Posted in Whathaveyou on July 11th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Calgary heavy rockers Woodhawk will spend a goodly portion of the coming autumn on the road supporting their new album, Love Finds a Way (review here), which came out in June through Grand Hand Records. The tour is prefaced by an appearance at Alberta’s Loud as Hell Open Air, which is in its 13th edition and, being more of a metal/prog-metal festival, has Revocation headlining and a lot of acts whose logos look like they’d be too sharp to touch.
I don’t see any dates in Nova Scotia, but putting aside that and the Yukon — which has to have a venue or two somewhere, right? — they cover a lot of ground from one end of Canada to the other, and the cause that drives them is worthy indeed. What the world needs now is love, and such. I just made that up.
Dates and details came down the PR wire, and the album stream is at the bottom of the post. Have at it:
WOODHAWK Announces Cross-Canada Tour For New Album “Love Finds a Way” Out Now!
+ LOUD AS HELL OPEN AIR FEST w/ REVOCATION, FIRST FRAGMENT and more!
After five years of anticipation, Calgary’s stoner groove rock trio Woodhawk announces they will be hitting the road this August through October for tour dates across Canada (dates listed below). The show dates are in support of their latest and third album, “Love Finds a Way,” released on June 6th of this year via Grand Hand Records. Fans can expect a high-energy set packed with new material and favorites from their discography that will be delivered with the raw power and passion.
Their most personal and powerful release to date, their new full-length album, “Love Finds a Way”, marks a turning point for Woodhawk. Demonstrating their evolution from early stoner rock roots into something more emotionally complex while maintaining the infectious grooves and memorable hooks that have defined their sound.
“Love Finds a Way” explores themes of darkness, healing, and hope, while still delivering the infectious hooks and thunderous riffs fans have come to expect. With contributions from longtime collaborator Jesse Gander on synth, the band expands their sonic palette without losing their edge. The trio of Turner Midzain (guitar/vocals), Mike Badmington (bass), and Kevin Nelson (drums) poured five years of growth, struggle, and creative evolution into this record.
“We are over the moon to get this album out. Love Finds a Way is easily the hardest we have worked on an album to date. We poured our heart and soul into this one. It really is a journey of getting out of the darkness and into the light. Check in with your friends and loved ones. Hug the ones you love. Be nicer to each other. Love will always prevail and be stronger than anything else. After 10 years of being a band, I feel like we are still just getting started!” adds the band.
After a decade together, Woodhawk is proving they’re just getting started. “Love Finds a Way” is more than an album; it’s a statement of resilience, connection, and the enduring power of rock.
Recommended for fans of The Sword, Red Fang, and Thin Lizzy, the album is a dynamic journey from start to finish, balancing soft and heavy, slow and fast, light and dark. Album order (out June 6th):https://woodhawk.bandcamp.com
In additional news, Woodhawk will be performing on day three of this year’s LOUD AS HELL OPEN AIR FESTIVAL on August 3rd in Drumheller, AB alongside Revocation, Cyborg Octopus, Beguiler, Thirteen Goats, Famous Strangers, and more! Full details on LAH can be found atwww.loudashell.ca.
Show Dates: Aug 3 – Drumheller, AB – Loud As Hell Open Air Aug 27 – Calgary, AB – Ship & Anchor Aug 28 – Lethbridge, AB – The Owl Acoustic Lounge Aug 29 – Regina, SK – The Exchange Aug 30 – Winnipeg, MB – Side Stage Sept 2 – Windsor, ON – Phog Lounge Sept 3 – Hamilton, ON – Club Absinthe Sept 4 – Ottawa, ON – House of Targ Sept 5 – Montreal – Turbo Haus Sept 6 – Toronto, ON – The Monarch Sept 7 – Kingston, ON – The Mansion Sept 9 – Oshawa, ON – The Atria Sept 10 – Sault Ste. Marie, ON – Soo Blaster Sept 11 – Thunder Bay, ON – Black Pirates Pub Sept 12 – Brandon, MB – The 40 Sept 13 – Saskatoon, SK – Black Cat Tavern Sept 25 – Kelowna, BC- Jackknife Brewery Sept 26 – Vancouver, BC – Green Auto Sept 27 – Victoria, BC – Lucky Bar Oct 10 – Red Deer, AB – The Vat Oct 11 – Edmonton, AB – The Aviary
Woodhawk is: Turner Midzain – Guitar & Vocals Mike Badmington – Bass & Vocals Kevin Nelson – Drums
Day three marks the halfway point of this Quarterly Review, unless I decide to sneak in an extra day next Monday. We’ll see on that, but things are moving pretty well so far, so I might just be content to take the win and start slating the next one. Always a choice to be made there.
I hope you’ve found something that hits you thus far, and if not, check the below, because there’s a pretty wide variety of styles under the ‘heavy underground’ umbrella here. Hope one or a few or everything clicks.
We proceed.
