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Friday Full-Length: Spaceslug, Lemanis

Posted in Bootleg Theater on February 24th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Recorded over the course of two days in Oct. 2015 and released in Feb. 2016, the seven-song/43-minute debut album from Wrocław, Poland, heavy psych rockers Spaceslug, dubbed Lemanis (review here), is an album that still feels new in my mind. The trio of guitarist/vocalist Bartosz Janik, bassist/vocalist Jan Rutka and drummer/vocalist Kamil Ziółkowski offered it through Oak Island/Kozmik Artifactz on vinyl, BSFD Records on CD and Southcave Records on tape, and it almost immediately put them at the forefront of their country’s heavy underground for the richness of its tone, the languid nature of its groove and the flowing, laid back delivery of its vocal melodies that corresponded.

With headphone-ready depth in their mix — handled by the band with Jacek Maciołek, who also helmed the recording — and no wrong answer to either way of hearing them, Spaceslug‘s songs could either be experienced with glossed-over eyes or mined for details like the dual layers of feedback ringing out circa 4:30 into “Grand Orbiter” (with its sample of American president JFK at the start talking about going to the moon), 0r the particularly Sleepy riff that pays off the aptly-titled eight-minute side A capper “Supermassive,” slowing with classic stoner rock righteousness into a churn like the black holes at the center of the galaxies slowly sucking the cosmos into oblivion. By no means is that the only in-genre dogwhistle on Lemanis, either, but the fact that Spaceslug were conscious of what tropes they wanted to celebrate in their work — and which ones they didn’t — was a part of what made the songs feel so aesthetically complete.

Take the manner in which opener “Proton Lander” — one of the longer cuts at 7:45, with just “Supermassive” and the album-closing instrumental title-track (9:17) surpassing — comes apart at the finish. By the time the three-piece get there, they’ve built the song up from nothing, an initial hum fading gently in over some ambient noise, bass and guitar seeming to yawn themselves awake before the drums — who’ve already been up for a while and seem to have had their first cup of coffee — join in the procession. By the one-minute mark, they’re already rolling, but the abiding vibe is warm, cozy and easy to engage, and that remains true as they as volume and meter, shift into through verses, grow bigger in sound and seem to spaceslug lemanisfind multiple next-levels of density to their rich, lush fuzz. But after the six-minute mark, “Proton Lander” takes kind of a meandering turn, and rather than fading out the comedown, they jam through it and present the full ending of the song. They’re letting the listener in the room with them until there’s nothing but some noodling guitar left and the track ends organically, fluidly, decisively small after having been so grand and consuming only a few minutes before.

This is emblematic of what Lemanis accomplished across its whole span in terms of bringing to life a genuine sense of mellow-heavy. Spaceslug were by no means static in tempo either within or between their tracks, but even as “Hypermountain” picks up from that ending of “Proton Lander” and invigorates with a more directly forward movement, or as “Grand Orbiter” pushes through its open, half-time drum hook and surrounding effects swirl on vocals and guitar alike, the band remains steady in their presence. The vocals — the arrangements of which would flesh out and broaden in scope over the next several years with more aggressive takes sneaking in gradually and naturally — are never too far forward in the mix as to dominate the tones surrounding, and their placement is key and perfectly suited to the wall-o’-fuzz largesse being conveyed.

As the mostly-instrumental “Galectelion” (just a spoken part in the midsection) follows “Supermassive” as the centerpiece of the record and the start of side B — again carrying echoes of Sleep‘s riff worship but set to the band’s own earthier psychedelic intention, moving at a decent clip but consistent with the flow of its surrounding cuts — the affect is hypnotic in highlighting their jammier side, expanding on that impression at the end of “Proton Lander,” fleshing out the vibe on the whole in a way that makes the more lumbering bass and guitar effects barrage in the hooky “Grand Orbiter” stand out that much more. The 1:36 penultimate interlude “Quintessence” works in not entirely dissimilar fashion, picking up from the cold-cut feedback of “Grand Orbiter” with guitar floating in space before “Lemanis” announces its arrival with a distinct and welcome initial thud.

About that thud. While a large part of the impression Lemanis made and still makes seven years later comes from the mellow-heavy mood, the tones of the guitar and bass, and the laid back delivery of the vocals, even Ziółkowski‘s kick drum is worth mentioning in so clearly serving their purpose. It has a kind of muffled tone, the edges of the hammer’s impact rounded off and smooth in the recording, and where there’s a risk that the drums on the whole could detract from the liquidity of the material, they instead become the calming pulse at the core of it, definitely there but somehow gentle in how they punctuate the songs; one more aspect of craft that makes Spaceslug‘s debut such a standout even as they cap with the further trance induction of “Lemanis” itself, summarizing the abiding roll that has carried them and their audience through a deceptively cohesive breadth of turns and volume dynamics.

Spaceslug quickly affirmed the strengths of Lemanis with 2017’s sophomore LP, Time Travel Dilemma (review here), and set themselves on a course of progression across EPs and LPs that continues today — 2021’s Memorial (review here) was their fifth full-length and crowning achievement to-date; they’ll play Desertfest London this Spring and Høstsabbat in October, perhaps by then supporting or heralding a new release — and while they’ve added new elements to their style, they’ve never quite let go of the soothing nod of Lemanis. At the time, I couldn’t get away from a Sungrazer comparison, and I can still hear what in the songs put me in that place — worth noting that Spaceslug brought in former Sungrazer bassist for a guest spot on Time Travel Dilemma, so there’s some acknowledgement of the influence there — but listening to Lemanis seven years after the fact, it’s plain to hear even more just how much this record is the beginning of the band searching out their identity as a group, finding the niche they’d occupy and from which they’d grow and flourish as, fortunately, they have in the years since.

