Planet Desert Rock Weekend IV Set for Jan. 25-27; Initial Lineup Announced

Posted in Whathaveyou on September 4th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Planet Desert Rock Weekend IV will take place across three days this coming January in Las Vegas, and if you’re the type to travel, that should be plenty of notice for you to plan your excursion. Assembled by singularly-passionate promoter John Gist of Vegas Rock Revolution, the initial lineup features Sasquatch and Freedom Hawk and Borracho and a Spiralarms reunion and and and and, oh hell you can read it for yourself on the banner.

In all seriousness, it’s a solid bill. Sandveiss are awesome and they and Black Elephant and Mezzoa, Vegas’ own Sonolith are the kind of right on picks one would expect considering the personnel involved in making the thing. I’m not the world’s biggest Scorpion Child fan, but even I know they’re good at what they do and I would imagine they put on a killer show. I guess I felt compelled to mention it since they were the only band I hadn’t talked about yet. Unless I missed someone else. Ha.

Here’s all the info, courtesy of the ol’ social media:

Planet Desert Rock Weekend IV banner

Planet Desert Rock Weekend returns for V4 with a 3 night heavy rock and roll party on January 25-26-27, 2024! After this year’s amazing couple nights, we are excited to bring a new and different lineup w/ some familiar bands from the Vegas Rock Revolution family blended in as always. The unique thing about PDRW is that you have your days to do things in Vegas. Shows start in the early evenings each night and all shows are at one venue each day.

Vegas Rock Revolution is super psyched to have Sasquatch and Freedom Hawk returning to Planet Desert Rock Weekend along with local riffmasters Sonolith!

6 more bands to be announced to finish the lineup. This will be 3 days in Vegas you will not forget.

Presale Special for 3 day packages including a poster bundle option. Ticket link below
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/planet-desert-rock-weekend-iv-january-25-26-27-2024-tickets-711681026107?aff=oddtdtcreator

Facebook Event –> https://www.facebook.com/events/271023039042876

Planet Desert Rock Weekend IV
January 25-26-27 , 2024
Las Vegas
Nights 1 +2 at Count’s Vamp’d
Night 3 at The Usual Place (Downtown)

The first round of band announcements are:

Sasquatch
Freedom Hawk
Scorpion Child
Spiralarms (Reunion Show)
Borracho
Sandveiss
Black Elephant
Mezzoa
Sonolith

https://www.facebook.com/VRRProductions/
https://www.facebook.com/vegasrockrevolution/

Planet Desert Rock Weekend IV teaser

Sasquatch, Live in Tilburg, NL, Aug. 20, 2023

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SoCal Heavy Jam 2023 Announces Full Lineup; Tickets on Sale

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 1st, 2023 by JJ Koczan

A lot to dig here as SoCal Heavy Jam unfurls its 2023 lineup. The second edition of the Santee, CA-based festival at Full Circle Saloon will be held Sept. 30 and feature Unida and Sasquatch — at least the latter will be fresh off laying waste to RippleFest Texas the weekend prior — alongside ZedFormula 400Desert SunsMezzoaLords of DustSalem’s Bend and Whiskey & Knives. Of those, four are repeats from last year’s inaugural fest, and as the event is helmed by Formula 400 bassist Kip PageMezzoa guitarist/vocalist Ignacio “Nacho” Maldonado and Desert Suns vocalist Jason Busiek, it’s not a huge surprise they’d be back on board for the jam. Lords of Dust are the other repeat offender, and well, maybe they’re just awesome live. That happens sometimes.

The impression I got last year — not that I went, but from the announcement and the way the thing rolled out — was that true to its name, the SoCal Heavy Jam is more in the spirit of a casual all-dayer rather than an all-consuming festival, though one never knows how these things will solidify over a period of years. As it stands, with nine bands, the day is plenty packed, and sure to be a good time for those who manage to make it out. Maybe that’s you, maybe not. Personally, I’m hoping that by this time, new releases from both Sasquatch and Unida will have been at least announced if not released, which would of course add a bit of urgency here but also make life better generally as quality heavy rock will do. A few months before we get there, so fingers crossed.

