Posted in Whathaveyou on September 29th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
You won’t have to strain yourself to hear the experimentalist aspects of Oslo Tapes‘ new single, as band founder and figurehead Marco Campitelli, in continued collaboration with producer Amaury Cambuzat, hones an atmosphere that’s both far-reaching and intimate, with breathy vocals and textures of nuanced synthesizer being put to purposeful use across the song’s five-minute span, a heavier burst held in reserve for the final stretch. The song is called “Inhuman Witch,” which isn’t the least sexist thing to name the lead track off your new album, but the lyrics are vaguely somewhere else with it, so fair enough.
The last Oslo Tapes album was late-2023’s Staring at the Sun Before Goin’ Blind (review here), which also had consortium backing, and the upcoming Låst Comet will see release Nov. 14 through Golden Robot, Worst Bassist and Grazil Records, the latter being the only one of the three held over from two years ago. Spreading the love, and such.
I haven’t heard the full album yet, but “Inhuman Witch” feels like it’s drawing you into the record that follows it, and of course that’s never a bad place to start. The PR wire has details and such:
OSLO TAPES unveil new single “Inhuman Witch”, the first glimpse of upcoming album “LÅST COMET”
(Golden Robot Records DGT, Worst Bassist Records LP, Grazil Records CD/TAPE)
After a year of relentless creativity in the studio and on European stages, Oslo Tapes return with “Inhuman Witch” — the spellbinding first single from their highly anticipated new album “LÅST COMET”. Set for release in the coming months, the track opens a bold new sonic chapter for the band, reaffirming their visionary approach and ever-evolving style.
A hypnotic voyage through obsessive grooves, warped distortions, and esoteric synth textures, “Inhuman Witch” conjures a ritualistic and evocative atmosphere. Marco Campitelli’s vocals intertwine seamlessly with those of new additional voice of Emilie Lium Vordal, a Norwegian singer and multi-instrumentalist, adding a new color to the project. As the lead single, the track also marks the beginning of an exciting new creative era for Oslo Tapes. “LÅST COMET” is the result of a year-long journey of experimentation and international collaboration.
Its ten tracks were written and arranged by Marco Campitelli and Stefano Micolucci, performed by an expanded Oslo Tapes lineup, and produced and mixed by Amaury Cambuzat (faUSt, Ulan Bator). Recording sessions took place between Italy and Norway with Campitelli, Lucio Piccirilli, and Emil Nikolaisen (Serena Maneesh, Brian Jonestown Massacre) — who also co-wrote some material — and feature a special guest appearance by Håkon Gebhardt, legendary drummer of Motorpsycho.
Mastering was entrusted to James Aparicio, renowned for his work with Spiritualized, Depeche Mode, and Mogwai, whose unmistakable touch has further shaped the album’s distinctive sonic identity.
“LÅST COMET” is an intense and multilayered work, pushing Oslo Tapes into new territory, between cosmic visions and introspection, reaffirming their ever-evolving psychedelic essence.
CREDITS Produced, mixed by Amaury Cambuzat Mastered: James Aparicio Recorded by Marco Campitelli, Lucio Piccirilli & Emil Nikolaisen between Italy and Norway. Written by Marco Campitelli Arranged by Marco Campitelli & Stefano Micolucci Played by Oslo Tapes Photos | Alessandro Caporale Artwork | Druckwelle Design
Line-up on “Inhuman Witch”: • Marco Campitelli: vocals, Xiosynth49, guitar • Emilie Lium Vordal: vocal • Mauro Spada: bass • Stefano Micolucci: bass • Lorenzo Di Lorenzo: drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 28th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
The upcoming Volume tour in support of the band’s 2024 return EP, Joy of Navigation, will take off in less than a month’s time. I don’t know when the last time the California-based band hit the Eastern Seaboard, but from Boston down through Baltimore — not total coverage, but not nothing — they’ll swing all the way out before looping back west to finish, suitably enough, in the desert.
It’s a substantial tour, and you’ll note there’s 17 shows listed and I don’t see a day off among them. One would not accuse Volume of going easy on themselves as they make ready to head out, but sometimes that’s part of the idea. You’ll find the dates and such for the tour below, courtesy of the PR wire:
VOLUME announce full US tour starting in May
29 Palms, CA Desert/Stoner Rock supergroup led by Patrick Brink (Fu Manchu), Ed Mundell (Monster Magnet), Mike Amster (Nebula, Spoon Benders), Dave Catching
Twentynine Palms, CA band VOLUME announce full US tour dates today supporting their new album Joy of Navigation (A Trip Through the Eternal Unknown). Please see all dates below.
