Bemasked UK ubersludgers Froglord are issuing their new album, the live-recorded Lower & Slower Vol. 1, on March 4 as a charity offering for, suitably enough, the Waterfowl and Wetland Trust (WWT). It’s the sixth full-length outing from the Bristol four-piece, and is comprised of songs from their already-weighty back catalog reinterpreted as per the title. Thus opener “They Came From Saturn,” which was about five minutes long on 2021’s The Mystic Toad, now tops seven. And even if the subsequent “Road Rasin” from 2023’s Sons of Froglord (review here) isn’t much slower than the original, the ‘lower’ part comes into play for sure, as the bottom end density is increased and the whole thing lurches in a different way.
I’m all for bands screwing with past material — there’s no reason not to if you’re so inclined; just because something’s recorded once doesn’t mean that’s the way it has to be played or heard forever — and Froglord have good cause to re-tackle “Green Inferno” (also from The Mystic Toad), the feedback, low-mouth vocal declarations and chunk-riffing of which comes across with all the more a sense of tonal worship in this incarnation. The vocals are cleaner than the original, but work with the drama of the lurching procession, in which Froglord revel. And in no small part because they’re so very obviously having fun taking it down a notch in terms of tempo and tuning, Lower & Slower Vol. 1 is a good time.
Plus helping wetlands. The reason I’m hesitant to think of Lower & Slower Vol. 1 as Froglord‘s sixth record is that the band usually follow some version of a stated narrative in terms of lyrics, and with a compilation of past material topped off by a cover of Black Sabbath‘s “Iron Man,” that becomes a harder aesthetic sell. They call it a pause.
Does it matter? Not really. The seven-track collection proceeds (the weedian) with aplomb regardless, and if they’re willing to break the fourth wall of their own presentation, I don’t think that invalidates the work. Maybe if one had a sentimental attachment to “Die by the Slime” as it appeared on 2024’s Live by the Fuzz or Die by the Slime EP, they’d be pissed about how that chugging hook takes on a different feel here, but come on. You’re listening to a band comprised of four dudes in frog masks singing and playing theatrical songs about magic swamp creatures. Maybe you’re more open-minded than you think.
“Ecocide” makes its second charitable appearance on a Froglord release, having shown up on 2021’s Save the Frogs EP, which benefitted savethefrogs.com. After the cleaner vocals in “Road Raisin” and “They Came From Saturn,” some rawer shouts and screams are a welcome shift into sludgier extremity. It might be my favorite of the bunch, but “Swamp Boogie” is a Froglord staple, and it closes the originals on Lower & Slower Vol. 1 with a duly massive roll. It’s less boogie than the title would have you believe, but it’s a tradeoff when thickened up, and the nod and noise satisfy going into the fade from which the telltale thuds of “Iron Man” begin.
That’s not a minor song to take on. It’s one of the most broadly recognizable pieces of heavy metal — never mind sludge, doom, etc. — ever made, and Froglord go the correct route in making it their own in keeping with the titular ethic of this LP. They tune it lower, and they play it slower. Shocking, I know. It’s a good bit of fun, which I guess you could say for the whole release, but don’t take that to mean it isn’t gruesome in its darkness or oppressive in tone, because it very much is both of those things. It might seem a little out of place in concept — here’s a revisit of older songs oh and by the way we also did metal’s national anthem — but it makes more sense when you hear it. If Froglord have emerged from the swamp, surely Black Sabbath are the mud in which they spawned.
Hail that spawn, and hail the mud. Hail the wetlands and dirt-distortion and you for embracing weird shit.
More info on the charitable aspect follows “Iron Man” below, courtesy of the PR wire:
Froglord, “Iron Man (Lower & Slower)”
FROGLORD – Lower & Slower Vol. 1 – Raising money for WWT – the wetland charity
Returning with brand new masks, costumes, and a 6th studio album, Froglord deliver another massive offering of amphibious swamp doom. Recorded live in the studio in a single take, Lower & Slower briefly pauses the band’s concept storytelling of the Tale of The Froglord saga, instead revisiting six previously released tracks from across their discography.
Presenting alternate versions of each track, the band downtunes even lower, playing each at funeral marching speeds. The result; the heaviest fuzz-drenched doom, the band has ever produced. Like a black hole at the centre of the swamp, this album is a nod to bands like Conan, Monolord, and Weedeater. As well as covering several of their biggest swamp anthems, including They Came From Saturn and Green Inferno, the record concludes with a collosal cover of Sabbath’s Iron Man.
At its core, Froglord have always been an enviromentally-driven band. Through their fundraising and tale of an amphibious deity, reeking vengenace on humanity for the environmental destruction they caused. Froglord continue that legacy, using this album to campaign and raise money for Waterfowl & Wetland Trust (WWT) – the wetland charity.
Wetlands are one of the most important and biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, which is why WWT are on a mission to create and restore 100,000 hectares of wetlands across the UK, by 2050.
To support this cause, Froglord are donating 100% of all digital proceeds from Lower & Slower, and 50% of all physical media and merch profits to WWT.
With digital preorders available from the band’s Bandcamp page; CDs, Cassettes and merch available from Bigcartel, the campaign will running until the end of May. Lower & Slower Vol.1 will out on March 4th.
