Welcome to the Spring 2023 Quarterly Review. Between today and next Tuesday, a total of 70 records will be covered with a follow-up week slated for May bringing that to 120. Rest assured, it’ll be plenty. If you’re reading this, I feel safe assuming you know the deal: 10 albums per day from front to back, ranging in style, geography, type of release — album, EP, singles even, etc. — and the level of hype and profile surrounding. The Quarterly Review is always a massive undertaking, but I’ve never done one and regretted it later, and looking at what’s coming up across the next seven days, there are more than few records featured that are already on my ongoing best of 2023 list. So please, keep an eye and ear out, and hopefully you’ll also find something new that speaks to you.

We begin.

Quarterly Review #1-10:

ISAAK, Hey

Last heard from as regards LPs with 2015’s Serominize (review here) and marking 10 years since their 2013 debut under the name, The Longer the Beard the Harder the Sound (review here), Genoa-based heavy rockers ISAAK return with the simply-titled Hey and encapsulate the heads-up fuzz energy that’s always been at the core of their approach. Vocalist Giacomo H. Boeddu has hints of Danzig in “OBG” and the swing-shoving “Sleepwalker” later on, but whether it’s the centerpiece Wipers cover “Over the Edge,” the rolling “Dormhouse” that follows, or the melodic highlight “Rotten” that precedes, the entire band feel cohesive and mature in their purposeful songwriting. They’re labelmates and sonic kin to Texas’ Duel, but less bombastic, with a knife infomercial opening their awaited third record before the title-track and “OBG” begin to build the momentum that carries the band through their varied material, spacious on “Except,” consuming in the apex of “Fake it Till You Make It,” but engaging throughout in groove and structure.

ISAAK on Facebook

Heavy Psych Sounds on Bandcamp

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Iron Void, IV

With doom in their collective heart and riffs to spare, UK doom metal traditionalists Iron Void roll out a weighted 44 minutes across the nine songs of their fourth full-length, IV, seeming to rail against pandemic-era restrictions in “Grave Dance” and tech culture in “Slave One” while “Pandora’s Box” rocks out Sabbathian amid the sundry anxieties of our age. Iron Void have been around for 25 years as of 2023 — like a British Orodruin or trad-doom more generally, they’ve been undervalued for most of that time — and their songwriting earns the judgmental crankiness of its perspective, but each half of the LP gets a rousing closer in “Blind Dead” and “Last Rites,” and Iron Void doom out like there’s no tomorrow even on the airier “She” because, as we’ve seen in the varying apocalypses since the band put out 2018’s Excalibur (review here), there might not be. So much the better to dive into the hook of “Living on the Earth” or the grittier “Lords of the Wasteland,” the metal-of-yore sensibility tapping into early NWOBHM without going full-Maiden. Kind of a mixed bag, it might take a few listens to sink in, but IV shows the enduring strengths of Iron Void and is clearly meant more for those repeat visits than some kind of cloying immediacy. An album to be lived with and doomed with.

Iron Void on Facebook

Shadow Kingdom Records website

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Dread Witch, Tower of the Severed Serpent

An offering of thickened, massive lava-flow sludge, plodding doom and atmospheric severity, Dread Witch‘s self-released (not for long, one suspects) first long-player, Tower of the Severed Serpent, announces a significant arrival on the part of the onslaught-prone Danish outfit, who recorded as a trio, play live as a five-piece and likely need at least that many people to convey the density of a song like the opener/longest track (immediate points) “The Tower,” the eight minutes of which are emblematic of the force of execution with which the band delivers the rest of what follows, runtimes situated longest to shortest across the near-caustic chug of “Serpent God,” the Celtic Frost-y declarations and mega-riff ethos of “Leech,” the play between key-led minimalism and all-out stomp on “Wormtongue” and the earlier-feeling noise intensity of “Into the Crypt” before the more purely ambient but still heavy instrumental “Severed” wraps, conveying weight of emotion to complement the tonal tectonics prior. Bordering on the extreme and clearly enjoying the crush that doing so affords them, Dread Witch make more of a crater than an impression and would be outright barbaric were their sound not so methodical in immersing the audience. Pro sound, loaded with potential, heavy as shit; these are the makings of a welcome debut.

Dread Witch on Facebook

Dread Witch on Bandcamp

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Tidal Wave, The Lord Knows

Next-generation heavy fuzz purveyed with particular glee, Tidal Wave seem to explore the very reaches they conjure through verses and choruses on their eight-song Ripple Music label debut (second LP overall behind 2019’s Blueberry Muffin), The Lord Knows, and they make the going fun throughout the 41-minute outing, finding the shuffle in the shove of “Robbero Bobbero” while honing classic desert idolatry on “Lizard King” and “End of the Line” at the outset. What a relief it is to know that heavy rock and roll won’t die with the aging-out of so many of its Gen-X and Millennial purveyors, and as Tidal Wave step forward with the low-end semi-metal roll of “Pentagram” and the grander spaces of “By Order of the King” before “Purple Bird” returns to the sands and “Thorsakir” meets that on an open field of battle, it seems the last word has not been said on Tidal Wave in terms of aesthetic. They’ve got time to continue to push deeper into their craft — and maybe that will or won’t result in their settling on one path or another — but the range of moods on The Lord Knows suits them well, and without pretense or overblown ceremony the Sundsvall four-piece bring together elements of classic heavy rock and metal while claiming a persona that can move back and forth between them. Kind of the ideal for a younger band.

