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Wo Fat Announce New Album The Singularity Due May 6; Preorders & New Song Posted

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 21st, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Wo Fat

Texas heavy psych blues forerunners Wo Fat have just announced the details of their awaited new album, The Singularity. It’ll be out May 6 on Ripple Music. There’s a moment in the new song, “The Witching Chamber,” where the Dallas three-piece come a to full stop ahead of launching into the final galloping run of the nine-plus-minute track, and I think that’s where it’s most hitting me that yeah, these guys are back. Some six years after Midnight Cometh (review here), I wouldn’t expect them to make a bad record. That is to say, if it sucked, well, they’re seven full-lengths deep into their career, so it’s not like they wouldn’t know it, and considering they produce their own material, I’d have to think they’d keep woodshopping until it came out the way they wanted. And with Wo Fat, that’s a winning formula.

I haven’t heard all of The Singularity yet — though I’ve certainly begged Ripple for a listen — but, well, I get it. And speaking of winning formulas, “The Witching Chamber” pushes outward on the band’s jammy foundations nicely, and though it’s kind of counterintuitive to think of a nine-minute song as a single, hell’s bells, it’s Wo Fat. The more the merrier. Can’t wait to hear the rest.

Fresh off the PR wire:

Wo Fat The Singularity

WO FAT share details of new album ‘The Singularity’ on Ripple Music; first track and preorder available!

Dallas-based psychedelic doom legends WO FAT announce the release of their seventh studio album ‘The Singularity’ this May 6th on Ripple Music. Listen to its dark and bluesy first single “The Witching Chamber” and preorder the album now!

WO FAT returns with their seventh studio album, a record they feel is their most adventurous and exploratory yet. While not necessarily a concept album, its themes relate to existential threats and a dark destiny, a reflection of the times we’re living in.

The title, ‘The Singularity’, can refer to an environmental tipping point beyond which irreversible cascading feedback loops of climate destruction are inevitable; it can also refer to a point in the evolution of artificial intelligence and machine learning after which everything changes and goes beyond what we can control, potentially leading to humankind’s destruction. These apocalyptic and sci-fi-based ideas also serve as metaphors for the struggle for truth and reality in the face of disinformation, manufactured facts and cultic thinking. In essence, the battle for the future of our planet and civilization.

Musically, ‘The Singularity’ ventures outside WO FAT’s well-establish blues-based paradigm, keeping all the heaviness but also tapping into some 70’s fusion influences and more open jamminess. All in all, it’s the perfect return and elaboration of everything we love about one of the most iconic bands in all of heavy rock history! ‘The Singularity’ will be released on limited edition colored 2xLP, classic black 2xLP, limited digipack CD and digital, with preorder available at this location.

WO FAT – New album ‘The Singularity’
Out May 6th, 2022 on Ripple Music
US preorder: https://ripplemusic.bigcartel.com/products?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search=the+singularity
World preorder: https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-singularity

TRACKLIST:
1. Orphans of the Singe
2. The Snows of Banquo IV
3. Overworlder
4. The Unraveling
5. The Witching Chamber
6. The Singularity
7. The Oracle

WO FAT is:
Kent Stump – guitar, vocals
Michael Walter – drums
Zack Busby – bass

https://www.facebook.com/wofatriffage/
https://www.instagram.com/wofatriffage/
https://wofat.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

Wo Fat, “The Witching Chamber”

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Parker James & Caden Shea of OliveVox

Posted in Questionnaire on December 2nd, 2021 by JJ Koczan

olive vox

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: Parker James & Caden Shea of OliveVox

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

Parker: I’m a social media, video creator and singer/songwriter. I started social media when I was about 14 after I broke my arm really bad skateboarding and couldn’t play football anymore. I kind of blew up on TikTok, created a little character StEVEn ..I didn’t expect it to take off but it has. Music has always been a passion of mine since I was very young. My brother and I are 5 yrs apart. We always talked about having a band but I had to wait for him to get to that age where he was ready. Now we write songs together and started our band OliveVox.

Caden: I’m a singer/songwriter musician. I started playing guitar at a young age. When I matured enough Parker and I started writing songs together. Some I already had written and we started working on those. Our first release “Bury Me Low” was one of those songs. We decided it was time to record them in the studio and here we are today in a band together that we decided to name OliveVox.

Describe your first musical memory.

Parker: I had a singing solo part when I was six at this huge school production and when I finished, it was like a deafening cheer and right then and there I knew this is what I wanted to do.

Caden: Mine was when I was three and I was playing a Ukulele while watching SpongeBob.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Caden: I really liked recording our songs in the studio

Parker: I’d say recording our songs also because we were finally breathing life into what we were creating.

