Posted in Whathaveyou on March 19th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
It’s a cool one. I dig the whole vibe here. The way StonerKras comes across to me is so much more like an open party than a typical heavyfest. It’s six bands in 2025, which isn’t nothing, but consider that part of the intention is that the party goes all night for those who’d be mad enough to ever want it to — I know some humans are still in their 20s, and that’s adorable — and a friendly experiential presentation that includes shiatsu massage and vendors selling probably hippie clothes and I don’t know what, as well as the ongoing encourangement toward family attendance, and it seems like it would be a laid back time either way. I don’t know that the kid would make it to the afterparty, but I know for sure I wouldn’t, so there you go.
And the lineup’s good too. Truckfighters were previously announced, but I saw MR.BISON in January and they were expansive despite such solid groove. Them Moose Rush and Zolle are both righteous in completely different ways. I am less familiar with Veuve — though I know they were on Argonauta at one point — and Black Pope, but if you’re going to a thing like this, you go ready to learn. That’s not to say I’ll be there, sadly, but even the hypothetical is fun.
StonerKras Fest is an open air psychedelic music gathering based on stoner, doom and heavy psych music. The festival has an international footprint but with the aim of enhancing the local heavy scene (both Slovenian and Italian) while attracting spectators from the region but also from neighboring countries.
Youth aggregation and cultural exchange accompanied by good music.
!!! FULL LINEUP ANNOUNCED TODAY !!!
TRUCKFIGHTERS (very exclusive show for Italy/Slovenia/Croatia in 2025) MR.BISON (heavy psych, ITA) THEM MOOSE RUSH (stoner prog, CRO) ZOLLE (lard rock duo, ITA) BLACK POPE (southern metal, ITA) VEUVE (heavy psych, ITA)
+ AFTERPARTY DJSET with Alterative Nite + Satisfaction
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 20th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Heads up on a sick bill, though don’t take that to mean I’m claiming to break any news here, as Into the Void posted this lineup announcement for 2025 last week. I’m just always beihnd. In any case, it’s rad. It’s awesome to see Dutch-native bands like DOOL and Temple Fang ascending to headliner positions, most especially because it’s earned by the music/performance, and The Vintage Caravan are always, always, always a good time. Killer top three. In light of Molassesss announcing their ending, to see the Farida Lemouchi-fronted Gott taking part here would seem to signal a renewed focus on that project following their 2022 EP, To Hell to Zion. Curious of course what might be in the works there to be revealed hopefully by September. Hell a new record’s out and I probably missed it, for all I know. I’m doing my best folks. I never said I was good at this.
Cheers and happy travels to Sons of Arrakis, who’ll apparently be making their debut on the Europpean circuit this Fall. I saw them a couple weeks ago and they were great and are at a stage in their progression where every moment they can spend performing will help them grow. These plus Earthship, MR.BISON, Lowen, Haunted, Ggu:ll, Motorowl, Psychonaut, Hippotraktor and An Evening With Knives makes for one hell of a 14-band all-dayer.
From socials:
On September 27, Neushoorn will once again open the gates for Into The Void, where heavy riffs and dark spheres meet. This year, fourteen bands are set to take the audience on a journey through the universe of Doom, Stoner and Sludge.
🔸 DOOL returns to Leeuwarden after a sold out club tour. With their melancholic, layered sound and immersive performances, they manage to leave a deep impression time and time again.
🔸 The Vintage Caravan brings their signature mix of classic rock and heavy psych back to Into The Void. The energy of this Icelandic band always causes a party.
🔸 Temple Fang presents new work. Known for their hypnotizing compositions, the band will take you on an intense musical trip.
🔸 Psychonaut and Hippotraktor prove that Belgium is a breeding ground for heavy, progressive music. Both bands combine powerful riffs with deep dynamics and atmospheric elements.
🔸 Gott the reincarnation of The Devil’s Blood, mixing occult rock and intense, bewitching melodies.
🔸 Lowen a name to watch out for, hails from the UK and brings a combination of doom and atmospheric sounds.
