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Clouds Taste Satanic to Release 79 A.E. March 1

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 26th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

clouds taste satanic

Surprised at new stuff from Clouds Taste Satanic? I think that’s how you get to nine records in 10 years. The New York instrumentalists are set to issue 79 A.E., their latest full-length, through Majestic Mountain Records on March 1. The band were recently heard from with the late-2023 holiday-themed covers EP, All I Want for Christmas is Your Soul, which if you can stand holiday music in any context whatsoever was surely a fine argument for its existence.

It was not far behind Tales of Demonic Possession (discussed here), their last long-player — again, nine records, 10 years; their debut was 2014’s To Sleep Beyond the Earth — which came out in Feb. 2023, so this is perhaps their resuming of their pre-pandemic just-about-annual clip. Fair enough. The last album also found them with time to play Europe for I’m pretty sure the first time, and no doubt the thematically-constructed 79 A.E. — the intended soundtrack to a screenplay — will see their attentions return across the Atlantic.

From the PR wire:

clouds taste satanic 79 ae

CLOUDS TASTE SATANIC: NYC Post-Doom Quartet to Soundtrack the Apocalypse with New Album 79 A.E.

Following the recent release of their All I Want for Christmas Is Your Soul EP, the doom instrumentalists are back this March with their ninth studio album
79 A.E. is released on 1st March 2024 on Majestic Mountain Records | Pre-order HERE:
https://majesticmountainrecords.bigcartel.com/product/clouds-taste-satanic-79-a-e-pre-order

Majestic Mountain Records is thrilled to announce the official worldwide release of 79 A.E., the new album from revered underground doom quartet, Clouds Taste Satanic.

Ever since their formation in Brooklyn in 2013, the quartet’s penchant for harnessing deviant riff wizardry has taken listeners on countless voyages through the psychedelically charged realms of metal. The band melds the minimalist and heavy approach of bands such as Sleep and Earth with the instrumental fervour of Pelican and Bongripper.

Returning this March with their follow-up to last year’s critically acclaimed Tales of Demonic Possession, 79 A.E. is a monumental offering from the accomplished four-piece who have a long and prolific history of committing music on the dynamic long-player format.

Serving as a soundtrack to an unmade post-apocalyptic movie, also named 79 A.E., the album is a tale of doom following the Days of Extinction, where the remnants of humanity fight to survive amidst the devastating aftereffects of an asteroid strike.

“After the density and scope of our last record, we wanted to make an album that felt more open and spatial,” explains guitarist Steve Scavuzzo. “Still heavy but with plenty of room to breathe. Luckily this concept was perfect for a film score”.

Fast forward six months and with plans for the film shelved and the screenplay filed away, doubts over whether the film will be made at all didn’t stop the band pushing on with the recording:

“The nature of the instrumental music we make has always demanded a certain level of imagination. It’s key when you don’t have a singer laying out the concepts for you. While imagining a film that doesn’t exist may seem like a difficult task, imagining a post-apocalyptic world should come naturally to anyone who has been to the movies. This album just happens to be our version of that movie.”

79 A.E. by Clouds Taste Satanic is released 1st March 2024 on Majestic Mountain Records and can be pre-ordered HERE: https://majesticmountainrecords.bigcartel.com/product/clouds-taste-satanic-79-a-e-pre-order

CLOUDS TASTE SATANIC:
Steve Scavuzzo – Guitar
Rob Halstead – Bass
Greg Acampora – Drums
Brian Bauhs – Guitar

https://cloudstastesatanic.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CloudsTasteSatanic/
https://www.instagram.com/cloudstastesatanic/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5QidF8yXlvTyGkDy24JImY
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvVu8mcXrE2eVjq_ApcGBmw

http://majesticmountainrecords.bigcartel.com
http://facebook.com/majesticmountainrecords
http://instagram.com/majesticmountainrecords

Clouds Taste Satanic, All I Want for Christmas is Your Soul (2023)

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Grey Skies Fallen Sign to Profound Lore; Molded by Broken Hands Out March 8; Video Posted

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 8th, 2024 by JJ Koczan

grey skies fallen

I haven’t always thought of Grey Skies Fallen as a ‘fit’ with what’s covered around here generally in the past, as they kind of skirt the line where doom and metal intersect and the latter takes off in its sharper-pointed direction, where doom, I guess, skulks into a corner and feels bad about itself? That sounds about right. Regardless, kudos to the emotionally-steamrolled New York four-piece on signing with Profound Lore Records for the release of their sixth album, Molded by Broken Hands, which is up now for preorder ahead of a March 8 release and introduced to listeners by the video for “Knowing That You’re There,” which is below.

The album boasts production by Colin Marston, who should at this point probably be given some kind of grant for the work he does, and a mix by the returning Dan Swanö, who also set the balances for the band’s 2020 album, Cold Dead Hands, and, you know, a goodly percentage of the scope Swedish death metal more broadly.

