The statistics of COVID-19 change with every news cycle, and with growing numbers, stay-at-home isolation and a near-universal disruption to society on a global scale, it is ever more important to consider the human aspect of this coronavirus. Amid the sad surrealism of living through social distancing, quarantines and bans on gatherings of groups of any size, creative professionals — artists, musicians, promoters, club owners, techs, producers, and more — are seeing an effect like nothing witnessed in the last century, and as humanity as a whole deals with this calamity, some perspective on who, what, where, when and how we’re all getting through is a needed reminder of why we’re doing so in the first place.

Thus, Days of Rona, in some attempt to help document the state of things as they are now, both so help can be asked for and given where needed, and so that when this is over it can be remembered.

Thanks to all who participate. To read all the Days of Rona coverage, click here. — JJ Koczan

Days of Rona: Martin Bush of Hyborian (Kansas City, Missouri)

—

How are you dealing with this crisis as a band? Have you had to rework plans at all? How is everyone’s health so far?

We had to postpone our album release show, and festival and tour plans for the spring are obviously cancelled. We are all healthy and hale, but bored out of our minds being isolated at home.

What are the quarantine/isolation rules where you are?

We are under a shelter at home order here in Kansas City, with no real end in sight. Basically only essential businesses can operate, and everyone is supposed to stay in their houses unless leaving is absolutely necessary.

How have you seen the virus affecting the community around you and in music?

Everything here is pretty much at a standstill. Venues are all closed, restaurants and bars are all closed, everything but grocery stores and hospitals are pretty much closed. It has definitely had a huge effect on the music community here.

What is the one thing you want people to know about your situation, either as a band, or personally, or anything?

As soon as this is all over, expect to see us on tour A LOT. I never thought the freedom to play shows was something that could be taken away from us, but once we can again we will definitely not take it for granted. See you on the road soon!

https://www.facebook.com/HyborianRock/
https://hyborianrock.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/seasonofmistofficial
http://www.season-of-mist.com/

Some pretty significant gallop in the new streaming track from Hyborian, which is serving as the lead single of their sci-fi-apocalypse-end-of-the-universe-cycle-of-rebirth themed new record. Given its narrative and the tie-in novel guitarist/vocalist Martin Bush penned to go along with it, the title Volume II for the record seems kind of understated, but fair enough either way. The song, for example, is called “Planet Destructor,” and that would appear to convey some more of the severity of the subject at hand. One way or the other, though, they get the point across, and if that’s what the end of all things sounds like, it’s surprisingly precise for an unraveling. I’ll take it.

Hyborian make their way east to play Grim Reefer Fest in Baltimore on April 18, and before they do that, they’ll play the release show timed to the album coming out on March 20 at The Riot Room in their hometown of Kansas City.

Details for those and the single can be found below via the PR wire. It’s easily the most metal thing I’ve heard today:

HYBORIAN Reveal New Album Details, Release First Single

Progressive sludge metal outfit HYBORIAN will release their sophomore effort, aptly titled ‘Volume II,’ on March 20, 2020! In conjunction with the album announcement, HYBORIAN have released the first single from this monstrous effort, “Planet Destructor.”

The conceptual record picks up where their debut record left off and is accompanied by a 224-page sci-fi novel, ‘The Traveller,’ which was penned entirely by HYBORIAN guitarist/vocalist Martin Bush.

A summary of the book is as follows:
“The universe is filled with beginnings. Life springs anew in a constant cycle of birth and rebirth, billions upon billions of beginnings, intrinsically linked, each influencing the beginnings that will come after. Every ending is in and of itself a new beginning; what once was, by the very act of ending, becomes the beginning of what is to follow. This particular beginning begins at the end; the end of everything. The universe is dying. It is in the final stages of passing out of existence, which is a beginning as well, the beginning of what comes after. The cycle continues, cascading in an unending series of births and deaths, all linked, each one shaped by the beginnings that preceded it.

“The universe is dying, but it will begin again.”

To celebrate the release, HYBORIAN will be performing an album release show on March 20 at The Riot Room in their hometown of Kansas City, MO, in which they will be supported by label-mates THE LION’S DAUGHTER. The event will be sponsored by 98.9 FM.

