Posted in Whathaveyou on December 11th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Dresden-based progressive blues/heavy psych rockers Gavial will release their new album, Thanks, I Hate It, on Jan. 23 through Exile on Mainstream. The band, which has its roots in the moniker Tourette Boys, issued VOR in 2023 as their first outing under the new banner, and they lead into the follow-up with the opening song as the first single in “Control.” The new song gives strong All Them Witches vibes in the vocals, but in its second half, departs toward a different kind of prog-psych fluidity from that bluesier start. Of course, the lesson, keep on your toes or you won’t know where you’ll end up.
Fair enough. The video for “Control” you’ll find below along with the Bandcamp player, and the PR wire brought copious info (the more the merrier) and the preorder links where one might chase the LP down ahead of its arrival next month. It all goes like this:
GAVIAL: German Psychedelic Blues/Post-Rock Band To Release New LP, Thanks, I Hate It, Via Exile On Mainstream January 23rd; “Control” Video Premiered + Preorders Posted
Germany’s GAVIAL has completed work on their new LP, Thanks, I Hate It. The band will release the album through their allies at Exile On Mainstream in January, today unveiling its cover art, preorders, and more, alongside a premiere of the lead single/video, hosted by Everything Is Noise.
Nearly three years have passed since GAVIAL – formerly known as Tourette Boys – released their VOR LP with an updated lineup. Since then, the band – guitarist/vocalist Benjamin Butter, drummer Conrad Brod, bassist Paul Kollascheck, and guitarist Paul-Willy Stoyan – has been operating from the Berlin–Dresden–Leipzig triangle. While most songs on VOR were already written by the time Kollascheck joined the band, the focus afterward shifted: writing together as a four-piece and allowing the bass to become a more active force in shaping the music.
The results of this intense creative period can now be heard on GAVIAL’s new album, Thanks, I Hate It. Here, the band stretches its fingers in many different directions. The opener, “Control,” takes a minimalist approach, concentrating on fusing diverse soundscapes. With “Koru Mindset,” the band ventures into up-tempo territory for the first time, driven by beat and rhythm at its core. In contrast, “Grow” taps into a more classic blues feel, while “Pretender” and “Leviathan” dive into long, sprawling psychedelic jams. The track “Wandern” offers a reinterpretation of an older band song — a piece that further highlights how seamlessly the quartet now works together. The album closes with a cover of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game.”
As with VOR, the new material is deeply shaped by the cultural, social, and political realities of our time. The album title itself captures the band’s pointed response: Thanks, I Hate It. A reaction to a world burning; societies fueled by hate; technologies drifting away from serving humanity; militarism rising once again; human rights ignored or unrealized; institutions riddled with corruption; and individuals claiming the wealth of all for themselves.
Recorded by GAVIAL in their band rehearsal space, Thanks, I Hate It was mixed by the band’s Benjamin Butter – who also created the cover art and videos for the record – and was mastered by Bernard Camillieri at Xekillton Studios, Malta.
With the video for the lead single and opening track, “Control,” Benjamin Butter writes, “The video for ‘Control’ starts in a classic way: the four musicians of the band GAVIAL are playing music in their rehearsal room. The video deliberately avoids a complex story and focuses on the stylistic design. Right at the beginning, the camera’s view is forced through night vision goggles, which from then on determine the stylistic direction with their striking green coloring. The focus shifts from a single perspective to a multitude of perspectives running in parallel, allowing the eye to jump from one focal point to another across the screen. The video thus turns the viewer into a restless observer who seems to be looking through the lenses of various surveillance cameras.
“With the resurgence of militarism in Europe, images documenting the killing on the battlefields of our planet from the perspective of drones have become increasingly common. From a seemingly safe distance, the horrors of war are transmitted almost live to thousands of screens.
“The video increasingly disrupts this aesthetic with visual artifacts. In the last third, ‘the broadcast’ is interrupted by a visually stunning collage that more and more transforms into an eye looking back at the viewer. The observer is now, in a sense, being ‘monitored’ in an allegory for the dwindling autonomy in our increasingly digitized society.
