Richmond, Virginia’s Book of Wyrms release their new single ‘Sodapop Glacier’ on Oct. 26 through Desert Records, and much of what you need to know is in the first sentence of the quote from bassist/synthesist Jay “Jake” Lindsey, where he says outright, “We wanted to do something totally different.” All that’s missing is John Cleese sitting at a desk on a beach or in the woods or somewhere; you get the point. And if you’ve heard Book of Wyrms before — which certainly you have, because you’re hip like that, and if not, all are welcome, no gatekeeping — on their 2021 third album Occult New Age (review here) or 2019’s Remythologizer (review here) and 2017’s debut, Sci-Fi/Fantasy (review here), the sense of departure will be pretty immediate in the new piece, the title of which sounds like both a fizzy cloud rolling in over the horizon and a classic Pink Floyd experimentalist epic, and so, I think it’s mission accomplished all around for Lindsey and the rest of the four-piece.

With “Sodapop Glacier,” Book of Wyrms embrace texture as a core methodology. In its 8:54 realization — there is also the 15:42 “Sodapop Glacier (Extended Version)” that comes with the Bandcamp download — the song arrives in movements and waves of drones and synth. Some of the lines of bass hint toward the band’s more structured fare, which is to say, they might sneak in a riff, but the exploratory mindset is paramount, and it is a marked difference from what one generally expects of Book of Wyrms — Lindsey alongside vocalist/synthesist Sarah Moore Lindsey, guitarist Kyle Lewis and drummer Bobby Hufnell — who usually embrace structured and traditional heavy rock songwriting as a central part of their creative ethos. “Sodapop Glacier” is qualitatively ‘something different’ in that it’s directly engaging with ambience and drone meditation in a way that Book of Wyrms never have before.

The result is deeply psychedelic. A mantra of a riff arrives about halfway through the “short” version and the 15-minute version of “Sodapop Glacier” and that feels like a central ground to be touch on as the outward ooze of done and low-key rhythm holds — there are bands in other parts of the world wearing robes and making whole careers out of sounding a lot like this — but it’s a gorgeous procession one way or the other. Also noted below, this is the first time Book of Wyrms have done their own cover art. One sincerely hopes it isn’t the last.

No, Book of Wyrms aren’t the first usually-verse/chorus band to trip out, but they do it remarkably well and in a way that follows their own rules rather than those of drone as a genre, and that makes it all the more easier to appreciate. Maybe it’s a one-off, or maybe their next record will have something working off similar impulses — Occult New Age, which you can stream near the bottom of this post, has the eight-minute “Hollergoblin” with a goodly bit of jamming, so “Sodapop Glacier” isn’t completely out of the blue (and pink and green and orange, all melting together) — but either way it’s an example of a band being willing to try out a new way of working in sound and in addition to respecting that in theory, the reality of the piece itself is gorgeously hypnotic. And I can hear some of the Indian folk influence Lindsey is talking about — there’s a part that sounds like sunrise; you’ll hear it — but he’s right in pointing out that, indeed, it’s not a raga.

Track is out on Wednesday but you can stream it below, followed by the aforementioned quote.

Please enjoy:

Jay Lindsey on “Sodapop Glacier”:

We wanted to do something totally different. We kind of specialize in LPs of very planned songs, so this was pretty much the exact opposite. By myself on a rainy day over the summer and feeling inspired by the weather, I just started playing bass over a drone for a few hours while it rained and thundered. The melodies and phrases were heavily inspired by Northern Indian monsoon ragas (which I listen to a lot during the late spring and summer), but I don’t want anyone to think it’s an authentic interpretation of that rich tradition.

I picked my favorite sections and cut out the rest, and then went back through and built drones and synths to accompany the bass. We brought those tracks to Absolute Future Studio and Bobby added drums and Kyle added guitar. It was very spontaneous for them – they just sort of showed up and played along. Bobby doesn’t usually play to a click without the rest of the band tracking, and Kyle doesn’t use a Telecaster, so that was another element of trying something new. The song was originally 18 minutes long, which is both a sacred number in Judaism and 6+6+6, but we cut it shorter for release (a longer version is available as a bonus track with the single).

It’s also the first time we did the cover art ourselves. We wanted this to be a really different and idiosyncratic effort from us – it’s a collage of some outer space photos and an old painting of a Lord Dunsany story. The song doesn’t tell a story, but it’s supposed to capture the feeling of relief and drama of watching a storm coming in during the hottest part of the day and just violently cooling everything off. You can feel the energy exchanging through the air and it’s both sublimely relaxing and crushingly powerful. You can smell it coming, and you can almost feel the plants and trees opening themselves to the storm. I guess you could call it a prayer or meditation on nature. Thank you for listening and we hope it takes you somewhere cool.

Virginia stoner metal band BOOK OF WYRMS will release their instrumental single “Sodapop Glacier” on October 26th via Desert Records. The song will be available on Bandcamp and all streaming platforms.

Pre-order: https://bookofwyrms.bandcamp.com/album/sodapop-glacier-single

Book of Wyrms are:
Bobby Hufnell – Drums and Percussion
Sarah Moore Lindsey – Vocals/ Synthesizer
Jay “Jake” Lindsey – Bass/ Synthesizer
Kyle Lewis – Guitar

Book of Wyrms, Occult New Age (2021)

Book of Wyrms on Instagram

Book of Wyrms on Facebook

Book of Wyrms on Bandcamp

Desert Records on Instagram

Desert Records on Facebook

Desert Records on Bandcamp

It’s a wonder the members of Nebula Drag have anywhere left to stand with so many amps and cabinets around. At very least, I hope their video for the new single “Crosses” was filmed in their rehearsal space, since one hates to think of them having to actually relocate that much gear just to film a clip for one sub-five-minute song. Though perhaps that’s why they say it’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll. Certainly anyone who’s ever lugged an Ampeg 8×10 up a flight of stairs — or down, to a basement show — is familiar with that interpretation of the idiom.

