Album Review: Kombynat Robotron, West Mata

Posted in Reviews on January 3rd, 2025 by JJ Koczan

Kombynat Robotron West Mata

The album sets its theme around the sea, which is fair enough, but if you find yourself drawn toward the sky, cosmos or some kind of other otherworldly landscape during the 40 minutes of West Mata, one could hardly blame Kombynat Robotron. At a certain point, expanse is expanse. Recorded in Spring 2023 at ZFML with Kio Krabbenhöft helming (Felix Margraf mixed and mastered), West Mata takes place over three extended tracks, beginning with the longest (immediate points) “Jason II” (21:54) on side A before “Vasa” (6:57) and “Trieste” (11:36) take hold across side B and setting out on a textured course of mindful drift in its initial going. Guitarist Jannes Ihnen echoes out across mellowpsych reaches, a tonal shimmer having emerged from a cocoon of drone gradually in the first couple minutes, and bassist Claas Ogorek and drummer Thomas Handschick — both also of the more crush-minded Earthbong — give the groove cohesion without taking away from the fluidity, which is an obvious priority for an album that, at some point or other, the band decided was about water.

As much fun as it can be and often is to accede to the whims of an album like West Mata, with a stated expressive purpose, the fact of the matter is that the subject being instrumentally explored can’t be effectively conveyed without real world chemistry underlying. That is to say, it wouldn’t matter what the songs were about if the songs didn’t take the listener anywhere. However, West Mata is duly transportive. “Jason II” doesn’t ever have the outward arrogance to be sweeping, but the howling guitar and residual distorted rumblings, the casual tap of the ride and snare acting as aural emulsifier, are so smooth that by the time Kombynat Robotron are eight minutes in, the pictures are vivid. A re-mellowing brings warmth of low end beneath a sparser lead layer, and though the song is only half over circa 10:45, what’s been laid out at that point is a single procession of slow movement. If you told me it was about the galaxial orbit or the superposition of quantum states, I don’t think I’d be able to fight you and say, “No way, boss! It’s the ocean!” with more than their say-so to back me up. Granted that’s not nothing, but six LPs and however-many whatever-elses later — earlier in 2024, they took part in a four-way split (review here) for Worst Bassist Records, for example — Kombynat Robotron aren’t so closed in the evocations on a sheer sonic level.

This sounds like a critique of the band, or like I’m saying they didn’t accomplish their goal in basing West Mata around the sea. I’m not saying that at all. I’m just saying that whether you think “Jason II” is about horror flicks or Argonauts, there’s room in the material itself for your interpretation. Kombynat Robotron have an open, jam-based approach to psychedelia, and West Mata is rich in atmosphere as well as tone. If you didn’t know “Vasa” was named for a 17th century Swedish shipwreck or “Trieste” for the first vessel to submerge into the Mariana Trench, or indeed that the album itself is named for a chain of active volcanoes near the Pacific Island of Tonga, you can probably still appreciate the serenity with which “Jason II” (perhaps named for a model of submersible) contemplates its back half, or the transition to a more physical rhythm in “Vasa,” or the noisier crux of “Trieste.”

Kombynat Robotron

This is not a weakness. West Mata is what it was intended to be, and more. A given listener’s choice whether or not to engage with the thematic will invariably play into how they hear the material — the power of suggestion is always a factor, but on general principle, you won’t hear me rag on a band for the decision to apply narrative to their work — and however they go, the point is that Kombynat Robotron are headed out.

With a progression between its songs that moves from the least to arguably the most active material — if you want to quibble on “active” between the boogie of “Vasa” and the scorch of “Trieste,” I’ll cite the careening, daring-toward-abrasive finish of the latter as the noisiest and busiest stretch included among the three cuts — there is a strong sense of a plan at work, but at no point in West Mata are Kombynat Robotron too heavy-handed in it. There are changes, of course, as one part evolves into the next and the personality of a work begins to take shape, and each piece seems to reset before it begins its own plunge, but movement overarching is from a minimal sound to a wash (you bet your ass I intended that pun), and that linearity lends a distinctive set of purpose to the proceedings, heady though it is. But it’s okay. Somehow I think if you can put up with reading this review up to this point, ‘heady’ won’t be too much of a threat to keep you from enjoying a 40-minute long-player. Just speculating.

In the interest of honesty, and maybe this came through in the discussion above whether I wanted it to or not, I let go of the watery foundation pretty quickly with West Mata. I tend to think of a style like Kombynat Robotron‘s on more cosmic terms — and for sure the band are no stranger to those — and that’s where my head went, with “Trieste” boasting a somewhat darker ambience as it departs the cacophony to leave residual drone and amplifier hum. Whether that’s the last thing you hear before you fall in the singularity or come up to the surface with the ocean on all sides, the album holds up. That isn’t necessarily a surprise for Kombynat Robotron, who’ve been at it with all due proficiency to suit a genre existing well outside of normal spacetime for eight years or so, but it does account for the surehanded guidance they provide to the mediation in sound happening here. And if you take that mediation in a different direction, I can’t imagine anybody’s gonna yell at you. No one is going to say you’re wrong. Have your own experience. I got away with it so far.

Kombynat Robotron, West Mata (2024)

Kombynat Robotron on Facebook

Kombynat Robotron on Instagram

Kombynat Robotron on Bandcamp

Clostridium Records on Facebook

Clostridium Records on Instagram

Clostridium Records website

Cardinal Fuzz on Facebook

Cardinal Fuzz on Instagram

Cardinal Fuzz store

Little Cloud Records on Facebook

Little Cloud Records on Instagram

Little Cloud Records website

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Kombynat Robotron: New LP West Mata Available to Preorder

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 20th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

You ever put on the wrong record? Well, yesterday, I had the wrong record on, and it wasn’t until I stopped it and put on Kombynat Robotron‘s upcoming three-song LP West Mata instead that I realized it. The German cosmic-jam expeditionists — who share members with the more plundering but also longform-prone Earthbong — will release the album Dec. 6 through a multinational consortium that includes Cardinal Fuzz, Little Cloud Records and Clostridium Records. It’s not an insignificant amount of support for an instrumental improv-based space rock outfit, but I mean, I get it. Maybe West Mata was the right record for all of them too.