Joy of Navigation (A Trip Through the Eternal Unknown) is available for download/streaming, released on November 1st, 2024 via Golden Robot Recordings, and on LP via Kozmik Artifactz. Order HERE:https://album.link/Volume-JoyofNavigation
VOLUME LIVE 2025: 05/16 Las Vegas, NV – Dive Bar 05/17 Salt Lake City, UT – DLC 05/18 Denver, CO – The Crypt 05/19 Kansas City, KS – Mini Bar 05/20 Des Moines, IA – Lefty’s 05/21 Chicago, IL – Reggies 05/22 Detroit, MI – the Sanctuary 05/23 Lakewood, OH – 5 O’Clock Lounge 05/24 New York, NY – Lucky 13 05/25 Boston, MA – Mid East Upstairs 05/26 Philadelphia, PA – Animated Brewing 05/27 Baltimore, MD – the Metro 05/28 Louisville, KY – Mag Bar 05/29 St Louis, MO – Red Flag 05/30 Tulsa, OK – Whittier Bar 05/31 Albuquerque, NM – Echoes 06/01 Phoenix, AZ – Yucca Tap Room
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 13th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
The impending Volume EP, Joy of Navigation, follows behind a 20th anniversary edition of the band’s Requesting Permission to Land, and sees a new lineup of the group led by guitarist/vocalist Patrick Brink that includes guitarist Ed Mundell (The Ultra-Electric Mega Galactic, ex-Monster Magnet, etc.), Dave Catching (Queens of the Stone Age, etc.) and Mike Amster (Nebula, Mondo Generator, etc.). That’s a pretty enticing prospect alone, and made no less so by the album’s title-track, which is streaming now. Golden Robot and Kozmik Artifactz have the release, and whether it’s the names and legacy that bring you in or the song itself, I don’t think you’ll be wrong in checking it out.
If you’re experiencing a disconnect between the lineup mentioned above and the photo of the band, it’s because the pic is likely the live lineup rather than that which recorded. I was squinting to see if that’s Amster in the back, but yeah, no. Different group altogether. The good news though is that a live-lineup means live shows. I wouldn’t expect Volume to go coast-to-coast at this point, but there’s a date listed below and more will likely follow to some degree or other.
The PR wire has details:
VOLUME share first single from forthcoming album ‘Joy of Navigation’
29 Palms, CA Desert/Stoner Rock supergroup led by Patrick Brink (Fu Manchu), Ed Mundell (Monster Magnet), Mike Amster (Nebula, Spoon Benders), Dave Catching
Twentynine Palms, CA band VOLUME shares the first single (and title track) to their forthcoming album Joy of Navigation today on all streaming services. “Joy of Navigation” is live on all DSPs HERE & Bandcamp.
The band is VOLUME and it deals primarily in density: Thick and weighty as the abundant sand surrounding their Twentynine Palms, CA hometown, but also comprised of a mass of fine grit that can sear the skin with a gust of wind, and quickly dissipate into the ether.
Yes, that is to say, VOLUME are purveyors of Heavy Acid Rock. Doomy psychedelia, but with more raw 70s punk brash than masquerading metal. VOLUME draw musical influences from bands such as The Stooges, MC5 and Black Flag to name a few, while also crafting their own distinctive heavy psychedelic identity. And, with Joy of Navigation, the band ventures into heavier, more psychedelic tones, while also keeping powerful hooks as the focus.
Originally formed in 1993 by ex-Fu Manchu singer Patrick Brink, the band has featured a revolving set of collaborators, with ex-Monster Magnet guitarist Ed Mundell playing leads on the forthcoming Joy of Navigation mini-album. David Catching (QOTSA, Arctic Monkeys, Iggy Pop) co-produced the tracks with Brink, as well as playing synth on the recording. Mike Amster (Nebula, Mondo Generator, Spoon Benders) plays drums on the mini-album. The current live lineup includes Mingus on drums, bassist Jason Hernandez and lead guitarist Derek Christiansen.
Brink founded the band in order to take the lead and steer the musical reins down psychedelic rocking routes. Having performed with a number of acts including the aforementioned vocals for Fu Manchu in their early days, VOLUME offered Patrick a new creative outlet. Over their career the band has shared stages with Queens of the Stone Age, Mastodon and Goatsnake, and performed at festivals including Emissions of the Monolith and Stoner Hands of Doom (SHoD).
Brink’s upbringing in the secluded desert town east of Joshua Tree and 60 miles north of Palm Springs had a huge impact on his songwriting. It is a place of beauty and harsh realities, and those contrasts are present throughout Patrick’s lyrics and songs. After getting into punk rock by accident in high school Patrick started his first band a couple of years later with the only other punks in town. This early love of punk rock inadvertently led him to the heavier bands on SST Records such as Wurm, SWA, DC3 and St. Vitus.
Heavy As Fuck (1996) and Love Is A Mountain And Heavy As Fuck (1998) were the band’s first recordings. In the Fall of 1998, the seven inch Check This Planet I’m Gone… was released on Superkool Records. Requesting Permission To Land (High Beam Records) was recorded with the help of Mike McHugh (Train, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion). Each song was recorded in one or two takes to retain the original heart and soul of the piece.
“It’s rock and roll. Not brain surgery,” says Patrick of the recording process. The end result is a potent blend of thirty-plus minutes of psychedelic fuzzfest freakout and perhaps some of the rawest riffs you’re likely to hear.
