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Friday Full-Length: Sleep, The Sciences

Posted in Bootleg Theater on April 14th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

What a day to be alive was April 20, 2018, when Sleep released The Sciences (review here). Five years ago as of next week. Their first studio album since they unveiled the complete Dopesmoker (discussed here) in 2003 and some nine years since their reunion first got underway with a couple sets at the curated All Tomorrow’s Parties fest playing their by-then-the-stuff-of-legend 1992 album, Sleep’s Holy Mountain (reissue review here), in its entirety. And they just dropped it. No fanfare, no advance notice. It wasn’t there and then it was. Like a Beyoncé or Taylor Swift record. Brilliant.

They had released the standalone single “The Clarity” (review here) in 2014, so it wasn’t the first new music from the trio of bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros, guitarist Matt Pike and drummer Jason Roeder — who had entire other careers going anyway in OmHigh on Fire and Neurosis, respectively — but if it was ever going to happen, they were due after years of steady touring, fest appearances, a generation’s worth of influence on acts working almost entirely in their wake, and so on. The release was an event. All the more so because the record didn’t suck.

Self-produced with engineering and mixing by Noah Landis (Neurosis), The Sciences runs a statistically significant six songs and 53 minutes. Captured as a 2LP, it makes side-consuming highlights of its three longer tracks — “Sonic Titan” (12:27), “Antarcticans Thawed” (14:23) and “Giza Butler” (10:03); ordered on CD with the latter two switched — while bookending with the three-minute feedback titular intro “The Sciences” before the bong-hit-and-go beginning of “Marijuanaut’s Theme” (6:40) announces the actual start of the record, and “The Botanist” closes with a duly bombed jam, languid in its unfolding, topped with a ripper solo from Pike as one would hope, and brought to a deceptively gentle finish of drums and feedback.

Between one end and the other, Sleep lived up to and arguably surpassed the impossible expectations of what a new album from them could be. Dug into a stonerized mythology of lyrics that connected “Sonic Titan” (which had been around as a live track since Dopesmoker) to “Holy Mountain” and “Giza Butler” to signature pieces like “Dragonaut” and “Dopesmoker” — to which it seemed to be a direct sequel and a worthy one in its riff — The Sciences unfurled as slab-massive and addled, a hybrid-strain culmination of Pike‘s sativa energy and the mellow indica of Cisneros‘ vocal storytelling and proclamations of weed-worshiping brilliance like, “through Iommosphere chutes deploy capsule splash down on the T-H-sea/To raft/Row the hash oil leagues to shoreline,” from “Marijuanaut’s Theme” set to the only nod that could contain them in Roeder‘s rollout.

A triumph, then, by virtue of its existence as well as its substance. “Sonic Titan” is more riff than lyric, but picks up from the end of “Marijuanaut’s Theme” with a declarative purpose just the same and is hypnotic enough in its first five minutes before the bass introduces the verse line that when the vocals start the feeling of arrival is palpable. “Look onto Zion, though it can’t be seen/Man on the moon cannot help me see,” are the words, and they’re plenty since the focus is the lumbering riff that coincides and carries through the rest of the song, changing at around nine minutes in to give a bounce that serves well under Pike‘s solo and feels like a precursor to “Giza Butler” to come, while giving justification to what had only been a live bonus cut on thesleep the sciences 2003 Dopesmoker CD before that.

Similarly, “Antarcticans Thawed” had been around for years by the time it showed up on The Sciences, played at shows and spread through various live clips and bootlegs. Again I’ll note that the vinyl puts it ahead of “Giza Butler,” which suits both its forward shove and the way its massive midsection builds on “Sonic Titan,” the jam-ish noise that ends establishing it that much more as its own side. That positioning is important because it also gives “Giza Butler” its due as the culmination of the album, which it very much is, stoned and drawn out at the start, most-righteous in its riff, Sabbath worthy in its putting-it-plainly payoff: “Marijuana is his light and his salvation” with a march that feels like they’ve been saving it for just such an occasion. Between the pterodactyl flying again and the CBDeacon, the shopping cart chariot and the Iommic Pentecost, the lyrics seem to answer “Dopesmoker”‘s exaltation to drop out of life with bong in hand by making the real world — guy living under a bridge getting high — no less epic than the ‘rifftual’ put on display by PikeCisneros and Roeder throughout. It is the full-bore manifestation of stoner metal glory. The apex. The communion. The tree that is also both the root and the leaf.

And then, because they’re Sleep and they can, they tack on “The Botanist” as a kind of half-song epilogue jam, to underscore the screw-it-let’s-get-high proselytizing by living it. Fair enough. The band would continue to tour throughout 2018 and 2019, and Third Man Records, which issued The Science, offered the complementary single “Leagues Beneath” (review here) in 2018 and the sprawling 4LP Live at Third Man Records (review here) in 2019. They ended that year by announcing they’d enter ‘Hypersleep’ —  a till-whenever hiatus — in Jan. 2020. This of course would turn out to be well timed to everyone’s everything also taking a hiatus, not that they planned it that way.

The last couple years have found Cisneros continuing solo work in a dub vein for Drag City amid persistent-over-a-span-of-years rumors of a new Om full-length, Pike launching his Pike vs. the Automaton project and currently making a new High on Fire record, and Roeder largely quiet as Neurosis came apart last year, though really what is there to say. Sleep haven’t been completely absent, however, and the specter of another round of touring is never really gone, even five years after The Sciences first splashed down on the listeners who didn’t know they were waiting for it. I don’t think they’ll thud another record like that anytime soon, but it’s kind of comforting not to know that for sure. Universe of infinite possibility, etc.

Seemed like an anniversary worth marking. As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

Ah jeez.

Thanks if you’ve kept up with the Quarterly Review thus far. Thanks if you read that thing about Gimme Metal. Thanks in general. As you might guess, it’s been kind of an up and down week.

But I’ve said what I wanted to say about it and the rest is nothing new. Life shit. I’ll spend later today continuing to work on QR stuff for Monday and then later next week review Fuzz Sagrado, Black Moon Circle and Dozer, because I’m stupid and don’t believe in days off.

I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Don’t forget to drink water. Watch your head. If it’s nice where you are, enjoy the weather. I spent a decent portion of time outside this week for a dude who also spends so much time staring at a laptop screen. You do what you gotta, on all levels.

FRM.

