Nashville atmospheric heavy two-piece Materializer release their debut album, As the Body Flies, on Oct. 2. This week they’ll embark on a regional tour to herald the record’s coming, and to mark the occasion, they’re premiering a video for “Dopamine Ravine” from it. You’ll find it streaming below.

Siblings Conner Poole (guitar/vocals) and Chris Poole (drums/vocals) comprise the band, whose existence was announced late last year following the dissolution of the trio The Swell Fellas. That band’s last full-length, 2024’s Residuum Unknown (review here), demonstrated how much they had grown over the course of their near-decade together, to a point where the name didn’t really represent who they were musically anymore. I don’t know what was behind the decision not to employ another bassist, but with As the Body Flies, the Poole brothers create an atmospheric density that wants nothing for fullness, in the low end or any other. Contrasted by the acoustic “Gateway Grand” on side B, what surrounds is heavy immersion, tones and rhythmic structures deep and complex enough to give an impression of worldbuilding. “Falling Out of the Fold,” which opens, sets a bed of drone behind its chugging initial riff in its buildup, and that reveals part of the methodology, but Materializer know there’s more than one way to crush a cat, and congratulations, you’re the cat.

The leadoff opens to a rolling largesse and meets with a melody that in another production context might sound born of an Uncle Acid influence, the voice watery and somewhat obscured by the wash of cymbals and the riff they’re riding. But the point is to draw the listener in, to hypnotize as well as enact that instrumental hook, and as they bleed directly into “Walking Home” and the noise changes shape to begin the next procession, they make it clear they don’t want anything to take the listener out of the experience until they say so. Thus are they in command of their sound and the shaping of As the Body Flies. You can attribute that to the fact that they were in a band together before, but with brothers, it’s not unreasonable to think they’ve been playing music together since that meant banging on pans on the kitchen floor. Chemistry isn’t a question.

Where “Falling Out of the Fold” was immediate in its nod, “Walking Home” takes more time to get there, swirling Deftonesy conjurations of noise and unwavering melodic vocals gradually making their way to a crush even more about impact than the prior. This noisy feel remains overarching throughout the record, but there’s a stop before “Dopamine Ravine” starts with the guitar and a buildup of drums leading right into the verse — it’s the shortest song at 3:01; there’s no time to waste — and the spaciousness of the notes floating lends a post-metallic ambience as the notes float around and seem to hit walls in the space they’re creating. It comes apart in cymbal wash and drone, and stick clicks lead the way into “Swallowed in Rain,” which concludes side A with a resumption of purpose. Additional vocal layering underscores the arrangement potential there, but “Swallowed in Rain” is more aggressive as well, tighter and faster in its pummel, and massive as the verse continues following a muted beat, moving through an extended guitar solo into a second half that becomes more chaotic as it goes, twisting leads and crash lurching upward and slamming down, but ending quietly with a last lyric before giving over to the start of “Unwind” on side B.

There’s something of a shift in construction on the second half of As the Body Flies, which bookends with the longer “Unwind” and “Trial,” the latter of which tops eight minutes and is both closer and the longest inclusion, with the aforementioned “Gateway Grand” and the subsequent “Longest Drag” between them. Keeping Materializer from incongruity is just how broad the range across the first half of the album is — that is to say, they push outward from the very beginning, so by the time the drums start “Unwind,” there’s room enough for just about whatever they want to do. The drums are central to the build as the guitars and vocals start in on the verse, still melodic, brooding with tension soon unfolding into heavier tones and a darkly psychedelic splendour. The change in movement happens after the chorus, where the drums drop out and the vocals become whispers beneath a steady drone and the guitar floating overhead; a wash that seems like it’s making its way into a huge, lumbering plod but that turns instead from all that rumble at 4:51 back to the verse, sung sweetly but in a moment exploding into a twisting riff and early-Mastodonic gruntriff, coming to a stop at 6:35 before a second burst brings the layered solo frenzy.