VOLUME draw inspiration from a time when music was truly experimental and free. They see themselves as rock’n’roll torch bearers whose duty it is to bring the flame, intact, into the future. They invite you to join in that endeavor, for the Joy of Navigation.
Joy of Navigation will be available for download/streaming on November 1st, 2024 via Golden Robot Recordings, and on LP via Kozmik Artifactz. Pre-save HERE: https://orcd.co/joy-of-navigation, Pre-order HERE: https://kozmik-shop.com/
VOLUME LIVE 2024: 08/17 San Diego, CA – Til Two Club
Artist: VOLUME Album: Joy of Navigation Label: Golden Robot (digital) / Kozmik Artifactz (vinyl) Release Date: November 1st, 2024
01. Joy of Navigation 02. Mercury 03. Heavy Sunshine 04. Golden Age 05. Space Baby
Posted in Reviews on September 27th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Here we go again as we get closer to 100 records covered in this expanded Fall 2022 Quarterly Review. It’s been a pretty interesting ride so far, and as I’ve dug in I know for sure I’ve added a few names (and titles) to my year-end lists for albums, debuts, and so on. Today keeps the thread going with a good spread of styles and some very, very heavy stuff. If you haven’t found anything in the bunch yet — first I’d tell you to go back and check again, because, really? nothing in 60 records? — but after that, hey, maybe today’s your day.
Here’s hoping.
Quarterly Review #61-70:
Spirit Adrift, 20 Centuries Gone
The second short release in two years from trad metal forerunners Spirit Adrift, 20 Centuries Gone pairs two new originals in “Sorcerer’s Fate” and “Mass Formation Psychosis” — songs for our times written as fantasy narrative — with six covers, of Type O Negative‘s “Everything Dies,” Pantera‘s “Hollow,” Metallica‘s “Escape,” Thin Lizzy‘s “Waiting for an Alibi,” ZZ Top‘s “Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings” and Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s “Poison Whiskey.” The covers find them demonstrating a bit of malleability — founding guitarist/vocalist does well with Phil Lynott‘s and Peter Steele‘s inflections while still sounding like himself — and it’s always a novelty to hear a band purposefully showcase their influences like this, but “Sorcerer’s Fate” and “Mass Formation Psychosis” are the real draw. The former nods atop a Candlemassian chug and sweeping chorus before spending much of its second half instrumental, and “Mass Formation Psychosis” resolves in burly riffing, but only after a poised rollout of classic doom, slower, sleeker in its groove, with acoustic strum layered in amid the distortion and keyboard. Two quick reaffirmations of the band’s metallic flourishing and, indeed, a greater movement happening partially in their wake. And then the covers, which are admirably more than filler in terms of arrangement. Something of a holdover, maybe, but by no means lacking substance.
Just because it’s so bludgeoning doesn’t necessarily mean that’s all it is. The melodic stretch of “Forbidden World of Light” and delve into progressive black metal after the nakedly Crowbarian sludge of “A Path Beyond Grief,” the clean vocal-topped atmospheric heft of “What Must Be Done” and the choral feel of centerpiece “Carried,” even the way “Of Shadow and Sanguine” seems to purposefully thrash (also some more black metal there) amid its bouts of deathcore and sludge lumbering — all of these come together to make Northless‘ fourth long-player, A Path Beyond Grief, an experience that’s still perhaps defined by its intensity and concrete tonality, its aggression, but that is not necessarily beholden to those. Even the quiet intro “Nihil Sanctum Vitae” — a seeming complement to the nine-minute bring-it-all-together closer “Nothing That Lives Will Last” — seems intended to tell the listener there’s more happening here than it might at first seem. As someone who still misses Swarm of the Lotus, some of the culmination in that finale is enough to move the blood in my wretched body, but while born in part of hardcore, Northless are deep into their own style throughout these seven songs, and the resultant smashy smashy is able to adjust its own elemental balance while remaining ferociously executed. Except, you know, when it’s not. Because it’s not just one thing.
Comprised of five songs running a tidy 20 minutes, each brought together through ambience as well as the fact that their titles are all three letters long — “Aer,” “Hyd,” “Orb,” “Wiz,” “Rue” — AER is the debut EP from German instrumentalists Lightrain, who would seek entry into the contemplative and evocative sphere of acts like Toundra or We Lost the Sea as they offer headed-out post-rock float and heavy psychedelic vibe. “Hyd” is a focal point, both for its eight-minute runtime (nothing else is half that long) and the general spaciousness, plus a bit of riffy shove in the middle, with which it fills that, but the ultra-mellow “Aer” and drumless wash of “Wiz” feed into an overarching flow that speaks to greater intentions on the part of the band vis a vis a first album. “Rue” is progressive without being overthought, and “Orb” feels born of a jam without necessarily being that jam, finding sure footing on ground that for many would be uncertain. If this is the beginning point of a longer-term evolution on the part of the band, so much the better, but even taken as a standalone, without consideration for the potential of what it might lead to, the LP-style fluidity that takes hold across AER puts the lie to its 20 minutes being somehow minor.
