Posted in Whathaveyou on May 2nd, 2025 by JJ Koczan
First question I asked Guhts was if the record was done and, if so, could I hear it. If you caught wind of their first LP, Regeneration (review here), which came out in January last year and laid early claim to being the best debut full-length of 2024, you probably already know why I asked. The not-in-the-city NY emotively-resonant post-metallers will be heralding new material on the road this June and July, doing dates on the Eastern Seaboard around appearances at Maryland Doom Fest and Asheville Doomed and Stoned, respectively.
They’ll be with VRSA in June and Somnuri in July, both of which make for good company to keep. The album doesn’t have a release date because it’s not quite all the way done as I understand it — at least that was the answer I got when I asked — so the anticipation will just have to build until, I don’t know, maybe the Fall, maybe next year? No clue, but I am interested to see how the response is to new Guhts and how much touring the band will do around the release. The music isn’t always easy on the ear, but it is vibrantly human in a way a lot of post-metal isn’t nearly brave enough to be, couching itself instead in stoic dudeism and frowny-face intentionality.
From the PR wire:
GUHTS ANNOUNCES SUMMER TOUR DATES WITH VRSA + SOMNURI – PREVIEWING NEW MATERIAL FROM UPCOMING ALBUM
Spring into summer with GUHTS as we hit the road for eight shows across the East Coast and South, including festival stops and club shows alongside some of our favorite heavy hitters.
We’re kicking things off in June with three shows alongside our longtime friends VRSA, including a spot at the legendary Maryland Doom Fest at Café 611 in Frederick, MD (June 19), before rolling into New Windsor, NY (June 20) and Hamden, CT (June 21).
In July, we’re teaming up with the unstoppable Somnuri for a four-date run from Washington, DC to Athens, GA, including a performance at the inaugural Asheville Doomed & Stoned Fest at Sly Grog Lounge (July 12). We’ll wrap the leg with a solo stop at Banditos in Richmond, VA (July 13) before heading back north.
Tour Dates: WITH VRSA • June 19 – Maryland Doom Fest @ Cafe 611 – Frederick, MD • June 20 – Orange County Veterans Center – New Windsor, NY • June 21 – Cellar on Treadwell – Hamden, CT
SUPPORTING SOMNURI • July 9 – Pie Shop – Washington, DC • July 10 – Monstercade – Winston-Salem, NC • July 11 – Flicker Theater – Athens, GA • July 12 – Asheville Doomed & Stoned Fest – Asheville, NC
SOLO SHOW: • July 13 – Banditos – Richmond, VA
We’ll be bringing an all-new set featuring songs from our forthcoming album (no official release date yet), and we’re beyond stoked to finally share these tracks live. It’s heavier, deeper, and more alive than anything we’ve done before.
Bear Bones will make their self-titled debut in the coming months on New Heavy Sounds. “Waitin’ Around to Die” (premiering below) is the first single to come from the album, and for those unfamiliar with Townes Van Zandt‘s original version, I won’t spoil the codeine-laced ending to the track’s three-and-a-half-minute downer narrative, which Bear Bones have given a full heavy workup.
Before we go any futher, I kind of dig in here, and if you want to skip it and go to the song, scroll down. If you hit the blue PR text, you’ve gone too far. Thanks.
Now then. Yes, these are dudes with a pedigree. Vocalist Rob Hoey is/was in Limb, while bassist Peter Holland is in Elephant Tree, guitarist Alex Clarke plays in Morag Tong and drummer Marco Ninni hails from Swedish Death Candy, so everybody’s been around for a while, playing standout bands from one of the world’s most densely populated undergrounds: London’s. They know what they’re doing sound-wise, recorded with Wayne Adams at Bear Bites Horse, and indeed, Hoey and Holland — who reportedly were the driving force behind initiating the project — approach the album with a mission of bringing modern heavy to classic blues.
The PR wire below namedrops Vanilla Fudge and the analogy is just about perfect. In 1967, a bunch of dudes who’d been around in other bands got together and put out a record of rock arrangements that was mostly covers. When Carmine Appice and company did it, it was more contemporary songs — and I have to say, if Bear Bones wanted to take on The Supremes‘ “You Keep Me Hanging On” for their next record as Vanilla Fudge famously did, I’d consider it a personal favor — and one original. For the eight songs of Bear Bones‘ Bear Bones, the source material has shifted from pop to classic blues. Hank Williams‘ “Ramblin’ Man” follows with due burl and an irresistable roll such that they reprise it at the end of the album, albeit in more minimal fashion.