Posted in Reviews on February 11th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Generally speaking, reviewing compilations is kind of pointless. I recognize that’s no way to start a compilation review — at least not the most encouraging way — but I’ve found over the years that by the time you get done saying who’s involved, maybe why if there is a reason as there is here, and what they’re doing, you’re done. There’s no real chance to dig in, and I’ll admit that with a digital comp of the sort that boasts 21 bands and runs 111 minutes long, that’s no less the case. But The Mindful Collective was put together at the behest of OHMs Peak, which does these things, to benefit Music and Memory, which uses playlists (né mixtapes) to trigger recognition from dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. Thus the full title: The Mindful Collective: A Charity Compilation Supporting Music & Memory. The idea is that music can “restore a sense of self.” Fair enough. It’s been giving me a sense of self since I was like eight.
I could sit here and list out the 21 acts taking part, but cut and paste is more efficent, so here it is from the Bandcamp page:
Tracklisting:
1. Lower Slaughter – Take A Seat 04:02
2. Torpedo Torpedo – Fade 05:22
3. Domkraft – Spiral Noises 05:16
4. KNUB – Wet Lung 05:34
5. Spiralpark – Slumber 04:47
6. Kal-El – Cloud Walker 06:55
7. Beneath a Steel Sky – Everyone you’ve ever known 04:35
8. Fomies – Neon Gloom 03:35
9. Blessings – No Good Things 03:44
10. CHEEKS – hi list 2 die list 03:21
11. Pothamus – Zhikarta 07:26
12. Cosmic Reaper – Bloodfeather 06:03
13. Apex Ten – Ruthless 06:26
14. Froglord – Follow the Star 04:00
15. All is Violent – Born Of Kalahari 04:47
16. Sheev – Tüdelüt 05:01
17. coastlands – hollowing 05:51
18. Bask – In the Heat of the Dying Sun 04:57
19. Sunbreather – WINE 06:07
20. Doble Sesión Nocturna – Acto III: Que No Quede Ninguno 05:44
21. K L P S – TRIBULATION 08:06
Now you see why we’re really here. From the big tones of Froglord to the big melodies of Fomies to the big tones and melodies of Kal-El, the listener taking on The Mindful Collective will definitely get a sense of the taste behind the curation, and that gives a progression to the tracks as each plays out. Torpedo Torpedo are thicker sounding than Lower Slaughter, who give a rocking start, and Domkraft make density groove. They, Kal-El, Bask, Pothamus and KLPS brooding and lumbering at the end might be the heaviest of what’s included, but All is Violent — who are new to me, thanks OHMs Peak — the blackened post-rock of lowercase-‘C’ coastlands remind that there’s more than one definition of heavy. So it is that KNUB‘s noisy crunch speaks to the punk underlying the rush of Spiralpark‘s “Slumber,” or the cultish riffing of Cosmic Reaper acts as a go-between for the crush of Pothamus and instrumentalists Apex Ten, whose melodic flourish is recognizable in “Ruthless.”
Understand, I’m not saying that what I generally think of reviewing comps doesn’t apply here, just that it doesn’t actually stop the compilation from either (1:) being good, or (2:) attracting attention and some amount of money for a worthy cause. The Mindful Collective does both these things, while remaining stylistically cohesive despite showcasing variety. Sheev later on hint toward the hardcore aspects of Cheeks earlier, whereas the bombastic breakout later in Cheeks‘ “Hi List 2 Die List” locks in a nod that would have to make Domkraft smile. One foot seems to be kept in the post-metallic, or at very least atmospheric heavy — to be less genre-specific; because it isn’t about genre so much as the music itself — but the fuzz-laden roll of Sunbreather‘s “Wine” makes a welcome touch-ground after the progressive churn of Bask‘s “In the Heat of the Dying Sun,” and Doble Sesión Nocturna drench their doom in reverb and space it out, adding both a meditative aspect and echoing reach in the penultimate spot before KLPS bring it back around to the onslaught.
The primary power of compilations comes in exposure. A comp can let a band give a listener a sampling and entice them to dig further. Maybe that’s an oldschool way of thinking — or just old — but if you replace ‘comp’ with ‘algorithm-dictated playlist’ the same applies. I said above that All is Violent were new to me, and they’re not alone here. Blessings, Coastlands, Spiralpark, Doble Sesión Nocturna, Cheeks and the airy post-sludge of Beneath a Steel Sky are less familiar than the likes of Kal-El or Domkraft or even the mighty Froglord for me, and of course no experience is universal, so a given listener will be intrigued by different stretches of the 21-track outing, and it feels like The Mindful Collective is aware of this (that’s not to say ‘mindful,’ because if I did I’d have to punch myself in the face) and accounts for it in the curation. You might think of a compilation modeled on style, where it’s less about what a given act is saying than how they ‘fit’ in terms of genre. As noted, this isn’t that. There’s cohesion in sound as it all works under the umbrella of ‘heavy,’ but even among groups who share arrangement elements or have some likeness of mood, each is differentiated by its place in the overarching flow, and so each gets its moment of genuine showcase. I could see wanting to chase down more from any number of these acts, from Lower Slaughter to KLPS, in no small part because I have.
