Welcome to the penultimate day of the Fall 2022 Quarterly Review, and yes, I will make just about any excuse to use the word “penultimate.” Sometimes you have a favorite thing, okay? The journey continues today, down, out, up and around, through and across 10 records from various styles and backgrounds. I hope you dig it and check back tomorrow for the last day. Here we go.

Quarterly Review #81-90:

Motorpsycho, Ancient Astronauts

There is no denying Motorpsycho. I’ve tried. Can’t be done. I don’t know how many records the Norwegian progressive rockers have put out by now, and honestly I wonder if even the band members themselves could give an accurate count. And who would be able to fact check? Ancient Astronauts continues the strong streak that the Trondheim trio of Tomas Järmyr, Bent Sæther, and Hans “Snah” Ryan have had going for at least the last six years — 2021’s Kingdom of Oblivion (review here) was also part of it — comprising four songs across a single 43-minute LP, with side B consumed entirely by the 22-minute finale “Chariot of the Sun/To Phaeton on the Occasion of Sunrise (Theme From an Imaginary Movie).” After the 12-minute King Crimsony build from silence to sustained freakout in “Mona Lisa Azazel” — preceded by the soundscape “The Flower of Awareness” (2:14) and the relatively straightforward, welcome-bidding “The Ladder” (6:41) — the closer indeed unfurls in two discernible sections, the first a linear stretch increasing in volume and tension as it moves forward, loosely experimental in the background but for sure a prog jam by its 11th minute that ends groovy at about its 15th, and the second a synthesizer-led arrangement that, to no surprise, is duly cinematic. Motorpsycho have been a band for more than 30 years established their place in the fabric of the universe, and are there to dwell hopefully for a long(er) time to come. Not all of the hundred-plus releases they’ve done have been genius, but they are so reliably themselves in sound it feels silly to write about them. Just listen and be happy they’re there.

Motorpsycho on Facebook

Stickman Records store

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Abrams, In the Dark

Did you think Abrams would somehow not deliver quality-crafted heavy rock, straightforward in structure, ’00s punk undercurrent, plus metal, plus melody? Their first offering through Small Stone is In the Dark, the follow-up to 2020’s Modern Ways (review here), and it finds guitarist/vocalist Zachary Amster joined by on guitar by Patrick Alberts (Call of the Void), making the band a four-piece for the first time with bassist/vocalist Taylor Iversen and drummer Ryan DeWitt completing the lineup. One can hear new textures and depth in songs like “Better Living” after the raucous opening salvo of “Like Hell” and “Death Tripper,” and longer pieces like “Body Pillow,” the title-track and the what-if-Blizzard–of–Ozz-was-really-space-rock “Black Tar Mountain,” which reach for new spaces atmospherically and in terms of progressive melody — looking at you, “Fever Dreams” — while maintaining the level of songwriting one anticipates from Abrams four records in. They’ve been undervalued for a while now. Can their metal-heavy-rock-punk-prog-that’s-also-kind-of-pop gain some of the recognition it deserves? It only depends on getting ears to hear it.

Abrams on Facebook

Small Stone Records on Bandcamp

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All India Radio, The Generator of All Infinity

Australia-based electronic prog outfit All India Radio — the solo ambient/atmospheric endeavor of composer and Martin Kennedy — has been releasing music for over 20 years, and is the kind of thing you may have heard without realizing it, soundtracking television and whatnot. The Generator of All Infinity is reportedly the final release in a trilogy cycle, completely instrumental and based largely on short ambient movements that move between each other like, well, a soundtrack, with some more band-minded ideas expressed in “The New Age” — never underestimate the value of live bass in electronic music — and an array of samples, differing organs, drones, psychedelic soundscapes, and a decent bit of ’80s sci-fi intensity on “Beginning Part 2,” which succeeds in making the wait for its underlying beat excruciating even though the whole piece is just four minutes long. There are live and sampled drums throughout, shades of New Wave, krautrock and a genuine feeling of culmination in the title-track’s organ-laced crescendo wash, but it’s a deep current of drone that ends on “Doomsday Machine” that makes me think whatever narrative Kennedy has been telling is somewhat grim in theme. Fair enough. The Generator of All Infinity will be too heady for some (most), but if you can go with it, it’s evocative enough to maybe be your own soundtrack.

All India Radio on Facebook

All India Radio on Bandcamp

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Nighdrator, Nighdrator

Mississippi-based heavygaze rockers Nighdrator released the single “The Mariner” as a standalone late in 2020 as just the duo of vocalist/producer Emma Fruit and multi-instrumentalist JS Curley. They’ve built out more of a band on their self-titled debut EP, put to tape through Sailing Stone Records and bringing back “Mariner” (dropped the ‘The’) between “Scarlet Tendons” and the more synth-heavy wash of “The Poet.” The last two minutes of the latter are given to noise, drone and silence, but what unfurls before that is an experimentalist-leaning take on heavier post-rock, taking the comparatively grounded exploratory jangle of “Scarlet Tendons” — which picks up from the brief intro “Crest/Trough” depending on which format you’re hearing — and turning its effects-laced atmosphere into a foundation in itself. Given the urgency that remains in the strum of “Mariner,” I wouldn’t expect Nighdrator to go completely in one direction or another after this, but the point is they set up multiple opportunities for creative growth while signaling an immediate intention toward individuality and doing more than the My-Bloody-Valentine-but-heavy that has become the standard for the style. There’s some of that here, but Nighdrator seem not to want to limit themselves, and that is admirable even in results that might turn out to be formative in the longer term.

Nighdrator on Bandcamp

Sailing Stone Records store

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Seven Rivers of Fire, Sanctuary

William Graham Randles, who is the lone figure behind all the plucked acoustic guitar strings throughout Seven Rivers of Fire‘s three-song full-length, Sanctuary, makes it easy to believe the birdsong that occurs throughout “Union” (16:30 opener and longest track; immediate points), “Al Tirah” (9:00) and “Bloom” (7:30) was happening while the recording was taking place and that the footsteps at the end are actually going somewhere. This is not Randles‘ first full-length release of 2022 and not his last — he releases the new Way of the Pilgrim tomorrow, as it happens — but it does bring a graceful 33 minutes of guitar-based contemplation, conversing with the natural world via the aforementioned birdsong as well as its own strums and runs, swells and recessions of activity giving the feeling of his playing in the sunshine, if not under a tree then certainly near one or, at worst, someplace with an open window and decent ventilation; the air feels fresh. “Al Tirah” offers a long commencement drone and running water, while “Bloom” — which begins with footsteps out — is more playfully folkish, but the heart throughout Sanctuary is palpable and in celebration of the organic, perhaps of the surroundings but also in its own making. A moment of serenity, far-away escapism, and realization.