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

Parker: Our Dad has been battling cancer and has a weak immune system so when Covid first hit us in 2020 and we were all told to distance from people outside of our home and all that. My friends at the time wanted to get together and hang out, play music but I couldn’t that do that… we had to be super careful. I guess they couldn’t understand and they all bailed except one friend. That was something that we firmly believed was important and stood by it.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Parker: It leads to success.

How do you define success?

Caden: I think success comes in different ways… there are different levels of success.

Parker: Ya just setting goals and when you reach one or complete one that is a level of success.

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

Parker: The girl that normally cuts my hair wasn’t available and I had something important to go to so I had to go to someone else. All I wanted was a trim but when she was done, I looked in the mirror and I looked like Lord Farquaad from Shrek! There was nothing she could do to make it better.

Caden: Some random lady made me bury this half decomposing, stinky opossum… Something I didn’t want to see or do like what the heck!

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

Caden: A collab with one of my favorite musical influences.

Parker: A concept album would be really cool.

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

Parker: It has many functions. When you create something it can mean one thing to you and something different to someone else. It allows you to express emotions you might not have words for. You might create Art for entertainment or to make you happy.

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

https://www.facebook.com/olivevox
http://www.instagram.com/parkerjjames
https://twitter.com/parkerjames_44
https://soundcloud.com/olivevox/
https://lnk.to/OliveVoxFInger

OliveVox, “Bury Me Low” official video

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Wooden Earth Premiere Title-Track Video From Sun City EP

Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 2nd, 2021 by JJ Koczan

wooden earth

Wooden Earth want to be the fast band playing your slow show. The Dallas, Texas, outfit founded by guitarist Devin Moreno and drummer/vocalist Griffin Thomas have undergone some changes since their 2019 single “Fangs” (review here), and they’ve got the new five-tracker Sun City EP and two new band members to prove it. The former duo/now-four-piece rounded out by guitarist Aaron Longoria and bassist Tyler DeRosa recorded and mixed with Michael Briggs at Civil Audio, and they pull distinctly away from the fuzz of Wooden Earth‘s prior offering in favor of a sharper, sometimes metal, sometimes punk approach.

Those aspects were certainly in “Fangs” as well, but it’s a question of where the focus lies, and whether it’s the escapist punk of the party-ready title-track (video premiere below) or the Saviours-style thrash of “Feral King” just before and the lacing, almost Shadows Fall-esque bite of “Carnal Spell” after — riffy though it is, they even have a breakdown — Wooden Earth set their copious Orange amps to nefarious purposes in a showcase of intent that is meaner all around and sets them apart all the more from the grooves proffered by the heavy rockers with whom they’d share a bill.

Sometimes youwooden earth sun city remake your band and you’re a different band, and sometimes you end up staying the same band with a shifted dynamic. The aggression Wooden Earth bring forth on “Carnal Spell” and closer “Sordid Black” isn’t so radically removed from the shouty opener “Dead Era (Bleach)” or even the more melodic “Feral King,” when you get right down to it, but to sit and listen to these songs as compared to 2018’s debut Waves of Smoke EP, with its boogie aspirations, and yes, it sounds like a different group of players in no small part because it is. Sun City turns quickly and careens, strikes out at the listener in a way that’s too clean to be grunge, too rock to just be metal and too thrash to be just stoner.

The band, then, would seem to have found a balance of elements that work in favor of their individuality, and if their intention was to set themselves apart, these tracks accomplish that with efficiency and escape clear in under 20 minutes at a run. They leave one curious how they might sustain the nothing-over-four-minutes-long ethic over the course of a full-length and still carry forward the underlying variety of approach here (I suspect it would be a short full-length, duh), but most importantly, despite bringing in two new band members and experiencing the inevitable shift in dynamic as a result of that, Wooden Earth sound sure of their process and ready to find out.

Sun City is out now on all and sundry digital platforms, and streaming at the bottom of this post.

Enjoy the “Sun City” video below:

Wooden Earth, “Sun City” video premiere

Lyrics:

I can’t believe that there is a place we can leave so far from grace. When will you see its easy for me to pack up my things for Sun City.

I am the one who stares at the sun. Bring it all back to what it was.

The debut music video of our title track, SUN CITY!

Huge thanks to All Hallows Productions for working on this project with us.

Thank you for listening, thank you for sharing, and thank you for your support!

SUN CITY is out on all streaming platforms and available on our Bandcamp for $1.00

Show announcements, new merch, and more new music coming y’all’s way.

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Michael Briggs at Civil Audio. Art by Cameron Hinojosa.

