Posted in Whathaveyou on November 9th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Ultra-bleak Finnish psychedelic doom extremists Dark Buddha Rising are currently on the road with Sum of R in Europe supporting their righteously devastating 2015 offering, Inversum (review here), which came out backed by the considerable endorsement of Neurot Recordings. That tour started last night. In the meantime, the likely-to-swallow-you-whole collective have announced intentions toward issuing a new release in 2018.
As word comes through the PR wire, it doesn’t mention a new full-length album specifically, though it doesn’t seem out of the question either. It could well be that Dark Buddha Rising have an EP or a single in the works they want to get out before moving onto the inevitable 2LP that will eventually follow, but the bottom line is their stuff is always worth watching out for, since it’s like what solar flares would be if solar flares were made of gurgling antimatter that was too black to be seen by the naked eye. You know what I mean.
From the PR wire:
DARK BUDDHA RISING: European Tour Dates Commence This Week; New Material To See Release Via Neurot In Early 2018
DARK BUDDHA RISING will perform their immersive sonic rituals on select dates across Europe this week including an appearance at Le Guess Who? festival. See all confirmed dates below.
Watch the trailer by Chariot Of Black Moth, and sample some new DARK BUDDHA RISING sounds at THIS LOCATION.
For ten years, the Finnish band has convened to roil in the sounds of the underground, to meet dark spirits, to breathe in time with rhythmic pulses sent from the skies, the stars, and the very dirt around them. DARK BUDDHA RISING emits the blackest of psychedelia. Deep down, their sounds are forged in the blue fires of the ancients, exhalations of gods, goddesses, and demons alike.
Join them on the road very soon, and stay tuned for news of their next release which shall arrive on Neurot Recordings in early 2018…
DARK BUDDHA RISING w/ Sum Of R: 11/08/2017 Chemiefabrik – Dresden, DE 11/09/2017 Le Guess Who? Festival – Utrecht, NL 11/10/2017 Magasin4 – Brussels, BE 11/11/2017 Sint Jozefkerk – Menen, BE 11/12/2017 Oetinger Villa – Darmstadt, DE 11/13/2017 Ebrietas – Zürich, CH 11/25/2017 Kuudes Linja – Helsinki, FI 12/13/2017 Klubi – Tampere, FI
[Click play above to stream Ufomammut’s new album, 8, in full. Album is out Sept. 22 on Neurot and Supernatural Cat.]
Of the various words and phrases that might come to mind when considering Italian cosmic doom masters Ufomammut, ‘concise’ is probably pretty low on the list. Yet that’s exactly one of the most striking impressions made by 8, their aptly-titled eighth long-player and third for Neurot Recordings behind 2015’s Ecate (review here) and the preceding 2012 two-parter, Oro: Opus Primum (review here) and Oro: Opus Alter (review here). At 47:16, it’s about as long as was Ecate, but it uses its time for eight songs instead of that record’s six, and would seem to be continuing a progression toward efficiency of approach that record set forth, drawing back from the expanses of Oro or 2010’s single-song Eve (review here) in favor of a more immediate sonic impact. Of course, it’s still Ufomammut we’re talking about. Even when they were in their nascent stages across early releases like 2000’s Godlike Snake, 2004’s Snailking (discussed here) or 2005’s Lucifer Songs before 2008’s Idolum really marked the point of their arrival to wider consciousness as stylistic innovators (which they already had been for years at that point, but still), they went big in terms of sound, and 8 offers plenty of expanse, whether it’s in the nine-minute reaches of “Zodiac” or the radical tempo shifts of “Prismaze.”
But it becomes a question of context. 8 is Ufomammut‘s first album in more than a decade on which no song passes the mark of being 10 minutes long — that’s counting Eve as one track — and it’s not just about runtime. While opener “Babel” sets 8 in motion at a steady roll, not necessarily in a rush but not gruelingly slow either, tripping out in its second half as bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Urlo, guitarist/keyboardist Poia and drummer Vita, set up an apex of crush to follow, subsequent cuts “Warsheep” and “Zodiac” build a tension that extends well past the midpoint of the latter and even then only recedes momentarily before reigniting. And as 8 continues to move forward, it becomes increasingly clear that the character of the album is as much about head-down intensity as it is about the sense of galactic expansion that seems to have always been so essential to Ufomammut‘s output.
As it invariably would, 8 brings new context to the turn of approach that really started withEcate coming off of Oro, the 2015 outing serving as the point at which Ufomammut embarked on the redirection that continues here in songs like the thrusting four-minute “Fatum” or the aforementioned “Prismaze” that follows — both with their space-bound aspects, both with an overarching vibe of getting down to business as quickly as possible. But whether taken as part of the ongoing narrative of the three-piece’s progression or on its own merits, the album unquestionably succeeds in what it seems to set out to do, which is to blend expanse of sound with lung-collapsing tonal and rhythmic crush. There is much about it that will be familiar to longtime followers of the band, from the way its tracks jump right from one to the next — often in time or with noted and purposefully jarring tempo shifts, like different movements of one whole work — to the watery effects on Urlo‘s vocals, but as identifiable as these elements are, Ufomammut continue to develop their craft as well, and while some individual pieces throughout may be shorter, there’s no question of the purpose in how they’re tied together.
