Posted in Whathaveyou on January 18th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
I was lucky enough to attend the April 2023 edition of the Baltimorean all-dayer Grim Reefer Fest (review here), which featured Bongzilla as headliners and the likes of Sun Voyager and Holy Fingers, among others. Returning from last year’s bill for 2024 are Haze Mage, who are involved in organizing the fest — fair’s fair — and that’s it so far, though there are still two bands TBA, which tells me there’s probably a tour waiting to be announced or something like that. Sometimes it’s logistics as much as teasing with these lineup reveals.
But with the undebatable Weedeater in the top spot for 2024 backed by the atmospheric heavy rock of Black Lung, Yatra‘s we’re-the-death-metal-band-the-heavyheads-like extremity and Leather Lung‘s sludge metal party, along with High Leaf coming down from Philly, Foehammer up from VA and Bleak Shore, who just played their first show this past December, the day seems pretty packed even before you get to the two TBAs. It’ll be a fun one if you’re in the neighborhood on April 27, which you might consider being.
The announcement came down the PR wire thusly:
This April we return to the legendary Ottobar in Baltimore on Saturday April 27th for our 5th annual fest, bringing a very full day of the dankest & heaviest riffs around!
This year’s lineup includes: Weedeater Black Lung Haze Mage Yatra Leather Lung High Leaf Foehammer Bleak Shore
Plus we’ve got a couple more to still announce! Stay tuned!
Once again, the amazing Golden Grillz food truck will be parked outside all day and night to take care of all of your munchie needs!
Didn’t we just do this? Yeah, kind of. It’s been a weird season, but I knew last month when I launched the Spring 2023 Quarterly Review that it needed to be more than two full weeks and given the timing of everything else slated around then and now, this is what worked to make it happen. For what it’s worth, I have QRs scheduled for July and early October, subject to change, of course.
The bottom line either way is it’s another batch of 50 reviews this week and then that’s a wrap for Spring. It’s a constant barrage of music these days anyhow, and I’m forever behind on everything, but I hope at least you can find something here you dig, whether previously familiar or not. We go.
Quarterly Review #1-10:
HIGH LEAF, Vision Quest
An awaited debut from this Philadelphia heavy rock scene outfit, HIGH LEAF‘s Vision Quest makes its home among heavy tropes (also some minute cultural appropriation in the title) with unabashed glee and deceptively sharp songwriting. Certainly opener “Green Rider” is perfectly willing to beat you over the head with its chorus — and rightly so, you have it coming — but the spacious title-track that follows stretches over eight minutes and seamlessly works through drift and heavy psych impulses to get to the post-grunge roll that makes its increasingly aggro presence known past six minutes in, and that’s by no means the final bit of sludge to be had as the later “Hard to Find” leans toward nastiness only to be offset by the funky outset of “Painted Desert,” having pushed deeper from the Kyussery of “Dead Eye” and a swagger in “Subversive” worthy of comparison to Earthride. This lineup of the band has already split (there’s a new one, no worries), and how that reboot will affect HIGH LEAF going forward obviously remains to be seen, but this is a ‘serving notice’-type debut, doubling down on that in closing duo “March to the Grave” and “The Rot,” and the eight songs and 38 minutes commune with groove and riffs like they’ve been speaking the language the whole time. There’s definitely a vision at work. Let’s see where the quest takes them.
Fucking hell I wish this was what the future sounded like. It rocks. It’s interesting. It’s driven to be its own thing despite traceable roots. It’s got edge but it’s not hackneyed. It’s the tomorrow we were promised when industrial rock and metal became a thing in the 1990s and that corporate alt-everything and pop-punk usurped. I knew I wanted to write about it now, because it’s coming out now, but I’ll tell you honestly, I’ve barely scratched the surface of JAAW‘s Svart-issued debut, Supercluster — recorded at Bear Bites Horse in London by Wayne Adams, who’s also in the band alongside Andy Cairns of Therapy?, Mugstar‘s Jason Stoll and Adam Betts (of Squarepusher and others) — and this is the kind of album that’s going to be years in revealing itself. How about this? Sometime in 2028, if this site is still here, I’ll follow-up and let you know what I’ve found digging into the sinister groove of “Rot” or the shout-kraut rumble and noise of “Bring Home the Motherlode, Barry,” “The Dead Drop” going from minimalism to full heavy New Wave wash in five minutes’ time, and so on, but for right now, let it serve as the cannonball to be lobbed at anyone who says there aren’t any acts out there doing new things or pushing different styles forward, because hell’s bells, that’s the only place this goes even as it also seems to go everywhere at the same time, unto closing out with a Björk cover “Army of Me” as imagined by Ministry doing ’90s drum ‘n’ bass. Some things are just bigger than the year of their release, and I look forward to living with this record.
