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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 100

Posted in Radio on December 23rd, 2022 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk show banner

I wish I could say I planned it out ahead of time that the 100th episode of The Obelisk Show would coincide with both the final one of 2022 and the third of the three roundups of some of the year’s best in heavy, but I’m nowhere near that coordinated. Fortunate happenstance, then, and a killer show either way.

You might note the minor departure from the general format I use in that this one doesn’t end with an extended track. Fact is there was just more I wanted to include than there was room for, so I opted to pack in three or four shorter songs where there might otherwise be one. Nothing here tops 10 minutes long — CB3 is just over eight and that’s the longest — and I can’t remember the last time that happened.

Before I turn you over to the playlist itself, I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to Gimme Metal for allowing me to continue to do this show. Seems obvious to say, considering, you know, this site in general, but sharing music I dig is among my favorite things to do, and I value the opportunity to engage with Gimme’s audience as a part of that. Thank you to Tyler, Brian, Dean and the entire crew for having me and making this thing happen.

Thanks for listening if you do, thanks for reading if you are.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 12.23.22 (VT = voice track)

Church of the Cosmic Skull Now’s the Time There is No Time
All Souls I Dream Ghosts Among Us
Sasquatch Live Snakes Fever Fantasy
Sky Pig Larva It Thrives in Darkness
VT
Abronia Night Hoarders Map of Dawn
Ealdor Bealu Way of the Sudden Storm Psychic Forms
Valley of the Sun Images The Chariot
Nebula Highwired Transmission From Mothership Earth
Supersonic Blues They See Me Comin’ It’s Heavy
Les Nadie Del Pombero Destierro y Siembra
Sun Voyager Rip the Sky Sun Voyager
Besvärjelsen House of the Burning Light Atlas
VT
Dreadnought Midnight Moon The Endless
Author & Punisher Misery Krüller
Messa Dark Horse Close
Somali Yacht Club Silver The Space
Lamp of the Universe Emerald Sands The Akashic Field
Toad Venom Swirling Hands EAT!
CB3 To Space and Away Exploration
VT
Ecstatic Vision The Kenzo Shake Elusive Mojo

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Jan. 6 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gimme Metal website

The Obelisk on Facebook

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Heavy Psych Sounds Fest 2023 Announces Lineups for Italy

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 14th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Do not expect this to be the last Heavy Psych Sounds Fest announcement. The Italian label/booking empire gas over the last several years turned its various festivals into celebrations that each even beyond its own significant associated roster, and in this first reveal for Bologna and Torino fests, we see that happening exactly. Look for tours to emerge around this and other HPS fests to come in Europe (maybe US too), as end-of-April/beginning-of-May is kind of the culmination of the Spring festival season over there.

As someone born, raised and living in the US, I can only marvel at such a thing. I came up in the days of Lollapalooza roaming around bringing bands from town to town in a big traveling festival, but imagine multiple separate tours converging and separating across state lines in one spot, then roving around for club shows until the next one. What an amazing course of live performance and art and craft that is. I know we’re talking about rock shows and that’s generally considered lowbrow fare, but god damn, isn’t that how culture happens? These two dates encapsulate some of that same idea, and Heavy Psych Sounds did similar in California earlier in 2022, so maybe someday they’ll get there. I don’t know, but they make it easy to dig in the meantime.

Lineups follow:

Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Italy 2023

HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST ITALY 2023

BOLOGNA & TORINO

Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking is proud to announce *** HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST ITALY 2023 – BOLOGNA & TORINO ***

first bands announcement

Heavy Psych Sounds Records & Booking will smash Bologna and Torino with their highly acclaimed mini festival-series, the HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST!

In cooperation with Freakout Club, Mkno, Blah Blah and Last One To Die, today Heavy Psych Sounds has revealed the first bands for the upcoming HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST ITALY !!!

The HPS Fest Italy will be taking place 29th and 30th of April 2023 at the TPO Club in Bologna and Last One To Die in Caramagna Piemonte (Torino) !!!