This is a pretty special record, and maybe that’s part of why it still feels new, because even looking back at it in hindsight, it’s so easy to lose oneself in the potential for expansion in its songs. As far as I’m concerned, that they’ve brought and are still bringing that potential to realization only makes it more of a landmark.

If you’ve been paying attention the last few weeks — and if you haven’t, it’s okay — I’ve been doing kind of an unofficial miniseries in these posts of Polish bands, with Sunnata last weekElvis Deluxe the week beforeDopelord before that, and Tortuga starting off. Over a decade ago, I did a similar look at a few Polish acts in a category of posts called ‘On the Radar’ that I don’t really do anymore, and this has been a follow-up to that at least for me if not anyone else, and it’s been interesting to hear the various paths that these groups have taken, those who’ve come and gone, etc. Whether you’ve followed along or not, I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing Lemanis again, and I thank you as always for reading.

The Pecan opened his door at 4:30AM, and while I love him dearly, my heart sank thinking of the morning’s productivity evaporating in the face of demands for yogurt and more Sesame Street. I put him back to bed before he even started down the stairs, and he was willing to go, with was something of a surprise. It’s 5:57 now and that’s already later than he’s slept all week.

I’ve been having trouble sleeping as well. Wednesday was probably as bad as it’s gotten; I woke up at 1AM and never really fell back out, got up and decided to get to work at about 2:30. Yesterday was 3:30-ish, which felt like a gift as I also wasn’t really up overnight rolling over or needing to go to the bathroom like the old man I am. Today was 3AM. Generally speaking, my days don’t really need to be longer than they already are when the alarm goes off at 4. I’ve been pretty wrecked by the time the kid goes to bed around 7:30PM, and even last night was nodding off watching Star Trek: Picard bring back Worf in violent fashion. Ups and downs.

Ups and downs to everything, I guess. Yesterday started out awesome as I had a total blast writing that Enslaved review — so, so much fun; I don’t usually get much of a response when I write about that band, but I always enjoy doing so and that makes it worth it — and went swimming and that felt good in my body and the kid and I had a decent morning without really butting heads on random bullshit as we so often do. But then the driver and aide on his morning bus let me know he’s been yelling and generally being a jerk on the ride to school, which is kind of part of broader ongoing behavioral concerns — transitions, always a challenge, probably always will be to some yet-unsettled extent — and it just flattened the whole day.

By the time The Patient Mrs. got back from getting her haircut, which of course looks lovely, I was in a hole compared to where I’d started out. It sucked, in short. And the day never really found that groove again. He came home from school and was difficult, and I got mad, and The Patient Mrs. tried to be a go-between, and it’s just a shitty dynamic that doesn’t really make anyone feel good and I don’t know what to do about any of it. I ate a gummy and got stoned and at least that helped calm me down, but golly, it would be nice to get through a day without feeling like an absolute garbage parent. Hasn’t happened yet, but I’ll keep you in the loop if I ever get there.

He starts kindergarten in the Fall, which will be a sea change as the first time he’ll be out of the house on more of a full-time basis. The beginning of a new era of school, basically. I’ve been considering trying to find part-time work outside the house (or in it, remotely) when he goes. Not that I can’t busy myself with domestic concerns or more writing — there’s never enough time for either — but I can’t help but wonder if after nearly six years of being completely out of the labor force, some part of me isn’t missing feeling like I’m contributing to something beyond poisoning my family by being a miserable piece of shit.

I’ve never enjoyed jobs, but money’s been tighter than tight, and even if it’s just money for music and/or weed that I don’t have to take out of the familial coffers, that’s not nothing. I don’t know, but I’m thinking about it. I won’t pretend to have any clue what I need or want. I open my mouth and hear my father’s voice, which crushes me. I look in the mirror and see his stiff lumbering. I have felt a bit haunted, perhaps, by vague and unresolved trauma from that relationship, and I am in terror of paying forward the shitty emotional abuse to which I was treated as a child to my own kid. Already it is glaringly obvious to me that I am the problem. I would not mind dying in my sleep and thereby removing that problem.

6:22 and he’s up and down the stairs on the quick, crying that it’s starting to get light. I tell him it’s part of the coming Spring, that the sun is coming up earlier. I’m fucking trying. Every day, I’m fucking trying. Moments of okay amid continual failure are godsends. I need to buy yogurt today.

Next week is full streams of REZN, Sandrider and Stoned Jesus — three of the best records I’ve heard so far in 2023.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Have fun, watch your head, hydrate, all that stuff. Monday is a Desert Storm video premiere and it’s a banger so keep an eye out.

FRM.

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Review & Track Premiere: Dead Shrine, The Eightfold Path

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on February 23rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Dead Shrine the eightfold path

[Click play above to stream Dead Shrine’s “Enshrined.” The Eightfold Path is out this Friday, Feb. 24, on Kozmik Artifactz and Astral Projection.]

Dead Shrine‘s The Eightfold Path is a debut album with deep roots. The band — complete with backing vocals on “Through the Constellations,” liberal doses of organ on side A’s “Kingdom Come,” the megafuzzed “The Blackest Sun,” maybe even a bit of Echoplex on its two longer tracks, “Enshrined” and “Incantations Call,” and no shortage of depth, reach and swirl throughout — is Craig Williamson, whose more-than-two-decade pedigree in Datura, Lamp of the Universe and Arc of Ascent has made him the most crucial figure in New Zealand heavy rock and psychedelia since the days of Human Instinct and The Underdogs half a century ago.