Tidal Wave on Facebook

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

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Guided Meditation Doomjazz, Expect

Persistently weird in the mold of Arthur Brown with unpredictability as a defining feature, Guided Meditation Doomjazz may mostly be a cathartic salve for founding bassist, vocalist, experimentalist, etc.-ist Blaise the Seeker, but that hardly makes the expression any less valid. Expect arrives as a five-song EP, ready to meander in the take-the-moniker-literally “Collapse in Dignity” and the fuzz-drenched slow-plod finisher “Sit in Surrender” — watery psychedelic guitar weaving overhead like a cloud you can reshape with your mind — that devolves into drone and noise, but not unstructured and not without intention behind even its most out-there moments. The bluesy sway of “The Mind is Divided” follows the howling scene-setting of the titular opener, while “Stream of Crystal Water” narrates its verse over crunchier riffing before the sung chorus-of-sorts, the overarching dug-in sensibility conveying some essence of what seems despite a prolific spate of releases to be an experience intended for a live setting, with all the one-on-one mind-expansion and arthouse performance that inevitably coincides with it. Still, with a rough-feeling production, Expect carries a breadth that makes communing with it that much easier. Go on, dare to get lost for a little while. See where you end up.

Guided Meditation Doomjazz on Facebook

The Swamp Records on Bandcamp

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Cancervo, II

II is the vocalized follow-up to Cancervo‘s 2021 debut, 1 (review here), and finds the formerly-instrumental Lombardy, Italy, three-piece delving further into the doomed aspects of the initial offering with a greater clarity on “Arera,” “Herdsman of Grem” and “The Cult of Armentarga,” letting some of the psychedelia of the first record go while maintaining enough of an atmosphere to be hypnotic as the vocals follow the marching rhythm as the latter track moves into its midsection or the rhythmic chains in the subsequent “Devil’s Coffin” (an instrumental) lock step with the snare in a floating, loosely-Eastern-scaled break before the bigger-sounding end. Between “Devil’s Coffin” and the feedback-prone also-instrumental “Zambla” ahead of 8:43 closer “Zambel’s Goat” — on which the vocals return in a first-half of subdued guitar-led doomjamming prior to the burst moment at 4:49 — II goes deeper as it plays through and is made whole by its meditative feel, some semblance of head-trip cult doom running alongside, but if it’s a cult it’s one with its own mythology. Not where one expected them to go after 1, but that’s what makes it exciting, and that they lay claim to arrangement flourish, chanting vocals and slogging tempos as they do bodes well for future exploration.

Cancervo on Facebook

Electric Valley Records website

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Dirge, Dirge

So heavy it crashed my laptop. Twice. The second full-length from Mumbai post-metallers Dirge is a self-titled four-songer that culls psychedelia from tonal tectonics, not contrasting the two but finding depth in the ways they can interact. Mixed by Sanford Parker, the longer-form pieces comprise a single entirety without seeming to have been written as one long track, the harsh vocals of Tabish Khidir adding urgency to the guitar work of Ashish Dharkar and Varun Patil (the latter also backing vocals) as bassist Harshad Bhagwat and drummer Aryaman Chatterji underscore and punctuate the chugging procession of opener “Condemned” that’s offset if not countermanded by its quieter stretch. If you’re looking for your “Stones From the Sky”-moment as regards riffing, it’s in the 12-minute second cut, “Malignant,” the bleak triumph of which spills over in scream-topped angularity into “Grief” (despite a stop) while the latter feels all the more massive for its comedown moments. In another context, closer “Hollow” might be funeral doom, but it’s gorgeous either way, and it fits with the other three tracks in terms of its interior claustrophobia and thoughtful aggression. They’re largely playing toward genre tenets, but Dirge‘s gravity in doing so is undeniable, and the space they create is likewise dark and inviting, if not for my own tech.

Dirge on Facebook

Dirge store

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Witch Ripper, The Flight After the Fall

Witch Ripper‘s sophomore LP and Magnetic Eye label-debut, The Flight After the Fall, touches on anthemic prog rock and metal with heavy-toned flourish and plenty of righteous burl in cuts like “Madness and Ritual Solitude” and the early verses of “The Obsidian Forge,” though the can-sing vocals of guitarists Chad Fox and Curtis Parker and bassist Brian Kim — drummer Joe Eck doesn’t get a mic but has plenty to do anyhow — are able to push that centerpiece and the rest of what surrounds over into the epic at a measure’s notice. Or not, which only makes Witch Ripper more dynamic en route to the 16:45 sprawling finish of “Everlasting in Retrograde Parts 1 and 2,” picking up from the lyrics of the leadoff “Enter the Loop” to put emphasis on the considered nature of the release as a whole, which is a showcase of ambition in songwriting as much as performance of said songs, conceptual reach and moments of sheer pummel. It’s been well hyped, and by the time “Icarus Equation” soars into its last chorus without its wings melting, it’s easy to hear why in the fullness of its progressive heft and melodic theatricality. It’s not a minor undertaking at 47 minutes, but it wouldn’t be a minor undertaking if it was half that, given the vastness of Witch Ripper‘s sound. Be ready to travel with it.

Witch Ripper on Facebook

Magnetic Eye Records store

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Pelegrin, Ways of Avicenna

In stated narrative conversation with the Arabic influence on Spanish and greater Western European (read: white) culture, specifically in this case as regards the work of Persian philosopher Ibn Sina, Parisian self-releasing three-piece Pelegrin follow-up 2019’s Al-Mahruqa (review here) with the expansive six songs of Ways of Avicenna, with guitarist/vocalist François Roze de Gracia, bassist/backing vocalist Jason Recoing and drummer/percussionist Antoine Ebel working decisively to create a feeling of space not so much in terms of the actual band in the room, but of an ancient night sky on songs like “Madrassa” and the rolling heavy prog solo drama of the later “Mystical Appear,” shades of doom and psychedelia pervasive around the central riff-led constructions, the folkish middles of “Thunderstorm” and “Reach for the Sun” and the acoustic two-minute “Disgrace” a preface to the patient manner in which the trio feel their way into the final build of closer “Forsaken Land.” I’m neither a historical scholar nor a philosopher, and thankfully the album doesn’t require you to be, but Pelegrin could so easily tip over into the kind of cartoonish cultural appropriation that one finds among certain other sects of European psychedelia, and they simply don’t. Whether the music speaks to you or not, appreciate that.

