Review & Full Album Stream: Dee Calhoun, Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on June 22nd, 2023 by JJ Koczan

dee calhoun old scratch comes to appalachia

[Click play above to stream Dee Calhoun’s Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia in its entirety. Album is out tomorrow through Argonauta Records.]

Perhaps best known as the final vocalist for Iron Man and for currently fronting Spiral Grave, who are the spiritual successors of said legends of Maryland doom, Dee Calhoun takes on the task of his fourth solo album in expansive fashion. Across 10 songs/51 minutes, Calhoun, bassist “Iron” Louis Strachan (also of Iron Man lineage, as well as Life Beyond and Wretched) and percussionist/vocalist Rob Calhoun, present Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia as a complement to a Calhoun-penned collection of four novellas published under the same name. As regards full-lengths, it follows behind 2020’s Godless (review here) and 2018’s Go to the Devil (review here), his debut, Rotgut (review here), having arrived in 2016, and maintains in the vein of the Southern apocalyptic acoustic metal that has typified Calhoun‘s work to-date.

But the arrangements run deeper on Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia, and though Calhoun — who here is multi-instrumentalist as well as singer, playing acoustic and electric guitar and a variety of other stringed instruments as well as keyboard — and many songs are united by a kind of heavy, rhythmic, maybe software-based thud, a large-footed stomp in leaves or dirt that one compare to some of Author & Punisher‘s mammoth plod. As Calhoun makes his way through opener “The Day the Rats Came to Town,” soaring on the first sung lyric after the spoken intro, backed by acoustic guitar and harmonica, some flourish of electric guitar hints at the depth of detailing to follow throughout, whether it’s in a whisper track as on “Conjured” or the later “All I Need is One,” the sample at the start of “Verachte Diese Hure,” or the higher-notes line of keys peppered into “Pulse,” and so on. Like some aspect of each of Calhoun‘s solo albums to-date, the abiding theme is anti-religious, untrusting of the traveling preacher who turns out to be the devil, and so on, Calhoun at once sympathetic for the plight of this imaginary devil-beset populace and kind of calling them stupid for believing in the first place: “Closing minds that open wounds in the name of a counterfeit god/With the sin of their own, they spare the rod,” go the lyrics of “Pulse.”

Religious corruption is not the only theme, of course. Calhoun follows the sample in “Verachte Diese Hure” (German for ‘despise this whore’) with some far back percussion, string sounds and a simple, consistent beat, with his voice using the space in the mix, powerful as one might expect. There’s some swagger in his guitar work that wouldn’t be there a couple years ago, and he’s more willing to dwell in the parts, as later shows on the tense verses of “Self-Inflicted,” backed by Rob and a lower-mixed, slow beat behind the guitar. “A Wish in the Darkness” brings a Zeppelin via Down key change to brighter acoustic sentiments, its vocals in layers except that howl of “too late!” before three minutes in and folkish complemented by subtle keys later and Strachan‘s bassline.

That fullness of sound continues on the subsequent “New Modern World” with its hints toward flamenco rhythm missing just the the handclaps joining in and old Western catchiness, the vocals (at least) doubled over the sharp guitar progression as Rob takes his first and likely not last lead spot, plenty of room later for the harmonica solo and whatever wobbly-metal-thing, possibly found instrument percussion is banged on in the background, effectively, since for all the progression and opening sonic doors and bringing in new elements Calhoun does throughout Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia, it’s also his fourth album and by now he’s clearly got a decent idea of the kind of fun he’s looking to have. “New Modern World” is hookier than some of the material around it, but is a fitting landmark as Calhoun and company roll through “Pulse” and the dramatic, guitar-forward, swirling around of “Self-Inflicted,” which is foreboding in a less direct way than “Verachte Diese Hure” but still gets its point across in lyrics like “No life, no hope, no chance, no love from anywhere/Lash out but no one seems to care.” Amid distant crackles keeping the rhythm, keyboard enters at around three minutes in, the brooding sensibility maintained.

dee calhoun promo pic

“Stand With Me” reignites the don’t-come-’round-here-again twang of “Verachte Diese Hure,” but pairs it with harmonized vocals — Dee and his daughter Nadia — and a fuller-sounding arrangement, that same thud buried under the guitars, harmonica or some such, some kind of thing-hitting-another-thing keeping a tinny beat for an extra backwoods feel that reminds all the more of Larman Clamor‘s swamp blues on “All I Need is One,” which follows and puts a heavier, distorted single-stringed diddley bow at the start before an up-front verse takes hold, down to the business of semi-plugged blues metal. A there and gone whisper, intertwining strum and shaker, it’s doom, or at very least Calhoun‘s recontextualizing of it. He is guttural in the line, “I don’t need a million preachers telling me the shape I’m in/All I need is one solution and the healing can begin,” and could carry this material with his voice alone, easily, but that he doesn’t is emblematic of his growth as a songwriter and his emergent willingness to experiment around his central approach.