In addition, HAUNTED , An Evening With Knives , Ggu:ll, Sons of Arrakis, Earth Ship, Mr. Bison and Motorowl complete the lineup.
Posted in Reviews on January 31st, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Earlier – Before Show
Oh shit, I’m in Las Vegas. I opened the window four times on the five-and-a-half-hour flight here. Once was at Newark. Two in the air: the Rockies and the desert. And the last was at the gate after landing. My wife had recommended I watch the Sonic the Hedgehog movie. I may yet on the way home, but I played Zelda the entire time I was in the air. I slaughtered every lynel in Hyrule and they all came back to life and I did it again.
Adam Sage of the band Sonolith, who it turns out is quite a generous dude, kindly offered to put me up for the weekend — thank you, Adam and Jocelyn — and even picked me up at the airport. A stop at the grocery store and the weed store and I’ll of a sudden I’m hanging among the antiques and Weimaraner swag listening to Spaceslug, which was the right call, with a couple hours before the show. Mellow hangs. May it be a theme for the weekend.
Four bands tonight: Unida, MR.BISON, Sons of Arrakis and Samavayo. That’s California, Italy, Canada and Germany represented. Tell me the last time you saw a bill like that.
Okay? So that’s kind of the thing about this fest — it’s not big, but it’s stacked, and it’s thoughtfully curated. Of the four bands playing tonight, the only one I’ve seen is Unida, and it was a different incarnation of the band. Tomorrow is five bands, Saturday is six, Sunday is five, but each one brings something special to the mix. They’re all here for a reason. The whole weekend’s going to be a blast.
Just like you’ve heard in all those heavy metal songs about the night, here’s ‘the night’:
Samavayo
Samavayo aren’t the only reason I’m here this weekend, but they’re a big part of it. The Berlin-based three-piece have made a low-key tour of coming to the US for the first time, and the last show is tomorrow in Los Angeles. They locked into a groove and didn’t look back. The intricacy of their songwriting, and their blend of influences remains their own. Not that there was any doubt, but they did very much sound like they’d been on tour for a week, which they have been. Tight, having a good time, making the sing-along at the start of “I Keep on Rolling” extra fun, outright nailing the three-part vocal in “Vatan.” The kick drum pedal broke, which gave guitarist/vocalist Behrang Alavi a chance to thank the crowd and sound sincere in talking about how kindly they’ve been treated on their first US trip. The way they open up to a chorus, where you don’t even realize why your stomach was tight until the tension releases, how the songs seem to follow linear paths even in verses and choruses. This was my first time seeing them, and meeting then. I feel fortunate to have been able to do both. They go to L.A. tomorrow and then are out, taking their big grooves with them. It was lucky for those who got to see the band they brought them in the first place, let alone have them set a nigh-on-unreachable standard for the rest of the weekend with the big rock finish at the end of the set.
Sons of Arrakis
Another first for me were Canada’s Dune-themed melodic heavy rockers Sons of Arrakis. They were younger than I was expecting — which isn’t actually weird but kind of was anyway because I’ve seen photos of them before, but whatever. Very clearly a band working from an envisioned methodology of craft and performance. The four-piece are out supporting their second album, Volume II (review here), and they brought the songs to Vegas with due push, referencing 1970s rock but not necessarily boogie. I think maybe they’re what modern heavy rock sounds like. I’m cool with that. They spliced in on-theme samples between the songs and didn’t say much from the stage accordingly, but the riffs are there and the songs they make from them are memorable. Somehow I doubt this will be the last time I run into them at a festival setting, and at least now I know enough to look forward to the next one. I feel like their next album will tell a lot of the tale about the band they ultimately want to and will be, but go see them in the meantime so you can feel cool later.