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Michael Smario of Monster God

Posted in Questionnaire on April 4th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Michael Smario of Monster God

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Michael Smario of Monster God

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

I love this question because this has been up for debate for some time. Not a huge fan of “genre” labels or categories. Monster God the band started with Kyuss and “stoner” metal as its main influence then morphed into something completely different. My writing style incorporates a lot of different styles from Doom to Stoner to bands like Neurosis who is a huge influence for me. It all comes full circle though because I feel like everything all comes back to Black Sabbath lol. All three of us grew up in the heyday of the bay area California metal scene. Our bass player Mike Kauffman was the founding member of the thrash band Defiance and our drummer Karl and me played in a band called Inhalent with Harald O (now former D.R.I. bassist) all throughout the ’90s. Karl and myself after a 10-year hiatus decided to start playing music together again in like 2017 and Monster God formed from that past relationship.

Describe your first musical memory.

Honestly, I think KISS was the first band I really fell in love with. One of my father’s employees handed me the dressed to kill album when I was like 6 and it was all downhill from there! After that Black Sabbath, AC/DC then on into Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Scorpions etc. When I heard Accept Fast as a Shark that blew me away then I heard Kill Em All from Metallica and that was that. I took drum lessons early on because I loved Peter Criss then that led into playing guitar when I was like 12 I think.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

The first thing that came to mind when I read this was seeing KISS in 1979. Feeling the heat from the flames and that stage show had a huge affect on me.

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

I was raised Lutheran, went to Sunday school, and took communion and all that jazz. I had a good friend of mine; really cool guy and he was Jewish. One time in Sunday school, I asked the Pastor, “I have a friend who is Jewish, since he does not accept Jesus as his lord what will happen to him when he dies?” The Pastor said straight up, “unless he accepts Jesus as his lord and savior he was going to hell.” It was at that very moment I decided the whole religion thing was not for me and shattered a lot of what I thought were truths.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Enlightenment. Release. Evolution in ideas and thoughts. Growth as a person.

How do you define success?

Waking up on this side of the dirt lol. I battle with depression so getting through the day with a smile is success for me. Enjoying time with the people I love. Musical success? I have already achieved what I consider success, I play music and recorded music. I never wanted to make money or be famous doing this, seemed too far out of reach, especially at my age now!

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

When I was younger, I drove tow truck for a company for while and we had the fatality contract. Basically, if there was a car accident and someone was killed, we had to do the tow. Seen a few dead bodies but one in particular sticks out. An entire family was hit on the interstate, Mom, Dad and two small children in car seats. The car burst into flames, and they were all burned to a crisp. I had to hook up that car with the bodies still inside and get the car to the side of the road where they could tarp it off the do the body extractions. Seeing those kids burned up was really hard and stuck with me.

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

I have always wanted to write and record an acoustic solo album and let that side of my creativity flow.

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

Sanity. Music – listening to and playing music, that’s my safe space. Creating and fostering emotions, good and bad. Visual art as well, but music is really my form of expression as well as my release and escape from depression. When I am really feeling down though the number one rule is “DO NOT listen to Alice in Chains Dirt,” that album can send my into a spiral emotional because it is so fucking raw. Down in Hole, Rain when I Die, man those songs hurt to listen to now. Masterpiece of pain and struggle right there.

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

Watching my boys grow up. Waking up tomorrow! lol

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https://monstergod1.bandcamp.com/

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Monster God, Clouds of Grey (2022)

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Andrés Ruiz of False Figure

Posted in Questionnaire on March 27th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

FALSE FIGURE (Photo by Hera Burgess)

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Andrés Ruiz of False Figure

Describe your first musical memory.

When I was born til I was about five or so, my dad and his brothers and friends would play folk music from the Andes. There would be like nine of them in total, playing with various instruments from pan flutes and open ended flutes, small lutes, goat hooves strung together to make a rattle. And all together in harmony I remember it sounding loud and beautiful, tapped into something ethereal for me and left a lasting impression on how music can make you feel. The genre itself is very epic for lack of a better term, in the ’70s and ’80s there was a surge of Andean neo-folk bands that surprisingly got a lot of attention in Japan of all places. That genre still permeated to other parts of the music world, no doubt you have heard Llorando Se Fue originally by Los Kjarkas as it’s been emulated by producers writing pop hits for decades. Alt-rockers Sun City Girls even did their interpretation in The Shining Path.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

I think my best memories come from touring and seeing or staying with old friends. It feels so special to see people you don’t usually get to hang out with on only one night a year, or sometimes even longer. Nights when your shows go well, meet up with old friends and make new ones and leave the next day feeling refreshed are great and make it worth it to me.

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

I can’t think of anything off the top of my head, maybe I’m dense or stubborn or both.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Emancipation, insanity, who knows? I feel like creating art is a process that’s deeply cathartic, you’re reaching deep into your psyche and trying to pull a cohesive thread out of it, just enough of a stable platform that you can build something on it. Sometimes you obsess over details ad nauseam and it wears you down. Other times you go to work and end up frustrated, like you’re digging through a pitch black basement without a light. But the times when the ink meets the paper and you’re in a creative flow state, essentially on autopilot as your eyes or ears salivate at what you’re creating, that’s the really validating stuff. It feels like you finally excised a demon, you’ve broken a threshold and come out a stronger person. You just can’t force it though. It happens when it happens.

How do you define success?

You can’t. There’s no way to summarily account for every net gain or loss from anything you do in life. We just are whether we like it or not. Some people make 150k a year and don’t do shit else besides watching netflix in their nice apartment and are perfectly cool with that. Others break their backs for $18/hr at their jobs and like it (or convinced themselves they do) the conflict comes from when you want to change all that and the reality is that many of us are stuck on the latter side of the spectrum, earning low wages, working dead end jobs. It’s hard to find the balance, the way our society is organized doesn’t allow for that balance. Then again that’s been the story of human nature since recorded history. I think making it into my 30’s in one piece with a place to live and food on the table while still allowing me to play music between jobs is as good as it’s gonna get and that’s okay with me. As long as they let me keep my teeth.

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

I wish I wasn’t so numb to seeing human beings dying on the street.

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

I’d love to facilitate a public space. Common spaces, DIY venues, places with low barriers for access for people to throw shows, throw parties, etc. We have some of that here but the atmosphere is very militant or dry. I think having fun is essential to keep from burning out.

Back to music, I think about learning how to be a better sound engineer and translate the shit I hear in my head to my ears.