Seven Rivers of Fire on Facebook

Aural Canyon Music on Bandcamp

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Motherslug, Blood Moon Blues

Half a decade on from The Electric Dunes of Titan (review here), Melbourne sludge rock bruisers Motherslug return with Blood Moon Blues, a willfully unmanageable 58-minute, let’s-make-up-for-lost-time collection that’s got room enough for “Hordes” to put its harsh vocals way forward in the mix over a psychedelic doom sprawl while also coexisting with the druggy desert punkers “Crank” and “Push the Venom” and the crawling death in the culmination of “You (A Love Song)” — which it may well be — later on. With acoustic stretches bookending in “Misery” and the more fully a song “Misery (Slight Return),” there’s no want for cohesion, but from naked Kyussism of “Breathe” and the hard Southern-heavy-informed riffs of “Evil” — yes I’m hearing early Alabama Thunderpussy there — to the way in which “Deep in the Hole” uses similar ground as a launchpad for its spacious solo section, there’s an abiding brashness to their approach that feels consistent with their past work. Not every bands sees the ways in which microgenres intersect, let alone manages to set their course along the lines between, drawing from different sides in varied quantities as they go, but Motherslug do so while sounding almost casual about it for their lack of pretense. Accordingly, the lengthy runtime of Blood Moon Blues feels earned in a way that’s not always the case with records that pass the single-LP limit of circa 45 minutes, there’s blues a-plenty and Motherslug brought enough riffs for the whole class, so dig in, everybody.

Motherslug on Facebook

Motherslug on Bandcamp

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Cheater Pipe, Planetarium Module

Keep an ear out because you’re going to be hearing more of this kind of thing in the next few years. On their third album, Planetarium Module, Cheater Pipe blend Oliveri-style punk with early-aughts sludge tones and sampling, and as we move to about 20 years beyond acts like Rebreather and -(16)- and a slew of others including a bunch from Cheater Pipe‘s home state of Louisiana, yeah, there will be more acts adapting this particular stoner sludge space. Much to their credit, Cheater Pipe not only execute that style ably — Emissions sludge — on “Fog Line Shuffle,” “Cookie Jar” or “White Freight Liner Blues” and the metal-as-punk “Hollow Leg Hobnobber,” they bring Floor-style melody to “Yaw” and expand the palette even further in the second half of the tracklist, with “Mansfield Bar” pushing the melody further, “Flight of the Buckmoth” and closer “Rare Sunday” turning to acoustic guitar and “The Sad Saga of Hans Cholo” between them lending atmospheric breadth to the whole. They succeed at this while packing 11 songs into 34 minutes and coming across generally like they long ago ran out of fucks to give about things like what style they’re playing to or what’s ‘their sound.’ Invariably they think of these things — nobody writes a song and then never thinks about it again, even when they tell you otherwise — but the spirit here is middle-fingers-up, and that suits their sound best anyway.

Cheater Pipe on Facebook

Cheater Pipe on Bandcamp

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Old Million Eye, The Air’s Chrysalis Chime

The largely solo endeavor of Brian Lucas of Dire Wolves and a merry slew of others, Old Million Eye‘s latest full-length work arrives via Cardinal Fuzz and Feeding Tube with mellow psychedelic experimentalism and folk at its core. The Air’s Chrysalis Chime boasts seven pieces in 43 minutes and each one establishes its own world to some degree based around an underlying drone; the fluidity in “Louthian Wood” reminiscent of windchimes and accordion without actually being either of those things — think George Harrison at the end of “Long Long Long,” but it keeps going — and “Tanglier Mirror” casts out a wash of synthesizer melody that would threaten to swallow the vocals entirely would they not floating up so high. It’s a vibe based around patience in craft, but not at all staid, and “White Toads” throws some distorted volume the listener’s way not so much as a lifeline for rockers as another tool to be used when called for. The last cosmic synthesizer on “Ruby River,” the album’s nine-minute finale, holds as residual at the end, which feels fair as Lucas‘ voice — the human element of its presence is not to be understated as songs resonate like an even-farther-out, keyboard-leaning mid-period Ben Chasny — has disappeared into the ether of his own making. We should all be so lucky.

Old Million Eye on Bandcamp

Cardinal Fuzz Records store

Feeding Tube Records store

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Zoltar, Bury

“Bury” is the newest single from Swedish heavy rockers Zoltar, who, yes, take their moniker from the genie machine in the movie Big (they’re not the only ones either). It follows behind two songs released last year in “Asphalt Alpha” and “Dirt Vortex.” Those tracks were rawer in overall production sound, but there’s still plenty of edge in “Bury,” up to and including in the vocals, which are throatier here than on either of the two prior singles, though still melodic enough so that when the electric piano-style keys start up at about two and a half minutes into the song, the goth-punk nod isn’t out of place. It’s a relatively straight-ahead hook with riffing made that much meatier through the tones on the recording, and a subtle wink in the direction of Slayer‘s “Dead Skin Mask” in its chorus. Nothing to complain about there or more generally about the track, as the three-piece seem to be working toward some kind of proper release — they did press up a CD of Bury as a standalone, so kudos to them on the physicality — be it an EP or album. Wherever they end up, if these songs make the trip or are dropped on the way, it’s a look at a band’s earliest moves as a group and how quickly that collaboration can change and find its footing. Zoltar — who did not have feet in the movie — may just be doing that here.

Zoltar on Facebook

Zoltar store

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Ascia, III

Sardinia’s Fabrizio Monni (also of Black Capricorn) has unleashed a beast in Ascia, and with III, he knows it more than ever. The follow-up to Volume II (review here) and Volume I (review here) — both released late last year — is more realized in terms of songcraft, and it would seem Monni‘s resigned himself to being a frontman of his own solo-project, which is probably the way to go since he’s obviously the most qualified, and in songs like “The Last Ride,” he expands on the post-High on Fire crash-and-bash with more of a nodding central groove, while “Samothrace” finds a place for itself between marauder shove and more direct heavy rock riffery. Each time out, Monni seems to have more of an idea of what he wants Ascia to be, and whether there’s a IV to come after this or he’s ready to move onto something else in terms of release structure — i.e., a debut album — the progression he’s undertaken over the last year-plus is plain to hear in these songs and how far they’ve come in so short a time.

