Posted in Whathaveyou on August 6th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Moon Destroys already toured with Elder this year, and they’ll be out with Dozer and The Sword before 2025 is done. Significant time on the road and in some decent slots. And yeah, a pedigree that lets them namedrop Torche and Royal Thunder is nothing to sneeze at, but if you heard their 2025 debut album, She Walks by Moonlight (review here), upon its self-release this Spring, you already know that as a band they’re more than the sum of their collective discography.
Likely the Blues Funeral Recordings issue of She Walks by Moonlight set to release this October will be the ‘official’ edition, and fair enough for that since they’ll apparently spend much of 2026 touring to support it. Europe yet? Another record first, maybe, but you never know. They’d be a smart pickup for some Desertfest or other happening in Europe next Spring. Just thinking out loud.
Kudos to the band, cheers to Jadd on his forever-to-the-ground ear, and thanks for reading. Here’s the announcement from the PR wire:
Atlanta alternative psych unit MOON DESTROYS (w/ ex-Torche and Royal Thunder) sign to Blues Funeral Recordings; US tours with Dozer and The Sword coming!
Atlanta alternative psych rock unit MOON DESTROYS have signed to Blues Funeral Recordings for the reissue of their self-released debut “She Walks By Moonlight” as well as their new album release in 2026. The band is ready to embark on their US West Coast tour this week alongside Dozer and Abrams, and will be touring the East Coast with The Sword this fall.
Formed by guitarist Juan Montoya (ex-Torche) and drummer Evan Diprima (ex-Royal Thunder), Moon Destroys released their first EP ‘Maiden Voyage’ in 2020. The 5-song debut featured contributions from Troy Sanders (Mastodon) and Bryan Richie (The Sword) and laid a foundation that would come fully into focus when vocalist/guitarist Charlie Suárez (MonstrO) and bassist Arnold Nese completed the band in 2024.
April 2025 found Moon Destroys thrust into the limelight, supporting Elder on tour just as they were self-releasing their debut full-length “She Walks By Moonlight” in limited form. Despite hurrying to get the new LP ready in time to take on the road, the album inarguably captured the band’s tremendous evolution beyond the connections to the members’ former outfits.
Gritty and distorted yet hazy and hypnotic, “She Walks By Moonlight” shifts from shimmering post-rock to driving riff-doom and back to shoegazy psychedelia. It’s a cinematic and otherworldly journey from a band who breeze easily into the environs of Floor, Mother Love Bone, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Russian Circles and Ride, ultimately collapsing all efforts at categorization into its effervescent, compulsive swirl.
Blues Funeral Recordings is proud to welcome Moon Destroys to the label just in time for a string of US tour dates supporting Swedish icons Dozer alongside labelmates Abrams. The label will bring forth a proper worldwide release of “She Walks By Moonlight” this October as they will hit the stage for a coveted run of dates with The Sword, followed by their next album release and more touring in 2026.
The band says: “We are extremely excited to join forces with Jadd and the Blues Funeral Recordings team to continue the saga of Moon Destroys. It’s an honor to join a roster with great, like-minded artists to keep pushing the heavy underground forward! We will see you out on the West Coast this month supporting fellow label mates and Swedish legends Dozer. After that, we’ll be out supporting our friends and fellow rippers The Sword this October on the East Coast before heading back into the studio to finish a new album. We are looking forward to working hard for the rest of the year to make for an even busier 2026! It’s full steam ahead now with a great team!“
Summer 2025 supporting Dozer w/ Abrams August 7 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Swan Dive August 8 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room August 9 – San Diego, CA @ Brick By Brick August 10 – Palmdale, CA @ Transplants Brewing August 12 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill August 13 – Eureka, CA @ Savage Henry Comedy Club August 14 – Eugene, OR @ John Henry’s August 15 – Portland, OR @ Dante’s August 16 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw August 17 – Seattle, WA @ Substation
Fall 2025 tour supporting The Sword
October 13 – Boston, MA @ Paradise October 14 – New York City, NY @ The Bowery Ballroom October 15 – Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground October 17 – Buffalo, NY @ Higher Ground October 18 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls October 19 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer October 22 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theater October 23 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse October 24 – Orlando, FL @ The Beacham October 26 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl
Alright, y’all. This is where it ends. The Quarterly Review has been an absolute blast, an easy, fun, good time to have, but inevitably it must come to close and that’s where we’re at. Last day. Last 10 releases. Thanks if you’ve kept up. I’ll be back I think in September with another one of these, probably longer.