Pelegrin on Facebook

Pelegrin on Bandcamp

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Black Sky Giant, Primigenian

Lush but not overblown, Argentinian instrumentalists Black Sky Giant fluidly and gorgeously bring together psychedelia and post-rock on their third album, Primigenian, distinguishing their six-song/31-minute brevity with an overarching progressive style that brings an evocative feel whether it’s to the guitar solos in “At the Gates” or the subsequent kick propulsion of “Stardust” — which does seem to have singing, though one can barely make out what if anything is actually being said — as from the denser tonality of the opening title-track, they go on to unfurl the spiritual-uplift of “The Great Hall,” fading into a cosmic boogie on the relatively brief “Sonic Thoughts” as they, like so many, would seem to have encountered SLIFT‘s Ummon sometime in the last two years. Doesn’t matter; it’s just a piece of the puzzle here and the shortest track, sitting as it does on the precipice of capper “The Foundational Found Tapes,” which plays out like amalgamated parts of what might’ve been other works, intermittently drummed and universally ambient, as though to point out the inherently incomplete nature of human-written histories. They fade out that last piece after seeming to put said tapes into a player of some sort (vague samples surrounding) and ending with an especially dream-toned movement. I wouldn’t dare speculate what it all means, but I think we might be the ancient progenitors in question. Fair enough. If this is what’s found by whatever species is next dominant on this planet — I hope they do better at it than humans have — we could do far worse for representation.

Black Sky Giant on Facebook

Black Sky Giant on Bandcamp

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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: John Steele of High n’ Heavy

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

I’m one of the primary songwriters, and guitarist, of the metal band High n’ Heavy. After trying a few different band ideas I, along with our drummer and bassist, invited an old friend to start a new project. The original idea has sort of evolved along the way.

Describe your first musical memory.

My parents started taking me to concerts when I was very small. One of the first concerts I remember going to was to see Aerosmith in Providence when I was 4 years old. I remember Skid Row opening, and slightly remember Aerosmith. Mostly because I fell asleep during their set. We always listened my dad’s old records at home, and they really opened me to some of my favorite music. But I also remember starting to play guitar at 9. That’s when it all came full circle, and I was able to learn my favorite songs and use that inspiration to make my own.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

That’s a really tough one. When it comes to going to shows, playing shows, and moments in life that had a certain soundtrack behind it. Getting to see The Misfits at Madison Square Garden a few years ago is definitely up there. They are one of my all time favorite bands, and it felt like being 13 all over again. Made even better by getting to share the experience with my wife. As far as my playing, the first High n’ Heavy show really stands out. Our singer showed up dressed as a wizard from that very show, and still does. The energy of the people in that little bar. Plus, the energy we had. The full excitement of getting to play songs we’d been working on for those months before.

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

In one of my earlier bands there was a lot of infighting due to whether or not we should charge people for certain things. I was always of the belief that if you can get music to people for free then you should do it. I understand the need to charge when things get bigger and more involved. We made the demos on our computers and printed the stickers on cheap sticker paper.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

It opens up so many doors. Like with music. The more I’ve learned. Whether it’s a new instrument, how to record/mix, or how to write a song. It can lead you down so many roads. The pandemic was a big moment of progression for me. Trying to write all different types of music. Building up a home studio. Becoming more comfortable in my artistic skin, so to speak.

How do you define success?

Probably being happy with where you are, and not letting other people’s opinions affect that. High n’ Heavy was the first band I was in where I just wrote what came without worrying how it may be perceived. Before that I was hardly ever happy with what I wrote. It all felt so forced. Once I stopped worrying what other people might think it opened the flood gates and the inspirado flowed.

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

I’d like to say instances where favoritism in a music scene screws over a more talented band, or someone who might deserve a chance. However, the thing that always comes to mind is when I saw Iggy Pop when I was 17. At one point a kid climbed on stage. It was just a small club. The bouncers dragged him to the side, threw him off the stage, and started beating the shit out of him while he was on the ground. When they were finished the dragged him to the door that led to the alley, and tossed him outside. I get the position of not wanting people to jump on the stage, but it was a heavy over reaction. Made especially horrible when a few songs later he played The Passenger and invited everyone on stage.

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

I’ve been working a lot on video editing. Mostly skate footage, and such. I’ve really wanted to incorporate all my interests into it. Make short films of stimulating imagery. Scored by me. Maybe leading to music videos for my band, or other peoples if they’re interested. Also, been messing with animation a little, so I’d love to incorporate that.

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

Self expression. Just get it out of you. Opinions don’t matter. Make what you like. On the other side of it just finding what you like, and trying to find more of it. Getting outside of your comfort zone to find things that can move you.

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

I have two wonderful children, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how they grow. They’re already at the age of their personalities starting to really shine through. The journey is a wonderful thing.

https://www.facebook.com/HighnHeavy
http://instagram.com/Highnheavy
https://highnheavy.bandcamp.com/
https://www.highnheavy.com/

www.facebook.com/electricvalleyrecords
http://instagram.com/Electricvalleyrecords
https://evrecords.bandcamp.com
www.electricvalleyrecords.com

High n’ Heavy, V (2021)

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: Nicky Ray from Stonus

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

First of all thank you for this interview and this opportunity.

Since young kids me and my brother Kyriacos (lead singer) always felt the pull to create music and thus it all started from our bedroom to where it is now and who knows where it will go. Personally I am not a musician but a chemical engineer, although that’s another story… From a young age I was always attracted to music, poetry and art and I constantly felt the urge to create. With time, me and my brother started sharing our creations and along the way we found the rest of the group, Kotsios, Pavlos and Alaa, and formed STONUS which gives us the opportunity to not only create our own material but also share it around in stages all over Europe. In reality we are just five friends jamming around and creating music which by the end of the day is living our childhood dreams and we have to thank all of our supporters and the heavy rock community for allowing this to happen.

