Posted in Whathaveyou on March 2nd, 2017 by JJ Koczan
The clock is ticking on the crowdfunding campaign to support the making and release of Magnetic Eye Records‘ upcoming Pink Floyd tribute, The Wall [Redux], and the NY-based label has broken out some big guns in terms of confirmations for who will take part. Greenleaf, Mars Red Sky, Pallbearer, Ruby the Hatchet, ASG, Yawning Man, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, The Ultra Electric Mega Galactic and Sasquatch, as well as the likes of Swedish crushers Domkraft, L.A.’s LowFlyingHawks and Ghastly Sound from the label’s own roster — along with the previously-announced Summoner — would seem to only bolster the offering as a whole, for which preorders are being taken directly through the Kickstarter. This is the third of these projects Magnetic Eye has done, and as ever, the scope of the thing is massive and the logistics seem, frankly, nightmarish.
You don’t need me to sell you on shit and you already know this is a cause worthy of your support, so I’ll spare you all that it’s-an-emergency-you-gotta-help-out whatnot, but suffice it to say that this thing happening only makes the world a better place. So there you go.
Here’s the latest update, courtesy of the label:
Magnetic Eye’s ambitious homage to Pink Floyd, THE WALL [REDUX], has gained some serious momentum in the final week of its preorder/crowdfunding campaign. The confirmation of several higher-profile artists, including Greenleaf, Pallbearer, Mars Red Sky, Yawning Man, Sasquatch and Noveller all signing on to bring their distinct voices to the project has prompted the MER to add an exclusive “Best of Pink Floyd” companion LP for Kickstarter backers. This complement to the main THE WALL [REDUX] will feature a range of cuts from throughout the Floyd catalog by even more fantastic artists from the scene and beyond.
There are still a few days left to support the project by pre-ordering one of several versions of the record, all of which will reflect Magnetic Eye’s well-documented aesthetic and penchant for gorgeous vinyl. This also means there’s still time for a final few hush-hush conversations to potentially yield even more intriguing artist confirmations.
To see what an undertaking this has been (and what an amazing spectacle the finished albums will surely be), here’s a quick review of the latest list of confirmed bands and an exclusive first reveal of some tracks, with numerous more still to be announced:
ASG, “Mother” Domkraft Ghastly Sound Greenleaf Mos Generator Low Flying Hawks (feat. Dale Crover of The Melvins) Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard Mars Red Sky, “Comfortably Numb” Pallbearer, “Run Like Hell” Ruby the Hatchet, “Pigs” (The Best of Pink Floyd) Sasquatch Sergeant Thunderhoof The Slim Kings (feat. drummer Liberty DeVitto) Solace, “In the Flesh” Summoner The Ultra Electric Mega Galactic (feat. Ed Mundell of Monster Magnet) WhiteNails Worshipper Yawning Man Year of the Cobra
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 21st, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Can we talk honestly about Desertfest Berlin 2017 for a minute? You want to know the terrible truth? Of course you do. You love terrible truths. The terrible truth is I should’ve gone to this fucking festival years ago. I should’ve been there when Gozu went from London to Berlin. I should’ve tagged along with Lo-Pan on their European run. I should be campaigning to go over and embed myself with Lowrider or somebody this year, and even now I’d be about four years late in getting there. At least. Stupid. No money, no time. My loss. Always.
These lineups get stronger and stronger and I sit my fucking cubicle and daydream. That’s what happens. That’s the terrible truth. I’m gonna miss Desertfest Berlin again this year, and London, and Freak Valley, and Duna Jam and Desertfest Belgium and Athens, and Keep it Low and the fests Heavy Psych Sounds is throwing, and a bunch of cool shit in the US — Desert Generator, all that stuff happening in Colorado, Montana, Oregon, the Days of Darkness this fall in Baltimore — because basically I suck. There you have it. The terrible truth. I’m terrible.
Oh yeah, and Desertfest Berlin 2017 has new lineup adds. Here they are:
As promised, here come 5 new bands that we are proud to add to the DesertFest Berlin 2017 line-up! On Friday 28th, Desert Mountain Tribe (Uk), Elephant Tree (Uk) & Bellhound Choir (Dk). On Saturday 29th Domkraft (Swe) and on Sunday 30th, Avon Desert Rock (Usa). 3-day passes and Saturday tickets are sold out, but we still have a few for Friday and Sunday! Hurry up if you want to be part of this year’s Desertfest Berlin: http://www.desertfest.de/tickets-desertfest-berlin
Desert Mountain Tribe got off to a flying start with early standout track ‘Coming Down’, which was featured on Reverb Conspiracy Volume 2. The band quickly progressed to perform at leading festivals within the psych community and finally released their debut album “ Either That Or The Moon” in the spring of 2016 to a wealth of positive notices. They are now about to release new material…
Desert Rock trio Avon is Alfredo Hernández (Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age, Yawning Man), James Childs (Airbus, Little Villains) and Charles Pasarell (WAXY). They made their debut early in 2016 with “Mad Marco”, a full-length collection distinct in its still-inimitable Californian style. The music is psychedelic, raw, melodic and has something to say. So if you like heavy desert rock, then you have come to the right place. They will be back with new tunes in April.