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

Hard to say, I think it depends on every specific artist and even then I think there are many worthy functions and ways to experience art. Art is political, often humanizing very difficult circumstances that are felt by an array of people that may upset the status quo or bolster the plight of a group that’s suffering, Dorothy Lange’s depression photos as an example. I think ultimately you’re looking to evoke a response from someone experiencing your art. You may create a spectacle of yourself, or convey bad emotions through abrasive sounds and while it’s purely cathartic to you to exorcise whatever you’re ailing from, having someone sympathize or even like it is irrelevant. The most successful artists cast the widest nets but sometimes it’s only meant for a few hundred people or dozens, or no one at all as getting it out was its sole purpose.

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

My grandma just got out of surgery, hoping she recovers well and I get to see her while she’s still alive.

http://www.facebook.com/FalseFigure
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http://www.falsefigure.bandcamp.com
http://www.falsefigure.bigcartel.com

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False Figure, Castigations (2022)

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Mia Dean of Blood Moon Wedding (Plus Video Premiere!)

Posted in Bootleg Theater, Questionnaire on March 7th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

BLOOD MOON WEDDING by Kristin Cofer

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Mia Dean of Blood Moon Wedding

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

I access vibrations and ideas, and I try to weave an atmosphere around them. I put together abstract thoughts about the human condition and express them in song, and then I sing them to you, as beautifully as I can.

Describe your first musical memory.

My grandmother playing an upright piano with sunlight shining through the window singing Killing Me Softly. She had an incredible gift, she couldn’t read music, but could learn any song by ear. She would sit at the piano and sing us songs. My dad would do the same, but they were cowboy songs. He played an Ovation guitar, and then later a Martin, on which he taught me to play my first song, which was The Streets of Laredo.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Singing with Steve is an absolute joy. I feel like I can express myself with my voice and with his. It’s like incorporating the divine masculine into my singing personality. I love to find the unity in our voices and there is a sweet spot when the two voices resonate together and that is what it is all about. Feeling that buzzing connection of energy.

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

When I was 22 I got married for the first time. I was immediately, immensely unhappy, but I had been raised religious and at that time believed I would have to stay married no matter what. Thankfully about two years later, I broke up that marriage and broke up with religion. So I guess that is really two firm beliefs that were tested and also found to be wrong for me.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

I think it leads to greater self discovery and understanding of the world around you. The mysteries of life, the intricacies of love, and the connection of all things.

How do you define success?

Being able to support yourself, your family, and your community doing something you love.

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

I’ve seen violence that I wish I hadn’t seen. That I wish didn’t exist. I’ve seen a man fall fifteen feet in front of me and almost die. I’ve seen deliberate and intentional betrayal of the worst kind. I’ve seen tents filled with people that have no where else to go. I have seen rich cities that look the other way and don’t offer services. I’ve seen vacant houses owned by banks that should be housing people. I have seen wealth inequality. I have seen a man get laid off from a warehouse job become homeless and start sleeping in the doorway of his former employer, and then die within five months from the cold. I’ve seen atrocities. We see them every day. I want to know, what are we going to do about it?

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

I have something doomier inside me that is percolating. I look forward to expressing those ideas. But, I am also excited to make another Blood Moon Wedding album and to continue making the Blood Moon Wedding film.

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

Expansion. Enrichment. Connection. Creating Beauty. Exposing monsters. Accessing that which is divine. Communing with each other. Healing the beings on this planet. Expressing human truths. Helping others to feel seen.

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

I am looking forward to being back in England this summer. I used to say that I wanted to be in an international art community like Picasso and Cocteau in the 1940’s, and travel around to each other’s homes for months at a time, making art, having laughs, and discussing ideas. That wish came true for me and it is endlessly fulfilling.

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Blood Moon Wedding, “HEY MIA DO YOU REMEMBER?” video premiere

Mia Dean on “HEY MIA DO YOU REMEMBER?”:

This song came out like a dream. We were experiencing very spiritual altered states while writing this album. This came out as a stream of conscious idea from Steve and then the harmonies exploded out of me. It’s kind of a sinister tale, but it builds into the repetitive “the moon came up.. the stars came out…” I think we’ve all felt that sense of awe and wonder in our lives before, no matter what our circumstances.

Steve Lake on “HEY MIA DO YOU REMEMBER?”:

It takes place in Death Valley and Lone Pine. They used to make cowboy movies in Lone Pine. Its full of mythologies, ancient and modern. And Death Valley is one of the most spectacularly beautiful places in the universe. But there’s a reason they call it Death Valley. We tried to capture that with the record.

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Review & Full Album Premiere: Blackwülf, Thieves and Liars

Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on February 1st, 2023 by JJ Koczan

Blackwülf Thieves and Liars

[Click play above to stream Blackwülf’s Thieves and Liars in full. Album is out this Friday, Feb. 3, on Ripple Music.]

Now a decade past their first getting together and five years on from their most recent studio release, Oakland, California’s Blackwülf present their fourth album, Thieves and Liars, as their third release via local-to-them outlet Ripple Music. It is the follow-up to 2018’s Sinister Sides (review here), which saw the band collaborate across multiple tracks with founding Bedemon/Pentagram guitarist Geof O’Keefe, and the first Blackwülf offering since the band became a five-piece with guitarist Jesse Rosales joining the established foursome of vocalist Alex Cunningham, guitarist Peter Holmes, bassist Scott Peterson, and drummer Dave Pankenier. Dark in mood and, with a couple notable exceptions, stripped to a core of Sabbathian heavy rock/metal — you’ll hear the transition to the solo from “War Pigs” in “Killing Kind,” and the subsequent title-track plays off the first half of the intro to “Heaven and Hell,” etc.; all duly individualized enough to catch ears of those who’d recognize them but be otherwise the band’s own — the album makes memorable impressions with melodies born out of grunge-era-but-not-quite-grunge styles, Cunningham channeling his inner Layne Staley circa Facelift on opener and lead single “Shadow” while Holmes and Rosales work together for a particularly Dehumanizer-feeling but still kind of C.O.C.-ish central riff.

This is familiar enough ground for Blackwülf, who’ve been dug into classic metal and heavy all along, but the particularly proto-metal spirit they bring to later pieces like the penultimate “Brother” and closer “Cries of a Dying Star” feels like a push toward newer ground than some of the harder-edged early cuts, though no doubt part of that comes from the sprawl side B of Thieves and Liars is given through the inclusion of eight-minute two-parter “Psychonaut/Edge of Light,” interpreting multi-hued psychedelic rock first through a filter of early ’90s grit and then, after a few figurative deep breaths in its midsection, through a surprising turn to drifting, folk-ish acoustics and Mellotron.