BOLOGNA TICKETS PRESALE:
https://www.musicglue.com/freakoutclub/events/2023-04-29-heavy-psych-sounds-fest-at-tpo-freakout-club

TORINO TICKETS PRESALE:
https://www.musicglue.com/last-one-to-die-1/events/2023-04-29-heavy-psych-sounds-fest-italy-impianti-sportivi-caramagna-piemonte

STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFO COMING SOON…

Stoned Jesus
Conan
BelzebonG
BLACK RAINBOWS
MESSA
TONS
Giöbia
OREYEON
Isaak

heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
www.heavypsychsounds.com
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/

Stoned Jesus, “Porcelain” official video

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Messa Announce Winter Tour Dates

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 6th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

It has not been that long since Italian genrespanners Messa, whose 2022 album, Close (review here), has been another enthusiastically-received notch in their collective belt, were in a van wreck on tour in Europe. That was early October and in addition to needing a new conveyance to get from one show to the next, members of the band required surgery to recover. A not-insignificant event in the life of a band, and something that obviously one hopes any band never has to deal with.

Toward the end of last week, they announced their first time getting back out on the road to continue to support Close in a stream of live dates happening across Jan., Feb. and March. The earliest shows will be in Greece, followed by a run through Germany, France, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and (more) Germany. Goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway, best wishes to Messa as they head out again after suffering a genuine trauma. I hope that the crash becomes subsumed by killer memories of the tour to come, and that sooner or later they make their way to American shores. Hard to imagine they haven’t come to the attention of Psycho Las Vegas, if not others besides. We’ll see.

Dates and links and audio follow, as seen on socials:

Messa winter tour

We’re very happy to announce we’ll be touring Europe again in almost three months!

We will be sharing the stage with opening act @julinko.imago

Below the tour dates. We can’t wait to see you again!

Presales at this link:

https://linktr.ee/MESSAgigs

Thu 26.01 GR Athens, Kyttaro Live *
Fri 27.01 GR Thessaloniki, Eightball Club *
Thu 16.02 DE Karlsruhe, P8
Fri 17.02 DE Berlin, Urban Spree
Sat 18.02 DE Bochum, Die Trompete
Sun 19.02 FR Paris, Le Petit Bain
Tue 21.02 UK London, The Black Heart
Wed 22.02 UK Manchester, White Hotel
Thu 23.02 UK Preston, The Continental
Fri 24.02 UK Liverpool, Quarry
Sat 25.02 UK Sheffield, Record Junkee
Tue 27.02 BE Antwerp, Kavka
Wed 28.02 NL Nijmegen, Merleyn
Thu 01.03 NL Utrecht, DB’s
Fri 02.03 DE Hannover, Cafè Glocksee
Sat 03.03 DE Dresden, Chemiefabrik
Sun 04.03 DE Regensburg, Alte Mälzerei

* Messa only

Info e Booking : @swampbooking

https://www.instagram.com/messa_band/
https://www.facebook.com/MESSAproject
https://messaproject.bandcamp.com/

http://www.auralwebstore.com/shop/index.php

www.svartrecords.com
www.facebook.com/svartrecords
www.youtube.com/svartrecords

Messa, Close (2022)

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Messa in Van Wreck; Fundraiser Launched

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 3rd, 2022 by JJ Koczan

The good news is everyone came out of it alive. The bad news is that Italian genre-melding rockers Messa were in what looks to have been a pretty serious van crash while on their way home from tour, and members have had to be hospitalized with surgery ordered. Earlier this year, the band released their 2LP third album, Close (review here), through Svart Records to a wash of praise, and they’ve set to work supporting it live ever since.

A GoFundMe has been launched. It’s linked below, but if you want to skip the whole story, here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-messa

I don’t know what healthcare is like in Italy, but I assume that like almost everywhere, it’s better than in the US in terms of the financial burden put on the patient. Still, the costs incurred will be significant, from things like physical therapies to Ace bandages — plus from the look of things they’re going to need a new van — so yes, give them your monies. Hell, even if it’s just to lift spirits, a little bit won’t kill you. Once they get over the shock of the thing, they’re going to need all the support they can get.

Their post:

messa van wreck

Trigger warning: accident

Yesterday night after the last show of our tour we got in a car crash.

Another driver coming from the opposite direction went straight at us on our lane and impacted with us frontally.

The whole crew is alive, the van is destroyed and some of us will have to undergo surgery. We are okay, but it will take us some months to recover fully. More updates will come soon.