The Bridesmaid, Come on People Now, Smile on Your Brother
From the opening drone-and-toy-chime-forward over industrial black metal of “Leytonstone: Eat Your Landlord” through the sample-fed machine sludge-turned-psych experimentalism that gives way to a shimmering haze of jazz metal in “Cleveland: And the Rain Came Down” and the can’t-fool-me-by-now acoustic strum at the start of “Summerland: A Long, Maintenance-Free Life” that runs a current of cello under its aural collage and low-end lumber early only to bask in news-and-drone departure with percussion later on the way to what post-hardcore could still someday be, the name of the EP is Come on People Now, Smile on Your Brother and The Bridesmaid deliver the proceedings in a manner more suited to Kurt Cobain‘s fuckall rasp of that line rather than the Youngbloods original. So it’s probably the latter. In any case, the UK solo-plus-friends outfit helmed and steered by JJ Saddington are an aural barrage, and while the temptation is to think of the three-song/21-minute offering as a blender on liquefy, the truth is the material is more thought out, more considerately mixed, and more engaging, than that kind of spastic randomness implies. If you can keep up with the changes, the adventure of listening is well worth the ankles sprained in its twists, but you should go into it knowing that the challenge is part of the appeal.
If the hard push and tonal burl of comparatively straight-ahead opener “The Last Witch” aren’t convincing, stick around through “Celestial Bird Spirit” and “Impermanence” on the rest of side A before you resolve one way or the other as regards Milana‘s debut album, Milvus. The Mallorca-based four-piece are for sure in conversation with fest-ready modern European heavy rock, and that’s the thread that weaves throughout the album, but in the 11-minute “Impermanance,” they build on the more temperate rollout of “Celestial Bird Spirit” and find an intriguing blend of atmosphere and dense fuzz, more moody than psychedelic, but smart to hold back its weightiest tonality for the rolling end. Appropriately enough, “Lucid Reality” brings them back to ground at the start of side B, but still has an atmospheric effect in its verse, with vocal layering over open-spaced guitar and an alt-rock pickup as they move toward the chorus, and Howling Wolf gives a class-conscious definition of the blues, in the long intro of “Gray City Lights,” setting a difficult standard for the rest of the song to match, but the organ helps. And all seems well and fine for “Whispering Wind” to wrap up mirroring the rocker “The Last Witch” at the start until the song breaks, the harmony starts, and then the growls and massive fuzz start in the last minute and it turns out they were metal all along. Go figure. There’s growing to do, but there’s more happening on Milvus than one listen will tell you, and that in itself is a good sign.
Swedish upstart four-piece New Mexican Doom Cult offer a distinctly Monolordian weep of lead guitar on “Seven Spirits,” but even that is filtered through the band’s own take, and that’s true of their first full-length, Necropolis more generally, as the Gävle outfit now comprised of guitarist/vocalist/principal songwriter Nils Ahnland, guitarist Johan Klyven Kvastegård, bassist Emil Alstermark and drummer Jonathan Ekvall present seven songs and 48 minutes of dug-in rockers, distortion keyed to its fuzziest degree as Ahnland hints vocally on “Underground” toward a root in darker and more metallic fare ahead of the chugging build that rounds out the eight-minute centerpiece title-track and the make-doom-swing ethic being followed in closer “Worship the Sun.” “Vortex” is a highlight for the melody as much as the double-dose of nodfuzz guitar work, and opener “Architect” sets an atmospheric course but assures that the sense of movement is never really gone, something that’s a benefit even to the righteous Sabbath blowout verse in the penultimate “Archangel.” Much of what they’re doing will be familiar to experienced heads, but not unwelcome for that.