He’s the only person involved — writing, performing all the instruments and vocals, recording, mixing, mastering; a genuine auteur — but Dead Shrine is very much a band that, if he wanted to assemble a lineup, could play live, and seems to draw from similar impulses that led to the formation of the trio Arc of Ascent circa 2010. By that time, Williamson had already established himself as a solo artist through the experimentalist acid folk of Lamp of the Universe, a go-everywhere project with a foundation in traditions psychedelic and earthbound that in recent years, and particularly on 2022’s The Akashic Field (review here), has pushed in a direction hinting toward a heavier rock sound. The dissolution of Arc of Ascent after their 2018 split with Germany’s Zone Six (review here) left Williamson without a ‘band,’ and Dead Shrine emerges as the answer to that problem, combining the solo-act construction of Lamp of the Universe with a heavier sound not unlike that fostered by Arc of Ascent but even more kin in style to Datura, who formed in 1992 and released two LPs in their time, 1998’s Allisone and 1999’s Visions for the Celestial (discussed here).

Perhaps a bit of nostalgia on Williamson‘s part? Could be, but one hesitates to assign motive. If you said he started Dead Shrine as an excuse to wail on drums and try to find the heaviest bass sound he could harness, it would be impossible to listen to The Eightfold Path opener “The Formless Soul” or the lumbering “Kingdom Come,” which follows, and not find that statement believable. Still, songs like “As Pharaohs Rise,” with its backward cymbals at the outset, open-air soloing and casual riding groove, or “Through the Constellations” on side B, executed with a languid swing and classic acid rock flourish on top of a firmly-held verse-chorus structure, resonate with a vibe that seems in conversation with both Lamp of the Universe‘s lyrical mysticism and turn-of-the-century era heavy/stoner rock more generally, playing to strengths hardly dormant in Williamson‘s output over the last 10 years but given new focus as this outfit — which is named after Lamp of the Universe‘s 2020 album (review here) — branches off to follow its own, well, path.

But whatever birthed it, and however far out it ranges in terms of heavy psych atmospheres, The Eightfold Path is a rock record and arranged accordingly. A bit of sampling at the launch of side B with “Rainbow Child” provides the only use of sitar (also some chanting), and the songs are drawn together through elements like the weight of the low end, Williamson‘s vocal patterning and melodies, the consuming levels of fuzz that drench these riffs and the blowout that ends each half of the LP in “Enshrined” and “Incantations Call” — which, as noted, are the two longest inclusions; placed penultimate “The Blackest Sun” tops six minutes, while none of the remaining cuts hits five — the former which rolls gradually into cosmic oblivion and the latter inclusive either of Mellotron or some synth adjacent to it in sound as oscillations of guitar circle across channels even after the self-jam march has hit its last crash.

dead shrine amps and drums

As a songwriter, Williamson has little to prove, and “The Formless Soul” sets out on The Eightfold Path with a definite in-wheelhouse vibe that those who know his work will recognize, but it’s worth noting that in the long history behind him, Williamson has never made an album like this on his own. That in itself stands Dead Shrine apart, be it for newcomers or longtime followers, and is maybe some of what led to it being a new project rather than a redirection for Arc of Ascent, but these administrative concerns are tertiary at best when set alongside the realization that after about 30 years of making heavy music, Williamson is still finding yet-untrod avenues and modes of expression for his craft. That the record sounds so full — so very, very full; so very, very, very fuzzed — is a testament to his growth as a producer/engineer as well, as with even just the kick drum at the start of “Kingdom Come,” he makes clarions to the converted out of what to most groups would be passed-over afterthoughts and missed opportunities.

And the more one listens, the more is revealed throughout The Eightfold Path‘s 44 minutes (note there are eight tracks, and four plus four in 44 minutes makes eight; the concept also comes from the Shaolin branch of Buddhism). Groove is paramount across the leadoff salvo and it’s that much easier to get on board for it, but the expansion in “Enshrined” that continues to flesh out on “Rainbow Child” and “Through the Constellations” — which are exploratory and structured in kind — ahead of the all-in wah and thick bottom end wallop of “The Blackest Sun” and the not-coming-back fourth dimensional alignment in “Incantations Call,” with the vocals drawing closer to Lamp of the Universe even as the surrounding heft pushes farther into its own sphere, isn’t to be ignored. One hesitates to make predictions when it comes to an artist whose work has already proven so distinctive and multifaceted, but if this is the launch of a new progression for Williamson either aside from or more likely coinciding with Lamp of the Universe, then the scope of Dead Shrine even at this potentially nascent stage is all the more welcome.

I’ve said on multiple occasions that I’m a fan of Williamson‘s various outfits and incarnations, and the excitement of doing something new on The Eightfold Path is palpable, whether one has the context of prior bands and albums or not. Contrary to the moniker, Dead Shrine sounds very much alive, vital, and ready to move forward from here. Fans new and old, myself included, should be so lucky.

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Review & Track Premiere: Giant Brain, Grade A Gray Day

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on February 15th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Giant Brain Grade A Gray Day

[Click play above to stream Giant Brain’s new single “Fore: (Rage at the Cruelty of Forced Transhumanism).” Grade A Gray Day is out March 10 on Small Stone Records and Kozmik Artifactz.]

