Hey all, we made it to the final day of the Winter 2020 Quarterly Review, so congrats to ‘us’ and by us I mean myself and anyone still reading, which is probably about two or three people. On my end today is completely manic in terms of real-life, offline logistics — much to do — but no way I’m letting one last batch of 10 reviews fall by the wayside, so rest assured, by the time this goes live, it’ll be complete, even though I’ve had to swap things out as some stuff has been locked into other coverage since I first slated it. Plenty around waiting to be written up. Perpetually, it would seem.

But before we dive in, thank you for reading if you’ve caught any part of this QR. I hope your 2020 is off to an excellent start and that finding new music to love is as much a part of your next 12 months as it can possibly be.

Quarterly Review #41-50:

Sunn O))), Pyroclasts

The narrative — because of course there’s a narrative; blessings and peace upon it — is that drone-metal progenitors Seeking a professional Uva Application Essay Online service? You've found the best online solution! Hire a thesis proofreading expert at a reasonable cost. Sunn O))), while in the studio recording earlier-2019’s dissertation of fault detection in induction motor using neural network UK is Best, As We Serve You Through Highly Qualified and Experienced Writers With Free of Plagiarism And Top Quality Cheap Essay Life Metal (review here) with Resume Writing Services - Reviews of the Best 5 Professional I Need To Do Homework Steve Albini, began each day doing a 12-minute improvised modal drone working in a different scale. They used a stopwatch to keep time. Thus the four tracks of A team of writers capable of writing a custom term paper for a low If you decide to purchase a paper from our Creative Writing Hsc, Pyroclasts were born. They all hover around 11 minutes after editing, which settles neatly onto two vinyl sides, and it’s the rawer vision of how to write a phd conclusion Custom University Admission Essay Keans Online dissertation francais plan apparent home work free Sunn O))), with just Offering professional College Coursework Help from top rated essay writers of Australia. Buy your custom essay online from a reputable writing service! Greg Anderson and follow at CourseExperts.co.uk We offer business coursework, law coursework & all coursework help at cheap rates. Learn how to write my coursework Stephen O’Malley‘s guitars, rather than some of the more elaborate arrangements which they’ve been known to undertake. That they’d put out two studio records in the same year is striking considering it had been four years since 2015’s Check out the Argumentative Essay About Education review to know more about pros & cons of this essay writing service Kannon (review here), but I think the truth of the matter is they had these tapes and decided they were worth preserving with a popular release. I wouldn’t say they were wrong, and the immersion here is a good reminder of the core appeal of Homework Helper Exponents is a community project which shares a free list of reliable editors which can be hired for your editing needs. Sunn O)))‘s conjured depths.

Sunn O))) on Bandcamp

Southern Lord Recordings website

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Crypt Sermon, The Ruins of Fading Light

Traditional doom rarely sounds as vital as it does in the hands of Admission Preparing A Business Plan 91504 Admission Essay Assistance 91504 - Title Ebooks : Admission Essay Assistance 91504 - Category : Kindle and eBooks PDF Crypt Sermon. The Philly five-piece return with disertation College When Writing A Paper Are Movies Underlined facts about buying research paper online admission college essay help vocabulary The Ruins of Fading Light on An essay service review will save you from disaster. Read essays in criticism online to choose the right writing agency. We reviewed all popular services! Dark Descent Records as an awaited follow-up to 2015’s Research Paper Summary Example at affordable rates from Om Data Entry India offers fast & best quality dissertation transcription services to globe Out of the Garden (review here) and thereby bring forth classic metal with all the urgency of thrash and the poise of the NWOBHM. Frontman how to write a business development plan Will I be able to write a quality essay? Who can offer me help in writing my essay paper? Where can I buy the best essay? These are Brooks Wilson — also responsible for the album art — is in command here and with the firm backing of bassist check my site - commit your task to us and we will do our best for you Use this service to get your profound essay handled on time leave behind those Frank Chin and drummer Enrique Sagarnaga, guitarists Steve Jannson and James Lipczynski offer sharpened-axe riffs and solo scorch offset by passages of keyboard for an all the more epic vibe. The rolling “Christ is Dead” is pure Candlemass, but the galloping “The Snake Handler” might be the highlight of the 10-track/55-minute run, though that’s not to take away either from the Dehumanizer chug of “Key of Solomon” or the melodic reach of the closing title-track either. Take your pick, really. It’s all metal as fuck and glorious for that. If they don’t sell denim jackets, they should.

