Album Review: Gods of Sometimes, Gods of Sometimes

Posted in Reviews on July 5th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Gods of Sometimes Gods of Sometimes

With their self-titled debut, Gods of Sometimes present a melodic vision of mellow heavy rock with a special penchant for details. Vibes shift between the McCartney-esque bassline of “Dawn of the Tin Man” to the definitely-Lennon “Stilted Low” like a lost White Album piece, some shoegaze, plenty of psychedelia, subdued indie; it’s flowing, and the kind of thing that gets called minimalist because it isn’t loud but is nonetheless rich in its construction. Vocalist, guitarist and Mellotronist Andrew Giacumakis of Moab and bassist/drummer Brad Davis of Fu Manchu each share in the other’s role a bit, with Davis playing some guitar and adding vocals and Giacumakis adding drums and bass, and the Falling Dome Records nine-track/38-minute outing is more varied for that flexibility of approach.

From the initial echoing slide over the gentler acoustic strum of the eponymous opener “Gods of Sometimes,” the album demonstrates, yes, a love of The Beatles — which is not unexpected from Giacumakis, given the three albums Moab released between 2011-2018; Ab Ovo (interview here), Billow (review here), and Trough (discussed here, review here) — but a headphone-ready depth of mix that rewards closer attention, whether it’s the layer of backing vocals riding the held notes in the hook of “Gods of Sometimes” or the later Mellotron/acoustic piece “Wherewithal,” which becomes a highlight on the strength of its string sounds and chorus vocal melody. There is some experimental edge to centerpiece “Hand on the Hide,” making the song feel like it genuinely started with the drone at its outset and was perhaps built from there — the opposite just as likely — but even that sub-three-minute stretch finds its way into clearheaded melody by its finish, with drums arriving about halfway through and that drone staying, but moving to become more of a backdrop than forward feature, resting behind the acoustic guitar and drums and vocals easily.

Cuts like the single “In the End,” which brings in J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. and Witch on a later guitar solo, and “Watching for Satellites” — and maybe we can put “Gods of Sometimes” itself in the category as well — have more of a rock-based presentation, but the same is true even of closer “Just Another One,” which is quiet fuzz guitar with far-back drums and mostly-higher-register vocals at the start, before drifting smoothly into slow and psychedelic indie, growing lush by the time it’s two and a half minutes into its total 4:34, getting (relatively) heavy in its march and seeming to solidify in its back half the progression of its first, becoming a wash only for a moment before the snare snaps it to quick-fade-everybody-out silence.

Front-to-back, in the finer moments like the grunge-swing dig-in of “You Will” or the layer of long Mellotron notes that makes the plucked acoustic guitar sound almost classical as it runs alongside the multitracked vocals in the early verse of “Wherewithal” just before, Gods of Sometimes thrive. And they draw the songs together through quality of craft, structure, and atmosphere, so that malleable and adaptable as Giacumakis and Davis seem to be between the bounce and wisp of “Return of the Tin Man” — complemented by Radiohead vibes in the verse — and the blossoming effect of “In the End” as it moves toward its finish, and so on down the line of tracks each making its own impression with its own intent, nothing feels out of place. With that Endless Boogie backbeat under its meditative-but-cool figure and head-trip vocals, even “Hand on the Hide” fits. Think about Sgt. Pepper. Did “When I’m Sixty-Four” have any trouble picking up from “Within You Without You?” No. By keeping an open palette, Gods of Sometimes function similarly to create a whole-album feel.

gods of sometimes

As regards that feel, vibe, atmosphere, whatever — that intangible, mostly-unquantifiable thing that pulls you into a work instead of repelling you from it — Gods of Sometimes present very few challenges to being immersed. With all nine songs under five minutes long — “Dawn of the Tin Man” comes closest at 4:57 and others aren’t far behind, but still — they run no risk of overstaying their welcome, and the shifts in arrangement throughout, the easy transitions between acoustic and electric guitar, as well as their intertwining, the changing Mellotron sounds and flourishes like the glitchy crackles in the first verse and the keys/drones/backwards ending of “Watching for Satellites,” remain accessible thanks to the structures underlying and the daringly-pleasant melodies overlaid. In the tradition of bands like Masters of Reality, it is not challenging in the least, unless perhaps one is talking about challenging the conventions of heavy rock, because yes, Gods of Sometimes do, at least in part, do that.

That is to say, if you’re coming into Gods of Sometimes because you read that one of the guys from Fu Manchu and the dude from Moab who produced the last two Fu Manchu LPs — 2018’s Clone of the Universe (review here) and 2014’s Gigantoid (review here) — got together for a project and you’re thinking it might sound like either of their other acts, that’s not what their self-titled is doing or wants to do. There are common elements in some heavier tones and some of the rhythms of “Gods of Sometimes” — which was reportedly the first song they wrote — or “Dawn of the Tin Man,” which in coming after the opener signals the band’s purposefully placing catchier, more ‘rocking’ material up front before branching out with “Stilted Low” and regrounding in pop psych-rock via “In the End.” Their doing so speaks to the album as an introduction for those following Giacumakis and Davis from their respective bands to this one, and its warm and inviting presence and the back and forth that follows those first two tracks, weaving through melancholy and breadth en route to the payoff of “Just Another One,” make it an engrossing listen. It blossoms all the more on repeat visits.

Inevitably, the question becomes about the future of the project, if Giacumakis and Davis will continue this collaboration or if this self-titled is it. You never know. They’ve certainly given themselves a variety of aural paths to choose while remaining aware of what they want their songs to do and be, and if they can get another record together at any point — their other time commitments being what they are — one imagines their development will be taken on with no less fluidity than they offer here.

Gods of Sometimes, “Gods of Sometimes”

Gods of Sometimes, “In the End”

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Gods of Sometimes Release First Single “In the End”; Debut Album Coming Soon

Posted in Whathaveyou on May 15th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

About two weeks ago I closed out the week with Moab‘s 2018 third album, Trough (discussed here), and got word on social media that that band’s guitarist/vocalist Andrew Giacumakis and Brad Davis, bassist of Fu Manchu, had a new project coming out together. Hello, Gods of Sometimes. There was a snippet on Instagram of “In the End,” which is the song you can hear at the bottom of this post, and not much else to go on, but the Lennon/McCartney vibe in the track — plus a guitar solo from J. Mascis — is palpable in the melody and bouncing rhythm, and as a sucker for, well, really all of it, I’m excited at the prospect of the duo’s impending debut full-length, apparently set to release this summer.

The song speaks for itself with a lush melody and easy roll that reminds of when psych-pop and psych-rock weren’t so necessarily opposed, and I remember very well how excellent a match it was when Giacumakis produced Fu Manchu‘s 2014 album, Gigantoid (review here), which would seem to have set this collaboration in motion. If “In the End” is representative of the record as a whole, it should be just about perfect for release under the summer sun.

Dig:

gods of sometimes

GODS OF SOMETIMES (FU MANCHU/MOAB) Make Their Debut With “In The End” (Feat J. MASCIS)

Southern California alt-indie rock duo GODS OF SOMETIMES has unveiled their first single, “In The End” (featuring J. Mascis of revered rock pioneers DINOSAUR JR.), today. The two-piece, consisting of bassist Brad Davis (FU MANCHU) and guitarist/vocalist Andrew Giacumakis (MOAB), deliver mesmerizing folk tinged space rock on their first outing; a taste of what’s to come from their first album due out this summer.

Commenting on the song, Davis says:

“When the song “In The End” came together we saw it as an opportunity to give a nod to The Beatles. One of our big musical influences. We had the luck of being graced by a guest guitar solo from another big influence. J Mascis did us the favor of lending his talents. His style of reckless melody brought things to a new level. Although it’s called “In The End” we felt it was the best song to put out first!”

About GODS OF SOMETIMES:

Brad Davis (bassist for Fu Manchu) and Andrew Giacumakis (guitarist/vocalist for Moab) met in the studio in the mid-2010’s while working on Fu Manchu’s “Gigantoid” (2014) and “Clone of the Universe” (2018). Andrew served as a recording engineer/producer for the records and the two multi-instrumentalists quickly developed a friendship and discovered a mutual love of mellower music outside the realm of the heavy genres they both worked in. They decided to make an album together.