The lineup was revealed in straightforward fashion via social media the other day and looks like this:

SoCal Heavy Jam 2023 poster

2nd Annual SoCal Heavy Jam at Full Circle Saloon – September 30th, 2023

2nd Annual SoCal Heavy Jam at Full Circle Saloon featuring – Unida, Sasquatch, ZED, Formula 400, Desert Suns, Mezzoa, Lords of Dust, Salem’s Bend, Whiskey and Knives!

Free Food – 4pm – 6pm

Drink Specials

$20 Presale – $30 at the Door Day of Show

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annual-socal-heavy-jam-tickets-623742078347

Portion of the proceeds go to NSEFU – Wild Life Conservation. Founder – Coe Lewis

https://www.facebook.com/SoCal.Heavy.Jam
https://instagram.com/socal_heavy_jam

Unida, Live at Into the Void 2022

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First Annual SoCal Heavy Jam Set for Oct. 22

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 4th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Socal Heavy jam 2022 banner

Put together by bassist Kip Page of Formula 400, Mezzoa guitarist/vocalist Ignacio “Nacho” Maldonado, and Desert Suns singer Jason Busiek, the SoCal Heavy Jam is a new festival intended — as you can glean for yourself by looking at either the banner above or the poster below (one likes to cover horizontal and vertical, when possible) — to be an annual event.

Motorbäbe, who, yes, play Motörhead tunes, will headline, and Void Vator and -(16)- (whose new record I’m still anticipating eagerly) are up near the top of the bill as well. All three of the founders’ bands will play, and presumably that won’t be the case every year — they might alternate, for example, or all take 2023 off — but in addition to being well within their rights, having booked the thing, they’re good bands. With Lords of DustAwakeners and Into the Fuzz rounding out, the all-day-and-plenty-of-the-nighter will take place Oct. 22 at Full Circle Saloon in Santee, California, which makes it easy-peasy for those in the San Diego area.

The lineup was announced a while ago and has been bandied hither and yon since, but I suck at keeping up and kind of figured nobody would argue if I posted it now, which is far enough out for you to make travel plans to San Diego/adjacent if you’re up for it and still close enough to that it won’t be forgotten by the time it actually happens. That’s my thinking, anyhow.

Putting together one festival, let alone one with an intention to do it every year, is not a minor undertaking. I wish PageMaldonado and Busiek the best this first time through and will look forward to what comes next for SoCal Heavy Jam as well.

Info, a Spotify playlist of the bands, and social links follow:

Socal Heavy jam 2022 poster

SoCal Heavy Jam at Full Circle Saloon – Saturday, October 22

1st Annual SoCal Heavy Jam at Full Circle Saloon featuring – Motorbäbe, Void Vator, -16-, Mezzoa, Formula 400, Desert Suns, Lords of Dust, AWAKENERS and Into the Fuzz!

Free Food – 3pm – 5pm
Drink Specials

$15 cover
Portion of the proceeds go to NSEFU – Wild Life Conservation. Founder – Coe Lewis

https://fb.me/e/2I5FDTD0J
https://www.facebook.com/SoCal.Heavy.Jam
https://instagram.com/socal_heavy_jam

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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 94

Posted in Radio on September 30th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk show banner

As will happen during a Quarterly Review, I’ve sort of found myself thinking there’s a ton of stuff that I don’t want to see get lost in the shuffle, and I’ve decided to focus this episode of The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal on making sure that doesn’t happen.

‘Selections from the QR’ may be the theme here, but what it rounds out to is a cool mix of mostly new music either way. Goes without saying that with 100 releases covered, there was plenty to choose from, and indeed I might end up doing a second of these — it was a two-week Quarterly Review after all, ending today — but if you’ve kept up with that or not, this is a summary of some of what was included. Like the Quarterly Review itself, it’s pretty heavy on vibe and atmosphere, but there are a couple bangers in there too that, along with the rest, I most certainly hope you enjoy.

Thanks if you listen and thanks for reading.