Music: Devin Moreno, Aaron Longoria
Music/Lyrics: Griffin Thomas
Lyrics (Carnal Spell): Austin Contreras

Wooden Earth are:
Drums/Vocals – Griffin Thomas
Guitar – Devin Moreno
Bass – Tyler DeRosa
Guitar – Aaron Longoria

Wooden Earth, Sun City (2021)

Wooden Earth on Facebook

Wooden Earth on Instagram

Wooden Earth on Bandcamp

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Land Mammal Post “Psychedelic Hand” Video; Slow Your Mind Out Sept. 24

Posted in Bootleg Theater on August 25th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

LAND MAMMAL

There is an ancient Mesopotamian dictum that says, ‘Arguing with catchy songs is the provenance of jerks.’ And I’m nothing if not an adherent to ancient Mesopotamian dictums, thus you’ll not find me debating against Land Mammal‘s “Psychedelic Hand” or the accompanying video below. The song leads off the Dallas-based duo’s impending debut album, Slow Your Mind, which is set to release Sept. 24 through Kozmik Artifactz, and makes a strong statement of intent for the 10-tracker that follows, fostering traditionally-structured heavy rock and roll that touches on modern-style garage doom even as it plays to classic forms.

A guest solo from Earthless‘ Isaiah Mitchell doesn’t hurt — he posted a few I think for general use? not sure if this is one of them or what but who’s gonna say no to him anyway? — and neither does the organ from True Turner, but the core duo of singer Kinsley August and guitarist Will Weise (Bryan David plays drums and bass and co-produced the record) offer weighted-Blind Melon vibes on “Ring the Bell” and a due sense of strut to go with the slide guitar on “Fuzzy Purple Jacket,” so there’s more happening across Slow Your Mind‘s 35 minutes than hooks. But yes, those too, and that’s just fine thank you very much.

With aland mammal slow your mind style that’s way more SoCal sunshine than Texas roughneck, Land Mammal continue the procession of straight-ahead, thoughtfully arranged tracks in the mellower “One Woman to Love” and “Grow,” which presumably rounds out side A, organ — handled by Jake Dexter on most of the record, save the opener and “One Woman to Love,” where it’s Adam Pickrell — again a factor in the latter cut as August‘s vocals are highlighted. It would come as no surprise that the subsequent title-track (presumed side B leadoff) would be more rocking, and it is, but the vibe remains semi-psychedelic, a little more patient in tempo, and that works just as well to expand Slow Your Mind‘s dynamic.

Ultimately, Weise and August are more clearheaded in their intention than most current psych, which resides either on the jammier or drifitier end of that colorful spectrum, but grounded though their craft may be, they’re still able to bring a sense of atmosphere to “Right From the Start” or the sitar-meets-hard-riffs “Full Ascension” and bluesy “Sing Me a Song,” which follows in the penultimate spot. The shaker that accompanies acoustic closer “Better Days” reinforces the earlier Blind Melon comparison — an inherent compliment to August‘s performance as well, as far as I’m concerned — and wraps the album on a less wistful note than “Sing Me a Song,” but with a movement that feels natural from one track to the next, even if it’s a revisit from the band’s 2019 self-titled EP.

Slow Your Mind is well put together and makes few demands of its listenership. The songs are accessible and immediate but mostly not overbearing, and Land Mammal make their mission clear at the outset and then fulfill that through songwriting, their own playing, and the album’s clarity of production. As a first full-length, it is strikingly cohesive. They sound like a band with plans, and leave one wondering only what those might include going forward.

Video and preorder links, etc., follow here.

Please enjoy:

Land Mammal, “Psychedelic Hand” official video

Pre-order the Debut Album from Land Mammal. Available as a limited edition vinyl record (two different colors) and a digital format: https://landmammal.bandcamp.com/album/slow-your-mind

Vinyl records are courtesy of Kozmik Artifactz (Artifact 129). You can also order directly from the record label:
shop.bilocationrecords.com/index.php?a=63356
shop.bilocationrecords.com/index.php?a=63357

Full album release on September 24th.

Song written by Kinsley August and Will Weise, Produced by Land Mammal and Bryan David.

Vocals: Kinsley August, Guitar: Will Weise, Drums/bass: Bryan David, Guitar solo: Isaiah Mitchell, Organ: True Turner.