The PR wire offered the following:

GREY SKIES FALLEN Molded By Broken Hands

GREY SKIES FALLEN: New York Doom Metal Act Signs With Profound Lore Records For March Release Of Molded By Broken Hands LP; “Knowing That You’re There” Video/Single And Preorders Issued

Profound Lore Records announces the label’s first release of 2024, welcoming long-running New York City-based doomed dark metal veterans GREY SKIES FALLEN. The band’s first release for the label, Molded By Broken Hands, will be released March 8th, and today, a video for the lead single “Knowing That You’re There” has been issued alongside preorders and more.

GREY SKIES FALLEN’s sixth full-length album, Molded By Broken Hands sees the contingent offering their most triumphant work yet. This album carries that feeling of the underappreciated and underrated dark metal scene that was culminating in the US during the late 1990s, an era where the band grew from, while helping to signal a new resurgence of doomy dark metal artistry currently building. Through soaring, emotionally searing melodies, glorious epic harmonics, and with an overall conquering aura, Molded By Broken Hands will finally deliver the recognition GREY SKIES FALLEN is worthy of.

Molded By Broken Hands was recorded and engineered at Menegroth, The Thousand Caves (Krallice, Gorguts, Artificial Brain) by Colin Marston who also performed keyboards on the songs “No Place For Sorrow” and “I Can Hear Your Voice.” The album was mixed and mastered by legendary Swedish producer Dan Swanö (Opeth, Edge Of Sanity, Bloodbath) and completed with artwork and design by Travis Smith (Opeth, Death, Katatonia). The release date of Molded By Broken Hands also coincides with the 25th anniversary of GREY SKIES FALLEN’s debut album, The Fate Of Angels.

The lead single from Molded By Broken Hands, “Knowing That You’re There,” arrives through a video created and directed by friend and former bandmate Craig Rossi. Founding guitarist/vocalist Rick Habeeb states, “Sometimes in life, those that we care about the most are fighting a silent internal battle. This song is about helping guide someone through those dark times. Imagery in the video conveys these emotions and ties them together nicely with the lyrics.”

GREY SKIES FALLEN’s “Knowing That You’re There” video is now playing, and the song is now streaming on all digital platforms.

Molded By Broken Hands will be released on LP, CD, and digital formats on March 8th. Find preorders, merch, and more at THIS LOCATION: https://linktr.ee/greyskiesfallendoom

Watch for the band to post announcements for special live performances and more supporting the album to post over the months ahead.

Molded By Broken Hands Track Listing:
1. A Twisted Place In Time
2. Molded By Broken Hands
3. No Place For Sorrow
4. I Can Hear Your Voice
5. Cracks In Time
6. Save Us
7. Knowing That You’re There

GREY SKIES FALLEN:
Rick Habeeb – Guitar, Vocals
Joe D’angelo – Guitar
Tom Anderer – Bass
Sal Gregory – Drums

https://greyskiesfallen.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/greyskiesfallen
https://www.instagram.com/greyskiesfallen
https://linktr.ee/greyskiesfallendoom

https://profoundlorerecords.com
https://www.profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/profoundlorerecords
https://www.facebook.com/profoundlorerecords

Grey Skies Fallen, “Knowing That You’re There” official video

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Guhts to Release Debut Album Regeneration Jan. 26; “Til Death” Streaming Now

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 27th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

guhts

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:

guhts regeneration

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.

Preorder link:
guhts.bandcamp.com/album/regeneration

For “Regeneration” on CD in USA & Canada
shop.seeingredrecords.com

Tracklisting:
1. White Noise
2. Til Death
3. The Mirror
4. Handless Maiden
5. Eyes Open
6. Generate
7. The Wounded Healer

GUHTS are:
Amber Burns – Vocals
Scott Prater – Guitar & Synth
Daniel Martinez – Bass
Brian Clemens – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/guhtsband
https://www.instagram.com/guhtsband/
https://guhts.bandcamp.com/
https://guhts.com/

Guhts, Regeneration (2024)

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Friday Full-Length: King Buffalo, Live at Burning Man

Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 24th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Let the record show I was can-you-keep-this-moving-for-me stirring the base for a cheese sauce soon to go on cauliflower because my wife loves me when the email came in that King Buffalo had just released Live at Burning Man as a free download. And so, a little softshoe in front of the stove and my transformation to Old Weirdo Relative at Holiday is complete. I had it on after dinner too while I did dishes. For like four hours. Family milling about this way and that. I’m hunched over the white sink merrily scrubbing and singing along to “Orion.”

It was Thanksgiving in the US, and we hosted north of 20 people at the house, so it’s a good thing King Buffalo‘s set at the fabled Gen-X/Millennial do-art-and-maybe-drugs gathering was long. The edited video of Live at Burning Man — streaming free on YouTube (second player above) — is half an hour, but the audio of the full performance tops 93 minutes and was clearly put together with the idea of featuring a couple more sprawling jams. So you get “Longing to Be the Mountain,” as well as “Repeater” and “Red Star 1 & 2,” “Cerberus” and “Shadows” past or near 10 minutes, and if you’re an established fan of the band, any single one of them should be enough impetus to hear the thing.

