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Album Review: Toad Venom, EAT!

Posted in Reviews on June 24th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Toad Venom EAT

The original intention of Sweden’s Toad Venom was to remain anonymous, but in the words of the band themselves, “it didn’t work.” The project, in fact, was founded circa 2021 at the behest of Kalle “Ian Venom” Lilja (also Wolves in Haze and Långfinger) and Mikael “Tord Venom” Backendal (JIRM), who anchor the alternatingly foggy and sunshiny psych-pop rock purposes of Toad Venom‘s debut album, EAT!. And usually it’s Lilja (who also recorded and mixed; Esben Willems mastered and Martin Björk is credited as producer) drumming and Backendal (who did the art) playing guitar, but they switch around as well, with Lilja adding guitar and bass to “Three Hearts” while Backendal plays percussion, both adding synth to the early instrumental “Fraggelgaggel,” and so on, their recording and engineering experience making the studio no less of an instrument throughout than the various guitar, bass, keys, synth, percussion, philicorda, and so on they employ throughout, never mind the other players brought in.

Delivered through the band’s own studio-affiliated imprint, Welfare Sounds, the album employs a host of vocalists, notably Cornelia “Virginia Venom” Adamsson (also Virginia and the Flood), who appears on opener “Grip of a Vice” and brings a more than respectable Blondie vibe to the dreamy “Three Hearts,” immediately following. Adamsson, in fronting the first two of the 10 total tracks on the 41-minute offering, helps set the tone of mindful, structured drift in which much of the album resides, a modern sheen looking back on and reimagining ’60s acid pop as Patrik “John Lennon Venom” Kolar (also Weeping Willows) makes no attempt to hide the primary inspiration for the piano progression that starts “Grip of a Vice” — the first thing on the record you hear is piano and it’s a pleasant surprise — and the Mellotron that joins later.

“Grip of a Vice” is originally by Inventors of the Universe and is one of three covers here, as Toad Venom also take on The Electric Flag‘s “Peter’s Trip” and Serge Gainsbourg‘s “Laisse Tomber les Filles” back to back as the album makes its way into its midsection following the Devoian “Fraggelgaggel” and the six-minute joy-piece “Calling All the Creatures,” which aligns Backendal and Lilja with vocalist Ester “June Venom” Nannmark, who adds a mellow, melodic spirit to the track that could easily be called modern indie instead of classic psych but that makes the first of only two six-minute tracks on EAT! — the other is the penultimate “Deadless Time” — an absolute highlight and immersive in a way that “Grip of a Vice” and “Three Hearts” didn’t seem to want to be, favoring instead that classic pop mindset.

Wait. Is it possible Toad Venom want to do more than one thing? Actually it’s kind of the point of the record. On the most basic level, it’s kind of the point of the band, with Lilja and Backendal each stepping aside from other bands to make these songs, but also in bringing in so many other players — Karl “Torsten Venom” Apelmo of JIRM and Jessica “Vera Venom” Mengarelli of The Presolar Sands on backing vocals for “Three Hearts,” bassist Per “Steel Venom” Stålberg of Division of Laura Lee on “Fraggelgaggel,” Kolar on the opener and the final three tracks adding Mellotron, vibraphone early, Hammond and Wurlitzer on “Swirling Hands” (video premiere here) or “Deadless Time,” helping add to the languid garage psych of closer “When They Leave,” on which Hanna “Nommnomm Venom” Samara tops the subtly weighted progression with a suitably lysergic melody.