“Crosses” is the first Nebula Drag track since 2019’s Blud (review here), and though one usually reserves headphone recommendations for spaced-out psych and drone noise, etc., it’s worth plugging your buds in to get a full handle on Garrett Gallagher‘s bass and the vibrant shove of hey-man-cool-shirt guitarist/vocalist Corey Quintana‘s riff here, not to mention the quick-gotta-hit-this-because-I’m-already-on-my-way-elsewhere drumming of Stephen Varns, who also made the video below. Sounds like a band locked in more than locked down, which is a big enough difference, and as a lead up to the release of the next Nebula Drag album in the great impossible future that is 2023, I’ll save you a lot of trouble and say it bodes well.

Hey rock and rollers. You like rock and roll? Here’s some rock and roll:

Nebula Drag, “Crosses” official video

Shot & edited by Stephen Varns

Nebula Drag returns with new music after 3 years. ‘Crosses’ is an absolute monster of a track. A follow up to their 2019 full-length ‘BLUD’, the band’s new single shows the San Diego trio in top form.

New album to be released via Desert Records in 2023. Stay tuned!

Vocalist and guitarist Corey Quintana comments on the song in his own abstract way, ‘They’ve got nines upside down burned into their spines’.

Band Members:
Corey Quintana – Guitar / Vocals
Garrett Gallagher – Bass
Stephen Varns – Drums

Nebula Drag on Bandcamp

Nebula Drag on Instagram

Nebula Drag on Facebook

Desert Records on Facebook

Desert Records on Bandcamp

Desert Records store

The shamanic, Rickenbacker-shaped elephant in the room when Breath‘s Primeval Transmissions begins to unfold with “Evocation” (7:38) is Om‘s 2005 debut, Variations on a Theme (discussed here). Part of that is aesthetic, sure, as the Portland, Oregon outfit dig into heady vibes and spiritual exploration through “Evocation” and “Dwarka” (14:08), but part of it is also owed to the basic construction of the band as a bass-and-drums two-piece, which, well, if you’re going to be a meditative doom band with bass and drums, there’s a decent chance some schmo on the internet is going to come along and tell you you sound like Om.

Breath is the we’ve-been-friends-much-longer-than-we’ve-been-a-band duo of bassist/vocalist Steven O’Kelly and drummer Ian Caton (also of The Misery Men), and the Desert Records-issued Primeval Transmissions runs five tracks and 44 minutes of open-spaced hypnotic realization, but the other thing you need to know about that Om comparison is that it dissipates by the time they’re halfway through “Dwarka” as that song builds gradually from the suitably patient end of “Evocation” and rumble-lumbers into its own slow groove. The repetitions are on purpose, of course, and all part of the craft, Caton more on the bell of his ride than the crash for time-keeping, punctuating the roll with subtly vital fills as the bass tone surges in “Evocation” and comparatively mellow in the beginning of the subsequent track, though as O’Kelly‘s vocals find their way toward a rougher, more individual delivery, Caton complements that march well, captured and mixed with a due sense of open space by Witch Mountain guitarist Rob Wrong at his Wrong Way Recording studio.

Recorded, by the way, in a day. Specifically on March 20, 2020. It would not see release until Feb. 2021 — being mastered by Tad Doyle and topped by Tyler Wintermute artwork in between — but the date tells you a lot. Primarily, I have to think that some portion was tracked live. If not, kudos to the band on rolling into a studio, setting up their gear, getting drum sounds — which in many cases is a day unto itself — bass sounds, vocal sounds, then pushing through all their material one piece at a time, a process that most likely would be drums first, bass, then vocals, then other percussion like the shaker at the end of the 12-minute penultimate cut “Battle for Harmonic Balance/Halls of Amenti” (the latter portion of which is not to be confused with the Cephalic Carnage doom-minded EP of the same name). No. The fluidity throughout Primeval Transmissions, even as Wrong steps in to donate guitar to the centerpiece “Observer” (that may well have been added later) or the drums seem to be searching for the path forward around the three-minute mark’s pickup in  closer “Evocation (Reprise)” is such that if it wasn’t recorded live at least in the basic tracks, that would have been one long-ass day.

And what a day it was. Oregon was already in a state of emergency for the covid-19 pandemic, and three days later, the full stay-at-home order would be issued. Kudos to Breath for sneaking in under the wire, not that they necessarily knew that order was coming at the time. Listening to it now, it’s tempting to read some kind of restlessness or anxiety into Primeval Transmissions, like somehow the nod in “Battle for Harmonic Balance/Halls of Amenti” know that the next two years were going to be an unprecedented, multi-tiered shitshow with ramifications that will likely define a generation of humans worldwide, never mind just current bands or artists in general. But it’s not really there. And even if you wanted to call “Evocation” rushed — you’d be incorrect, but people say incorrect crap all the time — wouldn’t that more likely be traced to that whole recorded-in-a-day thing?