No public audio yet, but the release date’s Dec. 6, so coming around quick. Preorders are up from everybody, and the links are below. The PR wire brings more about the record’s aquatic theme:

Kombynat Robotron West Mata

Kombynat Robotron – West Mata – Release: Dec 6th 2024

West Mata is the 6th studio record by Kiel/Germany based Psych/Krautrockband Kombynat Robotron. The release of this album is the result of a cooperation between Clostridium Records (Germany), Cardinal Fuzz Records (UK) and Little Cloud Records (USA).

After their space-themed record -270°C (2021) and the following, earth-themed record Frohe Zukunft (2023) Kombynat Robotron are closing the circle with the waterthemed West Mata.

With a total length of about 50 minutes split in three tracks the band returns to their long-form jam-based approach to songwriting on West Mata.

For thousands of years, the sea has been both a place of longing and an antagonist for mankind and, despite being fully explored, it still resists all of mankind’s efforts and technical sophistications. The eternal continuity of the sea is taken up as a musical motif by all three tracks on West Mata. Seemingly stoic and unchanging, the rhythm undulates in the depths and yet every moment is full of change and movement on the surface.

In 21 minutes, Jason 2 unfolds it’s wings like a manta ray and takes us from Greek mythology to modern satellite technology: silvery sound surfaces that merge in silent agreement, come together to form the same and yet always different shapes, disappear and emerge again.

A look into the depths belies the impression of timelessness, because the history of exploring and mastering the seas is always also a history of hubris and failure. The wreck of the Vasa, which sank on its maiden voyage almost 400 years ago due to a design flaw, had not yet been recovered when the Titanic sank in 1912 after colliding with an iceberg. A story, a motif, told in ever-changing variations. It has always been the same, same old story.

With Trieste the album finally plunges into the endless depths of the ocean. The movement forward is a movement downwards, driven by the belief that there is something to be discovered and understood even in the most hostile environment. We can just hope that the steel shell can withstand the pressure that increases with every meter and hope we can catch a glimpse of the abyss before the abyss looks back in us. Get in and look into the depths.

Das Album will be released in three different vinyl editions:

Clostridium Records edition limited to 250 copies: https://www.clostridiumrecords.com/epages/es140532.mobile/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es140532/Products/CR100

Cardinal Fuzz Records/Little Cloud Records edition limited to 160 copies: https://littlecloudrecords.com/products/kombynat-robotron-west-mata-pre-order & https://cardinalfuzz.bigcartel.com/product/kombynat-robotron-west-mata

Kombynat Robotron edition limited to 250 copies: https://www.kombynatrobotron.de/shop/music/west-mata-kr-edition-preorder/

West Mata was recorded in May 2023 at ZFML by Kio Krabbenhöft.
Mix and Master: Felix Margraf
Artwork: Anton Ohlow

Kombynat Robotron is:
Jannes Ihnen – guitar
Claas Ogorek – bass
Thomas Handschick – drums

https://www.facebook.com/KombynatRobotron
https://www.instagram.com/kombynat_robotron
https://kombynatrobotron.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/clostridiumrecords/
https://www.instagram.com/clostridiumrecords
http://www.clostridiumrecords.com/

https://www.facebook.com/CardinalFuzz/
https://www.instagram.com/cardinalfuzzrecords
cardinalfuzz.bigcartel.com/

https://www.instagram.com/littlecloudrecords/
https://www.facebook.com/littlecloudrecords/
http://littlecloudrec.com/

Kombynat Robotron, Frohe Zukunft (2023)

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Quarterly Review: Chat Pile, Neon Nightmare, Astrometer, Acid Rooster, Giants Dwarfs and Black Holes, Oryx, Sunface, Fórn, Gravity Well, Methadone Skies

Posted in Reviews on October 21st, 2024 by JJ Koczan

THE-OBELISK-FALL-2020-QUARTERLY-REVIEW

This is the last day of the Fall 2024 Quarterly Review. Day 11 of 10, as it were. Bonus-extra, as we say at home. 10 more releases of various kinds to underscore the point of the infinite creative sphere. Before we dive in, I want to make a note about the header above. It’s the same one I used a couple times during the pandemic, with the four horseman of the apocalypse riding, and I put it in place of the AI art I’d been using because that seems to be a trigger for so many people.

In my head, I did that to avoid the conversation, to avoid dealing with someone who might be like, “Ugh, AI art” and then a conversation that deteriorates in the way of people talking at each other on the internet. This saves me the trouble. I’ll note the irony that swiping an old etching out of the public domain and slapping an Obelisk logo on it is arguably less creative than feeding a prompt into a generative whathaveyou, but at least this way I don’t have to hear the underground’s moral panic that AI is coming for stoner rock.

Quarterly Review #101-110:

Chat Pile, Cool World

chat pile cool world

Chat Pile are two-for-two on living up to the hype in my mind as Cool World follows the band’s 2022 debut, God’s Country (review here), with a darker, more metal take on that record’s trauma-poetic and nihilistic noise rock. Some of the bassy jabs in songs like “Camcorder” and “Frownland” remind of Korn circa their self-titled, but I’m not sure Chat Pile were born when that record came out, and that harder, fuller-sounding impact comes in a context with “Tape” following “Camcorder” in bringing together Meshuggah and post-punk, so take it as you will. Based in Oklahoma City, Chat Pile are officially A Big Deal With Dudes™, but in a style that’s not exactly known for reinvention — i.e. noise rock — they are legitimately a breath of air that would be ‘fresh’ if it weren’t so desolate and remains innovative regardless. There’s gonna be a lot of mediocre riffs and shitty poetry written in an attempt to capture a fraction of what this record does.

