Ultimately, it’s not such a huge surprise to find Albuquerque-based trio Red Mesa — who Desert Records founder Brad Frye and Monolith on the Mesa co-founder Roman Barham in their ranks along with bassist/vocalist Alex Cantwell, who I’m sure runs a record pressing plant or something likewise relevant — digging into doomier sounds. As much as the band are of the desert regionally, their 2020 full-length, The Path to the Deathless (review here), offered an array of sonic branchouts, demonstrating their will not to be pigeonholed in terms of style. The new single “Forest Cathedral” finds its equilibrium in chunky-style riffs and a classic nod that’s malevolent in atmosphere even as the lyrics offer a sense of worship for the natural world.

Red Mesa have live shows coming up starting tomorrow and running throughout Spring, including a brief stint with Cloud Catcher, and have already been announced for this year’s Monolith on the Mesa as well in September. If there are further recording plans (aren’t there always?), I’ve no specifics to offer, but I wouldn’t read “Forest Cathedral” as a radical shift in overarching direction for the band as much as the three-piece continuing to explore having multiple songwriters tapping into a greater swath of influence even than what they showed two years ago. Continued progression, heavy riffs. Claiming more territory and topography with their sound. I will not argue.

It’s not streaming yet, but info on what drove Cantwell into the forest follows here ahead of preorders starting next week. As per the PR wire:

RED MESA to release their new Doom Metal single “Forest Cathedral” on May 6th via Desert Records

The heavy desert trio will start preorder on April 1st (Bandcamp only) for limited edition 7″ lathe vinyl & merch bundle that will include Taos desert sage, t-shirt, patch, stickers.

A walk in the woods. That’s what inspired Red Mesa’s new single “Forest Cathedral” on Desert Records. Not to sound trite, but even saying that anything “inspired” the song is a misnomer. A more accurate way to explain how the song came about is that it was “revealed” to bass player Alex Cantwell during repeated hikes in the same area of Oak Flat in Tijeras, NM.

“In New Mexico where we live”, explains Alex, “there are different topographies within a short drive from each other including high desert landscapes, forested mountains, river valleys with old growth trees called the bosque, sand dunes, grass plains, salt flats, caves, etc. This provides an aesthetic variety and different perspectives. I spent 10 months renting a cabin in the mountains in the forest, and it was an amazing place to spend time. I especially loved my frequent hikes, and this song, riff by riff was all pieced together in my head as the muse provided it to me and made it available for me to snatch out of the air. The lyrics are simply an outpouring of simple gratitude for the forest itself.”

“Forest Cathedral” sees Red Mesa embracing it’s gratitude and reverence for something else as well; doom metal. While their 2020 album “The Path to the Deathless” saw the band branch out from a desert rock format with nods to Kyuss, but also Motorhead, east coast doom, and expansive soundscapes that would give way to quiet acoustic passages and death metal alike, this new single is a nod to true doom, but done in Red Mesa’s ever-evolving style.

RED MESA hit the road this spring for a mini-tour with Cloud Catcher, and shows with Earthless, Nebula.

3/25 LAUNCHPAD- Albuquerque, NM w/Destroyer of Light
3/30 LAUNCHPAD- Albuquerque, NM w/REZN
4/10 LAUNCHPAD – Albuquerque, NM w/Earthless
5/7 LAUNCHPAD – Albuquerque, NM w/Nebula, Year of the Cobra
5/14 TRINIDAD LOUNGE, Trinidad, CO w/Cloud Catcher
5/15 REVOLT GALLERY, Taos, NM w/Cloud Catcher
5/16/22 TUMBLEROOT BREWERY Santa Fe, NM w/Cloud Catcher
5/17 LAUNCHPAD – Albuquerque, NM w/Cloud Catcher
5/27-5/28 – THE FEST IN THE NEST- Eagle Nest, NM.