toad venom

So yes, the songs have different goals. The siren of guitar on “Peter’s Trip” and Mengarelli‘s suitably ‘tombling’ delivery of “Laisse Tomber les Filles” speak to that well enough to make the point, and neither of those are originals. From employing artists outside the core unit of the band — or, perhaps, not having a core unit beyond Lilja and Backendal in the first place — to the actual shifts that take place throughout like “Alla är likadana” bringing in Charly “Vulva Venom” Paulin of The Presolar Sands for a shoutier, proto-punk verse made gleefully weird in an almost cult rock kind of way by the synth behind it, or the way Mengarelli‘s final appearance as Vera on “Swirling Hands” seems to be struggling to stay atop the wash of melody around, to the all-hands-on-deck, whistle-and-trumpet-inclusive spaghetti Western Morricone-ism in “Deadless Time,” which doesn’t introduce its Tilde “Wild Venom” Hjelm-vocalized verse until the second half of the song, establishing first a deceptively tense chug of who knows how many layers of guitar.

This confusing swap of players — it’s Daniel “Danne Venom” Ekborg on trumpet and Teodor “Telos Venom” Boogh (also Telos Vision, Truls Mörck) on the guitar solo for “Deadless Time,” by the way — and switching between different kinds of vintage synths and keys and who knows what else, is a mess. There’s no other way to say it. On paper at very least, it’s a mess. And in listening terms, it shouldn’t work. At all. It’s nearly impossible to know who’s where around Backendal and Lilja throughout, or to keep track of the comings and goings between singers and styles. By the simple math, the album should be a disjointed collection more about the self-indulgence of its makers than the listening experience of its audience.

But the horrifying truth of EAT! is that it does work, and that it’s in serving that very listening experience that the material is most united. The album’s 41 minutes pass in a breeze of sweetheart reverie, fluid one to the next and able to build momentum across the whole. The songs’ unabashed poppiness and accessibility provide a grounding effect that renders all the change surrounding not at all meaningless, but a part of the expression of the songs themselves, which in turn serve as the foundation for the record. They might and do vary in purpose and touch on different aesthetics, certainly on different instrumentation and a sense of the experimental, but the ultimate mission of Toad Venom is to build these songs into something memorable in their own right, and if Lilja and Backendal — one might be inclined to include Kolar in that list as well; I don’t know how involved he was in the writing, but his contributions throughout are pivotal — draw this too from a classic ethic of psychedelic rock of the mid and late ’60s, they’re headed in the right direction. If you want to make sense of nonsense, you need to expand your mind.

Whatever this project turns into, whether it remains as nebulous in makeup as it is here around Lilja and Backendal or becomes a band with either Adamsson or Mengarelli on vocals (or someone else), Kolar on keys, and so on, as part of a permanent lineup, the songwriting and the creativity and the cohesion of purpose across EAT! are not to be underestimated. They might have considered calling it ‘feast’ instead.

Toad Venom, EAT! (2022)

Toad Venom on Facebook

Toad Venom on Instagram

Toad Venom on Bandcamp

Welfare Sounds on Facebook

Welfare Sounds on Instagram

Welfare Sounds store

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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 79

Posted in Radio on March 4th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk show banner

Before I turn you over to the playlist — and I’m gonna try to keep this short either way — I want to single out and say thank you to Dean Rispler. He’s the engineer for this show, and with my dumbass voice tracks, it ran long. Instead of cutting out a song or whatever, Dean went ahead and trimmed intros and outros, making it a tighter ‘broadcast,’ such as it is, and enhancing the thing rather than detracting from it. Thank you, Dean. I know the effort that takes, the time that can take, and it is very much appreciated, by me if by no one else.

Some new stuff, some old stuff. I had Ufomammut on the brain and then I had stuff-I-like on the brain, and, well, that’s how you end up with me playing Colour Haze. I give myself points though for managing to leave Author & Punisher out of an episode though. I think he was in the last three. And if you haven’t heard the Charley No Face record, there’s a reason it starts the show.

