Astroqueen‘s Rufus Rising EP will be the band’s first new release in over two decades. That in itself makes its May 2 arrival an event — but the manner of its making is also notable. The new song premiering in the video below, “Turbin Turbine” (sic) is their first single in just as long. This isn’t the most impartial, critic-y thing of me to say, but I’m honored to host it.
Rufus Rising is comprised of four new songs, and “Turbin Turbine” is the leadoff. The track is rooted in a 2003 session the band undertook to demo out songs for their next outing, the follow-up to 2001’s Into Submission, which Majestic Mountain also reissued in 2022 to at last give it some modicum of the presentation it had long deserved. That second full-length didn’t happen at the time and it hasn’t happened yet — the band said they were writing as of last September — but as Astroqueen have taken to the stage again over the last few years, playing festivals like Truckfighters Fuzz Fest (review here) and Freak Valley (review here), and more besides, the discussion of more recording has been there all the while.
So recording has been done. They’re meeting the original demos halfway, which means that the guitars have been redubbed by founding guitarist/vocalist Daniel Änghede, and the whole affair has been remixed and remastered by Andy La Rocque, who helmed the original tracking of the first three of the four songs on Rufus Rising. The 2003 demo, in other words, with new guitars worked in from Änghede. The fourth cut on the EP — the title-track — would seem to be a follow-up or a revisit on some level to Astroqueen‘s 1999 single “Rufus the Space Agent,” which came out on Monster Zero Records (which also released the first Colour Haze album in ’95). “Rufus Rising,” the song, was recorded in 2024 by Änghede.
The way it’s phrased below, I’m not sure if it was just him doing all the tracking solo or with the full band, and I haven’t heard it yet or I’d surely have some comment one way or the other in that regard, but for now, dig into the “Turbin Turbine” video below, get stoked on new Astroqueen in just a couple weeks (one of the vinyl editions is already sold out on preorder), and bask in the fuzz because it’s there just for you.
Enjoy:
Astroqueen, “Turbin Turbine” video premiere
Astroqueen is back with fresh material! This time, they’ve dusted off unreleased tracks from their debut album, Into Submission. New guitars have been recorded, but fans will still recognize the old, fuzzy Astroqueen sound we all love!
“Back in 2003, fresh off the release of Into Submission, Astroqueen hit the studio with Andy La Rocque to record a 3-track demo. Two of those tracks made it onto indie compilations, but the follow-up album never happened. – Life took us in different directions, and the recorded tracks were left to collect dust,” says drummer Johan Borgede.
Now, 20 years later, Astroqueen is back, picking up right where they left off. – When we started working on new material, we realized those demo tracks were too good to stay forgotten says guitarist and singer Daniel Änghede. The riffs still had the fire, but the tone needed an upgrade. – So, we re-recorded the guitars and returned back to Andy. This time at his new studio Sonic Train Studios, to give them the mix they deserved.
The result is Rufus Rising – Astroqueen at its rawest and fuzziest. This EP is both a time capsule and a rocket into the future: an echo from the past and a promise of what’s to come. Rufus Rising is just the beginning.
Artwork by @k_a_p_a_t_konto Released on Majestic Mountain Records Recorded at Andy La Rocque’s Sonic Train Studios
Tracklisting 1. Turbin Turbine 2. Other Side of Nothing 3. Tidal Wave 4. Rufus Rising
Track 1-3 recorded & mixed at Los Angered Records, April 4-6, 2003. Engineered by Andy La Rocque. Produced by Andy La Rocque & Astroqueen. Guitars recorded by Daniel Änghede at Astroblast Studios, January 2024.
Track 4 written and recorded by Daniel Änghede at Observatoriet Studios, January 2024. Mixed and mastered at Sonic Train Studios, March 22-23, 2024, by Andy La Rocque.
Astroqueen on this EP Daniel Änghede – Lead guitar & vocals Daniel Tolergård – Guitar Johan Borgede – Drums & Percussion Mattias Vester – Bass
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 16th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Yes, I know this was announced last week. I don’t care if it was announced last year — it’s friggin’ Domkraft and friggin’ Howling Giant touring together. Can you imagine the banger show that must be? Howling Giant, who I think will be playing as a four-piece again, hitting the road after recording their next full-length (oh I’m so nervous for it), and Domkraft making the most of the US visa that brought them Stateside this past Fall to be at Desertfest New York (review here), which they just about rolled into a little ball and tucked into their pocket to save for later. They were incredible.
Getting this post ready yesterday, I put on 2023’s Sonic Moons (review here) again and at the risk of spoiling your own revisit for you, yup, it still destroys. Their massive lurch and Howling Giant‘s careening, hooky uptempo shove should mesh well, and one hopes a second tour puts Domkraft somewhere in the realm of breaking even as regards the cost of artist visas. If you go, buy a shirt. Buy 10.
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Howling Giant are in my neighborhood (literally) this week for a show. I can’t attend as I’m traveling, but I’m sending The Patient Mrs. for a rare guest review. I’ll post it next week probably. Will be fun. There’s precedent, but I’ll have more on that later.
Here are Domkraft and Howling Giant dates, as per the announcement on socials:
Here we go! The second and final leg of our US tour starts in June and we will be joined by none other than our ace label mates @howlinggiant. See you in the audiodomes!
