Posted in Whathaveyou on September 14th, 2026 by JJ Koczan
No surprise whatsoever to see Desertfest London 2027 going big out of the gate with destroy-on-stage legends the Melvins headlining. The UK flagship edition of the Desertfest brand made their first 2026 announcement in September as well, so they’re right on the mark in terms of continuity, and I’m glad to see the likes of Monolord, Year of the Cobra, Inter Arma, Kanaan, Desert Storm and Modder added to the bill too, along with The Grudge, Omo and Row of Ashes, making for a lineup that’s already both international and cross-generational.
Every year, the Spring Desertfests in London and Berlin provide not only an anchor for tours but a highlight of the entire underground festival circuit, continually meeting and exceeding high expectations and remaining unflinching in their dedication to heavy sounds. I look forward to seeing how the rest of next year’s lineup shakes out, and to daydreaming of a return to Camden Town one of these years.
Whether you’ve ever been or not, if you’re a heavy rock fan, you’re fortunate to live in the Desertfest era.
Here’s what the PR wire has to say:
MELVINS TO HEADLINE DESERTFEST LONDON 2027
PLUS MONOLORD, MANTAR, INTER ARMA, DOPETHRONE AND MORE – PHASE 1 TICKETS ON SALE NOW.
Desertfest London | 21st- 23rd May 2027
Desertfest London is proud to announce the Melvins as the first headliner for their 2027 edition, taking place next May 21st-23rd in the heart of Camden Town. Formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington, the Melvins are a band that need little introduction at this point in their career. As true pioneers in heavy music their status as one of modern music’s most influential bands is undeniable, and their live shows are truly unparalleled. Often imitated, never duplicated, we here at Desertfest London are honoured to have the Melvins take their rightful place as headliner next May 2027.
Masters in molten riffs, Monolord have been carving out their path in the heavy for well over a decade. Beloved by fans and peers alike, they are no strangers to the Desertfest stage – who can forget their packed out unforgettable 2024 Ballroom set? It was a no-brainer to have them return for Desertfest ‘27.
For those craving something ferocious and filthy, Mantar’s heavy hybrid of blackened death-punk grooves will be served up by the German duo to those brave enough to devour it. Festivities continue as Virginia’s dissonant doom disciples Inter Arma celebrate 20 years of unparalleled pummelling haunting music. And they won’t be celebrating alone, as we also honour 20 years of Desert Storm, homegrown heroes of British heavy metal.
Meanwhile, Montreal powertrio Dopethrone will bring a hefty dose of “Canadian Slutch” filth direct to the streets of Camden, and Seattle duo Year of the Cobra return in sonic style to the Desertest stage for the first time in 8 years.
Desertfest London announces:
MELVINS MONOLORD MANTAR INTER ARMA DOPETHRONE YEAR OF THE COBRA DESERT STORM THE GRUDGE MODDER KANAAN OMO ROW OF ASHES
Desertfest London takes place in its annual home across multiple venues in Camden Town Fri 21st May – Sunday 23rd May 2027.
As far as album narratives go, ‘The Gang Gets Produced by Sylvia Massy’ is a pretty strong one. Last Fall, Gothenburg’s Monolord traveled from Sweden to Ashland, Oregon, to work on Neverending with said producer, whose decades of credits include Tool, Johnny Cash, and actual hundreds of others. The trio of guitarist/vocalist Thomas V Jäger, bassist Mika Häkki and drummer Esben Willems (interview here) had previously always been in-house with production — Willems runs Studio Berserk, which is handy in that regard — and the intent was to do something different, to get away from everything, take time and make an album that captures something new from the band now six records and a busy 13 years into their tenure.
This is the story of the record, and it’s a fitting installment in the overarching thread of Monolord‘s progression. To-date, among their six albums, there has been none that has attempted to repeat what’s come before it, and outside of maintaining core elements of their sound in terms of riff structures, writing catchy choruses, evoking largesse of groove and expanding their capacity for melody to fill the spaces their songs create, Monolord have never more purposeful in the craft decisions they’ve made than they do on Neverending. While focusing on individual pieces like the advance single “You Bastard” or the seven-minute tone-drenched rumbler/stoner-doom swayer “Ooozing Wound” (which I assume has the extra ‘o’ so as not to be confused with being about the band?), Monolord and Massy seem to plunge into the details of the songs beneath the lumbering outward face of the material.
You can hear them taking their time. The way Neverending uses repetition is more willful even than 2021’s Your Time to Shine (review here), and that’s keyed in from the outset as “Iodine” opens the record with Willems running through a cyclical drum fill behind the verse, bolstering the nod of the riff with a punctuating snare, disappearing for the next stop, then slamming back in with the arrival of the next line. This single progression tells you something essential about the album in that it is both what the song needs and speaking to the overarching ethic applied to the material surrounding. Monolord are focused, they are dug in, and they’re laying out a flow that will not only carry into the subsequent hook of the aforementioned “You Bastard,” but on into the slowdown of “Into a Collider,” one of just two songs here over eight minutes long.
