Posted in Whathaveyou on July 13th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
The emotive melody comes forward on “Drifters on a Quiet Stream,” which is the second single from Besvärjelsen‘s out-next-month new album, Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem, and a classic-style heavy now-we’re-talking-about-feelings ballad. Messy as that can be — feelings, that is — the Swedish atmospheric heavy rockers bring clarity amid the slow roll and evocative piano. Drummer Erik Bäckwall cites Elton John as an influence in the PR wire info below, and yeah, fair enough, but there’s no question Besvärjelsen are working in their own context, and Lea Amling Alazam‘s contemplative vocal highlights the human element amid the lush arrangement.
If you never believed there could be more than one kind of ‘heavy,’ “Drifters on a Quiet Stream” argues effectively otherwise. It and the first single “Didn’t Come to Party” are down at the bottom of this post. Have at it:
BESVÄRJELSEN reveal lyric video power ballad ‘Drifters on a Quiet Stream’ taken from forthcoming new album “Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem”!
Swedish forest rockers BESVÄRJELSEN unveil the beautiful lyric video ‘Drifters on a Quiet Stream’. This power ballad comes in watercolour style with images bearing strange fruit as inspired by the album cover of their forthcoming third full-length “Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem” (Swedish and Latin for: “Into Oblivion”).
“Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem” is scheduled for release on August 28, 2026, via Magnetic Eye Records. The album is available for pre-order here: https://spkr.store/collections/besvarjelsen
BESVÄRJELSEN comment: “‘Drifters on a Quiet Stream’ had the working title ‘Elton’ as Elton John was one of the musical inspirations for this song”, drummer Erik Bäckwall reveals. “The intro and main riff was originally intended to be a part of another song. When I got our former bass player Johan to listen to the riff, he rather advised me to create a completely new song from this part. I am really glad now that I did that.”
Lea Amling Alazam adds: “This track explores the ever-present companion of the self – the voice that follows you through life, both to comfort and to critique”, the vocalist explains. “It is the quiet presence on your shoulder. When writing those lyrics, I revisited an old notebook and found a phrase I had once scribbled down: ‘…my ghost and I’. I’m not sure where I first came across this idea, but it stayed with me. It felt like a beautiful and honest way to describe living alongside your own anxiety, and I knew from the start that I wanted to build something around it.”
Recorded by Andreas Baier & Marcus Lindqvist at Glashuset, Ludvika (SE) Mix & mastering by Karl Daniel Lidén at Tri-Lamb Audio Studios, Solna (SE) Cover art by Björn Olars Layout by Erik Bäckwall
Guest musicians Fred Burman (SATAN TAKES A HOLIDAY) – lead & backing vocals on ‘Accelerating Hearts’ & backing vocals on ‘Didn’t Come to Party’ Pelle Andersson (LOWRIDER) – organ on ‘Black Wave’
Line-up Lea Amling Alazam – vocals Staffan Vinrot – guitars, vocals (& accordion, violin, keys, keyed fiddle) Andreas Bajer – guitars, vocals Erik Bäckwall – drums Marcus Lindqvist – bass
[Click play above to stream the premiere of Solace’s Fading Failing Ruin in its entirety. Album is out this Friday, July 3, on Magnetic Eye Records.]
A new Solace record doesn’t happen every year. It’s been seven since the New Jersey-based riff metallers ‘returned’ with 2019’s The Brink (review here), and that wasn’t the longest stretch of their 30 years as a band. The arriving-this-week Fading Failing Ruin is their fifth full-length, their first for Magnetic Eye, and their second to feature drummer Tim Schoenleber, vocalist/sometimes-keyboardist Justin Goins and bassist Mike Sica alongside co-lead guitarists Justin Daniels and band-founder Tommy Southard.
As with The Brink, the cover is by Paul Vismara (Deer Creek) and the production, mix and master for these nine songs was done by Eric Rachel (of Trax East fame), and from the 14-minute highlight “Wrath’s Object/The Big Fall” to the two-minute “Culling the Herd” — and yes, they do appear back-to-back in the tracklisting, but I’m talking about the divide in terms of methodology — through “Beyond Below,” which has a riff Southard and Schoenleber apparently jammed on as teenagers before they were in Godspeed together in the ’90s, and the tense crunch of (most of) the penultimate “Every Day is a Loaded Gun,” it is as guitar-fueled as Solace have ever sounded. They are all-in and uncompromising in a way that — as a fan of the band, and someone who is in no way impartial about their work — I can only consider purely their own.
Accordingly, Fading Failing Ruin runs 67 minutes, and while I haven’t sat with a stopwatch and clocked how much of that hour-plus is spent on solos, solos behind choruses, solos leading to other solos, and/or solos on top of other solos, the answer is ‘plenty’ regardless. But if there’s a message to the dreamy six-minute intro of “Wrath’s Object/The Big Fall,” based around far-off swirling lead lines, acoustic guitar and keys for which I believe Lowrider‘s Pelle Andersson sat in remotely or Rachel provided, it’s that Solace aren’t going to be rushed unless they want to.