Elephant Tree are a relatively new band blasting a combination of ballsy blues rock and heavy riffs, who, after cutting their teeth in the London metal scene, have established a place within the current growing Stoner Metal genre. Their self-tilted sophomore released in April 2016 is spaced out, bizarre, unafraid to expand what doom can be, and featured in many “top of 2016” lists… You guys don’t know them yet, check it out now!
Bellhound Choir is songwriter, singer and guitarist Christian Hede Madsen (ex Pet The Preacher). He released his debut album “Imagine The Crackle” last year, and is now about to release his second effort, “Worried Kid”: a contemporary blues album dealing with the struggles and winding roads of the soul… A record comprised of songs in their most basic form, without filter, without vanity; songs that leads the way into a very human universe, that will unfold, as one gives back.
Domkraft, whose name combines the Swedish “DOM” for judgement and “KRAFT” for power, blasts forth towering dirges of annihilating doom, mindbending psychedelia, and hypnotic minimalism. Their first full-length “The End of Electricity” was released in November 2016 and is a spacious yet crushing mix of grinding riffs, syrupy warmth, blistering power and inexorable motion. Check out their unique vibe as soon as possible !
Also confirmed for our 2017 edition: SLEEP, SAINT VITUS, JOHN GARCIA BAND, BONGZILLA, SAMSARA BLUES EXPERIMENT, MARS RED SKY, STONED JESUS, LOWRIDER, FARFLUNG, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, DEATH ALLEY, TOUNDRA, MAMMOTH MAMMOTH, 1000MODS, SUMA, RUBY THE HATCHET, ECSTATIC VISION, THE COSMIC DEAD, TUBER, SATAN’S SATYRS, PONTIAK, WUCAN, GIOBIA, DUEL, GOLD, VENOMOUS MAXIMUS, THE WELL, GLITTER WIZARD, BASK, ODD COUPLE, RIFF FIST, TSCHAIKA 21/16 + more acts still to be unveiled.
Posted in Reviews on December 30th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
We press on with the Quarterly Review and writeups #41-50 of the total 60 to be featured. Some considerable names in this batch, as I suppose there have been all along, but one of the functions this feature has come to serve is to allow me a space to offer some comment on bigger records that, let’s be frank, are being covered everywhere in the universe, while fleshing out coverage elsewhere of things like bands’ debuts and some other less-ubiquitous offerings. That’s become the idea anyway. Doesn’t always go like that, but it’s kind of a relief to have somewhere I can put the extra 200 reviews per year rather than miss out. We’ll wrap this one up on Monday, but just because it’s the end of the week and because it’s my general sentiment, thanks for reading.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
40 Watt Sun, Wider than the Sky
With their second album, the awaited Wider than the Sky, London’s 40 Watt Sun continue to be defined by their depressive expressionism. The six-track/62-minute follow-up to 2011’s The Inside Room (review here) finds guitarist/vocalist Patrick Walker (ex-Warning), bassist William Spong and drummer Christian Leitch opening with the longest inclusion (immediate points) in the gorgeously mournful 16-minute unfolding of “Stages.” Sonically lush but still somehow raw and minimal in its emotionality, a slow drear sets the tone for what will follow in “Beyond You” and “Another Room,” “Pictures and “Craven Road,” which alternate on either side of the 10-minute mark until closer “Marazion” (3:57) seems to resonate a less-hopeless spirit. More than The Inside Room, Wider than the Sky realizes itself in emotional rather than tonal weight, and while one often identifies these feelings with things cold and grey, it would require a willful blindness not to recognize the humanity and warmth coming through in Walker’s delivery of this material. Wide it may be, but not at all distant.