It’s audible in the crash that bridges “Prismaze” and “Core” and in the way the penultimate “Wombdemonium” — the shortest cut on 8 at just three minutes long — feeds into the Isis-style drum patterning of closer “Psyrcle.” Those connections definitely become more prevalent across side B, which before hitting the “Psyrcle” (7:44) moves through the already-noted shorter cuts, as opposed to “Babel” (8:23) “Warsheep” (5:06) and “Zodiac” (9:27) on side A, but even as “Zodiac” slams into its swirling finish before the chugging opening riff of “Fatum” takes hold — another direct transition for those listening digitally or on CD, in indeed I’m even right about where the vinyl divides — the band makes it plain that how one song converses with its surroundings is as important to the entire work of 8 as the standout moments of each song itself, be it devastatingly heavy, manic push and shouts of “Core” or the build that seems to take place in condensed fashion across “Warsheep” earlier, that track resolving itself in a Sleep-worthy nod at its midpoint before a tempo kick brings it to its final movement.
And if one thinks about the title, 8, it kind of makes sense — at least in a similar, on-their-own-wavelength manner as to thinking of the tracks as concise. It’s not just about the number eight, or the fact that this is Ufomammut‘s eighth long-player — it’s their ninth if we count Oro‘s two parts individually or consider the 2014 15th anniversary release, XV (review here) — but the shape of it. Imagine taking the number and stretching it out to a single, straight line. Now draw it back and twist it on itself. It loops around. It intertwines. 8, the album, functions much the same way. The material that comprises it can be taken as individual bursts, but each serves the richer notion of the whole (the proverbial “greater sum”) when brought together, and in that regard, stark changes like the way “Zodiac” seems to come to halt before lurching forth again with some of the most universe-swallowing noise here presented, or the way “Psyrcle” hits its brakes after three minutes in from its initial verses peppered with extra vocal layers — are those children singing? — and explodes in a fury of double-kick drum gallop and brain-searing fretwork, become fragments of a larger musical narrative taking shape over the course of the album.
Whether this concept is something Ufomammut embarked on consciously or it’s simply a matter of a fan-nerd reading too much into a progression between tracks, they made the choice to put these songs in this order with the lack of space between them and in so doing give 8 a personality that even as it seems to tighten the reins from Ecate succeeds in moving Ufomammut stylistically forward. It’s not necessarily just about them getting huger and huger-sounding anymore, but about what can they do within and between the spaces they’re creating. Taking this notion in context with the immediacy of what they’re actually crafting, 8 is all the more an achievement for the nuance it brings to the established parameters of Ufomammut‘s sound and the ways in which the three-piece persist in redrawing their own boundaries.
Bonus round! I don’t know if you’re stoked on having a sixth Quarterly Review day, but I sure am. Basically this is me doing myself favors. In terms of what’s being covered and how I’m covering it, today might be the high point for me personally of the entire Summer 2017 Quarterly Review. Some of this stuff I’m more behind on than others, but it’s all releases that I’ve wanted desperately to write about that I haven’t been able to make happen so far and I’m incredibly thankful for the opportunity to be able to do so at last. It’s a load off my mind in the best way possible, and as this is the final day of the Quarterly Review, before I dig in I’ll just say one more time thank you for reading and I hope you found something in the past week that really speaks to you, because that’s what makes it all worthwhile in the first place. One more go.
Quarterly Review #51-60:
Harvestman, Music for Megaliths
A new Harvestman album, like a harvest itself, is an occasion. Distinct entirely from the solo output released by Neurosis guitarist/vocalist Steve Von Till under his own name, Harvestman’s guitar-led experimentalism and ritualized psychedelia don’t happen every day – the last album was 2009’s In a Dark Tongue (review here) – and with the resonance of “Oak Drone” and the layered, drummed and vocalized textures of “Levitation,” the new collection, Music for Megaliths (on Neurot, of course), lives up to the project’s high standards of the unexpected. Pulsations beneath opener and longest track (immediate points) “The Forest is Our Temple” offer some initial threat, but the electronic beat behind the howling notes of “Ring of Sentinels” and the Vangelis-esque centerpiece “Cromlech” find more soothing ground, and though “Sundown” seems to be speaking to Neurosis “Bleeding the Pigs” from 2012’s Honor Found in Decay (review here) in its atmosphere, the spoken word that tops closer “White Horse” provides a last-minute human connection before all is brought to a quick fadeout. If you told me Music for Megaliths was assembled over a period of years, I’d believe you given its breadth, but whether it was or not, Harvestman’s latest should provide a worthy feast for a long time to come.
Los Angeles three-piece Beastmaker continue their ascent with their second album for Rise Above Records, the unflinchingly cohesive Inside the Skull. Like its predecessor, 2016’s Lusus Naturae (review here), the quick-turnaround sophomore outing executes a modern garage doom aesthetic and unfuckwithably tight songwriting, this time bringing 10 new tracks that reimagine classic vibes – witness the Witchcraft “No Angel or Demon”-style riff of opener “Evil One” (video posted here) – and touch on some of the same ground pioneered by Uncle Acid without actually sounding like that UK band or sounding like anyone for that matter so much as themselves. They make darkened highlights of “Now Howls the Beast,” “Of Gods Creation,” the crashing “Psychic Visions,” closer “Sick Sick Demon” and the preceding “Night Bird,” which offers some welcome departure into drift prior to the solo in its final minute – all impeccably crisp in structure despite a dirt-caked production – but resonant, memorable hooks abound, and the trio affirm the potential their debut showed and offer a quick step forward that one can only imagine will find them turning more heads toward their growing cult following. They’re still growing, but Inside the Skull is confirmation Beastmaker on a path to becoming something really special.
