Sweden’s  Can your homework be considered a challenging routine? Don't waste your time! Our expert Technical Paper Writings are ready to assist you in any kind of task! Enigma Experience make their full-length debut this Friday with  cheap dissertation writing: 3 Easy Steps to Improve Your Grades. Essays are popular home tasks for students of different academic levels. It is a special genre, involving specific rules of presentation. Being rather small in volume, essay includes the elements of reasoning in an explicit or implicit form. An essay is, to a certain extent, a philosophical presentation of writer�s views within a Question Mark. Being released through  Looking for a trustworthy service to http://www.chance-quereinstieg.de/?creative-writing-essay-topics-for-high-school-students? Your request will processed really fast with our 24/7 online service! Fuzzorama Records, one doesn’t have to go far into the record to recognize the tone of guitarist Getting excellent Online Essay Practise shall be a priority if you get stuck with your assignments and need help with assignments. Niklas Källgren, best known for his work as a founding member of  Child Care Centre Business Plan and Proofreading. Our thesis editing includes checking for and correcting the basics (such as grammar, spelling, punctuation, word choice, sentence structure, etc.). In addition, your WordsRU academic editor will confirm that your thesis complies with the citation style you are using, as well as any school or department requirements for form and style. Finally, the chief editor Truckfighters. How To Start A Bibliography - Hire the professionals to do your homework for you. Perfectly crafted and custom academic papers. experienced writers engaged Källgren serves as songwriter, engineer, bassist, guitarist and backing vocalist on  Write my term High School Essay Scholarships - High-Quality College Essay Writing Service - Purchase High-Quality Essays, Research Papers, Question Mark, and though he’s no stranger to any of those roles from his work in his main outfit,  grade 4 essay writing follow site essay on my ambition in life pdf student homework helpers Enigma Experience is a distinct engity, even as it reunites Rewrite My Essay For Me, London, United Kingdom. 24,278 likes � 173 talking about this. AssignmentExpert is the leading provider of homework assistance for... Källgren with drummer  Discover how our Math Homework Paper can produce a powerful & compelling CV that secures the interviews you want and beats 100s of other applicants Oskar “Pezo” Johansson, who after his time in  Why Writing An Essay Powerpoint From Our Verified Experts. By opting to make our thesis writing service your favorite option, a student is taking the necessary measure to ensure their papers don�t end up getting rejected. Instead, you get to submit the paper with confidence as it is completed before the deadline and meets the current academic standards. Instructions related to that particular Truckfighters ended, went on to join fellow Örebro natives Find the solution to your issues with homework assignments at find more Canada Witchcraft. Together with vocalist  Finding the best book Best Do My Homework Sites for your report assignment is the best way to be successful. Buy a book report online today and save more. Maurice Adams (who also edited the video premiering below), the trio emerge as a studio project at the least — granted that’s true of nearly everything right now — but based around a coherent vision of expressive, progressive, and yes, fuzzed songcraft and performance.

It probably shouldn’t come as a major surprise that guitar is a focal point. Leading with riffs is fair enough, but opener/longest track (immediate points) “Realityline” begins  My http://www.luggi.cz/?best-way-to-order-a-research-paper - 100% non-plagiarism guarantee of unique essays & papers. Composing a custom paper means work through lots of stages Essays Question Mark with a patient flourish and a gradual buildup over its first three-plus minutes, kicking in its full tone at 4:10 and unfolding from there with a more weighted but no less fluid trajectory,  ( Have done lots of research and need it evaluated) reply to thread view you want to click to read more; If you want a PhD then you have to work for one Adams proving early his ability to soar above the groove. If Källgren‘s branching out from Truckfighters is the impetus for the band, then Adams might be the semi-secret weapon. His vocals are emotive to match the lyrics and melodic without being overly showy, overly prog, or inaccessible. As Question Mark moves into shorter cuts “Lone Wolf” and “Mighty Mind” ahead of the assumed side A closer, the more atmospheric, darker and meatier “Corruption,” Adams brings range and dynamic to the material, and with Johansson‘s steady, creative drums as the foundation, the songs are able to shift in various directions of mood and shove to suit both the forwardness of the riffs and the depth of the mix.

“Equilibrium,” which opens the second half of Question Mark, is about as close as Enigma Experience come stylistically to where Truckfighters have been before, a kind of Gravity X-style chug and desert groove marked by quick fuzzy leads as both Adams and Källgren add vocal lines, the rhythm offsetting chugging swing with a not-entirely-unexpected-but-still-welcome push, giving way to the acoustic turn at the start of “In My Mind My Secret Place,” which is more than halfway through its 6:49 before it explodes and hits with its full brunt, the volume carrying through to the finish. That brings up “The Z,” a guitar, bass and drum shuffle jam that’s the lead-in for closer “The Zone,” which is broader in structure than much of what precedes it throughout Question Mark, but consistent in terms of tone and overall thrust. With lyrics based on the experience of raising a son with autism spectrum disorder — something my family has experience with as well — there is an added emotional context as one imagines Källgren looking at his child and trying to understand how his mind works and where he goes when he goes to that zone in question.

Ahead of Question Mark‘s release later this week, a lyric video for “The Zone” is premiering below. Beneath that, you’ll find the preorder link for the record and more from Källgren about the track.

Please enjoy:

Enigma Experience, “The Zone” official lyric video premiere

Video edited by M.Adams
Words and music written by Niklas ‘Mr.Dango’ Källgren.

Preorder here: https://us.fuzzoramastore.com/en/

‘The Zone’ is a full frontal assault of huge fuzzy guitars and stirring, sincere energy. A powerful groove-heavy anthem inspired by guitarist Niklas Källgren’s son who lives with autism. Gigantic riffs, zealous vocal delivery and countless twists and turns keep you firmly on the edge of your seat, all the while encouraging you to be unafraid of seeking solace when life deals you a tough hand.

Delving deeper into message behind the track, Källgren explains, “The song deals with the difficulties for a person having a different mind coping with living in this world. Walking in your own zone not paying much attention to the outside world, but also the realisation that when reaching out you are not alone.”

