Posted in Whathaveyou on March 1st, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Based in Prague, Acid Row have newly released their Afterglow LP, and next month, the Czechia-based outfit will team up with Linz, Austria’s Swanmay for an 11-date tour starting in Acid Row‘s hometown and moving toward (and through) home-base for Swanmay as they hit stops along the way. Swanmay are looking to issue their second long-player, Frantic Feel, later in 2022 as the follow-up to 2017’s Stoner Circus. As that album is apparently in the can, it wouldn’t be a surprise in the slightest if they threw a couple new songs into the set. Seems only proper.
There are two open slots, and I like to think that we live in a world where I might post a tour with open slots and someone might see that they’re open and say, “hey, I live near wherever they were the night before or are going the night after, and I like cool shows. I think I’ll put one on.” And then do that. And maybe it’s someone who’s put on shows before, and maybe not. Maybe someone tries something new, decides it’s awesome and keeps doing it. Then there’s more places to play for bands, and fewer open slots on tours. And everyone gets paid and fed and, while we’re at it, universal healthcare. That’d be great.
Point is help out if you can. From the PR wire:
SWANMAY & ACID ROW Tour
Swanmay is a Doom inspired Stoner/Grunge trio from Austria, founded in 2014. With amp-walls, aluminum guitars and an arsenal of fuzz pedals they were able to manifest their distinctive heavy stoner sound and play dozens of shows all over Europe as a support for Kadavar, Truckfighters, Brant Bjork, The Atomic Bitchwax, Elder, Ufommamut and many more.
The three Fuzzgeeks have now recorded their second full length album „Frantic Feel” and are more than ready to play live again. LP#2 will be released later in 2022.
If Robert Johnson would have reached the days of electric guitars and amps, he might have considered jamming with Czech stoner lunatics from Acid Row. A three-piece from Prague combining different genres and subgenres related mainly to stoner rock with tendencies and attitude of punk, echoes of doom metal, hazed with elements of psychedelic rock, poignant noise rock or 90’s grunge.
Posted in Bootleg Theater on February 15th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Prague-based rockers Acid Row are set to issue their second full-length, Afterglow, digitally on Feb. 22. Physical versions will follow next month. One might recall the group’s recent collaboration with Berlin’s Samavayo, and it’s a similar kind of garage-doom malevolence they bring to the 10-minute clip for “No Church on Sunday,” which is the second single to be unveiled from the album.
It is a rawer sound, more reminiscent of early Uncle Acid than later, and the vocals effectively follow the churning riff with a cultish tale worthy of the classic horror accompaniment. In terms of overall aesthetic, Acid Row come across as playing to a style that wouldn’t feel out of place coming from several of the acts on the roster of Heavy Psych Sounds, but one can hear in “No Church on Sunday” as well the efforts being made to put their own spin on the tropes of genre.
There’s plenty to dig into here, but I don’t know how much “No Church on Sunday” speaks to Afterglow on the whole, having not heard the full LP yet. Still, the four-piece (trio above; don’t ask, I don’t know) give a fervent showing in the extended cut, demonstrating not just an awareness of style and self in songwriting, but the ability to hone an atmosphere in the studio setting while maintaining an energetic performance. You would not call it groundbreaking, but you might call it groovy, then drop acid, break into somebody’s house, and more their furniture all around while they’re not home.
Also, am I the only one for whom “No Church on Sunday,” just the title, is a reminder of King Diamond‘s “No Presents for Christmas?” I can’t be. Someone out there has to be with me on this.
I digress. Video is below, followed by more on the album and the credits.
Dig:
Acid Row, “No Church on Sunday” official video
The upcoming album Afterglow is going to be released digitally on 22.2.2022 at 11:11 (CET). The album release party will take place on 11th March at Kasárna Karlín Prague. On the same day, the album will be released also physically on vinyls and CDs.
Stoner-rock band Acid Row from Prague draws the attention again with a second single from an upcoming album Afterglow called No Church on Sunday. Eleven minutes long mantric piece is in words of the musicians the “second rider of the apocalypse” from the promised second studio album. The main basis of the music video is the footage from a movie Vampyr from 1932 directed by Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer.
RECORDING, MIXING: Venca Zlo (Rail Way Production) MASTERING: Amak Golden (Golden Hive Studio)
Film Footage Used from Vampyr (1932) by C. T. Dreyer Music and Video Inspired by Artwork of Divá Bára
CO-STARRING: Acid Row, Divá Bára LYRICS: Alex Fonar EDITING: Alex Fonar, Doomin Kles ANIMATIONS: Doomin Kles LIQUID PROJECTIONS: Weird Visuals CAMERA: Marek Soukup
Posted in audiObelisk on December 15th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Spoiler alert: After he kills you, he’s gonna wear your skin.
