New York’s I Can't http://www.mutualite22.fr/?writing-dissertation-help Alone. That is not a problem anymore. EssayErudite.com will always be by your side whenever you call for writing help. The main Thinning the Herd are moving toward releasing a new album later this year. That’s cool. What’s cooler though is they’ve got a new video to prove it. “Wolves Close In” heralds the first Theres a simple and enjoyable way of studying - buy Research Paper Style samples prepared by academic experts of our agency. Our assignment writing Thinning the Herd long-player since 2013’s Buy http://www.metropole-habitat.fr/?masters-dissertation-services-guidance at professional essay writing service. Order custom research academic papers from the best trusted company. Just find a great help for Freedom From the Known, and in its instrumental sound and kind of mellow groove, one might be tempted to liken it to “Gaikatt Mountain,” for which the band premiered a video here last year, sort of as a way of announcing their return. The difference, of course, is this song is new and that one was from the album already seven years old, but if further enticement is required, a guest solo by Our http://www.heinloth-cnc.de/?social-networking-business-plan will support the fun and good times you can get during the college years. It depends on you, and the key to academic success is in your hands. There is no need to ensure all your academic tasks are finished on time with no signs of plagiarism. From this moment you are able to have the time of your life here and now. Lots of priceless memories will stay with you Geezer‘s Find the solution to your issues with homework assignments at Write My Research Report Canada Pat Harrington certainly doesn’t hurt. More fuzz, you say? That’ll do just fine.
I don’t know in what direction founding guitarist/vocalist http://www.hotel-kleinwalsertal.at/?ap-euro-essay that's affordable for your business. Digital Shift will research your industry topics & present ideas to you. Learn more. Gavin Spielman will ultimately be taking Many people in business do not have the proper writing skills to convey their expertise and ideas in written form with accuracy. Read our http://www.flvwdialog.de/dialog/?example-of-a-literature-review-for-a-dissertation Thinning the Herd as they push through the making of this next record, but with “Wolves Close In,” the intent toward engagement with the natural world is clear. Watch it in the highest definition you can, and bask in the video’s green leaves, flowers in bloom, running water, smooth stones, tall grasses and drone footage of treetops. It’s lush and gorgeous and a reminder that summer means going outside. I would not expect the single track to speak for the entirety of the full-length to come, whenever it might show up, but it is hypnotically engaging just the same and bodes well in its overall flow. You know I’m a sucker for a video in the woods.
And while we’re on the subject, kudos to Website For Homework Help at affordable essay writing service. Cheap prices, money back guarantee! Thinning the Herd on having a video, in the woods, with a lady in it, and not having that lady be chased and/or killed in that video. Seems like a pretty basic thing, right? You’d be amazed. Lot of misogynist cult murder happening in clips these days. A break from that is refreshing.
Enjoy:
Thinning the Herd, “Wolves Close In” (feat. Pat Harrington) video premiere
The song was recorded by Gavin remotely during the pandemic in the summer of 2020. Written by G Spielman – this is a stripped down instrumental production focused on a more psychedelic bluesy sound. Garth on Drums, Gavin on Guitars, Wes On Bass, this tune features added lead guitar Pat Harrington of Geezer. The song can be found on TTH’s next self-titled drop slated this fall.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 5th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Gosh, you know, with four singles released over the better part of the past year, it’s starting to seem an awful lot like Are you struggling to complete all essays on time? Order http://www.leistenbruch.de/expert-resume-writer-calgary/ at our website! The prices are affordable! Swarm of Flies are heading toward a full-length release. Crazy I know for what started as a social-distancing-era remote project, guitarist Financial Planning For A Business. By definition, research is a careful analysis of a problem or a detailed study of specific problems by use of scientific methods. It is therefore an instrumental tool in building knowledge and efficient learning not only for students and academics, but also for all professionals. Many people are well aware of why research is important but still avoid getting involved Ken Wohlrob (whose brother apparently lives down the road from me, because really, everyone in the universe has ties to Morris County, New Jersey, it’s just a question of whether or not they admit it) of The source link is a must-have for every student that want to perform excellently in their college research paper work End of Hope and Eternal Black reaching out to New York and seemingly beyond in order to conjure various incarnations of atmospheric heavy and other dirgey sounds. To wit, amid slide guitar from Dissertation on social media marketing; UC Berkeley study documents taxpayer costs to help working poor; Pay for professional scholarship essay on civil war and College Application Essay Writers. Retelling in sequence and in high schools abroad except for a pupil s initial knowledge and cognitive strategies involved in the other mathematical results Pat Harrington of Buy speech of premium quality from custom speech writing service. see here written from scratch by highly qualified online speech writers. Geezer adding an almost You can buy an essay with plagiarism-free, on-time delivery and 100% satisfaction guarantee. So How To Start An Events Planning Business today for complete satisfactory work. Yawning Man-style effect of overarching melody, “Writhe” has a kind of Om-ish meditative aspect with Matt McAlpin‘s vocals and still manages to culminate in abrasive fashion at its peak before the drums tom out.