If you want to support us during these hard times, you can buy our records via Bandcamp or donate here to help for everything we’ll have to go through:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-messa (link is in bio too)

We probably won’t be able to answer all of you, but we do appreciate and cherish each and every thought for us.

The relief of hearing the live voices of us all, checking on each other’s state while in the van right after the accident, is something that will not fade away easily.

Much love to you all. To better days,
Messa, Otto, Matteo

https://www.instagram.com/messa_band/
https://www.facebook.com/MESSAproject
https://messa666.bandcamp.com/

http://www.auralwebstore.com/shop/index.php

www.svartrecords.com
www.facebook.com/svartrecords
www.youtube.com/svartrecords

Messa, Close (2022)

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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 82

Posted in Radio on April 15th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk show banner

A tribute to Roadburn Festival is about as close as I can come to an absolute no-brainer. My life is a Roadburn tribute. Nonetheless, to look directly at the 2022 lineup and consider everything the Netherlands-based festival has been through over the last three years — everything everyone has been through — it seemed like the least I could do. I’ve been to every Roadburn since 2009. This will be the first I miss in all that stretch.

In 2021 when they did the virtual Roadburn Redux, I didn’t watch most of it. It was cool, I saw the whole setup they had with the virtual meeting room and I watched some of the streams, but yeah, I just kind of felt sad about the whole thing. And I saw the writing on the wall this year with the daily festival ‘zine I’ve been editing for the last seven or however many years even before I was told it wasn’t happening. Roadburn never needed me, but knowing that it’s happening next week and not being able to be there is sad. This isn’t really a consolation prize so much as a short love letter to the fest and best wishes to anyone who finds themselves in that space. I will miss it.

Thanks if you listen, thanks if you’re reading. Thanks in general.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 04.15.22

Year of No Light Interdit aux Vivants, aux Morts et aux Chiens Consolamentum
Sum of R Lust Lahbryce
Alcest Spiritual Instinct Spiritual Instinct
VT1
Sólstafir Ljós Í Stormi Svartir Sandar
Lingua Ignota Katie Cruel Katie Cruel (single)
Mizmor Wit’s End Wit’s End
Cloud Rat Mouse Trap Cloud Rat
Warhorse Black Acid Prophecy As Heaven Turns to Ash
Emma Ruth Rundle Blooms of Oblivion Engine of Hell
Årabrot Feel it On Norwegian Gothic
VT2
Kanaan Return to the Tundrasphere Earthbound
Smote Moninna Bodkin
40 Watt Sun Until Perfect Light
Messa Pilgrim Close

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is April 29 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gimme Metal website

The Obelisk on Facebook

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Quarterly Review: Messa, Witchpit, Dirty Nips, Ocean to Burn, Mt. Echo, Earl of Hell, Slugg, Mirage, An Evening Redness, Cryptophaser

Posted in Reviews on April 7th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

THE-OBELISK-FALL-2020-QUARTERLY-REVIEW

It’s been a load road, getting from there to here, and here isn’t even there yet if you know what I mean. Alas, Thursday. Day four — 4, IV, I can’t remember how I’ve been writing it out — of the Spring 2022 Quarterly Review, and it’s a doozy. These things are always packed, in fact it’s pretty much the idea, but I still find that even this week as I’m putting out 10 reviews a day — we’ll get to 60 total next Monday — I’m playing catchup with more stuff coming down the pike. It seems more and more like each Quarterly Review I’ve done out of like the last five could’ve been extended a day beyond what it already was.

Alas, Thursday. Overwhelmed? Me too.

Quarterly Review #31-40:

Messa, Close

Messa close

After two LPs through Aural Music, Italy’s Messa arrive via Svart with a crucial third album in Close. The hype surrounding the record has been significant, and Close earns every bit of it across its 10-song/64-minute run, intricately arranged as the Italian four-piece continue to bridge stylistic gaps with an ease born of expansive songcraft and stunning performance, first from vocalist Sara Bianchin (also percussion) and further from guitarist Alberto Piccolo (also oud, mandolin), bassist/synthesist/vocalist Marco Zanin (also various keys and percussion), and drummer Rocco Toaldo (also harsh vocals, percussion), who together create a complete and encompassing vision of doom that borrows periodically from black metal as anything artsy invariably must, but is more notable for its command of itself. That is, Messa — through the entirety of the hour-plus — are nothing but masterful. There’s an old photo of The Beatles watching Jimi Hendrix circa 1967, seeming resigned at being utterly outclassed by the ‘next thing.’ It’s easy to imagine much of doom looking at Messa the same way.