Crypt Sermon on Thee Facebooks

Dark Descent Records on Bandcamp

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The Neptune Power Federation, Memoirs of a Rat Queen

“Can you dig what the Imperial Priestess is laying down?” is the central question of Memoirs of a Rat Queen, the first album from Sydney, Australia’s The Neptune Power Federation to be released through Cruz Del Sur Music, and it arrives over an ELO “Don’t Bring Me Down”-style arena rock beat on leadoff “Can You Dig?” as an intro to the rest of the LP. Strange, epic, progressive, traditional, heavy and cascading rock and roll follows, as intricate as it is immediately catchy, and whether it’s “Watch Our Masters Bleed” or “I’ll Make a Man out of You,” the Imperial Priestess Screaming Loz Sutch and company make it easy to answer in the affirmative. Arrangements are willfully over the top as “Bound for Hell” and “The Reaper Comes for Thee” engage a heavy rocker take on heavy metal’s legacy, maddened laughter and all in the latter track, which closes, and the affect on the listener is nothing less than an absolute blast — a reminder of the empowering sound of early metal on a disaffected generation in the late ’70s and early ’80s and how that same fist-pump-against-the-world has become timeless. No doubt the costumes and all that make The Neptune Power Federation striking live, but as Memoirs of a Rat Queen readily steps forward to prove, the songs are there as well.

The Neptune Power Federation on Thee Facebooks

Cruz Del Sur Music on Bandcamp

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Chron Goblin, Here Before

Have Chron Goblin been here before? The title of their album speaks to a kind of creepy deja vu feeling, and that’s emblematic of the Canadian band’s move away from the party rock of their past offerings, their last LP having been Backwater (review here) 2015. Fortunately, while they seek out some new aesthetic ground, the 11 tracks of Here Before do maintain Chron Goblin‘s penchant for straight-ahead songcraft and unpretentious execution — and frankly, that wasn’t at all broken. Neither, perhaps was the let’s-get-drunk-and-bounce-around spirit of their prior work, but they sound more mature in a song like the six-minute “Ghost” and “Slipping Under” (premiered here) successfully melds the shift in presentation with the energy of their prior output. Maybe it’s still a party but we watch horror movies? I don’t know. They’ve still got “Giving in to Fun” early in the tracklisting — worth noting it follows the swaying “Oblivion” — so maybe I’m misreading the whole thing, or maybe it’s more complex than being entirely one thing or the other might allow for. Perish the thought. Either way, can’t mess with the songs.

Chron Goblin on Thee Facebooks

Chron Goblin on Bandcamp

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Ethereal Riffian, Legends

Ukrainian heavy rockers Ethereal Riffian make a pointed sonic shift with their Legends album (on Robustfellow), keeping some of the grunge spirit in their melodies as the eight-minute “Moonflower” and closer “Ethereal Path” show, but in songs like “Unconquerable” and the early salvo of “Born Again,” “Dreamgazer” and “Legends” and even the second half of “Kosmic” and “Pain to Wisdom,” they let loose from some of the more meditative aspects of their past work with a fiery drive and a theme of enlightenment through political and social change. A kind of great awakening of the self. There’s still plenty of “ethereal” to go with all that “riffian” in the intro “Sage’s Alchemy,” or the first half of “Kosmic” or the CD bonus “Yeti’s Hide,” but no question the balance has tipped toward the straightforward, and the idea seems to be that the electrified feel is as much a part of the message as the message itself. The only trouble is that since putting Legends out, Ethereal Riffian called it quits to refocus their energies elsewhere in the universe. Are they really done? I’m skeptical, but if so, then at least they went out trying new things, which always seemed to be a specialty, and on a note of directly positive attitude.

Ethereal Riffian on Thee Facebooks

Robustfellow Productions on Bandcamp

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Parasol Caravan, Nemesis

A second long-player behind 2015’s Para Solem, the eight-song/35-minute Nemesis is not only made for vinyl, but it’s made for rockers. Specifically, heavy rockers. And it’s heavy rock, for heavy rockers. Based in Linz, Austria, the double-guitar four-piece Parasol Caravan have their sound and style on lockdown, and their work, while not really keeping any secrets in terms of where it’s coming from in its ’70s-via-’90s modern take, is brought to bear with a clarity that seems particularly derived from the European heavy rock tradition. Para Solem was longer and somewhat fuzzier in tone, but the stripped down approach of the title-track at the outset and its side B counterpart, “Serpent of Time” still unfold to a swath of ground covered, whether it’s in the subdued instrumental “Acceptance” or “Transition,” which follows the driving “Blackstar” and closes the LP with a bit of a progressive metal edge. Even that has its hook, though, and that’s ultimately the point.