Chat Pile on Facebook

The Flenser website

Neon Nightmare, Faded Dream

Neon Nightmare Faded Dream

I guess the anonymous project Neon Nightamre — who sound and aesthetic-wise are straight-up October Rust-and-later Type O Negative; the reason the album caught my eye was the framing of the letters around the corners — have gotten some harsh response to their debut, Faded Dream. Critic-type dudes pearl-clutching a band’s open unoriginality. Because to be sure, beyond dedicating the album to Peter Steele — and maybe they did, I haven’t seen the full artwork — Neon Nightmare could hardly do more in naked homage to the semi-goth Brooklyn legends and their distinctive Beatles/Sabbath worship. But I mean, that’s the point. It’s not like this band is saying they’re the first ones doing any of this, and in a world where AI could scrape every Type O record and pump out some half-assed interpretation in five minutes, isn’t something that attempts to demonstrate actual human love for the source material as it builds on it worth at least acknowledging as creative? I like Type O Negative a lot. The existence of Neon Nightmare doesn’t lessen that at all, and there are individual flashes of style in “Lost Silver” — the keyboard line feels like an easter egg from “Anesthesia”; I wondered if the title was in honor of Josh Silver — and the guitar work of “She’s Drowning” that make me even more curious to see where this goes.

Neon Nightmare on Facebook

20 Buck Spin website

Astrometer, Outermost

astrometer outermost

Brooklyn-based instrumentalist five-piece Astrometer present their full-length debut after releasing their first demo, Incubation (review here), in 2022. The double-guitar pairing of Carmine Laietta V and Drew Mack and the drumming of Jeff Stieber at times will put you in mind of their collective past playing together in Hull, but the keys of Jon Ehlers (Bangladeafy) and the basswork of Sam Brodsky (Meek is Murder) assure that the newer collective have a persona and direction of their own, so that while the soaring solo in “Power Vulture” or the crashes of “Blood Wedding” might ring familiar, the context has shifted, so that those crashes come accompanied by sax and there’s room for a song like “Conglobulations” with its quirk, rush and crunching bounce to feel cosmic with the keyboard, and that blend of crush and reach extends into the march of closer “Do I Know How to Party…” which feels like a preface for things to come in its progressive punch.

Astrometer on Facebook

Astrometer on Bandcamp

Acid Rooster, Hall of Mirrors

acid rooster hall of mirrors

An annual check-in from universe-and-chill molten and mellow heavy psych explorers Acid Rooster. It’s only been a year since the band unfurled Flowers and Dead Souls, but Hall of Mirrors offers another chance to be hypnotized by the band’s consuming fluidity, the 39-minute four-songer coming across as focused on listener immersion in no small part as a result of Acid Rooster‘s own. That is, it’s not like you’re swimming around the bassline and residual synth and guitar effects noise in the middle of the 14-minute “Chandelier Arp” and the band are standing calm and dry back on the beach. No way. They’re right in it. I don’t know if they were closed-eyes entranced while the recording was taking place, but if you want a definition of ‘dug in,’ Hall of Mirrors has four, and Acid Rooster‘s capacity for conveying purpose as they plunge into a jam-born piece like “Confidence of Ignorance” sets them apart from much of Europe’s psychedelic underground in establishing a meditative atmosphere. They are unafraid of the serene, and not boring. This is an achievement.

Acid Rooster on Facebook

Cardinal Fuzz webstore

Little Cloud Records website

Tonzonen website

Giants Dawrfs and Black Holes, Echo on Death of Narcissus

Giants Dwarfs And Black Holes Echo on Death of Narcissus

Five years on from their start, Germany’s Giants Dwarfs and Black Holes present Echo on Death of Narcissus as their third full-length and the follow-up to 2023’s In a Sandbox Full of Suns (review here) as the four-piece bring in new guitarist Caio Puttini Chaves alongside vocalist Christiane Thomaßen, guitarist Tomasz Riedel (also bass and keys) and drummer Carsten Freckmann for a five-track collection that has another album’s worth of knows-what-it’s-about behind it. Opener “Again,” long enough at eight minutes to be a bookend with the finale “Take Me Down” (13:23) but not so long as to undercut that expanse, leads into three competent showings of classic progressive/psychedelic rock, casual in the flow between “Soul Trip” and the foreboding strums of centerpiece “Flowers of Evil” ahead of the also-languid “December Bloom.” And when they get there, “Take Me Down” has a jammy breadth all its own that shimmers in the back half soloing, which kind of devolves at the end, but resounds all the more as organic for that.

Giants Dwarfs and Black Holes on Facebook

Sireena Records website

Oryx, Primordial Sky

Oryx primordial Sky

Oryx‘s Primordial Sky threads a stylistic needle across its four songs. Delivered through Translation Loss, the 41-minute follow-up to the Denver trio’s 2021 offering, Lamenting a Dead World (discussed here), is no less extreme than one would expect, but to listen to 13-minute opener/longest track (immediate points), 13-minute capper “Look Upon the Earth,” or either of the seven-minute cuts between, it’s plain to both hear and see that there’s more to Oryx atmospherically than onslaught, however low guitarist Thomas Davis (also synth) pushes his growls amid the lurching grooves of bassist Joshua Kauffman and drummer Abigail Davis. This is something that five records and more than a decade on from their start their listeners know well, but as they refine their processes, even the outright sharp-toothed consumption of “Ephemeral” has some element of outreach.

Oryx on Facebook

Translation Loss Records store

Sunface, Cloud Castles

Sunface Cloud Castles

Heads up on this record for those who dig the mellower end of heavy psych, plus intricacy of arrangement, which is a number in which I very much count myself. By that I mean don’t be surprised when Sunface‘s Cloud Castles shows up on my year-end list. It’s less outwardly traditionalist than some of the heavy rock coming out of Norway at this point in history, but showcasing a richer underground only makes Cloud Castles more vital in my mind, and as even a shorter song like “Thunder Era” includes an open-enough sensibility to let a shoegazier sway enter the proceedings in “Violet Ponds” without seeming incongruous for the post-All Them Witches bluesy sway that underlies it. Innovative for the percussion in “Tall Trees” alone, Sunface are weighted in tone but able to move in a way that feels like their own, and to convey that movement without upsetting the full-album flow across the 10 songs and 44 minutes with radical changes in meter, while at the same time not dwelling too long in any single stretch or atmosphere.

