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Album Review: Slower, Slower

Posted in Reviews on February 16th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

slower slower

Guitarist Bob Balch would seem to be on something of a creative binge, between an impending Fu Manchu 2LP and recent releases from Yawning Balch and Big Scenic Nowhere, and with Slower he presents a manifestation of the ultimate beer-drunk band idea. “What if, like, you took Slayer, and slowed it down?”

That’s what Slower is on paper. The songs of seminal Californian thrashers Slayer, played slower. The reality of Slower, which is the Balch-led project’s Heavy Psych Sounds-delivered debut album, is a selection of five covers that offers a richer experience than the math of the band’s purpose might lead one to believe. The Slayer originals they’ve chosen to rework — “War Ensemble,” “Blood Red,” and “Dead Skin Mask” from 1990’s Seasons in the Abyss, “The Antichrist” from 1983’s Show No Mercy and, to close, the title-track of 1988’s South of Heaven — are classics within the sphere of metal, and are treated with due respect even as they’re rearranged and turned into something pointedly not what they originally were.

This is done with care and love of the source material, and a sense of curation that is all the more resonant with the lineup Balch assembled for the project. Drummer Esben Willems (of Monolord; he has a solo album coming in addition to appearing here) in Gothenburg, Sweden, vocalist Amy Tung Barrysmith (Year of the Cobra) in Seattle, and bassist Peder Bergstrand (Lowrider) in Stockholm comprise the ‘main band’ on the record, developing a persona of their own even on covers through means of the rearrangement process. That is, they took the songs and reworked them. No one here is inexperienced or incapable. If you believe in supergroups, Slower‘s pretty damn super even before you get to Laura Pleasants (The Discussion, ex-Kylesa) and Scott Reeder (currently Sovereign Eagle, ex-Kyuss, The Obsessed, Goatsnake, needs to do another solo record, etc.) swapping in on vocals and bass, respectively, for “South of Heaven” at the finish. A goofy, fun idea for a band/album as Slower might be, the end result is pointedly not bullshit where it very easily (perhaps with different personnel) could have been.

Underlining the point: Slower is not a tossoff. It’s not a joke band. While indeed the songs are largely reduced in tempo, there is an aspect of the project that feels a bit like the impetus behind it was Balch wanting to take on playing both the Kerry King and Jeff Hannneman (from whose 2013 death the band never really recovered) solos, which he does with all suitable respect for the personalities of Slayer‘s two guitarists, whammy squeals and speed enough to speak to thrash. If that was the case, fair enough for the homage. It’s just a thing not everyone could do at the level it’s done here. Some of those shredfest ripper solos are no less iconic than the lyrical declarations of the choruses to “War Ensemble” or “Dead Skin Mask,” and they are put on a pedestal along with a treasure trove of groove that was lurking beneath the furious intensity of the originals. “War Ensemble,” opening here as it does on Seasons in the Abyss with some transposed urgency, unveils its central riff as a righteous nodder with Bergstrand bringing new tonal presence to the verse, Willems‘ casual double-kick giving an easy ride into the stop, and Barrysmith in immediate command.

The five-minute original becomes the 10-minute cover (it is both opener and longest track; immediate points), and as a lead-in for “The Antichrist,” “Blood Red” and “Dead Skin Mask,” “War Ensemble” blends the familiar — it was one of Slayer‘s many landmarks and a live-set feature for decades before the band ‘ended’ (never say never) in 2019 with 12 records and enough influence to make a project like this happen across microgenres — the surprises it holds and affirmations it makes are crucial to what follows. One doesn’t necessarily think of Slayer as an atmospherically-minded band, though they were at times (and perhaps a second Slower LP could honor Slayer and Sabbath both in opening with the storm at the start of “Raining Blood”; uniting worlds or at least disparate ends of the same one), but Slower dig into “The Antichrist” and find a gritty slog that becomes insistent in a chorus that takes the already-doubled vocals and adds backing tracks to emphasize a depth that is Slower‘s own in a song that, being a deeper cut — as opposed to a Slayer ‘hit,’ I guess? they did used to play their music videos on the tee-vee sometimes — allows Balch (who trips out the midsection admirably taring toward psychedelia), BarrysmithBergstrand and Willems to flesh it out and find a new path to the rotted-soul ascension of its title figure.

slower

The melody emergent in “The Antichrist” is expanded upon in “Blood Red,” the centerpiece of the CD and presumed side B opener on the LP, as the verse riff becomes a strut and the chorus opens to a breadth Slower have been holding in reserve. It’s an un-pop singalong, complete with backing ‘oohs’ for “You cannot hide the face of death/Oppression ruled by bloodshed/No disguise can deface evil/The massacre of innocent people,” which are lines that sadly retain their relevance these 34 years after the fact, and are more sinister for the sweetness of Barrysmith‘s delivery. With “Dead Skin Mask” and “Seasons in the Abyss” still to come, “Blood Red” has a harder road making an impression, and that was true with Slayer‘s version as well in 1990, but amid the forward roll and chug of the verse and the arrival-point feel of the hook, it is the vocals even more that distinguish it as an unexpected highlight.