One can’t help but think there’s a bit of tongue-in-cheekery at play in the inaccuracy of Endless Boogie titling their latest album Vibe Killer. The seven-track/51-minute No Quarter release follows 2013’s Long Island (review here) and is, of course, doing everything but killing the vibe, as the New York-based outfit proffer their nestled-in raw songs crafted out of and on top of improvised jams, the semi-spoken gutturalisms of guitarist Paul “Top Dollar” Major a defining element from the laid back opening title-track onward. Moody rock classicism persists through “High Drag, Hard Doin’” and the more active “Back in ’74,” but the true peak of Vibe Killer comes in the 11-minute “Jefferson Country,” which unfolds hypnotic drone experimentation that’s as willfully ungraceful as it winds up being flowing. Bottom line: dudes know what’s up. Endless Boogie’s languid roll is second to nobody and Vibe Killer is a vision of cool jazz reinvented to feel as much at home in rock clubs of the basement and of the chic see-and-be-seen variety. Very New York, in that, but not at all given to elitism. Everyone’s invited to dig, and dig they should.
There were a few minutes there where one probably wouldn’t have been wrong to wonder if Örebro, Sweden’s Troubled Horse would have a follow-up at all to back 2012’s Step Inside (review here), but with Revolution on Repeat (out via Rise Above), the four-piece led by dynamic vocalist Martin Heppich prove among the most vital of the many heavy rock acts to emerge from their hometown, known for the likes of Witchcraft, Graveyard, Truckfighters and countless others. Heppich, lead guitarist Mikael Linder (also bass on the recording), guitarist Tom and drummer Jonas start with the boogie-fied opening salvo “Hurricane” (video premiere here) and “The Filthy Ones,” and run madcap through the memorable hooks of “Which Way to the Mob” and “Peasants” en route to the mid-paced “The Haunted” and into a second half marked by the semi-balladry of “Desperation” and “My Shit’s Fucked Up.” Soon, the standout chorus of “Track 7” (yup, that’s the title) and the penultimate funk of “Let Bastards Know” lead to a nine-minute epic finish in “Bleeding” – and all the while Troubled Horse hold firm to groove, momentum, poise, crisp production and songwriting as they tie varied landmarks together with an overarching sense of motion, Heppich’s charismatic soulfulness and deceptively subtle flourishes of arrangement to make an absolutely welcome return.
Sometimes you just have to toss up your hands and say, “Well, that’s some of the nastiest shit I’ve ever heard.” To step back and consider them at some distance, Come to Grief aren’t near the most abrasive band on the planet, but when you’re actually listening to their debut EP, The Worst of Times, that’s much harder to believe. Launching with “Killed by Life,” the four-tracker finds the Boston outfit led by former Grief guitarist Terry Savastano – here joined by drummer Chuck Conlon, bassist Justin Christian and vocalist/guitarist Jonathan Hebert – plodding out scream-topped filth that’s actually fuller-sounding than anything Grief did back in their day and all the more devastating for its thickness. The seven-minute “No Savior” is excruciating, and though shorter, “Futility of Humanity” and even the slightly-faster closer “Junklove” bring no letup whatsoever from the onslaught. Think accessible, then go the complete other way, then bludgeon yourself. It’s kind of like that. Absolute brutality delivered by expert and unkind hands.
The question of whether noise rock and sludge can coexist is largely one of tempo and tone, and recently-signed-to-Blackseed–Records Pittsburgh trio Holy Rivals’ self-titled debut answers in forceful fashion. Amid more aggro punch of opener “Locked Inn” comes the crust-laden grunge of “Voices,” and whether they’re rolling out the more spacious “Sleep” or sprinting through the post-Bleach raw punkery of “Dead Ender” on their way to the more ambient and patient seven-minute finale “Into Dust,” guitarist/vocalist Jason Orr (also T-Tops), bassist Aaron Orr (whose tone features well on the closer) and drummer Matt Langille – whose adaptability is essential to the Helmet-style starts and stops of “Loathe” that emerge from the preceding roll of “Sleep” – Holy Rivals put a superficial harshness to use as a cover for what’s actually a diverse songwriting process. They’ll reportedly have a new record out in Fall 2017, so this 2016 self-release may soon be in hindsight, but in setting the foundation for growth, it offers exciting prospects caked in an abidingly raw presentation.
Around what would seem to be the core duo of guitarist/vocalist Ben Ianuzzi and bassist/keyboardist Nikhil Kamineni, Brooklyn psychedelic post-sludgers Mountain God have undergone numerous lineup shifts en route to and through the release of their debut album, Bread Solstice (on Artificial Head Records). To wit, drummer/vocalist Ryan Smith (also Thera Roya), who appears on the dark, unrelenting and abyss-crafting 40-minute six-tracker, has already been replaced by Gabriel Cruz, and there have been other changes in vocalist, keyboardist and drummer positions even since they offered their 2015 EP, Forest of the Lost (review here) to set the stage for this deeply-atmospheric, it’s-acid-rock-but-with-sulfuric-acid first long-player. In light of that tumult and the overarching commitment to abrasive noise Mountain God make in pieces like the 11-minute “Nazca Lines,” “Junglenaut” or even the brooding tension of airy instrumental “Unknown Ascent,” it’s all the more impressive that Bread Solstice is as cohesive in its cerebral horror as it is, constructing a harsh and churning vision of doom as something worthy of post-apocalyptic revelry. Far from easy listening, but of marked purpose. They should play exclusively in art galleries, no matter who winds up in the band.
