Posted in Whathaveyou on December 1st, 2025 by JJ Koczan
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:
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 25th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Shocking news out of Nashville, Tennessee. No, not that Howling Giant are going on tour to support their new album, Crucible & Ruin (review here). I think we all saw that coming. I mean that bassist Sebastian “Seabass” Baltes has had his flowing locks surgically removed. One wonders if someone from Insomniac won’t put “Friends don’t let friends get haircuts” on a guitar at some point on this tour. In any case, a stunning revelation. I wasn’t ready.
I am ready to watch/hear Howling Giant play these songs on stage, however. It won’t happen this tour, which is mostly West Coast around slated appearances at SXSW in Austin, for Heavy Metal Parking Lot, and their previously announced slot at Mojave Experience in the Californian desert, but this won’t be the last one either. Then you get to Europe and the picture of Howling Giant‘s busy 2026 to come starts to get clearer. Spoiler: they’re going to have one.
Also, note: I’m probably going to put the Insomniac press release for this tour up as well. One, it’s an excuse to put the player stream again. Two, my own archival purposes. Three, I like writing about good tours. Just a heads up.
This is combined PR wire and social media:
HOWLING GIANT announce first North American headlining “Crucible & Ruin Tour” 2026
Nashville, Tennessee’s HOWLING GIANT announce their first headling tour in support of their acclaimed third full-length “Crucible & Ruin”. On the North American road trip this coming spring from March 11 until April 4, 2026, the cosmic stoner metal outfit will be joined by heavy psych rockers INSOMNIAC from Atlanta, Georgia.
Howling Giant comment: “We’re headed out west with our dudes in Insomniac next spring! We’ll play a bunch of new songs from Crucible & Ruin, we’ll have the new hot sauce and new shirt designs, and a brand new short-hair-Seabass. We appreciate everyone’s patience after the cancellation of our June/July run as we got things rebooked. See y’all soon!”
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 – Savage Henry 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 Worksac
Line-up Tom Polzine – guitar, vocals Zach Wheeler – drums, vocals Sebastian Baltes – bass, vocals Adrian Lee Zambrano – guitars, synthesizers
Posted in Reviews on October 30th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
There is a lot going on here, but from any angle one might on want to examine it, Howling Giant‘s third album, Crucible and Ruin, is a bold step forward from a band who’ve worked hard to make their place at the forefront of the US heavy underground. One could not accuse them of making it easy on themselves in having to follow-up 2023’s excellent Glass Future (review here), on which each of the 10 inclusions felt like a lead single (yes, even the slow or instrumental stuff) for its airtight songwriting, crisp performance and sweeping energy, but instead of trying to outdo themselves, Crucible and Ruin — which is also 10 tracks, but six minutes longer than its predecessor at 47 minutes — pivots to a more expansive aural ideology.
In some ways, the live-sounding crunch of a piece like “Beholder I: Downfall” and the melodic, progressive outreach in “Archon” or the still-catchy opener “Canyons” feel like they’re in direct conversation with the band’s past, but it’s all part of a thread that’s been ongoing since before their full-length debut, 2019’s The Space Between Worlds (review here). Six years after that, and 10 after their first and recently-reissued self-titled EP, the Nashville-based now-four-piece (we’ll get there) stand triumphant in their maturity and craft, with a defined sound of their own that shows little interest in stopping growth. The expanse one hears in these songs is no less a part of their purpose than the loose story they’re telling in the lyrics, and it all ties together effectively to feel definitive for this incarnation of the band. That is to say, if you’ve been waiting to find out who Howling Giant are going to be, musically, you might have just found out.
The album was co-produced by Neil Tuuri, Kim Wheeler and James Sanderson, and engineered and mixed by Tuuri in Ohio. This in itself is a change from past recordings, which have been done with Wheeler, who still recorded additional vocals in Nashville and added synth to the penultimate otherwise-acoustic 68-second interlude “The Observatory,” and would seem to be a conscious choice on the part of the band to try a different approach. The results are that on “Beholder I: Downfall” (which has additional percussion by Adam Nohe of Horseburner) they’re able to recall heyday-Mastodon heft with no less precision or depth of character in the riffing, while “Melchior’s Bones” — a seeming sequel to “First Blood of Melchior,” from the last record, and no less laced with samples for not being instrumental — pushes into the anthemic just as it hits its emotional crescendo. Howling Giant are heavier than they’ve ever been and Crucible and Ruin holds up to whatever volume you might want to give it. The drums alone are mammoth.