And then you get to the practical reality that when you shell out eight dollars or however much of your hard-earned, you’re supporting the same people who someday are going to come to you in the rest home and play you this mix so you can remember who you are, and that adds another layer of meaning. So often a compilation’s true impact isn’t until years and years afterward, and I don’t think there’s anything so ambitious happening here — the songs donated by bands aren’t exclusive so far as I’ve checked, for example — but the fact of the matter is whether you’re a longtime convert or making your first forays into heavier styles, there is a ton on The Mindful Collective to dig into, and the worthiness of the cause speaks further to the value of the art. At the very least, it’s the kind of thing one might want to support, regardless of how a given individual feels about reviewing compilations.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 24th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
You can see on the poster below it says ‘last names are in,’ which means that yes indeed, this is the final lineup announcement for Desertfest Belgium 2025 this Oct. 17-19 in Antwerp. Seeing the complete bill is cool in itself, from Graveyard and YOB to Elephant Tree, Acid Mammoth, Black Capricorn and Froglord from this latest announcement, it’s another cross-generational assemblage that, front to back, screams quality. I mean really. Colour Haze, Lowrider, High Desert Queen, Mars Red Sky, MR.BISON, Wren and Oranssi Pazuzu, and that’s hardly scratching the surface. It’s going to be a hell of a weekend.
That’s been the case for a few years with Desertfest‘s Fall flagship edition. Desertfest Belgium has become an epicenter and an intersection on the Fall circuit, but the assemblage is stunning well before you get to it being Orange Goblin‘s last Belgian date ever or Acid King doing two sets — which is probably the only way to top Acid King doing one set — the Mars Red Sky and Monkey3 collab, or Psychlona‘s unmitigated hookmaking. Oh yeah, and Bongripper will be there. So it’s “all this and crush the universe too.” If you’ll be in attendance, mark yourself lucky. Also, note to self: check out Marx.
From socials:
We are beyond thrilled to announce no less than 14 (!) new bands that will be gracing the Desertfest Antwerp stages this fall. Please welcome:
Elephant Tree 🌑 Mephistofeles 🌑 Acid Mammoth 🌑 Nightstalker 🌑 Telepathy 🌑 Black Capricorn 🌑 Froglord 🌑 FVZZ POPVLI 🌑 Huracán 🌑 GROS COEUR 🌑 T E R Z I E L E 🌑 Fomies 🌑 Scott Hepple and The Sun Band 🌑 MARX
Just a quick note that Hedonist will play DF on Saturday 18/10 (instead of Friday) and that Neànder will play DF on Friday 17/10 (instead of Saturday).
All your tickets can be found at the usual spot right now.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 30th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
I don’t know what you say about Desertfest London beyond I wish I was going. That’s all I’ve got. It’s a beautiful thing the Desertscene crew put together for 2025. A thing to admire. Whether you look at it with Elder‘s ascent to headliner status alongside Zeal & Ardor and Earth, all representing an expanded-style mindset, or are stoked for the likes of Stoned Jesus, Lowrider, Maha Sohona (who told me on Facebook they have a new album completely done; sadly there was no follow-up with “…and here it is so you can hear it”), Josiah, Dopelord, Bobbie Dazzle and Slift, or if you’re just happy Elephant Tree are getting back out, or that 10,000 Years are getting a look, or Black Willows who are so fucking heavy, or maybe you’re me and you’re just happy for a couple killer American bands set to make the trip: Kind, Hippie Death Cult, Worshipper, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, Castle Rat. I could go on here, but the point is there’s a lot to like. I won’t be there to see it, but knowing it’s a thing that’s happening on the same planet where I live is some comfort.
Oh, and yeah, like the headline says, day splits happened and Lowrider, Dopelord, Khan and a slew of others have joined the bill, which I guess is done now? We’ll see. Here’s what came down the PR wire:
DESERTFEST LONDON ANNOUNCES DAY SPLITS, DAY TICKETS & 15 NEW ARTISTS FOR 2025
Desertfest London have announced day-splits along with 15 more bands for 2025 in a line-up that promises to take its audience on a cosmic trip across the heavy realms this Spring in the heart of Camden Town.
The latest artists to join the 2025 fold include French celestial psych-metal trio Slift, seminal Swedish stoner rock trailblazers Lowrider, and Polish doom smokers Dopelord, making a long-awaited return to the Desertfest stage since their last appearance in 2018.
Elsewhere, Melbourne, Australia’s Khan will bring their hazy psychedelia back to the UK, while Norwegian quintet Dunbarrow have been summoned to bring their brand of proto-doom, played the old way, in a new age.
These latest additions join festival headliners Zeal & Ardor, returning to London to headline the Roundhouse after a triumphant sell-out of Shepherd’s Bush Empire on the heels of their critically acclaimed 2024 release ‘GREIF’.
Sunday sees Seattle drone legends Earth make their Desertfest debut, headlining the Electric Ballroom. This show marks their first appearance on UK soil in 6 years. Meanwhile, Friday headliners Elder will usher in the festival’s 13th edition with their progressive psychedelic sounds as they celebrate 10 years of ‘Lore’ at its rightful home on the Desertfest stage.