That song takes enough of a turn that before they move on to “Brother,” they offer a spacious 48-second interlude in “Mysteries of This,” an echoing break that feels like a bridge back to the reality that is the opening riff of the next track. I can’t recall any such marked departure from Blackwülf previous, but if on their fourth full-length and first as a two-guitar outfit they’re taking the opportunity to experiment while working with producer Jesse Nichols (The Donnas, Ceremony, Ty Segall, many others), they’re certainly entitled to branch out, and it changes the scope of Thieves and Liars on the whole, pulling away some from the more disgruntled perspectives of “Shadow,” “Seems to Me,” “Killing Kind,” “Thieves and Liars” and the centerpiece “Failed Resistance” — which seems time-wise like it is the start of side B but fits thematically better on side A — and giving the each half of the album a more distinct personality. This is relative of course, as even in the beginning of “Psychonaut/Edge of Light,” Blackwülf hold to the crunching tones and urgent punk-via-metal grooves of the earlier tracks, but ‘Edge of Light’ is more than an edge, and it informs everything that comes after, even if the bulk of Thieves and Liars has already happened at that point and cast a different impression.

Is it too stark a contrast? If it was Blackwülf‘s first LP, maybe it would be, but they’re mature as a group and as players and particularly in the context of the lineup change and it being five years since their last release, it’s a reach but the color it brings makes Thieves and Liars stronger, not disjointed. This in part is because of the unflinching quality of songcraft across those earlier cuts, “Shadow” being the longest with a central progression that feels born directly out of C.O.C.‘s “Bottom Feeder (El que come abajo),” starting off not nearly slow enough to be a slog, but carrying an atmospheric weight beyond its sheer tonality as well, porting its attitude and groove to the dead-stop-then-chug of “Seems to Me” and the slower standout hook of “Killing Kind,” which once upon a time might’ve made it to radio and the upward tempo shift into the title-track, which gallops in comparison.

blackwulf (photo by Raymond Ahner)

Blackwülf in this way unify their material across that divide and enhance the overall experience such that, after hearing “Brother” and “Cries of a Dying Star,” the ’70s-style push of those songs informs how one hears and interprets the likes of “Seems to Me” and “Killing Kind” — “Shadows” remains a little more leaned specifically toward doom — deepening the album on the whole. This happens as they stay largely consistent in tone and Cunningham‘s vocals, which are by no means unipolar in range or delivery, but serve as an identifiable factor across the span.

Ultimately, the band find room in the nine songs and 37 minutes of Thieves and Liars to expand their style to places it hasn’t gone before — at very least not as it does here — while tightening the structures beneath the songs that are more in what established listeners might think of as their wheelhouse. This is the ideal growth pattern for any act who consider their audience really at all at any point in their process, blending new and old elements to give an idea of where they’re at today without abandoning what they’ve done in the past and alienating those who’ve made the journey with them thus far.

And to be sure, interaction with their audience — i.e., in a live setting — is a considerable aspect of the appeal of Thieves and Liars, and the energy brought to the songs, which border on aggressive without ever fully pushing over the top, is another piece of what draws the work together. Blackwülf are not now and have never been a band who’ve shown a ton of interest in reinventing heavy rock and roll, but they’ve always managed to issue material that has a strength of persona behind it as well as the band’s schooled-in-this sensibilities, and this collection is another vital example of their somewhat underrated appeal.

Blackwülf, “Shadow” official video

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Ripple Music website

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Quarterly Review: Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, Doctor Doom, Stones of Babylon, Alconaut, Maybe Human, Heron, My Octopus Mind, Et Mors, The Atomic Bomb Audition, Maharaja

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

quarterly-review-winter 2023

Welcome to the second week of the Quarterly Review. Last week there were 50 records covered between Monday and Friday, and barring disaster, the same thing will happen this week too. I wish I could say I was caught up after this, but yeah, no. As always, I’m hearing stuff right and left that I wish I’d had the chance to dig into sooner, but as the platitude says, you can only be in so many places at one time. I’m doing my best. If you’ve already heard all this stuff, sorry. Maybe if you keep reading you’ll find a mistake to correct. I’m sure there’s one in there somewhere.

Winter 2023 Quarterly Review #51-60:

Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, Doom Wop

RICKSHAW BILLIE'S BURGER PATROL DOOM WOP

Powered by eight-string-guitar and bass chug, Austin heavy party rockers Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol offer markedly heavy, Steve Brooks-style weight on “Doom Wop,” the title-track of their second album, and prove themselves catchy through a swath of hooks, be it opener “Heel,” “Chew” or “I’m the Fucking Man,” which, if the finale “Jesus Was an Alien” — perhaps the best, also the only, ‘Jesus doing stuff’ song I’ve heard since Ministry‘s “Jesus Built My Hotrod”; extra kudos to the band for making it about screwing — didn’t let you know the band didn’t take themselves too seriously, and their moniker didn’t even before you hit play, then there you go. Comprised of guitarist Leo Lydon, bassist Aaron Metzdorf and drummer Sean St. Germain, they’re able to tap into that extra-dense tone at will, but their songs build momentum and keep it, not really even being slowed by their own massive feel, as heard on “Chew” or “The Bog” once it kicks in, and the vocals remind a bit of South Africa’s Ruff Majik without quite going that far over the top; I’d also believe it’s pop-punk influence. Since making their debut in 2020 with Burger Babes… From Outer Space!, they’ve stripped down their songwriting approach somewhat, and that tightness works well in emphasizing the ’90s alt rock vibe of “The Room” or the chug-fuzzer “Fly Super Glide.” They had a good amount of hype leading up to the Sept. 2022 release. I’m not without questions, but I can’t argue on the level of craft or the energy of their delivery.

Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol on Facebook

Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol on Bandcamp

 

DoctoR DooM, A Shadow Called Danger

DoctoR DooM A Shadow Called Danger

French heavy rock traditionalists DoctoR DooM return following a seven-year drought with A Shadow Called Danger, their late 2022/early 2023 follow-up to 2015’s debut, This Seed We Have Sown (review here). After unveiling the single “What They Are Trying to Sell” (premiered here) as proof-of-life in 2021, the three-piece ’70s-swing their way through eight tracks and 45 minutes of vintage-mindset stylizations, touching on moody Graveyardian blues in “Ride On” and the more uptempo rocker “The Rich and the Poor” while going more directly proto-metallic on galloping opener “Come Back to Yourself and the later “Connected by the Worst.” Organ enhances the sway of the penultimate “In This Town” as part of a side B expansion that starts with tense rhythmic underlayer before the stride of “Hollow” and, because obviously, an epilogue take on Händel‘s “Sarabande” that closes. That’ll happen? In any case, DoctoR DooM — guitarist/vocalist Jean-Laurent Pasquet, guitarist Bertrand Legrand, bassist Sébastien Boutin Blomfield and drummer Michel Marcq — don’t stray too far from their central purpose, even there, and their ability to guide the listener through winding progressions is bolstered by the warmth of their tones and Pasquet‘s sometimes gruff but still melodic vocals, allowing some of the longer tracks like “Come Back to Yourself,” “Hollow” and “In This Town” to explore that entirely imaginary border where ’70s-style heavy rock and classic metal meet and intertwine.