The duality of Worm Ouroboros’ third album for Profound Lore, What Graceless Dawn, is almost as prevalent as the irony that its title should include the word “graceless” when the 63-minute six-tracker itself is so melodically poised. It’s dark, but hopeful, spacious and compact, challenging but simply and often minimally arranged, patient and emotionally intense, and heavy even as it seems to float from one extended piece to the next on a current of intertwining, nigh-operatic vocals from bassist Lorraine Rath (ex-Amber Asylum) and guitarist Jessica Way (World Eater) while Aesop Dekker (Agalloch, Vhöl) seems just as comfortable in the quiet midsection stretch of 13-minute centerpiece “Ribbon of Shadow” as in the rumbling payoff of “Suffering Tree” just before. Running from opener “Day” to closer “Night,” What Graceless Dawn is nothing if not coherent, and while the band’s core approach has been largely consistent across their 2010 self-titled debut (review here) and 2012’s Come the Thaw, the Bay Area trio maintain a clear commitment to forward-moving artistry that stirs the consciousness.
I was fortunate enough to be there when UK heavy psych legends The Heads played the Main Stage set at Roadburn 2015 captured on the Burning World Records release Burning up With…, and indeed the preservation of the band’s utter liquefaction of that large room is well worth preserving across the four sides of a double-LP. The only drawback to a vinyl version of their set is that while the individual songs are presented as side-consuming medleys – “Cardinal Fuzz/KRT,” “Gnu/Legevaan Sattelite/U33,” and so on – that still requires some measure of break to flip from one to the next, whereas in the all-at-once linearity of a CD or digital listen, one finds the overwhelming lysergic proceedings intact as they were from the stage, gloriously molten and entrancingly jammed out by the longtime masters of the form. I won’t even attempt to give its spaciousness a proper assessment since just about anything The Heads do is a gift defying impartiality, especially something like this, but yeah, get on it.
Back in 2010, Dead Meadow frontman Jason Simon released an eponymous solo debut on Tee Pee that found him working in a folkish sphere, and his six-years-later follow-up, Familiar Haunts (on Tekeli-Li, Cardinal Fuzz, Burger Records and Blind Blind Tiger), has some of those elements as well on the twanging, finger-plucking “Pretty Polly” and subdued strum of “Seven Sisters of Sleep,” but Simon has also assembled a four-piece band here, and from the pickup of opener “The People Dance, the People Sing,” through the fuzz experimentalism of “Now I’m Telling You” and the airy linear build of the penultimate 11-minute highlight “Wheels Will Spin,” there’s no lack of fullness in the sound. One finds a particularly engaging blend on “Hills of Mexico,” a six-minute rambler that fluidly brings together neofolk and desert ambience, though as Simon and company play sounds off each other in this material, “engaging blend” would seem to be the underlying theme of Familiar Haunts as a whole.
Over a decade removed from their 2006 self-titled debut and five years past their third album, 2011’s Hemisphere of Shadows, one might easily argue that Portland, Oregon’s Danava are due for a full-length release. Sure, the band led by guitarist/vocalist Gregory Meleny have toured plenty in that time in the US and abroad, put out splits and so on, and that has consistently and organically grown their fanbase. Sating that fanbase would seem to be the motivation behind the two-song 7” At Midnight You Die (on Tee Pee), on which the titular A-side finds the four-piece making the most of their dual guitars – Meleny and Pete Hughes (Sons of Huns) shredding in proto-NWOBHM fashion – while the B-side takes on the bizarre and foreboding folk ambience of “My Spirit Runs Free,” short at three minutes, acoustic and sourced from 1979’s The Capture of Bigfoot. So yeah, it’s like that. No new record, but a ripper and some delightful weirdness on hand, and I suspect at this point many of their followers will take what they can get.
Some bands are just on their own wavelength, and as much as one might be tempted to relate Sevilla’s Pylar to SunnO))) with their robes and their drones, the Spanish troupe’s four-track full-length, Pyedra (on Alone Records), sees them emitting a slew of horrors all their own. Working as a five-piece, Pylar open with “Menga” (10:57), their longest cut (immediate points) and establish a basis of amelodic, largely arrhythmic noise-jazz. There are more straightforward currents in the subsequent rumble and roll of “Megalitos” (10:33), and “Menhir” (9:37) would seem to draw both sides together before “Meteoros” (9:07) rounds out with an airy, horn-topped alternate-universe victory, but the whole of Pyedra remains informed by the way-off-kilter challenge it poses at the outset, and part of the thrill is making your way through with no idea of what’s coming next other than another extended song beginning with the letter ‘m.’ Will be too much for some, but Pylar’s bleak experimentalism assures cultish appeal worthy of those robes the band wears.
