Posted in Whathaveyou on November 8th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Swedish doom rockers Dun Ringill have signed to The Sign Records for the release, presumably next year, of their next album. Actually, info is pretty light when it comes to the announcement below, but there’s a pre-save link for a new single and at least that’s something to go on. Pre-save. What an age we live in. Almost like actually getting a thing.
I came to Dun Ringill via The Order of Israfel, but as you can see below, there are any number of other avenues one might take or have taken, up to and including Doomdogs, Dark Tranquillity and Silverhorse. However you go, the band represent something of a branching out for The Sign, who have plenty of variety among their acts at this point but still are mostly known for heavy garage and other, rawer kinds of classic worship. Dun Ringill know where they’re coming from, for sure, and they’re a good fit for the label accordingly, but the metallic edge of their riffing is a distinguishing factor as well. So much the better.
Here’s the news I’ve got for now. When/if I see word on a next album, I’ll post it:
We are proud to welcome Dun Ringill to The Sign Records Family!
Pre Save the first single “Awakening” to your playlists and follow the band’s upcoming journey together with The Sign Records.
Dun Ringill started in 2017 as a dark and doomy project with Nordic folk influences, creating music with big harmonies and presenting them with lyrics directly from the land of evil and darkness within the creative mind of bassist Winberg. This quickly evolved into becoming something much bigger and before long the unique musical recipe of Nordic folk, doom and progressive metal would be born.
Dun Ringill is: Thomas Eriksson – Vocals (Also in Intoxicate and Ex-Grotesque and Doomdogs) Neil Grant – Drums (Ex- End Of Level Boss and RAAR) Patrik Andersson Winberg – Bass (Ex The Order of Israfel and Doomdogs) Jens Florén – Guitar ( Also in Lommi and ex live guitarist for Dark Tranquillity) Tommy Stegemann – Guitar ( Ex Silverhorse) Patric Grammann – Guitar ( Ex Southern Festival Train and Neon Leon)
Posted in Bootleg Theater on September 9th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Preorders launch this evening (Central European time) for the debut album from Swedish rockers Tornet, whose debut album, Domedagar, will see release on Sept. 23 through Majestic Mountain Records. The band features a few recognizable names in drummer Kalle Lilja (Wolves in Haze, Långfinger) and bassist Mikael Backendal (JIRM), who collaborated earlier this year on the debut album from Toad Venom, Eat! (review here), but while likewise retro, Tornet is a decidedly less pop-minded outfit, with the powerful vocals of Martina Svärd (also harmonium) atop the semi-cultish atmospheres of keyboardist/organist Daniel Hägglund and the riffs and intertwining solos of guitarists Thomas Höglund (also principle songwriter) and Tomas Svärd.
As recorded by Lilja with mixing by him and Per Stålberg at Gothenburg’s Welfare Sounds, mastering by Esben Willems at Berserk Audio, the album collects nine pristine tracks of classic heavy rocking purpose, bordering on the proto-metallic with flourish of NWOBHM, and is able to fluidly shift between definitely-Swedish moments of Witchcraft‘s early-doom and the later modernizations of Graveyard — looking at you, “Gamlas Hamn” — without tipping over into cultist cliché or the male-gaze-centering witch rock of which there seems to be a glut at the moment. One does not expect abatement there, but that’s not quite where Tornet are coming from on the nine-tracker in either the chugging fuzz of “Blodsband,” the careening “Ain” or the more patiently unfurled “Dödens Pilar” before it and the two-minute drumless comedown finale “Lupus” after.
The video premiering below for “Nemesis” — which is still in Swedish, it’s just the same word — is mostly Svärd looking head on at the camera with some older movie clips spliced in, but I’ll go right ahead and give the band credit for (1:) not going out to the woods to film a woman being chased by demons and (2:) the song itself, which picks up after the epic eponymous opener/longest track (immediate points) and the hooky cavernous echoing chorus of “Blodsband” to find a mellow middle-ground, creeping but not a creep and with plenty of space for the vocals to shine, even with the push of the main riff behind, an immediately familiar but smoothly executed amalgam of schooled doom rock with enough reach so that the piano buildup into “Glömska” isn’t anymore out of place than the weepy, birdsong-topped solo at the end.