Perhaps best known for his work in spearheading the improvisational Denmark-based Øresund Space Collective, modular synth wizard Scott “Dr. Space” Heller weirds out across four cuts on the solo release Dr. Space’s Alien Planet Trip Vol. 1, which both underscores in its scope how essential he is to the aforementioned outfit and oozes beyond that group’s parameters into electronic beatmaking and waves of synthesizer drone. Pulling influence from classic progadelia, Heller unfurls longform tripping on 24-minute opener and longest track (immediate points) “5 Dimensions of the Universe” and veers into and out of somewhat abrasive swirl on “Rising Sun on Mars” before landing in the more steady atmosphere of “In Search of Life on Io” and launching once more outward with the five-minute finale “Alien Improv 2.” Just how many alien planet trips the good doctor will be undertaking remains as yet a mystery, but the breadth of this first one makes it plain to the listener that Heller’s sonic universe is wide open and, seemingly, ever-expanding.
Brazilian doomers Dirty Grave issue the three-song single/EP So Fall and Crawl Away (bonus points for the Alice in Chains reference) ahead of making their full-length debut reportedly any minute now with an album called Evil Desire. Comprised of two studio tracks in the eight-minute “The Black Cloud Comes” and the four-minute Howlin’ Wolf cover “Evil (Is Going On)” and with the live cut “Unholy Son – Live” as a kind of bonus track, it’s a sampling behind two similar short releases, 2014’s Vol. II and 2013’s Dirty Grave (which featured a studio version of “Unholy Son”), that sleeks through eerie doom loosely tinged with psychedelia and smoked-out vibing. “Evil (Is Going On)” is more uptempo, perhaps unsurprisingly, but is giving a likewise treatment all the same, its final solo shredding into oblivion with stoned abandon. “Unholy Son – Live” is rawer but still carries through its melody in the vocals amid a prevalent crash, and if it’s a portend of things to come on Evil Desire, then So Fall and Crawl Away serves as a warning worth heeding.
If you have a convenient narrative for what West Coast heavy rock has become over the last decade, Summoned by Giants’ debut album, Stone Wind, is probably too aggressive on the whole to fit it neatly. Their cleaner parts, the rolling second cut “Diamond Head” and samples throughout have aspects of that post-Red Fang party vibe, but to listen to the rawness of the bass tone that starts “Return” or closer “I Hate it When You Breathe,” or even the slurring “come at me, bro”-style rant sampled at the seven-track/27-minute album’s launch, a will toward violence is never far off. Couple that with the thickened noise punk of “Saturn” and the Weedeater sludge of the penultimate “Dying Wish,” and Summoned by Giants – guitarist/vocalist Sean Delaney, guitarist Jordan Sattelmair, bassist/vocalist Patrick Moening and drummer Mel Burris – seem more interested in doling out punishment than kicking back, making a silly video and having a good time. Well, maybe they’re having a good time, but they’re doing so while kicking your ass.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 7th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Just the facts, because the facts are enough: Neurot Recordings will reissue Neurosis‘ 1990 sophomore outing, The Word as Law, on Aug. 25. Preorders are up now and the revamped artwork comes courtesy of Josh Graham. The release date follows the long-running post-metal innovators’ tour with Converge and Amenra, as well as their stop at Psycho Las Vegas, and precedes their headlining slot in October at Baltimore’s inaugural Days of Darkness fest, put on by the same crew as Maryland Deathfest. Neurosis just wrapped a quick run of European shows that began with a slot at Roskilde festival in Denmark and in December they’ll head to South America for the first time in their 31-year career, going in order to support their 2016 album, Fires Within Fires (review here).
Like its predecessor, 1988’s Pain of Mind, The Word as Law showcases Neurosis‘ roots in hardcore punk. By the time they got to Souls at Zero just two years later, they’d be on quickly expanding sonic ground, but one could argue that with the rawness at the core of Fires Within Fires, the band’s earliest offerings have never been more relevant than they are now. All the better on the timing here, then.
From the PR wire:
NEUROSIS To Reissue Out-Of-Print Second Album The Word As Law In August
NEUROSIS will reissue the band’s second LP, The Word As Law, in August, the album having remained out-of-print since the 1990s.
While listening to NEUROSIS’ discography in chronological order, their sound gradually shifts in a very steady and somewhat seamless progression with each record, though their first few albums are undoubtedly cut from their 80s punk influences and surroundings. The Word As Law was initially released on vinyl only in 1990 through Lookout! Records, alongside the likes of Operation Ivy, Green Day, Screeching Weasel, and other Bay Area punk acts of the time. Upbeat rhythms and enraged vocals fuel The Word As Law, the record picking up where their Pain Of Mind debut’s ripping punk sound left off, while the band simultaneously began experimenting with more dissonant, melancholic, and demoralizing tones that would carve the foundation for their next few albums and their signature sound.