That particularly gruesome image serves as one of the final lyrical impressions on “The Serpent,” a remote-collaborative single composed online from riff to demo to completion by Czechia’s Acid Row and Germany’s Samavayo, which tells the story or at least explores the mindset of French serial killer Hotchand Bhawnani Gurumukh Charles Sobhraj, whose name is an argument for cut and paste if ever I’ve seen one and whose tourist-murdering/robbing exploits in Thailand were recently made into a BBC/Netflix drama also called The Serpent. I haven’t seen the show, but I can’t imagine it’s half as groovy as the song.
The pairing of Acid Row and Samavayo isn’t happenstance so much as born travel itself — the bands met while Samavayo were on tour — and as their first work written completely virtually together, “The Serpent” hits with a decidedly sure sense of structure and style. There’s something raw about the drums and the artwork feeds a kind of ’60s lysergic vagary — take acid, do murder, etc. — but the tones of the guitars and bass and the vocal melodies pull more from a ’90s alternative aesthetic, bringing about a balance that’s exploratory in its affect while traditionalist in its verse/chorus presentation. Solos trade over international borders, and the hook returns, duly methodical in its escalation.
Of course, when it comes to serial killer thematics in heavy music, one can’t get past however many sentences this is without a mention of Church of Misery, but there’s nothing so directly doom-loyalist happening in “The Serpent” itself. That is, all heavy roads may lead to Sabbath, but Acid Row/Samavayo take their own to get there.
You’ll find the track premiering in the visualizer/video below, followed by more background on its making.
Please enjoy, and watch your skin:
Acid Row & Samavayo, “The Serpent” premiere
SINGLE RELEASE ANNOUNCEMENT – THE SERPENT: 15.12. 2021 // Acid Row feat. Samavayo
Acid Row and Samavayo are releasing a feature single about a serial killer
Czech stoner-rock band Acid Row in cooperation with Samavayo from Berlin (Germany) are releasing a feature single The Serpent. A record about a serial killer arose from two different distant places, two countries and both bands participated in the production of it. The Czech unit recorded their parts at Golden Hive Studio in Prague and the German unit at their HQ in Berlin. The single is accompanied with minimalistic “Music Video”, more likely a gentle animation of a moving demonic snake with a human head created by the guitarist from Acid Row, Dominik Klesa.
“This cooperation with Acid Row (CZ) is the first time we wrote a song with another band. Before that we had done cooperations where each band contributed songs to a jointly release. But this time we composed together and the challenge was to do that spaced apart in different countries. We managed well and created a unique piece of Rock music with creative input of both bands! We did that because the project sounded like fun, we knew it’d be a challenge and Acid Row are friends from Brno/Prague, where we had a lot of fun on previous shows!” says the frontman from Samavayo Behrang Alavi about the collaboration.
Members of both bands did the whole songwriting process online. They shared their ideas, created together a demo version of the song, discussed everything from pre-production, production to final release and promo of the song. The theme of the song depicts French serial killer Hotchand Bhawanani Gurumukh Charles Sobhraj, who killed around 20 people in an area of South Asia. In media the criminal got a nickname The Serpent. This is also symbolized in artwork made by Daniel Gerhard Holc with the central motif of a dancing snake with a human head of the mentioned killer mixed with slightly psychedelic background which also includes some shots from liquid light show made by a creative group called Weird Visuals from Prague.
“Psychology, especially the psychology of serial killers interests me both personally and also on the level of musical inspiration. Some cases encourage specific imagery, symbolics and so on. Like in case of a serpent. Sobhraj was stealing from their victims their property and identity, which is similar to skin changing of a snake. He was also poisoning their victims very slowly. People have behind their social masks a lot of different animal instincts. What I like to do in some songs is to reveal what’s actually hidden behind those masks.” says Alex Fonar, the frontman from Acid Row, in connection to the topic.
German trio Samavayo plunder European venues and festivals for more than twenty years. Touring f.e. Ukrainian Stoned Jesus or Greenleaf from Sweden brought them to most of the European countries including Czech Republic where they also met with Acid Row on one of their together shows. They also played together at Setalight Festival in Berlin, which is organized by members of Samavayo.
Across border collaboration came to life thanks to support of the proexport office caller SoundCzech under the Ministry of Culture Czech Republic. Mixed and mastered by sound engineer Jens Güttes.
Dominik Klesa (Acid Row): Guitars, Animation-Video Alex Fonar (Acid Row): Baritone, Vocals Stephan Voland (Samavayo): Drums Andreas Voland (Samavayo): Bass and Synthesizer Behrang Alavi (Samavayo) Guitar, Vocals Mix/Mastering: Jens Güttes Artwork: Daniel Gerhard Holc Recording (Acid Row parts): Golden Hive Studio
The days grow long, but the Quarterly Review presses onward. I didn’t know when I put this thing together that in addition to having had oral surgery on Monday — rod in for a dental implant, needs a crown after it heals but so far no infection; penciling it as a win — this second week of 10 reviews per day would bring my laptop breaking and a toddler too sick to go to camp for three hours in the morning. If you’re a fan of understatement, I’ll tell you last week was easier to make happen.