Cleanly produced and leaning toward sleaze at times in a way that feels purposefully drawn from ’80s glam metal, the second offering from Poland’s 1965 — they might as well have called themselves 1542 for as much as they have to do sound-wise with what was going on that year — is the 12-song/52-minute Panther, which wants your nuclear love on “Nuclear Love,” wants to rock on “Let’s Rock,” and would be more than happy to do whatever it wants on “Anything We Want.” Okay, so maybe guitarist, vocalist and principal songwriter Michał Rogalski isn’t going to take home gold at the Subtlety Olympics, but the Warsaw-based outfit — him plus Marco Caponi on bass/backing vocals and Tomasz Rudnicki on drums/backing vocals, as well as an array of lead guitarists guesting — know the rock they want to make, and they make it. Songs are tight and well performed, heavy enough in tone to have a presence but fleet-footed in their turns from verse to chorus and the many trad-metal-derived leads. Given the lyrics of the title-track, I’m not sure positioning oneself as an actual predatory creature as a metaphor for seduction has been fully thought through, but you don’t see me out here writing lyrics in Polish either, so take it with that grain of salt if you feel the need or it helps. For my money I’ll take the still-over-the-top “So Many Times” and the sharp start-stops of “All My Heroes Are Dead,” but there’s certainly no lack of others to choose from.
Blacklab — also stylized BlackLab — are the Osaka, Japan-based duo of guitarist/vocalist Yuko Morino and drummer Chia Shiraishi, but if you’d enter into their second full-length, In a Bizarre Dream, expecting some rawness or lacking heft on account of their sans-bass configuration, you’re more likely to be bowled over by the sludgy tonality on display. “Cold Rain” — opener and longest track (immediate points) at 6:13 — and “Abyss Woods” are largely screamers, righteously harsh with riffs no less biting, and “Dark Clouds” does the job in half the time with a punkier onslaught leading to “Evil 1,” but “Evil 2” mellows out a bit, adjusts the balance toward clean singing and brooding in a way that the oh-hi-there guest vocal contribution from Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab (after whom Blacklab are partially named) on “Crows, Sparrows and Cats” shifts into a grungier modus. “Lost” and “In a Bizarre Dream,” the latter more of an interlude, keep the momentum going on the rock side, but somehow you just know they’re going to turn it around again, and they absolutely do, easing their way in with the largesse of “Monochrome Rainbow” before “Collapse” caps with a full-on onslaught that brings into full emphasis how much reach they have as a two-piece and just how successfully they make it all heavy.
I guess the only problem that might arise from recording your first two-songer with Steve Albini is that you’ve set an awfully high standard for, well, every subsequent offering your band ever makes in terms of production. There are traces of Karma to Burn-style chug on “Ectotherm,” the A-side accompanied by “Writhing Mass” on the two-songer that shares the same name, but Chicago imstrumental trio Sun King Ba are digging into more progressively-minded, less-stripped-down fare on both of these initial tracks. Still, impact and the vitality of the end result are loosely reminiscent, but the life on that guitar, bass and drums speaks volumes, and not just in favor of the recording itself. “Writhing Mass” crashes into tempo changes and resolves itself in being both big and loud, and the space in the cymbals alone as it comes to its noisy finish hints at future incursions to be made. Lest we forget that Chicago birthed Pelican and Bongripper, among others, for the benefit of instrumental heavy worldwide. Sun King Ba have a ways to go before they’re added to that list, but there is intention being signaled here for those with ears to hear it.
Despite the somewhat grim imagery on the cover art for Kenodromia‘s self-titled debut EP — a three-cut outing that marks a return to the band of vocalist Hilde Chruicshank after some stretch of absence during which they were known as Hideout — the Oslo, Norway, four-piece play heavy rock through and through on “Slandered,” “Corrupted” and “Bound,” with the bluesy fuzzer riffs and subtle psych flourishes of Eigil Nicolaisen‘s guitar backing Chruicshank‘s lyrics as bassist Michael Sindhu and drummer Trond Buvik underscore the “break free” moment in “Corrupted,” which feels well within its rights in terms of sociopolitical commentary ahead of the airier start of “Bound” after the relatively straightforward beginning that was “Slandered.” With the songs arranged shortest to longest, “Bound” is also the darkest in terms of atmosphere and features a more open verse, but the nod that defines the second half is huge, welcome and consuming even as it veers into a swaggering kind of guitar solo before coming back to finish. These players have been together one way or another for over 10 years, and knowing that, Kenodromia‘s overarching cohesion makes sense. Hopefully it’s not long before they turn attentions toward a first LP. They’re clearly ready.
