The ongoing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the varied responses of publics and governments worldwide, and the disruption to lives and livelihoods has reached a scale that is unprecedented. Whatever the month or the month after or the future itself brings, more than one generation will bear the mark of having lived through this time, and art, artists, and those who provide the support system to help uphold them have all been affected.
In continuing the Days of Rona feature, it remains pivotal to give a varied human perspective on these events and these responses. It is important to remind ourselves that whether someone is devastated or untouched, sick or well, we are all thinking, feeling people with lives we want to live again, whatever renewed shape they might take from this point onward. We all have to embrace a new normal. What will that be and how will we get there?
Thanks to all who participate. To read all the Days of Rona coverage, click here. — JJ Koczan
Days of Rona: Darryl Shepard of Kind, Test Meat & Blackwolfgoat (Malden, Massachusetts)
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How have you been you dealing with this crisis as a band? As an individual? What effect has it had on your plans or creative processes?
Neither of my bands, Test Meat or KIND, have been practicing or anything. Neither band had a tour cancelled but a couple of local shows were. KIND had just finished up our album before the stay-at-home order went into effect, we just got it done under the wire. Test Meat played on March 7th, that was right before the shit really hit the fan. It was a great show but there was a weird vibe. I’m doing fine so far, working from home and watching a lot of movies. I don’t rely on my music for income so I guess in this situation I’m somewhat lucky. Otherwise just playing guitar and coming up with riffs. But like I said, no band rehearsals.
How do you feel about the public response to the outbreak where you are? From the government response to the people around you, what have you seen and heard from others?
Overall Boston seems to be dealing with it pretty well except for some protesters who want things to reopen now, but they’re a vocal minority. I live right outside of Boston and in my town it’s pretty chill. Lots of people are wearing masks and being cautious but some aren’t. I only go out like once a day for a walk or supplies. I’ve been to a supermarket once in the past two months, I usually go to smaller stores for what I need. It seems like there’s two separate narratives going on though. Some people are taking this seriously and being cautious and then some people are just acting like nothing at all is wrong. As far as the government response, it’s absolutely atrocious and a joke. It’s criminal in my mind, what they’re doing, such as seizing supplies from states. Governor Baker in Massachusetts though has been doing a great job and is showing some real leadership.
What do you think of how the music community specifically has responded? How do you feel during this time? Are you inspired? Discouraged? Bored? Any and all of it?
It seems like people are getting very creative. Lots of videos being posted of different musicians playing together. I’ve been really enjoying the ones Charlie Benante’s been posting of the S.O.D. semi-reunion and stuff like that. I posted one video on YouTube as Blackwolfgoat, just an improv I did. I’ve been playing guitar and coming up with riffs. I’ll definitely have a few songs once we’re able to rehearse again. I’m not bored at all. I’m a homebody in general so I’m good with watching movies and noodling on my guitar.
What is the one thing you want people to know about your situation, either as a band, or personally, or anything? What is your new normal? What have you learned from this experience, about yourself, your band, or anything?
I’m just staying busy, trying to not think about it too much, watching less news so I don’t get stressed out. Trying to remain hopeful. Like I said, KIND has a new album in the can and that’ll be coming out later this year, so I’m really looking forward to that. Everyone that I play music with seems to be doing okay for now. Just hanging in there, everyone stays in touch either online or via texts. It looks like I’ll be working from home for the foreseeable future, which is totally different for me but I’m fine with it (I work for a law firm, by the way). Just gotta stick it out, take it one day at a time. I think there will be a huge explosion of new music from bands that will come out of this. Hoping so anyway!
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 14th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
This past weekend, Boston four-piece Kind entered Mad Oak Studios to begin recording their second album. The heavy psychedelic rockers tracked music for seven songs for the yet-untitled follow-up to their 2015 Ripple Music debut, Rocket Science (review here), and vocals for three.
Details on the record are sparse at this point, as they would be, but included will be new songs “Bad Friend” and “Trigger Happy,” the latter of which guitarist Darryl Shepard singles out as being especially doomed in its sound in contrast to some of the more psych and space rocking fare of the prior outing. Shepard, who in the intervening years since Rocket Science has also worked with Test Meat on several releases and his own experimental outfit Blackwolfgoat on last year’s Giving Up Feels So Good (review here), is just one of the members of Kind who’s kept busy in the interim. Bassist Tom Corino, also of Rozamov, released that band’s debut, This Mortal Road (review here), in 2017 and followed it with a live offering. Drummer Matt Couto, though he’s now left Elder, toured copiously with them and issued Reflections of a Floating World (review here) also in 2017, and vocalist Craig Riggs last year fronted Roadsaw on a long awaited new album, Tinnitus the Night (review here). So if you’re wondering why it’s taken Kind five years to get a new album going, there you have it.
The band is working with producer Alec Rodriguez at Mad Oak and will look to finish the recording process soon, then on to mixing, mastering and the eventual release. I’m not sure if Ripple will be putting it out or what, but even putting aside the pedigree of the group as much as such a thing is possible, it’s hard to imagine that based on Rocket Science alone they wouldn’t have any number of potential allies among labels. Who the hell wouldn’t want their logo on that?
Squares. That’s who.
Shepard was kind enough to take a few minutes and give a quick update on the proceedings and send a few studio pics, and you’ll find that below, along with the stream of Rocket Science if you’d like a refresher.
Dig:
Darryl Shepard studio update:
So we finished up the music for 7 songs, it’s definitely over 40 minutes long, not sure of the exact length. Craig has been battling an ear infection of some sort so he wasn’t feeling well at all on Friday but he rallied and [Sunday] he sang three songs. We should finish up the vocals and some synth stuff soon. It’s sounding really good so far. Not sure when vocals will be finished but hopefully within a week or so. I think this album is a good continuation of Rocket Science but there’s some new sounding stuff on it for us too.
Kind is: Matthew Couto – drums Tom Corino – bass Craig Riggs – vocals Darryl Shepard – guitar
Posted in Radio on January 21st, 2019 by JJ Koczan
This was my 2019 preview… of sorts. By which I mean that it in no way encompassed everything coming out this year and that some of it was basically me being like, “golly, it sure would be nice if BAND X put out a record in the next 12 months.” Still fun, but I think definitely well earning that “of sorts” tag.