The final lines of “All I Need is One” are about having “zero fucks to give,” the last one purposefully over-the-top and hilariously grandiose, and if that’s what’s gotten him to where he is, fair enough. As regards philosophies, one could clearly do worse. The closing title-track (premiered here) caps with continued thud and apocalyptic storytelling, some residual metallic shimmer or shake or rattle, and melody forcefully delivered in a way that’s very much Calhoun‘s own despite its long roots in classic metal. “Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia” is the longest cut on the album that shares its name at 6:50, and feels like it’s building initially, though it evens out as the verses unfold.

One can’t help but wonder what a full-band arrangement from Dee Calhoun — the name as a band — might sound like, with drums, bass, guitars, maybe keys given the more prominent role they play here? I don’t know, but Calhoun might get there given the steady growth in his approach that’s unfurled across what’s by this time a respectable solo catalog to go with all his ‘in-band’ pedigree. Multifaceted and multimedia as the album, book, videos and so forth are, it’s difficult to summarize a narrative or speak for the full scope of the outing, but in offering his audience as much depth as possible for Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia, Calhoun is well in keeping with the longstanding, sleeve-worn passion that’s been driving him all this time.

Dee Calhoun, “Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia” official video

Dee Calhoun on Facebook

Dee Calhoun on Instagram

Dee Calhoun website

Argonauta Records website

Argonauta Records on Facebook

Argonauta Records on Instagram

Argonauta Records on Bandcamp

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Dee Calhoun Premieres “Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia” Video; Album Out June 23

Posted in Bootleg Theater on May 30th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

dee calhoun

Solo singer-songwriter Dee Calhoun, who also fronts Spiral Grave and counts Maryland doom legends Iron Man among a slew of others in his pedigree, will release his fourth album, Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia, through Argonauta Records on June 23. The record arrives concurrent to a short-story/novella collection — also available as an audiobook read by the author — that’s Calhoun‘s fifth published work, and as he also produced and engineered the album, performed as multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, it’s a complete narrative work overseen by a distinct vision of what Calhoun wants the tale to be and how he might want it told.

In continued allegiance with bassist “Iron Louis” Strachan and percussionist/sometimes vocalist/progeny Rob Calhoun, the singer who for years has had “Screaming Mad” appear before his name in Spiral Grave, Iron Man — for whom he also flirted with recording on 2012’s Att hålla dig över EP — and other outfits has it seems grown more methodical than the title would imply. “Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia,” the title-track of the record the video for which you can see premiering below, follows the storyline of the devil arriving in a small rural town at some point in the overall-wearing past and sets about making deals to trick people out of their souls and other devilish fun-pretend whatnot. You know, Satan stuff. The uzh, or however you spell it.

Animated by Chaos Cartoons, who also recently realized High Noon Kahuna‘s video for “Danger Noodle” (premiered here) — their Maryland bona fides well in check — the clip calls to mind some of the spooky brooding and grim landscapes that fellow ’90s products of a nerdy persuasion might liken to Vampire Hunter D, but the setting is part of the story here. dee calhoun old scratch comes to appalachiaAs Mormonism asks what might’ve been had Jesus come to America — try the fish, but not too much of it or you’ll get poisoned — the clip for “Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia” resonates blues-of-eld vibes throughout its acoustimetal procession, Calhoun‘s singularly powerful vocals at the forefront as if by their very nature they could ever be anywhere else.

As regards solo work, this has been Calhoun‘s niche all along, but his fourth LP in seven years and the follow-up to 2020’s Godless (review here) sees Calhoun step into the storyteller role with increased surety and an instrumental confidence that’s grown bolder since 2016’s Rotgut (review here) and 2018’s Go to the Devil (review here), and the detailing in the background of “Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia” brings that into clear relief. It’s there in the richness of the acoustic strum, underscored and bolstered by the bassline with hand-drums backing as Calhoun goes into fire-and-brimstone mode before the song’s halfway point, Dee Calhoun coming to the precipice of being a band rather than a project, holding firm to unplugged dark-country and Baptist balladeering with the righteousness of the unreligious.

Calhoun notes below the banjo, shovel guitar and cigar box guitar used to flesh out the arrangement for “Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia.” That he’d be hearing those kinds of sonic details in writing and recording a song — that drive to put something there just because it feels right and the song wants it — speaks to the progression of his craftsmanship as a solo artist. A narrative concept LP based on a short story collection and accompanied by that and the audiobook, everything all tied together in that way, isn’t the kind of thing a frontman does their first time out. Calhoun has been building toward this all the while, and Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia is his most three-dimensional, textured work yet.

Video premiere below, followed by more from the PR wire.