Messa on Facebook

Svart Records website

 

Witchpit, The Weight of Death

witchpit the weight of death

If what goes around comes around, then don’t be surprised when “Fire & Ice” goes circle-mosh near the end and you get punched in the head. Old. School. Southern. Sludge. Metal. Dudes play it big, and mean, and grooving. Think of turn of the century acts like Alabama Thunderpussy and Beaten Back to Pure, maybe earlier Sourvein, but with a big old lumbering update in sound thanks to a Phillip Cope recording job and a ferocity of its own. They’ve got a pedigree that includes Black Skies, Manticore and Black Hand Throne, and though The Weight of Death is their first long-player, they’ve been a band for seven years and their anti-dogmatic culmination in “Mr. Miserum” feels sincere as only it can coming from the land of the Southern Baptist Church. Aggression pervades throughout, but the band aren’t necessarily monochromatic. Sometimes they’re mad, sometimes they’re pissed off. Watch out when they’re pissed off. And am I wrong for feeling nostalgic listening? Can’t be too soon for them to be retro, right? Either way, they hit it hard and that’s just fine. Everybody needs to blow off steam sometime.

Witchpit on Facebook

Heavy Psych Sounds website

 

Dirty Nips, Can O’ Dirty Demo Nipples

Dirty Nips Can o Dirty Demo Nipples

Do I even need to say it, that a band called Dirty Nips offering up a demo called Can O’ Dirty Demo Nipples get up to some pretty cheeky shenanigans therein? I hope not. Still, as the Bristol-via-Poland outfit crunch out the riffs of “The Third Nipple” and harmonica-laced Hank Williams-style country blues on “As I Stumbled” and touch on psychedelic jamming in opener “The Basement” and the later experimental-feeling “Dirty Nips Pt. II,” which just drops to silence in the middle enough to make you wonder if it’s coming back (it is), there’s clearly more going on here than goofball chicanery. “Jechetki” builds on the blues and adds a grunge chug, and closer “Mountain Calling” is — dare I say it? — classy with its blend of acoustic guitar and organ, echoing spoken vocal and engagingly patient realization. They may end up wishing they called themselves something else as time goes on, but as it stands, Dirty Nips‘ demo tape heralds a sonic complexity that makes it that much harder to predict where they might end up, and is all the more satisfying a listen for that.

Dirty Nips on Facebook

Galactic Smokehouse store

 

Ocean to Burn, Vultures

Ocean to Burn Vultures

Though they’re by no means the only band in Sweden to dig into some form of traditionalism in heavy rock, Västerås five-piece Ocean to Burn evoke a decidedly more straight-ahead, Southern-heavy feel throughout the nine songs and 33 minutes of Vultures, their self-released full-length. The throaty grit of vocalist Adam Liifw is a big part of that impression, but in the guitars of Mathilda Haanpää and Fredrik Blomqvist, the tone is more stripped-down than huge-sounding, and the grooves from bassist Pontus Jägervall and drummer Fredrik Hiltunen follow suit. That central purpose suits songs like “Wastelands” and the more strutting “Nay Sayer,” and though they largely stick to their guns style-wise, a bluesier nod on “No Afterlife” early and a breakout in closer “Vulture Road” assure there’s some toying with the balance, even as the tracks all stick to the three- to about four-and-a-half-minute range. They’ve been at it for a while, and seem to revel in the ‘nothin-too-fancy’ attitude of the material, but honestly, they don’t need tricks or novelty to get their point across.

Ocean to Burn on Facebook

Ocean to Burn on Reverbnation

 

Mt. Echo, Electric Empire

Mt Echo Electric Empire

Following an encouraging start in 2019’s Cirrus (review here), Nijmegen instrumentalists Mt. Echo return with the conceptual-feeling Electric Empire, still holding some noise rock crunch in “Automaton” following the opener “Sound & Fury,” but saving its biggest impacts for the angular “50 Fanthoms,” the 10-minute “Flummox” and subsequent “As the Tide Serves,” and on the whole working to bring that side of their approach together with the atmospheric heavy post-rock float of “The End of All Dispute” and the early going of “These Concrete Lungs.” At 10 songs and just under an hour long, Electric Empire has room for world-building, and one of Mt. Echo‘s great strengths is being able to offset patience with urgency and vice versa. By the time they cap with “Torpid,” the trio of Gerben Elburg, Vincent Voogd and Rolf Vonk have worked to further distinguish themselves among their various sans-vocals proggy peers. One hopes they’ll continue on such a path.