Parasol Caravan on Thee Facebooks

Parasol Caravan on Bandcamp

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Golden Core, Fimbultýr

The title Fimbultýr translates to “mighty god” and is listed among the alternative names of Odin, which would seem to be who Oslo’s Golden Core have in mind in the leadoff title-track of their second album. Issued through Fysisk Format, it is not necessarily what one thinks of as “Viking metal” in the post-Amon Amarth or post-Enslaved context, but instead, the eight-song collection unfolds a biting modern sludge taking an edge of the earlier Mastodon lumber and bringing it to harshly-vocalized rollout. The 11-minute “Runatal” and only-seconds-shorter “Buslubben” are respective vocal points around which sides A and B of the release center, and each finds a way to give like emphasis to atmosphere and extremity, to stretch as well as pummel, and much to Golden Core‘s credit, they seem not only aware of the changes they’re presenting in their material, but in control of how and when they’re executed. The resulting linear flow of Fimbultýr, given the shifts within, isn’t to be understated as a victory on the part of the band.

Golden Core on Thee Facebooks

Fysisk Format on Bandcamp

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Black Smoke Omega, Harbinger

Harbinger may well be just that — a sign of things to come. The debut offering from Black Smoke Omega wraps progressive death-doom and gothic piano-led atmospherics around a thematic drawing from science-fiction, and while I’m not certain of the narrative being told by the Dortmund, Germany-based band, their method for telling it is fascinating. It’s not entirely seamless in its shifts, and it doesn’t seem like the band — seemingly spearheaded by multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Jack Nier, though Ashley James (The Antiquity) plays guitar on “A Man without a Heart” and Michael Tjanaka brings synth/piano to “Kainé” — want it to be, but there’s no denying that by the time “Falling Awake” seems to provide some melodic resolution to the often-slow-motion tumult prior, it’s doing so by bringing the different sides together. It’s a significant journey from the raw, barking shouts on “The Black Scrawl” and the lurching-into-chug-into-lurch of “The Man without a Heart” to get there, however. But this, too, seems to be on purpose. How it all might shake out feels like a question for the next release, but Black Smoke Omega seem poised here to leave heads spinning.

Black Smoke Omega on Thee Facebooks

Black Smoke Omega on Bandcamp

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Liquid Orbit, Game of Promises

While on the surface, Liquid Orbit might be on familiar enough ground with Game of Promises for anyone who has encountered the swath of up-and-comers working in the wake of Blues Pills, the Bremen, Germany, five-piece distinguish themselves through not just the keyboard work of Anders alongside Andree‘s guitar, Ralf‘s bass, Steve‘s drums and Sylvia‘s vocals, but also the shifts between funk, boogie, and edges of doom that play out in songs like “Shared Pain” and “Please Let Her Go,” as well as the title-track, which starts side B of the Nasoni Records-issued vinyl with a highlight guitar solo and an insistent snare tap beneath that works to bring movement to what’s still one of Game of Promises‘ shorter tracks at six and a half minutes, as opposed to the earlier eight-minute-toppers on side A or the psych-prog finale “Verlorene Karawane,” which translates in English to “lost caravan” and indeed basks in some Mideastern vibe and backward-effects vocal swirl. Bottom line, if you go into it thinking you know everything you’re getting, you’re probably selling it short.

Liquid Orbit on Thee Facebooks

Nasoni Records website

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Sun Below, Black Volume III

As the title hints, the name-your-price Black Volume III is the third EP release from Toronto’s Sun Below. All three have been issued over roughly a year’s span, and the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Jason Craig, drummer/backing vocalist Will Adams, bassist/backing vocalist Garrison Thordarson — who as far as I’m concerned wins this entire Quarterly Review when it comes to names; that’s an awesome name — and two have featured covers. On their debut, they took on “Dragonaut” by Sleep, and on Black Volume III, in following up the 12-minute nod-roller “Solar Burnout,” they thicken and further stonerize the catchy jaunt that is “Wires” by Red Fang. They’ve got, in other words, good taste. Black Volume III opens with “Green Visions” and thereby takes some righteous fart-fuzz for a walk both that and “Solar Burnout” show plenty of resi(n)dual Sleep influence, but honestly, it’s a self-releasing band with three dudes who sound like they’re having a really good time figuring out where they want to be in terms of sound after about a year from their first release, and if you ask anything else of Black Volume III than what it gives, you’re obviously lacking in context. Which is to say you’re fucking up. Don’t fuck up. Dig riffs instead.

Sun Below on Thee Facebooks

Sun Below on Bandcamp

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I like to think that usually when I put something up like this, it might catch eyes from a range of people, or if not, at least I don’t have a specific person in mind. This is not one of those posts. This post is made for one person in particular, and whoever you are, you all know that person. They’re the ones who piss and moan about how everything new sucks and there’s nothing good coming out like when they were 12 or whatever and nothing is cool and blah blah blah. Everyone knows that person. Sometimes I think we’ve all been that person, but there’s never been less of an excuse for being that person than there is now. New music is everywhere. Everywhere. Not only is it waiting to be discovered, it’s pretty much throwing itself in your face and screaming “HERE I AM AND ALSO I’M PROBABLY FREE AT LEAST TO STREAM!”