Red Mesa is (L to R): Alex Cantwell – bass/vox, Brad Frye – guitar/vox, Roman Barham – drums/backing vox

https://www.facebook.com/redmesaband/
https://www.instagram.com/redmesaband/
https://redmesarock.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/desertrecordslabel/
https://desertrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://desertrecords.bigcartel.com/

Red Mesa, The Path to the Deathless (2020)

They say there’s more to come and given the scope of past editions of Monolith on the Mesa, one expects that’s the truth. It’s a different universe since the last time the El Prado, New Mexico-based festival was held, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t note — as you can read below — that this is the first Monolith on the Mesa to be held without co-founder Dano Sanchez, who passed away last Fall. Fellow founder Roman Barham, along with Ashley Sanchez and the Taos Mesa Brewing director Jayson Wylie have continued forward in collaboration, and the first lineup announcement is a celebration of the underground deep and high. Mars Red Sky, WarHorse, The Obsessed, The Otolith, Duel, Love Gang, and Red Mesa are the initial cohort, and that’s an admirable grouping on the levels of style and geography alike, representing West Coast, East Coast, in between and Europe in the span of seven bands. Right on.

I’m glad this festival is moving forward with Monolith on the Mesa 2022, and I’ve no doubt it’ll be a party.

To wit:

MARS RED SKY, THE OBSESSED, WARHORSE, THE OTOLITH, DUEL, RED MESA, LOVE GANG, AND MORE SET TO PLAY MONOLITH ON THE MESA: MUSIC AND ART FESTIVAL IN TAOS, NEW MEXICO

SEPTEMBER 16-17-18, 2022

located at Taos Mesa Brewing The Mothership the festival is open air

Monolith on the Mesa takes the cosmic opportunity of the vernal equinox to announce its return to Taos Mesa Brewing The Mothership, after the forced two year hiatus due to the global pandemic. Dates are set for September 16th, 17th, 18th, 2022. The festival is proud to share part of the line-up today including Mars Red Sky, The Obsessed, Warhorse, The Otolith, Duel, Love Gang, Red Mesa and visual magicians: Mad Alchemy Liquid Light Show.

The line-up remains “true to concept” and will focus on heavy riff-rock acts from across multiple sub-genres including stoner rock, heavy psych, doom metal, sludge, drone, and retro rock. The festival will once again be billed as “a truly singular and mystical experience. A weekend of live music heaviness blasting onto the high desert mesa in full view of the Sangre de Christo mountains.”

This past September the festival lost visionary co-founder, Dano Sanchez. In a statement Monolith on the Mesa producers Ashley Sanchez and Roman Barham, together with brewery director Jayson Wylie, say: “the festival experience is dedicated to our dearly beloved, fallen brother, and co-founder Dano Sanchez. Dano’s contribution has influenced only great times, as summed up in his signature phrase: “Hey bud, let’s party!” We’ll honor Dano by putting on an amazing festival featuring specialty crafted beers from Taos Mesa Brewery (served in reusable cups to reduce single use plastic), interactive art installations in conjunction with Revolt Gallery, and some of the best bands from around the world.”

This year the festival will be open air and focused around the “earthship” amphitheatre which holds 1,500 people. Upcoming festival announcements will detail efforts to make the event more eco-friendly, with less single use plastic and other disposables.

DATES AND TIMES:
September 16th, 17th, 18th, 2022
Doors at 12:00 pm. Bands start at 1:00 pm.

VENUE:
Taos Mesa Brewing The Mothership
20 ABC Mesa Rd, El Prado, NM, 87529
https://www.taosmesabrewing.com/mothership

TICKET INFORMATION:
Monolith on the Mesa will honor tickets and other arrangements purchased in 2020 and 2021. Tickets will be rolled over to this year’s Will Call list.

Single Day Pass $60 ticket link:
https://holdmyticket.com/event/preview/event/be9b80e802fe934571af2d383f254a67

Two Day Pass $100 ticket link:
https://holdmyticket.com/event/preview/event/a2d1bf3d2a361e7df590738ee74e72c4

Three Day Pass $150 ticket link:
https://holdmyticket.com/event/preview/event/79c197fd39ff30a21f68fc545f003cb1

Rain or shine event!

monolithonthemesa.com
facebook.com/monolithonthemesa
instagram.com/monolithonthemesa
twitter.com/onmonolith

Mars Red Sky, “Crazy Hearth” official video

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: Brad Frye of Red Mesa & Desert Records

—

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I am the sole owner/operator of the small record label, Desert Records.