Hope you’ve found something killer this week. I did.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
Katatonia, Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State
Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State is the first long-player in the 34-year history of Katatonia — upwards of their 13th album, depending on what you count — to not feature guitarist Anders Nyström. That leaves frontman Jonas Renkse as the remaining founder of the band, with two new guitarists in Nico Elgstrand and Sebastian Svalland, bassist Niklas Sandin and drummer Daniel Moilanen, steering one of heavy music’s most identifiable sounds in new ways. “Wind of No Change” is duly subversive, and “Departure Trails” basks in texture in a way Katatonia have periodically throughout the last 20 years, but the Opethian severity of they keys in “The Light Which I Bleed” and the declarative chug at the end of opener “Thrice” speak to the band’s awareness of the need to occasionally be very, very heavy, even as “Efter Solen” shifts into dark, emotive electronics ahead of the sweeping finale “In the Event Of…” Renkse has never wanted for expression as a singer. If he’s to be the driving force behind Katatonia, fair enough for how that manifests here.
Black Moon Circle, A Million Leagues Beyond: Moskus Sessions Vol. I
Trondheim, Norway’s Black Moon Circle recorded the four-song set of A Million Leagues Beyond: Moskus Sessions Vol. 1 at the hometown venue of Moskus, a small bar that, to hear them tell it, mostly hosts jazz. Fair enough for cosmic heavy psychedelic grunge rock to join the fray, I should think. It was late in 2023, so earlier that year’s Leave the Ghost Behind (review here) full-length features readily, with “Snake Oil” following the opener “Drifting Across the Plains” — which is jazzy enough, certainly — ahead of the chunkier-riffed “Serpent” and a 20-minute take on “Psychedelic Spacelord (Lighter Than Air),” which has become a signature piece for the three-piece, suitably expansive. If you know Black Moon Circle‘s studio albums, you know they do as much as they can live. Honestly, A Million Leagues Beyond: Moskus Sessions Vol. I isn’t all that different, but it’s definitely a performance worth enjoying.
Kudos if you had ‘new Bloodhorse‘ on your 2025 Stoner Rock Bingo card or caught it when they launched an Instagram page last year. I certainly didn’t. The Massachusetts aughts-type prog-leaning riffmakers were last heard from with their 2009 debut album, Horizoner (review here), and the six-song/28-minute A Malign Star serves as a vital return, if not one brimming with good vibes as “The Somnambulist” dream-crushes its four-minute course, the band not so much dwelling in atmospheres like the relatively careening “Shallowness,” but getting into a song, making their point, and getting out. This works to their advantage in opener “Saboteur” and the chuggier title-track that follows, but even six-minute closer “Illumination” retains a sense of immediacy amid the dirty fuzz and comparatively laid back roll. This band was once the shape of sludge to come. 16 years later, the future has taken a different course and everybody’s a little more middle-aged, but Bloodhorse still kind of feel like they’re waiting for the world to catch up.
Should you find yourself thinking you didn’t remember Canadian riffers Aawks — also stylized all-caps: AAWKS — having quite such a nasty streak, you’re not alone. Their 2022 debut, Heavy on the Cosmic (review here), had a take that seems like fuzzy dream-pop in comparison to “Celestial Magick” and the screamy sludge that populates On Through the Sky Maze, their second LP. The nine-song 48-minute full-length is the first to feature bassist/vocalist Ryan “Grime Pup” Mailman alongside guitarist/vocalist Kris Dzierzbicki, guitarist Roberto Paraíso, and drummer Randylin Babic, and songs like “Lost Dwellers” or the mellow-spacier “Drifting Upward,” with no harsh vocals, seem to hit more directly, in addition to arriving in a different context with the “blegh”s of “Wandering Supergiants” and “Caerdoia,” and so on. In the end, Mailman‘s rasp becomes one more tool in Aawks‘ songwriting shed, and the band have more breadth and are less predictable for it. Call that a win, even before you get to the record being good.
The shimmering, floating guitar in “Echoes (The Empress)” tells part of the story in the deep-running The Cure influence, and the somewhat moody vocals of Charlie Suárez echo that emotional foundation, which is coupled in that song and throughout Moon Destroys‘ debut album, She Walks by Moonlight, with a willful progressivism in the songwriting, attention to detail in the arrangements, melodies, even the mix. Comprised of Suárez, guitarist Juan Montoya (ex-Torche), bassist Arnold Nese and drummer/producer Evan Diprima (Royal Thunder), the band are able to set a wash in place that’s not deceptively heavy in “The Nearness of June” (an earlier demo track) because it’s beating you over the head with tone, but still has more to offer than just its own heft. “Only” sounds like heavied-up proto-emo, while the roll of “Set Them Free” is massive in terms of both its riff and its big feelings. If you’re willing to let it grow on you, She Walks by Moonlight can be a space to occupy.