NEUROSIS had yet to infuse keyboards or synthesizers into the mix when The Word As Law was recorded by Mark Lemaire at Sound & Vision in San Francisco of December 1989. The blend of vocals delivered by guitarist Scott Kelly, bassist Dave Edwardson, and new inductee on this album, guitarist Steve Von Till, driven by the powerful rhythms of drummer Jason Roeder, coalesce to formulate an eerie and original sound on The Word As Law, which results in the album’s cult status as an incredibly groundbreaking album for countless crust punk, hardcore, and experimental metal artists worldwide.
While prior reissues of the album featured several re-recorded bonus tracks from the band’s prior singles and releases, the 2017 Neurot reissue of The Word As Law will bear the album’s initial eight tracks, all completely remastered by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering. Additionally, the album’s cover artwork has been reworked and modernized by NEUROSIS’ former live visual architect Josh Graham to match the label’s previously-reissued Souls At Zero, Enemy Of The Sun, and other titles.
NEUROSIS’ own Neurot Recordings will reissue The Word As Law on CD, LP, and digital formats on August 25th, directly following their US tour with Converge and Amenra and their performance at Psycho Las Vegas. See all confirmed tour dates below and find preorder links for The Word As Law atTHIS LOCATION.
The Word As Law Track Listing: 1. Double Edged Sword 2. The Choice 3. Obsequious Obsolescence 4. To What End? 5. Tomorrow’s Reality 6. Common Inconsistencies 7. Insensitivity 8. Blisters
NEUROSIS Tour Dates: 7/27/2017 Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL w/ Amenra 7/28/2017 Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL w/ Converge, Amenra 7/29/2017 St Andrews – Detroit, MI w/ Converge, Amenra 7/30/2017 Rex Theatre – Pittsburgh, PA w/ Converge, Amenra 8/01/2017 Metropolis – Montreal, QC w/ Converge, Amenra 8/02/2017 Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, ON w/ Converge, Amenra 8/03/2017 College St. Music Hall – New Haven, CT w/ Converge, Amenra 8/04/2017 Warsaw – Brooklyn, NY w/ Converge, Amenra [SOLD OUT] 8/05/2017 Warsaw – Brooklyn, NY w/ Converge, Amenra 8/06/2017 Royale – Boston, MA w/ Converge, Amenra 8/07/2017 Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA w/ Converge, Amenra 8/18-20/2017 Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Las Vegas, NV @ Psycho Las Vegas 10/28-29/2017 Ram’s Head Live – Baltimore Maryland @ Days Of Darkness 12/08/2017 Clash Club – São Paulo, BR w/ Deafkids 12/09/2017 Teatro Vorterix – Buenos Aires, AR 12/10/2017 Club Blondie – Santiago, CL
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 23rd, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Neurosis have already been to Australia and New Zealand this year, and next month they head to Europe for select shows around a performance at Roskilde Festival in Denmark ahead of a North American stretch alongside Converge and Amenra, but they’re still not done. 31 years into one of underground music’s most influential tenures, the band will head to South America for the very first time this December, playing Brazil, Argentina and Chile on shows presented by Abraxas in support of their 2016 album, Fires Within Fires (review here). Adding another continental notch to their collective belt is significant, but it seems all the more perfect in terms of timing as the band look back over the stretch of their career at the same time while adding new accomplishments in creativity and reach. I have no doubt these shows will be utter madness, and rightfully so.
Guitarist/vocalist Steve von Till offers some comment below, and you’ll find all Neurosis‘ dates down there in blue as well, courtesy of the PR wire:
NEUROSIS To Play Their First-Ever South American Shows In December; European And North American Summer Dates Loom
Thirty years of anticipation will come to an end this December: South American fans can finally experience the live intensity of heavy music pioneers, NEUROSIS. For the first time, the band will bring its cathartic live experience to South America, performing three shows in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.
“We are honored and humbled by the opportunity to experience a new sonic adventure on a new continent,” says Steve Von Till. “Finally, after all this time, we are able to come to South America and experience first-hand the legendary and passionate heavy music scene there.”
Over three decades, NEUROSIS has produced eleven studio albums, performed on stages around the planet – each record, each song, each show and each studio experience pushing the band one step further along on a lifelong path of spirit and sonic experimentation. For the first time in South America, local audiences will feel the trance like power of NEUROSIS’ massive riffs. These South American shows are produced by Brazilian booking agency Abraxas in partnership with Xaninho Discos, beginning in São Paulo, Brazil, on December 8th at Clash Club, followed by shows in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 9th at Teatro Vorterix and Santiago, Chile, December 10th at Club Blondie. Ticket information for these three shows will be announced in the coming weeks.
NEUROSIS’ Summer tour is rapidly approaching, beginning with a European venture the first week of July, leading with a set at Roskilde Festival and followed by shows with Wolfbrigade, Author & Punisher, labelmates Dark Budda Rising, and more. In late July and early August, NEUROSIS will storm the Eastern US and lower Canada with a week-and-a-half of tour dates alongside Converge and labelmates Amenra. This tour will be followed by NEUROSIS’ participation in Psycho Vegas in Las Vegas, August 18th through 20th, performing with the likes of King Diamond, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Swans, Sleep, The Melvins, Wolves In The Throne Room, and countless others. NEUROSIS will also headline the Days Of Darkness festival in Baltimore, Maryland on October 28th and 29th, the two-day gala also including sets by Manilla Road, Om, Cirith Ungol, Warning, Captain Beyond, Boris, Elder, and many more.
Released in September, NEUROSIS’ acclaimed Fires Within Fires is available now on CD, LP, cassette, and all digital platforms through the band’s own Neurot Recordings; see all bundles and optionsRIGHT HERE.