Please enjoy:

Dee Calhoun, “Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia” video premiere

Dee Calhoun on “Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia”:

“Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia” is a story of the dark one riding the rails to collect souls from the small corners of the world. It illustrates how the line between what’s good and what’s evil can be blurred once corruption has taken hold. The instrumentation of the song features a lot of elements to really give the song a dark, backwoods kind of feel; shovel guitar, cigar box guitars, and even a banjo make an appearance.

The animation was done by Troy Darr with Chaos Cartoons, and I am thrilled with the job he did. It’s my first time seeing one of my stories in visual form, and it was great to watch it all come together in that form.

Coming on June 23rd, the album will coincide with the release of Dee’s fifth book, “Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia (four devilish novelettes).” CD1 of the two-disc set will feature ten songs, while CD2 will feature the audiobook of the title novelette, read by the author.

Written during COVID lockdowns, the songs on OSCtA include a number of non-traditional stringed instruments such as cigar box guitars, shovel guitars, and diddley bows. Again joining Dee are bassist Louis Strachan and percussionist Rob Calhoun (who sings lead vocals on two tracks).

“Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia” will be released by Argonauta Records on CD and DIGITAL, and “Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia (four devilish novelettes)” will be available from Kindle Direct Publishing, each on June 23rd.

TRACKLIST:
1. The Day the Rats Came to Town
2. Verachte Diese Hure
3. A Wish in the Darkness
4. New Modern World
5. Conjured
6. Pulse
7. Self-Inflicted
8. Stand With Me
9. All I Need is One
10. Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia

Dee Calhoun on Facebook

Dee Calhoun on Instagram

Dee Calhoun website

Argonauta Records website

Argonauta Records on Facebook

Argonauta Records on Instagram

Argonauta Records on Bandcamp

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Dee Calhoun Announces Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia Out June 23

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 17th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

It’s not the devil going down to Georgia, but maybe not so far off in basic concept of Beelzebub taking in the sights. As to what said antichrist does in Appalachia — aside presumably from enjoying the gorgeousness and palpable wisdom of the old rolling mountains themselves, greened over in communion with the world around them — I guess we’ll have to read the new book and listen to the new album from Dee Calhoun. Both are titled titled Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia — cross-media synergy! — and the record comes with the audiobook, with Calhoun himself doing the read. Dude gets to add ‘voice actor’ to an already well-populated CV.

Pretty astonishing that Dee has been doing solo stuff long enough now that his son, Rob Calhoun, has gone from being the kid on the record to being basically part of the band, singing lead twice here. Dee‘s stuff has never been and will never be for everybody, but I dig him and so I’ll try to cover Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia if I get the chance. Fingers crossed and so on.

From the PR wire:

dee calhoun old scratch comes to appalachia

DEE CALHOUN (SPIRAL GRAVE singer and the final voice of doom legends IRON MAN) announces new album “Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia”

Singer/songwriter/author Dee Calhoun – the voice of Spiral Grave and the final voice of doom legends Iron Man – has announced the release of “Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia,” his fourth solo album.

Coming on June 23rd, the album will coincide with the release of Dee’s fifth book, “Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia (four devilish novelettes).” CD1 of the two-disc set will feature ten songs, while CD2 will feature the audiobook of the title novelette, read by the author.

Written during COVID lockdowns, the songs on OSCtA include a number of non-traditional stringed instruments such as cigar box guitars, shovel guitars, and diddley bows. Again joining Dee are bassist Louis Strachan and percussionist Rob Calhoun (who sings lead vocals on two tracks).

“Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia” will be released by Argonauta Records on CD and DIGITAL, and “Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia (four devilish novelettes)” will be available from Kindle Direct Publishing, each on June 23rd.

TRACKLIST:
1. The Day the Rats Came to Town
2. Verachte Diese Hure
3. A Wish in the Darkness
4. New Modern World
5. Conjured
6. Pulse
7. Self-Inflicted
8. Stand With Me
9. All I Need is One
10. Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia

https://www.facebook.com/screamingmaddee/
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www.screamingmaddee.com

www.argonautarecords.com
www.facebook.com/ArgonautaRecords
https://www.instagram.com/argonautarecords/
https://argonautarecords.bandcamp.com/

Dee Calhoun, Old Scratch Comes to Appalachia teaser

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Heavy Mash Fest 2022 Announces Full Lineup

Posted in Whathaveyou on September 6th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

For the first time since its inception five years ago, the Heavy Mash Festival held each Fall in Arlington, Texas, will take place over two days. Mountain of Smoke headline Oct. 8 and fest-vets Doomstress headline Oct. 9, and joining them for Heavy Mash 2022 is a righteous cast from in and out of the Lone Star State, including first-timers The Angelus from Dallas, Dee Calhoun from Maryland, Fort Worth’s NovakainStone Machine Electric, whose Mark Kitchens organizes the event, Red Beard WallMonte LunaThe Infamists and more. Vorvon have played before, ditto for Orthodox Fuzz, but it’s been a few years, and with newcomers like Big Brown Bear and a first appearance from Phoenix’s Hudu Akil, there’s plenty to see.