In Space We Trust is one of four-so-far full-lengths that Santtu Laakso — multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer and producer — has out between Astral Magic and related collaborations and projects. It’s not a pace of releasing one can keep up with, but if you need a check-in from the generation ship that is Astral Magic, chances are Laakso is out there on some voyage or other between classic space rock and clearheaded prog, spanning galaxies. The eight-song/42-minute In Space We Trust pairs him with lead guitarist Jonathan Segel (Øresund Space Collective, etc.), and one should not be surprised at the cosmic nature of the resulting music. The pair get into some sci-fi atmospherics in “Ancient Pilots” and “Alien Emperor,” but the synth and guitar are leading the way across the galaxy and the vibe across the board is more Voyager and less Nostromo, so yes, smooth solar-sailing the whole way through.
The dreamy guitar, semi-rapped vocal, and dub backbeat give the opening title-track of Never Never a decidedly ’90s cast, but it’s not the summary of what Toronto’s Lammping have to offer in their collaboration with weirdo-rockabilly solo artist Bloodshot Bill, bringing together their urbane, grounded psych and studiocraft, samples, etc., with the singer/guitarist’s low, sometimes bluesy delivery across seven songs totaling 15 minutes, peppering the vibe-on-vibes of “Never Never,” “One and Own” and “Won’t Back Down” — the longest inclusion at 3:23 — with ramble and flow alike, with experimental jawns like “Coconut,” “0 and 1” or “Anything is Possible” and the closer “Nitey Nite,” all under two minutes long and each going their own way with the casual cool one has come to expect from Lammping, quietly staking out their own wavelength while still sounding like something from a half-remembered soundtrack to a radder version of your life. This is one of four releases Lammping will reportedly have over the next year or so. Way on board for whatever’s coming next.
After the disbanding of Samsara Blues Experiment in 2021, guitarist/vocalist Christian Peters — who had already by then moved from Germany to Brazil — unveiled Fuzz Sagrado with EPs in July and October of that year. Fuzz Sagrado‘s 2021 self-titled (review here) and Vida Pura EPs are included on Strange Daze, a new compilation of tracks unified through a remaster by John McBain, showcasing the early outreach of keyboard and guitar that served as the foundation for the project. As Peters readies a live band for an eventual return to the stage, Strange Daze demonstrates how multifaceted the growth has been in terms of songwriting and still feels exploratory in hindsight as it did when the material was first released. Also included is the jammy “Arapongas,” which wasn’t on either EP but was recorded around the same time. Something of a curio or a fan-piece, but I ain’t arguing.
When the Deadbolt Breaks, In the Glow of the Vatican Fire
A couple different modes on When the Deadbolt Breaks‘ In the Glow of the Vatican Fire, which is the long-running Connecticut malevolent doomers’ umpteenth album, running 63 minutes and eight songs. Some of those are longer pieces, like opener “The Scythe Will Come” (12:24), “The Chaos of Water” (14:02), “The Deep Well” (10:42) and “Red Sparrow” (10:57), but interspersed with these are a succession of shorter tracks, and the breakdown between them isn’t just that the short songs are fast and the long songs are slow. Certainly the ripping early portions (and the later, more minimalist spaciousness) of “The Chaos of Water” argue against this, and the dynamic turns out to be correspondingly complex to suit the abiding murk of mood, as founding guitarist/vocalist Aaron Lewis and co-singer Cherilynne provide foreboding croon to suit the lo-fi, creeping, distorted terrors of the music surrounding. This is When the Deadbolt Breaks absolutely in their element; bleak, churn-chaotic, expressive, immersive. They’re able to put you where they want you whether you want to go or not.
It may have sat on the shelf for two years since recording finished in 2023, but don’t worry, it’s still from the future. Laughter is the second-on-Sulatron full-length from Italian experimentalists A/lpaca, and it sees them push deeper into electronic elements and ambiences, keeping some of the krautrock elements of their 2021’s Make it Better, but with songs that are shorter on average and that stand ready to convey a sense of quirk in the keyboard elements or the Devo verses of the title-track, which isn’t without its aspect of shove. Does it get weird? You bet your ass it does. “Bianca’s Videotape,” “Who’s in Love Daddy?,” the post-punk synthery meeting doomed fuzz on “Empty Chairs,” the list goes on. Actually, it’s just the tracklisting and it’s all pretty freaked out, so as long as you know going in that the band are working from their own standard of weirdoism, making the jump into the keyboardy gorge of “Kyrie” or the new wave-y “Don’t Talk” should be no problem. If you heard the last record, yeah, this is different. Seems like the next one will probably be different again too. Not everyone wants to do the same thing all the time.