Bassist/backing vocalist Sebastian Baltes was the new guy in the band last time around and here feels more present in the mix and in the songs generally in terms of playing off the conversation between Tom Polzine‘s guitar and Zach Wheeler‘s drums — you don’t have to go too far into “Hunter’s Mark” to hear it, let alone “Archivist” — but of course having another guitarist in the band is bound to beef up tones as well. Crucible and Ruin brings Adrian Lee Zambrano‘s studio debut on guitar and synth, and the progressive heavy style of playing he brought to his time in bands like Brujas del Sol and Lo-Pan resonates in this material from “Canyons” onward, in solos and the construction of the riffs. It’s a shift in dynamic from where Howling Giant were songwriting-wise two years ago, and it results in a piece like “Archon” taking its time to flesh out and develop its parts in a way that they wouldn’t or couldn’t have done last time around.
Does that make the songs that make up Crucible and Ruin less direct? On average, probably. “Canyons,” “Archon,” “Archivist” and “Beholder II: Labyrinth” all top six minutes, but as much as Howling Giant have a story to tell — I haven’t seen a lyric sheet, but the purported narrative is “the clash of a novice deity against the forces of primordial chaos” as something of a thematic framework; fair enough — they are cognizant of the need to tell it in more than one way. “Hunter’s Mark” has a dark, been-on-the-road catchiness that hits like a more complex take on what Glass Future offered, while the later “Scepter and Scythe” metals up some of the pop-punk hookiness that has become a part of the band’s persona even as they’ve grown more progressive — it makes sense because songwriting — while “Lesser Gods” is a mellow-rolling gray-day heavy prog instrumental running under three minutes, “Beholder I: Downfall” caps side A in under four, and “The Observatory,” as noted, is just over a minute long.
That’s a convenient way for me to demonstrate variety of purpose on the part of the band even as they unite the material under a storyline umbrella — a variety of songs with a variety of runtimes; derp — but it’s more evident in the actual listening experience, for example in the way the double-kick fades out of “Hunter’s Mark” only to have the drums pick up again from the silence before the burst-to-life melody hits in “Archon.” These little moments, the details, are where the band thrives. With vocals from Polzine, Wheeler and Baltes, Howling Giant are rife with voice-led payoffs, but even into the now-we’re-riding-this-riff-and-this-song-might-have-to-close-shows-forever-and-that’s-okay finish of “Melchior’s Bones,” they don’t push any further than the moment seems to require, and for being Zambrano‘s first outing as a part of the band, his playing informs the material in a number of ways and their range is that much greater for it.
Not that they were shy about layering as a three-piece, but their sound is fuller with Zambrano‘s tone added to it — of course the general largesse of the production is a factor there too — and there are moments like in tense early verses of “Beholder II: Labyrinth” where the proggy chug and overarching vocal melody seem to be competing, especially since the vocals also sound huge with their effects-laced hookmaking, but coming off Glass Future, it feels across Crucible and Ruin like part of what they were focused on in the recording process was getting heavier. In accordance with this, they’re also still growing and exploring where they can go as a four-piece, while continuing to engage their audience with generally uptempo, progressive-enough-to-be-interesting-to-nerds-and-already-in-your-head-catchy, well crafted and impeccably executed songs. Polzine has never sounded more confident as a lead vocalist conveying emotional as well as melodic range, and he and Wheeler instrumentally and vocally are a creative partnership that has continued to flourish over the last decade. This album is a well-earned victory, and to my mind at least, solidifies Howling Giant among the finest active heavy rockers in the US.
Howling Giant, “Beholder I: Downfall” official video
Posted in Reviews on October 9th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Today is Thursday, but it’s day five of the Fall 2025 Quarterly Review because I snuck in that first day last Friday. I cannot convey to you how much that has screwed me up. Turns out when you do one thing precisely one way for like 13 years and then all of a sudden flip it around another way it can be confusing. Stay tuned for more deep-impact life hacks and insights like this.
Or maybe riffs instead. It’s okay. That’s most of what keeps me coming back too.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
Paradise Lost, Ascension
More than 35 years on from their outset, Paradise Lost are an institution. I know they’ve had their stylistic divergences, but since recommitting themselves to their morose take on doom metal more than 15 years ago, they’ve hit a rare echelon of reliability one can only call Kreator-esque. That’s not a sonic comparison, but like the German thrash stalwarts, Paradise Lost have their sound — dark and more malleable in tempo than the thickened tones make it feel across these 10 songs — and within that sphere are able to do basically what they want musically and make it work. Side A’s “Salvation,” the longest inclusion at seven minutes, is a tour de force of the appeal of modern Paradise Lost, and a fitting summary of how encompassing they’ve become while still remaining recognizable as themselves. They even get hooky on “Deceivers,” so yes, still growing, still pushing, still Paradise Lost. A once-a-generation band, even as part of a cohort as they were, and not to be taken for granted.