Mt. Echo on Facebook

Mt. Echo on Bandcamp

 

Earl of Hell, Get Smoked

Earl of Hell Get Smoked

Vocalist Eric Brock, guitarist/backing vocalist/principal songwriter Lewis Inglis, bassist Dean Gordon and drummer Ryan Wilson are Edinburgh’s Earl of Hell, and their debut EP, Get Smoked, builds on the brash grooves of prior singles “Arryhthmia” (sic) and “Blood Disco,” the latter of which appears as the penultimate of the six included tracks on the 23-minute outing. More stomp-and-swing than punch-you-in-the-face, “I Am the Chill” nonetheless makes its sense of threat clear — it is not about chilling out — as if opener “Hang ’em High” didn’t. Split into two three-song sides each with a shorter track between, it’s in “Parasite” and “Blood Disco” that the band are at their most punk rock, but as the slower “Bitter Fruits” mellows out in opening side B, there’s more to their approach than just full-sprint shove, though don’t tell that to closer “Kill the Witch,” which revels in its call and response with nary a hesitation as it shifts into Spanish-language lyrics. High-octane, punk-informed heavy rock and roll, no pretense of trying to push boundaries; just ripping it up and threaten to burn ladies alive, as one apparently does.

Earl of Hell on Facebook

Slightly Fuzzed Records store

 

Slugg, Yonder

Slugg Yonder

Released on New Year’s Day after being recorded in Dec. 2021 in the trio’s native Rome, “Yonder” serves as the initial public offering and first single from Slugg, and at 9:59, it is more than a vague teaser for the band they might be. The guitar of Jacopo Cautela and the bass of Stephen Drive bring a marked largesse that nonetheless is able to move when called upon to do so by Andrea Giamberardini‘s drumming, and Cautela‘s corresponding vocals are pushed deeper back in the mix to emphasize those tones. Much of the second half of “Yonder” is given to a single, rolling purpose, but the band cleverly turn that into a build as they move forward, leaving behind the gallops of the first few minutes of the song, but making the transition from one side to another smoothly via midsection crashes and ably setting up the ring-out finish that will draw the song to its close. Not without ambition, “Yonder” crushes with a sense of physical catharsis while affecting an atmosphere that is no less broad. They make it easy to hope for more to come along these lines.

Slugg on Facebook

Slugg on Bandcamp

 

Mirage, Telepathic Radio

Mirage Telepathic Radio

Joe Freedman, also of Banshee, first saw Telepathic Radio released as the debut full-length from Mirage in 2021 through Misophonia Records on tape. There are still a few of them left. That version runs 30 songs and 90 minutes. The Cardinal Fuzz/Centripetal Force edition is 50 minutes/20 tracks, but either way you go, get your head ready for dug-in freakness. Like freakness where you open the artwork file for the digital promo and all three versions are the cover of a Rhapsody album. Ostensibly psychedelic, songs play out like snippets from a wandering attention span, trying this weird thing and seeing it through en route to the next. In this way, Telepathic Radio is both broad-ranging and somewhat contained. The recordings are raw, fade in and out and follow their own paths as though recorded over a stretch of time rather than in one studio burst, which seems indeed to be how they were made. Horns, samples, keys, even some guitar, a bit of “TV Party” and “TV Eye” on “TV Screens,” Mirage howls and wails out there on its private wavelength, resolved to be what it is regardless of what one might expect of it. By the time even the 20-track version is done, the thing you can most expect is to have no clue what just happened in your brain. Rad.

