Posted in Whathaveyou on March 15th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Preorders are up now for Hexenhammer, the fourth full-length from UK doom trio Witchsorrow and the follow-up to their 2015 offering, No Light, Only Fire (review here), which will be released on May 25 via Spinefarm Records. The three-piece were a doomly thrill to catch last September at the inaugural Emerald Haze fest (review here), and I can only say I’ve been looking forward to hearing new stuff from them ever since. As it happens, they have a track streaming right now called “Demons of the Mind,” and I’ve included it at the bottom of this post. I can’t actually make the stream work because I’m running wifi off my phone because — well, because life is fucking complicated sometimes — but needless to say I’m planning on checking it out as soon as I’m able.
The PR wire brought news to make it all official:
WITCHSORROW TO RELEASE FOURTH ALBUM HEXENHAMMER VIA CANDLELIGHT RECORDS ON MAY 25
FIRST TRACK “DEMONS OF THE MIND” AVAILABLE NOW
Hampshire doom metal maniacs Witchsorrow will release their fourth studio album, Hexenhammer on May 25 via Candlelight/Spinefarm Records.
Written during a hermetic period following an intense run of live shows, and recorded at Skyhammer studio in Cheshire with longtime co-conspirator Chris Fielding (Conan, Primordial, Electric Wizard), and mastered at the legendary Orgone studios by Jaime “Gomez” Arellano (Ghost, Paradise Lost), the seven featured songs find Witchsorrow continuing to explore the darker corners of doom, illuminating them with the blinding light of sheer heavy metal forged of the strongest steel. It’s an almost anthemic soundtrack to the end of the world lyrics.
“I’ve always been obsessed with the end of the world,” explains vocalist/guitarist Necroskull. “On previous albums, I’ve been wanting it to happen, because I was caught in a very dark place. On No Light, Only Fire, I was almost angry that it hadn’t happened. Now, it’s a massively confusing time where we’re basically staring at it and waiting for it. I have no solutions. There are none to be had.”
If 2018 needs a soundtrack to its madness, Witchsorrow have provided it. Heavier, darker, doomier, and more metal than ever before, with a title relating to “Malleus Maleficarum” (“The Hammer of Witches”), a famous fifteenth century treatise, perfectly captured in the artwork by legendary Italian metal artist Paolo Girardi (Diocletian, Inquisition, Bell Witch), one of doom’s leading lights have made the perfect album for our times.
Digital and physical pre-orders for Hexenhammer are now live HERE.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 10th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Well, that saves me the trouble of calling them ‘Zeeboar,’ which I’ve done a few times just for fun over the last couple years. UK party sludgers Twelve Boar — formerly XII Boar have decided to change the format of their moniker prior to releasing their third album, titled No Forgiveness, this September. The band has unveiled the cover art and tracklisting for the outing, which reunites them with producer Chris Fielding (also of Conan) and follows just a year behind their sophomore record, Beyond the Valley of the Triclops (discussed here) and two behind their 2015 debut, Pitworthy (review here). Good to keep busy, I guess.
No word on why the band actually decided to change the way they spell their name, but you can find album info for No Forgiveness below, fresh off the PR wire:
TWELVE BOAR release details of new album ‘No Forgiveness’
Proving that there’s no rest for the wicked, Twelve Boar have just revealed details of their third full-length ‘No Forgiveness’. Choosing to work once again with renowned producer Chris Fielding at Skyhammer Studio (home of UK doom legends Conan); ‘No Forgiveness’ follows hot on the heels of last year’s critically acclaimed ‘Beyond The Valley of The Triclops’ and 2015’s equally praised ‘Pitworthy’.
Having started out under the name XII Boar, the guys have now brushed aside their love of Roman numerals and re-branded, giving everything a brand spanking new lick of paint. Featuring glorious artwork by the supremely talented Rahadil Hermana; you should expect brash, Motörhead-esque riffage, huge sing-along choruses and an overwhelming sense of fun injected into every song. ‘No Forgiveness’ promises to showcase Twelve Boar at the top of their game and will undoubtedly be a strong contender for the best of 2017.
‘No Forgiveness’ is due for release on Friday 8th September 2017 and pre-orders are now available from the band athttp://xiiboar.bigcartel.com.