Quarterly Review #21-30:
Randall Huth, Torched and Coasting
Though he’s probably best known at this point for playing bass in Pissed Jeans for the last 17 years, Pennsylvania’s Randall Huth once-upon-the-aughts played guitar and handled vocals in still-missed pastoral heavy rockers Pearls and Brass, and the new solo EP under his own name will likely be more than enough to trigger nostalgia in remembering that. Torched and Coasting is somewhere between an EP and a follow-up to Huth‘s 2007 solo album as Randall of Nazareth on Drag City, and the self-released tape is clear in its intention, conveying sketches like the finger-plucked movements of “Emptied/Rarified” and “Bursting Smile” and 15-minute closer plunge “Torched and Coasting,” which tube-screams late so stick with it, alongside the drone-meets-zither “The Blind Whale,” and more terrestrial, guitar-and-vocals pieces like opener “Lost in Your Eyes” and the penultimate “Beats Dying,” which — you guessed it — is about getting old. Huth‘s echoing and soft delivery, wit in the lyrics and humble acoustic presentation make that a highlight, but this years-in-the-making offering walks more than a single expressive path. More songs, whatever ‘songs’ means, please. Thanks.
North Carolinian four-piece HolyRoller make their label-debut on Ripple Music with the eight-song Rat King, which puts modern heavy in a blender such that an early piece like “Crunch Riff Supreme” finds its place in sludge rock and heralds screamy things to come but by the time they’ve gotten to “Buried Alone” at the presumed outset of side B, the flow has more in common with Pallbearer than Weedeater or Sleep, who are another key underlying influence. But the emphasis there should be on ‘underlying’ as HolyRoller step beyond the bands that inspired them in fostering progressive songwriting throughout these 35 minutes, with a richly flexible sound — “Heave Ho” sounds like slower Howling Giant, “Forbidden Things” like Spaceslug — and a push into the ether in “Radiating Sacred Light” before they round out with the Clutch-y bounce of “Drift Into the Sun” to highlight the individuality in where they take their approach. The organic production helps it feel like they’re really digging in, but also they are.
Worried ‘Bout Madame is the third long-player from Polish heavy post-rock/psych-gaze outfit Black Mynah, and it would seem to be the first since founding vocalist, bassist and baritone guitarist Joanna Kucharska assembled a full-band lineup around herself and drummer Paweł Rucki, who also appeared on 2020’s II. Vocalist/synthesist Aleksandra Joryn and guitarist Marcin Lawendowski join the stylistically subversive proceedings here, with the garage jangle of “Colleen” at the outset pushed into the frenetic shuffle and hard distortion of “Damaged Goods” ahead of the sweet post-punk verse of “Float,” which has its own grungey volatility. The tonal weight thrown around in closer “Looking at You, Kid,” — not to mention the vocal layering — isn’t unprecedented on the album that comes before it, but “Blue Moon” is more about catching up with the insistence of its snare drum and “The Rite” has its own thing going too with the quieter creeper swing and satisfying wash that pays it off. It won’t be for everybody, but who the hell ever wanted to be?
Last heard from with their before-times 2019 split LP with Un, English death-doom churners Coltsblood make a welcome return with the four-song Obscured Into Nebulous Dusk, their third album overall, first for Translation Loss Records and first in eight years. The years have not been wasted in the sound of bassist/vocalist John McNulty (also keys), guitarist Jemma McNulty and drummer Jay Plested, who foster a ‘beauty in darkness’ sensibility on opener/longest track (immediate points) “Until the Eidolon Falls” before the outright slaughter of “Waning of the Wolf Moon” pushes death metal tempo off a cliff of feedback and raw scathe. “Transcending the Immortal Gateway” makes its presence felt with the mournful lead line topping its later reaches, and “Obscured into Nebulous Dusk” bids farewell in a not-dissimilar fashion, but the particularly agonized vocals prior are a distinguishing feature. Time would seem to have done little to dull the band’s overarching extremity, and so much the better for that.
The two-years-later follow-up to Indianapolis doom rockers Void King‘s 2023 long-player, The Hidden Hymnal (review here), the seven-song The Hidden Hymnal: Chapter II indeed seems to dig into its own kind of storytelling. The proceedings make for a rousing flow, with the two longest tracks, “The Birth of All Things” (8:49) and “A Union of Expired Souls” (9:34) paired at the outset for a duly epic opening statement. I don’t know if they’re a vinyl side on their own or not, but their separation from the rest of the LP is underscored by the remaining three tracks being sandwiched by a “Prologue” and “Epilogue,” so that the burly progressive metal and heavy rock of “Attrition,” “Convalescence” and “Expiration” feel like their own mini-album on the second side. If this wraps up the The Hidden Hymnal cycle for Void King, then the structural nuance here is fair enough, but the real story of the record is the progression of the band itself, which is ongoing.
Harnessing stoner metal largesse, doomed thematics and an aggro posture for the delivery that adds to the gnashing feel of the material overall, Bifter‘s debut album, First Impressions of Hell, is a torrential, ferocious offering that hits you on multiple levels before you even realize what’s happened. Interludes, the album intro “Enter Hell” and “Lover’s Quarrel,” the sample in “Mercy” and the post-script “Time to Kill” after “Ball of Burning Snakes” and the seven-minute “Belly of the Beast” give an atmospheric feel, but part of what makes “Doom Shroom” and “March of the Imp” so effective is their directness, so First Impressions of Hell, among the impressions made, can count face-punch in its number. The foundation is metal, but the affect is a party, and however weighted the material gets throughout the 36 minutes of its 12 tracks, Bifter are consistently able to convey a feeling of movement and forward momentum along with all their destructive intent.
