Posted in Whathaveyou on August 15th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
So next week, because hey why not, the Sanford Parker and Scott Kelly industro-distortion — yes, industortion — revue known as Mirrors for Psychic Warfare are going to take the stage in direct support for Godflesh. It’s happening once in Chicago and once in New York. Both bills are awesome, to be sure, but god damn, what a pairing that is. It’s like Godflesh get to see the chaos they’ve wrought before they even go on. “Now look what you made happen!,” etc. I was fortunate enough once to watch Mirrors for Psychic Warfare when they were supporting their 2016 self-titled debut (review here) and it was a sight to behold. Also to be-felt in terms of the low end wave frequencies rumbling in your chest. I’d imagine they’re no less consuming now than they were, especially with a new record on the way.
That album is called I See What I Became and it’s due out Sept. 28 of course on Neurot Recordings. The PR wire brings more about the shows, about the album and the project as a whole.
Have at it:
MIRRORS FOR PSYCHIC WARFARE: Industrial Collaboration Featuring Neurosis’ Scott Kelly And Buried At Sea’s Sanford Parker To Release I See What I Became This Fall Via Neurot; Trailer Posted, Preorders Available + US Shows With Godflesh Draw Near
MIRRORS FOR PSYCHIC WARFARE, the industrial collaboration between Neurosis’ Scott Kelly and Buried At Sea’s Sanford Parker, will unleash their second chapter of sonic anxiety this fall via Neurot Recordings.
Titled I See What I Became, the follow-up to the duo’s 2016’s critically-lauded, self-titled debut was produced by Seward Fairbury (Corrections House) and Negative Soldier, mastered by Collin Jordan (Eyehategod, Indian, Wovenhand, Voivod etc.) with decibel manipulation by Dave French (Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth, The Anunnaki), and comes swathed in the cover art of Thomas Hooper (Neurosis, Harvestman, Boris, Tombs, Doomriders).
I See What I Became will see release on CD, digital, and vinyl formats on September 28th with preorders available at THIS LOCATION.
View the album trailer, courtesy of Chariot Of Black Moth, at THIS LOCATION.
I See What I Became Track Listing: 1. Animal Coffins 2. Tomb Puncher 3. Body Ash 4. Flat Rats In The Alley 5. Thing Of Knives 6. Crooked Teeth 7. Death Cart 8. Coward Heat
As a precursor to the album’s release, MIRRORS FOR PSYCHIC WARFARE will play two very special shows later this month supporting industrial titans Godflesh in Chicago and New York City respectively with future MIRRORS FOR PSYCHIC WARFARE live abrasions, including a European tour this fall, to be announced in the weeks to come.
MIRRORS FOR PSYCHIC WARFARE w/ Godflesh: 8/24/2018 Metro – Chicago, IL w/ Harm’s Way, Ledge 8/25/2018 Gramercy Theater, New York, NY w/ Tombs, Body Stuff
You know the deal by now, I’m sure: 50 reviews this week between now and Friday, in batches of 10 per day. It’s an unholy amount of music, but those who really dig in always seem to find something cool within a Quarterly Review. Frankly, with this much to choose from, I’d certainly hope so. I’m not going to delay at all, except to say thanks in advance for coming along on this one. It’s got some core-heavy and some-not-really-core-heavy stuff all bundled next to each other, so yeah, your patience is appreciated. Okay. No time like the present. Let’s do it.
Quarterly Review #1-10:
CHRCH, Light Will Consume Us All
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the songs are long. Blah blah blah it’s heavy as whatever kind of construction equipment you could want to name. What’s even more striking about Los Angeles doomers CHRCH’s Neurot Recordings debut, Light Will Consume Us All, is the sense of atmosphere. The follow-up to 2015’s massively well-received Unanswered Hymns (review here) is comprised of three songs presented in descending time order from opener/longest track (immediate points) “Infinite” (20:41) to centerpiece “Portals” (14:50) and closer “Aether” (9:29) and it finds CHRCH refining the unremitting patience of their rollout, so that even when “Aether” explodes in its second half to charred blastbeating and abrasive screams, the ambience is still dense enough to feel it in one’s lungs. CHRCH keep up this level of progression and soon enough someone’s going to call them post-something or other. As it stands, their second album builds righteously on the achievements of their debut, and is a revelation in its bleakness.