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 7th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
With a shimmer in the guitar and the breathy verse vocal of guitarist Charlie Suárez in its first single, the debut album from Moon Destroys, She Walks by Moonlight, isn’t shy about giving a heavy post-rock initial impression, and that’s nothing to complain about. The Miami/North Carolina-based four-piece are set to begin supporting She Walks by Moonlight the night before it comes out, as they’ll open for Elder and Sacri Monti on the former’s Lore-celebration tour, and they bring something to that bill distinct from either of the other two sound-wise. The single is called “Echoes (The Empress)” and it’s showcased in a visualizer below.
The band’s pedigree in bands like Torche and Royal Thunder is nifty-nifty and certainly relevant, but less applicable to the sound than the context from which it emerges. I’ve been looking forward to this album for a minute or two. Only more so after hearing the single.
Here’s the PR wire with more:
Dark Psychedelic Outfit MOON DESTROYS Announces Debut Album ‘She Walks By Moonlight’ Out April 4th via Limited Fanfare Records
New Single “Echoes (The Empress)” Out Now + Visualizer
Today, Dark Psychedelic outfit MOON DESTROYS are excited to announce their debut album ‘She Walks By Moonlight’ due out on April 4th via Limited Fanfare Records. To celebrate the announcement, MOON DESTROYS share the second single off the album titled “Echoes (The Empress)”, accompanied by a visualizer available to view below.
About the single, vocalist/guitarist Charlie Suárez states:
“If time is an illusion, it’s fair to say that Ego elects which aspects of it all circle back as perceived experiences of Love, Hate, and everything in between. ‘Echoes (The Empress)’ addresses the repetitive “in between” areas of human disconnect with overwhelming uncertainty and reflective conviction.”
MOON DESTROYS, the project of guitarist Juan Montoya (ex-Torche, MonstrO) and drummer/bassist/producer Evan Diprima (Gold Pyramid, ex-Royal Thunder), delivers a fusion of massive, swirling guitars and tight rhythmic counterpoints influenced by Alternative, Post-Punk, and Dark Wave. Their 5-song EP, ‘Maiden Voyage’, was released in March 2020 via Brutal Panda Records, featuring guest vocals from Troy Sanders (Mastodon) and Paul Masvidal (Cynic), with synth contributions from Bryan Richie (The Sword).
Now, their debut LP, ‘She Walks By Moonlight’, arrives April 4, 2025, on Limited Fanfare Records. Writing began in late 2023, with Montoya in Miami and Diprima in North Carolina, collaborating remotely. Realizing the need for a permanent vocalist, they enlisted Montoya’s former MonstrO bandmate, Charlie Suárez, who contributed vocals, guitars, and synths. Diprima handled most engineering, production, and mixing, with mastering by Carl Saff (Sonic Youth, Magnolia Electric Co., Melt-Banana).
The album’s first single, “The Nearness of June”, showcases Suárez’s hypnotic vocals and lyrical depth. Other standout tracks include today’s “Echoes/The Empress”, exploring human disconnect, and “Only”, a plea to mend the irreconcilable.
In late 2024, bassist Arnold Nese (ex-Sunday Driver) joined to complete the lineup.
On the album, guitarist Juan Montoya shares:
“This record is like a phoenix, soaring over the moon’s glow leaving behind the ashes of darker days. These are songs with passion in every pulse, tapping into a universal sound for the receptive mind.”
‘She Walks By Moonlight’ Track List: 1. She Walks By Moonlight 2. The Nearness of June 3. Only 4. Set Them Free 5. A Song For Jade 6. Losing Sleep 7. Echoes (The Empress) 8. Metallic Memories 8. Sway
Catch MOON DESTROYS across the US and Canada this April supporting Elder!