Proliferating a combination of speaker-punishing low-end riffs and post-rock-derived spaciousness, Swedish trio Domkraft debut on Magnetic Eye Records with the wholesale immersion of The End of Electricity and evoke heft no less substantial than their stated theme. They begin with their two longest tracks (which I guess is double points?) in “The Rift” and “Meltdown of the Orb,” and by the time they’re through them, bassist/vocalist Martin Wegeland, guitarist Martin Widholm and drummer Anders Dahlgren have already doled out a full LP’s worth of nod, which would seem to make what follows after the momentary breather of “Drones” in “Red Lead,” “All Come Hither” the shorter “Dustrider” and closer “We Will Follow” a bonus round – in which Domkraft also dominate. Because its heavy is so heavy and because Wegeland’s vocals arrive across the board as far-back, shouted echoes, it’s easy to lose sight of the ambience that goes with all that roll, but what ultimately gives The End of Electricity such character is that it creates as much of a world as it destroys.
Back in 2013, Buenos Aires outfit Picaporters made an encouraging debut with Elefantes (review here). They’ve teased the follow-up, El Horror Oculto (on South American Sludge), over the last year-plus with several digital singles, but the album’s arrival hits with a distinct fleshing out of atmosphere, as heard on the grueling second cut “Diferentes Formas de Ostras” or the manner in which the centerpiece title-track departs from its raucous opening into a heavy-psychedelic meander, never to return, feeding off of the structure of “Humo Ancestral” directly before. An interlude “Etude 6” leads into the opening drift of “Ra,” but it’s a ruse as Picaporters offer some of the album’s most driving heavy rock in that cut’s second half, and close out with Sabbath-darkness-via-Zeppelin-noodling on “War is Over,” the trio coming together in a molten psychedelic doom that seems to draw from the various sides they’ve shown throughout without losing sight of pushing further in its summary.
It would be a mistake to judge Deamon’s Child’s second full-length, Scherben Müssen Sein (on Zygmatron), by any single one of its tracks, as the German trio makes plain in the dramatic shift from the crushing sludge of “Zucker” into the raw punk thrust of the subsequent “Keine Zeit.” Elsewhere, they find funky footing before punking out once again in “Schweinehund, Kimm Tanz Mit Mir!” and rumble the outing to a finish consuming in its largesse on the 10-minute “Nichts,” so yes, as they follow-up their 2014 self-titled debut (review here), Deamon’s Child hold fast to the sense of the unhinged proffered therein while uniting their material through an intensity that comes across regardless of tempo or surrounding purpose. They are on the beat, not behind it, pushing forward always. That can make Scherben Müssen Sein difficult to keep track of as it moves swiftly through the blast of “Monster” and the manipulated samples of “In Kinderschuhen” toward that finale, but the mission here is far, far away from easy listening, so all the better.
Adansonia Records offers a bonus-track-laden revisit of the 2011 debut release, Bardo Abgrund Temple, from Seattle shroom-jammers Fungal Abyss, whose improvisational sensibility comes through the original four extended cuts with no diminishing of their otherworldly trip-out for the half-decade that’s passed since they first surfaced. Those looking for a US counterpart to European psych-improv outfits like Electric Moon or Øresund Space Collective – i.e., me – would do well to dig into opener “Arc of the Covenant” (20:12) or closer “Fungal DeBrist” (24:07) as a lead-in for the earlier-2016 follow-up, Karma Suture (review here), as well as their companion live outings, but whatever contextual approach a listener might want to take, the instrumental stretch of Bardo Abgrund Temple is a serenely heavy and meandering path to walk, given to bouts of space-rock thrust and long passages of low-end droner nod, as heard on the 10-minute “Timewave Zero,” turned on and duly ritualized in its swirl and far-off vocalizations. A reissue well-earned of a gracefully cosmic debut.
Posted in Features on December 21st, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Stockholm riff-pummelers Domkraft made their debut this fall with The End of Electricity on Magnetic Eye Records — a blown-out collection of dense-toned low end push, mean in its execution and weighted on a planetary scale. Rest assured, plenty of electricity went into its making, though perhaps they chose the title for the number of fuses they blew in the studio trying to power all those tube amps. A question for another time.
Today we concern ourselves with what drove the three-piece of bassist/vocalist Martin Wegeland, guitarist Martin Widholm and drummer Anders Dahlgren to craft this monstrosity of riff in the first place. One learns early on in writing about music that the question “Who are your influences?” is off limits once you’re no longer writing for the high school newspaper. That’s some shit that you, as a critic, should know by the time you talk to someone. But Domkraft were kind enough to take the initiative and answer the question anyhow in the form of counting down (counting up? either way, counting) 10 records that made them who they are as a band.
And though I’m sure you’ve heard it by now, just like you already know they’ve been tapped to play Psycho Las Vegas 2017, because you’re hip like that and into the rock and/or roll, just in case you want some context for what the band discusses below, I’ve also included the stream of The End of Electricity at the bottom of this post, so you can hear what all this cool stuff sounds like when it comes out the other side of Domkraft‘s blender.