Weepy in its guitar lead and morose in the verse as Jäger has always had the capacity to be, the way the riff in “Into a Collider” seems to hold on for more measures after you think the change will come — that subversion of expectation — stands further testament to Monolord purposefully dwelling in the part. And maybe that notion applies less to a shorter, faster cut like “You Bastard” or “Crystal Bridge,” or “The Masque” and the penultimate “Invisible” on side B, all of which like “Iodine” check in on either side of four minutes long while offering sonic variety between them, but it’s still relevant to how “Crystal Bridge” shifts from its initial chug and Häkki‘s bass punch — one isn’t often tempted to write a haiku about bass tone, but… — into a dreamier-if-still-melancholy subdued midsection of lighter strumming and hand-percussion behind the vocals.
Jäger is more confident in that voice-showcase moment than he might’ve been in years past, but the choice to build back up around that patiently, finally getting back to the bookending central riff, speaks to veteran songwriting. “Ooozing Wound” is about as grim as the nod gets in leading off side B, and that revelry in the crush feels very ‘classic Monolord,’ which I guess means reminiscent of their earlier output. They’ve never actually been a primitivist band, but their songs can have a physical lurch that feels urgent regardless of its probable slowness, and that’s true of “Ooozing Wound” as well, but another middle-third departure brings a more floating psychedelic guitar part over steady bass and drums, evoking a jam as a bed beneath the guitar solo, and soon enough slamming back into the next verse, all-business.
That turn is stark and it’s meant to be. Every studio session has happy accidents and things working out (and not) that no one expected going in, and surely the same is true of Monolord‘s collaboration on Neverending with Sylvia Massy, but if you take anything away from this review, take how on-purpose Neverending sounds in the choices that comprise it. Even before you get to the swing and I think layered-in acoustic (is it really there? might be) of the verse to “The Masque,” the way the band keep momentum on their side without repeating themselves in what the songs are actually doing is striking, and the dirtied-up megafuzz of “Invisible,” the lightly headspinning guitar work that, in layers, marks a launched-into culmination that leaves the verse/chorus interplay behind because, again, it’s what most serves the song itself, as well as the album as a whole, which by then has featured an array of resonant choruses.
And if you need further evidence of Monolord refusing not to grow or try new things, the outsourcing of the harsh vocals on the closing title-track to Jörgen Sandström (The Project Hate MCMXCIX, ex-Entombed, ex-Grave, etc.) arrives as the longest cut on Neverending to underscore the point. Later in the song, wistful melodies and, near the finish, shimmering psychedelic guitar will expand the finale’s complexity, but the raw-throat gutturalisms of Sandström are a defining feature, and they bring a strident sense of command to the ensuing crush that Jäger‘s own voice contrasts without either detracting from or feeling out of place. The guitar/voice/keys outro comes across as a moment intended to apply to Neverending as an album more than “It’s Neverending” as a song, but it’s another intentional choice made in either case, so yes, one would say it’s on theme.
I’ll argue for the ascent of Monolord as one of the highlights of the last 15 years in underground heavy. While holding firm to who they are as a band, they’ve consistently been able to evolve their processes, and Neverending serves not only as a demonstrable next forward step in that ongoing development and a landmark for their willingness to break with their own production methods, but also a churning collection of massive aural proportions that invaribly pulls with gravity and the character of its execution. It is the work of masters.
Monolord release their new album, Neverending, today, May 29, through Relapse Records. It’s the busiest release day of the year so far, with albums also arriving from Elder and All Them Witches, and I mention both of them because I believe it’s to this class of acts that Monolord belongs, even if the Gothenburg trio have little in common sound-wise with either of the other two, apart from some blanket categorization like “heavy” or “loud most of the time,” etc.
That is to say, I put the ascent of Monolord to the forefront of the underground among the most fortunate things to happen to said underground in the last 15 years. They have modeled for an entire generation a style of riffing that knows where it comes from and celebrates it in unabashed style. “You Bastard,” “Inside a Collider” and the concluding “It’s Neverending” with harsh guest vocals from Jörgen Sandström (ex-Entombed, The Project Hate MCMXCIX) all demonstrate this in one way or another as the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Thomas V. Jäger, bassist Mika Häkki and drummer Esben Willems — each of whom now has an ongoing solo-project — reaffirm some of what have always been the band’s strengths in groove and melody while branching out in meaningful ways therefrom, including in the process of recording itself.
As you’ve probably seen if you’ve seen anything about the record, Neverending was recorded with producer Sylvia Massy (Exodus, Life of Agony, etc.) in Ashland (I said Portland in the interview because I’m an idiot), Oregon, and that in itself is a shift in how Monolord make records. Less of a change is how much they’ll tour, which is plenty. West Coast and East Coast US, plus a Fall European run to hit festivals like Høstsabbat and Desertfest Belgium, for which they’ve already been confirmed.
The first of those tours starts June 11. I’ve included all the dates at the very bottom of this post, in blue. Before you get there, what follows is a partial transcript (yes, I took out the part where I said Portland) of a chat I was fortunate enough to have with Esben Willems last week, catching up on all things Monolord before Neverending sets them once again to work for the next few years.
Please enjoy and thanks for reading.
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Monolord Interview with Esben Willems – May 20, 2026
How are you?
Well, I’m everything at once, but that’s kind of life at the moment. Everything happening at once, and the world is a shit show at the same time, which is spicing everything up in a very bad way, but also in a very good way in some sense. The important stuff shines even brighter, if that makes sense. My family, my friends, music, everything that really matters has a big shiny spotlight on all of that, and has for the past year plus, for obvious reasons, for all of us. That’s kind of okay. Are we gonna die now? So, let’s make the most of it, for real.