Pressed up as ever in DIY fashion, Bongripper’s Terminal presents two gargantuan slabs – one per vinyl side – that only seem to highlight the strengths in the Chicago instrumentalists’ approach. The tones are huge, the grooves nodding, the impact of each kick drum forceful. Repetition is central, that feeling of aural mass and destructiveness, but neither is Terminal – comprised of “Slow” (25:11) and “Death” (18:15) – lacking a sense of atmosphere. After 21 minutes of grueling pummel, “Slow” devolves into droning layers of noise wash and quiet guitar to finish out, and “Death” seems to hold onto an echoing lead in its closing minutes that accomplishes much the same thing in broadening the atmosphere overall. I don’t know if the two songs were composed to fit together –the titles would hint yes – but they invariably do, and as “Death” unleashes a more insistent punch before turning to a post-YOB gallop, it reconfirms Bongripper’s worship-worthy place in the stoner doom milieu, how their sound can be so familiar in its threat and yet so much their own.
Born as Chiefs ahead of their 2015 debut album, Tomorrow’s Over (review here), Arizona-based four-piece King Chiefs make their own first outing in the form of the easily-digestible desert rocker Blue Sonnet (on Roosevelt Row and Cursed Tongue Records), comprised of 10 tracks running just under 40 minutes of older-school laid back heavy, swinging easy on cuts like “Surely Never” and “Drifter” while still finding some Helmeted aggressive edge in the riffs of “Slug” and “Walk the Plank.” The overarching focus is on songwriting, however, and King Chiefs hone in cleverly on ‘90s-era desert rock’s post-grunge sensibility, so that their material seems ready for an alternative radio that no longer exists. Such as it is, they do just fine without, and hooks pervade the two-guitar outfit’s material in natural and memorable fashion all the way to five-and-a-half-minute closer “Shrine of the Beholder,” which embraces some broader textures without losing the structural focus that serves so well on the songs before it.
Heavy psychedelic experimentalism pervades the Rocket Recordings-issued self-titled debut album from Liverpool collective Bonnacons of Doom, rife with tripout ritualism and exploration of sound as it is, all chasing light and getting freaky in any sense you want to read it. Five tracks, each a voyage unto itself – even the bass-fuzzy push of shortest cut “Rhizome” (5:55) is cosmos-bound – feed into the larger weirdness at play that culminates in the undulating grooves of “Plantae” (8:39), which is perhaps the most solidified cut in terms of choruses, verses, etc., but still a molten, headphone-worthy freakout that pushes the limits of psychedelia and still holds itself together. If the album was a to-do list, it would read as follows: “Eat mushrooms. Get naked. Dance around. Repeat.” Whether you do or don’t is ultimately up to you, but Bonnacons of Doom make a pretty convincing argument in favor, and I don’t generally consider myself much of a dancer. Among the most individualized psych debuts I’ve heard in a long time.
Poseidon, at six songs and 39 minutes, is the second long-player from Finnish four-piece Boar. Released on vinyl with no shortage of backing — Lost Pilgrims Records, Dissonant Society, Impure Muzik, S.K.O.D., Rämekuukkeli-levyt – it hurls forth a High on Fire-informed vision of noise rock on its opening title-track only to take on a slower roll in the subsequent “Shahar’s Son” and dig into massive crashing on “12.” Using echo to add a sense of depth all the while, they scream in tradeoffs à la Akimbo and boogie in “Featherless” and seem to find a post-metallic moment on “Dark Skies” before closing with the alternately brooding and scathing “Totally out of This World,” the song sort of falling apart into the feedback and noise that ends the album. There’s a persistent sense of violence happening, but it’s as much inward as outward, and though some of Boar’s most effective moments are in that rawness, there’s something to be said for the contemplation at the outset of “Shahar’s Son” and “12” as well.