Whether it’s the extra bit of sneer in Sean McVay‘s voice in “Grifter” or the burn of guitar in “Longing to Be the Mountain,” the shimmer prompting cheers at the start of “Orion,” the graceful build into “Repeater” with Dan Reynolds‘ e’er smooth basslines and Scott Donaldson‘s somehow-restless-and-unhurried drumming giving the push. “Silverfish” and “Grifter” are the gateway. From there, it’s a deep-dive, headline-style set recorded by engineer Grant Husselman, who also helmed 2021’s Acheron (review here), the middle installment of King Buffalo‘s ‘pandemic trilogy’ that began with the 2021 godsend The Burden of Restlessness (review here), Acheron, which found the trio (and Husselman, and me at least for a bit) recording in a roadside attraction cave off the New York Thruway, and 2022’s Regenerator (review here).

Whatever King Buffalo do from here — and they said the Winter US touring that of course follows the Fall European touring will be their last stint out until they at least write their next LP if not finish it — there’s no question that their ‘trilogy era’ stands as a thing unto itself. It’s the difference between a band with two records on the rise and beginning to capture and audience’s attention and headliners with five records under their belt, an increasingly progressive course and like three hours’ worth of material to change up any set you like to such a degree that, when tapped for a fest like Burning Man outside the heavy underground’s own conventional circuit, they can accommodate that audience by playing longer, jammier, more psychedelic songs. They can lean into “Repeater,” and roll “Cerberus” to a consuming, massive finish to leave blown minds in their wake. They not only have the flexibility as artists to do so, they have the professionalism to actually do it.

Live at Burning Man is the third live outing from King Buffalo behind 2016’s Live at Wicked Squid Studios (review here) and 2020’s Live at Freak Valley (discussed here), and one might look at that from a band King Buffalo Live at Burning Manwho put out their first record in 2016 and be like, wow, that’s a lot, but each one of those captures them at a different point in their evolution, and Live at Burning Man feels no less like a realization than the three studio albums whose tracks comprise most of the set. “Loam” precedes “Cerberus” in closing, and the two — from The Burden of Restlessness and Acheron, respectively — complement each other well in crafting a build in intensity that begins with the second part of “Red Star 1 & 2.” And if you watch the video, it gets especially trippy right around there as well. Justifiably so. King Buffalo don’t go full-Hawkwind space rock very often, but they’ve got the synth for it when they do.

And I guess that is kind of the lesson of Live at Burning Man. It’s that whatever’s coming next, King Buffalo are ready for it. Those last shows in December and January linked above, and in a way this surprise release — at least I didn’t know it was coming — of Live at Burning Man as a name-your-price Bandcamp special Thanksgiving whathaveyou is perfectly timed as a capstone to the previously-noted ‘trilogy era.’ Considering the scope of the work and the progressive blossoming that their third, fourth and fifth albums wrought despite being issued in such relatively quick succession, to underscore the point that not only did King Buffalo launch the 2020s with three of its thus-far most essential heavy records, but that when it was possible for them to do so, they then went out and hand-delivered those songs to an established and growing audience.

As for Burning Man itself, well, you don’t record in a cave and you don’t chase down playing Lincoln Center in Manhattan as an ostensibly underground band if you’re not into creating an experience for yourself as well as your audience. I’ve no doubt this one was a trip, and I know I’ve been very glad to have caught them the couple times I have since the world started happening again — most recently was this past summer at Freak Valley (review here) — so despite not having been at the show, the documentation of this band playing these songs at this time is something to be appreciated now and in the future. I’m glad to count it as a fourth in that trilogy.

The dishes outlasted the set, but that chug at the end of “Cerberus” was a good rhythm for scrubbing, and the cauliflower was delicious. Thanksgiving — the narrative utterly ludicrous and atrocious in the true American tradition of racism — is celebrated in my house as a chance to be with family, cooking and eating and enjoying each other’s company. I know that maybe putting a record on while you try and shake that last bit of soap out of the bottle of Palmolive and fall completely into your own head thinking about the songs doesn’t scream ‘family togetherness’ in most situations, but speaking exclusively for my own brain, sometimes it feels like the one thing that helps the other happen.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy. And if you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope it was a good one.

Next week is a Quarterly Review. Not going to be a lot of posts besides that, but there are a few news things and such I’ll want to post. But 10 records per day for at least five days. I’ll decide this weekend if I want to go longer than that. It’s a LOT of stuff I want to catch up on — David Eugene Edwards I’ve been trying to review since Spring — plus newer things like Primordial and Tortuga, Fuzz Evil, Dune Pilot, on and on, and I hope it’ll be a good mix. Last QR was tough. Sometimes without meaning to I’ll slate like, three or four psych records the same day. Can’t do that shit! My brain goes numb. “Duh, sounds like mushrooms?” Review over.

But anyway that’s the plan. Through the holiday, into the Quarterly Review. Then after that I’m digging into year-end time, trying not to let it go too long and end up posting it on Xmas Eve or something silly like that, which I’m pretty sure I’ve done in the past.

Thank you if you’ve contributed to the year-end poll. Thank you if you intend to. Thank you for reading. Thanks for being alive. I mean that shit. It’s work to get through a day. Thank you for whatever in your life led you to the end of this sentence.