Track Listing: 1. Steppin’ Up 2. Golden Goose 3. The Curtain Call 4. No Forgiveness 5. Elders From The Deep 6. Snake On A Lead 7. All the Heavy Griftin’ 8. Panama 9. Hellspeed Truckin’
XII BOAR IS Tommy Hardrocks – Guitar & Vocals Adam Thomas – Bass & Backing Vocals Dave Wilbraham – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 24th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Brash UK heavy rockers XII Boar will release their sophomore album, Beyond the Valley of the Triclops, this summer. The band, who seem to be taking part with many of their regional contemporaries — looking at you BongCauldron and Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard — in a contest to determine who can come up with the most ridiculous names and/or titles, offered their debut, Pitworthy (review here), early last year, and recorded the follow-up with the nigh-on-ubiquitous Chris Fielding of Conan at Skyhammer Studio. No exact date has been set as of now, but August seems to be the month, if the PR wire is anything to go by, which it is.
Album info and hey-look-it’s-a-butt cover art follow, because there’s nothing quite like keeping it classy:
UK metal’n’roll heavyweights XII BOAR return with new album “Beyond The Valley of The Triclops” this summer!
Prepare for a huge slab of ear-splitting leads, sonic riffs, filthy bass lines, whiskey drenched vocals and sweet southern grooves, as Hampshire wrecking ball XII BOAR (pronounce ‘Twelve Boar’) return this summer with their sophomore album “Beyond The Valley Of The Triclops”.
Recorded at Skyhammer Studio with renowned producer Chris Fielding (Conan, Electric Wizard, Winterfylleth) at the end of last year, Beyond The Valley of The Triclops sees XII BOAR hitting new heights with a stronger, focused, no limits approach to song writing. Having achieved huge critical acclaim with last year’s debut album Pitworthy, the band are already back and on point to be one of 2016’s strongest contenders.
Combining Motorhead’s swagger, Sabbath’s downtrodden doom and the swinging crunch of Corrosion of Conformity – these Hampshire louts lay down a colossal slab of rock’n’roll-infused groove metal, alongside a wild live show to fuel even the greatest parties. Now the band is on a path to do great things. With their debut album Pitworthy released in March 2015, XII BOAR are rapidly becoming unstoppable. Looking forward to their second performance at Bloodstock, a film licensing deal with Troma Films editor turned cult icon Dylan Greenberg, and of course, the release of their sophomore record, Beyond The Valley Of The Triclops the band is excited to see what the future holds.
Wrapped up in some stunning, booty-tastic artwork done by quasi-legendary artist James Hayball this album creates a total sonic experience, the sort of thing that you can get utterly and beautifully lost in, as you travel beyond the valley. After all… This is pure rock and roll for the heavier generation.
XII BOAR “Beyond The Valley Of The Triclops” Out this August – Presale infos coming soon…
XII BOAR IS Tommy Hardrocks – Guitar & Vocals Adam Thomas – Bass & Backing Vocals Dave Wilbraham – Drums
Posted in Reviews on October 1st, 2015 by JJ Koczan
We’re in the thick of it now. It’s hard sometimes putting these things together to remember that each band has worked incredibly hard to put out an album. I’ve been through that process (once), and so I know it can be harrowing at times between acts going back and forth about recording, what’s included, how to release, when, and so on. There’s a lot to cover this week — and we’re not out of the woods yet — but I hope that, just because each review is short, you don’t take that as a sign I don’t have the utmost respect for the effort that has gone into making each of these releases. It can be a tremendous pain in the ass, but of course it’s worth it when you get to the end product. We continue.
Fall 2015 Quarterly Review #31-40:
We Lost the Sea, Departure Songs
To be blunt, We Lost the Sea’s Departure Songs is the kind of album that immediately makes me want to own everything the band has done, in hard copy, for posterity. The Sydney outfit’s third full-length finds its crux in its two-part closing duo of “Challenger Part 1 – Flight” and “Challenger Part 2 – A Swan Song,” enacting a lush instrumental interpretation of the Space Shuttle Challenger flight and disaster that took place nearly 30 years ago in Jan. 1986. In its progression, patience, flow and discernable narrative thread it is nothing short of brilliant, a lush and sad beauty that serves as a genuinely affecting reminder of the hope for a better future that died with that shuttle’s civilian crew and the era of aspiration that tragedy brought to a close. I think the closing sample is the only time I’ve ever heard Ronald Reagan speak in my adult life and felt something other than anger, and that’s a testament to the ground Departure Songs covers – on the preceding three cuts as well as the final two – and the masterful execution on the part of We Lost the Sea.