I missed the release of “Wendigo” in January, but you can stream all four of the Swarm of Flies songs to-date at the bottom of this post. Tell me if you don’t think that’s an album in the works.
Dig:
Pandemic-project Swarm of Flies joined by members of Geezer, Matte Black, and Raw Milk on new single “Writhe.” Song available via streaming services and Bandcamp on March 30, 2021.
SWARM OF FLIES — a new collaborative musical project created by Ken Wohlrob of New York City’s Eternal Black and End of Hope — will be releasing its fourth single, “Writhe,” on March 30, 2021. The song features Matt McAlpin of Matte Black and Dead Satellites on vocals, Pat Harrington of Geezer on slide guitar, and Adam Dausch of Raw Milk on drums. “Writhe” will be available on the project’s Bandcamp page (swarmofflies.bandcamp.com) and also available on streaming services including Spotify and Apple Music.
As with the three previous Swarm of Flies tracks – “Mine All Along,” “The Jaunt,” and “Wendigo” – “Writhe” is a collaboration between all the musicians involved. Wohlrob sent initial track layers to McAlpin, Harrington, Dausch, and frequent collaborator Davis Schlachter (End of Hope, Reign of Zaius), who then responded back with their own contributions.
According to Wohlrob, “Originally, Matt was going to play guitar, but he decided to sing instead and sent back those cool, moody vocal layers.” McAlpin’s contributions helped to take the track in a new, unexpected direction. “That is the fun of Swarm of Flies,” Wohlrob says, “Suddenly the song had this distinct Pink Floyd vibe, which made me think, ‘This needs slide guitar.’ Pat from Geezer is one of my favorite guitarists and a hell of a slide player. He put so much emotion in those ghostly lines.”
“Writhe” was mixed and mastered by Kol Marshall (“Mine All Along,” “Wendigo”) of Suburban Elvis Studios, who along with his production partner Joe Kelly, has also produced albums for Eternal Black and End of Hope. In addition, Marshall has a long list of production credits including King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Ministry, Usurper, and Absu.
“WRITHE” TRACK CREDITS – Ken Wohlrob (Eternal Black, End of Hope): guitar, Moog, dub fx, producer – Matt McAlpin (Matte Black, Dead Satellites): vocals – Pat Harrington (Geezer): slide guitar – Davis Schlachter (End of Hope, Reign of Zaius): bass, keyboards – Adam Dausch (Raw Milk, Metropolly): drums – Kol Marshall (Suburban Elvis Studios): mixing, mastering
About SWARM OF FLIES: SWARM OF FLIES is a collaborative musical group created by Ken Wohlrob of New York City’s Eternal Black and End of Hope. The project’s goal is to continue to release new music during the coronavirus pandemic while the members’ other bands are on hiatus. More than just a stopgap, SWARM OF FLIES main focus is creating original music, rather than cover songs, and getting it out into the world as quickly as possible. Instead of crafting an album, Swarm of Flies will release new tracks as they are created. Each song will feature a different lineup of musicians from the heavy music/punk rock community. As of this writing, members of Eternal Black, Rollins Band, Shadow Witch, Fire Party, End of Hope, Witch Taint, Pigface, St. Bastard, Foetus, Reign of Zaius, Thunderbird Divine, Clamfight, Geezer, Matte Black, Dead Satellites, and Raw Milk have joined the project.
Friday morning and the Spring 2021 Quarterly Review draws to a close. It’s been a good one, and though there are probably enough albums on my desktop to make it go another few days, better to quit while I’m ahead in terms of not-being-so-tired-I’m-angry-at-everything-I’m-hearing. In any case, as always, I hope you found something here you enjoy. I have been pleasantly surprised on more than a few occasions, especially by debuts.
We wrap with more cool stuff today and since I’m on borrowed time as it is, let me not delay.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
Sonic Flower, Rides Again
Like Church of Misery‘s groove but feel kind of icky with all those songs about serial killers? Legit. Say hello to Tatsu Mikami‘s Sonic Flower. Once upon a 2003, the band brought all the boogie and none of the slaughter of Tatsu‘s now-legendary Sabbathian doom rock outfit to a self-titled debut (reissue review here), and Rides Again is the lost follow-up from 2005, unearthed like so many of the early ’70s forsaken classics that clearly inspired it. With covers of The Meters and Graham Central Station, Sonic Flower makes their funky intentions plain as day, and the blowout drums and full-on fuzz they bring to those cuts as well as the five originals on the short-but-satisfying 28-minute offering is a win academically and for casual fans alike. You ain’t gonna hear “Jungle Cruise” or their take on “Earthquake” and come out complaining, is what I’m saying. This is the kind of record that makes you buy more records.