Ascia on Bandcamp

The Swamp Records on Bandcamp

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The remaining members of post-metal progenitors Neurosis have responded to guitarist/vocalist Scott Kelly’s admission of years of familial abuse and domestic violence. Guess they more or less had to.

They leave it open as to what they may or may not do as a band, and yeah, Neurosis as you knew it before this weekend is probably done. And the band says so, Kelly said so in his widely-regarded-as-manipulative-bullshit statement this weekend, and I agree that this is bigger than a band. But also, Neurosis, this group of people, have influenced quite literally thousands of other artists. The ripple effect will be significant, aesthetically, economically, and within this particular creative niche, culturally.

The betrayal here is multi-tiered and visceral. As a fan, someone who supported Neurosis fiscally and promoted their work to others, I feel angry and, to the use the band’s word, disgusted, and I don’t know what to say about the statement below, about the timing on who knew what when and all that. They’re quick to distance themselves from Kelly, of course, but things are rarely ever so cut and dry, and the trust that was there, that what you were hearing on a Neurosis album was the truest representation of these artists as people is simply gone.

I would like to tell you I’ll never talk about this again, fuck this guy, he’s done, move on, but that seems optimistic.

Here’s what the band had to say:

A STATEMENT FROM NEUROSIS

We cannot overstate the level of disgust and disappointment we feel for a man who we once called Brother.

As a band, we parted ways with Scott Kelly at the end of 2019 after learning about severe acts of abuse he committed towards his family over the previous years. In the past, Scott had disclosed his marital difficulties and acts of verbal abuse, as well as his intention to get help and change his behaviors. The information we learned in 2019 made it clear Scott had crossed a line and there was no way back. We did not share this information out of respect for his wife’s direct request for privacy, and to honor the family’s wish not to let their experience become gossip in a music magazine. With Scott’s Facebook post of August 27, 2022 disclosing much of this information publicly, we can finally say what we believe needs to be said.

For the last twenty years we have lived far apart from one another and only saw Scott when meeting up to work on music or play shows. We had no idea what the reality was for his family when we were not around. By Scott’s own admission, his abuse was intentional, targeted, and a closely guarded secret – even from those of us closest to him.

Once we learned of his abuse it was difficult to reconcile the horrible information with the person we thought we knew. It’s not surprising he hid the abuse for so long because it is a betrayal of our ethics as bandmates, partners, parents, and human beings.

Since 2019, we have made numerous attempts to contact Scott. We wanted to have an honest talk about the status of the band and find out how he and his family were doing, but he has refused to speak with us for three years. And, in what we now see clearly to be a pattern, Scott refused to take responsibility for his actions. Having been through so much with someone for more than 35 years, one would expect some amount of closure, or at the very least a response.

Now, without returning any of the calls, texts, or e-mails of his bandmates and friends, Scott has made a public post about the situation. To us, this decision seems like another attempt at manipulation, another opportunity for his narcissism to control the narrative. Don’t allow Scott to make this about himself, it’s about the abuse his family has suffered.

Usually, we would view public openness and honesty about mental illness as brave and even productive. We just don’t believe that is the case here.

There is nothing brave about systematically abusing your wife and children.

There is nothing brave about confessing wrongdoing when you have not done the work to change your behavior.

There is nothing brave about refusing to speak honestly, or speak at all, with one’s closest friends and bandmates, people who have supported you and stuck by you for most of your life.

Compared to the impact of Scott’s actions on his family, the impact on our band pales in significance. Nevertheless, with the heartbreak and horror we also grieve for the loss of our life’s work and a legacy that was sacred to us.

Again, our primary concern is for the safety and well-being of Scott’s wife and children, as well as anyone else in a similar situation. If someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or abuse, please reach out to one of the many local or national resources available. One national resource is:

National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233 www.thehotline.org

If you or someone you know is suffering from mental health issues that could make you a danger to yourself or others, please get help before you hurt yourself or the people you love. One resource for that is:
www.988lifeline.org

This is the only statement we plan to make about this issue. In due course, when it’s appropriate, we will provide more information about our future musical endeavors, but that time is not now.

This, obviously, is bigger than music. This is a human being and their family. Given the circumstances, it doesn’t feel right to speculate what might happen with Neurosis or any of his other projects in the longer term, so I’ll just say that if this was the situation, he’s probably right to step back. We all know that ‘permanent’ is a fluid idea when it comes to things like band breakups and retirements, so if you’re down about the prospect of no more music from Kelly, first, maybe you’ve missed the point a little and want to look at that, and second, never say never. But again, there are larger concerns at play here.

Best to Scott Kelly’s family on behalf of this site and myself, and hope for healing all around.

If you or someone you know is suffering under domestic violence, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-799-7233. And no, a hotline isn’t enough and one can feel trapped, paralyzed, terrorized. It happens every day. But if that’s you, know that you’re not alone no matter how much you’ve been made to feel you are.

From social media:

Scott Kelly on abusing family and retiring from music:

Due to recent events, I feel that I clearly need to address some rumors and set the record straight. For the past several years I have engaged in the emotional, financial, verbal and physical abuse of my wife and younger children. When I became paranoid that people were going to find out, I found ways to keep my wife and kids from work and school and created divisions with friends and family members. I became obsessed with control and used threats, manipulation, threats of self-harm and suicide, inflicted physical damage on people and their reputations all to keep that control. When I knew my wife was going to leave I tried to convince her and others that I was crazy, and seeing things, and that I did not know what I was doing. She tried to help me with therapy and psychiatrists. My lies and deceptions fell apart in front of the professionals. When my wife finally tried to leave, I stalked and harassed her day and night and caused her and our youngest to live in a constant state of fear. I have lied or told half truths to so many people about so much of this that I can’t keep track of them. I don’t want to lie about any of this anymore. I love my wife to no end. She is the best person that I know. She is intensely honest, loving and good to her core. This letter is massive simplification of the irreparable damage I have caused and the unforgivable things that I’ve done to her and our kids. To say more in this public forum would not help anyone. As the truth has started to leak out there have been people who have tried to blame my wife for my abuse to give me an out and people who have spread ridiculous and damaging rumors about her. This is fucked. She deserves so much better. If you are adopting this mentality or spreading these rumors you need to fucking stop. I have some serious issues that I am dealing with and I have separated myself from anyone who is connected with my public life so that I can focus on my own toxic shit. When my wife has been kind enough to answer questions about my absence, she has faced crazy accusations. There was a recent situation that was so fucked up that it necessitated immediate action on my part to set the record straight. My wife absolutely speaks for me in my absence and I have already said she is intensely honest. If you don’t want the truth definitely don’t ask her questions. Additionally it is never appropriate to approach or question our children.

