Super Heavy Garage EP (2013)
Sons of Huns, “I’m Your Dad” from Banishment Ritual (2013)
Blackout, “Seven” from We Are Here (2013)
Horisont, “Backstreet” from Time Warriors (2013)
Old Man Wizard, “If Only” from Unfavorable (2013)
Mother Susurrus, “Anagnorisis” from Maahaavaa (2013)
Coma Wall, “You are My Death” from Wood and Wire Split (2013)
Mollusk, “Hollowed” from Colony of Machines (2013)
Sea of Bones, “Failure of Light” from The Earth Wants us Dead (2013)

Second Hour:
Corrections House, “Dirt Poor and Mentally Ill” from Last City Zero (2013)
Rosetta, “Myo/The Miraculous” from The Anasthete (2013)
Beast in the Field, “Oncoming Avalanche” from The Sacred Above, the Sacred Below (2013)
The Cosmic Dead, “Djamba” from The Cosmic Dead/Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Split (2013)

Total running time: 1:59:29

Thank you for listening.

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