Further, this seems to be something Breath themselves acknowledge right up front with the title of the album. If these five songs are their ‘primeval’ stage, it leaves one wondering just what they might have in mind for future sonic expansion. There are paths forward, certainly, as Om and outfits like Zaum, Experiencia Tibetana or Centrum have found ways to own the drone and make it theirs in the wake of Om‘s stylistic innovation, though given the chemistry between O’Kelly and Caton and the nascent willingness they show to broaden the palette either with percussion, that guitar inclusion on “Observer,” or even just the emotive vocal shifts throughout, one suspects that if they’re seeking a way, they’ll seek their own. Maybe that’s wishful thinking, but with the jazz that Wrong brings to “Observer” — some tambourine in there too — and the fact that they include “Evocation (Reprise)” as a trance-inducing instrumental bookend already familiar from the beginning of the album, the impression left is of a band beginning to feel out their approach and looking to grow rather than a definitive this-is-who-we-are declaration. Hence Primeval Transmissions.

And maybe the band would tell you the process is simple — write songs, show up, record, wait 11 months through don’t-breathe-in-public virus hell, release — but that doesn’t make the material on Primeval Transmissions any less engaging, though it should go without saying that not every listener is going to be able to get on board. There’s melody in O’Kelly‘s bass that can be heard in clean and distorted tones on “Dwarka,” and whether it’s the lower-register post-Cisneros vocal of later in that song or “Evocation” before it, nothing feels so staid as to say for sure this is what it is, this is what it will be. The elements are there and solid in their respective places, but there’s an overarching amorphousness as well that makes it seem like whatever their next ‘transmission’ might be, the shapes made from those elements might change. That, by making Breath a less predictable band on their first long-player release, can only be called a strength.

Whatever will come, the wanderings of Primeval Transmissions resonate like paintings on a cave wall, speaking to some universal inward and outward flow that, if it speaks to you at all, will land deep.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

Thanks for reading.

—

So, for the better part of at least the last five years, I’ve been taking 40mg of Citalopram — an SSRI; generic for Celexa — daily as a treatment for depression. For the last five days, I’ve halved that dose with a mind toward stopping the meds altogether. I still have Xanax that I take as needed — half a whatever dose the little oval pill is at a time — and I’m content to try to roll with that at least for a bit. Since it’s a pretty regular thing and has been shown to regulate mood and mental health as well, I’ll mention my end-of-day-only THC intake.

This is either a great idea or a terrible one. I do not expect much room for middle ground between those two, because that’s kind of how my brain operates anyway. I don’t know if I’ve been more irritable this week — I’m always irritable — or any more miserable than I usually am (again, pretty fucking constant), but if you can’t perform science experiments on yourself what’s the point of even being human and if I suddenly feel the urgent desire to throw myself into oncoming traffic, well, that’s pretty much every day around 2:30PM at this point anyhow, so yeah. There are “no known” longterm side effects of Citalopram, so that’s something, but neither do I really trust the company that makes money off selling pills through my insurance to tell me if there were, because contrary to what my lies-about-snitching-ice-cream-from-the-freezer son thinks, I’m not actually that fucking stupid.

I guess I’m writing this down for myself, so I can keep track of where I’m at, but it’s better to talk about mental health shit than not. I’m 40 years old. I went to therapy for the first time at 16, started meds for the first time in college, have been on and off both since. Family history of anxiety, depression, whatever the fuck combo of OCD/on-the-spectrum/traumatized-by-his-kicked-the-shit-out-of-him-mother/utterly-broken-human-being my father was. But he was never strong enough to do anything about it, to take any steps to make his life more livable for himself. And I’m not saying I don’t get it now. I do. I’ve woken up and had my first thought of the day be, “I wish I was dead,” any number of times. But the point is you keep going, you put it into perspective with the things you’re grateful for, you take your fucking pill and your march on. You remember that music sounds good. And fuck stigma, too.

Took a pill this morning, have the other half I’ll take tomorrow, then I’ll probably let that be it for a while. I still have a bunch of the Citalopram left if I find I’m in a rough spot, but I’m going to try to let it go for a couple weeks and see where I end up. If I’m really lucky, I’ll be in crisis just in time for Psycho Las Vegas. That’d make for some solid reading, I expect. Cut my ear off and mail it to the riff from Monolord’s “To Each Their Own.”

The Patient Mrs. left a bit ago — it’s after 9AM now, I woke up at 3:30 and started this post a little after four — to go see friends in Massachusetts. I’ve got a couple people up there I wouldn’t mind visiting, but it’s an up-and-back-tomorrow kind of thing and I wouldn’t ask The Pecan to make the trip. We’re going back to the Land of Make-Believe today instead to ride the rollercoaster. Last time, we did four runs in a row on the tilt-a-whirl and I thought I was gonna die after, so we’ll see how today goes. I may or may not get to shower before that happens.

But the kid’s been a jerk all morning because he knows she won’t be around today and tomorrow and that’s how he shows his feelings which is a totally healthy pattern to be in, right? He’s sad about a thing, so throwing stuff and pinching me and, indeed, running into the street without looking is where we’re at? My best hope is to wear him out and at least if he’s super-tired, he’s easier to catch. We went for a bike ride up the big hill before. Gotta get out early in the Summer of Pivot. Camp starts never, since he got kicked out.

