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Freak Valley 2017: Golden Void, Arbouretum, Limestone Whale & Föllakzoid Added

Posted in Whathaveyou on March 1st, 2017 by JJ Koczan

freak-valley-2017-banner

I didn’t realize, but yeah, I suppose it has been well over a month since the last lineup announcement from Freak Valley 2017. Well, if you want to make up for lost time, adding four bands from three different continents seems like a pretty good way to go about that. From opposite coasts of the US come San Diego’s Golden Void and Baltimore’s Arbouretum. From Chile, Föllakzoid, and from Germany, Limestone Whale. That’s North and South America and Europe represented in one single “hey, we’ve got more bands on our fest” post from Freak Valley. Not shabby by any measure.

And of course these four join a lineup that already includes the likes of Slo Burn‘s exclusive German appearance, PentagramUfomammutGreenleafConanElephant TreeGeezerMaidaVale, and so on, so all the better. Here’s the latest update from the festival:

freak-valley-2017-golden-void-arbouretum-limestone-whale-follakzoid

The long wait is over – we have 4 more band names for ya!!!

Here we go:

Golden Void [US] – Psychedelic Rock [Exclusive European Show!!]
Arbouretum [US] – Doom/Ecstatic
FÖLLAKZOID [CL] – Cosmic Music
Limestone Whale [DE] – Heavy Psych

GOLDEN VOID is the new face of Bay Area psychedelic music. It’s a rich tradition and like many of the tradition’s greats, Golden Void’s songs are firmly rooted in melody and not afraid of exploration. The band’s hooks get stuck in your head and their riffs transport you to the astral plane. Golden Void’s undeniable twist, setting them apart from their city’s lineage, is the influence of classic bands like Sabbath and Pentagram. The quartet, Isaiah Mitchell (Earthless) on guitar and vocals, Camilla Saufley-Mitchell on keyboards and vocals, Aaron Morgan on bass and Justin Pinkerton on Drums, achieves a perfect balance of muscular riffs, soaring melodies, and hazy atmosphere.

ARBOURETUM has been called “the best of the millennial classic rock bands, a guitar-fuzzed powerhouse.” The band, founded by guitarist and vocalist Dave Heumann, effortlessly weaves its melodies and guitar solos with the often hypnotic rhythms of bassist Corey Allender and drummer Brian Carey around the deliberate keyboard of Matthew Pierce to lift the vocals. The results are a full sound delivered with a striking sense of intimacy. Throughout their time together, the Baltimore-based band have been praised for their ability to weave elaborate vocal lines, and guitar solos that often unravel into extended improvisation, but never with as much finesse as on the forthcoming album “Song of the Rose”. In less practiced hands, these ideas could easily fall into contrivance, but on Song of the Rose, Arbouretum use these elements to perfect their craft of storytelling in song, both lyrically and sonically.

The Chilean band FÖLLAKZOID specialize in the pillowy sort of rock music designed to shield you from the world for a while. Huge, looping riffs stretch across deeply repetitive percussion, creating an atmosphere somewhere between trance and stupor. The word “psychedelic” is never far away when reading descriptions of the band, but three albums into their career, they’ve explored many colors on that particular spectrum. music designed to shield you from the world for a while. At its best, their music gains allure by gradually stacking up moments of powerful suggestion.

Formed in the shadows of the Bavarian forest LIMESTONE WHALE have developed their very own approach to heavy psych blues – far beyond prevailing stereotypes.
The quartet combines the natural roughness of proto metal and psychedelic rock with straight 70ies inspired blues and hard rock. With their mixture of heavy riffs and refreshing melodies the young but yet experienced musicians create a vivid and stirring presence on stage.

Limestone Whale are definitely among the few bands who are able to revive the spirit of the golden age of rock music without trying to sound „retro“.

FREAK VALLEY FESTIVAL – 15th-16th-17th June 2017
www.freakvalley.de www.rockfreaks.de

Freak Valley Festival 2017: No Fillers – Just Killers

Line-up 2017:
Slo Burn, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Pentagram, Ufomammut, Greenleaf, Conan, Golden Void, The Brew, Arbouretum, Maserati, Föllakzoid, Salem’s Pot, MaidaVale, Elephant’s Tree, Geezer, Kikagaku Moyo, Wand, Orango, Vodun, The Black Willows, Limestone Whale
More tba soon…!

www.freakvalley.de
https://www.facebook.com/freakvalley
https://www.facebook.com/events/150965291977635/
https://twitter.com/FreakValley

Golden Void, Berkana (2015)

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The Obelisk Presents: The Top 20 Debut Albums of 2016

Posted in Features on December 15th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk top 20 debut albums of 2016

Please note: This post is not culled in any way from the Year-End Poll, which is ongoing. If you haven’t yet contributed your favorites of 2016 to that, please do.