And I know Slayer have a ton of iconic tracks, from the prior-mentioned “Raining Blood” through “Disciple,” “Angel of Death” — maybe better to leave that one alone? — and “Piece by Piece,” but especially the first and maybe only time out, pairing “Dead Skin Mask” and “South of Heaven” at the end of Slower‘s Slower feels natural. The latter came before the former, and is arguably the most ‘doom’ Slayer ever got, where “Dead Skin Mask” showed up on the next album and refined those very purposes. Both are the kinds of songs dudes get tattoos of, but as they have all along, Slower tread carefully in terms of balancing respect for where the songs came from and taking them where they want to go. Not to be understated is the subversive element of a woman delivering the lyrics to “Dead Skin Mask,” which was never explicit but strongly implied misogynist violence, and Barrysmith resounds in the chorus, where “Dance with the dead in my dreams…” becomes a chant and all the more consuming for that. While I wish they repeated that finish four or five more times, I’m happy to take what I can get.

As noted, “South of Heaven” brings a lineup switch, Reeder stepping in for Bergstrand — the inclusion of those two speaks as well to Balch wanting to bring a new sense of presence to the low end; he could easily have handled bass himself as an afterthought; as is, bass becomes an essential part of the character of the band in a way Slayer‘s Tom Araya probably wouldn’t have expected — and Pleasants taking over for Barrysmith. Dark toned, Balch begins on guitar and Reeder and Pleasants soon join for the opening build, ending of course with the line “Before you see the light” stretched to fill the new spaces in the riff before the guitar, bass and drums stop cold to let Pleasants croon the second part of the lyric: “You must die.”

Shit, I’m ready. Let’s go. If you could get audio tattooed on your person, that moment might be worth carrying around for the rest of your life but it’s already ingrained in the heads of Slayer fans, so take that as you will. Pleasants toys with the verse arrangement somewhat, perhaps covering some awkwardness in the patterning born of the change in pace with effects and layering, but it’s nothing that feels out of line with the mood or atmosphere Slower bring to “South of Heaven,” the stinkface-inducing stomp of Willems‘ drums glorious in manifesting a sense of methodical aggression over the chaos referenced in the chorus — “Chaos rampant/An age of distrust/Confrontations, impulsive habitat (or ‘sabbath’)” before they got right down to it, “On and on, south of heaven” — as Balch likewise digs deeper to find a nastiness of tone that is undeniable. It ends, as it invariably would, with shred given over to noise and a tease of the thuds at the end of “Postmortem” that, on 1986’s Reign in Blood, mark the transition into “Raining Blood” itself. The message seems to be: maybe next time.

Generally speaking and across a wide range of contexts, I suck at fun. Accordingly, I was a little apprehensive in taking on Slower because I felt like maybe it would be a party and I wouldn’t really be able to get my head into the right space for it. That’s not how it went, either in terms of the atmosphere of the record or my listening experience with it. I don’t know that Slower will or won’t do more — certainly no one involved lacks other projects to focus on — but I hope they do, and as a love letter to Slayer, the execution of these songs and the obvious heart and thought put into them, Slower resonates, however familiar you may or may not be with the originals.

Slower, Slower (2024)

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MR.BISON Announce European Tour; Echoes From the Universe Out Today

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 16th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

mr.bison

All-caps Italian psychthrusters MR.BISON have announced a European tour supporting their new album, Echoes of the Universe. And I’ve got a slot saved for that record — which was announced here with a track premiere, as sometimes happens — in the next Quarterly Review, which kicks off in about a week, but it’s out today on Heavy Psych Sounds, and considering the spaces the four-piece traverse within its component songs, the richness of the flow they conjure and the classic-rooted-but-forward-looking mindset under which they seem to operate, basking in bright melodies and swinging groove set to evocative purpose and willing to dive into ethereal headspinning, as later cut “The Promise” demonstrates, without losing track of the audience’s place in the song, its ringing bells and softer accompanying guitar a sanctuary before the sweep of the next chorus.