Brad Davis – drums, bass, (some guitar and vocals)
Andrew Giacumakis – vocals, guitar, mellotron, (some drums and bass)

https://www.instagram.com/godsofsometimes/
https://godsofsometimes.bandcamp.com/
https://godsofsometimes.bigcartel.com/
https://linktr.ee/godsofsometimes

Gods of Sometimes, “In the End”

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Friday Full-Length: Moab, Trough

Posted in Bootleg Theater on April 28th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

A band who started out underrated and remained that way for the duration, Los Angeles three-piece Moab released Trough (review here) in 2018 through Falling Dome Records as their third full-length in a seven-year run. For the band — whose moniker, also stylized all-caps: MOAB, derives from the Bush-era acronym for “mother of all bombs” used in post-9/11 Iraq War propaganda — it was already probably going to be their last record by the time it came out, following as it did the late-2016 death of drummer Erik Herzog. Recording was still going on at the time, with guitarist/vocalist Andrew Giacumakis producing and bassist Joe Fuentes contributing as well, so on levels personal, creative, professional, logistical, on and on, it was a loss deeply felt. I remember interviewing Giacumakis in 2011 around the release of Moab‘s Kemado-issued debut, Ab Ovo, and getting the impression that Moab were friends as well as bandmates. In the case of Giacumakis and Herzog, they had played together in a band called Buellton in the ’90s, maybe prior to that too, I don’t know. Honestly, the bandmate connection is enough to make that loss hurt, even if they weren’t otherwise close, which they were.

It made Trough tough to take, not the least because the record is good and what do you say about grief when somebody is still in it? If my social media feed — loaded with death announcements, thanks algorithm — is anything to go by, nobody has a clue and me neither. But looking back with the distance that five years can allow, Trough stands out as a record well deserving another look, whether that’s for the current of Sabbath-worship that underscores nearly everything they touch, or the heavy-McCartney unfolding in the intro of “Skeptic’s Lament” that opens, or the lurching stomp/melodic vocal float in “Moss Gross Where No One Goes,” the what-if-Mastodon-were-a-SoCal-desert-pop-rock-band first two minutes of “Fifty Thousand Tons” and the stark turn to the dual-channel soloing in the bridge that follows, twisting like a fleet punker Floor back to the verse from whence they came, or the space echo laced through “All Automatons,” the purposefully disorienting guitar chasing itself across right and left headphones around 2:10 and the way there seem to be two layers of hi-hat in the solo there before Herzog switches back to the cowbell like nothing ever happened and maybe it didn’t in the first place.

With the hard-hitting post-Uncle Acid fuzz and morose melody of “The Onus,” the dug-in swirl of “Into the Sea Swine” and the Motörhead homage of that riff in “Medieval Moan” even if the song doesn’t actually sound all that much like Motörhead, the synth beginning and massive plod that emerges in “Turnin’ Slow,” each low-distorted strum a declaration, a bluesy solo and acoustic guitar arriving later like the proggy flourish you didn’t know was missing, and the final blowout of “Fend for Dawn,” moab troughwith Moab revealed as a secret thrash band all the while, Trough never dwells in one place for too long. The longest cuts are “Moss Grows Where No One Goes” (4:53) and “Turnin’ Slow” (4:48), which is fair since they’re also the slowest, but while each song seems to find its place in the flow of the 10-track/39-minute entirety, the arrangements are deceptively tight and speak to an editorial mindset in the composition — that is, the way they’re put together, it’s easy to think at some point in the process, either FuentesGiacumakis or Herzog questioned whether each part was doing work that needed to be done. The answer throughout the album is yes.

And even with the context of Herzog‘s passing surrounding them, the songs are fun. “Into the Sea Swine” arrives at its chorus with a palpable release of tension, which complements the jabs and crashes of “Skeptic’s Lament” and its post-Fu Manchu hook — lest we forget, Giacumakis produced that band’s Gigantoid LP in 2014; Fu bassist Brad Davis would sit in on drums for Moab in live shows supporting Trough in 2018 as well — while “Moss Grows Where No One Goes” cues its lumbering nature even in the singly-syllabic words of its title, then expands on that with unexpected grace before it’s even at the midpoint of its still-sub-five-minute run. That’s another strength here: the way Moab are able to bring a complete atmospheric impression forward, dwell there for a short time and following a not-rigid-but-unflinchingly-solid sense of structure, and move onto the next thing. Giacumakis‘ vocals — post-Ozzy in the vein of Sheavy or, if you’re on the Eastern Seaboard, maybe Freedom Hawk — are a tie that draws pieces together, but even they’re not unipolar, and less so on Trough even than the prior 2014 album, Billow (review here), which was issued through Scion A/V (remember that?). The pairing of “The Onus” and “Medieval Moan” in a linear format — on vinyl I think that’s probably where the side splits — is representative of the kind of turns Moab were able to make at this point, from the languid melody of the former to the outright shove that ensues. And then backed with the brighter uptick in “Fifty Thousand Tons,” Trough only grows richer as it moves into side B en route to that last (relative) rager in “Fend for Dawn.”

Through it all — hooks, grooves, melody, heavy tones and a band having cast an identity of their own expanding on what that can mean for them at a specific moment of realization. A third record in the ideal. Moab were outsider heavy rock in a way that freed them from adhering to all strict rules of the genre, but their celebration of them as filtered through their own sonic persona felt sincere from front to back. The chugs and mutes and stomps and crooning in “The Will is Weak,” the horns up earlier High on Fire righteousness of the cold ending to “Fend for Dawn,” and god damn if there isn’t some overarching thing about “All Automatons” — even apart from the aforementioned cowbell — just making it an absolute treasure of a track. Half a decade after its release, going on seven years since Herzog died, it’s easy to think Moab are done and one can look back on Trough and wonder what might’ve been had their circumstances been different, but that wistful mindset does nothing to diminish what they achieved in this record. I don’t often post links in Friday Full-Lengths (reviews aside), but they’ve still got copies of this one available: https://moabband.bigcartel.com/

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

A challenging and uncomfortable week. I was sick Wednesday into yesterday morning, better by the afternoon, but laid out just the same for about 24 hours in a way that I not often am. Something I ate, though I can’t pinpoint what. The Patient Mrs. speculated it was chicken we traveled to and from Maryland with this past weekend for her brother’s wedding in Baltimore County. I ate more of the same chicken last night — shit man, that stuff’s not cheap, leftovers gotta get ate; I’ll take the potential hit — but so far am fine. Maybe it was something at the wedding that gestated for a couple days. Whatever. I was asskicked. That’s the bottom line.

That was hard for The Pecan, who in a credit to her character tucked me in on the couch and let me rest a while in the morning — also not something that happens often — and that was remarkably sweet. After school, she made me a get-well card that now hangs next to my bed, but that was Wednesday and yesterday was a fucking trainwreck. How many times a day do you want to get punched by a five year old? I got hit with a fucking stick on Wednesday morning. It was a lowlight on an already downer morning.

I slept late this morning (alarm went off at four, I reset for five) and was still a little stoned when I woke up from last night’s pre-bed gummy. Not complaining. My mother came for dinner and it was kind of an emotionally heavy experience. One of her dogs is dying and she asked about when we had Dio put down and, well, that was enough to get The Patient Mrs. and I in actual tears. Not a fun story to tell. And there’s other family stuff too and it just was a lot on her and I’m glad we can be here to give somewhere to go and someone to talk to, but yeah, hard to take. Hard to see your mom in pain, and I feel like my mother and I are a lot alike in a lot of ways. Still awaiting diagnosis.

You might’ve noticed “her” above. In a moment of sensory-input-induced clarity, The Pecan informed us in no uncertain terms last night that the pronouns to use are “she/her” and while it’s going to require a bit of habit-building, I’ll be god damned if I’m not going to honor that. Even putting aside for a moment the terror of some fascist asshole beating my kid to death for somehow threatening their sense of self by, say, existing, and the suicide statistics of trans children in conflicted family situations, seeing The Pecan at that wedding this weekend in her fancypants Spring dress, I was looking at a happier, more comfortable kid than I would’ve seen had we somehow managed to force a suit, which we neither would nor likely could ever do anyhow. Life is really fucking hard and really fucking short. If this is a thing she can figure out at a young age — whatever the future might bring — and move forward from there, at least that’s one question among the infinity of discoveries about herself that she’ll make in her life that can be openly explored. And on the most absolutely basic level, I hope it makes her days easier. Not the least because in doing so it would do the same for mine.

It’s a bummer to shift gears in my brain and have a flash asking myself if I need to plug a Gimme Metal show. Obviously not, but the last one would air today if one were going to air and the app shuts down I think midnight tomorrow. That’s a loss.

The Patient Mrs. has been trying to sell me on doing a podcast together, but I don’t know. I’m sure it’ll be fun, and it’s not the kind of project on which we’d often collaborate — she and I have our own worlds, between hers in academia and me in music, that rarely cross over — but I might give it a shot. We’ll see if it happens.

Tomorrow I’m heading to Baltimore (yes, again) for Grim Reefer Fest. I’ll have that review up on Monday and then other whatnot thereafter. The whole week is full and there’s a Totimoshi video premiere in there somewhere so I’m prepared to call it a win.

I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Have fun, watch your head, hydrate, all that fun stuff.

FRM.