They do return to the riff briefly before the feedback ends it, but “Unwind” is pointedly vivid in its atmosphere, and part of what the departure into “Gateway Grand” does is allow the listener time to process the journey they’ve just been on. Stripped of all that widescreen distortion, “Gateway Grand” highlights the human aspect, the later vocal harmony and an accompanying strum set to its own rhythm, and like “Dopamine Ravine” complements the start of “Swallowed in Rain,” so too does “Longest Drag” seem to pick up from “Gateway Grand” sounding richer for the contrast in volume. Taken as a whole, I’m not sure you would call As the Body Flies a patient album — it’s not trying to make you wait around to be flattened, is what I mean — but neither is “Longest Drag” rushed, steadily moving forward in its first two minutes before the drums signal the change coming and the tonality gets huge once again. They let it go back into the verse, but cycle through again, and the going is more satisfying the second time for knowing what’s about to hit. All the while, the vocals remain willfully melodic. To a degree that it feels like part of the mission of the band, which maybe it is, I don’t know.

“Longest Drag” caps with a familiar distorted rumble that cuts off to the quiet guitar intro of “Trial,” in which nod becomes paramount. A midtempo rolling chug lends a progressive feel to the early verse, but it’s a march and thus bound to lead somewhere, and by then, the shift to crush is telegraphed. There are harsher vocals, mixed lower than the cleans, and that’s part of what makes “Trial” feel like such a culmination, but as it moves into its second half, the truth is it feels that way anyhow. Jabbing skronk and stops give a mathier feel, but it’s not the mosh part of a modern metal song so much as the setup for the noisy, brief solo. Tighter, faster churn takes hold after five minutes in, and they carry that breakdown riff as the ending for the song, bringing in a sample over the last residual feedback to add extra finality, and when it’s over, the silence feels heavier for their having done so.

I know it’s not out for a while yet, but the work Materializer do here results in both one of 2026’s most cohesive and purposeful debut albums, but a showcase of where their forward growth could continue to lead, in the melody and the tonal force alike. And as grim as moments throughout As the Body Flies may feel, the Pooles never lose sight of what they want the songs to do, the spaces they want to explore and in which they want to immerse the listener.

“Dopamine Ravine” doesn’t represent the entirety of As the Body Flies, and I’m not sure any single track would, but it’s fortunate in that case that down near the bottom of the post you’ll find the Bandcamp player, where as of this writing, “Falling Out of the Fold,” “Swallowed in Rain” and “Longest Drag” are also streaming. That’s four out of eight tracks altogether, so should be enough to catch an impression. I’d advise taking a breath and digging in.

Please enjoy:

Materializer, “Dopamine Ravine” video premiere

Nashville’s Stoner Metal/Doom Duo Materializer To Release Debut LP, As The Body Flies, Out October 2

Preorder: https://materializer.bandcamp.com/album/as-the-body-flies

On their first record as a duo, the Poole brothers double down on unpredictable songwriting, arrangements swinging from crushing and chaotic to serene, carrying an uncanny devotion to the sound first forged in their previous project, The Swell Fellas.

Materializer, the new project formed by brothers Conner and Chris Poole, will release their debut full-length, As The Body Flies, on October 2. Alongside the announcement, the band has shared a new single and accompanying video, “Dopamine Ravine,” a swirling, psychedelic three-minute atmosphere that highlights the consequences of pleasure and forces you to sit with a decision made.

On the new single, the band shares: “As The Body Flies is a cathartic release for us. The first record of a new project and a vulnerable look inside the years leading up to the beginning of Materializer. Putting this together has been an exciting and often puzzling experience figuring out a new writing process as a duo, and letting the songs lead the way. That process has led us to new song structures, new gear, and new sounds. We wanted to create the heaviest record we’ve been a part of while also leaning into our roots of melodic vocals, emphasizing on compression and release, chaos and serenity, and balancing the light and dark in a way that feels in harmony with the world around us.”