I know now that choosing to live a public life and be onstage was the worst decision that I could have made given the way that I am. I have hidden behind the attention and unfounded respect and adulation. I used my social position to directly and indirectly manipulate all of you and to hide the abuse of my family. I got satisfaction from my deception and perceived control of everyone involved. I am 100% permanently retired from being a professional musician. Some people can be in a scene like this where there is no accountability and maintain their integrity. I cannot. My sole focus for the rest of my life is on taking care of my family, allowing them safe space to heal and rebuilding their trust. I hope putting this out there will protect my wife from further attacks and finally allow my family some peace.

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Day seven of a Quarterly Review is pretty rarefied air, by which I mean it doesn’t happen that often. And even with 100 records in the span of these two weeks, I’ll never ever ever ever claim to approach being comprehensive, but the point is take it as a sign of just how much is out there right now. If you find it overwhelming, me too.

But think about our wretched species. What’s our redeeming factor? Treatment resistant bacteria? War? Yelling for more war? Economic disparity? Abortion rights? Art. Art’s it. Art and nothing.

So at least there’s a lot of art.

Quarterly Review #61-70:

Trigona, Trigona

With independent label distribution in the UK, US, Australia and Europe, Trigona‘s Trigona is about as spread out geographically as sonically. The Queensland, AUS-based instrumental solo outfit of Rob Shiels — guitar, bass, synth, drum programming, effects, noise, etc. — released the Meridian tape earlier in 2022 on Echodelick and I’m honestly not sure if this six-song self-titled is supposed to count as a debut full-length or what, expanded as it is from Trigona‘s 2021 EP of the same name, albeit remastered with a new track sequence and the eight-minute “Via Egnatia” tagged onto the end of side B to mirror side A’s eight-minute finale, “Rosatom.” Sweet toned progressivism and semi-krautrock bass meditation pervades, debut or not, as Shiels touches on more terrestrial songwriting in “Monk” only after “Shita Ue” has offered its uptempo, almost poppy except not at all pop take on space rock outwardness, a mirror itself somewhat for album opener “Von Graf,” while second cut “Nudler” spreads proggy guitar figures over a sunshiny movement, letting “Rosatom” handle the wash-conjuring. There’s a slowdown at the finish of “Via Egnatia,” its effect lessened perhaps by the programmed drums, but Trigona‘s Trigona is so much more about atmosphere than heft it feels silly to even mention. Debut or not, it is striking.

Trigona on Bandcamp

Weird Beard Records store

Ramble Records website

Echodelick Records website

Worst Bassist Records on Bandcamp

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Blasting Rod, 月鏡 (Mirror Moon Ascending)

Hells yeah J-psych. Nagoya-based three-piece Blasting Rod — guitarist/vocalist S. Shah (also electronics), bassist/guitarist Yoshihiro Yasui and drummer Chihiro (everybody also adds percussion) — already have a follow-up LP, Of Wild Hazel, on the way/streaming for the two-songer Mirror Moon Ascending, and that and some of their past work has aligned them with US-based Glory or Death Records, but if you’re looking to be introduced to their world of sometimes serene, sometimes madcap psychedelia, these two mono mixes by Eternal Elysium‘s Yukito Okazaki, with the drift and languid crash, far-back drums of “Mirror Moon Ascending” and the shaker-inclusive insistence of “Wheel Upon the Car of Dragonaut,” which turns its title into a multi-layered mantra, can be a decent place to start as a springboard into the band’s and S. Shah‘s sundry other projects. Their experimentalism doesn’t stop them from writing songs, at least not this time around, and it seems to drive aspects of what they do like mixing in mono in the first place, so there’s meta-screwing with form as well as get-weird-stay-weird heavy space rock push. After this, check out 2021’s III and then the new one. After that, you’re on your own. Good luck and have fun.

Blasting Rod on Facebook

Low&Slow.Disk on Facebook

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From Those Ashes, Contagion

From Those Ashes, a double-guitar four-piece from Chicago, present four songs in Contagion of thrash-derived but ultimately mostly mid-tempo metal, vocalist/guitarist Aaron Pokoj (also production) leading the charge with Jose “Mop” Valles ripping solos for good measure and bassist Ryan Compton and drummer Omar “Pockets” Mombela holding together tight grooves amid the deathlier moments of the title-track. Pokoj‘s trades between harsh and clean vocals show a firm grasp of melody and arrangement, and though their lyrical perspective is disaffected until basically the last two lines of EP-closer “Light Breaks,” the aggression doesn’t necessarily trump craft, though “The Reset Button” moves through throwing elder-hardcore elbows and the first words shouted on opener “Devoid of Thought” are “fuck it.” Fair enough. The Iron Maiden-style opening of “Light Breaks” is a standout moment, though guitar antics aren’t by any means in short supply, but when From Those Ashes build their way into the song proper, the death-thrash onslaught is fervent right up to the end. And those last lines? “As light breaks through the shadow and gives way to life/Sustained emergence of the soul and the will to survive?” Brutally, righteously growled.