There does not yet exist a name for what Finland’s Dark Buddha Rising bring to bear on the two side-consuming tracks of their Neurot Recordings debut and sixth album overall, Inversum. Self-recorded and presented following some shifts in lineup, the album swells to a massive head of bleak, noise-infused psychedelia, fully ritualized and self-aware but still vibrant as it makes its way further and further down into itself. It is bright black, based so much around contrasting ideas of form and tonality that to listen to it, one almost doesn’t believe that the band are accomplishing what they are on an aesthetic level, but the weight, chants, screams, cavernous feel and nod that “Eso” (24:05) and “Exo” (23:52) enact is ultimately real no matter how nightmarish and otherworldly the impression might be. A work that sounds as likely to digest as be digested, it constructs a temple of its own sound and then burns that temple and everything around it in a glorious final push into charred chaos.
Few endorsements carry as much weight for me as that of Germany’s Nasoni Records, so when I see that venerable imprint is on board for the release of Red Mountains’ first album, Down with the Sun, expectations immediately rise. The Norwegian four-piece don’t disappoint, calling forth a heavy psychedelia weighted enough to be immersive without really falling into the trap of sounding too post-Colour Haze or Causa Sui, finding a balance right away on opener “Six Hands” between open-vibe and structured songcraft. They toy with one side or the other, getting crunchy on “Rodents” and tripping out into ambient echoing on the penultimate “Silver Grey Sky,” but that only makes the debut seem all the more promising. Particularly satisfying is the scope between “Sun” and “Sleepy Desert Blues,” which is enough to make the listener think that grunge and desert rock happened in the same place. An engaging and already-on-the-right-track start from a band who sound like they’re only going to continue to grow.
It’s improper to think of Germany’s Black Space Riders as entirely psychedelic if only because that somehow implies a lack of clearheaded consciousness in their work, which as their fourth album, Refugeeum, demonstrates, is the very core tying all the expanses they cover together. As Europe comes to grip with its most dire refugee crisis since World War II, Black Space Riders take their thematic movement from such terrestrial issues (a first for them) and it makes a song like 11-minute centerpiece “Run to the Plains” all the more resonant. Of course, the big-chug groove of “Born a Lion (Homeless)” and the cosmic thrust of the penultimate “Walking Shades” still have a psychedelic resonance, but the balance between the earthly and the otherworldly do well to highlight the progressivism that’s been at work in the band’s sound all along. A considerable undertaking at 61 minutes, Refugeeum is an important step in an ongoing development that has just made another unexpected and welcome turn.
And so, with their third and final outing, III, Portland, Oregon, trio Lamprey reserve their strongest point for their closing argument. The two-bass trio of bassist/vocalist Blaine Burnham (now drumming in Mane of the Cur), bassist Justin Brown (now bass-ing in Witch Mountain) and drummer Spencer Norman recorded the conclusive six-tracker with Adam Pike at Toadhouse (Red Fang, Mammoth Salmon, etc.) and even the slower shifts of “Harpies” and the decidedly Conan-esque “Lament of the Deathworm” breeze right by. Like their two prior releases, 2012’S The Burden of Beasts (review here) and 2011’s Ancient Secrets (review here), III is a showcase of songcraft as much as tone, and it seems to presage its own vinyl reissue, each of the two halves starting with a shorter piece, the opener “Iron Awake” a notably vicious stomp that sets a destructive vibe that the rumble and weirdo keys and leads that finish out “Gaea” seem to be answering, a quick fade bringing an end to an underrated act. They’ll be missed.
If newcomer bruisers Godsleep seem to share some commonality of method with fellow Athenians 1000mods, it’s worth noting that on their debut, Thousand Sons of Sleep, they also share a recording engineer in George Leodis. Fair enough. The big-toned riffing and shouty burl on which Godsleep cast their foundation makes its identity felt in the post-Kyussism of “Thirteen” and stonerly grit of centerpiece “This is Mine,” which follows the extended opening salvo of “The Call,” “Thirteen” and “Wrong Turn,” the latter of which is the longest cut at 9:09 and among its most satisfyingly fuzzed nods. They’re playing to style perhaps, but doing so well, and if you’ve gotta start somewhere, recording live and coming out with a heavy-as-hell groove like what emerges in the second half of “Home” is a good place to start. Godsleep are already a year past from when they recorded Thousand Sons of Sleep in Summer 2014, so I wouldn’t be surprised if a follow-up happened sooner than later.
Slow Joe Crow & the Berserker Blues Band, We are Blues People
Kentucky-based, cumbersomely-named Slow Joe Crow and the Berserker Blues Band may indeed live up to the We are Blues People title of their debut EP, but they’re definitely riff people as well. As such, the four-track sampling of their wares draws from both sides on a cut like opener “No One Else,” the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Austin P. Lunn, bassist Patrick Flanary and drummer Thom Hammerheart in the process of figuring out how much they want to lean to one or the other. They round out with a fuzzy take on the traditional “John the Revelator,” but the earlier “Muddy Water Rising” strikes a more effective and more authentic-feeling balance, leading to the slow jam of “Before I Go,” which adds a ‘70s rock vibe to push the bluesy feel even further and expand the palette in a manner one hopes they continue to pursue as they move forward.