The sixth full-length from still-younger-than-some-bands-who-haven’t-been-around-as-long Icelandic heavy rockers The Vintage Caravan plays out across 17 tracks and 59 minutes, with groups of songs presumably corresponding to double-vinyl side splits separated by interludes each of which is named “Portal.” So, Portals. The first of them follows “Philosopher,” the lead single which features Mikael Åkerfeldt, who turns out to be one of several guests across the record, but the real headliner is the songwriting. In the big choruses of “Here You Come Again,” “Give and Take,” and others, the band recall a heyday when rock could be heavy and accessible outside its own sphere, while “Electrified” later on builds into a tense boogie hook before “Portal V” transitions to the acoustic-based “My Aurora” and the closer “This Road,” one more uptempo, shred-inclusive, exceptionally well-crafted piece of The Vintage Caravan‘s classic-heavy-informed style, efficient in getting its point across despite allowing itself time to dwell as it does throughout.
It’s not really a huge surprise that Los Angeles dark heavy psych rockers Spirit Mother would ‘go acoustic’ at some point, given the dynamic they’ve showcased to-date on their definitely-plugged studio albums. The most recent of those, 2024’s righteous, Heavy Psych Sounds-issued Trails (review here), is the source for “Wolves” and “Below,” which feature on this short, stripped-down offering. “Wolves,” which capped the record in memorable fashion, leads off here with its foreboding feeling all the more realized given the state of the world, while “Below” finds violinist SJ pushing into a soft crescendo taking off from Armand Lance‘s guitar and vocals. Recorded live, Songs From the Basin sounds duly organic, and whenever Spirit Mother in any form — that is, the full band or just the duo as they are here — wants to drop a full acoustic set, I’m here for it. Once again, the lesson is once you have well-written songs, you can make them do and be just about whatever you want.
I’m pretty sure the now-Berlin-based experimentalist duo of Aidan Baker and Leah Buckareff are north of 30 full-lengths released since their first one in 2002, and that doesn’t count blurring the lines between one project and another with collaborations or Baker‘s solo work. Prolific as they are, they remain expressive in the hard-drum-machined “It’s Cold When You Cut Me” (15:09), one of the four extended inclusions of Cut, where the sinister undercurrent comes to fruition in the song’s second half of manipulated, noisy drone. “Dark, No Knowledge” (13:26) lays out a distorted landscape and rolls through it, Godflesh in a hand-cranked meat grinder, becoming a swell of apocalyptic noise, while “She Ate His Dreams From the Inside and Spat Out the Frozen Fucking Bones” (15:14) dares to be pretty as it leaves spaces open and fills out later with psychedelic processionmaking, leaving the immediate ritual of “Omenformation” to resonate high before piling on low end frequencies while also freakjazzing and riffing out. The noise swallows all but it turns out there’s salvation in that monster’s stomach, so I’ll take it. One Nadja album may be an inevitable precursor to the next one, but that doesn’t mean they don’t make it a world of its own.
Düsseldorf-bred psych rockers Vibravoid belong in a class of undervalued all their own. As they mark their 35th anniversary, they begin their new studio album Remove the Ties with a mischievous redirect of krautrock-style electronics before the garage-wavey “Neustart” and pop-shimmerier “Power of Dreams” dig further into the heart of the record, letting side A round out with the longer, deeper-reverbed “Follow Me Follow You” and its effects barrage play out atop the steady kick drum tasked with holding it together. But nobody who’s been in a band for 35 years is about to actually be sloppy, and there’s no actual danger of off-the-rails on Remove the TiesBaby Woodrose roamed the earth. Vibravoid were there then too. It’s easy to get around when you’re from a different dimension.
Do you have six minutes for a good pummeling? Of course you do. Brooklynite four-piece For Fuck’s Sake offer two tracks like a digital punker 7″ with 7-Minute Abs/Lobotomy, and they make no attempt to hide the fact of their sights being set on destruction. Their sound, rooted in hardcore and sludge in like measure, counting in with the snare on “7-Minute Abs” and daring to cross the three-minutes-long threshold with the fervent chug and bone-on-bone impact of “Lobotomy,” reminds of nothing so much as earlier 16, but with an unmistakable edge of Northeastern confrontationalism. That is, they’ll fuck you up and they know it, so that’s what they’re setting out to do. Barking, gnashing intensity set a harsh backdrop for what’s an engaging groove so long as you’re pissed off enough to process it (which you should be; look around), and the rawness of their delivery, the unabashed assault of it, comes through as genuine. Also punishing.