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

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 09.30.22 (VT = voice track)

Mezzoa Moya Dunes of Mars
Lightrain Hyd AER
Spirit Adrift Mass Formation Psychosis 20 Centuries Gone
VT
Cachemira Ambos Mundos Ambos Mundos
Goatriders The Garden Traveler
Garden of Worm In the Absence of Memory Endless Garden
Church of the Cosmic Skull Now’s the Time There is No Time
Voidward Chemicals Voidward
Early Moods Curse the Light Early Moods
Maunra Lightbreather Monarch
Obiat Ulysses Indian Ocean
Reverend Mother Locomotive Damned Blessing
Deer Creek A Dark, Heartless Machine Menticide
Trillion Ton Beryllium Ships Mystical Consumer Consensus Trance
Blacklab Abyss Woods In a Bizarre Dream
VT
The Gray Goo Bicycle Day 1943
Les Lekin Ascent Limbus

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Oct. 14 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gimme Metal website

The Obelisk on Facebook

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Quarterly Review: Spirit Adrift, Northless, Lightrain, 1965, Blacklab, Sun King Ba, Kenodromia, Mezzoa, Stone Nomads, Blind Mess

Posted in Reviews on September 27th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

THE-OBELISK-FALL-2020-QUARTERLY-REVIEW

Here we go again as we get closer to 100 records covered in this expanded Fall 2022 Quarterly Review. It’s been a pretty interesting ride so far, and as I’ve dug in I know for sure I’ve added a few names (and titles) to my year-end lists for albums, debuts, and so on. Today keeps the thread going with a good spread of styles and some very, very heavy stuff. If you haven’t found anything in the bunch yet — first I’d tell you to go back and check again, because, really? nothing in 60 records? — but after that, hey, maybe today’s your day.

Here’s hoping.

Quarterly Review #61-70:

Spirit Adrift, 20 Centuries Gone

Spirit Adrift 20 Centuries Gone

The second short release in two years from trad metal forerunners Spirit Adrift, 20 Centuries Gone pairs two new originals in “Sorcerer’s Fate” and “Mass Formation Psychosis” — songs for our times written as fantasy narrative — with six covers, of Type O Negative‘s “Everything Dies,” Pantera‘s “Hollow,” Metallica‘s “Escape,” Thin Lizzy‘s “Waiting for an Alibi,” ZZ Top‘s “Nasty Dogs and Funky Kings” and Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s “Poison Whiskey.” The covers find them demonstrating a bit of malleability — founding guitarist/vocalist does well with Phil Lynott‘s and Peter Steele‘s inflections while still sounding like himself — and it’s always a novelty to hear a band purposefully showcase their influences like this, but “Sorcerer’s Fate” and “Mass Formation Psychosis” are the real draw. The former nods atop a Candlemassian chug and sweeping chorus before spending much of its second half instrumental, and “Mass Formation Psychosis” resolves in burly riffing, but only after a poised rollout of classic doom, slower, sleeker in its groove, with acoustic strum layered in amid the distortion and keyboard. Two quick reaffirmations of the band’s metallic flourishing and, indeed, a greater movement happening partially in their wake. And then the covers, which are admirably more than filler in terms of arrangement. Something of a holdover, maybe, but by no means lacking substance.

Spirit Adrift on Facebook

Century Media store

 

Northless, A Path Beyond Grief

northless a path beyond grief

Just because it’s so bludgeoning doesn’t necessarily mean that’s all it is. The melodic stretch of “Forbidden World of Light” and delve into progressive black metal after the nakedly Crowbarian sludge of “A Path Beyond Grief,” the clean vocal-topped atmospheric heft of “What Must Be Done” and the choral feel of centerpiece “Carried,” even the way “Of Shadow and Sanguine” seems to purposefully thrash (also some more black metal there) amid its bouts of deathcore and sludge lumbering — all of these come together to make Northless‘ fourth long-player, A Path Beyond Grief, an experience that’s still perhaps defined by its intensity and concrete tonality, its aggression, but that is not necessarily beholden to those. Even the quiet intro “Nihil Sanctum Vitae” — a seeming complement to the nine-minute bring-it-all-together closer “Nothing That Lives Will Last” — seems intended to tell the listener there’s more happening here than it might at first seem. As someone who still misses Swarm of the Lotus, some of the culmination in that finale is enough to move the blood in my wretched body, but while born in part of hardcore, Northless are deep into their own style throughout these seven songs, and the resultant smashy smashy is able to adjust its own elemental balance while remaining ferociously executed. Except, you know, when it’s not. Because it’s not just one thing.