It is a difficult album to separate from the context in which it’s been made. Grade A Gray Day is the first offering from Detroit kosmiche rockers Giant Brain in some 14 years since 2009’s Thorn of Thrones (review here), and it arrives four years after the Jan. 2019 death of guitarist Phil Dürr, also known for his work in Big Chief, Luder, Five Horse Johnson and others. Dürr was reportedly in progress playing bass and guitar on what’s the third Giant Brain full-length — the first was 2007’s Plume, also on Small Stone — along with the brotherly rhythm section of bassist Andy Sutton (also vocals) and keyboardist/programmer Al Sutton, both of whom also produced at Rustbelt Studios in Detroit, as well as drummer/keyboardist Eric Hoegemeyer, at the time of his passing, and it is in tribute to his legacy in his home city and to him as an individual that Grade A Gray Day was completed, its six mostly-instrumental tracks holding together variously proggy and cosmic threads across an inevitably varied 41 minutes. There is a narrative thread hinted at in the titles of the songs:

1. Munich
2. Terminator: (Where an Astronaut Dies in Space)
3. The Variac: (His Consciousness Reawakens)
4. Fore: (Rage at the Cruelty of Forced Transhumanism)
5. Systems Failure: (Uprising, Destruction, and the Escape)
6. Between Trains

…and that it is as much spirit as space is appropriate for the music actually contained on the album, which is rife with guest appearances from the likes of Dürr‘s Luder bandmates Sue Lott (also of Slot, Big Chief, etc.), who sings on the meditative and melancholy closer “Between Trains” and Scott Hamilton, who adds guitar to “Systems Failure: (Uprising, Destruction and the Escape) and is the head of Small Stone Records, as well as a slew of others. Even the cover art by Mark Dancey feels like a thoughtful choice considering Dancey used to be in Big ChiefKenny Tudrick of The Detroit Cobras plays piano on “Between Trains,” Billy Reedy of Novadriver and Walk on Water plays guitar on “Terminator: (Where an Astronaut Dies in Space),” Detroit Symphony bassist James Simonson (also Joanne Shaw Taylor) plays on “Terminator: (Where an Astronaut Dies in Space),” Bob Ebeling of Walk on Water, Five Horse Johnson and Kid Rock handles wine glasses on “The Variac: (His Consciousness Reawakens)” and drums on “Systems Failure: (Uprising, Destruction and the Escape),” Darrel Eubank adds vocals to “The Variac: (His Consciousness Reawakens)” and British Blues Award-winning guitarist Joanne Shaw Taylor sits in on “Munich” and “Fore: (Rage at the Cruelty of Forced Transhumanism),” starting each side of Grade A Gray Day with particularly righteous uptempo krautrock-meets-boogie shuffle.

Giant Brain PR shot

On at least a couple levels, that’s pretty much the story of Grade A Gray Day. The remaining members of the band — the Suttons and Hoegemeyer — joining forces with a slew of others to flesh out what were Dürr‘s concepts and starting foundations for a third Giant Brain record. Invariably, the end result here can’t match what was the original intent — because the original intent was that Dürr would finish the album with his bandmates — but from the most basic level of its making to the likely logistical nightmare of recording all these players to the simple fact that there are so many involved, Grade A Gray Day absolutely bleeds its homage to Dürr.

More even than it’s an album, it is a love letter to Dürr as a player and a human being from his bandmates, friends and loved ones, and if you can get your head around the songs — personally, I’m still trying to figure out the colon-into-parenthetical happening in the middle four song titles, let alone the actual music, the effort you put into listen is duly rewarded. The manner in which “Munich” and “Terminator: (Where an Astronaut Dies in Space)” bop along like cosmic prog and ’70s swing have always secretly been the same thing, the weirdo repeats of “Terminator terminator” looped through that second cut a rare human voice in the outbound instrumental launch that gives over to float and laughter — presumably Dürr‘s — on the cinematic “The Variac: (His Consciousness Reawakens),” capping side A, these are rich culminations and brazen turns from one to the next, and within themselves, but it’s that love at their foundation that draws them together.

Next time you’re in need of a definition of “skronk,” the riff twisting itself around “Fore: (Rage at the Cruelty of Forced Transhumanism)” should serve nicely. Spaced out in shove early and in drift (and then shove again) later, it’s a quick summary of the stylistic blend that Giant Brain — especially considering the swath of personnel involved — make seamless while staying almost entirely pretense-free in the doing. The first couple minutes of “Systems Failure: (Uprising, Destruction, and the Escape)” are set to the backdrop of noise almost like peeping frogs, but just before 2:20, it bursts into life with a keyboard-inclusive fluidity before turning to a bigger rolling riff (presumably ‘Destruction’) and finds its freedom in shred at the finish, a six-minute jaunt through an interstellar badlands of microgenres that’s only easy to follow because your brain is already jelly.

Its ending leaves “Between Trains” with the daunting task of saying goodbye, to Dürr as well as to this album in his honor. Lott delivers a highlight performance from among the many, emotive but subdued over the ambient drones, a ticking clock that fades out, and a wash that rises and recedes into residual guitar, a last gasp of amplifier hum like they don’t want to let go. Fair. Dürr must have been a pretty special person to earn this kind of celebration of his life and creativity. Grade A Gray Day is as sincere in its realization as it possibly could be, and for that, likewise beautiful, sad, loving and — despite all its space prog psych experimentalism, all its far-far-out sounds and antigravity twists — quintessentially human.

