Quarterly Review: Negative Reaction, Fuzz Evil, Cardinal Point, Vlimmer, No Gods No Masters, Ananda Mida, Ojo Malo, Druid Fluids, Gibbous Moon, Mother Magnetic

Posted in Reviews on November 27th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

The-Obelisk-Quarterly-Review

Don’t ask me if the ‘quarter’ in question is Fall or Winter, and I’m still planning another QR probably in early January or even December if I can sneak it, but I was able to sneak this week in while no one was looking at the calendar — mostly, that is, while I wasn’t filling said calendar with other stuff — and I decided to make it happen. I even used the ol’ Bing AI to make a header image for it. I was tired of all the no-color etchings. It’s been a decade of that at this point. I’ll try this for a bit and see how I feel about it. The kind of thing that matters pretty much only to me.

This might go to 70, but for right now it’s 50 releases Monday to Friday starting today, 10 per day. I know the drill. You know the drill. Let’s get it going.

Quarterly Review #1-10:

Negative Reaction, Zero Minus Infinity

Negative Reaction Zero Minus Infinity

Holy fucking shit this rips. You want sludge? Call the masters. There are two generations of bands out there right now trying to tap into the kind of slow and ultra-heavy disaffection — not to mention the guitar tone — of Negative Reaction, and yet, no hype whatsoever. This record didn’t come to me from some high-level public relations concern. It came from Kenny Bones, who founded Negative Reaction over 30 years ago in Long Island (he and thus the band are based in West Virginia now) and whose perpetual themes between crushing depression and the odd bit of Star Wars-franchised space opera have rarely sounded more intentionally grueling. Across six songs and a mood-altering 46 minutes, Bones, bassist KJ and drummer Brian Alien bludgeon with rawness and volume-worship weight that, frankly, is the kind of thing riff-dudes on social media should be tripping over themselves to be first to sing its praises, the lurch in “Back From the Sands” feeling sincere in its unconscious rifference (that’s a reference you make with a riff) to Saint Vitus‘ “Born Too Late,” and maybe Negative Reaction were, or maybe they were born too early, or whatever, but it’s not like they’ve been a fit at any point in the last 30-plus years — cheeky horror riff chugging in “Space Hunter,” all-out fuckall-punker blast in “I’ll Have Another” before the 13-minute flute-laced (yes, Bones is on it) cosmic doom finish of “Welcome to Infinity,” etc., reaffirming square-peg status — because while there’s an awful lot of sludge out there, there’s only ever been one Negative Reaction. Bones‘ and company’s angry adventures, righteous and dense in sound, continue unabated.

Negative Reaction on Facebook

Negative Reaction on Bandcamp

Fuzz Evil, New Blood

fuzz evil new blood

Arizona brothers Wayne and Joey Rudell return with New Blood, the first Fuzz Evil full-length since High on You (review here) in 2018, and make up for lost time with 53 minutes of new material across 13 songs from the post-Queens of the Stone Age rock at the outset in “Suit Coffin” to the slow, almost Peter Gabriel-style progressivism of “Littlest Nemo,” the nighttime balladry of “Gullible’s Travel” or the disco groove of “Keep on Living.” Those three are tucked at the end, but Fuzz Evil telegraph new ideas and departures early in “My Own Blood” and even the speedier “Run Away,” with its hints of metal, pulls to the side from “Souveneers,” the hooky “G.U.M.O.C.O.,” a cut like “Heavy Glow” (premiered here) finding some middle ground between attitude-laced desert rock and the expansions thereupon of some New Blood‘s tracks. Shout to “We’ve Seen it All” as the hidden gem. All Fuzz Evil have ever wanted is to write songs and maybe make someone — perhaps even you — dance at a show. With the obvious sweat and soul put into New Blood, a little boogieing doesn’t seem like too much to ask.

Fuzz Evil on Facebook

Fuzz Evil on Bandcamp

Cardinal Point, Man or Island

Cardinal Point Man or Island

A second full-length from Serbia’s Cardinal Point, Man or Island asks its central question — are you a man or an island — in the leadoff title-track. I’m not sure what being one or the other delineates, but masculinity would seem to be preferred judging by the Down-style riffing of “Stray Dog” or the heavy-like-1991 “Right ‘n’ Ready,” which feels like it was written for the stage, whether or not it actually was. “Sunrise” borders on hard country with its uber-dudeliness, but closer “This Chest” offers tighter-twisting, Lo-Pan-style riffing to cap. The tracks are pointedly straightforward, making no pretense about where the band is coming from or what they want to be doing as players. The grooves swing big and the choruses are delivered with force. You wouldn’t call it groundbreaking, but the Vranje-based four-piece aren’t trying to revolutionize heavy so much as to speak to various among those traditions that birthed it. They succeed in that here, and in making the results their own.

Cardinal Point on Facebook

Cardinal Point on Bandcamp

Vlimmer, Zersch​ö​pfung

vlimmer zerschopfung 1

Voices far more expert than mine have given pinpointed analyses of Vlimmer‘s goth-as-emotive-vehicle, semi-electronic, sometimes-heavy post-punk, New Dark Wave, etc., stylistic reach as relates to the Berlin-based solo artist’s latest full-length, Zersch​ö​pfung, but hearing The Cure in “Makks” and “Fatalideal” taken to a place of progressive extrapolation on “Platzwort” and to hear the Author & Punisher-informed slow industrial churn of the penultimate “Todesangst” become the backdrop for a dreamy vocal like Tears for Fears if they stayed up all night scribbling in their notebook because they had so much to say. Vlimmer (né Alexander Leonard Donat) has had a productive run since the first numbered EPs started showing up circa 2015, and Zersch​ö​pfung feels like a summation of the style he’s established as his own, able to speak to various sides of underground and outsider musics without either losing itself in the emotionalism of the songs or sublimating identity to genre.