I’m joking about it, but then again, my 11-year-old kid is also joking about the same thing, like the third world war jokes they joke about in school, because that’s the topic they frequently discuss, which is fucking insane. So, hey, I’m not bleak.
You’re coming to the States next month, right? West Coast run?
Yeah.
And then I think it’s East Coast in September, and then Europe in October for festivals? I saw you’re on Høstsabbat and Desertfest Belgium, so far.
Yeah, almost. We’re doing the West Coast run, and then back to Europe for two festival summer dates, then back to the US for the East Coast, and then two European tours. And then the Høstsabbat in Oslo, yeah.
Not that you’re not busy all the time anyway, and not that you’re not keeping yourself busy when you’re not busy with Monolord, but looking down the barrel of a new album cycle, how are you feeling about the work?
It’s a very good question that I don’t know the answer to. Recording an album is a clusterfuck. It’s kind of a controlled trainwreck. Everything happening at once, and it feels like chaos, and you do the creativity curve where at the bottom you just want to quit everything. I’m never gonna fucking play drums ever again. Then toward the end it’s like, this is all right, this is okay, this is passable, and then all of a sudden there’s an album in your hand on physical vinyl. Like, whoa, oh yeah, that’s right, it’s done now.
My experience with recording albums has been kind of the same every time. It’s a really weird process, not in a bad way necessarily. This was a very inspiring experience working with Sylvia. That was incredible, and it was cozy and inspiring all the way. It was just getting up, getting good coffee, going to the studio, making music, rinse and repeat for four weeks, and then all of a sudden there was an album.
It’s kind of weird going from being in that bubble of creating something and then all of a sudden you’re planning to tour that album. Maybe it doesn’t sound that weird, but it feels kind of weird. But I don’t mean weird in a bad sense. It feels great. I’m excited. I’m excited about the tours. We haven’t toured for quite some time now. We’ve played some festival shows, but proper tours we haven’t done in a couple years, so that’s going to be interesting in all the good ways, I hope. It feels good.
How much of the album was made in that four weeks? Obviously it was all recorded in that four weeks, but I mean in the sense of writing.
Oh, it was all made before the actual recording. Two-plus weeks of recording, and then almost two weeks of mixing.
How does that compare to Your Time to Shine?
Yeah, there was more time than we’re used to, but on Your Time to Shine we also had quite some time. It was during the pandemic. I had just taken over the studio, so we had kind of free studio time, so to speak. I think we scheduled three weeks of recording for that, and then I don’t remember what it took me to mix it after that, but yeah, kind of the same timeframe.
Time flies. Ask anyone being in the studio. You arrive in the morning and all of a sudden you’ve recorded two hits on the drum and it’s like, oh, it’s 5PM. Wild. So time flies by really quick recording.
What was staying in Oregon like?
It was Ashland, a small town, which was perfect for this. Just a cozy, slow, very chill town where basically nothing much happened, which was excellent. Cozy and beautiful, and the best cafe on the way to the studio. We lived about a two-minute walk from her studio. So no, it was great. No distractions.
How did you end up with Sylvia Massy to start with?
Thanks to our manager, Daniel Hall. We brainstormed working with a producer, and we were kind of like, no, don’t touch our circles. Three geezers knowing exactly what we want to do and having done that forever. But then we brainstormed: if we could work with anyone, who would that be? Sylvia’s name was basically the first name that came up that all three of us agreed on. We all liked her previous work and her mindset and her way of working and creating.
Our manager was like, let me look into that. All of a sudden he’d been in contact with her, and she’d been listening to our music, and came back like, I like this a lot. I’d love to work with the band. And then all of a sudden, again, we were just in Ashland with Sylvia Massy recording like nothing happened. Crazy. But it was amazing. It was a great experience, really.
Was it different in terms of her process versus what you guys had done before?
Well, the obvious biggest thing is having someone else from the outside listening to our music and working with our music and having opinions on what we do, which is not the easiest thing for us. But that was the big difference. Then again, working with someone like her, with her ears and her experience, was — I mentioned cozy before — very comfortable. I’ve never felt that in the studio before, ever. So that was incredible.
Just the feeling of going to the studio and actually feeling relaxed and feeling safe, which might sound like a weird word in this context, but it felt like home going into her studio and just making music. Playful. That was thanks to her, I think, because she really had a way to encapsulate what we are and what we wanted to do, and being a master at making all those thousands of micro-decisions. Some of them you notice, and some you don’t notice until after the fact.
It felt really good just to be able to lean on that, if that makes sense. Like, this feels amazing. I’m just gonna lean back and play. I’ve never felt like that in the studio. I’ve always felt like there’s an actual gun to my head right now. I have to perform the best I’ve ever performed before, and I fucking hate this, and I hate myself, and I suck.
It’s great. It is inspiring. It’s amazing.
Is there a moment on the record, stands out to you as an example of what she brought to the production, to the songs, having opinions on the songs? Was there something she suggested that you were like that turned out to be fucking incredible? Is there, or is there something that just in your mind says that’s Sylvia on the record?
Nothing like super obvious specific details, more like the vibe of it when I listened back to the album, was like, oh yeah, that thing, and oh yeah, that thing, and that mood, and that vibe, and oh, we did that. There’s a million small details again, all the small, small choices that that build an album you really like, or hopefully really like.
