https://www.high-endrolex.com/18

Splinter Set Aug. 25 Release for Role Models

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

Splinter

Amsterdam glam-informed classic-heavy semi-punk other-hyphenated-words rockers Splinter have signed to Noisolution and announced that their second full-length, Role Models, will be out next month. You might recall their debut, Filthy Pleasures (review here), came out in 2021 through Robotor Records, the label run by members of Kadavar. That endorsement was a boon to the uptempo purveyors of hook fronted by Douwe Truijens, best known for his time in Death Alley.

The band issued the single “Velvet Scam” in a new video a couple months back, and if you didn’t catch it, that’s below along with an unboxing video — those are strangely entertaining; it’s amazing what humans will watch; ‘here’s a person opening a thing’ — for the record itself. A release show has been lined up for Sept. 1 in Leiden, the Netherlands, at Studio Klaplong, and of course more info on that is below, culled from the band’s socials and included amid the promo text for the record, which came through the PR wire.

Dig that cover:

Splinter Role Models

Splinter – “Role Models” Out 25th August via Noisolution

Cheeky and snotty, the Dutch fourpiece dances between the styles. And sort themselves between punk, rock, pop and they give the guitars back to the dancefloor. A contemporary and fresh retro rock album that is danceable and catchy through and through – but most of all fun!

BIRTH OF JOY and DEATH ALLEY, two of the best Dutch live bands, played one last tour together and fell apart. How close “birth” and “death” are sometimes, is also shown here. After the tour, parts of both bands found each other again in the rehearsal room and formed SPLINTER. The debut album was released via Robotor Record, the label of Kadavar, who then found too little time besides their own band activities and thankfully recommended the band to Noisolution. We did not have to think long…

The album will be released on August 25th via NOISOLUTION!

RELEASE SHOW: Friday 1 September in a very special venue in Leiden with special guests The sha-la-lee’s and Skallebieter. Tickets are strictly limited: only 120 available. Order yours right away via https://lastnightonearth.stager.nl/web/tickets

SPLINTER question everything musically and throw their preferences and influences together. Danceable, sleazy, full of pop and yet a feisty heavy rock album. Much reminds of the late 80s, when rock flew apart disoriented but full of ideas in all directions. Punk was over, wave was over, metal was coming up, alternative rock was knocking on the door… SPLINTER have a bit of everything. “Heavy rock ‘n’ roll” is pretty accurate. Sometimes I also refer to the punk foundations of the band, because it’s cheeky, defiant and unorthodox” says singer Douwe Truijens.

The biggest difference to the debut album is that they were able to get Mario Goossens (drummer of Triggerfinger) as producer for the new record and that they took a lot of time to write and record. “Unique is the punk sound with Hammond organ and the energy and dance moves of the singer,” Douwe says with a smile, “for me it’s very important that the songs are catchy and danceable. I always like bands that have that. It doesn’t have to be mellow music to be poppy, it can still rock hard and make your hips swing.”

Songs like “Velvet Scam” or “Bottom” let the disco ball rotate, whereas “Every Circus needs A Clown” rather leaves room for duels between guitar and organ. Cheeky, defiant and unorthodox they dance between the styles. And sorts itself between Blondie and Iggy, Viagra Boys and The Who, Hanoi Rocks and Killing Joke. A contemporary and fresh retro rock album that is danceable, that grooves, rocks but above all is fun and announces a fantastic live band!

And the artwork is also a clear nod to Pop, reminiscent of Warhol or Lichtenstein, who liked to pick up trivial motifs from everyday culture. The Banana Man shows what today’s role models of the world are: “just fruits in suits.” Political leaders and so-called influencers are “role models,” smartly dressed but empty and disposable. Everything plastic, everything fake, image instead of message and appearance instead of content. Superficially colorful, but still with depth and message.

https://www.facebook.com/splintergeneration
https://www.instagram.com/splinter.generation/
https://www.youtube.com/@splintergeneration2166
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5R9WJjT2i9zmBWMNWD2rLp
https://splinter-music.com/

http://www.noisolution.de/
https://www.facebook.com/noisolution
https://www.instagram.com/noisolution/

Splinter, “Velvet Scam” official video

Splinter, Role Models unboxing teaser

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Quarterly Review: Smokey Mirror, Jack Harlon & the Dead Crows, Noorag, KOLLAPS\E, Healthyliving, MV & EE, The Great Machine, Swanmay, Garden of Ash, Tidal

Posted in Reviews on May 9th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

the-obelisk-qr-summer-2020

Hey there and welcome back to the Spring 2023 Quarterly Review. Today I’ve got another 10-record batch for your perusal, and if you’ve never been to this particular party before, it’s part of an ongoing series this site does every couple months (you might say quarterly), and this week picks up from yesterday as well as a couple weeks ago, when another 70 records of various types were covered. If there’s a lesson to be learned from all of it, it’s that we live in a golden age of heavy music, be it metal, rock, doom, sludge, psych, prog, noise or whathaveyou. Especially for whathaveyou.

So here we are, you and I, exploring the explorations in these many works and across a range of styles. As always, I hope you find something that feels like it’s speaking directly to you. For what it’s worth, I didn’t even make it through the first 10 of the 50 releases to be covered this week yesterday without ordering a CD from Bandcamp, so I’m here in a spirit of learning too. We’ll go together and dive back in.