Vlimmer on Facebook

Blackjack Illuminist Records on Bandcamp

No Gods No Masters, Torment

No Gods No Masters Torment

Dutch sludge metallers No Gods No Masters may seem monolithic at first on their second full-length, the self-released Torment, but the post-metallic dynamics in the atmospheric guitar on lead cut “Into Exile” puts the lie to the supposition. Not that there isn’t plenty of extreme crush to go around in “Into Exile” and the four songs that follow — second track “Towering Waves” and closer “End” on either side of the 10-minute mark, “Such Vim and Vigor” and “A God Among the Waste” shorter like “Into Exile” in a five-to-six-minute range — as the band move from crawling ambience to consuming, scream-topped ultra-doom, leave bruises with elbows thrown before the big slowdown in “Such Vim and Vigor” and tear ass regardless of tempo through the finale, and while they never quite let go of the extremity of their purpose, neither do they forget that their purpose is more than extremity. Torment sounds punishing superficially — certainly the title gives a hint that all is not sunshine and puppies — but a deeper listen is met by the richness of No Gods No Masters‘ approach.

No Gods No Masters on Facebook

No Gods No Masters on Bandcamp

Ananda Mida, Reconciler

Ananda Mida Reconciler

Italian psych rockers Ananda Mida are joined by a host of guests throughout their third full-length, Reconciler, including a return appearance from German singer-songwriter Conny Ochs on the extended heavy psych blueser “Swamp Thing” (14:52) and the four-part finale “Doom and the Medicine Man (Pt. V-VIII)” (22:09), which draws a thread through the history of prog and acid rocks, kraut and space applying no less to the 12-minute “Lucifer’s Wind” as to the surf-riffing “Reconciling” after — the latter gets a reprise on platter two of the 83-minute 2LP — as Ananda Mida dig deep into the shining thrust in the early verses of “Never Surrender” that give over to thoughtful jamming in the song’s second half, finding proto-metallic resolve in “Following the Light” before reconciling “Reconciling (Reprise)” and unfurling “Doom and the Medicine Man” like the lost ’70s coke-rock epic it may well be in some other universe, complete with the acoustic postscript. It’s two records’ worth of ambitious, and it’s two records’ worth of record. This is exploratory on a stylistic level. Searching.

Ananda Mida on Facebook

Go Down Records website

Ojo Malo, Black Light Fever Tripping

ojo malo black light fever tripping

Lumbering out of El Paso, Texas (where folks know what salsa should taste like), with seven tracks across a 23-minute debut EP, Ojo Malo follow a Sabbathian course of harder-edged doom, thick in its groove through “Crow Man” after the “Intro” and speedier with an almost nu-metal crunch in “Charon the Ferryman.” There’s Clutch and C.O.C. influences in the riffing, but there are tougher elements too, a tension that wouldn’t have been out of place 28 years ago on a Prong record, and the swing in “Black Trip Lord” has an undercurrent of aggression that comes forward in its chugging second half. The penultimate “Grim Greefo Rising” offers more in terms of melody after its riffy buildup, and “Executioner” reveals the Judas Priest that’s been in the band’s collective heart all the while. Bookended with manipulated sounds from the recordings in “Intro” and “Outro,” Black Light Fever Tripping sounds exactly like it doesn’t have time for your bullshit so get your gear off stage now and don’t break down your cymbals up there or it’s fucking on.

Ojo Malo on Facebook

Ojo Malo on Bandcamp

Druid Fluids, Then, Now, Again & Again

druid fluids then now again and again

Druid Fluids — aka Adelaide, Australia’s Jamie Andrew, plus a few friends on drums, piano, and so on — inhabits a few different personae out of psychedelic historalia throughout Then, Now, Again & Again, finding favorites in The Beatles in “Flutter By,” “Into Me I See” (both with sitar), and “Layers” while peopling other songs specifically with elements drawn from David Bowie and the solo work of Lennon and McCartney, all of which feels like fair game for the meticulously-arranged 11-song collection. “Sour’s Happy Fantasy” offers sci-fi fuzz grandeur, while “Timeline” is otherworldly in all but the central strum holding it to the ground — a singularly satisfying melody — and “Out of Phase” swaggers in like Andrew knows he was born in the wrong time. He might’ve been, but he seems to have past, present and future covered either way in this material, some of which was reportedly written when he was a teenager but which has no doubt grown more expansive in the intervening years.

Druid Fluids on Facebook

Druid Fluids on Bandcamp

Gibbous Moon, Saturn V

Gibbous Moon Saturn V

The years between their 2017 self-titled three-songer EP and the forthcoming 11-track debut full-length, Saturn V, would seem to have found Philly heavy rockers Gibbous Moon refining their approach in terms of craft and process. “Blue Shelby” has a turn on guitar like Dire Straits as vocalist Noelle Felipe (also bass) drops references to Scarface in “Blue Shelby” and brings due classicism to Mauro Felipe‘s guitar on “Ayadda.” That song, as well as “Everything” and closer “Peacemaker,” tie the EP to the LP, but Noelle, Mauro and drummer Michael Mosley are unquestionably more confident in their delivery, whether it’s the bass in the open reaches of “Sine Wave” or the of-course-it’s-speed-rock “Follow that Car” and its punker counterpart “Armadillo.” Space rock is a factor in “Indivisible,” and “Inflamed” is almost rockabilly in its tense verse, but wherever Gibbous Moon go, their steps are as sure as the material itself is solid. I’m not sure when this is actually out, if it’s 2023 or 2024, but heads up on it.