In years past this site has been involved in presenting the fest and happy to do so. Not so much this year, it seems, but as Heavy Mash looks to expand in terms of reach and lineup, it makes sense to try to reach as many eyes and ears as possible, and well, it’s not like I’m not out here posting about it anyway. All the best to Kitchens and fellow organizer Anton Olson for another successful year and a rager Heavy Mash 2022. Looks like it’s gonna be a party.

So party:

heavy mash 2022 square

HEAVY MASH 2022 – Oct 8 & 9

Heavy Mash 2022 is set for October 8th and 9th At Division Brewing in Arlington, Texas

Though we’re running a bit late on getting this out, Heavy Mash is back this year and ready to spend a couple of days doing what we love – listening to heavy music and watching these bands do what they do best! This will be the first year we’re letting loose for a 2-day event. Division Brewing and Growl Records will once again host us and the bands, and we hope you’re able to make it out and enjoy!

October 8th Lineup:
Mountain of Smoke
The Angelus
Monte Luna
Orthodox Fuzz
Red Beard Wall
Vorvon
Hudu Akil
Stone Machine Electric

October 9th Lineup:
Doomstress
The Infamists
Novakain
Dee Calhoun
Big Brown Bear

2-day passes available at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/heavy-mash-2022-with-mountain-of-smoke-doomstress-theangelus-and-more-tickets-397331989677

Event Sponsored by Division Brewing, Growl Records, and Toke Mage!

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https://www.facebook.com/heavymash/
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Mountain of Smoke, Imprinted (2022)

Doomstress, Sleep Among the Dead (2019)

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Dee Calhoun

Posted in Questionnaire on February 26th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

dee calhoun (photo by Julya Brown)

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: Dee Calhoun of Spiral Grave, Iron Man, author, and solo performer

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

Basically, I’m just a fan who gets to do and create things that I’m a fan of. It all started with music and has branched out from there. My mother would hear me singing along to stuff like Kiss and Sabbath in my bedroom when I was a pre-teen, and guilted/bribed me into entering a talent show at school. I ended up winning, and that set everything in motion. For decades it was only music, but in the past several years that has branched out into writing and voice work as well. It all goes back to mom putting a boot in my ass and telling me not to be afraid to try things.

Describe your first musical memory.

Probably my brother-in-law, who is 20 years older than me, playing me stuff like Grand Funk and Alice Cooper when I was in grade school. The big one was seeing Kiss on TV in 1976. That was the moment when I said “I want to do that.”

Describe your best musical memory to date.

As a fan, seeing Kiss on the reunion tour in 1996. I never saw Kiss in makeup on the first run, so seeing the band that really started it all for me, in full glory, was amazing for me. We had front row center for that show, and when the house lights went out my friend and I were hugging one another cheek to cheek, jumping up and down and crying. It was a moment of pure joy, and moments like that are few and far between.

As a performer, it was when my son joined me onstage at the second Maryland Doomfest. I’ve played bigger sets than that, both solo and in bands, but that’s a moment that I’ll take to my grave with me.

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

I was raised in a Pentecostal church, and was taught that things regarding The Lord were not to be questioned. It was my getting into music that made me take a long hard look at some things, and made me realize that things should be questioned. About once a year we’d have the standard “Rock and Roll is the Devil’s Music” sermon, and I would always be sure to be right in front to watch and listen. We’d hear about everything from backward message to what certain band’s names stood for, and I could always look forward to an argument with my parents when I got home. Finally, they realized that I was into this music, and that I was a polite, well-spoken kid (teenager by then) who got good grades, didn’t drink or dope, and wasn’t holding séances. It was a learning experience for all of us.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

It takes us inward, as we search our own souls for the music to record, or for the words to be written on paper. It extends us outward, and we share these things with our audience. It can serve as a coping mechanism, or as a way to celebrate. It can be the conduit to pull something beautiful out of something horrific.

How do you define success?

Being content and happy. I’ve known musicians who were on tour and “living the dream” who were miserable. I’ve also known people whose only musical outlet was playing songs to their kids at bedtime and who were thrilled about it. That’s the name of the game.

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

My three-year-old daughter dead on a hospital table. I picked her up and held her. It was the worst moment of my life, but you know what? I’m still here.

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

I would love to direct a film. I do all of my own video work, and I’ve been involved in some documentary films, and I think creating a film from the ground up would be a wonderful experience.

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

Release, and the satisfaction of creating something. Even if no one hears it, reads it, or sees it, just the act of making the art is a wonderful thing for the soul. If that art can impact someone else in a positive way, then even better.

