Dutch now-trio Komatsu are set to issue their fifth full-length, A Breakfast for Champions, on April 11 through Heavy Psych Sounds. Starting with the rush of its title-track, shimmering bright, heavy in the undertone and with a fervent sweep, it’s not a record that gives you a lot of options. You can go with it or be bowled over. “A Breakfast for Champions” revels in dynamic and tonal weight, bringing the ’90s post-hardcore script of its cover art to bear in a sound that is nonetheless charged in its delivery, malleable and progressive in construction, able to call to mind Floor as the Eindhoven three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Mo Truijens, bassist/backing vocalist and hold-my-beer-it’s-time-for-a-quick-solo-in-the-opener drummer Jos Roosen, who pushes the crescendo in the leadoff with a foreshadow of crash, unfurl an increasingly complex procession.
The course is set, and across eight songs and 37 minutes, A Breakfast for Champions goes on to earn whatever ‘hearty meal’ pun you want to throw at it, each song offering something to help paint a more intricate, interesting, and heavier portrait of the band as they are today. “Savage” and the bluesier “The Devil’s Cut” somehow grow spacier one into the next, which sets up the crushing return of “Release the Flies,” the presumed side A finale premiering below which offsets its chorus density of march with spacious verses and a low-key stoner-meander jam past the midpoint. A bit of storytelling as they build back and the roll resumes, surely disrupting local traffic with its sheer largesse.
“Release the Flies” caps with an immersive crescendo and, on the album, gives over to the side B starter “Fatcamp Workout” — just in case you were wondering, still okay to casually hate fat people — with a somewhat mathier turn still mirroring the title-track in its intensity. “What Lies Underneath” and “Welcome to the Underworld” would seem to have some connection with all the ‘under’-ing between the two of them, but if there’s a thematic line to draw, it accompanies a starker turn in sound from the broader melody and nod of the former to the latter’s rougher vocal and uptick in chugging tension. The momentum of that shift carries into the finale “Climb the Vines,” with some influence from the Elderian school of heavyprog with its own persona and departure into wash, and they end with residual cosmic resonance on a fade.
Was it a dream? Was it breakfast? Could be a bit of both, I guess. The varied approach Komatsu take on their fifth full-length demonstrates an ongoing progression of sound and songwriting, showing them as mature but still exploring as the band mark their 15th anniversary this year. Continuing to record with Pieter Kloos and Peter van Elderen and apparently robust pre- and post-production processes have resulted in an album that’s been shaped to seem familiar while offering its own perspective on occasionally crushing craft.
Don’t expect “Release the Flies” to stand-in for the whole record — it has its ebbs and flows, sure — but it’s got a big ol’ riff that it’s about to lower down upon your until-now unsuspecting person, and if it’s your first impression of A Breakfast for Champions, it’s a hell of one for the album to make.
PR wire info follows. Please enjoy:
Komatsu, “Release the Flies” track premiere
Komatsu’s 5th album is no fluffy pancake! 8 heavy, filling and delicious tracks will blow your mind and boost your immune system. Now as a three-piece band, their sound has opened up to show new layers of fuzz, rhythm and groove. Lyrics range from deep topics like the universe, rebirth and dystopia to fatcamps and female parts. Komatsu is proud to add some extra grease, grit and crunch to your morning oatmeal so you can face anything the world throws at you!
1. A Breakfast for Champions 2. Savage 3. The Devil’s Cut 4. Release the Flies 5. Fatcamp Workout 6. What Lies Underneath 7. Welcome to the Underworld 8. Climb the Vines
Credits All songs written by Mo Truijens. Publishing: NFL/BMG Rights Management (Benelux) B.V. “What Lies Underneath” lyrics by Mo Truijens and Ronny Dijksterhuis. “Devil‘s Cut” lyrics by Mo Truijens and Mathijs Bodt. “Welcome To the Underworld” music by Mo Truijens and Mathijs Bodt.
All music recorded at Tarwesound by Pieter Kloos. Vocals recorded at Bootleg Recordings by Peter van Elderen. Mixed and mastered at The Void Studio by Pieter Kloos. Pre-production by Komatsu and Peter van Elderen. Post-production by Komatsu and Pieter Kloos. Artwork and design by Lotte Voorhoeve. Photography by Tessa-Viola Kloep.