Sunface on Facebook

Apollon Records website

Fórn, Repercussions of the Self

forn repercussions of the self

While consistent with their two prior LPs in the general modus of unmitigated aural heft and oppressive, extreme sludge, Fórn declare themselves on broader aesthetic ground in incorporating electronic elements courtesy of guitarist Joey Gonzalez and Andrew Nault, as well as newcomer synthesist Lane Shi Otayonii, whose clean vocals also provide a sense of space to 11-minute post-intro plunge “Soul Shadow.” If it’s the difference between all-crush and mostly-crush, that’s not nothing, and “Anamnesis” can be that much noisier for the band’s exploring a more encompassing sound. Live drums are handled in a guest capacity by Ilsa‘s Josh Brettell, and that band’s Orion Peter also sits in alongside Fórn‘s Chris Pinto and Otayonii, and with Danny Boyd on guitar and Brian Barbaruolo on bass, the sound is duly massive, tectonic and three-dimensional; the work of a band following a linear progression toward new ideas and balancing that against the devastation laid forth in their songs. Repercussions of the Self does not want for challenge directed toward the listener, but the crux is catharsis more than navelgazing, and the intensity here is no less crucial to Fórn‘s post-metallic scene-setting than it has been to this point in their tenure. Good band actively making themselves better.

Fórn on Facebook

Persistent Vision Records website

Gravity Well, Negative Space

Gravity Well Negative Space

Big-riffed heavy fuzz rock from Northern Ireland as the Belfast-based self-releasing-for-now four-piece of vocalist/synthesist Fionnuala McGlinchy, guitarist Tom Finney, bassist Michael McFarlane and drummer Ciaran O’Kane touch on vibes reminiscent of some of Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard‘s synth-fused sci-fi doom roil while keeping the material more earthbound in terms of tone and structure, so that the seven-minute “The Abstract” isn’t quite all-in on living up to the title, plenty liquefied, but still aware of itself and where it’s going. This mitigated terrestrialism — think Middle of Nowhere-era Acid King — is the source of a balance to which Negative Space, the band’s second album, is able to reshape as required by a given song — “Burning Gaze” has its far-out elements, they’re there for a reason — and thereby portray a range of moods rather than dwelling in the same emotional or atmospheric space for the duration. Bookending intro “As Above” and the closer “So Below” further the impression of the album as a single work/journey to undertake, and indeed that seems to be how the character of “The Forest,” “Delirium” and the rest of the material flourishes.

Gravity Well on Facebook

Gravity Well on Bandcamp

Methadone Skies, Spectres at Dawn

methadone skies spectres at dawn

Romanian instrumentalist heavy psych purveyors Methadone Skies sent word of the follow-up to 2021’s Retrofuture Caveman (review here) last month and said that the six-songer Spectres at Dawn was the heaviest work they’d done in their now-six-album tenure. Well they’re right. Taking cues from Russian Circles and various others in the post-heavy sphere, guitarists Alexandru Wehry and Casian Stanciu, bassist Mihai Guta and drummer Flavius Retea (also keyboards, of increasing prominence in the sound), are still able to dive into a passage and carry across a feeling of openness and expanse, but on “Mano Cornetto” here that becomes just part of a surprisingly stately rush of space metal, and 10-minute closer “Use the Excessive Force” seems to be laying out its intention right there in the title. Whether the ensuing blastbeats are, in fact, excessive, will be up to the individual listener, but either way, Methadone Skies have done their diligence in letting listeners know where they’re headed, and Spectres at Dawn embodies that forwardness of ethic on multiple levels.

Methadone Skies on Facebook

Methadone Skies on Bandcamp

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Acid Rooster Announce New Album Hall of Mirrors Out Oct. 25

Posted in Whathaveyou on August 27th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

acid rooster hall of mirrors

New Acid Rooster coming up. The Leipzig, Germany, psych rockers released their Flowers and Dead Souls LP, and I whiffed on reviewing that, but I’m hoping that Hall of Mirrors will be my chance to really engage with their work, because while I did manage to dig into their 2022 LP, Ad Astra (review here), my big takeaway therefrom was “hey this is pretty good I’d like to hear more if it.” Sometimes life happens and you don’t hear every record, or even every cool record. That’s why I do year-end polls — so I can spend the next half-decade trying to catch up with whatever I missed in a given year. Acid Rooster featured on a number of lists from last year’s poll, so they fit the bill nicely there.

This is the part where I tell you there’s no audio from Hall of Mirrors posted yet, and while that’s true at least so far as I can find, my suggestion is you check again around the time preorders start — that’s Sept. 15 ahead of an Oct. 25 release — and whether you’re in the applied region of one or the other labels behind the album or purchasing from the band itself, the odds should be better. In the meantime, in case you’re like me, the 2023 album streams in full at the bottom of this post. And I know I don’t need to say that, that you can find it, but I remember a time before all music was immediately accessible all the time once it was released, and that’s a novelty that may never actually fade for me.

So, enjoy. Album announce and live dates follow from social media:

acid rooster hall of mirors lp back

We are thrilled to announce our new studio album „Hall of Mirrors“ !!

It was recorded on two off days during our UK-tour in 2022 at Dystopia Glasgow and mixed at Fuzzface Studio by Jason Shaw. Mastered by Joe Carra at Crystal Mastering. Artwork by Marco Heinzmann aka Super Quiet.

Presale starts on september 15th via Tonzonen, Cardinal Fuzz, Little Cloud Records and our bandcamp page.

Official release is on october 25th!