NEUROSIS Tour Dates: 7/01/2017 Roskilde Festival – Roskilde, DK 7/02/2017 Kraken – Stockholm, SE w/ Wolfbrigade & Author & Punisher 7/03/2017 Pustervik – Gothenburg, SE w/ Author & Punisher 7/04/2017 Tavastia – Helsinki, FI w/ Dark Buddha Rising 7/05/2017 Eistnaflug – Neskaupstadur, IS 7/27/2017 Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL w/ Amenra 7/28/2017 Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL w/ Converge, Amenra 7/29/2017 St Andrews – Detroit, MI w/ Converge, Amenra 7/30/2017 Rex Theatre – Pittsburgh, PA w/ Converge, Amenra 8/01/2017 Metropolis – Montreal, QC w/ Converge, Amenra 8/02/2017 Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, ON w/ Converge, Amenra 8/03/2017 College St. Music Hall – New Haven, CT w/ Converge, Amenra 8/04/2017 Warsaw – Brooklyn, NY w/ Converge, Amenra [SOLD OUT] 8/05/2017 Warsaw – Brooklyn, NY w/ Converge, Amenra 8/06/2017 Royale – Boston, MA w/ Converge, Amenra 8/07/2017 Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA w/ Converge, Amenra 8/18-20/2017 Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Las Vegas, NV @ Psycho Las Vegas 10/28-29/2017 Ram’s Head Live – Baltimore Maryland @ Days Of Darkness 12/08/2017 Clash Club – São Paulo, BR 12/09/2017 Teatro Vorterix – Buenos Aires, AR 12/10/2017 Club Blondie – Santiago, CL
It is arguable that A Sun that Never Sets represents the moment when Neurosis most defined the course of what would come to be called post-metal. In fact, I’ve argued it several times. It’s not a hard argument to make, and if you’ve ever heard the album, which was released by Relapse Records in 2001 as the seventh outing from the Oakland-based outfit, you very likely already know where I’m going with this. It’s the riff. That riff. Neurosis end A Sun that Never Sets with “Stones from the Sky,” and to this day, every post-metal record I encounter in one way or another — often in directly ripping it off — tries to capture that moment where the sweeping final riff of the album devolves and deconstructs into a genuine cacophony of noise before cutting out like a transmission from another world has just been shut down. I’m not going to take anything away — at all — ever — from the work Neurosis did on albums like 1992’s Souls at Zero, 1993’s Enemy of the Sun, 1996’s primal Through Silver in Blood or the sprawling chaos of 1999’s Times of Grace. Neurosis‘ output has always been and still is marked and defined by a forward creative development — it continued after this record as well — but to consider A Sun that Never Sets anything less than a landmark in that process is to simply miss the point.
The difference? Patience. A sense of brooding in the title-track. The flow of arrangements in “The Tide” and “From the Hill” early on. Comprised of guitarist/vocalists Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till, bassist/vocalist Dave Edwardson, keyboardist/sampler Noah Landis and drummer Jason Roeder, Neurosis were no strangers to intensity. Going back to their earliest hardcore punk output on 1988’s Pain of Mind debut or 1990’s The Word as Law, it was an essential ingredient, and it has remained one even as they passed their 30th anniversary, but listening to songs like “Crawl Back In” and the tribalist “From Where its Roots Run,” A Sun that Never Sets brimmed with a tension that even Times of Grace had only begun to explore, and while it would ultimately be in “Stones from the Sky” that that tension found its (merciful) release, the lurch of pieces like “Watchfire” or the earlier “From the Hill” seemed nearly orchestral in its swell and cascade, providing the listener with a progressive course of ups and downs that stretched across a masterfully executed, deeply textured 68 minutes that served as one of the best and most pivotal albums of its decade — all the more an accomplishment for being released in the first year of it. From the drum march that begins the title-track to the noise experiments in intro “Erode” and the penultimate interlude “Resound,” A Sun that Never Sets turned volume into ritual, and it remains singular in its dynamic, both within the Neurosis catalog and in the wider sphere of heavy music as a whole. As many as have tried to imitate it — and who could argue with trying? — none have found results that come close to touching its power, presence or vision.
And of course, for Neurosis, it was another step along the way. They’d soon enough develop Neurot Recordings as an outlet for their own material, solo works, and other artists admired by the band, today resulting in one of the underground’s most respected imprints. 2003 brought the Neurosis & Jarboe collaboration and 2004 pushed further into atmospheric soulfulness with The Eye of Every Storm — and if you don’t know what I mean by “soulful,” revisit “A Season in the Sky” — and saw the band all but absent from touring before 2007’s Given to the Rising reintroduced a more aggressive feel and stark trades in volume. Density of intent persisted through the vast scope of 2012’s Honor Found in Decay (review here), and as they looked back on 30 years together with special live sets and a return to prominence as a touring act, last year’s Fires Within Fires (review here) continued to forge new creative ground even as it embraced some of their rawest and most seething output since their earliest days. Through these changes and the ongoing evolution of Neurosis as a project, they have always remained committed to a natural progression, and taken in succession, their albums tell a story of that progression across a span of decades in one of heavy music’s richest and most individualized histories.
Neurosis don’t exist in a vacuum, and with releases as essential as A Sun that Never Sets, the temptation is often to see them that way — which is to say it’s not the only record that helped shape post-metal — but there’s no question they stand among the most important groups of their generation, and as an audience we’re all the more fortunate that their contributions are as ongoing as they are distinctive.