Domkraft & Howling Giant West Coast USA tour: 6/26 San Diego, CA – Brick by Brick 6/27 Las Vegas, NV – The Griffin 6/28 Garden Grove, CA – The Locker Room 6/29 Palmdale, CA – Transplants Brewing 6/30 San Luis Obispo, CA – Dark Nectar 7/1 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill 7/2 Eureka, CA – Savage Henry Comedy Club 7/3 Eugene, OR – John Henry’s 7/4 Portland, OR – The High Water Mark 7/5 Vancouver, BC – Lanalou’s 7/6 Seattle, WA – The Funhouse
Line-up Martin Wegeland – vocals, bass Martin Widholm – guitars Anders Dahlgren – drums
Posted in Bootleg Theater on February 18th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
The second solo album from Mika Häkki, Mørker, is on the way via Majestic Mountain Records. Best known to heavyheads as the bassist of Monolord — perhaps you’ve even stood in front of a stage and been flattened by his tone and/or the utter delight he takes in the delivery thereof? — Häkki released his solo debut, Vemod, in 2022, touching on aspects of classic country and singer-songwriterism alongside post-everything atmospheres and nascent arrangement flourish. Mørker, with a more confident range in terms of style and an apparent firmer grasp on what it wants each of its seven included tracks to be doing, positions Häkki as something of an auteur at the center of its material. He’s the presence that draws together songs like the dreamy beachy post-prog pop of “When You’re Old” — guitar like goth surf — and the cool-like-earliest-Stooges-and-no-less-dripping-with-attitude-or-tripped-out prior single “Couch Anthem.”
Each piece, from opener “Take This Light Away,” for which an atmospheric-type video is premiering below, to the seven-minute strum-and-sing-along finisher “Weighted Daze” that closes with shades of later-cocaine Neil Young and Nick Cave‘s Grinderman alike, has something to offer to stand it out from among those surrounding. “Take This Light Away” takes an almost Opethian angle on folkish ’60s psych-pop, where the synth of “When You’re Old” gives more of a ’70s prog vibe early, like Floyd keeping the conversation light and just talking about personal decay and “Time Stood Still” shifts to an electronic beat and airier guitar tone to suit the wistfulness of the vocals. As noted, “Couch Anthem” very much is a centerpiece — one can’t help but be reminded of the early 2021 Monolord single “I’m Staying Home” (discussed here) — and the solidification of a persona for Häkki as a songwriter as much as for the malleable nature of his actual craft. Vemod was not without this sense of reach, but Mørker makes it clear Häkki learned from his first solo outing and, with this follow-up, he affirms a creative progression underway distinct from that of his full-time band or the respective solo-projects of Monolord‘s other members, Thomas V. Jäger and Esben Willems.
And yes, persona and quirk are for sure an aspect of what Mørker has to offer the listener — neither is a thing to complain about — but later in the album, Häkki reaches deeper into singer-songwriterism, with “Makes No Sense” finding a strident mood in declarative acoustic guitar and “Another Reason to Stay” reminding of some of late-’70s John Lennon‘s full-scope arrangements, filled out with keys as it is that border on the choral. These are the two shortest pieces on the record, both right on either side of three and a half minutes, but they emphasize just how much Häkki is able to get out of that time in terms of atmosphere and creating a memorable impression on the listener. Yeah, it’s cool when “Weighted Daze” takes off and all that, but that’s ultimately just one of the places Häkki steers Mørker and the real highlight is getting there. Multifaceted in its composition and performance, Mørker is a strong answer to Häkki‘s first record, sure, and it builds on the accomplishments there, but more, it lays out a forward path for continued realization without feeling like a blueprint for settling into a sound so much as a guidepost for the listeners who’ll follow Häkki on this longer-term journey.
Enjoy the video “Take This Light Away” below. More info follows from the PR wire:
Mika Häkki, “Take This Light Away” video premiere
Mika Häkki on “Take This Light Away”:
An imagined world where the sun doesn’t rise again. Where even the slightest source of light is devoured by dark.
This was a fun song to both write and record. Klas-Henrik Hörngren plays the Harpsichord on the song which really gives it a cool vibe on the verses.
”Mørker” was recorded at LÜXFÄLLAN Studios, produced by Kristoffer Ragnstam. All songs written by Mika Häkki, but guests on a few songs were Klas-Henrik Hörngren on keys, Krister Selander on bass and Kristoffer Ragnstam on drums and backing vocals. I’ve really found a great way to work in the studio with Kristoffer Ragnstam that is both creative and fun. Bouncing ideas and trying out different solutions on the go.
Posted in Reviews on December 13th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
It’s been almost too easy, this week. Like, I was running a little later yesterday than I had the day before and I’m pretty sure it was only a big deal because — well, I was busy and distracted, to be fair — but mostly because the rest of the week to compare it against has been so gosh darn smooth. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. This is the last day. The music’s awesome. Barring actual disaster, like a car accident between now and then or some such, I’ll finish this one with minimal loss of breath.