Land Mammal, Slow Your Mind (2021)

Land Mammal on Instagram

Land Mammal on Facebook

Land Mammal on Twitter

Land Mammal website

Kozmik Artifactz website

Kozmik Artifactz on Facebook

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Friday Full-Length: Wo Fat / Egypt, Cyclopean Riffs

Posted in Bootleg Theater on August 20th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

wo fat egypt cyclopean riffs

The secret ingredient is groove. Only it’s not a secret. It’s pretty much right there, the whole time, from the second you press play on Wo Fat‘s near-13-minute opus “Nameless Cults,” and it remains unrelinquished until the entirety of Cyclopean Riffs (review here) is over with the fading jammy strains of Egypt‘s “Ancient Enemy” on side B. Totem Cat Records issued this split in 2013 between the Texan and North Dakotan outfits, and some eight years later it remains a standout in both discographies. And eight years later, I still have no idea what specifically about these riffs makes them cyclopean — Legend of the One-Eyed Riff? — but sometimes a thing sounds cool enough that it doesn’t matter. However many eyes these riffs have — could just as easily be dozens, I’d think — there’s no mistaking two locked-in bands sharing space on a record, hitting it hard with thick tones, big jams and what’s-that-word-again-oh-yeah groove. All the groove.

Even in this age of various split series and releases from Ripple Music‘s The Second Coming of Heavy and Turned to Stone to Heavy Psych SoundsDoom Sessions, and so on, the split is usually an overlooked form when it comes to longer term listening. That is, if two bands are on tour and they put out a seven-inch together to mark the occasion, hey, great. I still have a Pelican/Scissorfight single that I picked up when they played Knitting Factory in Manhattan and it’s a great memory every time I see it. But, series aside, a lot of times bands putting out splits is just about sharing costs for pressing, and there’s always a chance that the two productions will be uneven, or the quality of the material will, or whatever. There’s a lot that can result in a split that gets put on the shelf and left there, either figuratively or literally speaking.

Cyclopean Riffs is the other kind of split. “Nameless Cults” and “Electric Hellhound” finds Wo Fat — guitarist/vocalist Kent Stump (who also recorded), drummer/backing vocalist Michael Walter, bassist Tim Wilson — at a high point. In 2012, the Dallas three-piece offered The Black Code (review here; also discussed here) through Small Stone and it remains a highlight of their catalog as well as of the heavy rock of the last decade more generally. Having perfected their early approach across their first three albums, the fourth was a showcase point from which they’d continue to expand their sound, and the two tracks they brought to the split with Egypt every bit stood up to the LP that preceded them, the former speaking to the more jam-intentioned side of the band while the latter reminded that they’re still songwriters at heart, with a classic energy and an arsenal of hooks. In under 20 minutes, they reaffirm what worked so well on The Black Code, reverse it by putting the longer-form work as the first song on the 12″ (immediate points), and give their listenership another chance to dive in and indulge. The material doesn’t sound like leftovers, mostly I think because it isn’t.

Similarly, Egypt fucking bring it. Based in Fargo, the trio of bassist/vocalist Aaron Esterby, guitarist Neal Stein (who also also recorded), and drummer Chad Heille had issued their debut album, Become the Sun (review here) through Totem Cat and Doomentia Records in January, and thereby offered nearly an hour of call-it-a-slab-worthy heft and nod, offset by an underlying predilection for boogie that came through even the sludgiest of moments. With Esterby‘s rough-edged vocals surrounded by this wash of bobbing-head groove, their two nine-minute inclusions on Cyclopean Riffs — “Blood Temple Hymn” (9:06) and “Ancient Enemy” (9:02) — still ring to me like a bonus round for the record prior, though they’re up to something of their own as well and stand apart in their purpose. With Nolan Brett at Wo Fat‘s Crystal Clear Sound mastering, there’s no dip in production value — Stein engineered and mixed at the Opium Den in Moorhead, Minnesota — and “Blood Temple Hymn” is a dirt-riffer’s daydream, an act of volume worship that’s as much call to prayer as expression of ingrained Sabbathian faith. Fuzz in excelsis. The structure of “Ancient Enemy” is different with its later repeated lines, but neither song is worried about getting mellow when it wants to and riding back to more weighted fare.

The bouncing movement under the solo of “Blood Temple Hymn” is a special moment unto itself, never mind where the release as a whole stands. But the lightning-in-a-bottle truth of Cyclopean Riffs is that it brought two acts together who were hitting their stride and had found their sound at the same time. Their journey there was different, and their sounds were different, but I’m sorry, anyone who wants to debate the quality of what’s on offer here simply hasn’t listened to it. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cyclopean Riffs was in part responsible for the barrage of split series that started a couple years later. Either way, the work speaks for itself, grooves for itself, and needs no prattling from me to do so.