“In the end, ‘the broadcast’ is restored. However, all the people have turned into shadows and ghosts. What happened to the musicians in this iconoclasm remains unclear. The video ends with a sense of uncertainty that is so palpable when we look at our reality now: are you still observing or are you right in the middle of this video?”
The video makes its worldwide premiere via Everything Is Noise, who writes how the song, “…shows the band leaning into a bass driven groove with a steady drum beat, and guitars that flirt with the blues. Guitarist/vocalist Benjamin Butter delivers clear, melodious lyrics as the song progresses that echo my sentiments. ‘Control’ gradually builds in krautrock fashion revealing psych-rock crescendos with guitars swirling into the song’s gnarly climax. Butter also directed the video which shows glimpses of the band playing along with found footage behind night vision greens and blues during the build-up before bursting into a Technicolor visual collage that morphs into an eye watching the viewer back, a fitting and trippy visual accompaniment to ‘Control’ that ends with the band as ghostly shadows.”
Thanks, I Hate It will be released on Exile On Mainstream on black vinyl bundled with a CD and digitally on January 23rd. Physical preorders are live at the label webshop HERE:https://shop.mainstreamrecords.de/product/eom117
Additional previews of the album and news will be posted over the weeks ahead as we head into the new year.
Thanks, I Hate It Track Listing: 1. Control 2. Koru Mindset 3. Pretender 4. Grow 5. Leviathan 6. Wandern 7. Wicked Game (Chris Isaak cover)
GAVIAL has booked two shows with Mriodom and labelmates Gaffa Ghandi to close out the year and is booking a release tour across Germany to take place in May. Additional live news will be posted shortly.
GAVIAL Live: 12/20/2205 Neue Zukunft – Berlin, DE w/ Gaffa Ghandi, Mriodom 12/21/2025 Chemiefabrik – Dresden, DE w/ Gaffa Ghandi, Mriodom
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 24th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Weedpecker and Rotor, exploitation doomers Mephistofeles on their first Euro tour, plus Heavy Psych Sounds label-backed weirdos like Tons, Giöbia, the Orientalist Belgians Wyatt E., Litania and others, yes, the lineups are packed. Set for Oct. 24-25 in Berlin and Dresden and trading most of its bill between the two cities on one night to the next, Heavy Psych Sounds Fest 2025’s two German editions are characteristically killer. It’s kind of astonishing that the Italian imprint can go basically wherever it wants, from San Francisco to Switzerland, and put together righteous nights under the banner.
These are the same weekend Høstsabbat is happening in Oslo, but wherever you happen to be in Europe that weekend (or, you know, not), the appeal here remains strong. Tickets are available now and the PR wire brought the info below that includes those links.
Have at it:
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST Berlin & Dresden reveals final lineup and day splits for upcoming October 24-25th edition!
Stoner, doom and heavy rock festival Heavy Psych Sounds Fest reveals the final lineup and day splits for their Berlin and Dresden edition, taking place on October 24-25th at Urban Spree (Berlin) and Chemiefabrik (Dresden)!
Heavy Psych Sounds Fest is back in Berlin and Dresden to unleash a seismic wave of fuzz, distortion, and mind-bending psychedelia! Curated by European powerhouse label Heavy Psych Sounds Records, this two-day riff extravaganza brings together an unstoppable roster of the best in heavy psych, stoner rock, and doom. Get ready for a weekend of headbanging, transcendental jams, and pure heavy vibes across the iconic Urban Spree and Chemiefabrik venues.
Germany’s cult instrumental psych masters Rotor will weave their hypnotic grooves alongside Poland’s kaleidoscopic sound architects Weedpecker, while Argentinian cult and occult rock conjurers Mephistofeles summon their vintage doom magic. Italy’s retro-futuristic alchemists Giöbia will melt minds alongside oriental drone craftsmen Wyatt E., as Germany’s sludge titans Tons deliver tectonic low-end punishment. The Italian garage-psych insurgents Fvzz Popvli will ignite frenetic energy while the Netherlands’ stoner behemoths Komatsu pummel with primal force. Italy’s transcendental psych blues voyagers Ananda Mida and Hindustan psych-doom poets Litania will guide the congregation through haunting soundscapes, before Krake’s monolithic riff worship brings the ritual to its devastating climax. The amps will be cranked, the fuzz will be thick, so don’t miss this celebration of all things heavy!