From Those Ashes on Facebook

From Those Ashes on Bandcamp

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Hasishian, Hashishian

Rarely does music itself sound so stoned. Across six tracks of bassy, at least partially Dune-referential — the hand-drummed “Shai Hulud,” etc. — meditative heavy, the anonymous outfit Hashishian from somewhere, sometime, convey a languid, loosely Middle Eastern-informed, vibe-dense aural weedianism. And much to their credit, “Mountain of Smoke” seems to live up to its name. Less so, perhaps, “Let Us Reason,” which is drawn out in such a way that the moderation implied, maybe with desperation, is inhaled like so much pine-smelling vapor. “Shai Hulud” is the longest cut, mostly instrumental, and might be as far out as Hashishian go, but even the twisting feedback and lead notes at the beginning of closer “Nazareth” feel like a heavy-eyelidded march toward the riff-fill’d land, never mind the bass-led procession of the song itself, manifesting the ethic of opener “Onward” that seems to be the mentality of the 39-minute self-titled as a whole. It is molten in a way not much can claim to be, more patient than the most patient person you know, and seems to find way to make even the tolling bell of the penultimate “High Chief” a drone. Definitely post-Om in sound, Hashishian‘s Hashishian is a sprawl of sand waiting to engulf you. And to whoever is playing this bass, thank you.

Hashishian on Bandcamp

Herby Records on Bandcamp

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Above & Below, Suffer Decay Alone

Ohio-based industrialists Above & Below — primarily Plaguewielder‘s Bryce Seditz on vocals, guitar, synth, programming with Chrome Waves‘ Jeff Wilson adding bass, noise, production and a release through his Disorder Recordings imprint — make their debut with the seven tracks/27 minutes of Suffer Decay Alone, which digs into modern stylistic features like the weighted tonality of the guitar in “Isolate” and the screams on top, some The Downward Spiraling atmosphere given a boost in rhythm from the dense machine churn of Author & Punisher there and on the prior “Hope,” while “Rust” approaches danceable but for all that screaming. “Dead” sounds like something Gnaw might come up with, but the cold realization of craft in “Tear” feels like a signpost telling the project where it wants to head, and the same applies to the 3Teeth-style horror noise of “Covered.” I don’t know which impulse will win out, songwriting or destructive noise, and I’m not sure it needs to be one or the other, but Suffer Decay Alone sets out with a duly harsh mentality and sounds to match. If this is Rust Belt fuckall circa 2022, I’m on board.

Above & Below on Facebook

Disorder Recordings website

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Lord Elephant, Cosmic Awakening

Shades of Earthless‘ more meandering stretches pervade “Cosmic Awakening Pt. I – Forsaken Slumber,” the opener of Lord Elephant‘s Heavy Psych Sounds debut, Cosmic Awakening, and those are purposefully brushed away as “Cosmic Awakening Pt. II – First Radiation” brings on more straight-ahead instrumental shove. The Florence, Italy, trio issued the eight-track album independently in 2021 and their being on the label they are earns them a certain amount of trust before one even listens, but the vibe throughout the outing’s 43 minutes is a don’t-worry-we-know-what-we’re-doing blend of psychedelia and underlying tonal heft. Bass. Tone. Guitar. Tone. Drums. On point. There’s nothing overly fancy about it and there doesn’t need to be as “Raktabija” is a rush and a blast at once, “Covered in Earth’s Blood” crunches and builds and builds and crunches again and “Stellar Cloud” has enough low end to make you feel funny for staring. I wouldn’t put it past them to make friends with an organist at some point, but they’ve got everything they need for right now even without vocals, and the combination of weight and breadth is effectively conveyed from front to back, with closer “Secreteternal” executing a final slowdown until it just seems to come apart. Right on.

Lord Elephant on Facebook

Heavy Psych Sounds website

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Dirty Shades, Lift Off

French double-guitar four-piece Dirty Shades released their debut EP in March 2020, so yeah, there goes that. Lift Off is the four-song follow-up short release, tagged as a ‘live session,’ and given the organic vibe of the performances, I’m inclined to believe it. Vocalist/guitarist Anouk Degrande leads the way as “Dazed” picks up in winding style from the more ethereal opening across the two-minute “Ignition,” her voice reminding in places of No Doubt-era Gwen Stefani, albeit in a much different context. Fellow guitarist Nathan Mimeau provides backing for the chorus, ditto bassist Martin Degrande, and drummer Mathurin Robart is charged with keeping the patterns together behind the various turns in volume and intensity through “Dazed” and the subsequent “Running for Your Life,” which is full, spaced and surprisingly heavy by the time its five minutes are done but is still somehow more about the trip getting there. And a shorter take on now-closer “Trainwreck” appeared on 2020’s Specific Impulse, but its added dreaminess serves it well. Jazzy in spots and showing the band still seeking their stylistic niche, Lift Off may well prove to be the foundation from which the band launches.

Dirty Shades on Facebook

Dirty Shades webstore

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Venus Principle, Stand in Your Light

Best case scenario when a band revamps its lineup is that listeners get another killer band out of it. With that, bid hello to Venus Principle‘s debut album, Stand in Your Light. With vocalist/guitarist Daniel Änghede (also Astroqueen), pianist/vocalist Daisy Chapman, guitarist/keyboardist Jonas Stålhammar (also At the Gates), keyboardist/backing vocalist Mark Furnevall and drummer Ben Wilsker all having been in Crippled Black Phoenix — only bassist Pontus Blom would seem not to be an alumnus — this more recent project perhaps unsurprisingly digs into a deeply, richly melodic, expanded-definition-of-heavy post-rock. The songs across the 68-minute 2LP, which starts with its longest track (immediate points) in the 10:34 “Rebel Drones,” are afraid neither to be loud nor minimal, and standout moments like “Shut it Down” or the Mellotron into absolute-melody-wash of “Sanctuary” bear out that vibe as a reminder of the gorgeousness that can come from emotions normally thought negative. The promo text for this record says it, “provides balm for the wound that the split of ANATHEMA has caused,” and that’s a lofty claim from where I sit, but you know, it’s a start, and clearly a lineup capable of a certain kind of magic that they represent well here.

Venus Principle website

Prophecy Productions store

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Troy the Band, The Blissful Unknown

One doesn’t imagine it’s easy to be a new band in London at this point, with the seen-it-all-plus-we’re-all-in-like-10-bands-ourselves crowd and so many acts in and around the sphere of Desertfest, etc. — or maybe I’m way off and the community is amazing; I honestly don’t know — but Troy the Band distinguish themselves through the pendulum swing in their debut EP, The Blissful Unknown, guitars and bass both fuzzed to and beyond the gills and just a bit showy in “Michael” to give the outing a hint of strut despite its generally laid back attitude. Opener “I Wage a War” is the shortest inclusion by far on the 26-minute offering, and it’s a sprint compared to the more plodding, drone-hum-backed “Less Than Nothing,” and after “Michael” chugs and sways to its noisy finish, the title-track blows it all out to end off by underscoring the encouragingly atmospheric impression made by the songs prior, loose-sounding but not at all sloppy and occupying an expanse that comes across like it only wants to grow bigger. Here’s hoping it does exactly that. In the meantime, even in England’s green, pleasant and perpetually-full-of-riffs land, Troy the Band carve a fascinating place for themselves between various microgenres, psychedelic without being carried off by self-indulgence.

