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Humulus Premiere “Seventh Sun” Feat. Stefan Koglek; Flowers of Death Out Sept. 1

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on August 4th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Humulus Flowers of Death

Revamped Italian heavy rockers Humulus will release their new album, Flowers of Death, on Sept. 1 through Taxi Driver Records and Kozmik Artifactz. Running seven tracks/43 minutes and varying from the heavy psychedelic post-stoner earthiness of opener “Black Water” to the blasted-into-space finale in “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth,” it is the fourth full-length overall from the Brescia trio, who made their self-titled debut in 2012. It follows a not unreasonable three years behind 2020’s The Deep (review here), and is consistent with theme that emerged there of progressing outward from their heavy rock foundation. Flowers of Death has the additional distinguishing factor of being the first Humulus outing since guitarist/vocalist Thomas Mascheroni joined the band late last year, taking the place of Andrea Van Cleef alongside bassist Giorgio Bonacorsi and drummer Massimiliano Boventi.

In some ways, that change is the story of the album. It’s not the story of the songs, but if one heard The Deep or 2017’s Reverently Heading into Nowhere (review here), there’s been incremental growth all along from the band’s beery beginnings, and that’s true here too. Swapping in Mascheroni — who also fronts garage’d psych-blues rockers Thomas Greenwood and the Talismans and did the covers for the “Seventh Sun” single (premiering below) and the LP — accounts for the shifts in sound beyond that, whether that might be manifest in the way second cut “Secret Room” follows the fluid and modern roll of “Black Water” with a faster, riffier push, turns on a dime drawn from “Misty Mountain Hop” and winds up in pastoral psych that puts one in Arbouretum-style sunshine ever so briefly, and finishes by hinting at the cosmic launch to come at Flowers of Death‘s end as it fades out.

humulus seventh sunNot only is there variety in terms of where a given song might go, but structurally between them as well. “Shimmer Haze” essentially follows one righteously swinging progression for most of its five minutes, with a guitar-led mellow break in its second half that builds back up and some groovy kick drum in its earlier verses, and when they bring back that main riff at 4:47 with barely half a minute left, they gracefully and unhurriedly tie it together as a grounded heavy rocker while holding to the exploratory atmosphere of the first two tracks. I don’t think “Shimmer Haze” is anything particularly new from Humulus, but it’s greatly to their credit that they make it come across like it is. As the centerpiece, “Buried by Tree” moves into a slightly faster tempo and is marked by the tom work behind Mascheroni‘s vocals and guitar starts and stops, coming to a head as the guitar aligns with Bonacorsi and Boventi and shoots into the chorus, departing from there into a spacious midsection that gradually jams back to another round through the verse and hook, both efficient in execution and laid back in presence.

At 7:30, “Seventh Sun” is the second longest piece on Flowers of Death and is something of a landmark for Humulus. As the band explains below, it was the first track written with Mascheroni, and its languid rollout through an extended intro positions it directly into heavy psychedelia in a way that the additional guitar from Colour Haze‘s Stefan Koglek (who also apparently leant a hand in songwriting as well) very much fits when it arrives near the song’s middle. By the time they get there, Humulus have already hypnotized the listener with the flow built around the bassline, guitar starting off, leaving, then fading back in as the track sleeks into its verse. Koglek‘s lead will be recognizable to Colour Haze fans, and its end marks a change into a more active solo and ending section, and where “Shimmer Haze” turned back from its shorter excursion to finish with reinforcement of structure, “Seventh Sun” willingly lets itself go instrumental into that good night, its residual hum seeming to last right until the snare snap of the title-track announce it’s time to boogie.

And so it may be. Surf boogie at that. Taking ’60s garage and modern heavy psych and, yeah, some surf in that guitar line, the three-piece skillfully bring the listener back from the trance of “Seventh Sun” with physical (relative) urgency in the short cut that precedes the takeoff of the 10-minute “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth” — one imagines a document with three words all-caps: “PLANT MORE TREES” — which follows suit from “Seventh Sun” in not coming back once it goes into its jam, but is resolute in its cosmic feel. Once more to the credit of Humulus‘ songwriting, the initial verses are more than a formality en route to the extended instrumental finish, which comprises the last six-plus minutes and brings subtle dynamic in its moments of digging in loud or quiet, but definitely saves its biggest thrust for last, a coursing wall of interstellar fuzz nova-blasted by a star about to be recycled.

I’m not sure one could really hope to summarize the totality of Flowers of Death in a single track anyway, and as an alternative, space rock works to emphasize the open stylistic nature of Humulus at this stage in their career, more than a decade on from their first record and with a one-third-new lineup. I’ve said on multiple occasions that swapping a guitarist — let alone a guitarist/vocalist — from a power trio is a major change for a band to make. It’s had a significant impact on Humulus as well, but they haven’t lost the thread from where The Deep was leading, even as they’ve thrown open new and exciting creative avenues to traverse.

“Seventh Sun” premieres below, with more comment from the band, preorder links, and so on after.

Please enjoy:

Humulus, “Seventh Sun” track premiere

humulus (Photo by Francesca Bordoli @francescabordoliph)

Humulus on “Seventh Sun”:

“The idea of this song came from an old bass riff that Giorgio used to play to check his sound in rehearsal, studio, live, etc. We never built up a song on this riff, so when Thomas joined the band in November 2022 was the first idea we started to jam on. This is the first song that we wrote for the new LP and during the months we’ve spent writing the rest of the songs, it changed a lot and we added and cut different parts. Also under the supervision of Stefan from Colour Haze who played an additional guitar part. For sure is one of the most psychedelic and atmospheric song of this LP and more than the others represents well the transition from the ‘Old Humulus sound’ to the new one.”

Song Name: Seventh Sun
LP Name: Flowers of Death
Music by Humulus, Lyrics by Thomas Mascheroni
Additional guitar by Stefan Koglek (Colour Haze)
Artwork for the Single by Thomas Greenwood

‘Flowers of Death’ preorder: http://www.kozmik-artifactz.com/ & http://taxidriverstore.com

Tracklisting:
1. Black Water
2. Secret Room
3. Shimmer Haze
4. Buried By Tree
5. 7th Sun
6. Flowers Of Death
7. Operating Manual For Spaceship Earth

Humulus:
Thomas Mascheroni – Guitar and Voice
Massimiliano Boventi – Drums
Giorgio Bonacorsi – Bass

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Quarterly Review: The Howling Eye, Avi C. Engel, Suns of the Tundra, Natskygge, Last Giant, Moonstone, Sonic Demon, From the Ages, Astral Magic, Green Inferno

Posted in Reviews on July 20th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

the-obelisk-qr-summer-2020

Been a trip so far, has this Quarterly Review. It’s been fun to bounce from one thing to the next, drawing imaginary lines between releases that have nothing more to do with each other than being written up on the same day, and seeing the way the mind reels in adjusting from talking about one thing to the next. It’s a different kind of challenge to write 150-200 words (and often more than that; these reviews are getting too long) about a record than 1,000 words.

Less room to make your argument means you need to say what you want to say how you want to say it and punch out. If you’ve read this site with any regularity over the last however many years, or perhaps if you’re reading this very sentence right now, right here, you might guess that such efficiency isn’t a strong suit. This assessment would be correct. Fact is I suck at any number of things. A growing list.