Acid Rooster live:
14.09. Berlin, Future Fest
01.10. Weimar, C.Keller
03.10. Leipzig, Ilses Erika + Datashock
04.10. Nürnberg, heizhaus + Datashock
05.10. Würzburg, Immerhin + Datashock

Tickets: http://www.elborrachobookings.com/artist/acid-rooster/

https://www.facebook.com/acidrooster/
https://www.instagram.com/acidrooster_band/
https://acidrooster.bandcamp.com/
https://linktr.ee/acidrooster

https://www.facebook.com/CardinalFuzz/
cardinalfuzz.bigcartel.com/

https://www.instagram.com/littlecloudrecords/
https://www.facebook.com/littlecloudrecords/
http://littlecloudrec.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Tonzonen/
https://www.instagram.com/tonzonenrecords/
https://www.tonzonen.de

Acid Rooster, Flowers and Dead Souls (2023)

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Acid Rooster to Release Flowers and Dead Souls on Aug. 25

Posted in Whathaveyou on July 10th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

You might recall last year when German psychedelic instrumentalists Acid Rooster released their Ad Astra (review here) LP, the hype around it was thick enough to swim in. The music itself was prone more to drift, as it happened, but with the narrative behind it of being recorded live in an outdoor space during the pandemic, a small gathering put to tape at a singularly desperate moment, the gorgeousness of its two extended tracks took on a depth not often granted to improv-based psych. Three labels have lined up to release Flowers and Dead Souls, the new full-length from Acid Rooster, on Aug. 25.

They’re listed below along with the territories being covered between the UK, Europe and the US — that’s Cardinal FuzzTonzonen and Little Cloud, respectively — while there’s no audio yet, I wouldn’t necessarily be surprised if when the album arrives, it isn’t also a two-songer with “Flowers” on one side and “Dead Souls” on the other. Not saying I know that — because I don’t — but given the context of Ad Astra it’s certainly possible, and the thought of more explorations from this particular outfit is enticing given the patience and breadth they demonstrated last time out.

I assume what happens next is the album details, maybe one of the songs — or more, if there are more — streamed ahead of time through an outlet likely much cooler than this one, and preorders, etc., but Acid Rooster also have a couple gigs coming up including a stop at Krach am Bach, a swing through the Other Side Festival in London, and a slot supporting Dopelord in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

Album cover and particulars, as per socials:

Acid Rooster Flowers and Dead Souls

NEWS FROM ACID ROOSTER

‘Hey fellows, we are over the moon to finally share the news and announce that our second studio album will be released on august 25th via Tonzonen (EU), Cardinal Fuzz (UK) and Little Cloud Records (US) !!

Check out the artwork for „Flowers and Dead Souls” by our friend and genius Marco Heinzmann aka @superquiet.

We have some more exciting things coming up, so stay tuned and save the date !

Pre Order starts soon !’

Acid Rooster live:
Aug 04 Krach am Bach Beelen, Germany
Oct 14 The Victoria, Dalston London, UK (Other Side Festival)
Oct 21 Doornroosje Nijmegen, Netherlands (w/ Dopelord, Bismut)

https://www.facebook.com/acidrooster/
https://www.instagram.com/acidrooster_band/
https://acidrooster.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/CardinalFuzz/
cardinalfuzz.bigcartel.com/

https://www.instagram.com/littlecloudrecords/
https://www.facebook.com/littlecloudrecords/
http://littlecloudrec.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Tonzonen/
https://www.instagram.com/tonzonenrecords/
https://www.tonzonen.de

Acid Rooster, Ad Astra (2022)

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Henry Bennett of Zong

Posted in Questionnaire on March 21st, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Henry Bennett of Zong

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: Henry Bennett of ZONG

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

As a band, I guess we jam and write as a way to express ourselves and have fun. We often jam in a fairly open, improvised fashion, no expectations or judgements.

Our music has no vocals so it’s a real sonic “experiencial” type journey. I think it’s a way for us to tune out of everyday life. Similar in a lot of ways to trippin’ balls!

The three of us connect on a pretty unique musical level so I think it’s very satisfying for us to create & express “in the moment”. It can be meditative.

It’s also enjoyable to then be able to share that with others who also connect on the same level.

Describe your first musical memory.

Listening to Led Zeppelin in the car with mum!

Describe your best musical memory to date.

First thing to come to mind… Tripping to Ash Ra Tempel with my brother many years ago was pretty wild!

Seeing Black Sabbath live for their final tour here in Aus was very cool too. :)

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

Can’t think of any but probably too often.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

As a whole, hopefully to some sort of social, political, cultural & ultimately evolutionary progress.

How do you define success?

Subjective to the individual and comes in many forms. The important one must be happiness for humans as a whole?

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

My parents having sex comes to mind… but to be honest I’m not too bothered.

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

In musical terms we have always wanted to create an animated film/ album combo. Like Pink Floyd The Wall. Or at least an animated film clip would be dope!

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

Hmmmm … to conjure thought? to express? … to just be?

I think anything more than that is probably getting too specific.

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

Spending time with my partner and my dog this holidays. :)

https://www.facebook.com/zongbrisbane/
http://www.instagram.com/zongband
https://zongband.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/CardinalFuzz/
cardinalfuzz.bigcartel.com/

https://www.instagram.com/littlecloudrecords/
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http://littlecloudrec.com/

Zong, Astral Lore (2022)

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Quarterly Review: Gaupa, Orango, Onségen Ensemble, Gypsy Wizard Queen, Blake Hornsby, Turbid North, Modern Stars, Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships, Borehead, Monolithe

Posted in Reviews on January 13th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

quarterly-review-winter 2023

So here we are. On the verge of two weeks, 100 records later. My message here is the same as ever: I’m tired and I hope you found something worthwhile. A lot of this was catchup for me — still is, see Gaupa below — but maybe something slipped through the cracks for you in 2022 that got a look here, or maybe not and you’re not even seeing this and it doesn’t matter anyway and what even is music, etc., etc. I don’t know.

A couple bands were stoked along the way. That’s fun, I guess. Mostly I’ve been trying to keep in mind that I’m doing this for myself, because, yeah, there’s probably no other way I was going to get to cover these 100 albums, and I feel like the site is stronger for having done so, at least mostly. I guess shrug and move on. Next week is back to normal reviews, premieres and all that. I think March we’ll do this again, maybe try to keep it to five or six days. Two 100-record QRs in a row has been a lot.