I keep notes with a running list of things like albums coming out and best records of the year, artwork, EPs, etc., and in my notes for what’s coming out in 2019 I have over 50 bands listed so far. Here they are, cut and paste-style:
Cities of Mars, Mr. Peter Hayden, Curse the Son, High Fighter, No Man’s Valley, Destroyer of Light, Year of the Cobra, Buffalo Fuzz, Zaum, The Sonic Dawn, Alunah, Candlemass, Elepharmers, Grandier, Dorre, Abrahma, Mars Red Sky, Eternal Black, Elephant Tree, Atala, No Man’s Valley, Sun Blood Stories, Crypt Sermon, The Riven, Hibrido, Snail, Red Beard Wall, 11Paranoias, Dead Witches, Monte Luna, Captain Caravan, Swallow the Sun, Oreyeon, Motorpsycho, Vokonis, Hexvessel, Saint Vitus, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, Kind, Mastiff, Shadow Witch, Kings Destroy, Lo-Pan, Samsara Blues Experiment, Papir, Conan, Green Lung, BUS, Worshipper, Volcano, Mos Generator, Earth, Nebula Drag, Elder, Daxma, Besvärjelsen, Bellrope, The Sabbathian,
Some of that has been officially announced, some hasn’t, and some is rampant speculation, but many of these, and there’s always the contingency that expected releases can be delayed owing to recording and tour schedules, pressing concerns, pianos falling on heads, and so on, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find a bunch of those records on my year-end list in December. Whoopee.
What’s more important to stress, however, is that this is by no means the be-all-end-all list of things coming out. It’s a long year, and it’s January right now. There will be offerings in September and October that no one knows now are even in the works, and still more that aren’t. That’s why the list ends with a comma and a space instead of a period. There’s more to be added.
That said, this is a damn good show and I stand by it. Some of the inclusions could/would/will be among the year’s best albums — the new Worshipper is fantastic, and the new Kings Destroy owns my soul — but I wanted to put some stuff in here that the Gimme audience, which I tend to think of as being more metal though I have absolutely nothing to base that on, isn’t familiar with. Curse the Son, Snail, Sun Blood Stories.
It’s fun to talk about new albums coming out — I had a particular blast mentioning how annoyed I am at the universe for there being a new Sun Blood Stories album and I haven’t heard it yet — and even if some of it is speculative, that’s a good time too.
If you missed the show last night, it’s on tomorrow at 9AM at: http://gimmeradio.com.
The Obelisk Show Ep. 08 – 01.20.19
Lowrider
Lameneshma
Ode to Io (Deluxe Edition)
0:04:57
Kings Destroy
Smokey Robinson
Kings Destroy
0:04:03
BREAK
Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard
The Master and His Emissary
Totems (Split w/Slomatics)
0:12:02
Snail
Born in Captivity
Feral
0:05:00
Motorpsycho
The Tower
The Tower
0:08:41
Mars Red Sky
Friendly Fire
Apex III (Praise for the Burning Soul)
0:04:51
BREAK
Sun Blood Stories
Step Softly Ghost
It Runs Around the Room with Us
0:04:48
Elephant Tree
Dawn
Elephant Tree
0:04:12
Curse the Son
Aislamiento
Isolator
0:07:13
Alunah
Awn
Amber & Gold*
0:05:50
Worshipper
Night Child (The Oath cover)
Mirage Daze
0:04:19
Hexvessel
Old Tree
All Tree*
0:03:40
Vokonis
Rapturous
The Sunken Djinn
0:06:09
Mr. Peter Hayden
We Fly High
Eternal Hayden
0:07:13
BREAK
Kind
Rabbit Astronaut
Rocket Science
0:03:49
Om
Haqq al-Yaqin
Advaitic Songs
0:11:29
Samsara Blues Experiment
One with the Universe
One with the Universe
0:15:07
The Obelisk Show on Gimme Radio airs every other Sunday night at 7PM Eastern, with replays the following Tuesday at 9AM. Next show is Feb. 3. Thanks for listening if you do.
Posted in Features on December 20th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Please note: This post is not culled in any way from the Year-End Poll, which is ongoing. If you haven’t yet contributed your favorites of 2018 to that, please do.
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It just wouldn’t be a year if it wasn’t completely overwhelming, right?
2018 has certainly met that standard and then some. The swath of output, whether it’s a new generation adopting and adapting established methods or out and out reinventing the stylistic wheel and then pushing it uphill on a seemingly endless barrage of tours, has been staggering, and it’s still happening. There’s a little more than a week to go in the year. You think a band isn’t putting something out today? Of course they are. It’s every day. It’s all the time.
But this year wasn’t just about quantity either. I think one of my biggest struggles in writing about albums in 2018 — and with the last Quarterly Review and various premieres and video posts that were basically album reviews in disguise, let’s estimate we’re somewhere past 300 records reviewed one way or another — was in conveying just how killer so much of the stuff coming through was. How many times can you say the word “awesome?” Well, I’m sure we’ll see it a few more times before this list is over, so there you go.
I say something like this every time I do a list, but please keep in mind these are my picks and I’m one person. But I am a person. I know there’s the whole internet-anonymity thing, but I assure you, I’m a human being (more of a cave troll, really) typing these words. I’m all for everyone sharing their own picks in the comments, and all for passionate advocating, but please, let’s keep it civil and respectful. These things can spiral out of control quickly, but let’s remember that we’re all human beings and worth of basic courtesy, even if some of us are dead wrong about a good many things. You should definitely punch nazis, though.
Thanks in advance for reading. Here we go:
[UPDATE: You’ll notice the inclusion of an ’18a.’ I had Stoned Jesus in my notes as number 18 initially and they got dropped as I was adjusting things along the way. I’ve added them back in, but it didn’t seem fair to bump everyone else down after the post had already been published. That was the best I could come up with for a solution. If you’re pissed about one more killer record being added, please feel free to email me and tell me all about it.]
Chicago’s The Skull had no small task before them in following up their 2014 debut, For Those Which are Asleep (review here) — let alone living up to their pedigree — but their second album demonstrated a creative growth that sacrificed nothing of memorability when it came to songs like “Breathing Underwater” and “All that Remains (Is True).” They got down to work and got the job done, which is what a working band does. 2018 was by any measure a fantastic year for doom, and The Skull were a big part of why.
The Dec. 2017 murder of Rev. Jim Forrester was tragic. No other way to say it. Foghound, who were in the midst of making Awaken to Destroy at the time, put together an album that not only features Forrester‘s last recorded performance, but pays respect to his memory while the wound is still raw and manages to kick ass all the while. It’s a record that can’t ever be divorced from its circumstances — just can’t — and so it can be a heavy listen in more than just its tones, but it’s basically Foghound proving they’re unstoppable. And so they are.