Komatsu: Mo Truijens – Guitars / Vocals Martijn Mansvelders – Bass / Backing Vocals Jos Roosen – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 20th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Heads up on a sick bill, though don’t take that to mean I’m claiming to break any news here, as Into the Void posted this lineup announcement for 2025 last week. I’m just always beihnd. In any case, it’s rad. It’s awesome to see Dutch-native bands like DOOL and Temple Fang ascending to headliner positions, most especially because it’s earned by the music/performance, and The Vintage Caravan are always, always, always a good time. Killer top three. In light of Molassesss announcing their ending, to see the Farida Lemouchi-fronted Gott taking part here would seem to signal a renewed focus on that project following their 2022 EP, To Hell to Zion. Curious of course what might be in the works there to be revealed hopefully by September. Hell a new record’s out and I probably missed it, for all I know. I’m doing my best folks. I never said I was good at this.
Cheers and happy travels to Sons of Arrakis, who’ll apparently be making their debut on the Europpean circuit this Fall. I saw them a couple weeks ago and they were great and are at a stage in their progression where every moment they can spend performing will help them grow. These plus Earthship, MR.BISON, Lowen, Haunted, Ggu:ll, Motorowl, Psychonaut, Hippotraktor and An Evening With Knives makes for one hell of a 14-band all-dayer.
From socials:
On September 27, Neushoorn will once again open the gates for Into The Void, where heavy riffs and dark spheres meet. This year, fourteen bands are set to take the audience on a journey through the universe of Doom, Stoner and Sludge.
🔸 DOOL returns to Leeuwarden after a sold out club tour. With their melancholic, layered sound and immersive performances, they manage to leave a deep impression time and time again.
🔸 The Vintage Caravan brings their signature mix of classic rock and heavy psych back to Into The Void. The energy of this Icelandic band always causes a party.
🔸 Temple Fang presents new work. Known for their hypnotizing compositions, the band will take you on an intense musical trip.
🔸 Psychonaut and Hippotraktor prove that Belgium is a breeding ground for heavy, progressive music. Both bands combine powerful riffs with deep dynamics and atmospheric elements.
🔸 Gott the reincarnation of The Devil’s Blood, mixing occult rock and intense, bewitching melodies.
🔸 Lowen a name to watch out for, hails from the UK and brings a combination of doom and atmospheric sounds.
In addition, HAUNTED , An Evening With Knives , Ggu:ll, Sons of Arrakis, Earth Ship, Mr. Bison and Motorowl complete the lineup.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 28th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Having pared down to a trio following the departure of guitarist Mathijs Bodt, Eindhoven-based heavy rockers Komatsu are giving big Torche vibes on their new single “A Breakfast for Champions,” which is both the leadoff and the title-track of their impending album, out April 11 on Heavy Psych Sounds. The returning three-piece were last heard from with 2021’s Rose of Jericho, which was their first outing for their current label, and A Breakfast for Champions — not to be confused with Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions, which is arguably my favorite novel — shows itself off with a big melody and brash, tumultuous groove. They’re a new band in my head, but they’ve been around since 2010, so that they would so capably wield their sound should come as no surprise.
April seems to be when the Spring release schedule is focused right now. We’ll see May and June announcements soon enough, but Heavy Psych Sounds also has Conan out in April and it’s always a busy tour time, so in the next week or two it’ll be interesting to see what else comes down the PR wire. In the meantime, this is well worth giving ear:
Dutch stoner rockers KOMATSU share debut single off new album “A Breakfast For Champions”; out April 11th on Heavy Psych Sounds.
Dutch stoner and sludge rockers KOMATSU announce the release of their fifth studio album “A Breakfast For Champions” on April 11th via Heavy Psych Sounds, and present the title track!
🚀 Reach supersonic levels with new single “A Breakfast For Champions” 🚀
“A Breakfast For Champions” is the follow-up to Komatsu’s 2021 record “Rose of Jericho”, and their first outing as a three-piece. As expected with the Eindhoven trio, skulls get crushed by this sonic sledgehammer, but this new album also showcases a more sensitive facet from these bearded gentlemen. To cut it short, becoming a trio hasn’t taken anything away from the band’s pulverizing grit and adds some extra chemistry and breathing space that takes their sound to higher levels — something that might seem impossible, but sure as hell ain’t. So strap in and brace yourself for another assault of monstrous grooves, a hefty meal served with lots of bravado to start a new day — the day when Komatsu confirmed their reputation as one of the heaviest and coolest bands in the stoner/sludge crossover scene. And once you’ve caught every blow, straightened every twist and managed to hit every turn, you realize you’ve just been served a breakfast for champions.