If you listen, or you see these words, thanks.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 03.04.22

Charley No Face Death Mask Eleven Thousand Volts
Wo Fat The Witching Chamber The Singularity
Fuzz Sagrado Lunik IX A New Dimension
Wovenhand Omaha Silver Sash
VT
Kryptograf The Spiral The Eldorado Spell
Uncle Woe Nine Kinds of Time Pennyfold Haberdashery & Abattoir Deluxe
Samavayo Afghan Sky Payan
JIRM Repent in Blood The Tunnel, the Well, Holy Bedlam
Green Hog Band Dragon Dragon
VT
Ufomammut Nero Idolum
Conan Battle in the Swamp Monnos
YOB Burning the Altar The Great Cessation
Colour Haze Grace She Said
VT
Acid King Coming Down From Outer Space Live at Roadburn 2011
Fuzz Meadows Benji Orange Sunshine

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is March 18 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gimme Metal website

The Obelisk on Facebook

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Review & Album Premiere: JIRM, The Tunnel, the Well, Holy Bedlam

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on March 3rd, 2022 by JJ Koczan

jirm

Swedish progressive heavy rockers JIRM release their fifth album, The Tunnel, the Well, Holy Bedlam, tomorrow, March 4. It is the Stockholm four-piece’s first offering to be made through Ripple Music and the second since they announced in early 2018 that they were shortening their name from Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus, the cumbersome weight of which they’d carried since their founding in 2004 by guitarists Karl Apelmo (also vocals) and Micke Backendal — bassist Viktor Källgren and drummer Henke Perrson joined a few years later and the lineup has been consistent ever since, making their debut with Elefanta in 2009.

Their fourth full-length, Surge Ex Monumentis (review here), came out in 2018 on Small Stone and was enough of a remarkable shift in sound from 2014’s Spirit Knife (review here) and 2011’s recently-reissued Bloom to justify the name change if the convenience factor alone wasn’t enough. The band’s sound had clearly matured, taking on a somewhat darker aspect but resonating with proggy flourish in a way their prior material only hinted at amid its classic-heavy thrust. With The Tunnel, the Well, Holy BedlamJIRM continue the forward journey into the uncharted reaches of their own sound.

Across an immersive and sometimes ponderous 52 minutes and six songs, The Tunnel, the Well, Holy Bedlam carves an exploratory place within JIRM‘s canon. Opener “Liquid Covenant” unfolds with a quick-established wash of tone in guitar, bass, keys and drums, and though they’re a little later arriving (still before the two-minute mark), Apelmo‘s vocals become one of the central expressive elements throughout. As much room and reach as his and Backendal‘s guitars have in these pieces, the melodiesJIRM The Tunnel The Well Holy Bedlam carried by the vocals are an essential factor, even in the massive, 12-minute, sax-psych-and-space-doom second track “Deeper Dwell.”

Apelmo becomes the human presence — though I won’t take away from Persson‘s grounding snare either — speaking to the audience from these cosmic depths, slow moving and laced with noise as they are. Even in “You Fly,” which takes a more atmospheric approach to balancing the mix, that remains the case, with echoes ringing out over the swirl that, by the midsection, has moved toward epic in a way that even Surge Ex Monumentis couldn’t quite touch, moving into quiet, acoustic-and-key breadth at the end of the record’s first half.

Whether or not the band was deliberate in their intention to throw off the listener’s expectation, I don’t know, but it doesn’t seem unfeasible given their years together and that The Tunnel, the Well, Holy Bedlam is their fifth LP. Given the stated fact that they recorded across five studios during the pandemic, however, perhaps it makes sense that the songs here feel built up, constructed from a central base and working outward. That’s true certainly of “You Fly,” and “Repent in Blood” opens the second half of the tracklisting with a similar vibe, classically progressive but modern in impact and production, airy enough to float but rhythmically solid and rolling in a nod that remains even after the drums seem to drop out (and return) later on.

“Repent in Blood,” “Carried Away” and closer “Pestilence” all top eight minutes long, and with the sax solo in “Carried Away,” the vocal soul throughout, and the payoff distorted shove in the early stretches of the finale as well as the subsequent build into the crescendo, JIRM show themselves to be not only a mature band, but one still moving to new places in terms of style, defining their personality through their songs and performance in a way that is still of-genre in a sense but beholden to no influence so much as its own. That is to say, while one can pick out varying sides of their material and trace it to a root, what’s grown therefrom is JIRM‘s alone.