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

The release of my first novel. After that, being able to hang out with friends again.

www.screamingmaddee.com
https://www.facebook.com/screamingmaddee/
https://www.facebook.com/SpiralGrave/
www.argonautarecords.com

Spiral Grave, “Modern-Day Golden Calf”

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Quarterly Review: Steve Von Till, Cyttorak, Lambda, Dee Calhoun, Turtle Skull, Diuna, Tomorrow’s Rain, Mother Eel, Umbilichaos, Radar Men From the Moon

Posted in Reviews on October 5th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

THE-OBELISK-FALL-2020-QUARTERLY-REVIEW

Oh hi there. It’s Quarterly Review time again, and you know what that means. 50 records between now and Friday — and I may or may not extend it through next Monday as well; I think I have enough of a backlog at this point to do so. It’s really just a question of how destroyed I am by writing about 10 different records every day this week. If past is prologue, that’s fairly well destroyed. But I’ve yet to do a Quarterly Review and regret it when it’s over, and like the last one, this roundup of 50 albums is pretty well curated, so it might even be fun to go through. There’s a thought. In any case, as always, I hope you find something you enjoy, and thank you for reading if you do or as much as you do.

Quarterly Review #1-10:

Steve Von Till, No Wilderness Deep Enough

steve von till no wilderness deep enough

Neurosis guitarist/vocalist Steve Von Till seems to be bringing some of the experimentalism that drives his Harvestman project into the context of his solo work with No Wilderness Deep Enough, his fifth LP and first since 2015’s A Life unto Itself (review here). Drones and melodic synth backs the deceptively-titled “The Old Straight Track,” and where Von Till began his solo career 20 years ago with traditional folk guitar, if slower, on these six tracks, he uses that meditative approach as the foundation for an outward-reaching 37-minute run, incorporating ethereal strings among the swirls of “Shadows on the Run” and finishing with the foreboding hum of “Wild Iron.” Opener “Dreams of Trees” establishes the palette’s breadth with synthesized beats alongside piano and maybe-cello, but it’s Von Till‘s voice itself that ties the material together and provides the crucial human presence and intimacy that most distinguishes the offerings under his own name. Accompanied by Von Till‘s first published book of poetry, No Wilderness Deep Enough is a portrait of the unrelenting creative growth of its maker.

Steve Von Till on Thee Facebooks

Neurot Recordings on Bandcamp

 

Cyttorak, Simultaneous Invocation of Apocalyptic Harbingers

Cyttorak Simultaneous Invocation of Apocalyptic Harbingers

Take a breath before you hit play only to have it punched right out from your solar plexus by the brutalist deathsludge Cyttorak cleverly call “slowerviolence.” Dominated by low end and growls, screams, and shouts, the lumbering onslaught is the second standalone EP for the three-piece who hail from scenic Pawtucket, Rhode Island (former home of the PawSox), and throughout its six-track run, the unit conjure an unyieldingly punishing tonal morass set to aggressive purpose. That they take their name from the Marvel Universe character who controls X-Men villain Juggernaut should not be taken as coincidence, since their sound indeed seems intended to put its head down and smash through walls and/or anything else that might be in its path in pursuit of its quarry. With Conan-esque lyrical minimalism, the songs nonetheless give clues to their origins — “Royal Shokan Dismemberment” refers to Goro from Mortal Kombat, and finale “Domination Lord of Coldharbour” to Skyrim (which I still regret not playing) — but if you consider comics or video games to be lighter fare, first off, you’re working with an outdated mentality, and second, Cyttorak would like a bit of your time to smother you with volume and ferocity. They have a new split out as well, both on tape.

Cyttorak on Thee Facebooks

Tor Johnson Records website

 

Lambda, Heliopolis

lambda heliopolis

Also signified by the Greek letter from which they take their moniker, Czech four-piece Lambda represent a new age of progressive heavy post-rock. Influences from Russian Circles aren’t necessarily surprising to find coursing through the instrumental debut full-length, Heliopolis, but there are shades of Elder as well behind the more driving riffs and underlying swing of “Space Express,” which also featured on the band’s 2015 EP of the same name. The seven-minute “El Sonido Nuevo” did likewise, but older material or newer, the album’s nine-song procession moves toward its culminating title-track through the grace of “Odysea” and the intertwining psychedelic guitars of “Milkyway Phaseshifter” with an overarching atmosphere of the journey to the city of the sun being undertaken. And when they get there, at the closer, there’s an initial sense of peace that gives way to some of the most directly heavy push Heliopolis has to offer. Payoff, then. So be it. Purposeful and somewhat cerebral in its execution, the DIY debut brings depth and space together to immersive effect.

