A remastered version of Howling Giant‘s 2015 debut EP, being released in January for its 10th anniversary with a bonus track and demos? Yes, fucking of course. Duh. What, you’re gonna say no to that? I repeat: Duh.

In the band’s recounting of their beginnings, they note that “Whale Lord,” which opens the Howling Giant EP, began as a mixing project in college in Boston. I’m pretty sure that’s the Berklee School of Music they’re not namedropping — though admittedly it would be more hilarious if they were a Harvard-educated stoner rock band — and that accounts for some of the method behind their particular brand of madness and the fact that they’ve sounded all along like they know what they’re doing. Because they do.

The four tracks that comprise the original Howling Giant release can be streamed at the bottom of the post. In comparison to 2023’s Glass Future (review here), which the band will continue to support on the road with France’s Mars Red Sky this December; I’ll be at that Brooklyn show so help me Robot Jeebus — it sounds raw, but the energy and the songwriting are there along with hints of the harmonies to come. “Camel Crusher” still nods like a beast. Have fun with it.

Preorders for the thing are up as of tomorrow, as the PR wire details:

HOWLING GIANT announces special 10th-anniversary reissue for “Howling Giant” debut EP this January!

Nashville heavy psychedelic and prog metal goldsmiths HOWLING GIANT are set to reissue a 10th-anniversary remastered edition of their self-titled debut EP this winter, with vinyl and CD preorders starting on Friday 4th October!
Recorded live in guitarist and vocalist Tom Polzine’s bedroom, Howling Giant’s 2015 self-titled debut EP still holds true to the band’s core tenets of soaring melody, spacey jams, and fuzzy riffs. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of what propelled these Nashville pillars of sci-fi and fantasy-driven psych-metal into the heavy rock world stratosphere, this fully remastered edition of the “Howling Giant” EP will also comprise three unreleased demos, a spoken word history on the beginnings of the band, a newly recorded cover as well as the digital-only bonus track “WZRDLF Origins”.

About this special EP reissue, the band says: “For the 10th anniversary of our self-titled EP, we wanted to reflect on our origin story. With this release, we included the original 2012 demos recorded during our time in Boston so that the listeners could hear the evolution of our sound. We’re very excited to repress the HG EP on vinyl, newly remastered by Tony Reed with a bunch of goodies on the B-Side. We recorded the original demo for Whale Lord as part of a mixing project in college. We booked the only available studio time (a 4-hour block from 2am to 6am) to record 2 tracks live and on the spot. From the witching hour, we brought Whale Lord and Tusk of the Thunder Mammoth into existence. We hope you enjoy comparing the original 2012 demo to the final product, recorded live in Tom’s bedroom. These are the tracks that started it all. The wizard lives.”

The “Howling Giant” anniversary reissue will be released in Standard Purple Variant vinyl, Light Blue/Yellow Splatter Special Edition (with silver laminate cover), CD and digital on January 13th, 2025, with preorders starting on October 4th at midnight Pacific Time via Bandcamp. All vinyl and CD preorders will receive a digital download of all the remastered tracks, demos and special “SKLDZR Origins” bonus track.

HOWLING GIANT “Howling Giant” EP Anniversary reissue
Available on January 13th, 2025 (vinyl/CD/digital)
Preorders start Friday 4th October from midnight PST

Howling Giant upcoming shows w/ Mars Red Sky
Dec 5 – Baltimore, MD – Metro Baltimore
Dec 6 – Brooklyn, NY – TV Eye NYC
Dec 7 – Cambridge/Boston, MA – Middle East Upstairs
Dec 8 – Philadelphia, PA – MilkBoy
Dec 10 – Asheville, NC – Eulogy
Dec 11 – Louisville, KY – Portal Louisville
Dec 12 – Detroit, MI – Sanctuary Detroit
Dec 13 – Youngstown, OH – Westside Bowl
Dec 14 – Toronto, ON – Monarch Tavern
Dec 15 – Montréal, QC – Foufounes Electriques

Howling Giant are:
Tom Polzine – Guitar and Vocals
Zach Wheeler – Drums and Vocals
Sebastian Baltes – Bass and Vocals

howlinggiant.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/howlinggiant/
https://www.instagram.com/howlinggiant/

http://store.merhq.com
http://magneticeyerecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MagneticEyeRecords
https://www.instagram.com/magneticeyerecords/

Howling Giant, Howling Giant (2015)

Howling Giant, Glass Future (2023)

I wrote a bio this past weekend for Howling Giant that, at least I hope, will be of some use as they move toward the completion and release of their debut full-length later this year. That’ll be nifty. In the meantime, to tide over we plebes, the Nashville trio are set to issue a remastered vinyl version of their 2015 self-titled debut four-song EP through Blues Funeral Recordings, and as the PR wire notes below, they’ll also take part in Ripple Music‘s upcoming successor to the The Second Coming of Heavy split series, called Turn to Stone, and Magnetic Eye‘s Alice in Chains homage, Dirt [Redux]. Do you wonder what song they’re doing? I do.

