Posted in Whathaveyou on January 17th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Like, how stoned do you really think Bongzilla can get at this point? Don’t get me wrong — I know they’re willing to work at it — but after so many years of THC ingestion, be it smoking or edibles or vaping or dabbing or whathaveyou, how does your body still process the weed? Or do Bongzilla just have a line to some kind of magic Wisconsin super-herb that does the trick regardless? Maybe it’s not even about getting high anymore so much as evening out, like they just operate at a higher altitude generally. I don’t know about you, but “Bongzilla talks about weed” sounds like a great interview headline to me. I mean, how many milligrams do you estimate is floating around in their bloodstream at any given time? What’s the over/under?
I don’t think I’ve ever dabbed, but if it’s got Bongzilla‘s endorsement then it can’t be all bad. You’ll recall Heavy Psych Sounds had a few quality live records out in a bunch in 2023, from The Atomic Bitchwax, Duel, Ecstatic Vision, so maybe this is continuing the thread there. If you’re trying to put bodies in venues, reminding listeners how much they love live music while also giving your bands something else to sell on the merch table isn’t the worst way to go.
In any case, the more Bongzilla, the merrier. Bongzilla have a previously-announced Spring return to Europe set to start on April 26 at the Maximum Festival in Italy as they continue to support 2023’s Dab City (review here), which was duly bombed out and as crusty as fried cheese curds. So yes, awesome.
Here’s the news and those dates:
US stoner metal behemoths BONGZILLA to release new live album “Dabbing (LIVE) Rosin In Europe” on Heavy Psych Sounds this March!
Wisconsin’s premium stoner metal dealers BONGZILLA announce the release of their new live album “Dabbing (LIVE) Rosin In Europe” this March 15th, with preorders available now on Heavy Psych Sounds.
Following the 2023 release of their revered sixth album “Dab City” on Heavy Psych Sounds, the kings of weed metal BONGZILLA offer some of their smokiest riffs with their exclusive live album “Dabbing (LIVE) Rosin In Europe”. The album features seven tracks of the highest doom metal order recorded in various cities during their “Dabbing Across Europe & UK Tour” in the spring and summer of 2023. Mixed and mastered by Shane Trimble at Sletner Sound, with assistant mix engineers Justin DiPinto and Andrew Owens. The album will be issued in various vinyl editions, CD and digital on Marchb 22 via Heavy Psych Sounds.
“Dabbing (LIVE) Rosin in Europe” Out March 22nd on Heavy Psych Sounds
*** BONGZILLA *** SPRING EUROPEAN TOUR 2024 FR. 26.04.24 IT ZERO BRANCO – MAXIMUM FESTIVAL SA. 27.04.24 OPEN SLOT SU. 28.04.24 HR ZAGREB – MOČVARA MO. 29.04.24 TR ISTANBUL – DOROCK HEAVY METAL CLUB TU. 30.04.24 GR ATHENS – ARCH CLUB WE. 01.05.24 GR THESSALONIKI – BLOCK 33 TH. 02.05.24 OPEN SLOT FR. 03.05.24 IT BOLZANO – PIPPO STAGE SA. 04.05.24 IT TRIESTE – HPS FEST ITALY SU. 05.05.24 IT BOLOGNA – HPS FEST ITALY MO. 06 05.24 FR CHAMBERY – BRIN DE ZINC WE. 08.05.24 NL DRACHTEN – IDUNA TH. 09.05.24 NL HAARLEM – PATRONAAT FR. 10.05.24 NL EINDHOVEN – CAFE THE JACKS SA. 11.05.24 NO OSLO – DESERTFEST OSLO SU. 12.05.24 OPEN SLOT MO. 13.05.24 DE COLOGNE – MTC TU. 14.05.24 FR PARIS – GLAZART WE. 15.05.24 OPEN SLOT TH. 16.05.24 FR STRASBOURG – LA MAISON BLEUE FR. 17.05.24 CH DUDINGEN – BAD BONN SA. 18.05.24 IT BERGAMO – PACI PACIANA
BONGZILLA is Mike “Muleboy” Makela – Bass / Vocals Jeff “Spanky” Schultz – Guitars Mike “Magma” Henry – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 21st, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The stoned wanderings of Wisconsin crust-sludge trail-and-whatever-else-you-got-blazers Bongzilla will lead the three-piece abroad once again this coming Spring. They go in support of 2023’s Dab City (review here) and in glorious pursuit of new heights of consciousness and probably trying not to forget stuff along the way. They spent most of this year on the road through the US, hitting both coasts — you’ll recall ‘Dabbing Westward,’ which was incredibly, incredibly clever — and points between, but also did a huge UK/Euro run.
Heading back to Europe is fair game for the kingpins, who’ll start at the Go Down Records-affiliated Maximum Festival before appearing at both Heavy Psych Fests in Italy, heading north for Desertfest Oslo, and looping back down through Germany and France. There are a couple dates to fill, and though I was a little surprised not to see the tour go through Desertfest London and to end before Desertfest Berlin happens, looking back, they were in Berlin on the 2023 tour and they played London in 2022. After that, the inaugural Oslo edition seems like a good way to go in making the rounds, out-stonering the universe as they will.
The poster rules and of course the tour was put together by Heavy Psych Sounds, who sent this down the PR wire:
*** BONGZILLA – Spring European Tour 2024 ***
– the Weedsconsin riffers are back in Europe –
We are stoked to announce that our weed metal wizards BONGZILLA will tour Europe in 2024 !!!
!! STILL FEW OPEN SLOTS !!