But again, thanks if you’ve kept up at all. I’m gonna soak my head in these and then cover it with a pillow for a couple days to keep the riffs out. Just kidding, I’ll be up tomorrow morning writing. Like a sucker.

Winter 2023 Quarterly Review #91-100:

Gaupa, Myriad

Gaupa Myriad

Beginning with the hooky “Exoskeleton” and “Diametrical Enchantress,” Myriad is the second full-length from Sweden’s Gaupa (their first for Nuclear Blast), and a bringing together of terrestrial and ethereal heavy elements. Even at its most raucous, Gaupa‘s material floats, and even at its most floating, there is a plan at work, a story unfolding, and an underlying structure to support them. From the minimalist start of “Moloken” to the boogie rampage of “My Sister is a Very Angry Man,” the Swedefolk of “Sömnen,” the tension and explosions of “RA,” with the theatrical-but-can-also-really-sing, soulful vocals of Emma Näslund at the forefront, a proggy and atmospheric cut like “Elden” — which becomes an intense battery by the time it hits its apex; I’ve heard that about aging — retains a distinct human presence, and the guitar work of Daniel Nygren and David Rosberg, Erik Sävström‘s bass and Jimmy Hurtig‘s drums are sharp in their turns and warm in their tones, creating a fluidity that carries the five-piece to the heavy immersion of “Mammon,” where Näslund seems to find another, almost Bjork-ish level of command in her voice before, at 5:27 into the song’s 7:36, the band behind her kicks into the heaviest roll of the album; a shove by the time they’re done. Can’t ask for more. Some records just have everything.

Gaupa on Facebook

Nuclear Blast Records store

 

Orango, Mohican

orango mohican

Six albums in, let’s just all take a minute to be glad Orango are still at it. The Oslo-based harmonybringers are wildly undervalued, now over 20 years into their tenure, and their eighth album, Mohican (which I’m not sure is appropriate to take as an album title unless you’re, say, a member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community) is a pleasure cruise through classic heavy rock styles. From opener/longest track (immediate points) “The Creek” twisting through harder riffing and more melodic range than most acts have in their entire career, through the memorable swagger in the organ-laced “Fryin’,” the stadium-ready “Running Out of Reasons,” the later boogie of “War Camp” and shuffle in “Dust & Dirt” (presumably titled for what’s kicked up by said shuffle) and the softer-delivered complementary pair “Cold Wind” and “Ain’t No Road” ending each side of the LP with a mellow but still engaging wistfulness, nobody does the smooth sounds of the ’70s better, and Mohican is a triumph in showcasing what they do, songs like “Bring You Back Home” and the bluesier “Wild River Song” gorgeous and lush in their arrangements while holding onto a corresponding human sensibility, ever organic. There is little to do with Orango except be wowed and, again, be thankful they’ve got another collection of songs to bask in and singalong to. It’s cool if you’re off-key; nobody’s judging.

Orango on Facebook

Stickman Records website

 

Onségen Ensemble, Realms

Onségen Ensemble Realms

You never really know when a flute, a choir, or a digeridoo might show up, and that’s part of the fun with Onségen Ensemble‘s six-track Realms LP, which goes full-Morricone in “Naked Sky” only after digging into the ambient prog of “The Sleeping Lion” and en route to the cinematic keys and half-speed King Crimson riffing of “Abysmal Sun,” which becomes a righteous melodic wash. The Finnish natives’ fourth LP, its vinyl pressing was crowdfunded through Bandcamp for independent release, and while the guitar in “Collapsing Star” calls back to “Naked Sky” and the later declarations roll out grandiose crashes, the horns of “The Ground of Being” set up a minimalist midsection only to return in even more choral form, and “I’m Here No Matter What” resolves in both epic keys/voices and a clear, hard-strummed guitar riff, the name Realms feels not at all coincidental. This is worldbuilding, setting a full three-dimensional sphere in which these six pieces flow together to make the 40-minute entirety of the album. The outright care put into making them, the sense of purpose, and the individualized success of the results, shouldn’t be understated. Onségen Ensemble are becoming, and so have become, a treasure of heavy, enveloping progressive sounds, and without coming across as contrived, Realms has a painterly sensibility that resonates joy.

Onségen Ensemble on Facebook

Onségen Ensemble on Bandcamp

 

Gypsy Wizard Queen, Gypsy Wizard Queen

Gypsy Wizard Queen self-titled

Chad Heille (ex-Egypt, currently also El Supremo) drums in this Fargo, North Dakota, three-piece completed by guitarist/vocalist/engineer Chris Ellingson and bassist/vocalist Mitch Martin, and the heavy bluesy groove they emit as they unfurl “Witch Lung,” their self-titled debut’s 10-minute opener and longest track (immediate points), is likewise righteous and hypnotic. Even as “Paranoid Humanoid” kicks into its chorus on Heille‘s steady thud and a winding lead from Ellingson, one wouldn’t call their pace hurried, and while I’d like to shake everyone in the band’s hand for having come up with the song title “Yeti Davis Eyes” — wow; nicely done — the wandering jam itself is even more satisfying, arriving along its instrumental course at a purely stoner rock janga-janga before it’s finished and turns over to the final two tracks, “The Good Ride” and “Stoned Age,” both shorter, with the former also following an instrumental path, classically informed but modern in its surge, and the latter seeming to find all the gallop and shove that was held back from elsewhere and loosing it in one showstopping six-minute burst. I’d watch this live set, happily. Reminds a bit of Geezer on paper but has its own identity. Their sound isn’t necessarily innovative or trying to be, but their debut nonetheless establishes a heavy dynamic, shows their chemistry across a varied collection of songs, and offers a take on genre that’s welcome in the present and raises optimism for what they’ll do from here. It’s easy to dig, and I dig it.