Nevertheless, we persist, you and I. I don’t know if, when I get my computer back, it will even have all of these records on the desktop or if the hard-drive-bed-shitting that seems to have taken place will erase that along with such inconsequentials as years of writing and photos of The Pecan dating back to his birth, but hey, that desktop space was getting cleared one way or the other. You know what? I don’t want to think about it.
Quarterly Review #81-90:
Paradise Lost, At the Mill
If Paradise Lost are trying to hold onto some sense of momentum, who can blame them? How many acts who’ve been around for 33 years continue to foster the kind of quality the Yorkshire outfit brought to 2020’s studio outing, Obsidian (review here)? Like, four? Maybe? So if they want to put out two live records in the span of three months — At the Mill follows March’s Gothic: Live at Roadburn 2016, also on Nuclear Blast — one isn’t inclined to hold a grudge, and even less so given the 16-song setlist they offer up in what was the captured audio from a livestream last Fall, spanning the bulk of their career and including requisite highlights from ’90s-era landmarks Gothic and Icon as well as Obsidian features “Fall From Grace,” “Ghosts” and “Darker Thoughts,” which opened the studio LP but makes a rousing finisher for At the Mill.
The second long-player from Sweden’s Alastor is a surprising but welcome sonic turn, pulling back from the grimness of 2018’s Slave to the Grave (review here) in favor of an approach still murky and thick in its bottom end, but sharper in its songwriting focus and bolder melodically right from the outset on “The Killer in My Skull.” They depart from the central roll for an acoustic stretch in “Pipsvängen” after “Nightmare Trip” opens side B and just before the nine-minute title-track lumbers out its descent into the deranged, but even there the four-piece hold the line of obvious attention to songcraft, instrumental and vocal phrasing, and presentation of their sound. Likewise, the spacious nod on “Lost and Never Found” caps with a shorter and likewise undeniable groove, more Sabbath than the Queens of the Stone Age rush of “Death Cult” earlier, but with zero dip in quality. This takes them to a different level in my mind.
Its noise-rock angularity and tonal bite isn’t going to be for everyone, but there’s something about Zahn‘s unwillingness to cooperate, their unwillingness to sit still, that makes their self-titled debut a joy of a run. Based in Berlin and comprised of Felix Gebhard (Einstürzende Neubauten keyboards) as well as drummer Nic Stockmann and bassist Chris Breuer (both of HEADS.), the eight-tracker shimmers on “Tseudo,” punkjazzes on lead cut “Zerrung,” goes full krautrock drone to end side A on “Gyhum” and still has more weirdness to offer on the two-minute sunshine burst of “Schranck,” “Lochsonne Schwarz,” “Aykroyd” and finale “Staub,” all of which tie together in one way or another around a concept of using space-in-mix and aural crush while staying loway to the central pattern of the drums. “Aykroyd” is brazen in showing the teeth of its guitar work, and that’s a pretty solid encapsulation of Zahn‘s attitude across the board. They’re going for it. You can take the ride if you want, but they’re going either way.
Bones and Flowers is a welcome return from Czech Republic-based heavy rockers Greynbownes, who made their debut with 2018’s Grey Rainbow From Bones (review here), and sees the trio foster a progressive heavy flourish prone to Doors-y explosive vocal brooding tempered with Elder-style patience in the guitar lines and rhythmic fluidity while there continues to be both an underlying aggressive crunch and a sense of Truckfighters-ish energy in “Dream Seller,” some blues there and in “Dog’s Eyes” and opener “Wolves” besides, and a willful exploratory push on “Burned by the Sun and Swallowed by the Sea,” which serves as a worthy centerpiece ahead of the rush that comprises much of “Long Way Down.” Further growth is evident in the spaciousness of “Flowers,” and “Star” feels like it’s ending the record with due ceremony in its largesse and character in its presentation.
One can’t argue with Melbourne heavy post-rockers Treebeard‘s impulse to take the material from their prior two EPs, 2018’s Of Hamelin and 2019’s Pastoral, and put it together as a single full-length, but Nostalgia goes further in that they actually re-recorded, and in the case of a track like “The Ratchatcher,” partially reworked the songs. That makes the resultant eight-song offering all the more cohesive and, in relation to the prior versions, emphasizes the growth the band has undertaken in the last few years, keeping elements of weight and atmosphere but delivering their material with a sense of purpose, whether a give stretch of “8×0” is loud or quiet. Nostalgia effectively pulls the listener into its world, duly wistful on “Pollen” or “Dear Magdalena,” with samples adding to the breadth and helping to convey the sense of contemplation and melodic character. Above all things, resonance. Emotional and sonic.