Chaos is still a close friend of the band, and from the opening “Spiral Will” onward, they bring an energetic sweep that carries the listener across the four sides on offer. The first of those, with “Spiral Will” — keys there as well — “Fettered to a Stone” and “A God Changes His Plans,” feels like immersion. There’s nothing tentative about it, but “Spiral Will” and “A God Changes His Plans” are shorter and in the case of the latter, punchier, and while “Fettered to a Stone” runs nearly eight minutes and features a twist-and-chug that’s classic Solace, smoothing out in midsection before Goins‘ shouts top the shred-fueled crescendo; in their wheelhouse, but with a self-awareness and sense of composition emblematic of both the band’s status as veteran songwriters and of their intention to kick as much ass as possible where and when they can.
“A God Changes His Plans” is the only inclusion besides the aforementioned “Culling the Herd” under four minutes long and is a preface to the hardcore lean of that song as well as “Every Day is a Loaded Gun” — lest the listener forget Southard‘s punker roots in Social Decay, Robot Dicks, etc. — but an early lyrical highlight with a standout line like “A future born of a dopesick mother,” showcasing another aspect of what Goins brings to the proceedings. He is bolder in his contributions here and more declarative of self than on The Brink, and it is only to this album’s benefit. It’s not quite “Like a rorschach butterfly of terror inked in blood and ashen rain” from the subsequent “Wrath’s Object/The Big Fall,” but you get the idea.
There’s a depth of purpose throughout Fading Failing Ruin that reveals itself beneath the in-your-faceness of the guitar work and the general thrust of groove, helping to create a flow across the entire span of the 2LP. And about format, as much as “Wrath’s Object/The Big Fall” earns its place as the lone denizen of side B, in a linear setting, the lead-in from “A God Changes His Plans” and the lead into “Culling the Herd” (which on vinyl starts side C) is a thing to be appreciated. Brash as they are and always have been, Solace are not unconsidered here. The push, the union of classic metal(s) and hardcore punk, sludge, doom riffing, and so on, all comes together as a single dynamic reach on the part of the band, and the album is a ride from start to finish. It does not sit still, it does not feel any need to capitulate to expectation, but it and the band that made it know what they’re about, and on a craft level, it’s a work of mastery.
This might be shown in the hypnotic draw-in of the long intro changing over to the immediate verse of “Wrath’s Object/The Big Fall,” but that’s hardly the only example present. The longest song on Fading Failing Ruin is a triumph unto itself and suitably on Solace‘s own terms, the strained whisper about kissing “the feet of a whore in the hate of a moment” — presented as a kind of hitting-bottom — notwithstanding, and represents well the range of mood they’re able to harness. Side C’s “Culling the Herd,” “Beyond Below” and “Malengine (The Scaffold)” might be considered the ‘meat’ of the album, were the whole thing not so meaty. The decades-ago origin of “Beyond Below” is noted above, but clearly the track has been fleshed out from whatever might’ve been on that rehearsal tape. It’s a highlight (there’s that word again) for the early vocal harmonies as well as the Slayery midsection that follows and the arrival of a doomier organ line, and “Malengine (The Scaffold)” is no less catchy or arranged-feeling, but more urgent in tempo. In its second half, it breaks to a stretch of dual-leads twice, and that becomes a complement to the chorus en route to the rousing finish.
If you’ve made it this far without any bruises — and if you’re paying attention, you likely haven’t — then side D’s pairing of “Every Day is a Loaded Gun” and the 10-minute “Ridden” should do the trick. Goins sneaks some welcome backing harmony in amid the shove of the former, but it’s the chug and the shout running headfirst into a wall of a mosh riff and organ-backed solos and the build that ensues before the comedown and arrival of a layer of acoustic guitar near the end, still leaving time for some gallop before they’re done, that makes it.
The already-started-where-you-been beginning of “Ridden” does little to communicate the ground the closer actually covers, but as regards Solace making something cohesive out of decades of influences across and beyond heavy subgenres, soloing the crap out of it, and refusing to follow any rules other than their own, it would be difficult to find a more appropriate sendoff. Another choice lyric in the second half “What hell would you crawl through if you thought you could trade/That broken part of you for something even you could not degrade?” becomes repeated as the final challenge the band issue moving toward the fadeout, and in what should by that point be no surprise, the guitars continue to rip even into that departure.
I’ll admit to some temptation to call Fading Failing Ruin stately, because in those moments like at the end of “Ridden,” they’re cognizant of what they’re doing, of the atmosphere they’ve created, but as a word, it’s not punk enough. They remain unto themselves in sound and celebration of what in many contexts would be excess, and at this point, for a fan, everything they do is like a bonus. I don’t think you can talk about the best heavy underground bands from my beloved Garden State without their name featuring prominently in the conversation, and with nothing to prove, they prove it here anyway.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 1st, 2026 by JJ Koczan
I don’t imagine much of anybody who spent time with Bees Made Honey in the Vein Tree‘s 2023 album, Aion (review here), will need much convincing to get on board with the follow-up — titled In Between Strides and set to release Sept. 18 on Magnetic Eye — but as immersive as that record was/remains, the Stuttgart-based worldmakers are moving forward just as they did to get to the point they were at three years ago. I’m curious to hear how their focus on melody and use of acoustics plays out in the post-heavy context of what they have wrought to-date, and if you’re like me, the first single and opening track “Departure,” is streaming now at the bottom of this post.