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Quarterly Review: Stuck in Motion, AVER, Massa, Alastor, Seid, Moab, Primitive Man & Unearthly Trance, Into Orbit, Super Thief, Absent

Posted in Reviews on March 18th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

quarterly-review-spring-2019

Let the games begin! The rules are the same: 10 albums per day, this time for a total of 60 between today and next Monday. It’s the Quarterly Review. Think of it like a breakfast buffet with an unending supply of pancakes except the pancakes are riffs and there’s only one dude cooking them and he’s really tired all the time and complains, complains, complains. Maybe not the best analogy. Still, it’s gonna be a ton of stuff, but there are some very, very cool records included, so please keep your eyes and your mind open for what’s coming, because you might find something here you really dig. If not, there’s always tomorrow. Let’s go.

Quarterly Review #1-10:

Stuck in Motion, Stuck in Motion

stuck in motion self-titled

The classic style cover art of Swedish trio Stuck in Motion‘s self-titled debut tells much of the story. It’s sweet-toned vintage-style soul rock, informed by Graveyard to some degree, but more aligned to retroism. The songs are bluesy and natural and not especially long, but have vibe for weeks, as demonstrated on the six-minute longest-track “Dreams of Flying,” or the flute-laden closer “Eken.” What the picture doesn’t tell you is the heavy use of clavinet in the band’s sound and just how much the vintage electric piano adds to what songs like “Slingrar” with its ultra-fluid shifts in tempo, or the sax-drenched penultimate cut “Orientalisk.” Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Max Kinnbo, drummer Gustaf Björkman and bassist/vocalist/clavinetist Adrian Norén, Stuck in Motion‘s debut successfully basks in a mellow psychedelic blues atmosphere and shows a patience for songwriting that bodes remarkably well. It should not be overlooked because you think you’re tired of vintage-style rock.

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AVER, Orbis Majora

aver orbis majora

Following up their 2015 sophomore outing, Nadir (review here), which led to them getting picked up by Ripple Music, Australia’s AVER return with the progressive shove of Orbis Majora, five songs in 50 minutes of thoughtfully composed heavy progadelica, and while it’s not all so serious — closer “Hemp Fandango” well earns its title via a shuffling stonerly groove — opener “Feeding the Sun” and the subsequent “Disorder” set a mood of careful craftsmanship in longform pieces. The album’s peak might be in the 13-minute “Unanswered Prayers,” which culls together an extended linear build that’s equal parts immersive and gorgeous, but the rest of the album hardly lacks for depth or clarity of purpose. An underlying message from the Sydney four-piece would seem to be that they’re going to continue growing, even after more than a decade, because it’s not so much that they’re feeling their way toward their sound, but willfully pushing themselves to refine those parameters.

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Ripple Music on Bandcamp

 

Massa, Walls

massa walls

Flourish of keys adds nuance to Massa‘s moody, heavy post-rock style, the Rotterdam-based trio bringing an atmosphere to their second EP, Walls, across five tracks and 26 minutes marked by periodic samples from cinema and a sense of scope that seems to be born of an experimental impulse but not presented as the experiment itself. That is, they take the “let’s try this!” impulse and make a song out of it, as the chunky rhythm of instrumental centerpiece “Expedition” or the melodies in the prior “#8” show. Before finishing with the crash-into-push of the relatively brief “Intermassa,” the eight-minute “The Federal” complements winding guitar with organ to affect an engaging spirit somewhere between classic and futurist heavy, with the drums holding together proceedings that would seem to convey all the chaos of that temporal paradox. Perhaps it was opener “Shiva” that set this creator/destroyer tone, but either way, Massa bask in it and find a grim sense of identity thereby.

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Alastor, Slave to the Grave

alastor slave to the grave

The first full-length from Swedish doomplodders Alastor and their debut on RidingEasy Records, late 2018’s Slave to the Grave is the four-piece’s most expansive offering yet in sonic scope as well as runtime. Following the 2017 EPs Blood on Satan’s Claw (review here) and Black Magic (review here), the seven-song/56-minute offering holds true to the murk-toned cultism and dense low-end rumble of the prior offerings, but the melodic resonance and sense of updating the aesthetic of traditional doom is palpable throughout the roller “Your Lives are Worthless,” while the later acoustic-led “Gone” speaks to a folkish influence that suits them surprisingly well given the heft that surrounds. They make an obvious focal point of 17-minute closer “Spider of My Love,” which though they’ve worked in longer forms before, is easily the grandest accomplishment they’ve yet unfurled. One might easily say the same applies to Slave to the Grave as a whole. Those who miss The Wounded Kings should take particular note of their trajectory.

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RidingEasy Records website

 

Seid, Weltschmerz, Baby!

seid-weltschmerz_baby-web

If Norwegian space-psych outfit Seid are feeling weary of the world, the way they show it in Weltschmerz, Baby! is by simply leaving it behind, substituting for reality a cosmic starscape of effects and synth, the odd sample and vaguely Hawkwindian etherealism. The centerpiece title-track is a banger along those lines, a swell of rhythmic intensity born out of the finale of the prior “Satan i Blodet” and the mellow, flowing “Trollmannens Hytte” before that, but the highlight might be the subsequent “Coyoteman,” which drifts into dream-prog led by echoing layers of guitar and eventually given over to a fading strain of noise that “Moloch vs. Gud” picks up with percussive purpose and flows directly into the closer “Mir (Drogarna Börjar Värka),” rife with ’70s astro-bounce and a long fadeout that’s less about the record ending and more about leaving the galaxy behind. Starting out at a decent clip with “Haukøye,” Weltschmerz, Baby! is all about the journey and a trip well worth taking.

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Sulatron Records website

 

Moab, Trough

moab trough

A good record tinged by the tragic loss of drummer Erik Herzog during the recording and finished by guitarist/vocalist Andrew Giacumakis and bassist Joe Fuentes, the 10-track/39-minute Trough demonstrates completely just how much Moab have been underrated since their 2011 debut, Ab Ovo (discussed here), and across the 2014 follow-up, Billow (review here), as they bring a West Coast noise-infused pulse to heavy rock drive on “All Automatons” and meet an enduring punker spirit face first with “Medieval Moan,” all the while presenting a clear head for songcraft amid deep-running tones and melodies. “The Will is Weak” makes perhaps the greatest impact in terms of heft, but heft is by no means all Moab have to offer. With the very real possibility this will be their final record, it is a worthy homage to their fallen comrade and a showcase of their strengths that’s bound someday to get the attention it deserves whenever some clever label decides to reissue it as a lost classic.

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Primitive Man & Unearthly Trance, Split

primitive man unearthly trance split

Well of course it’s a massive wash of doomed and hate-filled noise! What were you expecting, sunshine and puppies? Colorado’s Primitive Man and Brooklyn’s Unearthly Trance team up to compare misanthropic bona fides across seven tracks of blistering extremity that do Relapse Records proud. Starting with the collaborative intro “Merging,” the onslaught truly commences with Primitive Man’s 10-minute “Naked” and sinks into an abyss with the instrumental noisefest “Love Under Will,” which gradually makes its way into a swell of abrasive drone. Unearthly Trance, meanwhile, proffer immediate destructiveness with the churning “Mechanism Error” and make “Triumph” dark enough to live up to its most malevolent interpretations, while “Reverse the Day” makes me wonder what people who heard Godflesh in the ’80s must’ve thought of it and the six-minute finishing move “418” answers back to Primitive Man‘s droned-out anti-structure with a consuming void of fuckall depth. It’s like the two bands cut open their veins and recorded the disaffection that spilled out.

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Relapse Records website

 

Into Orbit, Shifter

Into Orbit Shifter

Progressive New Zealander two-piece Into OrbitPaul Stewart on guitar and Ian Moir on drums — offer up the single Shifter as the answer to their 2017 sophomore long-player, Unearthing. The Wellington instrumentalists did likewise leading into that album with a single that later showed up as part of a broader tracklist, so it may be that they’ve got another release already in the works, but either way, the 5:50 standalone track finds them dug into a full band sound with layered or looped guitar standing tall over the mid-paced drumming, affecting an emotion-driven atmosphere as much as the cerebral nature of its craft. Beginning with a thick chug, it works into more melodic spaciousness as it heads toward and through its midsection, lead guitar kicking in with harmony lines joining soon after as the two-piece build back up to a bigger finish. Whatever their plans, Into Orbit make it clear that just because something is prog doesn’t mean it needs to be staid or lack expressiveness.