*** BONGZILLA ***
SPRING EUROPEAN TOUR 2024
FR. 26.04.24 IT ZERO BRANCO – MAXIMUM FESTIVAL SA. 27.04.24 OPEN SLOT SU. 28.04.24 HR ZAGREB – MOČVARA MO. 29.04.24 TR ISTANBUL – DOROCK HEAVY METAL CLUB TU. 30.04.24 GR ATHENS – ARCH CLUB WE. 01.05.24 GR THESSALONIKI – BLOCK 33 TH. 02.05.24 OPEN SLOT FR. 03.05.24 IT BOLZANO – PIPPO STAGE SA. 04.05.24 IT TRIESTE – HPS FEST ITALY SU. 05.05.24 IT BOLOGNA – HPS FEST ITALY MO. 06 05.24 FR CHAMBERY – BRIN DE ZINC WE. 08.05.24 NL DRACHTEN – IDUNA TH. 09.05.24 NL HAARLEM – PATRONAAT FR. 10.05.24 NL EINDHOVEN – CAFE THE JACKS SA. 11.05.24 NO OSLO – DESERTFEST OSLO SU. 12.05.24 OPEN SLOT MO. 13.05.24 DE COLOGNE – MTC TU. 14.05.24 FR PARIS – GLAZART WE. 15.05.24 OPEN SLOT TH. 16.05.24 FR STRASBOURG – LA MAISON BLEUE FR. 17.05.24 CH DUDINGEN – BAD BONN SA. 18.05.24 IT BERGAMO – PACI PACIANA
BONGZILLA is Mike “Muleboy” Makela – Bass / Vocals Jeff “Spanky” Schultz – Guitars Mike “Magma” Henry – Drums
Well here we are, at last. A couple weeks ago I looked at my calendar and ended up pushing this Quarterly Review to mid-July instead of the end of June, and it’s been hanging over my head in the interim to such a degree that I added two days to it to cover another 20 records. I’m sure it could be more. The amount of music is infinite. It just keeps going.
I’ll assume you know the deal, but here it is anyhow: 10 records per day, for seven days — Monday through Friday, plus Monday and Tuesday in this case — for a total of 70 reviews. Links and audio provided to the extent possible, and hopefully we all find some killer new music we didn’t know about before, or if we did know about it, just to enjoy. That doesn’t seem so crazy, right?
Quarterly Review #1-10:
Bongzilla, Dab City
None higher. Following extensive touring before and (to the extent possible) after the release of their 2021 album, Weedsconsin (review here), Madison, WI, canna-worship crust sludge-launchers Bongzilla return with Dab City, proffering the harsh and the mellow as only they seem to be able to do, even among their ’90s-born original-era sludge brethren. As second track “King of Weed” demonstrates, Bongzilla are aurally dank unto themselves, both in the scathing vocals of bassist Mike “Muleboy” Makela and the layered guitar of Jeff “Spanky” Schultz and the slow-swinging groove shoving all that weighted tone forward in Mike “Magma” Henry‘s drums. Through the seven tracks and 56 minutes of dense jams like those in the opening title-cut or the 13-minute “Cannonbong (The Ballad of Burnt Reynolds as Lamented by Dixie Dave Collins” (yes, from Weedeater) or the gloriously languid finale “American Pot,” the shorter instrumental “C.A.R.T.S.,” or in the relatively uptempo nodders “Hippie Stick” and “Diamonds and Flower,” Bongzilla underscore the if-you-get-it-then-you-get-it nature of their work, at once extreme in its bite and soothing in atmosphere, uncompromising in purpose. I’m not going to tell you to get bombed out of your gourd and listen, but they almost certainly did while making it, and Dab City is nothing if not an invitation to that party.
Adventures await as Redhill, UK, three-piece Trevor’s Head — guitarist/vocalist Roger Atkins, bassist/vocalist/synthesist Aaron Strachan (also kalimba), drummer/flutist/vocalist/synthesist Matt Ainsworth (also Mellotron) — signal a willfully open and progressive creativity through the heavy psych and grunge melodies of lead track “Call of the Deep” before the Primus-gone-fuzz-prog chug of “Under My Skin” and the somehow-English-pastoral “Grape Fang” balances on its multi-part harmonies and loose-feeling movement, side A trading between shorter and longer songs to end with the seven-minute, violin-inclusive folk-then-fuzz-folk highlight “Elio” before “Rumspringa” brings the proceedings to ground as only cowbell might. As relatively straight-ahead as the trio get there or in the more pointedly aggressive shover “A True Gentleman” on the other side of the Tool-ish noodling and eat-this-riff of “What Got Stuck” (answer: the thrashy gallop before the final widdly-widdly solo, in my head), they never want for complexity, and as much as it encapsulates in its depth of arrangement and linear course, closer “Don’t Make Me Ask” represents the band perhaps even more in looking forward rather than back on what was just accomplished, building on what 2018’s Soma Holiday (review here) hinted at stylistically and mindfully evolving their sound.
Born in the ’90s as Amend, turned more extreme as V and now perhaps beginning a new era as Vorder — pronounced “vee-order” — the Dalarna, Sweden, unit return with a new rhythm section behind founding guitarists Jonas Gryth (also Unhealer) and Andreas Baier (also Besvärjelsen, Afgrund, and so on) featuring bassist Marcus Mackä Lindqvist (Blodskam, Lýsis) and drummer Daniel Liljekvist (ex-Katatonia, In Mourning, Grand Cadaver, etc.) on drums, the invigorated four-piece greet a dark dawn with due presence on False Haven, bringing Baier‘s Besvärjelsen bandmate Lea Amling Alazam for guest vocals on “The Few Remaining Lights,” which seems to be consumed after its melodic opening into a lurching and organ-laced midsection like Entombed after the Isis-esque ambience of post-apocalyptic mourning in “Introspective” and “Beyond the Horizon of Life.” Beauty and darkness are not new themes for Vorder, even if False Haven is their first release under the name, and even in the bleak ‘n’ roll of the title-track there’s still room for hope if you define hope as tambourine. Which you probably should. The penultimate “Judgement Awaits” interrupts floating post-doom with vital shove and 10:32 finale “Come Undone” provides a resonant melodic answer to “The Few Remaining Lights” while paying off the album as a whole in patience, heft and fullness. Vorder use microgenres like a polyglot might switch languages, but what’s expressed from the entirety of the work is utterly their own, whatever name they use.