TRACKLIST: 1. A Breakfast for Champions 2. Savage 3. The Devil’s Cut 4. Release the Flies 5. Fatcamp Workout 6. What Lies Underneath 7. Welcome to the Underworld 8. Climb the Vines
KOMATSU is Mo Truijens – guitar, vocals Martijn Mansvelders – bass, backing vocals Jos Roosen – drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 20th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The Fall incarnation of Into the Void, held in Leeuwarden, took place on Sept. 30 with Alabama Thunderpussy, Howling Giant and scores of others, and that had been announced in April, so there’s a fitting symmetry to unveiling the initial lineup for Spring 2024 even as the autumnal festival season in Europe continues to play out. Look for Truckfighters, Mars Red Sky, Skraeckoedlan, Black Rainbows, Endonomos and Acid Mammoth to be out and about in Winter 2024, as the Dutch fest will be early on the circuit and probably a launch point for tours, and with Netherlands natives like Ter Ziele, Rrrags and Onhou, the regional underground is supported as well. Feb. 24 is the date and there are reportedly three more acts to add.
No, I don’t know who they are, but you might have fun trying to guess based on who has records out now and in the early going of 2024. No shortage of names on that list. But you’ll notice that Endonomos from Austria and Onhou aren’t included in the text of the announcement but are on the artwork, so don’t ask me who’s gonna play when. February is four months out. I’m sure by the time the fest happens it’ll be sorted. Everybody calm down in the meantime.
Lots to dig here, so get diggin’:
After a successful first edition of Into the Void in Rockcity Eindhoven, of course, a second edition can’t be missed. (#128640#) On February 24, 2024, the Effenaar will be submerged once again in a swamp of stoner, sludge and doom.
In this edition we welcome the following bands: BLACK RAINBOWS, Truckfighters, ️ Mars Red Sky,️ Acid Mammoth, SKRAECKOEDLAN, TER ZIELE and RRRags. The final 3 bands including the headliner will be announced soon.
Eindhoven-based dark heavy experimentalist outfit Soothsayer Orchestra release their new album, The Last Black Flower, this Saturday, Feb. 4, through Lay Bare Recordings. At the behest of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Pieter Hendriks, the album pulls together a sometimes-lush, sometimes-minimal, broadly-scoped approach to songwriting and arrangement, reminiscent on album opener “Celestial Virtues” of goth rock but by no means limited to that as it flirts with elements of dudely-swinging blues und drang on “The Bonediggers Blues” — one doesn’t know if the band or Lay Bare have considered alternate revenue streams, but there has to be a tv show Western or video game they could license it to — all foreboding in its later electric guitar ringouts. Neither of the first two cuts its really a tell for what’s to come, but the opener is also the longest of the 11 inclusions (immediate points) across the 41-minute release, which follow’s the band’s 2021 self-titled debut, and the Mark Lanegan-style vocal style Hendriks uses there suits the attention to detail that creates both the wash at the end of that track and the build that takes place across the next.
From there, Hendriks guides the listener skillfully through the meat of the record. “Galaxy Gazing for Supernovas” is ambient and seems to have fading sirens in the background that put one in mind of covid ambulances going by in a tense late Spring three years ago as the piano at the forefront and lyrics look outward with poetic and a purposeful sense of being half a song — it’s the shortest cut at 2:46; more than an interlude, but a definite pull away from the first two tracks — with a windy transition to “Kissed a Tyrant,” which brings an Ableton-style industrial march to a particularly Ulverian vocal melody, recalling that band’s “Shadows of the Sun” as it leaves space open in a mix that sounds like it was duly fretted-over only to fill it with layers of guitar and synth, ending up in a post-doom anti-genre moodiness that should appeal to fans of Crippled Black Phoenix but in reality is no more actually that than it is Ulver. The songs function deceptively quick thanks to an efficiency in creating an atmosphere, each one having a crux and persona of its own as it adds to the whole. Acoustic guitar at the outset of “The Gleaming of Beryl” contrasts against the beats of “Kissed a Tyrant,” and echo-stretch vocals atop Hendriks‘ (and someone else’s) gritty voice reminds of Steve Von Till‘s more recent solo work, but is on its own path, with strings and a closing sense of drift that carries into a soft breath of drone before fading to silence.
That puts “Black Dust” as the centerpiece of The Last Black Flower, building on the electronic vibe of “Kissed a Tyrant” with buried-under-rubble beats behind Hendriks‘ voice and various other ambient sounds surrounding in a not-empty-but-guitarless stretch that shifts into slow industrial doom, a few admirably sludgy screams arriving near the end not so much as a payoff as what you’ve found in this specific horror mine. Is that as far in as the record goes? Not a chance. “Everlasting Wings” brings back the acoustic guitar and a kind of muttered spoken word before the old-soul, rough-throat croon, piano and twanging rhythm mirrors the feel of “The Bonediggers Blues” back on side A while holding to an organic version of the march of “Black Dust” prior.
