Posted in Whathaveyou on August 27th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Based in Lawrence, Kansas, and fronted by Mark Hennessy, also known for his work in Paw, heavy punker four-piece Godzillionaire have signed on to release their next album through Ripple Music. They join the ranks of recent Ripple signees 10,000 Years, SoftSun and Gin Lady, and the record has a slated January release date.
That should be just about right to coincide with their previously announced appearance at Planet Desert Rock Weekend V in Las Vegas the weekend of Jan. 30. Their addition to that bill was my first exposure to the band, whose 2020 Negative Balance full-length is at the bottom of the post if you’d care to take it on, and I wouldn’t be surprised if their joining the Ripple roster comes from that as well. Planet Desert Rock Weekend curator John Gist has put together splits and such for the label in the past, a little light A&R work, so it’s readily believable he could have a hand in Godzillionaire getting picked up. The band’s statement, which I actually just thought to look for because it’s late and I’m very, very tired, would seem to confirm that. They namedrop Leanne Ridgeway too. Nice to know good people.
From social media:
We would like to thank our family, friends, and most of all our fans for supporting this band over the last 12 years. Without your support, we would not be where we are today.
Special thanks to Todd Severin and Ripple Music for welcoming us into the family. We also want to thank John Gist and Leanne Ridgeway for going out of their way to support this small band from Kansas. We owe you for your support and helping us get here as well.
And to Steve Nuremburg for his legal counsel and support. We cannot put into words how grateful we are for you and what you’ve done for this band. Thank you for being an amazing human being.
Our next album will be released via Ripple Music January 2025. More details will be inbound very soon!
The next chapter for Godzillionaire begins and it all is because of each and every one of you. Thank you!
That’s it. End of the Summer 2023 Quarterly Review and the last round of this kind of thing until, I don’t know, sometime here or there in late September or early October. I feel like I say this every time out — and I readily acknowledge the possibility that I do; I’ve been doing this for a while, and there’s only so much shit to say — but it is my sincere hope you found something in this round of 70 records that hits with you. I did, a couple times over at least. One of the reasons I look forward to the Quarterly Review, apart from clearing off album-promo folders from my desktop, is that my end-of-year lists always look different coming out of one than they did going in. This time is no different.
But, you know, if you didn’t get there this time, that’s okay too. There’s always the next one and one of the fortunate things about living in a time with such an onslaught of recorded music is that there’s always something new to check out. The Quarterly Review is over for a couple months, yeah, but new music happens every day. Every day is another chance to find your new favorite album, band, video, whatever. Enjoy that.
Quarterly Review #61-70:
Monolord, It’s All the Same
After nearly a decade of hard, album-cycle-driven international touring and standing at the forefront in helping to steer a generational wave of lumbering riffage, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think Gothenburg, Sweden’s Monolord might feel stuck, and “Glaive (It’s All the Same)” seems to acknowledge that. Stylistically, though the lead and partial title-track on the roller trio’s new EP, It’s All the Same, is itself a way forward. It is more spacious than crushing, and they fill the single out with guitarist Thomas V. Jäger‘s sorrowful vocal delivery and memorable early lead lines, a steady, organic rhythm from drummer/engineer Esben Willems and bassist Mika Häkki — worth noting that all three have either released solo albums or otherwise explored solo work in the last two years — and Mellotron that adds a classically progressive flair and lets the guitar focus on mood rather than stomp, though there’s still plenty of that in “Glaive (It’s All the Same)” and is more the focus of “The Only Road,” so Monolord aren’t necessarily making radical changes from where they were on 2021’s Your Time to Shine (review here), but as there has been all along, there’s steady growth in balance with the physicality of tone one has come to anticipate from them. After scaling back on road time, It’s All the Same feels reassuring even as it pushes successfully the boundaries of their signature sound.
Raging not at all unthoughtfully for most of its concise-feeling but satisfying 38 minutes, Somnuri‘s third album and MNRK Heavy label debut, the nine-song Desiderium, is a tour de force through metallic strengths. Informed by the likes of Death, (their now-labelmates) High on Fire, Killswitch Engage, Gojira (at whose studio they recorded), thick-toned and swapping between harsh shouts, screams and clean-sung choruses — and yes, that’s just in the first three minutes of opener “Death is the Beginning” — the Brooklynite trio of guitarist/vocalist Justin Sherrell, bassist Mike G. and drummer Phil SanGiacomo brazenly careen and crash through styles, be it the lumbering and impatiently angular doom “Paramnesia,” the rousing sprint “What a Way to Go,” the raw, vocals-rightly-forward and relatively free of effects “Remnants” near the end, or the pairing of the fervent, thrashy shove in “Flesh and Blood” with the release-your-inner-Cave–In “Desiderium,” the overwhelming extremity of “Pale Eyes” or the post-hardcore balladeering that turns to djent sludge largesse in closer “The Way Out” — note the album begins at “…the Beginning” and ends at an exit; happy accident or purposeful choice; it works either way — Somnuri are in the hurricane rather than commanding from the calm center, and that shows in the emotionalism of prior single “Hollow Visions,” but at no point does Desiderium collapse under the weight of its ambitions. After years of touring and the triumph that was 2021’s Nefarious Wave (review here) hinting at what seems in full bloom here, Somnuri sound ready for the next level they’ve reached. Time to spend like the next five years straight on tour, guys. Sorry, but that’s what happens when you’re the kick in the ass heavy metal doesn’t yet know it needs.