Capable double-guitar heavy rock pervades the 43-minute Gentle Beast by the Swiss five-piece of the same name. Mixed by Jeff Henson of Duel and issued through Sixteentimes Music, the eight-song run is defined by knowing itself as stoner rock, and that remains true as “Super Sapiens” departs into its post-midsection jam, eventually returning to the chorus, which is almost unfortunately hooky. “Greedy Man” is almost purely Kyuss in its constructed pairing of protest and riff, but the “Caterpillar” shows a different side of the band’s character in its smooth volume shifts, winding leads and understated finish, leading into the sharper-edged outset of closer “Toxic Times.” In the forward thrust of “Joint Venture,” the opener “Asteroid Miner” with its gruff presentation, and the speedier swing of “Headcage” reinforcing the vocal reference to Samsara Blues Experiment in the leadoff, Gentle Beast tick all the boxes they need to tick for this debut long-player some four years after the band’s initial 7″ single, setting up multiple avenues of possible and hopeful progression while proving dexterous songwriters in the now. Won’t change your life, but isn’t trying to convince you it will, either.
Denver four-piece Bloodsports — also stylized all-lowercase: bloodsports — give a heavygaze impression with “Sky Mall” at the launch of their self-titled debut EP that the subsequent “Crimp” gleefully pulls the rug right from under with a solo section like All Them Witches grew up listening to The Cure after its Weezery verse, and the proceedings only gets grungier from there with the low-key Nirvana brooding of “Sustain” (also issued in 2022 as a standalone single) and its larger-scale, scorch-topped distorted finish and the shaker-inclusive indie ritual that is “Carnival” until it explodes into a blowout ending like the release of tension everyone always wanted but never actually got from Violent Femmes. Some noisy skronk guitar finishes over the hungover fuzz, which is emblematic of the way the entire release — only 11 minutes long, mind you — derives its character from the negative space, from its smaller moments of nuance, as well as from its fuller-sounding stretches. They’re young and they sound it, but there’s a sonic ideal being chased through the material and Bloodsports may yet carve their aural persona from that chase. As it is, the emotive aspects on display in “Sustain” and the volatility shown in the roll of “Sky Mall” make in plain that this project has places it wants to go and areas to explore, and one hopes Bloodsports continue to bring their ideas together with such fluidity.
Recorded seemingly almost entirely live on audio and video, vibrancy would seem to be the underpinning that draws Night Fishing‘s Live Bait together, if fishing isn’t. The Denver four-piece are a relatively new formation, with guitarists Graham Zander (also Green Druid) and Zach Amster (Abrams), bassist Justin Sanderson (Muscle Beach) and drummer Gordon Koch (Call of the Void) all coming together from their sundry other projects to explore a space between the kosmiche, heavy rock and semi-improv jamming. The turns and fills and crashes that round out the second of three cuts, “No Services,” for example, feel off-the-cuff, but throughout most of “Alone With My Thoughts” and at least in the initial Slift-like shuffle at the start of “Slapback Twister,” there’s a plan at work. At 25 minutes, they’re only about a song shy of making Live Bait a full-length — though another track might mess up the shortest-to-longest and alphabetical ordering Live Bait has now, which are fun — but the instrumentalist exploration is suited to the nascent feel of the outfit, and while I don’t think Night Fishing is anybody’s only band here, if they can build on the sense of purpose they give to the jangly rhythm and airy solo of “Slapback Twister” and the right-on push of “Alone With My Thoughts,” they can make their records as long or as short as they want and they’re still bound to catch ears.