Northless on Facebook

Translation Loss Records store

 

Lightrain, AER

lightrain aer

Comprised of five songs running a tidy 20 minutes, each brought together through ambience as well as the fact that their titles are all three letters long — “Aer,” “Hyd,” “Orb,” “Wiz,” “Rue” — AER is the debut EP from German instrumentalists Lightrain, who would seek entry into the contemplative and evocative sphere of acts like Toundra or We Lost the Sea as they offer headed-out post-rock float and heavy psychedelic vibe. “Hyd” is a focal point, both for its eight-minute runtime (nothing else is half that long) and the general spaciousness, plus a bit of riffy shove in the middle, with which it fills that, but the ultra-mellow “Aer” and drumless wash of “Wiz” feed into an overarching flow that speaks to greater intentions on the part of the band vis a vis a first album. “Rue” is progressive without being overthought, and “Orb” feels born of a jam without necessarily being that jam, finding sure footing on ground that for many would be uncertain. If this is the beginning point of a longer-term evolution on the part of the band, so much the better, but even taken as a standalone, without consideration for the potential of what it might lead to, the LP-style fluidity that takes hold across AER puts the lie to its 20 minutes being somehow minor.

Lightrain on Facebook

Lightrain on Bandcamp

 

1965, Panther

1965 Panther

Cleanly produced and leaning toward sleaze at times in a way that feels purposefully drawn from ’80s glam metal, the second offering from Poland’s 1965 — they might as well have called themselves 1542 for as much as they have to do sound-wise with what was going on that year — is the 12-song/52-minute Panther, which wants your nuclear love on “Nuclear Love,” wants to rock on “Let’s Rock,” and would be more than happy to do whatever it wants on “Anything We Want.” Okay, so maybe guitarist, vocalist and principal songwriter Michał Rogalski isn’t going to take home gold at the Subtlety Olympics, but the Warsaw-based outfit — him plus Marco Caponi on bass/backing vocals and Tomasz Rudnicki on drums/backing vocals, as well as an array of lead guitarists guesting — know the rock they want to make, and they make it. Songs are tight and well performed, heavy enough in tone to have a presence but fleet-footed in their turns from verse to chorus and the many trad-metal-derived leads. Given the lyrics of the title-track, I’m not sure positioning oneself as an actual predatory creature as a metaphor for seduction has been fully thought through, but you don’t see me out here writing lyrics in Polish either, so take it with that grain of salt if you feel the need or it helps. For my money I’ll take the still-over-the-top “So Many Times” and the sharp start-stops of “All My Heroes Are Dead,” but there’s certainly no lack of others to choose from.

1965 on Facebook

1965 on Bandcamp

 

Blacklab, In a Bizarre Dream

Blacklab In a Bizarre Dream

Blacklab — also stylized BlackLab — are the Osaka, Japan-based duo of guitarist/vocalist Yuko Morino and drummer Chia Shiraishi, but if you’d enter into their second full-length, In a Bizarre Dream, expecting some rawness or lacking heft on account of their sans-bass configuration, you’re more likely to be bowled over by the sludgy tonality on display. “Cold Rain” — opener and longest track (immediate points) at 6:13 — and “Abyss Woods” are largely screamers, righteously harsh with riffs no less biting, and “Dark Clouds” does the job in half the time with a punkier onslaught leading to “Evil 1,” but “Evil 2” mellows out a bit, adjusts the balance toward clean singing and brooding in a way that the oh-hi-there guest vocal contribution from Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab (after whom Blacklab are partially named) on “Crows, Sparrows and Cats” shifts into a grungier modus. “Lost” and “In a Bizarre Dream,” the latter more of an interlude, keep the momentum going on the rock side, but somehow you just know they’re going to turn it around again, and they absolutely do, easing their way in with the largesse of “Monochrome Rainbow” before “Collapse” caps with a full-on onslaught that brings into full emphasis how much reach they have as a two-piece and just how successfully they make it all heavy.