MOON DESTROYS Live:
Supporting Elder 4/3 Brooklyn, NY @ The Meadows 4/4 Baltimore, MD @ The Ottobar 4/5 Raleigh, NC @ The Pour House 4/6 Asheville, NC @ Eulogy 4/8 Orlando, FL @ The Conduit 4/9 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl 4/11 Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups 4/12 Chicago, IL @ Reggies 4/13 Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary 4/14 Buffalo, NY @ Rec Room 4/15 Toronto, ON @ Axis 4/17 Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount 4/18 Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom 4/19 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East / Downstairs
MOON DESTROYS are: Juan Montoya – Guitars Evan Diprima – Drums Charlie Suárez – Vocals Guitars Arnold Nese – Bass
Posted in Reviews on December 13th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
It’s been almost too easy, this week. Like, I was running a little later yesterday than I had the day before and I’m pretty sure it was only a big deal because — well, I was busy and distracted, to be fair — but mostly because the rest of the week to compare it against has been so gosh darn smooth. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. This is the last day. The music’s awesome. Barring actual disaster, like a car accident between now and then or some such, I’ll finish this one with minimal loss of breath.
Set against the last two Quarterly Reviews, one of which went 10 days, the other one 11, this five-dayer has been mellow and fun. As always, good music helps with that, and as has been the case since Monday, there’s plenty of it here. Not one day has gone by that I didn’t add something from the batch of 50 releases to my year-end list, which, again, barring disaster, should be out next week.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
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Cosmic Fall, Back Where the Fire Flows
After setting a high standard of prolific releases across 2017 and 2018 to much celebration and social media ballyhooing, Berlin jammers Cosmic Fall issued their single “Lackland” (review here) in mid-2019, and Back Where the Fire Flows is their first offering since. The apparently-reinvigorated lineup of the band includes bassist Klaus Friedrich and drummer Daniel Sax alongside new guitarist Leonardo Caprioli, and if there was any concern they might’ve lost the floating resonance that typified their earlier material, 13-minute opener and longest track (immediate points) “Lucid Skies Above Mars” allays it fluidly. The more straightforwardly riffed “Magma Rising” (4:31) and the tense shuffler “Under the Influence of Gravity” (4:38) follow that leadoff, with a blowout and feedback finish for the latter that eases the shift back into spacious-jammy mode for “Chant of the Lizards” (12:26) — perhaps titled in honor of the likeness the central guitar figure carries to The Doors — with “Drive the Kraut” (10:34) closing with the plotted sensibility of Earthless by building to a fervent head and crashing out quick as they might, and one hopes will, on stage. A welcome return and hopefully a preface to more.
It doesn’t seem inappropriate to think of Weather Systems as a successor to Anathema, which until they broke up in 2020 was multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Daniel Cavanagh‘s main outlet of 30 years’ standing. Teamed here with Anathema drummer/producer Daniel Cardoso and producer Tony Doogan, who helmed Anathema‘s 2017 album, The Optimist (review here), Cavanagh is for sure in conversation with his former outfit. There are nuances like the glitchy synth in “Ocean Without a Shore” or the post-punk urgency in the rush of highlight cut “Ghost in the Machine,” and for those who felt the Anathema story was incomplete, “Are You There? Pt. 2” and “Untouchable Pt. 3” are direct sequels to songs from that band, so the messaging of Weather Systems picking up where Anathema left of is clear, and Cavanagh unsurprisingly sounds at home in such a context. Performing most of the instruments himself and welcoming a few guests on vocals, he leads the project to a place where listening can feel like an act of emotional labor, but with songs that undeniably sooth and offer space for comfort, which is their stated intention. Curious to hear how Weather Systems develops.
Assembled by bassist Ron Holzner and his The Skull bandmate, guitarist Lothar Keller, Legions of Doom are something of a doom metal supergroup with Henry Vasquez (Saint Vitus, Blood of the Sun) on drums, Scott Little (Leadfoot) on guitar alongside Keller, and vocalists Scott Reagers (Saint Vitus) and Karl Agell (Leadfoot, Lie Heavy, C.O.C.‘s Blind LP) sharing frontman duties. Perhaps the best compliment one can give The Skull 3 — which sources its material in part from the final The Skull session prior to the death of vocalist Eric Wagner — is that it lives up to the pedigree of those who made it. No great shocker the music is in the style of The Skull since that’s the point. The question is how the band build on songs like “All Good Things” and “Between Darkness and Dawn” and the ripping “Insectiside” (sic), but this initial look proves the concept and is ready and willing to school the listener across its eight tracks on how classic doom got to be that way.