That is to say, the album ends with just Hoey and Holland singing the chorus of “Ramblin’ Man” (which isn’t to be confused with the Allman Brothers‘ song) with some rough recorded handclaps for backing. That in itself mirrors the end of side A, where “Hear the Wind Blow” (which has been done by Burl Ives, among a folk song’s slew of others) unfolds far off the microphone in everything but a line of organ. Ninni‘s drums, Clarke‘s guitar are there, but farther back. Holland‘s bass punches through some, and Hoey‘s vocal is accordingly subdued for the quieter presentation, but the whole thing shifts the atmosphere of the record to speak directly to old blues recordings, like something John Lomax taped Lead Belly playing. Folk blues, which the turn is correct in implying is no less heavy, albeit in a different way.
A start-stop strut and gutted-out verse from Hoey unfolds for “St. James Infirmary” (a blues traditional) as a setup for the chorus which brings Susie McMullan of Brume as the first of three successive guest appearances that continue across the next two tracks. Jack Dickinson of Stubb — it’s been a while, but those records are still great — steps in on guitar for “Goin’ Down” (done notably by Freddie King), and Scott Black of Green Lung burns a hole in the universe on “Ridin’ Out.”
If that seems like an incongruous image — cosmic scorch on a record so pointedly heavy blues in its intention and fresh in its interpretation — you’re right, it is. But “Ridin’ Out” is the only original cut on Bear Bones. It’s eight minutes long and it’s got more in common with Hawkwind than Robert Johnson, who’s at- root behind a lot of what Bear Bones are digging into in their covers. The divergence works for two reasons. One, it’s completely over the top. By the time Black even starts in, the band are already jamming in a way that up to that point the record hasn’t moved at all. It’s a standout already. Then Black gets going and it’s wild. I don’t know shit about guitar technique to note what or how he’s making that instrument make that kind of noise, but the end result is a banger, and when you’ve got that, it makes it fit a lot easier.
Second, it goes back to where the project was coming from: Vanilla Fudge. Go back to their 1967 self-titled debut, it’s all over the place, and side B likewise goes nuts with jams and each track has a piece of “Illusions of My Childhood” in front of it, which is no more the lone original input for that band than “Ridin’ Out” is for Bear Bones — the interpretation and arrangement is part of the creative process here, whether a given song is loud or quiet, etc. — but doesn’t miss the opportunity to provide an extra bit of weirdness just the same. They could’ve written a pop tune to sit next to “Eleanor Rigby” and didn’t. Bear Bones could’ve put together a 12-bar blues and didn’t. It’s these choices that end up defining the persona of a record.
At this point I’ve gone on longer than I probably should for an album that’s not going to be out until I don’t even know when. But I meant what I said above when I called it a fresh take. That Bear Bones exist as a riff-worship heavy blues band from anywhere without being either a dopey masculine caricature (“Ramblin’ Man” notwithstanding, and that’s just so fun) or basically that but also ripping off Clutch is a thing to appreciate in itself. To material they didn’t write, they bring character, tone and intention. And with the moment of originality they allow themselves, they broaden the scope of the record in a way that despite everybody involved having plenty going on besides sure doesn’t make this album feel like a one-off.
But let’s let them play their first gig supporting the record before we start thinking longer term. April 4, the famed The Black Heart in Camden will host Bear Bones‘ initial proceedings, and as noted below, they’ve got friends lined up to appear as well. Good fun if you happen to be in the neighborhood or on nearby continents.
Oh, and this song’s been public on Bandcamp for like two and a half days at least, so if you’ve heard it and you’re like “screw this premiere,” right on. We’re all doing our best.
Either way, enjoy:
Bear Bones was born from a whiskey-fueled jam session between Rob Hoey (Limb) and Pete Holland (Elephant Tree), riffing on old blues tunes deep into the night. When they stumbled upon Vanilla Fudge’s 1967 debut album—packed with raw, soulful covers and a single original track—they found their blueprint. In true blues rock tradition, they set out to create something that felt just as authentic and unpolished.