Following last year’s self-titled debut EP, Indianapolis solo-project Wizard Tattoo cuts itself open and bleeds DIY on the seven songs and 40 minutes of the self-recorded, self-released Fables of the Damned, beginning with distinct moments of departure in opener “Wizard Van” and “The Black Mountain Pass,” the latter of which returns to its gutted-out chorus with maestro Bram the Bard (who also did the cover) cutting through the tonescape of his own creation to underscore the structure at work. There are stories to be told in “The Vengeful Thulsa Dan” and the folkish “Any Which Way but Tuned,” which brings together acoustics and chanting like a gamer version of Wovenhand, deep-mixed tom thud peppered throughout while the chimes are more forward, while the seven-minute “The Ghost of Doctor Beast” picks up with the slowest and most doomed of the included rollouts, “God Damn This Wizard Tattoo” ups the tempo with a catchy chorus, a little bit of mania in the hi-hat under the guitar solo, and hints dropped in the bassline of the grunge aspects soon to be highlighted in instrumental closer “Abendrote.” The sense of character is bigger than the production, and that balance is something that will need to be ironed out over time, but the dug-in curio aspects of Fables of the Damned make it engaging, whatever it may or may not lead toward.
I’ll never claim to be anything more than a dilettante when it comes to noise rock, and I’ll tell you outright that Kansas City’s Nerver are new to me as of this Brothers in Christ split with Oklahoma City’s Chat Pile, but both acts are coming from a strong Midwestern tradition of post-industrial (talking economy not genre) disaffection and building on momentum from strong 2022 releases, those being Nerver‘s even-the-CD-sold-out (aha! but not from the label! got it!) sophomore full-length CASH and Chat Pile‘s much-lauded debut, God’s Country (review here), and the scream-topped bombast of the one and volatile emotive antipoetry of the other make fitting companions across the included four songs, as Nerver‘s “Kicks in the Sky” underscores its jabs with deep low rumble as a bed for the harshly delivered verse and “The Nerve” shoves itself faceward in faster and less angular fashion, consuming like Chicago post-metal but pissed off like Midwestern hardcore while Chat Pile build through “King” en route to the panicked slaughter of “Cut,” which is sure enough to trigger fight-or-flight in your brain before its sub-five-minute run is up. Neither arrives at this point without hype behind them, both would seem to have earned it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go put on that Nerver album and play a bit of catchup.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 4th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The video below for the track ‘Green Rider,’ which opens the forthcoming Vision Quest full-length debut from Philadelphia’s High Leaf — also stylized all-caps: HIGH LEAF — is the first studio recording the band have made public. For any act, let alone one who’ve put in the effort of social media push that High Leaf have, spreading the word even before there was much word to spread, that’s a huge moment in the existence of a project.
And as an initial single, “Green Rider” represents Vision Quest well, its unabashed stoner rock ideology tempered with a bit of sludgy edge and a new-school weedianism based around classic, steady-rolling riffery. You would not accuse it of trying to break down genre barriers so much as to find a place within them to dwell and evolve, which for a self-releasing band starting out — even if it’s not the first outfit for one or any of the players involved — is an encouraging beginning point. One of the aspects that’s been most impressive about High Leaf embarking on this release is how enthusiastically they’ve been in diving into the heavy rock underground, and frankly, it’s nice to (finally) have a song to demonstrate what they’re bringing to it.
Live dates (previously posted but still relevant) are included below, along with various links to the single and their announcement of the clip, which melds together psych visuals with public domain-style clips. Pretty sure I saw some of Reefer Madness in there, which is a fit.
Have at it:
HIGH LEAF – Green Rider
No more teasing! It’s here! We proudly present our first single “Green Rider” off our debut album “Vision Quest”!
Vision Quest will be available on all digital platforms and Bandcamp May 5th!