Gibbous Moon on Facebook

Gibbous Moon on Bandcamp

Mother Magnetic, Mother Magnetic

mother magnetic

Arranged shortest to longest between the ah-oo-oo-ah-ah hookiness of “Sucker’s Disease” (3:03), the nodder rollout of “Daughters of the Sun” (5:47) and the reach into psych-blues jamming in “Goddess Land” (7:03), Mother Magnetic‘s self-titled three-song EP is the first public offering from the Brisbane four-piece of vocalist Rox, guitarist James, bassist Tim and drummer Danny, and right into the later reaches of the last of those tracks, the band’s intentions feel strongly declarative in establishing their melodic reach, an Iommi-circa-’81 take on riffmaking, and a classic boozy swagger to the vocals to match. There was a time, 15-20 years ago, when demos like this ruled the land and were handed to you, burned onto archaic CD-Rs, in the vain hope you might play them in your car on the way home from the show. To not do so in this case would be inadvisable. There’s potential in the songwriting, yes, but also on a performance level, for growth as individuals and as a group, and considering where Mother Magnetic are starting in terms of chemistry, that’s all the more an exciting prospect.

Mother Magnetic on Facebook

Mother Magnetic on Bandcamp

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Ananda Mida Announce Tour Dates Starting Nov. 30; Reconciler Out Now

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 16th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Mostly-Italian heavy psychedelic unit Ananda Mida just released their third full-length, Reconciler, through drummer Max Ear‘s own long-running Go Down Records imprint — and by long-running I mean there’s an anniversary fest coming up in Berlin on Dec. 1 to mark 20 years that Ananda Mida will also play — as the follow-up to 2021’s Karnak EP (review here). They’ve lined up a series of weekender-type dates between now and February in order to support the album, and they’ll be playing mostly in Italy but also Germany and Austria as they look to the start of 2024 and the possibility of more to come.

If you haven’t heard the record yet — it’ll be in the next Quarterly Review in a couple weeks — it’s streaming below in full, along with the lyric video for “The Stumbling Doll.” Whether you can make it to one of these shows or not, if you’re still reading this, you might at this point find the music worth your time.

To wit:

Ananda Mida Reconciler tour

Psych Rock Collective ANANDA MIDA Announces “Reconciler Tour 2023/2024”; New Album Out Now Via Go Down Records!

Psych Rock collective Ananda Mida just recently released their third album, titled “Reconciler”, via Italian powerhouse label Go Down Records. To celebrate the band’s latest offering in its pure form, the band has announced a bunch of live dates for 2023/2024. Tickets on sale now and dates are as follows:

Reconciler Tour 2023/2024
2023/11/30 THU – p.m.k – Innsbruck – AT
2023/12/01 FRI – Urban Spree – Berlin – DE
2023/12/08 FRI – Backstage München – München – DE
2023/12/09 SAT – Astra Kulturzentrum Centro Culturale – Bressanone – IT
2024/01/18 THU – Fine Mondo Verona – IT
2024/01/19 FRI – SIDRO CLUB – Savignano s.R. – IT
2024/01/20 SAT – Arci Joshua Blues Club APS – Como – IT
2024/01/21 SUN – Freakout Club – Bologna – IT
2024/02/02 FRI – Astro Club – Pordenone – IT
2024/02/03 SAT – BLAH BLAH – Torino – IT
2024/02/16 FRI – Trenta Formiche – Roma – IT
2024/02/17 SAT – CSOA COX18 – Milano – IT

The new album “Reconciler “marks the final act of a trilogy inspired by Georges Ivanovič Gurdjieff’s book, “Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson,” and his profound thoughts. Originally planning to release three records, Ananda Mida’s founders, Max Ear and Matteo Pablo Scolaro, collaborated with artist and friend Eeviac to create a concept album trilogy. The first two albums in the series, “Anodnatius” and “Cathodnatius,” explored themes of Holy Affirmation and Holy Denial respectively. Now, with “Reconciler,” the band delves into the theme of Holy Reconciliation. During the making of “Reconciler,” one of the band members experienced both the joyous grace of birth and the deep mourning of death. These significant life events have greatly influenced the reconciliatory intent behind this record. With eight tracks spanning over 83 minutes of music, “Reconciler” showcases a diverse range of emotions and musical styles.

The album features an instrumental song titled “Reconciling,” while five other tracks are performed by talented singers. In addition to Ananda Mida’s core members, twelve artists from Go Down Records’ musical gang have contributed their talents to this record. This collaboration not only fulfills the band founders’ vision but also serves as a tribute to their independent label, which has been a hub for talent and passion over the past two decades. Ananda Mida’s sound is deeply rooted in 70s Rock, infused with desert and psychedelic grooves. Since their formation in 2015, the band has performed with various lineups, ranging from three to six members, both instrumental and featuring singers. Their unique blend of influences has garnered them a dedicated following within the Stoner and Psychedelic Rock community.

“Reconciler” is out now via Go Down Records and available for purchase at THIS LOCATION: https://www.godownrecords.com/ananda-mida

Tracklist:
01. Stormy Lady feat. Quiet Confusion
02. Lucifer’s Wind feat. Virtual Time
03. Reconciling
04. Swamp Thing
05. Never Surrender feat. Virtual Time
06. Following the Light feat. Lu Silver
07. Reconciling (reprise)
08. Doom and the Medicine Man [part V – VIII]
V- The Future
VI- The Stumbling Doll
VII- The Ghost In The Machine
VIII- Otherlives

ANANDA MIDA are:
Davide Bressan | bass
Max Ear | drums
Conny Ochs | vocals
Matteo Pablo Scolaro | guitar
Alex Tedesco | guitar

https://www.facebook.com/anandamidaband
https://www.instagram.com/anandamidaband/
https://anandamidaband.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/GoDownRecords/
https://www.instagram.com/godownrecords/
https://www.godownrecords.com/