Under this moniker or the one prior, they have never sounded so rich or accomplished as they do on The Tunnel, the Well, Holy Bedlam. And if you find yourself feeling submerged or like you have a kind of aurally-induced vertigo at any point in listening, just understand that it’s all going to make JIRM‘s own kind of sense by the time they’re finished. Go along, then, for the ride.

Enjoy:

JIRM on The Tunnel, the Well, Holy Bedlam:

The making of this album has been long and weird to say the least. It has been a journey colored by streams of galactic beams and all that magic and stuff and has shaped this creation into a somewhat new organism. The songs have met our maker and turned back with new predictions of what lies ahead and we are ready to draw swords on the battlefield of sound. ‘The Tunnel The Well Holy Bedlam’ has more or less erupted from the same abyss of darkness as the last record. When making records in the weird way like that of this band, nothing ever turns up like we predicted, and it has evolved into some weird process that we more or less have surrendered ourselves to. So if you like or dislike any of this, we literally can’t be blamed. And the cause being we totally lost control the minute we made our first contact with the making of sound. From that point forward we still hope it remains interesting and keeps blowing our minds.

New album ‘The Tunnel, The Well, Holy Bedlam’ out March 4th on Ripple Music: https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/

Stockholm-based heavy rock stalwarts JIRM (formerly Jeremy Irons & the Ratgang Malibus), whose blend of psychedelic heaviness has been gushingly referred to as, “a blissful mixture of Soundgarden at their grooviest and Pink Floyd,” return with their latest album, “The Tunnel, The Well, Holy Bedlam.” The album was assembled in a true reflection of the world as altered by the pandemic, its tracks recorded one by one in five different studios across Sweden. The end result, though, is a massive liftoff from reality that’s sure to appeal to fans of everything from REZN to YOB to Elephant Tree to Cities of Mars. Prepare for an astral-traveling, riff-fueled trip into the cosmos!

JIRM is
Karl Apelmo — vocals, guitar
Micke Backendal — guitar
Viktor Källgren — bass
Henke Persson — drums

JIRM on Facebook

JIRM on Instagram

JIRM website

Ripple Music on Facebook

Ripple Music on Instagram

Ripple Music on Bandcamp

Ripple Music website

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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 77

Posted in Radio on February 4th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk show banner

There’s a lot going on here. A lot to unpack, in the parlance of our times, but I’m gonna keep it short because I always feel like I screw these posts up by making it more than the list of bands and encouragement and thanks for listening that it should be. Hey, guess what? I think the songs I picked for the show I made don’t suck. If that wasn’t going to be the case, why would I pick them?

As for the voice breaks here, I barely remember what I said other than I was awkward. My wife was giving our son a bath at the time and I was worried he tub sounds would show up in the recording. That’s my rock and roll lifestyle. I’ve been considering a cocaine addiction so I can convince myself I’m fun again. Maybe go to a show.

Thanks for listening. Or reading. Whatever, really. Just thanks.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 02.04.22

Author & Punisher Maiden Star Kruller
Purple Dawn Death to a Dying World Peace & Doom Session Vol. II
Eric Wagner Maybe Tomorrow In the Lonely Light of Mourning
VT
Madmess Stargazer Rebirth
Stone House on Fire Waterfall Time is a Razor
Hazemaze Ceremonial Aspersion Blinded by the Wicked
Spaceslug Spring of the Abyss Memorial
Mt. Echo These Concrete Lungs Electric Empire
VT
Slugg Yonder Yonder
KYOTY Ventilate Isolation
JIRM You Fly The Tunnel, the Well, Holy Bedlam
Carcaňo I Don’t Belong Here By Order of the Green Goddess
Ascia Eternal Glory Volume II
VT
MWWB The Harvest The Harvest
All Them Witches Blacksnake Blues Baker’s Dozen