HYBORIAN live:
03/20: Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room (w/ THE LION’S DAUGHTER)
04/18: Baltimore, MD @ Grim Reefer Fest

Track-list:
1. Driven by Hunger (05:11)
2. Stormbound (04:18)
3. Sanctuary (05:28)
4. Planet Destructor (04:40)
5. The Entity (03:55)
6. Expanse (03:40)
7. Portal (04:43)
8. In the Hall of the Travellers (08:10)
Total: 40:10s

‘Volume II’ is available for pre-order HERE.

HYBORIAN Line-up:
Martin Bush – Guitar, Vocals
Ryan Bates – Guitar, Bass, Vocals
Justin Rippeto – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/HyborianRock/
https://hyborianrock.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/seasonofmistofficial
http://www.season-of-mist.com/

Hyborian, “Planet Destructor”

Alright, let’s face facts. Nov. 17, you weren’t going to be anywhere other than the Saint Vitus Bar. That’s the night Monolord and Blackwater Holylight are playing. Obviously you’re going. Obviously I’m going. Obviously we’re all going and we’re all looking very much forward to that.

What I’m saying to you is, get there early. Super-early. 2PM early. Because there’s an opportunity here to turn a pretty heavy night into an all-day extravaganza, and there’s even a convenient break in between for you to, I don’t know, get some food or coffee-up or do whatever you need to do.

In conjunction with Ode to Doom, The Obelisk (you are here) is presenting Godmaker with (Kenny Appell of Cleanteeth, Goes Cube, etc., filling in on drums), Hyborian and Migrator on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 17, ahead of the evening’s festivities. Is it going to be absolutely insane? Yes. Should you take Monday off from school, work, or whatever of life’s duties might otherwise occupy your time? Totally. Why? Because chances like this don’t come along every day, and years from now, you’re still going to remember that time you told the rest of the universe to buzz off and did it up proper in Brooklyn, whereas otherwise, it’s just gonna be another Monday of the same old crap that, barring disaster, will be another in a series of forgettable such Mondays. Even if you have a good day doing whatever it is you do, I submit it won’t compete with plowing your brains into oblivion with riffs by hitting these two shows back-to-back.

And hey, if you need to, need to, need to go to work or whatever on Monday, a Sunday matinee still gives you plenty of time to get home and get yourself ready for the morning. Either way, you don’t lose.

Godmaker‘s got the show info as follows:

MATINEE SHOW- Godmaker, Hyborian, Migrator.

Sunday, November 17, 2019 at 2 PM – 5:30 PM

Buy tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/matinee-godmaker-hyborian-migrator-tickets-77034092043

Brought to you by our friends at Ode to Doom and The Obelisk.

Godmaker (Brooklyn, Aqualamb / The Company / godmaker.bandcamp.com) returns to bringing the loud, for one last 2019 show, with their midwestern brothers in:

Hyborian (Kansas City, MO / Season of Mist / Company Crüe alumni / hyborianrock.bandcamp.com), and your soon to be favorite Heavy / Sad / Crushing thing from Lawrence, KS —

Migrator / (mem. of Young Bull, Amenaza, The Cast Pattern / migrator.bandcamp.com),

for a special Sunday Matinee at Saint Vitus Bar, ahead of the Monolord / Blackwater Holylight show.

Godmaker, “An Excerpt”

Nov. 17 Matinee Show Event Page on Thee Facebooks

Tickets at Eventbrite

Saint Vitus Bar website

Kansas City-based progressive heavy rockers/metallers Hyborian are set to release their new album, Volume II — their 19th record, obviously — through Season of Mist early next year, and to herald its arrival, they have a novel written by guitarist/vocalist Martin Bush telling the story more or less of the universe dying and being reborn, because if you’re going to have a narrative, go big. No doubt the riffs on the upcoming LP will do likewise when they land. In the meantime, the band will tour next month including a stop at Saint Vitus Bar that will be presented by Ode to Doom and this very site as a matinee show ahead of Monolord taking the stage that night. Godmaker are playing too. My position is you go to the venue and make a full day of it in Brooklyn. Your own fest! I don’t know what more you could ask for.