Desertfest 2025 Day Splits FRIDAY 16TH MAY 2025 ELDER STONED JESUS | LOWRIDER THE DEVIL & THE ALMIGHTY BLUES | ELEPHANT TREE | HIPPIE DEATH CULT SERVO | KIND | 10,000 YEARS | BLACK ELEPHANT | DEVILLE VOLCANOVA | YETTI | ERRONAUT | FREE RIDE | DRESDEN WOLVES
SATURDAY 17TH MAY 2025 ZEAL & ARDOR AMENRA | PALLBEARER | CONAN PLANET OF ZEUS | AVON | SONS OF ALPHA CENTAURI MAHA SOHONA | SCOTT HEPPLE & THE SUN BAND | TORUS GREEN MILK FROM THE PLANET ORANGE | JOSIAH EL MOONO | FROGLORD | WORSHIPPER | LONGHEADS BARBARIAN HERMIT | LUST RITUAL | WITCHORIOUS | VERMINTHRONE
SUNDAY 18TH MAY 2025 EARTH SLIFT | CHÖD | DOPELORD CASTLE RAT | KHAN | RICKSHAW BILLIE’S BURGER PATROL | DUNBARROW MR BISON | THE HAZYTONES | BOBBIE DAZZLE | BLACK WILLOWS KING BOTFLY | SLUMP | THIS SUMMIT FEVER
Welcome back to the Summer 2023 Quarterly Review. I hope you enjoyed the weekend. Today we dig in on the penultimate — somehow my using the word “penultimate” became a running gag for me in Quarterly Reviews; I don’t know how or why, but I think it’s funny — round of 10 albums and tomorrow we’ll close out as we hit the total of 70. Could easily have kept it going through the week, but so it goes. I’ll have more QR in September or October, I’m not sure yet which. It’s a pretty busy Fall.
Today’s a wild mix and that’s what I was hoping for. Let’s go.
Quarterly Review #51-60:
Weite, Assemblage
Founded by bassist Ingwer Boysen (also High Fighter) as an offshoot of the live incarnation of Delving, of which he’s part, Weite release the instrumental Assemblage as a semi-improv-sounding collection of marked progressive fluidity. With Delving and Elder‘s Nick DiSalvo and Mike Risberg in the lineup along with Ben Lubin (Lawns), the story goes that the four-piece got to the studio with nothing/very little, spent a few days writing and recording with the venerable Richard Behrens helming, and Assemblage‘s four component pieces are what came out of it. The album begins with the nine-minutes-each pair of the zazzy-jazzy mover “Neuland,” while “Entzündet” grows somewhat more open, a lead guitar refrain like built around drum-backed drone and keys, swelling in piano-inclusive volume like Crippled Black Phoenix, darker prog shifting into a wash and more freaked-out psych rock. I’m not sure those are real drums on “Rope,” or if they are I’d love to know how the snare was treated, but the song’s a groover just the same, and the 14-minute “Murmuration” is where the styles unite under an umbrella of warm tonality and low key but somehow cordial atmosphere. If these guys want to get together every couple years into perpetuity and bang out a record like this, that’d be fine.
The fourth album from Portland, Oregon’s Mizmor — the solo-project of multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, vocalist, etc.-ist A.L.N. — arrives riding a tsunami of hype and delivers on the band’s long-stated promise of ‘wholly doomed black metal.’ With consuming distortion at its heart from opener/longest track (immediate points) “Only an Expanse” onward, the record recalls the promise of American black metal as looser in its to-tenet conformity than the bulk of Europe’s adherents — of course these are generalizations and I’m no expert — by contrasting it rhythmically with doom, which instead of fully releasing the tension amassed by the scream-topped tremolo riffing just makes it sound more miserable. Doom! “No Place to Arrive” is admirably thick, like noisy YOB on charred ambience, and “Anything But” draws those two sides together in more concise and driving style, vicious and brutal until it cuts in the last minute to quiet minimalism that makes the slam-in crush of 13-minute closer “Acceptance” all the more punishing, with plenty of time left for trades between all-out thrust and grueling plod. Hard to call which side wins the day — and that’s to Mizmor‘s credit, ultimately — but by the end of “Acceptance,” the raging gnash has collapsed into a caldera of harsh sludge, and it no longer matters. In context, that’s a success.
With a couple quick drum taps and a clearheaded strum that invokes the impossible nostalgia of Bruce Springsteen via ’90s alt rock, Netherlands-based The Whims of the Great Magnet strolls casually into “Same New,” the project’s first outing since 2021’s Share My Sun EP. Working in a post-grunge style seems to suit Sander Haagmans, formerly the bassist of Sungrazer and, for a bit, The Machine, as he single-track/double-tracks through the song’s initial verse and blossoms melodically in the chorus, dwelling in an atmosphere sun-coated enough that Haagmans‘ calls it “your new summer soundtrack.” Not arguing, if a one-track soundtrack is a little short. After a second verse/chorus trade, some acoustic weaves in at the end to underscore the laid back feel, and as it moves into the last minute, “Same New” brings back the hook not to drive it into your head — it’s catchy enough that such things aren’t necessary — but to speak to a traditional structure born out of classic rock. It does this organically, with moderate tempo and a warm, engaging spirit that, indeed, evokes the ideal images of the stated season and will no doubt prove comforting even removed from such long, hot and sunny days.