As always, I hope you enjoy.
—
This coming Monday is the Memorial Day holiday here in the States. It is an unfortunate cause for celebration, what with the perpetual war generally and the ensuing jingoism and unthinking patriotism that always seems to accompany the day — even the baseball teams wear camo; it’s a downer — but a day off is a day off, and at this point I’ll take it.
I took today off as well and The Patient Mrs., the impending Pecan, the little dog Dio and I all came down to Connecticut last night to spend an extra day at the beach. Four day weekend? Shit yeah, son. That’s the way life should always be.
After some debate on the matter at the office this week, my final day of work is June 16. As you might imagine, my feelings on this are somewhat conflicted. Happy to not be working anymore; worried about the prospects of no income, excited, curious and a bit terrified at the notion of being a stay-at-home dad come October. Wondering if something comes next or if I’m leaving the workforce for good at 35. Kind of a scary thought.
I’ve been giving serious thought of late to taking a few classes and setting up an office as some kind of nutrition counselor, trying to help people frame how they think about food and how it interacts with their life. Since I’ve lost (just over) 170 pounds in the last year and a half, I’ve gotten many questions from people about how I did it, how I feel, how they might go about losing weight, and so on, and I think from just hearing out their stories to helping plan a week of meals, that’s something from which I might derive professional satisfaction. Plus, I’d be working for myself, which is basically the only way I would want to work at all at this point. Done with offices. Done with other people. Done with the culture of professionalism. If I can’t have my dog around when I’m working, then that’s work I don’t want to be doing.
We’ll see how that goes. I get these ideas. Pipe dreams 95 percent of the time. Plus I’ve been on anti-depressants now for about three weeks, so if I was ever going to have a I’m-gonna-change-my-life-type notion, I need to recognize that this is probably the time it would happen. Ambition as symptom of chemical change. “My brains are going into my feet,” and so on.
As regards business, here’s what’s in the notes for next week, subject to change as always:
MON: Demon Head review & Drug Honkey video.
TUE: Witchthroat Serpent track premiere & Arbouretum video.
WED: Six Dumb Questions with Abrams.
THU: Second Coming of Heavy review.
FRI: Anathema review.
Kind of a quiet week thus far, with the holiday and whatnot, but I expect things will pick up toward the end and there may be some shuffling as per usual. That Anathema review is set in stone though. The Second Coming of Heavy one I’ve already moved a few times, so that should probably get done as well. I don’t know. It’ll come together. Not worried about it.
Traditionally one barbecues for Memorial Day, and I expect my feed on Thee Facebooks this weekend will be full of showoff pictures of various smoked/smoking meat products, beers, and so on. That’s cool. Whatever you’re up to, I hope it’s a great time. Be safe and have fun. Listen to good music, because that makes good days even better.
Thanks for reading and please take some time to check out the forum and radio stream.
I was just the other day thinking it had been quiet on the Ufomammut front since the Italian cosmic doomers announced back in March they would release their new album, 8, this September via Neurot Recordings. And here we are. The new song they’ve unveiled in the video below, titled “Warsheep,” is anything but quiet. Rather, it rumbles in classic Ufomammut fashion but also carries something rawer in its punch. Listen to the bassline. Listen to the way the sharp-edged keys cut through. Listen to the way the guitar line cuts through. Listen to how forward the drums are. Something nasty is going on here.
And yet, listen to the vocals, and “Warsheep” might be the cleanest-sounding track Ufomammut have ever put out. Higher- and lower-register layers chant out a verse before full-density tonality unapologetically slams the listener into a bridge and as they continue their march, the space-dominant trio offer gallop, drone, blown-out repetition, and if you actually watch the video, a dude with a box on his head before they degrade into birdsong. Hell, the track is only five minutes. How much more could they have possibly jammed in there? Actually, the real question is how much does “Warsheep” represent the rest of 8 that will invariably surround it? Is it an opener? A centerpiece? These things matter, you know.
Or maybe I’m just a nerd and I can’t wait to hear the album.
Either way, Ufomammut will issue “Warsheep” as a lead-in single to the record and you can find more info and preorder whatnots in the PR wire info that follows the video itself below. As expected, Ufomammut also have a slew of new European tour dates for this Fall. They’re down there too.
Please enjoy:
Ufomammut, “Warsheep” official video
UFOMAMMUT Debuts “Warsheep” Via New Video; Song To Appear On 7″ Single And Upcoming Album 8 Due Through Neurot Recordings In September; Tour Dates Announced
The Italian alchemic juggernaut, UFOMAMMUT, masters of melding uncompromisingly heavy magic with psychedelic swirls, recently announced news of a new studio recording, 8, which shall arrive on 22nd September via Neurot Recordings.
Prior to the release of the 8 LP, UFOMAMMUT delivers an early extract from the record in the form of a video for the song “Warsheep” which you can view [above]. The band describe their intentions of the video, “It is inspired by the lyrics of the song which in itself is a play on the word ‘worship.’ The protagonist takes a symbolic journey from the natural human condition to the trappings of the dogmas of society, religion etc. The principle idea being that thought is blind and is caged into the illusion of being free.” Adding to the video’s eerie atmosphere, the setting is in an abandoned villa in Italy, and the surrounding woodland.