Quarterly Review #11-20:

Smokey Mirror, Smokey Mirror

Smokey Mirror Smokey Mirror

Those in the know will tell you that the vintage-sound thing is over, everybody’s a goth now, blah blah heavygaze. That sounds just fine with Dallas, Texas, boogie rockers Smokey Mirror, who on their self-titled Rise Above Records first LP make their shuffle a party in “Invisible Hand” and the class-conscious “Pathless Forest” even before they dig into the broader jam of the eight-minute “Magick Circle,” panning the solos in call and response, drum solo, softshoe groove, full on whatnot. Meanwhile, “Alpha-State Dissociative Trance” would be glitch if it had a keyboard on it, a kind of math rock from 1972, and its sub-three-minute stretch is followed by the acoustic guitar/harmonica folk blues of “Fried Vanilla Super Trapeze” and the heavy fuzz resurgence of “Sacrificial Altar,” which is long like “Magick Circle” but with more jazz in its winding jam and more of a departure into it (four minutes into the total 7:30 if you’re wondering), while the Radio Moscow-style smooth bop and rip of “A Thousand Days in the Desert” and shred-your-politics of “Who’s to Say” act as touch-ground preface for the acoustic noodle and final hard strums of “Recurring Nightmare,” as side B ends in mirror to side A. An absolute scorcher of a debut and all the more admirable for wearing its politics on its sleeve where much heavy rock hides safe behind its “I’m not political” whiteness, Smokey Mirror‘s Smokey Mirror reminds that, every now and again, those in the know don’t know shit. Barnburner heavy rock and roll forever.

Smokey Mirror on Facebook

Rise Above Records website

 

Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows, Hail to the Underground

Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows Hail to the Underground

The moral of the story is that the members of Melbourne’s Jack Harlon and the Dead Crows — may they someday be famous enough that I won’t feel compelled to point out that none of them is Jack; the lineup is comprised of vocalist/guitarist Tim Coutts-Smith, guitarist Jordan Richardson, bassist Liam Barry and drummer Josh McCombe — came up in the ’90s, or at least in the shadow thereof. Hail to the Underground collects eight covers in 35 minutes and is the Aussie rockers’ first outing for Blues Funeral, following two successful albums in 2018’s Hymns and 2021’s The Magnetic Ridge (review here), and while on paper it seems like maybe it’s the result of just-signed-gotta-get-something-out motivation, the takes on tunes by Aussie rockers God, the Melvins, Butthole Surfers, My Bloody Valentine and Joy Division (their “Day of Lords” is a nodding highlight) rest organically alongside the boogie blues of “Roll & Tumble” (originally by Hambone Willie Newbern), the electrified surge of Bauhaus‘ “Dark Entries” and the manic peaks of “Eye Shaking King” by Amon Düül II. It’s not the triumphant, moment-of-arrival third full-length one awaits — and it would be soon for it to be, but it’s how the timing worked with the signing — but Hail to the Underground adds complexity to the narrative of the band’s sound in communing with Texan acid noise, country blues from 1929 to emo and goth rock icons in a long-player’s span, and it’ll certainly keep the fire burning until the next record gets here.

Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows on Facebook

Blues Funeral Recordings website

 

Noorag, Fossils

Noorag Fossils

Minimalist in social media presence (though on YouTube and Bandcamp, streaming services, etc.), Sardinian one-man outfit Noorag — also stylized all-lowercase: noorag — operates at the behest of multi-instrumentalist/producer Federico “WalkingFred” Paretta, and with drums by Daneiele Marcia, the project’s debut EP, Fossils, collects seven short pieces across 15 minutes that’s punk in urgency, sans-vocal in the execution, sludged in tone, metallic in production, and adventurous in some of its time changes. Pieces like the ambient opener “Hhon” and “Amanita Shot,” which follows headed on the quick into the suitably stomping “Brachiopod” move easily between each other since the songs themselves are tied together through their instrumental approach and relatively straightforward arrangements. “Cochlea Stone” is a centerpiece under two minutes long with emphasis rightfully on the bass, while “Ritual Electric” teases the stonershuggah nuance in the groove of “Acid Apricot”‘s second half, and the added “Digital Cave” roughs up the recording while maybe or maybe not actually being the demo it claims to be. Are those drums programmed? We may never know, but at a quarter of an hour long, it’s not like Noorag are about to overstay their welcome. Fitting for the EP format as a way to highlight its admirable intricacy, Fossils feels almost ironically fresh and sounds like the beginning point of a broader progression. Here’s hoping.

Noorag on YouTube

Noorag on Bandcamp

 

KOLLAPS\E, Phantom Centre

Kollapse Phantom Centre

With the notable exceptions of six-minute opener “Era” and the 8:36 “Uhtceare” with the gradual build to its explosion into the “Stones From the Sky” moment that’s a requisite for seemingly all post-metal acts to utilize at least once (they turn it into a lead later, which is satisfying), Sweden’s KOLLAPS\E — oh your pesky backslash — pair their ambient stretches with stately, shout-topped declarations of riff that sound like early Isis with the clarity of production and intent of later Isis, which is a bigger difference than it reads. The layers of guttural vocals at the forefront of “Anaemia” add an edge of extremity offset by the post-rock float of the guitar, and “Bränt Barn Skyr Elden” (‘burnt child dreads the fire,’ presumably a Swedish aphorism) answers by building tension subtly in its first two minutes before going full-barrage atmosludge for the next as it, “Anaemia,” and the closing pair of “Radiant Static” and “Murrain” harness short-song momentum on either side of four minutes long — something the earlier “Beautiful Desolate” hinted at between “Era” and “Uhtceare” — to capture a distinct flow for side B and giving the ending of “Murrain” its due as a culmination for the entire release. Crushing or spacious or both when it wants to be, Phantom Centre is a strong, pandemic-born debut that looks forward while showing both that it’s schooled in its own genre and has begun to decide which rules it wants to break.

KOLLAPS\E on Facebook

Trepanation Recordings on Bandcamp

 

Healthyliving, Songs of Abundance, Psalms of Grief

Healthyliving Songs of Abundance Psalms of Grief

A multinational conglomerate that would seem to be at least partially assembled in Edinburg, Scotland, Healthyliving — also all-lowercase: healthyliving — offer folkish melodicism atop heavy atmospheric rock for a kind of more-present-than-‘gaze-implies feel that is equal parts meditative, expansive and emotive on their debut full-length, Songs of Abundance, Psalms of Grief. With the vocals of Amaya López-Carromero (aka Maud the Moth) given a showcase they more than earn via performance, multi-instrumentalist Scott McLean (guitar, bass, synth) and drummer Stefan Pötzsch are able to conjure the scene-setting heft of “Until,” tap into grunge strum with a gentle feel on “Bloom” or meander into outright crush with ambient patience on “Galleries” (a highlight) or move through the intensity of “To the Gallows,” the unexpected surge in the bridge of “Back to Back” or the similarly structured but distinguished through the vocal layering and melancholic spirit of the penultimate “Ghost Limbs” with a long quiet stretch before closer “Obey” wraps like it’s raking leaves in rhythm early and soars on a strident groove that caps with impact and sprawl. They are not the only band operating in this sphere of folk-informed heavy post-rock by any means, but as their debut, this nine-song collection pays off the promise of their 2021 two-songer Until/Below (review here) and heralds things to come both beautiful and sad.