But we’ve made it to Thursday anyhow and today this 70-record Quarterly Review passes its halfway point, and that’s always a fun thing to mark. If you’ve been digging it, I hope you continue to do so. If nothing’s hit, maybe today. If this is the first you’re seeing of any of it, well, that’s fine too. We’re all friends here. You can go back and dig in or not, as you prefer. I’ll keep going either way. Speaking of…

Quarterly Review #31-40:

The Howling Eye, List Do Borykan

The Howling Eye List Do Borykan

I don’t often say things like this, but List Do Borykan is worth it for the opening jam of “Space Dwellers, Episode 1.” That does not mean that song’s languid flow, silly stoned space-adventure spoken word narrative, and flashes of dub and psych and so on, are all that Poland’s The Howling Eye have to offer on their third full-length. It’s not. The prior single “Medival” (sic) has a thoughtful arrangement led by post-Claypool funky bass and surf-style guitar, which are swapped out for hard-riff cacophony metal in the second half of the song’s 3:35 run. That pairing sets up a back and forth between longer jams and more structured material, but it’s all pretty out there when you hear the seven song/44 minutes of the entire record, as the 10-minute “Brothers” builds from silence to organ-laced classic rock testimony and then draws itself down to let the funkier/rolling (depending on which part you’re talking about) “Space Dwellers, Episode 2” provide a swaying melodic highlight, and “Caverns” drones into jazz minimalism for nine minutes before “Space Dwellers, Episode 3” goes full-on over-the-top 92-second dance party. Finally. That leaves the closer, “Johnny,” as the landing spot where the back and forth jams/songs trades end, and they’re due a jam and provide one, but “Johnny” also follows on theme from “Space Dwellers, Episode 3” and the start of “Medival” and other funk-psych stretches, so summarizes List Do Borykan well. Again, worth it for the first song, but is much more than just that as a listening experience.

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Avi C. Engel, Sanguinaria

Clara Engel Sanguinaria

Toronto-based folk experimentalist, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Avi C. Engel starts off the 10-song Sanguinaria with the first of its headphone-ready arrangements “Sing in Our Chains” assessing modernity and realizing, “We were better off in the trees.” In addition to Engel‘s actual voice, which is well capable of carrying records on its own, with a distinctive character, part soft and breathy in delivery but resilient with a kind of bruised grace and, as time goes on, grown more adventurous. In “Poisonous Fruit” and “The Snake in the Mirror,” folk, soul and organically-cast sprawl unfold, and where “A Silver Thread” brings in electric guitar and lap steel, “Deathless” — the longest cut at 6:33, arriving paired with the subsequent, textural “I Died Again” — is sparse at first but builds around whatever stringed instrument Engel (slow talharpa?) is playing and Paul Kolinski‘s banjo, standout vocal harmonies and a subdued keeping of rhythm. Along with Kolinski, Brad Deschamps adds lap steel to the opener and the more-forward-in-percussion “Extasis Boogie,” which is listed as an interlude but nearly five minutes long, and Lys Guillorn contributes lap steel to “A Silver Thread,” with all due landscape manifestation. Sad, complex, and beautiful, the 52-minute long-player isn’t a minor undertaking on any level, and “Personne” and the penultimate “Bridge Behind the Sun” emphasize the point of intricacy before the looping “Larvae” masterfully crafts its resonance across the last six minutes of the album.

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Suns of the Tundra, The Only Equation

suns of the tundra the only equation

Begun in 1993 as Peach, London heavy prog rockers Suns of the Tundra celebrate 30 years with the encompassing hour-long The Only Equation, their fifth album, which brings back past members of the band, has a few songs with two drummers, and is wildly sprawling across 10 still-accessible tracks that shimmer with purpose and melody. The title-track seems to harken to a ’90s push, but the twisting and volume-surging back half stave redundancy ahead of the patient drama in the 10-minute “The Rot,” which follows. On the other side of the metal-leaning “Run Boy Run,” with its big, open, floating, thudding finish representing something Suns of the Tundra do very well throughout, the three-part cycle of “Reach for the Inbetween” could probably just as easily have been one 15-minute cut, but is more palatable as three, and loses nothing of its fluidity for it, the build in the third piece giving due payoff before “The Window is Wide” caps in deceptively hooky style. Whether one approaches it with the context of their decades or not, The Only Equation is deeply welcoming. And no, its proggy prog progness won’t resonate universally, but nothing does, and that doesn’t matter anyhow. Without giving up who they are creatively, Suns of the Tundra have made it as easy as they can for one to get on board. The rest is on the listener.

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Natskygge, Eskapisme

Natskygge Eskapisme

Natskygge sneak a little “Paranoid” into “Delir,” the instrumental opener/longest track (immediate points) of their second album, Eskapisme, and that’s just fine as dogwhistles go. The Danish classic psych rockers made a well-received self-titled debut in 2020 and look to expand on that outing’s classic vibe with this 34-minute eight-tracker, which is rife with creative ambition in the slower “Lys på vej” and the piano-laced “Fjern planet,” which follows, as well as in a mover/shaker like “Titusind år,” the compact three-minute strutter “Frit fald” or what might be the side B leadoff “Feberdrøm” with its circa-1999 Brant Bjork casual groove and warm fuzz, purposefully veering into psychedelia in a way that feels like a preface for the closing duo “Livet brænder,” an organ/keyboard flourish, grounded verse and airy swirls over top leading smoothly into the likewise-peppered but acoustically-based “Den der sidst gik ud,” which conveys patience without giving up the momentum the band has amassed up to that point. I’ll note that my ignorance of the Danish language doesn’t feel like it’s holding me back as “Fjern planet” holds forth its lush melancholy or “Titusind år” signals the band’s affinity for krautrock. Not quite vintage in production, but not too far off, Eskapisme feels like it was made to be lived with, the songs engaged over a period of years, and I look forward to revisiting accordingly.

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Last Giant, Monuments

last giant monuments

Portland’s Last Giant reportedly had a bit of a time recording their fourth long-player, Monuments, in a months-long process involving multiple studios and a handful of producers, among them Adam Pike (Holy Grove, Young Hunter, Red Fang, Mammoth Salmon, etc.) recording basic tracks, Paul Malinowski (Shiner, Open Hand) mixing and three different rounds of mastering. Complicated. Working as the three-piece of founder, principal songwriter, guitarist and vocalist RFK Heise (ex-System and Station), bassist Palmer Cloud and drummer Matt Wiles — it was just Heise and Wiles on 2020’s Let the End Begin (review here) — the band effectively fill in whatever cracks may have been apparent to them in the finished product, and the 10-track/39-minute offering is pop-informed as all their output to-date has been and loaded with heart. Also a bit of trumpet on “Saviors.” There’s swagger in “Blue” and “Hell on Burnside,” and “Feels Like Water” is about as weighted and brash as I’ve heard Last Giant get — a fun contrast to the acoustic “Lost and Losing,” which closes — but wherever a given track ends up, it is deftly guided there by Heise‘s sure hand. Sounds like it was much easier to make than apparently it was.