And whether it’s the stately intro of “Förlorad” or the twisting riffs that follow, the smooth build of “Dödens Pilar” or the apexmaking in “Ain,” Domedagar brims with purpose and poise that belies it being the band’s debut. United by an organic but not overly vintage production, Tornet bring range of mood and atmosphere to their material without losing their central aesthetic spirit. If, as the PR wire asserts, it’s the ascension of a new matriarchy, perhaps working in response to outfits claiming to exalt femininity while nonetheless brazenly, clearly exploiting it as an ‘other,’ we should be so lucky. That’s a lot to ask of a band on their first record, but no argument either in concept or the delivery here. Let it be the trajectory for band and genre alike.
The signing announcement from Majestic Mountain and more background follows the premiere of “Nemesis” below, shaded PR wire blue for your convenience and edification. Have at it and see where you land.
And please enjoy:
Tornet, “Nemesis” video premiere
Majestic Mountain Records is thrilled to present Gothenburg based Tornet and their upcoming, full-length release ‘Domedagar’ to the world.
An astounding album completely in Swedish, full of powerful, heavy riffing, retro toned rock wrapped in deeply divine and infernally feral matriarchal magic. This is the real deal.
‘Domedagar’ weaves an impassioned and entrancing spell with its gripping, tenebrous presence.
Today we give you the first taste of the album with the single ‘Nemesis’ and it’s accompanying, darkly unhinged video. A song about taking the power back. The time of revenge is here, and the time of the matriarchy is near.
If you know, you know. If not, get ready..
Not just another occult or retro rock band, Tornet are a force of nature and have been bringing impressive live performances to Swedish audiences since 2014. A powerhouse of collective talent making heady, proto-psychedelic retro rock steamrolling through your psyche.
With ‘Domedagar,’ their first physical release, comes raging fires of destruction and the tide of churning, unavoidable change in vast, lush swathes of seething, heavy rock and searingly beautiful, melodic, proto-metallic prog.
The sheer power of this release is driven at its core by singer Martina Svärd’s vocal command. Deeply mysterious with each note resonating from the centre of the earth, magnificently crepuscular and soulfully somber with an intense energy virtually bleeding primordially ancient essence.
The band’s individual elements mesh in an effortlessly sublime and cohesive manner through exceptionally accomplished compositional flow and the pristine production of Kalle Lilja from Welfare Sounds and Esben Willems of Studio Berserk. A tight, hard rocking delivery is bolstered by thick riffing which oscillates wildly from sixties and 70’s heavy rock to rich, bluesy doom metal and the recurrent appearance of metallic, double guitars. Bounding basslines and a plethora of percussive elements provide ample groove and atmospheric embellishment which is seamlessly integrated through the use of varied keys, harmonium and unexpected trips into subdued yet intensely captivating instrumental passages through galloping heaviness.
It would be all too easy to throw around comparisons to artists such as Jex Thoth, Graveyard, Horizont, even the nostalgia of Jethro Tull, Skynrd or Allman Brothers, but Tornet’s music is so much more.
From the band: “We met Marco a few years ago and began to discuss an album before Majestic Mountaineven existed. However, the recording was a long process and years passed. Finally, the time has come and we are happy that our album gets to see the light. Tornet represents change in the most radical and momentous sense. There is no choice but to surrender to destruction and chaos, no matter how unwanted or painful. The tower must be destroyed.”
And without further ado, we announce that pre-sale for the album will open tonight at 19:00(CET). All information on the wax will be shared then.
You can secure your copy from the Majestic Shop or by visiting the band directly on their Bandcamp.
Official release will be on 23.09.