Mezzoa are the San Diego three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Ignacio “El Falcone” Maldonado, bassist Q “Dust Devil” Pena (who according to their bio was created in the ‘Cholo Goth Universe,’ so yes, charm is a factor), and drummer Roy “Bam Bam” Belarmino, and the 13-track/45-minute Dunes of Mars is their second album behind 2017’s Astral Travel. They sound like a band who’ve been around for a bit, and indeed they have, playing in other bands and so on, but they’ve got their approach on lockdown and I don’t mean for the plague. The material here, whether it’s the Helmet-plus-melody riffing of “Tattoos and Halos” or the more languid roll of the seven-minute “Dunes of Mars” earlier on, is crisp and mature without sounding flat or staid creatively, and though they’re likened most to desert rock and one can hear that in the penultimate “Seized Up” a bit, there’s more density in the guitar and bass, and the immediacy of “Hyde” speaks of more urgent influences at work. That said, the nodding chill-and-chug of “Moya” is heavy whatever landscape you want to say birthed it, and with the movement into and out of psychedelic vibes, the land is something you’re just as likely to leave behind anyway. Hit me as a surprise. Don’t be shocked if you end up going back to check out the first record after.
Released through emergent Texas-based imprint Gravitoyd Heavy Music, Stone Nomads‘ Fields of Doom comprises six songs, five originals, and is accordingly somewhere between a debut full-length and an EP at half an hour long. The cover is a take on Saint Vitus‘ “Dragon Time,” and it rests well here as the closer behind the prior-released single “Soul Stealer,” as bassist Jude Sisk and guitarist Jon Cosky trade lead vocal duties while Dwayne Crosby furthers the underlying metallic impression on drums, pushing some double-kick gallop under the solo of “Fiery Sabbath” early on after the leadoff title-track lumbers and chugs and bell-tolls to its ending, heavy enough for heavy heads, aggro enough to suit your sneer, with maybe a bit of Type O Negative influence in the vocal. Huffing oldschool gasoline, Fields of Doom might prove too burled-out for some listeners, but the interlude “Winds of Barren Lands” and the vocal swaps mean that you’re never quite sure where they’re going to hit you next, even if you know the hit is coming, and even as “Soul Stealer” goes grandiose before giving way to the already-noted Vitus cover. And if you’re wondering, they nail the noise of the solo in that song, leaving no doubt that they know what they’re doing, with their own material or otherwise.
Drawing from various corners of punk, noise rock and heavy rock’s accessibility, Munich trio Blind Mess offer their third full-length in After the Storm, which is aptly-enough titled, considering. “Fight Fire with Fire” isn’t a cover, but the closing “What’s the Matter Man?” is, of Rollins Band, no less, and they arrive there after careening though a swath of tunes like “Twilight Zone,” “At the Gates” and “Save a Bullet,” which are as likely to be hardcore-born shove or desert-riffed melody, and in the last of those listed there, a little bit of both. To make matters more complicated, “Killing My Idols” leans into classic metal in its underlying riff as the vocals bark and its swing is heavy ’70s through and through. This aesthetic amalgam holds together in the toughguy march of “Sirens” as much as the garage-QOTSA rush of “Left to Do” and the dares-to-thrash finish of “Fight Fire with Fire” since the songs themselves are well composed and at 38 minutes they’re in no danger of overstaying their welcome. And when they get there, “What’s the Matter Man?” makes a friendly-ish-but-still-confrontational complemement to “Left to Do” back at the outset, as though to remind us that wherever they’ve gone over the course of the album between, it’s all been about rock and roll the whole time. So be it.
Posted in Questionnaire on February 4th, 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: Matt Orloff of Near Dusk
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
Well… The idea is to connect with the listener (live or on tape) thru personal experiences and the emotions that run with those. As Father Jimi said, “Get into the soul of a person.”
Describe your first musical memory.
My first musical memory is getting stoked on “Puttin on the Ritz” by Taco. I remember thinking how weird and silly of a song it was. Oh also every time I saw my friend’s guitar. I tried to steal it every time. I was likely only two years old in both cases.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Other than hearing “Smells Like Teen Spirit” hit for the first time… I think my favorite was proposing to my wife at Viretta Park next Kurt Cobain’s old house.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Only every time I try to describe Democratic Socialism. Gat dayum people trip on that term.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Pushing always ends up in some sort of genius. If at the very least lands you in some originality. It can also lead to the eternal battle of vulnerability and safe you feel being seen for who you really are. (shiver)
How do you define success?
Achieving any goal you set forth to do. Big or small. My early days as a nightclub DJ I measured success on if I could afford a plasma TV. Hahaha. I still can’t afford one. But I did score a broken one from the side of the road. It was riddled with fractured solder joints. Reflowed everything and now it works perfectly. Still hanging on my wall. 60 some odd inches. Lol.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
A lot of death. Things you can’t unsee you know? But… It has changed my perspective on life, so it’s been inherently positive.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
Musically… Something that can stir the kind of emotions and vibe that were present in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. With a tinge of the early ‘70s.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
It’s everything. It’s the spice of life. I can’t imagine how incredibly dull life would be without creative expression via chosen media.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Running a working ranch. City Slicker riding horses and bringing back generator parties.
Posted in Reviews on September 27th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Not really much to say about it, is there? You know the deal. I know the deal. This time we go to 70. 10 records every day between today and next Tuesday. It seems insurmountable as usual right now, but as history has shown throughout the last seven or however many years I’ve been doing this kind of thing, it’ll work out. Time is utterly irrelevant when there’s distortion to be had. Wavelengths intersecting, dissolution of hours. You make an extra cup of coffee, I’ll burn from the inside out.