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Super Thief, Eating Alone in My Car

super thief eating alone in my car

Noise-punk intensity pervades Eating Alone in My Car, the not-quite-not-an-LP from Austin four-piece Super Thief. They call it an album, and that’s good enough for me, especially since at about 20 minutes there isn’t much more I’d ask of the thing that it doesn’t deliver, whether it’s the furious out-of-mindness of minute-long highlight “Woodchipper” or the poli-sci critique of that sandwiches the offering with opener “Gone Country” immediately taking a nihilist anti-stance while closer “You Play it Like a Joke but I Know You Really Mean It” — which consumes nearly half the total runtime at 9:32 — seems to run up the walls unable to stick to the “smoke ’em if you got ’em” point of view of the earlier cut. That’s how the bastards keep you running in circles, but at least Super Thief know where to direct the frustration. “Six Months Blind” and the title-track have a more personal take, but are still worth a read lyrically as much as a listen, as the rhythm of the words only adds to the striking personality of the material.

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Learning Curve Records website

 

Absent, Towards the Void

absent towards the void

Recorded in 2016, released on CD in 2018 and snagged by Cursed Tongue Records for a vinyl pressing, Absent‘s Towards the Void casts a shimmering plunge of cavernous doom, with swirling post-Electric Wizard guitar and echoing vocals adding to the spaciousness of its four component tracks as the Brasilia-based trio conjure atmospheric breadth to go along with their weighted lurch in opener “Ophidian Womb.” With tracks arranged shortest to longest between eight and a half and 11 minutes, “Semen Prayer,” “Funeral Sun” and “Urine” follow suit from the opener in terms of overall approach, but “Funeral Sun” speeds things up for a stretch while “Urine” lures the listener downward with a subdued opening leading to more filth-caked distortion and degenerate noise, capping with feedback because at that point what the hell matters anyway? Little question in listening why this one’s been making the rounds for over a year now. It will likely continue to do so for some time to come.

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The Obelisk Presents: THE TOP 30 ALBUMS OF 2018

Posted in Features on December 20th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

the-top-30-of-2018

Please note: This post is not culled in any way from the Year-End Poll, which is ongoing. If you haven’t yet contributed your favorites of 2018 to that, please do.

It just wouldn’t be a year if it wasn’t completely overwhelming, right?

2018 has certainly met that standard and then some. The swath of output, whether it’s a new generation adopting and adapting established methods or out and out reinventing the stylistic wheel and then pushing it uphill on a seemingly endless barrage of tours, has been staggering, and it’s still happening. There’s a little more than a week to go in the year. You think a band isn’t putting something out today? Of course they are. It’s every day. It’s all the time.

But this year wasn’t just about quantity either. I think one of my biggest struggles in writing about albums in 2018 — and with the last Quarterly Review and various premieres and video posts that were basically album reviews in disguise, let’s estimate we’re somewhere past 300 records reviewed one way or another — was in conveying just how killer so much of the stuff coming through was. How many times can you say the word “awesome?” Well, I’m sure we’ll see it a few more times before this list is over, so there you go.

I say something like this every time I do a list, but please keep in mind these are my picks and I’m one person. But I am a person. I know there’s the whole internet-anonymity thing, but I assure you, I’m a human being (more of a cave troll, really) typing these words. I’m all for everyone sharing their own picks in the comments, and all for passionate advocating, but please, let’s keep it civil and respectful. These things can spiral out of control quickly, but let’s remember that we’re all human beings and worth of basic courtesy, even if some of us are dead wrong about a good many things. You should definitely punch nazis, though.

Thanks in advance for reading. Here we go:

[UPDATE: You’ll notice the inclusion of an ’18a.’ I had Stoned Jesus in my notes as number 18 initially and they got dropped as I was adjusting things along the way. I’ve added them back in, but it didn’t seem fair to bump everyone else down after the post had already been published. That was the best I could come up with for a solution. If you’re pissed about one more killer record being added, please feel free to email me and tell me all about it.]

30. The Skull, The Endless Road Turns Dark

The Skull The Endless Road Turns Dark

Released by Tee Pee Records. Reviewed Sept. 12.

Chicago’s The Skull had no small task before them in following up their 2014 debut, For Those Which are Asleep (review here) — let alone living up to their pedigree — but their second album demonstrated a creative growth that sacrificed nothing of memorability when it came to songs like “Breathing Underwater” and “All that Remains (Is True).” They got down to work and got the job done, which is what a working band does. 2018 was by any measure a fantastic year for doom, and The Skull were a big part of why.

29. Foghound, Awaken to Destroy

foghound awaken to destroy

Released by Ripple Music. Reviewed Nov. 21.

The Dec. 2017 murder of Rev. Jim Forrester was tragic. No other way to say it. Foghound, who were in the midst of making Awaken to Destroy at the time, put together an album that not only features Forrester‘s last recorded performance, but pays respect to his memory while the wound is still raw and manages to kick ass all the while. It’s a record that can’t ever be divorced from its circumstances — just can’t — and so it can be a heavy listen in more than just its tones, but it’s basically Foghound proving they’re unstoppable. And so they are.

28. Orange Goblin, The Wolf Bites Back

orange goblin the wolf bites back

Released by Spinefarm Records. Reviewed June 13.

Who among us here today is not a sucker for Orange Goblin? Come forward an be judged. I mean, really. Nine records deep, the London sceneforgers are nothing less than an institution, beloved by boozehounds, riffhounds, doomhounds, and really, a wide variety of hounds the world over. Also dudes. With its essential title-track hook and highlight cuts in “Ghosts of the Primitives” and “Burn the Ships” — or, you know, any of them — they added to one of heavy’s most unshakable legacies with an album as furious as it is welcoming to its generations-spanning fanbase.

27. Fu Manchu, Clone of the Universe

fu manchu clone of the universe
Released by At the Dojo Records. Reviewed Feb. 15.

There are two kinds of people in this world, and they’re both Fu Manchu fans. Clone of the Universe turned heads with a guest appearance from Rush‘s Alex Lifeson on the 18-minute side-B-consuming “Il Mostro Atomico,” but really to focus on that instead of “Intelligent Worship,” “(I’ve Been) Hexed,” “Don’t Panic,” “Slower than Light,” etc., is only seeing half the point of the album in the first place. The long-running lords of fuzz hit a new stride with 2014’s Gigantoid (review here), and Clone of the Universe was in every way a worthy successor.

26. Witch Mountain, Witch Mountain

Witch-Mountain-Witch-Mountain
Released by Svart Records. Reviewed May 16.

It was an unenviable task before Witch Mountain in replacing vocalist Uta Plotkin, but founding guitarist Rob Wrong and drummer Nathan Carson found the right voice in Kayla Dixon and solidified the lineup with her and bassist Justin Brown enough to make a declarative statement in Witch Mountain‘s self-titled LP. That’s the story of it. They pulled it off. Met with what was unquestionably a bummer circumstance, they pushed through and moved their sound forward through a new beginning — and not their first one. Watch out when their next record hits.

25. Windhand, Eternal Return

windhand eternal return

Released by Relapse Records. Reviewed Oct. 3.

Richmond, Virginia, doomers Windhand‘s second collaboration with producer Jack Endino produced a marked and purposeful expansion of their sound, encompassing classic grunge influences and a heavy psychedelic swirl that added color their previously-greyscale sonic haze. Resonant in tone and emotionalism, Eternal Return readjusted Windhand‘s trajectory in such a manner that, where one might’ve thought they knew where the band were headed in terms of their progression, they’ve made themselves a less predictable outfit on the whole. For that alone, it’s a triumph. Then you have the songs.

24. Sun Voyager, Seismic Vibes

Sun Voyager Seismic Vibes

Released by King Pizza Records. Reviewed April 18.

I don’t even want to admit how long I was waiting for Sun Voyager‘s first long-player to show up, but when it finally did, the New York trio did not disappoint. Catchy, energetic, fuzzed-out tunes with driving rhythms and a heavy psych flourish, they tapped into shoegaze and desert vibes without losing any sense of themselves in the process, and if the extra wait was so they could be so remarkably coherent in their expression on their full-length, then I wouldn’t want it to have shown up any sooner. An easy pick to stand among 2018’s best debut albums. Now to wait for the next one.

23. Forming the Void, Rift

forming the void rift

Released by Kozmik Artifactz. Reviewed July 27.

It should tell you something that after working quickly to produce three albums, Louisiana’s Forming the Void are still defined by their potential. If I had my druthers, I’d put the recent Ripple signees on tour for the bulk of 2019, across the US and in Europe for festivals and support-slot club shows, really give them an opportunity to hammer out who they are as a band and then hit the studio for LP four. I don’t know if that’ll happen, but they’d only be doing the universe a favor by kicking into that gear. As it stands, their progression is palpable in their material and they stand absolutely ready for whatever the next level might be for them.

22. Spaceslug, Eye the Tide

spaceslug eye the tide

Released by BSFD Records and Oak Island Records. Reviewed June 29.