Ananda Mida, Reconciler (2023)

Ananda Mida, “The Stumbling Doll” lyric video

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Mystical Porn Heroes Premiere “Tura” Lyric Video; Debut EP Out July 7

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on June 30th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

mystical porn heroes

Italian newcomer trio Mystical Porn Heroes — who are named presumably so that those posting about them on social media can have any and all accounts immediately suspended — will release their self-titled debut EP on July 7 through Go Down Records. The band brings together drummer Max Ear (also of Ananda Mida, OJM and Go Down Records) and guitarist/vocalist Andrea “Rocker” Ghion (also Scontro Frontale and El Cuento de la Chica y la Tequila, among others) with Tommaso Mantelli (Captain Mantell, Kirlian, ex-Bleeding Eyes, among others) handling bass and production in the band’s hometown of Treviso. Working shortest to longest across “Tura” (3:12), “Carnal” (4:16) and “Titana” (4:57) — the last of which appeared on a Go Down digital compilation last year, the three-piece find their way into darkened corners of heavy, classic doom nod and garage rock drawl meeting without coming across as either an Electric Wizard clone or hyper-performative cult rock.

What saves them in both regards is the movement in the tracks. “Tura” and “Carnal” have an undercurrent of ’70s heavy rock, the instrumental and “Carnal” reaches with Ghion‘s solo toward modern prog tonality like later-’70s Iommi, but even there, Mystical Porn Heroes don’t shy away from boogie, even if the tone is moodiermystical porn heroes mystical porn heroes and that rhythmic shuffle is filled out with a marked consideration for atmosphere. “Tura” works in layers almost from the outset and establishes its riff like stoner metal, but might shakes out across its brief course like a nebulous Green Lung, replacing grandeur of arrangement with lower-fi, dug-in darkfuzz. It and “Carnal” lead into the prior-unveiled “Titana,” and that song’s arrival feels momentous with its keys-or-effects flourish, rhythm and lead layers, somehow-Bowie strut and rawer hook, the drums matching the guitar in its turns before straightening out to sprint to the crashout at the end, a final thud. Whump.

With elements of garage rock, garage doom, classic heavy, ’90s weirdness, and a moniker that is going to catch the eye one way or the other, Mystical Porn Heroes on their debut EP establish a place for themselves between defined microgenres. This is to their credit as experienced players and as new collaborators in this context, and ideally the direction of their growth as a unit from here will be foreshadowed by the malleable sound offered in these three songs and 12 minutes. They are on their way toward a multifaceted sound underscored by volatile but steady groove and a sneaky depth in the mix, and these first steps are an encouraging beginning of their getting there.

A lyric video for “Tura” premieres below, followed by more info from the PR wire. One more time, Mystical Porn Heroes‘ self-titled debut EP is out July 7 on Go Down Records.

Please enjoy:

Mystical Porn Heroes, “Tura” lyric video premiere

Mystical Porn Heroes is a fictional work inspired by the current obsessive and disturbing cult of appearance trying to interpret it. These are three “musical tales” set in a crazed, dystopic, and obscene world, a theater of questionable heroic deeds.

“Tura” is the EP’s opening track, and its official lyric video features AI-generated visuals edited by Andrew Pozzy (The Sade). “Carnal” is an instrumental interlude that perfectly encapsulates MPH’s musical style: a tight rhythm section that intertwines with oriental-flavored harmonies. The final “Titana”, previously included on the Go Down Records 2022 compilation, evokes the anxiety triggered by the chaos of an impending and mysterious disaster.

MYSTICAL PORN HEROES is the new musical project of guitarist and songwriter Andrea Ghion, aka Rocker (Scontro Frontale, Rocker’s Guitar), and drummer Max Ear (OJM, Ananda Mida, Go Down Records Art Director). Their self-titled debut EP was conceived at Altroquando, Zero Branco, Italy, and later arranged and recorded by Tommaso Mantelli at his Lesder Studio.

Music and lyrics by Andrea ‘Rocker’ Ghion.
Recorded and mastered by Tommaso Mantelli at Lesder Studio, Treviso, Italy.
Language supervision by Luciano Caserta.
Cover by eeviac: http://www.eeviac.art/

LINE-UP & CREDITS
Rocker – guitar, vocals
Max Ear – drums
Tommaso Mantelli – bass

Mystical Porn Heroes on Facebook

Mystical Porn Heroes on Instagram

Mystical Porn Heroes on Bandcamp

Go Down Records on Facebook

Go Down Records website

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OJM Post Full Reunion Set From Venezia Hardcore Fest 2022

Posted in Bootleg Theater on May 25th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

ojm at venezia hardcore festival 2022

Italian heavy rockers OJM took the stage at the Sept. 2022 Venezia Hardcore Fest playing alongside the likes of Dropdead, The Flex, Melt and Big Cheese, and a respectably aggressive slew of others. They also just played the Go Down Records-associated Maximum Festival 2023 in April, and you’re right, this April is more recent than last Fall, but the full set of the Venice show has been posted by the band and it’s all the more of an occasion since it was a special gig in celebration of their 25th anniversary performed as a reunion of the lineup that featured on 2006’s Under the Thunder.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but OJM belong to the class of ’00s-era European underground heavy rockers who did the thing before the mobilization of social media as an ecosystem for bands. Playing in a heavy desert style, OJM was the kind of band you’d hear about on StonerRock.com, or maybe you picked up their records at All That is Heavy like I did. Their most recent full-length was 2010’s Volcano (review here), which means that for 13 years of their quarter-century tenure, they haven’t had a record out. True, it hasn’t been a complete absence, as 2021’s Live at Rocket Club (review here) was a definitive sign of life, but their activity has been almost exclusively live since Volcano, the 18th anniversary compilation 18 (discussed here) that came out in — hang on, doing math — 2015 notwithstanding.

