Look, I know that nine records deep, Mustasch are a long, long way from the band they were when they put out Above All in 2002 and RatSafari in 2003, but if you can look at the staggering amount of tour dates they’ve done this year and not respect the shit out of them, the problem is with you, not them. The Gothenburg mainstays were in Europe to start things out in Spring, then did summer fests, then came to North America for the first time in their 20-year career to play 27 shows in the US and Canada, and now they’ll wrap up with a tour leading up to appearances at Sankt Hell in Hamburg, Germany, and Copenhagen, Denmark. There’s a word for that and it’s called “significant.”

Mustasch released Silent Killer in the midst of all that gigging, and continue to support the crap out of it, as the PR wire affirms:

Mustasch goes on a high octane German tour in December!

After their ninth studio album “Silent Killer” was released in April earlier this year, MUSTASCH have been keeping pretty busy. Co-headlining their album tour all over Sweden together with Hardcore Superstar, following up by doing European & Scandinavian festival shows as well as just returned from an extensive North American tour, the band around charismatic frontman Ralf Gyllenhammar is getting ready for the German leg of their “Silent Killer Tour 2018”! With Special Guests, the insane rockers MAMMOTH MAMMOTH from Australia and Sludge rockers DIRT FORGE to open, this heavy tour package will heat your cold December!

“Although we had a blast in North America, It’s gonna be great to get back to Germany with its lovely people, great food and all their fantastic beer. Federweißer für Alle!” /Ralf, Mustasch

Get your shot of MUSTASCH live at the following dates this December:

03.12 Frankfurt, Nachtleben
04.12 München, Backstage Club
05.12 Osnabrück, Bastard Club
06.12 Oberhausen, Kulttempel
07.12 Stuttgart, Keller Klub
08.12 Leipzig, Hellraiser
09.12 Berlin, Musik & Frieden
27.12 Hamburg, Sankt Hell (Festival)
28.12 Copenhagen (DK), Sankt Hell (Festival)

www.mustasch.net
www.facebook.com/Mustaschofficial
www.instagram.com/mustaschofficial

Mustasch, “Libertà” official video

I really, really don’t have a spare grand-plus lying around at this point, but golly that’s a cool lineup posted for Stoned from the Underground this year in Erfurt, Germany. It seems Lowrider‘s reunion — they were a highlight of the London Desertfest in a one-two punch of Swedish awesomeness completed by a set from Dozer immediately following — continues, which is unmistakably good news, and along with the likes of Earthless, Acid King, Troubled Horse, The Gates of Slumber, Pelican and the many others listed below, it seems like it’s going to be a killer weekend July 11-13. The kind of weekend I’d like very much to see, let’s say with a camera and laptop in tow. One of these years, maybe.

Indulge a bit of escapism with me, won’t you?

Welcome to the Mother of all German Stoner Rock Meetings

July 11th , 12th & 13th – Alperstedter Lake near ERFURT

Festival founded in 2001 and located in the very geographical center of Germany, in the area of Erfurt (Thuringen): Stoned From The Underground grew from a one day indoor event with 400 visitors in 2001 to a 3 days outdoor event with 3000 visitors last year !

Located a few kilometers away from the city, in a nest of nature bordered by the Alperstedter Lake, the festival is the perfect location for a very first relaxing summer weekend !

Whether you want to sit in the grass, puffing up clouds of smoke, sipping a beer while checking out the best Rock & Stoner acts of the moment,

Or whether you want to chill out laying on your belly on the sand of the beach with your toes cooling down in Lake’s water…..

STONED FROM THE UNDERGROUND is the place where all your dreams will come true.

LINE- UP 2013:
EARTHLESS ( Usa)
MUSTASCH (Swe)
POTHEAD (Ger)

TRUCKFIGHTERS (Swe)
THE GATES OF SLUMBER (Usa)
BEEN OBSCENE (At)
LOWRIDER (Swe)
HORISONT(Swe)
TROUBLED HORSE (Swe)
ISOPTERA (Ger)
LORD VICAR (Fin)
MIRROR QUEEN (Usa)
ACID KING (Usa)
PELICAN (Usa)
THE OPERATORS (Ger)
THE ATOMIC BITCHWAX (Usa)
FIVE HORSE JOHNSON (Usa)
SARDONIS (Bel)
HYNE (Ger)
DEVILLE (Swe)
BLACK BOMBAIM (Por)
HERKULES PROPAGANDA (Ger)
TRECKER (Ger)

Stoned from the Underground 2013 Trailer

Gothenburg-based heavy rockers Mustasch hit 15 years together in 2013 and are marking the occasion not by looking back — they already did that with 2011’s The New Sound of the True Best playing off the title of their pivotal 2001 debut EP, The True Sound of the New West — but with a wider release of their latest album, Sounds Like Hell, Looks Like Heaven through Metalville Records. The album was issued last year through the Swedish-native imprint Regain, and the new version will make its way to the public on Feb. 26.