The PR wire has the info you need, and I’ll have more about that show probably next week:

HYBORIAN Announce November U.S. Tour Dates

Heavy metal riff machine HYBORIAN have announced a run of headlining U.S. tour dates for this November, in which they will be supported by Migrator. Preceded by a set at Harvest of Doom Fest on October 19 in Lawrence, KS, the tour will officially kick off on November 14 in St. Louis, MO and will conclude on November 22 in Lincoln, NE. More dates TBA! The full itinerary is as follows:

HYBORIAN (w/ Migrator):
10/19: Lawrence, KS @ Harvest of Doom Fest
11/14: St Louis, MO @ Fubar*
11/15: Indianapolis, IN @ Black Circle Brewing
11/16: Pittsburgh, PA @ Smiling Moose
11/17: Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus Bar (Matinee Show)
11/18: Philadelphia, PA @ MilkBoy
11/19: Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery
11/20: Columbus, OH @ Cafe Bourbon Street
11/21: Chicago, IL @ Reggie’s
11/22: Lincoln, NE @ 1867 Bar
11/24: TBA
*No Migrator

HYBORIAN have previously released the first edition of their original new book, ‘The Traveller – A Hyborian Tale,’ which was written and illustrated by vocalist/guitarist Martin Bush. The 224 page sci-fi tale has been written as a companion piece for the band’s upcoming conceptual full-length, ‘Volume II,’ which is due in early 2020. The book is available now and can be purchased HERE.

Author Martin Bush further explains, “For our next record, we decided that we wanted to expound upon the concepts we introduced with ‘Volume I.’ The Traveller (the cloaked figure on the cover of ‘Volume I’) was a central figure in the mythos we were building, so for this album we wanted to focus more on who/what The Traveller is. The more we talked about it as a band, the more involved the ideas became, until there was just way too much to be able to cram it into an album’s worth of song lyrics. Over most of 2018, we were touring pretty nonstop, but I was finding time here and there to start putting all those ideas down on paper. Eventually, we had a book, which tells the same story as our upcoming full-length ‘Volume II,’ just in much, much more detail. It’s basically an origin story for The Traveller, set in the very last days of existence. The story focuses on a father and son, who, as far as we know, are the last humans alive, and their struggles to survive as the universe crumbles around them.”

HYBORIAN Line-up:
Martin Bush – Guitar, Vocals
Ryan Bates – Guitar, Vocals
Justin Rippeto – Drums
Anthony Diale – Bass

https://www.facebook.com/HyborianRock/
https://hyborianrock.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/seasonofmistofficial
http://www.season-of-mist.com/

Hyborian, Volume I (2017)

Doom on. I’m not sure much more than that really needs to be said about The Skull announcing a run of headlining tour dates with Maryland’s finest, Earthride, as direct support. Chicago doom meets Maryland doom. Needless to say, it’s going to be pretty gosh darn doomed.

The Skull release their new album, The Endless Road Turns Dark, this Fall on Tee Pee, and if you’re not looking forward to that, I’ve got nothing for you. The timeline on Earthride‘s next full-length is a little more vague, but with their recent Witch Gun single came word that was in the works as well. Hyborian, meanwhile, recently issued their first album through Season of Mist.

The PR wire has those dates:

The Skull Announces U.S. Headlining Tour Dates

Doom Metal Legends Complete Work on New Album ‘The Endless Road Turns Dark’

The Skull, featuring vocalist Eric Wagner and bassist Ron Holzner, formerly of metal legends Trouble, has completed work on its highly anticipated sophomore album. Titled, The Endless Road Turns Dark, the LP was recorded in Chicago’s Decade Music Studios with engineer Sanford Parker (Yob, Tombs) and builds on the foundation laid by The Skull’s debut album, For Those Which Are Asleep, a recording that landed at or near the top of a host of 2014 year-end best of lists. A fall release date via Tee Pee Records is projected for the new LP.

To celebrate the completion of the new album, The Skull, which also features longtime Cathedral drummer Brian Dixon, guitarist Lothar Keller (Sacred Dawn), and guitarist Rob Wrong (Witch Mountain) has announced a U.S. headlining tour that will launch on June 2 in in Chicago where the band will headline the third annual Doomed & Stoned Fest. The 12 city jaunt will run through June 15 in Lombard, IL. On the spring tour, The Skull will be joined by guest drummer Henry Vasquez of Saint Vitus who will fill in for Dixon. Opening acts will include Earthride and Hyborian.