The album was written, produced, performed, co-recorded, and co-engineered by Materializer: Conner Poole on guitar and vocals, Chris Poole on drums and vocals. The album was recorded by Dave “Squirrel” Covell and Materializer, mixed by Ben McLeod (All Them Witches), and mastered by Mikey Allred at Dark Art Audio. The record arrives on Friday, October 2, pre-orders are available now through the artist’s bandcamp: https://materializer.bandcamp.com/album/as-the-body-flies

Tracklisting:
1. Falling Out of the Void (5:55)
2. Walking Home (6:16)
3. Dopamine Ravine (3:01)
4. Swallowed in Rain (5:49)
5. Unwind (7:50)
6. Gateway Grand (4:01)
7. Longest Drag (4:59)
8. Trial (8:04)

Upcoming Tour Dates
8/26 — Chattanooga, TN at Red Bud
8/27 — Asheville, NC at The Odd
8/28 — Richmond, VA DIY show under a bridge in Oregon Hill Park
8/29 — Lynchburg, VA at Super Rad Arcade Bar
8/30 — Philadelphia, PA at Kung Fu Necktie
8/31 — Norfolk, VA at Norfolk Taphouse (w/ Earth Tongue)
9/4 — Nashville, TN at Eastside Bowl (w/ Moon Destroys and The Well)

Tix/info here 👇
https://Materializerband.com/shows

Materializer, As the Body Flies (2026)

Materializer website

Materializer Linktr.ee

Materializer on Bandcamp

Materializer on Instagram

Materializer on Facebook

Materializer is the two-piece of guitarist/vocalist Conner Poole and drummer Chris Poole, brothers who up until last year were bandmates in the trio The Swell Fellas. If you caught wind of that band’s 2024 swansong LP, Residuum Unknown (review here), you probably already know that the moniker didn’t really suit the album’s heavy and post-metallic atmospheres, or the crush of the tonality on which they rested. So, you know, sometimes one band turns into another.

Their debut as Materializer is titled As the Body Flies, and it’s set to release Oct. 2. I know I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, but there are three songs from the impending record streaming right now, opener “Falling Out the Fold,” “Swallowed in Rain” and “Longest Drag,” and whether you knew their prior outfit or not, I would suggest you take the time to at least give a cursory check-out here. I know it’s like the hardest thing to do to get people to stop what they’re doing in their busy day and listen to a thing on spec, but from one human being to another, I’ll tell you there’s space in these songs that I think might be enough to find yourself in, to engage with what they’re doing and, ultimately, make your day better.

If you dig what they’re doing, you’ll be glad to know that the tour starts next week on the East Coast. I don’t know what their plans are for after the album comes out in terms either of geography or time, but there’s a poster and I’m glad to have the excuse to post the singles ahead of the album’s release, so here you go:

AUG/SEPT 2026
Where we seeing you? 👀

8/26 – Chattanooga, TN at @redbudvenue w/ @dopeskum and @tempusplays

8/27 – Asheville, NC at @theoddavl w/ @thecultofsmoke @iguanahead @fleeting_forms_band @graspingairbooking

8/28 – Richmond, VA – Details 🔜

8/29 – Lynchburg, VA at @superradarcade w/ @iguanahead and @thecultofsmoke

8/30 – Philadelphia, PA at @kungfunecktie_bar w/ @reapersgong @_paleshade @sarinasounds

8/31 – Norfolk, VA at @taphousenorfolk w/ @earthtongue

9/4 – Nashville, TN at @the58sound w/ @thewellband and @moondestroys

Tix/info here 👇
Https://Materializerband.com/shows

https://www.materializerband.com/
https://linktr.ee/materializer
https://materializer.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/materializerofficial/
https://www.facebook.com/materializerhq

Materializer, As the Body Flies (2026)

Resonant in its quiet moments, reveling in its heft and unquestionably grown up, House of Mirrors is the first All Them Witches album in six years, their first in 11 years not to be released through New West Records, their first since being rejoined by organist/violinist Allan Van Cleave in 2021, and their first since the 2024 departure of founding drummer Robby Staebler, whose sometimes-creepy visual art contributed to the development of the band’s aesthetic as being apart from the heavy rock norm.