Though he did tell me yesterday that he wanted to go back to that camp. I think now that he’s potty trained (look at me with the bold declaration of A THING accomplished) he could probably handle it, but I told him that there was no way I’d send him back to that camp because the guy who ran it was a “baddie” who said not nice things and we’d find a different camp for next year. Until then, the not-babysitter who comes most days — she’s here now, which is how I’m finishing this — and I are pretty much camp, minus the crafts, plus more Thomas the Tank Engine which he watches on her phone. Alas. Summer of Pivot.

New Gimme show today, 5PM Eastern. I’m pretty sure nobody listens, but if you do, golly I appreciate it. http://gimmeradio.com

Next week, Birth interview goes up on Monday — haven’t done a video interview since March; something had to give [EDIT: I looked and actually it was May, so not that bad.] — and at some point I’ll review the Dreadnought album.

By the way, heads up, the new Caustic Casanova is a serious album-of-the-year contender in my book. Everybody’s feeling Chat Pile right now, and that’s cool too in that like it’s the band that Black Flag would be if Black Flag were just happening for the first time right now, but there’s so much scope in the CC record that it’s dizzying. Just letting you know. Their past work will not prepare you for it, even though it has clearly prepared them.

Great and safe weekend. Hydrate, watch your head, stay in the shade, all that. I’m gonna go shower.

FRM.

The Obelisk Forum

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The Obelisk merch

Founding multi-instrumentalist Marc Lewis of Santa Cruz heavy rockers Doors to No Where is — as per the all-caps statement at the bottom of this post from the PR wire — planning to release a solo record either this or next year. As you take on his new single and not-the-first-time collaboration with guitarist Bob Balch of Fu Manchu, perhaps note that intention in processing some of the differences between Lewis and the band of which he remains an integral part. “Time for a New Dream” was composed and recorded for a self-challenge while the other members were working on various projects, but as Lewis handles vocals, bass, guitar, keys and drums with no complete band lineup behind him, gears would seem to have been switched. And as so often happens, one song leads to another,  and eventually, a full-length.

Doors to No Where signed to Desert Records for last year’s Darkness Falls (discussed here), on which Balch also featured, and it seems the label will pick up Lewis‘ impending solo release as well — don’t quote me, but that’s it looks right now; plans can always change — which is fair enough. The intention behind the song as Lewis puts it is to roll out a riff, vibe open for a while, then pick up with more terrestrial groove at the finish. Balch, also of the exploratory Big Scenic Nowhere, is right at home in the “Time for a New Dream” midsection, his sound nuanced in its approach, his playing technically unquestionable and his addition to the atmosphere of that stretch essential. It is Lewis‘ track, but he shares it well with Balch and also producer Aaron Cooper, who adds synth embellishment and vocals.

I guess the question I’m left with apart from when’s the record out is whether or not indeed it’s time for new dream. There’s an aging generation of heavy rockers and genre heads grey-bearding it up at shows — I’m part of it, as much as I can leave the house these days — and though it was easy enough for rock and roll to be for the young in, say, 1970, when everybody who’d ever made it was still young, applying the ethic becomes more difficult when someone’s life has been in no small part defined by their joining this community of passionate creatives. Does one need to hang up one’s dream, whatever that may be, as a result of time, or is it simply a change of focus being alluded to in the title in the first place and I’m overthinking it?

I don’t know. It seems to me, though, that as my hair falls out, my beard goes greyer, my ass expands like the universe itself, my body keeps finding exciting new ways to hurt and I’m more tired at 8:30PM than I used to be at two in the morning, that part of being a “lifer” at a thing is understanding how to make that thing a part of your life. If you feel differently, I would only say to you give it time.

Enjoy the track:

Marc Lewis, “Time for a New Dream” lyric video

Marc Lewis on “Time For A New Dream”:

This track is the first one I started really working on when I started really putting my attention to putting out a solo project. I really liked the idea of the rolling riff hitting a wall on going on a bit of a psych trip before hitting hard again. Right away I knew I wanted to work with Balch again, the dude is such a pro and amazing talent. His tone and style are truly some of my favorites out there.

Marc Lewis featuring Bob Balch & Aaron Cooper
Time For A New Dream (single)
doorstonowhere.bandcamp.com/track/time-for-a-new-dream-feat-bob-balch

TIME FOR A NEW DREAM

Desert Records is proud to present “Time For A New Dream” by Marc Lewis from Doors To No where and featuring Bob Balch (Fu Manchu, Big Scenic No Where) on Guitar and synth. The track was mixed and mastered by Aaron Cooper (Pylon Productions) who also contributed vocals and synth.

Marc Lewis from Santa Cruz California has been playing gigs and recording since he was 13. Marc got his start by fronting the band Live Wire who put out four albums and toured all over the place. Marc also played with The Fire Sermon, It and Drive contributing to multiple albums and tours. In 2010 Marc started Doors To No Where with drummer Alex Ross. Doors To No Where has put out four studio albums to date.

Bob Balch is a bonafide guitar hero and absolute legend. Balch has not only been playing with Fu Manchu since 1996 but he is also one of the founders of Big Scenic Nowhere and Sun And Sail Club. The contributions Balch has given to stoner rock are undeniable. He also is the mastermind of playthisriff.com and has in own guitar, amp and pedal pro models.

BEER RELEASE

To help celebrate the release of “Time For A New Dream” Marc Lewis worked with The Slough Brewing Collective in Watsonville California to brew “Stage Beer.” The light and crisp lager will be the perfect hydrating co-pilot to help fuel badass riffs and grooves. Lewis who was hands on from start to finish brewed stage beer with brewer Ben Ward. “Stage Beer” is a golden glass of pure joy and the can will feature art by Slogan design.