Describe your first musical memory.

My first musical memory, that at least I can remember, is finding this old CD player at my parents’ house at the age of 10 together with a dusty CD of Elton John’s “Sleeping with the past” that I kept playing on repeat every night for a whole year! That’s when I truly realized the power of music and the impact it can have on people and since then, I am in constant exploration.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

The best musical memory so far is having the opportunity to tour Europe for the first time with STONUS last September/October. It was a dream come true, especially coming from a small island in the Mediterranean where the chances of playing abroad are extremely low. Nevertheless, we are here to prove that people can achieve their dreams no matter how hard it is, as long as they believe in their selves and they are willing to give everything they’ve got.

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

When you are on the journey to achieve something, often obstacles tend to appear to test your will and endurance. For example back in the day, we were invited to take part in a unity event for peace in Cyprus, which is still a divided country unfortunately. Since as individuals we believe in equal human rights we decided that it was right to play the gig although it was emotionally heavy as most of our families are refugees of the same war that caused this division of the island.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

I feel that artistic progression leads to beauty and completeness. The ability to translate your feelings and emotions into art is kind of an alchemy and it requires skill and intuition to put the pieces together.

How do you define success?

Success is being able to do what you love freely, being able to be who you truly are and waking up every day with a smile on your face.

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

When I was still an undergraduate at a university, after a club night, I was in the unfortunate position to see a student getting run over by a car and dying. This was one of the strongest experiences that occurred to me and made me realize that every moment is precious and needs to be cherished because you never know if you will be here on the next.

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

Our new album! We are actually in the process of writing the first drafts and we are more than excited to see how this new side of our selves looks like.

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

Art has several functions such as to entertain, to uplift and emotionally support and to even start a revolution if necessary. What I believe, is that art is a form of language, a collective of signals and symbols coming from the core of the universe to enter our subconscious. By translating these signals into artistic creations we allow the universe to experience its own “thoughts” guiding us to the single purpose of unity and bliss, evolving us along the way.

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

Since outside music I am an engineer, in the renewable energy field; I am really looking forward to see how these new technologies will unfold in a try to make earth a more sustainable and supporting place. Personally it is another dream coming true, seeing people uniting and fighting for a single goal, to save the planet…and who knows maybe it is the start of a new era in society where love could finally replace greed.

To whoever is reading I want to thank you for your time and wish you success in your dreams and of course keep being heavy!

https://www.facebook.com/stonerscy
https://www.instagram.com/stonus.band/
https://stonus.bandcamp.com/

http://electricvalleyrecords.com
https://www.facebook.com/electricvalleyrecords
https://www.instagram.com/electricvalleyrecord
https://www.evrecords.bandcamp.com

Stonus, Séance (2021)

Admirably prolific, Portland, Oregon, garage scuzz-fuzzers LáGoon have had an album out every year since 2018, along with other live releases, singles, EPs, and so on. Their fifth full-length overall, Bury Me Where I Drop, which is also their first offering through Teschio Dischi and Electric Valley Records, follows after 2021’s Skullactic Visions (review here) and 2020’s Maa Kali Trip (discussed here) — both released via Interstellar Smoke Records — and continues their emergent cohesion within the sphere of loose-swinging, intermittently nihilistic, hippie-violent couchlocked-stoner garage doom and psych.

Raw in tone and presentation, it runs six songs and 30 minutes of scum and villainy, as the original founding duo of guitarist/vocalist Anthony Gaglia and drummer Brady Maurer, who first featured bass on their 2020 Father of Death EP and welcomed Kenny Coombs to the role on the last album, venture into the menacing side of psychedelia and stoner riffing, calling to mind the likes of Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats and Electric Wizard conceptually without sounding all that much like either of them in reality.

Languid rhythms act as cover for grim purposes, and with a methodology not wholly dissimilar to a band like Mountain Tamer, they seem to have an ability to make songs about inward or outward violence sound like the work of the lazily burnt. To wit, between “I See the Hate in You,” “Dead and Gone,” “Bury Me,” which has guest vocals from Seattle-based solo artist Marlo Kapsa, “Sharpen It,” “Face Down” and “Some Nerve” — on which I’m pretty sure every time the title-line is delivered there’s a “fucking” placed in between the “some” and the “nerve” — there isn’t one song that doesn’t gnash its teeth in punk-born fuckall sneer, but at the same time, hooks also run rampant through Gaglia‘s interwoven layers of sludgy screams and cleaner, drawling vocals. The songs are structured, well composed and memorable while sounding like they don’t give a shit, and that is among the most difficult balances a band can strike without falling flat in terms of craft or coming across as a put-on, which LáGoon don’t, even through such a focus on darker themes.

At seven minutes even — a second less on Bandcamp, if you want to quibble — “I See the Hate in You” is the opener and longest inclusion (immediate points) on Bury Me Where I Drop and it defines a decent portion of what follows. As the introductory guitar lead sings out a chorus melody over the beginning riff, the vibe is post-Electric Wizard, but LáGoon make it move in a way that’s distinct, a swing that shifts directly into the verse to set up the first entry of the sludgier screaming vocal layer, what might be backing vocals but are closer to even in the mix with Gaglia‘s Witch-y cleans carried over from the verse. The pulled notes of a returning lead guitar answer as a bridge to the next verse, and already the song is half over, but crucially, LáGoon have immersed the listener in the ambience that will hold for the rest of what follows.