Healthyliving on Facebook

LaRubia Producciones website

 

MV & EE, Green Ark

mv & ee green ark

Even before Vermont freak-psych two-piece MV & EEMatt Valentine and Erika Elder, both credited with a whole bunch of stuff including, respectively, ‘the real deal’ and ‘was’ — are nestled into the organic techno jam of 19-minute album opener “Free Range,” their Green Ark full-length has offered lush lysergic hypnosis via an extended introductory drone. Far more records claim to go anywhere than actually do, but the funky piano of “No Money” and percussion and wah dream-disco of “Dancin’,” with an extra-fun keyboard line late, set up the 20-minute “Livin’ it Up,” in a way that feels like surefooted experimentalism; Elder and Valentine exploring these aural spaces with the confidence of those who’ve been out wandering across more than two decades’ worth of prior occasions. That is to say, “Livin’ it Up” is comfortable as it engages with its own unknown self, built up around a bass line and noodly solo over a drum machine with hand percussion accompanying, willfully repetitive like the opener in a way that seems to dig in and then dig in again. The 10-minute “Love From Outer Space” and nine-minute mellow-psych-but-for-the-keyboard-beat-hitting-you-in-the-face-and-maybe-a-bit-of-play-around-that-near-the-end “Rebirth” underscore the message that the ‘out there’ is the starting point rather than the destination for MV & EE, but that those brave enough to go will be gladly taken along.

MV & EE Blogspot

Ramble Records store

 

The Great Machine, Funrider

The Great Machine Funrider

Israeli trio The Great Machine — brothers Aviran Haviv (bass/vocals) and Omer Haviv (guitar/vocals) as well as drummer/vocalist Michael Izaky — find a home on Noisolution for their fifth full-length in nine years, Funrider, trading vocal duties back and forth atop songs that pare down some of the jammier ideology of 2019’s less-than-ideally-titled Greatestits, still getting spacious in side-A ender “Pocketknife” and the penultimate “Some Things Are Bound to Fail,” which is also the longest inclusion at 6:05. But the core of Funrider is in the quirk and impact of rapid-fire cuts like “Zarathustra” and “Hell & Back” at the outset, the Havivs seeming to trade vocal duties throughout to add to the variety as the rumble before the garage-rock payoff of “Day of the Living Dead” gives over to the title-track or that fuzzier take moves into “Pocketknife.” Acoustic guitar starts “Fornication Under the Consent of the King” but it becomes sprinter Europunk bombast before its two minutes are done, and with the rolling “Notorious” and grungeminded “Mountain She” ripping behind, the most unifying factor throughout Funrider is its lack of predictability. That’s no minor achievement for a band on their fifth record making a shift in their approach after a decade together, but the desert rocking “The Die” that closes with a rager snuck in amid the chug is a fitting summary of the trio’s impressive creative reach.

The Great Machine on Facebook

Noisolution store

 

Swanmay, Frantic Feel

Swanmay Frantic Feel

Following-up their 2017 debut, Stoner Circus, Austrian trio Swanmay offer seven songs and 35 minutes of new material with the self-issued Frantic Feel, finding their foundation in the bass work of Chris Kaderle and Niklas Lueger‘s drumming such that Patrick Àlvaro‘s ultra-fuzzed guitar has as strong a platform to dance all over as possible. Vocals in “The Art of Death” are suitably drunk-sounding (which doesn’t actually hurt it), but “Mashara” and “Cats and Snails” make a rousing opening salvo of marked tonal depth and keep-it-casual stoner saunter, soon also to be highlighted in centerpiece “Blooze.” On side B, “Stone Cold” feels decidedly more like it has its life together, and “Old Trails” tightens the reins from there in terms of structure, but while closer “Dead End” stays fuzzy and driving like the two songs before, the noise quotient is upped significantly by the time it’s done, and that brings back some of the looser swing of “Mashara” or “The Art of Death.” But when Swanmay want to be — and that’s not all the time, to their credit — they are massively heavy, and they put that to raucous use with a production that is accordingly loud and vibrant. Seems simple reading a paragraph, maybe, but the balance they strike in these songs is a difficult one, and even if it’s just for the guitar and bass tones, Frantic Feel demands an audience.

Swanmay on Facebook

Swanmay on Bandcamp

 

Garden of Ash, Garden of Ash

Garden of Ash self-titled

“Death will come swiftly to those who are weak,” goes the crooning verse lyric from Garden of Ash‘s “Death Valley” at the outset of the young Edmonton, Alberta, trio’s self-titled, self-released debut full-length. Bassist Kristina Hunszinger delivers the line with due severity, but the Witch Mountain-esque slow nod and everybody-dies lyrics of “A Cautionary Tale” show more of the tongue-in-cheek point of view of the lyrics. The plot thickens — or at very least hits harder — when the self-recorded outing’s metallic production style is considered. In the drums of Levon Vokins — who also provides backing vocals as heard on “Roses” and elsewhere — the (re-amped) guitar of Zach Houle and even in the mostly-sans-effects presentation of Hunszinger‘s vocals as well as their placement at the forefront of the mix, it’s heavy metal more than heavy rock, but as Vokins takes lead vocals in “World on Fire” with Hunszinger joining for the chorus, the riff is pure boogie and the earlier “Amnesia” fosters doomly swing, so what may in the longer term be a question of perspective is yet unanswered in terms of are they making the sounds they want to and pushing into trad metal genre tenets, or is it just a matter of getting their feet under them as a new band? I don’t know, but songs and performance are both there, so this first full-length does its job in giving Garden of Ash something from which to move forward while serving notice to those with ears to hear them. Either way, the bonus track “Into the Void” is especially notable for not being a Black Sabbath cover, and by the time they get there, that’s not at all the first surprise to be had.