Who among us here today is not a sucker for Orange Goblin? Come forward an be judged. I mean, really. Nine records deep, the London sceneforgers are nothing less than an institution, beloved by boozehounds, riffhounds, doomhounds, and really, a wide variety of hounds the world over. Also dudes. With its essential title-track hook and highlight cuts in “Ghosts of the Primitives” and “Burn the Ships” — or, you know, any of them — they added to one of heavy’s most unshakable legacies with an album as furious as it is welcoming to its generations-spanning fanbase.
There are two kinds of people in this world, and they’re both Fu Manchu fans. Clone of the Universe turned heads with a guest appearance from Rush‘s Alex Lifeson on the 18-minute side-B-consuming “Il Mostro Atomico,” but really to focus on that instead of “Intelligent Worship,” “(I’ve Been) Hexed,” “Don’t Panic,” “Slower than Light,” etc., is only seeing half the point of the album in the first place. The long-running lords of fuzz hit a new stride with 2014’s Gigantoid (review here), and Clone of the Universewas in every way a worthy successor.
It was an unenviable task before Witch Mountain in replacing vocalist Uta Plotkin, but founding guitarist Rob Wrong and drummer Nathan Carson found the right voice in Kayla Dixon and solidified the lineup with her and bassist Justin Brown enough to make a declarative statement in Witch Mountain‘s self-titled LP. That’s the story of it. They pulled it off. Met with what was unquestionably a bummer circumstance, they pushed through and moved their sound forward through a new beginning — and not their first one. Watch out when their next record hits.
Richmond, Virginia, doomers Windhand‘s second collaboration with producer Jack Endino produced a marked and purposeful expansion of their sound, encompassing classic grunge influences and a heavy psychedelic swirl that added color their previously-greyscale sonic haze. Resonant in tone and emotionalism, Eternal Return readjusted Windhand‘s trajectory in such a manner that, where one might’ve thought they knew where the band were headed in terms of their progression, they’ve made themselves a less predictable outfit on the whole. For that alone, it’s a triumph. Then you have the songs.
I don’t even want to admit how long I was waiting for Sun Voyager‘s first long-player to show up, but when it finally did, the New York trio did not disappoint. Catchy, energetic, fuzzed-out tunes with driving rhythms and a heavy psych flourish, they tapped into shoegaze and desert vibes without losing any sense of themselves in the process, and if the extra wait was so they could be so remarkably coherent in their expression on their full-length, then I wouldn’t want it to have shown up any sooner. An easy pick to stand among 2018’s best debut albums. Now to wait for the next one.
It should tell you something that after working quickly to produce three albums, Louisiana’s Forming the Void are still defined by their potential. If I had my druthers, I’d put the recent Ripple signees on tour for the bulk of 2019, across the US and in Europe for festivals and support-slot club shows, really give them an opportunity to hammer out who they are as a band and then hit the studio for LP four. I don’t know if that’ll happen, but they’d only be doing the universe a favor by kicking into that gear. As it stands, their progression is palpable in their material and they stand absolutely ready for whatever the next level might be for them.
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22. Spaceslug, Eye the Tide
Released by BSFD Records and Oak Island Records. Reviewed June 29.
Aside from the speed at which Spaceslug have turned around offerings — with Eye the Tide following 2017’s Mountains and Reminiscence EP (review here) and Time Travel Dilemma (review here) full-length and their 2016 debut, Lemanis (review here) — the Polish outfit have undertaken significant progression in their sound, moving from pure heavy psychedelic warmth to incorporating elements out of extreme metal as they did on Eye the Tide. Adding to the latest record’s accomplishment is the smoothness with which they brought seemingly opposing sides together, only adding depth to an approach already worthy of oceanic comparison.
Conan‘s reign of terror has been unfolding for more than a decade now, and each of their albums has become a kind of step along a path of incremental growth. Consider the melody creeping into the shouts of founding guitarist Jon Davis, or the emergence of bassist Chris Fielding as a vocal presence alongside, the two sharing a frontman role more than ever before while welcoming drummer Johnny King to the fold of destructive tonality and doomly extremism. Existential Void Guardian may end up just being another stomp-print on their way to the next thing, but it affirmed the fact that as much as Conan grow each time out, their central violence continues to hold sway.
Look. A new Pale Divine record doesn’t come along every day, so yeah, their self-titled was probably going to be on my list one way or the other, but it definitely helps that not only was it their first outing in six years since 2012’s Painted Windows Black (review here), but it had the songs to live up to a half-decade-plus of anticipation. It marked the first studio appearance from bassist/backing vocalist Ron “Fezz” McGinnis alongside guitarist Greg Diener and drummer Darin McCloskey — now both of Beelzefuzz as well — and made a strong argument for how much Pale Divine deserve more than 20 years on from their initial demo to be considered classic American doom.
The return and rise to prominence of Washington pure heavy rockers Mos Generator might be the underground’s feelgood story of the decade, but it hasn’t by any means been easily won. In addition to rebuilding the band however many albums ago, guitarist/vocalist Tony Reed has put in innumerable hours on tour and worked to actually develop the group creatively in addition to in terms of stage presence. This is shown throughout some of the classic prog elements making their way onto Shadowlands, and perhaps some of the collection’s moodier aspects are born of the aforementioned road time as well. Hard for that kind of thing not to be a slog after a while, but at least they have killer tunes to play.
The only safe bet about Stoned Jesus‘ fourth long-player, Pilgrims, was that it was going to sound different than the third. That 2015 outing, The Harvest (review here), preceded the band touring to celebrate the fifth anniversary and after-the-fact success of 2012’s Seven Thunders Roar (review here), but Pilgrims defied narrative in that instead of incorporating elements from the second record in more of a heavy psych or jam sound, Stoned Jesus instead showcased a tighter, more sureheaded sense of craft than they’ve ever displayed before, and arrived on Napalm Records with a collection of songs that demonstrated the growth and sense of creative will that drives them. While one can take a look at their moniker and think immediately they know what’s coming, Stoned Jesus have made themselves one of the least predictable bands in heavy rock.
“Pirate Smile.” “Lines.” “Whatever.” “It Ain’t Right.” “Threes.” “Cinderella.” “Generals.” “Big Enough.” “Alone.” “Lucky. Mike Cummings, Jessica Baker, Erik Larson. Every player, every song, every minute. If you want to know what heart-on-sleeve sounds like, it fucking sounds like Backwoods Payback. In their line from hardcore punk to grunge to heavy rock, they encompass experiences and emotionalism that are both shown in raw form throughout Future Slum, and build all the while on the chemistry they set out in developing with 2016’s Fire Not Reason (review here), when they welcomed Larson to the lineup on drums and revitalized their mission. Also worth noting, they were the best live band I saw this year. Anywhere.