Troy the Band on Facebook

Troy the Band on Bandcamp

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Mount Desert, Fear the Heart

Oakland, California’s Mount Desert make an awaited full-length debut with Fear the Heart a full seven years after releasing their self-titled two-songer (review here), both cuts from which feature on the record. Hey, life happens. I get that. And if the tradeoff for not putting out two or three records in the interim is the airy float of guitar throughout and the subtle-then-not-so-subtle build in “Semper Virens,” I’ll take it. Who the hell needs more records when you can have one that speaks to your unconscious like that? In any case, Fear the Heart is striking in more than just its moments of culmination, “Blue Madonna” and “New Fire” at the outset casting a fluidity that “The River I” and “The River II” perhaps unsurprisingly further even as they find their own paths into the second half of the record. “The Wail” closes with nighttime howls only after “Fear the Heart” — one of the two from the first outing — and the aforementioned “Semper Virens” have their say in progressive guitar and weighted psychedelicraft, earthbound thanks to vocal soul and ‘them drums tho,’ and especially as a debut, and one apparently a while in the making, Mount Desert‘s first LP justifies all that hype from more than half a decade and 15 lifetimes ago. They’re a band with something to say aesthetically and in songwriting. I hope they continue to move forward.

Mount Desert on Facebook

Mount Desert on Bandcamp

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Oakland sludge rockers Monster God will release their upcoming album, Clouds of Grey, through Salt of the Earth Records, and if I told you how many days it’s been that I’ve been trying to get together a news post to say so you would rightly laugh in my fucking face. The Connecticut imprint and California trio join forces at the behest of label honcho Scott “of the Earth” Harrington, whose passion for the music he puts out is as infectious as ever. Dude believes, in a way few I’ve ever met have believed, and backs it with hustle. I’ll support that every time.

Even if it takes a few more days than I’d prefer.

But there’s no set release date that I’ve seen, so I only feel somewhat behind the times on the signing announcement, at least as much as usual. More to come.

And while we’re here, I’m not sure I agree with the point of view in their 2017 single “Respect the Fire,” as we’ve now pretty much seen that burning in action, but I definitely get where they’re coming from.

From the PR wire:

MONSTER GOD SIGNS WITH SALT OF THE EARTH RECORDS

With the belief that one good turn, deserves another SALT OF THE EARTH RECORDS has the esteem honor to announce the signing of Oakland CA’s Doom Filled Sludge Metal Band, MONSTER GOD.

A 3 piece powerhouse who deliver some of the heaviest riffs this side of the San Andreas Fault… something wicked this way comes, and MONSTER GOD is its name.

“Clouds Of Grey” will be the second release from Monster God, and the bands first to come out on all formats, including vinyl. The band did extensive preproduction work before entering Trident Studios with Juan Ortega at the production helm. Music this heavy, is not rushed. It’s forged. It comes from deep hardships and perseverance. And that is evident in this deeply personal collection of songs.

Monster God:
Mike Smario – Vocals / Guitars
Mike Kaufman – Bass
Karl Casolari – Drums

www.facebook.com/MNSTRGOD
https://instagram.com/monster_god_official
https://monstergod1.bandcamp.com/

www.facebook.com/SaltOfTheEarthRec
www.YouTube.com/SaltOfTheEarthRecords
www.Instagram.com/SaltOfTheEarthRecords
www.SaltOfTheEarthRecords.com

Monster God, “Respect the Fire”

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: Leila Abdul-Rauf of Vastum, Cardinal Wyrm, Ionophore, and More

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

I try not to define it too much. I attempt to recreate the sounds I either dream about or imagining in my head that satisfy my perpetual urge to craft something that is exquisitely beautiful while at the same time, incredibly disturbing. The path to my ever-evolving creative process came with a lot of struggle, an unfortunate amount of strife and gaslighting from others, painful self-discovery and the courage to never neglect my inner voice.

Describe your first musical memory.

It was probably the sound of my mother’s singing voice when I was in the womb, because the soothing sound of her voice is and will be forever embedded in my unconscious. And the sound of my father singing the call to prayer at home and in the mosque when I was a kid. And going through my mom’s record collection when I was 5 or 6 years old: Bee Gees, Beatles, Journey, David Bowie, etc.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

There are a lot that I would consider equally best. In my formative teen years, I saw a lot of amazing acts that shaped my musical path: Skinny Puppy, Peter Murphy, Einsturzende Neubauten, Lush, Cocteau Twins, Jesus and Mary Chain in the early ’90s. Seeing Slayer, Cannibal Corpse and Deicide in the late ’90s. Being exposed to fusion jazz in my 20s: Mahavishnu Orchestra/Shakti/John Maclaughlin, Return to Forever/Chick Corea/Al DiMeola, Weather Report, Allan Holdsworth, etc. Or any time I’ve seen Judas Priest, Bauhaus, Secret Chiefs 3, Harold Budd or Kitka live.

As a performer, there are many best memories as well. My trumpet teacher invited me to play an outdoor concert with the New Jersey Bergen Philharmonic when I was 12 years old. Opening for The Great Kat at CBGBs when I was in high school. Performing with Amber Asylum at Wave Gotik Treffen in 2010 and Wroclaw Industrial Fest in 2011; performing solo as main support for William Basinski at Hopscotch Fest; with Vastum at Heavy Montreal fest in 2016 and leveling the main stage at Killtown Death Fest in Copenhagen 2019 were all quite spectacular.

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

There has never been a time in my life when they haven’t been tested; the world and commonly held beliefs are constantly changing and in some ways I feel like a lot of the world is finally catching up to where I was mentally 20 years ago; I relate more to the way younger people think and sometimes I feel like I was born a generation too early. It’s ok to talk about so many things now that weren’t acceptable back then. And still, the constant testing of my own beliefs is what leads me to continue to grow psychologically and spiritually.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

I can’t speak for others, but for me, it leads to a deeper understanding of myself and others throughout different phases of life, as well as the universe as we currently understand it; a thinning of the veil between “real” and “imagined,” earth vs. spirit worlds…

How do you define success?