The work of artist Alexander Von Wieding in the swampy Larman Clamor comes to mind, but Soothsayer Orchestra is by and large slower, more willfully patient and atmospheric, starting from a different foundation in what used to be called neofolk but has morphed with time into ‘folk noir,’ and fair enough; can’t be ‘neo’ forever. In any case, to the credit of “Everlasting Wings,” it folds in some bassy wub-wubs for a suitably dystopian-future wreckage of an ending, and the bright electric guitar strum that starts the sub-three-minute “Destroy Humanity” is a pointed contradiction, snapping the listener back from the hypnosis that Hendriks (and company?) has cast, with an easy swing and horn-ish sounds like Peter Gabriel gone grim and later twists as the track melts and a giant bee seems to buzz it closed. Anybody remember pollinators? Those were the days.
“The Shadow,” which follows, is the first song over four minutes since “Kissed a Tyrant” at least a handful of lives ago, and brings arrangements of lush electric guitar, a meditative rhythm and layers of vocals arranged almost geometrically before breaking to sitar in its second half — something the groove prefaced earlier — and making its way into a plotted psychedelic flow around the chorus as the vocals return and give over to electronic noise before a more singer-songwriter spirit takes hold in “Black Tar and Silver,” not at all minimalist in reality, but subtle, with echoing lines of keys, backing vocals at its peak and guitar in there somewhere, but seemingly able to drop it all and rely just on the vocals and guitar at its core.
Structurally, it’s a song Hendriks could do anything with, and as the penultimate piece before the five-minute finale “November Moon,” with its memorable repetitions of the title and resumption of some of the march of prior cuts, its contemplative feel is well placed. The acoustic guitar holds over to the closer, and stays at the song’s foundation even as the vocals move into whispers and a bluesy line of electric guitar emerges, soon enough to howl at the moon in the song’s title, a more resolved crash of drums alongside in what’s clearly the big finish for The Last Black Flower as a whole, but stays somewhat understated in keeping with the spirit of the collection it wraps. Both of the last two songs represent the most recently recorded Soothsayer Orchestra material, exclusive to the digital edition of the record.
Throughout this second offering from Soothsayer Orchestra, the most prominent abiding element, apart perhaps from Hendriks‘ vocals, which provide an appreciated human aspect, is the obvious care that’s been put into crafting and arranging this material no matter how an individual song manifests it. As an auteur, Hendriks (also a former drummer of the more metalcore-minded Born From Pain) is able to create a sense of scope and rough-edged grace, creating momentum from one song to the next like an underwater current by which the individual immersed doesn’t even realize they’re being moved. That image, being drawn away from shore, is perhaps antithetical to some of the bleak plains-sprawl throughout — grey-sky overhead, vast and mostly barren sepia-toned lands below, a place where people used to be before nature took the land back; grass grown over the road — but maybe that’s what happens when an album creates an entire world instead of part of one. So much the better.
The Last Black Flower is streaming in its entirety below, followed by more info on the album from the PR wire.
Please enjoy:
Soothsayer Orchestra, The Last Black Flower album premiere
Pieter Hendricks on The Last Black Flower:
This album is musically a journey with heavy industrial fueled riffing and electronic vibes flowing into small fragile songs and darkblues rocking roadtrip horizon gazers. It is truelly a trip through the brain, as if reading a diary written by a person digging through the deepest vaults of their soul losing himself but also rediscovering themselves and griefing the loss of love and scared of losing control. A moodswing that paints the times we are living in perfectly. A very deep and personal record that people can relate to and find a piece of themselves in, hope and destruction mix with love and death. This is a record that had to be made to stay sane and build a bridge crawling out of darkness longing for light.
The Last Black Flower the new album from Soothsayer Orchestra, the one-man project of Dutch experimentalist Pieter Hendriks, out today via Lay Bare Recordings.
Pieter is a musical solitudinarian who has enough gumption to leave the commonplace behind and only take with him what can enrich his music and performance. There is a certain weight of tragedy in his music. Pieters gravelly voice possesses an uneasy moodiness that reflects doom and despair, which immerses you in the dark side of life. Then, amidst this darkness Hendriks shifts his compositions to newfound hope, warm and flowing, creating a longing, yet bold mood.
In his brand-new studio, fittingly named The Dungeon, Hendriks crawled back into writing mode for new album The Last Black Flower and explored new territory, always looking for new influences. Elements of electronic industrial music and psychedelic vintage rock blend with the dark bluesy foundation on which Soothsayer Orchestra is firmly built. Lyrically and conceptually this album can be seen as a documentation of self-reflection that Hendriks went through during the often hopeless and haunting years of the pandemic. What came out of this is a beautiful and very honest album that lays bare one’s soul and takes the listener on a musically dynamic journey through Hendriks his mind.