I am the founding member of the desert rock band, Red Mesa.

Both the label and band are very active and take all my free time when I’m not working or raising my family. I live in Albuquerque, NM, a place I moved to in 2010 to start a “desert rock” band, which directly led to me forming Red Mesa. New Mexico is high desert, I live at 5,000 feet of elevation here in the city. The energy and spirit of the high desert helps fuel my creativity and stamina for both of these projects.

With the label, it’s 100% DIY. At the moment, I have 23 bands/artists on the label with 20 albums being released in 2021. This might be boring… but here’s the basic run-down of what I do with DR. I scout and sign bands, send out agreements/contracts, organize all aspects of releases, do all the admin work for setting up the music for streaming/distribution/direct sales. I do all the PR campaigns in house. I do all the accounting reports and handle all finances. I run the label’s social media/ marketing/advertising. On top of that, I spend a fair amount of time talking/messaging/emailing with the bands/artists directly. My approach is to operate a label that supports the musical vision of the artists on the label.

Overall, it’s a ton of work, a true labor of love. I put my heart and soul into this. So far, I have not been able to pay myself or bring home money to my family. I hope so one day, but in the meantime I reinvest any profits back into the label to help it grow.

Describe your first musical memory.

I guess it would be listening to cassette tapes in my folks car in the early 80’s in rural Maine. My parents introduced me to The Beatles, CCR, Bob Segar, Bruce Springsteen, and ’50s-’80s radio pop and rock. No one in my family played music, so I didn’t grow up around instruments nor did I see any live music as a kid.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

My first concert was seeing Tool in 1998 in Lewiston, ME. I was 18, a senior in high school, and it was truly the first big concert I had ever seen. They were touring for the Aenima album and they were in their prime. Completely blew my mind. That experience has stuck with me.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

Good question. Hard to pick one moment. Daily, I am confronted with doubt and belief, good and evil, light and dark, peace and chaos. I am not religious, but I am certainly of the spiritual realm (I believe we all are). Finding the peace within is the only thing that will keep me (or anyone) balanced to deal with all of life’s pressures and stress. Then you die. You can die at any minute. I do not want to be surprised by death. I want to be able to be at peace with that moment whenever it comes.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Evolution of the individual. Honesty. Finding the peace within. There is no other point to life. Stasis is death…

How do you define success?

The correct and true answer is happiness. My motto is “Follow your projects with purpose and passion without attachment to the outcome.” That is much easier said than done. Happiness in art can get buried in a number of things in which musicians and labels also have to gauge as “success”. When running a record label, you are helping release someone else’s art. This is extremely important to them, and must be handled with the utmost respect and care for their music. There are deadlines, budgets, sales goals, social media, growing a fan base, playing live shows/tours, on and on and on….It’s easy to get lost in the work and stress of it all. You have to believe in the music.

It’s the same with making your own music. You have to love it for yourself. You can’t care if anyone else will love it or hate it. You must also find a balance in your life…income, rent & bills, family, health, etc.

All the bands and labels that I work/communicate with do not earn any income from their music.

This is a tough reality to swallow. That means you really have to have your shit together.

Do not take things too seriously. Enjoy what you are doing. Play what you love and what makes you happy. If you can sit outside with your instrument in nature and play for no one AND be happy, you are doing fine. Truly, nothing else really matters.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

Greed, hatred, and violence. It all stems from fear. I have seen it from myself. I have seen it from people I love. I see it daily in my neighborhood. On the news/internet/social media. Something about those things make being a human being seem disgusting and hopeless. I still believe in love and gratitude. I strive to cultivate those on a daily basis to destroy fear.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

An instrumental/ambient/western/drone solo album(s). I have hundreds of voice memos on my iPhone of little ideas and pieces of music. I find it relaxing to play stuff that isn’t a structured song. When I get some time, I will start putting these together and record/release some of this stuff.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

To connect humans to a higher level of consciousness. Art provides perspective. It is an expression. It provides hope that life is not just work, chores, routine, birth and death cycles. Good music has always inspired me. Inspiration can be a powerful factor in motivating humans to strive for a higher consciousness.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Raising my one-year-old son, Wyatt. He’s changed my life for the better. I want to be the best father I can be for him.