But that comp came with word that the band was taking a long break, and that’s how it’s gone since. I don’t know what their forward plans are, if anything, but vocalist David Martin, guitarist Alessandro Tedesco, bassist Andrew Pozzy and drummer Massimo “Max Ear” Recchia hit it hard enough in this clip that while they’d still definitely be a standout on any bill calling itself a hardcore fest — since, you know, they’re not a hardcore band — they did have a mosh going in front of the stage, people getting up and stage-diving off, and all that sort of happens-at-gigs-when-not-everyone-is-60-yet types of things. Not ragging on old people shows at all, by the way. If you need me, I’ll be in back looking for a chair.

I’ve included the stream of OJM‘s Under the Thunder below as hoisted from their Bandcamp. The fact of the matter is an entire generation of heavy rock’s audience has come to prominence since the last time OJM released an album, and I’m hoping that maybe one or two people will take the chance here to go back and listen to this one, or maybe their Beard of Stars-issued 2002 debut, Heavy (discussed here), or anything else on there, since the bottom line is they were a band worth knowing then and they remain one now. And if I didn’t hint at it strong enough, I’ll say outright that I’d love to hear what these guys could do on a new full-length. Maybe next year. Maybe not.

If you can dig it, then by all means, dig it:

OJM, Live at Venezia Hardcore Fest 2022

LINE UP
DAVID MARTIN – vocals
MAX EAR – drums
ANDREW POZZY – bass
ALESSANDRO TEDESCO – guitar

OJM, Under the Thunder (2006)

OJM on Facebook

OJM on Instagram

OJM on Bandcamp

Go Down Records on Facebook

Go Down Records website

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Ananda Mida Premiere “The Pilot” Video

Posted in Bootleg Theater on March 8th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

ananda Mida

Italian progressive heavy rockers Ananda Mida issued their Karnak EP (review here) last summer through drummer Max Ear‘s (also OJM) long-running and much-respected Go Down Records imprint. As you’ve probably guessed by the fact that we’re talking about it, “The Pilot” (live video premiering below) was featured on that particular release, which is streaming in full at the bottom of the post as well. It was one of three songs on the short offering, and it was recorded live at the Mirano Summer Festival, which ran throughout July 2021 in, well, Mirano.

“The Pilot” also opened 2019’s CathodnatiusAnanda Mida‘s second album, and it’s an anomaly in that it features vocals, in this case contributed by German singer-songwriter Conny Ochs — known for his releases through Exile on Mainstream, speaking of weighty endorsements, and his collaborations with Scott “Wino” Weinrich — who adds a poppish flair to the track’s bouncing groove, the strummy guitars of Alessandro Tedesco and Matteo Pablo Scolaro in the early verses building toward a ready-shred apex later on as lyrics top the procession with evident flow. One would not suspect it’s a one-off, which it seems to have been.

Karnak, as I said in the review, is kind of a mini-compilation, with Mario Lalli (Fatso JetsonYawning Man) sitting in on aptly-named middle cut “Jam With Mario” and the opener “Anulios” a newly-released instrumental take on a song from 2018’s debut, Anodnatius (review here), but even as more than a holdover while they couldn’t play shows last year, its release makes sense to highlight the open spirit of Ananda Mida — completed by bassist Davide Bressan — and the welcome they bid to guests outside of the band itself. The situation and the track, then, are both markedly fluid.

Today, Ananda Mida, and Ochs for that matter, are premiering the video that coincides with the version of “The Pilot” that appears on Karnak. You’ll find it below, followed by a few words from the band, etc.

Please enjoy:

Ananda Mida, “The Pilot” live video premiere

Ananda Mida on “The Pilot”:

The Pilot is a song we always enjoy playing! The opening theme comes from the sounds of hospital machinery, then we added our own groove and there you go! We are very happy with the result because this performance reflects a clean edge that is not always part of our live experience.

‘Karnak’ is out on Go Down Records and available to purchase here:
https://www.godownrecords.com/product-page/ananda-mida-karnak-EP

Ananda Mida is:
Conny Ochs | vocals
Davide Bressan | bass
Max Ear | drums
Alessandro Tedesco | guitar
Matteo Pablo Scolaro | guitar

Ananda Mida, Karnak EP (2021)

Ananda Mida on Facebook

Ananda Mida on Instagram

Go Down Records on Facebook

Go Down Records on Instagram

Go Down Records on Bandcamp

Go Down Records website

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Prehistoric Pigs Premiere Video for Title-Track of New Album The Fourth Moon

Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 19th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

prehistoric pigs

Italian instrumental three-piece Prehistoric Pigs release their fourth LP, The Fourth Moon, on Nov. 26 through respected purveyor Go Down Records. And if it seems like the album and the moon are perhaps in alignment as regards “fourth,” that’s really just the start of the synergy the Mortegliano trio have on offer throughout the six-song/37-minute riff-ride. Taking the classic desert-style crunch of Kyuss and gradually shoving it out an airlock into free-floating cosmic radiation, Prehistoric Pigs end up on touching on familiar ground, but with a particular emphasis on the hypnotic aspects of groove. That is to say, The Fourth Moon, with its individual pieces uniformly in the five-to-six-minute range, likewise united in their purpose of following with Juri Tirelli‘s guitar leads, is an easy record to follow along its course. More importantly, a fun one.