Posted in audiObelisk on April 30th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Today marks the release of Severant‘s first two-songer EP, Closure, through Lay Bare Recordings. Based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, the four-piece posted up the 12-minute “Sunyata” late in 2019 and seem to have taken the bulk of 2020 to get themselves together — not much else to do, really — ahead of making this debut. Their sound brims with moody psychedelia, warm in tone, but earning the grayscale of their press photo above with a kind of overarching downer feel, brought to bear with a balance between clarity and natural tone by the esteemed Pieter Kloos, who produced at The Void Studio. Both “Soulsplit” (6:42) and the subsequent “Candles” (10:52) are exploratory and patient without being overly self-indulgent, the former making its resonance felt early in hypnotic guitar even as the second cut, which is ultimately the “jammier” of the two, gallops out of the gate.
Melody is key to each piece of the 17-minute sampler Severant are giving of their approach, but they’re not without rhythmic weight either. “Sousplit” works its way fluidly into a swinging second half with the drums pushing a classic-feeling drive forward as a bed for the two guitars working in plotted and winding leads — a nod that’s fun to follow with the stops along the way accessible and building to a depth of fuzz that’s not quite over the nostrils but far enough for one to get the idea of the rampant immersion the band might undertake on a subsequent full-length. Following the thrust at the beginning of “Candles,” the proceedings drop to a distinctly Floydian drift, the vocals inhabiting the space willfully created by more subdued instrumentation. The sway as they move toward the midsection solo called to mind The Devil and the Almighty Blues‘ tendency to hold a groove just to where it feels like it might fall apart before pulling it back under control, and as the bass takes hold circa seven minutes in, Severant seem to be setting up Closure for a final push, but they’re not.
In fact, they drop to quiet again and end by renewing that sway, capping “Candles” with an altogether classier and more restrained spirit. That is to say, it would’ve been easy for them to let the song simply carry itself out. That they didn’t speaks to an underlying thoughtfulness of their process that, thinking in terms of what they might do from here, bodes well.
I’m pretty sure that by the time this post goes live, both of these tracks will have been made public anyway, but whatever. I’m happy enough to feature Closure on its release day one way or the other. You’ll find “Candles” in the embed below, and “Soulsplit” on the Bandcamp player at the bottom of this post, below the release info from Lay Bare.
However you go, please enjoy:
SEVERANT, a new and talented four piece from The Netherlands, brings to life righteous psychedelic sounds by combining their love for the late 60’s and early 70’s fused with their attraction to the dark. They take influences from musical adventures such as Pink Floyd and The Devil’s Blood. Expect beautiful melodies and harmonies floating on a deep groove, contrasted with heavy guitar parts. Produced by Pieter Kloos.
S E V E R A N T – Dark Psychedelic Rock – from The Netherlands
DEBUT EP – CLOSURE – comes in: – 250pcs of black wax – 10inch debut – 350gsm Custom Die Cut Sleeve – 250gsm Printed Innerbag – Produced and engineered by Pieter Kloos | The Void Studio – Cover artwork by Manuel Tinnemans | Comaworx – Lay Out by Pieter Hendriks
Severant is: Erik van Liempd – Vocals & Guitar Loet Braamkolk – Guitar Riccardo Subasi – Bass Koen Steendijk – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 20th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Let’s assume that with the advent of preorders for the next Komatsu record later this week will come the details about the album itself, probably also the cover art. Tracked pre-lockdown, the upcoming long-player from the Eindhoven-based four-piece is the follow-up to 2018’s Argonauta-issued A New Horizon (review here) and will mark the band’s debut on Heavy Psych Sounds. Though new to the label, Komatsu have appeared at at least one Heavy Psych Sounds fest in their decade together, and have done a wide swath of touring besides. One expects that thread to continue once circumstances permit.
So, while this news is more about background than details of the due-next-year album, you know I like it when cool stuff happens to good bands. Accordingly, here you go:
Heavy Psych Sounds to announce a new band signing: Dutch heavy rockers KOMATSU!!!
ALBUM PRESALE STARTS: OCTOBER 22nd
Komatsu is formed early 2010. Members of locally acclaimed bands from Eindhoven Rock City joined forces. Their years of music experience in all kinds of bands and individual creativity, created a brutal mix of sludge, stoner and metal….. KOMATSU is born!