The single we just released, “It’s Neverending” with Jörgen Sandström on guest vocals. Yep, what she made of that was incredible to me, and what he made of the guest vocals was incredible, but she really, her mix of that album and her production of how to, how to sculpt that song was is amazing to me. It’s, it’s incredible. I think that one, for one, for one song, that song stands out to me.
One thing I wanted to ask you about specifically is the the drum line in “Iodine,” the way the thread throughout is the your snare onto the toms and back up, that sort of cyclical pattern back and forth, because the first time I put the record on, I sort of queued in on that immediately, and I was like, oh shit, this is hypnotic. It just goes back and forth throughout the whole song, so I was kind of curious, where that part came from, where I feel like you probably could have done a [more conventional beat], or you know, whatever, something more straightforward, but, but what’s there really stands that song out, and, and at least in my head, I was like, oh, that’s why that’s the opener.
I think it came from I wanted to find something that elevated what I felt that or those parts are, so tried a few things out, and they all sounded generic. Then I just played the most basic beginner drum fill backwards. Oh, there’s something here. Play it backwards from the darkest to the brightest tom, and then ending with the snare, and it was built on that, that vibe. Just playing that super basic thing backwards was like, oh, there’s something here that would sound nice to be repetitive, and I built on that, so it’s it’s built on a really, really simple idea, which I also kind of like. I always search for those really simple ideas. I’ve always been really impressed by musicians that find brilliance in the small detail, the simple details.
In moving on from Your Time to Shine, was there something specific you didn’t want or that you did want from this album?
It’s also a good question. I don’t know, probably, but we always… The ongoing discussion in the band is we try to evolve within what we are, within what is Monolord to us, which is very wide and which has also meant that some fans sometimes, with the release of an album, are thinking, what is this? This is not Monolord, this is not the band that I like, and that’s okay.
Do people say that?
Ever since Rust. Like, no, that’s wrong, or it’s too fast, or it’s too whatever. Whatever doom-stoner-sludge rule we broke, but I also don’t care, because we make music we like, and we make music that we feel sounds like Monolord, and it’s been the same through everything we’ve done. So, yes and no with this one, because it’s, it’s kind of been the similar process to the other albums I feel, in the way that we felt like we don’t want to repeat it ourselves. We don’t want to make music that sounds like just a repetition or a rehashing of an old riff or something like that, but there wasn’t anything specific with this album, other than working with the producer, that was the big one for us, and also going away from home, recording that, staying somewhere else, which we did for a month, recording it, and try what that would be like.
So, I think a lot of things happened in that process that I’m not really fully aware of right now, but I will be. Things will fall into place when I think back on it, and, oh yeah, that happened, and that happened, and that happened again, because recording is that controlled trainwreck, and you just like, whoa, okay. And there’s the album. I think it was really good for us to do the do it the way we did, being forced to be staying in the same apartment, working in the same studio at the same place in a really cozy but very chill, non-distracting place, that was great for the process, even though the material was written and rehearsed, and all that pre-produced in before we came there, but yeah, it helped the production, I think, a lot. That was a non-reply to what you asked, but sorry.
All three of you guys, you and Thomas and Mikka, all have solo-projects now. In light of this, how has your perspective on Monolord, what the band does and is, changed over time, and especially over the last five years?
You mean with those projects, with life, with the way Monolord is, as received by fans, just in general. Yeah, I think for me it’s been since the pandemic, which obviously turned the world upside down for all of us. That was the pandemic when that hit. That was the first time we’ve talked about this in the band, that was the first time we kind of woke up and reflected on what we were with the band, what we had accomplished up until then.
It’s like, whoa, wild, we’ve done all of this, we, we just worked, worked, worked up until then, and then the pandemic hit, and was like looking back and realizing that, oh, we’ve, we’ve done something here. This is amazing. It felt really good, and it felt for me kind of overwhelming. It hit me then and there what the band had become.
Also, at the same time, with the pandemic, and the time after that, I finally got some time to get back to side-projects and my solo album, and all of that, because that’s always been really important to me. I think it’s for me, it fuels the main project, it’s super-important, because you become blind to your own thing after a while if you don’t do anything else, and I know that varies wildly. I mean, there are people that would never play outside the main band and nothing else, and that’s fine, but for me it’s really important. It makes the creativity in the main band, in this case, clearer, more emphasized. It’s easier to understand what the band is.
For me, I feel with doing all of the other projects, playing with other people, playing in other contexts, playing other styles of music. I’m singing in a project, which is the most scary thing I’ve ever done, and that’s also why I said yes when asked, which is amazing. It puts a different perspective on what the main project is every time I do something else, in a very good way for me, I feel, and it keeps it inspiring.
Because doing the same thing in the same project with the same people over and over and again is amazing in one way, but also you start repeating yourself. You start doing the same things over and over again, and in the worst case, you get bored, and you make boring music, and you perform boring shows, and none of us want that. That’s kind of how the perspective has changed or shifted for me, I’ve kind of gone back to what I did before Monolord, so doing more, more of the side-projects along the main band.
And as someone who’s also a producer, aside from making people comfortable, what lessons did you take from Sylvia Massy?