Lambda on Thee Facebooks

Lambda on Bandcamp

 

Dee Calhoun, Godless

dee calhoun godless

Following his 2016 debut, Rotgut (review here) and 2018’s Go to the Devil (review here), Godless is the third full-length from former Iron Man and current Spiral Grave frontman Dee Calhoun, and its considerable 63-minute runtime finds him working in multiple directions while keeping his underlying roots in acoustic-based heavy metal. Certainly “To My Boy” — and Rob Calhoun has appeared on his father’s releases before as well — has its basis in familial expression, but its pairing with “Spite Fuck” is somewhat curious. Meanwhile, “Hornswoggled” cleverly samples George W. Bush with a laugh track, and “Here Under Protest,” “The Greater Evil,” “Ebenezer” and “No Justice” seem to take a worldly view as well. Meanwhile again, “Godless,” “The Day Salvation Went Away” and “Prudes, Puritanicals and Puddles of Piss” make their perspective nothing if not plain for the listener, and the album ends with the two-minute kazoo-laced gag track “Here Comes the Bride: A Tale From Backwater.” So perhaps scattershot, but Godless is nonetheless Calhoun‘s most effective outing yet in terms of arrangements and craft, and shows him digging further into the singer-songwriter form than he has up to now, sounding more comfortable and confident in the process.

Dee Calhoun on Thee Facebooks

Argonauta Records website

 

Turtle Skull, Monoliths

Turtle Skull Monoliths

Melodic vocal lines weave together and float over alternately weighted and likewise ethereal guitars on Turtle Skull‘s second album, Monoliths. The percussion-inclusive (tambourine, congas, rain stick, etc.) Sydney-based heavy psychedelic outfit create an immersive wash that makes the eight-song/55-minute long-player consuming for the duration, and while there are moments of clarity to be found throughout — the steady snare taps of “Why Do You Ask?” for example — but the vast bulk of the LP is given to the overarching flow, which finds progressive/space-rock footing in the 11-plus minutes of finale “The Clock Strikes Forever” and is irresistibly consuming on the drifting wash of “Rabbit” or the lysergic grunge blowout of “Who Cares What You Think?,” which gives way to the choral drone of “Halcyon” gorgeously en route through the record’s back half. It’s not the highest profile heavy psych release of 2020, but neither is it to be overlooked for the languid stretch of “Leaves” at the outset or the fuzz-drenched roll in the penultimate “Apple of Your Eye.”

Turtle Skull on Thee Facebooks

Art as Catharsis on Bandcamp

Kozmik Artifactz website

 

Diuna, Golem

diuna golem

In some ways, the dichotomy of Diuna‘s 2019 sophomore full-length, Golem, is set by its first two tracks, the 24-second intro “Menu” and the seven-minute “Jarmark Cudów” that follows, each longer song throughout is prefaced by an introduction or interlude, varying in degrees of experimentation. That, however, doesn’t cover the outsider vibes the Polish trio bring to bear in those longer songs themselves, be it “Jarmark Cudów” devolving into a post-Life of Agony noise rock roll, or the thrust in “Frank Herbert” cut into starts and stops and shouting madness. Heavy rock, noise, sludge, post-this-or-that, it doesn’t matter by the end of the 12-track/44-minute release, because Diuna establish such firm control over the proceedings and make so clear the challenge to the listener to keep up that it’s only fun to try. It might take a couple listens to sink in, but the more attention one gives Golem, the more one is going to be rewarded in the end, and I don’t just mean in the off-kilter fuckery of closer “Pan Jezus Idzie Do Wojska.”

Diuna on Thee Facebooks

Diuna on Bandcamp

 

Tomorrow’s Rain, Hollow

tomorrows rain hollow

“Ambitious” doesn’t begin to cover it. With eight songs (plus a bonus track) and 11 listed guest musicians, the debut full-length, Hollow, from Tel Aviv-based death-doomers Tomorrow’s Rain seems to be setting its own standard in that regard. And quite a list it is, with the likes of Aaron Stainthorpe of My Dying Bride, Greg Mackintosh of Paradise Lost, Fernando Ribeiro of Moonspell, Mikko Kotamaki of Swallow the Sun, and so on, it is a who’s-who of melodic/gothic death-doom and the album lives up to the occasion in terms of the instrumental drama it presents. Some appear on one track, some on multiple tracks — Ribeiro and Kotamaki both feature on “Misery Rain” — and despite the constant shifts in personnel with only one of the eight tracks completely without an outside contributor, the core six-piece of Tomorrow’s Rain are still able to make an impression of their own that is bolstered and not necessarily overwhelmed by the extravagant company being kept throughout.