Long-converted heads will have no problem whatsoever drawing the line between the chug of “Left Arm” and the band’s Karma to Burn influence, or hearing the Blues for the Red Sun-meets-Helmet shove underlying “Crototon,” andprehistoric pigs the fourth moon Prehistoric PigsJuri Tirelli on guitar, brother Jacopo Tirelli on (dat) bass (it’s the first thing you hear on opener “C35” and that’s just fine) and cousin and drummer Mattia Piani — want nothing for chemistry in their delivery with four albums and a lifetime of familial living together backing them. The Fourth Moon makes no pretense about where it’s coming from or its desire to commune with those who’d take it on. It’s not about breaking ground so much as sharing the joy of heavy riffs and hard-hitting grooves. “The Fourth Moon” offers satisfying turns across its six and a half minutes, and the video that’s premiering below presents that with due reflected-down-the-middle atmospherics, but even in the raucous finale “Meteor 700,” the band never engage more of a blowout than they mean to.

Are they making trouble? Oh, for sure, but their shenanigans offer neither cruelty nor tragedy. Instead, it’s the cheeky charm of straight-ahead heavy rock and roll. They might talk about camels in space and all that — that’s good fun, and if that’s what these songs are about, I’m certainly nobody to argue — but what I hear in “The Fourth Moon” and across the entirety of the record that shares its name is a love of the form of heavy rock that these three players are sharing in unbridled fashion with their audience. They know where they’re coming from. You know where they’re coming from. So everybody just relax and have a good time with it and that’ll be a little slice of awesome that everyone can share who wants to. As genre missions go, few could hope for such nobility, and again, there’s nothing to be found here but a good time.

Stoner. Fucking. Rock.

Enjoy:

Prehistoric Pigs, “The Fourth Moon” official video

SAYS THE BAND:
Have you ever ridden a space camel? It keeps on going until it reaches the fourth moon, where it drinks for a thousand years. If you don’t have plans, jump on!

Directed by Blubanana blubananastudio@gmail.com
Shot by Fabio Panigutto and Anna Vittoria.
Edited by Fabio Panigutto.
Lighting technician: Biascica

‘The Fourth Moon’ is the title track from Prehistoric Pigs’ fourth studio album, due out on November, 26 2021 on vinyl, all digital platforms and at https://godownrecords.bandcamp.com

Pre-order the purple LP at https://www.godownrecords.com/product-page/prehistoric-pigs-the-fourth-moon-LPx

Pre-order the black LP at https://www.godownrecords.com/product-page/prehistoric-pigs-the-fourth-moon-LP

digital single https://bfan.link/the-fourth-moon

album pre-save https://bfan.link/the-fourth-moon-1

LINE-UP:
Juri Tirelli | guitar
Jacopo Tirelli | bass
Mattia Piani | drums

Prehistoric Pigs on Facebook

Prehistoric Pigs on Instagram

Prehistoric Pigs on Bandcamp

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Go Down Records on Instagram

Go Down Records website

Go Down Records on Bandcamp

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Prehistoric Pigs to Release The Fourth Moon Nov. 26

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 13th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

prehistoric pigs

With a post-Kyuss crunch given further breadth through instrumentalism, the family band Prehistoric Pigs are set to issue their fourth album, dubbed The Fourth Moon, through Go Down Records on Nov. 26. The unit based in Northern Italy have worked with the label before, as you can see in the PR wire info below, and the new record brings steady riffs and a sci-fi, end-of-the-world theme because, well, if you think about it that’s pretty much the story of the world we live in.

They were last heard from with 2019’s Dai, which you can stream at the bottom here, and with closer “Meteor 700” and the title-track arriving throughout November as digital singles to precede the album release, there will be plenty of opportunity (not really but let’s pretend) for John Garcia to lock in a last-minute guest appearance. Make it happen, people!

From the label:

prehistoric pigs the fourth moon

PREHISTORIC PIGS – The Fourth Moon

The fourth moon was a host of doomed. Eerie caravan of broken destinies, bone-faced ape men marching towards the end of the cosmos. The stone eye watches over the convoy and draws it towards the abyss. Eight stops before the hammer blow, the triple whistle, the last thunderbolt. Tired rats accompany the horde amidst atavistic screams and dangling limbs. Bent backs dig holes into new continents that don’t exist. The din of the universal flood heralds the coming of the 700 meteors of the apocalypse.

LABEL: Go Down Records

FORMAT: LP | coloured LP | digital

RELEASE DATE: November 26th 2021

Prehistoric Pigs are a family business. Two brothers and a cousin found a brand new band on the ashes of a previous group, in Mortegliano (Northeast Italy) in 2012. The instrumental combo features Juri on guitar, Jacopo on bass and Mattia, the cousin, on drums. The same year they release their debut album Wormhole Generator for Moonlight Records. Once on tour, the band stops in Dublin where it plays with the Irish label mates Electric Taurus. To seal the friendship between the two bands, a 12” vinyl split album is released in 2014 via Go Down Records. The eight-track sophomore studio album Everything Is Good is released in 2015 by The Smoking Goat Records.

2019 is the year of Dai, Prehistoric Pigs’ third full length, this time completely self-produced. During their ten-year activity, the Prehistoric Pigs play on many stages all over Italy and tour clubs and festivals across Europe, from Serbia to Ireland, from Hungary to Belgium. They perform at Born Wild Festival in Dresden (Germany), Tides Of Youth Festival in Krk (Croatia), Stonerhead Festival in Salzburg (Austria), Stonegg Psychedelic Festival in Bolzano (Italy), Navajo Calling Fest in Parma (Italy) and Pietra Sonica in Udine, their homeland. The fourth album marks the return to rough and raw stoner rock, it’s called The Fourth Moon and is due out for Go Down Records in late 2021.

TRACKLIST:
SIDE A
1. C35
2. Old Rats
3. Crototon
SIDE B
1. The Fourth Moon
2. Left Arm3. Meteor 700

Music composed and arranged by Prehistoric Pigs.
Recorded mixed and mastered by Alberto Armellini.
Artwork by MontDoom.