Write off Poland’s Fish Basket at your own peril. Yeah, they’ve got the cartoonish art and the silly vibe and the sense of rampant chicanery of sound and nonsense, but check out the proggy push of “Robots” on Fish Basket and His Second Album and the way they suddenly pull the plug on the whole thing and drop to deep-breathing, or the shouts worked into opener “NA-HU-HA-NE” and the birdsong in the psych-drifting “Farewells and Returns,” gorgeous as it is before it looses a bit of crush and winds up in classic heavy psych to end. These and myriad other moments throughout — the folkish strum of “Imaginarium” from some unknown tradition, maybe the band’s own, brought to the head of a linear build with a comedown to finish — work on the Frank Zappa model of progressive rock, which is to say that while shenanigans abound, the trio have the technical chops to back up everything they’re doing, and whether it’s the fuzzblaster of “Cardboard Racer” or the sub-nine-minute meander of “Stray in Chill,” Fish Basket carry the listener from one end of the album to another with deceptive ease. Warning: it might be genius.
Calgary-based trio Woodhawk — guitarist/vocalist Turner Midzain, bassist/vocalist Mike Badmington and drummer Kevin Nelson — offer a sharply-constructed, professional-grade nine songs across the 53 minutes of their third full-length, the encouragingly-titled Love Finds a Way. The organ adds a classic feel to “Strangers Ever After” early in the going, and the fullness and clarity of the surrounding production only increases the trust in the band’s songwriting, which isn’t without aesthetic ambitions despite the straightforward tack, cuts like “Truth Be Told,” “White Crosses” and the dares-to-shimmy-in-the-middle title-track have as solid an underpinning of groove as one could ever reasonably ask. The melody over top in the vocals and guitar shines through accordingly. They’re plenty dug-in, of course, and any record that’s going to push past the 50-minute mark in 2025 better have some perspective to offer, but Woodhawk do. I don’t know if it’ll be enough to save the world, but at least somebody out there is putting love out front with their riffage, duly engaging as that is.
Pathways is a single-song, just-under-14-minute EP from Milwaukee’s Liminal Spirit, the darkly progressive apparent-solo-project of Jerry Hauppa, who embodies a number of characters in the narrative throughout. Presented on a quick turnaround from the band’s late-2024 self-titled debut LP, the one-tracker nonetheless reaffirms the ambitions of the album before it, while also reinforcing the idea of Liminal Spirit as a still-growing, still-discovering-its-sound outfit. The vocals here, intended to embody multiple archetypal characters like The Patriarch, The Child, The Artisan, The Elder and The Apprentice, come through a vocoder-type treatment, and so where multiple points of view might otherwise be fleshed out and conveyed, the voice remains singular. This is the tradeoff for the intimacy of solo creativity, but one gets the sense from “Pathways” and the self-titled that Liminal Spirit is just beginning to explore the stylistic territory the band will ultimately cover.
To follow their 2023 self-titled debut EP (on Addicted Label), Moscow-based doom rocker four-piece Clarity Vision present “Deep Ocean” (or, in Cyrillic:
“Глубокий океан”), a six-minute standalone single that soon makes its way via cymbal-wash from its beginning waves and quiet guitar into a procession of stately classic doom metal, big on swing and bigger on impact. The kind of riff that would make Leif Edling smile. Galina Shpakovskaya‘s voice is suited to the movement of the riffs, floating over with melodic echo but keeping a mystique that reminds of mid-period The Wounded Kings, when all was dark and mystery. Guitarist Alexey Roslyakov, bassist Alexey Roslyakov and drummer Mikhail Markelov hold the march steady for the duration, and although I’ve never come close to knowing even the slightest bit of Russian, Clarity Vision remind that we all speak the same language when it comes to being completely and utterly doomed.
Posted in Questionnaire on June 16th, 2025 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: Turner Midzain of Woodhawk
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
We’re a rock band. We’ve always loved that. We never liked being a ‘stoner rock’ band. We were always inspired by the ’70s, so it just connected with us. But modernized a bit, and heavy.
Describe your first musical memory.
I had an electric keyboard when I was 7. I wanted to play piano so badly. But I sucked at it. I still suck at it. But I would make noise on that thing and thought it was cool. But I enjoyed the electric guitar and drum sounds on it more than the piano.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
The first time I was out of school and started touring. I still remember the first time we rolled the window down on our 15 passenger van and started our longest drive to our first far-away gig. To be young and free for the summer, just travelling the country. And we weren’t a very good band!
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
We were given guidance on how we could be a radio rock band to reach success back in 2018. We had honest discussions about changing what we were doing to try and cater to that. But we just couldn’t do it. If it came naturally, we would roll with it. But to write with people who would tell us what to do, and how to make a 3-minute song, wasn’t for us.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Always grow. Always learn and challenge yourself. That is the best part. Nothing comes easy. And it shouldn’t. I like a challenge as it keeps me thinking and engaged.
How do you define success?
Happiness. It shouldn’t be financial to be successful. Just be happy. We have done this for 11 years now and I love it. I can’t imagine not doing this with my best friends. People keep buying our records, streaming our songs and coming to our shows. That is unreal.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
I was on a city bus that ran over someone when I was 15. I would be okay with letting that one go.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
The next album. Writing keeps us driven and we love it. I just want to keep writing, recording, and releasing music.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Connection. It’s how we all connect. You put 20,000 people in an arena and they all have a connection. We speak to strangers through music. You connect through artwork, sound, and the touch of a record. It’s just what keeps us human.
Say something positive about yourself.