Seemingly unrestrained by genre, the Lille, France-based duo June Bug – June on vocals and multiple instruments and Beryl on backing vocals and multiple instruments – dig into some post-punk nudge on early cut “Reasons” from their debut album, A Thousand Days (Atypeek Music) after the folkish melodies of opener “Now,” but whether it’s the fuzzy indie vibes of “Freaks” or the harmonies, electronics and acoustic guitar of “Let it Rest,” or the keyboard-handclaps, lower tones and poppish instrumental hook of centerpiece “Mama,” there’s plenty of variety throughout. What ties the differing vibes and richly nuanced approach together is the vocals, which are mostly subdued and at times hyper-stylized, but never seem to fail to keep melodicism as their central operating method. That remains true on the subdued “Does it Matter” and the beat-laden “Silenced” at the album’s finish and brings everything together with an overarching sense of joy that holds firm despite shifts in mood and approach, making the complete front-to-back listen as satisfying as it might seem all over the place.
Released by the band last year, the four-song Demo by San Francisco outfit Tired Lord has been picked up for an official cassette issue through From Corners Unknown Records and will reportedly be the only release from the black metal/sludge genre-benders. Presumably that means they broke up, rather than just refuse to ever record again, though the latter possibility intrigues as well and would be meta-black metal. Spearheaded by guitarist Bryce Olson, Tired Lord effectively bring a thickness of tone to charred riffing, and a balance between screams and growls brings a cast of general extremity to the material. So I guess this is the part where I’m supposed to regret their dissolution and wish they’d do a proper release. Fair enough for the brutal chug in “Serpent’s Ascent” and the 7:51 closer “Astaroth,” which one wouldn’t mind hearing fleshed out from their current form. Failing that, one of the 30 tape copies pressed of Demo seems like decent consolation. At least while they’re there for the getting and before Tired Lord go gleefully into that black metal demo tape ether where so many seem to dwell.
Lansing, Michigan, trio BerT – bassist Phil Clark and brothers Ryan (guitar) and Rael (drums) Andrews – broke up. They even put out a posthumous rare tracks release in 2017’s The Lost Toes (review here), so what’s left? Well, another album, of course. Intended as a sequel to the sci-fi narrative of the never-released long-player Return to the Electric Church, the five-track/35-minute Relics from Time Zero is unfinished, sans vocals where they might otherwise be, and basically a look at what might’ve been had the band not dissolved. For those prior-exposed to the once-prolific heavy rock bizarros, some of the proceedings will seem familiar: riffs are plentiful and fluid in their tempo changes from driving rock to droned-out stomp, and there seems to be about 1.5 of them in the four-minute “In the Cave of the Batqueen,” so but for the fact that it’s not done, I’d just about call it business as usual for BerT. I know they’re done and all, but I still wouldn’t mind hearing these songs with some lyrics, let alone the record this one was intended to follow-up. Either way, even defunct, BerT remain on their own wavelength.
Classic-style heavy rock riffing pervades opener “Blow My Mind” (5:47) and the subsequent “Backseat Lovers” (5:15) – somewhere between Stubb and Radio Moscow — on Zen Bison’s debut LP, Krautrocker, but as the five-track/42-minute self-release moves into the 11-minute title-track, guitarist/vocalist Philipp Ott, bassist Steffen Fischer and drummer Martin Konopka – joined by organist Hans Kirschner and percussionist Bobby Müller –move into deeper-grooving and more psychedelic fare. That turn suits the mostly-live-recorded outfit well on the longer instrumental piece, and that leads to a side B with the likewise-sans-vocals “La Madrugada” (9:56) and the closing cover of Don Nix’s blues rocker “Going Down” (10:24), jammed out at the end in its middle and end with quick return to the chorus between. There isn’t much on Krautrocker one might actually consider krautrock in the traditional sense, but there’s certainly plenty of rock to go around on the impressive and varied first offering from the Rostock trio.
From opener “Rivers of Dust” onward, Wheel in the Sky’s second album, Beyond the Pale (on The Sign Records), proffers classy and classic digs, informed by a heavy ‘70s uptempo spirit on its title-track and moving into more complex volume and arrangement shifts in “Burn Babylon Burn” (video premiere here) and a poppy, goth-informed hook on “The Only Dead Girl in the City,” all the while held together through a quality of songwriting that even the band’s 2015 debut, Heading for the Night (review here), seemed to hint toward. It’s a mover, to be sure, but Wheel in the Sky execute their material with poise and a sense of clear intention, and no matter where they seem to go, their tonality and natural production assures the listener has an easy time tagging along. Might be a sleeper for some, but there are going to be people who really, really dig this album, and I’ve got no argument with them.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 7th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Californian hyperbole-inspiration specialists CHRCH head out on a tour next week that will take them to Austin Terror Fest the lineup for which indeed looks duly terrifying. Perhaps even scarier than that is that CHRCH in September are on a three-band bill with YOB and Acid King and there’s just about no way in hell I’m going to see any of those shows, let alone follow along the entire tour as it makes its way through the Southwestern desert, which to be perfectly honest seems like a pretty badass way to spend a week, even basically one coming right off of Psycho Las Vegas. Seriously, how could you go wrong with those three bands at a show? Goodness gracious.