Densely distorted Indianapolis heavybringers Void King have stated that their third full-length, the burly but not unatmospheric 36-minute The Hidden Hymnal, is the first of a two-part outing, though it’s unclear whether both parts are a concept record or these six tracks are meant to start a storyline, with opener “Egg of the Sun” (that would happen if it spun really fast) and closer “Drink in the Light” feeling complementary in their increased runtime relative to the four songs between. Maybe it’s an unfinished narrative at this point, or no narrative at all. Fine. Approaching it as a standalone outing, the four-piece follow 2019’s Barren Dominion (review here) with more choice riffing and metal-threatening, weighted doom, “The Grackle” breaking out some rawer-throat gutturalism over its big, big, big tone. The bassline of “Engulfed in Absence” (tell people you love them) caps side A with a highlight, and “When the Pinecones Close Up” (that means it’s going to rain) echoes the volatility of “The Grackle” before “Brother Tried” languidly swings until it’s time for a 100 meter dash at the end, and the aforementioned “Drink in the Light” rounds out mournful and determined. If there’s more to come, so be it, but Void King give their listeners plenty to chew on in the interim.
At the core of ostensibly Switzerland-based Inezona is multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Ines Brodbeck, and on Heartbeat — the fourth LP from her band and the follow-up to 2019’s Now, released as INEZ, and last year’s sans-vocals A Self Portrait — the sound is malleable around its folkish melodicism, with Brodbeck, guitarist/vocalist Gabriel Sullivan, bassist/synthesist Fabian Gisler and drummer Eric Gut comfortably fleshing out atmospheric heavy psychedelia more about mood than effects but too active and almost too expressive to be post-rock, though it kind of is anyhow. Mellow throughout, “Sea Soul” caps side A and meanders into/through a jam building on the smoky vibe in “Stardust” before the title-track strolls across a field of more ’60s-derived folk rock. “Veil” charms with fuzz, while “In My Heart” seems intent on finding the place where Scandinavian folk meets kosmiche synthesizer, and “Midnight Circle” brings Zatokrev‘s Fredryk Rotter for a guest duet and guitar spot that is a whole-album crescendo, with the acoustic-based “Leave Me Alone” and the brief “Sunday Mornings” at the end to manage the comedown. The sound spans decades and styles and functions with purpose as its own presence, and the soothing delivery of Brodbeck throughout much of the proceedings draws Heartbeat together as an interpretation of classic pop ideals with deep roots underground. Proof again that ‘heavy’ is about more than which pedals you have on your board.
It’s odd that it’s odd that Hauch‘s songs are in German. The pandemic-born Waltrop, Germany, four-piece present their first release in the recorded-in-2021, five-song Lehmasche, and I guess so much of the material coming out of the German heavy underground — and there’s a lot of it, always — is in English. A distinguishing factor for the 31-minute outing, then, which is further marked by an attitudinal edge in hard-fuzz riffers like “Es Ist” and the closer “Tür,” the aesthetic of the band at this (or that, depending on how present-tense we want to be) moment drawing strongly from ’90s rock — and no, that doesn’t necessarily mean stoner — in structure and affect, but presenting the almost-eight-minute leadoff “Wind” with due fullness of sound and ending up not too far in terms of style from Switzerland’s Carson, who last year likewise proffered a style that was straightforward on its face but, like Hauch, stood out for its level of songwriting and the just-right nature of its grooves. Lehmasche, the title translating to ‘clay ash,’ evokes something that can change shape, and the thrust in “Komm Nach Hause” and the hard-landing kick thud of centerpiece “Quelle” bear that out well enough. Keeping in mind it’s their debut, it seems likely Hauch will continue to grow, but they already sound ready to be picked up by some label or other.
Setting its nod in a manner that seems to have little time to waste on opener “The Mountain and the Feather” before breaking out with the dense, chugging swing of “The Corenne and the Prophecy Fulfilled,” Kentucky heavybringers El Astronauta bring a nuanced sound to what might be familiar progressions, but the mix is set up in three dimensions and the band dwells in all of them, bringing character to the languid reach of the mini-album Snakes and Foxes, bolstered by the everybody-might-sing approach from guitarist/keyboardist Seth Wilson, bassist Dean Collier and pushed-back drummer Cory Link, who debuted in 2021 with High Strangeness and who dude-march through “The Gambler and the General” as if the tempo was impeded by the thickness of the song itself. Through a mere 17 Earth minutes, El Astronauta carve out this indent for themselves in the side of a very large, very heavy style of rock and roll, but “The Axe or the Hammer,” which bookends topping five minutes in answer to “The Mountain and the Feather,” has a more subdued verse to go along with the damn near martial shouts of its impact-minded chorus, and fades out with surprising fluidity to leave off. The one-thing-and-another-thing titles give Snakes and Foxes a thematic feel, but the real theme here is the barebones greed-for-volume El Astronauta display, their material feeling built for beery singalongs.
With their third full-length behind 2021’s Chosen One (review here) and their 2018 self-titled debut (review here), Texan riff rollers Thunder Horse grow accordingly more atmospheric in their presentation and are that much more sure of themselves in leaning into founding guitarist/vocalist Stephen Bishop‘s industrial metal past in Pitbull Daycare. The keys give “Requiem” an epic feel at the finish, and even if the opening title-track is like what Filter might’ve been if they’d been awesome and “New Normal” and “Monolith” push further with semi-aggro metallurgical force, the wall-of-tone remains thusly informed until the two-minute acoustic “The Other Side” tells listeners where to go when it’s over (you flip the record, duh). “Monolith” hinted at a severity that manifests in the doomed “Apocalypse,” a preface in its noise and breadth for the finale “Requiem,” finding a momentum that the layered-vocal hook of “Inner Demon” capitalizes upon with its tense toms and that the howls of the penultimate “Aberdeen” expand on with Thunder Horse‘s version of classic boogie rock. They don’t come across like they’re done exploring the balances of influence in what they do — and I hope they’re not — but Thunder Horse have never sounded more certain as regards the rightness of their path.