If I keep going I’m just gonna review the thing — sometimes I need to stop myself, especially if I’m listening to an album as I am this one now; it’s just how my brain is trained to work at this point — so I’ll stop myself and say that it’s great MR.BISON are getting out to herald Echoes of the Universe because I think it’s a worthy cause. Note the open slot March 18 in Germany if you can help out, and that the actual tour picks up in March and spreads across April and May and into June — obviously there are breaks in there — with appearances set for Heavy Psych Sounds Fest in Italy and Switzerland, as well as Maximum Festival and Space Goat Fest in Italy along with copious club shows.

June’s a ways out, so don’t be surprised if more shows are added around that trip to Switzerland as well. Especially after more people hear the record, which, again, is out today. If you’ve got ears to dig it, it’s at the bottom of this post.

From the PR wire:

mr.bison euro tour

Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking to announce MR.BISON – Echoes From The Universe EUROPEAN TOUR !!!

Our beloved psychedelic prog rockerz MR.BISON will tour Europe presenting their latest album Echoes From The Universe !!!

*** MR.BISON – Echoes From The Universe EUROPEAN TOUR ***
16th February / EXWide Pisa (IT) – Release Party
17th February / Bloom Mezzago -MB (IT) – Release Party
14th March / Channel Zero – Lubjana (SLO)
15th March / Mocvara – Zagreb (HR)
16th March / Music House – Graz (A)
17th March / Schokofabrik – Bayreuth (DE)
18th March / *** OPEN SLOT *** GERMANY
19th March / Black Label – Leipzig (DE)
20th March / Stereowonderland – Cologne (DE)
21th March / Extrablues Bar – Belefield (DE)
22th March / Waldmeister – Solingen (DE)
23th March / Ruefetto – Freibourg (DE)
21th April / Space Goat Fest – CPA – Firenze (IT)
26th April / Maximum Fest – ZeroBranco -TV (IT)
27th April / Verona – TBA (IT)
03th May / Bocciodromo – Vicenza (IT)
04th May / HPS Fest – Bologna Trieste (IT)
05th May / HPS Fest – Bologna Trieste (IT)
11th May / Blah Blah – Torino (IT)
17th May / Le Bout du Monde – Vevey (CH)
18th May / Durrorsdorf – TBA (DE)
07th June / HPS Fest – Martigny Winthertur (CH)
08th June / HPS Fest – Martigny Winterthur (CH)

MR.BISON is”
Matteo Barsacchi (Guitar, Bass, Synth)
Matteo Sciocchetto(Guitar, Bass, Voice)
Lorenzo Salvadori (Drum)
Davide Salvadori (Acoustic Guitars, Synth, Hammond, Mellotron, Bass)

www.facebook.com/mrbisonband
https://www.instagram.com/mrbison_band/
http://mrbison.bandcamp.com/

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www.heavypsychsounds.com
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MR.BISON, Echoes From the Universe (2024)

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The Sonic Dawn Announce Phantom LP Out May 10; Premiere “Iron Bird”

Posted in audiObelisk, Whathaveyou on February 13th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

Copenhagen psychedelic heavycrafters The Sonic Dawn are releasing their new album, Phantom, on May 10 through Heavy Psych Sounds. Preorders are up as of this announcement and you’ll find the links below, under the player bringing us “Iron Bird” as the first single to come from the record. You might recall their most recent long-player was 2020’s Enter the Mirage (discussed here). That was their third outing under the Heavy Psych Sounds banner behind 2019’s Eclipse (discussed here), 2017’s Into the Long Night (review here), their debut, Perception (review here), having been issued through Nasoni in 2015.

That makes Phantom their fourth album, and it’s also the first to be released since they marked their 10th anniversary as a band last year. In the interim since Enter the Mirage, frontman Emile Bureau has focused on solo work playing as just Emile and also releasing through Heavy Psych Sounds. “Iron Bird” marks a striking return for The Sonic Dawn, who with it present an earthier groove than one might expect from a band so generally given to ethereal float. Not that there’s none of that happening in the track, but they call it proto-metal, and you can hear that in there; a lean toward a more straightforward side of vintage-ism is by no means beyond The Sonic Dawn‘s reach at this point, or entirely unexpected. They’re songwriters. At a certain point, once you’ve got that, you can take it anywhere.

I haven’t heard Phantom in full, so can’t speak to how “Iron Bird” ties in, but it’s neither the band’s nor the label’s nor my first time at this particular dance, so I’ll cut the bullshit and say I hold this band to a pretty high standard of craft. They’ve shown themselves to be up to that over time, and their work has developed a personality and perspective of its own while remaining open to new ideas and thoughtful of its audience. They’re not going to be for everyone, but nothing is. Maybe they’re for you and that’s why you’re here. Great, and I mean that.