CHRCH‘s new album (review pending) is out now on Neurot. The PR wire brings daydream fodder:
CHRCH To Kick Off Mini-Tour Next Week + West Coast Fall Shows With Yob And Acid King Confirmed; Light Will Consume Us All Out Now Via Neurot
Sacramento’s favorite doom practitioners CHRCH will kick off a short run of live dates next week. Set to commence on June 11th in Fullerton, California and run through June 21st in Reno, Nevada, the journey includes performances with Body Void, Trapped Within Burning Machinery, Ugly, Hist, Bird Violence, and The Ditch And The Delta on select shows, as well as a stop at Austin Terror Fest June 16th with Exhorder, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Come To Grief, Cough, and many more. CHRCH’s latest journey follows a recent European jaunt with Fister. Additionally, the bandwill take on a week-long west coast trek supporting Yob and Acid King this September. See all confirmed dates below.
CHRCH’s Light Will Consume Us All is out now on CD, vinyl, and digital formats via Neurot Recordings. For physical order bundles visit THIS LOCATION. Desirers of the the digital edition can go HERE where the record is also streaming in full.
CHRCH: 6/11/2018 Slidebar – Fullerton, CA w/ Body Void, Trapped Within Burning Machinery 6/12/2018 Garage Rock Bar – Tijuana, MX 6/13/2018 The Rogue – Phoenix, AZ w/ Body Void, Ugly 6/14/2018 Cans – Tucson, AZ w/ Body Void, Hist, Bird Violence 6/15/2018 Neon Rose – El Paso, TX w/ Body Void 6/16/2018 Austin Terror Fest – Austin, TX w/ Exhorder, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Come To Grief, Cough, more 6/17/2018 Reno’s – Dallas, TX w/ Body Void 6/18/2018 Hi Dive – Denver, CO w/ Body Void 6/19/2018 Metro Music Hall – Salt Lake City, UT w/ The Ditch And The Delta 6/21/2018 Holland Project – Reno, NV
w/ Yob, Acid King: 9/06/2018 Harlow’s – Sacramento, CA 9/07/2018 Catalyst Atrium – Santa Cruz, CA 9/08/2018 Pappy & Harriet’s – Pioneertown, CA 9/09/2018 Teregram – Los Angeles, CA 9/12/2018 Sister Bar – Albuquerque, NM 9/13/2018 Club Red – Phoenix, AZ 9/14/2018 Brick By Brick – San Diego, CA 9/15/2018 Oakland Metro – Oakland, CA
CHRCH: Eva Rose – vocals Chris Lemos – guitar, vocals Ben Cathcart – bass Adam Jennings – drums Karl Cordtz – guitar, vocals
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 4th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
I was fortunate enough to catch Mirrors for Psychic Warfare live once, and the blend of elements from Scott Kelly‘s guitar and Sanford Parker‘s noisemaking mystery desk of, one assumes, a laptop, various manipulators, samplers, synth, etc., was like a physical presence in the room. One that put a hand right on your solar plexus and applied a steady pressure, with ebbs and flows, to be sure, but a pressure that, if you weren’t careful, could move you a step back. Their self-titled debut (review here) came out in 2016 via Neurot Recordings, and they have a follow-up said to be due this Fall. I for one think that would be just nifty.
They’ll also support Godflesh twice this summer, playing in Chicago and New York with the legendary industrial innovators. Talk about knowing your audience.