“The meaning of the song can easily be applied to any kind and any grade of tendencies towards psychological or mental problems like angst or depression,” he adds. “If you look yourself in the mirror there are probably times when you felt like shutting down the outside world to live in your own zone, even if just for a while.”

Enigma Experience is:
Niklas “Mr. Dango” Källgren – Guitar, bass, backing vocals
Oskar “Pezo” Johansson (ex-Truckfighters/Witchcraft) – Drums
Maurice Adams (Breed/Motorfinger) – Vocals

Enigma Experience website

Enigma Experience on Thee Facebooks

Enigma Experience on Instagram

Fuzzorama Records website

Fuzzorama Records on Thee Facebooks

You’re going to hear some shades of Truckfighters in Enigma Experience, which feels somewhat inevitable given that it’s Niklas “Dango” Källgren on guitar (and bass), but despite that recognizable tone, it’s also fair enough for Question Mark to be the work of another, new band. For one thing, it’s a different band, and as much as Källgren contributes to the songwriting of his main outfit, he seems very much to be in the lead here creatively, playing guitar, bass, doing backing vocals and handling everything on the production side. While offering plenty of fuzz — enough that Fuzzorama‘s putting it out, which I guess is to be expected — the record unfolds in a few unexpected ways, from the grand flow of the 10:56 opener/longest track “Realityline” through the jammy closing pair “The Z” and “The Zone” finish with both an open sensibility and a worthy payoff.

One might recognize Oskar “Pezo” Johansson from his own tenure in Truckfighters — he was in the documentary, making him all the more recognizable, and since leaving the band did a stint with Witchcraft as well — and the trio is completed by Norwegian vocalist Maurice Adams.

Release date is Nov. 13, preorders are up, and you’ll find the stream of second track “Lonewolf” on the player at the bottom of this post, via the PR wire:

ENIGMA EXPERIENCE ANNOUNCES DEBUT ALBUM QUESTION MARK

Truckfighters guitarist Niklas Mr. Dango Källgren has teamed up with ex-Truckfighters/Witchcraft drummer Oskar Pezo Johansson and Maurice Adams from Breed/Motorfinger on vocals!

PRE-ORDER – http://www.fuzzoramastore.com/

The Enigma Experience have announced the release of their debut album, Question Mark, which is coming out November 13th via Fuzzorama Records.

The band have also unveiled the brand-new single ‘Lonewolf’, which opens with a funky and psychedelically charged Primus-esque melody before dropping into a driving groove amid crunching riffs with soaring vocal melodies.

https://songwhip.com/enigmaexperience/lonewolf

The track is one of few on the album that has a ‘normal’ structure when it comes to ‘verse – chorus – verse’ thinking. It’s a song that has a raw energy and groove that immediately takes control and want you to move your head in rhythm with the music. Heavy rock at its best!

On the track, guitarist Niklas ‘Mr. Dango’ Källgren comments, ”The lyrics are about suffering from and handling the pressure of the world, and the expectations from society that push you into a corner when feel different. It’s about daring you to be yourself, to let your creativity loose and to live like you want to live – it’s your life”

The band sees Sweden and Norway joins forces, as Truckfighters guitarist Niklas ‘Mr.Dango’ Källgren has teamed up with ex-Truckfighters/Witchcraft drummer Oskar ‘Pezo’ Johansson and Maurice Adams from Breed/Motorfinger on vocals.
The brainchild of Källgren, he also produced, engineered, mixed and mastered the album as well as playing bass and singing backing vocals.

The album comes on LP, CD and will also be available on a limited-edition vinyl in a very exclusive boxset with double vinyls with silkscreen printing, double gatefold, double posters and of course a nice box.

Question Mark is a very diverse rock record that opens with the ten-minute odyssey ‘Realityline,’ with vocal harmonies reminiscent of early 90s grunge heroes such as Soundgarden and Alice In Chains whilst elevating guitar lines weave over a pulsating backdrop of rhythm.

Elsewhere ‘In My Mind My Secret Place’ sees them slow things up with an ethereal acoustic atmosphere building into a hypnotically heavy and devastating end, whilst album closer ‘The Zone’ is a furiously catchy anthem with Kallgren’s trademark fuzz-fuelled sound piercing through.

Tracklisting
1. Realityline
2. Lonewolf
3. Mighty Mind
4. Corruption
5. Equilibrium
6. In my mind my secret place
7. The Z
8. The Zone

https://www.enigma-experience.com/
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https://twitter.com/enigmaexperien1
https://www.instagram.com/EnigmaExperienceBand/
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Enigma Experience, “Lonewolf”

Day Three is always special when it comes to Quarterly Reviews because it’s where we hit and pass the halfway point on the way to covering 50 albums by Friday. This edition hasn’t been unpleasant at all — I’ve screened this stuff pretty hard, so I feel well prepared — but it still requires some doing to make it all come together. Basically a week’s worth. Ha.

If you haven’t found anything yet that speaks to you, I hope that changes either today, tomorrow or Friday.

Quarterly Review #21-30:

Witchcraft, Black Metal

Four years ago, Witchcraft frontman/founder Magnus Pelander released a solo album under his own name called Time (review here) as a quick complement to the band’s own 2016 offering, Nucleus (review here). Pelander‘s Time was his first solo outing since a 2010 four-song EP that, for a long time, seemed like a one-off. Now, with Black Metal, Witchcraft strips down to its barest essentials — Pelander‘s voice and guitar — and he is the only performer on the seven-track/33-minute LP. Style-wise, it’s mostly sad, intimate folk, as Pelander begins with “Elegantly Expressed Depression” and tells the stories of “A Boy and a Girl,” “Sad People,” and even the key-inclusive “Sad Dog” before “Take Him Away” closes out with a bluesy guitar figure that features twice but is surrounded by a space that seems to use silence as much as music as a tool of its downer presentation. The title, obviously tongue-in-cheek, is clearly nonetheless a reference to depression, and while Pelander‘s performance is gorgeous and honest, it’s also very clearly held down by a massive emotional weight. So too, then, is the album.