I mean, that was the big one, that really was the big one, because all the amazing gear, and all the super expensive mics, and all the very vintage, very rare stuff is amazing. Of course, it is, but the craft is in the execution of it, I feel, and one big part of that is making people feel comfortable, feel safe, and not feel pushed, or feel, yeah, creating a good vibe.
It sounds so incredibly generic, saying that, but that really is the biggest thing. I mean, there’s been so many great albums recorded with that being the biggest factor in the weirdest places with subpar gear and all that, but the vibe has been perfect, and hence the album became perfect because of it.
There was one thing she did I have never done before, which I really enjoyed, that was jumping back and forth a lot, and at first I really wasn’t, that was kind of, whoa, okay, but I got used to it really quick, and I really enjoyed it.
From song to song, you mean?
Oh yeah, that too. Usually when you record, it’s kind of very linear. Not always, but usually you record drums, bass, lay guitars on top of that, then vocals, and after that it’s the mix. But she kind of jumped back and forth in between songs, and the mixing process started before the last things were recorded, so everything overlapped all the way through.
I felt it was amazing because it kept it inspiring all the way through. At least it did for me. It was never fatiguing, which is a big issue when you record. It’s like, okay, take 1004. To keep away from that, this was the perfect method — just jumping back and forth between things.
She often was like, let’s stop there, let’s go for this song or this part, and then go back to this tomorrow or another day. She was really great at keeping track of where everything was, what was finished and what wasn’t, and the priority of everything. I think that was the big thing, kind of managing the process.
I would imagine that kind of puts you in a different frame. I know when you’re in the studio tracking something, you can kind of get in your own head and get stuck on that one part or that one song. I would imagine jumping around like that gives you more of a big-picture perspective. All of a sudden you’re thinking about the whole album again.
It does, yeah, and it tricks you into feeling that everything is kind of new all the time. It’s like, oh yeah, that part, that’s right, this is fun, and then going back to the other part, oh yeah, this part. So absolutely, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, on all of the above.
When I’m sitting here recording Slower drums, which I absolutely love, I think it’s amazing, it’s so much fun, yes, but there’s a lot of screaming and a lot of “what the fuck” moments when I record stuff, because it’s kind of like, oh, come on, and then I repeat the same thing again and again and again.
So I need to learn from that, being better at jumping back and forth and being better at keeping track of where I am in the process. She had a gigantic whiteboard beside her.
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Monolord U.S. tour dates: Mizmor opens on all Western U.S. dates June 11 San Diego, CA Casbah June 12 Santa Cruz, CA The Catalyst June 13 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall June 14 Sacramento, CA Harlow’s June 16 Eugene, OR John Henry’s June 17 Portland, OR Nova PDX June 18 Seattle, WA Substation June 19 Bellingham, WA Structures Brewing June 20 Tacoma, WA Airport Tavern Music Hall June 23 Denver, CO Marquis Theater June 24 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge June 25 Las Vegas, NV Bizarre Bar June 26 Pioneertown, CA Pappy & Harriet’s June 27 Los Angeles, CA The Regent Theater
Khemmis opens on all Eastern U.S. dates August 27 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall August 28 Louisville, KY Portal August 29 Atlanta, GA Garden Club August 30 Asheville, NC Eulogy August 31 Columbia, SC New Brookland Tavern September 2 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts September 3 Brooklyn, NY Elsewhere September 5 Baltimore, MD Labor Daze September 6 Cookeville, TN Muddy Roots Festival September 8 Columbus, OH Ace of Cups September 9 Detroit, MI Sanctuary September 10 Indianapolis, IN Black Circle
European tour dates: May 28 Malmö, SE Plan B May 29 Stockholm, SE Slaktkyrkan May 30 Gothenburg, SE Monument July 30 Ghimbav, RO Rockstadt Extreme Festival August 7 Kortrijk, BE Alcatraz Festival October 6 Hamburg, DE Bahnhof Pauli October 7 Haarlem, NL Patronaat October 8 Eindhoven, NL Effenaar October 9 Sint-Niklaas, BE De Casino October 10 Paris, FR La Maroquinerie October 11 Nantes, FR Le Ferrailleur October 12 Toulouse, FR Le Rex October 13 Lyon, FR Jack Jack October 14 Aarau, CH KIFF October 15 Munich, DE Backstage October 16 Osnabrück, DE Bastard Club October 17 Cologne, DE Gebäude 9 November 4 Copenhagen, DK Stengade November 5 Berlin, DE Columbia Theater November 6 Dresden, DE Beatpol November 7 Warsaw, PL Hydrozagadka November 8 Krakow, PL Hype Park November 9 Brno, CZ Kabinet Múz November 10 Budapest, HU Dürer Kert November 11 Vienna, AT Arena November 12 Zagreb, HR Vintage Industrial Bar November 13 Milan, IT Legend November 14 Bologna, IT FreakOut November 15 Karlsruhe, DE P8
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 31st, 2026 by JJ Koczan
Wow. With Monolord releasing their new album, Neverending, on May 29, that puts new Elder, Monolord and All Them Witches all out on the same day. I can’t remember a recent release date so packed in recent memory. The Sylvia Massy-helmed Neverending was recorded in the Pacific Northwest last Fall, and the video for the first single “You Bastard” by renowned photographer James Rexroad comes from that time, showing the band recording and doing a bunch of American-type things. They go bowling. They watch things go by in a car. They hang out by train tracks. Essential experiences.