The PR wire puts it like this:
MIRRORS FOR PSYCHIC WARFARE: Scott Kelly/Sanford Parker Collaboration To Play Two Special US Shows With Godflesh; New Record Due This Fall Via Neurot
MIRRORS FOR PSYCHIC WARFARE, the collaboration between Neurosis’ Scott Kelly and Buried At Sea’s Sanford Parker, will play two very special shows this August supporting industrial titans Godflesh! Set to take place in Chicago and New York City respectively, the August 24th appearance includes additional support from Harm’s Way and Ledge while the August 25th show features additional support from Tombs and Body Stuff. Tickets go on sale this Friday. The two performances come in advance of MIRRORS FOR PSYCHIC WARFARE’s next chapter of sonic anxiety set for release this fall via Neurot Records. Further details will be revealed in the coming weeks.
MIRRORS FOR PSYCHIC WARFARE w Godflesh: 8/24/2018 Metro, Chicago – IL w/ Harm’s Way, Ledge 8/25/2018 Gramercy Theatre – New York, NY w/ Tombs, Body Stuff
MIRRORS FOR PSYCHIC WARFARE released their self-titled debut via Neurot in 2016. A audio manifestation of insomnia, complete with the tossing, turning, and perennial dread that comes with facing a new day, the five songs that comprise Mirrors For Psychic Warfare lurch and pulsate across a sullen, desolate landscape with an almost curious obsessiveness.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 22nd, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Tours like this happen because these bands like each other. You don’t think Converge are Neurosis fans? Or Amenra? Shit. Amenra are pretty much what happens when you put Converge and Neurosis together, add a dash of I’m-not-gonna-turn-around-and-look-at-the-audience pretense, and set the whole thing to a seizure-inducing strobe barrage. And you know what? Apparently Neurosis are into that enough that they signed Amenra to Neurot Recordings, so there you go. Bands liking each other. It’s nice. I bet the tour will be a good time.
Also devastatingly fucking heavy. The kind of show where — not that it would happen — if someone on a mic asked the crowd if they were getting tired, the inevitable answer would be yes. “Don’t get me wrong dude, I’m still up for more rockin’, but this is some emotionally-draining shit going on right here.” And thenNeurosis plays “The Doorway.” Oy vey.
Good tour though. I’m not the hugest Converge or Amenra fan in the universe, but it’s hard not to appreciate what each of these acts brings to the whole onslaught of a given evening.
From the PR wire:
Heavy music visionaries, NEUROSIS, have announced a new West Coast North American tour with Converge and Amenra in July.
NEUROSIS recently announced June European tour dates, which will see them supported by labelmates Deafkids throughout the European club circuit, followed by separate performances at the massive Graspop and Hellfest gatherings.
Upon their stateside return, one year after touring the Eastern realms of North America with Converge and Amenra, NEUROSIS will now bring this incredible touring package to fans on the other end of the continent. The new tour will begin on July 6th in Seattle, running through Vancouver, Portland, Berkeley, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Ana, San Diego, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Denver, Lawrence, Dallas, ending in Austin on July 21st.
Tickets will go on sale this Friday, March 23rd at 10am local time. See all new dates and links below.
Released in September 2016, NEUROSIS’ acclaimed eleventh studio LP Fires Within Fires is available now on CD, LP, cassette, and all digital platforms through the band’s own Neurot Recordings.