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Faerie Ring Premiere “Silver Man in the Sky”; Weary Traveler Out April 14

Posted in audiObelisk on January 26th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Faerie Ring Weary Traveler

Evansville, Indiana’s Faerie Ring will release their second album, Weary Traveler, on April 14 through cooperation between King Volume Records, Wise Blood Records and Kozmik Artifactz. The follow-up to 2019’s The Clearing (review here), the album is a six-song beast of mammoth fuzz and doomly celebration, presented across two three-song sides running 40 minutes with to-tape production by Alex Kercheval at Postal Recording Studio, dialed in for largesse from the outset on its leadoff title-track and “Silver Man in the Sky” (premiering below), moving between slowed-down ’80s-metal-at-night chug and lumbering still-kind-of-a-party doom, catchy all the while and setting out on the journey not so much weary as resolute.

“Weary Traveler” is the shortest song here at 5:05 — it bookends with closer “Motor Boss” at 5:37 — and though it’s among the more unabashedly massive, “Silver Man in the Sky” is emblematic of the accessibility of the album as a whole at 6:36 of fluidly unfolding plod, more intricate in its weaving together layers of Kyle Hulgus‘ and James Wallwork‘s guitars (the latter also handles vocals) atop the emergent roll and will to boogie that’s made to flow so well through Alex Wallwork‘s bass and Joey Rhew‘s drumming.

Whether it’s the turn of “Weary Traveler” to an almost bomb-tone nod filled out by swirling feedback later, the apparently-hammer-on-a-pan bangs mixed well into the rhythm of “Silver Man in the Sky,” the slowed-down The Sword twists in the second half of “Never Rains at Midnite,” or the noisy intro to the shoving “Lover” on side B after the nine-minute psych-doom outbound adventure of “Endless Color / Dope Purple,” the shimmering latter stretch of which reminds of some of King Buffalo‘s ambient flourish after so much by marching, or the harmonica-laced shuffle and swing of the speedier-but-still-thick “Motor Boss,” each piece on Weary Traveler offers something to distinguish it from the bunch while adding to the overarching scope of the album.

The narrative — blessings and peace upon it — has it that this is the result of the fact that, while the band recorded live, being in the studio with Kercheval for a week allowed them time to experiment and flesh out happy accidents during the recording, try new ideas and offbeat ways of doing things. Fair enough. That’s not something every act gets to do, and Weary Traveler is indeed stronger for the attention to detail, but the real story of the album is more about the growth in songwriting and the clarity of the band’s presentation even as they drop to noise before the finish in “Lover” or the fact that “Endless Color / Dope Purple” — which, yes, does have some organ on it — is able to move from its initial march into its long stretch of hypnotic drift with such organic seeming care.

faerie ring

So, attention to detail. Fine. But Weary Traveler has some funk to it too tucked in amidst the doom. The relatively uptempo beginning and bassy punch in “Never Rains at Midnite,” the blues-via-tonal-wash of “Motor Boss,” and even the direct transition from “Lover” that leads into it are emblematic of Weary Traveler functioning as a good time, daring to have and to be fun, and that doesn’t necessarily feel transgressive as much as it’s simply something not every band is willing to do. It makes the listening experience front to back on Weary Traveler easier to undertake — the record is not at all the slog its title might imply — and even in the construction of the tracklist, how they start side B with “Endless Color / Dope Purple” before the (relatively) speedier concluding one-two of “Lover” and “Motor Boss” demonstrates the care put into this particular execution of their craft; a significant step forward from where they were on The Clearing even as it expands on the ideas that first album put forth.

The pan, the piano in “Never Rains at Midnite,” the looping their sounds through an AM radio discussed below, these are nifty bits of nuance and though that sounds like I’m devaluing their effect on the record, I’m not. But without the underlying foundation that’s present here in the songs, Weary Traveler would simply fall flat instead of triumphing as it does.

Still, there’s something insular about these tracks, something dug into itself and its own making — the process as part of the outcome, maybe. And maybe hearing that in the music is what I get for reading the bio and the power of suggestion there, but still, even in the depth of tone between the guitars of Hulgus and Wallwork there’s evidence of just how purposeful each consideration on Weary Traveler is, and even if some ideas were birthed by off-the-cuff studio experiments — I’d also believe “Endless Color / Dope Purple” didn’t have a title before it was recorded, but I don’t know that — that shouldn’t be taken to mean Faerie Ring didn’t have their collective shit together going in to work with Kercheval. At their core, these songs have been ironed out and honed for maximum impact.

Their affect is modern — they sound big, they speak to classic metal early and more cosmic fare later on, and they blur the lines between different heavy styles in between, etc. — and their sound, crushing and spacious in kind, is still developing. After going from one extreme of recording in a basement to the other of working in a pro-shop studio, one might expect them to find a space in between for a crucial third album (unless they decided this is how they want to roll, which would also be understandable, considering the results), but wherever they end up, it seems likely the lessons they learn across Weary Traveler — how to be as much Red Fang as Electric Wizard while being neither, for example — will serve them well as they move forward. What matters more than that, though, is that Faerie Ring declare essential aspects of themselves here and present them to the listener in a spirit of mutual appreciation — because make no mistake, they’re into it too — and righteous, dug-in, weighted revelry.

“Silver Man in the Sky” premieres on the player below, followed by more from the PR wire.

Please enjoy:

Faerie Ring, “Silver Man in the Sky” track premiere

Faerie Ring on “Silver Man in the Sky”:

“The main riff in Silver Man in the Sky was conjured within a dense weed fog mid-2019 at 3am. With it came images of mysterious blades, lightning, and an even more mystifying silver skinned man looming in the æther. If you have an ass, it’ll kick it. Our ode to the almighty Power Trip.