With Viscera, Copenhagen’s Demon Head make their debut on Metal Blade Records. It is their fourth album overall, the follow-up to 2019’s Hellfire Ocean Void (review here), and it continues the five-piece’s enduring exploration of darker places. Dramatic vocals recount grim narratives over backing instrumentals that are less doom at the outset with “Tooth and Nail” and “The Feline Smile” than goth, and atmospheric pieces like “Arrows” and “The Lupine Choir” and “A Long, Groaning Descent” and “Wreath” and certainly the closer “The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony” further the impression that Viscera, though its title conjures raw guts, is instead an elaborate entirety — if perhaps one of raw guts — and meant to be taken in its 36-minute whole. Demon Head make that LP-friendly runtime a progression down into reaches they’d not until this point gone, tapping sadness for its inherent beauty.
Next time someone asks you what the future sounds like, you’ll have a good answer for them. Combined into a six-piece band, Brazilian outfits Rakta and Deafkids harness ambience and space-punk thrust into a sound that is born of a past that hasn’t yet happened. Their Live at Sesc Pompeia LP follows on from a 2019 two-songer, but it’s in the live performance that the spirit of this unity really shines through, and from opener/longest track (immediate points) “Miragem” through the semi-industrialized effects swirl of “Templo do Caos,” into the blower-noise dance party “Sigilo,” the weirdo-chug-jam of “Forma” and the space rock breakout “Flor de Pele” and the percussed buzz and echoing howls of “Espirais,” they are equal parts encompassing and singular. It is not to be ignored, and though there are moments that border on unlistenable, you can hear from the wailing crowd at the end that to be in that room was to witness something special. As a document of that, Live at Sesc Pompeia feels like history in the making.
A madcap, weighted-but-anti-genre sensibility comes to life in supernova-experimentalist fashion throughout the four songs of Timo Ellis‘ Death is Everywhere. The lockdown-era EP from Ellis (Netherlands, Yoko Ono, Cibo Matto, on and on) makes post-modern shenanigans out of apocalypses inner and outer, and from lines like “this bridal shower is bumming me out” in the unabashedly hooky “Vampire Rodeo” to “the earth will still breathe fire without you!” in “Left Without an Answer,” the stakes are high despite the flittering-in-appreciation-of-the-absurd mood of the tracks themselves. The title-track and “Evolve or Die” blend sonic heft and the experimental pop movement that “Vampire Rodeo” sets forth — the third cut is positively manic and maniacally positive — while “Left Without an Answer” almost can’t help but be consuming as it rolls into a long fade leaving intertwining vocals lines as the last to go, telling the listener to “learn to say goodbye” without making it easy. Won’t be for everyone, doesn’t want to be. Is expression for itself. Feels genuine in that, and admirable.
With not-at-all-subtle nods to Humble Pie and Ennio Morricone in its opening tracks, Heavy Feather‘s second LP, Mountain of Sugar, has boogie to spare. No time is wasted on the 38-minute/11-track follow-up to 2019’s Débris & Rubble (review here), and true to the record’s title, it’s pretty sweet. The collection pits retro mindset against modern fullness in its harmonica-laced, duly-fuzzed title-track, and goes full-Fleetwood on “Come We Can Go” heading into a side B that brings a highlight in the soft-touch-stomp of “Rubble and Debris” and an earned bit of Southern-styled turn in “Sometimes I Feel” that makes a fitting companion to all the bluesy vibes throughout, particularly those of the mellow “Let it Shine” earlier. The Stockholm outfit knew what they were doing last time out too, but you can hear their process being refined throughout Mountain of Sugar, and even its most purposefully familiar aspects come across with a sense of will and playfulness.
Don’t tell him I told you so, but Slow Draw is starting to sound an awful lot like a band. What began as a drone/soundscaping project from Stone Machine Electric drummer/noisemaker Mark Kitchens has sprouted percussive roots of its own on Yellow & Gray, and as Kitchens explores textures of psychedelic funk, mellow heavy and even a bit of ’70s proggy homage in “Sylvia” ahead of the readily Beck-ian jam “Turntable” and acousti-drone closer “A Slow Move,” the band-vibe is rampant. I’m going to call Yellow & Gray a full-length despite the fact that it’s 24 minutes long because its eight songs inhabit so many different spaces between them, but however you want to tag it, it demonstrates the burgeoning depth of Kitchens‘ project and how it’s grown in perhaps unanticipated ways. If this is what he’s been doing in isolation — as much as Texas ever shuttered for the pandemic — his time has not been wasted.
Freak! Out! The 66-minute Nuclear Candy Bar from Hungarian psychedelicists Pilot Voyager might end mostly drifting with the 27-minute “23:61,” but much of the four tracks prior to that finale are fuzz-on-go-go-go-out-out-out heavy jams, full in tone and improv spirit however planned their course may or may not actually be. To say the least, “Fuzziness” lives up to its name, as guitarist/founder Ákos Karancz — joined by bassist Bence Ambrus (who also mastered) and drummers Krisztián Megyeri and István Baumgartner (the latter only on the closer) — uses a relatively earthbound chug as a launchpad for further space/krautrocking bliss, culminating in a scorching cacophony that’s the shortest piece on the record at just under seven minutes. If you make it past the molten heat of the penultimate title-track, there’s no turning away from “23:61,” as the first minute of that next day pulls you in from the outset, a full-length flow all unto itself. More more more, yes yes yes. Alright you get the point.