Have a great and safe weekend. I think we’re mostly in recovery mode, but I’m sure we’ll find some silly shit to get up to while I also stress about the Quarterly Review in that special way that The Patient Mrs. loves so, so, so much. It’ll be fun.

FRM.

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Khanate Announce Spring 2024 Live Dates

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 10th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Okay. I mean, when Roadburn announced Khanate, it was billed as exclusive, but two additional shows in Copenhagen and Berlin isn’t exactly a six-week tour, so whatever. More live Khanate means more corrupted souls. Fair enough. [EDIT: It was the first show that Roadburn has, not exclusive. My mistake. — ed.]

The earth-spoiling extreme drone-sludge outfit darkened skies earlier this year with their first album in more than a decade, To Be Cruel (review here), thereby pissing over every bought-at-Target t-shirt with a saccharine positive message on it — “Good vibes all the time!” and so on — with a sort of hatefulness that can only be called signature, and their return to the stage is an organic outgrowth from that. I don’t think I’ll be at Roadburn — you may (not) be shocked to know festivals aren’t lining up to fly my irrelevant ass out to various locales — but I haven’t seen Khanate in a long, long time and if my psyche could handle it I think it might do me some good. Like electro shock treatment, but in reverse where it makes you more miserable. And that’s definitely something I need. Not enough feeling-bad-for-myself around here lately.

Come on, Khanate. Let’s go be wretched today:

Khanate (photo by Ebru Yildiz)

KHANATE ANNOUNCE LIVE SHOWS IN COPENHAGEN AND BERLIN IN APRIL 2024

SHARE LIVE FOOTAGE

PHYSICAL REISSUES OF KHANATE AND THINGS VIRAL ARRIVE 1ST DECEMBER VIA SACRED BONES RECORDS.

On the heels of their first confirmed performance in nearly two decades, as part of Roadburn 2024, Khanate have announced two additional shows; Copenhagen on April 22nd at Basement and Berlin on April 23rd at Berghain, giving fans further unique opportunities to experience the band live. Tickets for all shows can be purchased here https://khanateofficial.com/liveaktions.

Alongside this announcement, Khanate shares a compilation of live footage, with clips taken from the Dead & Live Aktions DVD released in 2005.

Reissues of Khanate (2001) and Things Viral (2003) come via Sacred Bones on 1st December. Pre-orders for Khanate can be found here https://lnk.to/KhanateST and Things Viral https://lnk.to/ThingsViral here. Capture & Release and Clean Hands Go Foul reissues are forthcoming.

Khanate, “Commuted” live

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Northern Heretic Premiere Debut Single “Killing Floor”

Posted in audiObelisk on November 9th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

New York doom crunchers Northern Heretic are releasing their debut single ‘Killing Floor’ tomorrow, Nov. 10, revealing themselves to the world with seven minutes of gruff, low-slung riffing and doomed roll. The procession is slow, the vibe is down — they make sure the point gets across in the second half of the song; you’ll get there — and the form is raw and exploratory at the same time. But before we get there, you should know nobody here is a stranger to each other. Guitarist/vocalist Ken Wohlrob and bassist/backing vocalist Davis Schlachter (also keys) play together in the hardcore-tinged End of Hope, and Sefcik‘s other bands, Kings Destroy and Begotten, have shared space in the NY underground with Schlachter‘s Reign of Zaius and Wohlrob‘s now-defunct Eternal Black. It’s not a band that started from random people meeting on Craigslist.

And maybe that accounts for some of the apparent ease with which Northern Heretic slink into the early verses of “Killing Floor,” seeming right at home in its hard-times, blue-ish collar rollout as it does, assured in tone and tempo, the vocals essentially a grunt but still not totally amelodic. But “Killing Floor” is more than just the band cozying up to their own riff, and the track breaks in its midsection for a more atmospheric and exploratory movement, departing the verse and chorus in a way that on paper aren’t necessarily radical — crazier shit has been put toNORTHERN HERETIC KILLING FLOOR tape — but that speak to the intention behind Northern Heretic in relation to, say, End of Hope or Eternal Black. I won’t try to shoehorn a comparison of the crunch in “Killing Floor” and End of Hope‘s charged crossover hardcore, but I probably could if I wanted to and not get yelled at for it. If you heard the last Eternal Black record, that’s a decent place to start from, but Wohlrob, Schlachter and Sefcik are at the outset of their own progression as a band, and acknowledge that in trying something new as well as establishing the general feel they’re going for. In a word, you’d call it heavy.

If you wanted a second word, maybe preliminary? I don’t know, of course, whether or not Northern Heretic will chase after a headier or more ambient style over however long they’re together — maybe they’ll never do anything else, you never know — but in addition to the raw and doomly groove “Killing Floor” fosters, the trio make their way into some intriguing spaces and leave a broad range of directions for potential growth ahead of them. In the meantime, this initial salvo sets them forth with due lumber and presence.

PR wire info follows the track on the player below. Please enjoy:

Members of Kings Destroy, Eternal Black, End of Hope, and Clothesline join forces in NORTHERN HERETIC. First single “Killing Floor” drops on November 10th, 2023.