Witchcraft on Thee Facebooks

Nuclear Blast webstore

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The Wizar’d, Subterranean Exile

Making their debut on Cruz Del Sur Music, Australia’s The Wizar’d return from the doomliest of gutters with Subterranean Exile, opening the album with the title-track’s take on capital-‘c’ Classic doom and the pre-NWOBHM-ism of Pagan Altar, Witchfinder General, and, duh, Black Sabbath. In just 35 minutes, the four-piece make the most of their raw but epic vibes, using the means of the masters to showcase their own songwriting. This is doom metal at its most traditional, with two guitars intertwining riffs and leads on “Master of the Night” and the catchy “Long Live the Dead,” but there’s a dungeon-style spirit to the solo in that track — or maybe that’s just build off of the prior interlude “Ecstatic Visions Held Within the Monastic Tower” — that sets up the speedier run of “Evil in My Heart” ahead of the seven-minute finale “Dark Fortress.” As one might hope, they cap with due lumber and ceremony befitting an LP so thoroughly, so entirely doomed, and while perhaps it will be seven years before they do another full-length, it doesn’t matter. The Wizar’d stopped time a long time ago.

The Wizar’d on Thee Facebooks

Cruz Del Sur Music website

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Sail, Mannequin

A follow-up to their later-2019 single “Starve,” the three-song Mannequin release from UK progressive metallers Sail is essentially a single as well. It begins with the ‘regular’ version of the track, which careens through its sub-five minutes with a standout hook and the dual melodic vocals of guitarists Tim Kazer and Charlie Dowzell. This is followed by “Mannequin [Synthwave Remix],” which lives up to its name, and brings bassist Kynan Scott to the fore on synth, replacing the drums of Tom Coles with electronic beats and the guitars with keyboards. The chorus works remarkably well. As fluidly as “Mannequin” fed into the subsequent remix, so too does “Mannequin [Synthwave Remix]” move directly into “Mannequin [Director’s Cut],” which ranges past the seven-minute mark and comes across rawer than the opening version. Clearly Sail knew they could get some mileage out of “Mannequin,” and they weren’t wrong. They make the most of the 16-minute occasion and keep listeners guessing where they might be headed coming off of 2017’s Slumbersong LP. Easy win.

Sail on Thee Facebooks

Sail on Bandcamp

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Frank Sabbath, Compendium

They’re not kidding with that title. Frank Sabbath‘s Compendium covers four years of studio work — basic improvisations done in 2016 plus overdubs over time — and the resulting freakout is over an hour and a half long. Its 14 component pieces run a gamut of psychedelic meandering, loud, quiet, fast, slow, spacey, earthy, whatever you’re looking for, there’s time for it all. The French trio were plenty weird already on 2017’s Are You Waiting? (review here), but the scales are tipped here in the extended “La Petite Course à Vélo” (11:16) and “Bermuda Cruise” (17:21) alone, never mind on the Middle Eastern surf of “Le Coucous” or the hopping bass and wah of “Gallus Crackus” and “L’Oeufou.” The band has issued live material in the past, and whatever they do, it’s pretty jammy, but Compendium specifically highlights this aspect of their sound, shoving it in front of the listener and daring them to take it on. If you’re mind’s not open, it might be by the time you’re done.

Frank Sabbath on Thee Facebooks

Frank Sabbath on Bandcamp

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Scream of the Butterfly, Birth Death Repeat

Scream of the Butterfly made a raucous debut in with 2017’s Ignition (review here), and Birth Death Repeat stays the course of bringing Hammond organ to the proceedings of melodically arranged ’90s-style heavy rock, resulting in a cross-decade feel marked by sharp tones and consistency of craft that’s evident in the taut executions of “The Devil is by My Side” and “Higher Place” before the more moderately-paced “Desert Song” takes hold and thickens out the tones accordingly. ‘Desert,’ as it were, is certainly an influence throughout, as the opener’s main riff feels Kyuss-derived and the later “Driven” has a fervent energy behind it as well. The latter is well-placed following the ballad “Soul Giver,” the mellower title-track interlude, and the funky but not nearly as propulsive “Turned to Stone.” They’ll soon close out with the bluesy “I’ve Seen it Coming,” but before they do, “Room Without Walls” brings some marked solo shred and a grungier riff that scuffs up the band’s collective boot nicely, emphasizing that the record itself is less mundane than it might at first appear or the title might lead one to believe.

Scream of the Butterfly on Thee Facebooks

Scream of the Butterfly on Bandcamp

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Slow Draw, Gallo

From minimalist drone to experimental folk, Slow Draw‘s Gallo sets a wide-open context for itself from the outset, a quick voice clip and the churning drone of “Phase 2” leading into the relatively straightforward “No Words” — to which there are, naturally, lyrics. Comprised solely of Mark Kitchens, also known for drumming in the duo Stone Machine Electric, Slow Draw might be called an experimentalist vehicle, but that doesn’t make Gallo any less satisfying. “No Words” and “Falling Far” and the just-acoustic-and-voice closer “End to That” serve as landmarks along the way, touching ground periodically as pieces like the strumming “Harvey’s Chair” and the droned-out “Industrial Aged” play off each other and “Angelo” — homage to Badalamenti, perhaps — the minimal “A Conflict” and “Tumoil” [sic] and “Playground” tip the balance to one side or another, the penultimate krautdrone of “Phase 1” unveiling perhaps what further manipulation turned into “Phase 2” earlier in the proceedings. At 33 minutes, Gallo feels careful not to overstay its welcome, and it doesn’t.