LINE-UP:
Juri Tirelli | guitar
Jacopo Tirelli | bass
Mattia Piani | drums

https://facebook.com/PrehistoricPigs
https://instagram.com/prehistoric.pigs
https://prehistoricpigs.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/GoDownRecords/
https://www.instagram.com/godownrecords/
http://www.godownrecords.com/
https://godownrecords.bandcamp.com

Prehistoric Pigs, Dai (2019)

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Quarterly Review: Paradise Lost, Alastor, Zahn, Greynbownes, Treebeard, Estrada Orchestra, Vestamaran, Low Flying Hawks, La Maquinaria del Sueño, Ananda Mida

Posted in Reviews on July 15th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

the-obelisk-fall-2016-quarterly-review

The days grow long, but the Quarterly Review presses onward. I didn’t know when I put this thing together that in addition to having had oral surgery on Monday — rod in for a dental implant, needs a crown after it heals but so far no infection; penciling it as a win — this second week of 10 reviews per day would bring my laptop breaking and a toddler too sick to go to camp for three hours in the morning. If you’re a fan of understatement, I’ll tell you last week was easier to make happen.

Nevertheless, we persist, you and I. I don’t know if, when I get my computer back, it will even have all of these records on the desktop or if the hard-drive-bed-shitting that seems to have taken place will erase that along with such inconsequentials as years of writing and photos of The Pecan dating back to his birth, but hey, that desktop space was getting cleared one way or the other. You know what? I don’t want to think about it.

Quarterly Review #81-90:

Paradise Lost, At the Mill

Paradise Lost At the Mill

If Paradise Lost are trying to hold onto some sense of momentum, who can blame them? How many acts who’ve been around for 33 years continue to foster the kind of quality the Yorkshire outfit brought to 2020’s studio outing, Obsidian (review here)? Like, four? Maybe? So if they want to put out two live records in the span of three months — At the Mill follows March’s Gothic: Live at Roadburn 2016, also on Nuclear Blast — one isn’t inclined to hold a grudge, and even less so given the 16-song setlist they offer up in what was the captured audio from a livestream last Fall, spanning the bulk of their career and including requisite highlights from ’90s-era landmarks Gothic and Icon as well as Obsidian features “Fall From Grace,” “Ghosts” and “Darker Thoughts,” which opened the studio LP but makes a rousing finisher for At the Mill.

Paradise Lost on Facebook

Nuclear Blast Records store

 

Alastor, Onwards and Downwards

alastor onwards and downwards

The second long-player from Sweden’s Alastor is a surprising but welcome sonic turn, pulling back from the grimness of 2018’s Slave to the Grave (review here) in favor of an approach still murky and thick in its bottom end, but sharper in its songwriting focus and bolder melodically right from the outset on “The Killer in My Skull.” They depart from the central roll for an acoustic stretch in “Pipsvängen” after “Nightmare Trip” opens side B and just before the nine-minute title-track lumbers out its descent into the deranged, but even there the four-piece hold the line of obvious attention to songcraft, instrumental and vocal phrasing, and presentation of their sound. Likewise, the spacious nod on “Lost and Never Found” caps with a shorter and likewise undeniable groove, more Sabbath than the Queens of the Stone Age rush of “Death Cult” earlier, but with zero dip in quality. This takes them to a different level in my mind.

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RidingEasy Records website

 

Zahn, Zahn

Zahn Zahn

Its noise-rock angularity and tonal bite isn’t going to be for everyone, but there’s something about Zahn‘s unwillingness to cooperate, their unwillingness to sit still, that makes their self-titled debut a joy of a run. Based in Berlin and comprised of Felix Gebhard (Einstürzende Neubauten keyboards) as well as drummer Nic Stockmann and bassist Chris Breuer (both of HEADS.), the eight-tracker shimmers on “Tseudo,” punkjazzes on lead cut “Zerrung,” goes full krautrock drone to end side A on “Gyhum” and still has more weirdness to offer on the two-minute sunshine burst of “Schranck,” “Lochsonne Schwarz,” “Aykroyd” and finale “Staub,” all of which tie together in one way or another around a concept of using space-in-mix and aural crush while staying loway to the central pattern of the drums. “Aykroyd” is brazen in showing the teeth of its guitar work, and that’s a pretty solid encapsulation of Zahn‘s attitude across the board. They’re going for it. You can take the ride if you want, but they’re going either way.

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Crazysane Records website

 

Greynbownes, Bones and Flowers

Greynbownes bones and flowers

Bones and Flowers is a welcome return from Czech Republic-based heavy rockers Greynbownes, who made their debut with 2018’s Grey Rainbow From Bones (review here), and sees the trio foster a progressive heavy flourish prone to Doors-y explosive vocal brooding tempered with Elder-style patience in the guitar lines and rhythmic fluidity while there continues to be both an underlying aggressive crunch and a sense of Truckfighters-ish energy in “Dream Seller,” some blues there and in “Dog’s Eyes” and opener “Wolves” besides, and a willful exploratory push on “Burned by the Sun and Swallowed by the Sea,” which serves as a worthy centerpiece ahead of the rush that comprises much of “Long Way Down.” Further growth is evident in the spaciousness of “Flowers,” and “Star” feels like it’s ending the record with due ceremony in its largesse and character in its presentation.