DoctoR DooM on Facebook

Ripple Music website

Black Farm Records store

 

Stones of Babylon, Ishtar Gate

Stones of Babylon Ishtar Gate

Clearly when you start out with a direct invocation of epic tales like “Gilgamesh (…and Enkidu’s Demise),” you’re going big. Portugal’s Stones of Babylon answer 2019’s Hanging Gardens (review here) with Ishtar Gate, still staying in Babylon as “Annunaki,” “Pazuzu,” the title-track, “The Fall of Ur,” and “Tigris and Euphrates” roll out instrumental embodiment of these historical places, ideas, and myths. There is some Middle Eastern flourish in quieter stretches of guitar in “Anunnaki,” “Pazuzu,” “The Fall of Ur,” etc., but it’s the general largesse of tone, the big riffs that the trio of guitarist Alexandre Mendes, bassist João Medeiros and drummer Pedro Branco foster and roll out one after the other, that give the sense of scale coinciding with their apparent themes. And loud or quiet, big and rolling or softer and more winding, they touch on some of My Sleeping Karma‘s meditative aspects without giving up a harder-hitting edge, so that when Ur falls, the ground seems to be given a due shake, and “Tigris and Euphrates,” as one of the cradles of civilization, caps the record with a fervency that seems reserved specifically for that crescendo. A few samples, including one at the very end, add to the atmosphere, but the band’s heart is in the heavy and that comes through regardless of a given moment’s volume.

Stones of Babylon on Facebook

Raging Planet website

 

Alconaut, Slugs

Alconaut Slugs

Released on Halloween 2022, Alconaut‘s “Slugs” is a six-minute roller single following-up their 2019 debut album, Sand Turns to Tide, and it finds the Corsican trio fuzz-grooving their way through a moderate tempo, easy-to-dig procession that’s not nearly as slime-trail-leaving as its title implies. A stretch building up the start-stop central riff has a subtle edge of funk, but then the pedal clicks on and a fuller tone is revealed, drums still holding the same snare punctuation behind. They ride that stretch out for a reasonably unreasonable amount of measures before shifting toward the verse shortly before two minutes in — classic stoner rock — backing the first vocals with either organ or guitar effects that sound like one (nobody is credited for keys; accept the mystery) and a quick flash of angularity between lines of the chorus are likewise bolstered. They make their way back through the verse and then shift into tense chugging that’s more straight-ahead push than swinging, but still friendly in terms of pace, and after five minutes in, they stop, the guitar pans channels in re-establishing the riff, and they finish it big before just a flash of feedback cuts to silence. Way more rock and way less sludge than either their moniker or the song’s title implies, their style nonetheless hints toward emergent dynamic in its tonal changes even as the guitar sets forth its own hooks.

Alconaut on Facebook

Alconaut on Bandcamp

 

Maybe Human, Ape Law

Maybe Human Ape Law

Instrumental save for the liberally distributed samples from Planet of the Apes, including Charlton Heston’s naming of Nova in “Nova” presented as a kind of semi-organic alt-techno with winding psychedelic guitar over a programmed beat, Maybe Human‘s Ape Law is the second long-player from the Los Angeles-based probably-solo outfit, and it arrives as part of a glut of releases — singles, EPs, one prior album — issued over the last two years or so. The 47-minute 10-songer makes its point in the opening title-track, and uses dialogue from the Apes franchise — nothing from the reboots, and fair enough — to fill out pieces that vary in their overarching impression from the heavy prog of “Bright Eyes” and the closing “The Killer Ape Theory” to the experimentalist psych of “Heresy.” If you’re looking to be damned to hell by the aforementioned Heston, check out “The Forbidden Zone,” but Ape Law seems to be on its most solid footing — not always where it wants to be, mind you — in a more metal-leaning guitar-led stretch like that in the second half of “Infinite Regression” where the guitar solo takes the forward role over a bed that seems to have been made just for it. The intent here is more to explore and the sound is rawer than Maybe Human‘s self-applied post-rock or pop tags might necessarily imply, but the deeper you go there more there is to hear. Unless you hate those movies, in which case you might want to try something else.

Maybe Human on Facebook

Maybe Human on Bandcamp

 

Heron, Empires of Ash

Heron Empires of Ash

Beginning with its longest track (immediate points) in the nine-minute “Rust and Rot,” the third full-length from Vancouver’s Heron, Empires of Ash, offers significant abrasive sludge heft from its lurching outset, and continues to sound slow even in the comparatively furious “Hungry Ghosts,” vocalist/noisemaker Jamie having a rasp to his screams that calls to mind Yatra over the dense-if-spacious riffing of Ross and Scott and Bina‘s fluid drumming. Ambient sections and buildups like that in centerpiece “Hauntology” allow some measure of respite from all the gnashing elsewhere, assuring there’s more to the four-piece than apparently-sans-bass-but-still-plenty-heavy caustic sludge metal, but in their nastiest moments they readily veer into territory commonly considered extreme, and the pairing of screams and backing growls over the brooding but mellower progression on closer “With Dead Eyes” is almost post-hardcore in its melding aggression with atmosphere. Still, it is inevitably the bite that defines it, and Heron‘s collective teeth are razor-sharp whether put to speedier or more methodical use, and the contrast in their sound, the either/or nature, is blurred somewhat by their willingness to do more than slaughter. This being their third album and my first exposure to them, I’m late to the party, but fine. Empires of Ash is perfectly willing to brutalize newcomers too, and the only barrier to entry is your own threshold for pain.