The duo brought in heavy hitters from across the underground scene: Alex from Morag Tong, Marco from Swedish Death Candy, and Federica from Black Moth. As the sessions heated up at Bear Bites Horse Studios with the legendary Wayne Adams behind the board, more friends jumped in for the ride. Scott from Green Lung, Susie from Brume, and Jack from Stubb all laid down killer grooves, adding to the album’s gritty, old-school vibe.
With Wayne capturing the raw energy of the room, the result was pure magic—a true jam session that oozes vintage blues rock soul. No gimmicks, no gloss. Just pure, unfiltered sound straight from the gut.
Bear Bones is a doom-infused blues supergroup rising from the underground, featuring members of Elephant Tree, Limb, Swedish Death Candy, Black Moth and Morag Tong. Steeped in the raw soul of the blues and the crushing weight of doom, their sound is both haunting and hypnotic—where fuzz-drenched riffs meet smoky, melancholic grooves. With guest appearances from members of Green Lung, Stubb, Brume, and more, Bear Bones is set to shake the foundations of heavy music. With a new album on the horizon, this is just the beginning. The blues has never been heavier—welcome to Bear Bones.
First single “Waiting Around to Die” was written and originally performed by Townes Van Zandt.
Bear Bones will be performing The Black Heart, London on Friday April 4th. There will also be guest appearances during their set.
Support comes from Sky Valley Mistress, Okay You Win and Blue Tree Monitor.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 7th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Those familiar with the work of Jessica Ball from her time in MWWB, or Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard as they were more fully known before their last album, 2022’s The Harvest (review here), shouldn’t be too thrown off by the stylistic shift being made with EYE, taking that band’s synth and melodic foundation and extrapolating it to new ends in an exploration less tonally dense but able to reach that much further as a result. “In Your Night” is the first single from EYE‘s upcoming debut LP, Dark Light, and as you’ll hear on the player below, Ball leads her new outfit with patience through heavy post-rock ambience and lays out the melody on vocals before the band dig into more aural crush in the second half.
I haven’t heard the full record yet — it’s out April 26 on New Heavy Sounds, preorders, etc. — so I can’t speak to how much “In Your Night” represents the entirety. But if the intention was maybe to give listeners who know Ball from her prior outfit something to latch onto to ease the transit of fandom from one project to the next, I don’t hear anything in it that pulls me out of the experience, and I think probably those who caught on to what MWWB were doing at any point in their tenure should well be able to get on board here. Which probably makes the single a win for more than just actually being cool.
It was kind of a heavy chat, but Ball spoke in an interview here in 2022 about EYE and her intentions with the band coming out of MWWB. I look forward to hearing how Dark Light unfolds.
From the PR wire:
EYE – THE NEW BAND FROM MWWB SINGER-SONGWRITER/MUSICIAN JESSICA BALL – UNVEILS HER EAGERLY ANTICIPATED DEBUT ALBUM ‘DARK LIGHT’ & FIRST SINGLE
EYE – the new band from Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard (MWWB) singer-songwriter/musician Jessica Ball – has announced the arrival of their eagerly awaited debut album, ‘Dark Light’ set for release on 26th April via New Heavy Sounds (Shooting Daggers, MWWB, Blacklab)
“These songs have been many years in the making… Some of these ideas were crafted before MWWB, this is something I’ve always wanted to do. Over the last couple of years, I’ve spent some time on finishing and crafting these ideas and pieces of music into songs. Some were snippets of lyrics from my early twenties which reflect on what seems like a different person. I think it’s quite poetic how it’s all come together now.
I was also encouraged after finding musicians who understood the vision and style I was trying to achieve, and of course my experience of being in MWWB. I’m a guitarist above all, and I loved reconnecting with guitar again. It feels like all my influences and favourite styles have come together in this album. Shoegaze, doom, folk, dream pop… It’s a real mix bag but as a whole, it represents many different stages of my life and tells a story.
The album ultimately is quite introspective yet lyrically loose enough to be open to interpretation – I’ve always been a fan of songs that seem to perfectly slot into the situation I’m experiencing and not too specific to one person’s experience… I think that comes across in this album.”
Jessica relocated from Wrexham to join her new partner, veteran Welsh musician Gid Goundrey (Gulp, Ghostlawns, Martin Carr), in Cardiff just as the pandemic era dawned. Confined to their small Grangetown flat, they quite naturally began making music together.
Having earned acclaim and a fervent fan following for her role in MWWB, Ball took the opportunity to compose songs that were all her own – nuanced, lyrical, and hypnotically distinctive.