Aside from the speed at which Spaceslug have turned around offerings — with Eye the Tide following 2017’s Mountains and Reminiscence EP (review here) and Time Travel Dilemma (review here) full-length and their 2016 debut, Lemanis (review here) — the Polish outfit have undertaken significant progression in their sound, moving from pure heavy psychedelic warmth to incorporating elements out of extreme metal as they did on Eye the Tide. Adding to the latest record’s accomplishment is the smoothness with which they brought seemingly opposing sides together, only adding depth to an approach already worthy of oceanic comparison.

21. Conan, Existential Void Guardian

Conan Existential Void Guardian
Released by Napalm Records. Reviewed Sept. 14.

Conan‘s reign of terror has been unfolding for more than a decade now, and each of their albums has become a kind of step along a path of incremental growth. Consider the melody creeping into the shouts of founding guitarist Jon Davis, or the emergence of bassist Chris Fielding as a vocal presence alongside, the two sharing a frontman role more than ever before while welcoming drummer Johnny King to the fold of destructive tonality and doomly extremism. Existential Void Guardian may end up just being another stomp-print on their way to the next thing, but it affirmed the fact that as much as Conan grow each time out, their central violence continues to hold sway.

20. Pale Divine, Pale Divine

PALE DIVINE S/T
Released by Shadow Kingdom Records. Reviewed Nov. 21.

Look. A new Pale Divine record doesn’t come along every day, so yeah, their self-titled was probably going to be on my list one way or the other, but it definitely helps that not only was it their first outing in six years since 2012’s Painted Windows Black (review here), but it had the songs to live up to a half-decade-plus of anticipation. It marked the first studio appearance from bassist/backing vocalist Ron “Fezz” McGinnis alongside guitarist Greg Diener and drummer Darin McCloskey — now both of Beelzefuzz as well — and made a strong argument for how much Pale Divine deserve more than 20 years on from their initial demo to be considered classic American doom.

19. Mos Generator, Shadowlands

mos generator shadowlands
Released by Listenable Records. Reviewed May 11.

The return and rise to prominence of Washington pure heavy rockers Mos Generator might be the underground’s feelgood story of the decade, but it hasn’t by any means been easily won. In addition to rebuilding the band however many albums ago, guitarist/vocalist Tony Reed has put in innumerable hours on tour and worked to actually develop the group creatively in addition to in terms of stage presence. This is shown throughout some of the classic prog elements making their way onto Shadowlands, and perhaps some of the collection’s moodier aspects are born of the aforementioned road time as well. Hard for that kind of thing not to be a slog after a while, but at least they have killer tunes to play.

18a. Stoned Jesus, Pilgrims

STONED JESUS PILGRIMS

Released by Napalm Records. Reviewed Sept. 5.

The only safe bet about Stoned Jesus‘ fourth long-player, Pilgrims, was that it was going to sound different than the third. That 2015 outing, The Harvest (review here), preceded the band touring to celebrate the fifth anniversary and after-the-fact success of 2012’s Seven Thunders Roar (review here), but Pilgrims defied narrative in that instead of incorporating elements from the second record in more of a heavy psych or jam sound, Stoned Jesus instead showcased a tighter, more sureheaded sense of craft than they’ve ever displayed before, and arrived on Napalm Records with a collection of songs that demonstrated the growth and sense of creative will that drives them. While one can take a look at their moniker and think immediately they know what’s coming, Stoned Jesus have made themselves one of the least predictable bands in heavy rock.

18. Backwoods Payback, Future Slum

backwoods payback future slum

Self-released. Reviewed Aug. 15.

“Pirate Smile.” “Lines.” “Whatever.” “It Ain’t Right.” “Threes.” “Cinderella.” “Generals.” “Big Enough.” “Alone.” “Lucky. Mike Cummings, Jessica Baker, Erik Larson. Every player, every song, every minute. If you want to know what heart-on-sleeve sounds like, it fucking sounds like Backwoods Payback. In their line from hardcore punk to grunge to heavy rock, they encompass experiences and emotionalism that are both shown in raw form throughout Future Slum, and build all the while on the chemistry they set out in developing with 2016’s Fire Not Reason (review here), when they welcomed Larson to the lineup on drums and revitalized their mission. Also worth noting, they were the best live band I saw this year. Anywhere.

17. Corrosion of Conformity, No Cross No Crown

corrosion of conformity no cross no crown

Released by Nuclear Blast Records. Reviewed Jan. 3

No question the excitement of C.O.C. putting out their first record with frontman Pepper Keenan involved since 2005’s In the Arms of God was one of this year’s top stories in heavy. And No Cross No Crown tapped directly into the spirit of 1994’s Deliverance (discussed here) and 1996’s Wiseblood (discussed here) in terms of direction, while updating the band’s style with a four-part 2LP in mind. In some ways, it’ll be their next album that really gives listeners a sense of where they’re at and where they might be headed, but as welcome returns go, having Keenan alongside Mike DeanWoody Weatherman and Reed Mullin is in no way to be understated, and neither is the quality of their output together, then and now.

16. Naxatras, III

naxatras iii

Self-released. Reviewed Feb. 14.

It is no simple feat to hypnotize an audience and convey serenity while at the same time holding attention with songcraft, so that the listener isn’t actually so much unconscious as malleable of mood and spirit in such a direction as the band suggests. Greek trio Naxatras have worked quickly to become experts at this, and their third full-length fosters tonal warmth and jammy progressions with an overarching naturalism that finds them so committed to analog recording that one can buy direct transfers of the tape master of III. Some acts take classic-style practices as an aesthetic choice. With Naxatras, it seems to be the stuff of life, yet their sound is only vibrant and human in a way that, at least one hopes, is even more representative of the future than the past.

15. Clutch, Book of Bad Decisions

clutch book of bad decisions

Released by Weathermaker Music. Reviewed Aug. 27.

It was time for Clutch to make a change in producers, and the Maryland overlords of groove seemed to know it. Known as a live band, they went with Vance Powell, who’s known a live band producer. The results on Book of Bad Decisions might not have been so earth-shatteringly different from 2015’s Psychic Warfare (review here), which was the too-soon follow-up to 2013’s Earth Rocker (review here) — both helmed by Machine — but the inimitable four-piece indeed succeeded in capturing the electricity of their stage performance and, as ever, treated fans to a collection of songs bearing Clutch‘s unmistakable hallmarks of quirky lyrics, funky rhythms and heavy roll. They may always be a live band, but Clutch‘s studio work is in no way to be discounted, ever, as this record reaffirmed. Plus, crab cakes.

14. Ancestors, Suspended in Reflections

Ancestors Suspended in Reflections

Released by Pelagic Records. Reviewed Aug. 3.

After 2012’s In Dreams and Time (review here), I wasn’t sure Ancestors were going to put out another record. They kicked around word of one for a while, but it wasn’t until the end of last year that it really seemed to congeal into a possibility. And by then, who the hell knew what they might get up to on a full-length? With Suspended in Reflections, in some says, they picked up where they left off in terms of finding a niche for themselves in progressive and melodic heavy, but I think the time showed in the poise of their execution and the control of the material. Suspended in Reflections can’t help but be six years more mature than its predecessor, and that suits its contemplative feel. In tracks like “Gone,” and “The Warm Glow,” they tempered their expansive sound with an efficiency that can only be had with time.

13. High on Fire, Electric Messiah

high on fire electric messiah

Released by eOne Heavy. Reviewed Sept. 28.

The narrative here was hard to beat. Matt Pike spending an album cycle talking about Lemmy Kilmister and paying homage to his dirt-rock forebear and the gods of old? It doesn’t get much more perfect than that. Electric Messiah was the third collaboration between High on Fire and producer Kurt Ballou behind 2015’s Luminiferous (review here) and 2012’s De Vermiis Mysteriis (review here), and while it seemed after the last record that the formula might be getting stale, the band only sounded more and more lethal throughout the latest offering. Even putting aside their contributions to underground heavy, they’ve become one of the most essential metal bands of their generation. Metal, period. Doesn’t matter what subgenre you’re talking about it. If you’re listening to High on Fire, you know it. Usually because you’ve just been decapitated.

12. Yawning Man, The Revolt Against Tired Noises

yawning man the revolt against tired noises

Released by Heavy Psych Sounds. Reviewed July 2.

You know, if you take the time to separate Yawning Man from their 30-plus-year history and their legacy as one of the foundational acts of what later became desert rock, and you listen to The Revolt Against Tired Noises, you’re still left with basically a dream of an album. Mostly instrumental, as is their wont, they nonetheless had bassist Mario Lalli (also Fatso Jetson) sing this time around on a version of the previously-unreleased “Catamaran,” which Kyuss covered once upon a whenever although Yawning Man had never officially put it to tape. But really, that and all other novelty aside, guitarist Gary Arce, Lalli and drummer Bill Stinson are a chemistry unto themselves. I don’t know if they’ll ever be as huge as they should be, but every bit of acclaim they get, they’ve earned, and if The Revolt Against Tired Noises helps them get it, all the more so.