Of all the lists I do to wrap up or start any given year, this is the hardest. As someone obviously more concerned with first impressions than I am and thus probably better-dressed once said, you only get one chance at them. For bands, that can be a vicious bite in the ass on multiple levels.

To wit, you put out a great debut, fine, but there’s a whole segment of your listeners who’re bound to think you’ll never live up to it again. You put out a meh debut, you sell yourself short. Or maybe your debut is awesome but doesn’t really represent where you want to be as a band, so it’s a really good first impression, but a mistaken one. There are so many things that can go wrong or go right with any LP, but with debuts, the stakes are that much higher because it’s the only time you’ll get the chance to engage your audience for the first time. That matters.

And when it comes to putting together a list of the best debuts of the year, how does one begin to judge? True, some of these acts have done EPs and singles and splits and things like that before, and that’s at least something to go on, but can one really be expected to measure an act’s potential based on a single collection of songs? Is that fair to anyone involved? Or on the other side, is it even possible to take a debut entirely on its own merits, without any consideration for where it might lead the band in question going forward? I know that’s not something I’ve ever been able to do, certainly. Or particularly interested in doing. I like context.

Still, one presses on. I guess the point is that, like picking any kind of prospects, some will pan out and some won’t. I’ve done this for enough years now that I’ve seen groups flame or fade out while others have risen to new heights with each subsequent release. It’s always a mix. But at the same time, it’s important to step back and say that, as of today, this is where it’s at.

And so it is:

KING BUFFALO ORION

The Obelisk Presents: The Top 20 Debut Albums of 2016

1. King Buffalo, Orion
2. Elephant Tree, Elephant Tree
3. Heavy Temple, Chassit
4. Holy Grove, Holy Grove
5. Worshipper, Shadow Hymns
6. Vokonis, Olde One Ascending
7. Wretch, Wretch
8. Year of the Cobra, In the Shadows Below
9. BigPig, Grande Puerco
10. Fuzz Evil, Fuzz Evil
11. Bright Curse, Before the Shore
12. Conclave, Sins of the Elders
13. Pale Grey Lore, Pale Grey Lore
14. High Fighter, Scars and Crosses
15. Spirit Adrift, Chained to Oblivion
16. Bellringer, Jettison
17. Church of the Cosmic Skull, Is Satan Real?
18. Merchant, Suzerain
19. Beastmaker, Lusus Naturae
20. King Dead, Woe and Judgment

Honorable Mention

There are many. First, the self-titled from Pooty Owldom, which had so much weirdo charm it made my head want to explode. And Iron Man frontman Dee Calhoun‘s acoustic solo record was technically a debut. And Atala‘s record. And Horehound. And Mother Mooch. And Domkraft. And Spaceslug. And Graves at Sea? Shit. More than a decade after their demo, they finally put out a debut album. And Second Grave‘s full-length would turn out to be their swansong, but that doesn’t take away from the quality of the thing. There were a lot of records to consider in putting this list together. As always, it could’ve been a much longer list.

For example, here are 20 more: Swan Valley Heights, Arctic, Blues Funeral, Teacher, Psychedelic Witchcraft, Nonsun, Duel, Banquet, Floodlore, Mindkult‘s EP, Mountain Dust, Red LamaRed Wizard, Limestone Whale, Dunbarrow, Comacozer, Sinister Haze, Pants Exploder, Akasava, Katla and No Man’s Valley. That’s not even the end of it. I could go on.

Notes

It was a fight to the finish. There’s always one, and as late as yesterday I could be found kicking back and forth between King Buffalo and Elephant Tree in the top spot. What was it that finally put King Buffalo‘s Orion over Elephant Tree‘s self-titled? I don’t know. Ask me tomorrow and the answer might be completely different.