https://www.facebook.com/redmesaband/
https://www.instagram.com/redmesaband/
https://redmesarock.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/desertrecordslabel/
https://desertrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://desertrecords.bigcartel.com/

Red Mesa, The Path to the Deathless (2020)

I’m not going to be the one to tell you that it doesn’t matter that Albuquerque, New Mexico, duo Gral Brothers — also stylized as GRAL Brothers in honor of combining the first names of component members Greg Williams and Alex McMahon — recorded Dawson Cemetery at least partially in the real-world locale the name of which it bears as its title. Obviously they thought it mattered enough to drag gear into the place and do the thing, and that in itself is value. What I will say is that as you listen to the premiere of “383” below ahead of the download-and-limited-tape-only release’s Halloween arrival, if you’re not actually leaning on some gravestone smoking a clove cigarette like you were when you were 16, it still works.

Ambient experimentalist drone is never going to be everybody’s bag. Nor should it be. It’s not meant to be. If you can put yourself in the right headspace for this, though, the rewards are right there in the listening experience. Like the prior-streamed opener “Underbridge,” “383” is evocative and desolate. The song takes its title from the number of people killed in mine explosions between 1913 and 1923 who are buried there, and what was an actual town surrounding has been gone since the middle of the last century, so yes, with just the cemetery remaining, desolation should be the thematic base from which Gral Brothers are drawing. The site is listed among New Mexico’s “most haunted” — Pennsylvania imprint Perpetual Doom, which is co-releasing Dawson Cemetery with Desert Records, issues a warning that the tapes are as well — and that feel certainly carries over to the wistfulness of the music itself.

But the point here is to go exploring with it and see where it takes you. So do that.

Copious background follows, courtesy of Desert Records.

Enjoy:

Gral Brothers, “383” track premiere

GRAL Brothers ‘Dawson Cemetery’

This is a co-release with Perpetual Doom.

Only available on Bandcamp – digital and cassette tape only.

No streaming services. No distribution.

If you have found your way here, you are on the right path as a true music fan.

https://thegralbrothers.bandcamp.com/album/dawson-cemetery

https://perpetualdoom.bandcamp.com/album/dawson-cemetery

HOW COOL IS THIS?!

The brand new GRAL Brothers album is the true spirit of Desert Records.

Greg (GR) and Alex (AL) took their instruments, microphones, and handheld recording devices to Dawson, NM to record this album in a cemetery.

Dawson Cemetery, in fact.

Then, they took all their recordings and tracks home to Albuquerque, NM and mixed it together with the eerie field recordings they captured.

They got more than just music…listen and hear for yourself.

Side A is the “above” ground side.

Side B is the “below” ground side.

What is it about a cemetery that’s so unsettling?  Silk flowers fading in the sun, cracked weathered granite, stillness and goatheads. Quietness quickly disrupted by creaking gates and birdsong. Moment fading into moment, listening to the metronome of your temple as you consider your mortal fate more and more centered. Feeling small and vulnerable on a timeline that has already seen more seasons than you ever will, and allowing that feeling to oscillate and sustain.

A heavy sadness radiates from Dawson. A lead blanket of wildflowers and stooping bluffs. A small occasional river like the veins of a blue-blood carrying ancient coal dust. A ghost town that’s survived by photos and occasional visitations to swap out silk flowers and offer a moment of solace, realizing you’re standing on top of waves of death and loss that tell a story of a state in which you’d feel alien, even though this place was home to so many. But that’s what this is, listening to a story that you’re provisionally a part of, tangibly apart from. Wondering if in another hundred years people will make this trip out of morbid curiosity and retell this story over a newer, stranger timeline.

We respond to the heaviness, the unknown, the happenchance beauty of bird calls and wrought iron gate squeals. With geophones and field recorders we amplify the voices of this place, we offer a platform to share a story that will continue to be told. Dawson comes to life again, not to descend again into the Stag Canyon Mine but instead to be in the spotlight. One place that holds so much while being so securely out of the way. Five miles north of Highway 64, through Spring Canyon where every season puts on its cyclical display of birth, death and rebirth.