Misophonia Records on Bandcamp

Cardinal Fuzz webstore

Centripetal Force Records website

 

An Evening Redness, An Evening Redness

An Evening Redness Self-titled

With its first, self-titled release, An Evening Redness basks in morose Americana atmospheres, slow, patient guitar drones, warm bass and steady rhythms giving way to periodically violent surges. Founded perhaps as a pandemic project for Brandon Elkins of Auditor and Iron Forest, the six-song full-length explores the underlying intensity and threat to person and personhood that a lot of American culture just takes for granted. The name and inspiration for the project are literary — ‘An Evening Redness in the West’ is the subtitle of Cormac McCarthy’s 1985 novel, Blood Meridian — and An Evening Redness, even in the long instrumental stretch of 12-minute opener/longest track (immediate points) “Alkali,” treats the subject matter with duly textured reverence. Elkins isn’t alone here, and the vocals of Bridget Bellavia on the brooding “Mesa Skyline” and the closing pair of “Pariah” and “Black Flame at the Edge of the Desert,” as well as the contributions of other guests in various locales around the world up to and including Elkins‘ native Chicago should not be downplayed in enriching these explorations of space and sound. Bands like Earth and Across Tundras warrant mention as precursors of the form, but An Evening Redness casts its own light in the droning “Winter, 1847” and the harmonica-wailing “The Judge” enough to be wholly distinct from either in portraying the sometimes horrifying bounty of the land and the cruelty of those living in it.

An Evening Redness on Twitter

Transylvanian Recordings on Bandcamp

 

Cryptophaser, XXII

Cryptophaser XXII

Brothers John and Marc Beaudette — who if they aren’t twins are close enough — comprise New Hampshire’s Cryptophaser, and XXII is their first demo, pressed in an edition of 50 purple tapes. Dudes might as well just open my wallet. Fair enough. In what’s a show of chemistry and musical conversation that’s obviously been going on longer than these songs — that is, I highly suspect the maybe-twin brothers who drum and play guitar have been playing together more than a year — they bring an adversarial bent to the conventions of heavy fuzz, and do so with the proverbial gusto, breaking away from monolithic tones in favor of sheer dynamic, and when they shift into the drone in “October 83,” they make themselves a completely different band like it isn’t even a thing. Casual kickass. At 13 minutes, it flows like a full-length and has a full-length’s breadth of ideas (some full-lengths, anyway), and the energy from one moment to the next is infectious, be that next part fast, slow, loud, quiet, or whatever else they want it to be.

Cryptophaser website

Music ADD Records website

 

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Roadburn 2022 Makes Second Lineup Announcement

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 30th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Roadburn 2022 redefining heaviness

A lot to dig into here, and I suppose that’s not really a surprise when it comes to Roadburn announcements. Likewise, not a shock to see Emma Ruth Rundle and Lingua Ignota here, as both are album-of-the-year candidates among the underground critical literati and Rundle was supposed to curate 2020’s fest. Cool to see Messa make a return as well, and that new Mizmor is sitting on my desktop waiting to be dug into. The new 40 Watt Sun will make some resonant listening live, as it does on record, and I’m curious to dig into Hangman’s Chair, as my impression of them is they sound like Type O Negative but from Paris, which I guess is nothing to complain about. Jammers Kungens Män will be a joy for all who behold them, and Kanaan‘s heavy turn on their new album will bring Roadburn back to its stoner rock roots — if indeed that’s what they play — in a way that no one yet on the bill will do.

Oh, and Smote. If you haven’t checked out Drommon (review here), do that.

Like I said, a lot to dig into. That’s not even all of it, so don’t let me keep you:

New additions to Roadburn 2022

The second group of artists to be added to the Roadburn 2022 line up has today been announced.

Artistic director, Walter Hoeijmakers, comments:

“Roadburn 2022 will be a festival of hope; a celebration of underground music by Roadburn alumni and young and upcoming bands alike. It feels so great to offer them a platform and it’s equally great to offer our community their much missed home away from home. Despite the difficult circumstances with live music we remain optimistic and move forward with caution. It’s not easy but we’re really hopeful to be able to welcome you to Roadburn 2022. The idea of celebrating together makes everything worthwhile.”

Lingua Ignota will return to Roadburn in 2022, following two explosive performances at the 2019 edition of the festival. Having released SINNER GET READY earlier this year to widespread critical acclaim, the return to Roadburn is well timed to showcase her new material.