Garden of Ash on Facebook

Garden of Ash on Bandcamp

 

Tidal, The Bends

Tidal The Bends

Checking in at one second less and 15 minutes flat, “The Bends” is the first release from Milwaukee-based three-piece Tidal, and it’s almost immediately expansive. With shades of El Paraiso-style jazz psych, manipulated samples and hypnotic drone at its outset, the first two minutes build into a wash with mellow keys/guitar effects (whatever, it sounds more like sax and they’re all credited with ‘noise,’ so I’m doing my best here) and it’s not until Sam Wallman‘s guitar steps forward out of the ambience surrounding at nearly four minutes deep that Alvin Vega‘s drums make their presence known. Completed by Max Muenchow‘s bass, which righteously holds the core while Wallman airs out, the roll is languid and more patient than one would expect for a first-release jam, but there’s a pickup and Tidal do get raucous as “The Bends” moves into its midsection, scorching for a bit until they quiet down again, only to reemerge at 11:10 from the ether of their own making with a clearheaded procession to carry them through the crescendo and to the letting-go-now drift of echo that caps. I hear tell they’ve got like an hour and a half of this stuff recorded and they’re going to release them one by one. They picked an intriguing one to start with as the layers of drone and noise help fill out the otherwise empty space in the instrumental jam without being overwrought or sacrificing the spontaneous nature of the track. Encouraging start. Will be ready when the next jam hits.

Tidal on Instagram

Tidal on Bandcamp

 

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Quarterly Review: Rotor, Seer of the Void, Moodoom, Altered States, Giöbia, Astral Hand, Golden Bats, Zeup, Giant Sleep, Green Yeti

Posted in Reviews on April 13th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

the-obelisk-qr-summer-2020

Oh hi, I’m pretending I didn’t see you there. Today the Spring 2023 Quarterly Review hits and — if Apollo is willing — passes the halfway point en route to 70 total records to be covered by the end of next Tuesday. Then there’s another 50 at least to come next month, so I don’t know what ‘quarter’ that’s gonna be but I don’t really have another name for this kind of roundup just sitting in my back pocket, so if we have to fudge one or expand Spring in such a way, I sincerely doubt anyone but me actually cares that it’s a little weird this time through. And I’m not even sure I care, to be honest. Surely “notice” would be a better word.

Either way, thanks for reading. Hope you’ve found something cool thus far and hope you find more today. Let’s roll.

Quarterly Review #31-40:

Rotor, Sieben

rotor 7

Seven full-lengths and a quarter-century later, it’s nigh on impossible to argue with Berlin instrumentalists Rotor. Sieben — or simply 7, depending on where you look — is their latest offering, and in addition to embracing heavy psychedelia with enough tonal warmth on “Aller Tage Abend” to remind that they’re contemporaries to Colour Haze, the seven-song/38-minute LP has room for the jazzy classic prog flashes of “Mäander” later on and the more straight-ahead fuzzy crunch of “Reibach,” which opens, and the contrast offered by the acoustic guitar and friendly roll that emerges on the closing title-track. Dug into the groove and Euro-size XXL (that’s XL to Americans) riffing of “Kahlschlag,” there’s never a doubt that it’s Rotor you’re hearing, and the same is true of “Aller Tage Abend,” the easy-nodding second half and desert-style chop of “Schabracke,” and everything else; the simple fact is that Rotor these 25 years on can be and in fact are all of these things and more besides while also being a band who have absolutely nothing to prove. Sieben celebrates their progression, the riffs at their roots, the old and new in their makeup and the mastery with which they’ve made the notion of ‘instrumental heavy rock’ so much their own. It’s a lesson gladly learned again, and 2023 is a better year with Sieben in it.

Rotor on Facebook

Noisolution website

 

Seer of the Void, Mantra Monolith

Seer of the Void Mantra Monolith

Athens-based sludge-and-then-some rockers Seer of the Void follow their successful 2020 debut, Revenant, with the more expansive Mantra Monolith, enacting growth on multiple levels, be it the production and general largesse of their sound, the songs becoming a bit longer (on average) or the ability to shift tempos smoothly between “Electric Father” and “Death is My Name” without giving up either momentum or the attitude as emphasized in the gritty vocals of bassist Greg “Maddog” Konstantaras. Side B’s “Demon’s Hand” offers a standout moment of greater intensity, but Seer of the Void are hardly staid elsewhere, whether it’s the swinging verse of “Hex” that emerges from the massive intro, or the punkish vibe underscoring the nonetheless-metal head-down chug in the eponymous “Seer of the Void.” They cap with a clearheaded fuzzy solo in “Necromancer,” seeming to answer the earlier “Seventh Son,” and thereby highlight the diversity manifest from their evolution in progress, but if one enjoyed the rougher shoves of Revenant (or didn’t; prior experience isn’t a barrier to entry), there remains plenty of that kind of tonal and rhythmic physicality in Mantra Monolith.

Seer of the Void on Facebook

Venerate Industries on Bandcamp

 

Moodoom, Desde el Bosque

Moodoom Desde el Bosque

Organic roots doom from the trio Moodoom — guitarist/vocalist Cristian Marchesi, bassist/vocalist Jonathan Callejas and drummer Javier Cervetti — captured en vivo in the band’s native Buenos Aires, Desde el Bosque is the trio’s second LP and is comprised of five gorgeous tracks of Sabbath-worshiping heavy blues boogie, marked by standout performances from Marchesi and Callejas often together on vocals, and the sleek Iommic riffing that accounts as well for the solos layered across channels in the penultimate “Nadie Bajará,” which is just three minutes long but speaks volumes on what the band are all about, which is keep-it-casual mellow-mover heavy, the six-minute titular opening/longest track (immediate points) swaggering to its own swing as meted out by Cervetti with a proto-doomly slowdown right in the middle before the lightly-funked solo comes in, and the finale “Las Maravillas de Estar Loco” (‘the wonders of being crazy,’ in English) rides the line between heavy rock and doom with no less grace, introducing a line of organ or maybe guitar effects along with the flawless groove proffered by Callejas and Cervetti. It’s only 23 minutes long, but definitely an album, and exactly the way a classic-style power trio is supposed to work. Gorgeously done, and near-infinite in its listenability.