Note that on the tracklisting, “Departure” is bookended by “Return, Precipice” at the finish. One wonders if the title isn’t meant to be read literally, if the whole album — however long it is in actual human minutes — isn’t intended to convey the nuance of a few seconds; one step into the next, and so on. Though of course the title In Between Strides also evokes notions of forward movement, which has been a consistent factor for Bees Made Honey in the Vein Tree since their outset.
I snagged the following from Bandcamp:
When German four-piece BEES MADE HONEY IN THE VEIN TREE began to find their bearings on where to go next from the success of their previous full-length, “Aion” (2023), the core idea for the fourth album, “In Between Strides”, was to take a more melodic approach. All else, they would leave to the creative process and somewhat to chance. BEES MADE HONEY recorded every other song on “In Between Strides” in various settings that were available to them at the time of creation: a cavernous cellar, a concert stage, an indoor balcony, a living room, their rehearsal space, even returning to the studio where their first album “Medicine” was tracked.
Through this spontaneous and shifting approach, BEES MADE HONEY began to move texturally and stylistically from ambient and drone toward shoegaze along with more acoustic elements. According to their original plan, “In Between Strides” stepped into more melodic territory, with each song representing a different aspect of the band’s musical vocabulary.
BEES MADE HONEY IN THE VEIN TREE originate from the Swabian capital and German city of Stuttgart. All four members grew up together, eventually forming the band in 2014. Their musical template of ambient psychedelic doom was established with the debut album “Medicine” in 2017, and their sound has continued to evolve ever since. With “In Between Strides”, BEES MADE HONEY have turned rage into reflection by developing a more organic and spontaneous approach to their songs, opening up wide spaces and letting the melodies flow freely. This musical honey tastes simply delicious.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 15th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
I don’t know what else you have going on this Fall, but holy mackerel. Greenleaf are not only coming to the US for the first time 26 years on from their first release, they’re teaming up with two of the best live heavy rock bands the country has to offer in High Desert Queen and Howling Giant. How good are these shows going to be? Well they’re going to be quite good. You should go. Maybe to all of them.
The tour will take the blues/heavy rock masters from Ripplefest Texas in Austin to Brooklyn for …In the Key of Doom, and while it’s not the most extensive foray — that is to say, if you’re on the West Coast, you’re out of luck this time unless you want to travel (and you do) — once you’ve paid the extortionate charge for a US visa, my understanding is the inclination is to make the most of it. Multiple tours. Look for West Coast next year, hopefully.
And what’s the status of Greenleaf‘s next record? I don’t know, but I sure hope to have some idea before I see them in NYC at The Meadows. Here are all the dates off the PR wire:
GREENLEAF announce North American Fall Tour 2026
More than twenty-five years since their inception, Scandinavian heavy rock legends GREENLEAF will be coming to North America for their first-ever live shows in the USA and Canada. This exciting road trip will be kicked off with a headline show at the inaugural Magnetic Eye Records label showcase at this year’s Ripplefest Texas. This will be followed by nearly two weeks across the continent with the support of their label mates HOWLING GIANT and HIGH DESERT QUEEN. The Nordic foursome are ready to give longtime fans their own take on desert grooves and stoner riffs, and everything they’ve been waiting for from this legendary live outfit.
GREENLEAF comment: “It’s been a long time but finally the wait is over”, guitarist and band founder Tommi Holappa declares. “We are beyond excited to go on tour in the very country that gave us our childhood heroes: Snake Plissken, John Rambo, Paul Kersey, Major Alan Schaefer, and many more. Come out and join us on our first ever tour in the USA and Canada!”
GREENLEAF will be touring North America in support of the latest album “The Head & The Habit”, which hit stores first on June 21, 2024.
Please see below for album details and all currently confirmed shows.
GREENLEAF North American Fall Tour 2026: 20 SEP 2026 Austin, TX (US) Ripplefest Texas 21 SEP 2026 Houston, TX (US) The End 22 SEP 2026 New Orleans, LA (US) Broadside 23 SEP 2026 Atlanta, GA (US) The Earl 24 SEP 2026 Asheville, NC (US) Eulogy 25 SEP 2026 Lexington, KY (US) Al’s Bar 26 SEP 2026 Chicago, IL (US) Reggies 27 SEP 2026 Milwaukee, WI (US) X-Ray Arcade 29 SEP 2026 Detroit, MI (US) Sanctuary 30 SEP 2026 Toronto, ON (CA) Monarch Tavern 01 OCT 2026 Montreal, QC (CA) Piranha Bar 02 OCT 2026 Braintree, MA (US) Widowmaker Brewing 03 OCT 2026 Brooklyn, NY (US) The Meadows (…In the Key of Doom)
GREENLEAF is: Arvid Hällagård – vocals Tommi Holappa – guitars Sebastian Olsson – drums Hans Fröhlich – bass
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 3rd, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Sweden’s Besvärjelsen will release their third album, Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem, on Aug. 28 through Magnetic Eye Records. The title, bilingual, translates twice to “into oblivion,” first in Swedish, then in Latin, as if to underscore the point of where the band think we as a species might be headed. The first single, “Didn’t Come to Party,” arrives with a similar mood behind it, and a video that puts it to a convenient (and entertaining) visual metaphor, perhaps inadvertently capturing what it feels like to be the American in a room with a bunch of Europeans, all the time, every time, as what seems to be a perfectly pleasant if somewhat normie birthday celebration is wrecked by unstoppably boisterous obnoxiousness.