MR.BISON
When I talk about Planet Desert Rock Weekend being impeccably and purposefully curated, from here on out I’ll cite the vibe liquefaction of Italy’s MR.BISON as an example from here on out. Neither Sons of Arrakis nor Samavayo were without some flourish in their sound, but the keys in MR.BISON, the effects on the guitars and vocals, made it something else. A shift in sound from the first two of the night, but the point is there’s a linear sense to it all. There’s a story being told in the progression from one band to the next, and MR.BISON tripped it out at just the right moment to feel like what the night has been leading toward up to this point — which happens to be true, technically — and pull off that vibe-shift, but still hold onto some sense of heavy continuity, while also daring funk and floaty solos back to back. They have grown into being this band, and that maturity suits them, but the songs were expansive even at their most thrusted, and a spacious feeling pervaded, highlighting some of the mood of last year’s Echoes From the Universe (review here) while seeing an overarching groove and hitting into a few bigger moments, double-tracking vocals live with effects. I guess the word is dynamic. At the very least, they were that. They were also a bunch of other stuff that all rounds down to awesome.
Unida
Enter the headliner. The “new” Unida — vocalist Mark Sunshine, guitarist Arthur Seay, bassist Collyn McCoy and drummer Mike Cancino — have a couple years under their belt at this point, and they absolutely owned the room from the moment they started. They seemed to find another level of volume, and it’s not like the evening had been lacking to that point, and used it to deliver a pro-shop, touring-band-type set. Old songs and new in set, which was fun. I’m eager to hear this band move forward, and writing new songs counts big as a part of that, as much as I have an affection for Unida classics. It’s been 12 years, but last time I saw them was at Desertfest London 2013 (review here), and that was a different kind of novelty, but now that I’ve seen this Unida, having seen that one, they’ve got something that could work. On stage, it already does, with Sunshine giving due homage to the band’s original era while beginning to put a stamp of his own on the newer material. I don’t know what the band’s plans for the rest of this year are — and yes, I asked — but they were just right to finish out this night, and they gave the narrative of the successive sets the blowout ending it deserved. There were some technical issues with the guitar late in the proceedings — and during a new song, which I feel like might sting more to start over when you didn’t actually screw it up. A couple minutes of jamming and on-mic shenanigans and they were back up and rolling, as was the entire room to that riff from the new one, and then it happened again and Arthur grabbed a different guitar, which was probably the way to go since they made it through the song. Mark Sunshine: “We’ve been on a journey with you people.” True enough. They finished and sent the crowd staggering into the cool of the desert midnight.
—
So tired. More pics after the jump. I know it was only four bands, but I did a fair amount of socializing tonight and my brain is done. More tomorrow. Thanks for reading.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 4th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Along with recent tours announced for Samavayo and Omega Sun, these 10 shows to be undertaken by Italy’s MR.BISON are built out around the band’s appearance at the upcoming fifth edition of Planet Desert Rock Weekend in Las Vegas. In the case of the Tuscany four-piece — whose latest album, Echoes From the Universe (review here), was released this past February through respected purveyor Heavy Psych Sounds — they’ll begin the run at the fest and head for California from there, where they’ll do the majority of the shows, though dates in Arizona assure they’ll see desert as well as coastline. Fair enough. If you’re gonna make the trip, do it right.
MR.BISON have already done two European tours to support Echoes From the Universe, which is their third and farthest-reaching LP yet, and this trip across the Atlantic assures momentum will stay on their side as we move into the first part of 2025. A first hint of what might come after has already been dropped as they’ve been confirmed in the latest round of additions for Desertfest London in May. “Big things coming,” and all that.
Safe travels to MR.BISON, and I look forward to catching the set in Vegas for sure. Here’s the info from the PR wire:
After a year since the release of our new album “Echoes from The Universe” via Heavy Psych Sounds, two amazing tours and dozens of great festivals all around Europe, we are so proud and excited to announce the “Echoes From The Universe” US West Coast Tour!