11. Greenleaf, Hear the Rivers

greenleaf hear the rivers

Released by Napalm Records. Reviewed Nov. 26.

Swedish heavy rock mavens Greenleaf have become an entirely different band than they once were. No longer a Dozer side-project from guitarist Tommi Holappa with a rotating cast of players, they’re a solidified, road-tested, powerhouse unit, and Hear the Rivers bleeds soul as a result. Holappa, frontman Arvid Hällagård, bassist Hans Fröhlich and drummer Sebastian Olsson sound like they’re absolutely on fire in the album’s tracks, and far from being staid or formulaic as one might expect a sixth long-player to be, Hear the Rivers built on what the band accomplished with 2016’s Rise Above the Meadow (review here) and came across as all the more vital and nearly frenetic in their energy. I won’t say Greenleaf has seen their last lineup change, because one never knows, but the band as they are today is the realization of potential I don’t think even Greenleaf knew was there.

10. Gozu, Equilibrium

gozu equilibrium

Released by Blacklight Media / Metal Blade Records. Reviewed April 4.

Five records deep into a career into its second decade, Gozu haven’t had a miss yet. Admittedly, some of their early work can seem formative considering where they are now, but still. And after the 2016 rager, Revival (review here), to have the band return to the same studio — Wild Arctic in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where strides producer Dean Baltulonis — for the follow-up allows for the four-piece to directly show how their sound has grown more encompassing in the last couple years. And it has. Equilibrium is a rich and varied listen that holds true to Gozu‘s well-established penchant for soulful vibes and crunching, hard-hitting riffs and groove, but while it shares the directness of approach with Revival, it makes moves that a band could only make moving from one record to the next. I expect nothing less their next time out as well, because a decade later, that’s Gozu‘s proven track record.

9. Monster Magnet, Mindfucker

monster magnet mindfucker
Released by Napalm Records. Reviewed Feb. 23.

The battle for the best album title of 2018 ended early when New Jersey everything-rockers Monster Magnet announced the release of Mindfucker. And what else to call a Monster Magnet LP at this point? They’ve stopped writing to genre. They’re driven by the creative mania of frontman/founder Dave Wyndorf, and they’ve seen psychedelic expanses and commercial success the likes of which would serve the tenure of four lesser bands. What’s left to do but whatever the hell you want? So that’s what Monster Magnet are doing. It just so happens that while they’re doing it, they’re still basically outclassing the entirety of the former planet earth as songwriters. As Monster Magnet fan in 2018, there was nothing more I could’ve asked than what Mindfucker delivered. And if you’re still trying to get your brain around it however many months later, you’re not alone. I think that’s the idea.

8. Apostle of Solitude, From Gold to Ash

Apostle of Solitude From Gold to Ash

Released by Cruz del Sur Music. Reviewed Feb. 20.

Best doom album of 2018. The combination of craft and passion behind the delivery. The way the dark tones fed into the emotions so clearly on display and sheer presence of it in listening to songs like “Keeping the Lighthouse,” “Ruination by Thy Name” and “My Heart is Leaving Here.” Apostle of Solitude never seem to be the highest profile band out there, but their work seems never to be anything less than outstanding, and I refuse to accept them as anything less than among the most pivotal American acts out there making traditional doom. And not just making it, but making it their own, with a sense of new pursuits and individualism that extends to playing style as well as atmosphere. I know doom isn’t exactly in short supply these days — figuratively or literally — but if you miss out on what Apostle of Solitude are doing with it, you’ll only regret it later. I’ll say it one more time: Best doom album of 2018.

7. Holy Grove, Holy Grove II

holy grove ii
Released by Ripple Music. Reviewed Oct. 31.

Every now and again, anticipating the crap of an album really pays off, and such was the case with Holy Grove II, the Ripple Music debut from the Portland outfit whose 2016 self-titled (review here) seemed like such a herald of excellence to come while also, you know, being killer. Holy Grove II brought the four-piece of vocalist Andrea Vidal, guitarist Trent Jacobs, bassist Gregg Emley and drummer Eben Travis to entirely new levels of composition and execution. In songs like “Blade Born,” the shorter, sharper “Aurora,” the patiently rolling “Valley of the Mystics,” “Solaris” and closer “Cosmos,” which boasted a not-really-necessary-but-definitely-welcome guest vocal appearance from YOB‘s Mike Scheidt, — and oh wait, that’s all of the tracks — Holy Grove entered a different echelon. Anticipation will likewise be high for Holy Grove III, but it’ll be hard to complain with this record to keep company in the meantime.

6. All Them Witches, ATW

all them witches atw
Released by New West Records. Reviewed Sept. 18.

Over five All Them Witches albums, the Nashville four-piece have gone from a nascent heavy Americana jam band to one of the most distinct acts in the US underground. Their development in sound is chemistry-driven, so it was a risk when the founding trio of bassist/vocalist Charles Michael Parks, Jr., guitarist Ben McLeod (who also produced) and drummer Robby Staebler welcomed new keyboardist Jonathan Draper into the lineup to take the place of Allan van Cleave. Amid a more naturalist production than that of 2017’s Sleeping Through the War (review here), the revamped four-piece flourished in terms of songwriting and conveying their stage-born sonic personae. From the gleeful fuckery of opener “Fishbelly 86 Onions” to the memorable moodiness of “Diamond” and the back-end jam “Harvest Feast” en route to the stretched-out end of “Rob’s Dream,” All Them Witches essentially confirmed they could do whatever they wanted and make it work.

5. YOB, Our Raw Heart

yob our raw heart
Released by Relapse Records. Reviewed June 7.

Actually, if you want a sample of YOB‘s raw heart, the place to go is probably 2014’s Clearing the Path to Ascend (review here), but whatever the Eugene, Oregon, shapers of cosmic doom might’ve lacked in titular accuracy on their eighth long-player, they made up for in a new, statesman-like posture. Their approach was mature, hammered out to a professionalism working completely on its own terms, and they never sounded so sure of who they are as a band or as confident of their direction. In extended cuts “Beauty in Falling Leaves” and “Our Raw Heart,” they explored new and progressive textures and melodies, and managed to reaffirm their core aspects while finding room for conveying emotion that came across as nothing but ultimately sincere. They have been and still are one of a kind, and as they continue to move forward, they remain a band that makes one feel lucky to be alive to witness their work. Our Raw Heart was perhaps more refined than it let on, but the heart was there for sure, as always.

4. Brant Bjork, Mankind Woman

brant bjork mankind woman

Released by Heavy Psych Sounds. Reviewed Sept. 13.

I’m not going to say I wasn’t a fan of the (relatively) harder-hitting approach Brant Bjork and his Low Desert Punk Band took on 2014’s Black Power Flower (review here) and 2016’s Tao of the Devil (review here), but Mankind Woman brought in some more of his soul influences, and whether it was the subtly subversive funk of “Chocolatize” and “Brand New Old Times” or the callout “1968” and laid back vibes of the title-track and “Swagger and Sway,” Bjork — working with guitarist Bubba DuPree on songwriting and production — offered a definitive look at what has made his 20-year solo career so special and demonstrates not only his longevity and his legacy, but his will to continue to progress as an artist honing his craft. His discography is well populated by now to be sure, but Mankind Woman represents a turn from the last couple records, and if it’s in any way portentous of things to come, it bodes well. Bjork is right at home nestled into classic-style grooves, and his legacy as one of the principal architects of desert rock is continually reaffirmed.

3. Earthless, Black Heaven

earthless black heaven

Released by Nuclear Blast Records. Reviewed March 15.

They’ve been great, not just good, for a long time now, and as forerunners of the San Diego heavy scene, they’re godfathers to an up and coming generation of bands taking their influence — let alone acts from the rest of the world — but Black Heaven is a special moment for them because of its departure. No, it wasn’t not the first time guitarist Isaiah Mitchell sang on an Earthless recording, but it did represent a tip of the balance in that direction for the band on a studio full-length, and that resulted in a special moment. Album opener “Gifted by the Wind” was one of the best songs I heard this year, and while “End to End” and the all-thrust “Volt Rush” affirmed that more traditional songwriting was well within the grasp of Mitchell, bassist Mike Eginton and drummer Mario Rubalcaba, they still found space for a sprawling jam or two, keeping their claim on the instrumentalism that’s (largely) fueled their tenure to date. Earthless don’t want for acclaim, but every bit of it is earned, and while their primary impact has always been live, Black Heaven saw them construct a traditional-style LP that still bore the hallmarks of their collective personality. It was the best of all worlds.