HIGH LEAF live: 04/21/2023 @ The Depot- Baltimore with Indus Valley Kings 04/29/2023 @ The Long Island Sludge, Doom and Metal Fest 04/30/2023 @ The Union Firehouse- Mt. Holly, NJ with Sleep Signals, Silvertung, Sick Century 05/05/2023 @ The Gem- Spring City, PA 06/03/2023 @ Silk City, Philadelphia, PA. (ALBUM RELEASE SHOW) w/ Ritual Earth & Thunderbird Divine 06/22/2023 @ The Maryland Doom Fest- Fredrick, Maryland
HIGH LEAF on ‘Vision Quest’: Patrick Fiore – Lead Guitar Corey Presner – Vocals/Guitar Marc Lampasona – Drums Matt Rib – Bass
HIGH LEAF is: Patrick Fiore- Lead Guitar Corey Presner- Vocals/Guitar Brian Schmidt- Bass Dean Welsh- Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 7th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
It was only like a week and a half ago that Philadelphia heavy rockers HIGH LEAF announced their new lineup, but they warned then that word of their debut album was impending, and here we are. The record in question is called Vision Quest, and, well, I hope it’s good because at this point I’ve posted about the band three times with nothing more to go on as regards their sound than the video you can see below at the bottom of this post (as well as the other two). I haven’t heard any of it yet, and have basically been going based on that clip and the clear professionalism with which they present themselves, at least as far the genre goes.
That is to say, they’re not wearing suits and talking about the quarter’s profits, but for a band following where the riffs go, their beginning hasn’t been subject to the same stumbling sensibilities of so many others getting their collective shit together. To wit, three press releases and no audio yet. I hear tell that’s about to change, at least as they start sending out review downloads of the album, once again called Vision Quest.
Fair enough. I guess if I hear it and it’s terrible or not a fit at all or whatever, you’ll know because I won’t post about them again, but I’ve got a decent feeling going into it and my hopes are up, come what may. May 5, to be precise.
Pop goes the PR wire:
HIGH LEAF Announces debut Album “Vision Quest”, Release is set for May 5th, 2023!
The wait is FINALLY over! HIGH LEAF (ALL CAPS) will be self-releasing their debut album “Vision Quest” on Riffslayer Records Friday, May 5th. It will be available on all digital platforms, and also on CD. You can pre save the album on Spotify here:https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/highleaf/vision-quest
Recorded last September (with their original lineup) at Retro City Studios in Philadelphia with Joe Boldizar (Ruby the Hatchet, Age Of Truth, Ecstatic Vision) over 5 days, the band worked tirelessly to capture the unique essence of each song.
The Mixes were engineered by Patrick Fiore (HIGH LEAF) and Joe Boldizar at Retro City Studios over the course of a month. The album was mastered by 4x Grammy Award Winner Will Borza (Deftones, 30 Seconds to Mars, ZZ Top) at Borza Mastering in California.
The band will also be having an Album Release show on June 3rd at Silk City in Philadelphia, PA. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/4521556/high-leaf-philadelphia-silk-city in advance for $12.
Vision Quest Track List: 1. Green Rider 2. Vision Quest 3. Subversive 4. Dead Eye 5. Hard to Find 6. Painted Desert 7. March to The Grave 8. The Rot
You can catch the band live at: 04/21/2023 @ The Depot- Baltimore with Indus Valley Kings 04/29/2023 @ The Long Island Sludge, Doom and Metal Fest 04/30/2023 @ The Union Firehouse- Mt. Holly, NJ with Sleep Signals, Silvertung, Sick Century 05/05/2023 @ The Gem- Spring City, PA 06/03/2023 @ Silk City, Philadelphia, PA. (ALBUM RELEASE SHOW) w/ Ritual Earth & Thunderbird Divine 06/22/2023 @ The Maryland Doom Fest- Fredrick, Maryland
HIGH LEAF on this recording: Patrick Fiore – Lead Guitar Corey Presner – Vocals/Guitar Marc Lampasona – Drums Matt Rib – Bass
HIGH LEAF is: Patrick Fiore- Lead Guitar Corey Presner- Vocals/Guitar Brian Schmidt- Bass Dean Welsh- Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 27th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Among the crucial bits of information here as regards nascent Philadelphia heavy rockers HIGH LEAF is that they prefer their moniker written in all-caps. Also that they have a new rhythm section, having brought in Brian Schmidt and Dean Welsh on bass and drums, respectively, at some recent temporal juncture. You might recall in Sept. 2022 they entered Retro City Studios in to record their debut offering with producer Joe Boldizar — whose Philly cred wants for nothing with the likes of The Age of Truth, Ruby the Hatchet and Ecstatic Vision on the CV, among others — and given the hint below toward an actual release for said full-length, I’m assuming it’s done. Introducing the lineup, I guess they kind of had to say something about it, if only to avoid the first and most obvious question they’d otherwise be asked. By me if no one else.