I feel success is always something that should be self-defined yet unfortunately we often let others define it for us, driven by the economic realities of our world. If an idea is rolling around in your head and it becomes a reality, that sounds like success to me. In music, if you finish recording an album that gives you goosebumps when you listen to it, I’d say mission accomplished. And of equal importance is success in relationships: if you have inspiring, healthy and stimulating relationships with collaborators, hold onto them forever; they’re gold. I’m so fortunate to have several of them.

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

So many things, but most of all, the effects of out-of-control economic disparity and climate change while civil rights are being perpetually stripped away from marginalized populations by brainwashed politicians.

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

Entering the film soundtrack composition world would be a bit of a dream. I’ve also always fantasized about developing visual art skills. Perhaps it will happen someday.

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

To reflect life in a way that is bigger than ourselves as individuals and will outlast our short lives. Specifically in music, understanding that humans and all living beings originate from sound vibration energy that is as old as time itself, which in my view, is the reason musicians are driven to compose; we first came from sound, in order for sound to come from us.

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

Traveling to parts of the world I still have yet to see and visiting with friends again.

https://leilaabdulrauf.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/therealleilaabdulrauf
https://www.facebook.com/leilaabdulrauf
https://www.cycliclaw.com
https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com
http://www.cloisterrecordingsus.bigcartel.com
https://www.facebook.com/cloisterrecordings.us

Leila Abdul-Rauf, Phantasiai (2021)

Vastum, Official Purge (2019)

Who’s gonna argue with High on Fire going on tour in Europe? Suckers, maybe. Squares. For everybody else, this looks like pretty good news, and they’re keeping good company as regards support acts too, so all the better.

The trio were previously announced as playing the Sound of Liberation anniversary fest and the Heavy Psych Sounds Fest in Switzerland, as well as Freak Valley and others on this list,so yeah, a full tour makes sense. Where I’m curious is in wondering if this tour might herald or correspond to a new album release with that announcement still to come. After two plague years, certainly they’re entitled to tour just because, and Matt Pike has that solo album out, so there’s something for the merch table, but it’s a long trip and a lot of touring between June and July, and if it’s a summer record or maybe coming in September during the pre-end-of-year rush, the timing would make sense, especially of High on Fire return to the States after this run for another stint of shows.

I could live a thousand years and never be cool enough to have the inside track on any of this information, but it’s fun to speculate. On a more practical note, the dates follow here, as seen on socials:

High on Fire European Summer tour 2022!

For the full list of tour dates see below!

Confirmed tour dates:
03.06.22 – Wiesbaden (DE) – Kesselhaus #
04.06.22 – Winterthur (CH) – Heavy Psych Sounds Festival
05.06.22 – Milan (IT) – Circolo Magnolia #
06.06.22 – Bologna (IT) – TPO #
09.06.22 – Barcelona (ES) – Primavera Festival
10.06.22 – Munich (DE) – Sounds Of Liberation Festival
11.06.22 – Luxembourg (LU) – Kulturfabrik +
12.06.22 – Leeuwarden (NL) – Into The Grave Festival
14.06.22 – Dortmund (DE) – Junkyard +
16.06.22 – Dessel (BE) – Graspop Metal Meeting
17.06.22 – Clisson (FR) – Hellfest
18.06.22 – Siegen (DE) – Freak Valley Festival
19.06.22 – Karlsruhe (DE) – Dudefest
20.06.22 – Paris (FR) – Petit Bain #
22.06.22 – Nottingham (UK) – Rescue Rooms &
23.06.22 – Leeds (UK) – Brudenell Social Club &
24.06.22 – London (UK) – The Garage &
25.06.22 – Brighton (UK) – Chalk &
26.06.22 – Bristol (UK) The Fleece &
28.06.22 – Lille (FR) – L’Aeronef %
29.06.22 – Osnabrück (DE) – Bastard Club %
30.06.22 – Aachen (DE) – Musikbunker %
01.07.22 – Hamburg (DE) – Bahnhof Pauli %
03.07.22 – Helsinki (FI) – Tuska Open Air Festival
04.07.22 – Gothenburg (SE) – Valand %
06.07.22 – Berlin (DE) – So36 %
07.07.22 – Warsaw (PL) – Hyrozagadka %
08.07.22 – Dresden (DE) Chemiefabrik %
09.07.22 – Vzovice (CZ) – Masters of Rock

#=Stake +=Maggot Heart &=Dvne %=Firebreather

https://www.facebook.com/highonfire
https://www.instagram.com/highonfireband/
www.highonfire.net
http://www.mnrkheavy.com
http://www.facebook.com/MNRKHeavy
http://www.twitter.com/MNRKHeavy
http://www.instagram.com/MNRK_heavy

High on Fire, “Electric Messiah” official lyric video

No question that by now High on Fire are a known quantity. For over 20 years, they’ve become not just a staple band of the heavy underground, but of heavy metal in general. To wit, they won a Grammy. One is hard-pressed to think of something that qualifies as “mainstream acceptance” more than that, short of founding guitarist/vocalist Matt Pike actually being elected President of the United States in some kind of meme-come-to-life grassroots write-in campaign.

Of course, that mainstream acceptance was a long time in coming, and earned the hard way — you might think of it as being ripped from the hands of the cultural gatekeepers, more breaking down the door than being let in; a convenient narrative to suit their aesthetic, to be sure — and much of the focus on High on Fire‘s emergence and success has been related to their work post-2010’s Snakes for the Divine (review here), the trilogy of Kurt Ballou-produced full-lengths in 2012’s De Vermiis Mysteriis (review here), 2015’s Luminiferous (review here) and 2018’s Electric Messiah (review here) helping to secure their place at the forefront of a generation of heavy music makers.

Their 2000 debut, The Art of Self-Defense, has been reissued a few times since its first 2000 release on Man’s Ruin Records, first by Tee Pee in 2001, then through Southern Lord in 2012 and 2021, and since 2012, those reissues have included the three songs from the band’s first self-titled demo, originally put out in 1999 by 12th Records. For those unfamiliar, 12th Records is the in-house label of Electric Amps — they still sell on eBay — and responsible for the debut offerings from High on Fire, YOB, Starchild, Ocean Chief, Bongzilla-offshoot Cuda, and others. People, in other words, who know what’s up. Relatively unsung heroes perhaps in helping shape a movement of capital-‘h’ Heavy.