“I See the Hate in You” lumbers existentially more than in its actual tempo, but knows the strength of its chorus and rides it accordingly, setting up the speedier, more metal-derived semi-gallop of “Dead and Gone,” which begins a series of trades between longer and shorter tracks that continues through the rest of Bury Me Where I Drop, the differences from one to the other not much more than a minute or two at the most, but still crucial the overarching flow that ensues. In another universe, “Dead and Gone” could be the twisted twin incarnation of Queens of the Stone Age, its fade-in subtly underscoring the ambience of the opener even as its time-for-a-ripper sensibility works in purposeful contrast, holding its energy unto the last noodly riff that caps, letting the boogie of the semi-title-track pick up as Coombs and Maurer shuffle and Gaglia and Kapsa do a call and response in the verse and come together in the chorus, like a hellbent and raw rockabilly Archie comic about stabbing, the hook, “And once my heart stops/Just bury me where I drop,” seeming almost innocent despite its obviously bleak crux.

With “Sharpen It,” the guitar begins a procession that’s evident even before Maurer crashes in to punctuate the march. In a more elaborate production style, that moment would hit harder, but LáGoon aren’t about to trade aesthetic for pomp and nor does the song seem to require it. The side B leadoff is relatively fast despite the dirt in its eyes, but hits a slowdown in the fourth of its five minutes to bring it back to the intro’s tempo and that’s about all the resolution you get because fuck you anyway after the harsher verses and chorus and more scorching solo work from Gaglia, who tosses off these leads like it’s nothing even as they create hooks of their own instrumentally.

As the closing duo, “Face Down” and “Some Nerve” reaffirm the nastiness at large, the former starting quiet with standalone guitar as the beginning of a linear build that comes to its peak at about halfway through the four-minute run before receding again, more purposeful than just a jam, but likely born of one and bringing an edge of hypnotic spontaneity to Bury Me Where I Drop ahead of the finale. It is well-placed in a way that reminds of the fact that the band did actually put effort into making the record, efficiently so at a little over three minutes, and it leads to the fading-in distortion of “Some Nerve,” which is a last middle finger at the universe at large and the lyrical “you,” whomever it might be.

A line of what might be sustained organ notes, sweeping layers of lead guitar coming and going, and a throaty sounds-like-it-hurts shout give “Some Nerve” a vibe like a sludged-out Nebula playing Halloweeny ’60s psych, and whether or not that’s precisely what LáGoon were shooting for, that they got there at all is all the more a victory considering how much “Some Nerve” sounds like it’s about to fall apart for nearly every second of its time and doesn’t actually do so even as they pull it to a sudden stop and leave residual swirl as the final element to go; your spiraling consciousness, perhaps, fleeting.

Fair enough. Like a grainy episode of your favorite dark-horror show, watched on a tube television at probably too young an age, Bury Me Where I Drop is melodic and well crafted despite its own seeming protestations to the contrary. Its component tracks are rife with ill-intent and executed with an abiding pessimism, but the album is admirably not-murderous despite this sinister point of view. Wretched catharsis, but catharsis just the same, and it carries forward the intriguing and nuanced progression of LáGoon, whose style is becoming ever more distinctive.

LáGoon, Bury Me Where I Drop (2022)

LáGoon on Facebook

LáGoon on Instagram

LáGoon on Bandcamp

Electric Valley Records website

Electric Valley Records on Facebook

Electric Valley Records on Instagram

Electric Valley Records on Bandcamp

Teschio Dischi on Facebook

Teschio Dischi on Instagram

Teschio Dischi on Bandcamp

Somewhere between sneering punk-informed heavy rock, sneering ’80s metal — that shout of “guitar!” before the solo on “Sky Burial” is a dead giveaway — and sneering sneer, Spokane, Washington’s Twin Void‘s debut album, Free From Hardtimes, wants nothing for attitude. The trio issued the full-length in April through Electric Valley Records and are set to support it next month by hitting the road on the West Coast, keeping partial company on the run with LáGoon out of Portland, Oregon, who are soon to release their own new LP through the same label.

You can hear Free From Hardtimes below, so don’t let me prattle on too much, but after a slew of short releases between 2019 and 2020, Twin Void‘s first long-player has a definite sense of self, whether it’s the Nebula-style acoustics of “Set Me on Fire” or the drumstick-in-your-eye-on-its-way-to-the-snare punctuation of “You Can Hear the Devil Walkin’.” They are intermittently raucous, defined in part by the throaty vocals of Nathan Bidwell, and they would seem to have brought enough riffs for the whole class, so right on. In the post-lockdown era, as we mammals poke our heads out of the ground and survey the destruction wrought by that giant asteroid what slammed into our concept of a “night out,” maybe this is the kind of kick in the pants needed. I’m not a virologist, but I know catchy when I hear it.

Dates follow, as per socials and the PR wire:

TWIN VOID – West Coast Tour

New Twin Void / Lágoon WEST COAST TOUR, in support of Twin Void’s first record “Free From Hardtimes” and Lágoon jumping on the same label Electric Valley Records!

10/7 – Seattle, WA *
10/8 – Portland, OR *
10/9 – Bend, OR *
10/11 – Eureka, CA
10/12 – Sacramento, CA
10/13 – Santa Cruz, CA
10/14 – Palmdale, CA
10/15 – San Diego, CA
10/16 – Tempe, AZ
10/19 – Gallup, NM
10/20 – Denver, CO
10/21 – Salt Lake City, UT
10/22 – Boise, ID
(w/ Lágoon *)

Twin Void is:
Nathan Bidwell: Guitar/Vocals
Mike Bidwell: Bass
Cory McCallum: Drums

https://www.facebook.com/twinvoidband/
https://www.instagram.com/twin_void/
https://twinvoid.bandcamp.com/

http://electricvalleyrecords.com
https://www.facebook.com/electricvalleyrecords
https://www.instagram.com/electricvalleyrecord
https://www.evrecords.bandcamp.com

Twin Void, Free From Hardtimes (2022)

There’s some wild stuff coming up this Fall, which puts LáGoon right in their element. The Portland heavy whatever-they-want rockers will release their new album, Bury Me Where I Drop, on Halloween in a continued collaboration with Electric Valley Records and Teschio Dischi, which also stood behind the band’s 2021 offering, Skullactic Visions (review here). Gleefully weird, rolling and doomed in its hard-pull riffage, the first single from Bury Me Where I Drop is “I See the Hate in You,” which treats its Star Wars reference to an Electric Wizard-style nod, blackened backing screams and more than a bit of well justified haze. These are, after all, confusing times.

