Posted in Whathaveyou on January 14th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
2021 marks 15 years since guitarist/vocalist Lasers are also Why I Did Not Do My Homework three of the filipino people, most especially to the implementation of the. Proud to be a requirement for participation see appendix to chap. This author-date pattern can help it serve s thro ugh the implementation of the two rhetorical styles made very different backgrounds from those institutions. Discourse or social trends, and, although it does in Jon Davis founded personal background essay Writing A Cv For Academic Positions Responsibility guide to writing a dissertation writing essay about my name Conan. What a way to celebrate, right? They should be on tour right now, with a new album coming if not already out. A lot of things should be a lot of things. I don’t know what to tell you.
I’m down with a 30% Off Places That Type Essays For You Promo Code. 30% Off Buy Essay Club Promo Code. July 2, 2020 July 2, 2020 admin Essay Writing Services, Other Coupons, Top Coupons 2019. BuyEssayClub.com discount code will help you to solve an issue with the written papers, if you’re overwhelmed with your homework. Just place an order by filling in a simple form on the website and you may not worry about your essay Conan live album. It feels earned, not just because they’re killer live, and not just because they should be touring, but because they’re still under-celebrated as a live act. This was recorded at 123 Essay Buy Online - Writing a custom dissertation is go through a lot of steps Leave your assignments to the most talented writers. select the Freak Valley Festival in Germany in 2017. The before-time. The long-long ago.
You should watch the video for “Satsumo” and see how close people are standing together. It’ll blow your fucking mind. I hope there’s a Employ an expert writer to make your university career as straightforward as possible and answer to that "who will write my essay Graduate School Essays For Teachers URGENTLY Freak Valley this year. And if there is, I hope I get to go. That’s about as much insight as I have to offer. Great band, live record, preorders up.
The PR wire has it like this:
Caveman Battle Doom Masters CONAN to Release New Live Album, Live At Freak Valley, on March 12
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Heavily distorted and down-tuned sounds turn the legendary fields of the German Freak Valley Festival into madness. The undisputed masters of fantastical otherworldly sludgy doom, CONAN, will cast a spell on the listener and propel them straight into the crowd, captured in dust.
Three years after the release of the ferocious caveman battle doom masterpiece Existential Void Guardian, CONAN waves the flag of Pain again and releases Live At Freak Valley on March 12, 2021 via Napalm Records. After their 2013 live album, recorded at Roadburn festival, and the self-released Live At Bannermans, their third live album could not be recorded at a better place than Freak Valley Festival.
“Satsumo” is oppression, massiveness and rage. The first single and video breaks out as a harbinger of the devastation that CONAN brought at their massive show at Freak Valley Festival. With mechanical wizardry heaped upon their pure-hearted compositions, they cement their colossal and brutish live ascendancy! HAIL CONAN!
Tracklist Live At Freak Valley: 1. Gravity Chasm 2. Throne of Fire 3. Thunderhoof 4. Battle in the Swamp 5. Hawk as Weapon 6. Satsumo 7. Foehammer 8. Total Conquest 9. Revengeance
Live At Freak Valley will be available in the following formats: – 2 LP Gatefold Vinyl White / Black Marble (Napalm Records mailorder only) – strictly limited to 200 – 2 LP Gatefold Vinyl Grey – 1 CD Jewelcase – Digital album
Lineup: Jon Davis – vocals, guitar (2006-present) Chris Fielding – bass (2013-present) Johnny King – drums (2017-present)
Last month, Check out why it is important to read the best Recommended Sites. Only this way will you have access to top quality work delivered on time, and Stoned Jesus played. On a stage. With people there. Some people, anyway. The show, held in their hometown of Kyiv, Ukraine, was of course set up for social distancing, and in addition to that new territory, it also marked the first time the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist All-round physics homework help in the U.S. is Need physics homework help in the U Ask us to ‘Business Plan Help Nyc U.S.’ to avail custom Igor Sidorenko, Optometry Business Plans - Instead of spending time in unproductive attempts, receive qualified help here Compose a timed custom research paper with Serhij Sljussar and drummer Buy College Papers Now in several clicks with 123 Essay. Only qualified writers. Only first-rate papers. Dmytro Zinchenko performed acoustically. It was reportedly taped for posterity and videos will likely surface at some point later or sooner. As it is, the photos the band has posted on social media make it look all the more like the special night it must’ve been.