The song, unsurprisingly, is catchy as hell in addition to its corresponding weight of riff. Unabashedly Sabbathian as ever, the new LP is something of a coming-back-together for Monolord, as each of the three members of the band have had solo-projects to some degree or other in the works over the time since 2021’s Your Time to Shine (review here). They’ve never quite made the same record twice, but they remain recognizable here as well. That balance is how they do.
I’ll hope to have more to come soon. For now, fresh off the PR wire:
MONOLORD RETURN WITH NEVERENDING; FIRST FULL-LENGTH ALBUM IN FIVE YEARS; OUT MAY 29 VIA RELAPSE RECORDS
Monolord return with Neverending, their first full-length album in five years, arriving May 29 via Relapse Records.
To create Neverending, Monolord decamped to Ashland, Oregon to record with legendary producer/engineer Sylvia Massy (Tool, System of a Down, and Johnny Cash). The collaboration began when Massy asked vocalist/guitarist Thomas Jäger to send everything the band had ever written. “She asked me to send her everything we had—not just songs written for the album, but every stray riff and idea,” he says. “I even sent her stuff I’d written ten years ago. She listened to all of it and sent us a list of what she wanted to work on.” The band rehearsed 12 songs, recorded 11, and ultimately selected eight for Neverending. The result captures a focused but expansive version of Monolord’s sound.
An introduction to the album comes with today’s release of “You Bastard” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-dfIpmX-xo), alongside a video by James Rexroad during the recording sessions. Driven by a propulsive groove, the track points to a shift in the band’s approach. “This isn’t really what people would call a doom album,” Jäger adds. “It feels like a mix of that and something new.”
Reflecting on the band’s trajectory since forming in 2013, drummer Esben Willems adds: “It’s been a wild ride and still is. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished along the way, and in many ways, this album feels like the essence of everything we’ve done so far. My mindset is the same it’s always been, to be the absolute best the three of us can be.”
Album pre-orders, including multiple limited-edition vinyl variants, CD and cassette, as well as digital pre-saves, are available now (https://www.relapse.com/pages/monolord-neverending).
Neverending album cover featuring a painting by M.K. Cooper
Neverending tracklisting:
1. Iodine 2. You Bastard 3. Inside A Collider 4. Crystal Bridge 5. Oozing Wound 6. The Masque 7. Invisible 8. It’s Neverending * *-features vocals by Jörgen Sandström (ex-Entombed)
The band has simultaneously announced an expansion of their U.S. tour plans, adding a late Summer leg for the East Coast. Mizmor opens the Western U.S. dates, Khemmis opens on all Eastern U.S. dates with the exception of the Muddy Roots Festival. Tickets for all dates are on-sale now via Monolord.com.
Monolord U.S. tour dates: Mizmor opens on all Western U.S. dates June 11 San Diego, CA Casbah June 12 Santa Cruz, CA The Catalyst June 13 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall June 14 Sacramento, CA Harlow’s June 16 Eugene, OR John Henry’s June 17 Portland, OR Nova PDX June 18 Seattle, WA Substation June 19 Bellingham, WA Structures Brewing June 20 Tacoma, WA Airport Tavern Music Hall June 23 Denver, CO Marquis Theater June 24 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge June 25 Las Vegas, NV Bizarre Bar June 26 Pioneertown, CA Pappy & Harriet’s June 27 Los Angeles, CA The Regent Theater
Khemmis opens on all Eastern U.S. dates August 27 Chicago, IL Thalia Hall August 28 Louisville, KY Portal August 29 Atlanta, GA Garden Club August 30 Asheville, NC Eulogy August 31 Columbia, SC New Brookland Tavern September 2 Philadelphia, PA Underground Arts September 3 Brooklyn, NY Elsewhere September 5 Baltimore, MD Labor Daze September 6 Cookeville, TN Muddy Roots Festival September 8 Columbus, OH Ace of Cups September 9 Detroit, MI Sanctuary September 10 Indianapolis, IN Black Circle
European tour dates: May 28 Malmö, SE Plan B May 29 Stockholm, SE Slaktkyrkan May 30 Gothenburg, SE Monument July 30 Ghimbav, RO Rockstadt Extreme Festival August 7 Kortrijk, BE Alcatraz Festival October 6 Hamburg, DE Bahnhof Pauli October 7 Haarlem, NL Patronaat October 8 Eindhoven, NL Effenaar October 9 Sint-Niklaas, BE De Casino October 10 Paris, FR La Maroquinerie October 11 Nantes, FR Le Ferrailleur October 12 Toulouse, FR Le Rex October 13 Lyon, FR Jack Jack October 14 Aarau, CH KIFF October 15 Munich, DE Backstage October 16 Osnabrück, DE Bastard Club October 17 Cologne, DE Gebäude 9 November 4 Copenhagen, DK Stengade November 5 Berlin, DE Columbia Theater November 6 Dresden, DE Beatpol November 7 Warsaw, PL Hydrozagadka November 8 Krakow, PL Hype Park November 9 Brno, CZ Kabinet Múz November 10 Budapest, HU Dürer Kert November 11 Vienna, AT Arena November 12 Zagreb, HR Vintage Industrial Bar November 13 Milan, IT Legend November 14 Bologna, IT FreakOut November 15 Karlsruhe, DE P8
Monolord are: Thomas V Jäger – Guitars & vocals Esben Willems – Drums Mika Häkki – Bass
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 4th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
They’re announcing the tour. What they’re not announcing yet is the album that the tour will support. Recently recorded in the US Pacific Northwest with producer Sylvia Massy, the impending Monolord full-length — which maybe is being mastered while we speak if it isn’t done already; that’s kind of exciting in a nerdy way — has the grim duty of following 2021’s Your Time to Shine (review here), but I’m looking forward to hearing where Monolord are at circa 2026, after all three of them have done the solo-projects thing and after the band has toured multiple times over with Per Wiberg as a fourth member, continuing to branch out as they’ve done all along since the first record.