• Jan 30th – Count’s Vamp’d – Las Vegas, NV • Jan 31st – Ivy Room – Albany CA • Feb 01st – The Rodeo Bar – Paso Robles CA • Feb 02nd – The Cove – Murrieta CA • Feb 03rd – RedWood Bar – Los Angeles CA • Feb 04th – Che’s Lounge – Tucson AZ • Feb 05th – The Quarry – Bisbee AZ • Feb 06th – Yucca Tap Room – Phoenix AZ • Feb 07th – Transplants – Palmdale CA • Feb 08th – Pour House – Oceanside CA
Thanks to Buddy Donner from Glory or Death Records, John Gist from Vegas Rock Revolution and all club owners and promoters for inviting us. See you at the shows!
—
MR.BISON masters the art of melding heavy psychedelia with progressive elements and evocative soundscapes. Formed in a small coastal town in Tuscany (Italy) in 2009, the band has reinvented their sound through four albums from stoner psych to heavy progressive rock, firmly establishing themselves in 2018 with the acclaimed “Holy Oak” and their 2020 concept album “Seaward”. The band has toured Europe and North America several times and played various festivals such as Desertfest Berlin, London and Antwerp, Krach am Back, Duna Jam.
Their new album “Echoes From The Universe” invites the listener to a prismatic voyage that explores the notion of freedom and destiny through Norse mythology and weaves together a vivid and majestic sonic tapestry that brims with liquid riffs, graceful psychedelia, progressive grandeur and vibrant vocals. “Echoes From The Universe” is available now on Heavy Psych Sounds.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 4th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Now we’re talking. If you weren’t expecting Desertfest London to drop a fresh batch of 20 names for its 2025 lineup, well, happy holidays. There’s a ton to unpack here, from Pallbearer and Conan — who’ll tour together in Australia before — to Kind making the trip to Boston, Elephant Tree signing on for what will surely be a celebration, Earth joining the ranks of the thus-far headliners Zeal & Ardor and Elder, Hippie Death Cult, The Hazytones (who rule, look them up), and a new Isaiah Mitchell collab called Chöd (I guess Brü couldn’t make it?) — it’s a ton of stuff and you can see on the poster below it’s just the tip of the Desertfest iceberg.
As a flagship of the Desertfest brand alongside Berlin, the London lineup should be stunning, and it is. Whether you’re going for Stoned Jesus, Amenra or 10,000 Years and the slew of others making their first appearances, 2025 promises to be a landmark for those lucky enough to be there to see it.
Could be you if you’re up for it. Here’s the latest:
DESERTFEST LONDON ANNOUNCES 20 NEW ARTISTS FOR 2025
The time has come for our next artist announcement! We are over the moon to welcome Seattle veterans of drone n doom EARTH as our third 2025 headliner, joining Zeal & Ardor and Elder. This appearance marks the band’s first UK show in 5 years as well as their first time on the DF London stage.
Arkansas doom quartet Pallbearer will join our stacked Saturday line up at Roundhouse, while homegrown local heroes Conan will make their long awaited return to Desertfest London.
We will also welcome the UK debut of Chöd, an audio-visual collaboration between Isaiah Mitchell (Earthless), artist Arik Roper, and Doc Kelley (Psychedelic Sangha) that is sure to take you on a psychedelic meditative journey for the ages.
Please welcome our latest additions to Desertfest London 2025:
↠ Earth headlining Sunday at Electric Ballroom ↠ Pallbearer ↠ Conan ↠ Elephant Tree ↠ Chöd ↠ Hippie Death Cult ↠ Castle Rat ↠ Avon ↠ Green Milk from the Planet Orange ↠ Servo ↠ Mr Bison ↠ Kind ↠ El Moono ↠ The Hazytones ↠ King Botfly ↠ Lust Ritual ↠ Slump ↠ Witchorious ↠ The Summit Fever ↠ Dresden Wolves
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 13th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Once again, the Las Vegas-based Planet Desert Rock Weekend still feature a different poster for each day. The first to be unveiled — and after one-at-a-timing through the lineup itself, you didn’t think it was going to be all at once here, did you? — is for the first night of the fest, suitably enough, and with the art/design by Joey Rudell (also Fuzz Evil and pointedly not a robot so far as I know) comes the confirmed running order of Unida, MR.BISON, Sons of Arrakis and Samavayo for Jan. 30, the first of the festival’s now-four nights, with the final being ‘Last Call’ slated for Feb. 2.