Blacklab on Facebook

New Heavy Sounds at Cargo Records store

 

Sun King Ba, Writhing Mass

Sun King Ba Writhing Mass

I guess the only problem that might arise from recording your first two-songer with Steve Albini is that you’ve set an awfully high standard for, well, every subsequent offering your band ever makes in terms of production. There are traces of Karma to Burn-style chug on “Ectotherm,” the A-side accompanied by “Writhing Mass” on the two-songer that shares the same name, but Chicago imstrumental trio Sun King Ba are digging into more progressively-minded, less-stripped-down fare on both of these initial tracks. Still, impact and the vitality of the end result are loosely reminiscent, but the life on that guitar, bass and drums speaks volumes, and not just in favor of the recording itself. “Writhing Mass” crashes into tempo changes and resolves itself in being both big and loud, and the space in the cymbals alone as it comes to its noisy finish hints at future incursions to be made. Lest we forget that Chicago birthed Pelican and Bongripper, among others, for the benefit of instrumental heavy worldwide. Sun King Ba have a ways to go before they’re added to that list, but there is intention being signaled here for those with ears to hear it.

Sun King Ba on Instagram

Sun King Ba on Bandcamp

 

Kenodromia, Kenodromia

Kenodromia Kenodromia EP

Despite the somewhat grim imagery on the cover art for Kenodromia‘s self-titled debut EP — a three-cut outing that marks a return to the band of vocalist Hilde Chruicshank after some stretch of absence during which they were known as Hideout — the Oslo, Norway, four-piece play heavy rock through and through on “Slandered,” “Corrupted” and “Bound,” with the bluesy fuzzer riffs and subtle psych flourishes of Eigil Nicolaisen‘s guitar backing Chruicshank‘s lyrics as bassist Michael Sindhu and drummer Trond Buvik underscore the “break free” moment in “Corrupted,” which feels well within its rights in terms of sociopolitical commentary ahead of the airier start of “Bound” after the relatively straightforward beginning that was “Slandered.” With the songs arranged shortest to longest, “Bound” is also the darkest in terms of atmosphere and features a more open verse, but the nod that defines the second half is huge, welcome and consuming even as it veers into a swaggering kind of guitar solo before coming back to finish. These players have been together one way or another for over 10 years, and knowing that, Kenodromia‘s overarching cohesion makes sense. Hopefully it’s not long before they turn attentions toward a first LP. They’re clearly ready.

Kenodromia on Facebook

Kenodromia on Bandcamp

 

Mezzoa, Dunes of Mars

Mezzoa Dunes of Mars

Mezzoa are the San Diego three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Ignacio “El Falcone” Maldonado, bassist Q “Dust Devil” Pena (who according to their bio was created in the ‘Cholo Goth Universe,’ so yes, charm is a factor), and drummer Roy “Bam Bam” Belarmino, and the 13-track/45-minute Dunes of Mars is their second album behind 2017’s Astral Travel. They sound like a band who’ve been around for a bit, and indeed they have, playing in other bands and so on, but they’ve got their approach on lockdown and I don’t mean for the plague. The material here, whether it’s the Helmet-plus-melody riffing of “Tattoos and Halos” or the more languid roll of the seven-minute “Dunes of Mars” earlier on, is crisp and mature without sounding flat or staid creatively, and though they’re likened most to desert rock and one can hear that in the penultimate “Seized Up” a bit, there’s more density in the guitar and bass, and the immediacy of “Hyde” speaks of more urgent influences at work. That said, the nodding chill-and-chug of “Moya” is heavy whatever landscape you want to say birthed it, and with the movement into and out of psychedelic vibes, the land is something you’re just as likely to leave behind anyway. Hit me as a surprise. Don’t be shocked if you end up going back to check out the first record after.