Set against the last two Quarterly Reviews, one of which went 10 days, the other one 11, this five-dayer has been mellow and fun. As always, good music helps with that, and as has been the case since Monday, there’s plenty of it here. Not one day has gone by that I didn’t add something from the batch of 50 releases to my year-end list, which, again, barring disaster, should be out next week.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
—
Cosmic Fall, Back Where the Fire Flows
After setting a high standard of prolific releases across 2017 and 2018 to much celebration and social media ballyhooing, Berlin jammers Cosmic Fall issued their single “Lackland” (review here) in mid-2019, and Back Where the Fire Flows is their first offering since. The apparently-reinvigorated lineup of the band includes bassist Klaus Friedrich and drummer Daniel Sax alongside new guitarist Leonardo Caprioli, and if there was any concern they might’ve lost the floating resonance that typified their earlier material, 13-minute opener and longest track (immediate points) “Lucid Skies Above Mars” allays it fluidly. The more straightforwardly riffed “Magma Rising” (4:31) and the tense shuffler “Under the Influence of Gravity” (4:38) follow that leadoff, with a blowout and feedback finish for the latter that eases the shift back into spacious-jammy mode for “Chant of the Lizards” (12:26) — perhaps titled in honor of the likeness the central guitar figure carries to The Doors — with “Drive the Kraut” (10:34) closing with the plotted sensibility of Earthless by building to a fervent head and crashing out quick as they might, and one hopes will, on stage. A welcome return and hopefully a preface to more.
It doesn’t seem inappropriate to think of Weather Systems as a successor to Anathema, which until they broke up in 2020 was multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Daniel Cavanagh‘s main outlet of 30 years’ standing. Teamed here with Anathema drummer/producer Daniel Cardoso and producer Tony Doogan, who helmed Anathema‘s 2017 album, The Optimist (review here), Cavanagh is for sure in conversation with his former outfit. There are nuances like the glitchy synth in “Ocean Without a Shore” or the post-punk urgency in the rush of highlight cut “Ghost in the Machine,” and for those who felt the Anathema story was incomplete, “Are You There? Pt. 2” and “Untouchable Pt. 3” are direct sequels to songs from that band, so the messaging of Weather Systems picking up where Anathema left of is clear, and Cavanagh unsurprisingly sounds at home in such a context. Performing most of the instruments himself and welcoming a few guests on vocals, he leads the project to a place where listening can feel like an act of emotional labor, but with songs that undeniably sooth and offer space for comfort, which is their stated intention. Curious to hear how Weather Systems develops.
Assembled by bassist Ron Holzner and his The Skull bandmate, guitarist Lothar Keller, Legions of Doom are something of a doom metal supergroup with Henry Vasquez (Saint Vitus, Blood of the Sun) on drums, Scott Little (Leadfoot) on guitar alongside Keller, and vocalists Scott Reagers (Saint Vitus) and Karl Agell (Leadfoot, Lie Heavy, C.O.C.‘s Blind LP) sharing frontman duties. Perhaps the best compliment one can give The Skull 3 — which sources its material in part from the final The Skull session prior to the death of vocalist Eric Wagner — is that it lives up to the pedigree of those who made it. No great shocker the music is in the style of The Skull since that’s the point. The question is how the band build on songs like “All Good Things” and “Between Darkness and Dawn” and the ripping “Insectiside” (sic), but this initial look proves the concept and is ready and willing to school the listener across its eight tracks on how classic doom got to be that way.
The first offering from Netherlands mellow psych-folk two-piece Myriad’s Veil brims with sweet melody and a subtly expansive atmosphere, bringing together Utrecht singer-songwriter Ismena, who has several albums out as a solo artist, and guitarist Ivy van der Meer, also of Amsterdam cosmic rockers Temple Fang for a collection of eight songs running 44 minutes of patiently-crafted, thoughtfully melodic and graceful performance. Ismena is no stranger to melancholia and the layers of “When the Leaves Start Falling” with the backing line of classical guitar and Mellotron give a neo-Canterbury impression without losing their own expressive edge. Most pieces stand between five and six minutes each, which is enough time for atmospheres to blossom and flourish for a while, and though the arrangements vary, the songs are united around acoustic guitar and voice, and so the underpinning is traditional no matter where Pendant goes. The foundation is a strength rather than a hindrance, and Ismena and van der Meer greet listeners with serenity and a lush but organic character of sound.
Never short on attitude, “I Only Play 4 Money” — “If you take my picture/Your camera’s smashed/You write me fan mail/I don’t write back,” etc. — leads off Michael Rudolph Cummings‘ latest solo EP, the four-track Money with a fleshed out arrangement not unlike one might’ve found on 2022’s You Know How I Get (review here), released by Ripple Music. From there, the erstwhile Backwoods Payback frontman, Boozewa anti-frontman and grown-up punk/grunge troubadour embarks on the more stripped down, guy-and-guitar strums and contemplations of “Deny the World” and “Easier to Leave,” the latter with more than a hint of Americana, and “Denver,” which returns to the full band, classic-style lead guitar flourish, layered vocals and drums, and perhaps even more crucially, bass. It’s somewhere around 13 minutes of music, all told, but that’s more than enough time for Cummings to showcase mastery in multiple forms of his craft and the engaging nature of what’s gradually becoming his “solo sound.”