Triggered in part by the existential dread looming outside as well as the sudden ill health of her dear friend, MWWB guitarist Paul “Dave” Davies, then fighting for life after a Covid-related stroke.
With Goundrey on drums (for the first time in his musical career) and joined by keyboardist Johnny TK, Eye experimented with sounds to match Ball’s melodic songs, traversing a diverse spectrum of dark folk, dreampop, IDM and psychedelic doom, to create sometimes heavy and foreboding drones, alongside spare but still richly textured sonics.
The result is their debut album ‘Dark Light’. An intensely atmospheric fusion of emotionally charged songcraft and inspired sonic energy. The clue is in the album’s paradoxical title. Chilling and even bleak melodies with arrangements daringly and deliberately stripped down and minimal. Revealing a kinship with sonic bed-fellows Mazzy Star, Chelsea Wolfe or even Portishead, which can be heard on first single ‘In Your Night’.
Jessica comments, “Our first release ‘In Your Night’ represents Eye musically, conceptually and lyrically and I’m proud for this to be the first song that everyone hears from us… Light and dark, night and day, quiet and loud is the running theme throughout this song and album as a whole. Whether you’re up close to a song, or listening to the album as a whole, these themes will be ever present throughout. We’re playing around with these two extremes sonically and what these represent emotionally and mentally. I feel that nothing takes you on a journey more effectively than a good build up, or something happening unexpectedly, much like real life. We are just the eye that witnesses it all.”
Songs like “The Other Sees”, “Respair”, “See Yourself” are chameleonic and commanding, wielding snaky, chiming guitar back to back with fuzzed out riffs. Vocal melodies may be sweet but melancholic, amidst tightly contrasted spatial dimensions, and Ball’s signature vocals are at the forefront, sometimes soaring but also with a heart of darkness. Of the two ‘heavier’ numbers “In Your Night,” slowly builds to a brooding fuzz-groove like a down-tuned Yo La Tengo until a huge space-doom riffs carries you home while with “See Yourself” the contrast from folk delicacy to tripped out sub-bass fuzz riffage is astounding.
So, whilst not strictly speaking ‘Doom’ or ‘Metal’ fans of Jessica’s previous work with MWWB will not be disappointed. Along with producer Chris Fielding (MWWB, Conan) EYE have produced something otherworldly, which is at times heavy and epic, yet still deeply intimate and dark. A striking debut.
‘Dark Light’ is due to drop on 26th April 2024, and as with all New Heavy Sounds releases, will come in a deluxe limited vinyl edition. Green/Purple half and half effect vinyl, with full download included as well as limited edition CD and at all digital platforms.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 4th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Following on from the late-January release of their debut album, Regeneration (review here), New-York-and-then-some-based post-metallic earthscorchers Guhts today announce a round of Spring touring to support the record. The East Coast run takes begins in Philadelphia April 15 and concludes on a back-northbound swing April 24 after a drive from Richmond (not nothing; hope you like I-95), hitting Arlene’s Grocery the final night. There’s one TBA, and I’m honestly not sure if they have a show for it or not, but if you’re somewhere between Birmingham and Richmond — Charlotte, NC, maybe? Knoxville, TN? — and you’ve got a stage and can put the band up for an evening, you could tick your I-did-a-good-thing-today box early by at least asking if you can help out. I’ve talked to Scott Prater and Amber Burns before. They’re pretty friendly.
The record, on the other hand, tends the other way. Channeling its emotive crux in the latter’s vocals as well as the sometimes willfully caustic, weighted-even-in-its-quiet-parts sprawl behind her, Regeneration gets furious but isn’t reliant on anger or aggression at its core. And where 2021’s debut Blood Feather EP (review here) felt like the beginning of an exploration because it very definitely was, the sense of command throughout Regeneration — even unto those parts where they seem to be letting the songs go where the songs want instead of where they want them to go, maybe especially in those parts — is striking. Guhts know what they want to do sound-wise, likewise raw and mindful. They did it in the studio (with Andy Frickin’ Patterson, no less). Now they’ll do it at shows in cities most of which they haven’t hit before. If still reading and you’re the type to show up, it would be advisable.