Greynbownes on Facebook

Greynbownes on Bandcamp

 

Treebeard, Nostalgia

Treebeard Nostalgia

One can’t argue with Melbourne heavy post-rockers Treebeard‘s impulse to take the material from their prior two EPs, 2018’s Of Hamelin and 2019’s Pastoral, and put it together as a single full-length, but Nostalgia goes further in that they actually re-recorded, and in the case of a track like “The Ratchatcher,” partially reworked the songs. That makes the resultant eight-song offering all the more cohesive and, in relation to the prior versions, emphasizes the growth the band has undertaken in the last few years, keeping elements of weight and atmosphere but delivering their material with a sense of purpose, whether a give stretch of “8×0” is loud or quiet. Nostalgia effectively pulls the listener into its world, duly wistful on “Pollen” or “Dear Magdalena,” with samples adding to the breadth and helping to convey the sense of contemplation and melodic character. Above all things, resonance. Emotional and sonic.

Treebeard on Facebook

Treebeard on Bandcamp

 

Estrada Orchestra, Playground

Estrada Orchestra Playground

Estonian five-piece Estrada Orchestra recorded Playground on Nov. 21, 2020, and while I’m not 100 percent sure of the circumstances in which such a recording took place, it seems entirely possible given the breadth of their textures and the lonely ambience that unfurls across the 22-minute A-side “Playground Part 1” and the gradual manner in which it makes its way toward psychedelic kraut-drone-jazz there and in the more “active” “Playground Part 2 & 3” — the last part chills out again, and one speaks on very relative terms there — it’s entirely possible no one else was around. Either way, headphone-ready atmosphere persists across the Sulatron-issued LP, a lushness waiting to be closely considered and engaged that works outside of common structures despite having an underlying current of forward motion. Estrada Orchestra, who’ve been in operation for the better part of a decade and for whom Playground is their fifth full-length, are clearly just working in their own dimension of time. It suits them.

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Sulatron Records webstore

 

Vestamaran, Bungalow Rex

Vestamaran Bungalow Rex

Even in the sometimes blinding sunshine of Vestamaran‘s debut album, Bungalow Rex, there is room for shades of folk and classic progressive rock throughout the summery 10-tracker, which makes easygoing vibes sound easy in a way that’s actually really difficult to pull off without sounding forced. And much to Vestamaran‘s credit, they don’t. Their songs are structured, composed, engaging and sometimes catchy, but decidedly unhurried, unflinchingly melodic and for all their piano and subtle rhythmic intricacy, mostly pretense-free. Even the snare sound on “Grustak” feels warm. Cuts like “Risky Pigeon” and “Cutest Offender” are playful, and “Solitude” and closer “Only for You” perhaps a bit moodier, but Vestamaran are never much removed from that central warmth of their delivery, and the abiding spirit of Bungalow Rex is sweet and affecting. This is a record that probably won’t get much hype but will sit with dedicated audience for more than just a passing listen. A record that earns loyalty. I look forward to more.

Vestamaran on Facebook

Apollon Records website

 

Low Flying Hawks, Fuyu

low flying hawks fuyu

Three records in, to call what Low Flying Hawks do “heavygaze” feels cheap. Such a tag neither encompasses the post-rock elements in the lush space of “Monster,” the cinematic flourish of “Darklands,” nor the black-metal-meets-desert-crunch-riffing-in-space at the end of “Caustic Wing” or the meditative, post-Om cavern-delia in the first half of closer “Nightrider,” never mind the synthy, screamy turn of Fuyu‘s title-track at the halfway point. Three records in, the band refuse to let either themselves or their listenership get too comfortable, either in heavy groove or march or atmosphere, and three records in, they’re willfully toying with style and bending the aspects of genre to their will. There are stretches of Fuyu that, in keeping with the rest of what the band do, border on overthought, but the further they go into their own progressive nuance, the more they seem to discover they want to do. Fuyu reportedly wraps a trilogy, but if what they do next comes out sounding wildly different, you’d have to give them points for consistency.

Low Flying Hawks on Facebook

Magnetic Eye Records store

 

La Maquinaria del Sueño, Rituales de los Alucinados

la maquinaria del sueno rituales de los alucinados

Cult poetry on “Enterrado en la Oscuridad,” garage rock boogie “Ayahuasca” and classic, almost-surf shuffle are the first impressions Mexico City’s La Maquinaria del Sueño make on their debut full-length, Rituales de los Alucinados, and the three-piece only benefit from the push-pull in different directions as the seven-song LP plays out, jamming into the semi-ethereal on “Maldad Eléctrica” only to tip hat to ’60s weirdo jangle on “Mujer Cabeza de Cuervo.” Guitars scorch throughout atop swinging grooves in power trio fashion, and despite the differences in tone between them, “Enterré mis Dientes en el Desierto” and “Ángel de Fuego” both manage to make their way into a right on haze of heavy fuzz ahead of the motoring finisher “La Ninfa del Agua,” which underscores the live feel of the entire procession with its big crashout ending and overarching vitality. Listening to the chemistry between these players, it’s not a surprise they’ve been a band for the better part of a decade, and man, they make their riffs dance. Not revolutionary, but cool enough not to care.

La Maquinaria del Sueño on Facebook

LSDR Records on Bandcamp

 

Ananda Mida, Karnak

Ananda Mida Karnak

A three-tracker EP issued through drummer Max Ear‘s (also of OJM) own Go Down Records, Karnak features an instrumental take on a previously-vocalized cut — “Anulios,” from 2018’s Anodnatius (review here) — an eight-minute live jam with Mario Lalli of Fatso Jetson/Yawning Man sitting in on guitar, and a live version of the Conny Ochs-fronted “The Pilot,” which opened 2019’s Cathodnatius, the cover of which continues to haunt one’s dreams, and which finds the German singer-songwriter channeling his inner David Byrne in fascinating ways. An odds-and-ends release, maybe, but each of these songs is worth the minimal price of admission on its own, never mind topped as they are together with the much-less-horrifying art. If this is a reminder to listen to Anada Mida, it’s a happy one.

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Go Down Records website

 

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