The band released a self-titled EP in 2011. After that, they focused on live shows and writing material for their first full length album. “Manu Armata” saw the daylight in February of 2012 and was instantly well received by the international press. It got raving reviews and Komatsu’s music style was compared to bands like Queens Of The Stone Age, Torche, Mastodon, Monster Magnet and Karma to Burn.
Over the past years Komatsu has shown growth and was asked to support internationally well-known bands like Truckfighters (SWE) and a wide range of bands from the US: Karma to Burn, The Sword, Red Fang, Clutch, Nashville Pussy, High on Fire, Corrosion of Conformity and Baroness. They also performed at the official Queens Of The Stone Age after party in the Effenaar in Eindhoven. In 2014 they went on a European tour with none other than John Garcia (Vista Chino, ex-Kyuss, Hermano, Unida and Slo Burn) and played 32 shows in 13 countries. In 2015 Komatsu went on tour with another Palm Desert scene stoner hero: Nick Oliveri’s band Mondo Generator (USA).
“Recipe For Murder One” was released September 2016 and showed that the band gained confidence and experience. On the album you can hear Nick Oliveri on vocals on two songs. The album took the band on various tours throughout Europe with Duel (USA) in October 2016 and the Freeks (with Ruben Romano, ex-Fu Manchu) in March 2017. The album even took Komatsu to Brazil for a stand alone tour. The album appeared in several annual lists of best albums of 2016, and the song “Lockdown” (with a guest appearance by Nick Oliveri on vocals (ex-Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age) was nominated by 3voor12 as song of the year.
After playing 85 shows in France, Germany, Belgium. Italy, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Brazil and Austria in support of the album “Recipe for murder one”, Komatsu entered the Void Studio with producer Pieter Kloos to record “A New Horizon”. This album was released in January 2018 and marked their return to Europe and Brazil for several tours. Komatsu supported Brant Bjork in their hometown and with that completed a straight quartet: they played with all four ex-members of Kyuss (Garcia, Oliveri, Bjork, Homme).
After their latest European stand alone tour in December 2019, Komatsu felt it was time to record a new studio album. In February/March 2020 the Super Massive Mother Sludgers recorded a new studio album, this time at Studio Iglesias, Eindhoven. The new album is recorded and produced by Peter van Elderen (Peter Pan Speedrock) and Komatsu and is mastered by Pieter Kloos. The artwork is made by Lotte Voorhoeve. The album was recorded just before the Covid-19 pandemic and will be released at the beginning of 2021 at Heavy Psych Sounds.
With 9 new killer songs, Komatsu is more than ready and waiting to hit the road again!
KOMATSU is: Mo Truijens (vocals/guitar) Mathijs Bodt (guitar) Martijn Mansvelders (bass) Jos Roosen (drums)
Posted in Reviews on October 5th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Oh hi there. It’s Quarterly Review time again, and you know what that means. 50 records between now and Friday — and I may or may not extend it through next Monday as well; I think I have enough of a backlog at this point to do so. It’s really just a question of how destroyed I am by writing about 10 different records every day this week. If past is prologue, that’s fairly well destroyed. But I’ve yet to do a Quarterly Review and regret it when it’s over, and like the last one, this roundup of 50 albums is pretty well curated, so it might even be fun to go through. There’s a thought. In any case, as always, I hope you find something you enjoy, and thank you for reading if you do or as much as you do.
Quarterly Review #1-10:
Steve Von Till, No Wilderness Deep Enough
Neurosis guitarist/vocalist Steve Von Till seems to be bringing some of the experimentalism that drives his Harvestman project into the context of his solo work with No Wilderness Deep Enough, his fifth LP and first since 2015’s A Life unto Itself (review here). Drones and melodic synth backs the deceptively-titled “The Old Straight Track,” and where Von Till began his solo career 20 years ago with traditional folk guitar, if slower, on these six tracks, he uses that meditative approach as the foundation for an outward-reaching 37-minute run, incorporating ethereal strings among the swirls of “Shadows on the Run” and finishing with the foreboding hum of “Wild Iron.” Opener “Dreams of Trees” establishes the palette’s breadth with synthesized beats alongside piano and maybe-cello, but it’s Von Till‘s voice itself that ties the material together and provides the crucial human presence and intimacy that most distinguishes the offerings under his own name. Accompanied by Von Till‘s first published book of poetry, No Wilderness Deep Enough is a portrait of the unrelenting creative growth of its maker.