By the time today is through — come hell or high water! — we will be at the halfway point of this two-week Quarterly Review. It hasn’t been difficult so far, though there are ups and downs always and I don’t think I’m giving away secrets when I tell you that in listening to 50 records some are going to be better than others.
Truth is that even outside the 100 LPs, EPs, etc., I have slated, there’s still a ton more. Even in something so massive, there’s an element of picking and choosing what goes in. Curation is the nice word for it, though it’s not quite that creatif in my head. Either way, I hope you’ve found something that connects this week. If not yet, then today. If not today, then maybe next week. As I’m prone to say on Fridays, we’re back at it on Monday.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
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Pallbearer, Mind Burns Alive
While I won’t take away from the rawer energy and longing put into their earlier work, maturity suits Pallbearer. The Little Rock, Arkansas, four-piece of vocalist/guitarist Brett Campbell, guitarist/backing vocalist Devin Holt, bassist/synthesist/backing vocalist Joseph D. Rowland and drummer Mark Lierly have passed their 15th anniversary between 2020’s Forgotten Days (review here) and the self-recorded six tracks of Mind Burns Alive, and they sound poised harnessing new breadth and melodic clarity. They’ve talked about the album being stripped down, and maybe that’s true to some degree in the engrossing-anyhow opener “When the Light Fades,” but there’s still room for sax on the 10-minute “Endless Place,” and the quieter stretches of the penultimate “Daybreak” highlight harmonized vocals before the bass-weighted riff sweeps in after the three-minute mark. Campbell has never sounded stronger or more confident as a singer, and he’s able to carry the likewise subdued intro to “Signals” with apparent sincerity and style alike. The title-track flashes brighter hopes in its later guitar solo leads, but they hold both their most wistful drift and their most crushing plod for closer “With Disease,” because five records and countless tours (with more to come) later, Pallbearer very clearly know what the fuck they’re doing. I hope having their own studio leads to further exploration from here.
With its six pieces arranged so that side A works from its longest track to its shortest and side B mirrors by going shortest to longest, Denver‘s BleakHeart seem to prioritize immersion on their second full-length, Silver Pulse, as “All Hearts Desire” unfolds fluidly across nearly eight minutes, swelling to an initial lumbering roll that evaporates as they move into the more spacious verse and build back up around the vocals of Kiki GaNun (also synth) and Kelly Schilling (also bass, keys and more synth). Emotional resonance plays at least as much of a role throughout as the tonal weight intermittently wrought by JP Damron and Mark Chronister‘s guitars, and with Joshua Quinones on drums giving structure and movement to the meditations of “Where I’m Disease” before leaving the subsequent “Let Go” to its progression through piano, drone and a sit-in from a string quartet that leads directly into “Weeping Willow,” the spaces feel big and open but never let the listener get any more lost in them than is intended. This is the first LP from the five-piece incarnation of BleakHeart, which came together in 2022, and the balance of lushness and intensity as “Weeping Willow” hits its culmination and recedes into the subdued outset of “Falling Softly” and the doomed payoff that follows bodes well, but don’t take that as undercutting what’s already being accomplished here.
Austria’s Pryne — also stylized all-caps: PRYNE — threaten to derail their first album before it’s even really started with the angular midsection breakdown of “Can-‘Ka No Rey,” but that the opener holds its course and even brings that mosher riff back at the end is indicative of the boldness with which they bring together the progressive ends of metal and heavy rock throughout the 10-song/46-minute offering, soaring in the solo ahead of the slowdown in “Ramification,” giving the audience 49 seconds to catch its breath after that initial salvo with “Hollow Sea” before “Abordan” resumes the varied onslaught with due punch, shove and twist, building tension in the verse and releasing in the melodic chorus in a way that feels informed by turn-of-the-century metal but seeming to nod at Type O Negative in the first half bridge of “Cymboshia” and refusing flat-out to do any one thing for too long. Plotted and complex even as “The Terrible End of the Yogi” slams out its crescendo before the Baronessy verse of “Plaguebearer” moves toward a stately gang shout and squibbly guitar tremolo, they roll out “Enola” as a more straight-ahead realignment before the drone interlude “Shapeless Forms” bursts into the double-kick-underscored thrash of closer “Elder Things,” riding its massive groove to an expectedly driving end. You never quite know what’s coming next within the songs, but the overarching sense of movement becomes a uniting factor that serves the material well regardless of the aggression level in any given stretch.