Sit with The Ginger Faye Bakers‘ Camaro EP for a little bit. Don’t just listen to the first track, or even the second, third or fourth, on their own, but take a few minutes to put it all together. Won’t take long, the thing’s only 17 minutes long, and in so doing you’ll emerge with a more complex picture of who they are as a band. Yeah, you hear the opening title-cut and think early-Queens of the Stone Age-style desert riffing, maybe with a touch of we’re-actually-from-the-Northeast tonal thickness, but the garage-heavy of “The Creeps” feels self-aware in its Uncle Acid-style swing, and as the trio move through the swinging “The Master” and “Satan’s Helpers,” the last song drawing effectively from all sides, the totality of the release becomes all the more sinister for the relatively straight-ahead beginning just a short time earlier. Might be a listen or two before it sinks in, but they’ve found a niche for themselves here and one hopes they continue to follow where their impulses lead them.
If you’re not yet keeping an eye on Regain Records offshoot Helter Skelter Productions, Rome’s Neromega are a fervent argument for doing so. The initials-only cultish five-piece are Italian as much in their style of doom as they are in geography, and across their four-song Nero Omega debut EP, they run horror organ and classic heavy rock grooves alongside each other while nodding subtly at more extreme fare like the death ‘n’ roll rumble in closer “Un Posto” or the dirt-coated low end that caps “Pugnale Ardore,” the drifting psych only moments ago quickly forgotten in favor of renewed shuffle. Eight-minute opener “Solitudine,” might be the highlight as well as the longest inclusion on the 24-minute first-showing, but it’s by no means the sum total of what the band have on offer, as they saunter through giallo, psychedelia, doom, heavy riffs and who knows what else to come, they strike an immediately individual atmospheric presence even while actively toying with familiar sounds. The EP is cohesive enough to make me wonder what their initials are.
Some of the made-even-bigger-by-echo vocals from guitarist Craig Kasamis might remind of Maurice Bryan Giles from Red Fang, but Ventura, California’s Tung are up chasing down a different kind of party on 2020’s Bleak, though Kasamis, guitarist David Briceno (since replaced by Bill Bensen), bassist Nick Minasian and drummer Rob Dean have a strong current of West Coast noise rock in what they’re doing as well in “Runaway,” a lurcher like “Spit” later on or the run-till-it-crashes finisher “Fallen Crown,” which the only song apart from the bookending opener “Succession Hand” to have a title longer than a single word. Still, Tung have their own, less pop-minded take on brashness, and this debut album leaves the bruises behind to demonstrate its born-from-hardcore lineage. Their according lack of frills makes Bleak all the more effective at getting its point across, and while they’d probably tell you their sound is nothing fancy, it’s fancy enough to stomp all over your ears for about half an hour, and that’s as fancy as it needs to be. Easy to dig even in its more aggressive moments.
Oh, hello there. Don’t mind me. I’m just here, reviewing another 10 records today. I did it yesterday too. I’ll do it again tomorrow. No big deal. It’s Quarterly Review time. You know how it goes.
Crazy day yesterday, crazy day today, but I’m in that mode where I kind of feel like I can make this go as long as I want. Next Monday? Why not? Other than the fact that I have something else slated, I can’t think of a reason. Fortunately, having something else slated is enough of one. Ha. Let’s go.
Quarterly Review #31-40:
DVNE, Etemen Ænka
It’s like Scotland’s DVNE threw all of modern heavy metal into a blender and hit “cohesive.” Etemen Ænka‘s lofty ambitions are matched indeed by the cohesion of the band’s craft, the professionalism of their presentation, and the scope of their second album’s 10 component tracks, whether that’s in the use of synth throughout “Towers” or the dreamy post-rock aside in “Omega Severer,” the massive riffing used as a tool not a crutch in “Court of the Matriarch,” closer “Satuya” and elsewhere, and even the interlude-y pieces “Weighing of the Heart,” “Adraeden” and the folkish “Asphodel” that leads into the finale. DVNE have made themselves into the band you wish Isis became. Also the band you wish Mastodon became. And probably six or seven others. And while Etemen Ænka is certainly not without prog-styled indulgence, there is no taking away from the significant accomplishment these songs represent for them as a group putting out their first release on Metal Blade. It’ll be too clean for some ears, but the tradeoff for that is the abiding sense of poise with which DVNE deliver the songs. This will be on my year-end list, and I won’t be the only one.