My curiosity here is what Monolord will be doing before this, since if the album’s out in Spring they’ll likely tour then too. Eurofests? The US East Coast seems like a lame place to launch your first record in five years, but I only think that because it’s where I live, so I guess that’s a possibility as well. They’ll be somewhere, certainly.
So yes, the tour. All part of the process. The wait begins.
From the PR wire:
MONOLORD ANNOUNCE FIRST U.S. TOUR DATES SINCE 2022
SWEDISH DOOM TRIO RETURNS TO STATES NEXT JUNE AS NEW ALBUM NEARS COMPLETION
Monolord return to the U.S. next June for their first North American tour since 2022, traversing the western United States with performances that include stops at The Regent Theater in Los Angeles and the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco.
The news arrives as the trio of Thomas Jäger (guitar/vocals), Esben Willems (drums), and Mika Häkki (bass), wraps up work on their highly anticipated fifth album.
“The new album is a wrap! Recording with Sylvia Massy has been a fantastic experience and we can’t wait to bring these new songs on the road,” the band shares, collectively.
Tickets are on sale this Friday, December 5, at 10 a.m. local time via Monolord.com. Mizmor supports on all dates.
Monolord U.S. tour dates: June 11 San Diego, CA Casbah June 12 Santa Cruz, CA The Catalyst June 13 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall June 14 Sacramento, CA Harlow’s June 16 Eugene, OR John Henry’s June 17 Portland, OR Nova PDX June 18 Seattle, WA Substation June 19 Bellingham, WA Structures Brewing June 20 Tacoma, WA Airport Tavern Music Hall June 23 Denver, CO Marquis Theater June 24 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge June 25 Las Vegas, NV Swan Dive June 26 Pioneertown, CA Pappy & Harriet’s June 27 Los Angeles, CA The Regent Theater
Monolord have released four critically acclaimed albums: Empress Rising (2014), Vænir (2015), Rust (2017), and Your Time to Shine (2021). Their sound combines monolithic heaviness, psychedelic expansiveness, and meticulous production.
Monolord are: Thomas V Jäger – Guitars & vocals Esben Willems – Drums Mika Häkki – Bass
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 24th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Monolord are done recording their next album. The Gothenburg, Sweden, three-piece tracked their impending sixth full-length in Oregon with Sylvia Massey, whose decades-long career has seen her work with hundreds of acts, among them Tool, Green Jellö and Machines of Loving Grace, and with the mixing and mastering process presumably still ahead of them, a release in March or April doesn’t seem out of the question for what will almost certainly be one of 2026’s most anticipated heavy albums. I’m pretty sure they’re still on Relapse Records, but they mention ‘a new era of Monolord‘ below, so I’ll wait for a confirmation of what that means before I start any real rampant speculation.
Obviously, the prospect of a new Monolord release brings questions of where the band are at sound-wise. While known for and retaining a physically lumbering nod, there’s no question the trio of guitarist/vocalist Thomas V. Jäger, bassist Mika Häkki and drummer Esben Willems have grown more dynamic. “Empress Rising” might still finish out a set with all due steamroll, but the band have shown time and again that they have more to offer sound-wise. Their 2023 two-songer EP, It’s All the Same (review here), continued the band’s forays into psychedelia and post-heavy atmosphere-making, and to my remembering, this is the first time Monolord will have come back together to make an LP that all three members have active solo-projects under their respective names.
Monolord‘s most recent full-length is 2021’s stellar Your Time to Shine (review here), which you’ll find streaming below along with the 2023 EP. One looks forward hopefully to the dry sarcasm of what their next title might be. ‘I’d Rather Walk the Dog Than Tour This Record’ or some such.
Unlike mine, their announcement was short and sweet. From socials:
We have finished recording our new full-length album with the legendary Sylvia Massy in Ashland, Oregon!
Stay tuned in 2026 for a new era of Monolord…
Photo by James Rexroad.
Monolord are: Thomas V Jäger – Guitars & vocals Esben Willems – Drums Mika Häkki – Bass
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 25th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Dayum. SonicBlast Fest came out hard with its first lineup announcement and things have only gotten more heartstirring since then. In a new round of 13 lineup adds, they bring King Woman, Messa, Monolord, King Buffalo, The Atomic Bitchwax, Daily Thompson, Vinnum Sabbathi, Castle Rat, Tō Yō, Witchthroat Serpent and more to the bill, and when you look at the rest of the poster and see Fu Manchu, My Sleeping Karma, Earthless, Slomosa, Gnoma, Daevar, Amenra, Emma Ruth Rundle and so on, yeah, fair to call it compelling, not that “weekend on the beach in Portugal” should be a hard sell on its own either.