Lyrics Martina Svärd, Thomas Höglund (De Gamlas Hamn) Music by Thomas Höglund // Tornet
The album was produced and recorded at Welfare Sounds in Gothenburg by Kalle Lilja. Mixed by Kalle Lilja & Per Stålberg Assisting sound works: Daniel “Dollars” Deurell Mastered by Esben Willams at Studio Beserk
Gatefold artwork by Mattias “Halle” Halldin Photo: Jens Eliasson
Tornet is: Martina Svärd: Vocals/harmonium Thomas Höglund: Guitar Tomas Svärd: Guitar Kalle Lilja: Drums Mikael Backendal: Bass Daniel Hägglund: Piano/organ
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 12th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Carlos Ibarra stands at the epicenter of Maulén. The multi-instrument experimentalist, formerly of Age of Woe, will offer the second in a new pair of EPs through Icons Creating Evil Art (ICEA) next year, and to herald the arrival of the first EP on Sept. 29, titled El Miedo de Amar, Maulén today unveil the single “Rostro,” a nine-minute droning post-metallic procession that reminds of Neurosis circa 2001-2004 in its howling guitar without copping the “Stones From the Sky” riff — a rare feat — and has a melodic wash of its own that speaks to the years over the course of which the outings were apparently put together, with travels to India, recording in Sweden, and in the case of “Rostro,” spoken lyrics in Persian by guest vocalist Behzad Barazandeh.
There’s a slow unfurling happening, and a full band feel despite Ibarra‘s spearheading, and the song is duly consuming by the time it has laid the groundwork for its full tonal breadth. Open collaboration is apparently part of Ibarra‘s stated purpose here, so I wouldn’t expect the rest of an EP to sound just like “Rostro,” but the single sure makes for an intriguing proposition on what may follow across the release(s) to come.
The PR wire brought the following background:
Introducing new signing: Drone/experimental solo artist MAULÉN releasing his stunning new single Rostro (feat. Behzad Barazandeh)
Out August 12 on Icons Creating Evil Art
Drone/experimental solo artist MAULÉN will release his stunning El miedo de amar pero igual lo hago two-part EP via Icons Creating Evil Art early 2023. The brainchild of composer/musician/artist Carlos Ibarra, Maulén collaborates with a multitude of artists to create art with the ambition of manifesting something unique, beautiful, strange, and alluring. “Maulén” is the surname of his grandmother, a member of the Mapuche people in Chile, and translates to “a wet valley.”
In 2019, after spending a year composing material, Ibarra began work on a solo record. He recorded the music in a subterranean water cistern that has been abandoned for almost one-hundred years and is located 20 meters under a small hill in Gothenburg, Sweden. This water cistern just happened to have magical natural reverbs that are up to eighteen seconds long. Working in this was a true challenge: electricity was limited, it was wet, cold, and full of rats and spiders. Not many recording engineers would do it, but Carlos Sepulveda (Psycore, Leather Nun) was up to the task. For four magical days, Sepulveda and drummer Stefan Johansson (Abrovinch, Jimmy Ågren), worked in this enchanting setting.
The following year, Ibarra went to the Thar desert in India to find the peace and serenity necessary to write the lyrics to these songs only to get stuck there during the outbreak of Covid-19. This served as a huge inspiration for the lyrics of his upcoming album: El miedo de amar pero igual lo hago. The record touches the subjects of loss, heritage, and the feeling of belonging or not belonging with lyrics sung in Spanish, Polish, Arabic, Persian, and French.
El miedo de amar pero igual lo hago, translates to “the fear of falling in love but I still do it” and will be released as a two-part EP, the first of which, El miedo de amar, will see official unveiling September 29. In advance of its release, today Maulén reveals first single, “Rostro,” noting of the captivating, near-ten-minute hymn. Released Aug. 12. Ibarra comments:
– “This was the first song i wrote for this album back in 2019. The lyrics are about a connection i got with someone and in just a few days she was gone from my life forever. The song is a slow and beautiful monolith in Persian featuring Behzad Barazandeh on vocals. With an epic and melancholic mood the song takes you on an journey inwards towards your inner darkness.”