Heron links

Heron on Bandcamp

 

My Octopus Mind, Faulty at Source (Bonus Edition)

My Octopus Mind Faulty at Source

A reissue of their 2020 second LP, My Octopus Mind‘s Faulty at Source (Bonus Edition) adds two tracks — “Here My Rawr,” also released as a single, and “No Way Outta Here Alive” — for a CD release. Whichever edition one chooses to take on, the range of the Bristol-based psych trio of guitarist/vocalist/pianist Liam O’Connell, bassist Isaac Ellis and drummer Oliver Cocup (the latter two also credited with “rawrs,” which one assumes means backing vocals) is presented with all due absurdity but a strongly progressive presence, so that while “The Greatest Escape” works in its violin and viola guest appearances from Rebecca Shelley and Rowan Elliot as one of several tracks to do the same, the feeling isn’t superfluous where it otherwise might be. Traditional notions of aural heft come and go — the riffier and delightfully bass-fuzzed “No Way Outta Here Alive” has plenty — while “Buy My Book” and the later “Hindenburg” envision psychedelic noise rock and “Wandering Eye” (with Shelley on duet vocals as well) adds mathy quirk to the proceedings, making them that march harder to classify, that much more on-point as regards the apparent mission of the band, and that much more satisfying a listen. If you’re willing to get weird, My Octopus Mind are already there. For at least over two years now, it would seem.

My Octopus Mind on Facebook

My Octopus Mind on Bandcamp

 

Et Mors, Lifeless Grey

et mors lifeless grey

Having become a duo since their debut, 2019’s Lux in Morte (review here), was released, Et Mors are no less dirgey or misery-laden across Lifeless Grey for halving their lineup. Wretched, sometimes melodic and almost universally deathly doom gruels out across the three extended originals following the shorter intro “Drastic Side Effects” — that’s the near-goth plod of “The Coffin of Regrets” (9:45), “Tritsch” (16:13), which surprises by growing into an atmosludge take on The Doors at their most minimalist and spacious before its own consumption resumes, and “Old Wizard of Odd” (10:29), which revels in extremity before its noisy finish and is the ‘heaviest’ inclusion for that — and a concluding cover of Bonnie “Prince” Billy‘s “I See a Darkness,” the title embodied in the open space within the sound of the song itself while showcasing a soulful clean vocal style that feels like an emerging distinguishing factor in the band’s sound. That is, a point of growth that will continue to grow and make them a stronger, more diverse band as it already does in their material here. I’d be interested to hear guitarist/vocalist Zakir Suleri and drummer/vocalist Albert Alisaug with an expansive production able to lean more into the emotive aspects of their songwriting, but as it is on Lifeless Grey, their sound is contrastingly vital despite the mostly crawling tempos and the unifying rawness of the aural setting in which these songs take place.

Et Mors on Facebook

Et Mors on Bandcamp

 

The Atomic Bomb Audition, Future Mirror

California, Filth Wizard Records, Future Mirror, Oakland, The Atomic Bomb Audition, The Atomic Bomb Audition Future Mirror

Future Mirror is The Atomic Bomb Audition‘s first release since 2014 and their first studio album since 2011’s Roots into the See (review here), the returning Oakland-based four-piece of guitarist/vocalist Alee Karin, bassist/vocalist Jason Hoopes, drummer Brian Gleeson and synthesist/engineer The Norman Conquest reigniting their take on pop-informed heavy, sometimes leaning toward post-rock float, sometimes offering a driving hook like in “Night Vision,” sometimes alternating between spacious and crushing as on “Haunted Houses,” which is as much Type O Negative and Katatonia darkness as the opener “Render” was blinding with its sweet falsetto melodies and crashing grandeur. Two interludes, “WNGTIROTSCHDB” and “…Spells” surround “Golden States, Pt. 1” — note there is no second part here — a brief-at-three-minutes-but-multi-movement instrumental, and the linear effect in hearing the album as whole is to create an ambient space between the three earlier shorter tracks and the two longer ones at the finish, and where “Dream Flood” might otherwise be a bridge between the two, the listening experience is only enhanced for the flourish. Future Mirror won’t be for everybody, as its nuance makes it harder to categorize and they wouldn’t be the first to suffer perils of the ‘band in-between,’ but by the time they get the payoff of closer “More Light,” tying the heft and melody together, The Atomic Bomb Audition have provided enough context to make their own kind of sense. Thus, a win.

The Atomic Bomb Audition on Facebook

The Atomic Bomb Audition on Bandcamp

 

Maharaja, Aviarium

Maharaja Aviarium

Maharaja‘s new EP, Aviarium (on Seeing Red), might be post-metal if one were to distill that microgenre away from its ultra-cerebral self-indulgence and keep only the parts of it most crushing. The downer perspective of the Ohio trio — guitarist Angus Burkhart, bassist Eric Bluebaum, drummer Zack Mangold, all of whom add vocals, as demonstrated in the shouty-then-noisy-then-both second track — is confirmed in the use of the suffix ‘-less’ in each of the four songs on the 24-minute outing, from opener “Hopeless” through “Soulless,” into the shorter, faster and more percussively intense “Lifeless” and at last arriving in the open with the engrossing roll of 10-minute finisher “Ballad of the Flightless Bird,” which makes a home for itself in more stoner-metal riffing and cleaner vocals but maintains the poise of execution that even the many and righteous drum fills of “Hopeless” couldn’t shake loose. It is not an easy or a smooth listen, but neither is it meant to be, and the ambience that comes out of the raw weight of Maharaja‘s tones as well as their subtle variation in style should be enough to bring on board those who’d dare take it on in the first place. Can be mean, but isn’t universally one thing or the other, and as a sampler of Maharaja‘s work it’s got me wanting to dig back to their 2017 Kali Yuga and find out what I missed.

Maharaja on Facebook

Seeing Red Records store

 

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Jason Hoopes of The Atomic Bomb Audition

Posted in Questionnaire on December 16th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

The Atomic Bomb Audition (Photo by Rex Mananquil)

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Jason Hoopes of The Atomic Bomb Audition

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

Great question that I almost never want to answer! It’s all circumambulatory. We’re a rock band with eclectic interests and influences. We write songs. We try to do the best work we possibly can by our own standards. That’s usually definition enough for me. So many beautiful things in life are ruined with attempts at definition. Poetry is ruined this way. Spirit, too. What is it? It is what it is. We follow our instincts. They push us toward quiet, loud, heavy, light…whether we borrow from Bowie or Cocteau Twins, Sleep or Badalamenti, Prince or Scott Walker…makes no difference to us. Whatever activates us emotionally, whatever sound makes us excited to play, is good and pursued. We get a sense of what we want to hear and off we go into the work. We analyze and overthink with the best of them, but the process is not a linear path toward a fixed destination. We feel and love the poetry and irrational drama of life. That’s where our faith and trust as artists ultimately lie.
We try to keep our analytic skills in service to the emotive qualities of our music. We want to move you in some way. We don’t want to just be “interesting”. At the same time, we don’t want to sound like anyone else. We don’t sound like anyone else. We love vulnerable love songs. We love loud heavy guitars. We love surprises and subverted expectations, and we also crave grounded unisons. We love chaotic noise and we love a 3min G-major 4/4 pop hook. It doesn’t matter how it’s best said, but it matters absolutely that we feel we’ve said something real, personal. I agree with Tarantino when he says about scriptwriting, “it should embarrass you a little to share it”. That’s how personal the work should be. How did we come to this place? I don’t care to define that so much either. We found each other. We began working together. Here we are, approaching 20 years on the clock and apparently we still have things to say. What is it? It’s beautiful and alive. That’s enough for me.