Basking in a heavygaze float with the lead guitar while the markedly-terrestrial riff chugs and echoes out below, Moon Destroy‘s “The Nearness of June” is three and a half minutes long and the first single the Atlanta outfit founded by guitarist Juan Montoya (MonstrO, ex-Torche, etc.) and drummer Evan Diprima (also bass and synth, ex-Royal Thunder) have had since guitarist/vocalist/synthesist Charlie Suárez joined the band. Set across a forward linear build that quickly gets intense behind Suárez‘s chanting intertwining vocal lines, delivered mellow with a low-in-mouth melody, it’s a tension that slams into a slowdown in the second half of the song but holds over into the solo and fadeout march of the second half as well as it builds back up, the three-piece giving a quick glimpse of what a debut full-length might hopefully bring in terms of aural largesse, depth of mix and atmospheric soundscaping. I have no idea when, where or how such a thing would or will arrive, but that album will be a thing to look forward to.
Billed as Coltaine‘s debut LP — the history of the band is a bit more complex if I recall — Forgotten Ways is nonetheless a point of arrival for the Karlsruhe, Germany, four-piece. It is genuinely post-metallic in the spirit of being over genre completely, and as Julia Frasch makes the first harsh/clean vocal switch late in opener “Mogila,” with drummer Amin Bouzeghaia, bassist Benedikt Berg and guitarist Moritz Berg building the procession behind the soar, the band use their longest/opening track (immediate points) to establish the world in which the songs that follow take place. The cinematic drone of “Himmelwärts” and echoing goth metal of “Dans un Nouveau Monde” follow, leading the way into the wind-and-vocal minimalism of “Cloud Forest” at the presumed end of side A only to renew the opener’s crush in the side B leadoff title-track. Also the centerpiece of the album, “Cloud Forest” has room to touch on German-language folk before resuming its Obituary-meets-Amenra roll, and does not get less expansive from that initial two minutes or so. As striking as the two longest pieces are, Forgotten Ways is bolstered by the guitar ambience of “Ableben,” which leads into the pair of “Grace” and “Tales of Southern Lands,” both of which move from quieter outsets into explosive heft, each with their own path, the latter in half the time, and the riff-and-thud-then-go 77 seconds of “Aren” caps because why the hell not at that point. With a Jan Oberg mix adding to the breadth, Coltaine‘s declared-first LP brims with scope and progressive purpose. It is among the best debuts I’ve heard in 2024, easily.
Zagreb-based veteran heavy rockers Stonebride — the four-piece of vocalist/guitarist Siniša Krneta, bassist/vocalist Matija Ljevar, guitarist Tješimir Mendaš and drummer Stjepan Kolobarić — give a strong argument for maturity of songwriting from the outset of Smiles Revolutionary, their fourth long-player. The ease with which they let the melody carry “In Presence,” knowing that the song doesn’t need to be as heavy as possible at all times since it still has presence, or the way the organ laces into the mix in the instrumental rush that brings the subsequent “Turn Back” to a finish before the early-QOTSA/bangin’-on-stuff crunch of “Closing Distance” tops old desert tones with harmonies worthy of Alice in Chains leading, inexorably, to a massive, lumbering nod of a payoff — they’re not written to be anything other than what they are, and in part because of that they stand testament to the long-standing progression of Stonebride. “Shine Hard” starts with a mosh riff given its due in crash early and late with a less-shove-minded jam between, part noise rock, answered by the progressive start-stop build of “March on the Heart” and closer “Time and Tide,” which dares a little funk in its outreach and leaves off with a nodding crescendo and smooth comedown, having come in and ultimately going out on a swell of vocals. Not particularly long, but substantial.
Toad Venom will acknowledge their new mini-album, Jag Har Inga Problen Osv…, was mixed and mastered by Kalle Lilja of Welfare Sounds studio and label, but beyond that, the Swedish weirdo joy psych rock transcendentalists offer no clue as to who’s actually involved in the band. By the time they get down to “Dogs!” doing a reverse-POV of The Stooges‘ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” in classic soul style, they’ve already celebrated in the rushing bliss and Beatles-y Mellotron break of opener “Jag har verkligen inga problem (så det måste vara du),” taken “One Day You Will Be Perfect” from manic boogie to sunny Californian psych/folk rock, underscoring its chorus with a riff that could easily otherwise be black metal, dwelled in the organ and keyboard dramaturge amid the rolling “Mon Amour” — the keys win the day in the end and are classy about it afterward, but it’s guitar that ends it — and found a post-punk gothy shuffle for “Time Lapse,” poppish but not without the threat of bite. So yes, half an album, as they state it, but quite a half if you’re going by scope and aesthetic. I don’t know how much of a ‘band’ Toad Venom set out to be, but they’ve hit on a sound that draws from sources as familiar as 1960s psychedelia and manages to create a fresh approach from it. To me, that speaks of their being onto something special in these songs. Can’t help but wonder what’s in store for the second half.
Following up on the organ-and-fuzz molten flow of “Radio Radiation” with the more emotive, Rolling Stones-y-until-it-gets-heavy storytelling of “Antihero,” Berlin’s Sacred Buzz carve out their own niche in weighted garage rock, taking in elements of psychedelia without ever pushing entirely over into something shroomy sounding — to wit, the proto-punk tension of quirky delivery of “Revolution” — staying grounded in structure and honoring dirt-coated traditionalism with dynamic performances, “No Wings” coming off sleazy in its groove without actually being sleaze, “Make it Go Wrong” revealing a proggy shimmer that turns careening and twists to a finish led by the keys and guitar, and “Rebel Machine” blowing it out at the end because, yeah, I mean, duh. Radio Radiation is Sacred Buzz‘s first EP (it’s more if you get the bonus track), and it seems to effortlessly buck the expectations of genre without sounding like it’s trying to push those same limits. Maybe attitude and the punk-born casual cool that overrides it all has something to do with that impression — a swagger that’s earned by the time they’re done, to be sure — but the songs are right there to back that up. The short format suits them, and they make it flow like an album. A strong initial showing.