So if you want storyline, there’s plenty to go around, and whatever angle you take, House of Mirrors sounds mature, explored, realized and able to wield its heft as an expression of dynamic, as the opening take on blues traditional “Red Rocking Chair” and “Culling Line” demonstrate, setting up a balance of chill and push that the 10-track/43-minute full-length fleshes out in various ways and a range of moods across its span. Bassist/vocalist Charles Michael Parks, Jr., guitarist Ben McLeod, Van Cleave on Fender Rhoads and other keys and drummer Christian Powers spent a decent portion of 2025 touring for a record that didn’t yet exist, at least in the public sphere, and this collection of songs — able to affect a loose groove while not losing sight of their path, also able to pull together a more urgent stretch like “Hold Up, Say What?” — feels in its tightness like it’s a part of that journey.

Maybe All Them Witches didn’t sit down and say, “let’s put together a bunch of shorter songs to play live,” but the way House of Mirrors ebbs and flows, the context that it was a tour before it was a record, and the unsurprising-but-still-welcome vitality of their performances all support the idea that they got there anyhow. There are no broad, nine-minute jams that unfold — “Red Rocking Chair” is the longest inclusion (also opener; immediate points) at 6:29 — yet songs like “Turn on the Light,” the cyclical hookmaker “Starting Line” and others here feel born of those jams, and the clarity of intention behind each track becomes both a strength and part of why I called the record “grown up” in the first sentence. As freewheeling as they’ve come across at points in their tenure, All Them Witches have never actually been sloppy, and in the acoustic foundation and ultra-bluesy buildup of “Aethernet,” the drumless melodic showcase “Go-Getter,” which ends side A with an emotionality that the closing pair of “The Welterweight” and “Saturn Song” will push further, their persona is intact perhaps most of all for being manifest in a way that it hasn’t been before.

That is to say, All Them Witches are a band who, now with seven full-lengths in their catalog, have never shown any desire to repeat themselves. House of Mirrors sounds conscious of its audience, and conscious of itself on a craft level, but while elements invariably carry over, it is no more a retread of what they’ve done before than anything they’ve done to this point. Part of that is the shift in chemistry for bringing in Powers, who acquits himself well in taking the place of a creative drummer with a distinct style that became an important part of the band’s ability to convey restlessness or motion amid wandering, often psychedelic passages.

The drums are suitably busy as the taut twists of “Hold Up, Say What?” straight out into the chorus, and the complement they give to the fuzzy guitar strut in “Angel on the Wayside” is able to enact a flow in a way that All Them Witches haven’t been able to do before, while “Turn on the Light” just before calls to mind the crunchier tone in the second half of “Bulls” from 2017’s Sleeping Through the War (review here), seeming to speak directly and knowingly to established fans while not retreading what they’ve already done.

Six years ago, Nothing as the Ideal (review here) harnessed the zen-ambitiousness of its title into a part-experimental take on what All Them Witches had done before. Is it so odd that they might be more reflective on House of Mirrors? In terms of texture, be it the organ in “Culling Line” or the dreamy line adding depth to the guitar in the penultimate “The Welterweight” and carrying the progressive melody of closer “Saturn Song” in the second half, having Van Cleave back makes them a stronger band, and longtime fans will revel in the spaces the band makes throughout House of Mirrors much as the band itself seems to do, be it the distorted twang of “Aethernet” or the longing in “Starting Line” — defined by its repeated title line “Back to the starting line” over a quick buildup and turnaround — or the quiet breadth of “Go-Getter,” which sounds like it was made to be heard alone in the middle of the night. The comparatively speedy “Hold Up, Say What?” just before is a head-spinner, but it’s telling for where All Them Witches are as a band that the crescendoes on House of Mirrors are less about volume than emotion.