Tomorrow’s Rain on Thee Facebooks

AOP Records website

 

Mother Eel, Svalbard

mother eel svalbard

Mother Eel‘s take on sludge isn’t so much crushing as it is caustic. They’re plenty heavy, but their punishment isn’t just meted out through tonal weight being brought down on your head. It’s the noise. It’s the blown-out screams. It’s the harshness of the atmosphere in which the entirety of their debut album, Svalbard, resides. Five tracks, 33 minutes, zero forgiveness. One might be tempted to think of songs like “Erection of Pain” as nihilistic fuckall, but that seems incorrect. Nah, they mean it. Fuckall, yeah. But fuckall as ethos. Fuckall manifest. So it goes through “Alpha Woman” and “Listen to the Elderly for They Have Much to Teach,” which ends in a Primitive Man-ish static assault, and the lumbering finish “Not My Shade,” which assures that what began on “Sucking to Gain” half an hour earlier ends on the same anti-note: a disaffected malevolence writ into sheer sonic unkindness. There is little letup, even in the quiet introductions or transitions, so if you’re looking for mercy, don’t bother.

Mother Eel on Thee Facebooks

Mother Eel on Redbubble

 

Umbilichaos, Filled by Empty Spaces

Umbilichaos Filled by Empty Spaces

The four-song/39-minute atmospheric sludge long-player Filled by Empty Spaces is listed by Brazilian solo outfit Umbilichaos as being the third part of, “the Tetralogy of Loneliness.” If that’s the emotion being expressed in the noise-metal post-Godflesh chug-and-shout of “Filled by Empty Spaces Pt. 02,” then it is loneliness viscerally presented by founding principal and multi-instrumentalist Anna C. Chaos. The feel throughout the early going of the release is plodding and agonized in kind, but in “Filled by Empty Spaces Pt. 01” and “Filled by Empty Spaces Pt. 03” there is some element of grim, crusted-over psychedelia happening alongside the outright dirge-ism, though the latter ultimately wins out in the four-minute instrumental capper “Disintegration.” One way or the other, Chaos makes her point through raw tonality and overarching intensity of purpose, the compositions coming across simultaneously unhinged and dangerously under control. There are many kinds of heavy. Filled by Empty Spaces is a whole assortment of them.

Umbilichaos on Thee Facebooks

Sinewave website

 

Radar Men From the Moon, The Bestial Light

radar men from the moon the bestial light

Fueled by avant grunge/noise impulsion, Radar Men From the Moon‘s latest foray to Planet Whothefuckknows arrives in the eight-song/41-minute The Bestial Light, a record alternately engrossing and off-putting, that does active harm when the sounds-like-it’s-skipping intro to “Piss Christ” comes on and then subsequently mellows out with psych-sax like they didn’t just decide to call the song “Sacred Cunt of the Universe” or something. Riffs, electronics, the kind of weirdness that’s too self-aware not to be progressive, Radar Men From the Moon take the foundation of experimentation set by Astrosoniq and mutate it via Swans into something unrecognizable by genre and unwilling to compromise its own direction. And no, by the time “Levelling” comes on to round out, there is no peace to be found, though perhaps a twisted kind of joy at the sheer postmodernism. They should score ballets with this stuff. No one would go, but three centuries from now, they’d be worshiped as gods. Chance of that anyway, I suppose.

Radar Men From the Moon on Thee Facebooks

Fuzz Club Records on Bandcamp

 

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Dee Calhoun Posts “No Justice” Video; Godless Preorder Available

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 9th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

Imagine that when Dee Calhoun wrote the track “No Justice” he was talking about one incident. That was the world in the before-times, the long-long ago. And I’m not noting that to downplay the tragic loss what was the shooting of Rev. Jim Forrester of Foghound, Sixty Watt Shaman — the community around Maryland doom is still reeling from that, and rightly so — but these days one could easily look around and say, “Yeah, ‘No Justice,’ but could you be more specific?”

Calhoun‘s new record, Godless, is set to arrive on July 10 in a continued partnership with Argonauta Records. Preorders are up and for those seeking something of a dark acousti-metal flavor, I know of few parties who might be able to deliver with the boom Dee has in his voice and the passion for what he does. My two cents.

Info and video came down the PR wire:

dee calhoun

DEE CALHOUN, voice of iconic IRON MAN & SPIRAL GRAVE, releases system- critical video of “No Justice”!

Brand new album, Godless, coming out July 10th on Argonauta Records!

July 10th, 2020 will see Dee Calhoun, voice of iconic doom titans, IRON MAN, and SPIRAL GRAVE release his upcoming, third solo- album titled Godless. The haunting and dark, entirely acoustic affair, was recorded in Dee’s home studio, The DustBuster in Walkersville, MD. The mastering was done by Doug Benson in nearby Thurmont MD at the Commodore Recording Studios. Dee handled vocals, guitars and other various instruments, while Dee’s Iron Man and Spiral Grave bandmate, Louis Strachan, provided the bass tracks. Dee’s son Robert, “Little ‘Houn” Calhoun, appears on the record with percussion and backing vocals performances.