Beginning with its longest track (immediate points) in the 11-minute “Rekviem,” Yarost’ I Proshchenie is the third full-length from St. Petersburg’s Wowod, and its sudden surge from ‘unfold’ to ‘onslaught’ is a legitimate blindside. They hypnotize you then push you down a flight of stairs as death growls, echoing guitar lines and steady post-metallic drum and bass hold the line rhythmically. This sense of disconnect, ultimately, leads to a place of soaring melody and wash, but that feeling of moving from one place to another is very much the core of what Wowod do throughout the rest of the album that follows. “Tanec Yarosti” is a sub-three-minute blaster, while “Proshschenie” lumbers and crashes through its first half en route to a lush soundscape in its second, rounding out side A. I don’t care what genre “Zhazhda” is, it rules, and launches side B with rampaging momentum, leading to the slow, semi-industrial drag of “Chornaya Zemlya,” the harsh thrust of “Zov Tysyachi Nozhey” and, finally, dizzyingly, the six-minute closer “Top’,” which echoes cavernous and could just as easily have been called “Bottom.” Beautiful brutality.
The chaos of last year is writ large in the late-2020 Endless Render EP from Brooklyn-based solo industrial outfit Trace Amount. The project headed by Brandon Gallagher (ex-Old Wounds) engages with harsh noise and heavy beatmaking, injecting short pieces like “Pop Up Morgues” with a duly dystopian atmosphere. Billy Rymer (The Dillinger Escape Plan, etc.) guests on drums for opener “Processed Violence (in 480P)” and the mminute-long “Seance Stimulant,” but it’s in the procession of the final three tracks — the aforementioned “Pop Up Morgues,” as well as “S.U.R.V.I.V.A.L.” and “Easter Sunday” — that Gallagher makes his most vivid portrayals. His work is evocative and resonant in its isolated feel, opaque like staring into an uncertain future but not without some semblance of hope in its resolution. Or maybe that’s the dream and the dance-party decay of “Dreaming in Displacement” is the reality. One way or the other, I’m looking forward to what Trace Amount does when it comes to a debut album.
French instrumentalists Fuzzcrafter issued C-D in October 2020 as a clear answer/complement to 2016’s A-B, even unto its Jo Riou cover art, which replaces the desert-and-fuzz-pedal of the first offering with a forest-and-pedal here. The six works that make up the 41-minute affair are likewise grown, able to affect a sense of lushness around the leading-the-way riffage in extended cuts “C2” (13:13) and the psychedelic back half of “D2” (13:18), working in funk-via-prog basslines (see also the wah guitar starting “D1” for more funk) over solid drums without getting any more lost than they want to be in any particular movement. In those songs and elsewhere, Fuzzcrafter make no attempt to hide the fact that they’re a riff-based band, but the acoustic side-finales in “C3” (which also features Rhodes piano) and “D3,” though shorter, reinforce both the structural symmetry of the mirrored sides as a whole and a feeling of breadth that is injected elsewhere in likewise organic fashion. They’re not changing the world and they’re not trying to, but there’s a mark being left here sound-wise and it’s enough to wonder what might be in store for the inevitable E-F.
Pine Ridge‘s second album, Can’t Deny, finds the Russian four/five-piece working in textures of keys and organ for a bluesier feel to tracks like the post-intro opening title-cut and the classic feeling later “Genesis.” Songwriting is straightforward, vocals gritty but well attended with backing arrangements, and the take on “Wayfaring Stranger” that ends the record’s first half conjures enough of a revivalist spirit to add to the atmosphere overall. The four tracks that follow — “Genesis,” “Runaway,” “Sons of Nothing” and “Those Days” — featured as well on 2019’s Sons of Nothing EP, but are consistent in groove and “Sons of Nothing” proves well placed to serve as an energetic apex of Can’t Deny ahead of “Those Days,” which starts quiet before bursting to life with last-minute electricity. A clear production emphasizes hooks and craft, and though I’ll grant I don’t know much about Siberia’s heavy rock scene, Pine Ridge ably work within the tenets of style while offering marked quality of songwriting and performance. That’s enough to ask from anywhere.
Plain in its love for Sabbath-minded riffing and heavy Americana roll, “Bowls of Wrath” opens the three-song Dec. 2020 debut EP, Behold a Pale Horse, from Indiana-based solo-project Watchman, and the impression is immediate. With well-mixed cascades of organ and steadily nodding guitar, bass, drums and distorted, howling vocals, there is both a lack of pretense and an individualized take on genre happening at once. The EP works longest to shortest, with “Wormwood” building up from sparse guitar to far-back groove using negative space in the sound to bolster “Planet Caravan”-ish watery verses and emphasize the relative largesse of the track preceding as well as “The Second Death,” which follows. That closer is a quick four minutes that’s slow in tempo, but the lead-line cast overtop the mega-fuzzed central riff is effective in creating a current to carry the listener from one bank of the lake of fire to the other. In 15 minutes, multi-instrumentalist/vocalist/producer Roy Waterford serves notice of intention for a forthcoming debut LP to be titled Doom of Babylon, and it is notice worth heeding.