NORTHERN HERETIC – a new heavy rock trio made up of members from well-known acts Kings Destroy, Eternal Black, Reign of Zaius, Begotten, Clothesline, and End of Hope – are releasing their debut single “Killing Floor” on Friday, November 10th, 2023 via all streaming platforms and their Bandcamp page (northernheretic.bandcamp.com).

Formed in April 2022, NORTHERN HERETIC consists of Rob Sefcik (Kings Destroy, Begotten) on drums, Davis Schlachter (Reign of Zaius, Clothesline, End of Hope) on bass, and Ken Wohlrob (Eternal Black, End of Hope) on guitar and vocals. “Killing Floor” is the first salvo of four singles the band will be releasing in 2024.

THE WHERES AND WHYS AND WHAT FORS (AS TOLD BY NORTHERN HERETIC)

The band started after Ken and Rob both relocated to New York State during the pandemic. Ken had already written a few tracks that were very different from Eternal Black and after a couple of jams at Rob’s joint, we were digging the road we were headed down. As the new songs took shape, we quickly brought in Davis knowing he could add new layers and dimensions to the music. We found that we could still be Heavy with a capital H, and dark as hell (as this music should be), but we could step outside the boundaries and keep the listener on their toes.

The goal was to focus on dynamics and sonic space and challenge ourselves with new approaches. The more we tinkered with each song, the more the music changed, becoming something that was unique to all of us. You’ll recognize each player in the sonic landscape, but we’re all doing different things you’ve never heard from us before. And each song will show a different side of what this band can do.

“Killing Floor” is the song that best sums up the NORTHERN HERETIC sound and how we wanted to evolve. It starts somewhat traditionally with a swinging heavy groove that’s akin to what you’ve heard from some of our other bands. But then it quickly starts breaking down, following the desperation in the lyrics as the tone and dynamics of the song shift before building back up to a Heavy bridge and outro.

The track was recorded at Suburban Elvis Studios in New York State, the same studio where all the Eternal Black and End of Hope albums were recorded, as well as the last Begotten album. Once again, we worked with Joe Kelly, who produced all of those albums and helped us to achieve the big sonic boom we wanted for this new project.

We’re going to release four singles this year – one every three months. The way people listen to music has changed and we’re adapting to that. Rather than making fans wait for a whole new album, we’re going to focus on releasing songs as they’re ready.

The cover art for “Killing Floor” is by New York artist Melissa Pracht. She will be creating art for all four NORTHERN HERETIC singles being released in 2024. Each cover will be unique, but there will be a shared thematic feel to them.

Northern Heretic is:
Davis Schlachter (Reign of Zaius, Clothesline, End of Hope): bass, keyboards, backup vocals
Rob Sefcik (Kings Destroy, Begotten, Thinning the Herd): drums
Ken Wohlrob (Eternal Black, End of Hope): guitars, vocals, keyboards

Northern Heretic on Facebook

Northern Heretic on Instagram

Northern Heretic on Soundcloud

Northern Heretic on Bandcamp

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Thinning the Herd Welcomes Rob Sefcik on Drums

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 31st, 2023 by JJ Koczan

thinning-the-herd-robbie-sefcik

New York heavy rockers Thinning the Herd have announced the addition of Rob Sefcik (also Kings Destroy, Northern Heretic, Begotten, etc.) on drums. In 2021, the long-running outfit led by guitarist, vocalist, songwriter Gavin Spielman presented the single “Wolves Close In” (premiered here) as the preface to what would then have been their first album in eight years. It’s now been a full decade since they released 2013’s Freedom From the Known, and the post from the band below doesn’t mention recording one way or the other, but it’s easy enough to imagine Speilman plugging away at it behind the scenes. No doubt having a drummer helps.

I don’t know how many times I’ve watched Sefcik play live, with Kings Destroy mostly but also Begotten, but he’s both a monster behind the kit and a classy player mindful of the songs in which he’s working. You might recall Thinning the Herd drummer Rick Cimato passed away in 2012 ahead of the 2013 album release, and Spielman has seen a few others come and go since. I don’t know what their plans are if there are any other than local shows, or even if bassist Wes Edmonds is still in the band, but here’s what they had to say:

Mr. Sefcik, in 2014, in Denver, with Kings Destroy (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Thinning the Herd would like to give a big horns up Welcome to Rob S. on the drums! Filling the shoes of previous drummers ain’t an easy task but he’s a bad ass – and up for it!

Rob’s played in many bands that rocked, and we are super excited to have a solid guy and heavy drum smasher in the band for the long haul. We look forward to bringing y’all new music and performing old tunes as well as the new heaters.

If interested in an interview or to book our band hit the DM.