Because this is what happens when a band is so utterly restless, they’ll also head out on tour. Next month they’ll hit up the SX Stoner Jam along with the rest of the planet except for me because I’m not cool enough, and then in April it’s off to Psycho Smoke Out in L.A., which I’m also not cool enough for. Points to me for consistency and points to the band for not being able to sit still. Gotta go, gotta go.

I’ll hope to post that bio here sooner or later, but the PR wire sums up all their doings thusly:

HOWLING GIANT Announce Spring US Tour with Stops at SXSW Stoner Jam and Psycho Smokeout

Cosmic psych-metallers drop much-demanded vinyl EP and break in their new bassist on the road; full album due this summer.

If ever there was a band who seemed to be following a treasure map from humble origins to future psych-metal stardom, it’s Howling Giant. And 2019 is shaping up to be their biggest year yet.

First, the interplanetary riff-rockers will see their self-titled debut EP get an official release from Blues Funeral Recordings.

Featuring EC Comics-inspired artwork by Darren Merinuk and all tracks fully remastered by Dave Shirk (Mastodon, The Obsessed), the March 22nd release of this glorious slab on digital and wax marks the band’s first-ever vinyl offering, giving longtime supporters the chance (at last) to bring home a tangible piece of Howling Giant heaviness after watching them tear up yet another stage.

Available for pre-order at this location.

And speaking of tearing up stages, the band is just starting to gear up for a huge year on the road, with a clutch of dates in March leading straight into an almost month-long tour in April/May.

Featuring a string of shows with Indiana’s Archarus, the back-to-back tours include slots at the ever-popular South by Southwest Stoner Jam as well as the fest you’re guaranteed to forget (or you’re doing it wrong), the Psycho Smokeout (from the folks who bring you Psycho Las Vegas).

Full tour dates for Howling Giant Spring 2019 are:
3/12/19: Lafayette, LA – Freetown Boom Boom Room *
3/13/19: Houston, TX – Dan Electros *
3/14/19: Austin, TX – SXSW Stoner Jam (feat. Howling Giant, Riff Lord, Backwoods Payback, Duel, Heavy Temple, Mountain Tamer, Hazytones, ZED and more) *
3/15/19: Arlington, TX – Division Brewing *
3/16/19: Texarkana, AR – Broadway Sports Bar and Billiards *
4/12/19: Memphis, TN – Hi Tone
4/13/19: Little Rock, AR – Vino’s
4/15/19: Oklahoma City, OK – 89th st. OKC
4/16/19: San Antonio,TX – Lime Light
4/17/19: Albuquerque, NM – Sister Bar
4/19/19: San Diego, CA – The Salty Frog
4/20/19: Los Angeles, LA – Psycho Smokeout (feat. Elder, Monolord, Goya, R.I.P., Electric Citizen and more)
4/21/19: San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
4/23/19: Seattle, WA – Highline
4/24/19: Bend, OR – Third Street Pub
4/25/19: Portland, OR – Tonic
4/27/19: Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
4/28/19: Denver, CO – Hi-Dive
5/01/19: Indianapolis, IN – Black Circle brewing
5/02/19: Chicago, IL – Reggies Music Room
5/03/19: Canton, OH – Buzzbin
5/04/19: Lexington, KY – Green Lantern
* Dates with Archarus

As if that wasn’t enough, Howling Giant are hard at work on their first-ever full-length album, which they’ll be sending to all ends of the cosmos later this summer in conjunction with, you guessed it, more touring.

Furthermore, the band are rumored to be one of the first bands tapped to appear on Ripple Music’s forthcoming Turn to Stone series of split releases, as well as having confirmed a coveted spot on Magnetic Eye Records’ next anxiously-awaited curated homage, Dirt [Redux].

Fortunately, there’s no such thing as too much Howling Giant in this world… or any other.

howlinggiant.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/howlinggiant
www.facebook.com/howlinggiant/
https://www.facebook.com/bluesfuneral/
bluesfuneral.com

Howling Giant, Howling Giant EP (2015)