Egypt would go on to put out two full-lengths after Cyclopean Riffs in 2015’s Endless Flight (review here) and 2017’s Cracks and Lines (review here) before calling it quits for what was actually the second time, the band having broken up before their first album (it’s a long story, but that’s pretty much it). Both bands from here expanded their territory to include Europe. Wo Fat had already been in Spring 2013 for the first of several incursions, playing Roadburn (review here) in the Netherlands, Desertfest, etc., but Egypt would make their way abroad in 2015 to herald Endless Flight, touring with Tombstones en route to Freak Valley Festival, and be back the following Spring after the release, for Desertfest 2016 in London and Berlin. Wo Fat‘s two studio LPs since Cyclopean Riffs, 2014’s The Conjuring (review here) and 2016’s Midnight Cometh (review here), found them continuing to refine their approach. I hear a new one’s in the works and has been for a while now. Half a decade since they were last heard from, I’m ready to find out where they might go.

In any case, sometimes you want groove. Cyclopean Riffs continues to provide. Little bit of a different structure to this post, with the artwork on top instead of the side and the two embedded players. All four tracks weren’t on Bandcamp and I didn’t feel like wading into YouTube. Think of clicking play twice like flipping the sides of a record. I’m sure you can handle it.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

It’s 6:28AM. The Pecan is upstairs, banging away on his walls. He put a hole in the wall of his closet. His bedroom is pretty barren compared to the living room, which doubles as his main play space, but he’s got toys and stuff up there. I guess banging on the wall is more satisfying. He and The Patient Mrs. patched the one hole he made, and he’s made another since. He’s very much that kind of kid.

His last week of camp is this coming week. He has a week and a half between camp ending and school starting — stop me if I’ve told you this already, which I think I might’ve, but it continues to be on my mind — and I’ve been getting up at 4:30 to accommodate that in terms of my own writing schedule. It’s worked to a fair degree, but I find that by the middle of the day, I’m dead on my feet. Or more likely, dead on the couch. He goes upstairs to take a rest in the afternoon and more often than not I nod off wherever I am at least for 15 or 20 minutes, longer if I can. I’d much rather spend the time reading, or writing for that matter, or doing anything vaguely productive, but yeah.

I took this past Monday off from doing a review in order to finish PostWax liner notes for Mammoth Volume. That may just have to be how those get done this Fall, though frankly I hate the thought. But the internet didn’t end without me, as I’ve always told myself it won’t, so an uncommitted day like that can still be put to decent use. The liner notes turned out okay. Lot of personality in that band. Hopefully my writing wasn’t so dry as to sap all of it. Shrug. I do what I do.

This weekend, that’s get questions out for The Otolith to answer. Plenty to talk about there, since the band is “formed from the ashes of” — a phrase I definitely won’t use in the final draft — SubRosa. Plus the record’s awesome, so I could do worse than listening.

Green Lung video interview is gonna go up on Monday. They talk about playing Bloodstock and their new record, which is killer and out in October. Early bird for a chat, I know, but whatever. There’s nothing like advanced notice.

New Gimme Show today at 5PM. Please listen and thanks if you do: http://gimmeradio.com

It’s a good show. Next one will be good too. Already started the playlist, in my head if not actually Google Sheets.

Hey you. Have a great and safe weekend. Thanks for reading. Please hydrate, watch your head, hold your loved ones close and everybody else at a respectable distance, wear your mask when you’re out and about, get your shot if you haven’t, but otherwise, have the fun you can and feel what good you can.

FRM.

The Obelisk Forum

The Obelisk Radio

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Monte Luna and Temptress Announce Fall Tour; Playing Heavy Mash & More

Posted in Whathaveyou on August 20th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Looks like a good run. It’s more than three weeks on the road that Texas heavy troupes Monte Luna and Temptress will spend together, and that’s pretty significant. Frankly, I have to think that if these shows weren’t going to happen, they wouldn’t have been booked in the first place. Of course, like everything now, they’re pending too, but the tour starts at the Obelisk-presented Heavy Mash 2021 in Arlington on Oct. 2 before picking up on Oct. 5 and heading out from there.

What can you say at this point? Go safe? Observe any and all local precautions? You know, if there was ever any doubt that heavy bands do it for love, consider touring in a surging pandemic as evidence. I don’t know, but I doubt Monte Luna or Temptress are getting live-off-this-money guarantees, and it’s a marked risk being undertaken on their part. I’m not saying they shouldn’t tour, just that they’re clearly doing so because they believe in what they do, and that’s worthy of respect.

These are strange times.

From the PR wire:

monte luna temptress tour

Two Tons Of Texas Tone! MONTE LUNA & TEMPTRESS Confirm Fall U.S. Tour Dates

From Texas, by way of Austin and Dallas/Fort Worth, comes two tons of tone as MONTE LUNA and TEMPTRESS have joined together to ramble on with a slew of tour dates this Fall.