Short of new music showing up at your doorstep carrying a tray of warm blueberry muffins, I find it hard to think of ways in which it could be made easier than it is in this day and age. It’s one of the fringe benefits of the apocalypse in which we reside.

Case in point, here comes Ukrainian imprint Robustfellow Productions with a 42-track/three-plus-hour label sampler bringing together past releases with exclusive songs, upcoming stuff and a whole mess of styles rammed together for your, well, sampling convenience. Frankly, if you — yes, you — make it past Eternal Elysium and Thunderchief and are still complaining there’s nothing good out there, the problem isn’t the rest of the world, but even if they’re not your thing, there’s a ton of stuff here and I won’t even pretend to know it all. It just takes the smallest amount of digging through, that’s all.

So go on. It’s waiting for you:

Robustfellow Prods. is happy to present FREE music sampler featuring finest representatives of the robust scene for the recent times. Listen to the highlights form Robustfellow’s roster., Robust Digital releases that being streaming during this year plus a preview of what’s to grab in Robust Shop for next year.

Cup of robust tea full of psychedelic, sludge, prog, stoned, grunge, death, metalcore, black metal and all the celebrated genres.

https://robustfellow.bandcamp.com/album/robustfellow-sampler-2019

Cover artwork by ????????? ?????
Design by Konstantin Bikmulin
Sounds “AS IT IS”

Robustfellow Prods., 2019

Robustfellow Samper 2019
from A to Z:

Backchat [Kyiv, UA] War and Plague
Cold Shell [Kyiv, UA] You Think Too Much About Death*
Death Pill [Kyiv, UA] Go Your Way*
Dépaysement [Kyiv, UA] Ground Arms*
Doomed City (previously 5R6) [Kharkiv, UA] No Heroes
Eternal Elysium-official [Nagoya, JP] Burning A Sinner*
Ethereal Riffian [Kyiv, UA] Unconquerable
Freeky Cleen [Kyiv, UA] Done Time*
Gamardah Fungus [Dnipro, UA] Fetus Crying*
House Of Flowers [Dnipro, UA] Dawn
??? [Kharkiv, UA] ???
Knifeman [Kharkiv, UA] ?????
??ntur [Kyiv, UA] ??, ???? ??????? ???????
La Horsa Bianca [Kharkiv, UA] Da cao
Love’n’Joy [Kyiv, UA] Come about
Merzotna Potvora [Kyiv, UA] ?erne?*
???? [Kyiv, UA] ?.?.?.?.
NoT [Kharkiv, UA] A Penny (????????)
????? [Uzhgorod, UA] Ad Civitas Solis
One Magic Megawatt [Kyiv, UA] Die Every Night*
OOZE [Vasylkiv, UA] Backend
Pustosh [Vasylkiv, UA] Nespravzhni
Pyraweed [Baku, AZ] Man of the mountain
Red Eyed Hyena [Ivano-Frankivsk, UA] Tale of Marvin Heemeyer
Septa [Odessa, UA] The Tin Man
Shiva the Destructor [Kyiv, UA] Nirvana Beach*
Slice & Dice [Mykolaiv, UA] Filthy Basement
Sons of Alpha Centauri [London, UK] SS Montgomery (James Plotkin Remix)
stonefromthesky [Kyiv, UA] Confined
Straytones [Kyiv, UA] Dark Lord
Swörn [Turin, IT] Electric Saint
The Anchor Stones [Kyiv, UA] Love It
The COW [Kyiv, UA] PLATO
The Glober [Kharkiv, UA] Space Harmony
THUNDERCHIEF [Richmond, Virginia, US] Stone House
Tungu [Chernihiv, UA] ???????? ?????????*
Urgalia [Cherkassy, UA] GhostFloor*
Volver Stone [Zhytomyr, UA] Wasteland
VOVK [Kyiv, UA] The Last Ship Above the Sky
Vykroutas [Kyiv, UA] ??????? ???i? – ????? ?? ?i?*
Warningfog [Kyiv, UA] II. The Cow
We The Censors [Kyiv, UA] Keep It Up

* – ex?lusive tune

Enjoy the Eclectic Flight !