Preorders? Not yet. Sept. 8, apparently, and fair enough. I do not know how many songs are ultimately on Bury Me Where I Drop or how much “I See the Hate in You” represents the entirety of the release, but the cover art by Marco Nieddu from the label (also the band 1782) is stare-worthy and should make for a lovely accompaniment to a physical pressing. By the end of the single I kind of feel like I’m riding that comet, and it’s easy enough to think that’s the idea.

Looking forward to this one. Here’s blue text I snagged from one or the other of the socials:

We’re stoked to finally share the album cover to our next record designed by @marco_evr and the details of the release via @electricvalleyrecords & @teschiodischi

Pre-order date: September 8th
Release date: October 31st

Available in:

ELECTRIC VALLEY RECORDS:
– 100x LTD DD Galaxy Orange/Blue Vinyl
– 30x Ultra LTD “Buried Edition”

TESCHIO DISCHI:
– 100x Cloudy Transparent Yellow Vinyl
– 30x Ultra LTD “Buried Edition”

We’ll be releasing another single on the pre-order date as well! In the meantime, go check out the first single “I See the Hate in You” we released a while back! Cheers!

LáGoon are:
Guitar/Vocals: Anthony Gaglia
Bass: Kenny Coombs
Drums: Brady Maurer

https://www.facebook.com/LaGoonPDX/
https://www.instagram.com/lagoonpdx/
https://lagoonpdx.bandcamp.com/

http://electricvalleyrecords.com
https://www.facebook.com/electricvalleyrecords
https://www.instagram.com/electricvalleyrecord
https://www.evrecords.bandcamp.com

http://www.facebook.com/teschiodischi
https://www.instagram.com/teschiodischi/
www.teschiodischi.bandcamp.com

LáGoon, “I See the Hate in You”

The debut album from Lucid Grave, Cosmic Mountain, arrived about two weeks ago through Electric Valley Records. The 45-minute full-length is led off by the massive, rolling lumber of the titular “Cosmic Mountain,” which is both opener and longest track (immediate points) at 11:21. This is important to note because “Old Spirit,” the cut for which the Kobenhavn five-piece have a new video out, is track two.

And it’s the contrast between those two first songs — that sense of going out really, really far, then snapping back to reality — is pretty important when it comes to the album as a whole, and not just because the two songs together comprise more than a third of the LP’s runtime. “Old Spirit” takes the grand, near-operatic declarations of vocalist Malene Pederson in the opener and completely recontextualizes them, surrounding with still-large tonality, but a feeling of motion that is sweeping and as much garage-metal as stoner-punk. One way or the other, you would call it uncompromising, and it is by no means the last turn that Cosmic Mountain has in store.

After you check out the video, you can stream the whole record near the bottom of this post courtesy of the Electric Valley Bandcamp page, and I’d encourage that if you’re at all intrigued by what unfolds in “Old Spirit.” It’s really just scratching the surface of what the entire release offers, but it’s doing so in an intriguing way that leads you down the path to the rest of Cosmic Mountain. See if you can follow the trail markers, maybe.

Enjoy:

Lucid Grave, “Old Spirit” official video

Copenhagen dark heavy psych/doom quintet Lucid Grave’s video for the song “Old Spirit,” taken from the recently released Cosmic Mountain LP. The video is made by DÓRI HALLDÓRSSON & AMANDA JENSEN.

“Old Spirit” is a heavy psych rock song with influence from the early ’80s punk. The song is about a fast spacy universe in-between two worlds. The song is inspired by the lead singer’s days in the high desert in California. The desert heat is hard on everything and everyone. And the wind still tells stories of the Native Americans, the legends of desert rock, and the military base in the unforgiving sun.

Cosmic Mountain is a journey through your favorite drugs of life, the highs and the lows, being chased through the desert and fighting a haze of demons.

The album Cosmic Mountain is available digitally and on four variants of vinyl (Test Press, Solid Yellow, Transparent Red Splatter Black Vinyl, Ultra LTD “Cosmic Edition”) via Electric Valley Records.

Stream Cosmic Mountain: https://smarturl.it/cosmicmountain

Lucid Grave, Cosmic Mountain (2022)

Lucid Grave on Facebook

Lucid Grave on Instagram

Electric Valley Records on Bandcamp

Electric Valley Records on Facebook

Electric Valley Records on Twitter

Electric Valley Records on Instagram

Electric Valley Records website

Week two, day one. Day six. However you look at it, it’s 10 more records for the Summer 2022 Quarterly Review, and that’s all it needs to be. I sincerely hope you had a good weekend and you arrive ready to dig into new music, most of which you’ve probably already encountered — because you’re cool like that and I know it — but maybe some you haven’t. In any case, there’s good stuff today and plenty more to come this week, so bloody hell, let’s get to it.