No question the excitement of C.O.C. putting out their first record with frontman Pepper Keenan involved since 2005’s In the Arms of God was one of this year’s top stories in heavy. And No Cross No Crown tapped directly into the spirit of 1994’s Deliverance (discussed here) and 1996’s Wiseblood (discussed here) in terms of direction, while updating the band’s style with a four-part 2LP in mind. In some ways, it’ll be their next album that really gives listeners a sense of where they’re at and where they might be headed, but as welcome returns go, having Keenan alongside Mike Dean, Woody Weatherman and Reed Mullin is in no way to be understated, and neither is the quality of their output together, then and now.
It is no simple feat to hypnotize an audience and convey serenity while at the same time holding attention with songcraft, so that the listener isn’t actually so much unconscious as malleable of mood and spirit in such a direction as the band suggests. Greek trio Naxatras have worked quickly to become experts at this, and their third full-length fosters tonal warmth and jammy progressions with an overarching naturalism that finds them so committed to analog recording that one can buy direct transfers of the tape master of III. Some acts take classic-style practices as an aesthetic choice. With Naxatras, it seems to be the stuff of life, yet their sound is only vibrant and human in a way that, at least one hopes, is even more representative of the future than the past.
It was time for Clutch to make a change in producers, and the Maryland overlords of groove seemed to know it. Known as a live band, they went with Vance Powell, who’s known a live band producer. The results on Book of Bad Decisions might not have been so earth-shatteringly different from 2015’s Psychic Warfare (review here), which was the too-soon follow-up to 2013’s Earth Rocker (review here) — both helmed by Machine — but the inimitable four-piece indeed succeeded in capturing the electricity of their stage performance and, as ever, treated fans to a collection of songs bearing Clutch‘s unmistakable hallmarks of quirky lyrics, funky rhythms and heavy roll. They may always be a live band, but Clutch‘s studio work is in no way to be discounted, ever, as this record reaffirmed. Plus, crab cakes.
After 2012’s In Dreams and Time (review here), I wasn’t sure Ancestors were going to put out another record. They kicked around word of one for a while, but it wasn’t until the end of last year that it really seemed to congeal into a possibility. And by then, who the hell knew what they might get up to on a full-length? With Suspended in Reflections, in some says, they picked up where they left off in terms of finding a niche for themselves in progressive and melodic heavy, but I think the time showed in the poise of their execution and the control of the material. Suspended in Reflections can’t help but be six years more mature than its predecessor, and that suits its contemplative feel. In tracks like “Gone,” and “The Warm Glow,” they tempered their expansive sound with an efficiency that can only be had with time.
The narrative here was hard to beat. Matt Pike spending an album cycle talking about Lemmy Kilmister and paying homage to his dirt-rock forebear and the gods of old? It doesn’t get much more perfect than that. Electric Messiah was the third collaboration between High on Fire and producer Kurt Ballou behind 2015’s Luminiferous (review here) and 2012’s De Vermiis Mysteriis (review here), and while it seemed after the last record that the formula might be getting stale, the band only sounded more and more lethal throughout the latest offering. Even putting aside their contributions to underground heavy, they’ve become one of the most essential metal bands of their generation. Metal, period. Doesn’t matter what subgenre you’re talking about it. If you’re listening to High on Fire, you know it. Usually because you’ve just been decapitated.
You know, if you take the time to separate Yawning Man from their 30-plus-year history and their legacy as one of the foundational acts of what later became desert rock, and you listen to The Revolt Against Tired Noises, you’re still left with basically a dream of an album. Mostly instrumental, as is their wont, they nonetheless had bassist Mario Lalli (also Fatso Jetson) sing this time around on a version of the previously-unreleased “Catamaran,” which Kyuss covered once upon a whenever although Yawning Man had never officially put it to tape. But really, that and all other novelty aside, guitarist Gary Arce, Lalli and drummer Bill Stinson are a chemistry unto themselves. I don’t know if they’ll ever be as huge as they should be, but every bit of acclaim they get, they’ve earned, and if The Revolt Against Tired Noises helps them get it, all the more so.
Swedish heavy rock mavens Greenleaf have become an entirely different band than they once were. No longer a Dozer side-project from guitarist Tommi Holappa with a rotating cast of players, they’re a solidified, road-tested, powerhouse unit, and Hear the Rivers bleeds soul as a result. Holappa, frontman Arvid Hällagård, bassist Hans Fröhlich and drummer Sebastian Olsson sound like they’re absolutely on fire in the album’s tracks, and far from being staid or formulaic as one might expect a sixth long-player to be, Hear the Rivers built on what the band accomplished with 2016’s Rise Above the Meadow (review here) and came across as all the more vital and nearly frenetic in their energy. I won’t say Greenleaf has seen their last lineup change, because one never knows, but the band as they are today is the realization of potential I don’t think even Greenleaf knew was there.
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10. Gozu, Equilibrium
Released by Blacklight Media / Metal Blade Records. Reviewed April 4.
Five records deep into a career into its second decade, Gozu haven’t had a miss yet. Admittedly, some of their early work can seem formative considering where they are now, but still. And after the 2016 rager, Revival (review here), to have the band return to the same studio — Wild Arctic in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where strides producer Dean Baltulonis — for the follow-up allows for the four-piece to directly show how their sound has grown more encompassing in the last couple years. And it has. Equilibrium is a rich and varied listen that holds true to Gozu‘s well-established penchant for soulful vibes and crunching, hard-hitting riffs and groove, but while it shares the directness of approach with Revival, it makes moves that a band could only make moving from one record to the next. I expect nothing less their next time out as well, because a decade later, that’s Gozu‘s proven track record.
The battle for the best album title of 2018 ended early when New Jersey everything-rockers Monster Magnet announced the release of Mindfucker. And what else to call a Monster Magnet LP at this point? They’ve stopped writing to genre. They’re driven by the creative mania of frontman/founder Dave Wyndorf, and they’ve seen psychedelic expanses and commercial success the likes of which would serve the tenure of four lesser bands. What’s left to do but whatever the hell you want? So that’s what Monster Magnet are doing. It just so happens that while they’re doing it, they’re still basically outclassing the entirety of the former planet earth as songwriters. As Monster Magnet fan in 2018, there was nothing more I could’ve asked than what Mindfucker delivered. And if you’re still trying to get your brain around it however many months later, you’re not alone. I think that’s the idea.