In the spirit of record collecting rituals, and to offer something special to fans ahead of the full album release, UFOMAMMUT is offering “Warsheep” as a limited edition 7″. Available in a small run of 500 pieces, and with the cover handprinted with gold iridescent and red inks on pearlescent paper by Malleus, the record shall be released via Supernatural Cat on 15th June, and is available for preorder via the label’s website, and via Neurot stores too.
8 is due for release on September 22nd on vinyl and CD formats via Neurot Recordings and on a limited and regular edition vinyl via Supernatural Cat. Preorder information and more will be revealed over the upcoming months.
UFOMAMMUT has also announced a long list of upcoming European live shows as well, including several major festival performances and an Autumn European tour with Usnea. Additional live shows will be announced in the weeks ahead.
UFOMAMMUT Tour Dates: 6/16/2017 Freak Valley Fest – Netphen, DE 6/18/2017 Hellfest – Clisson, FR 8/04/2017 Disintegrate Your Ignorance Fest – Giavera del Montello, IT 8/05/2017 Rohrbach – Oberösterreich, AU @ Lake On Fire Festival 9/06/2017 Volta – Moscow, RU 9/07/2017 MOD – St. Petersburg, RU w/ Usnea: 9/30/2017 La Boule Noire – Paris, FR 10/01/2017 Le Ferrailleur – Nantes, FR 10/03/2017 Borderline – London, UK 10/04/2017 Magasin 4 – Brussels, BE 10/05/2017 Schlachthof – Wiesbaden, DE 10/06/2017 Up In Smoke Festival – Pratteln, CH 10/07/2017 Doornroosje – Nijmegen, NL @ Soulcrusher Festival 10/08/2017 Forum – Bielefeld, DE 10/10/2017 Blitz – Oslo, NO 10/11/2017 Klub Undergangen – Stockholm, SE 10/13/2017 Korjaamo – Helsinki, FI @ Blowup Vol. 3 Festival 10/14/2017 Olympia-Kortelli – Tampere, FI 10/16/2017 KB 18 – Copenhagen, DK 10/17/2017 Lido – Berlin, DE 10/18/2017 Markthalle – Hamburg, DE 10/19/2017 Werk 2 – Leipzig, DE 10/20/2017 Firley – Wroclaw, PL 10/21/2017 007 – Prague, CZ 10/22/2017 Keep It Low Festival – Munich, DE
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 10th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
You know, the trouble is, Neurosis announce a summer tour — or pretty much anything — and then I go to their merch webstore, and then I stare longingly at the half-oxblood/half-black vinyl reissue of The Eye of Every Storm AGAIN. And then I get sad. So yeah, don’t get me wrong, I’m stoked at the prospect of seeing them play again, maybe in Connecticut, maybe in Montreal if I’m unemployed and doing the bohemian thing by then, or maybe a trip to Brooklyn is in order, but wherever it happens, my enjoyment of that prospect is tempered by the simple fact that I don’t own that LP. It’s even on sale right now through the end of the month. The Patient Mrs. response? Literally, “Buy it. I don’t give a fuck.” But she does. I hear we haven’t paid the water bill in six months.
My fiscal concerns notwithstanding, we’ll see if I last through April without placing that order. In the meantime, you can check out the latest tour dates for the post-metal forebears below. They go supporting last fall’s scathing Fires Within Fires (review here) and in the substantial company of Converge and Belgian acolytes Amenra, as the PR wire affirms:
NEUROSIS: North American Summer Tour With Converge And Amenra Announced
NEUROSIS declares new tour dates for 2017, announcing a new run of North American Summer performances with Converge and Amenra.
As the band continues to perform the works from their acclaimed eleventh studio album, Fires Within Fires, the upcoming tour will find NEUROSIS bringing their immersive live experience to the East Coast and Midwestern US, and Southeastern Canada. The tour will embark out of Chicago on July 28th, with shows in Detroit, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Toronto, New Haven, Brooklyn, Boston, and Philadelphia confirmed through August 7th. Iconic punk/metal experimenters Converge will supply direct support for NEUROSIS, and leading the charge will see Neurot labelmates Amenra making their long-awaited return to North American shores.
NEUROSIS is also confirmed to headline the Days Of Darkness festival in Baltimore, Maryland on October 28th and 29th, the two-day gala also including sets by Warning, Manilla Road, Elder, Gost, Unearthly Trance, Dälek, and Bongripper, and more. Additional NEUROSIS tour dates are to be expected.
Released in September, NEUROSIS’ acclaimed Fires Within Fires is available now on CD, LP, cassette, and all digital platforms through the band’s own Neurot Recordings; see all bundles and optionsRIGHT HERE.
NEUROSIS Tour Dates: 7/28/2017 Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL w/ Converge, Amenra 7/29/2017 St Andrews – Detroit, MI w/ Converge, Amenra 7/30/2017 Rex Theatre – Pittsburgh, PA w/ Converge, Amenra 8/01/2017 Metropolis – Montreal, QC w/ Converge, Amenra 8/02/2017 Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, QC w/ Converge, Amenra 8/03/2017 College St. Music Hall – New Haven, CT w/ Converge, Amenra 8/04/2017 Warsaw – Brooklyn, NY w/ Converge, Amenra 8/06/2017 Royale – Boston, MA w/ Converge, Amenra 8/07/2017 Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA w/ Converge, Amenra 10/28-29/2017 Ram’s Head Live – Baltimore Maryland @ Days Of Darkness