The first offering from Netherlands mellow psych-folk two-piece Myriad’s Veil brims with sweet melody and a subtly expansive atmosphere, bringing together Utrecht singer-songwriter Ismena, who has several albums out as a solo artist, and guitarist Ivy van der Meer, also of Amsterdam cosmic rockers Temple Fang for a collection of eight songs running 44 minutes of patiently-crafted, thoughtfully melodic and graceful performance. Ismena is no stranger to melancholia and the layers of “When the Leaves Start Falling” with the backing line of classical guitar and Mellotron give a neo-Canterbury impression without losing their own expressive edge. Most pieces stand between five and six minutes each, which is enough time for atmospheres to blossom and flourish for a while, and though the arrangements vary, the songs are united around acoustic guitar and voice, and so the underpinning is traditional no matter where Pendant goes. The foundation is a strength rather than a hindrance, and Ismena and van der Meer greet listeners with serenity and a lush but organic character of sound.
Never short on attitude, “I Only Play 4 Money” — “If you take my picture/Your camera’s smashed/You write me fan mail/I don’t write back,” etc. — leads off Michael Rudolph Cummings‘ latest solo EP, the four-track Money with a fleshed out arrangement not unlike one might’ve found on 2022’s You Know How I Get (review here), released by Ripple Music. From there, the erstwhile Backwoods Payback frontman, Boozewa anti-frontman and grown-up punk/grunge troubadour embarks on the more stripped down, guy-and-guitar strums and contemplations of “Deny the World” and “Easier to Leave,” the latter with more than a hint of Americana, and “Denver,” which returns to the full band, classic-style lead guitar flourish, layered vocals and drums, and perhaps even more crucially, bass. It’s somewhere around 13 minutes of music, all told, but that’s more than enough time for Cummings to showcase mastery in multiple forms of his craft and the engaging nature of what’s gradually becoming his “solo sound.”
Basking in a heavygaze float with the lead guitar while the markedly-terrestrial riff chugs and echoes out below, Moon Destroy‘s “The Nearness of June” is three and a half minutes long and the first single the Atlanta outfit founded by guitarist Juan Montoya (MonstrO, ex-Torche, etc.) and drummer Evan Diprima (also bass and synth, ex-Royal Thunder) have had since guitarist/vocalist/synthesist Charlie Suárez joined the band. Set across a forward linear build that quickly gets intense behind Suárez‘s chanting intertwining vocal lines, delivered mellow with a low-in-mouth melody, it’s a tension that slams into a slowdown in the second half of the song but holds over into the solo and fadeout march of the second half as well as it builds back up, the three-piece giving a quick glimpse of what a debut full-length might hopefully bring in terms of aural largesse, depth of mix and atmospheric soundscaping. I have no idea when, where or how such a thing would or will arrive, but that album will be a thing to look forward to.
Billed as Coltaine‘s debut LP — the history of the band is a bit more complex if I recall — Forgotten Ways is nonetheless a point of arrival for the Karlsruhe, Germany, four-piece. It is genuinely post-metallic in the spirit of being over genre completely, and as Julia Frasch makes the first harsh/clean vocal switch late in opener “Mogila,” with drummer Amin Bouzeghaia, bassist Benedikt Berg and guitarist Moritz Berg building the procession behind the soar, the band use their longest/opening track (immediate points) to establish the world in which the songs that follow take place. The cinematic drone of “Himmelwärts” and echoing goth metal of “Dans un Nouveau Monde” follow, leading the way into the wind-and-vocal minimalism of “Cloud Forest” at the presumed end of side A only to renew the opener’s crush in the side B leadoff title-track. Also the centerpiece of the album, “Cloud Forest” has room to touch on German-language folk before resuming its Obituary-meets-Amenra roll, and does not get less expansive from that initial two minutes or so. As striking as the two longest pieces are, Forgotten Ways is bolstered by the guitar ambience of “Ableben,” which leads into the pair of “Grace” and “Tales of Southern Lands,” both of which move from quieter outsets into explosive heft, each with their own path, the latter in half the time, and the riff-and-thud-then-go 77 seconds of “Aren” caps because why the hell not at that point. With a Jan Oberg mix adding to the breadth, Coltaine‘s declared-first LP brims with scope and progressive purpose. It is among the best debuts I’ve heard in 2024, easily.