Best doom album of 2018. The combination of craft and passion behind the delivery. The way the dark tones fed into the emotions so clearly on display and sheer presence of it in listening to songs like “Keeping the Lighthouse,” “Ruination by Thy Name” and “My Heart is Leaving Here.” Apostle of Solitude never seem to be the highest profile band out there, but their work seems never to be anything less than outstanding, and I refuse to accept them as anything less than among the most pivotal American acts out there making traditional doom. And not just making it, but making it their own, with a sense of new pursuits and individualism that extends to playing style as well as atmosphere. I know doom isn’t exactly in short supply these days — figuratively or literally — but if you miss out on what Apostle of Solitude are doing with it, you’ll only regret it later. I’ll say it one more time: Best doom album of 2018.
Every now and again, anticipating the crap of an album really pays off, and such was the case with Holy Grove II, the Ripple Music debut from the Portland outfit whose 2016 self-titled (review here) seemed like such a herald of excellence to come while also, you know, being killer. Holy Grove II brought the four-piece of vocalist Andrea Vidal, guitarist Trent Jacobs, bassist Gregg Emley and drummer Eben Travis to entirely new levels of composition and execution. In songs like “Blade Born,” the shorter, sharper “Aurora,” the patiently rolling “Valley of the Mystics,” “Solaris” and closer “Cosmos,” which boasted a not-really-necessary-but-definitely-welcome guest vocal appearance from YOB‘s Mike Scheidt, — and oh wait, that’s all of the tracks — Holy Grove entered a different echelon. Anticipation will likewise be high for Holy Grove III, but it’ll be hard to complain with this record to keep company in the meantime.
Over five All Them Witches albums, the Nashville four-piece have gone from a nascent heavy Americana jam band to one of the most distinct acts in the US underground. Their development in sound is chemistry-driven, so it was a risk when the founding trio of bassist/vocalist Charles Michael Parks, Jr., guitarist Ben McLeod (who also produced) and drummer Robby Staebler welcomed new keyboardist Jonathan Draper into the lineup to take the place of Allan van Cleave. Amid a more naturalist production than that of 2017’s Sleeping Through the War (review here), the revamped four-piece flourished in terms of songwriting and conveying their stage-born sonic personae. From the gleeful fuckery of opener “Fishbelly 86 Onions” to the memorable moodiness of “Diamond” and the back-end jam “Harvest Feast” en route to the stretched-out end of “Rob’s Dream,” All Them Witches essentially confirmed they could do whatever they wanted and make it work.
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5. YOB, Our Raw Heart
Released by Relapse Records. Reviewed June 7.
Actually, if you want a sample of YOB‘s raw heart, the place to go is probably 2014’s Clearing the Path to Ascend (review here), but whatever the Eugene, Oregon, shapers of cosmic doom might’ve lacked in titular accuracy on their eighth long-player, they made up for in a new, statesman-like posture. Their approach was mature, hammered out to a professionalism working completely on its own terms, and they never sounded so sure of who they are as a band or as confident of their direction. In extended cuts “Beauty in Falling Leaves” and “Our Raw Heart,” they explored new and progressive textures and melodies, and managed to reaffirm their core aspects while finding room for conveying emotion that came across as nothing but ultimately sincere. They have been and still are one of a kind, and as they continue to move forward, they remain a band that makes one feel lucky to be alive to witness their work. Our Raw Heart was perhaps more refined than it let on, but the heart was there for sure, as always.
I’m not going to say I wasn’t a fan of the (relatively) harder-hitting approach Brant Bjork and his Low Desert Punk Band took on 2014’s Black Power Flower (review here) and 2016’s Tao of the Devil (review here), but Mankind Woman brought in some more of his soul influences, and whether it was the subtly subversive funk of “Chocolatize” and “Brand New Old Times” or the callout “1968” and laid back vibes of the title-track and “Swagger and Sway,” Bjork — working with guitarist Bubba DuPree on songwriting and production — offered a definitive look at what has made his 20-year solo career so special and demonstrates not only his longevity and his legacy, but his will to continue to progress as an artist honing his craft. His discography is well populated by now to be sure, but Mankind Woman represents a turn from the last couple records, and if it’s in any way portentous of things to come, it bodes well. Bjork is right at home nestled into classic-style grooves, and his legacy as one of the principal architects of desert rock is continually reaffirmed.
They’ve been great, not just good, for a long time now, and as forerunners of the San Diego heavy scene, they’re godfathers to an up and coming generation of bands taking their influence — let alone acts from the rest of the world — but Black Heaven is a special moment for them because of its departure. No, it wasn’t not the first time guitarist Isaiah Mitchell sang on an Earthless recording, but it did represent a tip of the balance in that direction for the band on a studio full-length, and that resulted in a special moment. Album opener “Gifted by the Wind” was one of the best songs I heard this year, and while “End to End” and the all-thrust “Volt Rush” affirmed that more traditional songwriting was well within the grasp of Mitchell, bassist Mike Eginton and drummer Mario Rubalcaba, they still found space for a sprawling jam or two, keeping their claim on the instrumentalism that’s (largely) fueled their tenure to date. Earthless don’t want for acclaim, but every bit of it is earned, and while their primary impact has always been live, Black Heaven saw them construct a traditional-style LP that still bore the hallmarks of their collective personality. It was the best of all worlds.
In the dark early hours of 2018, the Rochester, New York, trio of guitarist/vocalist Sean McVay, bassist Dan Reynolds and drummer Scott Donaldson issued the Repeater EP (review here) as a follow-up to their 2016 debut, Orion (review here), so Longing to Be the Mountain didn’t exactly come out of nowhere, but even with Repeater preceding its arrival, I don’t think anyone necessary expected King Buffalo‘s second album to have such a scope or to be so engrossing with it. In its melody, patience, atmosphere and heft, it was an absolute joy to behold. Its songs were memorable at the same time they were far-reaching, and while Orion was already my pick for the best debut of 2016, Longing to Be the Mountain realized even more potential than that record had hinted toward. It could be intimate or majestic at its whim, and its dynamic set an individual characterization of heavy psychedelia and blues-style sprawl that the band wholly owned. With production by Ben McLeod of All Them Witches behind them, they worked to serve notice of a progression undertaken the results of which are already staggering and still seem to be looking ahead to the next stage, literally and figuratively. One of the principal standards I use in constructing this list every year is what I listen to most. That’s this record.