https://www.facebook.com/RobustfellowProds
https://robustfellow.bandcamp.com/

Back in May, Ukrainian heavy rockers Ethereal Riffian premiered the first single of their upcoming album, Legends, which was the title-track, here. With it, the Kiev-based four-piece showed a marked shift in aesthetic, adjusting the balance between the “ethereal” and the “riffian” portions of their sound to affect a much more straightforward attack than one had come to expect from their meditative, slowly unfolding contemplations prior. “Unconquerable,” which is the third single from Legends, with “Kosmic” having come out in June, follows suit in its relatively direct approach, and its chorus lyric, “No one can put the limit on fearless spirit,” summarizes the general perspective from which it’s working. The band have never been shy about stating their intentions and motivations, and clearly this time around the aim is to capture that indomitable thing in humanity that compels us to move forward, to explore and reach new places and new ideas. It is an optimistic vision of both the future and the present, perhaps written from a place of encouragement, like an existential pep talk to a world that — and I don’t think this is overstating it — only continues to feel more thoroughly fucked by the day.

I’ll forego talking about politics or culture on any grander scale — both because I find it personally exhausting and because if I had any insight into any of it, I’d probably be running for office instead of writing about Ukrainian rock videos — but yeah, it’s pretty clear that along with Ethereal Riffian‘s more grounded sound on Legends, they’re also engaging real-world issues in a straightforward manner. More power to them — as well as to the people. It can be hard when living in a moment to place it in a historical context. That is to say, everything now feels urgent because we don’t know yet to what it will lead. We see this in America with a systematic dismantling of democratic norms, and certainly the Ukraine has more than its share of conflict at present as well. That Ethereal Riffian see the line of human progression as being that — one of progress — is encouraging in itself, but as the uptempo kick of “Unconquerable” demonstrates, it’s as much a motivation for the future as well as a reflection on the past. Their aim is to tap into that very spirit and manifest it as an answer to this pivotal-seeming and undeniably troubled age.

One thing and then I’ll let you get to the video: It’s a common misconception — bred in no small part by the purposeful narrative — that Rosa Parks was just an old, tired lady on a bus who refused to move for a white man. She may indeed have been that, but she was also a civil rights activist for more than a decade at that point, and way more of a freedom fighter than the bystander history sometimes casts her as being. She was, then, even braver than she’s often credited for being. Just a thought in response to the quote below from the band.

Enjoy the video:

Ethereal Riffian, “Unconquerable” lyric video

Please welcome the third single from ‘Legends’ album.

Official lyric video for ‘Unconquerable’ from ‘Legends’ album.
Video by Anastasia Homenko.

“Behind every legend, there’s a legendary act. Behind every legendary act, there’s an unconquerable spirit. Spirit devoid of any fear, doubt and indecisiveness. It’s an invisible force that made Terry Fox run 5,373 kilometers with one leg to raise awareness of cancer. It’s what inspired tender woman Rosa Parks to stand up for the rights of black people in one of the most racist states of America. It’s the inner strength that made a man in a loincloth named Gandhi to unite the Indian nation despite incredible opposition. It’s the spirit that our times need most. The spirit that awaits to be awakened in each of us.”

Thanks to: Beachfront, Magges, Tony, NASA, Motion Digital, Taylor Mefford, Simon Maldoct, Motion Places, Mark Schellenberg, Stockfootage, William Ehrendreich, Creative Film, Val Kornev Photography

Ethereal Riffian is:
Val Kornev (aka Stonezilla) – guitar/vocal/lyrics
Alexander Kornev (aka SAF) – bass
Max Yuhimenko (aka Southman) – lead guitar
Nikita Shipovskoi (aka Ship) – drums

Ethereal Riffian on Bandcamp

Ethereal Riffian on Thee Facebooks

Ethereal Riffian on Instagram

Robustfellow Productions on Thee Facebooks

Robustfellow Productions on Instagram

Robustfellow Productions on Bandcamp

Just over a month ago, Ukrainian four-piece Ethereal Riffian saw fit to premiere the video here for the title-track of their forthcoming long-player, Legends. Details about the album at that point were pretty sparse, but now we’ve at least got cover, tracklisting and a proper release date to go on, as well as some information on the pressings. As ever, the Kiev-based meditative outfit have a host of differences between formats planned, including different masters and designs, as well as a box set edition to come from Robustfellow Productions. It is the band’s third album and first in half a decade — though they’ve hardly been idle in that time — and the release date is Sept. 6.

If you missed the video the first time around, it’s here at the bottom, and if you’re familiar with the band’s back catalog, I’m sure you’ll find it surprising in its straightforward attack. I’m still curious as to how that will play into the rest of the record, but at least now I know when we’ll find out.

From the PR wire:

Ethereal Riffian announce release details for “Legends”

Ethereal Riffian’s third full-length will be released via Robustfellow Prods. on the 6th of September 2019. Entitled “Legends”, the album will be available on CD/LP/MC and Digital format. Each album version will feature a different audio master and exclusive design. There will be a limited edition box prepared by the label and the band will allow you to dive deep into this massive legendary release.