Dates follow:
GUHTS – Regeneration Spring Tour 2024 April 15 Century Philadelphia, PA April 16 The Crown Baltimore, MD April 17 Monstercade Winston Salem, NC April 18 The Odd Asheville, NC April 19 Atlanta Utility Works Atlanta, GA April 20 Muddy River Madness Vicksburg, MS April 21 True Story Brewing Birmingham, AL April 22 TBA April 23 Banditos Richmond, VA April 24 Arlene’s Grocery New York, NY
GUHTS are: Amber Burns – Vocals Scott Prater – Guitar & Synth Daniel Martinez – Bass Brian Clemens – Drums
Posted in Reviews on February 5th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
After a well-received 2021 EP, Blood Feather (review here), announced their arrival, New York’s Guhts offer post-metallic cohesion and emotive visceralia throughout their debut album at a level such that they might need to add another ‘g’ to their name: “Gughts.” At 46 minutes and seven songs, with “White Noise” (8:24) and “The Wounded Healer” (10:13) bookending the ambitious collection, Regeneration arrives scorching the ground behind and/or in front of it, a willful kitchensinkery of piano, strings and synth from guitarist Scott Prater finding a balance between conveying overwhelm and actually being overwhelming. The album immediately puts vocalist Amber Burns in a class of singer able to be emotive, harsh or gentle in her delivery, the gnashing and screaming of one measure often giving over a melodic croon or some semi-spoken poetry recited with marked force and presence. With Brian Clemens on drums and Daniel Martinez on bass, Regeneration casts Guhts as all-in.
There’s very little that feels like it’s being held back throughout, and that too is on purpose, but it’s not to say Guhts want for dynamic. The fact that the band traveled to Salt Lake City to work with producer Andy Paterson (The Otolith, Iota, ex-SubRosa, and so many others but those would be enough) feels emblematic generally of their commitment to the sonic progression being set forth in “White Noise” as Guhts position themselves in aesthetic conversation specifically with the Julie Christmas-fronted Battle of Mice, who put out one of post-metal’s best records ever in 2006’s A Day of Nights (discussed here) before dissolving, and SubRosa, whose final two albums found a balance between heft and float, beauty and darkness, that seems to inform Regeneration all the more with Paterson helming. Not so much in the airy guitar and half-whispers of “Til Death,” which feels more Honor Found in Decay-era Neurosis in its not-languid gradualism. Through “White Noise” and “Til Death,” which is about half as long, as well as the subsequent “The Mirror,” which like “Handless Maiden” and “Eyes Open” still to come is a redux from the EP.
Fewer experiments could be more revealing as regards the jump Guhts have made from Blood Feather to Regeneration than to listen to “Eyes Open” from the former and the latter back to back. What the band now calls a demo was made with the lineup of Burns, Prater and guitarist/synthesist Dan Shaneyfelt before the live incarnation of Guhts existed is cast as primitive by the fully realized churn of Regeneration‘s “Eyes Open,” keyboard bringing melodic punctuation to a progression that reveals itself as born out of Panopticon-style Isis but full in its arrangement in a way that band could never have been thanks in no small part to the all-over-it performance throughout from Burns. If the aforementioned Julie Christmas and Rebecca Vernon (now of The Keening, ex-SubRosa) are stylistic progenitors here, Burns takes up that physically-exhausting-sounding mantle — I mean that literally; her vocals come across like the kind of full body delivery that would make you tired after; need to go sit somewhere quiet when the set’s done and that kind of thing — with due passion and what Sourvein once called a ‘will to mangle.’
It is a stunning effort specifically for Burns, but her voice is just a part of the world being made throughout these songs, and even as “White Noise” shifts into its sweeter hook line about something keeping you from yourself (I took the ‘white’ in “White Noise” to be a kind of antifascist stance, and right on, but I realize in saying that I haven’t seen a lyric sheet to conform that or not), or the three-and-a-half-minute string-laced centerpiece “Handless Maiden” brings Guhts to perhaps their most weighted, impact-rumbling churn in the dug-in intensity of its first minute-plus, only to reveal at that point a backed-off-whatever-ribbon-mic-was-used-probably-so-it-didn’t-break, blown-out vocal from Burns that helps move the track from what might’ve been another part of a longer piece like “The Wounded Healer” into a standout in its own right that offers something distinct from the rest of the album at whose core it rests. It becomes crucial to the proceedings and an important part of the atmosphere on the whole, its structural shift serving notice of Guhts‘ expanded and hopefully still expanding creative reach while staying consistent in tone and general volatility of mood in volume.