The just-announced itinerary is as follows:

THE SKULL tour dates:
June 2 Chicago, IL Reggie’s (as part of Doomed & Stoned Fest)
June 3 Minneapolis, MN Studio B @ Skyway Theatre
June 5 Bozeman, MT Zebra Lounge
June 7 Seattle, WA Highline
June 8 Bellingham, WA Shakedown
June 9 Portland, OR Star Theatre
June 10 Sacramento, CA Blue Lamp
June 11 Santa Cruz, CA Atrium @ Catalyst
June 12 San Francisco, CA Elbo Room
June 13 Los Angeles, CA Resident
June 14 Las Vegas, NV Count’s Vamp’d
June 15 San Diego, CA Soda Bar

https://www.facebook.com/troubletheskull/
https://twitter.com/theskullusa
http://theskullusa.com/
https://teepeerecords.com/

The Skull, For Those Which are Asleep (2014)

I wish I had a title like ‘heavy metal riff machine.’ Best I can come up with is ‘dude who wakes up at 1:30 in the morning to write reviews,’ and frankly I don’t think that’s a title anyone wants. Kudos, then, to Kansas City’s Hyborian for earning that banner which they’re currently flying on tour with Season of Mist labelmates Weedeater. The run has been on for a few days, and it will take them into April, but they’ve got new fest dates booked in May and June as they continue to support the reissue of their Vol. 1 debut album on their already-noted new label home.

Hyborian also have a brand new video for the track “Maelstrom” that you can see below. It was directed by vocalist and guitarist Martin Bush.

Next time you’re looking for a definition of “up and coming,” here you go. Take it from me. I’ve been up since 1:30:

HYBORIAN announce festival appearances, add new tour dates

Kansas City-based heavy metal riff machine HYBORIAN (Martin Bush – Guitar, Vocals, Ryan Bates – Guitar, Vocals, Justin Rippeto – Drums, and Anthony Diale – Bass) have announced new festival appearances in the months to come. HYBORIAN will appear at Kansas City’s Rock Fest on June 2nd alongside FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, and more. Additionally, HYBORIAN will play at Vintage Torque Fest in Dubuque Iowa on May 5. More information about Torque Fest can be found here. These two festival appearances follow the band’s previously announced North American tour alongside label-mates WEEDEATER. A full list of confirmed tour dates, including new shows in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Illinois can be found below.

HYBORIAN are touring in support of their acclaimed debut album ‘Vol. 1’. The album is streaming here.

‘Vol. 1’ is available across CD and limited edition LP formats at the Season of Mist E-Shop now.

HYBORIAN have been touring extensively since their 2015 formation. In addition to tours with GODMAKER and on their own, they have supported the likes of POWER TRIP, ACID KING, MUTOID MAN, WEEDEATER, IRON REAGAN, VEKTOR, WHORES and many more in the Midwest.

HYBORIAN TOUR DATES
Jun. 2 Kansas City, MI @ Kansas City Speedway (Rock Fest)
May 4 Dubuque, IA @ Fairgrounds (Vintage Torque Fest)

The “God Luck and Good Speed” tour w/ WEEDEATER and BASK
Mar. 21 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East
Mar. 22 Syracuse, NY @ Lost Horizon
Mar. 23 Pittsburgh, PA @ Cattivo
Mar. 24 Lansing, MI @ Mac’s Bar
Mar. 25 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
Mar. 27 Lexington, KY @ Cosmic Charlies
Mar. 28 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
Mar. 29 St. Louis, MO @ Fubar
Mar. 30 Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone
Mar. 31 Little Rock, AR @ Whitewater
Apr. 1 New Orleans, LA @ Santos Bar
Apr. 2 Jacksonville FL @ Jack Rabbits
Apr. 3 Spartanburg, SC @ Ground Zero
Apr. 4 Asheville, NC @ Oddotorium *
Apr. 6 Champaign, IL @ Loose Cobra *
*No WEEDEATER

https://www.facebook.com/HyborianRock/
https://hyborianrock.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/seasonofmistofficial
https://www.twitter.com/seasonofmist

Hyborian, Vol. I (2017)

Hyborian, “As Above, so Below” official video

Kansas City riff-bruisers Hyborian initially released their debut album, Vol. I, via local imprint The Company earlier this year, and thereby cleaned the clocks of many in their path. That number includes, apparently, Season of Mist, who announce below that they’ve signed the genre-skirting four-piece and will reissue Vol. I early next year. I can think of few endorsements that ring more clearly with the message, “You did something right.” So kudos to the band on that. Clearly they did something right.

Probably all that kicking ass. Yeah, that’s probably it.

Still, even with genre intricacy behind them, they’re an interesting pickup for Season of Mist, and one wonders where exactly they’ll fit on the label’s roster — other, of course, than very likely on tour with Weedeater again. Plenty of time for such things to shake out.