Posted in Reviews on December 10th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Day two. I mean, it’s work in the sense of it takes effort to put together these posts and structure thoughts into hopefully somewhat coherent sentences, etc., but at this point the Quarterly Review is a pretty important tool for me to hear records that, generally once I hear them, I feel like I want to be covering. Sometimes the intensity of that feeling varies; there are things that don’t “fit” with the stoner-and-doom adjacent foundations of what this site does, but the format allows for that flexibility as well, and I credit the QR for helping broaden the perspective of the site as a whole and making me push my own boundaries.
Admittedly, the trade for covering so much — 50 records in five days is a lot, if it needs to be said — is that I can’t always get as deep as I otherwise might, but as I’ve said before, the fact is that I’m one person, and if writing about a lot of this stuff didn’t happen in this way, it probably wouldn’t happen at all. It’s still never going to be everything I want to cover, but doing it this was is often more suited to the subject at hand than a longform writeup would be, it gives me a chance to explore, it’s a consistently challenging undertaking on multiple levels, and it’s satisfying like little else around here when you’re on the other end of one and immediately start building the next.
I’m not entirely sure why I felt the need right there to justify the existence of the entire Quarterly Review thing as a part of this site. If you care, thanks. If not, I can only call that understandable. Thanks for seeing this sentence and whatever you came here for anyway.
We march on, into day two.
Quarterly Review #11-20:
—
Fuzz Sagrado, Cold Remains
As Christian Peters has gradually embraced his inner rocker over the last couple years with Fuzz Sagrado, rediscovering the sacredness of tone, if you will, and using an expanded palette of synth and keyboards to build on the project’s beginnings while tying it together with his prior outfit, the heavy psych rockers Samsara Blues Experiment, it’s fascinating how much the respective personalities of the two acts still shine through. On Cold Remains, along with the new song “Snowchild” that leads off, Peters showcases three until-now lost pieces that have their origins in his former band but were never released: “Cold Remains,” a grim-lyric title-track given due heft of low end, the short “Morphine Prayer,” which intertwines acoustic strum and electric leads and drops the drums for an even more open feel, and “Neurotic Nirvana,” which clues you into the grunge of its central riff in the title but stretches outward from there across six minutes with particular bliss in the solo for a hopeful second half. It sounds like reconciliation, and in that, it fits well with the ongoing growth of Peters‘ Brazilian period.
From the punkish opening shove of “Rat Race” and “Manic Street Ballet,” 24/7 Diva Heaven‘s second full-length for Noisolution, Gift, unfolds a style that’s both raw and dense enough to carry a heavy groove, straightforward but nuanced in craft and threaded through with attitude born out of ’90s-era riot grrrl noise rock, but able to temper that somewhat with a mellower, more melodic rocker like “Crown of Creation” — some influence from The Donnas, maybe? — before the sharp-edged intensity of “Face Down” and the thrust of “These Days” precede the centerpiece title-track’s quiet-grunge trading off with careening, hard-hitting punk rock in a way that works. No worries, as “L.O.V.E. Forever” and the Godsleep-esque aggro-rocker “Suck it Up” follow at what might be the start of side B, with a highlight bassy groove in the QOTSA-meets-Nirvana catchy “Born to Get Bored,” staying in a heavy rock modus but nonetheless faster and kind of threatening to throw a punch in “Flawless Fool,” the piano-led “Nothing Lasts” capping with duly wistful minimalism. Killer. It’s 11 tracks in 32 minutes, wastes zero of its own or your time, and has something to say both in sound and its lyrics. This band should be on all the festivals.
Holy smokes that’s a vibe. Even at its most active — which would be “Grey Smoke,” if you want specifics — the heavygaze-adjacent psych blues rock of Germany’s Mount Hush holds an encompassing sense of atmosphere, and while cuts like “All I See” or the smokey “Blues for the Dead” can trace some of what they do to the likes of All Them Witches, Queens of the Stone Age, Colour Haze, and so on, the material is inventive, unrushed and explores outward from a solid foundation of craft, leaning perhaps deepest into psych on “Celestial Eyes,” featuring a classy bit of flute in the penultimate “54” and going big in melody and tone for the finishing move in “Blood Red Sky,” working in Eastern scales for a meditative feel while staying loyal to its own distortion and post-Uncle Acid swing; one more part of the not-slapdash pastiche Mount Hush build as they take a marked breadth of influence, melt it down and shape something of their own from it. Gorgeously. Flowing with grace at no expense to the impact, II is a striking and forward looking point of arrival waiting to be caught up to. This is a band I’m glad to have heard, even before you get to the RPG.