Classic heavy rock and roll forms the core of Paralyzed‘s approach, with guitarist Michael Binder‘s low, gravelly vocals reminiscent of Jim Morrison at his least hinged, suited to the blues behind second cut “Railroad” and the subsequent march of “Rosie’s Town” on the band’s third LP, Rumble & Roar. To say they — that is, Binder, organist/rhythm guitarist Caterina Böhner, bassist Philipp Engelbrecht and drummer Florian Thiele — make it a party across the nine-song/41-minute outing is perhaps understating the case, but if you’d accuse “Heavy Blues” of being too on the nose, you’re missing the fact that on the nose is the point. There’s no irony here, no sneer to the boogie of “White Paper” or the slow organ-laced fluidity of “The Witch,” just heavy vibes and reaffirmation of the band’s growth as songwriters. I’m not even sure where one would start complaining about such a thing.
Delivered as their label-debut for Magnetic Eye Records, the 10-song/40-minute Bear is the fourth full-length from Nashville two-piece Friendship Commanders, with guitarist/vocalist Buick Audra and drummer/bassist/synthesist Jerry Roe having recorded with Kurt Ballou in addition to doing some at home for an affect accordingly tight in craft and heavy in impact. “Melt” pushes toward a ’90s-style reimagining of heavy rock as both commercially viable and empowering, while “X” pairs its tonal crunch with the keyboardy reach of its midsection, poppish but still heavy even unto the snare hits. Pop becomes another tool in their arsenal, whether it’s the layered ascent and push of “New” or the weighted culmination presented with closer “Dead and Discarded Girls,” and the band don’t seem to shy away from being able to compose at the level they are. At the same time, “Dripping Silver” feels fully cognizant of the radness in the riff it’s riding, so there’s a balance to it as well. They sound like professionals.
Former Iron Man and, as of recently, former Spiral Grave vocalist “Screaming Mad” Dee Calhoun is pissed. The Maryland-based acoustic metal troubadour sounds resolute on Angry Old Man, and while his past solo work could hardly be said to pull punches, he hits a different level of laying it all out there on “Kill a Motherfucker” late in the procession here. As ever, hollow-bodied-resonance is the foundation throughout, but other elements like the harmonica in “Voodoo Queen” and the tolling bell at the outset of “VVitch (A Chant)” (not really a chant) fill out the reaches when Calhoun‘s powerhouse voice — still his primary instrument, though the guitar work has gotten more complex with time as well — recedes to a softer delivery. But when he belts it out — looking at you, “Rise Up to March” — he can shake the ground, and if you have any prior familiarity with his work, you already know he’s unmistakable in that regard. That remains the case here, even as he positions himself the titular Angry Old Man. Ain’t none of us getting any younger, dude.
The narrative of the band getting together after a few years, enjoying each other’s company as they wrote and recorded Sörmland — named for where in Sweden they were — becomes real with the mellowprog delve of “Honey Trap” more than the shorter leadoff “Video,” as pastoralia takes centerstage with organic melodies and a casual groove. Unsurprisingly if you know Twin Peaks, “Laura Palmer’s Theme” is darker, but the real reference it’s making seems to be to “Moonlight Sonata” as regards the keys, but “Neon Lights” answers back by being in no hurry whatsoever with sweet intertwining guitar lines and a subtle build to later movement. At 11 minutes, the title-track that caps is the longest inclusion, but fair enough since they have to make room for that tenor sax and all. I wouldn’t know from experience, but Sörmland is what I imagine it would sound like to be emotionally regulated, ever, and anytime Automatism want to get together out in the woods or by some fields or a lake or whathaveyou, I hope someone has the presence of mind to hit record.