— Carlos Ibarra began his career as a guitarist and songwriter in various local bands before reaching infamy and notoriety across the metal and punk scene in Europe as a guitarist/songwriter/producer of the death metal act Age Of Woe. With them, he recorded two albums and two EPs: Inhumanform (Suicide Records, 2013) and An Ill Wind Blowing (War-Anthem, 2016). He has also released music with Terrorstat, a band featuring members of Walk Through Fire and Serpent Omega as well as Wefring featuring members of The Leather Nun, Exhale, and Psycore, amongst others.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 19th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Just kind of a no-brainer here, as Monolord‘s Thomas V. Jäger steps outside his main group to take part in the newcomer duo Bruised Lee — they’re not the only ones with that name, by the way, so watch who you search for — offering more open riffing, daring a bit of pastoralia in a way that Monolord likely wouldn’t on a two-songer with drummer Anders “Pompe” Jacobson of Woe Gothenburg and El Pompero. The sun shines in the second half as a counterpoint to the title “It’s a Bummer,” and Jäger — who also has a solo album to his name and apparently another at some stage of “in the works” — dares a couple lines of vocals, as if to lay claim to that territory for future reference: “By the way, this is gonna happen.” Given that quick verse, I hope it does.
The A side “Földszint” is three minutes of sans-bullshit jamming, topped with a multilayer lead and steady groove. I don’t know who’s playing organ on there, but it sure sounds like somebody. Either way, it’s quick and it’s limited and if you don’t get it these dudes are going to put out an album and it’s gonna be awesome and the platter’s gonna be sold out and you’re gonna be like, “damn shoulda got it when I had the chance” and then always remember when the band is on like their fifth album and it’s 15 years later that they put out that first 7″ and you flaked and missed it and you’ve amassed their whole discography since but that one single just gnaws at you until finally you lose your mind and disappear into the forest, never to be seen again, muttering something under your breath about “ba-bum-ba-bum-ba-bum, ba-dum.” That’s “It’s a Bummer” coming back for one last bit of revenge.
So anyhoozle. Here’s PR wire info:
PRE-SALE for BRUISED-LEE IS ON!
In December Majestic Mountain Records hinted about a special little collector’s nugget coming your way and this killer little 7” is all of that on classic black wax. NOTE! If you order any full length album you can add this single to the order without any extra shipping cost! The 7s SHIPS NOW!
Bruised Lee.
A project from Thomas V Jäger (Monolord) and Anders ‘Pompe’ Jacobson. (El Pompero).
Together, they bring us two tracks of seventies soaked, wavy gravy, down and dirty desert rock with heavy southern style licks, rhythm and instrumentation reminiscent of Zeppelin, Allman Bros, Skynrd, and Foghat.
This little two-track 7” jammer packs a mega 70’s punch with plenty of groove to boot! On side A, ‘Földszint’ is a languid, instrumental jam through a sticky, hot southern evening, a bottle of whiskey in a crinkled paper bag in hand. A crunchy, crawling bassline and repeated riffing give way to wailing solo action and shuffling drums. This jam seems like it could be a soundtrack illustrated straight out of an R. Crumb comic and its “keep on trucking” vibes carry on through the track at a hazy pace that’s remarkably easy listening and disturbingly thirst-inducing. Head noddi’n and foot tapin’ ensue as the bop continues to undulate down to a conclusion just as natural as it began.
This track was made for summer sun and lazy loving.
Side B brings us ‘It’s A Bummer’ the title of which, shouldn’t fool you. This little slice of Friday night cruise ride heaven is a decidedly good time.
Starting off with a raunchy riff right on into bouncing basslines and swinging skins, we see much of the track as instrumental with some killer and super smoothly integrated textural atmospherics bringing us some slightly wavy psychedelic feels.
Just when we’re settling into the comedown, the last minute of the track surprisingly offers us a slightly dreamy vocal chorus from Jäger. Groovy.
The ‘Bruised Lee’ 7-inch comes in – Old School Black Wax, strictly limited to 300 copies on a 45rpm 7″ vinyl – Matte outer sleeve with a 3mm spine – Black poly-lined inner sleeve
There’s also a killer tee shirt bundle with the awesome wonky mouth cover design by Thomas himself.
Written, recorded, mixed by Thomas V Jäger Mastered by Esben Willems at Studio Berserk Cover Design By Thomas Jäger Label Design By Hampus Sundell
Wax, gas or grass, nobody rides for free! Put the pedal to the metal and hop on the funky Bruised Lee train with MMR. Wax in-house at MMR HQ and shipping now!