Cyttorak, Simultaneous Invocation of Apocalyptic Harbingers
Take a breath before you hit play only to have it punched right out from your solar plexus by the brutalist deathsludge Cyttorak cleverly call “slowerviolence.” Dominated by low end and growls, screams, and shouts, the lumbering onslaught is the second standalone EP for the three-piece who hail from scenic Pawtucket, Rhode Island (former home of the PawSox), and throughout its six-track run, the unit conjure an unyieldingly punishing tonal morass set to aggressive purpose. That they take their name from the Marvel Universe character who controls X-Men villain Juggernaut should not be taken as coincidence, since their sound indeed seems intended to put its head down and smash through walls and/or anything else that might be in its path in pursuit of its quarry. With Conan-esque lyrical minimalism, the songs nonetheless give clues to their origins — “Royal Shokan Dismemberment” refers to Goro from Mortal Kombat, and finale “Domination Lord of Coldharbour” to Skyrim (which I still regret not playing) — but if you consider comics or video games to be lighter fare, first off, you’re working with an outdated mentality, and second, Cyttorak would like a bit of your time to smother you with volume and ferocity. They have a new split out as well, both on tape.
Also signified by the Greek letter from which they take their moniker, Czech four-piece Lambda represent a new age of progressive heavy post-rock. Influences from Russian Circles aren’t necessarily surprising to find coursing through the instrumental debut full-length, Heliopolis, but there are shades of Elder as well behind the more driving riffs and underlying swing of “Space Express,” which also featured on the band’s 2015 EP of the same name. The seven-minute “El Sonido Nuevo” did likewise, but older material or newer, the album’s nine-song procession moves toward its culminating title-track through the grace of “Odysea” and the intertwining psychedelic guitars of “Milkyway Phaseshifter” with an overarching atmosphere of the journey to the city of the sun being undertaken. And when they get there, at the closer, there’s an initial sense of peace that gives way to some of the most directly heavy push Heliopolis has to offer. Payoff, then. So be it. Purposeful and somewhat cerebral in its execution, the DIY debut brings depth and space together to immersive effect.
Following his 2016 debut, Rotgut (review here) and 2018’s Go to the Devil (review here), Godless is the third full-length from former Iron Man and current Spiral Grave frontman Dee Calhoun, and its considerable 63-minute runtime finds him working in multiple directions while keeping his underlying roots in acoustic-based heavy metal. Certainly “To My Boy” — and Rob Calhoun has appeared on his father’s releases before as well — has its basis in familial expression, but its pairing with “Spite Fuck” is somewhat curious. Meanwhile, “Hornswoggled” cleverly samples George W. Bush with a laugh track, and “Here Under Protest,” “The Greater Evil,” “Ebenezer” and “No Justice” seem to take a worldly view as well. Meanwhile again, “Godless,” “The Day Salvation Went Away” and “Prudes, Puritanicals and Puddles of Piss” make their perspective nothing if not plain for the listener, and the album ends with the two-minute kazoo-laced gag track “Here Comes the Bride: A Tale From Backwater.” So perhaps scattershot, but Godless is nonetheless Calhoun‘s most effective outing yet in terms of arrangements and craft, and shows him digging further into the singer-songwriter form than he has up to now, sounding more comfortable and confident in the process.
Melodic vocal lines weave together and float over alternately weighted and likewise ethereal guitars on Turtle Skull‘s second album, Monoliths. The percussion-inclusive (tambourine, congas, rain stick, etc.) Sydney-based heavy psychedelic outfit create an immersive wash that makes the eight-song/55-minute long-player consuming for the duration, and while there are moments of clarity to be found throughout — the steady snare taps of “Why Do You Ask?” for example — but the vast bulk of the LP is given to the overarching flow, which finds progressive/space-rock footing in the 11-plus minutes of finale “The Clock Strikes Forever” and is irresistibly consuming on the drifting wash of “Rabbit” or the lysergic grunge blowout of “Who Cares What You Think?,” which gives way to the choral drone of “Halcyon” gorgeously en route through the record’s back half. It’s not the highest profile heavy psych release of 2020, but neither is it to be overlooked for the languid stretch of “Leaves” at the outset or the fuzz-drenched roll in the penultimate “Apple of Your Eye.”
In some ways, the dichotomy of Diuna‘s 2019 sophomore full-length, Golem, is set by its first two tracks, the 24-second intro “Menu” and the seven-minute “Jarmark Cudów” that follows, each longer song throughout is prefaced by an introduction or interlude, varying in degrees of experimentation. That, however, doesn’t cover the outsider vibes the Polish trio bring to bear in those longer songs themselves, be it “Jarmark Cudów” devolving into a post-Life of Agony noise rock roll, or the thrust in “Frank Herbert” cut into starts and stops and shouting madness. Heavy rock, noise, sludge, post-this-or-that, it doesn’t matter by the end of the 12-track/44-minute release, because Diuna establish such firm control over the proceedings and make so clear the challenge to the listener to keep up that it’s only fun to try. It might take a couple listens to sink in, but the more attention one gives Golem, the more one is going to be rewarded in the end, and I don’t just mean in the off-kilter fuckery of closer “Pan Jezus Idzie Do Wojska.”