I’m really proud of myself and our band. I work hard and so do the other guys. I am really proud of us.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
The movie Friendship. This is right up my alley as we are all huge I Think You Should Leave fans. So a Tim Robinson film is gold. A few of my friends saw it at the underground film festival and I missed it. So that is really on my mind lately.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 16th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Calgary trio Woodhawk have got that swing on their new single “Strangers Ever After,” which is the first single to come from their aspirationally-titled new album, Love Finds a Way, due out June 6 on Grand Hand Records. There’s classic-style, organ-enhanced boogie meeting with a modern production and tonal fullness, all aligned around a central push and tense sections of chug — skillfully wrought, melodic, clear in its intention to engage but not without expressive purpose either. It keeps its balance after spinning around in a few circles, and the solo is class before the bluesy verse returns to round out.
Been six years, but that happens sometimes. Cool to have a new one coming from these guys either way. Here’s the info from the PR wire, and of course the song with all its bodes-well vibes:
WOODHAWK Reveals First Single “Strangers Ever After” From New Album “Love Finds A Way” Out June 2025
Canadian stoner rock powerhouse Woodhawk returns with the announcement of their highly anticipated third studio album, “Love Finds A Way,” set for release on June 6, 2025, via Grand Hand Records. The Calgary trio of Turner Midzain (guitar/vocals), Mike Badmington (bass), and Kevin Nelson (drums) are also dropping the record’s first single, “Strangers Ever After,” today, giving fans their first taste of new Woodhawk material since 2019’s acclaimed “Violent Nature”. The band comments on the new single:
“This was the first song we wrote for this album. And I think we reworked it more than any song. It started out with a completely different feel and timing than what we ended up with. It was way darker. But we kept coming back to it and really loved the result. Strangers Ever After is a kind of demise of a relationship. The farewell to someone that maybe…you were better off never knowing. This is dark and honest.”
“Love Finds A Way” marks an evolution in the band’s creative journey. Their earlier work was very much influenced by bands like The Sword and Black Sabbath, with lyrics about wizards and goblins, but they’ve worked hard on bringing more emotion to their writing. The nine-track album promises to deliver the dynamic range fans have come to expect from Woodhawk, featuring what Midzain describes as ‘some really riff-rocking songs, but also a lot of hardship and honesty’.
“Strangers Ever After” showcases the band’s signature blend of classic hard rock sensibilities and modern stoner metal influences, delivering the infectious grooves and memorable hooks that have earned Woodhawk a devoted following since their formation in 2014. They are recommended for fans of The Sword, Red Fang, and Thin Lizzy.
Track Listing 1. Grave Shaker – 4:41 2. Strangers Ever After – 4:24 3. Truth Be Told – 7:21 4. White Crosses – 6:10 5. The Unholy Hand – 5:21 6. No Place For Hate – 5:18 7. Love Finds a Way – 6:16 8. Relapser – 4:52 9. Killing Time – 8:37
Woodhawk is: Turner Midzain – Guitar & Vocals Mike Badmington – Bass & Vocals Kevin Nelson – Drums
Recorded in 2020, the second full-length from Calgary heavy rockers Gone Cosmic, titled Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling, arrives on Sept. 2 through Grand Hand Records. Premiering below, “For Sabotage” is the third single from the impending LP behind the opener “Crimson Hand” (which it also follows on the record) and the side B leadoff “Endless,” and it brings into focus the underlying progressivism of the band’s approach. Oh they’re a rock band, make no mistake, but if you take a listen to the King Buffalo-y guitar in “For Sabotage” or any of the three singles, more generally the message is there waiting to be heard — Gone Cosmic are the kind of band who blow other bands off the stage.
In 2019, the four-piece made their debut on Kozmik Artifactz with Sideways in Time (review here), and even two years after the fact, the urgency that they put into getting back into the studio for the follow-up resonates. Vocalist Abbie Thurgood is a classic heavy rock belter, and from “Crimson Hand” through the sci-fi funk of closer “The Future’s Calling,” her performance is likewise dynamic and forceful. To wit, the three-minute “To Refuse Compromise.” That’s it. That song is the sentence. But guitarist Devin “Darty” Purdy, bassist Brett Whittingham and drummer Marcello Castronuovo are more than a backing band to showcase the talent of their frontperson. It’s Castronuovo who fires the first shots, launching “Crimson Hand” with a drum fill that — once you’ve actually listened to the rest of what follows — is revealed as a signifier of intent. And whether it’s the buildup of “Envy Thrives” or the plotted post-apex comedown of “Causeway,” Gone Cosmic interpret progressive heavy rock as a means to generate movement, to energize and excite.
Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling was produced and mixed by Josh Rob Gwilliam at OCL Studios, and what a task that must’ve been. Thurgood‘s voice is at the forefront — it could hardly be anywhere else — but to listen to the glorious punch of Whittingham‘s bass on “For Sabotage” or the centerpiece “The Wrong Side of Righteous” as Purdy‘s guitar weaves around it in Elderian noodling style, or the way in which Castronuovo‘s fill seems to roll downhill as “Endless” begins to move toward its payoff at around the 2:40 mark, and the balance of elements at play is striking. Understand, Gone Cosmic aren’t playing expansive, dug in progadelia for their own indulgence. The longest song here is the semi-titular closer “The Future’s Calling” at an airier 6:22, until the penultimate “Taste for Tragic,” the album shifts back and forth between three-minute and four-minute tracks, and for seven of nine inclusions, that pattern results in a raucous, largely uptempo rager.