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Moonstone, Growth

moonstone growth

Growth is either the second or third full-length from Polish heavy psych doomers Moonstone depending on what you count, but by the time you’re about three minutes into the 7:47 of second cut “Bloom” after the gets-loud-at-the-end-anyway atmospheric intro “Harvest” — which establishes an undercurrent of metal that the rest of the six-song/36-minute LP holds even in its quietest parts — ordinal numbering won’t matter anyway. “Bloom” and “Sun” (8:02), which follows, are the longest pieces on Growth, and that in itself speaks to the band stripping back some of their jammier impulses as compared to, say, late 2021’s two-song 12″ 1904 (discussed here), but while the individual tracks may be shorter, they give up nothing as regards largesse of tone or the spaces the band inhabit in the material. Flowing and doomed, “Sun” ends side A and gives over to the extra-bass-punch meditativeness of “Night,” the guitar building in the second half to solo for the payoff, while the six-minutes-each “Lust” and “Emerald” filter Electric Wizard haze and the proggy volume trades of countrymen like Spaceslug, respectively, close with due affirmation of purpose in big tone, big groove, and a noteworthy dark streak that may yet come to the fore of their approach.

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Sonic Demon, Veterans of the Psychic War

Sonic Demon Veterans of the Psychic War

It’s not quite the centerpiece, but in terms of the general perspective on the world of the record from which it comes, there’s little arguing with Sonic Demon‘s “F.O.A.D.” as the declarative statement on Veterans of the Psychic War. As with Norway’s Darkthrone, who released an LP titled F.O.A.D. in 2007, Sonic Demon‘s “F.O.A.D.” stands for ‘fuck off and die,’ and that seems to be the central ethic they’re working from. Like most of what surrounds on the Italian duo’s follow-up to 2021’s Vendetta (review here), “F.O.A.D.” is coated in tonal dirt, a nastiness of buzz in line with the stated mentality making songs like swinging opener “Electric Demon” and “Lucifer’s the Light,” which follows, raw even by post-Uncle Acid garage doom standards. There are moments of letup, as in the wah-swirling second half of “The Black Pill,” a bit of psych bookending in “Wolfblood,” or the penultimate (probably thankfully) instrumental “Sexmagick Nights,” but the forward drive in “The Gates” highlights the point of Sonic Demon hand-drilling their riffs into the listener’s skull, and the actually-stoned-sounding groove of closer “To Hell and Back” seems pleased to bask in the filth the album has wrought.

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From the Ages, II

from the ages ii

If you’re taking on From the Ages‘ deceptively-titled first full-length, II — the trio of guitarist Paul Dudziak, bassist Sean Fredrich and drummer David Tucker issued their I EP in 2021, so this is their second release overall — it is perhaps useful to know that the only inclusion with vocals is opener/longest track (immediate points) “Harbinger.” An automatic focal point for that, for its transposed Sleep influence, and for being about four minutes longer than anything else on the album, it draws well together with the five sans-vox cuts that follow, with an exploratory sensibility in its jam that feels like it may be from whence a clearly-plotted song like “Maelstrom” or the lumbering volume trades of “Tenebrous” originate. Full in tone and present in the noisy slog and pre-midpoint drift of “Epoch” as well as Dudziak‘s verses in “Harbinger,” From the Ages seem willful in their intention to try out different ideas, whether that’s the winding woe of “Obsolescence” or the acoustilectric standalone guitar of closer “Providence,” and while that can make the listener less sure of where their development might take them in stylistic terms, that only results in their being more exciting to hear in the now.

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Astral Magic, Cosmic Energy Flow

astral magic cosmic energy flow

Not only is Astral Magic‘s Cosmic Energy Flow — released in May of this year — not the first outing from the Finnish space rock outfit led by project founder and spearhead Santtu Laakso in 2023, it’s the eighth. And that doesn’t include the demo short release with a live band. It’s also not the latest Astral Magic about two months after the fact, as Laakso and company have put out two full-lengths since. Unrealistic as this level of productivity is — surely the work of dimensional timeporting — and already-out-of-date as the eight-song/42-minute LP might be, it also brings Laakso into collaboration with the late Nik Turner of Hawkwind, who plays sax on the opening title-track, as well as guitarists Ilya Lipkin of Russia’s The Re-Stoned and Stefan Olesinski (Nuns on Napalm), and vocalists Christina Poupoutsi (The Higher Craft, The Meads of Asphodel, etc.) and Kev Ellis (Dubbal, Heliotrope, etc.), and where one might think so many personnel shifts around Laakso‘s synth-forward basic tracks would result in a disjointed offering, well, anything can happen in space and when you throw open doors in such a way, expectations broaden accordingly. Maybe it’s just one thing on the way to the next, maybe it’s the record with Nik Turner. Either way, Astral Magic move inextricably deeper into the known and unknown cosmos.

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Green Inferno, Trace the Veins

Green Inferno Trace the Veins

Until the solo hits in the second half of “The Barrens,” you almost don’t realize how much space there is in the mix on Green Inferno‘s Trace the Veins. The New Jersey trio like it dank and deathly as they answer the rawness of their 2019 demo with the six Esben Willems-mastered tracks of their first album, porting over “Spellcaster” and “Unearth the Tombs” to rest in the same mud as malevolent plodders like “Carried to the Pit” and the penultimate “Vultures,” which adds higher-register screaming to the already-established low growls — I doubt it’s actually an influence, but I’m reminded of Amorphis circa Elegy — that give the whole outing such an extreme persona if the guitar and bass tones weren’t already taking care of it. The tortured feel there carries into closer “Crown the Virgin” as the three-piece attempt to stomp their own riffs into oblivion along with everything else, and one can only hope they get there. New songs or the two older tracks, doesn’t matter. At any angle you might choose, Green Inferno are slow-churned extreme sludge, death-sludge if you want, fully stoned, drenched in murk, disillusioned, misanthropic. It’s the sound of looking at the world around you and deciding it’s not worth saving. Did I mention stoned? Good.

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Haurun to Release Debut Album Wilting Within on Small Stone Records & Kozmik Artifactz

Posted in Whathaveyou on July 17th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

I accidentally stumbled on this release yesterday while I was kicking around on Bandcamp, and it was a welcome thing to find. Spacey vibe, atmospheric heavy, rich tones and melodies in the single all making for an album I didn’t know I was looking forward to. Wilting Within will be the first long-player from Oakland, California-based Haurun, and it will be out on Sept. 22 through Small Stone and Kozmik Artifactz. The song at the bottom of this post is the six-and-a-half-minute “Lunar,” which is the second cut on the vinyl edition and fifth on the CD/DL, so I guess its flow goes where it has to go, but obviously I don’t know yet how it works alongside the other songs. That’s the whole ‘looking forward to the record’ part. I guess we’ll get there.

Until then, here’s to a bit of oh-what’s-this and the righteousness that can result from following those impulses to meander. From the PR wire:

haurun wilting within

HAURUN: California Heavy Psych Collective To Release Wilting Within Debut September 22nd Via Small Stone Recordings; New Track Streaming + Preorders Available

Oakland, California-based heavy psych collective HAURUN will release their spellbinding debut full-length, Wilting Within, September 22nd via Small Stone Recordings.