Estonian five-piece Estrada Orchestra recorded Playground on Nov. 21, 2020, and while I’m not 100 percent sure of the circumstances in which such a recording took place, it seems entirely possible given the breadth of their textures and the lonely ambience that unfurls across the 22-minute A-side “Playground Part 1” and the gradual manner in which it makes its way toward psychedelic kraut-drone-jazz there and in the more “active” “Playground Part 2 & 3” — the last part chills out again, and one speaks on very relative terms there — it’s entirely possible no one else was around. Either way, headphone-ready atmosphere persists across the Sulatron-issued LP, a lushness waiting to be closely considered and engaged that works outside of common structures despite having an underlying current of forward motion. Estrada Orchestra, who’ve been in operation for the better part of a decade and for whom Playground is their fifth full-length, are clearly just working in their own dimension of time. It suits them.
Even in the sometimes blinding sunshine of Vestamaran‘s debut album, Bungalow Rex, there is room for shades of folk and classic progressive rock throughout the summery 10-tracker, which makes easygoing vibes sound easy in a way that’s actually really difficult to pull off without sounding forced. And much to Vestamaran‘s credit, they don’t. Their songs are structured, composed, engaging and sometimes catchy, but decidedly unhurried, unflinchingly melodic and for all their piano and subtle rhythmic intricacy, mostly pretense-free. Even the snare sound on “Grustak” feels warm. Cuts like “Risky Pigeon” and “Cutest Offender” are playful, and “Solitude” and closer “Only for You” perhaps a bit moodier, but Vestamaran are never much removed from that central warmth of their delivery, and the abiding spirit of Bungalow Rex is sweet and affecting. This is a record that probably won’t get much hype but will sit with dedicated audience for more than just a passing listen. A record that earns loyalty. I look forward to more.
Three records in, to call what Low Flying Hawks do “heavygaze” feels cheap. Such a tag neither encompasses the post-rock elements in the lush space of “Monster,” the cinematic flourish of “Darklands,” nor the black-metal-meets-desert-crunch-riffing-in-space at the end of “Caustic Wing” or the meditative, post-Om cavern-delia in the first half of closer “Nightrider,” never mind the synthy, screamy turn of Fuyu‘s title-track at the halfway point. Three records in, the band refuse to let either themselves or their listenership get too comfortable, either in heavy groove or march or atmosphere, and three records in, they’re willfully toying with style and bending the aspects of genre to their will. There are stretches of Fuyu that, in keeping with the rest of what the band do, border on overthought, but the further they go into their own progressive nuance, the more they seem to discover they want to do. Fuyu reportedly wraps a trilogy, but if what they do next comes out sounding wildly different, you’d have to give them points for consistency.
La Maquinaria del Sueño, Rituales de los Alucinados
Cult poetry on “Enterrado en la Oscuridad,” garage rock boogie “Ayahuasca” and classic, almost-surf shuffle are the first impressions Mexico City’s La Maquinaria del Sueño make on their debut full-length, Rituales de los Alucinados, and the three-piece only benefit from the push-pull in different directions as the seven-song LP plays out, jamming into the semi-ethereal on “Maldad Eléctrica” only to tip hat to ’60s weirdo jangle on “Mujer Cabeza de Cuervo.” Guitars scorch throughout atop swinging grooves in power trio fashion, and despite the differences in tone between them, “Enterré mis Dientes en el Desierto” and “Ángel de Fuego” both manage to make their way into a right on haze of heavy fuzz ahead of the motoring finisher “La Ninfa del Agua,” which underscores the live feel of the entire procession with its big crashout ending and overarching vitality. Listening to the chemistry between these players, it’s not a surprise they’ve been a band for the better part of a decade, and man, they make their riffs dance. Not revolutionary, but cool enough not to care.
A three-tracker EP issued through drummer Max Ear‘s (also of OJM) own Go Down Records, Karnak features an instrumental take on a previously-vocalized cut — “Anulios,” from 2018’s Anodnatius (review here) — an eight-minute live jam with Mario Lalli of Fatso Jetson/Yawning Man sitting in on guitar, and a live version of the Conny Ochs-fronted “The Pilot,” which opened 2019’s Cathodnatius, the cover of which continues to haunt one’s dreams, and which finds the German singer-songwriter channeling his inner David Byrne in fascinating ways. An odds-and-ends release, maybe, but each of these songs is worth the minimal price of admission on its own, never mind topped as they are together with the much-less-horrifying art. If this is a reminder to listen to Anada Mida, it’s a happy one.