Zagreb-based veteran heavy rockers Stonebride — the four-piece of vocalist/guitarist Siniša Krneta, bassist/vocalist Matija Ljevar, guitarist Tješimir Mendaš and drummer Stjepan Kolobarić — give a strong argument for maturity of songwriting from the outset of Smiles Revolutionary, their fourth long-player. The ease with which they let the melody carry “In Presence,” knowing that the song doesn’t need to be as heavy as possible at all times since it still has presence, or the way the organ laces into the mix in the instrumental rush that brings the subsequent “Turn Back” to a finish before the early-QOTSA/bangin’-on-stuff crunch of “Closing Distance” tops old desert tones with harmonies worthy of Alice in Chains leading, inexorably, to a massive, lumbering nod of a payoff — they’re not written to be anything other than what they are, and in part because of that they stand testament to the long-standing progression of Stonebride. “Shine Hard” starts with a mosh riff given its due in crash early and late with a less-shove-minded jam between, part noise rock, answered by the progressive start-stop build of “March on the Heart” and closer “Time and Tide,” which dares a little funk in its outreach and leaves off with a nodding crescendo and smooth comedown, having come in and ultimately going out on a swell of vocals. Not particularly long, but substantial.
Toad Venom will acknowledge their new mini-album, Jag Har Inga Problen Osv…, was mixed and mastered by Kalle Lilja of Welfare Sounds studio and label, but beyond that, the Swedish weirdo joy psych rock transcendentalists offer no clue as to who’s actually involved in the band. By the time they get down to “Dogs!” doing a reverse-POV of The Stooges‘ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” in classic soul style, they’ve already celebrated in the rushing bliss and Beatles-y Mellotron break of opener “Jag har verkligen inga problem (så det måste vara du),” taken “One Day You Will Be Perfect” from manic boogie to sunny Californian psych/folk rock, underscoring its chorus with a riff that could easily otherwise be black metal, dwelled in the organ and keyboard dramaturge amid the rolling “Mon Amour” — the keys win the day in the end and are classy about it afterward, but it’s guitar that ends it — and found a post-punk gothy shuffle for “Time Lapse,” poppish but not without the threat of bite. So yes, half an album, as they state it, but quite a half if you’re going by scope and aesthetic. I don’t know how much of a ‘band’ Toad Venom set out to be, but they’ve hit on a sound that draws from sources as familiar as 1960s psychedelia and manages to create a fresh approach from it. To me, that speaks of their being onto something special in these songs. Can’t help but wonder what’s in store for the second half.
Following up on the organ-and-fuzz molten flow of “Radio Radiation” with the more emotive, Rolling Stones-y-until-it-gets-heavy storytelling of “Antihero,” Berlin’s Sacred Buzz carve out their own niche in weighted garage rock, taking in elements of psychedelia without ever pushing entirely over into something shroomy sounding — to wit, the proto-punk tension of quirky delivery of “Revolution” — staying grounded in structure and honoring dirt-coated traditionalism with dynamic performances, “No Wings” coming off sleazy in its groove without actually being sleaze, “Make it Go Wrong” revealing a proggy shimmer that turns careening and twists to a finish led by the keys and guitar, and “Rebel Machine” blowing it out at the end because, yeah, I mean, duh. Radio Radiation is Sacred Buzz‘s first EP (it’s more if you get the bonus track), and it seems to effortlessly buck the expectations of genre without sounding like it’s trying to push those same limits. Maybe attitude and the punk-born casual cool that overrides it all has something to do with that impression — a swagger that’s earned by the time they’re done, to be sure — but the songs are right there to back that up. The short format suits them, and they make it flow like an album. A strong initial showing.
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 31st, 2024 by JJ Koczan
We knew Elder were going to spend a decent portion of the Spring on tour in Europe, and today brings word that they’ll do the US before that as they celebrate the 10th anniversary of 2015’s genre-landmark third album, Lore (review here), by playing it in full on stage. They also note there will be older songs in the set too, and wouldn’t be surprised if that means 2012’s Spires Burn/Release EP (review here) gets some representation in the set. I seem to recall from shows of the era that that stuff went well together, at least.
I’ve included the Euro dates here as well in case that’s relevant to you. And a further word to the wise, check out Moon Destroys. It’s Juan Mantoya (ex-Torche, MonstrO), Evan DiPrima (ex-Royal Thunder) and Charlie Suarez (also MonstrO). They’ve got a single out called “The Nearness of June” (posted below) that rules. Sacri Monti of course are more of a known quantity with more records out, and their 2024 LP, Retrieval (review here), should certainly be among the reasons to look forward to this tour.
From social media:
ELDER – LORE 10th ANNIVERSARY TOUR – NORTH AMERICA
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Following our announcement of European dates to celebrate Lore turning 10, we’re pleased to also reveal our North American dates next April! We’ll be performing a full album playthrough of the 2015 record along with older songs from the fold before turning our focus back to album 7.
Joining us on this run are two fantastic bands, SACRI MONTI and Moon Destroys.