NEUROSIS Tour Dates: 6/15/2018 Meet Factory – Prague, CZ w/ Deafkids 6/16/2018 Maifieild Derby – Mannheim, DE w/ Deafkids 6/17/2018 Zona Roveri – Bologna, IT w/ Converge, Deafkids 6/18/2018 Les Docks – Lausanne, CH w/ Wolves In The Throne Room, Deafkids 6/19/2018 Doornroosje – Nijmegen, NK w/ Deafkids 6/20/2018 Copenhell – Copenhagen, DK w/ Deafkids 6/21/2018 Zeche Bochum – Bochum, DE w/ Deafkids 6/22/2018 Graspop – Dessel, BE 6/23/2018 Hellfest – Clisson, FR 7/06/2018 The Showbox – Seattle, WA w/ Converge, Amenra 7/07/2018 The Commodore Ballroom – Vancouver, BC w/ Converge, Amenra 7/08/2018 Roseland Theater – Portland, OR w/ Converge, Amenra 7/10/2018 The UC Theatre Taube Family – Berkeley, CA w/ Converge, Amenra 7/11/2018 Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA w/ Converge, Amenra 7/12/2018 The Fonda Theatre – Los Angeles, CA w/ Converge, Amenra 7/13/2018 The Observatory – Santa Ana, CA w/ Converge, Amenra 7/14/2018 The Observatory North Park – San Diego, CA w/ Converge, Amenra 7/16/2018 The Van Buren – Phoenix, AZ w/ Converge, Amenra 7/17/2018 Sunshine Theater – Albuquerque, NM w/ Converge, Amenra 7/18/2018 Ogden Theatre – Denver, CO w/ Converge, Amenra 7/19/2018 Granada Theater – Lawrence, KS w/ Converge, Amenra 7/20/2018 Canton Hall – Dallas, TX w/ Converge, Amenra 7/21/2018 Emo’s – Austin, TX w/ Converge, Amenra
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 5th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Aren’t you the slightest bit curious how much freakout you can handle in one evening? Well, I’d think between White Hills and Ufomammut, you’d probably be able to get a pretty good sense of your tolerance level. That’s a two-pronged attack of righteous anti-normality: Ufomammut holding down the cosmic doom low end as only masters of the form ever could hope to do, while White Hills bring forth alternate dimension space rock of the sort that, if they were from London and not New York, would already see them hailed as deities. And yeah, if you’re thinking you’d like to turn your brain into scrambled eggs like those old drug commercials, this tour might be a good way to go about it.
Be sure when you’re done that you send Nanotear Booking a thank-you card.
From the PR wire:
UFOMAMMUT Announces North American Tour Including Maryland Deathfest, Northwest Terror Fest, Sled Island Festival, And Dates With White Hills
Italy’s sonic alchemists UFOMAMMUT will make their North American return this Spring for a month of live performances, which sees them performing sets at Maryland Deathfest, Northwest Terror Fest, and Sled Island Festival.
Breaking a two-year silence since their last North American incursion, UFOMAMMUT has booked a month of tour dates with New York City-based psychedelic rock act White Hills. The tour begins in Providence on May 23rd, one day before UFOMAMMUT makes their return to Maryland Deathfest in Baltimore where they’ll perform at Ram’s Head Live with -(16)-, Coven, Gateway To Hell, Khemmis, Mantar, and Today Is The Day. The tour then continues westward to Northwest Terror Fest in Seattle where UFOMAMMUT and While Hills will join Un, The Drip, Cormorant at Barboza on June 2nd, then trek back across to the East Coast before making a jump back out to Western Canada, ending their trek at Sled Island Festival with 40 Watt Sunn, Deerhoof, Jahn Maus, Mount Erie, Oren Ambarchi & Will Guthrie, and more on the Summer Equinox, June 21st.
Preceding the newly-announced North American tour, UFOMAMMUT will tour across Europe from March 22nd through April 6th, with shows in Austria, Germany, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Italy.