Bruised Lee is: Thomas V Jäger: Guitars, bass, vocals & percussion. Anders ‘Pompe’ Jacobson: Drums.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 2nd, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Swedish kingpins o’ riff Monolord are headed back to US shores this summer. Following up on their run earlier this year with fellow Gothenburgers Firebreather, the three-piece will be on hand to begin a relatively brief stint at Psycho Las Vegas, making their way to the East Coast for a few dates before looping out to Chicago for Scorched Tundra and finishing at Muddy Roots in Tennessee. Three distinct festivals with three distinct vibes, and no doubt the trio will find welcome as they make their way to all of in continued celebration of last year’s Your Time to Shine (review here).
I’ve been starting to hear more and more bands who sound like Monolord, and it’s becoming interesting to note what that means in terms of a kind of riffing and nodding groove. They have a signature, despite consistently growing from one album to the next. They’ve already put years of road time in to get to this point, and their influence only seems to keep spreading like the fuzz tsunami it is.
They’ll be out with Dorthia Cottrell of Windhand. Dates follow, courtesy of the PR wire:
MONOLORD ANNOUNCE US SUMMER 2022 TOUR DATES
YOUR TIME TO SHINE FULL-LENGTH OUT NOW
Sweden’s MONOLORD announce Summer 2022 tour dates throughout the United States. The 11-date run begins at Psycho Las Vegas and ends at Muddy Roots Fest in Tennessee. Direct support by Dorthia Cottrell (Windhand) on all non-festival dates. A full tour schedule is below.
MONOLORD Comment:
“Now that touring is possible again it feels equally inspiring and unreal to be able to play live for all of you again. To say that we’re stoked to get back to the US for a second round after the world opened up again would be an understatement. See you in August, let’s do this!”
MONOLORD are touring in support of their 2021 full-length Your Time To Shine (physical: https://store.relapse.com/b/monolord; digital: orcd.co/monolord-ytts).
Monolord tour dates:
Sun 8/21 – Las Vegas, NV – Psycho Las Vegas Wed 8/24 – Brooklyn, NY – TV Eye Thu 8/25 – Baltimore, MD – Metro Fri 8/26 – Raleigh, NC – Pour-House Sat 8/27 – Columbia, SC – New Brookland Tavern Sun 8/28 – Atlanta, GA – Bogg’s Tue 8/30 – Columbus, OH – Skully’s Wed 8/31 – Grand Rapids, MI – Pyramid Scheme Thu 9/01 – Chicago, IL – Scorched Tundra Fest @ Empty Bottle Fri 9/02 – Louisville, KY – Portal Sat 9/03 – Cookeville, TN – Muddy Roots Festival
All dates w/Dorthia Cottrell except Psycho & Muddy*
Monolord are: Thomas V Jäger – Guitars & vocals Esben Willems – Drums Mika Häkki – Bass
[Click play above to stream Cities of Mars’ self-titled album in full. It’s out Friday on Ripple Music.]
As regards volume and Cities of Mars‘ third full-length, the correct answer is ‘however much you can give it.’ The latest offering from the Gothenburg three-piece arrives in continued association with Ripple Music as a suitably declarative self-titled, running a confident eight songs and 43 minutes that significantly expand the palette of their prior work while holding true to the central narrative concept embodied in their moniker. The sprawl of their science-fictional Martian underground metropolises is met head-on by their self-recorded tonal spaciousness and largesse, fleshed out with currents of synth and effects and an increased focus on melody in the shared vocals of bassist Daniel Palm and guitarist Christoffer Norén, who share lead duties while drummer Johan Aronstedt — who seems to have come aboard since 2019’s The Horologist (review here) — their arrangements coming into greater depth to match the richness and breadth given to each instrument, which seems to have its own space even as the songs tie together around the foundation of guitar, bass and drums.
We’ve visited some of these places before, but each title on Cities of Mars save for the also-aptly-titled intro “Before the Storm” is given a parenthetical location, and at very least the feeling of place in 12-minute closer “The Black Shard (Bahb-Elon)” rings familiar, as do the core elements of their sound. It’s the manner in which the three-piece have actively progressed and explored their ideas and craft that make the release so stunning.