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Feb. 18 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gimme Metal website

The Obelisk on Facebook

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JIRM to Release The Tunnel, the Well, Holy Bedlam March 4; New Song Posted

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 10th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

jirm

I’m not going to be sucker enough to believe the first single speaks for the entirety of the record — especially as the band themselves seem to acknowledge the weirdness that pervades The Tunnel, the Well, Holy Bedlam — but JIRM‘s “You Fly” sure is a killer way to spend seven minutes of your time. And certainly, the Swedish outfit whose last outing was 2018’s Surge ex Monumentis (review here) on Small Stone and who began their run as Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus have earned more than a bit of trust over their years together. The oddball sax and keys in “You Fly” suits them. Doing whatever they want suits them. Last time around, it was a harder-edged, more aggressive form of prog and classic metal. This time, well, I only have “You Fly” to go on at the moment, so we’ll have to wait and see. For all I know the rest of the LP could be power-thrash.

March 4 is the release date for The Tunnel, the Well, Holy Bedlam. I’ll hope to have more to come on the album before then.

From the PR wire:

JIRM The Tunnel The Well Holy Bedlam

Swedish psych-prog rock pillars JIRM (ex-Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus) share epic new track “You Fly”; new album out March 4th on Ripple Music!

Stockholm progressive heavy rock stalwarts JIRM (formerly known as Jeremy Irons & the Ratgang Malibus) unveil an epic first track taken from their fifth album “The Tunnel, The Well, Holy Bedlam”, to be released on March 4th and available to preorder now on Ripple Music.

JIRM — whose blend of psychedelic heaviness has been referred to as “a blissful mixture of Soundgarden at their grooviest and Pink Floyd” — return with their fifth album “The Tunnel, The Well, Holy Bedlam”. This first track “You Fly” brims with epicness, skyrocketed by Henke Persson’s spine-shivering vocals, a mind-altering saxophone solo and touches of glockenspiel over the course of its hammering 7 minutes.

Assembled in a true reflection of the world as altered by the pandemic, its tracks were recorded one by one in five different studios across Sweden. The end result is a massive liftoff from reality that is sure to appeal to fans of everything from REZN to YOB, to Elephant Tree to Cities of Mars. Prepare for an astral-traveling, riff-fueled trip into the cosmos!

About the creative process on this new album, JIRM comments: “The making of this album has been long and weird — it has been a journey colored by streams of galactic beams and all that magic and stuff and has shaped this creation into a somewhat new organism. The songs have met our maker and turned back with new predictions of what lies ahead, and we are ready to draw swords on the battlefield of sound. ‘The Tunnel The Well Holy Bedlam’ has more or less erupted from the same abyss of darkness as our last record. When making records in a weird way like that, nothing ever turns out as we predicted, and it has evolved into some weird process that we have surrendered ourselves to. So if you like or dislike any of this, we literally can’t be blamed. And the cause being, we totally lost control the minute we made our first contact with the making of sound.”

New album “The Tunnel, The Well, Holy Bedlam”
Out March 4th on Ripple Music –
World preorder: https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-tunnel-the-well-holy-bedlam
US preorder: https://ripplemusic.bigcartel.com/products?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search=jirm

JIRM will make an impact on you: they have an innovative, and highly personal take on psychedelic rock and its many facets and elements. It is music with a retrospective outlook, taking the listener on adventurous excursions, deep into one’s mind. Their music aims to broaden your horizons and consciousness. The band was formed in 2004 under the name Jeremy Irons & the Ratgang Malibus, by Micke Backendal and Karl Apelmo. In 2007, they were joined by Henke Persson and Viktor Källgren to seal the definitive line-up. JIRM has toured extensively, from Sao Paulo (Brazil) to Pleszew (Poland), positioning themselves as one of the hardest working and most prolific outfits of the underground heavy rock scene. They decided to change the name to JIRM when releasing their fourth full-length ‘Surge Ex Monumentis’ in 2018, a record that brimmed with newfound energy.