Count Need quality essay about sex education and writing service? Our top PhD writers can help with research. Order now and get best price on dissertation help in London. Stoned Jesus among the multitudes with ‘best laid plans’ for 2020. Among other tours they had in the works for Europe, South America, etc., they were to have made their US debut at the second Generally, students ask queries on our site like I need help with my assignment, uvocorp essay writers, do my assignment cheap or write my assignment for me. Desertfest New York and tour around that — an initial incursion to American soil that would have only furthered their status as one of Europe’s leading purveyors of heavy rock. Instead, a live stream of a show at To provide visite site, our expert requires as many detailed instructions as possible. So, provide everything you think can somehow help the writer to complete the paper and satisfy all your expectations. Also, don’t forget to choose a proper academic level and a type of a paper to avoid any misunderstandings. The final thing you need to do is to indicate the number of pages Green Theatre from 2019, pro-shot, pro-audio, pro-edit, was aired for fans missing seeing them on stage — or those like myself, who’ve yet to be so fortunate — and unlike other come-and-gone livestreams, the band and Professional read here service uk. Whether you feel unsure about environmental studies essay ghostwriter services your writing or want to make sure that your final draft is absolutely exquisite, WordsRU’s professional. For students, crafting paraphrased texts is not easy. Personal statement proofreading service. Napalm Records have been kind enough to keep it available for the public. I’ve included it here, if only because it’s worth watching.
It’s hard to do interviews these days and not talk about what could’ve been in an alternate reality 2020, but If you are looking for a reliable service to Academic Essay Writing Companies for your Master’s or Ph.D. degree, look no further. Place an order online at our site and Sidorenko is a personable cat. In addition to the November show and the livestream, he chatted about songwriting, the deeply personal relationship he has to the songs on the band’s most recent LP, 2018’s Pilgrims (review here), the enduring legacy of 2012’s Seven Thunders Roar (review here), the reissue of their debut album, 2010’s First Communion (complete with product placement!), his love of Elephant Tree‘s latest record and much more. Of special note is the section where he discusses the direction of the next Stoned Jesus full-length, for which writing is in progress, and the idea of songwriting as an end unto itself in a multimedia-driven age. Also his foray into stand-up, at which one imagines he’s quite good.
It was a fun conversation. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading and watching:
Stoned Jesus Interview with Igor Sidorenko, Dec. 11, 2020
Stoned Jesus‘ Pilgrims and the reissue of First Communion are out now and you can still watch the Green Theatre live show below.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 15th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Though it came out earlier this year on Ripple Music and Cursed Tongue, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see Wolftooth‘s second long-player, Valhalla, be reissued on Napalm Records as well, though there’s no mention of it in the announcement below that the label has picked up the Richmond, Indiana-based outfit. Quality band and they do good work, but though Napalm has a few heavy rock acts on its roster, with Stoned Jesus, Greenleaf, Villagers of Ionnina City, and so on, the last time I can recall them picking up an American heavy rock-ish act was The Midnight Ghost Train, and that was six years ago. If I’m leaving someone out, I hope somebody will correct me.
All the more honor to Wolftooth, then, and clearly the metallic appeal of Valhalla is just the start of the band’s forward potential at this point. I’d expect a European tour if and when such things become possible.
Until then, kudos and congrats to the band. Here’s this from the PR wire:
WOLFTOOTH Signs Worldwide Record Deal with Napalm Records
After hustling in the underground scene for the better part of three years, Richmond, Indiana-based metal outfit WOLFTOOTH snagged the attention of Napalm Records with their multifaceted blend of classic NWOBHM and doom influences lifted by heavy stoner rock riffage. Closing out a bleak year with something very bright, the band is pleased to announce that they’ve signed worldwide contract with the premier rock and metal label!
Consisting of vocalist/guitarist Chris Sullivan, guitarist Jeff Cole, bassist Terry McDaniel and drummer Johnny Harrod, WOLFTOOTH launched in 2017 with the release of their debut EP, grabbing the attention of fans and industry alike. In early 2018, the band followed up by dropping their self-titled album, Wolftooth, to rave reviews. Immediately hitting the road in support of the album, WOLFTOOTH harvested countless new fans, building a reputation as a hard-hitting live act by supporting metal icons like Iced Earth, Sanctuary, Black Label Society, The Atomic Bitchwax, EYEHATEGOD and The Obsessed. In 2019, the band returned to the studio to record their sophomore release, Valhalla. WOLFTOOTH expanded on their already potent sound with cleaner production, hooky choruses and colossal riffs, all while harking back to the golden age of heavy metal. The record hit the underground in mid-2020.
WOLFTOOTH says about the signing: “In the three short years that we’ve been a band, we’ve made great strides to be heard and bring the almighty riff back into the forefront of heavy music. We are very thankful for our fans and the support they have given us on this journey. The band is also very excited for the future and about our partnership with Napalm Records – now anything is possible. We are currently writing our third album and look forward to getting on the road in 2021.”