Bomg‘s Peregrination isn’t necessarily extreme the way one thinks of death or black metal as extreme styles of heavy metal, but is extreme just the same in terms of pushing to the outer limits of the aesthetics involved. The album’s four track, “Electron” (38:12), “Perpetuum” (39:10), “Paradigm” (37:17) and “Emanation” (37:49), could each consume a full 12″ LP on their own, and presented digitally one into the next, they are a tremendous, willfully unmanageable two-and-a-half-hour deep-dive into raw blowout dark psychedelic doom. The harsh rumble and noise in “Perpetuum” some 28 minutes on sounds as though the Ukrainian outfit have climbed the mountains of madness, and there is precious little clarity to be found in “Paradigm” or “Emanation” subsequent as they continue to hammer the spike of their manifestations deeper into the consciousness of the listener. From “Electron” onward, the self-recording Kyiv trio embark on this overwhelming journey into the unknown, and they don’t so much invite you along as unveil the devastating consequences of having made the trip. Righteously off-putting.
As much as something can fly under the radar and be a Nuclear Blast release, I’m more surprised by the hype I haven’t heard surrounding White Void‘s debut album, Anti. Pulling together influences from progressive European-style heavy rock, classic metal, cult organ, New Wave melodies and a generally against-grain individualism, it is striking in its execution and the clear purpose behind what it’s doing. It’s metal and it’s not. It’s rock and it’s pop and it’s heavy and it’s light and floating. And its songs have substance as well as style. With Borknagar‘s Lars Nedland as the founding principal of the project, the potential in Anti‘s eight component tracks is huge, and if one winds up thinking of this as post-black metal, it’s a staggeringly complex iteration of it to which this and any other description I’ve seen does little justice. It’s going to get called “prog” a lot because of the considered nature of its composition, but that’s barely scratching the surface of what’s happening here.
Leeds, UK, four-piece Day of the Jackal bring straight-ahead hard rock songwriting and performance with an edge of classic heavy. There’s a Guns ‘n’ Roses reference in “Belief in a Lie” if you’re up for catching it, and later cuts like “Riskin’ it All” and “‘Til the Devil” have like-minded dudes-just-hit-on-your-girlfriend-and-you’re-standing-right-there vibes. They’re a rock band and they know it, and while I was a little bummed out “Rotten to the Core” wasn’t an Overkill cover, the 10 songs of love and death that pervade this debut long-player are notably hooky from “On Your Own” to “Deadfall” and “Rock ‘n’ Roll Deathride,” which casually inhabits biker riffing with no less ease of movement than the band would seem to do anything else. Production by James “Atko” Atkinson of Gentlemans Pistols highlights the clarity of the performance rather than giving a rawer glimpse at who Day of the Jackal might be on stage, but there’s plenty of vitality to go around in any case, and it’s headed your way from the moment you start the record.
Following their 2018 debut, Ashen Blood (review here), Denver heavy lifters Green Druid give due breadth to their closing take on Portishead‘s “Threads,” but the truth is that cover is set up by the prior five tracks of huge-sounding riffery, basking in the varying glories of stoner doom throughout opener “The Forest Dark” while keeping an eye toward atmospheric reach all the while. It is not just nod and crush, in other words, in Green Druid‘s arsenal throughout At the Maw of Ruin, and indeed, “End of Men” and “Haunted Memories” bridge sludge and black metal screaming as “A Throne Abandoned” offers surprising emotional urgency over its ready plod, and the long spoken section in “Desert of Fury/Ocean of Despair” eventually gives way not only to the most weighted slamming on offer, but a stretch of noise to lead into the closer. All along the way, Green Druid mark themselves out as a more complex outfit than their first record showed them to be, and their reach shows no sign of stopping here either.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 31st, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Proto-metal with tendencies toward Bowie up front and Bonham in back, Space Amazon by Pandora is another in the long line of lost private pressings of elder days being given due with a proper vinyl release. With a bonus 7″ and 16-page booklet with pics and the story of the band, if you’re wondering who Pandora are now, chances are you won’t be by the time you’re through the thing. Supreme Echo Records is the party responsible for… well, the party… and they have preorders up now and a couple tracks streaming through Bandcamp. You’ll note the production by Joe Battaglia of Granicus, and while I’m not even going to try to register these dudes on the scale of the politics in their lyrics — songs like “King Queen” and “Only Seventeen,” etc. — they are, to say the very least, of their era.
You can hear the Who and Zeppelin comparisons alike in the tracks below, and further, I think you can hear that New York has been a coke town forever.
Enjoy:
PANDORA – “Space Amazon” LP + 7” EP (1974) ORDER NOW — IT IS HERE!!
“majestic Who-like power chords, Zeppelinesque panache, plaster-cracking castrato vocals and poetic Spiders from Mars lyrics” – Doug Sheppard / Ugly Things.