Backed by looped percussive ticks and pops and the cello-esque melody of the gudok, Toronto experimental singer-songwriter Avi C. Engel is poised as they ask in the lyrics of “Breadcrumb Dance,” “How many gods used to run this place/Threw up their hands, went into real estate” near the center of the seven-song Too Many Souls LP. Never let it be said there wasn’t room for humor in melancholy. Engel isn’t new to exploring folkish intimacy in various contexts, and Too Many Souls feels all the more personal even in “Wooly Mammoth” or second cut “Ladybird, What’s Wrong?” which gets underway on its casual semi-ramble with the line, “One by one I watch them piss into the sun,” for the grounded perspective at root. An ongoing thread of introspection and Engel‘s voice at the center draw the songs together as these stories are told in metaphor — birds return in the album’s second half with “The Oven Bird’s Song” but there’s enough heart poured in that it doesn’t need to be leaned into as a theme — and before it moves into its dreamstate drone still with the acoustic guitar beneath, “Without Any Eyes” brings through its own kind of apex in Engel‘s layered delivery. Topped with a part-backmasked take on the traditional “Wayfaring Stranger” that’s unfortunately left as an instrumental, Too Many Souls finds Engel continuing their journey of craft with its own songs as companions for each other and the artist behind them.
The 13-minute single “Ultrawest” follows behind Aktopasa‘s late-2022 Argonauta Records debut, Journey to the Pink Planet (review here), and was reportedly composed to feature in a documentary of the same name about the reshaping of post-industrial towns in Colorado. It is duly spacious in its slow, linear, instrumentalist progression. The Venice, Italy, three-piece of guitarist Lorenzo Barutta, bassist Silvio Tozzato and drummer Marco Sebastiano Alessi are fluid as they maintain the spirit of the jam that likely birthed the song’s floating atmospherics, but there’s a plan at work as well as they bring the piece to fruition, with Alessi subtly growing more urgent around 10 minutes in to mark the shift into an ending that never quite bursts out and isn’t trying to, but feels like resolution just the same. A quick, hypnotic showcase of the heavy psychedelic promise the debut held, “Ultrawest” makes it easy to look forward to whatever might come next for them.
Right onto the list of 2024’s best debuts goes Guenna‘s Peak of Jin’Arrah, specifically for the nuance and range the young Swedish foursome bring to their center in heavy progressive fuzz riffing. One might look at a title like “Bongsai” or “Weedwacker” (video premiered here) and imagine played-to-genre stoner fare, but Guenna‘s take is more ambitious, as emphasized in the flute brought to “Bongsai” at the outset and the proclivity toward three-part harmonies that’s unveiled more in the nine-minute “Dimension X,” which follows. The folk influence toward which that flute hints comes forward on the mostly-acoustic closer “Guenna’s Lullaby,” which takes hold after the skronk-accompanied, full-bore push that caps “Wizery,” but by that point the context for such shifts has been smoothly laid out as being part of an encompassing and thoughtful songwriting process that in less capable hands would leave “Ordric Major” disjointed and likely overly aggressive. Even as they make room for the guest lead vocals of Elin Pålsson on “Dark Descent,” Guenna walk these balances smoothly and confidently, and if you don’t believe there’s a generational shift happening right now — at this very moment — in Scandinavia, Peak of Jin’Arrah stands ready to convince you otherwise. There’s a lot of work between here and there, but Guenna hold the potential to be a significant voice in that next-gen emergence.