MONTE LUNA, a psychedelic sludge metal band from Austin Texas, is James Clarke, Danny Marschner, and Garth Condit. Joining forces in 2015, the heavy trio was largely influenced by dark and experimental bands such as Neurosis, The Melvins, and Eyehategod. With punishing riffs and titanic drumming, Monte Luna has been carving a name for themselves since the debut of their EP ‘The Hound’ (2016). They released their full-length, self-titled album in Fall 2017 to outstanding reviews and followed up with relentless touring in 2018.

The band signed with Italian label Argonauta Records in December 2018 and has since re-released their ‘Monte Luna’ debut on vinyl into the international markets. In 2019, Monte Luna successfully released their second album ‘Drowners Wives’, but, as with countless others, their accompanying U.S./EU. tour was postponed due to the pandemic. The band performed a CVLT Nation-Sponsored Livestream in 2020, with the audio released as a benefit to their local music venue The Lost Well. Monte Luna has slowly begun to return to shows over the past year with the culmination of this Fall 2021 tour with Temptress.

TEMPTRESS is a quartet of misfits thunderously tempting fate to boom their way across Big Texas and beyond at the speed of sound. Kelsey Wilson, Andi Cuba, Erica Pipes, and Christian Wright all decided to get together in mid-January 2019 for a simple afternoon of rocking out with the intent for nothing more than keeping their skills sharpened. They weren’t planning to be a band, it just worked.

In five months, these four seasoned players went from jamming for fun in a practice space to writing and recording some potent heavy metal songs. As Temptress, they began performing them live and in June 2019, they presented their first original songs in the ‘Temptress’ EP release. Temptress is currently putting the finishing touches on their debut full-length album, which is expected for release in early 2022.

Today, the Texas heavy duo of Temptress and Monte Luna share their travel plans in a run of U.S. tour dates for Fall 2021. Starting October 2nd in Arlington, Texas for HEAVY MASH FEST with the likes of Holy Death Trio, Summit, Warlung, Hippie Death Cult, and Rainbows Are Free, the tour then routes up the Eastern seaboard and winds across the Midwest and back down to finish in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Halloween, October 31st.

MONTE LUNA & TEMPTRESS – U.S. FALL TOUR 2021

Oct. 02 – Arlington, TX @ Division Brewing / Growl Records – Heavy Mash Fest
(w/ Holy Death Trio, Summit, Warlung, Hippie Death Cult, Rainbows Are Free)

Oct. 07 – Houston, TX @ 1810 Ojeman
Oct. 08 – Lafayette, LA @ Freetown Boom Boom Room
Oct. 09 – Baton Rouge, LA @ 524
Oct. 10 – New Orleans, LA @ Santos Bar
Oct. 11 – Panama City, FL @ Sharks’
Oct. 13 – Athens, GA @ Flicker Theatre
Oct. 14 – Asheville, NC @ Odditorium
Oct. 15 – Chapel Hill, NC @ The Kraken
Oct. 16 – TBA
Oct. 17 – Baltimore, MD @ The Depot
Oct. 18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
Oct. 19 – Jewett City, CT @ Altone’s Music Hall
Oct. 20 – Brooklyn, NY @ Gold Sounds
Oct. 21 – Allston, MA @ O’Briens
Oct. 22 – Youngstown, OH @ Westside Bowl
Oct. 23 – Columbus, OH @ Spacebar
Oct. 24 – Indianapolis, IN @ Black Circle Brewing Co.
Oct. 25 – Chicago, IL @ Reggies
Oct. 26 – Cincinnati, OH @ Legends
Oct. 27 – Louisville, KY @ Mag Bar
Oct. 28 – Nashville, TN @ The East Room
Oct. 29 – Birmingham, AL @ The Nick
Oct. 30 – Little Rock, AR @ Kanis Skatepark – Kanis Bash
Oct. 31 – Tulsa, OK @ The Whittier Bar

http://temptressofficial.com/
https://temptressofficial.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/temptressdfw/
https://www.instagram.com/temptressofficial/
https://temptressband.tumblr.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMLMPn5noaRSG1MXzsz34nw

www.facebook.com/pg/MonteLuna666
www.monteluna666.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/monte_luna_tx/
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Temptress, “Heavy Blues”

Monte Luna, ‘Live at Studio E’

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The Angelus Premiere “Hex Born”; Why We Never Die out Aug. 20