New York City’s mysterious lost & found hard rock / protopunk-metal masterpiece from 1974 — Pandora echoed of stardom with dynamic rhythms, fuzz-drenched guitar dexterity, and flamboyant, vigorous rockstar vocals. A world class group with members of Plum Nelly, Black Widow, David Johansen, Twisted Sister, and The Demons. 10 songs engineered by Joe Battaglia (Granicus) meticulously remastered by Audu Obaje. Detailed 16pg booklet with bio / photos.
“solid, spangled raunch far truer to the spirit of the era than the Kiss reunion tour was, with a garage spunk that’s more white-punks-on-hope than 8-track flashback” – David Fricke / Rolling Stone Magazine. Fully authorized and on vinyl for the first time. LP + EP. 700 copies.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 25th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
June 4 is the release date for Somnuri‘s second long-player and Blues Funeral Recordings debut, Nefarious Wave, and to correspond with announcing the details and preorders and so on they’ve got a new video now for “Beyond Your Last Breath,” which is the centerpiece of the record. Neat, sign me up. The Brooklynite trio made their self-titled debut (review here) in 2017 and followed that months later with a split with Godmaker (review here). Not to take away from anyone else’s work, but they pretty much owned Magnetic Eye‘s Alice in Chains Dirt: Redux (review here) last year, and I’ve been looking forward to whatever was coming next from them ever since. New record, you say? That’ll do nicely, thanks.
Preorders are up through the ol’ Bandcamp there, and you can dig into “Beyond Your Last Breath” below as well. And you should. I’ll hope to have more on the album prior to the release.
Until then, the PR wire:
Brooklyn progressive sludge metallers SOMNURI release new video “Beyond Your Last Breath” + details for new album on Blues Funeral Recordings
Brooklyn, NY’s sludge metal juggernauts SOMNURI arise to unleash the first video from their awaited new album ‘Nefarious Wave’, out June 4th on Blues Funeral Recordings. Watch the trio’s cathartic “Beyond Your Last Breath” video now!
SOMNURI’s sound weaves together breakneck energy, infectious melodies and slow-burning aggression, a cacophony of bludgeoning riffs and pounding grooves that shares DNA with High on Fire, Mastodon, Torche, even Soundgarden. Elements of the city surface throughout: brutality and spaciousness, stark dissonance, and delicate hush.
About the video, drummer Phil SanGiacomo comments: “Beyond Your Last Breath is about the cyclical and intertwined nature of life and death, and how the struggle to survive and find light can bring you to the brink of darkness and beyond. The video, directed by Susan Hunt of Five Sigma Films, weaves through a dreamlike environment and shows both the grittiness and beauty of Brooklyn and New York City, all through a surrealistic lens. The song also ties into the greater theme of the ‘Nefarious Wave’ album title, which alludes to a process that repeats endlessly throughout time. The idea of facing that wave head-on is prevalent throughout the record.”
A sprawling record full of time and tempo shifts, ‘Nefarious Wave’ is a story of survival and resilience. As naysayers flee the city, claiming the scene is dead and will never be what it used to, SOMNURI is alive, breathing, adapting and mutating into something greater, and continues to push the possibilities of heavy music and the ideals of how a DIY band fights for their place. Embodying their refusal to concede or compromise, ‘Nefarious Wave’ is a reflection of their undeniable ethic, a devastating musical worldview ready for those willing to inhabit it with them.
‘Nefarious Wave’ was mixed by Phil SanGiacomo, and mastered by Justin Mantooth at Westend Recording Studios KC. The artwork was designed by Dani Otrajki. It will be released on June 4th, 2021 worldwide on various vinyl formats, CD and digital through Blues Funeral Recordings.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 16th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
If you’re looking for ways to mark the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 shutdowns in America — and if you are… okay… — the release of Human Impact‘s 2020 self-titled debut (review here) seems as fitting as any I might offer. The band’s trenchant noise execution and severity were born of a range of other subjects but were nonetheless suited to the ferocious anxiety of that moment when everyone save for undervalued essential workers and complete assholes headed for quarantine. Over the course of 2020, Human Impact trickled out a few more singles, and those have now been assembled as EP01 with vinyl impending through Ipecac, who also released the album. Aug. 13 is the due date.
They call it an EP. Okay. It’s eight songs and somewhere around 40 minutes long, so take that as you will. “Contact,” “Genetic,” “10 Days” and “Subversion” were previously issued through Bandcamp, where now the entirety of EP01 can be streamed. Considering all this stuff was recorded at the same time as the debut, that was one hell of a session. Plenty of anthropocene downfall to document, I suppose. They’ll have no shortage of inspiration for their sophomore outing either.
From the PR wire:
HUMAN IMPACT RELEASE EP01 VIA IPECAC RECORDINGS
WATCH THE “RECOGNITION” VIDEO
Human Impact, the New York-based band featuring Jim Coleman (Cop Shoot Cop), Chris Spencer (Unsane), Chris Pravdica (Swans) and Phil Puleo (Cop Shoot Cops/Swan), have released an eight-song EP, dubbed EP01, via Ipecac Recordings.