The Fall 2021 Quarterly Review begins today. Let’s boogie.
Quarterly Review #1-10:
Delco Detention, From the Basement
The essential bit of narrative here is that Tyler Pomerantz, founding guitarist of Delco Detention, is about 10 years old. Kid can fuzz. With his father, Adam, on drums, the ambitious young man has put together a wholly professional heavy rock record with a who’s who of collaborators, including Clutch‘s Neil Fallon on “The Joy of Home Schooling” (a video for which went viral last year), Jared Collins of Mississippi Bones, Earthless‘ Isaiah Mitchell, Bob Balch of Fu Manchu on the instrumental “The Action is Delco,” Erik Caplan of Thunderbird Divine on the highlight “Gods Surround,” as well as members of Hippie Death Cult, Kingsnake, The Age of Truth and others across the 15 tracks. The result is inherently diverse given the swath of personnel, tones, etc., but From the Basement plays thematically at points around the experience of being a young rocker — “All Ages Show,” “Digital Animal,” the title-track and “The Joy of Home Schooling” — but isn’t limited to that, and though there are some moodier stretches as there inevitably would be, Tyler holds his own among this esteemed company and the record’s an unabashed good time.
A fourth album arriving some eight years after the third, Fuzzy Lights‘ Burials doesn’t necessarily surprise with its patience, but its sense of world-building is immaculate and immersive. The Cambridge, UK, five-piece of violinist/vocalist Rachel Watkins, guitarist/electronicist Xavier Watkins, guitarist Chris Rogers, bassist Daniel Carney and drummer Mark Blay offer classic Britfolk melody tinged with heavy post-rock atmospherics and foreboding rhythmic push on the 10-minute “Songbird,” with the snare drum building tension for the payoff to come. Elsewhere, opener “Maiden’s Call” and “Haraldskær Woman” drift into darker vibes, while “Under the Waves” dares more uptempo psychedelic rock ahead of the highlight “Sirens” and closer “The Gathering Storm,” which offers bombast so smoothly executed one is surrounded by it almost before noticing. “Songbird,” “Maiden’s Call” and “The Graveyard Song” have their roots in a 2019 solo outing from Rachel Watkins called Collectanea, but however long this material may or may not have been around, it sounds refreshingly individual, natural, full, warm and still boldly forward thinking.
One with greater knowledge of such things than I might be able to sit and analyze and tell you what loops and effects guitarist Darryl Shepard (Kind, Hackman, Milligram, etc.) is using to make these noises, but that ain’t me. I’m happy to accept the mystery of his new two-songer/23-minute EP, (In) Control / Tired of Dying, which slowly unfolds the psych-drone of its 14-minute leadoff cut over its first several minutes before evening out into a mellow, drifting one-man guitar jam, replete with a solo that subtly builds in energy before entering its minute-long fadeout, as if Shepard were to say he wouldn’t want things to get too out of hand. “Tired of Dying” follows with immediately more threatening tone, deep, distorted, lumbering, sludgy, with space for drums behind that never come. That’s not Blackwolfgoat‘s thing. As much as “(In) Control” hypnotized with its sweeter, unassuming rollout, “Tired of Dying” is consumption on a headphone-destroyer level, nine and a half minutes of low wash that’s exploratory just the same. These pieces were recorded live, and it hasn’t been that long since Shepard‘s 2020 Blackwolfgoat full-length, Giving Up Feels So Good (review here), but each cut digs in in its own way and the isolated feel is nothing if not relevant.
From the outset with the stomps later in “Day 1 – The Beginning,” Italian fuzzers Carcaňo reveal some of the rawness in the production of their second full-length, By Order of the Green Goddess, but that doesn’t stop either their tones or the melodies floating over them from being lush across the album’s eight-song/40-minute run, whether that’s happening in the massive “Day 2 – Riding Space Elephants” (aren’t we all?) or the howling leadwork that tops the languid Sabbath/earlier-Mars Red Sky-gone-dark lumber of “Day 6 – I Don’t Belong Here.” They make it move on the cosmic chaos shuffle-and-push of “Day 4 – The Birth” and tap blatant Queens of the Stone Age up-strum riffing and wood block on “Day 5 – The Son of the Sun,” but it’s in spacious freakouts like “Day 3 – Green Grace” and the righteously drawn out “Day 7 – Wasted Land” that By Order of the Green Goddess most seems to set its course, with room for the acoustic experimentalism of “Day 8 – Running Back Home” at the end, familiar in concept but delightfully weird and ethereal in its execution.