The tremolo in “Handless Maiden” is well suited to the harsher spirit of the song, and “Eyes Open” brings another change with a more open feel en route to “Generate,” the semi-title-track, which feels willing to be hypnotic, to reside in its component sections, in a way that feels like growth. Textures of guitar and a more straightforward melodic vocal give the listener a sense of peace, however momentary in the song’s seven-minute run, maybe with Prater backing on vocals (?) as it moves into the shouts and intensity of the build across its second half, the noisy finish fading to silence ahead of chimes (or synth, etc.) to note the arrival at “The Wounded Healer.” A mellower verse reveals the transitional nature of “Generate,” though the tension holds firm throughout the first minute and a half before the explosion hits at 1:52, the band smoothly shifting to more consuming volume and crash — the cymbals on Regeneration want to eat you — before the march through the middle around the melancholy lead guitar and midtempo lumber take over, vocals restrained and brooding for now, waiting to lash out as they inevitably do.
“The Wounded Healer,” like “Generate” before it, splits at the halfway point and finishes with memorable repetitions of the phrase “Silence my heart” that build up, are complemented by percussion/strings making them feel that much rawer by comparison, caustic and insular, an implosion collapse. It’s a grand, final letting-loose, Burns‘ vocals owning the foreground with willfully unbridled layering adding to chaotic feel of culmination, the crashing behind almost cinematic. Peaking around 6:30, they finish in a sustained wash with a return to melody (ultimately partial), the message coming through that they haven’t revealed totality of their sound yet and that, ambitious as Regeneration is, their creative drive is growing no less than their sound. I won’t hazard to predict Guhts‘ future or how their personality and individualism might continue to manifest in their output — where they’re headed, in other words — but Regeneration is noteworthy for the clarity of its vision and the abiding sense of purpose brought to its expression and urgency. which are particularly resonant from a debut but would be impressive in any context.
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 27th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The coming of a debut album by partially-New York-based outfit Guhts has been long foretold by, well, the band, for one. Begun as a pandemic-born offshoot of Witchkiss, the 2021 EP Blood Feather (review here) provided an introduction to the new project’s heavier-than-you-usually-think-of-heavygaze and industrial-informed nod, and as they’ve undertaken a couple tours in the time since, they’re only more ready in my mind for the task ahead of them. Regeneration is out Jan. 26 through New Heavy Sounds and a US CD issue on Seeing Red Records.
You can — and if you’re still reading, you probably should — stream the first single, “Til Death,” at the bottom of this post. If nothing else, it’s a reminder of why you (by which I mean I) have been looking forward to this album for the last two-plus years. The cover art and the song are below, along with the tracklisting and preorder links, because that’s how we do on a Monday. We do thoroughly.
From the PR wire, or socials, or somewhere:
New York-based GUHTS (pronounced ‘guts’) declare themselves to be an ‘avant-garde post-metal project, delivering larger than life sounds through, deeply emotional music’. For sure those aspirations are amply delivered in the form of their debut album ‘Regeneration’
Musically ‘Regeneration’ is a powerful and intense series of songs, topped off by some seriously powerhouse and expressive vocal performances.
It’s slow-moving chords, moving like sheets through sludge.
High guitar lines above, ranging from piercing and shimmering to nasty. Drums pound but not without groove.
There are strings, pianos and synths widening the palette.
Atmospheric sludge, Metalgaze, maybe, but there’s also that link to the New York Noise lineage from The Velvets and Sonic Youth, becoming a type of post-hardcore in the process, while gaining a connection to metal partly due to the sheer heaviness. A raft of creative experimentation that pushes beyond the realm of post-metal.
And then of course, the very first thing that hits you is Amber Gardner’s unbelievable, hypnotising vocals – as scary as a banshee while also intimate and persuasive.
Of the album, vocalist Amber says, ‘Regeneration symbolizes the power of self-renewal. Through regeneration, change becomes empowering, allowing new facets to emerge. It’s a courageous, transformative process, inspiring others to overcome fear.’