Moodoom on Facebook

Moodoom on Bandcamp

 

Altered States, Survival

ALTERED STATES SURVIVAL

The second release and debut full-length from New Jersey-based trio Altered States runs seven tracks and 34 minutes and finds individualism in running a thread through influences from doom and heavy rock, elder hardcore and metal, resulting in the synth-laced stylistic intangibility of “A Murder of Crows” on side A and the smoothly-delivered proportion of riff in the eponymous “Altered States” later on, bassist Zack Kurland (Green Dragon, ex-Sweet Diesel, etc.) taking over lead vocals in the verse to let guitarist/synthesist Ryan Lipynsky (Unearthly Trance, Serpentine Path, The Howling Wind, etc.) take the chorus, while drummer Chris Daly (Texas is the Reason, Resurrection, 108, etc.) punctuates the urgency in opener “The Crossing” and reinforces the nod of “Cerberus.” There’s an exploration of dynamic underway on multiple levels throughout, whether it’s the guitar and keys each feeling out their space in the mix, or the guitar and bass, vocal arrangements, and so on, but with the atmospheric centerpiece “Hurt” — plus that fuzz right around the 2:30 mark before the build around the album’s title line — just two songs past the Motörheaded “Mycelium,” it’s clear that however in-development their sound may be, Altered States already want for nothing as regards reaching out from their doom rocking center, which is that much richer with multiple songwriters behind it.

Altered States on Facebook

Altered States on Bandcamp

 

Giöbia, Acid Disorder

giobia acid disorder

Opener and longest track (immediate points) “Queen of Wands” is so hypnotic you almost don’t expect its seven minutes to end, but of course they do, and Italian strange-psych whatevernauts Giöbia proceed from there to float guitar over and vocals over the crunched-down “The Sweetest Nightmare” before the breadth of “Consciousness Equals Energy” and “Screaming Souls” melds outer-rim-of-the-galaxy space prog with persistently-tripped Europsych lushness, heavy in its underpinnings but largely unrestrained by gravity or concerns for genre. Acid Disorder is the maybe-fifth long-player from the Italian cosmic rocking aural outsiders, and their willingness to dive into the unknown is writ large through the synth and organ layers and prominent strum of “Blood is Gone,” the mix itself becoming no less an instrument in the band’s collective hand than the guitar, bass, drums, vocals, etc. Ultra-fluid throughout (duh), the eight-songer tops out around 44 minutes and is an adventure for the duration, the drift of side B’s instrumental “Circo Galattico” reveling in experimentalism over a somehow-solidified rhythm while “In Line” complements in answer to “The Sweetest Nightmare” picking up from “Queen of Wands” at the outset, leaving the closing title-track on its own, which seems to fit its synth-and-sitar-laced serenity just fine. Band sounds like everything and nobody but themselves, reliably.

Giöbia on Facebook

Heavy Psych Sounds website

 

Astral Hand, Lords of Data

Astral Hand Lords of Data

Like everything, Milwaukee heavy psychedelia purveyors Astral Hand were born out of destruction. In this case, it’s the four-piece’s former outfit Calliope that went nova, resulting in the recycling of cosmic gasses and gravitational ignition wrought in the debut album Lords of Data‘s eight songs, the re-ish-born new band benefitting from the experience of the old as evidenced by the patient unfolding of side A capper “Psychedelicide,” the defining hook in “Universe Machine” and the shove-then-drone-then-shove in “End of Man” and the immersive heft in opener “Not Alone” that brings the listener deep into the nod from the very start of the first organ notes so that by the time they’ve gone as far out as the open spaces of “Navigator” and the concluding “God Emperor,” their emergent command of the ethereal is unquestionable. They work a little shuffle into that finale, which is an engaging touch, but Lords of Data — a thoroughly modern idea — isn’t limited to that any more than it is the atmospheric grandiosity and lumber of “Crystal Gate” that launches side B. One way or the other, these dudes have been at it for more than a decade going back to the start of Calliope, but Astral Hand is a stirring refresh of purpose on their part and one hopes their lordship continues to flourish. I don’t know that they’re interested in such terrestrial concerns, but they’d be a great pickup for some discerning label.

Astral Hand on Facebook

Astral Hand on Bandcamp

 

Golden Bats, Scatter Yr Darkness

Golden Bats Scatter Yr Darkness

Slow-churning intensity is the order of the day on Scatter Yr Darkness, the eight-song sophomore LP from now-Italy-based solo-outfit Golden Bats, aka Geordie Stafford, who sure enough sprinkles death, rot and no shortage of darkness across the album’s 41-minute span, telling tales through metaphor in poetic lyrics of pandemic-era miseries; civic unrest and disaffection running like a needle through split skin to join the various pieces together. Echoing shouts give emphasis to the rawness of the sludge in “Holographic Stench” and “Erbgrind,” but in that eight-minute cut there’s a drop to cinematic, not-actually-minimalist-but-low-volume string sounds, and “Breathe Misery” begins with Mellotron-ish melancholy that hints toward the synth at the culmination of “A Savage Dod” and in the middle of “Malingering,” so nothing is actually so simple as the caustic surface makes it appear. Drums are programmed and the organ in “Bravo Sinkhole” and other keys may be as well, I don’t know, but as Stafford digs into Golden Bats sonically and conceptually — be it the bareknuckle “Riding in the Captain’s Skull” at the start or the raw-throated vocal echo spread over “The Gold Standard of Suffering,” which closes — the harshness of expression goes beyond the aural. It’s been a difficult few years, admittedly.