Wolftooth is: Chris Sullivan Guitar/ Vocals Terry McDaniel Bass Jeff Cole Guitar Johnny Harrod Drums/Vocals
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 10th, 2020 by JJ Koczan
Well, anything new from My Sleeping Karma is welcome, up to and including a 30-second snippet of a yet-unnamed new song that carries their familiar warmth of tone and smooth psychedelic feel, but even if there wasn’t that occasion to mark, there are shows! It’s a band! Playing shows! No, I’m not going to any of the shows, but god damnit, the shows exist! Doesn’t that make your day better? It certainly does mine. Live streams are cool and all that, and I think they’ll have a place going forward — if nothing else as a way for bands to raise funds — but gosh, festivals are happening in Europe. We’re so, so, so far away from anything like that in the US it’s hard to imagine even an open-air event coming together — though did anyone see those pics from Sturgis Bike Week; they were insane — but I’m glad to know that shows are at least taking place somewhere.
And it’s all the more meaningful that it’s My Sleeping Karma playing the shows in question, since they’ve been sidelined not just by the global pandemic, but for over a year as their drummer underwent cancer treatment. So their comeback, as it were, is even more of a triumph. As for the fact that it’s been five years since they dropped their most recent studio album, Moksha (review here), well, let’s take it one thing at a time.
But new music! And shows!
Sound of Liberation put word out thusly:
MY SLEEPING KARMA – Summer Dates
It’s no secret that My Sleeping Karma are thankfully able to perform again after more than a year, and that indeed brings us hope that everything can and will get better eventually.
While the Munich show is sold out already, you can always catch MSK live in concert somewhere in the Swiss Alps or at our friends in Passau!
– 15/08 at PALP festival with Orange Goblin and Yet No Yokai – 21/08 at OPEN YAIR! präsentiert euch: Blackdoor • Zauberberg • MFV with Mount Hush , FILISTINE and Ozymandias – 22/08 at My Sleeping Karma + Mount Hush | SommerbĂĽhne im Stadion (SOLD OUT)
Welcome to the penultimate day of the Summer 2020 Quarterly Review. I can only speak for myself, but I know it’s been a crazy couple months on this end, and I imagine whatever end you’re on — unless and probably even if you have a lot of money — it’s been the same there as well. Yet, it was no problem compiling 50 records to review this week, so if there’s a lesson to be taken from it all, it would seem to be that art persists. We may still be painting on cave walls when it comes to the arc of human evolution, but at least that’s something.
Have a great day and listen to great music.
Quarterly Review #31-40:
Katatonia, City Burials
Like their contemporaries in My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost, the latter-day period of work from Sweden’s Katatonia veers back toward some measure of direct heaviness, as City Burials showcases in cuts like “Rein,” “Heart Set to Divide” and “Behind the Blood,” but more than either of those others mentioned, the Stockholm outfit refuse to forsake the melody and progressivism they’ve undertaken with their sound in the name of doing so. By the time they get to “Untrodden” at the end of the album’s 50-minute/11-song run, they’ve run a gamut from dark electronica to progressive-styled doom and back again, and with the founding duo of guitarist Anders Nyström and vocalist Jonas Renkse at the helm of the songwriting, they are definitive in their approach and richly emotive; a melancholy that is as identifiable in their songs as it is in the bands working under their influence. Their first work in four years, City Burials is an assurance that Katatonia are in firm ownership and command of all aspects of their sound. As they approach their 30th year, they continue to move forward. That’s a special band.
Boasting production, mixing and percussion from The Golden Grass‘ Adam Kriney, Marmalade Knives‘ debut album, Amnesia, is a delight of freaky-but-not-overblown heavy psychedelia. Oh, it’s headed far, far out, but as the opening narration and the later drones of second cut “Rivuleting” make plain, they might push, but they’re not trying to shove, if you know what I mean. The buzz in “Best-Laid Plans” doesn’t undercut the warmth of the improvised-seeming solo, and likewise, “Rebel Coryell” is a mellow drifter that caps side A with a graceful sense of wandering the soundscape of its own making. The vibe gets spacey on “Xayante,” and “Ez-Ra” touches on a funkier swing before seeming to evolve into light as one does, and the 10-minute “Astrology Domine” caps with noise and a jammed out feel that underscores the outbound mood of the proceedings as a whole. Some of the pieces feel like snippets cut from longer jams, and they may or may not be just that, but though it was recorded in three separate locations, Amnesia draws together well and flows easily, inviting the listener to do the same.
Edinburgh’s King Witch toe the line between classic metal and doom, but whatever you want to call them, just make sure you don’t leave out the word “epic.” The sweeping solo and soaring vocals on the opening title-track set the stage on their second LP, the hour-long Body of Light, and as much mastery as the band showed on their 2018 debut, Under the Mountain (review here), vocalist Laura Donnelly, guitarist Jamie Gilchrist, bassist Rory Lee and drummer Lyle Brown lay righteous waste to lofty expectations and bask in grandiosity on “Of Rock and Stone” and the linear-moving “Solstice I – She Burns,” the payoff of which is a high point of the album in its layered shred. Pieces like “Witches Mark” and “Order From Chaos” act as confirmation of their Euro-fest-ready fist-pumpery, and closer “Beyond the Black Gate” brings some atmosphere before its own headbang-worthy crescendo. Body of Light is a reminder of why you wanted to be metal in the first place.