Multi-instrumentalist Beth Gladding (also of Forlesen, Botanist, Lotus Thief, etc.) shares vocal duties in New York’s Inherus with bassist Anthony DiBlasi (ex-Witchkiss) and fellow guitarist/synthesist Brian Harrigan (Grid, Swallow the Ocean), and the harsh/clean dynamic puts emphasis on the various textures presented throughout the band’s debut album. Completed by drummer Andrew Vogt (Lotus Thief, Swallow the Ocean), Inherus reach toward SubRosan melancholy on “Forgotten Kingdom,” which begins the hour-flat/six-track 2LP, and they follow with harmonies and grandeur to spare on “One More Fire” (something in that melody reminds me of Indigo Girls and I’m noting it because I can’t get my head away from it; not complaining) and “The Dagger,” which resolves in Amenra-style squibble and lurch without giving up its emotional depth. “Oh Brother” crushes enough to make one wonder where the line truly is between metal and post-metal, and the setup for closer “Lie to the Angels” in the drone-plus piece “Obliterated in the Face of the Gods” telegraphs the intensity to follow if not the progginess of that particular chug or the scope of what follows. Vogt signals the arrival at the album’s crescendo with stately but fast double-kick, and if you’re wondering who gets the last word, it’s feedback. Beholden may prove formative as Inherus move forward, but what their first full-length lays out as their stylistic range is at least as impressive as it is ambitious. Hope for more to come.
Even in the second half of “Tying Up the Noose” as it leads into “Give it Time” — which is about as speedy as Sonic Moon get on their Olde Magick Records-delivered first LP, Return Without Any Memory — they’re in no particular hurry. The overarching languid pace across the Aarhus five-piece’s 41-minute/seven-tracker — which reuses only the title-track from 2019’s Usually I Don’t Care for Flowers EP — makes it hypnotic even in its most active moments, but whether it’s the Denmarkana acoustic moodiness of centerpiece “Through the Snow,” the steady nod of “Head Under the River” later or the post-All Them Witches psych-blues conveyed in opener “The Waters,” Sonic Moon are able to conjure landscapes from fuzzed tonality that could just as easily have been put to use for traditional doom as psych-leaning heavy rock, uniting the songs through that same fuzz and the melody of the vocals as “Head Under the River” spaces out ahead of its slowdown or “Hear Me Now” eschews the huge finish in favor of a more unassuming, gentler letting go, indicative of the thoughtfulness behind their craft and their presentation of the material. Familiar enough on paper and admirably, unpretentiously itself, the self-recorded Return Without Any Memory discovers its niche and comes across as being right at home in it. A welcome debut.
With cosmic doom via YOB meeting with progressive heavy rock à la Elder or Louisiana rollers Forming the Void and an undercurrent of metal besides in the chug and double-kick of “Controlled Burn,” Cleveland’s Slow Wake make their full-length debut culling together songs their 2022 Falling Fathoms EP and adding the prior-standalone “Black Stars” for 12 minutes’ worth of good measure at the end. The dense and jangly tones at the start of the title-track (where it’s specifically “Marrow”-y) or “In Waves” earlier on seem to draw more directly from Mike Scheidt‘s style of play, but “Relief” builds from its post-rocking outset to grow furious over its first few minutes headed toward a payoff that’s melody as much as crunch. “Black Stars” indulges a bit more psychedelic repetition, which could be a sign of things to come or just how it worked out on that longer track, but Slow Wake lay claim to significant breadth regardless, and have the structural complexity to work in longer forms without losing themselves either in jams or filler. With a strong sense of its goals, Falling Fathoms puts Slow Wake on a self-aware trajectory of growth in modern prog-heavy style. That is, they know what they’re doing and they know why. To show that alone on a first record makes it a win. Their going further lets you know to keep an eye out for next time as well.
The Fierce and the Dead, News From the Invisible World
Unearthing a bit of earlier-Queens of the Stone Age compression fuzz in the start-stop riff of “Shake the Jar” is not even scratching the surface as regards textures put to use by British progressive heavies The Fierce and the Dead on their fourth album, News From the Invisible World. Comprised of eight songs varied in mood and textures around a central ethic clearly intent on not sounding any more like anyone else than it has to, the collection is the first release from the band to feature vocals. Those are handled ably by bassist Kev Feazey, but it’s telling as to the all-in nature of the band that, in using singing for the first time, they employ no fewer than six guest vocalists, mostly but not exclusively on opener/intro “The Start.” From there, it’s a wild course through keyboard/synth-fed atmospheres on pieces like the Phil Collins-gone-heavy “Photogenic Love” and its side-B-capping counterpart “Nostalgia Now,” which ends like friendlier Godflesh, astrojazz experimentalism on “Non-Player,” and plenty of fuzz in “Golden Thread,” “Wonderful,” “What a Time to Be Alive,” and so on, though where a song starts is not necessarily where it’s going to end up. Given Feazey‘s apparent comfort with the task before him, it’s a wonder they didn’t make this shift earlier, but they do well in making up for lost time.
Kliwon is the second offering from Indonesia-based meditative psych exploration unit Mud Spencer to be released through Argonauta Records after 2022’s Fuzz Soup (review here), and its four component songs find France-born multi-instrumentalist Rodolphe Bellugue (also Proots, Bedhunter, etc.) constructing material of marked presence and fluidity. Opener “Suzzanna” is halfway through its nine minutes before the drums start. “Ratu Kidul” is 16 minutes of mindful breathing (musically speaking) as shimmering guitar melody pokes out from underneath the surrounding ethereal wash, darker in tone but more than just bleak. Of course “Dead on the Heavy Funk” reminds of Mr. Bungle as it metal-chugs and energetically weirds out. And the just under 16-minute “Jasmin Eater” closes out with organ and righteous fuzz bass peppered with flourish details on guitar and languid drumming, becoming heavier and consuming as it moves toward the tempo kick that’s the apex of the album. Through these diverse tracks, an intimate psychedelic persona emerges, even without vocals, and Mud Spencer continues to look inward for expanses to be conveyed before doing precisely that.