A portable generator gives my amplifier life in a tunnel under the road. A tunnel with names carved in it, dating back to the 1930’s. A tunnel that served as another conduit, offering overtones and reflections from beyond life, echoing the canyon winds and elk calls. The sounds here could never be credited as just our own, instead we’re having a conversation with those who still call Dawson home. In fact, we are really the conduit, responding immediately to what this place makes us feel and following those instincts as far as they’d take us. Transporting us across timelines, relishing temporality and life while honoring death’s certainty and depth. Like stone slowly being worn away by wind and water, we’ve unearthed stories from the Northern New Mexico relic that can now be retold.

-GRAL

Dawson Cemetary

Side A/”Above”
Underbridge
Rail Canyon
Vermijo River
Rork, JD & Trujillo

Side B/”Below”
383
Phelps Dodge
Opera House
Stag Canyon Mine

Album Credits:

All compositions made by Alex McMahon and Greg Williams of GRAL Brothers.

Recorded remotely in Dawson NM at Dawson Cemetery.

Processed, edited and overdubbed in Albuquerque NM by GRAL.

Mastered by Chris Leva.

https://facebook.com/gralbrothersmusic/
https://www.instagram.com/gralbrothersmusic/
https://thegralbrothers.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/desertrecordslabel/
https://desertrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://desertrecords.bigcartel.com/
https://www.instagram.com/perpetualdoom/
https://perpetualdoom.bandcamp.com/
http://www.perpetualdoom.com/

Gral Brothers, Dawson Cemetery tape teaser

Gral Brothers, Dawson Cemetery (2021)

Though one may have seen their name around in the sphere of Magnetic Eye Records ‘Redux’ offerings for Pink Floyd or AC/DC, Albuquerque, New Mexico’s Blue Heron will make their standalone debut with the two-songer 7″, Black Blood of the Earth / A Sunken Place, on Dec. 3. And while it could be tempting to think of those comp appearances and even the coming single as a soft opening, doing so hardly accounts for the sonic heft present in the material itself. There are a few lessons to take away from the four-piece’s video for “Black Blood of the Earth,” premiering below.

To wit, first and foremost, let us all be reminded of what a difference a truly great drummer can bring to a lineup. These guys aren’t newcomers by any stretch — you can see vocalist Jadd Shickler (also of Blues Funeral Recordings/ex-MeteorCity, etc.) and guitarist Mike Chavez‘s connection to Spiritu in the info below — and it’s pretty clear they’re not doing anything by accident. That includes filming their first video live on stage. As introductions go, their presence for a hometown getdown at The Launch Pad is no less engaging than the song itself, which is elbows and knees early, brash in its groove, before tripping out later with a whispered spoken vocal on top. As the camera flashes between Shickler, Chavez, bassist Steve Schmidlapp (who wins at t-shirts with Mad Season, as one invariably would) and drummer Ricardo Sanchez, just watch the whole-body-all-in technique of the latter. Dude has the kind of energy in his play that even in a clip like this you can see infects a whole room in the best way possible. Showy? Yeah, but neither is he missing a beat.

And if you can dig that — and yeah, you can — you’re gonna be able to get on board with the rest of the surroundings, which rolls out heavy at first and digs into a well-yes-that-will-do-nicely nod to underscore the solo section before the jam really takes off. If that last movement informs as to anything, it’s that the atmosphere with which “Black Blood of the Earth” caps was there all along. Go back and start the song over and you’ll hear it, or at least take a second to process how not-at-all out of place that jam is and you’ll understand. Either way, that’s classic heavy rock and roll songcraft at work, and with their debut full-length, Ephemeral, apparently already done, it only makes that record something more to look forward to.

That’s my spiel. Thanks for reading.

Enjoy the clip below:

Blue Heron, “Black Blood of the Earth” video premiere

Blue Heron on “Black Blood of the Earth”:

Every new band has that song that comes together and it finally feels like you’re not searching for your sound anymore, and this was that song for us. It morphed and changed a bunch of times and runs the spectrum of what we do, from sludge on steroids to spacey melodies to a sick goddamn breakdown that we don’t ever get tired of. As a way to announce ourselves to the world, it’s pretty perfect, a massive, balls-out mini-epic straight from the New Mexico desert.