Golden Bats on Facebook

Golden Bats on Bandcamp

 

Zeup, Mammals

zeup mammals

Straightforward in a way that feels oldschool in speaking to turn-of-the-century era heavy rock influences — big Karma to Burn vibe in the riffs of “Hollow,” and not by any means only there — the debut album Mammals from Danish trio Zeup benefits from decades of history in metal and rock on the part of drummer Morten Barth (ex-Wasted) and bassist/producer Morten Rold (ex-Beyond Serenity), and with non-Morten guitarist Jakob Bach Kristensen (also production) sharing vocals with Rold, they bring a down-to-business sensibility to their eight component tracks that can’t be faked. That’s consistent with 2020’s Blind EP (review here) and a fitting demonstration for any who’d take it on that sometimes you don’t need anything more than the basic guitar, bass, drums, vocals when the songs are there. Sure, they take some time to explore in the seven-minute instrumental “Escape” before hitting ground again in the aptly-titled slow post-hardcore-informed closer “In Real Life,” but even that is executed with clear intention and purpose beyond jamming. I’ll go with “Rising” as a highlight, but it’s a pick-your-poison kind of record, and there’s an awful lot that’s going to sound needlessly complicated in comparison.

Zeup on Facebook

Ozium Records store

 

Giant Sleep, Grounded to the Sky

giant sleep grounded to the sky

Grounded to the Sky is the third LP from Germany’s Giant Sleep, and with it the band hones a deceptively complex scope drawn together in part by vocalist Thomas Rosenmerkel, who earns the showcase position with rousing blues-informed performances on the otherwise Tool-ish prog metal title-track and the later-Soundgardening leadoff before it, “Silent Field.” On CD and digital, the record sprawls across nearly an hour, but the vinyl edition is somewhat tighter, leaving off “Shadow Walker” and “The Elixir” in favor of a 43-minute run that puts the 4:43 rocker “Sour Milk” in the closer position, not insubstantially changing the personality of the record. Founded by guitarist Patrick Hagmann, with Rosenmerkel in the lineup as well as guitarist/backing vocalist Tobias Glanzmann (presumably that’ll be him in the under-layer of “Siren Song”), bassist Radek Stecki and drummer Manuel Spänhauer, they sound full as a five-piece and are crisp in their production and delivery even in the atmospherically minded “Davos,” which dares some float and drift along with a political commentary and feels like it’s taking no fewer chances in doing so, and generally come across as knowing who they are as a band and what they want to do with their sound, then doing it. In fact, they sound so sure, I’m not even certain why they sent the record out for review. They very obviously know they nailed what they were going for, and yes, they did.

Giant Sleep on Facebook

Czar of Crickets Productions website

 

Green Yeti, Necropolitan

Green Yeti Necropolitan

It’s telling that even the CD version of Green Yeti‘s Necropolitan breaks its seven tracks down across two sides. The Athens trio of guitarist/vocalist Michael Andresakis, bassist Dani Avramidis and drummer Giannis Koutroumpis touch on psychedelic groove in the album-intro “Syracuse” before turning over to the pure post-Kyuss rocker “Witch Dive,” which Andresakis doing an admirable John Garcia in the process, before the instrumental “Jupiter 362” builds tension for five minutes without ever exploding, instead giving out to the quiet start of side A’s finish in “Golgotha,” which likewise builds but turns to harsher sludge rock topped by shouts and screams in the midsection en route to an outright cacophonous second half. That unexpected turn — really, the series of them — makes it such that as the bass-swinging “Dirty Lung” starts its rollout on side B, you don’t know what’s coming. The answer is half-Sleepy ultra-burl, but still. “Kerosene” stretches out the desert vibe somewhat, but holds a nasty edge to it, and the nine-minute “One More Bite,” which closes the record, has a central nod but feels at any moment like it might swap it for further assault. Does it? It’s worth listening to the record front to back to find out. Hail Greek heavy, and Green Yeti‘s willingness to pluck from microgenre at will is a good reason why.

Green Yeti on Facebook

Green Yeti on Bandcamp

 

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Daily Thompson Announce Spring Tour Dates

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 17th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Daily Thompson (Photo by Jonas Wenz)

Here’s a thing I know: Daily Thompson are a good time. I was lucky enough to learn this first-hand at last year’s Freak Valley Festival (review here) where they appeared supporting their 2022 LP, God of Spinoza (review here), which is a performance they apparently thought enough of to release it as a live album last month. Having been there, I can’t argue, and while the raw audio from that recording by Rockpalast can’t necessarily account for the visually-palpable fun the three-piece have on stage — not every band actually looks like the members enjoy each other’s company; Daily Thompson pretty clearly do — the songs themselves have plenty enough bounce to carry through a sense of the impression.

They’ve announced a live stint for the Spring that will take place in May, and that’s built around a slot at the prestigious Desertfest Berlin, which it feels redundant to say will be awesome having already noted the name of the festival. More likely than not, Daily Thompson will have more dates coming as they keep momentum on their side heading into the rest of this year. Perhaps a corresponding Fall tour would make sense and let them hit even more fests? Yeah, they might just want to go ahead and book it now, just to be safe.

Here’s their post and the ticket link, should you happen to be in the area when the time comes:

Daily Thompson tour banner

Welcome to 23, rock lovers!

We are super excited to announce our first tour and we are super excited for everything to come this year, it’s going to be a good one!

We are so excited to announce our first tour of the year!!! More to come, stay tuned!