The title “Vīrya” is Sanskrit and based on the Hindu concept of vitality or energy, often in a specifically male context. Fair enough ground for Kansas instrumentalists After Nations to explore on their single following last year’s impressive, Buddhism-based concept LP, The Endless Mountain (review here). In the four-minute standalone check-in, the four-piece remind just how granite-slab heavy that offering was as they find a linear path from the warning-siren-esque guitar at the start through the slower groove and into the space where a post-metallic verse could reside but doesn’t and that’s just fine, turning back to the big-bigger-biggest riff before shifting toward controlled-cacophony progressive metal, hints of djent soon to flower as they build tension through the higher guitar frequencies and the intensity of the whole. After three minutes in, they’re charging forward, but it’s a flash and they’re dug into the whatever-time-signature finishing movement, a quick departure to guitar soon consumed by that feeling you get when you listen to Meshuggah that there’s a very large thing rising up very slowly in front of you and surely you’ll never get out alive. Precise in their attack, After Nations reinforce the point The Endless Mountain made that technique is only one part of their overarching brutality.
There’s some incongruity between the intro “Introspection” (I see what you did there) leading into “Weightless Again” as it takes the mood from a quiet buildup to full-bore tonality and only then gives over to the eight-minute second track, but Ockra‘s Argonauta-delivered debut long-player thrives in that contradiction. Melodic vocals float over energetic riffing in “Weightless Again,” but even that is just a hint of the seven-songer’s scope. To wit, the initially acoustic-based “Tree I Planted” is recognizably parental in its point of view with a guest vocal from Stefanie Spielhaupter, and while centerpiece “Acceptance” is more doomed in its introductory lead guitar, the open strum of its early verses and the harmonies in its second half assure an impression is made. The Gothenburg-based trio grow yet more adventurous in the drone-and-voice outset of “We Who Didn’t Know,” which unfolds its own notions of what ‘heavy prog’ means, with guitarist Erik Björnlinger howling at the finish ahead of the start of the more folk-minded strum of “Imorgon Här,” on which drummer Jonas Nyström (who also played that acoustic on “We Who Didn’t Know” and adds Mellotron where applicable) takes over lead vocal duties from bassist Alex Spielhaupter (also more Mellotron). The German-language closer “Tage Wie Dieser” (‘days like these’) boasts a return from Stefanie Spielhaupter and is both quiet grunge and ambient post-rock before the proggy intensity of its final wash takes hold, needing neither a barrage of effects or long stretches of jamming to conjure a sense of the far out.
What’s another 20 minutes of music to Erik Larson, I wonder. The Richmond-based songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist has a career and a discography that goes back to the first Avail record three decades ago, and at no point in those decades has he ever really stopped, moving through outfits like (the now-reunited) Alabama Thunderpussy, Axehandle, The Mighty Nimbus, Hail!Hornet, Birds of Prey, Kilara, Backwoods Payback, Thunderchief, on and on, while building his solo catalog as well. Fortsett, the 20-minute EP in question, follows 2022’s Red Lines and Everything Breaks (both reviewed here), and features Druglord‘s Tommy Hamilton (also Larson‘s bandmate in Omen Stones) on drums and engineer Mark Miley on a variety of instruments and backing vocals. And you know what? It’s a pretty crucial-sounding 20 minutes. Larson leads the charge through his take that helped define Southern heavy in “Cry in the Wind,” the nodder “My Own,” and the sub-two-minute “Electric Burning,” pulls back on the throttle for “Hounder Sistra” and closes backed by drum machine and keys on “Life Shedding,” just in case you dared to think you know what you were getting. So what’s that 20 minutes of music to Erik Larson? Going by the sound of Fortsett, it’s the most important part of the day.
Posted in Questionnaire on June 21st, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Shane Thirteen of They Watch Us From the Moon
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I think the best way I can describe They Watch Us From The Moon is Cosmic Doom Opera. The music itself is very heavy but the vocals are stacked with melodies and harmonies that just brings it to a completely different vibe than most Stoner Doom or Heavy Psych. Just like Opera we also follow a story that comes from a comic book that will also be released in a short period of time. All that story and lore is reflected live on stage when we play. Our sound came to be just by a natural progression. Once everyone had put their influence into the material it just became this beast of a thing on its own.
Describe your first musical memory.
Well I grew up in a musical family. The old man was always in a band of some sort and my mother played piano and sang just about everyday in the house. So it’s always been a part of my life. I think our singers have a similar upbringing. But My first concert was probably 1978 or 79 and my folks took me to see Dolly Parton and Ronnie Milsap.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Wow, that’s a tough one. I’ve seen some legendary shows. But for right now the best memory is what is happening with They Watch Us From The Moon. The attention we are getting right now is an incredible thing and I have cherished each and every moment of it.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Wow, Jeez these are not easy questions. When I started playing music again a few years ago I realized the whole game had changed since I had seriously been involved in the music scene back in the 90’s to the early 2000’s. Everything was different about marketing and promo and how to score shows. It was hard to let go of those old norms. I had to take a year and a half just to learn the lay of the land. Every bit of music business knowledge I had learned as a kid was all of the sudden wrong and it really tripped my lid for a while.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
I think those that are brave enough to be progressive are the game changers. Those are the people who break new ground or invent new genres of music.
How do you define success?