Posted in audiObelisk on July 20th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

the angelus

The Angelus make their label debut for Desert Records on Aug. 20 with their third album, Why We Never Die. It is perhaps an unfortunate outing, monetarily, since for anyone not previously familiar with the band’s work, it just might make one inclined to buy everything they’ve done to-date. Heavy Western vibes pervade the Dollars-trilogy-esque bells of the introductory “Honor to Feasts,” and that two-minute preliminary is followed immediately by the bluesier fuzz of “Hex Born,” of a spiritual kinship somehow to the likes of All Them Witches, latter-day Greenleaf, harmony-laced Wovenhand‘s tense rhythm changes, Lord Buffalo and others while working with their own carefully carved identity. They make fitting labelmates to Cortége in mood (also those bells), and though their arrangements have been stripped down somewhat since their string-laced 2011 debut, On a Dark and Barren Land, and the choruses in “Hex Born” and the subsequent “Ode to None” are hooks enough to set a tone of songcraft-focus for everything that follows, the Dallas trio led by guitarist/vocalist Emil Rapstine with Justin Evans on drums/backing vocals and Justin Ward on bass, are not at all without subtlety either in presentation or aesthetic. Earthy psychedelia pervades as Why We Never Die moves deeper into its ultra-manageable 34-minute procession, but The Angelus never grow so ethereal as to forget to bring their audience along.

“Ode to None” in particular has the feeling of a landmark in its position backing “Honor to Feasts” and “Hex Born” with a longer runtime and a more patient feel. The following “Of Ashen Air” is suitably floating in its midsection vocals and brings fluid forward motionThe Angelus Why We Never Die in the drums, less lush than the song before it, but flowing easily enough from one to the other. Momentum is already on The Angelus‘ side as the first half of Why We Never Die careens ahead, never really bursting out with energy or pushing over the top, but not at all staid in its delivery either. Both “Of Ashen Air” and the more shimmer-and-crash-prone heavy post-rock of “When the Hour is Right” hold to the central atmosphere, which is not necessarily paramount — that’s songwriting and performance, as regards priorities — but always there in terms of the backdrop on which the action of the songs takes place; a stretched out Western landscape, breeze blown and looming, maybe threatening. The quicker “Another Kind” sneaks in post-industrial electronics ahead of its satisfyingly thickened payoff, leading into the seven-minute title-track, the arrival of which feels no less momentous than that of “There Will Be No Peace” on the 2017 sophomore LP of the same name, despite the fact that the intro didn’t reference it specifically. Harmonies and instrumental dynamics alike serve as strengths alongside old-timey phrasing in the lyrics, as heard when the instruments drop out behind the vocals after four minutes in, the melody quickly setting up the building triumph that follows. This is considered, progressive movement in craft, but the mood behind it feels real.

Along with a looped-seeming fuzzy guitar line that borders on techno, the outro “Hustle the Sluggard” provides closing Morricone-ism to bookend that of “Honor to Feasts,” right down to a moment of military snare drum, as the album carries to its finish. It is a last reminder of the coherence at work in The Angelus‘ material, pushing forward even as they move farther out from the place they were as a unit. This is bolstered by a smoothness of the production and a balance of mix brings perfect emphasis on the shifting balance of melody and heft throughout. Why We Never Die is impeccable in its realization, but it does not come across as forced even in its most nuanced reaches.

On the player below, you can stream the premiere of “Hex Born.” Rapstine, also of Dead to a Dying World, offers some comment on the track, and more PR wire info follows.

Please enjoy:

Emil Rapstine on “Hex Born”:

Death and rock & roll, rock & roll and death. Hex Born was one of the first songs I started working on for “Why We Never Die” and the first I finished the lyrics for. Those lyrics would set the theme and tone for the rest of the record.

“The curse is spoken, cast down to me.
The spell remains unbroken, calling out forever unto thee.”

The curse mentioned is one shared by all humanity and one handed down from generation to generation. A curse to die. The unbroken spell is the music we summon up, an eternal current we connect to to find meaning, and one that will ring out long after we are gone.

“Come lay your head beneath this heavy stone, come carve your given name.
We’ll save you a space, where we’re dreaming no more, with the waking and the slain”

As we leave this world we mark our place with headstones and engravings for others to remember us by. Music can also serve this purpose, creating a record and space for the world to remember our hopes and desires and in a way letting us live forever.

In a dim world, with death our only guarantee, The Angelus returns with their third full-length offering ‘Why We Never Die’. An album full of songs both powerfully engulfing and mesmerizingly intimate, the album’s title alludes to one’s constant rebirth through the creation of music and to the band’s hope to transcend the impending eventuality of death when all that remains is the music, and art becomes artifact. The cover art, featuring a highly stylized rendering of a white peacock resembling the traditional description of the phoenix, reinforces the hope that rebirth through creation allows us to live forever in the material world. The Dallas, Texas trio consists of Emil Rapstine (Dead To A Dying World) on guitar and vocals, accompanied by his stalwart co-conspirator Justin Evans on drums and backing vocals, and their newest accomplice Justin Ward on bass. The album, saturated with plaintive, intoning, and harmonizing vocals, despairing lyrics and darkly droning guitar, draws from post-rock, doom, folk, and dark psychedelic rock. The pleading voices and resounding chords here do not decay because they belong to any ears open to hear them as they reverberate for eternity.