The idea that this is what billionaires do to society/the planet isn’t lost in this, however. The band says in the PR wire info below it’s not political, and it’s not, directly, but neither is it far off in terms of where it leads a listener’s train of thought. As they say, “it’s hard not to be affected by the chaos of the world,” and in light of this, a title like Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem makes even more sense. They’re never a band to do one thing sound-wise on a record, so I look forward to hearing how “Didn’t Come to Party” relates to the material around it, and will hope to have more coverage in before Aug. 28 when the album’s out.
From the PR wire:
BESVÄRJELSEN unveil video single ‘Didn’t Come to Party’ & details of new album “Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem”!
Swedish forest rockers BESVÄRJELSEN drop the first advance single from their third album “Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem” (Swedish and Latin for: “Into Oblivion”), accompanied by a slightly disturbing music video ‘Didn’t Come to Party’ about that guy, the one nobody ever wants at their social gathering.
“Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem” is scheduled for release on August 28, 2026, via Magnetic Eye Records. The album is available for pre-order here:https://spkr.store/collections/besvarjelsen
BESVÄRJELSEN comment: “There’s a scene in the Titanic movie that has always stayed with me, when the musicians keep playing as everything falls apart around them”, vocalist Lea Amling Alazam muses. “This is one of my all-time favorite moments in cinema, because it captures something important about music: the devotion, the need to create, and to hold onto something beautiful, even in the face of disaster. Like, we’re literally going under, but hey, let’s play. Dance to the sirens. In this day and age, it’s hard not to be affected by the chaos of the world. ‘Didn’t Come to Party’ is not a political statement but rather a cry of frustration. We’re living on this incredible planet, so why are we destroying it? Why war, why poverty, why harm the most vulnerable, when we have the resources to make life better for everyone? This quite reminds me of people who show up to parties just to ruin it for everyone else. Why is there such a drive to hurt, to dominate, to tear things apart in the pursuit of power? It’s senseless.”
Tracklist 01. The Greatest Sin 02. Accelerating Hearts 03. Battles 04. Counting Flies 05. Drifters on a Quiet Stream 06. The Mountain 07. Pulse 08. Interlude 09. Didn’t Come to Party 10. Black Wave 11. Oblivion
Swedes are supposed to be cool, and musically, BESVÄRJELSEN sure live up to that stereotype in the best possible way. What the self-proclaimed forest rockers deliver on their third full-length “Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem” is so cool, in fact, that it’s a hot early candidate for rock album of the year.
The ‘forest rock’ moniker is the Swedes’ tongue-in-cheek answer to the term ‘desert rock’, which stylistically provides a great starting point to describe their particular musical brand. Being surrounded not by an abundance of sand but trees in their home province of Dalarna, it was also an obvious choice. On “Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem”, BESVÄRJELSEN keep a profound punk-infused attitude, but have broadened their sound with a wide variety of sonic colours including blues, ska, metal, jazz and everything around and in between as long as it fits the mood of the song.
Add exceptional vocalist Lea Amling Alazam, who developed her passion for punk and stoner rock at the local skate park when she was just 13 years old, to the band’s plethora of riveting hooks and riffs, and you get an album that feels fresh and ready to deliver surprises for months if not years to come. If there is any justice, “Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem” should make BESVÄRJELSEN as famous as the iconic wooden Dala horses that every tourist who visits the country takes home to put on their shelves.
That BESVÄRJELSEN were on the road to greatness became apparent on their previous album, “Atlas” (2022). This record received the prestigious Swedish Manifestgalan Award for “Metal Album of the Year” by the Swedish Independent Music Producers and partners, which crowned a string of excellent reviews around the globe.
BESVÄRJELSEN were co-founded by guitarists and vocalists Andreas Bajer and Staffan Vinrot in 2014. Their musical vision was based on the idea to channel the spirit and traditions of the vast Dalarna forests into a contemporary urban context. On this ancient crossroads of Norse and Finnish cultures, the echoes of runes and gods, shamans and spirits still linger. While drawing heavy inspiration from local lore, mysticism, and the dark, old musical traditions of their homeland, the band name was found in the old Swedish word for “conjuring”: BESVÄRJELSEN.
While the band’s story has its roots in the past of the land, the present came boldly knocking to demand its due. With the discovery of Lea Amling Alazam and her captivating vocals, the plot took a fascinating twist: She had grown up with her feet in more than one world. Accordingly, the charismatic singer added a fresh approach by embracing melodies and phrases of the grunge and emo sounds that defined her youth as well as African and Middle Eastern music with characteristic bluesy undertones.