Marc Lewis is a musician from Santa Cruz, California that has been creating music since 1996 when he was the ripe age of 12. Starting off with some good old school punk Lewis created the perfect soundtrack for skateboarding and surfing around SC. In the early days Marc played stages across California along with many skate contests or DIY shows in the punk scene. Lewis started adding the stoner rock influence and heavy sounds to his writing style as he progressed in his playing style. Marc has been in the bands Live Wire, The Fire Sermon, It and Doors To No Where.

Time For A New Dream features:
Marc Lewis – Vocals, Guitar, Moog, Keys, Bass, Drums
Bob Balch – Guitar, synth
Aaron Cooper – Engineer, Producer, Synth, Vocals

MARC LEWIS PLANS ON RELEASING A SOLO RECORD LATE 2022 OR EARLY NEXT YEAR.

Doors to No Where on Facebook

Doors to No Where on Instagram

Doors to No Where on Bandcamp

Doors to No Where website

Desert Records on Facebook

Desert Records on Bandcamp

Desert Records store

This is what you do when you believe in what you do. You find a way to make it work. Sorcia‘s summer tour of the Northwest is essentially three weekends in a row, one with three shows, one with two, one with one slated for this August. You think they should be out for five weeks in a row? Fuck that. I have said this over and over and over and over. When you believe in a thing, you find a way to make it work.

You can have a life and be a lifer for rock and roll. These things don’t need to be mutually exclusive and barring any substance abuse issues or alcoholism, they’re not even that incompatible. I’m talking about myself now, but it’s true of everybody. People think rock and roll needs to be put in this corner relegated to late nights in shitty spaces, a dirt secret thing, like fucking except nobody talks about sex lest they be thought of as homoerotic for spending so much time watching dudes on stage.

Alas, Sorcia are touring. They’re getting out and playing shows. Are they coming by you? Probably not. They’re not coming by me either — though I wouldn’t mind going to see them in Kalispell, Montana, a quick 36 hours in the car to check out at Old School Records, a cool-looking spot with some retro arcade games — but fine. They’re playing. I’m happy they’re playing. If you didn’t hear it, their 2021 single-songer EP Death by Design (discussed here) came out last year on Desert Records — the CD has a bonus acoustic track, if you want to talk about ‘old school records’ — and is a post-sludge banger immersive to a point of lulling away your consciousness only to smack you upside your silly head while you’re looking the other way. So, of note, pay attention if you go to a show, Montana or otherwise.

I like bands playing shows. That’s the reality I want to live in, even if I can’t see the shows. Maybe eventually there heres and theres will connect. Till then, the more the merrier anyway:

SORCIA – TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT

Sorcia is taking this show on the road.

We are beyond excited to announce our 2022 Summer Regional Tour! After having to cancel our 2020 tour in support of our self-titled debut album (released 2 days before the world blew up) it feels amazing to be able to finally take this show on the road to support it along with our EP ‘Death By Design’ that we released through Desert Records last summer. We look forward to seeing our families and friends, to making new ones and to sharing our music live beyond the PNW. Be on the lookout for full show lineups being announced in the next week or so.

In other news, we are currently working on buttoning up the final bit of work on our next full-length, more info on that to come this fall, stay tuned! We can’t wait to share new music. Until then, see you out on the road!

•8/4- Kalispell, MT @ Old School Records
•8/5- Salt Lake City, UT @ Aces High Saloon
•8/6- Boise, ID @ The Shredder
•8/12- Eugene, OR @ Old Nick’s Pub
•8/13- Portland, OR @ The Hawthorne Hideaway
•8/20- Carnation, WA @ Pete’s Club

Poster: Brian Kim

SORCIA
Neal De Atley – Guitar, Vocals
Jessica Brasch – Bass, Vocals
Bryson Marcey – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/SorciaBand/
https://www.instagram.com/sorciaband/
sorcia.bandcamp.com
https://sorciaband.com/
http://linktr.ee/sorciaband

https://www.facebook.com/desertrecordslabel/
https://desertrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://desertrecords.bigcartel.com/

Sorcia, Death by Design (2021)

Sorcia, Sorcia (2020)

Seems that at some point between then and now, Austin, Texas, two-piece Cortége decided to add a full-time trumpet player. Fair game for the heavy Western soundtrackers, last heard from with their 2021 split alongside The Penitent Man. Duo or trio, the band will head out next month as support for Dead Register for a round of Southern shows, and even just looking at the list of wheres and whens, I very sincerely hope that the air conditioning works in whatever can or other means of conveyance they’re using. Maybe the two bands could share a vehicle though Cortége transporting tubular bells might be a complicating factor there, not to mention all the extra bass strings.

However they manage to survive, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if Cortége come out of the run with tales to tell, by which I mean inspired fodder for their instrumentalist homage to vast, seemingly empty stretches of land, let alone the weirdos who inhabit them. All the best, and safe travels, however you go. Don’t forget to hydrate. I mean that.

From socials:

Hey y’all! We’re hitting the road this summer with our buddies Dead Register! You’ll be hard pressed to find another dual bass VI featured tour, twang on!