Haurun is the product of five musicians with a love of dark tones and psychedelia. Through the mysterious world of Craigslist, Joel Panton (guitar) and Eliot Rennie (drums) began writing music in 2018 with shared influences of Black Sabbath, Earth, and Kyuss. After a long and challenging search to find the right musicians, they banded together with Lyra Cruz (vocals), Daniel Schwiderski (guitar), and Joel Lacey (bass) to deliver a sound that’s heavy whilst deeply emotive.

Emerging from the cloud of a covid pandemic, Haurun are releasing their debut album ‘Wilting Within’ for Small Stone Records. All tracks were recorded and engineered with the mighty Phil Becker (El Studio, SF) who captured the intensity and melodic soundscape of Haurun’s live performance. Finishing it all off, Eric Hoegemeyer (Tree Laboratory, NY) and Chris Goosman (Baseline Audio, MI) worked their alchemical magic in mixing and mastering.

Wilting Within is a journey through layers of slow burning verses and expansive choruses, infused with the enchanting power of Lyra’s vocals. Haurun transcends genres, blending the hypnotic riffs of doom metal and the gritty essence of grunge to deliver a fresh sound, casting psychedelic spells on the listener.

Wilting Within will be released on CD and digitally via Small Stone Recordings and on limited vinyl via Kozmik Artifactz. For preorders, visit THIS LOCATION: https://smallstone.bandcamp.com/album/wilting-within

Tracklisting:
1. Abyss
2. Lost & Found
3. Tension
4. Flying Low
5. Lunar
6. Soil

Vinyl Tracklisting:
Side 1:
1. Abyss – (08:27)
2. Lunar – (06:30)
3. Tension – (07:41)
Side 2:
1. Flying Low – (05:20)
2. Lost & Found – (05:55)
3. Soil – (11:03)

Wilting Within was recorded and engineered with the mighty Phil Becker at El Studio in San Francisco, California who captured the intensity and melodic soundscape of HAURUN’s live performance. Eric Hoegemeyer at the Tree Laboratory in Brooklyn, New York and Chris Goosman at Baseline Audio in Ann Arbor, Michigan worked their alchemical magic in mixing and mastering. Design and Artwork by Orion Landau. All music by Haurun. Lyrics by Lyra Cruz. Published by SH Small Stone Music (BMI).

Haurun is:
Lyra Cruz: vocals
Joel Paul Lacey: bass
Daniel Schwiderski: guitar
Joel Panton: guitar
Eliot Rennie: drums

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https://smallstone.bandcamp.com/

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Haurun, Wilting Within (2023)

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Humulus to Release Flowers of Death Sept. 1

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 23rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan

humulus (Photo by Francesca Bordoli @francescabordoliph)

Something of a different look from Humulus on their upcoming Flowers of Death LP. The follow-up to 2020’s The Deep (review here) sees the Brescia-based three-piece making their first offering with new guitarist/vocalist Thomas Mascheroni, who joined the band late last year, playing alongside bassist Giorgio Bonacorsi and drummer/band-ambassador Massimiliano Boventi. The heft is still there, as songs like “Shimmer Haze” and “Buried by Tree” will attest, but some of the burl has been swapped out for an exploratory sense, and Mascheroni imports some of his psychedelic and melodic sensibility from his solo work — he also did the cover art — giving a fresh voice to the group who released their beer-rocking self-titled debut in 2012.

They don’t sound like a completely different band — though they do go full-space rock at the end with “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth,” with engrossing results — but like they’re pursuing the direction they took with the somewhat-left-turn that their 2020 LP represented, and they sound like they’ve restructured the group, which they have. Mascheroni replaces Andrea Van Cleef in Humulus, and has a style of his own. I’m not going to say it’s better or worse now, because that’s not really what it’s about — though if you want radical honesty, Humulus now are probably more in line with what I’d put on for a given afternoon — but listening to Flowers of Death as I’ve been fortunate enough to do, they sound excited and eager to plumb these new reaches of sound, and I look forward to hearing where they end up.

They’re confirmed for Keep it Low in Munich this year, which Colour Haze also regularly play, it being their hometown. You’ll note that band’s guitarist Stefan Koglek had a hand in advising on songwriting (not a tutelage that’s going to hurt) and plays extra guitar on “Seventh Sun.” That song has a mellow drift and the kind of build that I very much wouldn’t mind watching emanate from a festival stage. I won’t make it to Keep it Low unless a miracle happens, but as a word to the wise, it’s something you might consider.

I’ll hope to have more to come on the record as we get closer to the release. For now, here’s the announcement and some words on it from Boventi:

Humulus Flowers of Death

HUMULUS – Flowers Of Death

Release date: 1st September 2023

Preorder link: http://shop.bilocationrecords.com/

Label: Kozmik Artifactz (LP, 300 copies) Taxi Driver (CD, 300 copies)

Says Massimiliano Boventi: “I think that the most important thing for a band like us who recently had a lineup change, is to start immediately to work hard on new material…and it’s exactly what we did from november until april 2023. The result is an LP that reflects what Humulus are in this moment: you can feel in the songs the ‘classical’ Humulus style that is more connected to the rhythmical part of the band, the oldest part :) , and the fresh air given by the new member. But the most important thing for us is that these parts are well connected and we feel us again as a band, musically speaking but also as friends.

It was also a pleasure and a great honour to be helped by Stefan Koglek from Colour Haze who gave us precious tips about what to do in the songs without changing our band sound. We never did this before with other artists for previous records and was really a different and very stimulating thing to do for composing part of the LP. And he played an additional guitar part on the song called “Seventh Sun”.

So we are really excited about this release, and also some gigs for October and November are coming.

All the songs are written and played by Humulus.
This Lp was recorded in April 2023 at IndieBox Music Hall Studio (Brescia) by Giovanni Bottoglia.
Cover art by Thomas Mascheroni (our Singer and Guitar player).
Stefan Koglek: Additional guitar on “Seventh Sun”.

Humulus:
Thomas Mascheroni – Guitar and Voice
Massimiliano Boventi – Drums
Giorgio Bonacorsi – Bass

https://www.facebook.com/humulusband
https://www.instagram.com/humulus.band/
http://www.humulus.bandcamp.com

http://kozmik-artifactz.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kozmikartifactz
https://www.instagram.com/kozmikartifactz/
https://kozmik-artifactz.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/taxidriverrecords/
https://www.instagram.com/taxidriverworld/
https://taxidriverstore.bandcamp.com/
http://taxidriverstore.com

Humulus, The Deep (2020)

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Borracho Announce New Album Blurring the Lines of Reality Out Aug. 18; Playing Maryland Doom Fest

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 21st, 2023 by JJ Koczan

borracho

This weekend, Washington D.C. heavy rockers Borracho — now more than 15 years deep into their tenure — will appear at Maryland Doom Fest in Frederick, MD. Not their first time there, and I’d have to imagine that even before they take the stage, the crowd there will know and be glad to see them. That’s kind of just how it goes. When you’re there, you’re doomed family.

That honestly would be enough for me to post about Borracho, having just seen them in April, I’m more than comfortable encouraging others to follow suit in catching a set, but here’s news as well of their next album, Blurring the Lines of Reality. News like that it exists! And that it’s coming out! On Aug. 18! If all these exclamation points don’t have your blood pumping, then be certain the heavy riffage will. Such is Borracho.