It’s not necessarily just a question of their having become more melodic — though they have, and tracing back their evolution from 2015’s two-songer Cyclopean Ritual/The Third Eye (review here), their 2016 Celestial Mistress EP (review here), the subsequent 2017 debut LP, Temporal Rifts (review here) and The Horologist, they’ve done so with steady and incremental efforts — but the atmosphere across Cities of Mars is broader, drawing from modern progressive heavy in the uptempo shove of “A Dawn of No Light (Chthon)” and delivering that with an undercurrent of crush-based groove as if to remind that even as they gallop, they’re still kin to the likes of fellow Göteborgers Domkraft and Monolord, both of whom have also moved outward from their more straight-up stylistic foundations.
Post-intro lead cut “Towering Graves (Osmos)” is huge and self-aware in kind, a patient, cavernous, lurching dirge that smoothly emerges from the synth drone of “Before the Storm,” and almost immediately, Cities of Mars signal to their audience their increased range and their mastery of nod. Aronstedt hits hard and brings a sense of lumber following the quiet break in “The Prophet (Methusalem)” that’s a willful slog and especially with Palm and Norén sharing vocals over it, feels like a payoff even before the actual payoff, further evidence of just how dug-in Cities of Mars get coming with the immersive movement across that seven-minute track, dynamic in its changes but working according to a master plan that is loyal to the concept of the album as a whole and which very much feeds into that flow. And the overarching affect is huge.
Of course, conveying “big” sound is nothing new for Cities of Mars, but what feels most crucial to understand about the self-titled is that they’re working in three dimensions more than ever before. You can feel the width and the height, the depth of “The Dreaming Sky (Anur)” as the guitars go high and airy and the bass goes low and dirty and both are right up front in the mix paced by the drums and ready with a gut-punch of a chug for the chorus. That track and the aforementioned “A Dawn of No Light (Chthon)” follow behind the acoustic-based “Song of a Distant Earth (Hathra),” in which the vocal harmonies become a focal point in sweet, folkish arrangement and in under three minutes, Cities of Mars essentially redefine the scope of who they are as a band.
“Song of a Distant Earth (Hathra)” is not an interlude, and it’s not something they would’ve done in 2017, or even 2019, and if it’s a result of being restricted from playing live as much as they otherwise may have over the last couple years, the transition into the Baroness-style rush of “A Dawn of No Light (Chthon)” can only be called a fair trade for the proggier turn and the attention to detail in their delivery. The penultimate and somewhat longer at 3:49 “Reflected Skyline (Sarraqum)” is likewise subdued, but this back and forth movement, pushing, pulling and careening and stomping all the while is fluid. Not that Cities of Mars was necessarily written as a single piece — I don’t know that it wasn’t, but the songs have identities of their own — but there was very clearly care put into how the band would tell the stories in addition to the stories being told.
Less directly folk in its cadence, “Reflected Skyline (Sarraqum)” is more daring vocally than “Song of a Distant Earth (Hathra),” but it works, and when the cymbal wash and lead guitar announce the arrival of “The Black Shard (Bahb-Elon),” a patient intro unfurls over the next two and a half minutes until the first verse takes flight. The song recedes for a moment but comes back and is angular and vast and melodic and crunching at the same time and I suppose in that, and in its classic-style solo at the 10-minute mark to finish out in the remaining time, it’s a fitting summary of the album as a whole. They end with an almost sudden coming apart.
Perhaps that’s the transmission from the ancient satellite cutting out, or maybe they just pushed it as far as they could go. Given everything up to that point, it’s believable. Whatever the circumstances behind the manner in which Cities of Mars manifested these shifts in approach on this album, one can’t help but view Cities of Mars as the record they’ve been moving toward over the last seven-plus years, and the fact that it’s self-titled reinforces that notion. If this is the band stating outright that they’ve found themselves in these songs and in these somewhat opaque but engaging lyrical tales — concept has never trumped songwriting for them and it doesn’t here either — then their statement resonates accordingly, echoing through space, back to this distant earth.