‘Legends’ tracklist:

Sage’s Alchemy
Born Again
Dreamgazer
Legends
Kosmic
Unconquerable
Moonflower
Pain to Wisdom
Yeti’s Hide
Ethereal Path

The latest LP released by Ethereal Riffian, “Aeonian”, was released in January 2014, which makes of ‘Legends’ the band’s first full-length in more than five years. First single and music video from ‘Legends’ was released on the 14th of May. Artwork by Yura ‘xninja’ Nagorniy.

Ethereal Riffian is:
Val Kornev (aka Stonezilla) – guitar/vocal/lyrics
Alexander Kornev (aka SAF) – bass
Max Yuhimenko (aka Southman) – lead guitar
Nikita Shipovskoi (aka Ship) – drums

https://etherealriffian.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/etherealriffian/
https://www.instagram.com/etherealriffian/
https://twitter.com/EtherealRiffian
https://vk.com/etherealriffian
https://www.facebook.com/RobustfellowProds
https://robustfellow.bandcamp.com/

Ethereal Riffian, “Legends” official video

One of the aspects of Ethereal Riffian‘s approach that I find easiest to appreciate is how much conscious thought there is put into their work. The Ukrainian four-piece are prone to making mini-documentaries (see here and here) explaining their motivations and the concepts with which they’re working, and it’s a clarity of intent that in my mind at least makes them all the more of a progressive outfit. They will release their third album, Legends, later this year through respected purveyor Robustfellow Productions, and they give an enticing first glimpse of things to come in their new video for the title-track.

By the time Legends arrives, it will have been five years since Ethereal Riffian‘s last studio full-length, 2014’s Aeonian, though they’ve certainly had plenty out in between with two live albums, an EP and the various behind-the-scenes looks at what they do. Still, a new album is an exciting prospect, and they show off a striking turn with “Legends,” leaving behind the ritualism that pervaded the four longform tracks of Aeonian in favor of a more direct, grunge-influenced style. Their sense of melody still holds sway, but “Legends” works in a context of hooks that’s new for Ethereal Riffian and in just four minutes, it makes a striking statement of where the band are at in terms of their sound. More riffian than ethereal, if you will. The image in the video of hammering out metalwork does not seem accidental.

I don’t know how much “Legends” ultimately will speak for the album that shares its name — I think we’ve got a while to go before we get there — but I’ll hope to have more as the release date comes closer. Until then, try to keep in mind as you make your way through the quick four minutes of “Legends” that nothing Ethereal Riffian do happens by mistake, and that this turn in sound is part of the overarching consideration they bring to their material all the time. They discuss it a bit below, but I wouldn’t be surprised either if they dive deeper into the concepts as the year plays out.

Enjoy:

Ethereal Riffian, “Legends” official video premiere

Official music video for “Legends” (taken from “Legends” LP, to be released by Robustfellow Prods. in the second half of 2019).

Mysterious spiritualized rockers from Ukraine, Ethereal Riffian, are presenting the first single and music video from their forthcoming third LP. Directed by iconic Ukrainian director, Viktor Priduvalov, the new music video for the track ‘Legends’ showcases a drastic contrast with the band’s previous works. Frontman, Val Kornev, explains the shift in the band’s songwriting and overall direction:

“With current crises in worldwide leadership, ecology, education and, most and foremost, consciousness, we just can’t wait any longer to finally start doing things right. Enough of this bullshit! Our turbulent times require courageous decisions and robust music. Music that can get you going even if you’re descending straight into the depths of hell and know that this day can be your last. This is what this track is about. It’s about legends and you can become one too.”

Ethereal Riffian’s third full-length album, eponymous to the single, is set to be released in the second half of 2019 via Robustfellow Prods.

Produced by: Re:evolution Film
Director: Viktor Priduvalov
Director of photography: Eugene Kredentser
Assistant Cameraman: Ilya Pravdiviy
Producer: Viktor Sema
Light: Max Ruban
Post-production: Mental dRive Studio
Track was recorded, mixed and mastered at Bobina Records

Ethereal Riffian is:
Val Kornev (aka Stonezilla) – guitar/vocal/lyrics
Alexander Kornev (aka SAF) – bass
Max Yuhimenko (aka Southman) – lead guitar
Nikita Shipovskoi (aka Ship) – drums

Ethereal Riffian on Bandcamp

Ethereal Riffian on Thee Facebooks

Ethereal Riffian on Instagram

Robustfellow Productions on Thee Facebooks

Robustfellow Productions on Instagram

Robustfellow Productions on Bandcamp

Is it time to start looking forward to the new Ethereal Riffian album yet? Okay, good. Because I pretty much already was anyway. There’s nothing like being ahead of the game, and when it comes to the Kiev-based progressive, meditative, shamanic heavy rockers, whose sense of ritualism so righteously pervaded their Afterlight live album/DVD (review here), it’s worth keeping up with the process as it unfolds. Fortunately, they’re anything but shy when it comes to giving behind-the-scenes looks at what they do. The video portion of Afterlight was interspersed with documentary footage, and last year’s Relics (discussed here) found them talking about the making of their lush, personalized packaging for limited edition items that’s become such a part of their presentation, so that a release becomes a multi-sensory experience not just aurally or visually, but as well in terms of how it actually feels in your hands.