Slow Draw on Thee Facebooks

Slow Draw on Bandcamp

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Baleful Creed, The Lowdown

Belfast’s Baleful Creed present a crisp 10 tracks of well-composed, straightforward, doom-tinged heavy rock and roll — they call it ‘doom blues boogie,’ and fair enough — with their third long-player, The Lowdown. They’re not pretending to be anything they’re not and offering their sounds to the listener not in some grand statement of aesthetic accomplishment, and not as a showcase of whatever amps they purchased to make their sound, but instead simply for what they are: songs. Crafted, honed, thought-out and brought to bear with vitality and purpose to give the band the best representation possible. Front-to-back, The Lowdown sounds not necessarily overthought, but professional enough to be called “cared about,” and whether it’s the memorable opening with “Mr. Grim” or the ’90s C.O.C. idolatry of “Tramalamapam” or the strong ending salvo of “End Game,” with its inclusion of piano, the mostly-subdued but swaggering “Line of Trouble” and the organ-topped closer “Southgate of Heaven,” Baleful Creed never veer too far from the central purpose of their priority on songwriting, and neither do they need to.

Baleful Creed on Thee Facebooks

Baleful Creed on Bandcamp

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Surya Kris Peters, O Jardim Sagrado

Though he’s still best known as the frontman of Samsara Blues Experiment, Christian Peters — aka Surya Kris Peters — has become a prolific solo artist as well. The vinyl-ready eight songs/37 minutes of O Jardim Sagrado meet him in his element, bringing together psychedelia, drone and synthesizer/keyboard effects to convey various moods and ideas. As with most of the work done under the Surya Kris moniker, he doesn’t add vocals, but the album wants nothing for expression just the same, whether it’s the Bouzouki on “Endless Green” or the guest contribution of voice from Monika Saint-Oktobre on the encompassing 11-minute title-track, which would be perfect for a dance hall if dance halls were also religious ceremonies. Experiments and explorations like “Celestial Bolero” and “Saudade” bring electric guitar leads and Mellotron-laced wistfulness, respectively, while after the title-cut, the proggy techno of “Blue Nebula” gives way to what might otherwise be a boogie riff on closer “Southern Sunrise.” Peters always seems to find a way to catch the listener off guard. Maybe himself too.

Surya Kris Peters on Thee Facebooks

Surya Kris Peters on Bandcamp

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Slow Phase, Slow Phase

A strong if raw debut from Oakland three-piece Slow Phase, this 39-minute eight-tracker presents straight-ahead classic American heavy rock and roll in the style of acts like a less garage The Brought Low, a looser-knit Sasquatch or any number of bands operating under the Ripple Music banner. Less burly than some, more punk than others, the power trio includes guitarist Dmitri Mavra of Skunk, as well as vocalist/bassist Anthony Pulsipher of Spidermeow and vocalist/drummer Richard Stuverud, the rhythm section adding to the blues spirit and spiraling manic jangle of “Blood Circle.” Opener “Starlight” was previously issued as a teaser single for the album, and stands up to its position here, with the eponymous “Slow Phase” backing its strength of hook. “Psychedelic Man” meanders in its lead section, as it should, and the catchy “Silver Fuzz” sets up the riotous “Midnight Sun” and “No Time” to lead into the electric piano of “Let’s Do it Again (For the First Time),” which I’d kind of take as a goof were it not for the righteous jam that finishes it, referencing “Highway Star” during its fadeout. Some organizing to do, but they obviously know what they’re shooting for.

Slow Phase on Thee Facebooks

Slow Phase on Bandcamp

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Rocky Mtn Roller, Rocky Mtn Roller

This band might actually be more cohesive than they want to be. A double-guitar four-piece from Asheville, North Carolina, with a connection to cult heroes Lecherous Gaze via six-stringer Zach Blackwell — joined in the band by guitarist Ruby Roberts, bassist Luke Whitlatch and drummer Alex Cabrera — they’re playing to a certain notion of brashness as an ideal, but while the vocals have a drunk-fuckall stoner edge, the construction of the songs underlying is unremittingly sound on this initial EP. “Monster” opens with a welcome hook and “When I’m a Pile” sounds classic-tinged enough to be a heavy ’70s nod, but isn’t so easily placed to a specific band as to be called derivative. The longest of the four cuts at 5:30, “Bald Faced Hornet” boasts some sting in its snare sound, but the Southern heavy push at its core makes those dueling solos in the second half all the more appropriate, and closing out, “She Ran Off with the Dealer” has both charm and Thin Lizzy groove, which would basically be enough on their own to get me on board. A brazen and blazing candidate for Tee Pee Records‘ digital annex, if someone else doesn’t snag them first.

Rocky Mtn Roller on Thee Facebooks

Rocky Mtn Roller on Bandcamp

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True, it’s been four years since Witchcraft released 2016’s Nucleus (review here), which was the successful follow-up to their 2012 Nuclear Blast debut and modernization-pivot Legend (review here), following the pioneering vintage style of their first three albums, but in the meantime, the band’s founder and frontman Magnus Pelander offered up the later-2016 solo outing, Time (review here), and the band have been around for fests and such, so while perhaps somewhat more reclusive than they once were, they haven’t entirely disappeared.

Interesting that Pelander is also the only member of the band listed as performing on Black Metal, and yet, rather than release it under his own name, the apparently-fully-acoustic offering coming as a Witchcraft LP. The song “Elegantly Expressed Depression,” which opens Black Metal lives up to the weighty expectations its title sets, and brims with the sincere-sounding fragility of Pelander‘s immediately recognizable vocals. Seems like perhaps sadness is something of a theme — at least going by track names like “Sad People” and “Sad Dog” — but we’ll see on May 1 when Black Metal is released.

Behold:

WITCHCRAFT To Release Acoustic Album! Black Metal Coming This May On Nuclear Blast!

Pre-order Black Metal here: www.nuclearblast.com/witchcraft-blackmetal

Magnus Pelander’s Witchcraft have existed at the forefront of occult tinged classic rock ever since their formation in the year 2000, when Magnus decided to form the band so that he could record a tribute to his idols Roky Erickson and Pentagram’s Bobby Liebling. The pioneering band has never made excuses for their inspirations, but went on to craft numerous genre-defining classics themselves. Witchcraft’s illustrious career from their self-titled debut in 2004 through to the 2012’s Legend album to the wondrous Nucleus in 2016, became cult classics and propelled the band to new levels of reverence within their scene. When it comes to blending doom with classic rock and flourishes of masterful ambience, nobody could touch them.