6/24 New Orleans, LA The Goat*
6/25 Bryan, TX The 101
6/26 Shreveport, LA Minicine
6/28 Fayetteville, AR Smoke & Barrel
6/29 Wichita, KS Kirby’s Beer Store
6/30 Omaha, NE Reverb Lounge
7/1 Minneapolis, MN Mortimer’s
7/2 Madison, WI The Wisco
7/3 Chicago, IL Beat Kitchen
7/5 Lawrence, KS Replay Lounge
7/6 Tulsa , OK The Whittier
7/7 Denton, TX Andy’s
7/8 San Antonio, TX The Amp Room
7/9 Austin, TX Long Play Lounge
7/11 Hattiesburg, MS Thirsty Hippo*
7/12 Birmingham, AL The Nick*

*Dead Register Only

https://cortege.bandcamp.com
https://deadregister.bandcamp.com

Cortége is:
Mike Swarbrick – Bass Guitar, Synthesizers, Percussion & Tape Delay
Adrian Voorhies (ex Canyon of the Skull, ex Humut Tabal) – Drums
April Schupmann – Trumpet

cortege.bandcamp.com/
facebook.com/cortegeatx/
instagram.com/cortegeatx/
https://www.facebook.com/desertrecordslabel/
https://desertrecords.bandcamp.com/
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The Penitent Man & Cortége, Legends of the Desert: Vol. 2 (2021)

Well then, here we are. Day two of the Spring 2022 Quarterly Review brings a few records that I really, really like, personally, and I hope that you listen and feel similar. What you’ll find throughout is a pretty wide swath of styles, but these are the days of expanded-definition heavy, so let’s not squabble about this or that. Still a lot of week to go, folks. Gotta keep it friendly.

Deep breath in, and…

Quarterly Review #11-20:

Arð, Take Up My Bones

Hard to know at what point Winterfylleth‘s Mark Deeks decided to send his historically-minded solo-project Arð to Prophecy Productions for release consideration, but damned if the six-song Take Up My Bones doesn’t feel quintessential. Graceful lines of piano and strings give way to massively-constructed lumbering funeralia, vocals adding to the atmosphere overall as the story of St. Cuthbert’s bones is recounted through song, in mood perhaps more than folk balladeering. Whatever your familiarity with that narrative or willingness to engage it, Deeks‘ arrangements are lush and wondrously patient, the sound of “Boughs of Trees” at the outset of side B building smoothly toward its deathly sprawl but unrelentingly melodic. The longer “Raise Then the Incorrupt Body” and “Only Three Shall Know” come across as more directly dramatic with their chants and so on, but Arð‘s beauty-through-darkness melancholy is the center around which the album is built and the end result is suitably consuming. While not incomplete by any means, I find myself wondering when it’s over what other stories Deeks may have to tell.

Arð on Facebook

Prophecy Productions website

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Seremonia, Neonlusifer

Oh, Seremonia. How I missed you. These long six years after Pahuuden Äänet (review here), the Finnish troupe return to rescue their cult listenership from any and all mundane realities, psych and garage-fuzz potent enough to come with a warning label (which so far as I know it doesn’t) on “Neonlusifer” and the prior opener “Väärä valinta” with the all-the-way-out flute-laced swirl of “Raskatta vettä,” and if you don’t know what to make of all those vowel sounds, good luck with the cosmic rock of “Kaivon pohjalla” and “Unohduksen kidassa,” on which vocalist Noora Federley relinquishes the lead spot to new recruit Teemu Markkula (also Death Hawks), who also adds guitar, synth, organ and flute alongside the guitar/synth/vocals of Ville Pirinen, the drums/guitar/flute/vocals of Erno Taipale and bass/synth/vocals of Ilkka Vekka. This is a band who reside — permanently, it seems — on a wavelength of their own, and Neonlusifer is more than welcome after their time out of time. May it herald more glorious oddness to come from the noisy mist that ends “Maailmanlopun aamuna” and the album as a whole.

Seremonia on Facebook

Svart Records website

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The Quill, Live, New, Borrowed, Blue

Swedish heavy rockers The Quill mark 30 years of existence in 2022 (actually they go back further), and while Live, New, Borrowed, Blue isn’t quite an anniversary release, it does collect material from a pretty broad span of years. Live? “Keep it Together” and an especially engaging take on “Hole in My Head” that closes. New? The extended version of “Keep on Moving” from 2021’s Earthrise (review here), “Burning Tree” and “Children of the Sun.” Borrowed? Iron Maiden‘s “Where Eagles Dare,” November‘s “Mount Everest,” Aerosmith‘s “S.O.S.” and Captain Beyond‘s “Frozen Over.” Blue? Certainly “Burning Tree,” and all of it, if you’re talking about bluesy riffs, which, if you’re talking about The Quill, you are. In the narrative of Sverige heavy rock, they remain undersung, and this compilation, in addition to being a handy-dandy fan-piece coming off their last record en route to the inevitable next one, is further evidence to support that claim. Either you know or you don’t. Three decades on, The Quill are gonna be The Quill either way.

The Quill on Facebook

Metalville Records website

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Dark Worship, Flesh of a Saint

Though it’s just 20 minutes long, the six-song debut from Ohio’s Dark Worship offers dark industrial heft and a grim psychedelic otherworldliness in more than enough measure to constitute a full-length. At the center of the storm — though not the eye of it, because it’s quiet there — is J. Meyers, also of Axioma, who conjures the spaces of “Culling Song” and “We’ve Always Been Here” as a bed for a selection of guest vocalists, including Nathan Opposition of Ancient VVisdom/Vessel of Light, Axioma‘s Aaron Dallison, and Joe Reed (To Dust, Exorcisme). No matter who’s fronting a given track — Reed gets the lion’s share, Dallison the title-track and Opposition the penultimate “Destroy Forever (Death of Ra)” — the vibe is biting and dark in kind, with Meyers providing backing vocals, guitar, and of course the software-born electronic beats and melodies that are the core of the project. Maybe hindsight will make this nascent-feeling, but in terms of world construction, Flesh of a Saint is punishing in its immersion, right up to the howling feedback and ambience of “Well of Light” at the finish. Conceptually destructive.