Canadian trio Monobrow follow their 2014 LP, Big Sky, Black Horse (review here) with what’s essentially a new single that finds them continuing to step forward in their approach. Dubbed A Handwritten Letter from the Moon and taking its name from the 8:33 title-track, the Ottawa group’s latest offering finds the instrumental outfit smoothing out the tones a bit, still hitting into raucous grooves, but closer to Truckfighters than their prior brashness. I don’t know if it’s a method they’ll stick to going into their fourth LP next year, but the result is dynamic and suits them well. “A Handwritten Letter from the Moon” comes coupled with “Dyatlov Station 3,” a seven-minute rehearsal-space jam from 2011 that fascinatingly (and I’m sure by no coincidence) showcases some similar classic heavy rock influence. The only real shame of the release is that both these tracks are probably too long to fit on a 7”, since a small platter of vinyl would be a perfect way to hold over listeners until the next album arrives. As it stands, the digital version is hardly roughing it.
French heavy rocking four-piece Denizen issued their decidedly Clutchian debut, Whispering Wild Stories (review here), in 2011, and follow it through Argonauta Records with Troubled Waters, a more individualized 10-track outing that alternates between punkish rawness and classic upbeat grooves. Four years after their first album, their progression hasn’t come at the cost of songwriting, and while they still have work to do in distinguishing themselves in a crowded, varied European market, they deliver the material with an energy and vitality that makes even its familiar parts easy enough to get down with, be it the Southern heavy solo of “Jocelyne” or the meaner bite of “Enter Truckman.” I’ll take the pair of “King of Horses” and “Heavy Rider” as highlights, and remain interested to find out where Denizen head from here, as well as how long it might take them to get there. Four years between records gives Troubled Waters the feel of a second debut as much as a sophomore effort.
Releasing through Candlelight in their native UK, doom metal trio Witchsorrow mark a decade with their third album, No Light, Only Fire. Opener “There is No Light There is Only Fire” seems to nod immediately at Cathedral, with a speedier, chuggier take, and the record proceeds to alternate between shorter and longer tracks en route to the 14-minute closer “De Mysteriis Doom Sabbathas,” cuts like “Negative Utopia” and “Disaster Reality” sailing a black ship past the 10-minute mark on a rumbling sea of riffs and slow motion nod. They break for a minute with the acoustic interlude “Four Candles” before embarking on the finale, and the respite is appreciated once the agonizing undulations of “De Mysteriis Doom Sabbathas” are underway, using nearly every second of their 14:25 to affirm Witchsorrow’s trad doom mastery and bleak, darkened heft. No light? Maybe a little light, but it’s still pretty damn dark, and indeed, it smells like smoke.
Hampshire, UK, riff mongers XII Boar will release their debut album, Pitworthy, next Monday, March 9. The full-length follows two EPs and a single and is rife with burl-boogie and dudely, carnivorous groove. When it comes to “Rock City,” the penultimate track on the record before the 11-minute “Quint” closes out, XII Boar are less distinct in their geography than, say, KISS, who were practically selling maps with a logo on them, but with a fervent sludge-blues shuffle, they seem more than content to lead the way there and let their audience follow along. Pied Pipers of Heavytown.
That’s a stretch perhaps — something tells me XII Boar can take a bit of ball-busting — but the song is maddeningly catchy, and where a cut like preceding “Battle Boar” is all metallic tension and build, “Rock City” is more of a standalone in emphasizing the post-Orange Goblin gruffness to which XII Boar bring a Southern metal flair. They’ve got something in the works for this summer — one imagines a UK or European tour — but they’ll play a release show for Pitworthy this Saturday in the meantime, joined by Mother Corona and Steak at the West End Centre in Aldershot. Details on their Thee Facebooks.
Rock City – Taken from the début full-length album ‘Pitworthy’ by UK metal n’ rollers XII Boar (pronounced – Twelve Boar).
XII Boar unleash their first full-length LP, featuring 10 blistering tracks of razor sharp rock and roll for the heavier generation. ‘Pitworthy’ serves up a smorgasbord of groove-laden riffage, irresistibly catchy hooks, straight-to-the-face thrash outs and a bucket-load of hip swaying, booty shakin’ metal.