It would seem that in the interim between 2021’s Ocean of Acid EP and this five-song/41-minute debut full-length, Tyhjiö, Finnish psychedelic death-doomers Kita traded English lyrics for those in their native Finnish. No, I don’t speak it, but that hardly matters in the chant-like chorus of the title-track or the swirling pummel that surrounds as the band invent their own microgenre, metal-rooted and metal in affect, but laced with synth and able to veer into lysergic guitar atmospherics in the 10-minute opener “Kivi Puhuu” or the acoustic-led (actually it’s bass-led, but still) midsection leading to the triumphant chorus of bookending closer “Ataraksia,” uniting disparate ideas through strength of craft, tonal and structural coherence, and, apparently, sheer will. The title-track, “Torajyvä” and “Kärpässilmät,” with the centerpiece cut as the shortest, make for a pyramid-style presentation (broader around its base), but Kita are defined by what they do, drawing extremity from countrymen like Swallow the Sun or Amorphis, among others, and turning it into something of their own. Striking in the true sense of: it feels like being punched. But punched while you hang out on the astral plane.
Greek fuzz alert! Heavy rocking three-piece Embargo hail from Thessaloniki with their first long-player, High Seas, using winding aspects of progressive metal to create tension in the starts and stops of “Billow,” “EAT” and “Candy” as spoken verses in the latter and “Alanna Finch” draw a line between the moody noise rock of Helmet, the grunge it informed, and the heavy rock that emerged (in part) from that. Running 10 tracks and 44 minutes, High Seas is quick in marking out the smoothness of its low tonality, and it veers into and out of what one might consider aggression in terms of style, “with 22 22” thoughtfully composed and sharply pointed in kind, one of several instrumentals to offset some of the gruffer stretches or a more patient melodic highlight like “Draupner,” which does little to hide its affinity for Soundgarden and is only correct to showcase it. They also finish sans-vocals in the title-track, and there’s almost a letting-loose sense to “High Seas” itself, shaking out some shuffle in the first half before peaking in the second. Greece is among Europe’s most packed and vibrant undergrounds, and with High Seas, Embargo begin to carve their place within it.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 18th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Fuck. I don’t generally put much credence into tour names. Some are clever, some aren’t. Some are the record, some don’t exist and thereby prove that none really need to. You generally remember when you saw a band by the album either way, right? Is that just me? On the occasion I remember a thing?
But hell’s bells, ‘Dabbing Westward’ is a good name for Bongzilla‘s upcoming US shows. Not only is it the reference to the band Stabbing Westward, but it’s a West Coast run, and the upcoming album is called Dab City. Preceded by a just-completed East Coast run and a starts-tomorrow European run, the West Coast tour will put Bongzilla in the company of Washington heavy psych riffers Kadabra, whose record you should hear if you didn’t because it was frickin’ excellent. Maybe they’ll put out another one. That’d be sweet, even if it doesn’t have ‘dab’ in the title.
I kind of put the below together from social media, so I’ll cite that, even if it was multiple posts. Nonetheless:
Here’s something for US fans to put in their pipes while we fly across the pond. See you out west (where the grass really is greener) this Summer with our labelmates Kadabra.
Sat 7/22 – Tinley, Park, IL Soundgrowler Brewing 6th Anniversary Fri 8/18 – Iowa City, IA @ Wildwood Sat 8/19 – Des Moines, IA @ Lefty’s (early) Sun 8/20 – Omaha, NE @ Reverb Tue 8/22 – Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive Wed 8/23 – Frisco, CO @ 10 Mile Music Hall Fri 8/25 – Boise, ID @ The Shredder Sat 8/26 – Seattle, WA @ Substation Sun 8/27 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios Tue 8/29 – Sacramento, CA @ Café Colonial Wed 8/30 – Berkeley, CA @ Cornerstone Thu 8/31 – Los Angeles, CA @ Resident Fri 9/01 – San Diego, CA @ Brick By Brick Sat 9/02 – Mesa, AZ @ Nile Underground Sun 9/03 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sister Bar Tue 9/05 – Austin, TX @ Lost Well Wed 9/06 – Houston, TX @ White Oak (upstairs) Thu 9/07 – Lafayette, LA @ Freetown Boom Boom Room Fri 9/08 – New Orleans, LA @ Santos Sat 9/09 – Memphis, TN @ HiTone Cafe
EUROPE!!! We are coming for you starting May 19!!! Where are we going to see you???
FR 19/05/2023 IT PESCARA – TUBE CULT FEST SA 20/05/2023 IT MARGHERA – RIVOLTA SU 21/05/2023 DE BERLIN – DESERTFEST MO 22/05/2023 PL WARSZAWA – HYDROZAGADKA TU 23/05/2023 PL POZNAN – MINOGA WE 24/05/2023 PL KRAKOW – ZAśCIANEK TH 25/05/2023 AT WIEN – ARENA FR 26/05/2023 CH WINTERTHUR – HPS FEST SA 27/05/2023 CH MARTIGNY – HPS FEST SU 28/05/2023 CH GENEVE – L’USINE MO 29/05/2023 CH CHAMBERY – BRIN DE ZINC TU 30/05/2023 FIN HELSINKI – Kuudes Linja WE 31/05/2023 DK COPENHAGEN – LOPPEN TH 01/06/2023 DK AALBORG – 1000FRYD FR 02/06/2023 DE BREMEN – NIGHT OF THE BONG SA 03/06/2023 IT LUGANO – OHM CLUB SU 04/06/2023 IT MILANO – SOLIDAR ROCK MO 05/06/2023 DE COLOGNE – MTC TH 08/06/2023 NL EINDHOVEN – EFFENAAR FR 09/06/2023 NL LEEUWARDEN – NEUSHOORN SA 10/06/2023 NL VENIO – GRENSWERK SU 11/06/2023 NL UTRECHT – DB’S TU 13/06/2023 UK EDINBURGH – BANNERMANS WE 14/06/2023 UK BELFAST – VOODOO TH 15/06/2023 IR DUBLIN – GRAND SOCIAL FR 16/06/2023 UK MANCHESTER – THE BREAD SHED SA 17/06/2023 UK LONDON – UNDERWORLD MO 19/06/2023 ES SAN SEBASTIAN – DADABA TU 20/06/2023 PT PORTO – HARD CLUB WE 21/06/2023 PT LISBONA – RCA TH 22/06/2023 ES MADRID – WURLITZER FR 23/06/2023 ES BARCELONA – UPLOAD SA 24/06/2023 FR MARSEILLE – LE MOLOTOV SU 25/06/2023 IT TORINO – BLAH BLAH MO 26/06/2023 IT BOLOGNA – FREAKOUT FR 30/06/2023 IT CAGLIARI – POETTO SA 01/07/2023 IT **OPEN SLOT**
BONGZILLA is: Mike “Muleboy” Makela – bass/vocals Jeff “Spanky” Schultz – guitars Mike “Magma” Henry – drums
Posted in Reviews on April 12th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Welcome to day three of the Spring 2023 Quarterly Review. Traditionally, this is where the halfway point is hit, like that spot on the wall in the Lincoln Tunnel where it says New York on the one side and New Jersey on the other. That’s not the case today — though it still applies as far as this week goes — since this particular QR runs seven days, but one way or the other, I’m glad you’re here. There’s been an absolutely overwhelming amount of stuff so far and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon, so don’t let me keep you, except maybe to say that if you’re actually reading as well as browsing Bandcamp (or whoever) players, it is appreciated. Thanks for reading, to put it another way.