But there’s no dumbing-down happening anywhere. Gone Cosmic aren’t trying to curb their impulses — again, the ethos “To Refuse Compromise” — so much as bring the listener to their level. And Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling can be challenging to keep up with as it moves from one side to the other on diagonals, angular corners, forward thrust, reverse transwarp and all this, but the songwriting on the whole is no less a consideration than the instrumental contributions — vocals included — on which it’s built. Even as “Taste for Tragic” gallops to its finish to let the swaying shove of “The Future’s Calling” take hold for an early throwdown before the space-out begins, there’s intent if not staid poise — there isn’t really staid anything — and by the time the album gets to that point, you’re either on board with the band having earned enough trust to believe they’ll make it work, which they do, or you’ve already stopped listening and it doesn’t matter anyhow, except to say you’re missing out and it’s your loss, etc.
One way or the other, Gone Cosmic‘s 39-minute stretch on Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling draws from multiple sides, and if I’ve focused on the progressivism above, it’s because that’s the underlying foundation, but be sure, there’s plenty of blues rock, psychedelia and outright heavy-heavy to go along with that, and the band’s sense of fluidity emerges from the interaction of elements, stylistic and practical, as they recast genre to suit their purposes. Is it the future? I don’t know. It’s born of the past but not hindered by sentimentality for it, and the command of craft certainly comes across as forward-thinking, but one generally thinks of the future these days as a dark and dystopian place — you know, like the present — and Gone Cosmic here are pushing a brighter but nonetheless realistic vision. I wouldn’t know the future if it punched me in the throat, and maybe that’s what’s going on with “The Wrong Side of Righteous,” but I’ll say that I wouldn’t mind if this was it.
Preorder link and sundry PR wire info follow the premiere of “For Sabotage,” which is on the player below.
Enjoy:
Gone Cosmic, “For Sabotage” track premiere
Abbie Thurgood on “For Sabotage”:
“We are constantly challenged by competitive societal attitudes such as ‘at all costs’ and ‘must win’ mentalities. ‘For Sabotage’ explores stepping outside of these norms and expectations that are ingrained in us encouraging the ability to see consequential thought processes and objectively view one’s path rather than being reactionary. ‘For Sabotage’ is a call to be more kind to oneself and to listen pursue and trust our own individual thought processes.”
Gone Cosmic – For Sabotage Written and performed by Gone Cosmic from album ‘Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling’ releasing on September 1, 2022 Produced, Recorded, and Mixed by Josh Rob Gwilliam at OCL Studios in Calgary, Alberta, Canada Mastered by Brian “Big Bass” Gardner Art by Brock Lefferts Album release via Grand Hand Records. Copyright and Publishing 2022 Gone Cosmic Entertainment
Championed by a soaring songstress Abbie Thurgood (The Torchettes), whose boldly evocative tones recall Skunk Anansie chanteuse Skin and Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard, and accompanied by an agile and aggressive psych-rock outfit, composed of guitarist Devin “Darty” Purdy (Chron Goblin), bass player Brett Whittingham (Chron Goblin), percussionist Marcello Castronuovo (Witchstone), Gone Cosmic has carved out an expansive domain that stretches from sweltering Southern sludge pits to breath-stealing sonic spacewalks.
A blood (orange)-scented breeze that bows the trees, Gone Cosmic chases the infinite haze from the skies and puts it right back in your eyes. Groove-mining breakdowns become the stuff of legend as the four pieces’ floor-thudding tail kick and hellfire halo holler originates a whole that is far more potent than the sum of its individual elements. Meet your new astromancers, the phase-shifting and hard-rocking force that channels the empyreal sounds of heaven on Earth. – Christine Leonard (Beatroute AB, Canada)
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 7th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
That’s some stomp in the leadoff track from Gone Cosmic‘s new album, Send for a Warning, The Future’s Calling. You can hear even in the snare sound of “Crimson Hand,” for example, that the band are trying to distinguish themselves, and that’s before you get to the fun of the start-stop solo in the second half of the hard-boogie, three-and-a-half-minute, got-no-time-for-your-nonsense rhythm. I guess the irony here is that the follow-up to 2019’s Sideways in Time (review here) was recorded in 2020, which now is the past even before it can come out heralding its warning about the future — do you think it’s about gas prices? — but that was going to be the case anyway, even if perhaps in other circumstances it wouldn’t have taken as long for it to get out.
So it goes. Note that like its predecessor, Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling references time in the title if not mentioning it directly. Curious to hear how the rest of the record is produced and just how deep Gone Cosmic go in finding a niche for themselves. And also to see whether or not the album was held back in part so the band could tour and if, where, when that might happen.
Maybe asking more questions than I’m answering, but that’s hype in the age of no-sleep. The PR wire takes it from here:
Canadian hard blues rockers GONE COSMIC to issue new album “Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling” this fall; stream new track “Crismon Hand”!
Calgary, Alberta’s psychedelic hard rockers GONE COSMIC announce the release of their new album ‘Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling’, due out September 2nd on Grand Hand Records. Listen to their raucous new single “Crimson Hand.”!