But even High on Fire‘s High on Fire isn’t a lost release or some such, however much time has passed since it came out. The three tracks it contains — “Blood From Zion,” “10,000 Years” and “Master of Fists” — all appeared reworked on The Art of Self-Defense, and as noted, these songs have been included on the reissues along with the Celtic Frost cover “Usurper” and “Steel Shoe” (which first showed up on Tee Pee‘s edition of the album in 2001) as a document of the band at that time. Fair enough.

To listen to them on their own, however, brings to mind just how rudimentary they are but also how much they speak for the intentions of the band at that point. Pike, along with founding drummer Des Kensel, who left the band in 2019, and bassist George Rice, who was gone after 2002’s Surrounded by Thieves, had been together for about a year by the time these songs came together, and it should be noted that The Music Cartel‘s posthumous release of Sleep‘s Jerusalem also came out in 1998, so these changes were happening in real time, Pike moving from one band even as the other was continuing to wind down.

High on Fire‘s intentions were different, of course, and one can hear the foundations of their trademark marauding thrash in “Blood From Zion” and “10,000 Years,” but in those cuts — maddeningly catchy as they are; I’m going to have “10,000 Years” on repeat in my head for a week but sacrifices must be made — as well as the 10-minute “Master of Fists,” there’s a kind of overarching groove that the band at their most riotous would let go even by the time Surrounded by Thieves or 2005’s Blessed Black Wings (review here) were out. By that point, High on Fire had more fully embraced the idea of being something different in terms of songwriting than the pioneering stoner metal from whence Pike had come in Sleep. High on Fire became their own band.

This self-titled — which feels ripe for a 10″ pressing if anything in the universe possibly could; please, MNRK (formerly E1), do the thing right and keep the original artwork — is something earlier. It doesn’t completely let go of who Sleep were, even as it feels out the spaces of influence that would eventually define High on Fire‘s work in the aforementioned Celtic Frost, as well as Motörhead, Slayer, etc. Pike‘s vocals are layered and mostly clean, as he’d not yet developed the gruff, sometimes-screaming shouts that he would not only turn into a trademark but that would become a point of influence for other bands.

His underlying ambitions and perhaps insecurities as a singer have been a theme in his work all along, from fronting the side-project Kalas sans-guitar to his 2022 solo debut, Pike vs. the Automaton. Accordingly it’s somewhat ironic that other players out there are trying to match his barbarous, barking style, but that’s about as classic a dynamic as metal has. Take the thing you can do, make it yours, and own it. Stage presence also helps, I’m sure.

Keep in mind as you listen that I’m not trying to sell you on the High on Fire EP/demo as anything other than what it is. These are the band’s rudimentary beginnings, and despite the clear vocals, it’s still plenty raw in sound and tone as one might expect, but listening to it now with more than two decades of hindsight is a worthy reminder of where they came from and how far they’ve gone in the years since.

I seem to recall they were in the studio with Ballou again at some point, the band now comprised of Pike, bassist Jeff Matz (since 2006; man, time flies; wonder how he feels not being “the new guy” anymore) and drummer Coady Willis (also Big Business), the latter of whom joined after the departure of Kensel. Either way, they’ve got shows this year from Desertfest NYC to the Sound of Liberation anniversary parties to Heavy Psych Sounds Fest to SXSW next weekend. Hard to imagine they won’t be at Psycho Las Vegas one way or the other, too. They’re kind of the house band of that festival, if not the sheer embodiment of its ethic. In any case, a new album would be nothing but welcome, if and when.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

—

Spent most of the week feeling overwhelmed, the way one does. Even last night, I had my laptop out to try and get some work done and I was just too tired to actually put fingers to keyboard to make anything happen. I guess it’ll be Monday for the new Samavayo video since The Pecan’s school bus is due home in about half an hour and, well, I need more time than that to do a thing.

They really fucked my shit up when they switched his bus from like 8AM to a little before 9. That extra hour has proven to be the difference between me feeling like I’m handling what needs to be handled in a given day and me feeling like I felt this week, which is very much the opposite. Throw in more potty-training woes and I think you get a pretty accurate picture of the headspace I’m currently occupying. It is, and has for a while now been, a grind.

And if you believe the weekend brings any relief, well, you’ve probably never met my four-year-old. The Patient Mrs. gets preferential work time, because, you know what she does with it actually pays for the roof over our heads, but I’ve been struggling to keep up with things, and I find myself putting together the back ends of posts during late-in-the-day TV time, while waiting at speech or OT — The Pecan receives both — and any other moment I might have a hand free to hold my phone. I’m writing on it right now, for example, watching the little clock in the corner that seems to count down as much as it’s counting up.

Small stakes, right? I know. Who cares, right? I know. To whom does it matter if this post doesn’t happen? Me, god damn it. It matters to me.

So what’s the answer? What would be enough time? Well, it sure would be nice to have that hour back every Monday-to-Friday, especially since I proved yesterday in writing that Moura review that if I want to dig into stuff like that it’s going to have to be accounted for on the clock, but one can’t pull hours out of one’s ass in infinite supply. I could start waking up early again, rebuild that habit. Might not be a terrible idea anyway, but even getting up at 6:30AM instead of 5AM, I’m still tired as crap by like 8PM and ready for bed. I don’t know where to put myself, ultimately. I suppose that’s nothing new.

Add to that body stress — I hate the way I look, the way I feel in my own skin. Also nothing new. But it’s always there, like a hum in the background. Self-loathing of my physical person as the existential white noise in which I reside. Burrowed deep.

I could go on, but for the clock.

I wish you a great and safe weekend. Next week is packed full already, so at least I know what’s coming — Mount Saturn, Uncle Woe, Soldat Hans, Besvarjelsen, Red Sun Atacama, Ealdor Bealu — off that’s a lot of good stuff. Wow. I should get to work on that.

Have fun. Watch your head. Hydrate. MiBK’s fundraiser for Ukraine is still going on, so buy Obelisk merch and support that. All proceeds go.

FRM.

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