Gypsy Wizard Queen on Facebook

Gypsy Wizard Queen on Bandcamp

 

Blake Hornsby, A Collection of Traditional Folk Songs & Tunes Vol. 1

blake hornsby A Collection of Traditional Folk Songs & Tunes Vol 1

It’s not quite as stark a contrast as one might think to hear Asheville, North Carolina’s Blake Hornsby go from banjo instrumentalism to more lush, sitar-infused arrangements for the final three songs on his A Collection of Traditional Folk Songs & Tunes Vol. 1, as bridging sounds across continents would seem to come organically to his style of folk. And while perhaps “Old Joe Clark” wasn’t written as a raga to start with, it certainly works as one here, answering the barebones runs of “John Brown’s Dream” with a fluidity that carries into the more meditative “Cruel Sister” and a drone-laced 13-minute take on the Appalachian traditional song “House Carpenter” (also done in various forms by Pentangle, Joan Baez, Myrkur, and a slew of others), obscure like a George Harrison home-recorded experiment circa Sgt. Pepper but sincere in its expression and cross-cultural scope. Thinking of the eight-tracker as an LP with two sides — one mostly if not entirely banjo tunes between one and two minutes long, the other an outward-expanding journey using side A as its foundation — might help, but the key word here is ‘collection,’ and part of Hornsby‘s art is bringing these pieces into his oeuvre, which he does regardless of the form they actually take. That is a credit to him and so is this album.

Blake Hornsby on Facebook

Ramble Records store

 

Turbid North, The Decline

Turbid North The Decline

Oof that’s heavy. Produced by guitarist/vocalist Nick Forkel, who’s joined in the band by bassist Chris O’Toole (also Unearth) and drummer John “Jono” Garrett (also Mos Generator), Turbid North‘s The Decline is just as likely to be grind as doom at any given moment, as “Life Over Death” emphasizes before “Patients” goes full-on into brutality, and is the band’s fourth full-length and first since 2015. The 2023 release brings together 10 songs for 43 minutes that seem to grow more aggressive as they go, with “Eternal Dying” and “The Oppressor” serving as the opening statement with a lumber that will be held largely but not completely in check until the chugging, slamming plod of closer “Time” — which still manages to rage at its apex — while the likes of “Slaves,” “Drown in Agony” and “The Old Ones” dive into more extreme metallic fare. No complaints, except maybe for the bruises, but as “The Road” sneaks a stoner rock riff in early and some cleaner shouts in late amid Mastodonny noodling, there’s a playfulness that hints toward the trio enjoying themselves while doling out such punishment, and that gives added context and humanity to the likes of “A Dying Earth,” which is severe both in its ambient and more outright violent stretches. Not for everybody, but if you’re pissed off and feel like your brain’s on fire, they have your back with ready and waiting catharsis. Sometimes you just want to punch yourself in the face.

Turbid North on Facebook

Turbid North on Bandcamp

 

Modern Stars, Space Trips for the Masses

Modern Stars Space Trips for the Masses

A third full-length in as many years from Roman four-piece Modern Stars — vocalist/guitarist/synthesist Andrea Merolle (also sitar and mandolin), vocalist Barbara Margani, bassist/mixer Filippo Strang and drummer Andrea SperdutiSpace Trips for the Masses is maybe less directly space rock in its makeup than one might think. The band’s heavy psychedelia is hardly earthbound, but more ambience than fiery thrust or motorik, and Merolle‘s vocals have a distinctly Mark Lanegan-esque smokiness to which Margani adds bolstering backing presence on the deceptively urbane “No Fuss,” after the opening drift of “Starlight” — loosely post-rock, but too active to be that entirely either, and that’s a compliment — and the echoing “Monkey Blues” first draw the listener in. Margani provides the only voice on centerpiece “My Messiah Left Me Behind,” but that shift is just one example of Modern Stars‘ clear intent to offer something different on every song, be it the shimmer of “Everyday” or the keyboard sounds filling the open spaces early in the eight-minute “Drowning,” which later takes up a march punctuated by, drums and tambourine, devolving on a long synth/noise-topped fade into the six-minute liquid cohesion that is “Ninna Nanna,” a capstone summary of the fascinating sprawl Modern Stars have crafted. One could live here a while, in this ‘space.’

Modern Stars on Facebook

Little Cloud Records store

 

Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships, Destination Ceres Station: Reefersleep EP

trillion ton beryllium ships destination ceres station reefersleep

Those who’ve been following the progression of Nebraska’s Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships will find Destination Ceres Station: Reefersleep — their second offering in 2022 behind the sophomore full-length Consensus Trance (review here) — accordingly dense in tone and steady in roll as the three-piece of Jeremy Warner, Karlin Warner and Justin Kamal offer two more tracks that would seem to have been recorded in the full-length session. As “Destination Ceres Station: Reefersleep” open-spaces and chugs across an instrumental-save-for-samples 12:31 and the subsequent “Ice Hauler” lumbers noddily to its 10:52 with vocals incorporated, the extended length of each track gives the listener plenty to groove on, classically stonerized in the post-Sleep tradition, but becoming increasingly individual. These two songs, with the title-track hypnotizing so that the start of the first verse in “Ice Hauler” is something of a surprise, pair well, and Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships add a taste of slow-boogie to lead them out in the slow fade of the latter, highlighting the riff worship at the heart of their increasingly confident approach. One continues to look forward to what’s to come from them, feeling somewhat greedy for doing so given the substance they’ve already delivered.

Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships on Facebook

Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships on Bandcamp

 

Borehead, 0002

Borehead 0002

The current of feedback or drone noise beneath the rolling motion of Borehead‘s “Phantasm (A Prequel)” — before the sample brings the change into the solo section; anybody know the name of that rabbit? — is indeed a precursor to the textured, open-spaced heavy progressive instrumentalism London trio have on offer with their aptly-titled second EP, 0002. Produced by Wayne Adams at the London-underground go-to Bear Bites Horse Studio, the three-song outing is led by riffs on that opener, patient in its execution and best consumed at high volume so that the intricacy of the bass in “Lost in Waters Deep,” the gentle ghost snare hits in the jazzy first-half break of “Mariana’s Lament” after the ticking clock and birdsong intro, and the start-stop declarative riff that lands so heavy before they quickly turn to the next solo, or, yes, those hidden melodies in “Phantasm (A Prequel)” aren’t lost. These aspects add identity to coincide with the richness of tone and the semi-psychedelic outreach of 0002‘s overarching allure, definitely in-genre, but in a way that seems contingent largely on the band’s interests not taking them elsewhere over time, or at least expanding in multiple directions on what’s happening here. Because there’s a pull in these songs, and I think it’s the band being active in their own development, though four years from their first EP and with nothing else to go on, it’s hard to know where they’ll head or how they’ll get there based on these three tracks. Somehow that makes it more exciting.