They had a lot in common. Not necessarily in terms of style — King Buffalo basked in spacious Americana-infused heavy psych jams while Elephant Tree proffered more earthbound riffing and melodies — but each executed memorable songs across its span in a way that would be unfair to ask of a debut. The potential for what both bands can turn into down the line played a part in the picks, but something else they share between them is that the quality of the work they’re doing now warrants the top spots. Orion and Elephant Tree were great albums, not just great first albums.

From there, we see a wide swath of next-generation encouragement for the future of heavy rock, whether it’s coming from Sweden’s Vokonis or Philadelphia’s Heavy Temple, or London’s Bright Curse, or Los Angeles duo BigPig. The latter act’s punkish fuzz definitely benefited from guitarist/vocalist Dino von Lalli‘s experience playing in Fatso Jetson, but one hopes that as the years go on his own multifaceted songwriting style will continue to grow as well.

A few offerings weren’t necessarily unexpected but still lived up to the anticipation. High Fighter‘s EP prefaced their aggro sludgecore well. Ditto that for the grueling death-sludge of Massachusetts natives Conclave. The aforementioned Bright Curse, Merchant, Fuzz Evil, Atala, Bellringer, Holy Grove, Wretch and Worshipper all had offerings of one sort or another prior to their full-length debuts — in the case of Bellringer, it was just a series of videos, while Wretch had the entire The Gates of Slumber catalog to fall back on — but each of those albums offered surprises nonetheless.

It would’ve been hard not to be taken by the songwriting on display from the likes of Holy Grove, Year of the Cobra, Pale Grey Lore and Beastmaker, who between them covered a pretty broad variety of atmosphere but found ways to deliver high-quality crafted material in that. Those albums were a pleasure to hear. Put Boston’s Worshipper in that category as well, though they were just as much a standout from the pack in terms of their performance as what they were performing. Speaking of performance, the lush melodies from Church of the Cosmic Skull and classic progressive flourish were enough to make me a believer. Simply gorgeous. And one-man outfit Spirit Adrift shined, if in that matte-black doom kind of way, on an encouraging collection of modern melancholic heavy that seemed to hint at sprawl to come.

As we get down to the bottom of the list we find Pennsylvania ambient heavy post-rockers King Dead. Their Woe and Judgment was released digitally last year (2015) but the LP came out earlier this year, so I wasn’t quite sure where to place them ultimately. I know they got some mention on the 2015 lists somewhere, but while they’re an act who’ve flown under a lot of people’s radar as yet, I have good feelings about how they might continue to dig into their sound and the balance of bleakness and psychedelic color they bring to their material. They’re slated for a follow-up in 2017, so this won’t be the last list on which they appear in the next few weeks.

Like I said at the outset, putting out a debut album is a special moment for any band. Not everyone gets to that point and not everyone gets beyond it, so while a list like this is inherently bound to have some element of speculation, it’s still a worthy endeavor to celebrate the accomplishments of those who hit that crucial moment in their creative development. Hopefully these acts continue to grow, flourish, and build on what they’ve thus far been able to realize sonically. That’s the ideal.

And before I go, once again, let me reinforce the notion that I recognize this is just a fraction of the whole. I’d like it to be the start of a conversation. If there was a debut album that kicked your ass this year and you don’t see it here, please drop a note in the comments below. I’m sure I’ll be adding more honorable mentions and whatnot over the next couple days, so if you see glaring omissions, let’s have ’em.

Thanks for reading.

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Limestone Whale Premiere “Tale of the Snow Child” from Self-Titled Debut

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on May 12th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

limestone whale (Photo by Christian Illing)

Bavarian four-piece Limestone Whale will release their self-titled debut album on May 27 via Stone Free Records. They recorded the seven-track offering at Big Snuff Studio in Berlin with Richard Behrens, also of Heat, formerly of Samsara Blues Experiment and who also does live sound for Kadavar. That connection isn’t to be entirely forgotten when it comes to the sound of Limestone Whale‘s 39-minute LP, but neither is it the sum-total of their breadth, because while songs like “Paralyzed in Paradise” (video posted here) and hook-laden opener “Ambrosia” draw from a modified ’70s pastiche, vocalist Clement Hoffer, guitarist Flo Ryan Kiss, bassist René Preiß and drummer Maximilian Brev also dig into a grunge-style lumber on German-language centerpiece cut “Swarms” and the early-PearlJam-gone-bluesier guitar of “A Book I Have to Close,” which follows, one of several effective moments on the record of genuine melancholia alongside the earlier, doomier “Tale of the Snow Child” and closer “An Allegation,” which calls back to “Swarms” in its darker, chugging finish.