Mezzoa on Facebook

Iron Head Records website

 

Stone Nomads, Fields of Doom

stone nomads fields of doom

Released through emergent Texas-based imprint Gravitoyd Heavy Music, Stone NomadsFields of Doom comprises six songs, five originals, and is accordingly somewhere between a debut full-length and an EP at half an hour long. The cover is a take on Saint Vitus‘ “Dragon Time,” and it rests well here as the closer behind the prior-released single “Soul Stealer,” as bassist Jude Sisk and guitarist Jon Cosky trade lead vocal duties while Dwayne Crosby furthers the underlying metallic impression on drums, pushing some double-kick gallop under the solo of “Fiery Sabbath” early on after the leadoff title-track lumbers and chugs and bell-tolls to its ending, heavy enough for heavy heads, aggro enough to suit your sneer, with maybe a bit of Type O Negative influence in the vocal. Huffing oldschool gasoline, Fields of Doom might prove too burled-out for some listeners, but the interlude “Winds of Barren Lands” and the vocal swaps mean that you’re never quite sure where they’re going to hit you next, even if you know the hit is coming, and even as “Soul Stealer” goes grandiose before giving way to the already-noted Vitus cover. And if you’re wondering, they nail the noise of the solo in that song, leaving no doubt that they know what they’re doing, with their own material or otherwise.

Stone Nomads on Facebook

Gravitoyd Heavy Music on Bandcamp

 

Blind Mess, After the Storm

Blind Mess After the Storm

Drawing from various corners of punk, noise rock and heavy rock’s accessibility, Munich trio Blind Mess offer their third full-length in After the Storm, which is aptly-enough titled, considering. “Fight Fire with Fire” isn’t a cover, but the closing “What’s the Matter Man?” is, of Rollins Band, no less, and they arrive there after careening though a swath of tunes like “Twilight Zone,” “At the Gates” and “Save a Bullet,” which are as likely to be hardcore-born shove or desert-riffed melody, and in the last of those listed there, a little bit of both. To make matters more complicated, “Killing My Idols” leans into classic metal in its underlying riff as the vocals bark and its swing is heavy ’70s through and through. This aesthetic amalgam holds together in the toughguy march of “Sirens” as much as the garage-QOTSA rush of “Left to Do” and the dares-to-thrash finish of “Fight Fire with Fire” since the songs themselves are well composed and at 38 minutes they’re in no danger of overstaying their welcome. And when they get there, “What’s the Matter Man?” makes a friendly-ish-but-still-confrontational complemement to “Left to Do” back at the outset, as though to remind us that wherever they’ve gone over the course of the album between, it’s all been about rock and roll the whole time. So be it.

Blind Mess on Facebook

Deadclockwork Records website

 

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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 92

Posted in Radio on September 2nd, 2022 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk show banner

Two weeks ago I was at Psycho Las Vegas, and so didn’t get to post the playlist for episode 91. For posterity’s sake and because I plainly love looking at lists of band names, it’s below along with the playlist for the episode airing today, which is #92. The march to 100 continues.

The esteemed Dean Rispler (who also plays in Mighty High and a bunch of other bands) is in charge of putting the shows together on a practical level from the lists I send, and to him I extend my deepest appreciation. I’m constantly late. I suck at this in general, and worse, I know it. So yeah. Dean does a bit of hand-holding and I am thankful. He emailed me this week and asked if I was thinking yet about episode 100 and would I be doing anything special?

Well… yes. I have been. And I’d like to make it a blowout or some such, but you know what the truth is? I’m more about the work. When it comes to something like that, the most honest thing I feel like I can do is keep my head down, do another episode and then do one after that two weeks later. I’d rather feel good about a thing in myself and move on. I’m not sure I can get away with that. So maybe I’ll hit up Tommi Dozer and see if he wants to chat sometime in the next few weeks.

Thanks if you listen and thanks for reading.

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

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 09.02.22 (VT = voice track)

Elephant Tree Aphotic Blues Elephant Tree
Might Abysses Abyss
Author & Punisher Misery Kruller
VT
Lord Elephant Hunters of the Moon Cosmic Awakening
Swarm of the Lotus Snowbeast The Sirens of Silence
Big Business Heal the Weak The Beast You Are
The Otolith Sing No Coda Folium Limina
VT
Elder Halcyon Omens
Gaerea Mantle Mirage
London Odense Ensemble Sojourner Jaiyede Sesssions Vol. 1
Northless What Must Be Done A Path Beyond Grief
Conan A Cleaved Head No Longer Plots Evidence of Immortality
VT
Forlesen Strega Black Terrain

And #91, which was a pretty damn good show:

Dozer The Flood Beyond Colossal
Orange Goblin Blue Snow Time Travelling Blues
Monster Magnet King of Mars Dopes to Infinity
Red Fang Fonzi Scheme Arrows
VT
Slift Citadel on a Satellite Ummon
Russian Circles Gnosis Gnosis
Faetooth Echolalia Remnants of the Vessel
Caustic Casanova Lodestar Glass Enclosed Nerve Center
Brant Bjork Trip on the Wine Bougainvillea Suite
Josiah Saltwater We Lay on Cold Stone
Blue Tree Monitor Sasquatch Cryptids
VT
Torche Tarpit Carnivore In Return
Telekinetic Yeti Rogue Planet Primordial
Mezzoa Dunes of Mars Dunes of Mars
Thunderbird Divine Boote’s Void The Hand of Man
Omen Stones Burn Alive Omen Stones
1000mods Vidage Super Van Vacation
VT
Truckfighters Con of Man Mania

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Sept. 16 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

Gmme Metal website

The Obelisk on Facebook

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Mezzoa Stream “Dunes of Mars”; New Album Out Sept. 2

Posted in Whathaveyou on August 17th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

mezzoa on stage

I’m not sure who the masked figure playing bass above with San Diego’s Mezzoa is, so you’ll pardon me if I just go ahead and credit it as being none other than California governor and guy-who-goes-to-restaurants-when-he-shouldn’t Gavin Newsom. Didn’t know dude could handle the low end? Me neither, but we live in a universe of infinite possibilities at every moment, so yeah, I’m just gonna say that’s him. Obviously he doesn’t want the fascist opposition to know he can groove so mightily or I guess it would be a scandal or some shit, though honestly Mezzoa‘s new single — the title-track of their upcoming second album Dunes of Mars, out Sept. 2 — is laid back and mellow enough that I have a hard time imagining it wouldn’t win votes. But I have a hard time imagining all sorts of shit, so don’t go by me. Stunted, most days, at my best.

Still, song’s cool and I’ve been seeing Mezzoa‘s name around the old internet social media hype machine, so why not add to the fray, especially since I dig it. You might too. Probably will, if you’re still reading.

From the PR wire:

mezzoa dunes of mars

MEZZOA RELEASES NEW SINGLE ‘DUNES OF MARS’ AND ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM

AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER/ADD/SAVE NOW OUT SEPTEMBER 2

‘Dunes of Mars’ is the second single and title track lifted from San Diego stoner rock act Mezzoa’s forthcoming new album and is now available on all digital platforms via Iron Head Records.

‘Dunes of Mars’ follows a couple on a journey through time and space. ‘Dunes of Mars’ features a haunting melody and a brooding psychedelic mood that meanders through a trippy soundscape.

Stream/buy ‘Dunes of Mars’ HERE: https://bfan.link/Mezzoa-dunes-of-mars

Mezzoa’s new album Dunes of Mars will be released digitally on September 2nd and is available for pre-order/pre-save now! Dunes of Mars brings it on home with mostly true stories laid over kick ass musical compositions. This heavy, yet melodic So Cal trio bring the stoney vibes. Best to sing at the top of your lungs as you speed down the highway.

ABOUT MEZZOA

Born in San Diego, this hard rockin power trio consists of former members of Magdalene, Super Sonic Dragon Wagon, Gunfighter and G13. Signed to El Falcone Records 2017, they released their first album titled Astral Travel. Now signed to Iron Head Records, subsidy of the Golden Robot Global Entertainment Group, Mezzoa is more than ready for what comes next.

These homies brewed up a nasty concoction of heavy blues, stoner thunder and straight up, good old hard rock n roll. Crooner style vox, with hooky melodies and harmonies with lyrics you can relate to and understand.

Mezzoa mix 70’s style songwriting, with the chunky grunge style guitars of the 90’s.

https://www.facebook.com/MezzoaMusic
https://www.instagram.com/mezzoamusic/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4mQr3ukczBjbIn43myFCGH
https://mezzoamusic.com/

https://www.facebook.com/theironheadrecords
https://www.instagram.com/iron_head_records/
https://twitter.com/GoldenRobotRcds
https://goldenrobotrecords.com/iron-head-records

Mezzoa, “Dunes of Mars”

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