You’ll find “Iron Bird” on the player below, followed by a quote from the band, preorder links and more info from the PR wire.

Goes like this:

The Sonic Dawn, “Iron Bird” track premiere

The Sonic Dawn on “Iron Bird”:

Iron Bird is a protest against organized mass murder and the war pigs who run the show. As we see it humanity stands at a crossroads – a choice between sharing and coexistence or inevitable extinction. There will be no winners only death. Such a message calls for a heavy sound. On Iron Bird we explore an almost proto-metal style but fully psychedelic. If that sounds unsettling to you you’re getting the right picture. Much like the psychedelic experience itself our new album “PHANTOM” oscillates between the terrifying and the beautiful. Iron Bird certainly resides on the dark side of that spectrum. Brace yourself for a journey into some heavy acid rock.

THE SONIC DAWN – New album “PHANTOM” out May 10th on Heavy Psych Sounds

ALBUM PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/

USA PRESALE:
https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm

Hailing from Copenhagen, Denmark, The Sonic Dawn is one of Europe’s most prominent current acid rock bands.

Formed in 2013 by childhood friends Emil Bureau, Jonas Waaben, and Niels ‘Bird’ Fuglede, the trio has delivered four albums, celebrated for their dynamic fusion of genres from sitar pop to heavy psych. Their highly anticipated fifth LP is slated for release this spring via Heavy Psych Sounds.

The debut album, Perception (2015), marked their international breakthrough with Berlin-based Nasoni Records. The sophomore release, Into the Long Night (2017), launched on Heavy Psych Sounds, accompanied by an extensive European album tour—some 60 shows, including two weeks with Brant Bjork (US)—solidifying their presence. The subsequent album, Eclipse (2019), earned acclaim as “easily one of the best psychedelic pop albums of the decade,” and once again the group hit the road hard, playing in 11 different countries.

In 2020, The Sonic Dawn unveiled Enter the Mirage, recognized as “a modern psych classic” by Shindig Magazine. While the planned album tour was cut short, it was possible to play on WDR’s legendary TV show Rockpalast, which has featured David Bowie, the Grateful Dead, and many more through the years.

Now, their highly anticipated fifth album, Phantom (2024), is set for a worldwide release on May 10th, 2024. Formally welcoming long-time collaborator Erik ‘Errka’ Petersson as a new studio band member on organ/keys, The Sonic Dawn continues its sonic journey. Culminating from four years of creating music, the album showcases a raw and heavy musical style blended with the melodic psychedelia for which the band is renowned.

The band is gearing up for an extensive European tour in 2024-2025, promising a further development of their mind-altering exploration.

THE SONIC DAWN is
Emil Bureau – Guitars / Vocals
Jonas Waaben – Drums
Niels Bird – Bass

https://www.facebook.com/thesonicdawn/
https://www.instagram.com/thesonicdawn/
https://thesonicdawn.bandcamp.com/
http://thesonicdawn.com/

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The Sonic Dawn, Enter the Mirage (2020)

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Album Review: Big Scenic Nowhere, The Waydown

Posted in Reviews on February 6th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

big scenic nowhere the waydown

Five years on from their debut EP, Dying on the Mountain  (discussed here), it still feels a little weird that Big Scenic Nowhere are an actual band, never mind sounding more established with their core lineup, more progressive and more distinct as an outfit from their other collaborations than they ever have. They might rightly be called a supergroup with drummer Bill Stinson (Yawning Man, Yawning Balch, etc.), guitarists Gary Arce (Yawning Man, Yawning Balch, Yawning Sons, Ten East, Dark Tooth Encounter, Zun, WaterWays, some new band he’s got going with Pia from Superlynx, on and on) and Bob Balch (Fu Manchu, Slower, Yawning Balch, Sun and Sail Club, ex-Minotaur, etc.) and vocalist/keyboardist Tony Reed (Mos Generator, Twelve Thirty Dreamtime, Constance Tomb, Stone Axe, etc.), though the term has fallen out of favor as these things inevitably will, but Big Scenic Nowhere‘s third full-length, The Waydown, is an accomplishment and realization of the band as themselves and shouldn’t be thought of otherwise.

While the project started as a lost Arce demo (discussed here) with completely different goals, and have always been open to guest appearances, Big Scenic Nowhere have featured plenty between 2020’s Vision Beyond Horizon (review here) and 2021’s The Long Morrow (review here) — at the start it wasn’t clear who was actually in the band, so that’s solidified as well — and The Waydown brings sit-ins from returning keyboardist/organist Per Wiberg (Spiritual Beggars, ex-Opeth, solo, etc.), guitarist Reeves Gabrels (David Bowie, The Cure), as well as former Hall & Oates keyboardist Eliot Lewis on the included Hall & Oates cover, “Sara Smile.”