The interplay of stoner-metal tonal density and languid vocal melody in “I Thought I Would Not” sets an atmospheric mood for Slow Green Thing on their fourth LP, Wetterwarte / Waltherstrasse, which the Dresden-based four-piece seem to have recorded in two sessions between 2020 and 2022. That span of time might account for some of the scope between the songs as “Thousand Deaths” holds out a hand into the void staring back at it and the subsequent “Whispering Voices” answers the proggy wash and fuzzed soloing of “Tombstones in My Eyes” with roll and meditative float alike, but I honestly don’t know what was recorded when and there’s no real lack of cohesion within the aural mists being conjured or the heft residing within it, so take that as you will. It’s perhaps less of a challenge to put temporal considerations aside since Slow Green Thing seem so at home in the flow that plays out across Wetterwarte / Waltherstrasse‘s six songs and 44 minutes, remaining in control despite veering into more aggressive passages and basing so much of what they do on entrancing and otherworldly vibe. And while the general superficialities of thickened tones and soundscaping, ‘gaze-type singing and nod will be familiar, the use made of them by Slow Green Thing offers a richer and deeper experience revealed and affirmed on repeat listens.
Don’t expect a lot of trickery in Ten Ton Slug‘s awaited first full-length record, Colossal Oppressor, which delivers its metallic sludge pummel with due transparency of purpose. That is to say, the Galway, Ireland, trio aren’t fucking around. Enough so that Bolt Thrower‘s Karl Willetts shows up on a couple of songs. Varied but largely growled or screamed vocals answer the furious chug and thud of “Balor,” and while “Ghosts of the Ooze” later on answers back to the brief acoustic parts bookending opener “The Ooze” ahead of “Mallacht an tSloda” arriving like a sledgehammer only to unfold its darkened thrash and nine-plus-minute closer “Mogore the Unkind” making good on its initial threat with the mosh-ready riffing in its second half, there’s no pretense in those or any of the other turns Colossal Oppressor makes, and there doesn’t need to be when the songs are so refreshingly crushing. These guys have been around for over a decade already, so it’s not a surprise necessarily to find them so committed to this punishing mission, but the cathartic bloodletting resonates regardless. Not for everyone, very much for some on the more extreme end of heavy.
Don’t let the outward Beatles-bouncing pop-psych friendly-acid traditionalism of “Goodbye Suzy” lull you into thinking San Francisco psych rockers Magic Fig‘s self-titled debut is solely concerned with vintage aesthetics. While accessible even in the organ-and-synth prog flourish of “PS1” — the keyboards alone seeming to span generations — and the more foreboding current of low end under the shuffle and soft vocals of “Obliteration,” the six-song/28-minute LP is no less effective in the rising cosmic expanse that builds into “Labyrinth” than the circa-’67 orange-sun lysergic folk-rock that rolls out from there — that darker edge comes back around, briefly, in a stop around the two-minute mark; it’s hard to know which side is imagining the other, but “Labyrinth” is no less fun for that — and “Distant Dream,” which follows, is duly transcendent and fluid. Given additional character via the Mellotron and birdsong-inclusive meditation that ends it and the album as a whole, “Departure” nonetheless feels intentional in its subtly synthy acoustic-and-voice folkish strum, and its intricacy highlights a reach one hopes Magic Fig will continue to nurture.
If you followed along with Dortmund, Germany’s Scorched Oak on their 2020 debut, Withering Earth (review here), as that album dug into classic heavy rock as a means of longer-form explorations, some of what they present in the 39 minutes of Perception might make more sense. There was plenty of dynamic then too in terms of shifts in rhythm and atmosphere, and certainly second-LP pieces like “Mirrors” and “Relief” come at least in part from a similar foundation — I’d say the same of the crescendo verse of “Oracle” near the finish — but the reportedly-recorded-live newer offering finds the band making a striking delve into harder and more metallic impacts on the whole. An interplay of gruff — gurgling, almost — and soulful melodic vocals is laid out as opener/longest track (immediate points) “Delusion” resolves the brooding toms of its verse with post-metal surges. Perhaps it’s obvious enough that it doesn’t need to be said, but Scorched Oak aren’t residing in a single feel or progression throughout, and the intensity and urgency of “Reflection” land with a directness that the closing “Oracle” complements in its outward spread. The element of surprise makes Perception feel somewhat like a second debut, but that they pull off such an impression is in itself a noteworthy achievement, never mind how much less predictable it makes them or the significant magnitude of these songs.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 6th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
There’s precious little you can trust in life and I know, I know, I know I’ve said this at least several times in the past, but you can trust the taste of Exile on Mainstream‘s Andreas Kohl when it comes to finding and issuing interesting, innovative and — perhaps most importantly — actually good music. I’m not saying the label and I are always 100 percent on the same page, but in all honesty, even stuff that I’m not super-all-over, I’ve never checked out an Exile on Mainstream release and regretted it. I hold the imprint to a pretty high, almost unrealistic, standard and have for a long time now. That standard has never not been met.