2. King Buffalo, Longing to Be the Mountain

king buffalo longing to be the mountain
Self-released/released by Stickman Records. Reviewed Sept. 27.

In the dark early hours of 2018, the Rochester, New York, trio of guitarist/vocalist Sean McVay, bassist Dan Reynolds and drummer Scott Donaldson issued the Repeater EP (review here) as a follow-up to their 2016 debut, Orion (review here), so Longing to Be the Mountain didn’t exactly come out of nowhere, but even with Repeater preceding its arrival, I don’t think anyone necessary expected King Buffalo‘s second album to have such a scope or to be so engrossing with it. In its melody, patience, atmosphere and heft, it was an absolute joy to behold. Its songs were memorable at the same time they were far-reaching, and while Orion was already my pick for the best debut of 2016, Longing to Be the Mountain realized even more potential than that record had hinted toward. It could be intimate or majestic at its whim, and its dynamic set an individual characterization of heavy psychedelia and blues-style sprawl that the band wholly owned. With production by Ben McLeod of All Them Witches behind them, they worked to serve notice of a progression undertaken the results of which are already staggering and still seem to be looking ahead to the next stage, literally and figuratively. One of the principal standards I use in constructing this list every year is what I listen to most. That’s this record.

1. Sleep, The Sciences

sleep the sciences

Released by Third Man Records. Reviewed May 1.

Obviously, right? To some extent, when Sleep surprise-announced on April 19 they’d release their first album in 15 years the next day, and then did, they took ownership of 2018. Even with records still to come at that point from YOB and Sleep guitarist Matt Pike‘s own High on Fire, there was no way that when the end of the year came around, it wasn’t going to be defined by the advent of a new Sleep record. And even if it sucked, it would probably still be Album of the Year, but fortunately, as Pike, bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros (also Om) and drummer Jason Roeder (also Neurosis) took their long-running stage reunion to the studio, they brought material that highlighted the best elements from all players. Pike‘s wild soloing, Cisneros‘ meditative vocals and Roeder‘s intricate but smooth style of roll all came together in older pieces like “Antarcticans Thawed” and “Sonic Titan” and newer highlights “Giza Butler” and “Marijuanaut’s Theme,” and aside from the excitement at their existence, they showed the mastery of form that Sleep had been demonstrating live since 2009 and which they hinted toward in the 2014 single, The Clarity (review here). A new Sleep full-length was something long-discussed, long-rumored and long-considered, but when it finally happened, I think the results vaporized expectation in a way no one could’ve anticipated. There’s a reason Sleep are Sleep. Having The Sciences as a reminder of that brought about the defining moment of 2018.

The Next 20

Indeed, it wouldn’t be much of a Top 30 at all if it didn’t go to 50. Don’t try to make sense of it, just look at the records.

31. Atavismo, Valdeinfierno
32. Grayceon, IV
33. Clamfight, III
34. Seedy Jeezus, Polaris Oblique
35. Megaton Leviathan, Mage
36. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Wasteland
37. Arcadian Child, Superfonica
38. Freedom Hawk, Beast Remains
39. The Machine, Faceshift
40. Messa, Feast for Water
41. Black Rainbows, Pandaemonium
42. Church of the Cosmic Skull, Science Fiction
43. Domkraft, Flood
44. Träden, Träden
45. Mythic Sunship, Another Shape of Psychedelic Music
46. Samavayo, Vatan
47. Foehammer, Second Sight
48. Bongripper, Terminal
49. Mansion, First Death of the Lutheran
50. Sunnata, Outlands
51. Chubby Thunderous Bad Kush Masters, Come and Chutney

Believe me when I tell you, I sweated over this section more than I did the actual top 30. Mansion should be higher. So should Chubby Thunderous, though something in me thought they might like being #50 on a list of 30. Church of the Cosmic Skull, Clamfight, Black Rainbows, Foehammer, Seedy Jeezus, Messa, Domkraft. All of these were fucking awesome. And there are more (we’ll get there). Eventually numbers add up. I won’t say a bad word about any of these. That’s it.

Honorable Mention

This section always winds up expanded as other people point out things I missed and so on, but here’s what I’ve got in the immediate, alphabetically:

  • Alms, Act One
  • Ape Machine, Darker Seas
  • Belzebong, Light the Dankness
  • Black Moon Circle, Psychedelic Spacelord
  • Blackwater Holylight, Blackwater Holylight
  • Bong, Thought and Existence
  • Carpet, About Rooms and Elephants
  • Churchburn, None Shall Live… The Hymns of Misery
  • Deadbird, III: The Forest Within the Tree
  • Dead Meadow, The Nothing They Need
  • Death Alley, Superbia
  • Drug Cult, Drug Cult
  • Dunbarrow, II
  • Electric Citizen, Helltown
  • Eagle Twin, The Thundering Heard: Songs of Hoof and Horn
  • Evoken, Hypnagogia
  • Funeral Horse, Psalms for the Mourning
  • Fuzz Evil, High on You
  • Graven, Heirs of Discord
  • Graveyard, Peace
  • Green Dragon, Green Dragon
  • Green Druid, Ashen Blood
  • Here Lies Man, You Will Know Nothing
  • High Priestess, High Priestess
  • Horehound, Holocene
  • IAH, II
  • JIRM, Surge ex Monumentis
  • Killer Boogie, Acid Cream
  • Lonely Kamel, Death’s Head Hawkmoth
  • MaidaVale, Madness is Too Pure
  • Moab, Trough
  • Mountain Dust, Seven Storms
  • Mouth, Floating
  • Mr. Plow, Maintain Radio Silence
  • T.G. Olson, Earthen Pyramid
  • Onségen Ensemble, Duel
  • Orango, Evergreen
  • Owl, Nights in Distortion
  • Pushy, Hard Wish
  • Rifflord, 7 Cremation Ground/Meditation
  • River Cult, Halcyon Daze
  • Rotor, Sechs
  • Somali Yacht Club, The Sea
  • Sumac, Love in Shadow
  • Sundrifter, Visitations
  • Svvamp, Svvamp II
  • Thou, Magus
  • Thunder Horse, Thunder Horse
  • Weedpecker, III

Special Note

Somehow it didn’t seem appropriate to include these in the list proper because they’re not really underground releases, but there were two more records I especially wanted to highlight for their quality:

  • Alice in Chains, Rainier Fog
  • Judas Priest, Firepower

Best Short Release of the Year

Normally I’d do this as a separate post, but as a result of being robbed earlier this year, I feel like my list is woefully incomplete. If you have any demos, EPs, splits, singles, etc., to add to it, please feel free to do so in the comments below. Still, the top pick was clear:

  • Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard & Slomatics, Totems Split

Rarely do two bands work in such coherent tandem to their mutual benefit. Here are a few other essential short releases for 2018, alphabetically:

  • All Them Witches, Lost and Found
  • Alunah, Amber & Gold
  • Canyon, Mk II
  • Demon Head, The Resistence
  • Destroyer of Light, Hopeless
  • Ecstatic Vision, Under the Influence
  • Godmaker & Somnuri, Split
  • Holy Mushroom, Blood and Soul
  • King Buffalo, Repeater
  • Minsk & Zatokrev, Split
  • Sleep, Leagues Beneath
  • Stonus, Lunar Eclipse
  • Sundecay, Gale

Looking Forward

A good many albums have already been announced or hinted at for 2019. I in no way claim this to be a complete roundup of what’s coming, but here’s what I have in my notes so far, in absolutely no order:

Kings Destroy, Lo-Pan, Cities of Mars, Heavy Temple, Mr. Peter Hayden, Curse the Son, High Fighter, Destroyer of Light, Year of the Cobra, Buffalo Fuzz, Zaum, The Sonic Dawn, Alunah, Candlemass, Elepharmers, Grandier, Dorre, Abrahma, Mars Red Sky, Eternal Black, Elephant Tree, Atala, No Man’s Valley, Sun Blood Stories, Crypt Sermon, The Riven, Hibrido, Snail, Red Beard Wall, 11Paranoias, Dead Witches, Monte Luna, Captain Caravan (LP), Swallow the Sun, Oreyeon, Motorpsycho, Vokonis, Hexvessel, Saint Vitus, Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, Kind, Mastiff, Shadow Witch, Om.

Okay, That’s It

Yeah, no, I’m serious. List is done. Everybody go back to your lives. Your families miss you.

Really though, while this is by no means my last post of 2018, I can’t let it pass without saying thank you so much to everyone for checking out the site this year, or for just digging into this, or for sending me music, or hitting me up on social media, sharing a link, anything. Thank you. Thank you. I could never have imagined when it started out where it would be now. Or that I’d still be doing it. Your support means more to me than I can say, and I thank you so much for being a part of this with me.

So thanks.