The other thing, of course, is a first single. It’s called “Architects of Chaos I” and check out Borracho with a bit of psychedelic digging in. Obviously, you already know that once they get going it’s dense-riff groove all the way and Borracho most certainly do not mess around in that regard, but if you caught the trio’s surprise-release instrumental two-songer, Kozmic Safari + The Deep Unknown (review here), you might be pleased to know the sonic expansion continues. Wait till you hear the rest of the record — not that I have, or anything.

From the PR wire, the following:

borracho blurring the lines of reality

DC Heavyweights BORRACHO Return with Highly Anticipated Album BLURRING THE LINES OF REALITY | Listen to Their New Single Now!

This Summer, Washington DC’s steadfast heavyweight stalwarts Borracho return to shake up the underground and blur your reality.

Creating a sonic tapestry that transcend boundaries, the band combines elements of classic, doom, and progressive rock to form a signature sound that has resonated with fans since their formation over fifteen years ago.

Drawing on influences spanning decades, they combine soaring musicality with subterranean propulsion, encompassing the hard-driven strut of bands like Black Sabbath and Mountain, stoner jams of Clutch and Fu Manchu, and the unmistakable energetic sensibilities of Mastodon and High on Fire.

Adding to an already impressive discography, their highly anticipated fifth studio album – Blurring the Lines of Reality – will get an official release this August on German label, Kozmik Artifactz, and cement their rightful place at the centre of the US underground stoner rock scene.

“We couldn’t be more excited about the release of Blurring the Lines of Reality. It really pulls together so many elements of our sound and reflects the emotions and challenges of the period it was written during a global pandemic. We think we’ve crafted a truly immersive and powerful listening experience that fans, and newcomers will really enjoy,” explains drummer Mario Trubiano.

Their lead single, ‘Architects of Chaos I’, is the first of three connected tracks that make up an entire side of the album. Full of Eastern influence the song unfolds into a dissection of the socio-political issues that have shaped the world we live in. A theme that carries through much of the album. One of the ways the band indulged in this exploration was by using AI in the creation of both the album art and the video for the single. As you’ll see, technology is both powerful and scary in equal measure, highlighting the potential for its use and its misuse.

Borracho’s Blurring the Lines of Reality will be officially released on 18th August 2023 on Kozmik Artifactz. Watch the video for their new single ‘Architects of Chaos I’ here.

They perform at The Maryland Doom Fest on June 22 at Cafe 611 in Frederick Maryland.

BORRACHO:
Steve Fisher – Guitar, Vocals
Mario Trubiano – Drums, Percussion
Tim Martin – Bass, Backing Vocals

https://www.facebook.com/pg/BorrachoDC/
http://twitter.com/borracho_DC
https://borracho.bandcamp.com/
http://www.borrachomusic.com/

http://kozmik-artifactz.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kozmikartifactz/
http://shop.bilocationrecords.com/

Borracho, “Architects of Chaos I” official video

Borracho, Kozmic Safari + The Deep Unknown (2023)

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To Yo Premiere “Soaring”; Stray Birds From the Far East Out Aug. 18

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on May 16th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

to yo stray birds from the far east

Japanese psychedelic rockers Tō Yō will release their debut album, Stray Birds From the Far East, on Aug. 18 through King Volume Records and Kozmik Artifactz. With depth of arrangement enough to allow for the various effects and hand percussion, shifting moods coming and going, as well as funky grooves and broadened sometimes folkish vocal melodies from guitarist Masami Makino, the six-song/30-minute offering brings forth a vibrant, movement-ready psychedelia that’s not shy about freaking out in the wah-soaked, let’s-bang-on-stuff ending of “Tears of the Sun” or the thicker fuzz of the subsequent “Titania Skyline,” but the band introduce themselves gently if quickly on opener “Soaring,” as if in the first 45 seconds or so, they’re looking around at reality and saying, “Okay, we tried that, now let’s move on to this,” and citing the drift/strum guitars of Masami and Sebun Tanji, Issaku Vincent‘s boogie bass and Hibiki Amano‘s drumming and percussion as an alternate, perhaps preferable path to follow. The argument made is convincing.

Its personality is complex enough to be more than one thing even sometimes at once, but Stray Birds From the Far East never quite lets go of its abidingly mellow spirit, which even as “Soaring” moves into start-stop jangle near its finish, percussion going all-in underneath, holds steady. Funk is at the forefront on “Hyu Dororo,” which goes dream-tone in its bridge but returns to the verse, and side A’s capper “Twin Mountains” melts vintage heavy rock and psychedelia together so that the snare and hand-drum meet up on the beat as the howling guitar solo floats ahead before the second verse starts up in the same stratosphere. At 3:41, the song is short — the shortest on the LP, but not by a ton — but even in that more clear structure, the feel Tō Yō present is organic, prone to subtlety and given to a kind of communion with its own making.

One often thinks of the phrase ‘locked in’ as a way to convey a band effectively communicating with each other musically, perhaps to the exclusion of the outside world. The rhythm and melody and interplay of instruments becomes the thing. Tō Yō are locked in on Stray Birds From the Far East, but far from keeping listeners on the other side of the door, the warmth of their tones and sometimes soft vocals and the feeling of motion in the low end and percussion give an unmistakable feeling of welcome to the entire proceedings.

to yo

They might be locked in, but that doesn’t mean you’re not invited too. Talking about “Soaring” below, they call it danceable, which is true of much of the record thanks to the interplay of various rhythms, and as “Tears of the Sun” moves deeper into its second half, the build in intensity is resonant enough to feel in your blood, even if as much as I agree with the physical urgency there, I wouldn’t call the leadoff or anything that follows ‘primitive’ in either its construction or the end-product of the arrangements themselves, though there are certainly aspects of traditional Japanese folk music, as well as some hints of Mediterranean traditionalism and/or Afrobeat — one hates to use a phrase like ‘world music’ — to go along with a wash that might be familiar to those who’ve previously dived into the work of outfits like Dhidalah or others from the Guruguru Brain Records-fostered, deeply-adventurous current generation of J-psych.

“Titania Skyline” is positioned ahead of closer “Li Ma Li” and starts its verse early to reground after “Tears of the Sun” left off with such a noiseblast. Backing vocals, a steady, jazzy snare and noodly rhythmic figure on guitar below the lead provide ample groove as a foundation, and after dropping a quick hint of Captain Beyond‘s “Mesmerization Eclipse,” they embark at 2:45 into a follow-up raucous jam to reinforce that of “Tears of the Sun” prior, never losing the underlying progression until it drops to a quick bite of feedback as preface to “Li Ma Li,” which begins with swirl behind a mellow-funk nod, spaces out the vocals engagingly and adds what sounds like organ or other synth that bolsters the classic vibe in a manner righteous and well-placed. The vocals reside in a kind of sub-falsetto upper register, and the shift is fascinating.

The song will solidify near the end — relatively speaking — around a steady riff and a bit of low-key scorch, but the proceedings are friendly regardless, and that initial gentle sensibility from “Soaring” is a further unifier of the material that enters Tō Yō into the vibrant fray of the Japanese psychedelic underground, showing them as willing to explore new ideas even as they bask in decades’ worth of lysergic aural influence. Subdued but not lazy, Stray Birds From the Far East finds its balance in fluidity and feels like the breakthrough point of a seed that will continue to flower over future outings. One hopes for precisely that.