Their upcoming fifth album “The Tunnel, The Well, Holy Bedlam” has been recorded in a true pandemic style: the tracks were recorded one by one, in five different studios across Sweden. It’s been a challenge both from a songwriting and technical point of view. However, the end result sounds bigger and better than ever, with no holds barred. There is one thing you you can be absolutely sure of with JIRM’s upcoming fifth album: “it’s not a joke this time, I’m leaving reality for sure”. “The Tunnel, The Well, Holy Bedlam” is slated for an early 2022 release through Ripple Music. Stay tuned for more details!

1. Liquid Covenant
2. Deeper Dwell
3. You Fly
4. Repent in Blood
5. Carried Away
6. Pestilence

JIRM is
Karl Apelmo — vocals, guitar
Micke Backendal — guitar
Viktor Källgren — bass
Henke Persson — drums

http://www.facebook.com/JeremyIronsandtheRatgangMalibus
https://www.instagram.com/jirm_band/
http://www.jirm.se/
https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

JIRM, “You Fly”

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JIRM Sign to Ripple Music; The Tunnel, the Well, Holy Bedlam Due Next Year

Posted in Whathaveyou on April 6th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Sweden’s JIRM have inked a deal with Ripple Music to release their fifth album, The Tunnel, the Well, Holy Bedlam, next year. And, you know, presumably whatever they do from that point on as well. The band also recently announced a reissue through Majestic Mountain Records of their 2011 album, Bloom, and with the forthcoming album as the follow-up to 2018’s Surge Ex Monumentis (discussed here), it will be the second LP since they shortened their moniker from Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus.

I gotta be honest with you. I saw this band about five years ago and was pretty blown away by what they were doing. The last album pushed in a way different, proggier and more classic metal direction, but from where I sit that only makes them less predictable in terms of the new stuff, particularly with the pandemic-born changes in the recording process noted in the PR wire info below. I don’t know what to expect from them and I like that.

I don’t know about this promo photo though.

Either way, kudos to band and label and here’s looking forward to what’s coming:

jirm

JIRM (formerly Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus) ink worldwide deal with Ripple Music for the release of their fifth studio album.

Stockholm-based hardest heavy rock stalwarts JIRM (formerly known as Jeremy Irons & the Ratgang Malibus) announce their signing to US powerhouse Ripple Music, for the release of their fifth full-length “The Tunnel, The Well, Holy Bedlam” in early 2022.

JIRM will make an impact on you: they have an innovative, and highly personal take on psychedelic rock and its many facets and elements. It is music with a retrospective outlook, taking the listener on adventurous excursions, deep into one’s mind. Their music aims to broaden your horizons and consciousness.

The band was formed in 2004 under the name Jeremy Irons & the Ratgang Malibus, by Micke Backendal and Karl Apelmo. In 2007, they were joined by Henke Persson and Viktor Källgren to seal the definitive line-up. JIRM has toured extensively, from Sao Paulo (Brazil) to Pleszew (Poland), positioning themselves as one of the hardest working and most prolific outfits of the underground heavy rock scene. They decided to change the name to JIRM when releasing their fourth full-length ‘Surge Ex Monumentis’ in 2018, a record that brimmed with newfound energy.

Their upcoming fifth album “The Tunnel, The Well, Holy Bedlam” has been recorded in a true pandemic style: the tracks were recorded one by one, in five different studios across Sweden. It’s been a challenge both from a songwriting and technical point of view. However, the end result sounds bigger and better than ever, with no holds barred. There is one thing you you can be absolutely sure of with JIRM’s upcoming fifth album: “it’s not a joke this time, I’m leaving reality for sure”.