Today, Dee is presenting us a very special song taken from Godless, to the touching and system- critical track “No Justice”. “I wrote this song for the great Rev. Jim Forrester, who was bassist for Foghound and beloved by the Maryland Doom scene.“ Dee explains. “It was written on the day his murderer was acquitted, and all of us who loved Jim again felt betrayed by the system in this country. In recent days, that idea has taken on a much bigger scope. As we now sit and watch the response to injustice, we can only hope that steps are being taken to assure that there will be a change, and that betrayal, heartbreak, and death from this broken system can be eliminated.”

Dee Calhoun began his musical journey nearly 40 years ago, and first appeared on record in the late 1980s. Aside being the vocalist of Spiral Grave, he was the singer and lyricist for Doom icons Iron Man from 2010 until the passing of founding member Alfred Morris III in 2018, appearing on two of their EPs and the critically acclaimed 2013 LP South of the Earth. Calhoun released two critically acclaimed solo-albums to date, his new album Godless will be available on July 10th via Argonauta Records. The pre-sale is now available at THIS LOCATION.

‘Godless’ album lineup:
Dee Calhoun: voice, guitars, keyboards, harmonica, ukulele, kazoo
Louis Strachan: bass guitar
Robert Calhoun: backing vocals, percussion

additional performers:
Meghan Randall: flute solo on “The Day Salvation Went Away”
Alfred Morris III: guitar effects on “Prudes, Puritanicals, Puddles of Piss”

www.screamingmaddee.com
https://www.facebook.com/screamingmaddee/
www.argonautarecords.com

Dee Calhoun, “No Justice” official video

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Dee Calhoun to Release Godless July 10 on Argonauta; Teaser Posted

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 14th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

When current Spiral Grave and former Iron Man singer Dee Calhoun checked in at the start of April for a Days of Rona feature, he curiously didn’t mention the new album he’d be putting out in July, but sure enough, here we are with Godless due July 10 on Argonauta Records, which has stood behind all of his solo releases to-date. Godless would seem to pick up in theme right where 2018’s Go to the Devil (review here) left off, and you can see the cover art below looks more like Slayer circa God Hates Us All than anyone one might expect from a record that’s probably going to be largely acoustic in form. Speaking of: hey Dee, how about a cover of “New Faith?” I think it could work unplugged.

The PR wire checked in with album details and a teaser clip that’s actually been out for a while it would seem. Fair enough. In addition to some flute courtesy of Meghan Randall, you’ll note a posthumous appearance from Iron Man guitarist Alfred Morris III and a returning vocal spot from Dee‘s son, Robert Calhoun, as well as former Iron Man/current Spiral Grave bassist Louis Strachan once again sitting in.

Info follows:

dee calhoun godless

DEE CALHOUN, the voice of iconic IRON MAN, reveals details & teaser for upcoming solo-album!

Godless coming July 10th on Argonauta Records!

The voice of iconic doom titans, IRON MAN, and SPIRAL GRAVE vocalist DEE CALHOUN, revealed the details about his upcoming, third solo- album titled Godless. Slated for a release on July 10th via powerhouse label Argonauta Records, today Dee is not only presenting us the cover art, tracklist and release info about Godless, a haunting and dark acoustic affair, but also a first video teaser!

“To say that I am excited about this album is an understatement.“ Dee comments. “I began writing the songs on it shortly after Go to the Devil was released, and a lot of this was written during some very turbulent times. I think there is a blunt honesty in this record that people will identify with. I’ve played some of these songs live, and the response has been amazing.”

Godless was recorded in Dee’s home studio, The DustBuster in Walkersville, MD. The mastering was done by Doug Benson in nearby Thurmont MD at the Commodore Recording Studios. Dee handled vocals, guitars and other various instruments, while Dee’s Iron Man and Spiral Grave bandmate, Louis Strachan, provided the bass tracks. Dee’s son Robert, “Little ‘Houn” Calhoun, appears on the record with percussion and backing vocals performances.

Get a preview of DEE CALHOUN’s upcoming album Godless with this first and promising teaser HERE!

Godless Tracklisting:
01. Here Under Protest
02. Godless
03. The Moon Says Goodbye
04. Hornswoggled
05. To My Boy
06. Spite Fuck
07. No Justice
08. Ebenezer
09. Ride Away
10. The Greater Evil
11. The Day Salvation Went Away
12. Prudes, Puritanicals, Puddles Of Piss

‘Godless’ album lineup:
Dee Calhoun: voice, guitars, keyboards, harmonica, ukulele, kazoo
Louis Strachan: bass guitar
Robert Calhoun: backing vocals, percussion

additional performers:
Meghan Randall: flute solo on “The Day Salvation Went Away”
Alfred Morris III: guitar effects on “Prudes, Puritanicals, Puddles of Piss”

www.screamingmaddee.com
https://www.facebook.com/screamingmaddee/
www.argonautarecords.com

Dee Calhoun, Godless teaser

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