Thanks to Domkraft for taking the time and to Jadd Shickler for coordinating. Enjoy:
10 Records that Made Domkraft
PINK FLOYD, Meddle (1971)
Well, where to start with this one? A seminal album in every aspect. This is the very blueprint for how drums, guitar and bass can interact in long, sweeping, echoing compositions that grow in and out of one given theme. Some of us have listened to this album ever since we were kids. The epic pounding of “One of These Days” still lacks comparison. And even if we work in a different musical context, the live version of the song from Pompeii 1972 in particular captures the very essence of how music should feel for us; overwhelming, transcendental and all-consuming. An inspiration in so many ways.
SPACEMEN 3, Playing with Fire (1989)
“Just play one note. No fancy stuff.” With fancy stuff being two notes, this band is a marvel in itself. When it comes to creating greatness out of almost nothing, Spacemen 3 are still unrivalled. And Playing with Fire is arguably their finest moment. From the dream-like inner and outer journey of “Honey” and “How Does It Feel?” to downright life-transforming sonic freight trains such as “Revolution” and “Suicide,” this is probably one of the bands that has had the biggest impact on how we apprehend music. The tones themselves decide the structure of the song, not the other way around. And less is almost always so much more. We love both sides of this band, the mellow stuff as well as the really powerful, even though I think most of the people who appreciate Domkraft will get more out of the louder stuff. Anyway, an amazing band and an album that sounds as fresh today as it did when it was released in 1989.
LOOP, A Gilded Eternity (1990)
When we’re writing, groove and pace are two cornerstones. Loop purified the bond between sparse, focused rhythms and feedback guitars. Their music is so self-conscious — it’s almost as if all parts not proven vital for the song’s existence have been removed. Staccato drumming and kraut-like bass grooves together with screaming minimalistic, echo-drenched wah-wah guitars give songs like “The Nail Will Burn” a unique, hypnotic vibe. The riffs feel endless. No beginning. No end. Everything so simplified, repeated and recycled that even the smallest alteration makes a huge difference. In Domkraft, we work a lot with the idea of trusting a riff enough to let it take over a song. One riff, one firm groove. That’s all you need, really. And it does not necessarily have to space out — keeping it sharp can be equally mind-bending. And Loop knew that early on.
GOD MACHINE, Songs from the Second Storey (1993)
Apparently there’s at least one other band with the same name now, but we’re talking about the classic San Diego ’90s band here. So, yeah, some elements on this album haven’t aged that well and sound very much like a product of their time. But when they hit the sweet spot, oh man… they are sooo good. Not metal, but still heavier than most bands of that era, and with longing, desperate vocals floating upon gluey, crawling, rock-solid riffing. It becomes something that is hard to really label –- without making a fuss about being genre-bending. You can definitely hear echoes of God Machine in Domkraft, especially in how we work with vocals.
ENTOMBED, Wolverine Blues (1993)
If you’re Swedish and into heavier music, you just have to relate to Entombed somehow. We’re pretty old school, so the first three albums are where it’s at for us. Strangely though, with Wolverine Blues being the defining moment that moved them away from the classic death metal they played a big part in shaping, this is also one of their absolutely heaviest offerings. And it also features some of Nicke Andersson’s finest drumming –- he has that pretty unique Bill Ward-quality of making everything sound alive and in constant motion. Apart from being an inspiration rhythm-wise, there’s also a few scales that would probably not be there if it wasn’t for Entombed.
MELVINS, Houdini (1993)
When Melvins decided to slow things down, they certainly didn’t half-ass it. Their raw, bass-heavy and down-tuned sound made a huge impact on us (and still does). There is something about these guys that makes you feel like metal, punk or rock music never existed before. Seemingly uninterested in appearance and with almost surrealist lyrics, they challenge the whole concept of genres. That, combined with the intense drumming, the bass tone, the rhythmic and sludgy riffing of songs like “Hooch” and “Night Goat,” was a big reference for us when Domkraft was formed.
MONSTER MAGNET, Dopes to Infinity (1995)
Even though the band had released a few albums before, Dopes to Infinity was the album that really made us fall in love with them. At that time no one could deliver more powerful riffing and spaced-out songs and still be heavy as fuck. They seemed to mix the anglo-surrealism of Syd Barrett with punk rock attitude, Iommic riffing and the free-form song structures of Hawkwind. Echoing phasers, earth-shattering riffs and songs that, when needed, are long enough to make you lose track of time. The result was mind-bending to us then and still continues to influence us.