Now, Magnus takes WITCHCRAFT in a brave new direction, setting forth into entirely new territory! Exhibiting the pure emotion that has always lived at the core of the band’s work, by moving forward alone: The band’s first new album in four years, titled Black Metal, is an entirely acoustic affair. From opener and the just premiered, first single, “Elegantly Expressed Depression,” it’s clear that this new facet of the band’s sound allows the rawness and fragility to shine in an entirely new light. The minimalism of Bill Callaghan, the tenderness of Elliot Smith and the air of slight discomfort that could only be WITCHCRAFT combine to make this record a truly unique spectacle, not only in the band’s catalogue, but in the world of guitar music as it stands in 2020.

Below is Black Metal’s track list:

1. Elegantly Expressed Depression
2. A Boy And A Girl
3. Sad People
4. Grow
5. Free Country
6. Sad Dog
7. Take Him Away

Black Metal will be available as a CD, vinyl and in digital formats on May 1st 2020 via Nuclear Blast.
Pre-order your copy of Black Metal here: http://nblast.de/WitchcraftNucleusNB
Pre-save the album on Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer: https://nblast.de/WitchcraftPreSave

Witchcraft has also announced to play a few selected shows this year, such as at Desertfest Berlin and London.

Album Line-Up:
Magnus Pelander | vocals, guitar

www.witchraftswe.com
www.facebook.com/witchcraft
http://www.facebook.com/nuclearblastusa
http://instagram.com/nuclearblastusa
https://shop.nuclearblast.com/en/shop/index.html
https://www.nuclearblast.de/en/

Witchcraft, “Elegantly Expressed Depression”

Sweden’s Blues Pills will start the album cycle for their new record, Holy Moly!, well in advance of the actual June 19 release date. Nuclear Blast is behind the offering as they have been since they picked up their self-titled debut (review here), and the band begin playing shows this week in Uppsala. Sure, they took some time to record, but there’s a certain point at which the notion of a “cycle” becomes kind of irrelevant, i.e., a band just tours. Blues Pills have not been shy about hitting the road, I guess is what I’m saying.

“Proud Woman” is the first single from Holy Moly!, and though it’s tempting, I’m not going to sit here and mansplain to you how the idea of vocalist Elin Larsson feeling compelled to make such a declaration should be considered a quaint example of the band’s retro foundations rather than an urgent and relevant statement regarding current issues, but there you have it anyway. I’m also not going to sit here and mansplain how I just mansplained the thing I said I wasn’t going to mansplain. That’s what it’s like to be a dude. For what it’s worth, I’m not particularly proud. Ain’t like I earned any of this cultural privilege.

The PR wire has more interesting things to say:

BLUES PILLS Announce New Album Holy Moly! + Release First Single “Proud Woman”

Often compared to a jam session between Aretha Franklin and LED ZEPPELIN, BLUES PILLS’ career took them from an American garage to international glory within a few years. Their self-titled debut album (2014) entered the German album charts at #4 and two years later they went straight to #1 with the successor Lady in Gold. Starting in the smallest clubs the band suddenly found themselves playing on some of the world’s biggest stages from Rock Am Ring, Download, Sweden Rock and even the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival where DEEP PURPLE famously saw smoke on the water during Frank Zappa’s performance.

With the band’s 3rd album, Holy Moly!, to be released on June 19th, 2020 via Nuclear Blast, BLUES PILLS plan their return to a number of major festival stages, playing Download, Hurricane and Southside among many others throughout the summer.

But fans need not wait until summer for their first taste of the action. To support International Women’s Day on March 8th BLUES PILLS have released their first single “Proud Woman”. The band describe their intentions with the song:
“With ‘Proud Woman’ we wanna give the fierce women and grrrls of the world a power anthem to turn on whenever they wanna feel empowered. Or just have fun. A song to everyone who stands behind the most obvious things of all. Equality and unity. Whoever you are, wherever you come from. Women will always be a driving force of change. And a change is gonna come.”

Get the single digitally here: https://nblast.de/BP-ProudWoman

In regards to the lyrics of “Proud Woman” vocalist, Elin Larsson, says: “I’m a proud woman came out from my inner self and the first thing I thought was: someone must have written this before. And if not, why? Hey! It’s about damn time then!

To be a woman or non-binary in the music industry seems to be more about the gender then the music sometimes. As a woman you’re being belittled, threatened, scrutinized, made fun of, targeted and harassed in a way that the men in the industry aren’t. And even so, there are so many women in the industry who made and are making their mark just as mighty as the men, and they do that despite all of the hardships they get for simply being a woman and that makes their triumphs even greater.”

“I’m a proud woman. And I’m not the only one!”

BLUES PILLS live:

13.03. S Uppsala – Katalin (w/ BROR GUNNAR JANSSON)
14.03. S Norrköping – Arbis Bar & Salonger (w/ BROR GUNNAR JANSSON)
19.03. PL Warsaw – Antyradio Award Party @ Stodola
27.03. RUS Moscow – Pravda Club
28.03. RUS St. Petersburg – Club Zal
03.04. GR Thessaloniki – Fix Factory of Sound
04.04. GR Athens – Fuzz Club

02.05. UK London – Desertfest

12.06. UK Donington – Download Festival
13.06. F Tourcoing – Le Grand Mix
15.06. LUX Esch-sur-Alzette – Kulturfabrik
16.06. F Strasbourg – La Laiterie
18./20.06. B Dessel – Graspop Metal Meeting
19.06. D Neuhausen ob Eck – Southside Festival
21.06. D Scheeßel – Hurricane Festival
27.06. N Ekeberg – Tons of Rock
28.06. I Verona – Rock The Castle
09. – 12.07. CZ Vizovice – Masters of Rock
11.07. N Kvinesdal – Norway Rock Festival
23. – 26.07. RO Brezoi – Open Air Blues Festival
14.08. E Barcelona – Keeping The Blues Alive