Quarterly Review #21-30:
Signo Rojo, There Was a Hole Here
As lead/longest track — yes, immediate points — “Enough Rope” shifts between modern semi-melodic heavy burl post-Baroness to acoustic-tinged flourish to rolling shout-topped post-hardcore on the way back to its soaring chorus, yes, it’s fair to say Sweden’s Signo Rojo establish a broad swath of sounds on their third full-length, There Was a Hole Here. Later they grow more massive and twisting on “What Love is There,” while “Also-Ran” finds the bass managing to punch through the wall of guitar around it (not complaining) and the concluding “BotFly” lets its lead guitar soar over a crescendo that’s almost post-metal, so they want nothing for variety, but whether it’s “The World Inside” with its progressive chug or the more swaying title-track, the songs are united by tone in the guitars of Elias Mellberg and Ola Bäckström, the shouty vocals of bassist Jonas Nilsson adding aggressive edge, and the drums of Pontus Svensson reinforcing the underlying structures and movements. Self-recorded, mixed by Johan Blomström and mastered by Jack Endino for name-brand recognition, There Was a Hole Here is angles and thrown-elbows, but not disjointed. Tumultuous, they power through and find themselves unbruised while having left a few behind them.
Stunning first album. Vancouver’s Tribunal — the core duo of cellist/bassist/vocalist Soren Mourne and guitarist/vocalist Etienne Flinn, working on their first record, The Weight of Remembrance, with Julia Geaman on drums on the seven-song/47-minute sprawl of bleak, goth-informed death-doom — resound with purpose between the atmosphere and the dramaturge of their material. “Apathy’s Keep” (Magdalena Wienski on additional drums) alone would tell you they’re a band with a keen sense of what they want to accomplish stylistically, but the patience in execution necessary from the My Dying Bride-esque back and forth shifts between harsh and clean vocals on opener “Initiation” to the grim, full-toned breadth of the 12-minute finale “The Path,” on which Mourne‘s severity reminds of Finland’s Mansion, and yes that’s a compliment, while Flinn finds new depths from which to gurgle out his harsh screaming. The semi-titular piano interlude “Remembrance” is well-placed at the end of side A to make one nostalgic for some lost romance that never happened, and the stop-chug of “A World Beyond Shadow” seem to speak to SubRosa‘s declarative majesty as well as the more extreme spirit of Paradise Lost circa ’91-’92, Tribunal crossing eras and intentions with an organic meld that hints there and in “Without Answer” or the airy cello of “Of Creeping Moss and Crumbled Stone” earlier at even grander and perhaps more orchestral things to come while serving as one of 2023’s best debuts in the interim. Like finding your great grandmother’s wedding dress, picking it up out of the box and having the dried-out fabric and lace crumble in your hands. Sad and necessary.
From whence came Finland’s Bong Corleone? Well, from Finland, I guess, but that hardly answers the question on planetary terms. Information is sparse and social media presence is nil from the psychedelic-stoner-doom explorers, who string synth lines through four mostly-extended pieces on this self-titled, self-released, seemingly self-actualized argument for dropping out of life and you know the rest. Second cut “Gathering” (8:34) sees lead guitar step in for where vocals might otherwise be, but there and in the prior leadoff “Chemical Messenger” (9:15), synthesizer plays a prominent role that’s been compared rightly to Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, though “Gathering” departs in for a midsection meander-jam that lets itself have and be more fun before crashing back around to the roll. As it invariably would, “Astrovan” (6:18) shoves faster, but the synth stays overtop along with some floating guitar, and the sense of control remains strong even in the second half’s splurge and slowdown, shifting with ambient drone and residual amp hum into 11-minute closer “Offering,” which rounds out with a sample, what might be a bong rip, and a density of fuzz that apparently Bong Corleone have been keeping in their collective pocket all the while, crushing and stomping before turning to more progressive exploration later. It’s a substantial enough release at 35 minutes that the band might — like MWWB before them — regret the silly name, but even if they never follow it with anything, the immersion factor in these four songs shouldn’t be discounted. May they (if in fact it’s more than one person) never reveal a lineup.
This second full-length from Wisconsin-based solo-project Old Spirit — formed and executed at the behest of Jason Hartman (Vanishing Kids, sometimes Jex Thoth) — Burning in Heaven feels at home in contradictions, whether it’s the image provoked by the title or in the songs themselves, be it the Celtic–Frost-on-Monster–Magnet‘s-pills “Dim Aura” or the electro Queens of the Stone Age shuffle in “Ash,” or the Candlemass-meets-Chrome succession of “Fallacy,” or the keyboard and guitar interlude “When the Spirit Slips Away.” The title-track opens and has an oldschool ripper solo late, but there’s so much going on at any given moment that it’s one more element thrown in the mix as much as a precursor to the later reaches of “Angel Blood” — a Slayer nod, or two, perhaps? — which precedes the emergent wash of “Bleak Chapel” and the devolution undertaken from song to drone that gives over to closer “In Dismay,” which seems all set in its garage-goth doom rollout until the tempo kick brings it and the record to a place of duly dug-in progressive psych-metal oddness. Fitting end to a record clearly meant to go wherever the hell it wants and on which the rawness of the production becomes a uniting factor across otherwise willfully disparate material, skirting the danger that it all might collapse on itself while proselytizing individualist fuckall; Luciferian without being outright Satanic.