HIS HERO IS GONE, Monument to Thieves (1997)
Like a restless bastard sibling to Neurosis, Memphis’ His Hero Is Gone made a couple of albums in the late ’90s that sounded pretty much like the musical equivalent of nuclear war. Crusty pain-ridden hardcore, no nonsense d-beat and extreme, doomy low-end. Call it proto-sludge, if you will. Call it brilliant, you must. The atmosphere of this album is dark and gloomy, still somehow strangely beautiful in all of its intensity and almost bittersweet –- and it all sounds natural. That is something that very well might echo in our songs as well.
BURIED AT SEA, Migration (2003)
How low can you go? Well, this is about it. At least if you want to retain some kind of detail. Pretty minimalist as far as song structures go and manages to be extremely dense and atmospheric at the same time. The deranged, distorted vocals that appear very sparsely are almost like they’re just there to remind you that “oh! this is actually played by humans.” It’s also brilliantly produced, and well, what less could you expect with Sanford Parker in the band? The low-end just levels everything in its path and the highs accentuate everything that happens in the background (and that is quite a lot). Possibly one of the most intense — and groovy! — albums ever. The impact on Domkraft is probably mainly the realization that you don’t have to fear either mid or treble in order to still keep things heavy as fuck.
SWANS, The Seer (2011)
There is something about Swans that is close to impossible to describe in words alone. Especially regarding the second stage of their career. The constant building, how minor alterations make all the difference and the notion that you never really know if there could ever be an end to it. And you really don’t ever want it to end either. It’s a trance-like state, but the sheer power still makes you very aware of every change. It’s beautiful and threatening at the same time. Clean, crisp and sometimes almost orchestral. We might be on the other side of the sonic spectra with our massive use of fuzz and effects, but the spirit and the idea that each song itself sets its own rules has been a massive influence on us. Probably one of the three most important bands for us -– the other two being Sabbath and Spacemen 3.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 17th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Take a deep breath before you dive into the new lineup announcement from Psycho Las Vegas 2017. With 35-plus bands added, it officially qualifies as huge, and considering who those bands are — Slo Burn for a US-exclusive, plus bringing over the likes of Elephant Tree to play alongside Summoner, Hollow Leg, Gatecreeper and others — it can be a lot to take in. If you haven’t had a meal yet today, you might want to eat something. Make sure you’re hydrated. Basically I want to avoid anyone fainting as a result of reading the list of bands. If you’re sensitive to flashing lights… you’re probably okay. But otherwise, check to see you have something soft to land on nearby, should you need it.
I missed Psycho this year owing to a new job and a general lack of funds. I’m not sure I can do the same in 2017. This one might just be a gotta-go kind of scenario. Fuckin’ Slomatics are gonna be there.
There are still more than 40 bands to announce, including headliners, whose names will be out at random points over the next 30 days.
Jeebus.
To the PR wire:
Psycho Las Vegas 2017
August 18, 2017 – August 20, 2017 Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Las Vegas
Psycho Las Vegas today announces over 35 new additions to its massive 2017 lineup. The festival has quickly become the premier event in the US for underground heavy rock, psych, doom, alternative and beyond, and as the roster grows for this year’s edition, they’re clearly looking to push their boundaries even further.
Headliners remain TBA, but joining previously-announced generation-defining acts like Neurosis, Swans and French prog lords Magma, come UK grind legends Carcass, whose reunion continues to bring gruesome tales of dissections and unparalleled.
They’ll be in good company with Norwegian black metal legend Abbath, formerly of Immortal, who released a raging self-titled debut album under his own name this year, New York’s Myrkur, whose own debut, M, disrupted black metal genre convention on nearly every level, and USBM innovators Wolves in the Throne Room, who continue to refine a style they helped establish more than a decade ago.
Look for the Melvins to boggle brains with their brand of heavy rock – still unique unto itself after more than three decades – as well as for the new project Crystal Fairy with Buzzo and Dale from the Melvins, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (Mars Volta) and Teri Gender Bender (Le Butcherettes) to bring to life their debut album, which releases in February on Ipecac Recordings.
This latest announcement also brings sludge-laden chaos from the pair of Weedeater and Buzzov*en, and Chelsea Wolfe to emit a darkness that even Las Vegas in the summer won’t be able to hold at bay.
The reunited Slo Burn (vocalist John Garcia’s first project post-Kyuss) will play an exclusive US show at Psycho, and a special highlight performance from psych-jazz legend Mulatu Astatke is open eyes, ears and minds alike as he celebrates a career spanning more than 50 years.