Preorder: https://blueheronabq.bandcamp.com/

“Black Blood of the Earth” written by Blue Heron
Taken from the “Black Blood of the Earth / A Sunken Place” 7-inch

Available at: https://blueheronabq.bandcamp.com/

Video edited by J.T. Schmidlapp for BassRezin Studios (@bassrezin)

Filmed by Mike Gerdes and J.T. Schmidlapp at The Launch Pad, Albuquerque, NM, June 11, 2021.

Formed in 2018, Blue Heron is a heavy rock band from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and our firsthand relationship with the desert is inextricable from who we are and how we sound. Surrounded by endless horizons that spark a compulsion to fill the vastness with massive volume, we saturate our piece of desert with rolling, thunderous riffs, drums that pummel and swing, deep, thrumming tones and vocals that rip and roar.

Blue Heron’s guitarist and singer were founding members of Spiritu, possibly Albuquerque’s first desert-style rock band, who burned briefly yet brightly with a Jack Endino-produced debut LP, a European tour with Clutch, Spiritual Beggars and Dozer, and a compilation slot next to Entombed and Mastodon.

On December 10th, Blue Heron will self-release our Black Blood of the Earth / A Sunken Place single on 7-inch vinyl and digital formats. We also have a track on Magnetic Eye’s forthcoming Best of AC/DC [Redux] (Dec 3rd), alongside the likes of Supersuckers, Domkraft and Witchskull.

Blue Heron has completed work on our debut album, Ephemeral, and is currently in search of a label.

Blue Heron are:
Jadd Shickler- Vocals
Mike Chavez- Guitar
Steve Schmidlapp- Bass
Ricardo Sanchez- Drums

Blue Heron on Facebook

Blue Heron on Instagram

Blue Heron on Bandcamp

It’s a sad occasion of course to mark the passing of Dano Sanchez, one of the co-founders alongside Roman Barham of the Monolith on the Mesa festival in Taos, New Mexico. If there’s any positive to take from it, consider the fact that the GoFundMe linked below is well past its fundraising target to support funeral costs and his family, so at very least it’s something to see a community pull together. Barham has said the fest will proceed, not this year, but in 2022, and there will be other tribute events as well. I spoke with Dano just a couple of times and can’t claim to have known him well or anything, but that he was a deeply creative person with a vision for manifesting a communal experience is evident in the work he did and the legacy he leaves behind. If you’re wondering, I don’t know what his Covid vaccine status was and I don’t really care. If he had a shot or not it doesn’t make his death any less of a loss.

The official notice of his passing follows here, as came down the PR wire on Friday:

Monolith On The Mesa co-founder Dano Sanchez passed away September 26 in Taos, NM

“I want this festival to keep alive the spirit of DIY! Monolith is real, nothing artificial here.”
– Dano Sanchez

It is with deep sadness that Roman Barham, and the Monolith on the Mesa team, announce the passing of Daniel “Dano” Sanchez on Sunday, September 26th in Taos, New Mexico. Dano is survived by his wife Ashley Sanchez, and his children, sons Dylan and Ashton, and daughter Rowan. Dano, who succumbed to complications associated with COVID19, made a name for himself, and for his artwork at Magical Tattoos, in addition to becoming known internationally for building an independent three-day music and immersive arts festival.

“We sincerely appreciate the abundance of support we are receiving from all those who loved Daniel as we do,” Ashley Sanchez states on behalf of the family. “We are hurting, and FAR from peace,” she continues, “but the message I received from Daniel was that he is now traveling intergalactically without human limitations, and riding those cosmic waves with an infinite joint in hand. Our family is so grateful for the emotional, spiritual, and financial contributions from near and far. Through the pain, we are held up by those who are willing to share photos, earth-bound experiences, and even visits from the beyond. We will continue to honor Daniel at Magical Tattoo as the sacred space it is, to experience the expressions, and artistic influence he left with us.”