Tracklist:
Honor To Feasts
Hex Born
Ode To None
Of Ashen Air
When The Hour Is Right
Another Kind
Why We Never Die
Hustle The Sluggard

“Why We Never Die” was recorded by Alex Bhore (formerly of This Will Destroy You) in Dallas, TX at Elmwood Recording, which belongs to Grammy Award winning producer John Congleton (SWANS, Chelsea Wolfe, St. Vincent, Angel Olsen). The album was mastered by Sarah Register (Protomartyr, Horse Lords, Lower Dens).

The Angelus: Emil Rapstine (guitar, vocals), Justin Evans (drums, vocals), and Justin Ward (bass)

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Krigsgrav to Release The Sundering Aug. 6 on Wise Blood Records

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 9th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

I’m not always a huge black metal guy, but every now and then you have the kind of day that makes you want to rip your own throat out and sometimes a record comes along that hits just that right spot of aural catharsis. Hello, The Sundering. The impending sixth long-player by Texas-based trio Krigsgrav is set to release Aug. 6 through Wise Blood Records and uses charred sounds as a foundation from which to spread its intense, driving and in many cases destructive gospel. Acoustic stretches and slower passages ensure consideration beyond genre-stamp-and-move-on, guitar wizardry ensures a sense of soaring above the devastation only to plunge back into it with the next riff, and the theme of a hurricane hitting Galveston over a century ago is well represented by the torrent of their execution. Madness ensues.

Nothing public from it yet, but their Bandcamp is a trove for the brave. Album info from the PR wire:

krigsgrav the sundering

Wise Blood Records presents KRIGSGRAV

Texan atmospheric black metal trio Krigsgrav have been an ever-evolving force since forming in 2004. Originating as a two-man band led by David Sikora, the band transitioned into a full four-piece unit in 2011, with frequent conspirator Justin Coleman being a mainstay ever since. The Sundering is the first album featuring newly recruited lead guitarist Cody Daniels (Giant of the Mountain), and the results inspire awe. The Sundering is Krigsgrav’s sixth LP, and it’s a masterpiece of slicing riffs and apocalyptic gloom. The album will mesmerize fans of rustic darkness (Agalloch and Woods of Ypres), melodic death/doom (Katatonia and My Dying Bride), and ’90s Swedish black metal (Dissection and Dawn). The Sundering will roar out of the storm clouds on August 6th from Wise Blood Records on CD, Cassette, and digital formats.

“Krigsgrav represents the bleakness through which we view this world and how we interpret those emotions musically”. explains vocalist/guitarist Justin Coleman. “It is our version of spirituality, I guess you could say. Thematically, Krigsgrav is based around beauty in darkness, our stoic internal reflection and just the smallest amount of hope that can still be found, even at life’s darkest moments.”

The Sundering is an exceptionally dark and downcast record that considers black metal a canvas instead of a genre prison. Krigsgrav channel the rustic atmospheres of Agalloch and Woods of Ypres while the somber moods of Katatonia and My Dying Bride seep into each composition. But the album also brings a storm of riffs with its dark-cloud ambience. Think the Swedish greats like Dissection and Dawn playing as cataclysmic winds come with nightfall.

In 1900, a devastating hurricane hit the thriving coastal city of Galveston in Krigsgrav’s home state of Texas. It was the deadliest storm in the young history of the United States, with approximately 8,000 fatalities. While the city was resilient in the face of so much carnage, it was a reminder of Mother Nature’s destructive power. The Sundering was partially inspired by that tragedy, and feels timely in an age where nature has humbled humanity yet again.

“This album is based around the dread of a natural event occurring and having no control,” Coleman shares, “but trying to find the means to pull yourself together to get through it all. It is about personal perseverance in the face of absolute crushing odds that should not allow it. Our lyrical content is almost consistently about our place in this world, and how finite and fragile our existence is.”

The Sundering will commence with a track premiere and pre-order launch on the summer solstice, June 21st. It will then be released on CD, Cassette, and digitally on August 6th through Wise Blood Records. Listen to one of the year’s best black metal albums and face the darkness with Krigsgrav.

Krigsgrav is:
David Sikora: Drums, Bass, Backing Clean Vocals
Justin Coleman: Vocals, Rhythm Guitars, Ambient Noise
Cody Daniels: Lead Guitars

https://www.facebook.com/krigsgrav
https://krigsgrav.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/wisebloodrecs/
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https://wisebloodrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.wisebloodrecords.com/

Krigsgrav, “Isolation Hell”

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