A video for “Recognition” debuted this morning, with singer/guitar player Chris Spencer sharing the experience that sparked the song: “Do you ever feel like you’re being watched? The inspiration for ‘Recognition’ came from a time when I was at the Hong Kong International Airport. The track focuses on the advent of global surveillance and loss of personal privacy via facial recognition programs and data tracking. As our world becomes more connected we’re forfeiting our right to a private existence.”
The EP’s release arrives precisely one year after the band unveiled their self-titled debut, Human Impact. The new EP features a mix of singles and unreleased B-sides that were recorded simultaneously to the debut album. The foursome eked out one live performance before the international lockdowns began: March 14th at Brooklyn’s Saint Vitus, in what would be the venerable venue’s final pre-COVID performance as well.
Available now on all dsps (http://lnk.to/HumanEP01), EP01 is also available as a limited-edition clear vinyl pre-order via Ipecac’s webstore and Bandcamp. 1000 copies will be available worldwide with an August 13th release date.
EP01 track list: Recognition Genetic Sparrow Less Than Transist Contact 10 Days Subversion
HUMAN IMPACT is Chris Spencer (Unsane, UXO): Vocals/Guitar Jim Coleman (Cop Shoot Cop): Electonics Chris Pravdica (Swans, Xiu Xiu): Bass Phil Puleo (Cop Shoot Cop, Swans): Drums
Posted in Questionnaire on March 15th, 2021 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: Morgan McDaniel of Mirror Queen
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
I would say I play the guitar like trying to figure out which is the right doorbell. I enjoy few things more than music and am delighted that I have been presented opportunities to travel and deal high volume riffs to those who wish to listen (and otherwise). I came to do it and continue to do it with an all encompassing word — persistence. You must always work towards whatever it is you want and never be disillusioned by fear of failure, expectation or convention.
Describe your first musical memory.
My first real musical memory is my father introducing me to the Doors and The Kinks at a young age. While that didn’t kick me into full musical gear at that age it certainly left its effects as the latter remains one of my constantly favorite groups to revisit.
The first one of significant impact was the first lesson with second guitar teacher (since clearly the first one didn’t motivate me) Tor Synder, showing me the very barebone basics (string tunings and partial chords). Then before leaving me he (having played an acoustic for the duration of the lesson) asked to see my “Ion” brand strat knock off my parents had bought at Urban Outfitters for $100 (a real quality instrument). He then proceeded to play all of the Hendrix riffs at his disposal. I remember all I knew about Hendrix at that time was the name but I knew exactly whose music I was listening to and that was the thing for me. Side note, the week following he introduced me to Scorpions (Uli Jon Roth years), UFO and Rainbow. The world needs more people like that fella.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
Opening for Deep Purple [with The Golden Grass] at Capitol Theatre. Besides the obvious reasons for that being something I look back on fondly, what sticks out most was watching Deep Purple play from every possible vantage point. At one point I found myself watching from the staircase on the balcony (trying not to obstruct any views) when someone tugged on my shoulder. I had figured it would have been a “hey buddy, get out of the way” but was pleasantly greeted by an usher who gave a solid “that was a great set,” then I promptly thanked them, watched for a second longer and got out of the way.
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
My first European tour. As a 19 year old with no steady employment, no (formal) college education, a sprained wrist (as a bass player auditioning for a power trio, that was quite the intimidating predicament) and maybe a little over a month to rehearse. The idea of (in a sense) escaping the lack of (in a sense) purpose ‘back home’ was a welcome thought. However, when the reality sets in, relationships break down and at times you don’t know if you are really enjoying yourself then you are really forced to contemplate on whether you made the right choices. Luckily the verdict on my end was it was and I would do the same a hundred times over.
The last show of that tour was to a packed house in the Green Room stage at Roadburn which is a close second on the fondest memory front and the beliefs of right and wrong were null.
Where do you feel artist progression leads?
Up, down, left, right, all around. It leads wherever you want it to and even where you don’t. The ultimate destination being discovery, realization and enjoyment for oneself as well as others.
How would you define success?
Being happy, content yet ambitious in any venture one decides to embark on.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
One stands out vividly but I will save that for my book….
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
The perfectly disguised pop song. An unconventionally structured, familiar but new monstrosity that is as easy at it is to listen to as it is to analyze. Then I’d hope to write a few more in that vein.
Also working on a film score sounds like an arduous yet rewarding project.
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
The most essential function of art in my humble opinion is the freedom of interpretation it emanates (solicits/elicits). The term “universal language” is as justifiable as it is cliché when describing music as it acts as a healer, reminder of distant memories both good and bad, an equalizer of interest and anything/everything in between.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
Travelling, hanging out with all my friends in a dirty bar, oh and giving my mom a big hug.