Gavial — and kudos to the band on changing their name from the former Tourette Boys — will release their debut-under-the-moniker VOR through Exile on Mainstream on May 19, and that’s all I need to know to get on board. Nonetheless, I’d be a prick if I didn’t actually include the PR wire info here, you know, for good measure, so here it is:
GAVIAL: German Blues/Psychedelic Rock Quartet Formerly Known As Tourette Boys To Release VOR LP Through Exile On Mainstream In May
Exile On Mainstream excitedly welcomes German quartet GAVIAL to the label, and is preparing to release the band’s new LP, VOR.
The story of GAVIAL began nearly fifteen years ago as a project adapted from a Nirvana song and pun as “Two Red Boys.” Having released three albums as Tourette Boys, two collaborations with UK-based blues musician Tim Holehouse, and a split EP with labelmates Gaffa Ghandi, the band played countless gigs and tours with bands like Acid Mothers Temple, Dyse, Gaffa Ghandi, The Skull, True Widow and Sleepy Sun. This musical project is based on friendship even though the musicians live in different cities. The vast and untouched landscapes between Berlin and Dresden may have contributed to the inspiration for the sound of the band, which repeatedly tries to ground Psychedelic abstraction in modern blues. The result is more reminiscent of the desert rock that we know from the vastness of Arizona than the urban hustle and bustle in big cities. Shimmering soundscapes, partly dark and melancholic, then again full of hope and glaring light filled with the comforting, but nonetheless ominous heat of the desert – GAVIAL remains true masters of that.
It’s 2023, and it’s time for a turning point… on multiple levels. With VOR, the band’s fourth album is for the first time distributed on a label, uniting with their friends at Exile On Mainstream. For the recordings in 2022 the band grew from a trio to a quartet, and with that move comes the name change that was long overdue, which the band explains by stating, “In the last few years, we frequently discussed our music, videos, and name and tried to reflect on our decisions during that time. Concerning the name of the band, we have come to the decision that it is no longer appropriate to continue using it. Affected people deserve respect and we think that this band name shows a lack thereof. For that, we want to apologize.”
VOR is once again characterized by the search for a contemporary expression of the blues without questioning its authenticity. GAVIAL weaves musical inspiration from ambient, soul, gospel, and country into different threads from a carpet of sound that simply ignores the sharp cliffs of redundant categories such as retro or stoner. The music doesn’t need name dropping, but if you still want to make room in your thematically sorted record shelf, you’re welcome to make some room in the compartments in which you put your Screaming Trees, Flying Eyes, Black Crowes, or Woodcocks, so that GAVIAL can find space in them. Sorted alphabetically, VOR also cuts a fine figure between Gaffa Ghandi, Geraldine Fibbers, and Giant Sand.
Lyrically, GAVIAL is cautiously concrete, exploring the ambivalent depths of the soul where there are more questions than answers. Singer Benjamin Butter intones lyrical sketches of emotional states between melancholy, quiet anger, and hope, reminiscent of Charles Baudelaire, and turns the voice into another instrument. The interplay with driving bass lines and Americana-esque guitars results in music as it should be: melodic but not profane, accessible but with a fragile base.
VOR was recorded in the band’s rehearsal room and mixed by Benjamin Butter and Bernard Camilleri, who has become their go-to sound engineer. Bernard Camilleri did the mastering at his Xekillton Studio in Malta. The artwork is from the Flowers Of Terrible series by Berlin-based artist Hamid Yaraghchi.
Exile On Mainstream will release GAVIAL’s VOR May 19th on Black Vinyl LP and digitally, and a limited CD version will be made available at the band’s concerts.
Posted in Questionnaire on August 30th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
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: Friedo aka Sven Müller of Dead Myrick and ElbSludgeBooking
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I am a drummer with Dead Myrick and a promoter with ElbSludgeBooking in Dresden.