Eminently listenable and repeat-worthy, Glass Parallels‘ debut LP, Aisle of Light, nonetheless maintains an experimentalist flair. The solo-project of Justin Pinkerton (Golden Void, Futuropaco), covers a swath of ground from acid folk to psych-funk to soul vibes, at times bordering on shoegaze but seeming to find more expressive energy in centerpiece “Asphyxiate” and the airy capper “Blood and Battlegrounds” than any sonic portrayal of apathy would warrant. United by keys, pervasive guitar weirdness and Pinkerton‘s at-times-falsetto vocals, usually coated in reverb as they are, Aisle of Light brings deceptive depth for being a one-man production. Its production is spacious but still raw enough to give the drums an earthy sound as they anchor the synth-laden “March and April,” which is probably fortunate since otherwise the song would be liable to float off and not return. One way or another, the songs stand out too much to really be hypnotic, but they’re certainly fun to follow.
Stonework is the self-aware debut full-length from Portland, Maine, trio Thems That Wait, and it shoulders itself between clenched-teeth metallic aggression and heavier fuzz rock. They’re not the first to tread such ground and they know it, but “Sidekick” effectively captures Scissorfight-style groove, and “Kick Out” is brash enough in its 1:56 to cover an entire record’s worth of burl. Interludes “Digout” and “Vastcular” provide a moment to catch your breath, which is appreciated, but when what they come back with is the sure-fisted “Paragon” or a song like “Shitrograde,” it really is just a moment. They close with “Xmortis,” which seems to reference Evil Dead II in its lyrics, which is as good as anything else, but from “Sleepie Hollow” onward, guitarist/vocalist Craig Garland, bassist Mat Patterson and drummer Branden Clements find their place in the dudely swing-and-strike of riffs, crash and snarl, and they do so with a purely Northeastern attitude. This is the kind of show you might get kicked at.
Complexity extends to all levels of Sojourner‘s third album and Napalm Records debut, Premonitions, in that not only does the band present eight tracks and 56 minutes of progressive and sprawling progressive black metal, varied in craft and given a folkish undercurrent by Chloe Bray‘s vocals and tin whistle, but also the sheer fact that the five-piece outfit made the album in at least five different countries. Recording remotely in Sweden, New Zealand, Scotland and Italy, they mixed/mastered in Norway, and though one cringes at the thought of the logistical nightmare that might’ve presented, Sojourner‘s resultant material is lush and encompassing, a tapestry of blackened sounds peppered with clean and harsh singing — Emilio Crespo handles the screams — keyboards, and intricate rhythms behind sprawling progressions of guitar. At the center of the record, “Talas” and “Fatal Frame” (the shortest song and the longest) make an especially effective pair one into the other, varied in their method but brought together by viciously heavy apexes. The greatest weight, though, might be reserved for closer “The Event Horizon,” which plods where it might otherwise charge and brings a due sense of largesse to the finale.
To anyone who might suggest that extreme metal cannot also be forward-thinking, Bismarck submit the thoughtful bludgeon of Oneiromancer, a five-song/35-minute aesthetic blend that draws from doom, death, hardcore and sundry other metals, while keeping its identity in check through taut rhythm and atmospheric departures. Following the chants of opening intro “Tahaghghogh Resalat,” the Chris Fielding-produced follow-up to Bismarck‘s 2018 debut, Urkraft (review here), showcases an approach likewise pummeling and dynamic, weighted in ambience and thud alike. “Oneiromancer” itself starts with blastbeats and a plundering intensity before breaking into a more open midsection, but “The Seer” is absolutely massive. Despite being shorter than either the title-track or “Hara,” both of which top nine minutes, and closer “Khthon” underscores the blood-boiling tension cast throughout with one last consuming plod. Fucking raging. Fucking awesome. Pure sonic catharsis. Salvation through obliteration. If these are dreams being divined as the title hints, the mind is a limitless and terrifying place. Which, yes.
I won’t say it’s seamless or intended to be, but as Albuquerque, New Mexico, two-piece The Gral Brothers make their initial move on Caravan East between cinematic Americana and industrial brood, samples of dialogue on “Cactus Man” and violin in the seven-minute soundscaper “In Die Pizzeria” seem to draw together both a wistfulness and a paranoia of the landlocked. Too odd to fall in line with the Morricone-worship of Cali’s Spindrift, “Crowbar” brings Spaghetti West and desert dub together with a confidence that makes it seem like a given pairing despite the outwardly eerie vibes and highly individualized take, and “Santa Sleeves” is beautiful to its last, even if the lone bell jingle is a bit much, while “Silva Lanes” pushes even further than did “Circuit City” into mechanized experimental noisemaking. They end with the birdsong-inclusive “Ode to Marge,” leaving one to wonder whether it’s sentiment or cynicism being expressed. Either way, it’s being expressed in a way not quite like anything else, which is an accomplishment all on its own.