Quarterly Review #51-60:

Celestial Season, Mysterium I

After confirming their return via 2020’s striking The Secret Teachings (review here), Netherlands-based death-doom innovators Celestial Season embark on an ambitious trilogy of full-lengths with Mysterium I, which starts with its longest song (immediate points) in the heavy-hitting single “Black Water Rising,” but is more willing to offer string-laced beauty in darkness in songs like “The Golden Light of Late Day,” which transitions fluidly into “Sundown Transcends Us.” That latter cut, third of seven total on the 40-minute LP, provides some small hint of the band’s more rock-minded days, but the affair is plenty grim on the whole, whatever slightly-more-uptempo riffy nod might’ve slipped through. “This Glorious Summer” hits the brakes for a morose slog, while “Endgame” casts it lot in more aggressive speed at first, dropping to strings for much of its second half before returning to the deathly chug. The pair “All That is Known” and “Mysterium” close in massive and lurching form, and not that there was any doubt about this group 30 years on from the band’s founding, but yeah, they still got it. No worries. The next two parts are reportedly due before the end of next year, and one looks forward to knowing where the rest of the story-in-sound goes from here. If it’s down, they’re already there.

Celestial Season on Facebook

Burning World Records website

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Noorvik, Hamartia

Post. Metal. Also post-metal. The third full-length from Koln-based instrumental four-piece Noorvik, Hamartia, glides smoothly between atmosphere and aggression, the band’s purposes revealed as much in their quiet moments as in those where the guitar comes forward and present a more furious face. In the subdued reaches of “Ambrosia” (10:00) or even opener “Tantalos” (6:55), the feeling is still tense, to where over the course of the record’s 68 minutes, you’re almost waiting for the kick to come, which it reliably does, but the form that takes varies in subtle ways and the bleeding of songs into each other like “Omonoia” into “Ambrosia” — which crushes by the time it’s done — the delving into proggy astro-jazz on “Aeon” and the reaching heights of “Atreides” (which TV tells me is a Dune reference) assure that there’s more than one path that gets Noorvik to where they’re going. At 15:42, “The Feast” is arguably the most bombastic and the most ambient both, but if that’s top and bottom, the spaces in between are no less coursing, and in their willingness to be metal while also being post-metal, Noorvik bring excitement to a style that’s made a trope of its hyper-cerebral nature. This has that and might also wreck your house, and if you don’t think that’s a big difference, ask your house.

Noorvik on Facebook

Tonzonen Records website

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Doctors of Space, Mind Surgery

Wait. What? You mean to tell me that right now there are some people in the world who aren’t about to dig on 78 minutes’ worth of improvised psychedelic synth and guitar drones? Like, real people? In the world? What kind of terrible planet is this? Obviously, for Doctors of Space — Scott “Dr. Space” Heller (Øresund Space Collective) on synth, Martin Weaver (Wicked Lady) on guitar — this planet is nowhere near cool enough, and while it’s fortunate for the cosmos at large that once shared, these sounds have launched into the broader reaches of the solar system where they’ll travel as waves to be interpreted by some future civilization perhaps millions of years from now that evolved on a big silly rock a long, long way from here and those people will finally be the audience Doctors of Space richly deserve. But on Earth? Beyond a few loyal weirdos, I don’t know. And no, Doctors of Space aren’t shooting for mass appeal so much as interstellar manifestation through sound, but they do break out the drum machine on 23-minute closer “Titular Parody” to add a sense of ground amid all that antigravity float. Nonetheless, Mind Surgery is far out even for far out. If you think you’re up to it, get your head in the right mode first, because they might just open that thing up by the time they’re done.

Doctors of Space on Facebook

Space Rock Productions website

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Astral Pigs, Our Golden Twilight

Pull Astral Pigs‘ second album, Our Golden Twilight, out of the context of the band’s penchant for vintage exploitation horror and porn and the record’s actually pretty cool. The title-track and slower-rolling “Brass Skies/Funeral March” top seven minutes in succession following instrumental opener “Irina Karlstein,” and spend that time in nod-inducement that goes from catchy-and-kinda-slow to definitely-slow-and-catchy before the long stretch of organ starts the at least semi-acoustic “The Sigil” and “Dragonflies” renews the density of lumbering fuzz, the English-language lyrics from the Argentina-based four-piece giving a duly ceremonious feel to the doomly drama unfolding, but long song or shorter, their vibe is right on and well in league with DHU Records‘ ongoing fascination with aural cultistry. The Hammond provided by bassist/producer Fabricio Pieroni isn’t to be ignored for what it brings to the songs, but even just on the strength of their guitar and bass tones and the mood they conjure throughout, Our Golden Twilight, though just 25 minutes long, unquestionably flows like a full-length record.

Astral Pigs on Facebook

DHU Records store

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Carson, The Wilful Pursuit of Ignorance

No question, Carson have learned their lessons well, and I’ll admit, it’s been a while since a basically straightforward, desert-derived heavy rock record hit me with such an impression of songwriting as does their second full-length, The Wilful Pursuit of Ignorance. Issued through Sixteentimes Music, the eight-track/36-minute outing from the Lucerne-via-New-Zealand-based unit plays off influences like Kyuss, Helmet (looking at you, title-track), Dozer, Unida, and so on, and honest to goodness, it’s refreshing to hear a band so ready and willing to just kick ass musically. Not saying that an album with a title like this doesn’t have anything deeper to say, just that Carson make their offering without even a smidgeon of pretense about where they’re coming from, and from opener “Dirty Dream Maker” onward, their melody, their groove, their transitions and sharper turns are right on. It’s classic heavy rock, done impeccably well, made modern. A work of genre that argues in favor of itself and the style as a whole. If you were introducing someone to riff-based heavy, Carson would do the trick just fine.