Our hearts might’ve said Power Trip, but our Caveman hands said Electric Wizard. This entire album was recorded live in studio straight to tape just how God intended. Two Sunn Model T’s roaring into infinity. Stacks of ’70s $50 solid state Peaveys were the icing on the cake that really set this track off. By the end of the session, our V’s were flying us.

This was our first foray into recording at a real studio. With that came the ability to experiment and try things outside the box. Objects that weren’t musical all the sudden became the key to unlocking a song. We needed a striking steel sound, therefore I found myself in the booth with a doobie hanging out of my mouth hitting an iron skillet with a hammer into a vintage $20,000 Telefunken Mic then cooking our dinner in it an hour later. What really blew our minds was the pan strike turned out to be in the same key that we were playing and slid in pitch perfect with the rest of the song. Lightning in a bottle kept getting captured over and over like that. I credit that to living at the studio for a week creating this album for your consumption. An undeniable banger for all banging’s sake! A monolithic celebration for all things volume.”

“Endless Color” Rainbow Splatter Variant: https://wisebloodrecords.bandcamp.com/album/weary-traveler

King Volume preorder: https://kingvolumerecords.limitedrun.com/bands/faerie-ring

Kozmik Artifactz preorder: http://shop.bilocationrecords.com/navi.php?suchausdruck=faerie+ring

Faerie Ring – Weary Traveler
Release Date: April 14, 2023
Labels: King Volume Records with Wise Blood Records and European distribution through Kozmik Artifactz

Faerie Ring, the hazy and gloomy stoner doom band from Evansville, Indiana, channels their love for bombastic riffs, soaring vocals, high fantasy, and science fiction into Weary Traveler, a mystical and weed-inspired romp recorded by Alex Kercheval (Coven) and set for release through King Volume Records on April 14, 2023.

Weary Traveler is a marked step forward in the band’s songwriting and recording processes. While their debut album (2019’s The Clearing) was an amalgam of massive riffs recorded in a friend’s basement, Weary Traveler delivers a coordinated and deliberate buffet of cohesive songs meticulously written by the band. Just as important, the album was professionally recorded at Postal Recording Studio in Indianapolis by Alex Kercheval, an essential part of the legendary rock band Coven. Under Kercheval’s guidance, the band recorded directly to tape and took numerous opportunities to experiment in the studio.

“Alex Kercheval is a genius,” says guitarist Kyle Hulgus. “In the beginning of ‘Lover,’ one of our singles, we have a section that sounds like it’s coming through a radio… Well, Alex did this by broadcasting the raw tape tracks over AM radio, then recorded the radio, dialed it in, then bounced that through a series of outboard pre-amps for about 15 seconds. It was amazing.”

Experimentation was a key part of the creative process in Weary Traveler. For “Silver Man In The Sky,” another single, the band wanted the sound of an anvil, so they took an iron skillet (which the band wound up cooking in a few hours later) into the recording booth and bashed it with a hammer in front of a $20,000 Telefunken microphone. As Kyle recalls: “There was a moment in the song where we were sending a signal from a Steinway piano worth more than my house through a Death By Audio Fuzz Delay into a Sunn Model-T. I felt like a mad scientist.”

Working in a professional studio also gave them access to professional equipment for the first time. From the Steinway piano to the Telefunken microphone, the band found the perfect complements to its arsenal of Sunn Model-T & Orange amplifiers and Big Muff & Turbo Rat pedals. With these components combined, the band created an album that is crisper and more focused—while still generating the same loud energy that made The Clearing so impressive. Incredibly, Alex Kercheval managed to capture the entire album in one go, which provided him and the rest of the band with multiple days to perfect the record’s sound.

Weary Traveler is punctuated by three distinctive, enthralling singles: “Silver Man In the Sky,” “Never Rains at Midnight,” and “Lover.” “Silver Man In the Sky” combines massive, Sleep-inspired riffs with Brant Bjork-styled flourishes, “Never Rains At Midnight” is a foot-stomping headbanger that displays traces of Trouble and The Obsessed, while “Lover” channels Fu Manchu energy through a gloomy Doom delivery. Overall, Weary Traveler is a six-pack of masterful riffage and stunning melodies.

Recording: Alex Kercheval & Morgan Satterfield at Postal Recording Studio
Mastering: Cauliflower Audio
Art: Jerry Hionis (@Wyrmwalk)
Logo: Daniel Porta (@thepitforge)

Band: James Wallwork (Guitar & Vocals), Kyle Hulgus (Guitar), Alex Wallwork (Bass), Joey Rhew (Drums)

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Giant Brain to Release Grade A Gray Day March 10

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 16th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Giant Brain PR shot

The opening cut and advance single from Giant Brain‘s upcoming album, Grade A Gray Day, announces itself with a strum of guitar, then disappears momentarily, as though, having bid welcome, it’s then receding into the jammy krautrock ether where it will subsequently reside. The band’s founding guitarist Phil Dürr passed away in 2019, and Small Stone Records, whose Scott Hamilton (who was also in Luder with Dürr) also appears on the record, stands behind the offering as a tribute from the band (and more) to Dürr’s creative spirit, his work in Big Chief on addition to Giant Brain, and his presence as a figure in the Detroit heavy underground.

No, it’s not gonna be 2023’s most hyped release. It’s an instrumental amalgam of kosmiche and heavy psychedelic pieces, thoroughly dug in and hypnotic, likewise on brand and off trend in its craft and somewhat familial in its sundry guest appearances. Still, Small Stone and Kozmik Artifactz offer it as the final studio output from Dürr, and if the mission is to highlight the vibrancy of his playing in this band and honor a friend, then I’ll say as someone who has listened to it that that mission is likewise honorable and successful.