BLUES PILLS are:
Elin Larsson | Vocals
Zack Anderson | Guitar
André Kvarnström | Drums
Kristoffer Schander | Bass

www.BLUESPILLS.com
www.facebook.com/BLUESPILLS
https://www.instagram.com/bluespills/
http://www.facebook.com/nuclearblastusa
http://instagram.com/nuclearblastusa
https://shop.nuclearblast.com/en/shop/index.html

Blues Pills, “Proud Woman” official video

 

It was a put-up-or-shut-up moment for Sweden’s Truckfighters. Time to show who they really were going to be as a band and what their impact would be over the longer term. Their 2005 debut, Gravity X (discussed here), had certainly produced its share of memorable tracks, including “Gweedo-Weedo,” “Manhattan Project,” “Gargarismo” and its essential leadoff, “Desert Cruiser,” which over the years since would become the band’s signature piece. But 2007’s Phi seemed to be in an awkward place, with the Örebro three-piece adding a second guitarist in an experiment that ultimately wouldn’t last. It had been more than five years since they got their start on a split with bassist/vocalist Oskar Cedermalm‘s prior band, Firestone (discussed here), and as with so many third albums, it was time for Truckfighters to determine the direction they wanted their material to manifest.

On some level, conscious or not, they must have known it, because 2009’s Mania (review here) meets the formidable task before it in a way that’s nothing if not head-on. It’s the release by which I’ve judged every Truckfighters release since, and a significant standard to which a record might live up, taking the fuzz and memorable hooks of Gravity X and the somewhat moodier vibe of Phi and bringing them together is a way that showed heavy rock did not have to just be one thing. It didn’t just have to be out there, cruising in the desert. It could be progressive, heavy and energetic all at the same time. It could be richly melodic. It could be weighted and contemplative feeling. And in a quick turn, it could be fun, catchy, and nonetheless clear in its intention to engage the listener. With Mania, Cedermalm, guitarist Niklas Källgren and then-drummer Oscar “Pezo” Johansson solidified Truckfighters‘ sound around something that could grow in multiple directions, and thereby helped set the stage for what’s come after, both from them and from a generation of heavy rockers who’ve worked to some degree or other under their influence.

It’s debatable whether Truckfighters‘ greater contribution to heavy rock has been on stage or in the studio. Largely self-recorded and self-released, their fuzzy tones have become a signature that’s recognizable in their work as well as in plenty of other acts, but what they do live is perhaps even more immediately striking. Cedermalm and Källgren, as the two founders and essential figures in the band, have a reputation for onstage physicality that is well earned, and I’ve seen them play sets that look as much like an aerobic workout as an artistic performance. Not every band can or wants to do that, of course, but Europe over the last decade has seen a boom of similarly-inclined heavy rock delivery, in the UK, in Germany, in Greece and elsewhere, and certainly Truckfighters have toured enough in that time — including in North America — to spread their influence across borders.

But Mania is also dynamic in a way that extends to being more than just a vehicle for a band to run back and forth and jump off drum risers while they play. Songs like the closer “Blackness,” the relatively mellow but still hooky leadoff “Last Curfew” and most especially the 13-minute “Majestic” and the later “Con of Man” actively, willfully push the Truckfighters sound and style to places it hadn’t yet been, reaching a new level of accomplishment as a result. This happened at the same time the early, drum-led “Monte Gargano” reconfirmed their desert rock mindset, and the subsequent “The New High” acted as a bridge from one side to another ahead of the arrival of “Majestic,” still relatively early in Mania‘s eight-song/50-minute run. The album sets up a back-and-forth dynamic, really from the start but especially from “Majestic” onward, that sees them push and pull between more straight-ahead fare and proggier impulses.

“Majestic” — which every bit lives up to its title via a sprawl the band has tried multiple times to recapture — and “Con of Man” are separated by the four-minute “Monster,” which emerges on revisit as a kind of lost standout. Surely overwhelmed by the sweep of what comes directly before and after, as nearly anything would be, its foundation in acoustic and electric guitar blend is itself a forward step for Truckfighters, and Cedermalm‘s laid back vocal there sets gives the song an all the more sunshiny vibe, only emphasizing the contrast in the severity of “Con of Man,” thereby enhancing the effect of both cuts on the audience. This, as well as the penultimate “Loose” — which seems like a direct answer stylistically and thematically to “Desert Cruiser” and is the shortest inclusion at 3:44 — bring a lightness to the end of Mania to keep it from taking itself too seriously. They remind that, hey, we’re all here to have a good time, and speak to a breadth in Truckfighters‘ songcraft that they’ve continued to develop in the years since.

It would be four years before they’d release anything else, but much of that time was spent touring. They came to America for the first time. They had a documentary made about them in 2012. They were on the road again and again in Europe, helping lead the charge of a booming underground heavy festival scene that continues to develop. An EP, The Chairman (discussed here), arrived in 2013, followed the next year by the Universe LP (review here) that seemed to pick up where Mania left off and present Truckfighters‘ growth as an ongoing process, and of course, more heavy road work. A licensing deal through their Fuzzorama Records imprint with Century Media resulted in wider distribution for 2016’s V (review here), and they complemented that with the self-released Live in London (review here) that same year, courting controversy as well for their video for “Calm Before the Storm” (discussed here) from the V album. After weathering that and yet more touring, they announced a “long, long” hiatus in 2018 that lasted just about a year before they got back together and decided to hit the road playing Gravity X in full. “You can’t escape from what you are,” their statement said at the time, seeming almost resigned to the fact. Fair enough.

Whatever happens with, to or for them next, Mania 10 years later still holds up as a high point of their output to-date. I won’t take anything away from their other studio releases, but no question this was a special moment, and in a put-up-or-shut-up scenario, they every bit exceeded all expectations and helped reshape what fuzz rock could be.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

—

That it? Is the week done? Is it ever really over? Nah, not these days.

Whatever.