Emma Ruth Rundle will take to the main stage to present her groundbreaking new album, Engine of Hell. Due to be our curator in 2020, we’re delighted to welcome Emma back to Roadburn and to have her step into an even bigger spotlight this time around.

Following on from the recent announcement of a new album, Perfect Light, 40 Watt Sun will also perform on the main stage in April. Mizmor will return to perform Cairn in full, as was originally intended as part of Rundle’s curated event, which due to the pandemic didn’t come to fruition.

After performing alongside Dylan Carlson and as part of Zonal in previous years, The Bug will return – this time with MCs Flowdan and Logan to accompany him. Milena Eva & Thomas Sciarone’s curated event gains a new name: Sordide will be performing their most recent album Les idées blanches in full.

A rejuvenated Sum Of R will perform their upcoming new album, Lahbryce, in full on the main stage. Messa’s recently announced album, Close, will be performed, as will A Loner – the new album from Hangman’s Chair.

Cloud Rat will perform two sets, including a special Do Not Let Me Off The Cliff electronic-based performance. Uniform will perform their album Shame in full. HEALTH, Kælan Mikla and KANGA will provide some end-of-the-world dance party vibes. Meanwhile, Smote will perform their new album, Drommon in full.

Also announced is Fågelle, Kanaan, Kollaps, Kungens Män, Pinkish Black, and Wyatt E.

These names join previously announced artists including Ulver, Sólstafir, Alcest, Backxwash, Russian Circles, artist in residence – Full of Hell and many others. Roadburn Festival will take place between April 21-24 in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

Tickets for Roadburn 2022 are on sale now. Friday and Saturday day tickets are sold out. Thursday and Sunday day tickets, 3-day and 4-day tickets remain in limited numbers. Tickets and accommodation options are available to view via ticketmaster.nl.

https://www.facebook.com/events/964112394348925
https://www.facebook.com/roadburnfestival/
http://www.instagram.com/roadburnfest
http://www.roadburn.com

Smote, Drommon (2021)

Hangman’s Chair, “Loner” official video

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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 73

Posted in Radio on November 26th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

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I had two ideas in my head for this episode. The first was to do a stuff-to-look-forward-to-next-year playlist, which I did, and the second was to do a me-spending-your-money-on-Black-Friday-Bandcamp-recommendations edition, which I did not do.

Was it the right choice? I don’t know, but it kind of feels like a victory for the good guys every time I get to play All Souls, or King Buffalo, or Sasquatch — or Gozu, or Conan, Stöner, Colour Haze, etc. — and there’s some small chance anybody will hear it, so I won’t exactly say I regret going the way I did. There will be other Bandcamp Fridays, I think.

And to be perfectly honest, I like thinking about this stuff, about new records coming out. I like to wonder what bands will come up with, song-wise, sound-wise, how things will have changed since their last record, how the identity of a group can shift over time. Think of High on Fire. Think of Dozer! A new Dozer album after 14 years. Who the hell knows what that’s going to sound like?

So yeah, that’s what I went with. And since preorder is up for some of this stuff — 40 Watt Sun, the PostWax series of which Dozer are a part, Naxatras, Messa, Earthless — I guess maybe you could spend some money anyway here. Plus there’s always older records to buy. It’s a big planet. There are a lot of albums on it.

Thanks for listening if you do and/or reading. I hope you enjoy.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 11.26.21

Dozer The Flood Beyond Colossal (2008)
Some Pills for Ayala Space Octopus Space Octopus (2021)
Gozu They Probably Know Karate Equilibrium (2018)
Wo Fat There’s Something Sinister in the Wind Midnight Cometh (2016)
VT
Sasquatch Destroyer Maneuvers (2017)
Earthless Electric Flame Black Heaven (2018)
Stöner The Older Kids Stoners Rule (2021)
Långfinger Silver Blaze Crossyears (2016)
King Buffalo The Knocks The Burden of Restlessness (2021)
Torche Times Missing Admission (2019)
All Souls Winds Songs for the End of the World (2020)
Conan Volt Thrower Existential Void Guardian (2018)
High on Fire Freebooter Electric Messiah (2018)
Messa Leah Feast for Water (2018)
40 Watt Sun The Spaces in Between Perfect Light (2022)
VT
Colour Haze Life We Are (2020)
Naxatras Land of Infinite Time III (2018)

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Dec. 10 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

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