German instrumentalists Sarkh follow their 2020 full-length, Kaskade, with the four-song/31-minute Helios EP, issued through Worst Bassist Records. As with that album, the short-ish offering has a current of progressive metal to coincide with its heavier post-rock affect; “Zyklon” leading off with due charge before the title-track finds stretches of Yawning Man-esque drift, particularly as it builds toward a hard-hitting crescendo in its second half. Chiaroscuro, then. Working shortest to longest in runtime, the procession continues with “Kanagawa” making stark volume trades, growing ferocious but not uncontrolled in its louder moments, the late low end particularly satisfying as it plays off the guitar in the final push, a sudden stop giving 11-minute closer “Cape Wrath” due space to flesh out its middle-ground hypothesis after some initial intensity, the trio of guitarist Ralph Brachtendorf, bassist Falko Schneider and drummer Johannes Dose rearing back to let the EP end with a wash but dropping the payoff with about a minute left to let the guitar finish on its own. Germany, the world, and the universe: none of it is short on instrumental heavy bands, but the purposeful aesthetic mash of Sarkh‘s sound is distinguishing and Helios showcases it well to make the argument.
A 2LP second long-player from mostly-traditionalist doom metallers Spiritual Void, Wayfare seems immediately geared toward surpassing their 2017 debut, White Mountain, in opening with “Beyond the White Mountain.” With a stretch of harsher vocals to go along with the cleaner-sung verses through its 8:48 and the metal-of-eld wail that meets the crescendo before the nodding final verse, they might’ve done it. The subsequent “Die Alone” (11:48) recalls Candlemass and Death without losing the nod of its rhythm, and “Old” (12:33) reaffirms the position, taking Hellhound Records-style methodologies of European trad doom and pulling them across longer-form structures. Following “Dungeon of Nerthus” (10:24) the shorter “Wandering Doom” (5:31) chugs with a swing that feels schooled by Reverend Bizarre, while “Wandersmann” (13:11) tolls a mournful bell at its outset as though to let you know that the warm-up is over and now it’s time to really doom out. So be it. At a little over an hour long, Wayfare is no minor undertaking, but for what they’re doing stylistically, it shouldn’t be. Morose without melodrama, Wayfare sees Spiritual Void continuing to find their niche in doom, and rest assured, it’s on the doomier end. Of doom.
Even when The River make the trade of tossing out the aural weight of doom — the heavy guitar and bass, the expansive largesse, and so on — they keep the underlying structure. The nod. At least mostly. To explain: the long-running UK four-piece — vocalist Jenny Newton, guitarist Christian Leitch (formerly of 40 Watt Sun), bassist Stephen Morrissey and drummer Jason Ludwig — offer a folkish interpretation of doom and a doomed folk on their fourth long-player, the five-song/40-minute A Hollow Full of Hope taking the acoustic prioritizing of a song like “Open” from 2019’s Vessels into White Tides (review here) and bringing it to the stylistic fore on songs like the graceful opener “Fading,” the lightly electric “Tiny Ticking Clocks” rife with strings and gorgeous self-harmonizing from Newton set to an utterly doomed march, or the four-minute instrumental closer “Hollowful,” which is more than an outro if not a completely built song in relation to the preceding pieces. Melodic, flowing, intentional in arrangement, meter, melody. Sad. Beautiful. “Exits” (9:56) and “A Vignette” (10:26) — also the two longest cuts, though not by a ton — are where one finds that heft and the other side of the doom-folk/folk-doom divide, though it is admirable how thin they make that line. Marked progression. This album will take them past their 25th anniversary, and they greet it hitting a stride. That’s an occasion worth celebrating.
Sons of Froglord is the fourth full-length in three years from UK amphibian conceptualist storytellers Froglord, and there’s just about no way they’re not making fun of space rock on “Road Raisin.” “Collapse” grows burly in its hook in the vein of a more rumbling Clutch — and oh, the shenanigans abound! — and there’s a kind of ever-present undercurrent sludgy threat in the more forward push of the glorious anthem to the inanity of career life in “Wednesday” (it doesn’t materialize, but there is a tambourine on “A Swamp of My Own,” so that’s something), but the bulk of the latest chapter in the Froglord tale delivers ’70s-by-way-of-’10s classic heavy blues rock, distinct in its willingness to go elsewhere from and around the boogie swing of “Wizard Gonk” and the fuzzy shuffling foundation of “Garden” at the outset and pull from different eras and subsets of heavy to serve their purposes. “Froglady” is on that beat. On it. And the way “A Swamp of My Own” opens to its chorus is a stirring reminder of the difference drumming can make in elevating a band. After a quick “Closing Ceremony,” they tack on a presumably-not-narrative-related-but-fitting-anyway cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival‘s “Born on the Bayou,” which complements a crash-laced highlight like “The Sage” well and seems to say a bit about where Froglord are coming from as well, i.e., the swamp.