Life with The Toddlerian Pecan — this strange pain-in-the-ass alien who’s replaced the gorgeous chubby-cheeked baby who was my son mere months ago — continues to provide an assortment of thrills and spills. The Patient Mrs. has had to work all week, as one will when one has, you know, a job — she gotta bring home that bacon to support my ever-expanding blogger-ass — and so it’s been me and him. Me vs. him. I forfeit. He wins. I used to say that if I died in the house by myself, I was cool with The Little Dog Dio eating my face to survive. I don’t know in what scenario it ever would’ve happened like that, but you know, yeah. Well, I’m pretty sure The Pecan is getting ready to eat my face while I’m still alive and then cha-cha-cha stompy-foot dance on my exposed skull. Laughing his adorable laugh all the while.

I’ve never done heroin, but I imagine that laugh is what it’s like.

So it was that kind of week. Especially yesterday morning, which was h-a-r-d. I know I’m not exactly doing the world a favor by having a kid in the first place. Great. One more white dude. That’s bound to make everything better. But man, some days it sure feels like I’m doing him a favor by not opening the door and telling him to go live in the woods. You like squirrels so damn much? Off you go!

He’d go, too. Probably build himself a treehouse, the little fucker.

He’s not yet two. That’s next week.

So. So, so, so.

Speaking of next week, I think I’m gonna go see The Well at the Vitus Bar on Wednesday. Could stand to get out for a bit, and that’s probably just enough traffic to set me right. Also look for reviews of the new Om live LP, an interview with Colour Haze about their new LP (that’s on Monday), a premiere of The Lone Madman and a review of the new Year of the Cobra. That’s your week, right there. I’m sure there will be other stuff. I can’t seem to get through laying out a week on a Friday lately without something changing that day.

Today, for example, my initial plan was the Ogre stream. Then the Bible Black Tyrant premiere came together. Fine. Then last night, the Via Vengeance premiere came together last-minute. Well, okay. So yeah. One day, three premieres, six posts, one of which is this already-gone-on-too-long chicanery. Call it madness, because it is.

Ah shit, Pecan’s awake. 6:20, for the record. I got up at 4, as ever.

Real life.

Not that fake life.

Real life.

Great and safe weekend. Forum and radio. I swear there’s new merch coming soon.

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Two cryptic posts last week on thee social medias from Swedish heavy psych blues jammers Asteroid. The first: they’d be traveling to a new continent before the end of the year. I’m pretty sure they’ve been to Australia before, and I know they’ve sworn off North America while the current US administration is in power — there are plenty of days I think when a good portion of the country wishes it could do the same — so that led me to speculate South America was their destination, and it turns out, yes, Abraxas Produtura — among others — is bringing the trio from their Swedish home-base to play a set of four exclusive shows capping in Rio de Janeiro on Dec. 7 at the Festa da Firma.

Ending that run in Rio de Janeiro brings me to the second cryptic social medias post, which was that the band has new material in the works. That’s an awfully long way to travel to play four shows, even if one of them is a fest, so I had to wonder if they’d be recording with Gabriel Zander while in Brazil, and the band has yet to confirm anything in that regard. I don’t know if it would be a full album or what, but either way, it’d make for their first offering since 2016’s III (review here), and whatever shape it ultimately takes, there’s just about no way new Asteroid isn’t going to be welcome as far as I’m concerned, whenever it might show up.

Still good news all around and one more perhaps to look forward to in 2020.

Here’s the info:

Asteroid – South America Tour

Asteroid will hit South America this December. See you in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.

The legendary Swedish trio comes to review all their discography in a show that promises tons of high-flying fuzz rock, stoner rock and heavy psych on their first visit to South America that will include presentations in Argentina, Uruguay (within the framework from the second edition of the Noiseground Festival in that country) and Brazil.

Their latest album “III” released by Fuzzorama Records, record label commanded by the Truckfighters is considered by the specialized press as one of the most outstanding releases of the last 10 years within the heavy rock scene in Europe.

There will be gems like “Time”, “Doctor Smoke” and “Pale Moon” a traveling and super electric show, you can’t miss it!

Asteroid live:
12/04 Buenos Aires Casa Colombo
12/05 Montevideo Bluzz Live
12/06 Sao Paulo Jai Club
12/07 Rio de Janeiro Festa Da Firma

Asteroid is:
Robin Hirse – Vocals & Guitar
Johannes Nilsson – Vocals & Bass
Jimmi Kohlscheen- Drums

https://www.facebook.com/Asteroidband/
http://www.asteroid.se/
http://www.fuzzoramastore.com/en/bands/asteroid/

Asteroid, “Til’ Dawn” official video

Witchcraft, The Alchemist (2007)

 

I never liked Witchcraft‘s The Alchemist. Listening to it now, I can’t help but wonder why the hell not? In the narrative I’d constructed in my head, it was too clean, too much trying to be prog, and it had lost the simple charm of their 2004 self-titled debut (discussed here, albeit briefly) and its 2005 follow-up, Firewood — both records to which I feel some pretty significant fan attachment — and I recall being disappointed in the title-track, thinking it was boring and too long and pretentious in its forced-seeming 14-minute sprawl.

But wow, was I wrong.

I’m not sure the Magnus Pelander-led Swedish classic heavy rockers could ever have put out another album I’d reach for as often as the self-titled, but The Alchemist stands some 12 years later as testament to how prescient the band was in their craft, finding a way forward for retro rock that didn’t betray the vintage aesthetic but allowed for growth in songwriting. They didn’t quite “go prog,” but having recently given Black Sabbath‘s Technical Ecstasy (discussed here) a fair shake, The Alchemist doesn’t feel like an entirely dissimilar vision of creative evolution, whether it’s the referential nods in “Hey Doctor” — which seems not only to allude to Sabbath in its drum fills in the speedier second half, which is a compliment to the work of Fredrik Jansson, but indeed to Witchcraft‘s own prior work as well in its earlier riff — or the saxophone worked into the penultimate “Remembered.” Even the acoustic guitar John Hoyles (later of Spiders and now in Big Kizz as well) brings to “The Alchemist” itself and the flourish of organ from Tom Hakava deep in the mix alongside the bass of Ola Henriksson (now in Troubled Horse) make that song a richer experience in concept and execution alike. I won’t say it’s void of self-indulgence, but neither is it defined by that on an expressive level across its three-part spread. That middle section is gorgeous. I feel like I’ve been missing on enjoying it for over a decade.