For me in this here and now success is measured by making it to the next goal. Right now for me I’m working on attracting booking agents. We would love to make it to Europe and tour. That to me would be a success.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Sounds crazy, but it’s the thing that prompted the whole beginning of the band. I have seen several UFOs. Multiple times with witnesses. Once you realize what you are looking at is the real deal your mind goes numb. Like everything you ever thought as true or believed in just melts away and you are left with a different reality. Terrifying.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
I would love love to get into writing screenplays for They Watch Us From The Moon animated shorts. That sounds really fun.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
To be the eyes, ears, and heart for those that cannot make it for themselves. To reflect that back into a positive experience for all involved.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
I’m so ready for summer. I love to be outdoors and I’m ready for the sun, and time in the wilderness. I love camping.
Posted in Questionnaire on October 24th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Horned Wolf
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
Don Bailey: We play metal. It’s been a lifelong passion. I think any metalhead will say that is a way of life and not just music.
Sav MangelsDorf: we’re a group of musicians who get together and build a wall of sound intended to evoke emotion.
Describe your first musical memory.
Don: My first musical memory is probably listening to Weird Al and Michael Jackson on my cassette walkman. I Have no idea how I got them but from that moment on I was hooked.
Sav: sitting in my papa’s truck listening to Mr. Breeze by Skynyrd. My pops was a hell of a guitarist himself, and loved that song. I watched him air guitar it in the car in awe. And I was hooked.
Dan Hocklander: Yeah honestly my love for “Bad Hair Day” by Weird Al. But it really took grip when I was moving with my family as a kid, we spent multiple trips driving hours to shop for a new house. That was right after I got my first “Discman” or whatever. I fell in love with music but was going back and forth with cds like “What’s the Story Morning Glory” by Oasis and “Backstreet’s Back” by Backstreet Boys. Sprinkle in some Offspring, Beastie Boys, Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Hanson’s first album. I’ve always been a little all over the place.
Justin Mullin: My Dad is an old metal head and music nerd so I was inundated with fantastic music from day 1. I remember going through his CD collection at an early age and being fascinated with the album artwork. Specifically Iron Maiden’s Powerslave. The artwork for that album always caught my attention. The music is pretty damn good too.
David Zey: probably watching Sesame Street as a tiny kiddo.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Don: That’s tough because there have been so many! As a fan Seeing In Flames in a small venue when they were touring for “Reroute to Remain” is one of my favorite moments. The place was so packed you had to decide before they started playing if your arms were gonna be up or down because everyone was smashed in so tight. As a band it was a show we did in October 2021. It was Sav’s first show with us and our first in two years due to covid. For a Thursday night the place was packed and there are so many amazing photos from that show.
Sav: There are so many, so I’ll pick my favorites. Seeing Motorhead play briefly before Lemmy’s death was a cross off the ol’ bucket list, as well as seeing Slayer and Slipknot the same day. Seeing System of a Down on their reunion tour also rocked my shit. Any of the times I saw Deftones really got me as well. As Don mentioned, filling the venue in 2021 with the boys. Hadn’t played live in so long, and it was exhilarating.
Dan: Yeah, there are a lot. I think my number one would be seeing Between the Buried and Me play “Colors” in its entirety during the anniversary tour of that album.
David: first time I saw Coalesce in the late 90’s.
Justin: I got to see Van Halen at Madison Square Garden. That was pretty awesome.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Don: I mean with the internet it feels like almost everyday. People are so quick to give their thoughts and fast to dismiss anything they don’t believe in themselves. Kind of a bummer really. Like were all aliens from different planets trying to convince the others our truths are the only truths. Just don’t be a dick and let people exist how they want.
Sav: all the time. I’ve been clean for over a year, and it’s very important to me. Alas, temptation can rear it’s ugly head. The band helps keep me in check, we’re a big family.
Dan: When I realized being pissed off all the time at the world was just zapping my spirit and my will to live. It took years to really change my mindset completely and I still have to fight it sometimes. But I have found being a patient and compassionate person is way more fun than resenting the fact that you were forced to be alive without your consent haha.
David: the word belief insinuates an acceptance of something as factual without evidence or based on faith. I try not to do that shit these days. Something either is factual or it is not, belief is not required.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
Don: Either total bliss or absolute madness.
Sav: You really can’t say, can you? Entirely situational.
Dan: Wherever IT wants to lead you.
David: to either finished or unfinished art projects.
Justin: For me personally it leads to killer riffs, that then get filtered through Don and he makes them even more killer.
How do you define success?
Don: For me success is having thousands of people get joy from your art. Being able to play a venue in your city and knowing people will come out to support you. That’s what I think of as success. Anything beyond that is just a bonus.
Sav: For me, it’s happiness and security. The idea of being happy and financially stable enough to make music and not have to work on the side is everything. To be able to make a positive impact on others.
Dan: Success is incremental in my opinion. It used to be simply booking a show. Now I see strangers wearing my band’s merchandise in public places and I feel like that’s a level of “success.”
David: the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.
Justin: I picked my daughter up from school and her teacher said she watched our music video. That defines success for me.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
Don: The 1999 movie Wing Commander. In Retrospect I don’t think I needed to see that.
Sav: I could answer this in all seriousness, but nobody cares about that body I found. How about the movie cannibal Holocaust as a teenager. It still occasionally inches its way into my nightmares.
Dan: The movie “Arachnophobia” when I was like, 6. Scarred me for life, I am TERRIFIED of spiders to this day. That and basically EVERYTHING that’s happened in the world in the last 10 years.
David: the last few seasons of Game of Thrones.
Justin: I watched children of the corn at a sleepover when I was 8. That scene in the cafe when all the kids start killing the adults messed me up.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
Don: It doesn’t have pointy bits but it’s also not round. Like a Hooloovoo it does resemble a super-intelligent shade of the colour blue. it’s really only going to be useful 1 time. That’s all I can say right now.