The Afterlight release seems particularly relevant when it comes to the making of Ethereal Riffian‘s next record. In a new video, the four-piece enter Bobina Records to begin a live demoing process for the aforementioned new album — their third behind 2014’s Aeonian and their 2011 debut, Shaman’s Visions — and they specifically note that recording live is something they decided to do after the live record. There’s a quote from yours truly included in the video — a nice little ego kick, and much appreciated — but more importantly, it’s a means for the band not only to make the tracking process more exciting for themselves, but to harvest that energy and inject it into the actual sound of what they’re creating. One should keep in mind they’re still just in the demo stage, so it’ll likely be a while before the album surfaces, but I get the feeling that Ethereal Riffian will bring us all in the loop as they move forward toward finalizing the album.

By the way, I find it very hard to believe they don’t have a title yet. No way a band who puts this much thought and concerted, self-aware effort into progressing their sound lets a thing like that go so long without being nailed down. They’re playing coy, keeping it up their sleeve until the time is right. That’s my bet, anyhow.

Frontman Val Kornev forwarded the video over, and my first question for him was how many they’ll be making. His answer: “4 to 6, haven’t decided yet.” Fair enough. I’ll do my best to keep up.

Enjoy the first clip below, followed by some quick word from Robustfellow Productions via thee social medias:

Ethereal Riffian, Recording Third LP – Video 1

Ethereal Riffian enters Bobina records studio to produce demo of the forthcoming album.

More news to follow soon.

Ethereal Riffian is:
Val Kornev (aka Stonezilla) – guitar/vocal/lyrics
Alexander Kornev (aka SAF) – bass
Max Yuhimenko (aka Southman) – lead guitar
Nikita Shipovskoi (aka Ship) – drums

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Say what you want about meditative Ukrainian psychedelic rockers Ethereal Riffian, they’re well documented. We’re little more than a month out from the release of their live-show/behind-the-scenes rock doc DVD Afterlight (review here), and already band-spearhead Val Kornev and company have a follow-up out. Ethereal Riffian Relics is shorter, apparently not looking to be feature-length this time out, and centers around the process of making special packaging for physical pressings, which is something I know damn well I’ve commented on the band doing on multiple occasions at this point. They’re good at it. It’s something worth talking about.

That said, I don’t know that I’ve ever encountered a band with such a singular drive to communicate their intentions flat out to their audience who still came off sounding so utterly mystical when you actually listen to their material. It’s quite a duality. I’d say maybe they’ll cover that in a documentary at some point, but I’m pretty sure they already have.

Here’s a pretty picture of a new release wrapped in fabric and some info from the PR wire, and of course the video itself, which is up on YouTube now. Enjoy:

Ukrainian psych rockers ETHEREAL RIFFIAN celebrate the release of their documentary “Ethereal Riffian Relics”

Psychedelic ritualists ETHEREAL RIFFIAN announce the release of a new documentary. “Ethereal Riffian Relics” is dedicated to the band’s very special approach to crafting limited editions. It’s divided into two parts: in the first one, frontman Val Kornev answers 10 questions about ETHEREAL RIFFIAN’s limited editions series ; in the second one, all limited editions created by the band to date are showcased.

The band comments: “We already have a short documentary called “Robust Rehearsal”, which describes the background of the band, its creative world, work in literature and its very essential philosophical and spiritual components,” says band leader Val Kornev. “And now we release “Ethereal Riffian Relics” documentary which explains the role of visual presentation and can help our listeners to create a more thorough understanding of our work. This short film will be of interest for all lovers of limited editions, for those who already create exclusive items and for those who only have an intention to create it”.

The release of the documentary is supported by the unprecedented 3-day 30% sale on all merchandise, which will serve as a fundraising campaign for the recording of the band’s third LP, to take place next year. Sale starts on the 9th of October and ends on the 12th of October. The discount can be obtained by entering a code-name “peace2all” when checking-out on Bandcamp.