Released digitally with the backing of Abraxas and on CD through Smolder Brains Records, the Cult of Devil Sounds split EP offers two new tracks each from São Paulo, Brazil’s Weedevil and Veraruz, Mexico’s Electric Cult. The former take the A side and fade in on the guitar line “Darkness Inside” with due drama, gradually unfurling the seven-minute doom roller that’s ostensibly working around Electric Wizard-style riffing, but has its own persona in tone, atmosphere and the vocals of Maureen McGee, who makes her first appearance here with the band. The swagger of “Burn It” follows, somewhat speedier and sharper in delivery, with a scorcher solo in its back half, witchy proclamations and satisfying slowdown at the end. Weedevil. All boxes ticked, no question. Check. Electric Cult are rawer in production and revel in that, bringing “Rising From Hell” and “Esoteric Madness” with a more uptempo, rock-ish swing, but moving through sludge and doom by the time the seven minutes of the first of those is done. “Rising From Hell” finishes with ambient guitar, then feedback, which “Esoteric Madness” cuts off to begin with bass; a clever turn. Quickly “Esoteric Madness” grows dark from its outset, pushing into harsh vocals over a slogging march that turns harder-driving with ’70s-via-Church–of–Misery hard-boogie rounding out. That faster finish is a contrast to Weedevil‘s ending slow, and complements it accordingly. An enticing sampler from both.
When I read some article about how the James Webb Space Telescope has looked billions of years into the past chasing down ancient light and seen further toward the creation of the universe than humankind ever before has, I look at some video or other, I should be hearing Dr. Space. I don’t know if the Portugal-based solo artist, synthesist, bandleader, Renaissance man Scott “Dr. Space” Heller (also Øresund Space Collective, Black Moon Circle, etc.) has been in touch with the European Space Agency (ESA) or what their response has been, but even with its organ solo and stated watery purpose, amid sundry pulsations it’s safe to assume the 20-minute title-track “Suite for Orchestra of Marine Mammals” is happening with an orchestra of semi-robot aliens on, indeed, some impossibly distant exoplanet. Heller has long dwelt at the heart of psychedelic improv and the three pieces across the 39 minutes of Suite for Orchestra of Marine Mammals recall classic krautrock ambience while remaining purposefully exploratory. “Going for the Nun” pairs church organ with keyboard before shimmering into proto-techno blips and bloops recalling the Space Age that should’ve had humans on Mars by now, while the relatively brief capper “No Space for Time” — perhaps titled to note the limitations of the vinyl format — still finds room in its six minutes to work in two stages, with introductory chimes shifting toward more kosmiche synth travels yet farther out.
The debut from Santa Fe-based solo drone project Ruiner — aka Zac Hogan, also of Dysphotic, ex-Drought — is admirable in its commitment to itself. Hogan unveils the outfit with The Book of Patience (on Desert Records), an 80-minute, mostly-single-note piece called “Liber Patientiae,” which if you’re up on your Latin, you know is the title of the album as well. With a willfully glacial pace that could just as easily be a parody of the style — there is definitely an element of ‘is this for real?’ in the listening process, but yeah, it seems to be — “Liber Patientiae” evolves over its time, growing noisier as it approaches 55 or so minutes, the distortion growing more fervent over the better part of the final 25, the linear trajectory underscoring the idea that there’s a plan at work all along coinciding with the experimental nature of the work. What that plan might manifest from here is secondary to the “Liber Patientiae” as a meditative experience. On headphones, alone, it becomes an inward journey. In a crowded room, at least at the outset it’s almost a melodic white noise, maybe a little tense, but stretched out and changing but somehow still solid and singular, making the adage that ‘what you put into it is what you get out’ especially true in this case. And as it’s a giant wall of noise, it goes without saying that not everybody will be up for getting on board, but it’s difficult to imagine the opaque nature of the work is news to Hogan, who clearly is searching for resonance on his own wavelength.
Posted in Questionnaire on March 31st, 2022 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Ben Lombard of Bog Wizard
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I play guitar and do most of the vocals for the band Bog Wizard, and usually have at least a hand in the writing process, whether that’s interpreting things Harlen (drummer) is throwing at me or putting together my own riffs.
I’d always sort of had an interest in music, both of my parents played instruments when I was young, but past learning the C-chord on an old acoustic, I didn’t really pick up an instrument until middle school when I started playing snare drum in the school band. That progressed to general percussion, but I’d only ever learned to read music halfway, and to this day can pick out the rhythm but not the note names from a piece of sheet music. Sometime in late high school I got a guitar for my birthday, but ended up quickly trading it for a bass that I began noodling around on.
As far as how the band got started, I met Harlen and some others in college that were in a sort-of band, sort-of looking for a bassist, and I ended up going over to try out, and eventually started to hang with them regularly. It wasn’t too long before someone told me that I played bass like a guitar and I should play guitar, and from there Harlen and I both sort of learned our instruments together I suppose.
From there it took about ten years and half a dozen band names before we actually formed Bog Wizard and stuck with the moniker.
Describe your first musical memory.