I liked rock music since I was a kid and always had a talent for drumming. So I started playing drums and joined a band afterwards. My later habits made me really dive into Kyuss and Fu Manchu and the whole Stoner Rock thing which to this day is a HUGE part of my life. The promoter thing on the other hand was sheer coincidence. A friend got asked by Gabriele Fiori of HPS records if he could set up a show in Dresden for Ape machine. I joined this operation and from that we just kept going.
Describe your first musical memory.
Drumming with two sticks on a pillow to “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” by the Rolling Stones.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Impossible to answer. I go to concerts since the mid-90s and I had almost biblical revelations on several occasions. Off the top of my head I’d say one of the first was Neil Young & Crazy Horse playing “Like a hurricane” in Leipzig in 1996. My first real rock show was Green Jelly in 1993 though which was also hysterical! The last one was last weekend when I played on the same night on 2 festivals that were 150 km apart.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I can’t think of any real beliefs I hold. All I know is that every rule has an exception so I am always prepared to see that something I expect is not going to happen. Wait… is that a belief?
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
To excitement and then short-lived satisfaction. Then you carry on to feel it again.
How do you define success?
The word alone makes me feel uncomfortable. It is connected to money in my brain and I detest that. But I guess success just means to achieve something you wanted and had to invest some time to achieve it. One of those things to me is preparing a dough for pizza and later have this crunchy, but not dry pizza. To me that’s success and a bit of magic which makes me very happy. (no joke)
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Peter Griffin making Stewie suck on his boob. And seeing Gunter Gabriel, a formerly well-known singer, change his clothes in his tiny car so I could see his white ass in white underpants through the window.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I want to rent a place that can hold rehearsal rooms, an office, a screenprint area and a small area for setting up small gigs and parties. Like a community centre that is all about hanging with the right people and work there.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Being exposed to something that makes you forget that you are surrounded by evil monkeys.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
My son starting school and me quitting my Covid-induced, regular job to be a stage-tech again. F*ck office life!
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 9th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
In a manner not dissimilar from how its California fests took largely the same expansive lineup from San Francisco to Los Angeles and Los Angeles to San Francisco, Heavy Psych Sounds is bringing a circus to Berlin and Dresden on Oct. 21 and 22. In association with Greyzone and ElbSludgeBooking, the label has assembled a lineup that includes HPS bands and others like 1000mods and Gozu, and that sense of community outreach isn’t to be understated. The synergy between booking and releasing is a big part of what has allowed Heavy Psych Sounds to become the underground nexus it is, able to do more for bands than many other outlets. The festivals in cities across Europe and now in the US as well are another extension of that.
That’s not really an insight as to the lineup here or the label’s ethic or taste — also choice — but the fact is this is Heavy Psych Sounds doing what it does. More power to them, and so on.
From the PR wire:
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST BERLIN & DRESDEN full lineup announcement
Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking will smash Berlin and Dresden with their highly acclaimed mini festival-series, the HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST!
In cooperation with Greyzone Concerts and ElbSludgeBooking, Heavy Psych Sounds has revealed the full lineup for the upcoming HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST BERLIN & DRESDEN !!!
The HPS Fest Berlin & Dresden will be taking place 21st and 22nd of October, 2022 at the Festsaal Kreuzberg and Urban Spree in Berlin and Chemiefabrik in Dresden !!!
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST – BERLIN & DRESDEN @ Festsaal Kreuzberg / Urban Spree, Berlin @ Chemiefabrik, Dresden October 21st and 22nd 2022
feat. 1000 MODS NICK OLIVERI BELZEBONG BLACK RAINBOWS ACID MAMMOTH THE LORDS OF ALTAMONT HIGH REEPER SLEEPWULF TONS HIPPIE DEATH CULT GOZU OREYEON WEDGE MOTHER ENGINE
BERLIN TICKETS PRESALE: https://www.greyzone-tickets.de/produkte/602
BERLIN FB OFFICIAL EVENT: https://www.facebook.com/events/1358860387859773/
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 10th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Still weeks away from hosting its two nights in Los Angeles and San Francisco, Heavy Psych Sounds has unveiled a similar strategy to take place this Fall in Berlin and Dresden. Set for Oct. 21-22, these Heavy Psych Sounds Fest 2022 editions are just beginning to take shape with this first announcement, as roughly a third of the acts and a headliner are still to be revealed, but there’s already stuff to note here. To wit, it’s Nick Oliveri touring and not Mondo Generator or Stöner. Will he play acoustic or have a full band behind him?