In short ‘Regeneration’ is a bold and startling debut, that will reward and enthral listeners the deeper they delve into its many layers.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 29th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
I do sincerely wish that more signing announcements were inclusive of the purple heart emoji. It is the most doomed emoji. Jessica Ball, known for her work fronting Welsh cosmic megadoomers MWWB — né Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard — announced her then-solo-project Eye a while ago. Might have been during lockdown, even? I don’t think I’m the only one who’s been waiting for word of a release, though I won’t take away from MWWB having issued The Harvest (review here) in 2022 — also through New Heavy Sounds — as their maybe-final album and there being so much to dig into there.
So far as I can find, Eye — you might recall the classic-style prog band from Ohio; they were really cool, but this isn’t that and I’m pretty sure they’re broken up — don’t seem to have anything out yet, though I say that while admitting I haven’t scrolled back through Facebook because, well, doing that is fucking depressing (on any page) and there are only so many hours in a day, month, life. I thought mine might be better spent actually putting this post together. But in light of that, I thought about including the MWWB Bandcamp player for The Harvest, but somehow it didn’t seem appropriate in full knowledge that Eye are a different kind of band. And also, apparently, a band now.
But if you didn’t hear it when it came out, you should, and this too when the opportunity presents itself. For now, the signing announcement:
I’m so happy to announce that we’ve signed a record deal with London-based New Heavy Sounds ! (#128156#)(#128065#)️(#128156#)
Some of you may know, I have worked with them for years under Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard, and I’m beyond excited that they want to continue working with me on my next musical venture.
We will be announcing more exciting news soon. In the meantime if you’re in Cardiff, you can catch us this Saturday at Clwb Ifor Bach with Half Happy (#128156#)
Posted in Questionnaire on January 20th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Emilio Torreggiani of Tenebra
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
We have never been particularly fascinated by definitions and sub-genres. Tenebra, as far as we’re concerned, are a rock band.
Sure, what we have in common is a passion for how rock was made 50 or 60 years ago, but then, we all have other influences that I think shine through in our music.
Mesca, Claudio and I had been wanting to form a band with these characteristics for a while, but the thing that got the group off to a serious start was the somewhat casual meeting with Silvia through an announcement. She was the element that squared the circle.
Describe your first musical memory.
My mum is a huge rock fan, I was lucky to grow up with an enviable record collection!
When I was a kid he made a tape of soft songs to put me to sleep, I remember in it were “Life On Mars”, “The Battle Of Evermore”, “Changes”…
These were the first things I heard. I still have that tape.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
It’s hard to answer. I’ve been playing in bands (with very little success :D) since I was 14 years old. With the band I had in the 00s, we toured a lot, even in the States, playing places I had only heard of, like the Metro in Chicago, The Casbah in San Diego, the Bottom Of The Hill in San Francisco or at the First Avenue in Minneapolis.
But perhaps the show I have the best memory of was when we opened for Lungfish (a band I love very much, on Dischord records), in a small squat here in Bologna downtown which no longer exists.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
I grew up as a leftist (which is probably a slightly different concept here in Europe than in the States, but that’s another story…), and I’ve always thought that the community was more important than individuals, well, I must say that with the emergence of social networks, society has veered towards what could be defined as “mass individualism” .
In social networks I only see an expression of vanity or self-promotion and it seems to me that they have largely supplanted moments of real confrontation, in real life.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
it should lead you to where you feel good and at ease, it should lead you to where your ideas are represented with the greatest possible care, regardless of what others think or the trends of the moment.
How do you define success?
For me, success is having the time to be able to do what I want and, sadly, having a dayjob is a daily struggle. :)
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
When I was twenty, a long time ago, there was compulsory military service here in Italy. You could decide to avoid it by volunteering for a year in some public service.
I ended up driving the ambulance to a hospital near Bologna. Unfortunately I have seen many road accidents and many deaths, something that, frankly, I would have preferred to avoid.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
Next Tenebra album! I’ve already recorded a lot of demos and can’t wait to arrange songs with the others.
In general I would like to make music where many influences shine through, but all in an organic and harmonious way. This is always my goal when writing music.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
For oneself, art is therapy, it is a journey into one’s mind, it should be the continuous ability to marvel at something one does not know about himself.
For those who enjoy art, this should be a window on another human being, on the perennial effort of women and men, finite beings, to generate something that can survive them.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
My partner and I really like to go on short trips, especially when it’s winter and there aren’t many tourists.
We especially like central Italy, Tuscany, Umbria, Marche. They are places with a moving nature and art, where, moreover, you eat very well!
When it’s winter they are quite affordable and therefore we are organizing a weekend in Cortona…