In 2015, BESVÄRJELSEN released their debut EP “Villfarelser”, followed by the “Exil” EP in 2016. At the time, former DOZER and GREENLEAF drummer Erik Bäckwall joined the line-up as a permanent member. Although both EPs were self-financed and released with minimal promotion, they ended up well-received, and even got airplay on Swedish national radio.
The Swedes’ debut full-length “Vallmo” (2018) merged crushing riffs and storming drums with increasingly sophisticated melodies and thoughtful themes, even earning the band a festival slot opening for DEEP PURPLE. This paved the way for BESVÄRJELSEN to record their sophomore album “Atlas” with producer and drummer Karl Daniel Lidén (GREENLEAF, DOZER, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX) in 2021.
With “Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem”, BESVÄRJELSEN have conjured ‘Into Oblivion’ twice, in both Swedish and Latin, but the spellbinding five-piece also deliver a cathartic rock album that will rank among the finest heavy releases of the genre and beyond in 2026.
Recorded by Andreas Baier & Marcus Lindqvist at Glashuset, Ludvika (SE) Mix & mastering by Karl Daniel Lidén at Tri-Lamb Audio Studios, Solna (SE) Cover art by Björn Olars Layout by Erik Bäckwall
Guest musicians Fred Burman (SATAN TAKES A HOLIDAY) – lead & backing vocals on ‘Accelerating Hearts’ & backing vocals on ‘Didn’t Come to Party’ Pelle Andersson (LOWRIDER) – organ on ‘Black Wave’
Line-up Lea Amling Alazam – vocals Staffan Vinrot – guitars, vocals (& accordion, violin, keys, keyed fiddle) Andreas Bajer – guitars, vocals Erik Bäckwall – drums Marcus Lindqvist – bass
Well, this was a markedly joyous Quarterly Review. I know it’s been a good year already for music and there’s more coming, but it’s always something of a relief when I get to Wednesday or Thursday of one of these things and don’t want to bash my head into a wall until I lose consciousness. The horrors persist but so do the riffs. I am fortunate for that.
If we’re being honest, I do these for myself. I do it as a way to keep up with things that are coming out or are already out (sometimes for a while; I think there were two 2025 outings in here this week), but it’s also a different kind of challenge to get through so much, and I enjoy that probably more than I generally say. This week I added a bunch of stuff to my best-of-2026 lists, and that includes today as well.
But while it may be me being self-serving in terms of musical exposure, I always hope you’ve been able to find something in this mix that you hadn’t heard before that speaks to you. Or maybe you agree with something I said, or disagree, or whatever. Maybe some piece of cover art made you feel something. Maybe your day got a little better just for that. Whatever it is. Please know that if you’re taking part in this at all, on any level, it’s appreciated.
Back in Sept., maybe? I’ll see if I can make it through the summer. Depends in part on how much comes in, which is almost always a flood these days. Not mad about that, by the way.
Alright, here we go. Thanks again for reading.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
Restless Spirit, Restless Spirit
Fullness of push, vitality in delivery, a distinctive take on craft drawing from a range of intangible influences — if Restless Spirit‘s self-titled fourth album is the band declaring themselves, then they picked the right record to share their name. The Long Island-based Magnetic Eye Records trio have fostered a next-generational take on riff metal able to sound massive and to move, not necessarily drawing from Sleep, but rather tipping that foundational balance more toward metal’s traditionalism. But they’re not an overly aggressive band, and even in the faster stretches of “Desire Lines” or the subsequent galloper “Desolation’s Wake,” or the penultimate “Time and Distance” with its more angular groove, they avoid a dudely trap into which many others have fallen. Ultimately, that balance is the place where Restless Spirit dwell in terms of sound, and it’s become more their own over time. This album would seem to be not only them acknowledging that, but embracing it and owning it outright. It’s a strong statement for any band to make at any point in their career, and the material here makes it feel all the more earned.
If you saw Brant Bjork in any incarnation between 2015-2024, whether it was solo, with Stöner, the beginnings of Brant Bjork Trio or with Mario Lalli and the Rubber Snake Charmers, chances are it was Ryan Güt holding down the crucial groove on drums. His first solo album, The Shastafarian, finds him stepping forward as a multi-instrumentalist and producer, and across 37 minutes from the Funkadelic-style talk-over-it startoff in “Beggars and Choosers” to the Blue Öyster Cult cover “Veterans of the Psychic Wars” that closes, Güt offers a spread of classic influence manifest in individualized songs. “Basically Dead (This Town)” feels like Thin Lizzy revelry, “Song for G” keeps its singer-songwritery acoustic foundation despite a full arrangement, and the self-jam in “On the Up and Up” digs in with surprising aplomb for only being one person. There’s a synthier wash in “Sand to Snow,” and that’s telling for a more experimental second half with the dirty fuzz of “Crig Lord Archduke Earl of Montague (The Monkey)” and the dub instrumental “DHS (12th St. Remixes)” entrances ahead of the grounded finish with the already-noted cover. It will be a tragedy if Güt and Zack Oakley (ex-Joy, etc.) never work together, as they seem to share so much in basic intent and both are fully capable of building an album solo, but on his own Güt sets up a broad progression here and one hopes the exploration continues.