You can stream “Soaring” on the player below, followed by some comment from Tō Yō and info from the PR wire.

Please enjoy:

Tō Yō, “Soaring” track premiere

Tō Yō on “Soaring”:

This track anticipates the beginning of the journey and is a good entry point into our world. The lyrics are spiritual, in that the land of the unseen is always inside of you. Imagine flying somewhere far away and returning home as completely synonymous.

The beat is very danceable, maybe not rock-like in a sense, but considering the connection between the slow tempo parts, this was the best way to create the most beautiful transitions. It’s obvious how many instruments are used to create the beat, but that’s not what we intended, in a way, the melody is almost entirely left to the vocals, which calls to mind a primitive form of musical expression. I think this primal juxtaposition helps induce a sense of spirituality.

Most of the tracks were created from jamming, and we thought about what percussion would be great for the track while recording, which is our style. Most of the percussion was improvised by our crazy drummer Hibiki.

Tō Yō, the Tokyo-based psychedelic quartet, has announced their debut record Stray Birds From the Far East—a dreamy, pop-infused psych/acid rock concept album about nostalgia for a place yet to be discovered—to be released through King Volume Records on August 18, 2023.

The Tō Yō sound is simultaneously unique yet familiar—but it’s also moving. “Our psychedelic sound is at times violent and at times naïve,” says vocalist and guitarist Masami Makinom, “but we also believe our sound is meant to awaken the most primitive senses in order to sublimate the rise of the soul and its uncontrollable impulses.”

Tō Yō is an ambitious band with an ambitious vision, so it’s no surprise some of their biggest influences are known for complex, groundbreaking visions; Far East Family Band, J. A. Seazer, Flower Travellin’ Band, Kikagaku Moyo, YU Grupa, Ali Farka Touré, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and Red Hot Chili Peppers all show up in the list of the band’s most important influences.

As a self-described jam band, hashing out Tō Yō’s songs in the studio was a necessity, but it also proved to be a strategic benefit, as working with engineer Yui Kimijima at Tsubame Studio (the mecca for today’s Japanese psychedelic rock) in Tokyo helped the band take their sound to the next level.

“He is not sparing in his experimentation,” says Makinom. “In fact, the studio has a wonderful atmosphere that inspires the imagination, with instruments that we have never touched, and things that were originally used for other purposes but can function as instruments. For example, in ‘Tears of the Sun,’ the glittering steel popping sound in the second half is actually the sound of a tarai—a tin tub.”

With Tō Yō, the band embarks on an ambitious journey of experimentation and musical risks, but this has led to a colorful and often unpredictable sonic tapestry that embodies their myriad influences while combining with the heroics of indie darlings Built to Spill, the shimmering charm of My Morning Jacket, the carefree spirit of surf rock, and the wild, swirling sounds of the psychedelic giants of the 1970s.

Recording: Yui Kimijima at Tsubame Studio in Asakusabashi, Tokyo
Mastering: Yui Kimijima at Tsubame Studio in Asakusabashi, Tokyo
Art: Todd Ryan White

Tracklisting:
Side A:
1. Soaring
2. Hyu Dororo
3. Twin Mountains
Side B:
4. Tears of the Sun
5. Titania Skyline
6. Li Ma Li

Band:
Masami Makino (vocals, guitar)
Sebun Tanji (guitar)
Issaku Vincent (bass)
Hibiki Amano (drums, percussion)

Tō Yō on Instagram

Tō Yō on Bandcamp

King Volume Records on Facebook

King Volume Records on Bandcamp

King Volume Records store

Kozmik Artifactz on Facebook

Kozmik Artifactz website

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Borracho Release Surprise Two-Songer Kozmic Safari + The Deep Unknown; Playing Grim Reefer Fest This Weekend

Posted in Whathaveyou on April 28th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Cheers to whoever brought the synth and/or Echoplex to the studio that day. Later this year, Washington D.C. heavy rockers Borracho will release their next album. I’ve heard it and it’s some of their best work to-date, but believe it or not, that actually doesn’t matter right now, because today the three-piece who in 2023 mark 15 years of the band release a new instrumental two-songer called Kozmic Safari + The Deep Unknown ahead of appearing at this weekend’s Grim Reefer Fest in Baltimore with Bongzilla and Ilsa and other assorted excellent company.

The pair of cuts were recorded, of course, with Frank “The Punisher” Marchand, and given the extent of his prior work with the band, it’s no surprise the foundation of swing is as solid as one could possibly ask while the guitar and effects, keyboard and synth space the songs out. Listen to the layering in the mix of “The Deep Unknown” and the way the guitar seems to cut through the surrounding expanse. These aren’t throw away pieces, and as they wouldn’t necessarily fit with the general approach of the album to come, which is more in line with their standard approach vis a vis hooks, riffs, nod, all that fun stuff, having them as a standalone offering makes sense all the more when you listen. You might consider doing so presently.

If you’re headed to that all-dayer this weekend — hope to see you there — you probably shouldn’t expect Borracho to play either of these songs live. “Kozmic Safari,” which is not to be confused with their label, Kozmik Artifactz, and “The Deep Unknown” are departures for sure from Borracho‘s standard methodology — I’ll say as well it’s been a long time since I saw them last — but they’re not the first time the band have rooted around territory outside wheelhouse walls. This suits them. I’d be interested to hear it with vocals at some point — Steve Fisher has a good voice for asking what the hell is going on lyrically, and I think this would suit that — but they may or may not ever get there, honestly.

Still, a little something special to herald the LP to come and maybe inject a bit of urgency into your Saturday plans if you’re within driving distance to Baltimore. More on Grim Reefer Fest is here, by the way. Also worth noting they’ll be at Maryland Doom Fest in June:

Hoisted from Bandcamp:

Borracho Kozmic Safari The Deep Unknown

This pair of instrumentals showcases the band’s psychedelic side, taking listeners on a trip through spacey soundscapes.

The tracks were recorded during the sessions for the band’s upcoming new album with longtime engineer/producer Frank Marchand, and feature heavy use of theremin, synthesizers, and old school analog effects.

Tracklisting:
1. Kozmic Safari 03:45
2. The Deep Unknown 03:58

Kozmic Safari and The Deep Unknown were produced by Borracho, and recorded and mixed by Frank “The Punisher” Marchand at Waterford Digital in Pasadena, Maryland in December 2021, and February – May, 2022. Mastered by Kent Stump at Crystal Clear Sound. All music by Borracho. © 2023 Repetitive Heavy Grooves Music. Cover art created by Tim with DeepAI. Cover concept, layout and design by TMD, Washington, D.C.