Argentina’s Los Acidos return after reissuing 2016’s self-titled debut (review here) in 2020 through Necio Records with Stereolalo, putting emphasis on welcoming listeners from the outset with the opening title-track and “Ascensor,” which are the two longest cuts on the record (double points) and function as world-builders in terms of establishing the acoustic/electric blend and melodic flourish with which much of the 50-minute outing functions. Like everything, the blend is molten and malleable, as shorter pieces like “Atardecer” or side B’s build-to-boogie “Madre” and the keyboard-backed psych-funk verses of “Atenas” show, and they resist the temptation to really blow it out as they otherwise might even in those first two tracks; the church organ seeming to keep the penultimate “Interior” in line before “Buscando el Mar” calls out ’60s psych on guitar with a slow-careening progression from whatever kind of keyboard that is, ending almost folkish, having said what they want to say in the way they want to say it. Light in atmosphere, there nonetheless are deceptive depths from which the songs seem to swim upward.
Rites for the Damned offers the kind of aesthetic sprawl that can only be summarized in vague catchall tags like ‘progressive,’ with the adventurous and ambitious Norwegian outfit JAGGU threatening extremity on “Carnage” at the beginning of the eight-song/40-minute LP while instead taking the angularity and thrust and through “Earth Murder” fostering an element of noise rock that feeds its aggression into “Mindgap” before the six-minutes-each pair of “Electric Blood” and “Lenina Ave.” further reveal the breadth, hooks permeating the amalgam of heavy styles being bent and reshaped to suit the band’s expressive will, the latter building from acoustic-inclusive post-metallic balladry into a solo that seems to spread far and wide as it draws the listener deeper into side B’s reaches, the dizzying start of “Enthralled,” post-black-metal-but-still-metal “Marching Stride” — more of a run, actually — and the prog-thrash finale “God to be Through” that caps not to bring it all together, but to celebrate the variations encountered along the course and highlight the skill with which JAGGU have been guiding the proceedings all along, unsettled in their approach on this second record in such a way as to speak to perpetual growth rather than their being the kind of band who’ll find a niche and stagnate.
Escapist and jam-based-but-not-just-jamming psychedelia pervades the self-titled debut from UK trio Falling Floors, who add variety amid the already-varied krautrock in the later reaches of opener “Infinite Switch,” the lockdown slog of “Flawed Theme,” the tambourine-infused hard strums of “Ridiculous Man” and the 18-minute side-B-consuming “Elusive and Unstable Nature of Truth,” which is organ-inclusive bombast early and drone later, with three numbered interludes, furthering the notion of these works being carved out of experiments. A malleable songwriting process and a raw, seemingly live recording make Falling Floors‘ seven-song run come across as formative, but the rougher edges are part of the aesthetic, and ultimately bolster the overarching impression that the band — guitarist/vocalist Rob Herian, bassist/organist Harry Wheeler and drummer/percussionist Colin Greenwood — can and just might go wherever the hell they want. And they do, in that extended finisher and elsewhere throughout, capturing an exploratory moment of creation in willfully unrefined fashion, loose but not unhinged and seemingly as curious in the making as in the result. I don’t know that a band can do this kind of adventuring twice — invariably any second album is informed by the experience of making the first — but Falling Floors make a resounding argument for wanting to find out in these shared discoveries.
Spacing out from a fuzzy foundation like Earthless taking on The Sword — with a bit of Tool in the second-half leads of eight-minute second track “The Hunger” — Israeli trio Warp make their Nasoni Records label debut with their sophomore full-length, Bound by Gravity, putting due languid slog into “Your Fascist Pigs are Back” while finding stonerized salvation in “Dirigibles” ahead of the more melodic and more doomed title-track, which Sabbath-blues-boogies right into its shout-topped sludge slowdown before the bounce and swing of “Impeachment Abdication” readily counteracts. “The Present” unfolds with hints of Melvins while “Head of the Eye” rides a linear groove into a winding midsection that resolves in a standout chorus and capper “I Don’t Want to Be Remembered” is a vocal highlight — guitarist Itai Alzaradel, bassist Sefi Akrish and drummer Mor Harpazi all contribute in that regard at some juncture or another — and a reaffirmation of the gonna-roll-until-we-don’t mindset on the part of the band, ending cold after shifting into a faster chug like the song’s about to take off again. That’d be a hell of a way to start their next record and we’ll see if they get there. Pointedly of-genre, Warp bring exploratory craft to a foundation of tonal heft and ask few indulgences on the listener’s part. Big fuzz gonna make some friends among the converted.
Leading off with its spacebound title-track, Halo Noose‘s debut album, Magical Flight, finds the Scottish solo-outfit plumbing the outer reaches of fuzz-drenched acid rock, coming through like an actually-produced version of Monster Magnet‘s demo era in its roughed-up Hawkwind-via-Stooges pastiche, “Cinnamon Garden” edging toward Eastern idolatry without going full-sitar while “Fire” engages with a stretched-out feel over its slow, maybe-programmed drums and centerpiece “When You Feel it Babe” tops near-motorik push with watery vocals like a less punk Nebula or some of what Black Rainbows might conjure. “Kaliedoscopica” is based largely around a single riff and it’s a masterclass in wah at its 4:20 runtime, leading into the last outward leaps of “Rollercoasting Your Mind” and the forward-and-backwards “Slow Motion” which isn’t actually much slower than anything else here and thus reminds that time is a construct easily subverted by lysergics, fading out with surprising gentleness to return the listener to a crueler reality after a consuming half-hour’s escape. Right on.