If you have something to add to the list, please do so by leaving a comment below, but keep in mind as well the above note requesting civility. Please don’t make me feel stupid because I forgot your favorite record. I forgot a lot of people’s favorite records. I’m one dude. I’m doing my best.

And please keep in mind if you’ve got a list together that the Year-End Poll is open and results will be out Jan. 1.

Everybody have a great and safe 2019.

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Moab Premiere New Track “Skeptics Lament”; Announce Trough Due Oct. 19

Posted in audiObelisk, Whathaveyou on August 24th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

moab

Los Angeles heavy rockers Moab are back with their third album, Trough, and it would seem to be a title loaded with meaning. Consider that guitarist/vocalist Andrew Giacumakis is also a noted recording engineer, having worked not only his own releases, but stuff for Fu Manchu and others, and think of “trough” in terms of waveforms. The lowest point.

And so it would seem to be. Late in 2016, Moab drummer Erik Herzog passed away. Giacumakis and bassist Joe Fuentes would pay him homage with a lyric video for “Nothing Escapes” (posted here) from their 2013 second LP, Billow (review here), which was issued through the now-defunct Scion A/V, and it was questionable whether or not the band would continue. Ultimately, they pressed forward, and recruited Fu Manchu‘s Brad Davis to fill the final spot in the trio to play live in support of Trough, which in light of everything they’ve been through in its making, seems to well earn the title it’s been given.

Trough is set to release on Oct. 19 through Falling Dome Records and brings Moab‘s sound to new places all the way around. From the uptempo Sheavy-style post-Sabbath heavy rock of “Into the Sea Swine” to the harder-hit lumber of “Moss Grows Where No One Goes” and the later jabs of “The Will is Weak,” it’s a record united in melody and hooks and purpose,  I have the pleasure today of not only announcing the fact of its existence, but also of premiering the first song from it. You’ll find some background and the tracklisting under the awesome-looking cover art below, and the track itself at the bottom of this post.

Please enjoy:

moab trough

MOAB – Trough

Equal parts dirge and grace, Moab earned critical praise with their first two albums Ab Ovo (Kemado) and Billow (ScionAV), establishing themselves as underground darlings of LA’s heavy music scene. A unique ability to blend atmosphere and melody into an incessant dark riff and drum attack, Moab creates a sonic massage and listenability that few other metal bands wield.

2018 finds the Los Angeles based trio set to release their 3rd full length album Trough, a record steeped in loss with the passing of drummer Erik Herzog mid-way through its production. A gifted drummer and founding member of the band, his untimely passing had the band considering retirement. But with encouragement from family and friends to finish the album and let Erik’s final work be heard, the band refocused and committed to the album’s completion. Remaining band members Andrew Giacumakis and Joe Fuentes, joined by Brad Davis (Fu Manchu) filling the void on drums, are set to play select shows in support of the album’s release.

1. Skeptics Lament 4:09
2. Into The Sea Swine 3:38
3. All Automatons 3:40
4. Moss Grows Where No One Goes 4:53
5. The Onus 3:37
6. Medieval Moan 2:38
7. Fifty Thousand Tons 3:19
8. The Will Is Weak 4:21
9. Turnin’ Slow 4:48
10. Fend For Dawn 4:07

MOAB live:
09.14 Cafe NELA Los Angeles CA w/ Biblical Proof of UFOs, The Freeks, Angry Samoan

https://www.facebook.com/moabband
https://www.moabband.com/

Moab, “Skeptics Lament” official track premiere

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Moab Pay Homage to Drummer Erik Herzog with “Nothing Escapes” Lyric Video

Posted in Bootleg Theater on March 21st, 2017 by JJ Koczan

moab

It’s been a while since last we heard from Los Angeles outfit Moab, and one can only wish the news was better. Toward the end of last year, the trio marked the passing of drummer Erik Herzog, and they now celebrate his life with a lyric video for the track “Nothing Escapes.” The song comes from Moab‘s second release, Billow (review here), which was released in 2014 via the now-defunct Scion A/V as a free download but is still available on CD and LP directly from the band. In addition to being tragic in its moment of arrival, the video is a reminder of the nuance that album proffered in following up 2011’s Kemado Records debut, Ab Ovo (discussed here), the sweetness of its melody and underlying Beatlesian pop bounce emblematic of the progressive bent emerging in their style at the time.

Naturally, Herzog played a major role in making that possible, so whether or not guitarist/vocalist Andrew Giacumakis and bassist Joe Fuentes will keep Moab going, I don’t know and don’t particularly want to speculate. For now, the lyrics to “Nothing Escapes” make a poignant tribute, and if in fact this does mark the end of the band, they will have offered listeners two rich outings that showed them as unafraid to look outside genre lines for inspiration as they pursued a path of individualized growth. Some groups never get that far, and while one could easily argue for Moab sounding like they still had more to say coming off of Billow — I would have, if we were debating the topic — the band’s work and that of Herzog as a part of the three-piece are able to stand on their own achievements as well and should continue to be enjoyed for years to come.

Condolences to GiacumakisFuentes and all who knew Herzog, friends and family and fans.

Please enjoy “Nothing Escapes” below:

Moab, “Nothing Escapes” lyric video

This video is our “shrine” to Erik. The song was especially significant to him as the lyrics were based on years of conversations with him about his struggles with depression. While that remained a struggle for him, he was especially proud of this song and the truth it contained. The drumming is some of his best work and the music is something we are all very proud of.

RIP Erik Herzog

Moab on Thee Facebooks

Moab website

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audiObelisk Transmission 043

Posted in Podcasts on December 23rd, 2014 by JJ Koczan

Click Here to Download

 

[mp3player width=480 height=180 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=aot43.xml]

Since I don’t do theme podcasts or anything, the thoroughly unofficial subtitle of this latest one is “SOME of the Best of 2014.” Truth be told, it’s four hours long and I feel like I barely scratched the surface, so definitely the emphasis should be on “some.” By no means is it meant to be comprehensive, or am I claiming that it’s all the best and the rest sucked or anything like that. But some of the best stuff is here, so, you know, I hope you enjoy.

My intent was to make it three hours long, and then I got there and it just didn’t feel done without another hour’s worth of extended psych jams. That’s an odd habit to have. Could be worse. For what it’s worth, I was thinking of this as a companion for some of the year-end coverage that’s already been posted and is still to come. Some of this was inspired by picks from the Readers Poll, the submissions for which are still open. If you haven’t added your list yet, I’d greatly appreciate it.

And once again, hope you dig it:

First Hour:
YOB, “Nothing to Win” from Clearing the Path to Ascend
Fu Manchu, “Radio Source Sagittarius” from Gigantoid
Radio Moscow, “Death of a Queen” from Magical Dirt
The Golden Grass, “Stuck on a Mountain” from The Golden Grass
Monster Magnet, “No Paradise for Me” from Milking the Stars: A Reimagining of Last Patrol
Pallbearer, “The Ghost I Used to Be” from Foundations of Burden
The Skull, “Sick of it All” from For Those Which are Asleep
Electric Wizard, “Time to Die” from Time to Die
Orange Goblin, “The Devil’s Whip” from Back from the Abyss
Moab, “No Soul” from Billow

Second Hour:
Sleep, “The Clarity” from The Clarity 12”
Mars Red Sky, “Hovering Satellites” from Stranded in Arcadia
Floor, “Rocinante” from Oblation
Slomatics, “And Yet it Moves” from Estron
Conan, “Foehammer” from Blood Eagle
Druglord, “Feast on the Eye” from Enter Venus
Apostle of Solitude, “Die Vicar Die” from Of Woe and Wounds
Pilgrim, “Away from Here” from II: Void Worship
Blood Farmers, “The Road Leads to Nowhere” from Headless Eyes

Third Hour:
Lo-Pan, “Regulus” from Colossus
Elephant Tree, “Vlaakith” from Theia
The Well, “Mortal Bones” from Samsara
Lucifer in the Sky with Diamonds, “Counting Time” from The Shining One
Brant Bjork and the Low Desert Punk Band, “Stokely up Now” from Black Power Flower
Joy, “Driving Me Insane” from Under the Spell of Joy
Greenleaf, “Depth of the Sun” from Trails and Passes
Mothership, “Priestess of the Moon” from Mothership II
Truckfighters, “Get Lifted” from Universe
Mos Generator, “Enter the Fire” from Electric Mountain Majesty
Mammatus, “Brain Drain” from Heady Mental

Fourth Hour:
Øresund Space Collective, “Beardlandia” from Music for Pogonologists
My Brother the Wind, “Garden of Delights” from Once There was a Time When Time and Space were One
The Cosmic Dead, “Fukahyoocastulah” from Split with Mugstar
Montibus Communitas, “The Pilgrim to the Absolute” from The Pilgrim to the Absolute

Total running time: 4:02:57

 

Thank you for listening.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 043

 

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