Sav: Maybe an award winning dance routine, or maybe an entire album that can’t be put into a genre.
Dan: A doom-metal cover of the song “Dance Yrself Clean” by LCD Soundsystem.
David: the next Horned Wolf album.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Don: The creativity it inspires in all of us. Either by looking at it, or listening to it, or just thinking about it. Otep said it best “Art Saves”.
Sav: Don already said it, down to Sevas Tra (art saves) said best by Otep Shamaya. Its been the biggest outlet for me.
Dan: Using your own experiences and giving words or meaning to someone who couldn’t find it themselves.
David: It depends on the piece and the context. It could be physical (serves a physical purpose), social (addresses aspects of a collective experience rather than an individual’s experience), personal (highly subjective forms of self-expression), or any combination of the above. In other words, this is an impossible question to answer in any general way.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Don: I am about to start reading Jurassic Park for the first time. I am pretty stoked about that. I am also looking forward to more of the current F1 season and the start of the Kansas City Chiefs Football season.
Sav: the Bob’s Burgers movie. I am just SO excited for the Bob’s Burgers movie.
Dan: I have a pizza out for delivery, pretty excited about that.
David: I recently read that Netflix is doing a series of Neil Gaiman’s “the Sandman”. I am looking forward to watching that.
Justin: I’m looking forward to this video game coming out in June. It’s called “The Quarry”. It’s got David Arquette in it.
Posted in Reviews on September 26th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Welcome back to the Fall 2022 Quarterly Review. It’s not quite the same as the Mountain of Madness, but there are definitely days where it feels like they’re pretty closely related. Just the same, we, you and I, persist through like digging a tunnel sans dynamite, and I hope you had a great and safe weekend (also sans dynamite) and that you find something in this batch of releases that you truly enjoy. Not really much point to the thing otherwise, I guess, though it does tend to clear some folders off the desktop. Like, 100 of them in this case. That in itself isn’t nothing.
Time’s a wastin’. Let’s roll.
Quarterly Review #51-60:
Boris, Heavy Rocks
One can’t help but wonder if Boris aren’t making some kind of comment on the franchise-ification of what sometimes feels like every damn thing by releasing a third Heavy Rocks album, as though perhaps it’s become their brand label for this particular kind of raucousness, much as their logo in capital letters or lowercase used to let you know what kind of noise you were getting. Either way, in 10 tracks and 41 minutes that mostly leave scorch marks when they’re done — they space out a bit on “Question 1” but elsewhere in the song pull from black metal and layer in lead guitar triumph — and along the way give plenty more thick toned, sometimes-sax-inclusive on-brand chicanery to dive into. “She is Burning,” “Cramper” and “My Name is Blank” are rippers before the willfully noisy relative slowdown “Blah Blah Blah,” and Japanese heavy institution are at their most Melvinsian with the experiment “Nosferatou,” ahead of the party metal “Ruins” and semi-industrial blowout “Ghostly Imagination,” the would-be-airy-were-it-not-crushing “Chained” and the concluding “(Not) Last Song,” which feeds the central query above in asking if there’s another sequel coming, piano, feedback, and finally, vocals ending what’s been colloquially dubbed Heavy Rocks (2022) with an end-credits scene like something truly Marvelized. Could be worse if that’s the way it’s going. People tend to treat each Boris album as a landmark. I’m not sure this one is, but sometimes that’s part of what happens with sequels too.
Along with the depth of tone and general breadth of the mix, one of the aspects most enjoyable about Mother Bear‘s debut album, Zamonian Occultism, is how it seems to refuse to commit to one side or the other. They call themselves doom and maybe they are in movements here like the title-track, but the mostly-instrumental six-track/41-minute long-player — which opens and closes with lyrics and has “Sultan Abu” in the middle for a kind of human-voice trailmarker along the way — draws more from heavy psychedelia and languid groove on “Anagrom Ataf,” and if “Blue Bears and Silver Spliffs” isn’t stoner riffed, nothing ever has been. At the same time, the penultimate title-track slows way down, pulls the curtains closed, and offers a more massive nod, and the 10-minute closer “The Wizaaard” (just when you thought there were no more ways to spell it) answers that sense of foreboding in its own declining groove and echo-laced verses, but puts the fuzz at the forefront of the mix, letting the listener decide ultimately where they’re at. Tell you where I am at least: On board. Guitarist/vocalist Jonas Wenz, bassist Kevin Krenczer and drummer Florian Grass lock in hypnotic groove early and use it to tie together almost everything they do here, and while they’re obviously schooled in the styles they’re touching on, they present with an individual intent and leave room to grow. Will look forward to more.
After being kicked out of black metallers Absu for coming out as trans, Melissa Moore founded Sonja in Philadelphia with Grzesiek Czapla on drums and Ben Brand on bass, digging into a ‘true metal’ aesthetic with ferocity enough that Loud Arriver is probably the best thing they could’ve called their first record. Issued through Cruz Del Sur — so you know their ’80s-ism is class — the 37-minute eight-tracker vibes nighttime and draws on Moore‘s experience thematically, or so the narrative has it (I haven’t seen a lyric sheet), with energetic shove in “Nylon Nights” and “Daughter of the Morning Star,” growing duly melancholy in “Wanting Me Dead” before finding its victorious moment in the closing title-track. Cuts like “Pink Fog,” “Fuck, Then Die” and opener “When the Candle Burns Low…” feel specifically born of a blend of 1979-ish NWOBHM, but there’s a current of rock and roll here as well in the penultimate “Moans From the Chapel,” a sub-three-minute shove that’s classic in theme as much as riff and the most concise but by no means the only epic here. Hard not to read in catharsis on the part of Moore given how the band reportedly came about, but Loud Arriver serves notice one way or the other of a significant presence in the underground’s new heavy metal surge. Sonja have no time to waste. There are asses to kick.