If you’d look at the name and the fact that the trio hail from Tennessee and think you’re probably in for some caustic Southern sludge, you’re part right. Dope Skum on their second EP, the 17-minute Gutter South, embrace the tonal heft and chugging approach of the harder end of sludge riffing, but rather than weedian throatrippers, a cleaner vocal style pervades from guitarist Cody Landress-Gibson across opener “Folk Magic,” the banjo-laced “Interlude,” “Feast of Snakes,” “Belly Lint” and the punkier-until-its-slowdown finish of “The Cycle,” and the difference between a shout and a scream is considerable in the impressions made throughout. Bassist Todd Garrett and drummer Scott Keil complete the three-piece and together they harness a feel that’s true to that nasty aural history while branching into something different therefrom, genuinely sounding like a new generation’s interpretation of what Southern heavy was 15-20 years ago. More over, they would seem to be conscious of doing it. Their first EP, 2021’s Tanasi, was more barebones in its production, and there’s still development to be done, but it will be interesting to hear how they manifest across a first long-player when the time comes, as Gutter South underscores potential in its songwriting and persona as well as defiance of aesthetic expectation.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 20th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
If you’re seeing this, you already probably know the deal. Bongzilla, the Wisconsin-based kingpins of crusty delta 9 riffing, are releasing their new album, Dab City, on June 2 through Heavy Psych Sounds, and to coincide with the launch of preorders today, they’re streaming the first single from the record, “Hippie Stick.” As you can see in the quote from the band below, it’s about a very potent joint. Does this joint exist? Is it the kind of gift you might get? Probably if you’re Bongzilla.
The rest of us, seems less likely, which is perhaps for the best since with hash, wax and flower, oil-dipped and keef-coated, it’d probably melt most brains not built up to it tolerance-wise. The omega joint — unless that’s something else even more weeded out. Universe of infinite possibilities and all that.
The song’s a roller, the album is verifiably Bongzilla. Like, it should come with a QR code you can scan to see lab results about the cannabinoid contents, various percentages of this and that so you can pretend to be a scientist while you get high. Not saying it’s not fun, not saying I’ve never done it, but am saying it is pretend.
But Dab City is real, grown with care, and, like the joint that inspired “Hippie Stick,” it’s also got flower inside, if only figuratively-speaking. Bongzilla are on the road most of this year (dates so far confirmed are here), and the rest of the info I’ve got at this point follows here, as per the PR wire:
Heavy Psych Sounds Records&Booking is really proud to start the presale of a NEW ALBUM *** BONGZILLA – Dab City ***
– new album of the Weedsconsin bong riffers –
Today we are stoked to start the presale of the Weedsconsin bong riffers BONGZILLA new album DAB CITY !!!
“This song’s about being gifted a SUPER strong joint. It’s got hash, wax, and Flower on the inside. Dipped in THC oil and covered with keef. The lyrics tell the tail!!
Dab City is an ode to the purest form of THC and our beloved hometown of Madison Wisconsin, which is known as Mad City. A political and social hot bed and lightning rod for our state and the Midwest since the 1960’s, Madison is also home to a large University with one of the best agronomy departments in the country and not surprisingly the focal point for some of the finest cannabis our country has to offer (Muleboy has not seen pot with seeds in it since arriving in 1993!). Although not legal, possession is basically ignored and punished with a nominal $1 fine for under 128 grams.
For the recording of Dab City we procured 10 g plus of the finest concentrates we could lay our hands on and somewhere north of 120 g of cannabis flower. And recorded it on 2-in analog tape over two sessions at Future apple tree Studio in Rock Island Illinois. Fall 2022 session is known as the Harvest Sessions and the February of 2023 session is known as the Propagation Sessions. The record is our 2nd as a three piece and our second full length release for our label Heavy Psych Sounds and continues our journey into ultra stoned sludgey psychedelia.
Dab City is 100% recorded on Tape, and is composed by 7 songs with a running time of almost 60 minutes of brand new Stoned Sludge Heavy Doomy Riffs.”
TRACKLIST
DIGIPAK:
1. Dab City 2. King of Weed 3. Cannonbongs (the ballad of Burnt Reynolds as lamented by Gentleman Dixie Dave Collins) 4. C.A.R.T.S 5. Hippie Stick 6. Diamonds and Flower 7. American Pot
SINGLE VINYL:
Side A Dab City King of Weed C.A.R.T.S
Side B Cannonbongs( the ballad of Burnt Reynolds as lamented by Gentleman Dixie Dave Collins) Hippie Stick
DOUBLE GATEFOLD VINYL (with alternative cover+lyrics/pics+2 bonus tracks)
SIDE A Dab City King of Weed
SIDE B Cannonbongs (The ballad of Burnt Reynolds as lamented by Gentleman Dixie Dave Collins) C.A.R.T.S.
SIDE C Hippie Stick Diamonds and Flower
SIDE D American Pot
RELEASED IN: DOUBLE GATEFOLD VINYL (alternative purple cover+lyrics/pics+2 bonus tracks) TEST PRESS DOUBLE VINYL 350 DOUBLE VINYL SIDE A – SIDE B WHITE/GREEN/PURPLE SINGLE VINYL TEST PRESS VINYL 70 ULTRA LTD COLOR IN COLOR TRANSP. BACK. GREEN/SPLATTER PURPLE VINYL 150 ULTRA LTD 3 COLORED STRIPED VIOLET/WHITE/GREEN VINYL DEEP PURPLE TRANSPARENT VINYL BLACK VINYL DIGIPAK DIGITAL
BONGZILLA is: Mike “Muleboy” Makela – bass/vocals Jeff “Spanky” Schultz – guitars Mike “Magma” Henry – drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 13th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
Hey Bongzilla, come play in New Jersey. I know you guys probably get a stash re-up in every town you hit, but I feel like legal weed alone should be putting my beloved Garden State on more touring circuits. And as the venerated trio look to follow-up their 2021 return long-player, Weedsconsin (review here), with the forthcoming Dab City, well, it seems like if legal THC was ever going to be a draw, this would be the time. Hit Factory Records in Dover. Stöner did last Fall and it was killer. Morris County has not much scene to speak of, but there are assorted sludge and riffy types to support.
Granted, I was never much of a salesman. Bongzilla have a European tour set for May and June (check their socials for a more recent list as I’m sure some of not all of the TBAs below are filled in; if someone has a new list, I’m glad to switch out the old one) and they’ll be back on the road starting this week in the US as well to herald the new album, more information on which is coming next week, along with the first audio — bet it sounds like Bongzilla — and preorders, etc. Looking forward to seeing the cover art as well as hearing the track.