Those other contributions from Wiberg and Gabrels and are spread throughout the seven-track/39-minute long-player, delivered as ever through Heavy Psych Sounds and meld with those of the band itself, but it’s Big Scenic Nowhere‘s own performances that are the highlights. I’m not even sure if it’s Reed or Balch on bass on a given track, but as much as it’s the two guitars at the forefront when considering the band, “Summer Teeth,” the slower but hypnotically hooky centerpiece “Bleed On,” and the mellow-rolling, seven-minute closer “100” — which bookends with the also-seven-minute “The Waydown” at the outset — are much bolstered by the low end, with Stinson‘s drums (or maybe Reed‘s, depending?) as the solid foundation beneath the explorations taking place.

Because while The Waydown is perhaps the most song-oriented Big Scenic Nowhere have yet been and it brings the core group into focus in no small part because of the unifying factor of Reed‘s vocals, it is still based on and carved out from jams, the band’s core process rooted in getting together for a time, banging out as much improvised or thought-of-a-part whathaveyou as they can, and sending the files home with Balch to be edited and carved into songs after the fact. It’s a heady way to do it, but it has allowed for a sense of progression in the band even as most of their material to-date has come from a single multi-day session. And on The Waydown, whether it’s the righteous creeper riff of the penultimate “BT-OH” or the declarative arrival of the first lines in “The Waydown” after the brief and comparatively minimal ambient intro, the carving, cutting, pasting and shaping results in a decisively and purposeful-seeming progressive feel.

Big Scenic Nowhere band photo 2

“Sara Smile” is a departure, obviously, with Reed shifting into a gentler, soulful vocal on the cover taken from 1975’s Daryl Hall & John Oates and the band tackling an arrangement that’s something kin to a heavy/desert interpretation of AOR, but in the post-chorus-takeoff melancholy of “Summer Teeth,” the harder-landing fuzz in “Surf Western” in the midsection riffing and how it changes back to shimmer for the verse, and even the dreamy vibe brought to “100,” there’s an attention to detail in The Waydown that tells you the songs have been worked on and, considering the depth, loved, before arriving in their final forms as presented, and that thoughtfulness in composition — even if it comes after the moment the actual music was made — and consideration of atmosphere while building same isn’t to be discounted. That Reed and Balch are also studio engineers kind of makes the band possible as they are now, as Reed‘s home in Washington State and the rest of the band’s in Southern California is a distance crossed by craft, Balch getting parts set in a branched collaboration with Reed adding vocals and maybe keys or drums, and so on, which makes Big Scenic Nowhere multi-tiered as regards creativity when one considers Balch‘s other direct partnership in the band, with Arce on guitar.

And what about Gary Arce? Is the man whose guitar made the desert sing an afterthought on The Waydown? Hardly. As Reed steps forward in lead-singer fashion, Arce‘s signature tone is what lends the proceedings their lightness, making the atmospheres of “Bleed On” and “100” possible and speaking to the improvisatory roots of the songs themselves. I’m not sure “Surf Western” would exist as an aural concept let alone the actual track on the record if it weren’t for Gary Arce, and the subdued standalone strums after three minutes in — in the drawdown right before the big riff circles back with a wallop — Big Scenic Nowhere remind that a goodly portion of their emotional resonance comes from the string section, even if that too is changing with the highlight stretches of bass as noted.

Is The Waydown the best Big Scenic Nowhere record? Yes. It feels like it’s the most vivid manifestation of their project yet as distinct from other outfits — which is saying something considering Yawning Balch is literally Yawning Man… wait for it.. plus Balch — and the intention with which it sets itself to the work of craft has become a key aesthetic component in a way that is likewise the band’s own. More importantly, it’s also the most Big Scenic Nowhere record in its contemplations, its dynamic turns and changes in volume or mood, and the resulting definition of the personality for the entire outfit. Yeah, it might still feel a little weird that they’re a band at all — to wit, I’m not sure they’ve ever played live — but they most definitely are, and never quite so engrossing a band as right now.