After reading the initial announcement guitarist Patrick Fiore sent over, I was curious to see if Schmidt and Welsh actually feature on the recording, or what the timing was on their arrival in the group, which wasn’t originally mentioned. I hit up Fiore and asked about putting the band together again. Turns out it’s the older lineup on the record, as the change didn’t happen until December. Fair enough. Seems like it was pretty smooth, as far as reformations go.
I didn’t ask, but I wonder too if there’s a label behind it as yet, or if one will be. HIGH LEAF have put a lot into a professional presentation for a band just getting started — even the shirts they sell on Bandcamp are full-color screens — and the feeling I get is they’re looking to catch as many ears and eyes as they can, make an impact. I’ve got my hopes up at this point that the music stands up to that when it arrives.
They’ll be at Maryland Doom Fest in June, which frankly would be enough for me to want to write about them even without any of the other stuff they have going on. JB doesn’t book BS.
Here’s their update:
Philadelphia Stoner Rock Band HIGH LEAF announce 2023 Lineup
After a short winter hibernation, Philadelphia Stoner Rock quartet HIGH LEAF (All Caps) has shaken off the frost to announce their NEW 2023 lineup and first shows of the year. You can also be on the lookout for information regarding the band’s debut album and single coming in the next few weeks!
Patrick Fiore on reforming the band/new members: “Losing half the band in December was kinda a shock to us. We weren’t really anticipating having to replace half of a band. We had just finished recording our debut album, and were in the process of shopping the record and getting positive responses back. Unfortunately, their departure kinda slowed everything down due to the uncertainty around the band. We were lucky that our long time friend Brian Schdmit’s (who we have known for about 10 years) band was breaking up so we asked him to join on bass. Brian then suggested his friend Dean Welsh to try out on drums for us, and Dean was an amazing fit. It really didn’t take long for us to gel. We even played a show with only four weeks of practice! We are really excited to have these guys on board and look forward to the music we will create together.”
As for the debut Album: ” Last September we recorded our debut album at Retro City Studios (Ruby the Hatchet, Age of Truth, Ecstatic Vision) with Joe Boldizar in Philadelphia, PA. We are really proud of the way the album came out, and look forward to sharing it with the world. We are planning a late spring/early summer release for the album, with a detailed announcement coming within the next two weeks.”
You can catch the band live at: 4/30/2023 @ The Union Firehouse- Mt. Holly, NJ with Sleep Signals, Silvertung, Sick Century 06/22/2023 @ The Maryland Doom Fest- Fredrick, Maryland
HIGH LEAF is Patrick Fiore- Lead Guitar Corey Presner- Vocals/Guitar Brian Schmidt- Bass Dean Welsh- Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 31st, 2022 by JJ Koczan
It’s a big ‘un. And if you’re like me, there are a couple names that stick out from the poster below, particularly Earthride and The Skull. Both are tribute sets, of course. The Skull frontman Eric Wagner passed away in 2021 after complications from a covid-19 infection and the loss of Earthride‘s Dave Sherman just a couple months ago continues to be keenly felt in and beyond the confines of the scene he called home. Karl Agell (ex-C.O.C.) will step in for The Skull, while Scott Angelacos of Hollow Leg is set to front a rotating cast of players for Earthride. You would be hard-pressed to find a more fitting occasion for honoring one’s own, except perhaps this gig in a couple weeks.
Plenty of familiar, returning acts as well as newcomers. Hippie Death Cult and will travel from the Pacific Northwest, Switchblade Jesus and Doomstress make an appearance (not the first for either) from Texas, and Red Mesa come straight out of the capital-‘desert’ Desert. Meanwhile, Faith in Jane, Black Lung, Bloodshot, Mangog, Mythosphere, Thonian Horde, Spiral Grave and plenty of others represent the Maryland home team, High Leaf and Thunderbird Divine trip down from Philly, Curse the Son (CT) and Guhts (NY) come from farther north, Hollow Leg make the trip out from Florida, and Lo-Pan, Doctor Smoke and Brimstone Coven head over from the Midwest. That’s just off the top of my head. I’m not sure there’s ever been a MDDF pulling so many bands from different parts of the country, though of course international bands have featured in the past as well.