Borracho is:
Steve Fisher: guitar/vocals
Tim Martin: bass/sometimes vocals
Mario Trubiano: drums

https://www.facebook.com/pg/BorrachoDC/
http://twitter.com/borracho_DC
https://borracho.bandcamp.com/
http://www.borrachomusic.com/

http://kozmik-artifactz.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kozmikartifactz/
http://shop.bilocationrecords.com/

Borracho, Kozmic Safari + The Deep Unknown (2023)

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Quarterly Review: Siena Root, Los Mundos, Minnesota Pete Campbell, North Sea Noise Collective, Sins of Magnus, Nine Altars, The Freqs, Lord Mountain, Black Air, Bong Coffin

Posted in Reviews on April 11th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

the-obelisk-qr-summer-2020

If you missed yesterday, be advised, it’s not too late. If you miss today, be advised as well that tomorrow’s not too late. One of the things I enjoy most about the Quarterly Review is that it puts the lie to the idea that everything on the internet has to be so fucking immediate. Like if you didn’t hear some release two days before it actually came out, somehow a week, a month, a year later, you’ve irreparably missed it.

That isn’t true in the slightest, and if you want proof, I’m behind on shit ALL. THE. TIME. and nine times out of 10, it just doesn’t matter. I’ll grant that plenty of music is urgent and being in that moment when something really cool is released can be super-exciting — not taking away from that — but hell’s bells, you can sit for the rest of your life and still find cool shit you’ve never heard that was released half a century ago, let alone in January. My advice is calm down and enjoy the tunes; and yes, I’m absolutely speaking to myself as much as to you.

Quarterly Review #11-20:

Siena Root, Revelation

siena root revelation

What might be their eighth LP, depending on what counts as what, Revelation is the second from Siena Root to feature vocalist/organist Zubaida Solid up front alongside seemingly-now-lone guitarist Johan Borgström (also vocals) and the consistent foundation provided by the rhythm section of bassist Sam Riffer (also some vocals) and drummer Love “Billy” Forsberg. Speaking a bit to their own history, the long-running Swedish classic heavy rockers inject a bit of sitar (by Stian Grimstad) and hand-percussion into “Leaving the City,” but the 11-song/46-minute offering is defined in no small part by a bluesy feel, and Solid‘s vocal performance brings that aspect to “Leaving the City” as well, even if the sonic focus for Siena Root is more about classic prog and blues rock of hooky inclusions like the organ-and-guitar grooving opener “Coincidence and Fate” and the gently funky “Fighting Gravity,” or even the touch of folkish jazz in “Winter Solstice,” though the sitar does return on side B’s “Madukhauns” ahead of the organ/vocal showcase closer “Keeper of the Flame,” which calls back to the earlier “Dalecarlia Stroll” with a melancholy Deep Purple could never quite master and a swinging payoff that serves as just one final way in which Siena Root once more demonstrate they are pure class in terms of execution.

Siena Root on Facebook

Atomic Fire Records website

 

Los Mundos, Eco del Universo

los mundos eco del universo

The latest and (again) maybe-eighth full-length to arrive within the last 10 years from Monterrey, Mexico’s Los Mundos, Eco del Universo is an immersive dreamboat of mellow psychedelia, with just enough rock to not be pure drift on a song like “Hanna,” but still an element of shoegaze to bring the cool kids on board. Effects gracefully channel-swap alongside languid vocals (in Spanish, duh) with a melodicism that feels casual but is not unconsidered either in that song or the later “Rocas,” which meets Western-tinged fuzz with a combination of voices from bassist/keyboardist Luis Ángel Martínez, guitarist/synthesist/sitarist Alejandro Elizondo and/or drummer Ricardo Antúnez as the band is completed by guitarist/keyboardist/sitarist Raúl González. Yes, they have two sitarists; they need both, as well as all the keyboards, and the modular synth, and the rest of it. All of it. Because no matter what arrangement elements are put to use in the material, the songs on Eco del Universo just seem to absorb it all into one fluid approach, and if by the time the hum-drone and maybe-gong in the first minute of opener “Las Venas del Cielo” unfolds into the gently moody and gorgeous ’60s-psych pop that follows you don’t agree, go back and try again. Space temples, music engines in the quirky pop bounce of “Gente del Espacio,” the shape of air defined amid semi-krautrock experimentalism in “La Forma del Aire”; esta es la música para los lugares más allá. Vamos todos.

Los Mundos on Facebook

The Acid Test Recordings store

 

Minnesota Pete Campbell, Me, Myself & I

Minnesota Pete Campbell Me Myself and I

Well, you see, sometimes there’s a global pandemic and even the most thoroughly-banded of artists starts thinking about a solo record. Not to make light of either the plague or the decision or the result experience from “Minnesota” Pete Campbell (drummer of Pentagram, Place of Skulls, In~Graved, VulgarriGygax, Sixty Watt Shaman for a hot minute, guitarist of The Mighty Nimbus, etc.), but he kind of left himself open to it with putting “Lockdown Blues” and the generally personal nature of the songs on, Me, Myself and I, his first solo album in a career of more than two decades. The nine-song/46-minute riffy splurge is filled with love songs seemingly directed at family in pieces like “Lightbringer,” “You’re My Angel,” the eight-minute “Swimming in Layla’s Hair,” the two-minute “Uryah vs. Elmo,” so humanity and humility are part of the general vibe along with the semi-Southern grooves, easy-rolling heavy blues swing, acoustic/electric blend in the four-minute purposeful sans-singing meander of “Midnight Dreamin’,” and so on. Five of the nine inclusions feature Campbell on vocals, and are mixed for atmosphere in such a way as to make me believe he doesn’t think much of himself as a singer — there’s some yarl, but he’s better than he gives himself credit for on both the more uptempo and brash “Starlight” and the mellow-Dimebag-style “Whispers of Autumn,” which closes — but there’s a feeling-it-out sensibility to the tracks that only makes the gratitude being expressed (either lyrically or not) come through as more sincere. Heck man, do another.

Minnesota Pete Campbell on Facebook

Kozmik Artifactz website

 

North Sea Noise Collective, Roudons

North Sea Noise Collective Roudons

Based in the Netherlands, North Sea Noise Collective — sometimes also written as Northsea Noise Collective — includes vocals for the first time amid the experimental ambient drones of the four pieces on the self-released Roudons, which are reinterpretations of Frisian rockers Reboelje, weirdo-everythingist Arnold de Boer and doom legends Saint Vitus. The latter, a take on the signature piece “Born Too Late” re-titled “Dit Doarp” (‘this village’ in English), is loosely recognizable in its progression, but North Sea Noise Collective deep-dives into the elasticity of music, stretching limits of where a song begins and ends conceptually. Modular synth hums, ebbs and flows throughout “Wat moatte wy dwaan as wy gjin jild hawwe,” which follows opener “Skepper fan de skepper” and immerses further in open spaces crafted through minimalist sonic architecture, the vocals chanting like paeans to the songs themselves. It should probably go without saying that Roudons isn’t going to resonate with all listeners in the same way, but universal accessibility is pretty clearly low on the album’s priority list, and for as dug-in as Roudons is, that’s right where it should be.