Wherever you’re headed, Luna Sol are ready to meet you there. David Angstrom — also of Hermano — leads the bluesy heavy rockers with a slew of choice, family-style cuts. Granted, with 15 tracks and more than 50 minutes of material, there’s room to move around a bit, but whether it’s the Leaf Hound cover “Freelance Fiend” or Mountain‘s “Never in My Life” or the delay-laced verses of not-a-cover “Surrounded by Thieves” later on, Vita Mors offers both scope and craft around the heavy blues framework. That can get a little meaner tonally in “Watch Our Skeletons Die” or fuzzily back a bouncing groove on “I’ll Be Your One,” and the songs will remain united through Angstrom‘s vocals and the trust the band as a whole earn through the strength of their songwriting. It’s not a minor undertaking in an age of short attention spans, but given their time, Vita Mors‘ songs can very easily start to live with you.
Taut in their two-guitar drive and going big on hooks and harmonies alike, Ian Blurton’s Future Now‘s second album, Crimes of the City, is a heart-on-sleeve heavy rocker brimming with life, purpose in its construction, and a sense of celebrating the riffs and metals of old. With Blurton himself on guitar/vocals, guitarist Aaron Goldstein, bassist Anna Ruddick and drummer Glenn Milchem — Gregory MacDonald is also listed as ‘The Goose’ in the credits — the four-piece don’t touch the four-minute mark once in Crimes of the City‘s succession of 10 bangers, despite coming close in “Cast Away the Stones,” and as one could only expect, the songs are air tight in structure and delivery. And just when it seems to run the risk of being too perfect, Blurton drops the layers for the verse of “Nocturnal Transmissions” or exudes sheer delight in the ’80s metal of “Seventh Sin of Devotion,” or the whole band rides a groove like “School’s In,” and it’s all so open, welcoming and vibrant that it can’t help but be human in the end. Killer at any volume, but more don’t hurt.
Prone to a psych-garage freakout, willfully jagged on the swaying “Two Birds,” indie drifting to the Riff-Filled Land™ and the neighboring Epicsolosburg on “Ten Lies” and righteously horny/not creepy on “Woman,” Mirage is the first full-length from South Africa’s Moskitos, and while it has some element of sneer as a facet inherited from in-genre influences, “Ryder” still feels sincere as it departs what Moe called a “carhole” one time in favor of a more open landscape. There’s intricacy in the rhythm of “Believer” if you want it, and the set-up-for-contrast relative patience of opener “Umbra,” which, yeah, still twists the cosmos a bit by the time it’s done, is a highlight as well, and “Trigger” shifts between quiet parts and putting a shuffle beneath its melodic ending, but some of the most effective moments here are more about the soul behind it all. The feel is loose, but they’re not without a plan, and while there’s no shortage of haze between here and there, it will be interesting to hear how Moskitos build on ideas like the expansive-but-not-unpoppy-till-the-payoff “Ten Lies” and what new ground they find as they move forward.
This Halloween-issued sequel to Deer Lord‘s early-2023 EP, Dark Matter (review here) unfolds across six tracks broken into two sides of three each. Each begins with its longest track (immediate points), and uses the spaciousness cast in “Dark Matter” (8:11) and “Intelligent Life” (7:24), respectively, to bolster the atmosphere of the rockers that follow, “Faster” and “Dogma” on side A, the swinging cosmic blowout “Blade” and closer “Pay” on side B. If that makes it sound somewhat orderly, this symmetry is contrasted by the loosen-your-head psychedelic drive of “Dogma” or “Faster” sounding like Clutch as beamed from Voyager 1 hitting a gravity wave on the way. The now-trio of guitarist/vocalist Sheafer McOmber, drummer Ryan Alderman and bassist Jared Marill hit on a sonic niche of earthy fuzz meeting with spaced plasmatic volatility. It’s big and it moves! It would be more of a surprise if they weren’t signed by somebody or other by the time they get around to their debut full-length.
Following up on their 2023 self-titled-if-you-go-by-apparent-pronunciation LP, Tiefenrausch, Book of Circles sees instrumentalist three-piece TFNRSH make a striking entry into the admittedly crowded German and greater European sans-vocal heavy psychedelic underground. Standing out through a proggy use of synth, the second album offers “Zorn” in the place the first put “Slift,” and while it’s true the band remain not without influence from the modern European heavy psychedelic ouevre — some of the twists in “Zemestån” feel Elderian, as an example — they’re distinguished not only by how heavy “Zorn” eventually gets or “WRZL” is at its outset, or by Julius Watzl‘s stellar hold-it-together drumming amid the currents of synth being run by both guitarist Sasan Bahreini and bassist Stefan Wettengl there, but also by the float and patience of “Ammoglÿd” — imagine a mid-period Anathema intro but it unfolds as the whole song and it works — which only underscores the progressive mindset underlying all of this material. The kind of record that won’t hit with everybody but will hit with some very, very hard.