And of course, Parks‘ vocals in conveying that, wistful, sometimes mumbled obscure tales or aphorisms — the wise chew syllables; only fools enunciate — are essential to that, if not the only factor as the shimmering leads from McLeod remind throughout “The Welterweight” and “Saturn Song,” becoming a hook of their own in the latter, which sounds no less stage-ready for the expressiveness with which it’s delivered or the clarity it maintains. I’ve never thought of All Them Witches as being overly Beatles-inspired — especially for a band who recorded their last LP at Abbey Road — but something about the self-awareness-of-an-ending at the finish of “Saturn Song” speaks to that anyhow, even if the melody and structure are All Them Witches‘ own, as is the entirety that precedes. Because they’re among the foremost US heavy rock acts of their generation, just about anything they put out is going to carry some air of an event. Fair enough, particularly after six years. While it balances the fresh and familiar, House of Mirrors reaffirms the band’s place and singular style, making for both a welcome return and an offering that still looks forward more than it looks back. It’s very All Them Witches in that way, and there aren’t many higher compliments I could give.

All Them Witches, House of Mirrors (2026)

All Them Witches, “Red Rocking Chair” visualizer

All Them Witches, “Starting Line” visualizer

All Them Witches on Bandcamp

All Them Witches on Instagram

All Them Witches on Facebook

Time for All Them Witches to release the album they’ve been heralding on tour since last year. Out May 29 I think as a self-release, House of Mirrors will be the Nashville four-piece’s first full-length since 2020’s Nothing as the Ideal (review here), and that’s probably long enough even with the Baker’s Dozen (discussed here) singles project they spent 2022 dug into. The new single “Starting Line” — as though to mark the beginning of the album cycle that, again, has already started — has a video filmed on tour that you’ll find near the bottom of this post.

It’s not actually the first single, though, as the prior-posted visualizer for the blues traditional “Red Rocking Chair” that they put out last month will lead off the record. Curious if “Culling Line” and “Starting Line” will have any interaction, and how the crunch in this current single and the prior will play out across the entirety of House of Mirrors, what shape the psychedelic lean of their sound might take this time around. I guess I just want to hear the record, is the bottom line. It’s nice to feel excited about a thing.

They did a whole thing with tarot cards on their socials and at shows, but when I try to put a gallery in it screws up the post, so I might add it later. Putting a note to myself here to remember, which I probably won’t anyhow because I suck at this.

Preorder links, the album tracklisting and announcement, and dates for the European tour that will follow the release in June are below. Dig it:

ALL THEM WITCHES – House of Mirrors

Starting Line is out now and we’re stoked to announce that our new album House of Mirrors will be coming out May 29th! Pre-save / pre-order now.

Pre-save: https://on.allthemwitches.org/tb_app/542821

Pre-order: https://store.allthemwitches.org

Tracklist:
1) Red Rocking Chair
2) Culling Line
3) Aethernet
4) Hold Up, Say What?
5) Go-getter
6) Starting Line
7) Turn On The Light
8) Angel On The Wayside
9) The Welterweight
10) Saturn Song

ALL THEM WITCHES – House of Mirrors European Tour
14.06 Nickeldorf AT Nova Rock 
17.06 Edinburgh UK La Belle Angele
18.06 Notthingham UK The Palais
19.06 Birmingham UK 02 Institute
20.06 Bristol UK 02 Academy
21.06 Brighton UK Chalk
23.06 Hamburg DE Markthalle
25.06 Stockholm SE Nalen
26.06 Copenhagen DK Copenhell
27.06 St. Gallen CH Openair St. Gallen
28.06 Lausanne CH Docks
29.06 Paris FR Olympia
30.06 Stuttgart DE LKA Longhorn
02.07 Werchter BE Rock Werchter
03.07 Leipzig DE Parkbühne
04.07 Beuningen NL Down the Rabbit Hole

All Them Witches are:
Charles Michael Parks, Jr. – bass/vocals
Allan Van Cleave – Rhodes/violin
Ben McLeod – guitar
Christian Powers – drums

http://www.allthemwitches.org/
http://allthemwitches.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/allthemwitchesband/
http://www.facebook.com/allthemwitches

All Them Witches, “Starting Line” official video

All Them Witches, “Red Rocking Chair” visualizer

Having caught All Them Witches on their ‘House of Mirrors’ tour this past December in Brooklyn with King Buffalo supporting (review here), I will kindly and in the interest of friendship urge you to see them if they’re happening through where you live. They’re currently on the West Coast, also with King Buffalo, and by all accounts I’ve seen it’s going swimmingly. King Buffalo won’t be making the trip to Europe with the Nashville four-piece, however, but Slift, Steak (did I see something about a new album coming?), Slomosa and Rezn will in turn step in to support.