“We would like to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for all the love and support for Dano and his family,” says Roman Barham, Dano’s partner and close family friend. “The GoFundMe fundraiser has surpassed our expectations and showed us how much Dano meant to so many people. So again, thank you everyone who donated. Please take care of each other out there and be safe.”

Jayson Wylie, owner of Taos Mesa Brewery where the festival is held told Taos News “Dano’s vision was an inspiration to me and those around him. He will be sorely missed.”

Roman Barham, plans to continue producing Monolith on the Mesa as he and Dano had intended for 2022. Barham says “Dano was one of my best friends, a true inspiration and a kind soul. He’d want the festival to go on. Right now I am planning a fundraiser/memorial for him on October 23rd at the El Rey in Albuquerque, NM. I’ll announce the line-up and more details soon.”

The GoFundMe page can be found HERE: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-support-dano-sanchezs-family-and-funeral

Monolith on the Mesa, conceived as a yearly event, takes place at the Taos Mesa Brewing Mothership, and on the grounds of Hotel Luna Mystica, just outside of Taos, New Mexico. The festival is focused on heavy riff-rock acts from across multiple sub-genres including stoner rock, heavy psych, doom metal, sludge, drone, and retro rock. The dramatic vistas, and multiple stages, along with immersive art installations, make this festival a unique experience that attracts artists, bands, and fans from around the globe.

https://www.monolithonthemesa.com
https://www.facebook.com/monolithonthemesa
https://www.instagram.com/monolithonthemesa
https://magicaltattoo.com/

Monolith on the Mesa 2019 recap

Albuquerque, New Mexico-based heavy rockers L’Uomo Nero will continue their collaboration with Desert Records July 16 with the release of their second EP, Elle, de la Mer. And what they don’t make easy in terms of linguistics — their moniker is Italian, the first EP was 2020’s Andiamo Nel Deserto (review here), its title in Spanish, and this one is French, for “she, of the sea” — they certainly have covered in the actual listening process. Vocals are high in the mix through my speakers (always), but as guitarist Dominic Cagliostro, bassist Robson Guy and drummer Luke Seelau venture past their first offering, they do so with poise and a confident step, bringing together four tracks that launch with “De la Mer,” a song that wastes no time imagining Danzig in the House of the Rising Sun before unfolding to catchy post-grunge heavy blues, setting the tone for “I Know” to push further, its own hook a highlight of the four-song/18-minute release.

L’Uomo Nero manage to make thoughtful structures sound easy. Their material is not unworked-on, but they offer few frills of arrangement beyond a straight-up melody, and to be perfectly honest, they don’t need anything else. “I Know” carries smoothly into its second-half solo, the guitar speaking back to the vocal line in classic form, and even as “Elle” brings a more weighted tone and active kick, the sense of balance remains in the increased fullness of sound, so that as “Too Late too Long” pushes a more garage-style jangle in its riff, the arrival of post-Rolling Stones backing vocals isn’t any more jarring than the band intends it to be. Efficiently putting itself in position for a bigger-sounding payoff, “Too Late too Long” delivers that as the closing track on Elle, de la Mer, and is no less satisfying a trip for knowing where you’re going to end up when it’s done. Same could be said of the EP as a whole, really. L’Uomo Nero, in addition to being multilingual, know what they’re doing when it comes to songwriting.

EP release info follows under the player here, on which you can stream the premiere of “Too Late too Long.”

Enjoy:

New EP “Elle, De La Mer” out July 16 on Desert Records. Preorder: https://luomonero.bandcamp.com/album/elle-de-la-mer

About the second chapter of the trilogy: “She’s not dead, she is from Innsmouth a fictional town in Massachusetts created by American author H. P. Lovecraft and must return to that town and eventually the sea. ”The Innsmouth look” a result of the hybridization of humans with Deep Ones increases with age as does the heed to the call of the sea, there is some sort of hope that they can figure something out to be together, some spell, or a gift from a magical being.”

About the song, Dominic Cagliostro says: “This is a metaphor regarding addiction. The “innsmouth look” is the result of repeated use of drugs and alcohol, the progression with age of the deep ones is the progression of the circumstance of addiction. Before it’s too late, there’s always hope that we/they/she can get help AA, Counseling or treatment or all of the above.”