Paeans to space and the desert, riffs on riffs on riffs, grit hither and yon — Melbourne’s Planet of the 8s are preaching to the converted on Lagrange Point Vol. 1, and they go so far in the opening “Lagrange Point” to explain in a Twilight Zone-esque monologue what the phenomenon actually is before “Holy Fire” unfurls its procession with the first of four included guest vocalists. King Carrot of Death by Carrot would seem to know of which he speaks there, while Diesel Doleman (Duneater) tops “Exit Planet” for an effect wholly akin to Astrosoniq at max thrust, while Georgie Cosson of Kitchen Witch joins Planet of the 8s‘ own bassist Michael “Sullo” Sullivan on “X-Ray,” and Jimi Coelli (Sheriff) takes on the early QOTSA-style riffing of “The Unofficial History of Babe Wolf,” which would also seem to be the subject of the cover art. They wrap all these comings and going with “The Three Body Problem,” a jazzy minute-long instrumental that’s there and gone before you’ve even caught your breath from the preceding songs. 21 minutes, huh? That 21 minutes is packed.
Debut albums with their stylistic ducks so much in a row are rare, but with the declaration “I am the mountain/You are the quake,” the chugging boogie in the post-Trouble “Did She?,” the opening hook of “Heads Will Roll,” the duly-open, semi-progressive tinge of “Skyscraper,” and the we-saved-extra-heavy-just-for-this finish of “Bury the Queen,” Austin’s High Desert Queen indeed show themselves as schooled with Secrets of the Black Moon. It is an encapsulation of modern stoner heavy idolatry, riff-led but not necessarily riff-dependent in its entirety, and both the good-vibes fuzz of “As We Roam” and the aptly-titled penultimate roller “The Wheel” manage to boast soaring vocal melodies that put the band in another league. They’re not necessarily starting a revolution in terms of style, but they bring together lush and crush effectively and when a band has so much of a clear idea of what they’re going for and the songwriting to back them up, first record or not, they rule the day. Don’t lose them among the swaths either of three-word-moniker heavy newcomers or the flood of Texan acts out there.
Heavy and ritualized enough to earn its release on 50 neon green tapes — CDs too — the second full-length from Russia’s Megalith Levitation, Void Psalms tops 53 minutes of beastly lurch, with opener “Phantasmagoric Journey” (13:08) playing like half-speed Celtic Frost while the back-to-back two-parters “Datura Revelations/Lysergic Phantoms” (12:47) and “Temple of Silence/Pillars of Creation” (19:45) bridge cult-heavy worship with experimental fuckall, never quite dipping entirely into dark psychedelia, but certainly refusing lucidity outright. I don’t know what’s up with the punch of bass in the back end of “Temple of Silence/Pillars of Creation,” but that froggy sound is gloriously weirdo in its affect, and makes the whole jam for me. They cap with “Last Vision,” an admirably massive riffer that only spans seven and a half minutes but in that time still finds a way to drone the shit out of its nod. Cheers to Chelyabinsk as Megalith Levitation (who are not to be confused with Megaton Leviathan) offer intentionally putrid fruit on which to feast.
There is death, and there is sludge. Do doomers mosh in Texas? “Devil’s Due” might provide an occasion to find out, as the second EP, The Pit of Suffering, from Austin extremist slingers Forebode follows 2019’s self-titled short release (review here) with plenty of slow-motion plunder, “Metal Slug” opening in grim praise of weed before the rest of what follows moves from shortest to longest in an onslaught that grows correspondingly more vicious. Rest your head on that bit of twang at the start of “Pit of Suffering” if you want, that’s only going to make it easier for the band to crush your skull in the stretch before it returns at the end. And oh, “Bane of Hammers.” You build in speed and get so brutal, and then you do, you do, you do slam on the brakes and finish out as heavy as possible, an ultimate eat-all-in-its-path tonality that would be off-putting were it not so outright gleeful in its disgusting nature. What fun they’re having making these terrible sounds. Love it.
Yeah, you think you can hang. You’re like, “Whatever, I like weird psych stuff.” Then Codex Serafini start in with the cave echo wails and the drones and the artsy experimentalism and you’re like, “Well, maybe I’m just gonna go back to Squaresville after all. Work in the morning, you know.” The Brighton, UK, fivesome have four tracks on Invisible Landscape, and I promise you no one of them is more real than the other. In fact, the entire thing is pretend. It doesn’t exist. Neither do you. You thought you did, then the sax started blowing and you realized you were just some kind of semi-sentient wisp swirling around in reverb and what the hell were we talking about okay yeah planets and stuff whatever it doesn’t matter just quick, put this on and be ready for the splatter when “Time, Change & Become” starts. You’re not gonna want to miss it, but there’s no way that stain is ever coming out of that shirt. Kablooie is how the cosmos dies.