ETHEREAL RIFFIAN discography
2011 – Shaman’s Visions (CD)
2012 – Shaman’s Visions (CD re-master)
2012 – Dkyil Khor (3” CD single)
2014 – Aeonian (CD/LP/MC/Book)
2016 – Youniversal Voice (live album) (CD)
2016 – I AM. Deathless (EP) (CD)
2017 – Afterlight (DVD)

“We sincerely hope that the message carefully integrated in our music is able to induce our listeners, and now our readers as well, to open up the new facets of existence and kindle the light of their true self, which will not dim even in the darkest times.” — ER team

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Ethereal Riffian, Relics documentary

The word progressive, especially in a musical context, can have any number of definitions. It can convey a focus on technique, a history of intellectualism that goes back decades, can relate to politics as much as style or can be a nebulous genre catchall. For me, a band or release is progressive when it shows real consideration in some element of its craft and/or presentation. When a band puts care and thought into what they do and always keep in mind a sense of artistic growth, of — wait for it — progression. That’s pretty open, but not at all universal, and there are few acts who emphasize precisely the sort of creative willpower sonic progressivism as Ukrainian heavy ritualists Ethereal Riffian.

Among groups I’ve had the pleasure to encounter the last few years, the Kiev-based outfit stand out not only in sound, drawing from the meditative heavy psych of Om and blending that patience with expanded arrangements of guitar and a wide swath of other instrumentation rooted in semi-Opethian prog metal and a shamanist-minded thematic, but in their utter purposefulness and their attention to detail. The physical pressings of their material are as intricate and gorgeous as their music is immersive. Atmosphere is no less paramount than how the songs themselves are crafted. They engage intellectually, spiritually and emotionally in what they do, and after a productive span that brought forth offerings like the I am Deathless two-song EP (review here) and the live  Youniversal Voice (review here) in 2016, Ethereal Riffian now delve the furthest they’ve gone yet into their mythos with the Afterlight DVD.

It’s a concert documentary, yes. They play a show. There’s a tracklisting. Songs are aired from a selection of concerts. But it’s more than just that. Beginning with a spoken intro about the band’s philosophy as regards the nature of music, Afterlight goes onto work its way through Shamanism, Buddhism and Mysticism — how these things relate to Ethereal Riffian, tying in the migration from Russian of the peoples who would become Native Americans over a course of centuries with an artistry and fluidity that one can hear being brought to bear in the fluidity of their psychedelic metal, chants and richly atmospheric execution of their material, which even live comes through with a balance every bit worthy of its heady conceptual foundations.

Over the course of more than an hour and 40 minutes, Afterlight brims with purpose across multiple acts defined by these concepts and as the band rightly postulates, gives its audiences the most in-depth look at who they are and where they’re coming from that they’ve yet showcased. This is a limited-time screening. It will be available for five days, and after that, it gets pulled and the only way to view Afterlight will be by ordering it from Ethereal Riffian‘s Bandcamp. If you go that route, you should know it comes with a wax seal, and of course the artwork and packaging are crazy lux, as is the band’s wont.

So please, enjoy this one while you can. And as you dig in below, keep in mind the transitory nature of creativity itself, because I can just about guarantee that wherever Ethereal Riffian go from here, it’s going to be on a different plane than this or anything that’s preceded it.

Here we go:

Ethereal Riffian, Afterlight DVD limited screening

Limited time, 5-day screening of Afterlight DVD is available exclusively via https://theobelisk.net/

Buy physical copy via http://etherealriffian.bandcamp.com/

Spiritualized rockers from Ukraine Ethereal Riffian have launched the “Afterlight” DVD, which showcases the results of the band’s 6-year work. “Afterlight” is a conceptual work and its main theme is spiritual liberation in different spiritual traditions, namely – Shamanism, Buddhism and Mysticism. The DVD features:

– Full overview of Ethereal Riffian’s creative universe
– Animated videos uncovering the spiritual journey of “Afterlight’s” main characters
– Special structure with three acts, introduction and epilogue that gives the DVD a logical inception and ending.
– Unique bonuses including official music video, two documentaries, archive with rare photos and more
– Mesmerizing artwork

“Since 2013 I wanted to have a single release that can give a versatile overview of the band’s creative work – its music, philosophy, approach to limited editions and live potential. And now we have it,” says Val Kornev, the frontman of the band. “With this release we, on one hand, aim to crystalize all our work and ideas since the inception of the band, and on the other hand, we want to show the quintessential component which unites all spiritual paths. For the band this release marks the end of the first chapter in its history and the beginning of the new one.”

Tracklist of the “Afterlight” DVD
1. Whispering of the Ancients
2. Beyond
3. Transoma
4. Wakan Tanka
5. Thugdam
6. March of Spiritu
7. Anatman
8. Drum of the Deathless
9. Sword of the Deathless
10. Light of Self

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