Obviously, right? To some extent, when Sleep surprise-announced on April 19 they’d release their first album in 15 years the next day, and then did, they took ownership of 2018. Even with records still to come at that point from YOB and Sleep guitarist Matt Pike‘s own High on Fire, there was no way that when the end of the year came around, it wasn’t going to be defined by the advent of a new Sleep record. And even if it sucked, it would probably still be Album of the Year, but fortunately, as Pike, bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros (also Om) and drummer Jason Roeder (also Neurosis) took their long-running stage reunion to the studio, they brought material that highlighted the best elements from all players. Pike‘s wild soloing, Cisneros‘ meditative vocals and Roeder‘s intricate but smooth style of roll all came together in older pieces like “Antarcticans Thawed” and “Sonic Titan” and newer highlights “Giza Butler” and “Marijuanaut’s Theme,” and aside from the excitement at their existence, they showed the mastery of form that Sleep had been demonstrating live since 2009 and which they hinted toward in the 2014 single, The Clarity (review here). A new Sleep full-length was something long-discussed, long-rumored and long-considered, but when it finally happened, I think the results vaporized expectation in a way no one could’ve anticipated. There’s a reason Sleep are Sleep. Having The Sciences as a reminder of that brought about the defining moment of 2018.
—
The Next 20
Indeed, it wouldn’t be much of a Top 30 at all if it didn’t go to 50. Don’t try to make sense of it, just look at the records.
31. Atavismo, Valdeinfierno
32. Grayceon, IV
33. Clamfight, III
34. Seedy Jeezus, Polaris Oblique
35. Megaton Leviathan, Mage
36. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Wasteland
37. Arcadian Child, Superfonica
38. Freedom Hawk, Beast Remains
39. The Machine, Faceshift
40. Messa, Feast for Water
41. Black Rainbows, Pandaemonium
42. Church of the Cosmic Skull, Science Fiction
43. Domkraft, Flood
44. Träden, Träden
45. Mythic Sunship, Another Shape of Psychedelic Music
46. Samavayo, Vatan
47. Foehammer, Second Sight
48. Bongripper, Terminal
49. Mansion, First Death of the Lutheran
50. Sunnata, Outlands
51. Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters, Come and Chutney
Believe me when I tell you, I sweated over this section more than I did the actual top 30. Mansion should be higher. So should Chubby Thunderous, though something in me thought they might like being #50 on a list of 30. Church of the Cosmic Skull, Clamfight, Black Rainbows, Foehammer, Seedy Jeezus, Messa, Domkraft. All of these were fucking awesome. And there are more (we’ll get there). Eventually numbers add up. I won’t say a bad word about any of these. That’s it.
Honorable Mention
This section always winds up expanded as other people point out things I missed and so on, but here’s what I’ve got in the immediate, alphabetically:
Alms, Act One
Ape Machine, Darker Seas
Belzebong, Light the Dankness
Black Moon Circle, Psychedelic Spacelord
Blackwater Holylight, Blackwater Holylight
Bong, Thought and Existence
Carpet, About Rooms and Elephants
Churchburn, None Shall Live… The Hymns of Misery
Deadbird, III: The Forest Within the Tree
Dead Meadow, The Nothing They Need
Death Alley, Superbia
Drug Cult, Drug Cult
Dunbarrow, II
Electric Citizen, Helltown
Eagle Twin, The Thundering Heard: Songs of Hoof and Horn
Evoken, Hypnagogia
Funeral Horse, Psalms for the Mourning
Fuzz Evil, High on You
Graven, Heirs of Discord
Graveyard, Peace
Green Dragon, Green Dragon
Green Druid, Ashen Blood
Here Lies Man, You Will Know Nothing
High Priestess, High Priestess
Horehound, Holocene
IAH, II
JIRM, Surge ex Monumentis
Killer Boogie, Acid Cream
Lonely Kamel, Death’s Head Hawkmoth
MaidaVale, Madness is Too Pure
Moab, Trough
Mountain Dust, Seven Storms
Mouth, Floating
Mr. Plow, Maintain Radio Silence
T.G. Olson, Earthen Pyramid
Onségen Ensemble, Duel
Orango, Evergreen
Owl, Nights in Distortion
Pushy, Hard Wish
Rifflord, 7 Cremation Ground/Meditation
River Cult, Halcyon Daze
Rotor, Sechs
Somali Yacht Club, The Sea
Sumac, Love in Shadow
Sundrifter, Visitations
Svvamp, Svvamp II
Thou, Magus
Thunder Horse, Thunder Horse
Weedpecker, III
Special Note
Somehow it didn’t seem appropriate to include these in the list proper because they’re not really underground releases, but there were two more records I especially wanted to highlight for their quality:
Alice in Chains, Rainier Fog
Judas Priest, Firepower
Best Short Release of the Year
Normally I’d do this as a separate post, but as a result of being robbed earlier this year, I feel like my list is woefully incomplete. If you have any demos, EPs, splits, singles, etc., to add to it, please feel free to do so in the comments below. Still, the top pick was clear:
Rarely do two bands work in such coherent tandem to their mutual benefit. Here are a few other essential short releases for 2018, alphabetically:
All Them Witches, Lost and Found
Alunah, Amber & Gold
Canyon, Mk II
Demon Head, The Resistence
Destroyer of Light, Hopeless
Ecstatic Vision, Under the Influence
Godmaker & Somnuri, Split
Holy Mushroom, Blood and Soul
King Buffalo, Repeater
Minsk & Zatokrev, Split
Sleep, Leagues Beneath
Stonus, Lunar Eclipse
Sundecay, Gale
Looking Forward
A good many albums have already been announced or hinted at for 2019. I in no way claim this to be a complete roundup of what’s coming, but here’s what I have in my notes so far, in absolutely no order:
Kings Destroy, Lo-Pan, Cities of Mars, Heavy Temple, Mr. Peter Hayden, Curse the Son, High Fighter, Destroyer of Light, Year of the Cobra, Buffalo Fuzz, Zaum, The Sonic Dawn, Alunah, Candlemass, Elepharmers, Grandier, Dorre, Abrahma, Mars Red Sky, Eternal Black, Elephant Tree, Atala, No Man’s Valley, Sun Blood Stories, Crypt Sermon, The Riven, Hibrido, Snail, Red Beard Wall, 11Paranoias, Dead Witches, Monte Luna, Captain Caravan (LP), Swallow the Sun, Oreyeon, Motorpsycho, Vokonis, Hexvessel, Saint Vitus, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, Kind, Mastiff, Shadow Witch, Om.