Describe your first musical memory.

I have a couple musical memories competing for the “earliest” slot. One is my mother playing acoustic guitar and singing – her own songs, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Fleetwood Mac, misc gospel tunes. She was a gifted songwriter and vocalist. Her and my aunts also loved listening and dancing to Motown and Little Richard et al so that was in there. Another memory is my dad playing his country music records early on Sunday mornings. Some of the first records I heard include George Jones, Tom T Hall, Charley Pride, Hank Snow, Jim Reeves. There were plenty others. My grandfather singing along to Marty Robbins albums is in there. Johnny Cash’s “Bitter Tears” record made a deep haunting storyteller impression on me from those days. And playing my small drum kit to Buddy Holly records when I was maybe 4 or 5 years old. That was my first go at an instrument.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

I’m going to pick two out of many. The first is of being on tour in 2017 with Fred Frith and Jordan Glenn (as Fred Frith Trio). We were in Warsaw, Poland. After the show we walked back out to play an encore and when I stepped on stage and waved to acknowledge applause, time suddenly suspended and I felt for a flash of a second that I was floating in stillness and silence. I felt a deep calm personal validation, something I knew I’d been seeking most all my life to that point. I say, seeking validation due to certain relational dysfunctions I experienced as a child. I felt in that moment that I had done at least some of the important things in life well and was living a life I was meant to live. A deep grounding pivot point in my life. Reminds me to continue striving to do what seems to be the right thing even if I don’t completely understand it at the time. The second memory is again of being on tour in 2012 as the drum / bass duo Satya Sena (with drummer Peijman Kouretchian). We played 16 shows in a whirlwind 14 days, all over the west coast from the SF Bay Area down to San Diego, over to Reno and Las Vegas, up into the PNW all the way to Vancouver, BC. The whole tour and that short lived band were a massive shift for me musically, in what I understood to be possible professionally, and personally in terms of my character. All the shows on that tour were powerful, but after one of the shows in the PNW a guy about my age walked up to the stage right after we played, shook my hand and with tears in his eyes just said, “thank you, brother.” That exchange and memory have brought tears to my own eyes several times since. When we honor our work as it deserves, and pour our souls and hearts into it, there is never any telling who we can affect and how. There’s just no telling. We make the right sacrifices and trust that the light breaks through. And it does. Someone will see it. It’s totally worth doing.

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

Tested, and destroyed. In the first few years following a suicidal breakdown / hospitalization and divorce. Coming out of that experience I was confronted with an existential demand to reexamine everything, how I viewed the world and myself, top to bottom. North is now South. Up is now down. Yes is now no. I had to consider the possibility that everything I had been putting my faith in up to that point was now “wrong” or insufficient as a set of navigation tools going forward. I had to face realizing I had spent a significant amount of time living falsely. I began striving passionately to un-politicize my mind. I am a deeply liberal person, radically open. Boundaries seem to dissolve just by looking at them. I embraced this for years in a deeply ideological and naive way. After such a radical breakdown, I saw in my rejection of all things “conservative” some grave errors. For many years I harbored deep ideological criticisms of all sorts of social institutions and phenomena of human nature – religion, government, masculinity, many things… tradition itself. But I was broken down to a place where the only language that made any sense when trying to understand the vision I had was religious language. As my ideological perceptions shattered, I began to see the truth in my projected enemies, and the lies in my own familiar objects of faith and trust. I dared myself to re-approach religion, government, masculinity, tradition…all of those things I had ideologically rebelled against, at least internally… with a more innocent and now violently humbled beginner’s mind, to find redeemable qualities in them all. Because I also had to find redeemable qualities in myself, to find a way out of self destruction. To locate and understand the falseness in my own immature rebellion and the mature truth and wisdom of tradition itself. To learn to separate wheat from chaff. Because of this experience, I now believe deeply in the personal work of recalling one’s own shadow projections, our ideological demonization of the Other. All of us do it, no matter our station in life. Not that we all have to agree or share the same values. We don’t.
But disagreement does not inevitably lead to war between “right and wrong”. We’re losing the ability to constructively navigate disagreement. We move so immediately and dangerously to using war language when we encounter someone who does not share the values we deem most important. For me, this work extended all the way to “the Other” being literally my own reflection in the mirror. I hated what I saw with passionate rage. Because he wasn’t what I thought he should be and he was everything I rejected. I wanted to destroy him. In some important ways I did. But I’m glad I didn’t die in body. I love being alive. I am glad I died in personal wrong-mindedness. There’s a line in “Dream Flood”, one of the tracks from our new album FUTURE MIRROR – “dry is my faith / above us the dream is a fist unfurling”. This lyric comes from somewhere close to what I’m describing here. Firmly held beliefs. Letting go. Tested. Destroyed. Reborn. Such is the way. Thanks for the good question.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Hopefully somewhere approximating the desired vision, with a few exciting and unexpected surprises. It depends how you define your terms. “Artistic progression”…it’s a little different for everyone, no? It depends what the artist wants. It’s the scariest question – “what do you want?” As soon as we define what we want we clarify our terms for failure. And who wants to see their own personally determined terms for failure?! Well, the best answer is to raise your hand and say “Me! I want to see them!” We should want to clarify terms of failure so that we know when we’re going off the rails. Unless ignorance is truly bliss. And if it is then fuck bliss. As an artist I feel I am a hunter. I pursue an idea along the trail of instinct. It leads me into the unknown wilderness, where I encounter familiar things with fresh faces, where I find myself again, my bones, my wildness, after being lost for so long in the grids of civilized living. I feel an honest artist is venturing into the unknown not because they want to explore the void per se, but because exploring the void is a means to an end, which is to return to an ordered defined reality with fresh information. That’s full circle. I like that. Where an artist ends up in their own pursuits or “artistic progression” depends greatly on how honest their heart and soul are while working. By “artistic progression” we often assume, I think, to mean something like “the civilizing function of human creative nature”. That somehow an artist progresses “forward” toward something better, helps us define and understand our so-called higher natures more clearly. But that sometimes seems a bit too suspiciously self-congratulatory and self-aggrandizing to me. What if “progress” also sometimes means something like “resisting unnatural change”? What if “progress” is to be found in staying within the circle built by ancestors, resisting the shiny new innovations, and steadfastly maintaining a fire that has been burning for generations? What if “progress” is more to do with absorbing and retelling the old stories over again with fresh voices? Do we even know what we mean by “progress”? I’m not so sure. All that to say, if we assume we all understand the same thing when we say “artistic progress”, then I would say it leads us to somewhere better than where we were when we began the creative journey. Even if that better place is new knowledge of somewhere we don’t want to go. The artist also shows us this. Even if it’s simply to find ourselves where we started from, seen through new eyes. Where does artistic progression lead? To something we didn’t see before, or did see before and for whatever reason forgot.