As opening cut “Alienation” drifts into its second half, the drums just barely holding onto ground to hint at the swing-around that’s coming, Dutch trio Bismut reaffirm their progressive purposes. Since their inception, the Nijmegen instrumentalist trio have been more about flow than structure, and Matsutake as their fourth full-length, continues the journey. Each piece has its own intention, be it the headspinning “Assemblage” or the tense-until-it-blows-out “Neugier” just before, or the two-and-a-half-minute kissoff “Salvage,” but no question they hit an apex of heft in the pairing of “Contamination” and “(Potentially) Immortal,” which are the two longest and most dug-in tracks, Bismut carrying a spirit of urgency as much as aftermath, with the latter hinting at techno before hitting into a payoff righteous enough to count for the whole record’s procession. The vibe is restless, which is to say Bismut aren’t sitting still, aren’t resting too long in a single part, but it’s the fluidity born out of their sheer chemistry that makes it all work.
Sceaduhelm might be the outright heaviest I’ve heard Crippled Black Phoenix sound in their 20-plus years — at least in parts; they’re never quite only doing one thing at a time — but that’s still only half the story when it comes to the atmosphere and the palpably gothy mood spread across the 66-minute 2LP. I know, it’s another brilliant CBP album? Ho-hum, business as usual. Maybe it’s true that the band will be more appreciated 40 years on than they are now, but as samples draw together the various sections/sides, vocalists swap out between “No Epitaph – The Precipice” and “Hollows End,” etc., the band remain unthethered to genre and unto themselves in the world they create. “Vampire Grave” is so ’90s goth kitsch you can smell its clove cigarettes, but neither “Colder and Colder” nor “Under the Eye,” which follow, want for resonance, and the penultimate “Tired to the Bone” provides a gorgeous comedown before they cap with the yes-it-was-all-real-you-weren’t-dreaming “Beautiful Destroyer,” rolling with marked largesse into a suitably beautiful finish. I guess it’s hard for a band who don’t tour super-often or hock records on social media like mini-infomercials to get hype in this age of horrors, but damn. Even if you’ve never heard Crippled Black Phoenix before — maybe especially? — Sceaduhelm is a clarion to be heeded.
It’s been a productive half-decade for Néstor Ayala Cortés, whose solo-project Some Pills for Ayala began following the dissolution of his prior outfit, At Devil Dirt. Handling multiple instruments and samples, vocals and production, Some Pills for Ayala have been consistent in regards to exploring various facets of rolling heavy tonality, and the fuzz runs unsurprisingly strong in Incarnate as well, though the rawness of noise amid the stonerly swing of “I Can’t Lie” and the upped level of crush in “Until You Die” demonstrate some of the nuance Cortés has grown into as the band has moved forward. Grunge and aughts-era heavy melodymaking are still part of it, but Incarnate is a product of nothing so much as the artist who made it, and listening brings to light just how much Some Pills for Ayala stands willfully apart from the microgenred norm.
Admirably adventurous and consistently antifascist UK psychedelic rockers Gnod begin a stated trilogy with Chronicles of Gnowt Vol. 1, and obviously I haven’t heard the other two parts yet, but this six-track/42-minute outing taken on its own could hardly be said to feel incomplete. Side A is bookended by “Three Trees (Part 1)” and “Three Trees (Part 2),” comprised of drifting acoustics manipulated in the second installment by effects, and between them, “Shadow Mirror” heavy-ambles through a lysergic slog and “Neptune” indeed offers planetary distance in its far off rumble. That turns out to be prescient as “All Tunnel No Light” (9:56) and “Ekstasis” (10:32) comprise the entirety of side B, the former growing into a massive, slow lurch and the latter less structured-feeling in its makeup despite the drums holding on to the central groove as it makes its way toward the relatively quick comedown with residual effects churning thereafter. This entire triptych might just be a blip in the larger breadth of Gnod‘s catalog, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t significant either there or in the larger scope of heavy psych rock.
Mothertruck is the conceptualist debut album from Athenian trio Fuzzing Nation, who rally listeners to their tale with heaped-on hairy riffery and a fervent heavy rock execution. They’re not over-the-top fast, or making-a-point-of-it slow, but they find and inhabit a comfortable range in the middle, and in the dancey “The Elder’s Code” and the Kyussian shover “The Core Machine,” they present themselves as kin to desert-heavy, but have an underlying core of trad/classic metal, which can be heard in “Turn the Key” more than careening opener “Burning Roads,” which is a rocker through and through. Maybe it’s a fine line Fuzzing Nation gleefully tread. Fine. The narrative — pretty sure it involves a big truck; just a guess — settles into its own aftermath with “I Don’t Care at All,” capping with a last push a record that never compromises in its love of heavy rock and roll or the band’s narrative vision conveyed through it. I don’t know if they’ll keep telling the story, that happens sometimes, but if you can call your record Mothertruck and actually pull it off, you’re already on your way.