North Sea Noise Collective on Facebook

North Sea Noise Collective on Bandcamp

 

Sins of Magnus, Secrets of the Cosmos

Sins of Magnus Secrets of the Cosmos

Philly merchants Sins of Magnus offer their fourth album in the 12 songs/48 minutes of Secrets of the Cosmos, and while said secrets may or may not actually be included in the record’s not-insignificant span, I’ll say that I’ve yet to find the level of volume that’s too loud for the record to take. And maybe that’s the big secret after all. In any case, the three-piece of bassist/vocalist Eric Early, guitarist/vocalist Rich Sutcliffe and drummer Sean Young tap classic heavy rock vibes and aim them on a straight-line road to riffy push. There’s room for some atmosphere and guest vocal spots on the punkier closing pair “Mother Knows Best” and “Is Anybody There?” but the grooves up front are more laid back and chunkier-style, where “Not as Advertised,” “Workhorse,” “Let’s Play a Game” and “No Sanctuary” likewise get punkier, contrasting that metal stretch in “Stoking the Flames” earlier on In any case, they’re more unpretentious than they are anything else, and that suits just fine since there’s more than enough ‘changing it up’ happening around the core heavy riffs and mean-muggin’ vibes. It’s not the most elaborate production ever put to tape, but the punker back half of the record is more effective for that, and they get their point across anyhow.

Sins of Magnus on Instagram

Sins of Magnus on Bandcamp

 

Nine Altars, The Eternal Penance

Nine Altars The Eternal Penance

Steeped in the arcane traditions of classic doom metal, Nine Altars emerge from the UK with their three-song/33-minute debut full-length, The Eternal Penance, leading with the title-track’s 13-minute metal-of-eld rollout as drummer/vocalist Kat Gillham (also Thronehammer, Lucifer’s Chalice, Enshroudment, etc.), guitarists Charlie Wesley (also also Enshroudment, Lucifer’s Chalice) and Nicolete Burbach and bassist Jamie Thomas roll with distinction into “The Fragility of Existence” (11:58), which starts reasonably slow and then makes that seem fast by comparison before picking up the pace again in the final third ahead of the more trad-NWOBHM idolatry of “Salvation Lost” (8:27). Any way they go, they’re speaking to metal born no later than 1984, and somehow for a band on their first record with two songs north of 11 minutes, they don’t come across as overly indulgent, instead borrowing what elements they want from what came before them and applying them to their longform works with fluidity of purpose and confident melodicism, Gillham‘s vocal command vital to the execution despite largely following the guitar, which of course is also straight out of the classic metal playbook. Horns, fists, whatever. Raise ’em high in the name of howling all-doom.

Nine Altars on Facebook

Good Mourning Records website

Journey’s End Records website

 

The Freqs, Poachers

The Freqs Poachers

Fuzzblasting their way out of Salem, Massachusetts, with an initial public offering of six cuts that one might legitimately call “high octane” and not feel like a complete tool, The Freqs are a relatively new presence in the Boston/adjacent heavy underground, but they keep kicking ass like this and someone’s gonna notice. Hell, I’m sure someone has. They’re in and out in 27 minutes, so Poachers is an EP, but if it was a debut album, it’d be one of the best I’ve heard in this busy first half of 2023. Fine. So it goes on a different list. The get-off-your-ass-and-move effect of “Powetrippin'” remains the same, and even in the quiet outset of the subsequent “Asphalt Rivers,” it’s plain the breakout is coming, which, satisfyingly, it does. “Sludge Rats” decelerates some, certainly compared to opener “Poacher Gets the Tusk,” but is proportionately huge-sounding in making that tradeoff, especially near the end, and “Chase Fire, Caught Smoke” rips itself open ahead of the more aggressive punches thrown in the finale “Witch,” all swagger and impact and frenetic energy as it is. Fucking a. They end noisy and crowd-chanting, leaving one wanting both a first-LP and to see this band live, which as far as debut EPs go is most likely mission accomplished. It’s a burner. Don’t skip out on it because they didn’t name the band something more generic-stoner.

The Freqs on Facebook

The Freqs on Bandcamp

 

Lord Mountain, The Oath

Lord Mountain The Oath

Doomer nod, proto-metallic duggery and post-NWOBHM flourish come together with heavy rock tonality and groove throughout Lord Mountain‘s bullshit-free recorded-in-2020/2021 debut album, issued through King Volume as the follow-up to a likewise-righteous-but-there-was-less-of-it 2016 self-titled EP (review here) and other odds and ends. Like a West Coast Magic Circle, they’ve got their pagan altars built and their generals out witchfinding, but the production is bright in Pat Moore‘s snare cutting through the guitars of Jesse Swanson (also vocals and primary songwriting) and Sean Serrano, and Andy Chism‘s bass, working against trad-metal cliché, is very much in the mix figuratively, literally, and thankfully. The chugs and winding of “The Last Crossing” flow smoothly into the mourning solo in the song’s second half, and the doom they proffer in “Serpent Temple” and the ultra-Dio Sabbath concluding title-track just might make you a believer if you weren’t one. It’s a record you probably didn’t know you were waiting for, and all the more so when you realize “The Oath” is “Four Horsemen”/”Mechanix” played slower. Awesome.

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Black Air, Impending Bloom

Black Air Impending Bloom

Opener “The Air at Night Smells Different” digs into HEX-era Earth‘s melancholic Americana instrumentalism and threat-underscored grayscale, but “Fog Works,” which follows, turns that around as guitarist Florian Karg moves to keys and dares to add both progressivism and melody to coincide with that existential downtrodding. Fellow guitarist Philipp Seiler, standup-bassist Stephan Leeb and drummer Marian Waibl complete the four-piece, and Impending Bloom is their first long-player as Black Air. They ultimately keep that post-Earth spirit in the seven-minute title-track, but sneak in a more active stretch after four minutes in, not so much paying off a build — that’s still to come in “A New-Found Calm” — = as reminding there’s life in the wide spaces being conjured. The penultimate “The Language of Rocks and Roots” emphasizes soul in the guitar’s swelling and receding volume, while closer “Array of Lights,” even in its heaviest part, seems to rest more comfortably on its bassline. In establishing a style, the Vienna-based outfit come through as familiar at least on a superficial listen, but there’s budding individuality in these songs, and so their debut might just be a herald of blossoming to come.

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Bong Coffin, The End Beyond Doubt

Bong Coffin The End Beyond Doubt

Oh yeah, you over it? You tired of the bongslaught of six or seven dozen megasludge bands out there with ‘bong’ in their name trying to outdo each other in cannabinoid content on Bandcamp every week? Fine. I don’t care. You go be too cool. I’ll pop on “Ganjalf” and follow the smoke to oh wait what was I saying again? Fuck it. With some Dune worked in for good measure, Adelaide, Australia’s Bong Coffin build a sludge for the blacklands on “Worthy of Mordor” and shy away not a bit from the more caustic end their genre to slash through their largesse of riff like the raw blade of an uruk-hai shredding some unsuspecting villager who doesn’t even realize the evil overtaking the land. They move a bit on “Messiah” and “Shaitan” and threaten a similar shove in “Nightmare,” but it’s the gonna-read-Lovecraft-when-done-with-Tolkien screams and crow-call rasp of “Träskkungen” that gets the prize on Bong Coffin‘s debut for me, so radly wretched and sunless as it is. Extreme stoner? Caustic sludge? The doom of mellows harshed? You call it whatever fucking genre you want — or better, don’t, with your too-cool ass — and I’ll march to the obsidian temple (that riff is about my pace these days) to break my skull open and bleed out the remnants of my brain on that ancient stone.

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