Tickets (#128071#)
https://linktr.ee/TICKETS_dailythompson_live

25.03. – Erfurt / VEB Culture
04.05. – Aschaffenburg / Colossum
17.05. – Hannover / LUX
18.05. – Kiel / Showcase
19.05. – Bremen / Customs canteen
20.05. – Backnang / JUZE
21.05. – Berlin / Desertfest
23.05. – Leipzig / Moritzbastei
24.05. – Langenberg / KGB
26.05. – Open See Festival / Konstanz
27.05. – Karlsruhe / P8

https://www.facebook.com/dailythompson.band/
https://www.instagram.com/dailythompson_/
https://twitter.com/dailythompson1
https://dailythompson.bigcartel.com/
https://dailythompsonband.bandcamp.com/

http://www.noisolution.de/
https://www.facebook.com/noisolution
https://www.instagram.com/noisolution/

Daily Thompson, Live at Freak Valley 2022 (2022)

Daily Thompson, God of Spinoza (2022)

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Rotor to Release Sieben Feb. 15; Spring Tour Announced

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 27th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

rotor

Suitably enough, Rotor‘s impending Sieben is the follow-up to 2018’s Sechs (review here), and if you’re wondering why that’s suitable, it’s because ‘sieben’ is ‘seven’ in German, and ‘sechs’ is ‘six.’ It is — wait for it — their seventh album. Noisolution has the release and will have a limited-to-100 special edition up for sale through their store starting on Jan. 15. Those preorder links are below.

Okay, so maybe obvious plot points here are obvious. Nonetheless, Rotor‘s continual progression as a four-piece presents something to look forward to hearing — no audio yet; so it goes — and if you happen to be in Germany or the surrounding area in April, they’ve got two weeks of tour dates lined up to support the record that no doubt will be accompanied by festival gigs and other doings throughout the rest of 2023. I’m also pretty sure 2023 marks 25 years of the band, so can’t help but wonder if they might not have some celebration in mind for that too. There’s a lot of year to come, so I guess we’ll find out.

From socials and Noisolution‘s page:

rotor 7

ROTOR – Sieben

Deluxe edition preorder: https://www.noisolution.de/shop/Vinyl/Rotor-Sieben-LP-CLUB-100-Edition-limitiert-180gr-rotes-Vinyl-Kunst-Siebdruck-signiertes-Foto-auf-Silberpapier-Sticker::355.html

Black LP edition preorder: https://www.noisolution.de/shop/Vinyl/Rotor-Sieben-LP-Schwarzes-Vinyl-140-gr::354.html

After five years they are back and the number game continues. The seventh album is now the third since 2015 as a quartet and what started with “Fünf” and got its own sound with the addition of the second guitarist Martin has been refined over and over again. The production – again by Charlie Paschen (Coogan’s Bluff) – has become bigger, lighter and more transparent, while the rhythm section shows itself grooving heavily and unimpressed by all this and ROTOR continues to look massive like old bunkers in the Berlin cityscape.

Tracklisting:
1. Reibach
2. Auf Grund
3. Aller Tage Abend
4. Schabracke
5. Mäander
6. Kahlschlag
7. Sieben

ROTOR – a phenomenon in the alternative rock scene that swims stubbornly, stubbornly and eccentrically against the tide.

ROTOR Sieben Tour 2023
15.04 Leipzig DE Conne Island
16.04 Hannover Mephisto
17.04 Rostock Jaz
18.04 Hamburg DE Knust
19.04 Nijmegen Merleyn
20.04 Luxembourg Kulturfabrik
21.04 Köln Gebäude 9
22.04 Mannheim Forum
24.04 Wintherthur Gaswerk
25.04 München Feierwerk
26.04 Wien Arena
27.04 Nürnberg Z-Bau
28.04 Linz Kapu
29.04 Dresden Chemiefabrik

https://www.facebook.com/rotor.berlin
http://rotor1.bandcamp.com/
http://rotorotor.de/rotor-band

http://www.noisolution.de/
https://www.facebook.com/noisolution
https://www.instagram.com/noisolution/

Rotor, Sechs (2018)

Rotor, Sieben album teaser

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Samavayo Release Songs for the Iranian People Benefit Compilation

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 30th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Drawing on material from this year’s Pāyān (review here), 2018’s Vatan (review here), 2016’s Dakota (review here), and 2012’s Soul Invictus, Berlin-based heavy rock three-piece Samavayo — led by Iranian-born guitarist/vocalist Behrang Alavi — have released Songs for the Iranian People, a benefit compilation put together in support of the protests in Iran in the wake of the state killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, whose alleged crime was wearing her hijab improperly.

The West — which is mostly to say white people in Europe and the US — has made its don’t-give-a-shit feelings plain. While protesters are slaughtered by an oppressive government and a generation struggles bravely to make its voice heard, people who look like me sit on ass, shake head and say oh isn’t that a shame. Even the generally liberal-minded seem willing to forget at a moment’s non-notice that this is happening. One hates to think that’s because it’s all too common.

Proceeds from this release go to support Iranian women. History tells us time and again that if you want to improve the quality of life in a place — and no, that does not mean “Westernize” it — the way to do it is educate and support women. So, fucking throw a little support. No one’s asking the universe here, and wherever you land on the political spectrum, hopefully at least we can agree that a government assassinating its own populace is a thing to rally against.

From Samavayo:

samavayo songs for the iranian people

SAMAVAYO – Songs for the Iranian People

The people in Iran are fighting for their freedom and a normal life, like we know in western democracies. The women in Iran are fighting for their equality and against the brutal treatment by the Mullah regime.

It’s important to show solidarity around the globe, to hear their voices and do whatever possible to support this movement.

We are collecting money to donate it to an organization supporting women. All revenues from our digital release “Songs for the Iranian People” are donated. These songs are about freedom, the end of the bad, the hope for the good and the rebuild of one’s home!

1. Payan (LP PAYAN, 2022)
2. Talagh (LP PAYAN, 2022)
3. Vatan (LP VATAN, 2018)
4. Arezooye Bahar (LP DAKOTA 2016)
5. Roozhaye Roshan (LP Soul Invictus 2012)

These Persian songs from our various albums are dedicated to the Iranian People standing up and fighting for their freedom! “Women! Life! Freedom!”