Also added have been long-running mischief-makers Murder City Devils, alt-rock legends Echo and the Bunnymen, progressive thrashers Vhöl (members of YOB and Agalloch), Pelican, Cult of Luna, Psychic TV, and as it did with the landmark 2016 edition, the fest digs deep into the heavy rock underground once again to unearth the best of up-and-coming bands from the States and beyond. Along with the already confirmed riff-crushers Windhand, Blood Ceremony, Slomatics and Domkraft, Elephant Tree (UK) have signed on alongside fellow fest-newcomers Khemmis, Sumac, Gatecreeper, Snail, North, Cult Leader, Hollow Leg, Summoner, Floorian, Wizard Rifle, Merlin and Morne.
Further lineup announcements will follow in the New Year — including headliners — so stay tuned for more from the best and biggest heavy festival the US has ever seen.
Psycho Las Vegas 2017 Confirmed lineup: MURDER CITY DEVILS NEUROSIS MULATU ASTATKE SWANS CARCASS WOLVES IN THE THRONEROOM CRYSTAL FAIRY MAGMA CHELSEA WOLFE SLO BURN CULT OF LUNA ABBATH SUMAC MYRKUR PELICAN WEEDEATER ZEAL & ARDOR SLOMATICS OATHBREAKER VHOL COUGH BLOOD CEREMONY INTER ARMA THE SKULL WINDHAND BUZZOVEN MINSK CODE ORANGE KHEMMIS GATECREEPER NORTH CULT LEADER SNAIL WIZARD RIFLE MERLIN FLOORIAN DOMKRAFT ELEPHANT TREE MORNE HOLLOW LEG SUMMONER
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 18th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
And so it seems Psycho Las Vegas has found its home. What’s very quickly become a major presence in the US festival scene — certainly the biggest heavy underground fest happening in the country — will take place for the second year in 2017 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Since the inception of Psycho Fest as Psycho de Mayo (think “Cinco de Mayo”) in Southern California and certainly through the last two years of Psycho California and this summer’s first Psycho Las Vegas, probably the most glaring name missing from the lineup has been Neurosis. Where’s Neurosis? Every band on the planet but Neurosis. And so on.
Couldn’t be more fitting then that as Psycho Las Vegas 2017 makes its first lineup announcements, not only Neurosis should be found in the batch, but their progenitors and forebears in Swans as well, who should by then be wrapping their tenure or working with a different lineup. Also note the continued commitment to bringing in international acts with Slomatics, Domkraft and Abbath, and the continuing affinity for primo doom that shows itself with Windhand and Blood Ceremony.
Next lineup announcement is in December. I think by the time they’re done, Psycho Las Vegas will have outdone itself again with 2017.
From the ticket page:
Psycho Las Vegas 2017
August 18, 2017 – August 20, 2017 Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Las Vegas
** Full lineup + headliners, VIP passes and additional venue information announced in December. **
If you purchased a ticket today you will have access to the pre-party on Thursday at the Paradise Pool. Due to the capacity limit at the Paradise Pool, the pre-party on Thursday is limited to the first 2500 Psychos who purchase a 3 day pass. In order to relieve confusion, we have created a third tier for tickets. If you purchase a Psycho Special, Tier 1 or Tier 2 ticket, you will have guaranteed access to the pre-party on Thursday.
If you purchase a Tier 3 ticket (these are the same price as Tier 2 and will become available after the Tier 2 tickets are sold out) you will unfortunately not have access to the pre-party on Thursday. Bring your floaties.
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 5th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
I’ve heard Domkraft‘s The End of Electricity, and I’ll tell you three things about it: First, it crushes. The bass tone? You gotta hear it. Groove, lumbering. Riffs, pummeling. All that stuff that means it’s really, really heavy. Second, it opens with its longest track, which in my book gets it immediate points. Third, Magnetic Eye Records has it up for preorder now and for a limited time to coincide with releasing the trailer that you can see for the first time anywhere at the bottom of this post, they’ve also got free shipping on international preorders. So if you’re in Europe or Canada or South America or, you know, anywhere else that’s not the US, no need to be left out of the good times. Because ultimately we’re one big heavy family, no matter what it costs to send a package across a given border.
Seriously though, once you get a load of the aforementioned teaser clip, you might want to place that order, because it seems entirely likely to me that once people have a handle on what Domkraft are doing with The End of Electricity, those records could go and go quickly.
Art, info, links and audio follow, courtesy of Magnetic Eye:
DOMKRAFT – The End of Electricity
Magnetic Eye Records – November 11, 2016
DOMKRAFT, whose name combines the Swedish “DOM” for judgement and “KRAFT” for power, blasts forth towering dirges of annihilating doom, mindbending psychedelia, and hypnotic minimalism.