Dark Worship on Facebook

Tartarus Records store

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More Experience, Electric Laboratory of High Space Experience

Nature sounds feature throughout More Experience‘s 2021 third album, Electric Laboratory of High Space Experience, with birdsong and other naturalist atmospheres in opener “The Twilight,” “Beezlebufo,” closer “At the Gates of Dawn,” and so on. Interspersed between them is the Polish troupe’s ’60s-worship psych. Drawing on sonic references from the earliest space rock and post-garage psychedelics — think Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, King Crimson’s “Epitaph” is almost remade here as the penultimate title-track — band founder Piotr Dudzikowski (credited with guitars, organs, synthesizers, backing vocals, harmonium, tambura, and cobuz) gets by with a little help from his friends, which means in part that the vocals of extended early highlight “The Dream” are pulled back for a grain-of-salt spoken word on “The Trip” and the later “Fairy Tale.” The synthy “The Mind” runs over nine minutes and between that, “The Dream” and the title-track (9:56), I feel like I’m digging the longer-form, more dug-in songs, but I’m not going to take away from the ambient and more experimental stuff either, since that’s how this music was invented in the first place.

More Experience on Facebook

More Experience on Bandcamp

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Jawless, Warrizer

Young Indonesian riffers Jawless get right to the heart of heavy on their debut album, Warrizer, with a raw take on doom rock that’s dead-on heavy and classic in its mindset. There’s nothing fancy happening here other than some flourish of semi-psych guitar, but the self-produced four-piece from Bandung kill it with a reverence of course indebted to but not beholden to Sabbathian blues licks, and their swing on “Deceptive Events” alone is enough proof-of-concept for me. I’m on board. It’s not about progressive this or that. It’s not about trying to find a genre niche no one’s thought of yet. This is players in a room rocking the fuck out. And they might have a bleak point of view in cuts like “War is Come,” and one does not have to look too far to get the reference in “The Throne of Tramp,” but that sense of judgment is part and parcel to originalist doom. At 50 minutes, it’s long for an LP, but as “Restrained” pays off the earlier psychedelic hints, “Metaphorical Speech” boogie-jams and “G.O.D.” rears back with each measure to spit its next line, I wouldn’t lose any of it.

Jawless on Facebook

Jawless on Bandcamp

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The Heavy Co., Shelter

Adding a guest guitar solo from Earthless‘ Isaiah Mitchell wasn’t going to hurt the cause of Indianapolis duo The Heavy Co., and sure enough it doesn’t. Issued digitally in 2020 and premiered here, “Shelter” runs a quick three minutes of psych-blues rock perfectly suited to the 7″ treatment Rock Freaks Records gives it and the earlier digi-single “Phoenix” (posted here), which had been the group’s first offering after a six-year break. “Phoenix,” which is mellower and more molten in its tempo throughout its six minutes, might be the better song of the two, but the twang in “Shelter” pairs well with that bluesy riff from guitarist/vocalist Ian Daniel, and Jeff Kaleth holds it down on drums. More to come? Maybe. There’s interesting ground here to explore in this next phase of The Heavy Co.‘s tenure.

The Heavy Co. on Facebook

Rock Freaks Records store

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Sound of Smoke, Tales

All that “Witch Boogie” is missing is John Lee Hooker going “boom boom boom” over that riff, and even when opener “Strange Fruit” or “Dreamin'” is indebted to the Rolling Stones, it’s the bluesier side of their sound. No problem there, but Freiburg, Germany, four-piece Sound of Smoke bring a swagger and atmosphere to “Soft Soaper” that almost ’70s-style Scorpions in its beginning before the shuffling verse starts, tambourine and all, and there’s plenty of pastoral psych in “Indian Summer” and 10-minute “Human Salvation,” the more weighted surges of which feel almost metallic in their root — like someone between vocalist/keyboardist Isabelle Bapté, guitarist Jens Stöver, bassist Florian Kiefer and drummer Johannes Braunstein once played in a harder-focused project. Still, as their debut LP after just a 2017 EP, the seven-song/43-minute Tales shows a looser rumble in “Devil’s Voice” behind Bapté, and there’s a persona and perspective taking shape in the songs. It’ll be hard work for them to stand out, but given what I hear in these tracks, both their psych edge and that sharper underpinning will be assets in their favor along with the sense of performance they bring.

Sound of Smoke on Facebook

Tonzonen Records website

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Red Mesa, Forest Cathedral

Coming off their 2020 full-length, The Path to the Deathless (review here), Albuquerque-based trio Red Mesa — guitarist/vocalist Brad Frye, bassist/vocalist Alex Cantwell, who alternates here with Frye, and drummer/backing vocalist Roman Barham, who may or may not also join in on the song’s willfully lumbering midsection — take a stated turn toward doom with the 5:50 Forest Cathedral single. The grittier groove suits them, and the increasing sharing of vocals (which includes backing), makes them a more complex act overall, but there’s not necessarily anything in “Forest Cathedral” to make one think it’s some radical shift in another direction, which there was enough of on The Path to the Deathless to warrant a guest appearance from Dave Sherman of Earthride. Still, they continue to do it well, and honing in on this particular sound, whether something they do periodically to change it up, never touch again after this, or see as a new way to go all-in, I’m content to follow along and see where it goes.