About this new song, vocalist Abbie Thurgood comments: “People are complex entities on their own individual paths and it’s important to determine which people in your life may actually be a detriment to you. I have been in multiple situations where people have been very comfortable to take, so they took until there wasn’t much left for me to give. There’s an ignorance in these situations, on my part, in being too trusting and giving the benefit of the doubt. Crimson Hand is a reflection on these types of relationships and the importance of self-awareness and self-worth.”
Featuring nine progressive psych-blues anthems designed to upgrade your sonic synapsis. GONE COSMIC’s sophomore album “Send for a Warning, the Future’s Calling” was recorded in November 2020 at OCL Studios. It was produced, mixed and recorded by Josh Rob Gwilliam (Ghosts of Modern Man, JJ Shiplet, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald), and mastered by Grammy Award-winning mastering engineer Brian “Big Bass” Gardner (Dr. Dre, David Bowie, Outkast, The Melvins, Rush).
TRACKLIST: 1. Crimson Hand 2. For Sabotage 3. Envy Thrives 4. Causeway 5. The Wrong Side of Righteous 6. Endless 7. To Refuse Compromise 8. Taste for Tragic 9. The Future’s Calling
A blood (orange)-scented breeze that bows the trees, GONE COSMIC chases the infinite haze from the skies and puts it right back in your eyes. Groove-mining breakdowns become the stuff of legend as the four pieces’ floor-thudding tail kick and hellfire halo holler originates a whole that is far more potent than the sum of its individual elements.
Pivoting on the acute juxtaposition of Abbie Thurgood’s soulful vocals and the galvanizing dexterity of Devin (Darty) Purdy’s promethean guitar runs, GONE COSMIC’s sidereal style is emboldened by an equally accomplished and inventive rhythm section, comprising bassist Brett Whittingham and percussionist Marcello Castronuovo. Issuing a universal invitation to emerge from the suspended animation of quarantine and share in their lusty deconstructive discoveries, Gone Cosmic’s stunning future dispatches are set to transmute that which is set in stone back into primordial lava. Their debut album “Sideways In Time” was released in 2019 through Kozmik Artifactz.
Posted in Reviews on January 10th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Hey all, we made it to the final day of the Winter 2020 Quarterly Review, so congrats to ‘us’ and by us I mean myself and anyone still reading, which is probably about two or three people. On my end today is completely manic in terms of real-life, offline logistics — much to do — but no way I’m letting one last batch of 10 reviews fall by the wayside, so rest assured, by the time this goes live, it’ll be complete, even though I’ve had to swap things out as some stuff has been locked into other coverage since I first slated it. Plenty around waiting to be written up. Perpetually, it would seem.
But before we dive in, thank you for reading if you’ve caught any part of this QR. I hope your 2020 is off to an excellent start and that finding new music to love is as much a part of your next 12 months as it can possibly be.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
Sunn O))), Pyroclasts
The narrative — because of course there’s a narrative; blessings and peace upon it — is that drone-metal progenitors Sunn O))), while in the studio recording earlier-2019’s Life Metal (review here) with Steve Albini, began each day doing a 12-minute improvised modal drone working in a different scale. They used a stopwatch to keep time. Thus the four tracks of Pyroclasts were born. They all hover around 11 minutes after editing, which settles neatly onto two vinyl sides, and it’s the rawer vision of Sunn O))), with just Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley‘s guitars, rather than some of the more elaborate arrangements which they’ve been known to undertake. That they’d put out two studio records in the same year is striking considering it had been four years since 2015’s Kannon (review here), but I think the truth of the matter is they had these tapes and decided they were worth preserving with a popular release. I wouldn’t say they were wrong, and the immersion here is a good reminder of the core appeal of Sunn O)))‘s conjured depths.
Traditional doom rarely sounds as vital as it does in the hands of Crypt Sermon. The Philly five-piece return with The Ruins of Fading Light on Dark Descent Records as an awaited follow-up to 2015’s Out of the Garden (review here) and thereby bring forth classic metal with all the urgency of thrash and the poise of the NWOBHM. Frontman Brooks Wilson — also responsible for the album art — is in command here and with the firm backing of bassist Frank Chin and drummer Enrique Sagarnaga, guitarists Steve Jannson and James Lipczynski offer sharpened-axe riffs and solo scorch offset by passages of keyboard for an all the more epic vibe. The rolling “Christ is Dead” is pure Candlemass, but the galloping “The Snake Handler” might be the highlight of the 10-track/55-minute run, though that’s not to take away either from the Dehumanizer chug of “Key of Solomon” or the melodic reach of the closing title-track either. Take your pick, really. It’s all metal as fuck and glorious for that. If they don’t sell denim jackets, they should.
The Neptune Power Federation, Memoirs of a Rat Queen
“Can you dig what the Imperial Priestess is laying down?” is the central question of Memoirs of a Rat Queen, the first album from Sydney, Australia’s The Neptune Power Federation to be released through Cruz Del Sur Music, and it arrives over an ELO “Don’t Bring Me Down”-style arena rock beat on leadoff “Can You Dig?” as an intro to the rest of the LP. Strange, epic, progressive, traditional, heavy and cascading rock and roll follows, as intricate as it is immediately catchy, and whether it’s “Watch Our Masters Bleed” or “I’ll Make a Man out of You,” the Imperial Priestess Screaming Loz Sutch and company make it easy to answer in the affirmative. Arrangements are willfully over the top as “Bound for Hell” and “The Reaper Comes for Thee” engage a heavy rocker take on heavy metal’s legacy, maddened laughter and all in the latter track, which closes, and the affect on the listener is nothing less than an absolute blast — a reminder of the empowering sound of early metal on a disaffected generation in the late ’70s and early ’80s and how that same fist-pump-against-the-world has become timeless. No doubt the costumes and all that make The Neptune Power Federation striking live, but as Memoirs of a Rat Queen readily steps forward to prove, the songs are there as well.