All Them Witches stand among the foremost headlining heavy rock acts of their generation. Their selection of openers here speaks some to that — any one of the bands listed above could be headlining their own tour — and while I’m dying to hear new music from them, I can’t and won’t take away from the impact they make onstage. It’s been six years and half a lineup since their last proper studio record, but it’s not like they’re not keeping busy in the interim. Their recently-released-as-a-single take on the traditional “Red Rocking Chair” is streaming below, in case you’d like more of a reason to potentially leave your house some evening in June or early July.

From social media:

EUROPE/UK – we’re heading your way this summer! Stoked to have @steakband, @sliftrock, @slomosa, and @rezzzn joining us. Pre-sale starts February 25 at 10am local. Sign up for early access: https://www.allthemwitches.org/tour All tickets on sale this Friday, February 27 at 10am local. See you there.

ALL THEM WITCHES – House of Mirrors European Tour
14.06 Nickeldorf AT Nova Rock 
17.06 Edinburgh UK La Belle Angele
18.06 Notthingham UK The Palais
19.06 Birmingham UK 02 Institute
20.06 Bristol UK 02 Academy
21.06 Brighton UK Chalk
23.06 Hamburg DE Markthalle
25.06 Stockholm SE Nalen
26.06 Copenhagen DK Copenhell
27.06 St. Gallen CH Openair St. Gallen
28.06 Lausanne CH Docks
29.06 Paris FR Olympia
30.06 Stuttgart DE LKA Longhorn
02.07 Werchter BE Rock Werchter
03.07 Leipzig DE Parkbühne
04.07 Beuningen NL Down the Rabbit Hole

All Them Witches are:
Charles Michael Parks, Jr. – bass/vocals
Allan Van Cleave – Rhodes/violin
Ben McLeod – guitar
Christian Powers – drums

http://www.allthemwitches.org/
http://allthemwitches.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/allthemwitchesband/
http://www.facebook.com/allthemwitches

All Them Witches, “Red Rocking Chair” visualizer

I know what you’re thinking. At very least, I know what I was thinking, but actually no, I don’t think “Red Rocking Chair” is heralding a new All Them Witches album. The anticipation of such a thing is understandable as we approach six years since 2020’s Nothing as the Ideal (review here), not that they haven’t had new music to offer since — they spent all of 2022 unfurling singles in a project called ‘Baker’s Dozen’ (discussed here) — and anyway, “Red Rocking Chair” is an American folk traditional, born out of “Sugar Baby,” recordings of which date back about a century. One imagines if the Nashville four-piece — guitarist Ben McLeod, bassist/vocalist Charles Michael Parks, Jr., the returned-in-’21 Allan Van Cleave on keys and violin, and drummer Christian Powers — were starting the cycle for the full-length they said they finished just over a year ago, they’d do so with an original. Or maybe not. They’ve always had a softspot for breaking that kind of rule.

The earliest live showcasing of their take on “Red Rocking Chair” I can find is from late 2024, but it was part of the encore when I was lucky enough to see them this past December in Brooklyn (review here) as well, and while they’re not talking album at this point — one imagines there are some things to sort on the business end, label-wise, and so on — it’s still possible the unveiling of this track and visualizer is a precursor to more. Mind you, it’s also possible it’s a genuine standalone, as All Them Witches have definitely done that before as well — anyone remember “George Dubya Kush?” — but they’ve also recently signed on with new, UK-based PR, and the ‘House of Mirrors Tour’ they undertook last Fall with King Buffalo is picking up again this week, so they’re active across multiple levels regardless of when the awaited next LP actually shows up, and certainly they’ve been touring all the while, sometimes playing full albums, in the years since Nothing as the Ideal, while also welcoming back Van Cleave as noted and bringing Powers into the band and rebuilding the chemistry so crucial to their approach. I’m just saying; they’ve been around.