While based largely in doom, Altareth‘s Passage: The Welfare Sessions absolutely soars in the solo of its centerpiece track “Singapore,” picking up from a mellower kind of lumbering brood and answering the lift of its middle with a push to the finish. Passage: The Welfare Sessions may be worth the asking price for that alone, but that hardly means that’s all the Gothenburg five-piece have on offer, when there’s acoustic to layer into the subsequent “Pilgrim” or the blend of murk and impact in the rolling leadoff “Passage,” the way “The Stars” holds to its crawling tempo but offers a sense of payoff anyhow, or the psychedelia that runs alongside the march of “Recluse,” which rounds out the reportedly live-recorded proceedings with emotive melancholy and a final stretch of quiet, sample-topped guitar. Produced by Kalle Lilja and Per Stålberg at Welfare Sounds, hence the title, Passage: The Welfare Sessions speaks even more boldly to the band’s potential than their 2021 debut, Blood (review here). Don’t be fooled by smooth transitions and a subtlety of scope. Altareth are onto something.
If you find yourself wanting to applaud in the couple seconds of silence between “Bat Trip” and the pointedly doomjazzy “Piosenka o przemijaniu,” at least know that you’re not alone. Antropocen is the debut full-length from Kraków, Poland’s Jarzma, and with it, the band invent a style of playing that is immediately their own, basing their arrangements around nyckelharpha and imaginative percussion and drumming either folkish or not, voices coming and going through songs that don’t just sound the way they do as a novelty, but break their own rules from the very outset in the poppish dance hook of opener “Big Heat.” It’s brazen, it’s masterful in terms of performance, and it’s made from a place of wanting to add to the scope of the genre that birthed it (doom/heavy) and represent something about its place to those outside. I guess you could call it experimental in terms of sound, but that’s not to say there’s anything haphazard about it. Given the range of what they’re doing — the band is comprised of Piotr Aleksander Nowak on the aforementioned nyckelharpa and drummer/vocalist Katarzyna Bobik, and there are guests throughout — it’s kind of astonishing for how clearly the plan comes across, actually. When you want something in heavy music you’ve never heard before, Jarzmo will be waiting.
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 14th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Nobody seems to want to talk about it, myself included, but the heavy underground has a persistent thread of mental health problems such that when I see someone involved, whether that’s a musician, fan, or somebody else adjacent to the music has died, especially died young, it’s almost assumed they’ve taken their own life. I don’t think that’s the case in other communities, but it is a sad reality in doom and heavy rock and roll. I’m not really sure what can be done about it beyond broader political reform in healthcare and social services — at least in the States, though as illustrated below this is by no means only a US-wide concern — and no matter who ends up being the next American president, I’m not holding out much hope for it. We got Obamacare once and the insurance industry is still trying to take it apart. They may yet.
I will not mince words and say I’ve never thought of taking my own life. There are times where killing myself seems like the most kind, most generous and most giving thing I can do for my family and those around me. The best way I can serve them is to remove my own inherently toxic presence. I recognize this view as skewed — suicide devastates, irrevocably — but I’ve been there, too, and when you’re in it it’s that much harder to see clearly. If you have ever felt that way or know someone who has, then you might understand where Sweden’s Suicide Records is coming from in putting together the new compilation, In the Loving Memory of You, as a benefit for the organization Suicide Zero.
And if you’ve ever been there or you’re there now — in it — I won’t patronize you by putting a hotline number here. If you’re looking for a thing to hang onto, hang onto the music. That’s what I do. And if you do want to talk about it — guessing you don’t, since nobody does — I’m here for that too.
Comp is out Sept. 10. Here’s info from the PR wire:
Suicide Records Releases Unique Compilation Album in Benefit of Suicide Zero
Suicide Records, the groundbreaking record label from Gothenburg, announces the release of their unique compilation album, In the Loving Memory of You, on September 10th, 2024. This album, featuring 16 bands with brand new songs, aims to support Suicide Zero, a Swedish non-profit organization dedicated to preventing suicide since 2013. All proceeds from the album will go directly to Suicide Zero.
Every six hours, someone commits suicide in Sweden, totaling four lives lost daily, not including drug overdoses or “accidents”. Roger Andersson, founder of Suicide Records, knows this pain personally. “After three incredibly tragic deaths among my close ones, there is no other path to take. I simply MUST do this,” he says. The album reflects emotions like anger, grief, and despair, hoping to aid in raising substantial funds for Suicide Zero’s essential work.
In the Loving Memory of You showcases a powerful lineup: Grand Cadaver, Skitsystem, Knivad, Demonic Death Judge (Finland), M:40, Downfall Of Gaia (Germany), The Moth Gatherer, Besvärjelsen, Novarupta and Firebreather among others. Most notably, punk icons Skitsystem will release their first new song in 18 years on this compilation.
Mikael Stanne (Grand Cadaver, The Halo Effect, Dark Tranquillity) remarked, “When we were approached to contribute, it was a no-brainer. Music is therapy for many, and we hope to help raise as much money as possible for Suicide Zero.”
Renowned Johan Reivén at Audiolord Mastering in Gothenburg mastered the album, ensuring a uniform and massive soundscape, while the album cover was designed by Error! Design from Barcelona and is intended to respectfully reflect the profound emotions related to the theme.
Founded in 2006 by Roger Andersson, Suicide Records has released over a hundred records, sticking to the philosophy of only releasing music worth paying for. Roger’s personal journey from addiction to becoming a key figure in Gothenburg’s music scene is a testament to his resilience and passion for music.
In December 2022, and again in April 2023, Roger faced tragic losses due to suicide within his family. These events, followed by the overdose death of a close friend, spurred Roger into action. He decided to use his connections in the music industry to create something positive out of his sorrow, leading to the creation of In the Loving Memory of You.