How do you define success?

Success: The experience of living a life in which what I feel, believe, think, say and do are in harmonic alignment. If I can achieve this sort of an aligned state of being, the particulars of the work in front of me become secondary. Whatever work I do from that place I trust will be good. Add to this – when the energy you put out to the public through the work is digested and returned to you in forms of societal support…this also smells of success.

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

This is the best and most disturbing interview question I’ve ever encountered. I like where I am in my life right now. Everything I have seen in my life has contributed to my current position. So I regard everything I have seen as, in some big picture way, necessary and I accept them. Having said this, here is a short list of answers to the question “I wonder if I would have been just as well off not seeing this?”
– video of an Isis beheading / snuff film
– a friend’s bedroom after a break-in & gunshot suicide on his bed
– the Lars von Trier film “Dancer in the Dark”

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

A school.

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

The poetic revealing of truth.

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

Getting into my painting studio. I have 5 large blank canvases waiting for me currently. The solitude…the beautiful solitude of painting…the dynamic ritual of painting…the sacred private physical dialogue of painting…the dance of it…aside from making love, it’s hard to name something more therapeutic.

Photo of The Atomic Bomb Audition, by Rex Mananquil

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The Atomic Bomb Audition, Future Mirror

(2022)

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Blackwülf Releasing Thieves and Liars Feb. 3; “Shadow” Video Posted

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 25th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

blackwulf (photo by Raymond Ahner)

Oakland-based five-piece Blackwülf will release their fourth full-length, Thieves and Liars, on Feb. 3, and the blending of traditional metal guitar shred with Sabbathian heavy rock groove finds them as displayed in the video for opening track “Shadow” below finds them in top form now past the decade mark in their tenure. Last heard from with 2018’s Sinister Sides (review here), they continue to straddle the line between nod and aggression, but “Shadow” offers a hook, a righteous solo and a grim sensibility likewise manifest in the video’s malleable focus and suitably dark vibe, and no, I haven’t heard the record yet, but the vibe I’m getting is that maybe that darker feel is going to carry over beyond just this one song. They would not be the only act to emerge from recent times with a grim viewpoint, and you will not, will not, will not hear me argue either the perspective or the results crafted here.

In short, dudes are rockin’ it. You’ll find the cover art for Thieves and Liars, the requisite preorder links and album info, and the video below. I assume that as December and January play out there will be more single reveals leading up to the release, so I’ll hope to have more to come before we get there.

Until then, then:

blackwulf thieves and liars

Oakland stoner metallers BLACKWÜLF to release new album “Thieves & Liars” this February on Ripple Music; watch new “Shadow” video now

Oakland stoner metal stalwarts BLACKWÜLF are set to release their fourth studio album “Thieves & Liars” on February 3rd through Ripple Music. Watch their brand new video for “Shadow” now!

akland, California’s BLACKWÜLF have roared back from the pandemic hiatus with their new Ripple Music album “Thieves and Liars”, recorded and produced in Oakland by Jesse Nichols (Iggy & The Stooges, Ty Segall, James Williamson). Borne out of the disintegration of the world around them, the new album encapsulates what the mighty five-piece does best: fist-pumping riffs, dark progressions, apocalyptic visions and plenty of epic heavy rock swagger.

About new single “Shadow”, the band comments: “It expresses the dark side that exists in everyone that, if unchecked, can creep to control motives, emotions, and actions. Often hidden beneath superficial layers of pretenses and false narratives, the “Shadow” lurks in the background, a self-manufactured darkness that can control from within. Always attached, and forever following, the shadow waits for its opportunity for the light to change, to consume all in its darkness…”

Forging melody, message, and authenticity with heavy raw power, BLACKWÜLF have been purveying massive riff rock for over a decade. Drawing from influences found in the darker corners of your stepdad’s vinyl collection, the vintage five-piece outfit’s electric live performances and headbanging heaviness have converted a wide base of ravenous fans from Los Angeles to London. What distinguishes BLACKWÜLF from many of their contemporaries is a strong emphasis on “songs” rather than “sounds”, delivering a wide slab of listenable vintage-style heavy metal that draws its strengths from imaginative content and quality performance.

BLACKWÜLF “Thieves & Liars”
Out February 3rd, 2023 on Ripple Music
on vinyl, CD and digital //
US preorder
World preorder

TRACKLIST:
1. Shadow
2. Seems To Me
3. Killing Kind
4. Thieves And Liars
5. Failed Resistance
6. Psychonaut / Edge Of Light
7. Mysteries Of This
8. Brother
9. Cries For A Dying Star

Comprised of rock veteran players, BLACKWÜLF features Alex Cunningham on vocals, Pete Holmes on guitar, Jesse Rosales on guitar, Scott Peterson on bass, and Dave Pankenier on drums. Founded in 2012 in the San Francisco Bay Area, the band’s first vinyl release, “Mind Traveler” was released on Wickerman Records and met to critical acclaim. 2015 saw BLACKWÜLF aligning with premier California heavy rock label Ripple Music, and releasing their signature second album, “Oblivion Cycle”, a riffed-out metal tour de force. 2018 found the band digging deeper into vintage metal roots, releasing their second Ripple Music vinyl, “Sinister Sides”; the album featured three guest tracks from a fan (and now friend) of the band, Geof O’Keefe, an original founder of Pentagram. BLACKWÜLF celebrated the release in the Spring of 2018 by performing as a featured artist at Austin’s South By Southwest Festival and then again across the pond at Desertfest Festival in London.

BLACKWÜLF is
Alex Cunningham — vocals
Pete Holmes — guitar
Jesse Rosales — guitar
Scott Peterson — bass
Dave Pankenier — drums

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https://blackwulfusa.bandcamp.com/
http://www.blackwulfusa.com/

https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

Blackwülf, “Shadow” official video

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