Also, the inclusion of High Reeper here makes me wonder if that Philly outfit won’t have a new record out by the time they go. Maybe September to get ahead of the busy Fall season? Pure speculation. After 2016’s High Reeper (review here) and 2019’s Higher Reeper, could this be the year of the highest of all reepers? Stay tuned to find out.
Whoever else ends up being included and whatever the answers to the above questions, one can continue to see Heavy Psych Sounds branching out across Europe and beyond as the foremost purveyor of underground heavy in the world. Ain’t nobody else out there putting out NebulaandOreyeon, Dozer reissues and Witchpit. Label owns one of the most crucial moments in the history of heavy music. It is astounding.
From the PR wire:
*** HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST BERLIN & DRESDEN ***
first bands announcement
Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking will smash Berlin and Dresden with their highly acclaimed mini festival-series, the HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST! In cooperation with Greyzone Concerts and ElbSludgeBooking, today Heavy Psych Sounds has revealed the first bands for the upcoming HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST BERLIN & DRESDEN !!!
The HPS Fest Berlin & Dresden will be taking place 21st and 22nd of October, 2022 at the Festsaal Kreuzberg and Urban Spree in Berlin and Chemiefabrik in Dresden !!!
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST – BERLIN & DRESDEN @ Festsaal Kreuzberg / Urban Spree, Berlin @ Chemiefabrik, Dresden October 21st and 22nd 2022
feat. BELZEBONG NICK OLIVERI THE LORDS OF ALTAMONT HIGH REEPER SLEEPWULF + more TBA
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 12th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
That’s a hell of a lineup for a birthday party. As you no doubt figured, GockelScream #3 is the third edition of the festival, which is based somewhere — no, I don’t know where — near Dresden in Germany and has an international pull enough to get Heavy Psych Sounds denizens like Duel and Geezer on board during their European tours, as well as to supplement with acts like Cities of Mars, Acid Rooster, Bantoriak, Poland’s Black Smoke and so on. It’s a two-dayer, so let’s assume that the birthday presumably for somebody, perhaps even Gockel, from ElbSludgeBooking will be duly celebrated. In screaming fashion.
If you’re in the region and able to attend, it’s a private festival (then why the press?), so you need to reach out to ElbSludge and ask them where to go, when, how much it costs, and so on. In my mind, that only makes this cooler. A rager with some good friends in the who-knows-where, righteous tunes, laid-back hangs, yeah. That’s about my speed.
Here’s the details that are public:
“In 2022 the notorious booking crew ElbSludgeBooking from Dresden/East-Germany will host the 3rd edition of its Stoner Rock festival „GockelScream“. What started as an excessive birthday party evolved into a proper fest with a special selection of international bands from Stoner to Doom, from Sludge to Krautian Psychedelia. This year will feature illustrious musical presentations by touring bands as Geezer, Duel and Cities of Mars and one-off shows by RRRAGS, Speck and Black Smoke. The whole line-up is of highest caliber, accompanied by a psychedelic light crew, massive PA, good food and German Punkerbier at a very special location, just 30 minutes east of downtown Dresden. If you dig the Stoner scene in its pure and cozy DIY-form this one’s for you. “.
Full line-up:
GEEZER (US) DUEL (US) RRRAGS (NL) CITIES OF MARS (SWE) ACID ROOSTER (GER) CANNABINEROS (GER) BANTORIAK (IT) SPECK (AUT) ANDROMEDA SPACE RITUAL (POL) BLACK SMOKE (POL) KOMBYNAT ROBOTRON (GER) ALLIGATOR RODEO (GER) ACACIA & MAGNOLIA (GER)
All the details like admission fee and the exact location are only available after writing to gockelscream@elbsludge.de.