Red Mesa on Facebook

Desert Records BigCartel store

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Margarita Witch Cult, Witchfinder

In keeping with the tradition of over-the-top weed-doom band names, Margarita Witch Cult crawl forth from the birthplace of sonic weight, Birmingham, UK, with their debut two-songer cassingle-looking CD/DL Witchfinder. That’s not the only tradition they’re keeping. See also the classic riffer doom they capture in their practice space on the not-tape and the resulting rawness of “The Witchfinder Comes” and “Aradia,” bot nodders preaching Iommic truths. There’s a bit more scorch in the solo on “Aradia,” but that could honestly mean the microphone moved, and either way, they also keep the tradition of many such UK acts with goofball monikers in actually being pretty right on. Of course, they’re in one of the most crowded heavy undergrounds anywhere in the world, but there’s a lot to be said for taking doom rock and stripping it bare as they do on these tracks, the very least of which is that it would probably work really well on tape. If I was at the gig and I saw it on the merch table, I’d snag and look forward to more. I’ll do the same with the Bandcamp.

Margarita Witch Cult on Facebook

Margarita Witch Cult on Bandcamp

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Ultimately, it’s not such a huge surprise to find Albuquerque-based trio Red Mesa — who Desert Records founder Brad Frye and Monolith on the Mesa co-founder Roman Barham in their ranks along with bassist/vocalist Alex Cantwell, who I’m sure runs a record pressing plant or something likewise relevant — digging into doomier sounds. As much as the band are of the desert regionally, their 2020 full-length, The Path to the Deathless (review here), offered an array of sonic branchouts, demonstrating their will not to be pigeonholed in terms of style. The new single “Forest Cathedral” finds its equilibrium in chunky-style riffs and a classic nod that’s malevolent in atmosphere even as the lyrics offer a sense of worship for the natural world.

Red Mesa have live shows coming up starting tomorrow and running throughout Spring, including a brief stint with Cloud Catcher, and have already been announced for this year’s Monolith on the Mesa as well in September. If there are further recording plans (aren’t there always?), I’ve no specifics to offer, but I wouldn’t read “Forest Cathedral” as a radical shift in overarching direction for the band as much as the three-piece continuing to explore having multiple songwriters tapping into a greater swath of influence even than what they showed two years ago. Continued progression, heavy riffs. Claiming more territory and topography with their sound. I will not argue.

It’s not streaming yet, but info on what drove Cantwell into the forest follows here ahead of preorders starting next week. As per the PR wire:

RED MESA to release their new Doom Metal single “Forest Cathedral” on May 6th via Desert Records

The heavy desert trio will start preorder on April 1st (Bandcamp only) for limited edition 7″ lathe vinyl & merch bundle that will include Taos desert sage, t-shirt, patch, stickers.

A walk in the woods. That’s what inspired Red Mesa’s new single “Forest Cathedral” on Desert Records. Not to sound trite, but even saying that anything “inspired” the song is a misnomer. A more accurate way to explain how the song came about is that it was “revealed” to bass player Alex Cantwell during repeated hikes in the same area of Oak Flat in Tijeras, NM.

“In New Mexico where we live”, explains Alex, “there are different topographies within a short drive from each other including high desert landscapes, forested mountains, river valleys with old growth trees called the bosque, sand dunes, grass plains, salt flats, caves, etc. This provides an aesthetic variety and different perspectives. I spent 10 months renting a cabin in the mountains in the forest, and it was an amazing place to spend time. I especially loved my frequent hikes, and this song, riff by riff was all pieced together in my head as the muse provided it to me and made it available for me to snatch out of the air. The lyrics are simply an outpouring of simple gratitude for the forest itself.”

“Forest Cathedral” sees Red Mesa embracing it’s gratitude and reverence for something else as well; doom metal. While their 2020 album “The Path to the Deathless” saw the band branch out from a desert rock format with nods to Kyuss, but also Motorhead, east coast doom, and expansive soundscapes that would give way to quiet acoustic passages and death metal alike, this new single is a nod to true doom, but done in Red Mesa’s ever-evolving style.

RED MESA hit the road this spring for a mini-tour with Cloud Catcher, and shows with Earthless, Nebula.

3/25 LAUNCHPAD- Albuquerque, NM w/Destroyer of Light
3/30 LAUNCHPAD- Albuquerque, NM w/REZN
4/10 LAUNCHPAD – Albuquerque, NM w/Earthless
5/7 LAUNCHPAD – Albuquerque, NM w/Nebula, Year of the Cobra
5/14 TRINIDAD LOUNGE, Trinidad, CO w/Cloud Catcher
5/15 REVOLT GALLERY, Taos, NM w/Cloud Catcher
5/16/22 TUMBLEROOT BREWERY Santa Fe, NM w/Cloud Catcher
5/17 LAUNCHPAD – Albuquerque, NM w/Cloud Catcher
5/27-5/28 – THE FEST IN THE NEST- Eagle Nest, NM.

Red Mesa is (L to R): Alex Cantwell – bass/vox, Brad Frye – guitar/vox, Roman Barham – drums/backing vox

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Red Mesa, The Path to the Deathless (2020)