“The Tunnel, The Well, Holy Bedlam” is slated for an early 2022 release through Ripple Music. Stay tuned for more details!

JIRM is
Karl Apelmo — vocals, guitar
Micke Backendal — guitar
Viktor Källgren — bass
Henke Persson — drums

http://www.facebook.com/JeremyIronsandtheRatgangMalibus
https://www.instagram.com/jirm_band/
http://www.jirm.se/
https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

JIRM, Surge ex Monumentis (2018)

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JIRM to Reissue 2011’s Bloom on Majestic Mountain Records

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 11th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

jirm

Originally released on Transubstans Records and re-pressed in 2013 ahead of the band’s 2014 debut on Small Stone, Spirit Knife, 2011’s sophomore outing from the band once known as Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus, Bloom, is seeing a 10th anniversary reissue through Majestic Mountain Records with preorders set to go up on Friday.

The four-piece rebranded themselves in 2018 to JIRM and issued Surge Ex Monumentis (discussed here) as a likewise departure in sound from the classic-style heavy rock and boogie they’d brought to bear on prior offerings. For what it’s worth, they pulled that shift off well, and sounded no less sure of what they wanted to be doing than they ever had. I still think of them as a young band. Funny they’re doing decade-anniversary reissues. For their second record. Ha.

The PR wire has it like this:

jirm bloom

JIRM (AKA Jeremy Irons & The Ratgang Malibus) to Celebrate Anniversary of Bloom with Reissue on Majestic Mountain Records

Majestic Mountain Records is thrilled to announce the official reissue of Bloom, the sophomore album from Swedish psych rockers JIRM… AKA Jeremy Irons & The Ratgang Malibus.

Originally formed in 2004 by close friends Micke Pettersson and Karl Apelmo, the curiously monikered Swedes were keen to implement their surrealist reimagining of heavy psych, early doors. Cementing their line-up in Stockholm circa-2007 with the addition of drummer Henke Persson and bassist Viktor Källgren, the quartet signalled the grand old return of Krautrock and psychedelic grooves to the underground scene. The culmination of which can be best heard on their 2011 album, Bloom, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year.

Recorded by Marcus Sjoberg at Studio Skyline in the Swedes’ home city of Eskilstuna; Bloom provided listeners with a bed of raw, blues-based hard rock from which myriad sophisticated sonic structures are built. Bathing in the sunlit influence of bands like Led Zeppelin and The Allman Brothers, the album was lauded upon release and has only grown in prestige over the past decade.

“We recorded the album on old Vox AC30s and a bunch of cheap guitars, while trying to figure out amongst ourselves how delay pedals worked,” remembers Karl Apelmo. “Ten years on and we believe Marcus did a fantastic job in recording and capturing the magic in those songs and thanks to Majestic Mountain Records you’ll be able to hear it again. We’re psyched!”

And for MMR’s Marco Berg, the feeling is mutual. “We’re huge fans of this band so it’s a real honour to be able to reissue this classic rock album for anyone who was unlucky to have missed it first time around.”

Majestic Mountain Records will be releasing two exclusive editions of Bloom by JIRM (as Jeremy Irons & The Ratgang Malibus) this year with pre-orders for both imprints going live on 12th March at 19:00 CET / 13:00 EST / 10:00 PST / 18:00 BST here – https://bit.ly/3t0gPwy.

BLOOM EDITION ///
Limited to 200 – Black and green marbled 180g heavyweight vinyl, housed in full colour gatefold cover

SKIN DEEP EDITION ///
Limited to 300 – Black and green swirl 180g heavyweight vinyl, housed in full colour gatefold cover

http://www.facebook.com/JeremyIronsandtheRatgangMalibus
https://www.instagram.com/jirm_band/
http://www.jirm.se/
http://majesticmountainrecords.bigcartel.com
http://facebook.com/majesticmountainrecords
http://instagram.com/majesticmountainrecords