UFOMAMMUT Tour Dates: 3/22/2018 PMK – Innsbruck, AU 3/23/2018 Universum – Stuttgart, DE 3/24/2018 Rockhouse – Salzburg, AU 3/26/2018 Arena – Wien, AU 3/27/2018 KSET – Zagreb, HR 3/28/2018 A38 – Budapest, HU 3/29/2018 Flying Circus – Cluj-Napoca, RO 3/30/2018 Reflector – Timisoara, RO 3/31/2018 Fabrica Club – Bucharest, RO 4/01/2018 Mixtape – Sofia, BG 4/03/2018 Fuzz Club – Athens, GR 4/05/2018 Scumm – Pescara, IT 4/06/2018 Alchemica – Bologna, IT w/ White Hills: 5/23/2018 Alchemy – Providence, RI 5/24/2018 Ram’s Head Live – Baltimore, MD @ Maryland Death Fest* 5/25/2018 Saint Vitus Bar – Brooklyn, NY 5/26/2018 Cattivo – Pittsburgh, PA 5/27/2018 Reggies – Chicago, IL 5/29/2018 Lookout Lounge- Omaha, NE 5/30/2018 Hi-Dive – Denver, CO 6/01/2018 Neurolux – Boise, ID 6/02/2018 Barboza – Seattle, WA @ Northwest Terror Fest 6/03/2018 Mississippi Studios – Portland, OR w/ Usnea 6/05/2018 Elbo Room – San Francisco, CA 6/06/2018 Catalyst – Santa Cruz, CA 6/07/2018 Hi-Hat – Los Angeles, CA 6/08/2018 Club Red – Phoenix, AZ 6/09/2018 Sister – Albuquerque, NM 6/11/2018 The Lost Well – Austin, TX 6/13/2018 Growlers – Memphis, TN 6/14/2018 Pilot Light – Knoxville, TN 6/15/2018 529 – Atlanta, GA 6/16/2018 Kings – Raleigh, NC 6/18/2018 Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA 6/21/2018 Sled Island Festival – Calgary, AB 7/13/2018 Stoned from the Underground – Erfurt, DE 8/10/2018 Sonic Blast Fest – Moledo, PT 8/11/2018 Alcatraz Festival – Kortrijk, BE
UFOMAMMUT’seighth LP, 8, was released in September through Neurot Recordings. Recorded at Crono Sound Factory in Vimodrone, Milano, Italy, 8 is a major turning point in the heavy alchemic arts, with the elements of UFOMAMMUT’s recording constellation being re-aligned. Although the musicians within the collective remain unturned, a change in recording approach saw the trio playing and recording live together in the same room, even utilizing their live sound engineer Ciccio and his project Femore for production purposes, with Fabrizio San Pietro on mixing duties. Overdubs were used only for vocals, synth sounds, and minor details, with the result of the endeavor being a stricter focus on the soul, darkened groove, and overall cohesion of the music and themselves as musicians. In turn, 8 clarified to UFOMAMMUT who they are as a unit now and their new sonic path.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 2nd, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Pardon my language, but only the jivest of the jive turkeys isn’t going to want to go see Neurosis when they come to town. In fact, if you’re ever looking for a jive turkey litmus test, tell the suspected jive turkey that the progenitors of post-metal are rolling through in a couple weeks and ask if they’d like to check it out. If they give you a shrug and a “nah,” you know: 100 percent corporate-farmed raised-in-captivity jive turkey. All set and ready to roll for a jive-ass Thanksgiving.
What were we talking about?
Ah, Neurosis. Well, pretty much anytime Neurosis go anywhere, you’ll find me wishing I was in their voluminous, churning path. Nonetheless, it’s Europe in the fortunate position this time around, as the band head to Hellfest via a run of shows alongside Deafkids and a stop at Graspop in Belgium. In addition to several reissues, Neurosis are still out supporting 2016’s raw-flesh-exposed Fires Within Fires (review here).
The PR wire has details, so I’ll happily defer:
NEUROSIS To Return To Europe This June With Support From DEAFKIDS
NEUROSIS announces their return to Europe this June with a selection of festival appearances and club shows.
Supporting NEUROSIS on all club performances will be friends and labelmates DEAFKIDS. In Bologna Converge is also on the bill, and in Lausanne, Wolves In The Throne Room will join the show.
In addition to purchasing tickets via the usual options, NEUROSIS has also made a limited run of physical tickets available for the club shows. Find out where to obtain them via the My Proud Mountain store. Watch for more NEUROSIS news to follow in the coming days.
NEUROSIS w/ DEAFKIDS: 6/15/2018 Meet Factory – Prague, CZ 6/16/2018 Maifieild Derby – Mannheim, DE 6/17/2018 Zona Roveri – Bologna, IT w/ Converge 6/18/2018 Les Docks – Lausanne, CH w/ Wolves In The Throne Room 6/19/2018 Doornroosje – Nijmegen, NK 6/20/2018 Copenhell – Copenhagen, DK 6/21/2018 Zeche Bochum – Bochum, DE 6/22/2018 Graspop – Dessel, BE * 6/23/2018 Hellfest – Clisson, FR * * no DEAFKIDS
Released in September 2016, NEUROSIS’ acclaimed eleventh studio LP Fires Within Fires is available now on CD, LP, cassette, and all digital platforms through the band’s own Neurot Recordings; stream the album HERE and see all bundles and options RIGHT HERE.
Neurot also released DEAFKIDS’ Configuração Do Lamento worldwide on CD, vinyl, and digital formats via in October. Stream the entire album HERE, and see physical order options HERE.