Big Scenic Nowhere, The Waydown (2024)

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Brant Bjork Trio Recording New Album

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 1st, 2024 by JJ Koczan

In the interest of framing a discussion, we’ll call it the debut album from Brant Bjork Trio being recorded this week by the three-piece in California. But really, it’s not the first record Brant Bjork and Mario Lalli have made together, and it’s not the first record that Brant Bjork and Ryan Güt have made together — it’s just the first time the three of them are together under this configuration. Güt, on tour with Bjork and Nick Oliveri as part of Stöner, I’m pretty sure drums on the upcoming Mario Lalli and the Rubber Snake Charmers release, and there was no shortage of crossover jamming on that tour between Stöner and Lalli‘s emergent project, spearheaded aside from his tenure with Yawning Man or Fatso Jetson.

So familiar-enough dudes, but with new songs. I guess they need to get it all done as soon as possible because in March it’s back on the road. First they’re in South America, then Australia, then Europe this Spring for three Desertfests and Sonic Whip in the Netherlands and more besides, including club shows with Ruff Majik (who also have new stuff in the works) and Monkey3 (who have a new record on Napalm out in March). A summer or September album release doesn’t seem unreasonable to anticipate, all the more since Brant Bjork Trio have already been confirmed for Rock im Wald (end of July) and Hoflärm in Germany and SonicBlast Fest in Portugal this August, which speaks of more European touring to be announced for later in the year.

Here are all the tour dates I could find. Note they were also at Planet Desert Rock Weekend in Las Vegas this past weekend. I assume the eventual LP will be on Heavy Psych Sounds, but you never know until you get the ‘X-person who’s signed to Heavy Psych Sounds signs to Heavy Psych Sounds’ news announcement. Always fun, those. Anyhoo:

Brant Bjork Trio

Heading into the studio this week to capture these tres hombres grooving a righteous batch of new tunes !

In March we head out to rock in South America and Australia ✌🏽🎵🙏 good times roll on ⚡️⚡️⚡️

https://linktr.ee/brantbjorktrio

Brant Bjork Trio
SOUTH AMERICAN TOUR 2024 !!
06/03 Casa de Salud Concepcion Chile
07/03 Metronomo Santiago Chile
08/03 Casa Aurea Sao Paulo Brazil
09/03 Uniclub Buenos Aires Argentina
10/03 Plaza Mateo Montevideo Argentina

Brant Bjork Trio w/ Full Tone Generator
Get DOWNunder !
28/03 – Barwon Club Geelong
29/03 – Frankston Singing Bird Studio
30/03 – Gasometer Hotel Melbourne
31/03 – Crown & Anchor Hotel Adelaide
03/04 – The Basement Canberra
04/04 – Dicey Rileys Wollongong
05/04 – Marrickville Bowlo Sydney
06/04 – Mos Desert Clubhouse Gold Coast
07/04 – Panthers Port Macquarie NSW

Sound of Liberation proudly presents:
BRANT BJORK TRIO – EURO 2024 TOUR
10.05.24 (NO) Oslo, Desertfest
11.05.24 (NL) Nijmegen, Sonic Whip
12.05.24 (DE) Cologne, Club Volta * w/ monkey3
14.05.24 (DE) Hamburg, Bahnhof Pauli
15.05.24 (DE) Bielefeld, Forum
16.05.24 (BE) Sint-Niklaas, De Casino * w/ monkey3
17.05.24 (UK) London, Desertfest
18.05.24 (FR) Wasquehal, The Black Lab
19.05.24 (FR) Nantes, Le Ferrailleur
20.05.24 (FR) Paris, Backstage By The Mill
22.05.24 (DE) Aschaffenburg, Colos-Saal * w/ Siena Root
23.05.24 (CH) Aarau, Kiff * w/ Ruff Majik
24.05.24 (DE) Munich, Feierwerk * w/ Ruff Majik
25.05.24 (DE) Erfurt, VEB Kultur * w/ Ruff Majik
25.05.24 (DE) Berlin, Desertfest
28.05.24 (NL) Amsterdam, Melkweg

Tickets: https://linktr.ee/brantbjorktrio

The Brant Bjork Trio:
Brant Bjork – guitar/vocals
Mario Lalli – bass 
Ryan Güt – drums

https://www.facebook.com/BrantBjorkOfficial
https://www.instagram.com/brant_bjork
http://www.brantbjork.com

Brant Bjork Trio, “Sunshine” live at Desertfest New York 2023

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Lie Heavy Premiere “Burn to the Moon” Video; Album Preorder Available

Posted in Bootleg Theater, Whathaveyou on January 30th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

lie heavy

Lie Heavy will issue their debut album, Burn to the Moon, through Heavy Psych Sounds on April 19. The well-pedigreed North Carolinian outfit comprised of guitarist Graham Fry (ex-Confessor), vocalist Karl Agell (The Skull/Legions of Doom, Patriarchs in Black, Leadfoot, Blind-era Corrosion of Conformity), drummer Jeff “JD” Dennis (Hank Sinatra and the Backsliders) and bassist TR Gwynne self-released the 12-song bangerfest last year and will now see it issued through Europe’s foremost heavy purveyor in its first physical editions.