Okay, That’s It
Yeah, no, I’m serious. List is done. Everybody go back to your lives. Your families miss you.
Really though, while this is by no means my last post of 2018, I can’t let it pass without saying thank you so much to everyone for checking out the site this year, or for just digging into this, or for sending me music, or hitting me up on social media, sharing a link, anything. Thank you. Thank you. I could never have imagined when it started out where it would be now. Or that I’d still be doing it. Your support means more to me than I can say, and I thank you so much for being a part of this with me.
So thanks.
If you have something to add to the list, please do so by leaving a comment below, but keep in mind as well the above note requesting civility. Please don’t make me feel stupid because I forgot your favorite record. I forgot a lot of people’s favorite records. I’m one dude. I’m doing my best.
And please keep in mind if you’ve got a list together that the Year-End Poll is open and results will be out Jan. 1.
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 1st, 2018 by JJ Koczan
A well-earned slow clap for Desertfest London 2018 on the occasion of completing what is unquestionably its broadest, biggest and most staggering lineup to-date. The festival has been outdoing itself every year since it got going, but this is a different league entirely. Kudos all around to the Desertfest London team. I really feel like there’s nothing else to say about it. It’s just amazing what these people have put together and I hope that those who are fortunate enough to be there realize the special event to which they’re bearing witness, because that’s what this is. Truly something special.
Here’s the final lineup update:
Psych legends Hawkwind + complete lineup announced for DESERTFEST LONDON 2018!
DESERTFEST LONDON announce the final acts for its 2018 edition on May 4-6th in Camden, including psych legends HAWKWIND, plus The Quietus, Human Disease Promo & Nightshift Promotions stages all revealed.
Yes, you read that title correctly. Desertfest are honoured, thrilled, losing our minds, quivering in our boots to reveal that one of the most influential English bands in heavy musical history are gracing us with our presence this May, seminal space-rockers HAWKWIND will return to the hallowed ground of The Roundhouse to play a very special performance as main support to Monster Magnet. Hawkwind require no real introduction – genre-defining mavericks since 1969, it’s safe to say most of your favourite bands wouldn’t exist without Hawkwind; their legend precedes them, expect a life affirming, life altering show. We are beyond excited.
Yet more Carolina goodness is coming Desertfest’s way, underground skater heroes ASG will make their psych riddled, post-punk sound heard across London, earplugs recommended, party times guaranteed. 70’s blues-soaked hard rockers RADIO MOSCOW will also make their return, following a recently sold-out performance at The Borderline – this trio of psychedelic power are being met with hugely high acclaim and for a damn good reason. They’re groovy, heavy and damn near perfect.
No strangers to the Desertfest, doom heroes MONOLORD are back to offer up some of the finest riffs to have ever come out Sweden’s smoke. Fuelled by bongs and black coffee, they are one of the favourite returning acts for the fest – y’all better get in the queue now if you don’t want to miss it. Another act from the dirty South comes in the form of SOURVEIN, sludge and crust blended together in perfect guttural harmony. Leading man T-Roy’s been fighting the good fight for over two decades and the band are now easily at their strongest. Not one for the faint hearted.
Alongside his performance with The Obsessed, leading man WINO will perform an acoustic set across the Desertfest weekend. Last time we had the frontman play an acoustic set at DF the queue was out the door, it’s stripped back but still totally heavy. Belgian bulldozers STEAK NUMBER EIGHT are making a long awaited appearance at Desertfest London, a postmetal powerhouse their live performances have been met with high praise around Europe. A hypnotic haze will fall when the mighty DOPELORD take the stage, sickeningly smooth vocals hit the good spot whilst thunderous riffs and a mind altering magnitude of heavy rattle your core.
Also filling up the final line-up are newcomers DEAD WITCHES, psychedelic New York masters KING BUFFALO, out of this world riff rockers KIND, British noise rockers CATTLE plus NECROMANCERS, CRUMPET, SOLLEME, LIONIZE, LNN, CHRCH, MASTIFF, TUSKAR, TOM CAMERON and LO CHIE
ALSO RECENTLY ANNOUNCED:
The Quietus stage
The Quietus Stage usually brings some of the more diverse bands to Desertfest and this year is no different. Headlining the stage at The Black Heart on Friday 4th May are WHITE HILLS whose concentrated blasts of interstellar noise with a tank load of psychedelic glam makes them the truest space rock goliaths of our time. They’ll be joined by GHOLD, SNAPPED ANKLES, MELTING HAND, CASUAL NUN and SWEDISH DEATH CANDY.
Nightshift Promotions stage
The melodic tones of DARKHER will be headlining this year’s Nightshift Promotions stage at The Dev at Desertfest 2018. They’ll be joined by a diverse, but equally dark lineup which brings post-metal from TELEPATHY and SNOW BURIAL, the experimental noise of CROWD OF CHAIRS, blackened doom from MONOLITHIAN and the sludge of THE MOTH.
Human Disease Promo/When Planets Collide stage
This year the Human-disease Promo and When Planets Collide Stage has gone for an all out colossus of weighty heaviness for Desertfest 2018. Headlining the stage are WEEDEATER, making their second appearance of the weekend with a special early years set. They’ll be joined by Denver’s most crushing PRIMITIVE MAN, Canadian bruisers BISON, Swedish heaviness from SUMA, St Louis filthsters FISTER, Notts nasties MOLOCH and heavyweight duo BISMUTH.
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 24th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
There are still headliners to be announced and others to come as well, and no doubt between now and then there will be one or two shakeups to what’s listed here between bands being added and bands dropping off as will invariably happen, but kudos all the same to organizer Shy Kennedy for the super-early unveiling of what’s probably the bulk of the lineup for Descendants of Crom 2018, the second installment of the Pittsburgh-based heavy fest. In addition to her own band, Horehound, Kennedy has already assembled a killer roster of acts, from Heavy Temple to Come to Grief to a slew of Steel City reserves in OutsideInside, Molasses Barge and others, and even if this was going to be the ultimate shape the festival would take — that is, if no one else was going to be added, which, again, they are — you’d still have to call it a good time in the making.
If you’ve got a 2018 calendar yet, mark it. Earlybird tickets are linked below. Here’s the announcement as posted by the fest, along with a quote graciously provided by Kennedy herself:
Blackseed Records Presents: Descendants of Crom 2018
The Descendants of Crom 2018 will be held in Pittsburgh, PA, USA in September 2018.
Pre Gala at Howlers in the evening on Thursday, September 27th.
Full days on September 28th and 29th at Cattivo.