Have Chron Goblin been here before? The title of their album speaks to a kind of creepy deja vu feeling, and that’s emblematic of the Canadian band’s move away from the party rock of their past offerings, their last LP having been Backwater (review here) 2015. Fortunately, while they seek out some new aesthetic ground, the 11 tracks of Here Before do maintain Chron Goblin‘s penchant for straight-ahead songcraft and unpretentious execution — and frankly, that wasn’t at all broken. Neither, perhaps was the let’s-get-drunk-and-bounce-around spirit of their prior work, but they sound more mature in a song like the six-minute “Ghost” and “Slipping Under” (premiered here) successfully melds the shift in presentation with the energy of their prior output. Maybe it’s still a party but we watch horror movies? I don’t know. They’ve still got “Giving in to Fun” early in the tracklisting — worth noting it follows the swaying “Oblivion” — so maybe I’m misreading the whole thing, or maybe it’s more complex than being entirely one thing or the other might allow for. Perish the thought. Either way, can’t mess with the songs.
Ukrainian heavy rockers Ethereal Riffian make a pointed sonic shift with their Legends album (on Robustfellow), keeping some of the grunge spirit in their melodies as the eight-minute “Moonflower” and closer “Ethereal Path” show, but in songs like “Unconquerable” and the early salvo of “Born Again,” “Dreamgazer” and “Legends” and even the second half of “Kosmic” and “Pain to Wisdom,” they let loose from some of the more meditative aspects of their past work with a fiery drive and a theme of enlightenment through political and social change. A kind of great awakening of the self. There’s still plenty of “ethereal” to go with all that “riffian” in the intro “Sage’s Alchemy,” or the first half of “Kosmic” or the CD bonus “Yeti’s Hide,” but no question the balance has tipped toward the straightforward, and the idea seems to be that the electrified feel is as much a part of the message as the message itself. The only trouble is that since putting Legends out, Ethereal Riffian called it quits to refocus their energies elsewhere in the universe. Are they really done? I’m skeptical, but if so, then at least they went out trying new things, which always seemed to be a specialty, and on a note of directly positive attitude.
A second long-player behind 2015’s Para Solem, the eight-song/35-minute Nemesis is not only made for vinyl, but it’s made for rockers. Specifically, heavy rockers. And it’s heavy rock, for heavy rockers. Based in Linz, Austria, the double-guitar four-piece Parasol Caravan have their sound and style on lockdown, and their work, while not really keeping any secrets in terms of where it’s coming from in its ’70s-via-’90s modern take, is brought to bear with a clarity that seems particularly derived from the European heavy rock tradition. Para Solem was longer and somewhat fuzzier in tone, but the stripped down approach of the title-track at the outset and its side B counterpart, “Serpent of Time” still unfold to a swath of ground covered, whether it’s in the subdued instrumental “Acceptance” or “Transition,” which follows the driving “Blackstar” and closes the LP with a bit of a progressive metal edge. Even that has its hook, though, and that’s ultimately the point.
The title Fimbultýr translates to “mighty god” and is listed among the alternative names of Odin, which would seem to be who Oslo’s Golden Core have in mind in the leadoff title-track of their second album. Issued through Fysisk Format, it is not necessarily what one thinks of as “Viking metal” in the post-Amon Amarth or post-Enslaved context, but instead, the eight-song collection unfolds a biting modern sludge taking an edge of the earlier Mastodon lumber and bringing it to harshly-vocalized rollout. The 11-minute “Runatal” and only-seconds-shorter “Buslubben” are respective vocal points around which sides A and B of the release center, and each finds a way to give like emphasis to atmosphere and extremity, to stretch as well as pummel, and much to Golden Core‘s credit, they seem not only aware of the changes they’re presenting in their material, but in control of how and when they’re executed. The resulting linear flow of Fimbultýr, given the shifts within, isn’t to be understated as a victory on the part of the band.
Harbinger may well be just that — a sign of things to come. The debut offering from Black Smoke Omega wraps progressive death-doom and gothic piano-led atmospherics around a thematic drawing from science-fiction, and while I’m not certain of the narrative being told by the Dortmund, Germany-based band, their method for telling it is fascinating. It’s not entirely seamless in its shifts, and it doesn’t seem like the band — seemingly spearheaded by multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Jack Nier, though Ashley James (The Antiquity) plays guitar on “A Man without a Heart” and Michael Tjanaka brings synth/piano to “Kainé” — want it to be, but there’s no denying that by the time “Falling Awake” seems to provide some melodic resolution to the often-slow-motion tumult prior, it’s doing so by bringing the different sides together. It’s a significant journey from the raw, barking shouts on “The Black Scrawl” and the lurching-into-chug-into-lurch of “The Man without a Heart” to get there, however. But this, too, seems to be on purpose. How it all might shake out feels like a question for the next release, but Black Smoke Omega seem poised here to leave heads spinning.