I think it would have to be either my mom singing or playing either the piano or the flute. I would always sit next to her on the piano bench and go through all the sheet music books she had, handing her ones that I thought looked interesting and trying to get her to play them. Unfortunately, interesting looking also usually meant difficult, and she would often sigh and laugh a little about what I picked before trying to play it anyway.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
I might just have to throw a couple answers out there for this one, it’s hard to pick favorites! I’ll start with the best concert I’ve been to, had to be the Devin Townsend Project, Gojira, and Opeth together at The Vic in Chicago. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen any of the bands, I’d seen Opeth many times at that point and had even seen Devin open for Gojira before. Devin was great, Opeth was great, but Gojira stole the show, and was hands down the best live set I’ve ever witnessed. Something about their whole presence, the energy and the performance, was just on another level. A close runner-up for the winner here would be the time I saw Dethklok and Mastodon co-headline at the Fillmore in Detroit.
Out of gigs we’ve performed ourselves, our most recent one at Mulligan’s Pub in Grand Rapids with Starman Deluxe (who filled-in last minute) and Iron Mountain stands out. The crowd was there to rock, it was a great lineup, and they gave us our first real mosh-pit, definitely an awesome night.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I suppose being a teenager and realizing that I might be bisexual or gay instead of straight was a big one. I’m still wrestling with the finer points of that actually, 15 or more years later. Not the question of if I’m straight or not, I’m not, more how far into the gayness spectrum I am, haha.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Hopefully being more satisfied with the work one produces! Being able to express more clearly the thoughts and feelings you want to express, a heightened ability to express yourself in your chosen medium, regardless of what that may be.
How do you define success?
In steps, and there are many, and they depend on your ambitions. A small success for us was getting our music out there in the first place, having a physical thing that we created that we could put into the hands of others. Another might be playing our first gig, and then our first gig outside our hometown. Starting to collaborate with other artists, coming to the realization that there are people out there, maybe even a fair amount of people, that want to hear our music, that are waiting for us to put out more. This all sounds like success to me, with hopefully more to come!
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
The ugliness in some people that the pandemic brought out, their absolute disregard for the wellbeing of those around them.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
There are so many ways this answer could go. I suppose I’ve never really had a plan about where to point my creative interests, I’m pretty happy with where I’m at in Bog Wizard right now, so, further Bog Wizardy things? We do have some things in the works, we might have something going on with some unconventional cover songs in the future, trying to turn non-metal into metal, basic alchemy stuff.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Expression, whether of self or of an idea, and the ability to put that expression or idea out into the world for others to perceive, perhaps providing a connection between people who would have otherwise never met or interacted.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to the weather being consistently warm enough for me to get outside on a regular basis, I spent far too much time cooped up inside over the winter and that needs to change. More specifically, I’ve been getting into disc golf more and more over the past couple years, and I’m going to try to get out and practice a lot more as I’d like to eventually get good enough to play in my local league.
Shenanigans ensue. April 1 is the arrival date for Bog Wizard and Froglord‘s A Frog in the Bog split/collaborative release, and it may just turn out that it’s all an elaborate prank and none of it, none of us, you or me or the bands or the songs or anything at all, actually exist. But, assuming the world is in some cruel way what it seems to be, the five-track outing, which finds Bog Wizard summoning Froglord onto “The Frog Lord” — there’s a “ribbit” there, audible, you can hear it — and the UK-based Froglord bringing Bog Wizard aboard for the closing companion-piece “The Bog Wizard,” there’s clearly a plan at work here. In some of Bog Wizard‘s over-the-top doom-metal melodrama and majickal-or-however-you-want-to-spell-it thematic, the outing brings to mind a rawer, suitably mossier take on Merlin‘s chicanery, but from the moment the listener first faces the “Reptilian Death Squad” through the grueling rumble of “The Bog,” “The Wizard” (not at all a cover) and “The Bog Wizard” — arranged shortest to longest as they are on either side of five and a half minutes long — there’s clearly a plan at work.
The plan is “fuck it.”
Listening to this chirruping reptiles begging for sex at the outset of “The Frog Lord,” which picks up from the ultra-subdued lull-away-your-conscious-mind finish of “Reptilian Death Squad” — god damn these words are fun to write — there’s charm to spare. Bog Wizard and Froglord are a solid match tonally, with the latter more produced with more clarity than the Michigan trio of guitarist/vocalist Ben Lombard, bassist Colby Lowman and drummer/synthesist/vocalist Harlen Linke, but there’s atmosphere to both and the fact that they’re so clearly on the same page in terms of storyline and the overarching riff-what-thou-wilt mindset assures that the 37 minutes of A Frog in the Bog are consistent just the same. And if they weren’t, would it really matter? Do you go into a Bog Wizard and Froglord split — even if you know nothing of either act’s prior work; Froglord‘s entirely new to me if it makes you feel better — expecting clean progressive rock? Hell no you do not. You expect lumbering riffs, abiding murk, and the willful sense that whatever’s going on and however lumbering a given stretch might be, there’s a good time being had. So happens that’s precisely what’s delivered.