Establishing this decades-spanning sonic meld is the stated intent of Limestone Whale‘s debut, and the outcome is that the songs, whichever period they’re drawing from, are executed with an overarching focus on natural feel. It’s less about sounding like it’s 1971 than it is about presenting the material in organic a manner as possible. Again, I wouldn’t limestone whale limestone whalesay the band are completely divorced from retro European heavy — from the dry treatment on Hoffer‘s vocals to the rhythmic swing permeating the slower “W,” those elements are definitely there — but like their Pentagrammy Danish counterparts in Demon Head last yearLimestone Whale bring a near-immediate sense of persona to the songs on their first album, which is all the more impressive for that clarity of effort since it still sounds live-recorded and laid back. Some of that is Behrens, of course, but if the material wasn’t strong in the first place, the album would feel flat and lifeless, and instead it carries across a palpable energy without sounding sloppy or losing its sense of command as it sets up a dynamic of fluid rhythmic and volume changes that carries the listener across Limestone Whale‘s span.

Aside from the fact that the early ’90s are fair game again for influence, which is understandable since 1991 was 25 years ago, the message Limestone Whale send with these songs is that something truly classic is timeless. This decade has seen a boom in bands — largely in Europe, but in the US as well — turning their heads backward to find their inspiration, but with newer, next-generation acts like Limestone Whale, they don’t even have to go that far, since the heavy rock of the last half-century has become one giant mash, fed into itself and sustained by the continuing drive of those playing it to refine the form. Limestone Whale step into that process confidently on their self-titled, and as they execute broad-minded ambitions in a way that results in cohesive songcraft, one can only look forward to hearing how they’ll develop over their tenure and what they might ultimately contribute to that oeuvre. For now, they’ve shown remarkable potential in their debut full-length and accomplished precisely what it seems they set out to do. That’s more than enough to make the effort worthy of praise.

It’s my pleasure today to host “Tale of the Snow Child” as a track premiere. You’ll find it below, followed by some comment from Kiss about the song and the album as a whole.

Please enjoy:

Flo Ryan Kiss on “Tale of the Snow Child”:

Some parts of our music refer to late ’60s Heavy Psych Blues and early 70s Hard Rock because it’s a very important musical style for us, but we decided not only to revive the spirit of that era by playing riffs that have been played partly over and over again. Instead of that we want to add new flavours like 90s alternative rock or grunge elements. It’s like building bridges between different rock decades with the bridges consisting of a modern but very natural and analog sound.

Limestone Whale on Thee Facebooks

Limestone Whale on Bandcamp

Limestone Whale at Stone Free Records

Limestone Whale at Wormhole Mailorder

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Limestone Whale Post “Paralyzed in Paradise” Video

Posted in Bootleg Theater on May 5th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

limestone-whale-(photo-by-Christian-Illing)

Bavarian heavy rockers Limestone Whale issue their self-titled debut album May 27 via Stone Free Records. The album, which was recorded live to tape by Richard Behrens, formerly of Samsara Blues Experiment, finds the newcomer four-piece getting their feet wet in a newer-sounding take on heavy ’70s rock, organic but not necessarily vintage in trying to capture analog crackle as so many have the last few years, particularly in Europe. Nonetheless, some similarities of bounce exist between “Paralyzed in Paradise,” for which Limestone Whale have a new video, and the earlier work of Kadavar, for whom Behrens also does live sound. The influence of an influential band. Fair enough.

More encouraging, Limestone Whale bring a sense of personality to the style and come across as being in pursuit of their own niche, perhaps on their way to finding it. “Paralyzed in Paradise” centers around its hook much as its video, directed by Christian Fischer and at least nodding in the direction of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, basks in a sense of absurd imagery. It suits a stated youthful theme, but it’s not as though Limestone Whale aren’t clearheaded in their approach. The song is clean despite its naturalism, and catchy besides, and it demonstrates the clear grip Limestone Whale have on their aesthetic, which is likely only beginning to develop.