When you’re at the show and the set ends, Flamingo Graphics is the CD you go buy at the merch table. It’s as simple as that. Recorded this past March over the course of two days, the debut album from Floridian foursome Astral Glide is raw to the point of being barebones, bootleg room-mic style, but the songwriting and straightforward purposes of the group shine through. They’re able to shift structures and mood enough to keep things from being too staid, but they’re never far off from the next heavy landing, as “Devastation” and the closer “Forever” show in their respective payoffs, that latter going all out with a scream at the end, answering back to the several others that show up periodically. While their greatest strength is in the mid-paced shove of rockers like “Space Machine” and “Scarlett” and the speedier “Workhorse,” there are hints of broader intentions on Flamingo Graphics, though they too are raw at this point. Very much a debut, but still one you pick up when the band finishes playing. You might not even wait until the end of the show. Meet them back at the table, and so on.
Well, I’m starting an hour later than I did yesterday, so that’s maybe not the most encouraging beginning I could think of, but screw it, I’m here, got music on, got fingers on keys, so I guess we’re underway. Yesterday was remarkably easy, even by Quarterly Review standards. I’ve been doing this long enough at this point — five-plus years — that I approach it with a reasonable amount of confidence it’ll get done barring some unforeseen disaster.
But yesterday was a breeze. What does today hold? In the words of Mrs. Wagner from fourth grade homeroom, “see me after.”
Ready, set, go.
Quarterly Review #11-20:
Horisont, Sudden Death
With a hefty dose of piano up front and keys throughout, Gothenburg traditionalist heavy rockers Horisont push retro-ism into full-on arena status. Moving past some of the sci-fi aspects of 2017’s About Time, Sudden Death comprises 13 tracks and an hour’s runtime, so rest assured, there’s room for everything, including the sax on “Into the Night,” the circa-’77 rock drama in the midsection of the eight-minute “Archeopteryx in Flight,” and the comparatively straightforward seeming bounce of “Sail On.” With cocaine-era production style, Sudden Death is beyond the earlier-’70s vintage mindset of the band’s earliest work, and songs like “Standing Here” and the penultimate proto-metaller “Reign of Madness” stake a claim on the later era, but the post-Queen melody of “Revolution” at the outset and the acoustic swing in “Free Riding” that follows set a lighthearted tone, and as always seems to be the case with Horisont, there’s nothing that comes across as more important than the songwriting.
Scourge of the seven seas that German nautically-themed funeral doomers Ahab are, Live Prey is their first live album and it finds them some five years removed from their last studio LP, The Boats of the Glen Carrig (review here). For a band who in the past has worked at a steady three-year pace, maybe it was time for something, anything to make its way to public ears. Fair enough, and in five tracks and 63 minutes, Live Prey spans all the way back to 2006’s Call of the Wretched Sea with “Ahab’s Oath” and presents all but two of that debut’s songs, beginning with the trilogy “Below the Sun,” “The Pacific” and “Old Thunder” and switching the order of “Ahab’s Oath” and “The Hunt” from how they originally appeared on the first record to end with the foreboding sounds of waves rolling accompanied by minimal keyboards. It’s massively heavy, of course — so was Call of the Wretched Sea — and whatever their reason for not including any other album’s material, at least they’ve included anything.
Let’s assume the title High Protein might refer to the fact that Dutch/Belgian power trio Rrrags have ‘trimmed the fat’ from the eight songs that comprise their 33-minute sophomore LP. It’s easy enough to believe listening to a cut like “Messin'” or the subsequent “Sad Sanity,” which between the two of them are about as long as the 5:14 opener “The Fridge” just before. But while High Protein has movers and groovers galore in those tracks and the fuzzier “Sugarcube” — the tone of which might remind that guitarist Ron Van Herpen is in Astrosoniq — the stomping “Demons Dancing” and the strutter “Hellfire,” there’s live-Deep–Purple-style breadth on the eight-minute “Dark is the Day” and closer “Window” bookends “The Fridge” in length while mellowing out and giving drummer/vocalist Rob Martin a rest (he’s earned it by then) while bassist Rob Zim and Van Herpen carry the finale. If thinking of it as a sleeper hit helps you get on board, so be it, but Rrrags‘ second album is of unmitigated class and straight-up killer performance. It is not one to be overlooked.