Based in Nashville, all-caps heavy trio MAANTA RAAY released their self-titled debut this past summer through drummer Carlos Ortiz-Martinez‘s own No Sabes Projects, and if you find yourself listening and thinking of turn-of-the-century dirty-fuzz-drenched heavy, saying to yourself “They don’t make ’em like that anymore,” you’re not wrong. But there’s more going on in the eight-song/25-minute outing — they call it an album and it’s short but I’m not sure why I’d try to argue; Reign in Blood is 28 minutes long, so even by that standard they’re pushing it — than a fuzz revival, and the band deftly uses the time they have, immersing the listener in a this-is-how-it’s-gonna-be barrage of wails and howls from Chet Weise‘s guitar underscored by the bass of Mason Hadley, evoking the loose grooves of To the Center-era Nebula and the various about-to-come-off-the-rails dangers that band courted at the time, before the rules of genre were set, codified and proliferated.
By its nature, MAANTA RAAY, the LP, is more about scorching the ground they’re on than reaching into the unknown. Opener “The Night Rider” doubles as the longest inclusion (immediate points), and spends its seven minutes burning white hot through riffy turns, laid-back Cali-style hooks and an attention to detail that veers into psychedelia momentarily only to turn back around and blindside with a solo atop the wet bombast of Ortiz-Martinez‘s cymbals. They take it swaggering to the finish and cut out ahead of the manipulated sampled speech in “Lost Satellite,” which as the title hints heralds the push more into cosmic stonerism with a languid riff and synth of the “MAANTA RAY Theme,” itself complemented by the motor-start of “Om Revver” that shifts directly into the standalone guitar introducing the riff of “Peace Cruiser,” carrying the album through its middle and reaffirming the pattern of “The Night Rider” and “Lost Satellite” that will continue to hold for the (again, relatively brief) duration of longer songs being paired with brief interludes.
This is not a new methodology by any means, but next time you need a handy example of how and why it works to make a record more interesting, MAANTA RAAY are ready to provide. By just allowing that little bit of space between each song — the longest interlude follows “Peace Cruiser”; it’s the analog-sci-fi synthy “Ancient Future” and it’s 31 seconds long, as you can see in the tracklisting below — the listener will almost unconsciously find the atmospheres and the moods of the songs richer. “Peace Cruiser” early on chills out the roll of “MAANTA RAAY Theme” somewhat, but that lets the chug in its last third come through all the more emphatically, and before de facto closer “UFOrchid” kicks in with its snare and immediate sense of welcome-to-the-last-of-the-burner-burners strut in the verse, “Ancient Future” has provided enough separation from “Peace Cruiser” that there’s no incongruity for the listener. Again, this isn’t something MAANTA RAAY invented; it’s a trope. But they use it exceedingly well to their advantage in terms of hooking the audience and keeping them engaged.
Likely that wouldn’t be possible if the songs didn’t work in the first place, and fair enough since they do. “UFOrchid” takes the shred of “The Night Rider” and the pardon-my-elbows of “Peace Cruiser” and sets them to work bookending the opener, rounding out with a gravitational pull that feels suitable to the preceding cuts, capping with a blowout because it’s been a blowout nearly the entire time. As their final statement, though, “Cosmic Microwave Background” is 11 barely-there seconds that, if you were listening on vinyl or just digital in a different tab, would be easy to miss. It adds to the symmetry, and the symmetry is very much part of the band’s overarching purpose, so I’m not knocking it, but neither will I tell you that 11 seconds of what I’m pretty sure is amp noise over the actual sound of the cosmic microwave background radiation is making or breaking the record, because it isn’t. I’ll take it for the sense of completion though. A victory lap through the universe, perhaps.
Well enough earned, certainly. I may spend the rest of MAANTA RAAY’s tenure reminding myself they’re not from California, but that seems like a small price to pay for what they unleash on this debut and hail for the future. If you want to get into it today, that’d probably be cool too.
The video for “The Night Rider” premieres below. Full album stream is near the links at the bottom of the post. Please enjoy:
MAANTA RAAY, “The Night Rider” video premiere
“The Night Rider” was directed by Quinton Hickman and MAANTA RAAY Filmed by Quinton Hickman
MAANTA RAAY is a riff-casting, power trio from Nashville, Tennessee. Their self-titled debut will be out summer 2025 on No Sabes, distributed by Forte, and comes from the heavier side of psychedelia. While the influences are apparent — Leigh Stephens (Blue Cheer), Jaki Liebezeit (CAN), Daphne Oram, Randy Rhoads, James Jamerson, Ron Asheton — the record’s interstellar overdrive vs droned-out tempos, musi-quinox arrangements, sometimes garage rawness (members include ex-Quadrajets, Immortal Lee County Killers, and Modern Convenience) and unleashed layers of sonica, all testify that the band’s mission is to make it new.