Since 2006 TTH has y’all groovin’ on the sludgy New York Metal, and look how far it’s come!

https://www.facebook.com/THINNINGTHEHERD
https://thinningtheherd.bandcamp.com/
http://www.tthmusic.com/

Thinning the Herd, “Wolves Close In” (feat. Pat Harrington) official video

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Quarterly Review: Samsara Blues Experiment, Restless Spirit, Stepmother, Pilot Voyager, Northern Liberties, Nyxora, Old Goat Smoke, Van Groover, Hotel Lucifer, Megalith Levitation

Posted in Reviews on October 3rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan

the obelisk winter quarterly review

I broke my wife’s phone yesterday. What a mess. I was cleaning the counter or doing some shit and our spare butter dish — as opposed to the regular one, which was already out — was sitting near the edge of the top of the microwave, from where I bumped it so that the ceramic corner apparently went right through the screen hard enough that in addition to shattering it there’s a big black spot and yes a new phone has been ordered. In the meantime, she can’t type the letter ‘e’ and, well, I have to hand it to Le Creuset on the sturdy construction of their butter dishes. Technology succumbing to the brute force of a harder blunt object and gravity.

Certainly do wish that hadn’t happened. What does it have to do with riffs, or music at all, or really anything? Who cares. I’m about to review 10 records today. I can talk about whatever the hell I want.

Quarterly Review #11-20:

Samsara Blues Experiment, Rock Hard in Concert

samsara blues experiment rock hard in concert

10 years after releasing 2013’s Live at Rockpalast (review here), and nearly three after they put out their 2021 swansong studio LP, End of Forever (review here), German heavy psych rockers Samsara Blues Experiment offer the 80-minute live 2LP Rock Hard in Concert, and while it’s not their first live album, it gives a broader overview of the band from front to (apparent) back during their time together, as songs opening salvo of “Center of the Sun,” “Singata Mystic Queen” and “For the Lost Souls” from 2010’s debut, Long-Distance Trip (review here), melds in the set with “One With the Universe” and “Vipassana” from 2017’s One With the Universe (review here), End of Forever‘s own title-track and “Massive Passive,” and “Hangin’ on a Wire” from 2013’s Waiting for the Flood (review here) to become a fan-piece that nonetheless engages in sound and presentation. If you were there, it’s likely must-own. For the rest of us, who maybe did or didn’t see the band during their time — glad to say I did — it’s a reminder of how immersive they could be, especially in longer-form material, and how much influence they had on the last decade-plus of jam-based heavy psych in Europe. Recorded in 2018 at a special gig for Germany’s Rock Hard magazine, Rock Hard in Concert follows behind 2022’s Demos & Rarities (review here) in the band’s posthumous catalog, and it may or may not be Samsara Blues Experiment‘s final non-reissue release. Whether it is or not, it summarizes their run gorgeously and puts a light on the chemistry of the trio that led them through so many winding aural paths.

Samsara Blues Experiment on Facebook

World in Sound Records website

Restless Spirit, Afterimage

Restless Spirit Afterimage

Sounding modern and full and in opening cut “Marrow” almost like the fuzz is about to swallow the rest of the song, Restless Spirit step forward with their third long-player, Afterimage, and establish a new level of craft for themselves. In 2021, the Long Island heavy/doom rock trio offered Blood of the Old Gods (review here), and their guitar-led energetic surges continue here in Afterimage riffers like the chug-nod “Shadow Command” and “Of Spirit and Form,” which seems to account for the underlying metallic edge of the band’s execution with its sharper turns. Their first album for Magnetic Eye Records, its eight tracks fit smoothly into the label’s roster, which at its baseline might be said to foster modern heavy styles with a particular ear for songwriting and melody, and Restless Spirit dig into “All Furies” like High on Fire galloping into a wall of Slayer records, only to follow with the 1:45 instrumental reset “Brutalized,” which is somehow weightier. They touch on the ethereal with the guitar in “The Fatalist,” but the vocals are more post-hardcore and have a grounding effect, and after starting with outright crush, “Hell’s Grasp” offers respite in progressive flourish and midtempo meandering before resuming the double-plus-huge roll and pointed riff and noodly offsets, the huge hook coming back in a way that makes me miss doing a radio show. “Hell’s Grasp” is the longest piece on the collection at 6:25, but “From the Dust Returned” closes, mindful of the atmospherics that have been at work all along and no less huge, but clearly saving a last push for, well, last. I’ll be interested in how it holds up over the long term, but Magnetic Eye has become one of the US’ most essential labels in heavy music and releases like this are exactly why.

Restless Spirit on Facebook

Magnetic Eye Records store

Stepmother, Planet Brutalicon

stepmother planet brutalicon

When did Graham Clise from Witch Lecherous Gaze, etc. — dude used to be in Uphill Battle; I remember that band — move to Australia? Doesn’t matter. It happened and Stepmother is the raw, garage-ish fuzz rock outfit the now-Melbourne-residing Clise has established, with Rob Muinos on bass and vocals and Sam Rains on drums. With Clise on guitar/vocals peppering hard-strummed riffs with bouts of shred and various dirtier coatings, the 12-tracker goes north of four minutes one time for “Do You Believe,” already by then having found its proto-Misfits bent in the catchy “Scream for Death.” But whether they’re buzz-overdosing “Waiting for the Axe” or digging into the comedown in “Signed DC” ahead of the surf-informed rager of a finale “Gusano,” Planet Brutalicon is a debut that presents fresh ideas taking on known stylistic elements. And it’s not a showcase for Clise‘s instrumental prowess on a technical level or anything — he’s not trying to put on a clinic — but from the sound of his guitar to the noises he gets from it in “The Game” (that middle part, ultra-fuzz) and at the end of “Stalingrad,” it is very much a guitar-centered offering. No complaints there whatsoever.