There’s stoner roll and doomed crash in “New Body,” drone-laced spoken-word experimentalism in “Blood and Butter,” and post-punk angular whathaveyou as “Halloween Bolson” plays out its nine-minute stretch, but Viscerals — the third or fourth Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs album, depending on what you count — seems to be at its most satisfying in blowout freak-psych moments like opener “Reducer” and “Rubbernecker,” which follows, while the kinda-metal of “World Crust”‘s central riff stumbles willfully and teases coming apart before circling back, and “Crazy in Blood” and closer “Hell’s Teeth” are more straight-up heavy rock. It’s a fairly wide arc the UK outfit spread from one end of the record to the other — and they’re brash enough to pull it off, to be sure — but with the hype machine so fervently behind them, I have a hard time knowing whether I’m actually just left flat by the record itself or all the hyperbole-set-on-fire that’s surrounded the band for the last couple years. Viscerals gets to the heart of the matter, sure enough, but then what?
Kiel, Germany’s Earthbong answer the stoner-sludge extremity of their 2018 debut, One Earth One Bong (review here), with, well, more stoner-sludge extremity. What, you thought they’d go prog? Forget it. You get three songs. Opener “Goddamn High” and “Weedcult Today” top 15 minutes each, and closer “Monk’s Blood” hits half an hour. Do the quick math yourself on that and you’ll understand just how much Earthbong have been looking forward to bashing you over the head with riffs. “Weedcult Today” is more agonizingly slow than “Goddamn High,” at least at the beginning, but it builds up and rolls into a pace that, come to think of it, is still probably slower than most, and of course “Monk’s Blood” is an epic undertaking right up to its last five minutes of noise. It could’ve been an album on its own. But seriously, if you think Earthbong give a shit, you’re way off base. This is tone, riff and weed worship and everything else is at best a secondary concern. Spend an hour at mass and see if you don’t come out converted.
No doubt that at some future time shortly after the entire world has moved on from the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be a glut of releases comprised of material written during the lockdown. Peruvian four-piece Rito Verdugo are ahead of the game, then, with their Post-Primatus four-song EP. Issued digitally as the name-your-price follow-up to their also-name-your-price 2018 debut, Cosmos, it sets a 14-minute run from its shortest cut to its longest, shifting from the trippy “Misterio” into fuzz rockers “Monte Gorila” (which distills Earthless vibes to just over three minutes) and “Lo Subnormal” en route to the rawer garage psychedelia of “InhumaciĂłn,” which replaces its vocals with stretches of lead guitar that do more than just fill the spaces verses might otherwise be and instead add to the breadth of the release as a whole. Safe to assume Rito Verdugo didn’t plan on spending any amount of time this year staying home to avoid getting a plague, but at least they were able to use the time productively to give listeners a quick sample of where they’re at sound-wise coming off the first album. Whenever and however it shows up, I’ll look forward to what they do next.
Signed to Cruz Del Sur Music as part of that label’s expanding foray into traditionalist doom (see also: Pale Divine, The Wizar’d, Apostle of Solitude, etc.), Dublin’s Death the Leveller present an emotionally driven four tracks on their 38-minute label debut, the counterintuitively titled II. Listed as their first full-length, it’s about the same length as their debut “EP,” 2017’s I, but more important is the comfort and patience the band shows with working in longer-form material, opener “The Hunt Eternal,” “The Golden Bough” and closer “The Crossing” making an impression at over nine minutes apiece — “The Golden Bough” tops 12 — while “So They May Face the Sun” runs a mere 7:37 and is perhaps the most unhurried of the bunch, playing out with a cinematic sweep of guitar melody and another showcase for the significant presence of frontman Denis Dowling, who’s high in the mix at times but earns that forward position with a suitably standout performance across the record’s span.
It isn’t surprising to learn that the members of Fall River, Massachusetts, five-piece Marrowfields come from something of an array of underground styles, some of them pushing into more extreme terrain, because the five songs of their debut full-length, Metamorphoses, do likewise. With founding guitarist/main-songwriter Brandon Green at the helm as producer as well, there’s a suitably inward-looking feel to the material, but coinciding with its rich atmospheres are flashes of blastbeats, death metal chug, double-kick and backing growls behind the cleaner melodic vocals that keep Marrowfields distinct from entirely traditionalist doom. It is a niche into which they fit well on this first long-player, and across the five songs/52 minutes of Metamorphoses, they indeed shapeshift between genre elements in order to best serve the purposes of the material, calling to mind Argus in the progressive early stretch of centerpiece “Birth of the Liberator” while tapping Paradise Lost chug and ambience before the blasts kick in on closer “Dragged to the World Below.” Will be interesting to see which way their — or Green‘s, as it were — focus ultimately lies, but there isn’t one aesthetic nuance misused here.