So the PR wire tells it:

Swedish Rockers MUSTASCH to Release Sounds Like Hell, Looks Like Heaven February 26th on Metalville Records

It’s quite impressive what MUSTASCH has achieved: seven albums, a huge hit with “Double Nature”, sold-out tours of Scandinavia, opening- and headline tours with Motörhead, Gluecifer and cult-band Rose Tattoo in Europe as well as three Swedish Grammy Nominations and a Grammy Award for “Metal Album of the Year” in 2008.

After all this, the band reached a turning point. It would be full speed ahead focusing on the band or nothing at all. No half-hearted solutions, no compromises. All or nothing!

“That’s the way I work as a person, Ralf Gyllenhammar (guitarist/vocalist) explains over a cup of coffee a Tuesday morning in Stockholm. Drunk or sober, angry or happy, all or nothing, there are no in-betweens in my world.”

This time Ralf Gyllenhammar sat firmly in the producer´s chair, Martin Westerstrand did the artwork and Stefan Glaumann (Rammstein, Paradise Lost, Within Temptation) mixed the tracks.

Sounds Like Hell, Looks Like Heaven already has gold achieved gold status in Sweden. With the new drummer, Jejo Perkovid, MUSTASCH bring their straight forward Heavy Rock to the rest of the world! In addition the 2011 10th anniversary album The New Sound of the True Best is released by Metalville Records at the same time

MUSTASCH Lineup:
Ralf Gyllenhammar – Vocals and Rhythm Guitar
David Johannesson – Lead Guitar
Stam Johansson – Bass Guitar
Jejo Perkovid – Drums

Sounds Like Hell, Looks Like Heaven Tracklisting:
1. Speed Metal
2. The Challenger
3. It’s Never Too Late
4. Cold Heart Mother Son
5. Morning Star
6. Dead Again
7. Your Father Must be Proud of You
8. Destroyed by Destruction
9. I Don’t Hate You
10. Northern Link

A mere two weeks ago, I posted notice that the kind souls at the All That is Heavy webstore were having a mega-sale with discs and t-shirts at 25 and 50 percent off. I also confessed that I did this only after going in and solidifying my own purchase. Well, the box showed up Wednesday and I’ve been making my way through the goods ever since. Here’s what I picked up:

The Body, All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood
Paul Chain “The Improvisor,” Cosmic Wind
Church of Misery, The Second Coming (Diwphalanx reissue)
Leif Edling, The Black Heart of Candlemass
The Gates of Slumber, Villain, Villain
500 Ft. of Pipe, Dope Deal
500 Ft. of Pipe, The Electrifying Church of the New Light
Masters of Reality, Pine/Cross Dover (American version)
Mustasch, Parasite!
OJM, The Light Album
OJM, Under the Thunder
OJM, Volcano
Ponamero Sundown, Stonerized
Raging Slab, Raging Slab (2009 Rock Candy reissue)
Sgt. Sunshine, Black Hole
Sin of Angels, In the Grip of Despair

Stuff like the 500 Ft. of Pipe and Mustasch I’d had my eye on for a long time. The psyched-up Fu Manchu fuzz of the former has been a delight long awaited. With The Body, I felt like I was finally giving into the hype, but at the sale price, decided it was now or never. Ponamero Sundown I wanted to listen to again before reviewing the new one and couldn’t find my old sleeve promo — apparently I’ve never heard of YouTube — and Masters of Reality I bought solely for the different label name on the side of the disc. It’s not the first time I’ve done that with them.

OJM I wanted to backlog since reviewing Volcano, and I included Volcano too because I didn’t have a full copy. The Raging Slab I very much enjoyed last night after work, imagining what new wave/no wave New Yorkers must have thought of them busting out those songs in 1989 and seeing the old pictures of drummer Bob Pantella, now of The Atomic Bitchwax. Sgt. Sunshine‘s a little stranger than I expected, but still pretty cool, and listening to it now, I think I might’ve already owned this Sin of Angels CD.

The rest I haven’t gotten to yet, but it’s worth noting that even with the drastically slashed prices, Dan and Melanie — the above-noted kind souls — included a freebie in the form of Black Materia, by Black Materia, which is rife with Anathema-style sorrow and metallic melody, in addition to being a Final Fantasy reference. Dig it.

The sale’s still on, but I don’t know for how long or anything like that. Hopefully I’ll have time to recoup some funds for another round before it ends, but even if not, I think I did alright the first time. If you missed the link above, check out the list of goods here.