1. Grand Cadaver – Long Lost Light 2. Fredag den 13:e – Änglamakerskan 3. The Moth Gatherer – Black Lung 4. Knivad – Isen förlamar 5. M:40 – Tyngdlös 6. Skitsystem – Evig vinter 7. Downfall of Gaia – Concrete Cemeteries. 8. Demonic Death Judge – Poisoner 9. Division of Laura Lee – Vanishing Act 10. Firebreather – Last Train 11. Fabian Brusk Jahn – Perciption of the past 12. Besvärjelsen – Velvet Sky 13. Novarupta – Mosaic 14. Ulmus – Silenci 15. Guhts – Burn My Body 16. Rainbird – Going Down
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 12th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
“Tethers” will be the first single from Terra Black since the Gothenburg semi-gazing doom nodders made their full-length debut with 2023’s All Descend (review here), and as that record cast an immediate sense of identity, finding a niche in heavy spacious and grand in its unfolding without being overly derivative in going about it, the song is one to look forward to. I don’t know whether it’s a holdover from the album sessions or a foreshadow of things to come — i.e., a precursor to an album — but it’s their first offering through Bonebag Records, the label headed by members of Cavern Deep, to which the band signed back in March.
Concurrent to the new track is a physical reissue for All Descend — CD and tape, which I love in a kind of contrarian way to the ridiculous production involved in pressing vinyl as I understand it — and if you didn’t hear the record, please accept this gentle encouragement to explore its spaces for at least a while on the player below. I know nobody actually needs something else to spend money on, but, well, maybe you do and you just don’t know it yet. In any case, I wanted to note for myself the new song coming down the line and I sure don’t mind having put All Descend on while writing here. I guess in the end it’s an act of self-interest.
From Bonebag via social media:
Terra Black will release their new one-off single “Tethers” on the 28th of June through Bonebag Records. It will also coincide with the physical re-release of their latest album, “All Descend,” on CD and cassette. More on this later…
Details about the physical release of Terra Black’s All Descend (including pre-order) will be confirmed in due course by Bonebag Records but in the meantime, you can stream the album in full now atterrablackband.bandcamp.com.
Swedish heavy rockers Långfinger have a history of good-times-had-by-all videos, whether that’s “Say Jupiter” (posted here) from their 2016 LP, Crossyears (review here), or the prior “Fox Confessor” (posted here), or the clip for “Herbs in My Garden” from 2010. “Arctic,” premiering below, is the latest in the series of their narrative clips. The song comes from their fourth album, Pendulum(review here), which was released earlier in 2024, and pokes fun at the fact that eight years passed in between Långfinger records while the band were ostensibly still active. A kind of answer to the question one might’ve asked circa 2022: “whatever happened to Långfinger?”
But of course the truth of what happened to them is a little less Blair Witch and a little more band-doing-other-stuff. In 2019, they released Live (review here) and a split with JIRM, and guitarist/backing vocalist Kalle Lilja’s work at Welfare Sounds Studioand participation in outfits like Toad Venom and Wolves in Haze has been discussed here before, so I’ll spare you running through the full timeline, but the fact is Långfinger still existed, even if they weren’t doing the self-imposed album-cycle thing of writing, recording, touring, and so on, or constantly feeding the social-media algorithmic monkey on a daily basis to capture some imaginary quantification of an audience share. Would it have been nice to have another LP in the interim? Sure. Would’ve also been nice if we hadn’t all lost two years to a fucking plague. Can’t have everything, kids.
In light of that stark reality, I’ll just note that it’s worth appreciating the things one has, and in this particular context, Pendulum is all the more a thing to celebrate. Not only did it bring Långfinger back around to those ears waiting for them in the heavy underground and perhaps introduce them to a slew of those who’d come aboard in the intervening time, but it expanded the band’s stylistic palette and found them working in new ideas from a more mature point of view. Not quite “grownup” in the sense of being either boring or lacking energy in their delivery — “Arctic” testifies in contrast — but aware of who they are as players in a way that when they did Skygrounds 14 years ago they couldn’t possibly have been. That it’s still fun is a boon, of course.
If you haven’t heard Pendulum, or if you watch “Arctic” and dig both the tune and the shenanigans, the full LP stream is waiting for you at the bottom of the post. However you go, I hope you enjoy, because there’s really no point to any of this otherwise.
Dig:
Långfinger, “Arctic” video premiere
Långfinger and Aurora Alänge (director) set out to make a video based off of three very distinct things that have been notable in our latest active era.
We’re huge fans of certain 00’s horror movies (who isn’t), we love riff driven ominous rock music and we wanted to give an explanation to – with a tongue in cheek approach – our absence these past 6-7 years from the observable universe.
The idea worked really well with Arctic, which is a song that as much as it pays homage to classic 70’s and 80’s metal tracks it shows us as a band as we venture towards a sound that’s heavier than anything we’ve ever done in the past.
Taken from the album ‘Pendulum’ out now through Welfare Sounds & Records.
Directed, produced, edited and filmed by Aurora Alänge. Band photo by Aurora Alänge. Additional band footage filmed by Carl Thorén.
Långfinger are: Kalle Lilja – guitar/backing vocals Victor Crusner – vocals/bass/keys Jesper Pihl – drums