If, like me, the clip is your introduction to the band, I think you’ll find it’s a solid one. It’ll be interesting to dig into the rest of the LP and see how representative “Paralyzed in Paradise” is of their sound overall, or if it’s just a slice of what’s included in their scope. In either case, a hook is never a bad way to start.

Enjoy:

Limestone Whale, “Paralyzed in Paradise” official video

This is a song about idealization, about escaping and about being kept imprisoned. This is a figurative and surrealistic music video about YOUTH. Directed and filmed by:
Christian Fischer.

Formed in the shadows of the Bavarian forest Limestone Whale have developed their very own approach to heavy psych blues – far beyond prevailing stereotypes. The quartet combines the natural roughness of proto metal and psychedelic rock with straight 70s inspired hard rock and 90s alternative/grunge elements. With their mixture of heavy riffs and refreshing melodies the young but yet experienced musicians create a vivid and stirring presence on stage. Limestone Whale are definitely among the few bands who are able to revive the spirit of the golden age of rock music without trying to sound „retro“.

With their self-titled debut Limestone Whale set an example for their three-year-old career. The seven songs found on “Limestone Whale” are not just a good lesson in variety and covering different genres like they were meant to form a symbiotic relationship, but they also come with an outstanding, clear and characteristic sound, which is the result of recording the album live and with analogue technology at Berlin-based Big Snuff Studio.

Limestone Whale on Thee Facebooks

Limestone Whale on Bandcamp

Limestone Whale at Stone Free Records

Limestone Whale at Wormhole Mailorder

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Psy-High Festival 2014 Set for Aug. 22-24

Posted in Whathaveyou on August 5th, 2014 by JJ Koczan

There are a couple holdovers from 2013 in The Tower, Tomáš Palucha and Zkouška Sirén, but no question the Czech festival Psy-High has upped the scale of its operation for 2014. They still have a strong blend of native Czech and foreign acts, this time pulling in Weedpecker and Sunnata from Poland as well as Dysis and Limestone Whale from Germany, among others, for a lineup that’s more packed. Where to host so much rock? A quarry, of course.

I don’t have the exact coordinates, but this year’s Psy-High will take place Aug. 22-24 at the St. Joseph quarry in East Bohemia. Really not sure how you can go wrong. On a related note, I was fortunate enough to be invited to cover Psy-High 2014. I won’t be able to make it out because flights are expensive, but it’s nice to be thought of anyway. Kudos to the fest on what looks like a killer second year.

The PR wire brings details and the event poster:

Psy-High ’14

August 22 – August 24

Horice, Ji?ín, Czech Republic

This year’s Psy-High will host about 30 performers + lectures, workshops. We plan to expand and double the audience to around 350-400. Don’t worry, we stay true to our ideals, so everything is DIY (we seriously build everything from ground up from scrap wood and stuff) and we are confident we will be able to hold the unique intimately ritualistic atmosphere, which took so many by their hearts last time.

As last year, location is pivotal for us, we moved to a new quarry, as we want to cycle the locations every year. This year will take place in the beautiful quarry of st. Joseph near Ho?ice in east Bohemia. The festival takes place on 22.-24.8.

Programme-wise – we are hosting 7 foreign bands : Zatokrev (swiss sludge postmetal), Weedpecker (polish stoner grunge), Sunnata (polish psych sludge), Limestone Whale (german 70s retro stoner), Dysis (german instrumental stoner postmetal), Turbine Stollprona (psych prog) and Bird People (austrian ritual ambient).

As last year, those are only the highlights, accompanied by more then 20 czech acts, ranging very widely from stoner, noise rock, doom, slowcore, through psychedelia, minimal, americana, all the way to ambient, electronice, acoustic and experimental. This offers a quite vivid mosaic offering a very fresh experience. Quite mentionable are Tomáš Palucha or NodNod, among all of them.

For foreigners, a hard argument is the very cheap alcohol (best beer in the world for 1€), easy access to weed (best shit for 7€) and so on. We are hoping for a thicker international audience this year and so any post would help us a thousand times! We try to be a part of the psychedelic renaissance, and we want to be as open as possible.

We just launched presale of special festival packages with some lab-glass home made bongs and such, check it out, and think about sharing it along, as we really need to raise necessary basic funds to run this whole show!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1503940179833269/
https://www.facebook.com/thepsyofthehigh
http://www.psy-high.cz/#tickets

Psy-High 2013 Festival Report

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