All the revenues from this digital album will be donated to “Women’s E-Learning in Leadership, WELL”

www.paypal.com/paypalme/Iranianwomen

Samavayo is:
Stephan Voland (Drums, Vocals)
Andreas Voland (Bass, Vocals)
Behrang Alavi (Vocals, Guitar)

https://www.facebook.com/samavayo/
https://www.instagram.com/samavayo/
https://www.samavayo.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/samavayo

http://www.noisolution.de/
https://www.facebook.com/noisolution
https://www.instagram.com/noisolution/

Samavayo, Songs for the Iranian People (2022)

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Daily Thompson to Release Live at Freak Valley 2022 Dec. 2

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 3rd, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Daily Thompson

Yeah, this is gonna be one to check out. Particularly, I’ll be interested to hear if the smiles on the faces of Daily Thompson‘s members come through in the audio of what was their set at this year’s Freak Valley Festival (review here) as recorded by the legit-legendary Rockpalast, where the trio were clearly having at least a good a time as the crowd in that hot sunshine. It was quite a show, and kind of changed my impression of the band’s studio work as well.

So yes, let me go ahead and agree with myself twice for saying I am looking forward to hearing a live album of a show I was at. And please, stay tuned for more groundbreaking insights from The Obelisk. Your home for riffs and navelgazing, worldwide.

Or some such.

Daily Thompson also just wrapped up an 11-date tour were among those announced for Desertfest Berlin 2023 (info here) as well, so hey, right on. Before then, they’ll pay a visit Dec. 10 to Freak Valley X-Mas Fest, and I wouldn’t be surprised if more showed up before or concurrent to Desertfest either.

They announced Live at Freak Valley 2022 thusly:

Daily Thompson Live at Freak Valley 2022

DAILY THOMPSON – Live at Freak Valley 2022

Here we gooooo ⚡ this is the cover of our new record! We gonna release our very first live album “Daily Thompson live at Freak Valley 2022” December 2nd via Noisolution

It will be a super limited special edition, only 600 pieces! 300 on white (#129293#) and 300 on black vinyl (#128420#) There will be no repress, when gone it`s gone (of course it will be available on your favourite streaming platforms).

Next week we will start the preorder and of course we will have something to watch for you, but more kool things next week!

We have to say that it was a lie when we said last Saturday was the last show of the year, because the lovely FREAK VALLEY FESTIVAL Crew invited us to celebrate the release at their legendary Freak Valley Xmas Fest 2022 December 10th with a bunch of rad bands!

Huge thanks to FREAK Valley Festival, Rock Freaks , WDR Rockpalast and Tony Reed for mixing and mastering all the tracks. And of course to our label Noisolution!

Also thanks to everyone involved:
Artwork @rrandom.landd
Design Kabine 7
Pics by Jonas Wenz Django Foto and Robert Lesic Photography

https://www.facebook.com/dailythompson.band/
https://www.instagram.com/dailythompson_/
https://twitter.com/dailythompson1
https://dailythompson.bigcartel.com/
https://dailythompsonband.bandcamp.com/

http://www.noisolution.de/
https://www.facebook.com/noisolution
https://www.instagram.com/noisolution/

Daily Thompson, God of Spinoza (2022)

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Samavayo Announce Nov. Tour Dates & Rockpalast Performance

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 20th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

It wasn’t how they planned it at the outset, but you can’t say Samavayo haven’t made the most of their opportunities thus far to support their best work to-date in their Pāyān LP (review here) — there’s a new lyric video for the title-track that you can see at the bottom of this post, done in support of Iranian protestors following the death of Mahsa Amini — and its immediately-on-in-my-head title hook. The three-piece will head out next month again to herald the record’s worthy cause in Germany, the Netherlands and France, and this of course follows the run they did in July and August, which took them to SonicBlast Moledo. Dudes are kind of killing it. Well damn.

This tour starts in Homberg and wraps in Köln (Cologne) at RippleFest, where they’ll join the likes of Colour Haze, Mr. Bison, Plainride and more. Good show. More on it is here.

And here’s this from the PR wire:

samavayo tour poster square

SAMAVAYO – PĀYĀN TOUR 2022 Vol. II

After our great summer festival shows and recently Desertfest Belgium (Antwerp) we can’t wait to play our November gigs with our new album PĀYĀN and come back to the Netherlands and France after some years! It will be a cool mix of festivals and club shows and as you see we will be meeting a lot of cool bands and friends!

PĀYĀN TOUR 2022 vol. II
11.11. MUSIKSCHUTZGEBIET / HOMBERG DE
12.11. CHECK YOUR HEAD / DORTMUND DE + Rotor, No Man’s Valley
13.11. BURGERWEESHUIS / DEVENTER NL + Bismut, Temple Fang
14.11. FUNDBUREAU / HAMBURG DE + Hundert
16.11. EFFENAAR / EINDHOVEN NL + The Machine
17.11. CAVEAU / MAINZ DE + Motor Mammoth
18.11. GLAZART / PARIS FR + Mr. Bison
19.11. WESTILL VI / VALLET FR + Mr. Bison, Greenleaf & more
26.11. RIPPLE FEST / KÖLN DE + Mr. Bison, Colour Haze, Plainride & more

samavayo airport rockpalast

Offstage

We are very proud to be part of Rockpalast history, which has produced so many great TV rock shows and also pretty excited to see how our live power and energy is transported through online streams and TV. 

Online Premiere Saturday, 22.10. 18 cet https://www1.wdr.de/fernsehen/rockpalast/back-home-corona-sessions/samavayo-rockpalast-offstage-zweiundzwanzig-100.html

Also on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOzfaPAriXg

And FB. On German TV in the night Sunday to Monday at 2:10 cet (Monday, Oct 24th) on channel “WDR.”

Due to the situation in Iran and the murder of Mahsa Amini (and meanwhile more people) we decided to put out a mostly lyrical video in support of the people and to make a statement on Mahsa Amini’s death.

Samavayo is:
Stephan Voland (Drums, Vocals)
Andreas Voland (Bass, Vocals)
Behrang Alavi (Vocals, Guitar)

https://www.facebook.com/samavayo/
https://www.instagram.com/samavayo/
https://www.samavayo.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/samavayo

http://www.noisolution.de/
https://www.facebook.com/noisolution
https://www.instagram.com/noisolution/

Samavayo, “Pāyān” lyric video

Samavyo, Pāyān (2022)

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