Seven-minute opener ends in a War of the Worlds-style radio announcement of an alien invasion underway after the initial fuzzed rollout of the song fades, and between that and the subsequent interlude “Funeral March,” Reverend Mother‘s intent on Damned Blessing seems to be to throw off expectation. The Brooklynite outfit led by guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Jackie Green (also violin) find even footing on rockers like “Locomotive” or the driving-until-it-hits-that-slowdown-wall-and-hey-cool-layering “Reverend Mother,” and the strings on the instrumental “L.V.B.,” which boasts a cello guest spot by High Priestess Nighthawk of Heavy Temple, who also returns on the closing Britney Spears cover “Toxic,” a riffed-up bent that demonstrates once again the universal applicability of pop as Reverend Mother tuck it away after the eight-minute “The Masochist Tie,” a sneering roll and chugger that finds the trio of Green, bassist Matt Cincotta and drummer Gabe Katz wholly dug into heavy rock tropes while nonetheless sounding refreshing in their craft. That song and “Shame” before it encapsulate the veer-into-doom-ness of Reverend Mother‘s hard-deliver’d fuzz, but Damned Blessing comes across like the beginning of a new exploration of style as only a next-generation-up take can and heralds change to come. I would not expect their second record to sound the same, but it will be one to watch for. So is this.
The pedigree here is notable as Umbilicus features founding Cannibal Corpse drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz and guitarist/engineer Taylor Nordberg (also visuals), who’s played with Deicide, The Absence and a host of others, but with the soar-prone vocals of Brian Stephenson out front and the warm tonality of bassist Vernon Blake, Umbilicus‘ 10-song/45-minute first full-length, Path of 1000 Suns is a willful deep-dive into modernly-produced-and-presented ’70s-style heavy rock. Largely straightforward in structure, there’s room for proto-metallurgy on “Gates of Neptune” after the swinging “Umbilicus,” and the later melodic highlight “My Own Tide” throws a pure stoner riff into its second half, while the concluding “Gathering at the Kuiper Belt” hints at more progressive underpinnings, it still struts and the swing there is no less defining than in the solo section of “Stump Sponge” back on side A. Hooks abound, and I suppose in some of the drum fills, if you know what you’re listening for, you can hear shades of more extreme aural ideologies, but the prevailing spirit is born of an obvious love of classic heavy rock and roll, and Umbilicus play it with due heart and swagger. Not revolutionary, and actively not trying to be, but definitely the good time it promises.
Not as frenetic as some out there of a similar technically-proficient ilk, Lawrence, Kansas, double-guitar instrumental four-piece After Nations feel as much jazz on “Féin” or “Cae” as they do progressive metal, djent, experimental, or any other tag with which one might want to saddle the resoundingly complex Buddhism-based concept album, The Endless Mountain — the Bandcamp page for which features something of a recommended reading list as well as background on the themes reportedly being explored in the material — which is fluid in composition and finds each of its seven more substantial inclusions accompanied by a transitional interlude that might be a drone, near-silence, a foreboding line of keys, whathaveyou. The later “Širdis” — penultimate to the suitably enlightened “Jūra,” if one doesn’t count the interlude between (not saying you shouldn’t) — is more of a direct linear build, but the 40-minute entirety of The Endless Mountain feels like a steep cerebral climb. Not everyone is going to be up for making it, frankly, but in “}}}” and its punctuationally-named companions there’s some respite from the head-spinning turns that surround, and that furthers both the dynamic at play overall and the accessibility of the songs. Whatever else it might be, it’s immaculately produced and every single second, from “Mons” and “Aon” to “))” and “(),” feels purposeful.
With the over-the-top Danzig-ian vocals coming through high in the mix, the drums sounding intentionally blown out and the fuzz of bass and guitar arriving in tidal riffs, Denmark’s Holy Dragon for sure seem to be shooting for memorability on their second album, Mordjylland. “Hell and Gold” pulls back somewhat from the in-your-face immediacy of opener “Bong” — and yet it’s faster; go figure — and the especially brash “War” is likewise timely and dug in. Centerpiece “Nightwatch” feels especially yarling with its more open riff and far-back echoing drums — those drums are heavy in tone in a way most are not, and it is appreciated — and gives over to the Judas Priestly riff of “Dunder,” which sounds like it’s being swallowed by the bass even as the concluding solo slices through. They cap with “Egypt” in classic-metal, minor-key-sounds-Middle-Eastern fashion, but they’re never far from the burly heft with which they started, and even the mellower finish of “Travel to Kill” feels drawn from it. The album’s title is a play on ‘Nordjylland’ — the region of Denmark where they’re from — and if they’re saying it’s dead, then their efforts to shake it back to life are palpable in these seven songs, even if the end front-to-back result of the album is going to be hit or miss with most listeners. Still, they are markedly individual, and the fact that you could pick them out of the crowd of Europe’s e’er-packed heavy underground is admirable in itself.
Lincoln, Nebraska, trio Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships are right there. Right on the edge. You can hear it in the way “Beg Your Pardon” unfolds its lumbering tonality, riff-riding vocals and fervency of groove at the outset of their second album, Consensus Trance. They’re figuring it out. And they’re working quickly. Their first record, 2021’s TTBS, and the subsequent Rosalee EP (review here) were strong signals of intention on the part of guitarist/vocalist Jeremy Warner, bassist Karlin Warner and drummer Justin Kamal, and there is realization to be had throughout Consensus Trance in the noisy lead of “Mystical Consumer,” the quiet instrumental “Distalgia for Infinity” and the mostly-huge-chugged 11-minute highlight “Weeping Beast” to which it leads. But they’re also still developing their craft, as opener “Beg Your Pardon” demonstrates amid one of the record’s most vibrant hooks, and exploring spaciousness like that in the back half of the penultimate “Silo,” and the sense that emerges from that kind of reach and the YOB-ish ending of capper “I.H.” is that there’s more story to be told as to what Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships have to offer in style and substance. So much the better since Consensus Trance has such superlative heft at its foundation.