“Ambitious” doesn’t begin to cover it. With eight songs (plus a bonus track) and 11 listed guest musicians, the debut full-length, Hollow, from Tel Aviv-based death-doomers Tomorrow’s Rain seems to be setting its own standard in that regard. And quite a list it is, with the likes of Aaron Stainthorpe of My Dying Bride, Greg Mackintosh of Paradise Lost, Fernando Ribeiro of Moonspell, Mikko Kotamaki of Swallow the Sun, and so on, it is a who’s-who of melodic/gothic death-doom and the album lives up to the occasion in terms of the instrumental drama it presents. Some appear on one track, some on multiple tracks — Ribeiro and Kotamaki both feature on “Misery Rain” — and despite the constant shifts in personnel with only one of the eight tracks completely without an outside contributor, the core six-piece of Tomorrow’s Rain are still able to make an impression of their own that is bolstered and not necessarily overwhelmed by the extravagant company being kept throughout.
Mother Eel‘s take on sludge isn’t so much crushing as it is caustic. They’re plenty heavy, but their punishment isn’t just meted out through tonal weight being brought down on your head. It’s the noise. It’s the blown-out screams. It’s the harshness of the atmosphere in which the entirety of their debut album, Svalbard, resides. Five tracks, 33 minutes, zero forgiveness. One might be tempted to think of songs like “Erection of Pain” as nihilistic fuckall, but that seems incorrect. Nah, they mean it. Fuckall, yeah. But fuckall as ethos. Fuckall manifest. So it goes through “Alpha Woman” and “Listen to the Elderly for They Have Much to Teach,” which ends in a Primitive Man-ish static assault, and the lumbering finish “Not My Shade,” which assures that what began on “Sucking to Gain” half an hour earlier ends on the same anti-note: a disaffected malevolence writ into sheer sonic unkindness. There is little letup, even in the quiet introductions or transitions, so if you’re looking for mercy, don’t bother.
The four-song/39-minute atmospheric sludge long-player Filled by Empty Spaces is listed by Brazilian solo outfit Umbilichaos as being the third part of, “the Tetralogy of Loneliness.” If that’s the emotion being expressed in the noise-metal post-Godflesh chug-and-shout of “Filled by Empty Spaces Pt. 02,” then it is loneliness viscerally presented by founding principal and multi-instrumentalist Anna C. Chaos. The feel throughout the early going of the release is plodding and agonized in kind, but in “Filled by Empty Spaces Pt. 01” and “Filled by Empty Spaces Pt. 03” there is some element of grim, crusted-over psychedelia happening alongside the outright dirge-ism, though the latter ultimately wins out in the four-minute instrumental capper “Disintegration.” One way or the other, Chaos makes her point through raw tonality and overarching intensity of purpose, the compositions coming across simultaneously unhinged and dangerously under control. There are many kinds of heavy. Filled by Empty Spaces is a whole assortment of them.
Fueled by avant grunge/noise impulsion, Radar Men From the Moon‘s latest foray to Planet Whothefuckknows arrives in the eight-song/41-minute The Bestial Light, a record alternately engrossing and off-putting, that does active harm when the sounds-like-it’s-skipping intro to “Piss Christ” comes on and then subsequently mellows out with psych-sax like they didn’t just decide to call the song “Sacred Cunt of the Universe” or something. Riffs, electronics, the kind of weirdness that’s too self-aware not to be progressive, Radar Men From the Moon take the foundation of experimentation set by Astrosoniq and mutate it via Swans into something unrecognizable by genre and unwilling to compromise its own direction. And no, by the time “Levelling” comes on to round out, there is no peace to be found, though perhaps a twisted kind of joy at the sheer postmodernism. They should score ballets with this stuff. No one would go, but three centuries from now, they’d be worshiped as gods. Chance of that anyway, I suppose.
still okay to casually hate fat people — with a somewhat mathier turn still mirroring the title-track in its intensity. “What Lies Underneath” and “Welcome to the Underworld” would seem to have some connection with all the ‘under’-ing between the two of them, but if there’s a thematic line to draw, it accompanies a starker turn in sound from the broader melody and nod of the former to the latter’s rougher vocal and uptick in chugging tension. The momentum of that shift carries into the finale “Climb the Vines,” with some influence from the Elderian school of heavyprog with its own persona and departure into wash, and they end with residual cosmic resonance on a fade.