We have at least the day-split for that too, if not a separate poster and a confirmed running order. Duel, BoneHawk, Luna Sol, Iota and Jason Walker’s Badmotorfinger will play ‘Last Call.’ That leaves the two days between for the likes of Fireball Ministry, Solace, Mos Generator, JIRM, Sergeant Thunderhoof, Valley of the Sun, Fire Down Below, Green Desert Water and Godzillionaire, which breaks down into two sets of five. I don’t know if that’s how fest-curator John Gist will lay it out, but I do know that any way you mix those names up, you still get a badass way to spend a weekend.
Glad to say my flight is booked for this one. Still need to shore up a crash spot, but one thing at a time.
From the PR wire:
PDRW V – Opening Night – Thursday January 30th
Vegas Rock Revolution is excited to announce Night 1 of Planet Desert Rock Weekend V with a bang! Desert legends Unida will be headlining opening night along with 3 international bands to get the party started at Count’s Vamp’d in Las Vegas on Thursday January 30th. Unida reemerged back onto the scene just a few years back with the blessing of John Garcia as Arthur Seay (Guitars) and Mike Cancino continue the band’s legacy of melting faces each performance.
On vocals is the very talented Mark Sunshine who of recent years has been lending his vocal prowess to Patriarchs in Black. On bass is musician madman Collyn Mccoy who brings the thunder! We felt it appropriate to have Arthur Seay’s crew kick off PDRW as he and Mike were part of the very first night of PDRW for A Night with John Garcia. VRR has had Unida multi times for shows and they bring it hard and heavy!
Mr. Bison out of Italy on the heels of their very successful 2024 release “Echoes From the Universe” (#2 on the February Doom Charts) on Heavy Psych Sounds will be playing directly before Unida and we are grateful to have them return to PDRW. Their sound has expanded since adding a multi-instrumentalist to the fold that will sure be cool to see and hear.
Montreal’s Sons of Arrakis also is having an amazing year in which they released their 2nd album “Volume 2” to great acclaim including landing #3 on the June Doom Charts right behind Greenleaf and FU Manchu. Their accessible hard rocking sound has caught fire so much so that they get over 82,000 Spotify plays a month currently!
Opening then night will be Germany’s Samavayo who will be playing the USA for the 1st time on this trip, They have been rocking since 2003 and have creatively evolved each of their albums over the years. Their last release “Payan” landed #2 on the Doom Charts for March 2022 and featured guests’ appearance by Elder’s Nick DiSalvo, Tommi Holappa of Greenleaf and more! Their high energy rocking style is perfect to light the fire for the night.
We will have Night 2 of PDRW V announced within a week along with ticket sales.
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 12th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Following up on their Spring European run in support of their 2024 album, Echoes From the Universe (review here), Tuscany’s MR.BISON are set to head out on a corresponding Fall stint that includes stops at Cerberus Festival, Psyka Fest and Heavy Psych Sounds Fests in Germany and the UK. It’s spread over a couple weeks as October heads toward November, but a pretty efficient stretch for the band as they make ready to come to the US for (I believe) the first time in order to appear at Planet Desert Rock Weekend this January in Las Vegas (info here). I don’t know if they’re doing other dates around that or flying in as an exclusive, but they’re one of the reasons I’m so very much pining to be in Vegas at the start of 2025.
And if you’re up for a refresher on Echoes From the Universe or haven’t yet had the pleasure, the four-piece have a new video out for “The Veil” that leads nicely into the album stream, and you’ll find both of those near the bottom of this post under the links. You know, where the players go in the made-up formatting rules I have for this site. Some day I’m going to put a player at the top, first thing, just to make my own head explode.
For now, to the PR wire:
MR.BISON share new video “The Veil”; European fall shows announced!
Italian progressive and heavy psych goldsmiths MR.BISON present “The Veil” video, taken from their latest album “Echoes From The Universe” on Heavy Psych Sounds. The band just announced their European fall tour including appearances at Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Berlin, London and Dresden.