The seeds for the monolithic Stockholm band were planted in Gothenburg, where bassist/singer Martin Wegeland, guitarist Martin Widholm and drummer Anders Dahlgren met while playing in various musical constellations. Bonding over the likes of Spacemen 3, Monster Magnet, Sleep and Hawkwind, not to mention a fascination with 10-minute/three chord songs, they finally came together after each relocated to Stockholm.
Drawing from the heaviest of their combined influences, the three spent spent years shaping and crafting their sound, resulting in a spacious yet crushing approach. From Loop to Sleep, Sabbath to Neu!, Hawkwind to Neurosis and Swans to Spacemen 3, the DOMKRAFT sound is an unsettling mix of grinding riffs, blistering power, and inexorable motion.
Says Martin Wegeland: “Our songs build from one riff, played LOUD, then we add and lose parts to mold it all into something powerful. Focusing on the dramaturgy of the songs, we also have clear images in mind when writing. Inspiration comes from films like Jake Paltrow’s Young Ones, Stephen Fingleton’s The Survivalist and (of course) The Road Warrior, though we never let any of that interfere with the groove and energy. The results of our songwriting method may differ in shape from one song to the next, but the foundation is always the same – repetition and volume! You’ll eventually get sick of every melody, but grooves are forever.”
This is Domkraft: Martin Widholm – Guitar Martin Wegeland – Bass & Vocals Anders Dahlgren – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 10th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Swedish heavy psych-noise rockers Domkraft have inked a deal to release their debut album on Magnetic Eye Records. The Stockholm-based trio have titled the record The End of Electricity, and while a plan to have it out before the end of the year seems ambitious unless it’s already in production — which it might well be — that’s what’s been set and I’m no one to argue. Their self-titled EP came out last year and can be streamed in full via the Bandcamp player below. One finds commonality immediately with other Magnetic Eye fare in the sense of space in the songs and the heft of groove Domkraft elicit. Interested to hear how the album plays out.
If you think maybe you can dig it, the PR wire offers the following:
MAGNETIC EYE SIGNS SWEDEN’S DOMKRAFT
We are indescribably stoked and honored to announce the newest addition to the MER stable: Sweden’s DOMKRAFT. A bit of background on them:
The seeds for monolithic Stockholm band DOMKRAFT were planted in Gothenburg, where bassist/singer Martin Wegeland and guitarist Martin Widholm met while studying film. They bonded over the likes of Spacemen 3, Monster Magnet, Sleep and Hawkwind, not to mention a fascination with 10-minute/three chord songs). Playing in various musical constellations, together and apart, each eventually moved to Stockholm.
Independently, drummer Anders Dahlgren, who had established his chops playing a form of slow-burning proto-post metal that was perhaps too far ahead of its time, had also moved to Stockholm from Gothenburg. Having once actually shared a rehearsal space in their former home, the three finally came together in Stockholm, and drew from the heaviest of their combined influences to cultivate a spacious yet crushing approach based on cyclical, pounding grooves.
After years spent shaping and crafting their sound, DOMKRAFT at long last released its debut EP in late 2015. Check it out here for a sampling of their unique vibe.
DOMKRAFT, whose name combines the Swedish “DOM” for judgement and “KRAFT” for power, blasts forth towering dirges of annihilating doom, mindbending psychedelia, and hypnotic minimalism.
From Loop to Sleep, Sabbath to Neu!, Hawkwind to Neurosis and Swans to Spacemen 3, the DOMKRAFT sound is an unsettling mix of grinding riffs, blistering power, and inexorable motion. Their forthcoming Magnetic Eye full-length, The End of Electricity, promises to decimate in a way that their debut EP only hinted at. Says Martin Wegeland:
“Our songs build from the same stem; one riff, played LOUD, and then we just try to add and lose parts to mold it all into something powerful. We also focus on the dramaturgy of the song, rather than classic song structures, and have clear images in mind when writing. Inspiration was taken from films like Jake Paltrow’s Young Ones, Stephen Fingleton’s The Survivalist and The Road Warrior. Of course, everyone takes inspiration from films, but we’d never allow that to be at the expense of groove and energy. The results of our songwriting approach may differ in shape from one song to the next, but the foundation is always the same – repetition and volume! You’ll eventually get sick of every melody, but grooves are forever.”
Couldn’t be happier to have DOMKRAFT as part of the Magnetic Eye family. Stay tuned for more on the late 2016 release date for The End of Electricity!
Martin Widholm – Guitar Martin Wegeland – Bass & Vocals Anders Dahlgren – Drums