March 10 is the release date. “Munich” is streaming at the bottom of this post, and preorders are up now, as per the PR wire:

Giant Brain Grade A Gray Day

GIANT BRAIN To Release Grade A Gray Day Full-Length In Tribute To Late Guitarist Phil Dürr; Record To See Release March 10th Via Small Stone Recordings/Kozmik Artifactz + New Track Streaming

Experimental electro-prog project GIANT BRAIN will release their Grade A Gray Day full-length on March 10th via Small Stone Recordings and Kozmik Artifactz. The mind-bending offering serves as a final studio tribute to the memory of late guitarist Phil Dürr.

On January 11th, 2019, Dürr returned to the great mothership in the sky, days after suffering a cardiac arrest while in Germany visiting relatives. Between his international familial bonds and his membership in such hard-touring bands as Big Chief and Five Horse Johnson, he was mourned by friends, fans, and family globally. His loss was most keenly felt in Detroit, Michigan, his hometown since moving to the area from Mexico as a child, and where he was amid recording the latest GIANT BRAIN album.

After the pain, tears, toasts and reflection, bandmates Al Sutton, Andy Sutton, and Eric Hoegemeyer endeavored to finish what they had started. Coming out four years after Dürr’s passing, Grade A Gray Day is GIANT BRAIN’s last musical will and testament, serving as both a tribute to their departed bandmate and the final chapter in a collaboration that reaches back to the 1990s, when the band members laid the groundwork for the Detroit rock renaissance of the following century.

Long fixtures of the local scene, GIANT BRAIN coalesced between sessions at Rustbelt Studios, Al Sutton’s recording facility in Royal Oak which has hosted regional and national rock royalty. One of the best guitarists in town, no small feat given the terrain, Dürr laid down six-string ideas that rolled as much as rocked while the Sutton brothers supplied taut rhythmic support and technical expertise. Their mix of Krautrock grooves, Detroit attitude, and ambient textures was first heard on 2007’s Plume. Producer and programmer Eric Hoegemeyer would join the band for 2009’s Thorn Of Thrones, with both albums being released on Small Stone Records.

From its packaging to the songs therein, Grade A Gray Day is a family affair. Sue Lott and Scott Hamilton, who played with Dürr in fellow Small Stoners Luder, guest on different songs, Detroit music luminaries Kenny Tudrick, Billy Reedy, James Simonson, Bob Ebeling, and Darrel Eubank sit in on others. UK transplant and Keeping The Blues Alive recording artist Joanne Shaw Taylor lays down searing guitar leads on two tracks and the album artwork was provided by underground art legend Mark Dancey, whose work has graced album covers by Soundgarden and who played guitar alongside Dürr in Big Chief.

Despite being a studio entity, GIANT BRAIN has always sounded like a band. There’s no denying, however, much of their unique musical voice was centered around Phil Dürr’s guitar playing, his ability to change gears from gritty to dreamy in the course of a single verse, his love of blues rock gravity and post-punk atmospherics, always thinking in the back of his mind, “What would Eddie Hazel play here?” At times sad and at other points a celebration, Dürr’s presence pulses and reverberates throughout Grade A Gray Day, whether in his guitar interplay with Joanne Shaw Taylor on the opener “Munich,” or the plangent chords hovering underneath Sue Lott’s vocals on “Between Trains,” the album’s final track and a moving farewell.

GIANT BRAIN’s Grade A Gray Day will be released on CD (limited to 300 copies) and digitally via Small Stone Recordings and vinyl (limited to 300 copies) via Small Stone with Kozmik Artifactz.

Find preorders at THIS LOCATION where opening track, “Munich,” can be streamed: https://smallstone.bandcamp.com/album/grade-a-gray-day

Grade A Gray Day Track Listing:
1. Munich
2. Terminator: (Where An Astronaut Dies In Space)
3. The Variac: (His Consciousness Reawakens)
4. Fore: (Rage At The Cruelty Of Forced Transhumanism)
5. Systems Failure: (Uprising, Destruction, And The Escape)
6. Between Trains

GIANT BRAIN:
Phil Dürr – guitars, bass
Andy Sutton – bass, vocals
Eric Hoegemeyer – drums, keys, programming, synths
Al Sutton – percussion, programming, keys

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Giant Brain, Grade A Gray Day (2023)

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Humulus Welcome New Guitarist/Vocalist Thomas Mascheroni

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 30th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

A few weeks back, Italian heavy rockers Humulus announced the departure from the band of guitarist/vocalist Andrea Van Cleef, a not-at-all minor presence in the Brescia-based trio alongside bassist Giorgio Bonacorsi and drummer Massimiliano Boventi. Good terms, still friends, all that. Sometimes it’s time to go. It happens. Boventi and Bonacorsi said at the time they would be continuing the group, and today they announce that Thomas Mascheroni will take over fronting duties from here on out.

Mascheroni, who also performs as Thomas Greenwood in the outfit Thomas Greenwood and the Talismans, released the psych-garage-blues-ish Rituals full-length earlier this year, and comes to Humulus following the band’s 2020 third LP, The Deep (review here). That record greatly expanded Humulus‘ prior approach, sort of blew the roof off the thing, and while there isn’t any new audio from Humulus Mk. II yet, I’ve been fortunate enough to hear some recent rehearsal recordings of new songs in progress, and they sound like Humulus are going to be continuing on an exploratory path as Mascheroni and the established rhythm section come together.