L’uomo Nero is a desert rhythm and blues rock three-piece hailing from the New Mexican High Desert. Are we helpless victims of unimaginable forces that can drive humans mad by their mere manifestation? Or fearless Investigators and Occult Detectives who confront the minions of darkness in encounters, in which humans, although appear outmatched, defend their sanity uncovering the mysteries of tranquility in defiance of the suffering we experience from the things we cannot manage or restrain.

Occult blues rockers L’uomo Nero play with their band name, ‘The Boogeyman’, to build an intriguing sonic trilogy made of three 4-track EPs: ‘Andiamo Nel Deserto’, ‘Elle, De La Mer’ and ‘Voda Atebo Ohen’. These follow the adventures of occult detectives Nico L’oscuro, Quello Bello and Sentire, and their supernatural and magical practices to uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of a woman from New Mexico. Created on a fantastic thriller basis and inspired by true events and by American author H.P. Lovecraft, the three EPs take the protagonist through the stages of grief, denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. All three records together form the framework of a gloomy occult crime investigation illustrated by a special artwork and layouts that reveals some missing clues. The entire trilogy will be issued between fall 2020 and spring 2021, with first EP ‘Andiamo Nel Deserto’ coming out via Desert Records.

L’UOMO NERO is:
Dominic Cagliostro (Domenico L’oscuro) – Vocals and guitar
Robson Guy (Quello Bello) – Bass guitar
Luke Seelau (Sentire) – Drums

L’uomo Nero on Facebook

L’uomo Nero on Instagram

Desert Records website

Desert Records on Facebook

Desert Records on Bandcamp

Desert Records store

Kind of painful to realize, but by the time Om hit the UK and Europe next Spring, they’ll be coming up on almost a full decade’s remove from their 2012 landmark fifth and most-recent long-player, Advaitic Songs (review here). Of course, founding bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros has hardly been idle in the intervening years — except perhaps for the enforced idleness of this past year-plus — having shifted his focus onto Sleep, but still, 10 years without an Om record is a long time. The band issued the vinyl-only BBC Radio 1 (review here) on Drag City in 2019, and if you didn’t get that, I don’t really have much better advice for you than to do so when/if possible. It’s one of those things you’ll be happy you brought into your domicile.

Om‘s last tour was happening as the COVID lockdowns hit in 2020. They were on the road with Wovenhand, which would’ve been a show to see and kudos to those lucky enough to have done so. Doesn’t seem unreasonable to think North American dates will be announced at some point either before or after this trip abroad, and there’ve been rumors of Om recordings in process for years at this point. I know if that if I was in a position of following-up Advaitic Songs, I’d want to take my time too. I have no doubt whenever their next offering comes, it will find welcome.

Here are dates:

Om 2022 UK & European Tour

05.13 Bergen Norway Landmark
05.14 Oslo Norway Kulturkirken Jakob
05.16 Gothenburg Sweden Pustervik
05.17 Copenhagen Denmark Pumphuset
05.19 Berlin Germany So36
05.20 Leipzig Germany Ut Connewitz
05.22 Athens Greece Gagarin 205
05.25 Brighton UK Chalk
05.26 Bristol UK The Fleece
05.27 Birmingham UK The Crossing
05.28 Glasgow UK SWG3 Galvanisers
05.30 Dublin Ireland Button Factory
05.31 Liverpool UK 24 Kitchen Street
06.01 Manchester UK Gorilla
06.02 Leeds UK Brudenell Social Club
06.03 London UK EartH
06.06 Brussels Belgium Botanique
06.07 Brussels Belgium Botanique
06.08 Essen Germany Zeche Carl
06.09 Hamburg Germany Knust
06.10 Utrecht Netherlands Tivoli
06.13 Munich Germany Feierwerk
06.15 Zurich Switzerland Mascotte
06.16 Bern Switzerland ISC Club
06.19 Lille France L’Aeronef

OM lineup:
Al Cisneros
Emil Amos
Tyler Trotter

https://www.facebook.com/om.band
https://om.merchtable.com/
https://omband.bandcamp.com/
http://www.omvibratory.com/
https://www.dragcity.com/

Om, Advaitic Songs (2012)