The emerging band, featuring Mason Hadley (b), Carlos Ortiz (d), and Chet Weise (g/v), has already shared bills with the likes of Earthless, Boris, Minami Deutsch, Melvins, and Napalm Death. Experience the RAAY live or try them out on headphones to hear a band in search of the next sound, just like Weise sings, “Golden teachers teach a lesson / the universe can be a VHS left unwound / but sunlight reaches Earth in just eight minutes.”
Tracklist: 1. The Night Rider 7:18 2. Lost Satellite 0:27 3. Maanta Ray Theme 5:56 4. Om Revver 0:14 5. Peace Cruiser 4:27 6. Ancient Future 0:31 7. Uforchid 6:08 8. Cosmic Mircowave Background 0:12
MAANTA RAAY: Chet Weise – Guitar, Vocals Carlos Ortiz-Martinez – Drums, Percussion Mason Hadley – Bass
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 3rd, 2025 by JJ Koczan
No strangers at this point to keeping busy, Nashville’s Howling Giant were at Muddy Roots last month and did a run of shows with Horseburner that also guitarist Adrian Zambrano give a final round to his prior band, the instrumental progressive heavy rockers Brujas Del Sol. Moving toward the release of the new Howling Giant album, Crucible and Ruin, on Halloween, the band have newly unveiled a video for “Beholder I: Downfall,” which brings into focus what in my listening have emerged thus far as the primary differences between where Howling Giant are now and where they were two years ago when they released Glass Future (review here).
To wit, they’re heavier in tone, more sharply produced, and able to conjure a feeling of heavy metal aggression without sacrificing melody and the harmonized vocals between guitarist Tom Polzine and drummer Zach Wheeler. I have more to say about this, which I’ll hold back on saying until I actually review the record — I’ll get there — but note as well that the video for “Beholder I: Downfall” was helmed by Jerry Roe of Friendship Commanders, now labelmates on Magnetic Eye Records. Nice when you can keep it all in-house like that.
The dates below with Anciients were announced last week and will surely be followed by another West Coast stint to be announced, and/or a European run, though if the latter held off until Spring for festivals, that would also make sense.
For now, here’s this from the PR wire:
HOWLING GIANT drop new video single ‘Beholder I: Downfall’ taken from forthcoming album “Crucible & Ruin”
HOWLING GIANT reveal the video clip ‘Beholder I: Downfall’ as the next single taken from the cosmic stoner metal trio’s forthcoming album “Crucible & Ruin”. The third full-length by the Nashville, Tennessee band has been slated for release on October 31, 2025, via Magnetic Eye Records and is available for pre-order here:https://spkr.store/collections/howling-giant
“Our current single ‘Beholder 1: Downfall’ is a riff-driven heavy hitter, and in my opinion is one of the heaviest songs on the record”, bass player and vocalist Sebastian Baltes states. “It was a pleasure to collaborate with Jerry Roe again on the video, having previously worked with him on the clip for ‘Glass Future’. It has been particularly exciting for me to follow the journey of this song from its inception with a simple riff to a full blown song and the making of the video. I can hardly wait for you all to hear this track live!”
Video credit Directed, shot & edited by Jerry Roe of Friendship Commanders Filmed at South X Sea
Live With CASTLE RAT 01 OCT 2025 Asheville, NC (US) Eulogy 02 OCT 2025 Raleigh, NC (US) Chapel of Bones 03 OCT 2025 Charlottesville, VA (US) The Southern Cafe and Music Hall
With ANCIIENTS 04 NOV 2025 Columbus, OH (US) Ace of Cups 05 NOV 2025 Indianapolis, IN (US) Black Circle 06 NOV 2025 Chicago, IL (US) Live Wire Lounge 07 NOV 2025 Toronto, ON (CA) Lee’s Palace 08 NOV 2025 Montreal, QC (CA) Piranha Bar 09 NOV 2025 Ottawa, ON (CA) Dominion Tavern 11 NOV 2025 Boston, MA (US) O’Briens 12 NOV 2025 Portland, ME (US) Geno’s 13 NOV 2025 Providence, RI (US) The Parlour 14 NOV 2025 New York City, NY (US) Woodshop 15 NOV 2025 Philadelphia, PA (US) Kung Fu Necktie 16 NOV 2025 Baltimore, MD (US) Mobtown Ballroom 18 NOV 2025 Nashville, TN (US) Arcane Workshop 19 NOV 2025 Chattanooga, TN (US) JJ’s Bohemia 20 NOV 2025 Huntsville, AL (US) Mad Malts 21 NOV 2025 Jacksonville, FL (US) The Albatross 22 NOV 2025 Bradenton, FL (US) Obscura
Line-up Tom Polzine – guitar, vocals Zach Wheeler – drums, vocals Sebastian Baltes – bass, vocals Adrian Lee Zambrano – guitars, synthesizers
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 5th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
What’s sure to be a highlight release of the Fall, Howling Giant‘s third full-length, Crucible & Ruin, will see issue on Oct. 31 — it’s cool, I’m sure there won’t be too many albums releasing that day or anything — through Magnetic Eye Records. The Nashville-based outfit are in the difficult position of having to follow-up their stellar, air-tight 2023 outing, Glass Future (review here), and if the 6:40 outreach of first single/opening track “Canyons” is anything to go by — and it would both be weird and contradictory to what guitarist/vocalist Tom Polzine says below if the rest of the record sounded nothing like this — they’re meeting the moment with ambition.