Watch MR.BISON’s new video “The Veil.”
MR.BISON European Fall Tour 2024: 12 Oct – Cerberus Festival – Bar.Ca’- Imola (IT) 13 Oct – Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Berlin (DE) 25 Oct – Décal’Quai – Montreux (CH) 26 Oct – Glashaus – Bayreuth (DE) 27 Oct – Heavy Psych Sounds Fest Dresden (DE) 29 Oct – C-Keller-Weimar (DE) 30 Oct – Vinyl Reservat-Gottingen (DE) 31 Oct – Stereowonderland – Koln (DE) 01 Nov – PsyKA Festival – Karlsruhe (DE) 02 Nov – 1001 Bieres – Amiens (FR) 03 Nov – Black Heart – Heavy Psych Sounds Fest London (UK)
MR.BISON masters the art of melding heavy psychedelia with progressive elements and evocative soundscapes. Formed in a small coastal town in Tuscany (Italy) in 2009, the band has reinvented their sound through four albums from stoner psych to heavy progressive rock, firmly establishing themselves in 2018 with the acclaimed “Holy Oak” and their 2020 concept album “Seaward”. The band has toured Europe and North America several times and played various festivals such as Desertfest Berlin, London and Antwerp, Krach am Back, Duna Jam.
Their new album “Echoes From The Universe” invites the listener to a prismatic voyage that explores the notion of freedom and destiny through Norse mythology and weaves together a vivid and majestic sonic tapestry that brims with liquid riffs, graceful psychedelia, progressive grandeur and vibrant vocals. “Echoes From The Universe” is available now on Heavy Psych Sounds.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 24th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Oh, you know, no big deal. It’s just Desertscene (the folks behind Desertfest London) and Heavy Psych Sounds (the foremost European heavy imprint and booking concern) pairing up for a London-based Heavy Psych Sounds Fest this November with Dozer, Black Rainbows, Lord Dying, Black Tusk, Alunah, The Cosmic Dead, Margarita Witch Cult, Child, Josiah, MR.BISON and The Clamps at The Underworld and The Black Heart. Oh wait, that is a big deal, and awesome besides. Like a mini-Desertfest, tucked right in there after the end of the always-busy Eurofestival October. Killer bill, killer clubs. Dozer and Josiah in the same lineup alone. Total no-brainer. If you can go, just go. Trust me, the rest of us will wish we could too.
From the PR wire:
*** HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST LONDON 2024 ***
– LINEUP + TICKETS PRESALE ANNOUNCED –
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST returns to London after four years this fall to make Camden Town rumble and crumble under the mighty fuzz assault of some of the most revered bands in the stoner, doom, psych and heavy rock scene!
The festival will proudly welcome Swedish stoner rock royalty Dozer, Portland genre-bending heavy metallers Lord Dying, and Savannah swamp sludge specialists Black Tusk for the first time. Fuzz and buzz will be supplied by some of the finest live acts from the HPS roster with stoner rock icons Black Rainbows, Scottish space rock explorers The Cosmic Dead, Birmingham’s soulful proto-rock merchants Alunah and occult doom revelers Margarita Witch Cult, Italian heavy psych goldsmiths Mr.Bison and speed stoner’n’roll unit The Clamps, as well as UK heavy psych veterans Josiah. Fans of the finest psychedelic blues be delighted by an exclusive UK appearance of Australia’s own Child.
Curated by two major players of the European & UK heavy rock scene with London’s fuzz-worshipping Desertscene and leading independent heavy rock label Heavy Psych Sounds, this decibel-charged weekender promises to be one for the books, so don’t wait to book your ticket!
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS FEST LONDON 2024 @ The Underworld // 2nd November 2024 @ The Black Heart // 3rd November 2024
– LINEUP – DOZER BLACK RAINBOWS LORD DYING BLACK TUSK THE COSMIC DEAD ALUNAH MARGARITA WITCH CULT CHILD JOSIAH MR.BISON THE CLAMPS