Recorded at the legendary Parlour Studios by Neil Haynes. Album Artwork by Beak – Six of One. Video shot and produced by Adam Thomas.
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 11th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
UK burl rockers XII Boar — which even though I know it’s pronounced “twelve boar” I still always say as “zhee-boar” — have issued a new digital single that’s a take on Motörhead‘s “Damage Case.” The Southern-styled sludge rock three-piece, somewhat unsurprisingly if you’ve heard their stuff before, beef up the Motörhead original, which appeared on side B of 1979’s classic Overkill. It’s a pretty bold cover to take on, but XII Boar have specialized in the brash since they got going, as their 2014 single Truck Stop Baby will attest, and they’re right in their element with the bruiser groove of “Damage Case,” which can be downloaded free via their Bandcamp page.
They sent word down the PR wire of the new track, and I spliced in a bit of bio background in case you’re unfamiliar. The track itself you can check out on the YouTube player below:
UK Metal & Roll Heavy Weights ‘XII Boar’ pay tribute to Motörhead
UK stoner and sludge scene regulars, ‘XII Boar’ have done a surprise release covering Motörhead’s classic ‘Damage Case’ for your audio pleasure. Putting their own slamming take on the tune and reworking it in their southern fried, crushing, sludgey style, it has been a smash hit across the interweb and already received rave reviews!
Speeding at you like an out of control train, XII Boar (pronounced ‘Twelve Boar’) have been tearing a new one into the stoner/sludge/metal scene over the last 2 years. The three-piece wrecking ball from Aldershot, Hampshire, blast their way into your skull with ear-splitting leads, sonic riffs, filthy bass lines, whiskey drenched vocals and a sweet southern groove.
Combining Motörhead’s swagger, Sabbath’s downtrodden doom and the swinging crunch of Corrosion of Conformity – these Hampshire louts lay down a colossal slab of rock n’ roll-infused groove metal that fuels even the greatest parties.
Not bad for a band who literally do all the hard work in house. Having independently recorded, produced and released two EPs since their inception, they have garnered much attention and rave reviews from both the press and fans alike.
Posted in Reviews on October 4th, 2010 by JJ Koczan
Not to be confused with the Swedish one-man black metal outfit formerly operating under the same moniker, the über-doom duo Blut call Hampshire and Dorset in the UK home and expunge a gurgling, grotesque misanthropy most black metal can only pretend to stab at in high-contrast black and white photos. Their debut full-length, Ritual and Ceremony (Wolfs Hook Records) tops out at over an hour and creates an atmosphere of such foreboding that to call it anything less than SunnO)))-esque is to sell it short. In three hyper-extended tracks, Blut go deep into dark psychedelia, punishing listeners with unyieldingly heavy riffing and brutal cackled vocals. Even when they see fit to throw a groove in, as they do eight minutes into the opening cut, “Throne Ritual,” they do so with the full knowledge of the brutality surrounding.
I get a lot of emails from bands, but Blut’s was immediately more interesting than most and a great indicator of the two-piece’s attitude and outlook. It was signed “fuck everything.” Bassist/noisemaker N.B. and drummer/guitarist/vocalist/noisemaker S.M. (it’s an initials-only kind of situation) recorded Ritual and Ceremony in Winter 2009, and the record sounds colder than the UK gets. It’s like they imported wind from Greenland. As the 24-minute opener gradually gives way to “And Death Shall Flee from Them,” the course of the album is set. For all the open space in their songs, echoing feedback, waves of pulsating noise, Blut have no room in their ambience for oxygen. S.M.’s vocals occur sporadically and in short burts, and it wouldn’t work any other way. From my understanding, the black metal cave from which they emit only allows sound to escape for a few hours of the forbidden night, and that doesn’t leave much room for lyrical headiness. Spew a little hate, move on to the next riff (or stay on the same one for another seven minutes). Not a bad ethic for this kind of record.
Not to be confused with the Swedish one-man black metal outfit formerly operating under the same moniker, the über-doom duo Blut call Hampshire and Dorset in the UK home and expunge a gurgling, grotesque misanthropy most black metal can only pretend to stab at in high-contrast black and white photos. Their debut full-length, Ritual and Ceremony (Wolfs Hook Records) tops out at over an hour and creates an atmosphere of such foreboding that to call it anything less than SunnO)))-esque is to sell it short. In three hyper-extended tracks, Blut go deep into dark psychedelia, punishing listeners with unyieldingly heavy riffing and brutal cackled vocals. Even when they see fit to throw a groove in, as they do eight minutes into the opening cut, “Throne Ritual,” they do so with the full knowledge of the brutality surrounding.