Stepmother on Instagram

Tee Pee Records website

Pilot Voyager, The Structure is Still Under Construction

Pilot Voyager The Structure is Still Under Construction

WARNING: Users who take even a small dose of Pilot Voyager‘s The Structure is Still Under Construction may find themselves experiencing euphoria, or adrift, as though on some serene ocean under the warm green sky of impossibly refracted light. The ethereal drones and melodic textures of the 46-minute single-song LP may cause side effects like: momentary flashes of inner peace, the quieting of your brain that you’ve been seeking your whole life without knowing it, calm. Also nausea, but that’s probably just something you ate. Talk to your doctor about whether this extended work from the Hungarian collective Psychedelic Source Records (szia!) is right for you, and if it is, make sure to consume responsibly. Headphones required (not included or covered by insurance). Do not be afraid as “The Structure is Still Under Construction” leaves the water behind to float upward in its midsection, finally resolving in intertwining drones, vague sampled speech echoing far off somewhere — ugh, the real world — and birdsong someplace in the mix. Go with it. This is why you got the prescription in the first place. Decades of aural research and artistic movement and progression have led you and the Budapesti outfit to this moment. Do not operate heavy machinery. Ever. In fact, find an empty field, take off your pants and run around for a while until you get out of breath. Then drink cool water and giggle. This could be you. Your life.

Pilot Voyager on Facebook

Psychedelic Source Records on Bandcamp

Northern Liberties, Self-Dissolving Abandoned Universe

northern liberties Self-Dissolving Abandoned Universe

Philadelphia has become the East Coast US’ hotbed for heavy psychedelia, which must be interesting for Northern Liberties, who started out more than two decades ago. The trio’s self-released, 10-song/41-minute Self-Dissolving Abandoned Universe — maybe their eighth album, if my count is right — with venerated producer Steve Albini, so one might count ‘instant-Gen-X-cred’ and ‘recognizably-muddy-toms’ among their goals. I wasn’t completely sold on the offering until “Infusorian Hymnal” started to dig a little further into the genuinely weird after opener “The Plot Thickens” and the subsequent “Drowned Out” laid forth the crunch of the tones and gave hints of the structures beneath the noise. “Crucible” follows up the raw shove of “Star Spangled Corpse” by expanding the palette toward space rock and an unhinged psych-noise shove that the somehow-still-Hawkwindian volatility of “The Awaited” moves away from while the finale “Song of the Sole Survivor” calls back to the folkish vocal melody in “Ghosts of Ghosts,” if in echoing and particularly addled fashion. Momentum serves the three-piece well throughout, though they seem to have no trouble interrupting themselves (can relate), and turning to follow a disparate impulse. Distractable heavy? Yeah, except bands like that usually don’t last two decades. Let’s say maybe their own kind of oddball, semi-spaced band who aren’t afraid to screw around in the studio, find what they like, and keep it. And whatever else you want to say about Albini-tracked drums, “Hold on to the Darkness” has a heavier tone to its snare than most guitars do to whole LPs. Whatever works, and it does.

Northern Liberties website

Northern Liberties on Bandcamp

Nyxora, “Good Night, Ophelia”

Nyxora Good Night Ophelia

“Good Night, Ophelia” is the first single from the forthcoming debut full-length from semi-goth Portland, Oregon, heavy rock four-piece Nyxora. There are worse opening shots to fire than a Hamlet reference, I suppose, and if one regards Ophelia’s character as an innocent driven to suicide by gender-based oppression, then her lack of agency is nothing if not continually relevant. Nonetheless, for NyxoraVox on, well, vox, guitarist E.Wrath, bassist Luke and drummer Weatherman — she pairs with dark-boogie riff recorded for edge with Witch Mountain‘s Rob Wrong at his Wrong Way Studio. There are some similarities between Nyxora and Wrong‘s own outfit — I double-checked it wasn’t Uta Plotkin singing some of the higher-reaching lines of “Good Night, Ophelia,” which is a definite compliment — but I get the sense that fuller atmosphere of Nyxora‘s first LP isn’t necessarily encapsulated in this one three-and-a-half-minute song. That is, I’m thinking at some point on the album, Nyxora will get more morose than they are here. Or maybe not. Either way, “Good Night, Ophelia” is an enticing teaser from a group who seem ready to dig their niche when the album is released, I’ll assume in 2024 though one never knows.