Kind of funny to think of Menticide as a debut LP from Deer Creek, who’ve been around for 20 years — one fondly recalls their mid-aughts splits with Church of Misery and Raw Radar War — but one might consider that emblematic of the punk underpinning the sludgy heavy roll of “(It Had Neither Fins Nor Wings) Nor Did it Writhe,” along with the attitude of fuckall that joins hands with resoundingly dense tonality to create the atmosphere of the five originals and the cover medley closer “The Working Man is a Dead Pig,” which draws on Rush, Bauhaus and Black Sabbath classics as a sort of partially explanatory appendix to the tracks preceding. Of those, the impression left is duly craterous, and Deer Creek, with Paul Vismara‘s mostly-clean vocals riding a succession of his own monolithic riffs, a bit of march thrown into “The Utter Absence of Hope” amid the breath of tone from his and Conan Hultgren‘s guitars and Stephanie Hopper‘s bass atop the drumming of Marc Brooks. One is somewhat curious as to what drives a band after two full-length-less decades to make a definitive first album — at least beyond “hey a lot of things have changed in the last couple years” anyhow — but the results here are inarguable in their weight and the spaces they create and fill, with disaffection and onward and outward-looking angst as much as volume. That is to say, as much as Menticide nods, it’s more unsettling the more attention you actually pay to what’s going on. But if you wanted to space out instead, I doubt they’d hold it any more against you than was going to happen anyway. Band who owes nothing to anyone overdelivers. There.
Following the mid-’90s C.O.C. tone and semi-Electric Wizard shouts of “Black Lotus Trance,” “Detroit Demons” calls out Stooges references while burl-riffing around Pantera‘s “I’m Broken,” and “Loose” manifests sleaze to coincide with the exploitation of the Never Sleep at Night EP’s cover art. All of this results in zero-doubt assurance that the Brazilian trio have their bona fides in place when it comes to dudely riffs and an at least partially metal approach; stylistically-speaking, it’s like metal dudes got too drunk to remember what they were angry at and decided to have a party instead. I don’t have much encouraging to say at this juncture about the use of vintage porn as a likely cheap cover option, but no one seems to give a shit about moving past that kind of misogyny, and I guess as regards gender-based discrimination and playing to the male gaze and so on, it’s small stakes. I bet they get signed off the EP anyway, so what’s the point? The point I guess is that the broad universe of those who’d build altars to riffs, Riffcoven are at very least up front with what they’re about and who their target audience is.
Posted in Questionnaire on April 1st, 2022 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Bailey Smith of Youngblood Supercult
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I’m a creator. I love to experiment with melodies and harmonies, and put them together in a fashion that is both familiar and different. I sometimes feel more like my credits should read “conductor/composer” rather than “guitarist.” That’s not to say that others didn’t play very important roles in Youngblood Supercult. I guess I was just more of a mother figure or the composer. That’s not an easy role, because of the fact that you have to exert a certain level of control. I suppose some of the guys came to resent that, haha. I really just always wanted to make music, for as long as I can remember. I have always wanted to write fiction or prose – I went to college for it. And I’ve always had a passion for cinematography. I guess in a weird way, all these things come together in my mind, and a song or concept or storyline or album comes out of it.
Describe your first musical memory.
My parents singing and playing records for me – styles ranging from Wynonna Judd to the Beatles to CSNY to Mozart.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
When David joined Youngblood Supercult and we debuted most of the material for High Plains at a small show in KC. People lost their minds. It was very surreal. Getting pressed on vinyl for the first time was a huge deal, especially as a 2LP. I will always be grateful for DHU’s Robert Black for doing that for us. Also hanging out with Steve Moss (The Midnight Ghost Train – Topeka) and listening to the debut of Buffalo before it was released and just bullshitting. He was a great mentor to me and I tried to soak up everything he said to me.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
Don’t work with friends. Creative criticism is something that many folks don’t have the the stomach for anymore. I think many of our fans ate up The Great American Death Rattle when it was produced and mixed so poorly. The friend we had who recorded it and mixed it initially wanted to master it. This was not a guinea pig project, and when I brought up the fact that it sounded too over-produced and not, well, “right” — that friend pouted and claimed to not be able to remove any of the mastering/mixing plugins, essentially sabotaging the mix.
Compare High Plains and TGADR — same person at the mixing booth. I was berated as a megalomaniac and control freak for protesting the sound. The resulting remixes and masters sounded so muddy and horrible, and we just had to roll with it. We were so disappointed with the resulting sound and had Joel Nanos try to clean it up for us, to not much avail. We were so disappointed as a group on how that album sounded and I caught the flack for it for “ruffling feathers.” But I guess people appreciated the content enough to ignore the sound quality. That was very much a catalyst for the end of the group. Some of us started drinking more because of it, and fighting. It was depressing and an accomplishment at the same time. Which is a hard thing to reconcile.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
To new but familiar spaces. You have to explore sound but I think fans come to expect a certain vibe from a group’s sound. To stay within a certain confine of what people expect your band to sound like, but exploring new and different musical territories can be a very difficult task. Even leading to the breakup of a group.
How do you define success?