You’ll note the videogame-style cover art here; I speak from experience in telling you that neither playing instructions nor controller overlays are included, but they do have the courtesy to tell you that in the fine print. Perhaps next time. I know I’ve got a couple NES controllers laying around, and as merch/sticker ideas go, that’d be a new one as far as I’ve seen. As it stands, A Frog in the Bog is brilliant in its regressive take, refusing to operate on any terms other than those it sets for itself, and engaging its audience with craft and personality alike. It would be dumb to ask more of it than that. Don’t be dumb.
Bog Wizard and Froglord both give a solid idea of where they’re coming from in the clip for “The Frog Lord” below — I’d be interested to know what venue Froglord filmed at — and in the midst of it all, you’ll see somebody’s kid dancing, orb tricks, and so on.
Have fun. Let yourself enjoy a thing.
This, particularly:
Bog Wizard feat. Froglord, “The Frog Lord” video premiere
A Frog in the Bog is a collaborative concept split album. What that means is that this split has been written from the ground up to tell a cohesive story. Both halves of the split feature shared vocal parts between the bands, in the conclusionary tracks.
Bog Wizard and Froglord are both very narratively driven bands, telling tale of their respective characters. The Froglord is a god-like swamp dwelling being with a congregation of worshippers and followers. The Bog Wizard is an angry hermit wizard whos only preferred company is the creatures he summons to do his bidding, and he’s highly protective of his territory.
A Frog in the Bog tells the story of their fateful meeting, as the Froglord encroaches into the Bog Wizard’s well-guarded territory with his congregation, from each of their unique perspectives. It describes the Bog Wizard’s anger as he realizes this being has intruded on his land, the curiosity of the Froglord as to who and what lies in the swamp, their ultimate battle, and face to face meeting. Who will win?
Track Listing for A Frog in the Bog: 1. Bog Wizard – Reptilian Death Squad (8:12) 2. Bog Wizard – The Frog Lord, feat Froglord (12:21) 3. Froglord – The Bog (5:27) 4. Froglord – The Wizard (5:34) 5. Froglord – The Bog Wizard, feat Bog Wizard (5:35)
Bog Wizard is: Ben Lombard (guitar/vox) Harlen Linke (percussion, synth, vox) Colby Lowman (bass)
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 23rd, 2022 by JJ Koczan
You don’t need me to tell you about the charm factor here, right? Two bands, disparate in locale, come together to collaborate and unite in creative purpose on a split where they also appear on each other’s tracks, and not only that, but they’re brought together a narrative spanning both of their work, given it 16-bit cover art (that’s right, I’m thinking Genesis-era, or maybe one of those super-underrated SNES RPGs; I’d play it either way) about a Froglord encountering a Bog Wizard. I don’t know how the Bristol, UK, and Michigan-based acts know each other, and frankly, it’s a secondary consideration given the above. However it came about, this sounds pretty awesome.
As someone who appreciates a good story and has dug Bog Wizard‘s work to-date — Froglord‘s various singles on Bandcamp are right on as well, just new to me — this feels like a no-brainer. Hail the reptilian death squad, which I’m sure someone out there believes is a real thing.
To wit:
Bog Wizard/ Froglord to release collaborative concept split, A Frog in the Bog on April 1st, 2022
A Frog in the Bog is a collaborative concept split album. What that means is that this split has been written from the ground up to tell a cohesive story. Both halves of the split feature shared vocal parts between the bands, in the conclusionary tracks.
Bog Wizard and Froglord are both very narratively driven bands, telling tale of their respective characters. The Froglord is a god-like swamp dwelling being with a congregation of worshippers and followers. The Bog Wizard is an angry hermit wizard whos only preferred company is the creatures he summons to do his bidding, and he’s highly protective of his territory.
A Frog in the Bog tells the story of their fateful meeting, as the Froglord encroaches into the Bog Wizard’s well-guarded territory with his congregation, from each of their unique perspectives. It describes the Bog Wizard’s anger as he realizes this being has intruded on his land, the curiosity of the Froglord as to who and what lies in the swamp, their ultimate battle, and face to face meeting. Who will win?
Track Listing for A Frog in the Bog: 1. Bog Wizard – Reptilian Death Squad (8:12) 2. Bog Wizard – The Frog Lord, feat Froglord (12:21) 3. Froglord – The Bog (5:27) 4. Froglord – The Wizard (5:34) 5. Froglord – The Bog Wizard, feat Bog Wizard (5:35)
Preorders for cassettes, vinyl, and CDs available March 4th!
US Shipping merch via Bog Wizard, UK via Froglord
Bog Wizard is: Ben Lombard (guitar/vox) Harlen Linke (percussion, synth, vox) Colby Lowman (bass)
Lower & Slower Vol. 1 as Froglord‘s sixth record is that the band usually follow some version of a stated narrative in terms of lyrics, and with a compilation of past material topped off by a cover of Black Sabbath‘s “Iron Man,” that becomes a harder aesthetic sell. They call it a pause.
the heaviest fuzz-drenched doom, the band has ever produced. Like a black hole at the centre of the swamp, this album is a nod to bands like Conan, Monolord, and Weedeater. As well as covering several of their biggest swamp anthems, including They Came From Saturn and Green Inferno, the record concludes with a collosal cover of Sabbath’s Iron Man.