Sacri Monti are old friends from San Diego whose sun-soaked progressive psych always blows our mind. Check their latest album “Retrieval” now!
Moon Destroys is a newer project from ex-members of Torche, Royal Thunder and MonstrO. We got a sneak peek at their upcoming LP and let’s just say if you dig downtuned, shoegazing, dreamy riff-rock you’re in for a treat.
4/3 Brooklyn, NY @ The Meadows 4/4 Baltimore, MD @ The Ottobar 4/5 Raleigh, NC @ The Pour House 4/6 Asheville, NC @ Eulogy 4/8 Orlando, FL @ The Conduit 4/9 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl 4/11 Columbus, OH @ Ace of Cups 4/12 Chicago, IL @ Reggies 4/13 Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary 4/14 Buffalo, NY @ Rec Room 4/15 Toronto, ON @ Axis 4/17 Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount 4/18 Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom 4/19 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East / Downstairs
Original LORE album artwork by Adrian Dexter Poster by Adam Hill
ELDER – LORE 10th ANNIVERSARY TOUR – EUROPE
08.05.2025 Hamburg (DE), Bahnhof Pauli 09.05.2025 Copenhagen (DK), Colossal Festival 10.05.2025 Oslo (NO), Desertfest Oslo 11.05.2025 Stockholm (SE), Hus 7 13.05.2025 Esch-Alzette (LU), Kulturfabrik 14.05.2025 Tourcoing (FR), Le Grand Mix 15.05.2025 to be announced soon 16.05.2025 London (UK), Desertfest London 17.05.2025 Nijmegen (NL), Sonic Whip 20.05.2025 Wiesbaden (DE), Schlachthof Kesselhaus 21.05.2025 Lyon (FR), L’Epicerie Moderne 22.05.2025 Lucerne (CH), Sedel 23.05.2025 Munich (DE), Feierwerk 25.05.2025 Berlin (DE), Desertfest Berlin
Elder is: Nick DiSalvo – Guitars, Vocals Mike Risberg – Guitars, Keys Jack Donovan – Bass Georg Edert – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 4th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Based in Miami and Atlanta, the Southeastern two-piece of Juan Montoya (ex-Torche) and Evan DiPrima (ex-Royal Thunder) form the core of Moon Destroys, and their mission, at least judging by the bit of their aptly-titled debut EP, Maiden Voyage, that I’ve had the chance to hear, would seem to be to further blur the line between heavy and prog, which is a barrier that over the last several years has only become increasingly obscure. Inevitably that will lead to a snap-back/regression sooner or later, but that’s years away, frankly, and in the interim, an outfit like Moon Destroys, which brings shades of Montoya‘s brighter-tinged guitar work along with guest vocals from Cynic‘s Paul Masvidal and Mastodon‘s Troy Sanders — working that prog angle — makes for a fascinating as well as head-spinning listen. You can stream “Blue Giant” below, which is the cut with Sanders, and it’s one to keep up with, but it proves worth the effort to do so.
Something cool to check out that doesn’t sound like everything else? Yeah, I’ll give that upwards of four minutes out of my day, thanks. Preorders are also a thing.
Dig:
MOON DESTROYS (ex-TORCHE, ex-ROYAL THUNDER): Announce Debut EP Maiden Voyage coming March 27th
MOON DESTROYS is the brainchild of guitarist Juan Montoya (ex-Torche) and drummer Evan Diprima ( Brother Hawk, ex-Royal Thunder). Having written together in various configurations for over a decade, they now come together under the auspices of celestial forces with a new project to unveil their mesmerizing debut EP Maiden Voyage.
An experiment of truly galactic proportions, MOON DESTROYS blend heavy riffage with psychedelic flourishes and vivid imagery across two intricately designed centerpiece tracks; “Blue Giant” along with “Stormbringer” featuring the gorgeous vocals of Paul Masvidal (Cynic) and layers of synths from Bryan Richie (The Sword). Three instrumental bursts connect the pieces together to create one mind-melting trip across the cosmic highway! Maiden Voyage is an absorbing, dynamic and forward-thinking debut that explores the new frontiers of heavy music in the 21st century.
Maiden Voyage will be released on March 27th on LP/Digital via Brutal Panda Records and is available for pre-order at this LOCATION.
Tracklisting: 1. At The End Of Time 2. Blue Giant (feat. Troy Sanders) 3. The Shores Of The Cosmic Ocean 4. Stormbringer (feat. Paul Masvidal) 5. The Edge Of Forever