Opener “Walk Between the Lines” launches the album with a strong sense of movement, something to sweep the listener into the proceedings with a clarity of strum front and center that even Firewood couldn’t claim in terms of production value, sharper as that record was than the debut. Layers of acoustic and electric intertwine in the solo section, perhaps prefacing the title-track on the album’s other end or at very least sounding cool, and rather than make their way back to the stomp of the song’s early going, they bend strings to twist their way to the song’s finish and instead pick up the thread with “If Crimson was Your Colour,” which was released as a standalone 7″ by Rise Above before The Alchemist came out, and remains one of the catchiest tracks they’ve ever written. “Leva” delves into Swedish-language lyrics for not the first time — recall “Schyssta Lögner” from the first album — and does so atop a creeping blues riff that’s a hook unto itself, while also subtly shifting the mood from the all-go momentum of the opening duo to the more rolling vibe that will continue to proliferate through “Hey Doctor” and “Samaritan Burden,” which brings a turn to gorgeous and folkish tonal wash that fades gently as it moves toward its conclusion and only leaves one wanting more.

That proves to be the perfect setup for “Remembered” to revive the thrust of the initial salvo, which it does while also leaving room for the aforementioned sax — courtesy of Anders Andersson — as well as some mellotron from Hakava, thereby working as well as a transition into “The Alchemist” via the added arrangement elements, broadening listener expectation again in subtle ways. And when they get there, the title-track is consuming in narrative and its patient delivery, with its long, open-feeling midsection, later return, and post-silence epilogue as it makes its way to its 14-minute finish. It wasn’t the first time Witchcraft surpassed the 10-minute mark — that would be Firewood closer “Attention!” — and they’ve done it a few times since, but “The Alchemist” is nonetheless a standout moment amid their work before or after, a complete idea realized at a new level of complexity and presentation.

So what was it that didn’t let me see that at the time? I’ve always been a first-two-records-only Witchcraft fan, and I guess when The Alchemist came out, I was too busy resenting the indie cred they’d amassed to appreciate the sonic progress they were making. It has been my loss, but I’m glad to have taken the opportunity to correct my error. It won’t make up for the 12 years over which I might’ve dug putting it on from time to time, but at least I know going forward that it’s a more than suitable follow-up to the brilliance of those other offerings I’ve so enjoyed for the last decade and a half. Never stop learning.

The Alchemist was Witchcraft‘s last outing through Rise Above and the last to feature Hoyles on guitar. Henriksson would hold out on bass through 2012’s Nuclear Blast debut, Legend (review here), which greatly modernized their sound, and then indeed split with the band as well, leaving Pelander as the remaining founder. In 2016, they issued Nucleus (review here), which built on the steps that Legend had taken, and later that same year, Pelander under his own name released Time (review here), a solo full-length following a 2010 EP that seemed to preface more to come. Not to say it couldn’t happen, but Witchcraft have steadily been performing shows and at festivals — they flew to New York last Fall to play Le Poisson Rouge — and may or may not have new material in the works, which is to say I have no idea what’s going on with them.

Either way, The Alchemist isn’t the departure I’d so long thought it was, turning its back on the rawness of its forebears in Witchcraft‘s discography. It’s an outgrowth of those crucial first accomplishments, and an essential third in what’s been a trilogy all along. It’s not dropping off, it’s soaring.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

—

By Wednesday morning I was pretty ready to die. The Pecan was out of his mind. He’d had a cold earlier in the week and was getting over it but clearly not back up to 100 percent yet. And ugh. Hitting and biting and mad and not eating and just going from one thing to the next that he knows he’s not supposed to be doing. My laptop, the kitchen cabinets, slamming the fridge door, pulling on the oven — for which we’ve had to get a lock — just one to the next to the next without stopping. It gets so overwhelming. Pulling his mother’s laptop charger out of the wall. Trying to climb up behind the tv. Grabbing burning hot coffee. Climbing on me while I’m on the can. Dude, just bash my brains in and be done with it. Please. Please. I give. Mercy. Just kill me.

It was so bad that it was my 15th wedding anniversary and I told The Patient Mrs. that I found running a stoner rock blog more satisfying than parenting.

I said that shit.

Out loud.

And meant it.

And worse: I feel like I made a convincing case.

It took basically spending two hours at the park with the sandbox to set him right. Yesterday was better to some degree. It would almost have to be. Today he has baby-gymnastics, so I’m hoping that can take it out of him a little bit, let him work off some of whatever residual fuckall remains. We shall see. My severed head, on a pike made by Melissa & Doug.

He’s not yet two.

We were going to start potty training this weekend. No fucking way. I can’t even get the kid to sit down to put shoes on.

So that’s life. Real life.

No new episode of The Obelisk Show today on Gimme Radio. They had some production stuff going on this week and were overwhelmed and asked if I minded if we skipped the episode. Being overwhelmed myself, I said fine. Next week is the Quarterly Review anyhow, so yeah, plenty going on. I’m also flying to Norway for Høstsabbat. And I need to get those Acrimony liner notes finally done this weekend. So yes, I didn’t need to be cutting Gimme voice breaks yesterday afternoon, fun as that is to do.

I needed to sleep.

Which is probably what I should’ve done this morning when the alarm went off as well. Took me about three minutes to get up and flick the on switch for the coffee pot, giving myself a little pep talk in the meantime. “Come on Cocksan, it’s just one post. Get off your ass and make that coffee and write it.” And here we are.

No rest this weekend, no rest next week with the Quarterly Review and the fest after that. I’m also going (I hope) to Acid King on Monday in Brooklyn, so I’ll have a live review of that. And yeah. I don’t know. The whole thing just feels overwhelming and supremely dumb to me at this point, but I keep going. And I guess by the whole thing I mean life. But hey, the new Iguana record is good.

Kaboom.

Thanks for reading. Great and safe weekend. Forum, radio, merch.

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