They’re saying new album in 2023. Crazier things have occurred, certainly, and I hear having goals is a good thing. Best of luck to the band, and Van Cleef, who has said he’s soon to return with a new project. Again, goals. My goal right now is another cup of coffee, so while I handle that you read this from the PR wire:

humulus (Photo by Francesca Bordoli @francescabordoliph)

Lineup changes are often difficult and complex and when Andrea decided to quit Humulus was for sure not easy to look to the future immediately with positive vibes… but we’ve been lucky and few days after the break up, Thomas Mascheroni joined the band!!!

He has also a solo project with the name of Thomas Greenwood and his last record “Rituals” (https://thomasgreenwoodband.bandcamp.com/album/rituals) went out this year. We’ve listened to this LP, and we really liked his sound and his voice.

So here we are!!! We are working hard on new material, new songs are coming fast and for sure we’ll be out later in 2023 with an LP.

Some gigs are already planned for spring and summer and we’ll play new songs and some old classics… stay tuned on our social pages for announcements.

We are very excited for this new adventure, for sure the new sound and songs will be different, but this is the best part of the game!!!

Humulus are:
Thomas Greenwood – Guitar/Vocals
Giorgio Bonacorsi – Bass
Massimiliano Boventi – Drums

Photo by Francesca Bordoli @francescabordoliph

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

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Humulus, The Deep (2020)

Thomas Greenwood and the Talismans, Rituals (2022)

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Adrian Zambrano of Brujas del Sol

Posted in Questionnaire on November 24th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Adrian Zambrano of Brujas del Sol

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Adrian Zambrano of Brujas del Sol

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I guess I’d just simply say I’m a guitarist. It’s been something I’ve been in love with since I was a kid. My dad is a huge rock and roll guy. Like most of my peers, I’m sure, I was raised on Floyd, Zeppelin, The Doors, ZZ Top. I suppose it just always looked cool to me. (Insert photo of Zeppelin in front of their plane)… How could that not be cool?

Describe your first musical memory.

I’ve always had a love for Guns ‘n’ Roses. I used to wear my dad’s cut off G’N’R shirt around the house as a little kid singing and air guitaring.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

My time in Lo-pan, forcibly short as it was due to family health issues, was so incredible. When Brujas del Sol started, we looked up to them so so much… We still do. Best dudes. Best band.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

Oh man, one half of my family is from Mexico. Where do I start?

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Hopefully a path of happiness… fulfillment. That can mean a lot of different things to a lot of people.

For me personally, it’s knowing my bandmates feel challenged, open to express themselves.

How do you define success?

People feeling eager to listen to our music or come see a show is enough for me.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

Halloween Resurrection.

Fuck… maybe I’m lying. Busta Rhymes yelling “Trick or treat, mother fucker” is pretty mint.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to created.

An all synthesized record. Something I’ve been messing with for a few years now.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

This is probably a boring answer… but, for me, to get people to think.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Hmmm. I’ve gone out on my own professionally and started a finish carpentry company in North Carolina. So, between that and three bands, I reckon I’ve got my hands full.

https://www.facebook.com/BrujasdelSol/
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Brujas del Sol, Deculter (2022)

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Isak to Release The Great Expanse Nov. 18

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 10th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Originally issued by the band in Jan. 2020, Isak‘s debut album, The Great Expanse, will see its first vinyl release through the esteemed Kozmik Artifactz next week. The record — which you can stream in its entirety below — blends heavy rock structures and psychedelic atmospheres together, doses it all with a heaping amount of lysergic fuzz and echo, and proceeds outward from there, songs like the 11-minute “Falling Satellite” honing on a progressive-style mapped-out course that still sounds organic as delivered by the Glasgow band, who, it should be noted, are not to be confused with Isaak, from Italy. Whole other ‘a’ in there for the Italian outfit.

I didn’t hear The Great Expanse when it came out the first time, so I’m kind of taking this post as an excuse to do so now, and no regrets. As regards reliability, Kozmik Artifactz want for nothing, and if their backing isn’t enough to pique your interest, well, maybe you’ll dig this anyhow.

The PR wire has it like this:

Isak the great expanse

Cross the great expanse of the cosmos with ISAK

ISAK have been a force within the UK underground for over a decade. Hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, they have cut their way on the live scene from unknown to opening for the likes of Elder, Kylesa, Hair of the Dog and Volconova to name but a few.

With several self-released EPs under their belt, ISAK now sign with Kozmik Artifactz for the vinyl release of their debut full-length “The Great Expanse”. Heavily instrumental, The Great Expanse follows the journey of a lone voyager crossing the expanse of the cosmos. Through expanding soundscapes layered with spontaneous and sonic riffs, The Great Expanse really captures the sense of awe and deep vastness of the universe.

The Great Expanse will be released 18th November on Kozmik Artifactz, available on heavyweight gatefold vinyl from Kozmik Artifactz, as well as on Bandcamp and all major digital streaming platforms.

Available as Limited Edition Vinyl

Release Date: 18th November 2022

VINYL FACTZ
– Plated & pressed on high performance vinyl
– limited & coloured vinyl
– 300gsm gatefold cover
– special vinyl mastering

TRACKS
1. The Great Expanse
2. Beyond The Karman Line
3. Falling Satellite
4. Interstellar
5. Ablaze
6. Out Of Reach
7. Call Of The Void

Isak are:
Joe McGarrity (Guitar/Vox)
Mark Tait (Bass)
Robert “Twigs” McLean (Drums)

http://instagram.com/isakisloud
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https://isakisloud.bandcamp.com/
https://linktr.ee/isakisloud

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Isak, The Great Expanse (2020)

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