Cities of Mars, “Towering Graves (Osmos)” official video
Monolord recently returned to their native Sweden following their first North American tour since before lockdown. Not a minor advent. Their social media was rife with righteous posts of cities conquered and complaints about gas station coffee — dudes, you can do better; please don’t judge American coffee by Sheetz or Pilot or Flying J, etc. — and in the company of fellow Göteborgers Firebreather, with whom they’ve toured Europe in the past, there was a sense of (one hesitates to say the word) normalcy to the entire affair. It was a tour. They’re a touring band. They toured.
Of course, context makes that a novelty. It’s not the last run that Monolord have planned to support their 2021 album, Your Time to Shine (review here) — which I’m just as happy to tell you is the best work the band has ever done as I was to tell the same to drummer Esben Willems when we talked last week — but even now there’s trepidation in the planning stage. The infrastructure of touring has changed, maybe forever, in some surprising ways, and like anything, it’s a situation for an active outfit like Monolord to navigate. If covid-19 is going to be endemic like the flu, then it will need to be lived with, like the flu.
Willems — who also runs Berserk Audio and is joined in Monolord by guitarist/vocalist Thomas V. Jäger and now-it’s-a-band bassist Mika Häkki (you’ll get it when you watch the interview — talks below about that and about Your Time to Shine, about being on the road for the first time with a crew, about the comfort in the familiarity of having past-Euro-tourmates Firebreather along, about new projects at the studio, his own very drummerly sense of restlessness, and much more. I’ve been fortunate enough now to chat with him a couple times over the years — last time was Jan. 2021 — and it continues to be a pleasure.
Hopefully you enjoy it as well. Thanks for reading and/or watching:
Monolord, Interview with Esben Willems, April 6, 2022
Monolord’s Your Time to Shine is out now on Relapse Records. Tour updates coming soon. More info at the links.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 29th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
The gradual return to activity of Swedish heavy rockers The Awesome Machine continues with Daredevil Records‘ inclusion of the band in a series of demo reissues that captures the early days of modern heavy rock in Europe. The first installment in the aptly titled Demo Series was fellow Swedes Boogieman with their demo from 2002, and for The Awesome Machine, the label digs back further, to 1998. Consider that this followed less than a year after the Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age split, or a year before Acid King put out Busse Woods. More locally, Dozer were issuing demos around the same time. This is early days of what we now think of as stoner and heavy rock, and The Awesome Machine were right there.
As previously announced, in addition to this, Ozium Records will in May issue God Damn Rare, a collection of previously-unreleased and off-album tracks spanning the band’s career, which capped in 2006. More info on that is here.
Goes without saying maybe, but I’m curious as to whether this is all leading, if and when, to some more proper return on the part of the band, be it shows or a new album or both. Nothing on that yet, but golly their early days did rock.
Enjoy:
DEMO SERIES VOLUME 2 : THE AWESOME MACHINE – doom, disco, dope, death and love DEMO 1998
1998 – 2002 were fantastic times for the new growing Stoner Rock scene. So many bands hit the earth and so many bands never got the chance to release an official album. But a lot of demos are flying around since that period. We try to bring some of those bands with their great demo recordings back and give that influential sounds a wider attention.
The Awesome Machine was one of the most important bands in the early 2000s. After their great demo, released 1998, and their contribution on the legendary Burn the Street Vol. 1 Compilation (1999) and different split and compilation releases, they conquered the scene with their excellent 10″ in 1998. This 10″ is still one of the early Stoner Rock masterpieces! After that the band signed a record deal with PEOPLE LIKE YOU Records and became one of their leading bands. 2000 they released …IT `S UGLY OR NOTHING and 2002 the groundbreaking UNDER THE INFLUENCE before their masterpiece THE SOUL OF A THOUSAND YEARS saw the light of day. The band broke up in 2006.
Recorded at Hot Dog Stand Studio, Kortedala, Sweden August 1998 Engineered by Paul Vahala
The Awesome Machine: Guitar: Christian Smedström Bass: Anders Wenander Drums: Tobbe Bovik Vocals: Lasse Olausson