This is a long way to go — shocking, I know — for me to tell you that maybe a new All Them Witches record happens this year and maybe it doesn’t. Sadly, it’s not up to me. But as these guys are one of the best heavy-anything rock bands of their generation, I’ll take what I can get, and if that’s a ready-for-repeat-listens studio version of “Red Rocking Chair,” I’m perfectly happy to dig in and bask in the inimitable low-key bluesy groove and the massive roll that offsets; elements that make “Red Rocking Chair” signature All Them Witches regardless of the song’s actual origins. Whatever follows will follow.

Enjoy:

All Them Witches, “Red Rocking Chair” visualizer

Subscribe: https://allthemwitches.lnk.to/subscribe/

Just a few weeks until we’re back on the road in the US! Tickets are moving fast so grab yours while you can. See you guys soon. https://www.allthemwitches.org/tour

All Them Witches on Bandcamp

All Them Witches on Instagram

All Them Witches on Facebook

It was clear Nashville’s Howling Giant were going to have a busy 2026 supporting their 2025 album, Crucible and Ruin (review here), which was my pick last year for album of the year and which also won the year-end poll outright. We’re seeing now a bit of what that looks like. The European tour dates below were posted on social media toward the end of last week when I was traveling — the press release below came in yesterday, so I’m almost timely — and I wanted to put the previously-announced West Coast tour with that to give a fuller picture.

They’ll do SXSW, Mojave Experience and headlining club shows for much of March and into April, and then at the start of May, they begin at Desertfest Oslo what I’m pretty sure is their first headlining tour of Europe, with slots at Desertfest London, Gockelscream, Esbjerg Fuzztival and Freak Valley to follow. Add to that rad spots on the UK/Euro circuit like Bannermans in Edinburgh, Neue Zukunft in Berlin and Rare Guitar in Münster and this is a hell of a tour following up a hell of a tour.

I doubt it will be the last they undertake before the end of the year, either, so keep an eye out. I’ll do the same.

From the PR wire:

HOWLING GIANT announce European Headline Tour 2026

The long-term weather forecast for late spring in Europe just changed to bright blues skies and steaming hot! Brilliant stoner metal outfit HOWLING GIANT will journey from Nashville, Tennessee across the Atlantic to delight European audiences by bringing their acclaimed third full-length “Crucible & Ruin” to the stages of the old continent for the first time.

Please see below for all currently confirmed live dates, album details of “Crucible & Ruin”, and biographical information.

HOWLING GIANT comment: “We are excited to partner up with Atonal Music Agency to get back to Europe on the heels of our ‘Crucible & Ruin’ album”, drummer Zach Wheeler writes. “It has been about two and a half years since our last European tour and we’re quite pleased to perform in a ton of cities where we’ve never played before! Looking forward to see you on the road!”

The album is available for purchase here: https://spkr.store/collections/howling-giant

HOWLING GIANT European Headliner Tour 2026
09 MAY 2026 Oslo (NO) Desertfest Oslo
10 MAY 2026 Stockholm (SE) Undergången
11 MAY 2026 Malmö (SE) Plan B
15 MAY 2026 Nottingham (GB) The Mist Rolling Inn
16 MAY 2026 Edinburgh (GB) Bannermans
17 MAY 2026 London (GB) Desertfest London
19 MAY 2026 Coventry (GB) The Tin
20 MAY 2026 Bristol (GB) The Gryphon
21 MAY 2026 Amsterdam (NL) de Tanker
23 MAY 2026 Berlin (DE) Neue Zukunft
24 MAY 2026 Dresden (DE) Gockelscream Fest
27 MAY 2026 Paris (FR) Supersonic Records
28 MAY 2026 Münster (DE) Rare Guitar
29 MAY 2026 Hagen (DE) Werkhof Hohenlimburg
30 MAY 2026 Esbjerg (DK) Fuzztival
31 MAY 2026 Hamburg (DE) Stellwerk
03 JUN 2026 Den Bosch (NL) Willem Twee
04 JUN 2026 Rotterdam (NL) Baroeg
05-07 JUN 2026 Siegen (DE) Freak Valley Festival