Once upon a time there was a band way out west with the unfortunate moniker Master Musicians of Bukkake. Ak’Chamel, an apparent duo, costumed and anonymous, maybe/maybe not from Austin, Texas, feel similarly fascinated with transgressing the barriers between folk musics and psychedelic arrangements, such that Spiritually Unemployed, their second album, is as intimate as it is expansive. It speaks to places that probably don’t exist — at least not in the way they’re offered as realities in the songs — and keeps a thread of irreverence in songs like “The Cosmic Vulva vs. The Post-Enlightened Tongue” and the closing “My Little Pony Apocalypse Diorama Playset.” You’ll be hard pressed to find a collection of weirder sounds, and for sure experimentation is part of the point, but Spiritually Unemployed doesn’t come across as haphazard or disconnected so much as drawn together over its 10 relatively brief inclusions and soundtracky in ethereal occasionally ways. Get weirder. No, weirder than that. Keep going. You’re almost there…
To be honest, I kind of think Sonic Secrets, as the name for the instrumental solo-project of North Carolina’s Kevin Clark (ex-Black Skies), is emblematic of the intention for the music. Diversions Vol. 1, a 10-song/20-minute offering one might otherwise consider a debut album, doesn’t come across like it was made for press, or a response, or something like that. Starting with drum parts and building around them, Clark over the course of three days went from zero to has-a-record, and listening through, the sense I get is that the process was as much the reason behind it as the need for a creative splurge. Only “The Descent,” with Western-sprawl guitar over an keyboard beat, tops four minutes long, and it and everything that surrounds portrays itself as both proof-of-concept — i.e. demonstrating that Clark can function as a band on his own, which yes, it would seem so — and the result of a craft that’s insular despite drawing from an array of stylistic influences. And it does a little bit come across like something just made to be itself, a sonic secret. One wonders how long Clark will be able to keep it that way.
The key word is “rehearsal” with Rehearsal 11.19.21, limited to 100 LP copies and released independently by West Coast supergroup Big Scenic Nowhere. Offered as two full sides, the vinyl captures the band — Tony Reed (Mos Generator, etc.) on vocals/keys/bass, guitarists Gary Arce (Yawning Man, etc.) and Bob Balch (Fu Manchu, etc.) and drummer Bill Stinson (Yawning Man) — preparing for their first-ever live show. The difference is they’re playing songs they’d already written — “LeDu,” “Lavender Blues,” “Towards the Sun,” and so on — rather than jamming out the bones of what would become their next record. They still haven’t played live a ton, so hearing this material, with chatter among the members and a casual dipping into and out of the songs, brings a new dimension to their studio work up to this point, and presents listeners with another side than even a regular live album could provide. Maybe most of all, it argues in favor of them doing more with the band. Nobody involved is short on other things happening musically, but Big Scenic Nowhere‘s proggy desert heavy found a trajectory all its own. A platter such as this in raw celebration of that is most certainly welcome.
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 6th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Yeah, I’ve already posted about Solace‘s Fading Failing Ruin coming out July 3 on Magnetic Eye. And yeah, I’ve already posted about the European tour they’re about to launch tomorrow in Paris, playing numerous dates in support of Hermano as they head to and through Desertfest in Berlin and London in the same weekend. Very Solace, that. But while I’ve posted about these things before, the advent of a video for “Spiral Will” gives me a chance to talk about it again, and that, my friends, is all I’m really looking for.
It’s nice to see familiar faces in the clip they filmed out in the woods — Lisa Hass, Dave Benzotti, Mark Cruikshank, etc. — somewhere between here and the southern tip of New Jersey a month or so ago, and it’s fun when things get pagan and they start circling up around frontman Justin Goins. The song itself has a hook but doesn’t beat you over the head with it, and speaks well to how they build momentum over the course of the impending album.
I doubt they’ll see this, but I’m sorry they’re not playing Oslo this coming weekend as I’ll be there, but I wish them the best for the travel and shows regardless. They’ve made a beast of a record to tour on, so it’s fortunate that they are doing so.
From the PR wire:
SOLACE drop new video single ‘Spiral Will’ taken from forthcoming album “Fading Failing Ruin” & kick off European Tour!
SOLACE preach heavy metal to the faithful in the new music video ‘Spiral Will’ for the next advance single taken from their highly anticipated fifth full-length “Fading Failing Ruin”, scheduled for release on July 3, 2026, via Magnetic Eye Records.
The iconic stoner doom act from New Jersey, USA is also about to embark on their European tour that will be kicked off on May 7, 2026 in the French capital city of Paris.