“Descendants of Crom has been one of the most incredibly rewarding endeavors I’ve ever been involved with,” says fest organizer Shy Kennedy. “Having so many great people working and coming together for their underground music community the way they did that day was inspiring enough to erase any doubt that it has to grow. It has to be an annual event. Next year’s event may seem far away but it lends the time to really build it and get more people aware of it. As you know, a lot of work goes into a musical festival and if you take your time, it becomes a very enjoyable task. Descendants of Crom 2018 will be here all too soon and I, for one, cannot wait!”
Once upon a time there were 17 bands who joined forces to create one killer day of live, riff-ripping performances to celebrate the great community of our heavy, underground music here in the Northeast of the United States. That time was just a couple months back in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The all day event was a great collaboration in effort by local organization, bands from the region as well as a few touring and some very generous scene contributors. It was called the Descendants of Crom. Let’s do it again!
The second annual Descendants of Crom will be held on the last weekend of September of 2018 in Pittsburgh again. This time span three days in length as we are including a Thursday evening pre gala and all day events happening Friday and Saturday. There will be over 30 bands in total coming from all over the United States with a strong regional focus.
Tickets will be offered for single day to day events or in combinations. An Early Crow ticket sale will be held for the weekend combo for a 3 month period, limited to 125. These will be live soon today.
Stay tuned to find out the bands who will be rounding out the evenings of each night as well as the completed schedule.
Today, we announce the “meat” of the Descendants of Crom. These bands are the ones supporting this scene locally, regionally and or nationally. They are strong, beautiful creators of the jam, the breakdown, the beat, and the undeniable riff… they are the Descendants of Crom:
Descendants of Crom 2018 lineup: The Long Hunt (PGH) JaketheHawk (PGH) Mires (PGH) Solarburn (PGH) Doctor Smoke (PGH) Fist Fight In The Parking Lot (PGH) Thunderbird Divine Cloud Curse the Son Disenchanter Molasses Barge (PGH) OutsideInside Wolftooth Sierra Horehound (PGH) Cavern Doomstress Heavy Temple Devil to Pay Serpents of Secrecy Eternal Black Demon Eye Geezer Kind Freedom Hawk Duel Come to Grief
Headliners and sub-headliners to be announced soon. Early Crow tickets available for all event and 2 day passes for 3 months (11/23 – 2/23).
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 2nd, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Located on opposite coasts, both Boston’s Kind and Los Angeles’ Salem’s Bend made their full-length debuts late in 2015. Salem’s Bend‘s was a self-release that led to their being picked up by Ripple Music, while Kind‘s Rocket Science (review here) was put out on CD by the same label with vinyl that followed this Spring. Next week, Kind will head out West to join their labelmates for a run of shows supporting their respective outings, which is no minor feat in Kind‘s case considering the band shares its members with Elder, White Dynomite (also on Ripple, with a new EP out), Rozamov and the plethora of guitarist Darryl Shepard‘s bands. There are more all the time. Dude is the Mayor of Boston’s Rock Underground.
The info for the tour is below. Grayskull Booking put the shows together and they’ve got a goodly portion of the West Coast covered, as you can see:
KIND announce West Coast dates with Salem’s Bend
Boston riff dealers KIND and Los Angeles rock merchants Salem’s Bend, both on Ripple Music, are hitting the road together for a weeklong tour of the west coast, starting in Seattle on June 9 and working their way down to San Diego on June 15.
KIND, featuring members of Elder, Roadsaw, The Scimitar and Rozamov, is touring in support of their debut full length “Rocket Science”, which has been garnering critical praise far and wide for its combination of doom, psychedelic and straight-up heavy rock. Salem’s Bend has a cassette out on Burt Records but they have since been picked up by Ripple Music, who will be releasing the tape on vinyl and compact disc in the coming months.
Expect lots of high volume riffing and memorable songs from these two bands as they travel down the west coast delivering the goods. Tour booking was handled by Grayskull Booking out of Boston.
Dates are as follows: June 7 – tba, Turlock, CA (Salem’s Bend only) June 9 – The Funhouse, Seattle, WA June 10 – High Water Mark, Portland, OR June 12 – The Golden Bull, Oakland, CA June 13 – Doll Hut, Anaheim, CA June 14 – Complex, Los Angeles/Glendale, CA June 15 – Brick By Brick, San Diego, CA
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 27th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Seems I missed a recent announcement from Keep it Low 2016 — aka Keep it Low Issue #4 — whereby the Munich-based autumnal gathering added Kind, 1000mods and Duel to its lineup. All three interesting picks. It’ll be Kind‘s first time abroad, and working with Duel means involvement from Heavy Psych Sounds, so it’s not such a surprise that in the latest round of additions, we also get Black Rainbows joining on. Elder take their place at/near the top of the bill as well, and probably the biggest question there is for Keep it Low 2016 at this point is whether or not the new Elder LP, which I hear is in the works, will be out by the time October gets here. I know I’m curious as hell to know what the trio have come up with this time around.
Also bringing their formidable presence to Keep it Low 2016 are Greenleaf, whose new album, Rise Above the Meadow, stands tall among the finest heavy rockers of the year so far, and the previously announced Monkey3, Colour Haze and Toner Low. It already looked like a good time. Now it looks like an even better one.
Dig it:
Keep It Low – Festival 2016 gets even better with the addition of:
– Massachusetts’ ultimate progressive stoner rock trio Elder (whose last album “Lore” is considered as one of the best releases of 2015),
– Sweden´s fantastic Heavy Rockers Greenleaf (who released their new album “Rise Above The Meadow” via Napalm Records in February),
– and Italian fuzz-fueled rockers BLACK RAINBOWS (who released a few weeks ago their fifth LP “Stellar Prophecy” via HeavyPsych Sounds)!
– the Hellenic grooviest psychedelic quartet 1000mods,
– the brand new Texas-based southern heavy rock outfit DUEL (featuring 2 ex Scorpion Child members)
– and Boston’s tripped out stoner doom supergroup KIND_band (featuring members of Elder, Black Pyramid, Sasquatch, Roadsaw and Rozamov).
Kind released their debut album “Rocket Science” last year via Ripple Music, Duel unleashed their first full length “Fears Of The Dead” in February via Heavy Psych Sounds, and 1000Mods are currently working on their third one, to be released next fall.
IMPORTANT: Our Early Bird action lasts until Monday, May 1st! You can purchase yours onhttp://woolheads.com/but be quick! E-Tickets are also available onhttp://www.eventim.de/
Elder, New Song Live at the Sinclair, Cambridge, MA, 03.16.16