Nyxora on Facebook

Nyxora on Bandcamp

Old Goat Smoke, Demo

Old Goat Smoke Demo

I hate to do it, but I’m calling bullshit right now on Sydney, Australia’s Old Goat Smoke. Sorry gents. To be sure, your Bongzilla-crusty, ultra-stoned, Church of Misery-esque-in-its-madcap-vocal-wails, goat weed metal is only a pleasure to behold. But that’s the problem. How’re you gonna write a song called “Old Goat Smoke” and not post the lyrics? I shudder to think of the weed puns I’m missing. Fortunately, it’s not too late for the newcomer band to correct the mistake before the entire project is derailed. In that eponymous one of three total tracks included, Old Goat Smoke cast themselves in the mold of the despondent and disaffected. “Return to Dirt” shifts fluidly in and out of screams and harsher fare while radioactive-dirt tonality infects the guitar and bass that have already challenged the drums to cut through their morass. So that there’s no risk of the point not being made, they cap this initial public offering with “The Great Hate,” and eight-and-a-half-minute treatise on feedback and raw scathe that’s likewise a show of future nastiness to manifest. Quit your job, do all the drugs you can find, engage the permanent fuck-off. Old Goat Smoke may not have ‘bong’ in their moniker, but that’s about all they’re missing. And those lyrics, I guess, though by the time the 20 minutes of Demo have expired, they’ve made their caustic point regardless.

Old Goat Smoke on Facebook

Old Goat Smoke on Bandcamp

Van Groover, Back From the Shop

Van Groover Back From the Shop

German transport-themed heavy rock and rollers Van Groover — as in, one who grooves in or with vans — made a charming debut with 2021’s Honk if Parts Fall Off (review here), and the follow-up five-song EP, Back From the Shop, makes no attempt to fix what isn’t broken. That would seem to put it at odds with the mechanic speaking in the intro “Hill Willy’s Chop Shop,” who runs through a litany of issues fixed, goes on long enough to hypnotize and then swaps in body parts and so on. From there, the motor works, and Van Groover hit the gas through 21 minutes of smells-like-octane riffing and storytelling. In “A-38″ — the reference being to the size of a sheet of paper in Europe; equivalent but not the same as the US’ 8.5″ x 11” — they either get arrested, which would seem to be the ending of “The Bandit” just before,” or are at the DMV, I can’t quite tell, but it doesn’t matter one you meet “The Grizz.” The closer has an urgency to its push that doesn’t quite sound like I’d imagine being torn apart by a bear to feel, but the Lebowski-paraphrased penultimate line, “Some days you get eaten by the bear, some days the bear eats you,” underscores Van Groover‘s for-the-converted approach, speaking to the subculture from within. Possibly while driving. Does look like a nice van, though. The kind you might write a song or two about.

Van Groover on Facebook

Van Groover on Bandcamp

Hotel Lucifer, Hotel Lucifer

Hotel Lucifer Hotel Lucifer

Facts-wise, there’s not much more I can tell you about Hotel Lucifer than you might glean from looking at the New York four-piece’s Bandcamp page. Their self-released and self-titled debut runs 43 minutes and eight tracks, and its somewhat bleak, not-obligated-to-heavy-tonalism course takes several violent thematic turns, including (I think.) in opener “Room 222,” where Katie‘s vocals seem to talk about raping god. This, “Murderer,” “Torquemada,” “The Ultimate Price,” “Picking Your Eyes Out” and 12-minute horror noisefest closer “Beheaded” — only the classic metaller “Training the Beast” and the three-minute acoustic-backed psychedelic voice showcase “Echidna” seem to restrain the brutaller impulses, and I’m not sure about that either. With Jimmy on guitar, Muriel playing bass and Ed on drums, Hotel Lucifer are defined in no small part by the whispers, rasps and croons that mark their verses and choruses, but that becomes an effective means to convey character and mood along with the instrumental ambience behind, and so Hotel Lucifer find this strange, almost willfully off-putting cultish individualism, and it’s not hooks keeping your attention so much as the desire to figure it out, to learn more about just what the hell is going on on this record. I’ll wish you good luck with that as I continue my efforts along similar lines.

Hotel Lucifer on Bandcamp

Megalith Levitation, Obscure Fire

Megalith Levitation Obscure Fire

Its five songs broken into two sections along lines of “Obscure Fire” pairing with “Of Silence” and “Descending” leading to “Into the Depths” with “Of Eternal Doom” answering the question that didn’t even really need to be asked about which depths the Russian stoner sludge rollers were talking about. The Sleep-worshiping three-piece of guitarist/vocalist SAA, bassist KKV and drummer PAN — whose credits are worth reading in the band’s own words — lumber with purpose as they make that final statement, each side of Obscure Fire working shortest to longest beginning with the howling guitar and drum thud of the title-track at nine minutes as opposed to the 10 of “Of Silence.” At two minutes, “Descending” is barely more than feedback and tortured gurgles, so yes, very much a fit with the concrete-toned plod of the subsequent “Into the Depths” as the band skirt the line between ultra-stoner metal and cavernous atmospheric sludge without necessarily committing to one or the other. That position favors them, but after a certain point of being bludgeoned with huge riffs and slow-nodding, deeply-weighted churn, your skull is going to be goo either way. The route Megalith Levitation take to get you there is where the weed is, aurally speaking.

Megalith Levitation on Facebook

Addicted Label on Bandcamp

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