While on the surface, Liquid Orbit might be on familiar enough ground with Game of Promises for anyone who has encountered the swath of up-and-comers working in the wake of Blues Pills, the Bremen, Germany, five-piece distinguish themselves through not just the keyboard work of Anders alongside Andree‘s guitar, Ralf‘s bass, Steve‘s drums and Sylvia‘s vocals, but also the shifts between funk, boogie, and edges of doom that play out in songs like “Shared Pain” and “Please Let Her Go,” as well as the title-track, which starts side B of the Nasoni Records-issued vinyl with a highlight guitar solo and an insistent snare tap beneath that works to bring movement to what’s still one of Game of Promises‘ shorter tracks at six and a half minutes, as opposed to the earlier eight-minute-toppers on side A or the psych-prog finale “Verlorene Karawane,” which translates in English to “lost caravan” and indeed basks in some Mideastern vibe and backward-effects vocal swirl. Bottom line, if you go into it thinking you know everything you’re getting, you’re probably selling it short.
As the title hints, the name-your-price Black Volume III is the third EP release from Toronto’s Sun Below. All three have been issued over roughly a year’s span, and the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Jason Craig, drummer/backing vocalist Will Adams, bassist/backing vocalist Garrison Thordarson — who as far as I’m concerned wins this entire Quarterly Review when it comes to names; that’s an awesome name — and two have featured covers. On their debut, they took on “Dragonaut” by Sleep, and on Black Volume III, in following up the 12-minute nod-roller “Solar Burnout,” they thicken and further stonerize the catchy jaunt that is “Wires” by Red Fang. They’ve got, in other words, good taste. Black Volume III opens with “Green Visions” and thereby takes some righteous fart-fuzz for a walk both that and “Solar Burnout” show plenty of resi(n)dual Sleep influence, but honestly, it’s a self-releasing band with three dudes who sound like they’re having a really good time figuring out where they want to be in terms of sound after about a year from their first release, and if you ask anything else of Black Volume III than what it gives, you’re obviously lacking in context. Which is to say you’re fucking up. Don’t fuck up. Dig riffs instead.
Although Chron Goblin ultimately keep the foundation of classically structured songwriting that has served them well up to this point, there’s no question the mood has shifted somewhat on the Calgary natives’ fourth full-length, Here Before, for which preorders begin Aug. 27. It’ll be out a month later — Sept. 27 — through Grand Hand Records, and while there’s no doubt the four-piece are still having a good time, there’s a little bit of a darker edge to the proceedings that shows up as well in the Here Before cover art, which is way closer to Stranger Things than the stonerly hand-drawing of a nonetheless haunted mountain town that adorned 2015’s Backwater (review here). The 11-tracker digs into some of the most atmospheric work they’ve ever done in songs like “Ghost,” “Giant” and “Slipping Under,” which isn’t to mention the ambience bookending the album in intro “Aurora” and outro “Afterglow,” but even “Giving in to Fun” seems to hold some measure of aggression.
You can hear the premiere of “Slipping Under” at the bottom of this post, and drummer Brett Whittingham offered some comment on the track to coincide with the unveiling of it and the album art and details, as well as tour dates for after the release.
Enjoy:
Brett Whittingham on “Slipping Under”:
Slipping Under is one of the more complex arrangements on the album. It starts off with a dark n’ dreamy clean intro, experimenting with some electronic drums and a leslie speaker for the guitar , before it kicks into the heavy bridge and on to the tight n’ groovy verses. The pre-solo section also includes more experimentation with the inclusion of some dirty 808 drops, something we haven’t tried before! This song is a blast to play live with its multitude of changes and dynamics. Mike Fraser mixed this song, along with Ghost, and his take on both tracks added a nice depth and diversity to the album as a whole.
Album Title: Here Before Release Date: September 27, 2019 Preorders: August 27, 2019 Label: Grand Hand Records
Recorded in July 2018 at Juno Award Winning OCL Studios, ‘Here Before’ is the fourth full-length album from Chron Goblin and will be released and distributed by Grand Hand Records. Produced, recorded and mixed by Josh Rob Gwilliam (Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, Ghosts of Modern Man), Here Before demonstrates a new maturity in songwriting and production for the band. From the propulsive singles of ‘Slipping Under’ and ‘Ghost’; mixed by Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Metallica, Corrosion of Conformity), to the hypnotic riffs of ‘Oblivion’ – Chron Goblin has created an intoxicating collection of rock n’ roll.
Track Listing: 1. Aurora (0:22) 2. Oblivion (4:16) 3. Giving In To Fun (3:37) 4. Out Of My Mind (3:49) 5. Ghost (6:04) 6. War (3:51) 7. Giant (4:40) 8. Slipping Under (4:43) 9. Little Too Late (4:46) 10. Waiting (3:53) 11. Afterglow (1:52) Album Length: 41:57
Chron Goblin live: October 10 – Lethbridge – Owl Acoustic Lounge October 11 – Calgary – The Palomino Smokehouse October 12 – Regina – The German Club October 13 – Winnipeg – The Handsome Daughter October 15 – Sudbury – The Asylum October 16 – Ottawa – House of Targ October 17 – Montreal – Turbo Haus October 18 – Toronto – Hard Luck October 19 – Windsor – Dominion House October 25 – Edmonton – Temple
Album Band and Live Line Up: Josh Sandulak (vocals), Brett Whittingham (drums), Richard Hepp (bass), Devin ‘Darty’ Purdy (guitar)