Previously announced Spring West Coast US tour:
w/ Insomniac
3/11 – Birmingham, AL – Saturn
3/12 – New Orleans, LA – Siberia
3/13 – Austin, TX – HEAVY METAL PARKING LOT
3/14 – Tulsa, OK – Whittier Bar
3/16 – Taos, NM – Goathead Collective
3/17 – Santa Fe, NM – Desert Dogs
3/18 – Tempe, AZ – Yucca Tap Room
3/19 – Las Vegas, NV – The Griffin
3/21 – Joshua Tree, CA – MOJAVE EXPERIENCE
3/22 – Bakersfield, CA – Jerry’s Pizza
3/24 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom Of The Hill
3/25 – Eureka, CA – Siren’s Song Tavern
3/26 – Eugene, OR – John Henry’s
3/27 – Portland, OR – High Water Mark
3/28 – Seattle, WA – The Funhouse
3/29 – Vancouver, BC – Astoria
3/31 – Salt Lake City, UT – Aces High Saloon
4/1 – Denver, CO – HQ
4/2 – Kansas City, MO – Record Bar
4/3 – St Louis, MO – Platypus Bar
4/4 – Nashville, TN – TN Brew Works
w/ Black Tusk
4/17 – Wilmington, NC – Reggie’s 42nd Street Tavern
4/18 – Baltimore, MD – Grim Reefer Fest
4/19 – Raleigh, NC – Pour House

Line-up
Tom Polzine – guitar, vocals
Zach Wheeler – drums, vocals
Sebastian Baltes – bass, vocals
Adrian Lee Zambrano – guitars, synthesizers

howlinggiant.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/howlinggiant/
www.facebook.com/howlinggiant/

http://store.merhq.com
http://magneticeyerecords.com/
https://www.instagram.com/magneticeyerecords/
https://www.facebook.com/MagneticEyeRecords

Howling Giant, “Beholder I: Downfall” official video

Howling Giant, “Canyons”

Howling Giant, Crucible & Ruin (2025)

In the parlance of the internet circa 2015, The Swell Fellas did nothing wrong. During their run from 2020-2024, the Nashville trio released three albums, the last of which, Residuum Unknown (review here), came out in 2024 concurrent to their disbanding. And until this past weekend, that was pretty much the story of it. Working with producer Ben McLeod (All Them Witches), The Swell Fellas, who were the three-piece of guitarist/vocalist Conner Poole, drummer Chris Poole and bassist Mark Rohrer, were able to harness a sound that was likewise divergent in its atmosphere and direct in its crush. The short version is they went out on their best record yet, and were a band pushing the limits of genre, which is always a tough one to lose in the great continuum of who does and doesn’t decide to be a band anymore.

All of this is to say that The Swell Fellas left off giving the distinct impression they had more to say — that their creative progression was in motion — and Materializer is the new project where, hopefully, that progression will be realized. It’s more than just a name change, since the new band is Conner and Chris as a duo, and presumably the low end will be full regardless, but it’s not like The Swell Fellas‘ sound was broken or locked into being something specific by audience expectation — they kept it pretty broad to start with — so I wouldn’t expect Materializer to… materialize… at such great remove from where the Pooles left off.

They didn’t have much to say about it, other than that the band exists. That’s good news as far as I’m concerned, so here it is from socials:

MATERIALIZER

By the time it’s ingested, all has changed.

Know that’s nothing that you can change.

It’ll never be the same.

New chapter

Show announcements and music coming soon

Thanks for sticking around 🖤

Let’s ride

https://theswellfellas.bandcamp.com/
http://instagram.com/theswellfellas
http://facebook.com/theswellfellas

The Swell Fellas, Residuum Unknown (2024)