Also another guitarist. Howling Giant had two guitars live to support Glass Future, but Crucible & Ruin will be their first with Adrian Zambrano (Brujas del Sol, ex-Lo-Pan) in the lineup, and as he’s shown before, he’s the kind of player who can make a good band better. How his being part of the band will affect the dynamic isn’t something one song can really tell you, but “Canyons” has hints to drop if you’re willing to hear them.
Unless a surprise YOB record shows up, this is my most anticipated album of the Fall.
From the PR wire:
HOWLING GIANT release first new single ‘Canyons’ & and details of forthcoming album “Crucible & Ruin”
HOWLING GIANT drop the gloriously catchy ‘Canyons’ from the cosmic stoner metal trio’s forthcoming album “Crucible & Ruin”. The third full-length by the Nashville, Tennessee band is scheduled for release on October 31, 2025.
Please find all album details of “Crucible & Ruin” below.
HOWLING GIANT comment: “Our new album’s opening track ‘Canyons’ is a fast paced exploration of a planet abandoned by its celestial origin”, guitarist and singer Tom Polzine writes. “To me, this song feels like a transforming adventure unfolding with each riff, from high gain rhythmic passages to the shimmering acoustic outro. We’re so stoked to show you guys this first glimpse of our new record, and ‘Canyons’ is in many ways the perfect gateway to all the ideas and concepts that live within ‘Crucible & Ruin’.”
HOWLING GIANT take another huge step on their third full-length “Crucible & Ruin”, a collection of sparking ideas, captivating melodies, and heavy riffing close to perfection – quite a feat of on-point songwriting for such a (still) young band!
This is the band’s first album to feature new fourth member Adrian Lee Zambrano. Although the guitarist and synth player arrived somewhat toward the end of the writing process, he was still able to add his mark with cool textures on the record. The extra guitar certainly adds even more punch to HOWLING GIANT’s sound, which delivers a slightly more aggressive approach compared with predecessor “Glass Future” (2023).
It also helped the overall feel of “Crucible & Ruin” that this is the band’s first album to be entirely recorded in a proper studio setting as opposed to their home studio, “the bunker”. HOWLING GIANT even leaned into some raw full-band live takes to capture the emotion in the room.
Lyrically, “Crucible & Ruin” explores the story of the clash of a novice deity against the forces of primordial chaos as an overarching theme that loosely connects the songs. This is also reflected in the album artwork, which was painted by the mother of guitarist and vocalist Tom Polzine, featuring a unique style of alcohol ink on yupo paper.
Guest musicians Kim Wheeler – additional synths and EWI on ‘The Observatory’ Adam Nohe – additional percussion on ‘Beholder I: Downfall’
Produced by Neil Tuuri, Kim Wheeler, and James Sanderson Engineered by Neil Tuuri at Amish Electric Chair Studios, Athens, OH (US) Additional vocal tracking by Kim Wheeler in Nashville, TN (US) Mixed by Neil Tuuri at Amish Electric Chair Studios, Athens, OH (US) Mastering by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege Mastering, Portland, OR (US)
Artwork by Susan M. Davies Layout by Łukasz Jaszak
Live With Brujas del Sol & Horseburner 14 AUG 2025 Lexington, KY (US) Al’s Bar 15 AUG 2025 Pittsburgh, PA (US) Squirrel Hill Sports Bar 16 AUG 2025 Columbus, OH (US) Blockout Bash
Festival 30 AUG 2025 Cookeville, TN (US) June Bug Boogie Ranch, Muddy Roots Festival
With Castle Rat 01 OCT 2025 Asheville, NC (US) Eulogy 02 OCT 2025 Raleigh, NC (US) Chapel of Bones 03 OCT 2025 Charlottesville, VA (US) The Southern Cafe and Music Hall
Line-up Tom Polzine – guitar, vocals Zach Wheeler – drums, vocals Sebastian Baltes – bass, vocals Adrian Lee Zambrano – guitars, synthesizers
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 8th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Nashville duo Friendship Commanders appeared earlier this year at Legalize Lex in, of course, Lexington, Kentucky, and are set to record their fourth album, returning to Salem, Massachusetts, to work again with producer Kurt Ballou (High on Fire, guitar in Converge, etc.) for a release presumably this Fall, though it could be later in the Fall given who the hell knows what complexities considering I’m just sitting here at the keyboard conjecturing based on the two words “this year” in the press release below.