Borehead on Facebook

Borehead on Bandcamp

 

Monolithe, Kosmodrom

Monolithe Kosmodrom

With song titles and lyrical themes based around Soviet space exploration, Kosmodrom is the ninth full-length from Parisian death-doomers Monolithe. The band are 20 years removed from their debut album, have never had a real break, and offer up 67 minutes’ worth of gorgeously textured, infinitely patient and serenely immersive death, crossing into synth and sampling as they move toward and through the 26-minute finale “Kosmonavt,” something of a victory lap for the album itself, even if sympathy for anything Russian is at a low at this point in Europe, given the invasion of Ukraine. That’s not Monolithe‘s fault, however, and really at this point there’s maybe less to say about it than there would’ve been last year, but the reason I wanted to write about Kosmodrom, and about Monolithe particularly isn’t just that they’re good at what they do, but because they’ve been going so long, they’re still finding ways to keep themselves interested in their project, and their work remains at an as-high-if-not-higher level than it was when I first heard the 50-minute single-song Monolithe II in 2005. They’ve never been huge, never had the hype machine behind them, and they keep doing what they do anyway, because fuck it, it’s art and if you’re not doing it for yourself, what’s the point? In addition to the adventure each of the five songs on Kosmodrom represents, some moments soaring, some dug so low as to be subterranean, both lush, weighted and beautiful, their ethic and the path they’ve walked deserves nothing but respect, so here’s me giving it.

Monolithe on Facebook

Monolithe on Bandcamp

 

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Andrea Merolle of Modern Stars

Posted in Questionnaire on November 9th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Andrea Merolle of Modern Stars

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: Andrea Merolle of Modern Stars

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

As a musician I try to synthesize my daily sensations and incorporate them into something that is material and ethereal at the same time. So maybe I can define what I do as the description of a perspective or a description from my perspective, or both.
I cannot say how I came to do it. When a music idea comes to my mind I try to listen to it and put it down. Sometimes it works fine, sometimes less, but it doesn’t matter. Music is the way I find my inner peace and happiness. Anyway.

Describe your first musical memory.

Waking up with my uncle soldering and hammering iron early in the morning, every morning, just beneath my bedroom.

Then the day went less techno and more pop/rock oriented with Alvin & The Chipmunks and other cartoon songs by Cristina D’Avena (she was more famous than Michael Jackson in Italy at that time).

Describe your best musical memory to date.

My daughter listening for the whole day to Singapore Sling’s ‘Overdriver’, even while sleeping, when she was 6 months old. I think it gave me the inspiration for the songs ‘Everyday’ and ‘Ninna Nanna’ included in our upcoming album ‘Space Trips for the Masses’.

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

When we recorded a 13 minutes obsessive track called ‘Indian Donna Summer’ for our second album ‘Psychindustrial’ we firmly believed that it was so anti-commercial that no one would listen to it. Obviously we didn’t care about that and our regret is that it should be even longer than it is.

The funny things was we were asked to sync it for an movie starring the last Italian X Factor winner about a young singer who is introduced to soul music by an elder rocker.

At the first time it sounded strange for an underground act like us, but we said ok let’s do it.

We just saw the movie at Rome Film Festival and it has been a beautiful experience hearing our songs in a cinema.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Artistic progression should lead you to find who you really are, since art in my opinion is basically a form of free and personal expression. The rest is entertainment, which may be an art itself, or to be more precise a craft, but it does not produce as an outcome something that could be defined as artistic.

To progress as artist you do not necessary need a change in style but I firmly believe that musical genres and instruments to be played should never represent boundaries. It is essential to let any sound that surrounds you to be metabolized so you can take what you like from anything. I do not listen to much recorded music. And surely it isn’t my genre, but I noticed that in our last album and in the one that we are finalizing and hopefully will be out on 2023 I made an use of my Acidlab Miami (what a great 808 clone!) in such a way that, at a certain stage, reminds me trap music.

I never listened to it, but maybe it inexorably influenced me since it is so present in radios to which you must listen to. This because even if you are the most alternative guy in the world in case you step in to a cafe for an espresso you can close your eyes but not your ears. Here in Italy it happens at least twice a day and so here’s the result.

How do you define success?

Success may mean a lot of things and the concept may vary depending your perspectives of life.

For me, success is simply when in the end I feel fine. The rest is circumstance. It is here and now that counts, I don’t care so much about cause and effect.

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

Too much greed. Too much plastic surgery. Too much decay of morals.

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

I premise that Modern Stars have a distinctive sound that truly satisfies me. It essentially comes from a balanced blending of acoustic, electric and electronic elements.

At present we are working on a new album and I’m composing the basis for another one too, but despite of that I’m more focused on playing my modular system than other instruments and so I guess I would record something exclusively based on that. A bit ambient, a bit techno, with some buchla style blips and blops.

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

The essential function of art is to keep our soul alive, especially in hard times.

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

I would like to be a good father and husband. And I will be always ready as any ‘80s boy to defend the earth against a mutant invasion. After Covid and III World War we have to be prepared also for that. I’ll fight them with my guitars. Or maybe mutants can help us with our governments? Who knows. Stay human, stay mutant!

https://www.instagram.com/_modernstars_/
https://www.facebook.com/Modern-Stars-105207031196149
https://modernstars.bandcamp.com/
http://themodernstars.com/

https://www.instagram.com/littlecloudrecords/
https://www.facebook.com/littlecloudrecords/
http://littlecloudrec.com/

Modern Stars, Space Trips for the Masses (2022)

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