And while you’re looking at the poster below, surely you’ll also note the part where it says there’s more to come. I don’t know that that’ll be another full round of 13 bands, but honestly, SonicBlast is always packed, so anything’s possible. I was there in 2023 and it was awesome. Great place, nice people, and I learned how to order espresso in Portuguese, which was a bonus. If you can get there, you should take a look, is all I’m saying. I even left the emojis intact.
The following comes from socials:
13 is the magic number 🔥🔥
We’re so thrilled to confirm 13 new bands for the great reunion of weight and psychedia that will once again – for the 13th time! – take place in August, on the already mythical Duna dos Caldeirões beach ⚡️🔥
King Woman, Monolord, Chalk, Ditz, King Buffalo, Messa, Castle Rat, Dead Ghosts, The Atomic Bitchwax, Witchthroat Serpent, Vinnum Sabbathi, Tō Yō, Daily Thompson will join us at our wild party ⚡️
King Woman Monolord Chalk Ditz King Buffalo Messa Castle Rat Dead Ghosts The Atomic Bitchwax Witchthroat Serpent Vinnum Sabbathi Tō Yō Daily Thompson
Tickets are already available at BOL and Masqueticket (links in bio)
If you’re in Portugal you can also buy your ticket at Fnac, Worten and Ctt stores
Posted in Bootleg Theater on February 18th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
The second solo album from Mika Häkki, Mørker, is on the way via Majestic Mountain Records. Best known to heavyheads as the bassist of Monolord — perhaps you’ve even stood in front of a stage and been flattened by his tone and/or the utter delight he takes in the delivery thereof? — Häkki released his solo debut, Vemod, in 2022, touching on aspects of classic country and singer-songwriterism alongside post-everything atmospheres and nascent arrangement flourish. Mørker, with a more confident range in terms of style and an apparent firmer grasp on what it wants each of its seven included tracks to be doing, positions Häkki as something of an auteur at the center of its material. He’s the presence that draws together songs like the dreamy beachy post-prog pop of “When You’re Old” — guitar like goth surf — and the cool-like-earliest-Stooges-and-no-less-dripping-with-attitude-or-tripped-out prior single “Couch Anthem.”
Each piece, from opener “Take This Light Away,” for which an atmospheric-type video is premiering below, to the seven-minute strum-and-sing-along finisher “Weighted Daze” that closes with shades of later-cocaine Neil Young and Nick Cave‘s Grinderman alike, has something to offer to stand it out from among those surrounding. “Take This Light Away” takes an almost Opethian angle on folkish ’60s psych-pop, where the synth of “When You’re Old” gives more of a ’70s prog vibe early, like Floyd keeping the conversation light and just talking about personal decay and “Time Stood Still” shifts to an electronic beat and airier guitar tone to suit the wistfulness of the vocals. As noted, “Couch Anthem” very much is a centerpiece — one can’t help but be reminded of the early 2021 Monolord single “I’m Staying Home” (discussed here) — and the solidification of a persona for Häkki as a songwriter as much as for the malleable nature of his actual craft. Vemod was not without this sense of reach, but Mørker makes it clear Häkki learned from his first solo outing and, with this follow-up, he affirms a creative progression underway distinct from that of his full-time band or the respective solo-projects of Monolord‘s other members, Thomas V. Jäger and Esben Willems.
And yes, persona and quirk are for sure an aspect of what Mørker has to offer the listener — neither is a thing to complain about — but later in the album, Häkki reaches deeper into singer-songwriterism, with “Makes No Sense” finding a strident mood in declarative acoustic guitar and “Another Reason to Stay” reminding of some of late-’70s John Lennon‘s full-scope arrangements, filled out with keys as it is that border on the choral. These are the two shortest pieces on the record, both right on either side of three and a half minutes, but they emphasize just how much Häkki is able to get out of that time in terms of atmosphere and creating a memorable impression on the listener. Yeah, it’s cool when “Weighted Daze” takes off and all that, but that’s ultimately just one of the places Häkki steers Mørker and the real highlight is getting there. Multifaceted in its composition and performance, Mørker is a strong answer to Häkki‘s first record, sure, and it builds on the accomplishments there, but more, it lays out a forward path for continued realization without feeling like a blueprint for settling into a sound so much as a guidepost for the listeners who’ll follow Häkki on this longer-term journey.
Enjoy the video “Take This Light Away” below. More info follows from the PR wire:
Mika Häkki, “Take This Light Away” video premiere
Mika Häkki on “Take This Light Away”:
An imagined world where the sun doesn’t rise again. Where even the slightest source of light is devoured by dark.
This was a fun song to both write and record. Klas-Henrik Hörngren plays the Harpsichord on the song which really gives it a cool vibe on the verses.
”Mørker” was recorded at LÜXFÄLLAN Studios, produced by Kristoffer Ragnstam. All songs written by Mika Häkki, but guests on a few songs were Klas-Henrik Hörngren on keys, Krister Selander on bass and Kristoffer Ragnstam on drums and backing vocals. I’ve really found a great way to work in the studio with Kristoffer Ragnstam that is both creative and fun. Bouncing ideas and trying out different solutions on the go.