There are always some shakeup between the first announcement and the final lineup, but so far so good here. Any way it works out, Maryland Doom Fest has nothing to prove at this point. Guaranteed banger.
Here’s the poster (oy) and the lineup, the latter in alphabetical order:
Maryland Doom Fest 2023
June 22-25 – Frederick, MD
We are proud to present to you The Maryland DooM Fest 2023 lineup roster and 2023 promotional art!!!!
We showcase over 50 kickass bands bringing you heavy riffs over these #4daysofdoom!!
The centerpiece art was created by Joshua Adam Hart (Earthride, Unorthodox, Revelation, Chowder, Stout, to name a few).
Josh is a career tattoo artist and is currently scheduling appointments at Triple Crown Towson Tattoo. Schedule to get ink from him at info@triplecrowntowson.com
The incredible flyer layout, coloring, and design is by our very talented Bill Kole (make sure to check out his band Ol’ Time Moonshine)!!
Above the Treachery, Akris, Black Lung, Bloodshot, Bonded by Darkness, Borracho, Brimstone Coven, Cobra Whip, Conclave, Crowhunter, Curse the Son, DeathCAVE, Doctor Smoke, Doomstress, Double Planet, Dust Prophet, Earthride, Faith in Jane, False Gods, Flummox, Fox 45, Future Projektor, Gallowglas, Grim Reefer, Guhts, Helgamite, High Leaf, Hippie Death Cult, Hog, Hollow Leg, Hot Ram, Las Cruces, Leather Lung, Lo-Pan, Mangog, Mythosphere, Orodruin, Red Mesa, Severed Satellites, Shadow Witch, Smoke the Light, Spiral Grave, Switchblade Jesus, The Skull, Thonian Horde, Thousand Vision Mist, Thunderbird Divine, Unity Reggae, VRSA, Weed Coughin, Wizzerd
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 8th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
High Leaf will hit Retro City Studios this week to record their debut album. If you’ve been seeing their name on Philadelphia show flyers for the last few months, well, me too. They don’t have any official audio yet, but have been kicking around the City of Brotherly Love and playing alongside familiar outfits like The Age of Truth and Cobra Whip, among others.
The four-piece — who apparently prefer their name in all-caps, which feels like a bigger ask somehow as two words: HIGH LEAF — head into the recording process very much as a ‘new band,’ but the underlying reality is, as usual, more complex. Guitarist Patrick Fiore and vocalist/guitarist Corey Presner have been in bands together for at least over a decade, working in Plantation — a moniker rightly discarded — and Distorted Sun, who released their debut full-length, Under a Burning Sky, in 2017. Joined by bassist Matt Rib and drummer Marc Lampasona, the pair will oversee the release of High Leaf‘s first offering in 2023 through an as-yet-undetermined/unannounced label.
They sent the following word down the PR wire and you can get a feel for some of their sway in the full-set clip below filmed at the Khyber Pass in Philly this May. Have to think at least some of what’s there will be on the album being recorded, if not all of it.
Here you go:
PHILADELPHIA STONER ROCKERS HIGH LEAF SET TO RECORD DEBUT ALBUM
Philadelphia Stoner Rock band HIGH LEAF (All Caps) are heading into the studio this week to record their debut album at Retro City Studios with Joe Boldizar (The Age of Truth, Ruby The Hatchet, Ecstatic Vision). The album will be mastered in Los Angeles by Will Borza (Corrosion of Conformity, Deftones, The Smashing Pumpkins) at Howie Weinberg Mastering.
The album will be a full length LP and available on vinyl and digitally 2nd Quarter 2023. More details will be released in the future months.
Follow the band on instagram and facebook at the tag @highleafband.
HIGH LEAF IS: Patrick Fiore – Lead Guitar Corey Presner – Vocals/Guitar Marc Lampasona – Drums Matt Rib – Bass