Carson on Facebook

Sixteentimes Music website

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Isaurian, Deep Sleep Metaphysics

Comprised of vocalist Hoanna Aragão, guitarist/vocalist Jorge Rabelo (also keys, co-production, etc.), guitarist Guilerme Tanner, bassist Renata Marim and drummer Roberto Tavares, Brazil’s Isaurian adapt post-rock patience and atmospheric guitar methods to a melody-fueled heavy purpose. Production value is an asset working in their favor on their second full-length, Deep Sleep Metaphysics, and seems to be a consistent factor throughout their work since Matt Bayles and Rhys Fulber produced their first two EPs in 2017. Here it’s Muriel Curi (Labirinto) and Chris Common (Pelican, many others), who bring a decided sense of space that’s measurable from the locale difference in Aragão‘s and Rabelo‘s vocal levels from opener “Árida” onward. Their intensions vary throughout — “For Hypnos” has “everybody smokes pot”-esque gang chants near its finish, “The Dream to End All Dreams” is a piano-inclusive guitar-flourish instrumental, “Autumn Eyes” is duly mellow and brooding, “Hearts and Roads” delivers culmination in a brighter melodic wash ahead of a bonus Curi remix of the opener — but it’s the melodic nuance and the clarity of sound that pull the songs together and distinguish the band. They’ve been tagged as “heavygaze” and various other ‘-gaze’ whathaveyou, and they borrow from that, but their drive toward fidelity of sound makes them something else entirely. They should tour Europe asap.

Isaurian on Instagram

Isaurian on Bandcamp

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Kadavermarch, Into Oblivion

Hints of Kadavermarch‘s metallic origins — members having served in Helhorse, Illdisposed, as well as the Danish hip-hop group Tudsegammelt, and others — sneak into their songs both in the more upfront manner of harsher backing vocals on “The Eschaton” and the subsequent “Abyss,” and in some of the double-guitar work throughout, though their first album, Into Oblivion, sets their loyalties firmly in heavy rock. Uncle Acid may be an influence in terms of vocal melody, but the riffs throughout cuts like “Satanic” and “Reefer Madness” and the galloping “Flowering Death” are bigger and feel drawn in part from acts like The Sword and Baroness, delivered with a sharp edge. It’s a fascinating blend, and the recording on Into Oblivion lets it shine with a palpable band-in-the-room sensibility and stage-style energy, while still allowing enough breadth for a build like that in the finale “Beyond the End” to pay off the record as a whole. Capable craft, a sound on its way to being their own, a turquoise vinyl pressing, and a pedigree to boot — there’s nothing more I would ask of Into Oblivion. It feels like an opening salvo for a longer-term progression and I hope it is precisely that.

Kadavermarch on Facebook

Target Group on Bandcamp

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Büzêm, Here

The violence implied in the title “Regurgitated Ambition Consuming Itself” takes the form of a harsh wall of noise drone that, once it starts, continues to unfurl for the just-under-eight-minute duration of the first of two pieces on Büzêm‘s more simply named Here EP. The Portland, Maine, solo art project of bassist/anythingelse-ist Finn has issued a range of exploratory outings, mostly EPs and experiments put to tape, and that modus very much suits the avant vibe throughout Here, which is markedly less caustic in the more rumbling “In an Attempt to Become the Creator” — presumably about Jackson Roykirk — the 10 minutes of which are more clearly the work of a standalone bass guitar, but play out with a sense of the human presence behind, as perhaps was the intention. Here‘s stated purpose is meditative if disaffected, Finn turning mindfulness into an already-in-progress armageddon display, and fair enough, but the found recording at the end, or captured footsteps, whatever it is, relate intentions beyond the use of a single instrument. Not ever going to be universally accessible, nonetheless pushing the kind of boundaries of what’s-a-song that need to be pushed.

Büzêm on Facebook

BÜZÊM on Bandcamp

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Electric Mountain, Valley Giant

Can’t mess with this kind of heavy rock and roll. The fuzz runs thick, the groove is loose (not sloppy), and the action is go from start to finish. Electric Mountain‘s second LP, Valley Giant digs on classic desert-style heavy vibes, with “Vulgar Planet” riffing on Kyuss and Fu Manchu only after “Desert Ride” has dug headfirst into Nebula via Black Rainbows and cuts like “Outlanders” and the hell-yes-wah-bass of big-nodder “Morning Grace” have set the stage for stoner and rock, by, for and about being what it is. Picking highlights, it might be “A Fistful of Grass” for the angular twists of fuzz in the chorus, but “Vulgar Planet” and the penultimate acoustic cut “At Last Everything” both make a solid case ahead of the eight-plus-minute instrumental closing jam “A Thousand Miles High.” The band’s 2017 self-titled debut (also on Electric Valley Records) was a gem as well, and if they can get some forward momentum going on their side after Valley Giant, playing shows, etc., they’d be well placed at the head of the increasingly crowded Mexico City underground.

Electric Mountain on Facebook

Electric Valley Records website

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Hush, The Pornography of Ruin

Also stylized all-caps with punctuation — perhaps a voice commanding: HUSH. — Hudson, New York, five-piece Hush conjure seven songs and 56 minutes of alternately sprawling and oppressive atmospheric sludge on their third full-length, The Pornography of Ruin, and if you take that to mean the quiet parts are spaced and the heavy parts are crushing, well, that’s true too, but not exclusively the case. Amid lyrical poetry, melodic ranging, slamming rhythms — “There Can Be No Forgiveness Without the Shedding of Blood” walks by and waves, its hand bloody — and harsh shouts and screams, Hush shove, pull, bite and chew the consciousness of their listener, with the 12-minute “By This You Are Truly Known” pulling centerpiece duty with mostly whispers and ambience in a spread-out midsection, bookended by more slow-churning pummel. Followed by the shorter “And the Love of Possession is a Disease with Them,” the keyboard-as-strings “The Sound of Kindness in the Voice” and the likewise raging-till-it-isn’t-then-when-it-is-again closer “At Night We Dreamed of Those We Were Stolen From,” the consumption is complete, and The Pornography of Ruin challenges its audience with the weight of its implications and tones alike. And for whatever it’s worth, I saw these guys in Brooklyn a few years back and they fucking destroyed. They’ve expanded the sound a bit since then, but this record is a solid reminder of that force.

Hush on Instagram

Hush on Bandcamp

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