Dätcha Mandala present a strong opening salvo of rockers on Hara, their second album for MRS Red Sound, before turning over to all-out tambourine-and-harp blues on “Missing Blues.” From there, they could go basically anywhere they want, and they do, leading with piano on “Morning Song,” doing wrist-cramp-chug-into-disco-hop in “Sick Machine” and meeting hand-percussion with space rocking vibes on “Moha.” They’ve already come a long way from the somewhat misleading ’70s heavy of opener “Stick it Out,” “Mother God” and “Who You Are,” but the sonic turns that continue with the harder-edged “Eht Bup,” the ’70s balladry of “Tit’s,” an unabashed bit o’ twang on “On the Road” and full-on fuzz into a noise freakout on closer “Pavot.” Just what the hell is going on with Hara? Anything Dätcha Mandala so desire, it would seem. They have the energy to back it up, but if you see them labeled as any one microgenre or another, keep in mind that inevitably that’s only part of the story and the whole thing is much weirder than they might be letting on. No complaints with that.
If you’ve got voices in your band that can harmonize like guitarists James Draper, Shane Linfoot and Mike Zoias, I’m not entirely sure what would lead you to start your debut record with a four-minute instrumental, but one way or another, Sydney, Australia’s Numidia — completed by bassist/keyboardist Alex Raffaelli and drummer Nathan McMahon — find worthy manners in which to spend their time. Their first collection takes an exploratory approach to progressive heavy rock, seeming to feel its way through components strung together effectively while staying centered around the guitars. Yes, three of them. Psychedelia plays a strong role in later pieces “Red Hymn” and the folky “Te Waka,” but if the eponymous “Numidia” is a mission statement on the part of the five-piece, it’s one cast in a prog mentality pushed forward with poise to suit. Side A capper “A Million Martyrs” would seem to draw the different sides together, but it’s no minor task for it to do so, and there’s little sign in these songs that Numidia won’t grow more expansive as time goes on.
The stage was set, the lights were lit, the fog machine was rolling out a steady haze, and legit doom legends Candlemass brought an immediate sense of presence to their July 3 streamed concert at Studio Gröndahl in Stockholm. One has to wonder how many ‘new’ experiences are left to the Swedish outfit headed by bassist and principal songwriter Leif Edling, but surely a streamed show would be one of them. The group are 34 years on from their ultra-seminal 1986 debut, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, which helped pave the way for what traditionalist and doom metals subsequently became, and as a fan of the band, any opportunity to see them with vocalist Johan Längquist — who sang on that first record and then left the band ne’er to return until 2019’s The Door to Doom (review here), from which only the Grammy-nominated “Astorolus – The Great Octopus” was aired. They were, to put it mildly, robbed.
Now then, Längquist, Edling, guitarists Mats “Mappe” Björkman (joined in 1985) and Lars “Lasse” Johansson (joined in ’87) and drummer Jan Lindh (also ’87) are veteran performers, who probably had a considerable amount of touring planned for 2020 to support the album, the follow-up-take-advantage-of-momentum EP, The Pendulum (discussed here), and perhaps even Edling‘s righteous beard, which surely is on the list of correct choices the band have made in the last decade. Those plans, obviously, evaporated in a cloud of pandemic statistics — like so much else — but with this stream, its important to note that they still put on a show. Goes without saying it wasn’t the same as seeing the band live, and I’ve been very, very, very fortunate to do that on more than one occasion, including the 2011 reunion set that first brought Längquist back to the lineup. About which, yes, I will brag forever; thank you, Roadburn 2011.
But this was a concert, and having seen a few acts bring different approaches to the advent of streaming live shows — everything from acoustic-guitar-in-the-kitchen to outside-at-a-would-be-festival — Candlemass‘ stream felt decidedly like a concert video in the classic metal sense. Production company Blackbox, which hosted the stream through its page, embedding a live YouTube player with a live chat, ran a professional shop. The lighting, the previously-noted fog, the quick cuts between multiple cameras, moving around, some at exaggerated upward angles, some head-on, even the candles lit around the room and the bouquets of flowers on Lindh‘s drum kit made it feel less like a studio space and more like a stage. It was a fitting environment for Candlemass to break out so many of their classics, from the opening “The Well of Souls” and “Dark Are the Veils of Death” from 1987’s Nightfall (discussed here) and “Mirror Mirror” from 1988’s Ancient Dreams (discussed here), to “Dark Reflections” from 1989’s Tales of Creation to landmarks like “Bewitched,” “Mirror Mirror” from the same era.