Jeremy Irons & the Ratgang Malibus, Bloom (2011)

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JIRM Premiere “Candle Eyes” Video from Surge ex Monumentis

Posted in Bootleg Theater on January 25th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

jirm

It’s fitting that rebranded Swedish outfit JIRM — formerly known as Jeremy Irons and the Ratgang Malibus — would make a video for the opening track of their forthcoming long-player, Surge ex Monumentis, because it doesn’t take any longer than that for the Stockholm foursome to make it readily apparent to their listeners that they’re on a way different trip than they’ve ever been before. With an underpinning of space metal, heavy progressive swirl and flourish of psychedelic reaching, the six-minute “Candle Eyes” begins Surge ex Monumentis with a feel that’s both classic and vital, owing precious little to the boogie-minded vintage-ism of the band’s prior work under their original name in 2014’s Spirit Knife (review here), their third album, and the preceding outings, 2011’s Bloom and 2009’s Elefanta.

Clearly, then, they’re aware of the signals they’re looking to send their audience. JIRM, as they make what’s more or less a second debut with more than a decade’s experience behind them, foster a number of grand statements of aesthetic throughout Surge ex Monumentis in extended tracks like “Dig” (12:07), “Isle of Solitude” (11:26), “Nature of the Damned” (10:35) and 11-minute closer “Tombs Arise,” and while the record boasts a more progressive bent overall, one might point to the rise of a band like Elder as a potential line of inspiration. That’s not really the case here. JIRM have their own agenda and their blend when it comes to bringing together heavy rock and prog, and by injecting a current of ’80s-style metal grandiosity — notice I didn’t say “glam-diosity”; that’s not what we’re talking about here — they find a niche for themselves and begin to dig into what will likely be a continuing process of forward creative growth.

So again, a second debut. And think of “Candle Eyes” as the leadoff moment of that debut. The video itself is somewhat grim looking, but don’t be fooled — there’s plenty of color to be found in what these guys are doing, whatever they might choose to call themselves.

Surge ex Monumentis is out March 16 on Small Stone Records. More info on the album follows the video premiere below, courtesy of the PR wire.

Please enjoy:

JIRM, “Candle Eyes” official video premiere

Official Music Video for the song Candle Eyes.
From the album Surge Ex Monumentis.
Release date: March 16, 2018
Small Stone Records.

For their first record as JIRM, the Stockholm-based four-piece of vocalist/guitarist Karl Apelmo, guitarist Micke Pettersson, bassist Viktor Källgren, and drummer Henke Persson cast off the shackles of expectation entirely. Their style is no less expansive, but it’s become entirely their own, a driving mind meld between psychedelia, classic metal, heavy rock, and individualized realms beyond. Surge Ex Monumentis brims with newfound energy at the same time it benefits from the lessons JIRM have learned since first getting together in 2004 and releasing albums like Elefanta (2009), Bloom (2011), and Spirit Knife (2014).

With as much progressive force as raw sweat behind them, JIRM has never been more themselves than they are on Surge Ex Monumentis, and even as they redefine who they are and what they do as a band, they remain singularly powerful in their delivery and completely unmistakable. The seven-track offering was captured at Puch Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, mixed by Oskar Lindberg at Svenska Grammofonstudion in Gothenburg, Sweden and mastered by Chris Gooseman at Baseline Audio Labs in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Surge Ex Monumentis will see release on CD, digital, and limited edition 2xLP formats via Small Stone on March 16th. Preorders are currently available at THIS LOCATION where you can also stream opening psalm, “Candle Eyes.”

Surge Ex Monumentis Track Listing:
1. Candle Eyes
2. Dig
3. Isle Of Solitude
4. The Cultist
5. Nature Of The Damned
6. Giza
7. Tombs Arise

JIRM on Thee Facebooks

JIRM on Instagram

JIRM website

Small Stone Records website

Small Stone Records on Thee Facebooks

Small Stone Records on Bandcamp

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