An interesting passage-of-time aspect to how Lie Heavy are presented, since around lie heavy burn to the moonthe time Agell was were in Leadfoot (you’ll know it’s them because they drink for free) there was little talk of “throwbacks to another era” or this kind of dudely, straight-hitting sound as primal, with the implication of course that more complex ideas have come along since. That happens to be true. You can’t deny that heavy music has developed in the last two decades and that Lie Heavy are intentional in sticking to their guns updating their own versions of ‘the classics’ while themselves being cast with a classic sound.

This is a good thing, distinguishing among generations. You and I will live to see the first generation who made rock and roll die out. It is uncharted territory for the art form, and the narratives of the history of heavy will be made not by those who were there when the first riff was strummed but those who look back after and decide what was ‘classic’ or otherwise worthwhile in terms of influence. If Lie Heavy are a voice from the past stylistically, fine — heavy’s all about speaking to its own beginnings — but let’s also keep in mind that two decades (-plus) will has happened to Agell and company as well, and Lie Heavy are a stronger, fresher band for that.

Their video for “Burn to the Moon” — not a terrible-sounding idea — premieres below to coincide with the opening of preorders for the album from Heavy Psych Sounds. Info below comes from the PR wire.

Please enjoy:

Lie Heavy, “Burn to the Moon” video premiere

US heavy rock supergroup LIE HEAVY: Debut album “Burn To The Moon” out April 19th on Heavy Psych Sounds

Raleigh, North Carolina’s Lie Heavy is one of the few, true throwbacks to another era. They feature the vocals of Karl Agell, best known for Corrosion of Conformity’s BLiND album and Leadfoot. Heavy, heavy-ass blues that would have fit on the Man’s Ruin label back in the 90s, around the time that Orange Goblin was making waves. This is primal stuff: not quite Stoner, not quite Metal, and not quite giving a shit.

1. Nothing To Steal
2. In The Shadow
3. Burn To The Moon
4. Drag The World
5. The Long March
6. Lie Heavy
7. When The Universe Cries
8. Chunkadelic
0. Pontius Pilate
10. Unbeliever
11. Diabolik
12. End the World

Karl Agell – Lead Vocals
Jeff JD Dennis – Drums & Percussions / Vocals
TR Gwynne – Bass / Vocals / Acoustic Guitar
Graham Fry – Guitars / Vocals

Lie Heavy, Burn to the Moon (2023)

Lie Heavy on Facebook

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The Cosmic Dead Announce Infinite Peaks Out April 12; Premiere “Space Mountain Part I: Desert Djilo”

Posted in audiObelisk, Whathaveyou on January 24th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

the cosmic dead

I was pretty stoked last week when word came through that Glasgow’s The Cosmic Dead had signed to Heavy Psych Sounds for their next record, and at that point I didn’t even know the album announcement would be here. Turns out the LP-to-come is called Infinite Peaks, and it’s got at least one entire-side-consuming jam, from which the video-premiering-below “Space Mountain Part I: Desert Djilo” has been carved out as an initial single.

A longer-form modus isn’t new for The Cosmic Dead, for whom Infinite Peaks serves as their ninth full-length as noted by the PR wire below. The band’s most recent outing, 2021’s split with Giöbia, The Intergalactic Connection – Exploring The Sideral Remote Hyperspace (review here), also came out on Heavy Psych Sounds, so it’s not the first time the band and label have worked together, and by adding the Scottish space racers to their roster, the Italian imprint only further cements its position at the forefront of heavy consciousness within and beyond Europe’s borders.

And if I told you “Space Mountain Part I: Desert Djilo” was a scorcher, would you believe it? How could you not? The Cosmic Dead‘s contribution to the Giöbia split was the 19-minute “Crater Creator,” and it doesn’t take them long to nestle into a groove on the new single, with threads of cosmic synth coursing along with the central outward nod; vibes and tones heavy, aimed at the sun, launch’d. There’s a lot of space rocking this and that out there right now. What distinguishes The Cosmic Dead from the glut of chic cosmic whatnot is the low end. It’s where heavy lives, and where bass is an afterthought in so much psych as there’s barely room on stage with guitar pedal boards the size of neighborhoods, The Cosmic Dead have always been able to hone a sound with float as well as heft. They’re heavier.