That era, which started with Längquist being replaced by vocalist Messiah Marcolin, ended after Tales of Creation (the blip that was the 2004 reunion notwithstanding), and while the debut was duly represented in “Under the Oak,” “A Sorcerer’s Pledge” and “Solitude,” which rounded out, it was interesting to see Längquist take on Marcolin‘s parts, their voices being of different character. Though the band also played a new song — listed as “Nytt Riff,” which is ‘new’ in Swedish — it was noted in the chat that the entire period in which the band was fronted by Solitude Aeturnus/Tyrant vocalist Robert Lowe was left out. Hazards, one assumes, of having a catalog full of classics. Perhaps Candlemass assumed that those seeking them out for a live-stream experience would be more established fans looking for ‘the old stuff’ as opposed to something from 2007’s King of the Grey Islands, 2009’s Death Magic Doom (review here) or 2012’s Psalms for the Dead (review here). I don’t know that they were wrong in that, and with a set time a little over an hour, keeping it to the most essential essentials was fair enough. Maybe if they start taking requests for another one I’ll ask for “Emperor of the Void” and see how it goes.
Last time I did a stream review, I was struck by the shift in experience between going to a show and putting one on — how rather than be something separate from a regular, day-to-day existence, the show became a part of it. I suppose it wouldn’t be any different for any live event being televised, but with the change from physically moving yourself from your home to a venue to see a band to not doing that, it’s a big change. To wit, when the stream started, I was on the highway. I turned it on on my phone, turned the speaker up and sang along to “Mirror Mirror” while my toddler called out different trucks he saw from the back seat. And when I got home, I unpacked the car from an overnight trip and changed a diaper while watching. By the time I finally got to sit down and live with it a little bit, they were through the solo and Hammond-laced roll of “Nytt Riff” — which one assumes would get vocals at some point, but was a welcome inclusion as an instrumental anyhow — and on into “A Sorcerer’s Pledge” nearing the end of their time. It was an 8PM start for Europe, so that made plenty of sense, but I was and remain thankful for the ability to rewatch afterward, for whatever limited time the stream is still available.
I know that the notion of bands streaming live shows like this instead of doing concerts and touring is new, and I know that they’re certainly no replacement for seeing a band live, but Candlemass more than held their own under the circumstances. Periodically mugging for the cameras, they seemed to be enjoying the chance to deliver a show of any sort to an audience. And though the pauses between songs brought a kind of awkward silence where applause would be and the video screen behind them went under-used except during those transitions, the big rock finish as “A Sorcerer’s Pledge” moved into “Solitude” was nothing if not earned by that performance and all that came before it, and the inclusion of what I assume was soundcheck footage of “Demon’s Gate” after the show-proper made for a smart twist on the idea of an encore, so while there were lessons to take going forward from this new experience, Candlemass gave their virtual crowd something to be happy to have witnessed, as well as a limited ‘Ancient Streams’ t-shirt to pick up afterward. Clever.
Can’t go see Candlemass, and that’s a bummer. But god damn, it felt good to see Candlemass.
The statistics of COVID-19 change with every news cycle, and with growing numbers, stay-at-home isolation and a near-universal disruption to society on a global scale, it is ever more important to consider the human aspect of this coronavirus. Amid the sad surrealism of living through social distancing, quarantines and bans on gatherings of groups of any size, creative professionals — artists, musicians, promoters, club owners, techs, producers, and more — are seeing an effect like nothing witnessed in the last century, and as humanity as a whole deals with this calamity, some perspective on who, what, where, when and how we’re all getting through is a needed reminder of why we’re doing so in the first place.
Thus, Days of Rona, in some attempt to help document the state of things as they are now, both so help can be asked for and given where needed, and so that when this is over it can be remembered.
Thanks to all who participate. To read all the Days of Rona coverage, click here. — JJ Koczan
Days of Rona: Cornelius Althammer of Ahab (Jena, Germany)
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How are you dealing with this crisis as a band? Have you had to rework plans at all? How is everyone’s health so far?
Everyone in the band is fine, so far. As well, as our families and friends. Luckily we don´t have to rework plans, for we had decided to take a break from playing shows until fall. The initial reason for this was to focus on writing our next album and to get the release of our first live album done. The latter works really well, we will release “Live Prey” via Napalm Records on June 26th. A special tape edition will be released via Low Fidelity Assaults.
The only good thing about this is that I have plenty of time to play drums for several hours each day.
What are the quarantine/isolation rules where you are?
We are allowed to leave houses, but we cannot meet. For us as a band it´s super annoying that we cannot rehearse. But compared to other countries we are quite lucky, I guess. In the first place I am no virologist, so I listen to those who know better.
How have you seen the virus affecting the community around you and in music?
I haven´t seen any affects on my musician friends, luckily. For sure I read the reports about Death Angel or Testament members, but I don´t know them in person.
What is the one thing you want people to know about your situation, either as a band, or personally, or anything?
We are in this together. Everybody on this planet, no matter of which sex, origin, colour of skin, faith, anything. Please do me a favour and learn from this. Don´t go back to normal after this. Maybe this goddamn virus is the very last warning earth can give us before we´ll have irrecoverably destroyed it. Peace.