When people connect with the music. When you have someone pop up in your DMs and say, “Thank you for this music, it really helped me get through a difficult time.” That’s my definition of success.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
The cancel culture and personal destruction of individuals that is currently en vogue and permeating our society, and the underground musical scene in particular. We have become so enamored with spinning tales against each other; whether for personal gain, scene clout, victimized treatment, etc., that we have become the very thing we write most of our songs about.
And nobody ever questions it, and that’s the sad and disgusting part of it. There is so much vitriol in our world as it is – do things within this scene have to be that way as well? Not saying I’m perfect. I have definitely done my share of badmouthing when things would’ve really been best left unsaid.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
More music. I’m not done by any means.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
Let it breathe. Explore space. Don’t be afraid to do something weird. Because you’re inspiring young people and young musicians. It’s a teaching moment, for sure. That’s the goal – to inspire and encourage.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Every new day is something I look forward to, whether it’s musical or not. I’m looking forward to seeing what my son is going to be like as the years progress. His passions, personality, and of course, how he feels about art and music.
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 15th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
I’m glad The Midnight Ghost Train are even somewhat back together. Will it lead to anything more? I don’t know. You don’t know. But why be greedy? After disbanding in 2018, the band have decided to come back together for a few shows in Europe — one still TBA — with a stop at Freak Valley Festival where so help me robot jeebus I will see them, and other headlining shows thereafter. Whether you’re going to catch them every night or you’re not going to see them at all, isn’t it just worth being happy they’re doing anything? Do we need a new record right now? If it’s gonna happen, let it happen the right way.
That’s my rant on The Midnight Ghost Train‘s reunion, I guess. Didn’t even know I had one until I started typing. Really though, be patient. Majestic Mountain Records has vinyl reissues coming of their first two records and sent the following down the PR wire.
Preorders are, of course, up now:
THE MIDNIGHT GHOST TRAIN Keeps Rollin’ with Reunion Tour and Official Reissues on MAJESTIC MOUNTAIN RECORDS
Majestic Mountain Records – Sweden’s leading purveyors of underground rock, metal, prog, and psychedelia – is thrilled to announce the official rerelease of The Midnight Ghost Train’s self-titled debut, and their 2012 follow-up, Buffalo.
Formed in 2007, somewhere along the interstate between Topeka and New York, the southern rock power trio were an unstoppable force, propelled by big riffs, a wanton wanderlust, and life on the open road.
Over their ten-year reign, The Midnight Ghost Train performed countless shows across the USA and Europe, produced four studio albums, one live album (Live at Roadburn, 2013) and developed a signature sound that drew heavily on gospel, delta blues and stoner rock.
Established by guitarist Steve Moss in tribute to his friend, John Goff, who’d passed away that summer, a recruitment drive landed on the band’s initial line-up in time for their first release, The Johnny Boy EP, which was recorded in early 2008. Experimenting with various genres from heavy rock to psychedelia, it wasn’t until 2009 – following several line-up changes – that the band came into their own with the release of their self-titled debut album. Relocating to Kanas, the trio recorded The Midnight Ghost Train in their home studio and released it themselves. However, criminally, it has never received an official vinyl release. Until now.
‘It’s a real honour for Majestic Mountain Records to be able to reissue both these landmark albums,” says MMR founder, Marco Berg. “The band has always had a tremendous following and their recorded output is untouchable. But to be able to go back and give those first two releases an MMR overhaul will be a treat for everyone. Fans especially.”
Signed to Karate Body Records in 2012 for their follow-up album, Buffalo, the band further showcased their love of delta-blues with a critically successful record that included a rousing a capella take of Leadbelly’s ‘Cotton Fields’. Playing a huge part in their eventual signing to Napalm Records in 2013, Buffalo, much like its predecessor is an indispensable album and a crucial entry into the archives of underground stoner rock.
The band eventually called it quits in 2018 following a decade’s worth of touring alongside the likes of Truckfighters and Karma to Burn and performing at festivals such as HellFest, Roadburn and The Maryland Doom Fest. But next year the ’Train will start rollin’ once again following the band’s recent announcement of a reunion tour across Europe. (See dates below.)
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 30th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Let’s first dispense the disclaimers: We know from this that The Midnight Ghost Train are intending to play reunion shows in 2022 in Europe. We don’t know if they’re actually back together, or if they’ll tour the US or anywhere else, or if they’ll write another record or do anything else beyond whatever has been confirmed and has yet to be announced. Further, not only do we not know, but we don’t know if they know.
The Topeka, Kansas, heavy blues rock mavens announced they were disbanding in 2018, following the release of 2017’s Cypress Ave. (review here) through Napalm Records. Their final show was at Maryland Doom Fest 2018 (review here), just over three years ago. Now, a lot has changed in those three years. For everyone, as we all know. It could well be that circumstances have changed for the trio or that they’ve simply had a shift in perspective and decided to bring back the group for a few live dates. Again, it might be a full-on reunion, it might not. We don’t know.
But the prospect of The Midnight Ghost Train making any kind of return whatever the level on which it might be happening, is welcome news. They were a good band and there’s always room on the planet for another good band. Summer of 2022 puts them in festival season, so events like Hellfest or Freak Valley don’t seem unreasonable suspicions — I have no inside details to offer, sorry — and the band has worked with Sound of Liberation in the past, so that company’s 17th anniversary (aka the 15th anniversary delayed by two years) is a possibility as well. I guess we’ll find out sooner or later.
Welcome back, in any case.
Their announcement was short, sweet, and all-caps. It follows here:
EUROPE WE’RE COMING BACK FOR YOU. REUNION SHOWS, SUMMER OF 2022. TRUE LINEUP. LOOK OUT! ANY TAKERS.