The PR wire made it official:

HYBORIAN sign to Season of Mist

Season of Mist are proud to announce the signing of HYBORIAN. The Kansas City-based heavy metal riff machine (Martin Bush – Guitar, Vocals, Ryan Bates – Guitar, Vocals, Justin Rippeto – Drums, and Anthony Diale – Bass) will reissue their acclaimed debut ‘Vol. 1’ through Season of Mist in early 2018.

Regarding their signing HYBORIAN comment: “Hyborian is beyond excited to be signing with Season of Mist. SOM is home to some of our favorite bands of all time, and we feel incredibly proud to be able to work with a label that has been so very crucial to creating the landscape of modern heavy music.”

‘Vol. 1’ was recorded by the band at their self-built studio, mixed by Justin Mantooth at Westend Studios (RADKEY, GODMAKER), and mastered by Nick Zampiello (TORCHE, ISIS, OLD MAN GLOOM, TRAP THEM) at New Alliance East. It was originally released by the band (in conjunction with friends The Company KC) in March 2017 and tells the tale of an extra-dimensional, cloaked being called “The Traveller”.

The band explains the concept of ‘Vol. 1’; “Hyborian-Volume I is a collection of stories from the dawn of humanity, events that occurred before the advent of the written word. It is the first in a series of legends from different epochs as told by a figure named The Traveller. The Traveller is a being that exists outside of humanity’s understanding of space and time. He is the source of all life in the universe, but is not omnipresent. He wanders the cosmos, visiting and recording times of great strife or hardship, great suffering or great triumph. We are his chosen mouthpiece on Earth, so we relate those stories, whether from far in the past or far in the future.”

HYBORIAN have been touring extensively since their 2015 formation. In addition to tours with GODMAKER and on their own, they have supported the likes of POWER TRIP, ACID KING, MUTOID MAN, WEEDEATER, IRON REAGAN, VEKTOR, WHORES and many more in the Midwest.

https://www.facebook.com/HyborianRock/
https://hyborianrock.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/seasonofmistofficial
https://www.twitter.com/seasonofmist

Hyborian, Vol. I (2017)

Right away, the intent behind the new fest Smokestock is clear. Set for May 27 at the All Star Rock Bar in Kansas City, Missouri, the 10-band lineup finds it focused heavily on promoting the heavy rock underground local to the region. With a reach that dips down to Texas to bring Greenbeard aboard as headliners, it boasts Kansas and Missouri-based acts Youngblood Supercult, Merlin, Sons of Mourning, Custom Black, Gnarly Davidson, Spacetrucker and Hyborian, as well as Ohio’s Druid, so it’s safe to say that the native scene is well represented.

The plan seems to be to squeeze in 10 bands between 6PM and 12AM, so it’s gonna be a packed night for sure, but hard to argue with the righteousness of the mission. As a side note, Greenbeard, Youngblood Supercult, Spacetrucker and Merlin all have new releases in the works, so I wouldn’t be surprised to find them sharing some of that recent material from the stage, and I’ve heard rumors this isn’t the only fest Youngblood Supercult will be playing this year. Merlin have already been confirmed for Psycho Las Vegas, so there’s a legitimate groundswell happening in the Midwest, and I’ll be interested to see how what’s billed itself as a “stoner rock revival” — playing off tent churches? — plays out in fostering the movement of bands.

Dig into the lineup info and links below, as found on the social medias:

RIP Presents Smokestock: A Midwest Stoner Rock Revival

Saturday, May 27
The All Star Rock Bar
7210 NE 43rd St, Kansas City, Missouri 64117

RIP Productions is proud to present a newly conceived annual event– SMOKESTOCK: A Midwest Stoner Rock Revival

SMOKESTOCK is a Kansas City-based festival aimed at bringing stoner rock, doom metal, and psych/fuzz to the Midwestern masses.

This year’s confirmed performing artists at The All Star Rock Bar:

Greenbeard (Texas)
Youngblood Supercult (Topeka, Kansas)
Druid (Ohio)
Custom Black (KCMO)
Sons Of Mourning (KCMO)
Keef Mountain (KCMO)
Merlin (KCMO)
Gnarly Davidson (Lawrence, Kansas)
Spacetrucker (St. Louis, Mo.)
Hyborian (KCMO)

All ages until midnight!
$10 for 21+/$12 for under 21
Doors at 5pm, music starts at 6!!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1035751783228166/
https://www.facebook.com/smokestock/

Youngblood Supercult, High Plains (2016)