Killers is the third full-length from Colorado fuzz rockers Stone Deaf, and they continue to have a chorus for every occasion, in this case going so far as to import “Gone Daddy Gone” from your teenage remembrance of Violent Femmes and actually talk about burning witches in the “Burn the Witch”-esque “Tightrope.” Queens of the Stone Age has been and continues to be a defining influence here, but from the electronics in “Cloven Hoof” to the harder edges of closing duo “Silverking” and “San Pedro Winter,” the band refuse to be identified by anything so much as their songcraft, which is tight and sharply produced across the 44 minutes of Killers, their punk rock having grown up but not having dulled so much as found a direction in which to point its angst. A collection of individual tracks, there’s nonetheless a build of momentum that starts early and carries through the entirety of the outing. I’ll leave to you to make the clever remark about there being “no fillers.” Enjoy that.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 21st, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Aussie troublemakers Mammoth Mammoth have pulled back together around the lineup of vocalist Mikey Tucker, guitarist Ben Couzens, bassist Pete Bell and drummer Frank Trobbiani, signed with Golden Robot Records, and announced they’ll release a new live album later on in 2021. That’s a lot of news to pack in, but the four-piece have proven nothing if not efficient in delivering boots to ass over their years together. One assumes that sooner or later the band will return to Europe, which was their touring priority prior to the apocalypse, and the fact that Golden Robot has offices in Hamburg as well as Sydney and Melbourne (and L.A. and NYC, for that matter) would seem to support that.
Of course they’re not the only ones who’ve had to or have otherwise taken the opportunity to revamp or restrcture their existence in the last year — see also: you, me, everybody — but it should be interesting to see/hear what they do with these four players back together. They’ve never been short on volatility, yet somehow they’re plenty reliable in that.
From the PR wire:
MAMMOTH MAMMOTH REUNITE AND SIGN WITH GOLDEN ROBOT RECORDS
After spending a year in a COVID hibernation, MAMMOTH MAMMOTH have awoken from their slumber and are back, reunited with their classic line up (Frank ‘Bones Trobbiani, Ben ‘Cuz’ Couzens, Mikey Tucker and Pete Bell), to announce they have signed with global powerhouse Golden Robot Records. They are set to unleash a live album later this year, which will give fans who are currently unable to see the band in action a dose of MAMMOTH MAMMOTH live.
MAMMOTH MAMMOTH hail from the Black Spur Forest of Victoria, Australia, and proudly represent the freight-train power of Australian born and bred rock n’ roll. They describe their sound as “more awesome than God’s tits” and “patented good-time murder fuzz”.
“MAMMOTH MAMMOTH has always been an Australian, balls-out, rock n’ roll band, and we’ve proudly flown that flag in the pubs of Australia and clubs of Europe for almost 15 years. We’re pumped to be reunited and now signed with Golden Robot. They understand what we do and how we do it… and they also have their balls-out.” – MAMMOTH MAMMOTH Guitarist, Ben ‘Cuz’ Couzens
MAMMOTH MAMMOTH is: Mikey Tucker – Vocals Frank Trobbiani – Drums Ben Couzens – Guitar Pete Bell – Bass
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 19th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
The forthcoming Apostate LP by Italian hard-hitters The Marigold marks at least the second collaboration between the band and producer Toshi Kasai (the Melvins, etc.), and if the considerable range of labels behind the release tells you anything, let it be that the band’s doubly-bassed heft is a cause worth supporting. April 23 will see it out through Forbidden Place, Sound Effect, Trepanation, Coffin & Bolt and Golden Robot Records, and it would seem to be the band’s first offering since late-2014’s Kanaval, which came out through DeAmbula Records, among others.
You’ll hear some Melvins likeness in “My Own Apostate” — the video’s below — but, well, some things are unavoiable. Also note that “K7” in the album info below refers to cassette tape. I had to look that up and it turns out it’s mainly a European thing, referencing the French pronunciation of “cassette” — the letter ‘k’ being ‘kah’ and seven being “sept” with a silent ‘p’ to sound like “set.” Clever. I learned something today.
From the PR wire:
THE MARIGOLD – APOSTATE
PRODUCED BY TOSHI KASAI (permanent collaborator of the MELVINS)
The Marigold band announces the release of the new album. The work was produced by Toshi Kasai (Melvins) and features the collaboration of Adam Harding (Dumb Numbers, Kidbug with Dale Crover and Thor of the Swans).
The opinion of the band’s members is that this is the most ‘heavy’ album released to date: it’s a dark journey that ranges from sludge to stoner with touches of hardcore.
The album was recorded in Marigold’s studio and then produced and mixed at Kasai’s “Sound Of Sirens” in Los Angeles. In the end, it was mastered by the trusty friend and historical collaborator Amaury Cambuzat. The Marigold is among the most long-lived band in the Italian alternative rock music scene; founded by Marco Campitelli, The Marigold is active since 1998. They still confirm their tenacity with a record based on an unconventional style.
The album titled APOSTATE will be available from April 23, 2021, in different formats: on CD for Forbidden Place Records (USA), on Cassette for Trepanation Records (UK), on LP for Sound Effect Records (Europe), on DGT Coffin and Bolt Records – Golden Robot Records (USA-Australia/all territories) all very active labels that include in their roster artists like Brant Bjork and Nick Olivieri, Kings X.
The Marigold: – Marco Campitelli: gtrs, 6 string bass, voice – Stefano Micolucci: basses – Lorenzo Di Lorenzo: drums, percussions + Toshi Kasai: guitar, tambourine, synth, sleigh bell, spring cowbell + Adam Harding: guitars