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 12th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Yeah, the dark cover art is cool, and it’s nice to know that immediately upon releasing their new album, CHRCH will make a break for European shores to tour with 2017 splitmates Fister, but what I really like to see about Light Will Consume Us All, which is the Sacramento megadoomers’ Neurot Recordings debut and sophomore long-player behind 2015’s Unanswered Hymns (review here), is that it has three songs on it. That was the case as well with the first record — three-song full-length — and as the band also went back to Earthtone Studios to work with engineer Patrick Hills, it would seem they’re following an impulse not to fix what wasn’t broken in their sound.
Needless to say if you heard Unanswered Hymns, but that is very much the right fucking move.
The PR wire brings that tracklisting and the foreboding cover and tour dates and so on, and if you’re not yet looking forward to this one, you should be. A band like this doesn’t sign to Neurot and then not deliver, and in the case of CHRCH, it could mean a real monster is on the way.
Dig:
CHRCH: Sacramento Doom Bringers To Release Light Will Consume Us All This April Via Neurot Recordings; Artwork + Track Listing Revealed
Light Will Consume Us All, the impending second full-length from Sacramento, California-based doom bringers CHRCH, is set for release this April via Neurot Recordings.
Standing at a crossroads of light and dark, CHRCH wields epic, lengthy songs, massive low end, and an occult vocal presence in a perfect blend of height and depth. CHRCH has been hard at work crafting their particular sound since late 2013. There is no image or campy gimmick to uphold, only the humble glorification of their fundamental musical elements
This purity and honesty comes across in a striking manner on the band’s 2015 debut Unanswered Hymns, a sprawling roller coaster of an album. Long form songs build and heedlessly dismantle as the band reaches sonic heights and beautiful plateaus. Severe, sometimes unrelenting, vocals contrast melodic singing; massive fuzz gives way to clean guitar parts; its warm, organic tone draws the listener in with a sound influenced by traditional doom, psych rock, drone, and ambience.
Light Will Consume Us All carries with it the same quality of songwriting that caught the attention of fans worldwide on their debut. Building upon this unyielding foundation, Light Will Consume Us All continues CHRCH’s narrative, traversing life’s epic journey of loss, reclamation and, ultimately, finding hope within the darkness.Minimalist, indulgent, or straightforward; the music of CHRCH calls the listener to inhabit it, allowing enough room for its transmutation into anything one desires of it. Light Will Consume Us All was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Patrick Hills (King Woman, Bog Oak, VRTRA) at Earthtone Studios in Sacramento.
CHRCH’s Light Will Consume Us All will see release on CD, vinyl, and digital formats via Neurot Recordings April 27th with preorders to be announced shortly.
Light Will Consume Us All Track Listing: 1. Infinite Return 2. Portals 3. Aether
Surrounding the release, CHRCH will bring their sonic alchemy to the stage with a handful of west coast shows including an appearance at Days Of The Loud before heading to Europe this May with St. Louis doom cult, Fister. With shows still to be announced, the band’s European trek includes performances at Northern Discomfort in Copenhagen and DesertFest London.
CHRCH: 3/08/2018 Cooper’s Ale Works – Nevada City, CA w/ Khemmis 3/11/2018 Brick By Brick – San Diego, CA w/ Wolves In The Throne Room, Abyssal 3/24/2018 The Golden Bull – Oakland, CA 3/30/2018 Blue Lamp – Sacramento, CA w/ Usnea, Un, Occlith 3/31/2018 Days Of The Loud @ Jub Jub’s Thirst Parlor – Reno, NV w/ Fister: 5/02/2018 Bar Loose – Helsinki, FI 5/03/2018 SubScene – Oslo, NO 5/04/2018 Northern Discomfort – Copenhagen, DK 5/06/2018 DesertFest – London, UK 5/07/2018 Fuel – Cardiff, UK 5/08/2018 Nice N Sleazy – Glasgow, UK 5/09/2018 Head Of Steam – Newcastle, UK 5/10/2018 Temple Of Boom – Leeds, UK 5/11/2018 Magasin4 – Brussels, BE 6/15/2018 Austin Terror Fest – Austin, TX w/ Exhorder, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Come to Grief, Buzzov*en, more
CHRCH: Eva Rose – vocals Chris Lemos – guitar, vocals Ben Cathcart – bass Adam Jennings – drums Karl Cordtz – guitar, vocals