SOLACE “Fading Failing Ruin” European Tour Dates 2026 07 MAY 2026 Paris (FR) La Maroquinerie (Supporting Hermano) 08 MAY 2026 Utrecht (NL) Tivoli (Supporting Hermano) 09 MAY 2026 Köln (DE) Luxor (Supporting Hermano) 10 MAY 2026 Dresden (DE) Chemiefabrik 11 MAY 2026 Wien (AT) Arena (Supporting Hermano) 12 MAY 2026 München (DE) Backstage (Supporting Hermano) 13 MAY 2026 Berlin (DE) Desertfest Berlin Warm-Up 15 MAY 2026 London (UK) Desertfest London 16 MAY 2026 Bridgwater (UK) Cobblestones 17 MAY 2026 Bristol (UK) The Gryphon 18 MAY 2026 Bournemouth (UK) Bear Cave 20 MAY 2026 Hildesheim (DE) Club VEB 21 MAY 2026 Göttingen (DE) Vinyl-Reservat 22 MAY 2026 Hamburg (DE) Stellwerk
SOLACE US Live Dates 2026 06 JUN 2026 Atlantic City, NJ (US) Anchor Rock Club 19 SEP 2026 Austin, TX (US) Ripplefest Texas 10 OCT 2026 Youngstown, OH (US) Emissions from the Monolith
SOLACE comment on ‘Spiral Will’: “If our previous album, ‘The Brink’, represented the last thoughts of a drowning man, then ‘Fading Failing Ruin’ is his spirit washing up on shore”, vocalist Justin Goins muses. “This new world is foreign and alien to him, and he’ll soon realize that there’s no bottom to which he can sink. There’s always another depth to descend once he crashes through the bedrock below. The cost of his failures in life is to be fettered to a stone by a chain at his ankle, walking in circles until the chain, winding itself around the stone, pulls him in a spiral to be crushed against the rock. The only way forward is to ascend, and the only way to ascend is to fashion wings – one feather grown from each slight and wound – until he can achieve escape velocity, breaking the chain and rising above his human failings. The freedom of wings, however, can be its own curse, threatening to turn him into a monster by setting him above what he sees as pedestrian concerns beneath him, destroying the humanity that sets him apart from the rest of the world.”
Tracklist 1. Spiral Will 2. Fettered to a Stone 3. A God Changes His Plans 4. Wrath’s Object (The Big Fall) 5. Culling the Herd 6. Beyond Below 7. Malengine (The Scaffold) 8. Every Day Is a Loaded Gun 9. Ridden
SOLACE deliver their fifth studio album “Fading Failing Ruin” just in time to celebrate the anniversary of their 30th year as a band. And all the heaviness, experience, and obvious maturity of their songwriting across three decades is perfectly reflected in the seeming ease with which these master craftsmen hammer out one captivating and crushing track after the other.
Recording by Eric Rachel at Bulletproof Music Studio, Hazlet, NJ (US) & The Pussycat Club, Milford, NJ (US) Produced by Eric Rachel & Solace Mix & mastering by Eric Rachel at Trax East, South River, NJ (US) Cover art & layout by Paul Vismara
Guest musicians Pelle Andersson (LOWRIDER) – various keyboards Eric Rachel – additional keyboards Duane Hutter – slide guitar
Line-up: Justin Skyler Daniels – guitar Justin Goins – keyboard, vocals Tim Schoenleber – drums Mike Sica – bass Tommy Southard – guitar
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 28th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
High Desert Queen, doing like they do. The Spring European tour dates below were previously announced, but there were enough shows filled in that I thought it was worth posting the update, if my reasoning matters. The Austin-based heavy rockers have a slew of festival slots on this run, including Desertfest Oslo, which kicks off the tour on May 8, as well as the Desertfests in Berlin and London, and Grand Paris Sludge. Kind of business-as-usual for High Desert Queen at this point, but it still looks like a rad tour.
I haven’t heard anything about a third full-length yet from the band, but I have to think riffs are cooking by now, and they’re too smart to let momentum slip — hence all the touring — and with more Fall touring presumed around already confirmed appearances at Emissions From the Monolith in Ohio and NYC’s …In the Key of Doom, their busy year would seem not to end here. Album in 2027? I guess we’ll see.
From socials:
HIGH DESERT QUEEN – RIFFS AS BIG AS TEXAS TOUR!!!
We are finally able to announce all the dates for our upcoming “Riffs As Big As Texas Tour” which will see us play in 5 different countries next month. If you like heavy riffs, high energy shows, and free hugs, you won’t want to miss High Desert Queen on the road! Which city will we see you in???
Riffs as Big as Texas Tour 2026 8.5 Oslo, NO: DesertFest Oslo 9.5 Nijmegen, NL: De Onderbroek 10.5 Neunkichen, DE: Stummsche Reithalle 11.5 Wiesbaden, DE: Kesselhaus 12.5 Hannover, DE: Cafe Glocksee 13.5 Hamburg, DE: Molotov 14.5 Berlin, DE: DesertFest Berlin 15.5 Oldenburg, DE: Cadillac 16.5 London, UK: DesertFest London 17.5 Winchester, UK: Railway Inn 18.5 Birmingham, UK: SubSide 19.5 Bristol, UK: The Gryphon 20.5 Lille, FR: La Bulle Cafe 21.5 Dusseldorf, DE: Pitcher 22.5 Namur, DE: Le Belvédère 23.5 Paris, FR: Grand Paris Sludge Fest 24.5 Barberaz, FR: Le Brin De Zinc 26.5 Kusel, DE: Kinett 27.5 Munchen, DE: Feierwerk 28.5 Stuttgart, DE: Goldmark’s 29.5 Koln, DE: Garagen 30.5 Münster, DE: Rare Guitar
HIGH DESERT QUEEN are: Ryan Garney – vocals Phil Hook – drums Morgan Miller – bass Rusty Miller – guitar