Here’s what the PR wire has to say:
Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking is really proud to present a new band signing *** BONGZILLA ***
– the weedsconsin riffers are coming back with a brand new album –
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS RECORDS is stoked to announce that the weedsconsin riffers BONGZILLA are coming back with a brand new album !!!
NEW ALBUM PRESALE + FIRST TRACK PREMIERE MARCH 20th
In early 2020, Bongzilla started their own label called Gungeon Records and released a re-issue of their classic album Apogee. However, in March of 2020 it would be announced that Cooter Brown would retire from the band due to health and family reasons, with Bongzilla choosing to continue as a thunderous three-piece.
A few months into the pandemic, Bongzilla began rehearsing and recording for several different record projects – A limited Wake Brewing 7 inch, a full length album titled Weedsconsin, an LP split with the band Tons, and a 7 Inch Split with Boris, the first of a 7 inch Split Series released on Gungeon Records.
All projects were recorded at Future Apple Tree Studios in Rock Island, Illinois in October of 2020 by the legendary John Hopkins before his sudden and unexpected passing in the late fall of 2020.
Bongzilla signed to the Italian label – Heavy Psych Sounds in 2021 and released his new album in several years Wedsconsin, as well as a limited 7 Inch from Wake Brewing, followed by the Bongzilla / Tons Split for the HPS series – Doom Sessions. All releases were released in 2021.
The band is now coming back with a brand new album that will see the light in summer 2023 via Heavy Psych Sounds.
SAYS THE BAND:
“All Dabbed up Bongzilla are super excited to be putting out Dab City on HPS records!!
Since the legalization of marijuana, and introduction of concentrated in many states of America. Bongzilla has reached new Altitudes. Dab City is the result of many hours of nectar collecting and dabbing! Obtaining a level of highness to chanel riffs and jam them into the Stone sphere!”
BONGZILLA is: Mike “Muleboy” Makela – bass/vocals Jeff “Spanky” Schultz – guitars Mike “Magma” Henry – drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 31st, 2023 by JJ Koczan
It’s a big one. Weedian crust-sludge legends Bongzilla will head out on a European tour that will take them from Spring to Summer, May to July, as they hit the UK and the continent-proper for festivals and headlining club shows. They go ostensibly in support of 2021’s Weedsconsin (review here), but really they go in celebration of themselves, pot, and riffs in general. That is to say, you might be extra stoked when Bongzilla hit into “Free the Weed” or “Sundae Driver” from the new record, but you were already stoked to begin with. They’re calling it the ‘Dabbing Across Europe & UK Tour,’ and, well, I don’t doubt it. Art imitates life imitating art, and so on.
Note Tube Cult Fest in Italy, Desertfest Berlin and lineup-still-TBA (unless I missed it; possible) Heavy Psych Sounds Fests in Switzerland early in the tour and wide open spots for the UK portion. I don’t know what that portends, but no doubt Bongzilla can find ways to handle a couple days off at that point in the tour if it comes to it. Worst case is, what, they get high anyway? It’ll be fine. If you can put them up for a show, though, you might want to hit up Heavy Psych Sounds and say the word.
Dates follow:
Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking to announce BONGZILLA European & UK tour 2023 !!!
*** BONGZILLA *** – Dabbing Across Europe & UK Tour 2023 –
We are stoked to announce that our Weedsconsin riffers BONGZILLA will smash Europe and UK in May and June 2023 !!!
*** BONGZILLA *** DABBING ACROSS EUROPE & UK TOUR 2023
FR 19/05/2023 IT PESCARA – TUBE CULT FEST SA 20/05/2023 IT MARGHERA – RIVOLTA SU 21/05/2023 DE BERLIN – DESERTFEST MO 22/05/2023 PL WARSZAWA – HYDROZAGADKA TU 23/05/2023 PL POZNAN – MINOGA WE 24/05/2023 PL KRAKOW – ZAśCIANEK TH 25/05/2023 AT WIEN – ARENA FR 26/05/2023 CH WINTERTHUR – HPS FEST SA 27/05/2023 CH MARTIGNY – HPS FEST SU 28/05/2023 CH GENEVE – L’USINE MO 29/05/2023 CH CHAMBERY – BRIN DE ZINC TU 30/05/2023 FIN HELSINKI – Kuudes Linja WE 31/05/2023 DK COPENHAGEN – LOPPEN TH 01/06/2023 DK AALBORG – 1000FRYD FR 02/06/2023 DE BREMEN – NIGHT OF THE BONG SA 03/06/2023 IT LUGANO – OHM CLUB SU 04/06/2023 DE OPEN SLOT** MO 05/06/2023 DE COLOGNE – MTC TU 06/06/2023 DE OPEN SLOT** WE 07/06/2023 DE OPEN SLOT** TH 08/06/2023 NL EINDHOVEN – EFFENAAR FR 09/06/2023 NL LEEUWARDEN – NEUSHOORN SA 10/06/2023 NL VENIO – GRENSWERK SU 11/06/2023 NL UTRECHT – DB’S MO 12/06/2023 UK BOURNEMOUTH – DORSET TU 13/06/2023 UK TBA WE 14/06/2023 UK TBA TH 15/06/2023 UK TBA FR 16/06/2023 UK TBA SA 17/06/2023 UK TBA SU 18/06/2023 FR OPEN SLOT** MO 19/06/2023 ES SAN SEBASTIAN – DADABA TU 20/06/2023 PT PORTO – HARD CLUB WE 21/06/2023 PT LISBONA – RCA TH 22/06/2023 ES MADRID – WURLITZER FR 23/06/2023 ES BARCELONA – UPLOAD SA 24/06/2023 FR MARSEILLE – LE MOLOTOV SU 25/06/2023 IT TORINO – BLAH BLAH MO 26/06/2023 IT BOLOGNA – FREAKOUT FR 30/06/2023 IT CAGLIARI – TBA SA 01/07/2023 IT OPEN SLOT**
BONGZILLA is: Mike “Muleboy” Makela – bass/vocals Jeff “Spanky” Schultz – guitars Mike “Magma” Henry – drums