That’s what I’m hearing in “Space Mountain Part I: Desert Dijlo,” anyhow, and five years after 2019’s Scottish Space Race (review here), I’m glad for the reminder of what I thought was so badass about these guys to start with. The track is six minutes long, so more than a teaser, but you can still expect to be left hanging as the segment of the longer jam cuts out. The band comments on the piece under the player below, where you’ll also find the ever-crucial preorder links.

V-i-b-e:

The Cosmic Dead, “Space Mountain Part I: Desert Djilo” video premiere

The Cosmic Dead Infinite Peaks

THE COSMIC DEAD – New album “Infinite Peaks” out April 12 on Heavy Psych Sounds

“Infinite Peaks” is the long awaited ninth full length album from tumultuous Glaswegian astral travellers The Cosmic Dead. The album features two extended incantations recorded and mixed at Glasgow’s 16 Ohm Recording Studio. About the new single: “‘Desert Djilo’ is the opening section of our 20-minute instrumental track ‘Space Mountain’, completely improvised and recorded live in the studio, it was in itself part of a larger jam. This is a jam within a jam, synth follows bass follows drums follows fiddle. The sound of the radioactive desert.”

ALBUM PRESALE: https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/

USA PRESALE: https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm

The Cosmic Dead is:
Omar Aborida – Bass, Guitars, Wah
Tommy Duffin – Drums, Wah
Calum Calderwood – Fiddle, Wah
Luigi Pasquini – Synthesizer, Wah

The Cosmic Dead on Facebook

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The Cosmic Dead website

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Child Sign to Heavy Psych Sounds; Soul Murder & Other Reissues Coming Soon

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 23rd, 2024 by JJ Koczan

I like it when cool things happen to good bands generally, but specifically in this case I’m glad that Child‘s 2023 heavy-blues delve, Soul Murder (review here), is getting another look with the backing of Heavy Psych Sounds — from whom I’m almost an hour removed from discussing as one of the premier heavy labels in the world, so I must be due — since the Melbourne trio basically opened their veins and bled onto the tape, at least if the audio was anything to go by, and at least in the narrative I have of last year in my mind, the corresponding response was not what the record had earned. A Heavy Psych Sounds reissue, which is a first proper physical pressing, will fix that. The concept of one kind of already does.

That Soul Murder will feature alongside reissues for the band’s other releases — 2018’s I EP (review here), 2016’s Blueside (review here) and 2013’s self-titled debut (discussed here) — should hopefully bring more validation the band’s way for what they’ve done over the last decade-plus, and that’s super too, but getting the material out for international distribution is where it’s at here, and preorders for everything go up early next month. If you need more info than that, well, stick around because I’m sure it’s coming.

What I’ve got for now follows here, courtesy of the PR wire:

child hps

*** CHILD *** repressing the australian band catalogue with 2023 album Soul Murder for the first time on VINYL and CD

We’re incredibly stoked to announce that the australian psychedelic hard rockerz CHILD are now part of the Heavy Psych Sounds Family !!!

Heavy Psych Sounds Records will release the band’s highly acclaimed 2023 album SOUL MURDER for the very first time on VINYL and CD + repress the first two albums Child and Blueside and the EP I

FOUR ALBUMs PRESALE STARTs: February 7th

BIOGRAPHY

Combine the heavy emotion of the blues, the tone and raw power of hard rock, the finesse of soul and a twist of 60’s psychedelia. It will give you a visceral musical experience that plays directly to your being. That is CHILD. Living for their art, the pubs, the booze, the endless highways and the blues is what makes this band who they are. Child are a must see for those who are worshippers at “the electric church”. The freedom and power of a live performance is important to CHILD in their approach to music, endeavouring to never perform the same way twice. They look forward to once again bringing this to the world on their continued search for sonic paradise.

Since the release of their runaway self-titled debut in 2014, Child have continued to develop their unique brand of heavy blues through constant writing and extensive national/international touring. The band released the follow-up ‘Blueside’ in December 2016, which builds on this foundation to deliver a disc of pure sonic expression whilst following in the long tradition of the blues. 2018 saw the release of Child’s first EP, simply titled ‘I’. Recorded live to tape, ‘I’ is a glimpse into the boundless directions that could be taken on upcoming releases.

CHILD is
Mathias Northway – guitar/vocals
Michael Lowe – drums
Rhys Kelly – bass

https://www.facebook.com/childtheband
https://www.instagram.com/childtheband/
https://childtheband.bandcamp.com
https://www.youtube.com/childtheband
http://www.childtheband.com

heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/
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Child, Soul Murder (2023)

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