The last Friendship Commanders LP was 2023’s MASS, which would seem at least in part to reference the state where tracking happened. They’re new to me but go back a decade in terms of releases and Buick Audra actually just put out a solo record last month that Jerry Roe plays on, so it’s not for any lack of activity on their part. I’ve got the 2023 record streaming below, in case you’d also like to do some homework before the new record comes out.
Words in blue from the PR wire:
FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS ink deal with Magnetic Eye Records
American heavy duo FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS have signed a multi-album contract with Magnetic Eye Records. The exceptional and outstanding artists from Nashville, Tennessee will release their upcoming fourth full-length album via the label this year.
FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS comment: “We’re excited to be joining the Magnetic Eye family of musicians and bands!”, vocalist and guitarist Buick Audra states on behalf of the duo. “We are happy to be part of a community of like-minded heavy rockers. We can hardly wait to share what we’ve been working on. Soon!”
Jadd Shickler adds: “An appealing part of adding to our roster is finding acts who expand the character of our label, not just musically, but as humans and professionals”, the Magnetic Eye director declares. “Besides making dark yet hopeful heavy rock, Friendship Commanders are a band with a very unique perspective on the music industry, being that they’re world-class working musicians who bring tons of experience and perspective to create music that’s as thoughtful and conscientious as it is driving and infectious. We’re so psyched to welcome Friendship Commanders to Magnetic Eye and cannot wait to see how their singular style pushes us to elevate what we do to match their intense DIY drive!”
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Nashville, Tennessee – the city’s name immediately conjures images in most minds of country stars and their trappings. Although hailing from the ‘Music City’, FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS kindly beg to differ. The duo’s sound draws from sludge, doom, heavy metal, and grunge with early roots in punk and hardcore, among many other guitar driven styles.
FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS were originally conceived as a side project by two industry veterans: vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Buick Audra and drummer and bass player Jerry Roe. Audra, a two-time Grammy Award-winner, and Roe as one of the top session drummers in the world brought all their combined musical excellence, perspectives, precision, and power to their new band.
Their early works, the EPs “Garfield” (2015) and “Junebug” (2017) as well as the debut full-length “Ave” (2016) were all self-recorded as well as self-produced in their own studio, Fort Knockout, and supported live with regional tours.
FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS’ sophomore album ‘Bill’ (2018), was co-produced and engineered by Steve Albini at his Chicago studio, Electrical Audio. Working with Albini proved a pivotal experience for the duo, both personally and professionally. “Bill” reached a notably larger audience and allowed national touring. Following Albini’s passing in 2024, the band released his original analog mixes of the project, “Bill – The Steve Albini Mixes”.
Although the duo’s members maintained other ventures, FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS had developed into a focal endeavor for them both. Their again self-produced 2020 EP, “Hold on to Yourself”, was the beginning of their now years-long collaboration with Kurt Ballou, who mixed the record. He also mixed their self-produced pandemic-era singles “Stonechild / Your Reign Is Over” (2020), “Altar/ Land of Men” (2021), and “And If My Body” (2022). These were later compiled on a limited vinyl release entitled “Release of the Rest” (2022). The singles also marked a departure from the duo’s previous punk and hardcore leanings while introducing a heavier, sludgier sensibility.
FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS recorded and co-produced their third album “Mass” again with Ballou at his GodCity Studio in Salem, MA. Audra recorded and produced her vocals at her Nashville studio, and Ballou then mixed the tracks. With “Mass” (2023), a concept album about memory, language, and the state of Massachusetts, the duo took the important next step of reaching a global audience.
FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS have once more returned to Salem to record their next full-length with Ballou. The fourth album of this most remarkable musical powerhouse will be released via Magnetic Eye Records this year.
